Chapter 823: The Rebirth of the Rebellious Envoy
The military nobles of the Black Eagles were immediately given a warm welcome upon arriving in the Daffodil Duchy.
Inside the warm Mage Tower, the Mage Lords who had been waiting here rushed forward to greet them.
Several middle-aged tough guys in pure black military uniforms, smiling, embraced and shared cheek kisses with the comely men and women in thin robes opposite them. There was no sign of the months of war they had just fought.
“May the Holy Blood bless you, brother. Congratulations on establishing your nation… and congratulations on becoming younger.”
“May the Holy Blood boil day and night, dear sister. You are free.”
Several Black Eagle nobles offered their heartfelt congratulations.
They called each other brother and sister, the most intimate address among the Children of the Moon. It was usually only used among Children of the Moon of the same faith.
Although the faith of the Children of the Moon in the Black Eagles and Daffodil Duchy differed slightly… the Black Eagle nobles themselves were not direct descendants of the Red Phase and had been in constant warfare. Their faith in the Banquet Master was not as steadfast, but since the Star Antimony’s mainstream faith was the Banquet Master, they followed orders—or rather, followed the trend and believed in the Banquet Master.
Now that the Red Phase was dead, they could also convert to the Blood Heavenly Envoy.
In this context, a “brother and sister” address was quite welcome. It gave them a sense of their faith being recognized.
—It was like a heretic respectfully greeting someone according to their sect’s customs.
The leading male mage, nodding with a smile for this very reason, said: “Thank you, General Miller, General Hepburn.”
He seemed very happy, warmly embracing the Black Eagle nobles one by one.
He was Lord Yorland, the most powerful of the Mage Lords of the Daffodil Duchy.
He was also the only old mage who had lived from the era of Duke Dracula Tzepeș all the way to the present.
Major General Miller mused.
The first time he came here, Lord Yorland was still a frail old man who seemed on the verge of death after taking just two steps.
The last time he came here, he had already become a Child of the Moon and had returned to his prime in his late forties or early fifties.
Now, he had recovered to the youth of his twenties, walking with the vigor of a young man!
—As fellow Children of the Moon, why couldn’t they reverse their aging?
Was it because of the rituals and divine arts the Blood Heavenly Envoy bestowed upon his followers?
And their changes were not limited to this.
Originally, these mages should have been frail and weak in physique.
Their souls were too powerful—all the power gained during the Ascension Ritual was used to transform the soul, neglecting the body, which easily led to “Spiritual Body Disharmony Syndrome.” The result was a headache every morning upon waking.
One day of pain, every day. They could only maintain their condition by taking secret medicine daily.
But now, these mages were all strong, with blood energy surging through them. Their body temperature, hot like a normal person with a fever, and the powerful limb strength they possessed without ever having trained, were clearly felt by the Black Eagle nobles during their embraces—as fellow Children of the Moon, they did not have these characteristics, and their body temperature was no different from that of ordinary people. It only became hot when they were excited.
…Is this the divine art of the Blood Heavenly Envoy?
The biggest difference from the Children of the Moon in Star Antimony was… their pupils were bright red, glowing like rubies. But these mages’ pupils were dark red, closer to dark brown than red, like dried blood.
Just looking into them would make one feel timid… For an ordinary person, they would probably tremble uncontrollably.
—That was a secondary Fear Aura.
Major General Miller recognized this ability.
It was not a spell, but a special ability constantly present within their bodies.
“It’s also thanks to you, Generals,”
Lord Yorland nodded thankfully. “If not for your help… your brave warriors, if they hadn’t charged in at all costs, they might have caused quite a bit of trouble for my students.”
“Students… Lord Yorland is truly indulgent of them,” General Hepburn chuckled.
“There’s no way around it. Just as children are always children in front of their parents; for a Mage Lord, even if those apprentices graduated from us decades ago, they are still our students.”
Lord Yorland said with a smile, “Our tradition has always been like this. We’ve lived this way for centuries, day after day.”
Only at this moment could a trace of old age be seen in his smile and tone.
The essence of a Mage Tower was a faction dedicated to learning. It was similar to the teaching model of a Spirit Tower, but with fundamental differences.
Because all high-ranking officials in the Daffodil Duchy were mages, and could only be mages.
In the Daffodil Duchy, an official without the Path of Wisdom would be directly considered incompetent.
Having the same level of profession without a mainstream Path would prevent one from becoming a person of power. But in the Daffodil Duchy, this discrimination was even more severe than Avalon’s emphasis on the Path of Authority—because lacking a rank in the Path of Authority at most proved that you were rebellious, unwilling to be managed, and also unwilling to manage others.
Young mage apprentices learned within different Mage Towers and had the same group of teachers. They possessed natural arrogance and a sense of exclusivity—after all, mages came from the Path of Wisdom and had an intelligence advantage… and generally did not get along well with people from other Paths.
Their senior disciples were their predecessors in the same Path and profession, and they had closer relationships due to their master-disciple lineage. This master-disciple inheritance relationship was more trustworthy than blood ties or hometown relationships, and it was also easier to trace responsibility.
This led to all officials favoring and promoting their junior disciples from the same lineage. And the Mage Lords, who were the masters of the Mage Towers, even if they were not officials or true ‘Lords,’ had much stronger control than foreign lords, naturally controlling local affairs of all sizes.
It was also for this reason that the Star Antimony people could not manage the Daffodil Duchy. With the Black Eagles territory in between, they could only allow these mages to govern themselves.
And facing Lord Yorland’s seemingly humble and friendly, yet still somewhat arrogant words, the two generals did not react.
After all, it was not the first time they had dealt with these Mage Lords.
It had been so even before they became Children of the Moon.
Now that they had become immortals, and had obtained powerful bodies, compensating for the mages’ most serious shortcomings, it was natural for them to become even more arrogant. In any case, they were all Adaptors—although the definition of the Path of Adaptation had changed, they had not forgotten their ability to adapt their speech to the situation.
“According to our previous agreement,” Lord Yorland nodded with reserve after smiling, “you secretly helped us establish our nation, and immediately after, we will help you establish yours.”
“Thank you for your trustworthiness, brother,” Major General Miller nodded gratefully.
“It’s nothing, General. Mage Towers are not people who break their word. Moreover, in the long run, those who do not keep their promises will be attacked by everyone. If you break a promise once, you will be condemned for generations. It has always been this way.”
Lord Yorland nodded slightly and said calmly, “The Star Antimony people are like this—none of their past promises have been fulfilled. Now they are being manipulated economically by those lowly Goblins, yet they would rather let those foolish ministers mess things up than let us intervene. They don’t know that the seemingly eased situation is merely drinking poison to quench thirst… Now that something has gone wrong, they actually expect us to bear the financial deficit.
“The Star Antimony has fallen to such a state, abandoned by all… In the long run, it is merely a historical inevitability. None of the four major powers—Balance, Transcendence, Twilight, and Love—are good at governing. If they didn’t have the Eye of Wisdom, they would at least have the Sword of Authority—but they have nothing.
“The Star Antimony people claim to be the legitimate successor of the Empire and wish to learn the ways of the Empire, but they have not learned it thoroughly. They do not know that learning halfway is the most harmful. Most of the strategists, chancellors, and ministers in the Imperial era were of mage origin, and there must be a reason for this. Eight hundred years ago, there was an Imperial Chancellor who came from the Path of Balance, do you know what he did…”
Lord Yorland began to speak, citing scriptures and talking incessantly.
The two generals were uncultured and got headaches listening to him. But they couldn’t afford to offend the lords, as they still needed the help of the Daffodil Duchy.
So, they could only grit their teeth and wait here, sincerely sighing, “Indeed…”
And as they formed an alliance within the Mage Tower.
The Dream Realm also began to change—
In the Dream Realm, amidst the crystal mountains covered in falling snow.
A silver-haired knight in silver armor, holding his helmet, knelt on one knee, bidding farewell to the Silver Crown Dragon in the distance.
“The Land of Warriors has begun the prelude to rebellion. I must leave, my King… I will never forget your kindness.”
The Silver Crown Dragon sighed softly, tilted its dragon head, and let out a low voice.
“If you wish to go, then go, Lancelot. I will not stop you. Remember your oath—you will fight for justice, and your rebellion will be in line with the will of the people.
“Then, from this moment on… [you are no longer my knight].”
As the Silver Crown Dragon’s voice fell, invisible chains seemed to shatter.
The silver-armored knight Lancelot breathed a sigh of relief. He bowed to the Silver Crown Dragon one last time, then placed his helmet on his longsword.
He held high the incomplete crimson greatsword from the ground.
It was the weapon of Antaeus, the Rebellious Envoy of the Transcendent Path—
Though a Giant, he fought for justice, rebelled against his fate and bloodline, and fought to the death against the Supreme Heaven, ultimately being shattered into pieces by the Supreme Heaven. He became the only Heavenly Envoy who truly fell in that Battle of Punishing Heaven.
Then, he slashed down fiercely with this sword, severing the helmet and holy sword that Arthur had once bestowed upon him!
Only the sounds of breaking and reconstruction echoed. The silver flames burning in his eyes degenerated into dark purple, black fire. With the Heavenly Envoy Fragment as the core, the Power of the Path of Authority within his body was continuously transformed into the Power of the Transcendent Path.
The next moment, the silver armor on his body was spread and burned by the ferocious black fire, turning into black armor.
Even though the conversion of a Path would result in a loss of power, the constant influx of Great Deeds from rebellions occurring simultaneously in various countries of the Material Realm went unclaimed by anyone.
Rather than letting some ambitious Transcendent obtain this power and ascend to the rank of Heavenly Envoy…
—It was better to let him, who had already obtained the Rebellious Envoy’s Fragment, accept it!
The power on his body surged, and his silver long hair flew without wind.
“I will provide the power of revenge to the avengers! Knights of Revenge, follow my path!”
Lancelot raised the crimson short sword in his hand and roared loudly, “I swear to fight for the rebels!
“My Path is the Path of Rebellion, rising from Authority—and descending into Transcendence!”
Then, he thrust the Heavenly Envoy Fragment left by the Rebellious Envoy Antaeus—that is, the broken sword—fiercely into his own chest.
The influence of Father Serpent’s ascension on the world deepened.
The wall of resistance encountered by the ascending Heavenly Envoy was now extremely fragile—Lancelot leaped over it.
At this moment, on Earth, everyone felt a surge of rebellious desire in their hearts simultaneously.
And Pope Eivass of the Church sensed it immediately.
This was the third Heavenly Envoy ascended in the month of March…
In the heavy snow, a new Heavenly Envoy of the Transcendent Path was born.
It was different from what he remembered.
Perhaps because the Warrior profession reappeared in the world, Lancelot did not become a “Warrior Envoy,” but rather the new “Rebellious Envoy.” The new profession he created, his own, was called “Black Knight.” It was a new profession for those who rebelled against authority for justice to become, the true melee profession of the Transcendent Path.
—History had once again undergone a tremendous change.
And this change had already made even the Heavenly Envoys different…
Therefore, Pope Eivass soon issued a divine decree to all Cardinals.
“—Knight of the Round Table Lancelot has ascended. A Rebellious Envoy of the Transcendent Path has been born.”
(End of this chapter)
