Chapter 927: The Plan to Eliminate the Children of the Moon
The Eye Demons and Succubi, along with their evolved forms, the Incubus and the Lilith, possessed extremely high intelligence. These exceptionally fragile demons were positioned as strategists and assistants, akin to military advisors. Through the compilation of intelligence and “clinical research,” they quickly arrived at a fundamental solution:
While the Children of the Moon were immune to the direct effects of demonic abilities, they were not immune to indirect effects. Thus, there were countless ways to exploit this weakness. They could charm other extraordinary beings to attack them, directly destroy buildings and inflict devastating blows, or tear open the earth and then close it to crush them.
Subsequently, they found an even simpler method: infiltrate the Nine Pillar God churches and steal their holy water to create holy water bombs. They could also directly capture priests and coerce or charm them into blessing bullets. With these blessed bullets, the demons could wield machine guns and, in conjunction with the war machines unearthed by the Eye Demons and figured out how to operate by the Incubus, launch devastating attacks on the Children of the Moon!
…Listen to how absurd it sounds.
Yet, the ultimate strategic objective was indeed achieved. The “Cordon,” as well as the more advanced “Silence” and “Pacifist,” war machines sponsored by Count Leipzig, had inadvertently become the core weapons for destroying the Children of the Moon. The “Cordon” was a mobile artillery fortress, while “Silence” could be used to deploy poison gas—which the demons replaced with holy water. As for the “Pacifist,” it could lock onto targets and launch extremely powerful explosive missiles. Upon detonation, it would instantly erupt with intensely high-temperature flames that adhered to all targets, causing unquenchable burning. This large-scale combustion instantly consumed the surrounding oxygen. Furthermore, it would apply a “Heavy Curse” and “Spatial Anchor” to prevent anyone from actively moving away.
As creations of Hengwo, the Children of the Moon were inherently vulnerable to fire. Therefore, the “Pacifist” could be directly used as a weapon against them without any modifications.
There was just one minor issue:
These Children of the Moon habitually hid among ordinary people, placing detection runes in densely populated areas to monitor enemy movements. They relied on their understanding of the surrounding environment to outmaneuver their opponents. However, in this instance, the enemy completely disregarded these tactics. The demons directly used “Silence” and “Pacifist” to bomb residential areas at night. Many people died instantly, while others who did not die immediately but sustained severe burns were “rescued” by the holy water sprayed by “Silence,” though they were left with horrific scars. Consequently, all the Children of the Moon belonging to the Red Fortress factions in Star Antimony—except for a few who defected with Louise to the Fallen Heavenly Envoy and were transformed into demons—were annihilated by the demons.
It had been less than a week since the Fallen Heavenly Envoy descended.
After the eradication of the Children of the Moon, people, filled with both fear and relief, realized that Star Antimony seemed to have returned to its former peace. Although they couldn’t immediately resume their normal production and lives, their fear had significantly diminished. Fear stems from the unknown. If people could clearly ascertain the exact end date of a disaster, they would already have countermeasures. Even if they were frustrated, they would only blame themselves for “knowing too late.”
—This was the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s plan.
When ordinary people realized that demons could not be completely driven away, would not excessively interfere with their daily lives, and possessed a certain order that they could understand and grudgingly accept, they would not resist the demons too strongly. Since resistance would inevitably lead to death, while adaptation would allow them to survive but merely change their past lifestyles, even if they grumbled and cursed while living, wouldn’t they eventually have to choose adaptation and acceptance? The facts were undeniable; no amount of resistance could change anything. It was better to adjust their own capacity for acceptance; at least that way, they could live a more comfortable life. After some time, even if someone stood up to resist the demons, they would likely not gain the approval and assistance of the people. They might instead worry about “what if we anger the demons?” as this would disrupt the new rules they had already adapted to and accepted.
—This was the cunning of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. He did not directly use violence to threaten others into worshiping him, nor did he disguise himself through lies and deception. Instead, he employed a method that would incur almost no resistance and could not be exposed, to the greatest extent, to eliminate human “anger.” This was the domestication of humans.
Time was on the side of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. As more and more people accepted this new way of life, the power of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy and his demonic legions would grow stronger. The Fallen Heavenly Envoy would gradually deepen the demons’ involvement in human life, step by step. If no one stepped forward to become a target, he would use the “boiling frog” method to advance his plans incrementally. If someone did step forward to resist him, then that would be even better—each time there was a resistor, he could seize the opportunity to advance his plan significantly. Over time, people would develop an instinctive aversion to “resisting the Fallen Heavenly Envoy.”
Nonetheless, in the early stages of the plan, many people were still filled with fear of demons. —After all, this was Star Antimony. If the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s plan were implemented elsewhere, it might have succeeded. However, the people of Star Antimony understood demons all too well, and with their debunking of rumors and public education, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy could not deceive too many people at first.
So, what to do? It was simple enough—kill them. These “leaders” who publicly tried to appease other residents during the day, called for resistance against demons, and encouraged them not to lose hope, had already been quietly marked by the Eye Demons. When night fell, they would be dragged from their homes by the demons. Torture, humiliation, and execution—their tragic fates would be displayed to everyone the next morning as an absolute act of violence, serving as a warning to all.
But their efforts were not in vain. They bought time and prevented people from completely losing hope. Eivass returned to the Church and, for the first time, actively used his authority to issue a call, hoping that countries other than the Church would also accommodate the Star Antimony refugees. The Daffodil Duchy and the Black Hawk Duchy responded to the call immediately, stating they could accept an unlimited number of refugees. Although this was likely because they realized the demons harbored a strong, unshakeable animosity towards the Children of the Moon—leaving them no other choice—the outcome was positive. Since doing nothing would inevitably offend the Fallen Heavenly Envoy, they might as well seize the opportunity to gain economic and technological benefits from Star Antimony.
Although demons were terrifying, and the Fallen Heavenly Envoy was even more so, they trusted the Church to do something. In previous years, the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi had been the most diligent and sincere towards the Church. The fragmented Ancient Kingdom of Anxi did not negotiate on behalf of the entire kingdom but rather for its own cities, seeking benefits for their individual urban centers, which was a way for them to “survive.” They had no other choice but to do their best.
However, this year, no news came from the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, seemingly because the intensity of the Fourth Water War surpassed any in history. There were even reports of Good Lords being flayed alive! Normally, because Good Lords could summon invaluable clean water from the desert, even if their side was defeated by slaves, the slaves would rarely take their lives. At most, they would bind them and control them through means such as contracts, seals, and curses. Because of this, the Ancient Kingdom of Anxi could not offer any assistance this year.
Eivass, using his other identity, contacted goblin merchants and troll tribes from the Southern Continent. Surprisingly, even knowing that the targets of their rescue were Star Antimony people who were antagonistic towards goblins, the goblin merchant association still chose to lend a hand. They warmly invited people to reside there, even offering tax-exempt benefits. However, this was not due to their inherent kindness or tolerance. It was because they hoped these wealthy Star Antimony people would provide significant purchasing power, thereby developing the Southern Continent. As for the goblins who had enmity with Star Antimony—goblins were not all the same, good and bad. How could you blame them? Their merchant association had never been to Star Antimony. They were severing ties, andsevering them harshly! They even enthusiastically helped the Star Antimony immigrants brainstorm ways to seek revenge on their own kin. After all, the money in hand was theirs, and other matters were of no concern.
The Black Hawk Duchy initially clearly did not want to get involved. They were the least inclined to be dragged into war. However, seeing that all surrounding countries had agreed, they were compelled to agree to accept refugees. Thus, after the Black Hawk Duchy joined the fray a week after the Iris Flower and Daffodil Duchy had already profited greatly from talents and resources, they were the last to enter the picture. During this period, the Fallen Heavenly Envoy had not personally intervened, allowing people to transport individuals away.
Until today—when the second convoy from the Black Hawk Duchy arrived, it was suddenly attacked by demons during the day, resulting in heavy losses.
“This is the end.” The Fallen Heavenly Envoy personally appeared high in the sky, issuing a warning to everyone: “I have already been sufficiently lenient with you.”
Following this, streams of purple flames erupted—all ships and buses participating in the refugee rescue were engulfed in flames, instantly melting along with the rescuers and the rescued. The Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s stance was clear: if you attempt this again, I will personally destroy you.
As refugees continuously evacuated, Star Antimony’s population had decreased to one-third of its level a month prior. Those most desperate to escape had largely already left, and among the remaining populace, the proportion of foolish individuals and their intelligence had finally approached what the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s plan required. If left unchecked, it was only a matter of time before these people were transformed into followers of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy.
It was now April 25th, the eighteenth day since the Fallen Heavenly Envoy’s descent. Eivass also returned to Avalon at this time. —The preparations he had made in the Church during these past few days were now complete. It was time to return to Avalon and attempt to arm Avalon’s Gryphon Legion.
(End of Chapter)
