295 Communication, Reinforcements

As William made his way to the underground root system, his mind raced with thoughts on how to put an end to the Lady of Starvation’s ritual.

Stopping the ceremony required them to attack it from any of the four different angles: take down the presiding host, obliterate the ritual’s designated space, eradicate the firewood essential for the ceremony, and extinguish the fuse that set it all off.

But killing the host and destroying the space were out of the question. The host was the Lady of Starvation herself, and the space was the vast Ravenwood Forest.

Annihilating the firewood was also an unappealing option. It had little to do with William vowing to Floral. He just couldn’t bring himself to massacre 40 million treeified Forest Elves from Ravenwood unless it was his last resort.

Floral, on the other hand, had been working tirelessly to put out the ritual fuses ever since she took office. She had been focused on one fuse that they could confirm, the wedges from another timelinethe so-called Resistance that inhabited the underground root system, driven purely by memories.

That was what Floral said.

Time in Ravenwood was still shattered into two, and when the citizens began to bicker over their memories of the same event, it meant that the fragmented timeline was about to be trimmed down to a single causal timeline.

This reminded William of the Mandela Effect he had heard of in his previous life.

“Can’t we just kill them all?” Nizemar chimed in, curious.

Floral turned her head, her gaze penetrating her. Then, she immediately looked at Ebony, who had donned his antler crown once more and lowered his head, his face shrouded in the shadows. The green runes that bound his hands were tight.

Confirming that Nizemar’s words had failed to rattle the Matriarch Listener, Floral answered,

“Killing them will only validate their existence in history. It could hasten the replacement of our timeline. We must instead isolate them, let them remain in hidden places until they perhaps return to their own timeline. This is the safest course of action.”

“But it’s not safe to have them remain in Ravenwood, right?” William asked.

“I have an agreement with the Platinum Palace to exile them to the Land of Eternal Night in the far north.

“The Land of Eternal Night in the extreme north?” William asked in disbelief.

Floral nodded and continued, “Or the Ruins of Orsis. As long as they remain isolated far away from civilization and leave no record of their existence, it should be fine.”

William shook his head.

“What’s the issue?” the other party hurriedly asked when she saw this.

“If you plan on sending them there I suggest giving them a quick death here.”

To most people, the Land of Eternal Night and the Ruins of Orsis were just names. But William had been there and had returned with a harrowing account of what he had witnessed. Going to those places was akin to a creative form of execution.

“Then how should we deal with those 40-odd people?”

Floral knew better than to question the judgment of the legendary adventurer before her, especially one who had journeyed to World’s End. But the matter at hand was troubling. How were they to find a place for them?

William, however, was not fazed.

“We’ll keep them under control for now. I have a safe place for them later. But you’ve reminded me how serious this is.”

He halted in his tracks and raised his right hand, conjuring a simple spell.

“So the place you’re talking about is”

Floral stopped mid-sentence upon feeling the surge of magic around him.

It was the kind of power that could burn hundreds of people to ash and back again.

If she hadn’t activated her defensive spells, it might have even burned half of White Bone Castle to the ground.

But the spell William cast was a simple communication spell.

Floral looked at Nizemar in confusion, but the other party only gestured for her to keep quiet.

This magic came and went quickly. The communication spell lasted only a few seconds. William’s lips moved, but no one present could hear him clearly. Before anyone could react, the spell was shattered by his clenched fist.

After finishing all of this, William straightened his robe and said, “Come on.”

“May I ask who you were contacting?” Floral asked uneasily.

It was impossible for normal communication spells to require so much mana.

“Help.”

William replied tersely. Then, as if he wasn’t satisfied with this answer, he dusted off his robe and continued, “Or you can understand it as reinforcements.”

Grief Mountains, Dawn Fortress.

“In summary, to resolve the problem in Emerald Province, the Presiding Judge has requested reinforcements. Does anyone object?” Blake sat at the head of the long table and said to the others present.

The room fell silent as the others contemplated the request.

“But Lord Blake, the situation in Viper Scar has been dire. The number of Moon Realm demonic creatures has increased by 30% since the Rain Moon, and the people are resentful. We can barely take care of ourselves, let alone help others. The empire’s 3rd Legion was recently transferred to the border pass, and it’s risky to” a middle-aged man with a Bramble badge eventually stuttered.

He was the newly promoted Bramble Guards leader.

His words seemed to release a valve, and the representatives of the other armed departments agreed. The entire venue turned into a cacophony of voices like a noisy market.

Blake silently waited for them to finish speaking. Only when the venue returned to silence did he slowly say, “We must resolve the Viper Scar issue at its roots. Of course, I do not expect you to understand what I’m talking about. I also understand your enthusiasm for protecting the Blackwater Swamp, and we cannot mobilize an army to travel thousands of miles to Emerald Province.”

“Then, what do you mean?” the middle-aged man from before asked.

“Our battlefield won’t be in Emerald Province. When the Presiding Judge begins the war with the Lady of Starvation, I need you to gather your troops and follow methrough the Viper Scar to the Lake of Entropy. We will smash that b*tch’s rear, just like the Salvation Army did a thousand years ago. Satisfied?”

Ava State, Moonlaw City.

Remides emerged from her bedroom, her purpose clear. She strode to the communication spell to contact the seven city-states before lighting the Holy Fire.

“It’s about time.”