79: Chapter 69: Don’t Be Nervous, It Affects the Flavor_2 79: Chapter 69: Don’t Be Nervous, It Affects the Flavor_2 “It’s too boring; your timidity and fear have killed my desire to wield my sword.
Get lost, all of you.
Your souls are insignificant, unworthy of death by this blade,” Wayne sheathed his sword, mounted his Undead Warhorse, and turned to leave.
At the sound of a whistle, Ah Bin leapt high, jumping over the heads of the elites, wagging his tail as he caught up with his master, and vanished together into the thick fog.
The elites were lucky to have escaped with their lives, but the relief was tinged with humiliation; they focused their discontent on Simon.
This Priest was too weak, with zero battle experience, poor command response, and, worst of all, his courage—actually fainting from the enemy’s intimidation.
The Church was disgraced today, thoroughly mocked by the Death Knight, and she must bear all the responsibility.
“Help Priest Simon to his feet, and report the truth to the High Priest…”
Wayne spent the first half of the night walking his dog in the graveyard and the latter half walking his horse in the sewers, also managing to cause an elemental collapse incident, making for a rich and fulfilling nightlife.
Except for his Essence of Life which remained stalled at 95%, with negligible growth, everything else was fine.
According to the Law of Conservation of Happiness, the total amount of happiness in the world remains constant; happiness doesn’t vanish, it simply transfers from one person to another.
If you feel pain, there must be someone else who’s built their happiness upon your suffering.
Take, for example, the High Priestess; she was in deep pain right now.
Recently, she had toppled Sidney with the help of the Earth Core Cult, suppressed local snakes with an overriver dragon, reclaiming the power of the High Priest; a few days ago, she had put modest pressure on the remaining three Priests, securing Simon’s submission.
Hefei, born into a warrior faction, believed that strong power could only control other great powers, strength before authority.
Desk-bound Simon did not meet her values, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and Hefei found herself without a choice.
Moreover, she needed a leading example, so she decided to give Simon an opportunity; as long as he didn’t mess up, he could continue his duty as a Priest.
Everything was planned out, but then the Death Knight happened for real, Simon disgraced himself before the enemy faction, fully proving his incompetence, no longer fit to serve as Priest.
Hefei rubbed her forehead with her hand and said to the shrinking Simon, “Hand over a list, recommend three candidates you think are fit, and from now on…
just stay in the office, I remember your management being noteworthy.”
Simon smiled bitterly in thanks, then turned and walked towards the door—utterly unlucky, about to jump off a building yet get kicked in the heel.
The High Priestess had given him an opportunity, but he had failed to seize it, letting the Death Knight take it.
Just being alive to return, Simon no longer held any expectations.
“Also, based on the report provided by the Surgical Knife Elites, I suggest you find a psychologist for some counseling, and submit your medical report as soon as possible,” Hefei said matter-of-factly.
Simon’s departing back jerked slightly, then he breathed a sigh of relief only after Hefei’s words finished; as long as he wasn’t sent directly to the Red Leaf Forest Asylum for recuperation, everything was negotiable.
He thanked her and hastened his steps.
Hefei watched the unRead the latest chapters on NovelHub - completely free!
She had hoped to set an example for the onlookers; instead, she had turned it into a huge joke.
Those unaware might think she had done it on purpose.
Hefei could already predict that in the eyes of others, she was seen as a tyrant; whether they submitted or resisted, the outcome would be the same.
Without the ability to attract followers, there’s no way to cultivate a loyal circle, and without loyalists, power is unstable.
The Dark Knight rampaged, the Naturalism Church’s Windsor District suffered heavy losses; the surviving elites were substantial but few, and from a political standpoint, they were all lucky profiteers of victory—a mismatch of strength to their positions.
It was unrealistic to expect the Windsor District to recover its vitality in the short term, but it was possible to strengthen the Lundan Headquarters first.
The first person Hefei thought of was Paris—needing loyalists, she had them, needing talented individuals, she had them.
If cultivating within was temporarily impossible, then drafting fresh blood from outside would do.
Hefei got a headache and picked up the phone, only to put it back shortly after; Windsor and Farak had a century-old friendship, so introducing this fresh blood wasn’t the best suggestion.
To use herself as an example, if she hadn’t been a local from Lundan, the Headquarters wouldn’t have appointed her as High Priestess.
The mess was too big, and Hefei felt numb.
After much thought, he decided to make a call to the headquarters.
A Death Knight appeared in Lundan, strongly defeating a District Priest leading the Surgical Knife Elites.
Along with the Dark Knights who lurked in the shadows, emerging from time to time, the Lundan Headquarters was in imminent danger.
To ensure the Church’s interests in Windsor Kingdom, the headquarters had to dispatch a batch of elites to be stationed there.
The headquarters was skeptical, believing it impossible for the Death Knight to exist in both Lundan and Paris at the same time.
There had to be a fake involved in a major entanglement, so they decided to send an elite team to Lundan to assist Hefei with the investigation.
In everyone’s mind, Death Knights would not leave the Underworld Great Tomb, making it highly likely that the Death Knight in Lundan was a fraud.
An alliance of death and darkness was engaging in mystification, certainly planning something.
If one dared to assume, this was a conspiracy, a diabolical alliance with wicked intentions.
Once the Naturalism Church’s attention was fully committed to Lundan, they would invade Paris en masse, bringing the entire Farak Kingdom under their control.
Meanwhile, learning of Simon’s punishment, the two priests, Lawrence and Dana, laughed until they could hardly stand.
“What did I tell you?
That woman wouldn’t let us off easy,” Lawrence mocked his former colleague fiercely.
Naïvety leads to destruction; fools deserve no sympathy, everything is of their own doing.
“She thought she had won, but in less than ten days, she was kicked out,” Dana also laughed heartily.
They continued to visit Sidney, asking him to come out of retirement to deal with Hefei.
Three days of afternoon teas yielded no results, and they somewhat guessed Sidney’s intentions.
With a Dark Knight at the front and a Death Knight at the rear, the airdropped High Priestess would be sandwiched in the middle.
With good luck, she’d fall from power gracefully; with bad luck, she’d be directly slain by the knights.
Sidney didn’t need to do anything and could just comfortably wait.
However, Sidney could afford to wait, but they could not.
Once the ten-day deadline was up, they would have to pack up their belongings and leave in disgrace.
To protect their own power, the two decided to take a gamble.
They would find the Dark Knight and lead him to face Hefei directly.
A Death Knight would also suffice; they weren’t picky.
“So, where should we go to find the knights?”
“Seek out the followers of death and darkness; they have been very active lately and must know something.”
“All right, I’ll go after death, and you go after darkness.”
If we succeed with just one, we can oust that woman from Lundan.”
“There’s actually another possibility: kidnap that woman’s husband.
I remember she also has a daughter…” Lawrence proposed.
“Forget it, the Lando Family’s relationship with the Liberty Mage Alliance is murky, and the mages serving them are far trickier than the followers of death and darkness,” Dana said with a frown.
Not only the Liberty Mage Alliance, but the Lando Family is also one of the fourteen Tulip Families.
Digging deeper would draw out the Royal Family, an untouchable slope.
Many believed that Windsor’s power was controlled by the cabinet and that the Queen was merely a mascot.
In reality, however, the Queen still wielded the power to govern the nation.
Not exercising power and lacking power are two different things.
The Naturalism Church’s ability to establish its headquarters in Lundan had an inseparable correlation with the Royal Family’s tacit consent, a matter from long ago.
The Heavenly Father’s Court grew powerful, encompassing the faith of the entire God-chosen Continent.
Under the overwhelming pressure of clerical authority, the monarchies were weakened, with displeasure expressed by royal families.
The Windsor Royal Family did something very unconventional, fostering the strength of the Heavenly Father’s Court within the Windsor Domain.
Using the state religion as bait, the Royal Family encouraged the Court to become independent and break away from the central control of the Holy See.
In the game of multiple parties, the maneuvers of the Windsor Royal Family did not entirely succeed, but they significantly weakened the influence of the Heavenly Father’s Court within their domain, eventually leading to the rise of other divine faiths.
The God-chosen Continent entered an era where multiple religious beliefs coexisted.
The Windsor Royal Family, having weathered many storms, was not as simple as it appeared; one could consider the Queen a mascot, but not just a mascot.
With years of hidden depth, perhaps only the gods knew the extent of the power held by the Royal Family.