CH 73

On the other side of the spire hall, there sat a man who appeared to be around thirty years old. He wore a white and blue robe with three flame symbols on the collar. His face was thin, and his greasy black hair hung evenly on both sides. He had a huge hooked nose, and his eyes were cold and profound.

"Gura, how is it going?" he said coldly.

"Lord Jon, Theodore is now on his deathbed, delirious. He made a very foolish move, and we have won," Manolobana bowed slightly.

Jon's cold black eyes stared at him silently.

"Gura, I cannot claim victory until I have truly inherited the throne of fire," Jon said.

"Please rest assured, the name of Wolfgang von Jon will be engraved on the royal artifact. Your soul strength far exceeds that of other competitors, and your wisdom and ideas are the correct path for Thalorian's future. Only under your leadership can humanity truly obtain peace," Manolobana smiled.

"Hopefully," Jon said indifferently.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"It should be," Manolobana bowed.

Jon did not say anything else, he just lightly flicked his finger, and the flames in the hall fireplace burned fiercely.

These were not natural flames, but guardian flames. In theory, as long as they were powerful enough, they could become holy flames. Any human settlement existed around it, and the number of guardian flames was what truly constrained Thalorian's expansion outward. Without it, no living creature could exist in the eternal black mist for long.

Only the candidate for the throne could allow the guardian flames to exist in a private fireplace. The position of the chief judge of the Internal Adjudication Court was not enough to do so. Only the candidate for the throne could.

Every king of Thalorian was born from the candidates for the throne. The conditions for becoming a candidate for the throne were very simple: ignite the soul flame, become a fire endowment person (spiritual fire sequence), and obtain the most important soul characteristic that has appeared in humans from ancient times to the present: eternal burning fire.

It was so rare that only four people in the entire Thalorian kingdom possessed it: the king, Wolfgang von Jon, Aligeli Dan Green Feather, and Modrich Lau Star Song. Once the old king's soul returned to the holy flame, the next new king would be born from the three of Jon, Green Feather, and Star Song.

Only they who possessed the eternal burning fire characteristic could resonate with the holy flame, obtain its power, maintain its stability, and guard the holy flame from ever extinguishing. The resonance object of the holy flame could only be one person, the king.

The elders in the highest council decided who was eligible to become the king. They were all figures who had made outstanding contributions to the kingdom in the legion or the political hall and enjoyed lofty prestige. Their judgment criteria were all the actions and achievements of the three candidates since they became candidates.

According to Thalorian's tradition, the candidate for the throne would also serve as the guardian and become the highest officer of a defense zone, responsible for protecting the lives and safety of all civilians under the defense zone. This was also to test their wisdom and ability."Jon is the guardian of the seventh defense zone, Green Feather is the guardian of the twelfth defense zone, and Star Song is the guardian of the fourteenth defense zone.

Currently, Jon is the most hopeful candidate to become the king, but Green Feather's appearance poses a strong challenge to him. She has performed exceptionally well in the twelfth defense zone and has earned the praise of many elders.

He must change this situation and strike Green Feather.

And Manolobana has found a very good entry point.

The only survivor of the Hongshi Village, Rode.

Green Feather has sheltered him with her power. Therefore, as long as it is proven that he is a member of the Apocalypse Church, or an accomplice, or has bad character and behavior, it can heavily hit the arrogant arrogance of Green Feather and her supporters.

Although there have been some setbacks in the plan, it has not affected the subsequent implementation. Manolobana believes that he can soon kill that arrogant little beast and make him stink, and then overthrow the ignorant and childish king candidate, Green Feather.

Although the other three chief judges are biased towards him, he is not the only one in the Internal Affairs Adjudication.

Three huge figures stepped out of the flames and bowed deeply to Jon on the throne.

They are the three chief judges of the Internal Affairs Adjudication.

"Your Excellency Jon, may the fire always protect you."

Jon nodded slightly. "I want to know if Lucien has changed his attitude."

The three chief judges looked at each other and said softly, "Chief Adjudicator is still following the ancient system and does not want to participate in the matter of passing on the fire."

Jon nodded, which was expected. Lucien is a stubborn follower of the ancient system. As long as he does not turn to Green Feather or Star Song, a powerful real power holder can do too much. Although the real decision-makers are the elders, a powerful real power holder can do too much.

"How is the case in Hongshi Village?"

"We have basically confirmed that it was done by the contaminated sect of the Apocalypse Church. They seem to have obtained a very powerful item that can partially change a person's fate. The pseudo governor Alexis was squeezed out of the original governor's fate in this way. Their goal is to find a relic and ultimately summon and replace the evil god."

"Guardian Green Feather is also investigating. This is an incident that occurred in the twelfth defense zone. They have the right and progress very quickly."

Jon said quietly, "Interfere with them. We must not let them catch the murderer faster than us. If necessary, we can release the Apocalypse Church members or murder their investigators, but be careful not to leave any handles."

"Yes."

"Gula, you know what to do with the rest."

Manolobana bowed, "Please rest assured, Rode is definitely a heinous, immoral, and murderous member of the Apocalypse Church. I have sufficient evidence."

Jon nodded lightly.

"I never thought that Green Feather would do such a childish thing. You can investigate their relationship and see if there are any hidden goals."

One of the chief judges smirked, "I have seen that boy. He has delicate skin and tender flesh. Maybe she just wants to find a little lover to fill her bed at night."Jon's eyes flashed with a hint of invisible disgust, and he said calmly, "Do not underestimate the enemy. Prudence is an essential quality on the path of a king."

The four of them bowed together and said, "Yes!"

"What about the Golden Woods Academy?"

A chief justice replied, "They did not accept our proposal, but the restructuring method we proposed has gained the support of many elders."

Manolobana sneered, "Theodore is already too old and unfit to be the dean of the Golden Woods Academy. It is unreasonable to entrust the heavy responsibility of cultivating the future of humanity to a 130-year-old man. His foolish kindness should be thrown into the sewer under the royal city."

"Right," agreed another chief justice. "What's with the Golden Woods Star? Choosing the person with the greatest progress resulted in giving the best resources to those useless waste. And there are so many support systems for the weak... it's a crime against humanity!"

"Yes! The academy should select the strongest through cruel competition, eliminate the garbage, and every resource needs to be competed for. Students should pay huge tuition fees to the academy to support those who really have hope. This way, the academy's expenses can be greatly reduced."

Another chief justice shouted, "The academy's isolation system should also be abolished. Parents should reach into the academy's affairs, and elite children will always be elite! The dean and the three branch deans should all be replaced!"

"Enough," Jon stopped their criticism of Theodore.

"Continue to criticize the academy, seize every loophole, and try to replace one or two branch deans with our people in the future, especially the first dean Vila, and get rid of him as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

"Also, continue to destroy the defense of District Twelve, use decayed matter to lure monsters there, and if necessary, slaughter residents and blame the Doomsday Sect. Do not leave any traces."

Manolobana bowed, "I will do it. Their bones will pave the way for the new king, leading Thalorian Kingdom towards a more correct path. Their deaths have value and will thank us."

Jon nodded slightly, and a fierce flame ignited from his body, but the tables, chairs, and carpets around him were not affected. He stood up and stepped into the guardian fire in the fireplace, using the power of the fire to teleport to the resonant area.

The three chief justices also left one after another.

After a moment, another figure appeared in front of Manolobana.

He knelt on one knee and bowed his head, "Sentinel Levy reporting."

Manolobana nodded, "How is your injury?"

"Protected by the shadows, I have recovered."

He raised his head, and under the half-iron mask, there was a terrifying scar that made it hard to imagine how he survived.

He was the sentinel who came to assist Raisin's team ten days ago.

"Very well, tell me your conclusion."

"Rode may be a discarded member of the Polluted Sect, but unfortunately, I did not catch the Black Priest Selmi."

"It doesn't matter."

Manolobana showed a cold smile.

"You can testify.""Yes."

"Next, we just have to wait."

Manolobana stood up and looked down at the upper city from the high window of the spire.

In the vast city, the light of the fire was diminishing, shadows gradually falling, and people on the roads quickly decreasing, rushing to their respective homes.

Tuesday had ended, the invisible sun had set behind the mountain, the power of the fire weakened, and darkness once again ruled the earth.

And this isolated city, in front of unbeatable dark beasts, was only like ants.

Manolobana really didn't understand why some people dared to challenge such existence, dared to raise their swords against these unbeatable giants?

They must be stopped! Otherwise, humanity will be destroyed!

"Not enough, if Raisin's team can testify..."

Manolobana pondered and fell into deep thought.

——

Since Thalorian existed, the prediction of dates and star symbols has been one of the most important jobs in the royal city.

Stargazers, astrologers, prophets, and tower observers are the people responsible for this work.

The White Tower located in the upper city is their workplace.

White Tower.

Observatory.

Lucien, the Chief Justice, stood on the edge of the high tower, overlooking the royal city gradually surrounded by darkness, muttering to himself.

"Why can such a small kingdom still split into so many completely incompatible groups and sects? Why, when humanity is in such dire straits, do they still not forget to fight each other?"

As if he was asking himself, or asking those unknown existences.

But there was a voice behind him that answered him.

"If humans can unite, the legendary era when fire illuminated the earth will not fall into the present where darkness rules, and we can only relive the glory of humanity in ruins and relics."

Lucien did not answer. He looked silently for a moment and asked, "Is the operation of the big eye normal?"

The voice replied, "Normal, my old friend. In the royal city, any combat personnel above level seven and any spiritual fluctuation above level five cannot escape its observation."

"How long until the next Tuesday?"

"The Star Core did not respond, and the operation of the spiritual world was disrupted by unknown factors, becoming chaotic, making it difficult to predict the stars and celestial phenomena."

"And the Black Tide?"

"Uh, it's coming soon. Are you planning to act at that time?"

Lucien did not answer, just said calmly, "The real test is coming."

He lightly jumped and jumped off the high tower.

"Whether it's us or them."

——

Outer city.

In the depths of an unknown sewer.

Hundreds of people wearing black robes gathered in a huge space.

A huge black flame rose among them, and cheers suddenly sounded.

A phantom emerged from the black flame, a hollow face like a vortex of darkness.

Everyone knelt down and deeply bowed their bodies.

"Go."

The black shadow gave the order.

"Kill the traitor Rode."

Hundreds of black-robed people shouted in unison, "Yes! The Lord's command is everything!"

——

Kimberly Academy.

Three dormitory buildings.After enduring Kassan's mental bombardment for more than half an hour, Rode successfully used the excuse of "If you don't go back now, you'll have to sleep with me" to send her back to her own dormitory.

The department head Miller is such a bastard, Rode thought indignantly.

Why couldn't he come up with a better excuse? He had to say that he was caught by the inspectors while lingering on Hongfang Street.

The academy was very angry at this kind of behavior that violated discipline, but since it was his first offense, he was not punished temporarily. As the leader of Group Ten, Kassan must keep an eye on him and not let him do such things again.

When Rode saw the bulging veins on Kassan's fist, he knew it was not good. Fortunately, his eloquence was very good, and he just talked his way out of it.

It had been a long time, and Rode was eager to return to the dreamland.

But just as he was about to close the door, an unexpected guest arrived.

It was one of the award winners he met at the celebration that day, Hines from Apple Town.

As the assistant to the dean, he brought a message from the dean.

"I forgot to tell you that you can also collaborate with the Ashes Excavators. I've already written a recommendation letter for you, and if you need it, you can contact them in the way specified in the letter."

A good-looking romance novel...

Rode frowned.

Ashes Excavators?

He remembered Rogers saying that they were people who specialized in researching and excavating the history of the royal city.

What benefits would there be in working with them?