Chapter 765 - 752: The Sword Saint Has Been Revived
Chapter 765: Chapter 752: The Sword Saint Has Been Revived
"The Northern Territory’s army eliminated Chis at sea?" Duke Lorenzo was somewhat incredulous upon receiving the news from Sofia’s side, "How could Fungus Castle send their troops so far to eliminate creatures that pose no real threat to them? Could it be the Empire’s... no, it shouldn’t be..."
Before finishing, Lorenzo himself denied this thought.
The United Kingdom’s intelligence on the Empire might be somewhat outdated, but it’s not completely ignorant.
He was aware that the Empire was currently eradicating the fungal mat within its borders, and given this, it was naturally impossible for them to manage anything resembling a Puki Master army.
However, he still couldn’t understand why Fungus Castle’s army would appear there.
Standing behind the Hero, Priest Samuel said, "We suspect they came through the Underground City’s space rifts. If starting from the Tide Sanctuary, that battlefield isn’t too far away. Only..."
"Only it’s hard to imagine any force utilizing such unstable channels to move their army," Lorenzo finished explaining Samuel’s perplexity.
As a duke, he couldn’t possibly be uninformed about the space rifts unique to the Underground City, though such a rift cannot exist stably, only a very few reckless adventurers who don’t care about returning would dare to cross, and any rational commander would never use it as a channel for the troops.
As for a method to maintain the space rifts stably, it didn’t exist in Lorenzo’s awareness.
Even now, after much discussion, they could only speculate that Fungus Castle was opting for this all-or-nothing approach to gain something from Chis.
Sofia had also mentioned the acceleration of the mist, and Priest Samuel spoke directly, suggesting that the range ultimately covered by said mist might exceed that from the time of the Man-Demon War.
Lorenzo nodded seriously, indicating he would be prepared.
A Puki, under the servant’s control, brought the fruit tray to the table, Sofia’s gaze fell on the Puki until it left the room.
"The Kingdom... the presence of Pukis is everywhere now, isn’t it?" Sofia suddenly remarked.
Lorenzo chuckled, "Pukis are indeed very convenient, in every aspect... honestly, when I learned that the Empire had actively abandoned the use of Pukis, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. With Pukis, the Kingdom can not only quickly recover from the losses of war, but can even become stronger, especially with you, Hero, in the future we might very well reclaim the heartlands of the continent."
"Convenient enough to... resurrect the dead?"
"What?" Lorenzo’s expression immediately turned serious.
They indeed had considered resurrecting a certain someone as a last resort, but that was top-secret.
He didn’t understand what Sofia meant by resurrection at this moment, if it’s regarding leaked information, that would be a big problem.
Lorenzo immediately dismissed the servants and aides around him and activated a barrier in the room to prevent eavesdropping.
Only then did Sofia speak, "Duke Lorenzo, I guess you may not yet know that Sword Saint Elvyn has already been resurrected."
"What, Elvyn?!" Lorenzo looked at her with an expression questioning the validity of her statement, then explained seriously, "Lady Sofia, I don’t know how much you understand about resurrection, but one of the necessary conditions is to use the deceased’s own remains, relying on their connection with the soul to bring the dead back and grant them an appropriate body. As for Elvyn’s remains... they are securely tucked away in Oath City’s most heavily guarded underground cemetery right now."
"But I saw it."
Sofia fully recounted the scene with the Sword Saint Puki that she witnessed during the battle with Chis, causing Lorenzo to fall into deep contemplation.
Many questions arose in his mind.
First was the matter of resurrection, not using remains, but resurrected into a Puki? What kind of resurrection is this? Unheard of!
Next, if the Sword Saint was truly resurrected, why hadn’t he reached out to them?
Elvyn had practically dedicated himself to humanity during his lifetime, after revival, there was no reason he wouldn’t pay heed to the Kingdom in distress.
Was there some kind of restriction involved?
And most crucially...
"Are you... sure it was a Puki carrying four swords?" Lorenzo confirmed again.
"Have you seen it, Duke?"
Lorenzo nodded with some difficulty but then added, "I can’t be certain, it might just be a similar design..."
"Let me go take a look, then I’ll know if it is," Sofia said.
This matter wasn’t just about the life or death of the Sword Saint alone, its implications might be immense.
In public and private, Lorenzo had to take this matter seriously.
Thus, the originally planned trip to take Sofia to Oath City was changed to the Duke Saint Clair’s Mansion where Inanna resides—the suspected Sword Saint Puki always stayed with Inanna.
Before they set off, Lorenzo communicated the matter to Alama with utmost confidentiality through the communication crystal.
...
Meanwhile, Lin Jun, foraging back and forth in the Skill Library, seeking separate enhancements for Xiao Hai’s head, paused slightly and focused on Sofia’s group.
Even though he didn’t know what they discussed in the soundproof magically isolated room, Lin Jun knew that originally the planned itinerary for the Kingdom was to go to the capital Oath City.
Now the direction is... Mushroom City? Or the Duke’s Mansion?
Why did the target suddenly change?
Following this line of reasoning with some pondering, Lin Jun probably guessed their target.
"Dingdong, dingdong, the great Mushroom Lord calling Sword Saint."
"Boss?" Sword Saint, who was currently discussing with the dwarf forge master Marco, hoping the latter would create swords more suited for Puki appendage usage, was startled, "What is it?"
"Inanna’s side has something requiring your presence."
"Is it another dragon?" Elvyn deferred, "If it’s merely an individual, those two Elemental Lords should manage without issue, right? I’m still here..."
"It’s not a dragon, it’s something more crucial! As for the minor sword issue you’re concerned about, you don’t need to worry, Master Marco will take care of it for you."
Beside, Marco’s corner of the eye twitched; he originally intended to excuse himself from the Sword Saint Puki’s request and focus on forging a new model of siege combat puppets.
Given the boss’s direct order now, evidently his excuse wouldn’t fly.
"Crucial?" Sword Saint was somewhat puzzled, but helping Inanna, his niece, was his duty, so he wasn’t inclined to refuse.
Yet it was unclear why the boss added strangely at the end:
"By the way, when you get there, let Pink Puki RUA a bit. Last time she complained you weren’t cooperating enough. Treasure it well, after all, this might be the last time..."
"Last time, what does that mean? Is Inanna in trouble?" Sword Saint was still quite attentive to his niece’s safety.
But following this sentence, no matter how he asked, the boss was silent thereafter.
...
Confusion, anxiety, anger, happiness... all eventually transformed into expressionlessness on Duke Alama’s face, he took a deep breath, pushed open the main hall doors, and his gaze fell upon Inanna who was happily cuddling Sword Saint Puki.