Chapter 178: Grim
Chapter 178: Grim
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although nobody could hear the exchange between the paladin and the Archbishop, but even from far, everybody could see the sudden changes on his face. In just a second, he quickly regained his calmness and dismissed the paladin as he continued the ceremony. The Holy Song once again filled the hall but this time, nobody was praying. Everyone was busy whispering to one another. What exactly happened that the Church would act so unlike their usual composed self? What was so urgent that they had to interrupt the ceremony?
Just as Baiyi was wondering whether the celebration would once again be destroyed by his presence, a series of chaotic footsteps could be heard coming from outside the box. It was the sound of people running around. After a while, a Dole family butler knocked on the door before he came in to report to Undine, "... M-Milady, t-the Templar Fort is in a dire state."
Although it was just a few simple words, the message was earth-shattering.
The so-called Templar Fort was actually not a castle nor a border fort. Instead, it was the southernmost line of defense in the Southland. The west border went as far to the Weimar Mountains at the southwest and the east border extended all the way to the Dark Swamp. With the help of those two natural moats, the Templar Fort fenced off the most dangerous region in the entire Southland from the world.
The thing that was being guarded here was none other than two cracks that were long left behind, the Shadow Crack and the Door of Abyss. During the war between realms, the two cracks formed from the erroneous sealing method of human beings. In the end, they turned into two permanent channels connecting Isythre to the endless abyss. It was the largest channel for abyss devils to enter the human world.
For that reason, humans had decided to set up Templar Fort and built an absolute defensive line protecting their world. They had invested a huge amount of defensive forces and resources in the fort, preparing themselves for possible large-scale attack from the devils. That was not only a barrier for the Southland, it could actually be considered as the entrance to the entire realm of Isythre.
Templar Fort had endured for more than 3000 years. Still, under the constant renovation and reinforcement from mankind, it was still as solid and reliable as a brand-new fort, never once fallen to disrepair in the past 3000 years. That was why when they heard that there was an emergency at the Templar Fort, the Church lost their usual composure and acted so crudely in front of so many people. If the fort fell, it meant that the entire Southland would be exposed to the fangs of the devils.
"If my memory serves me correctly, the last time there was an emergency, it was actually caused by your wife, Sir Hope. That time, in order to take the Demigod Lich down, many strong people from the Fort were called away from their posts. Because of that, the devils took the opportunity to initiate an attack. Still, everything was resolved eventually and it was not as urgent as how it seemed to be right now," the Apprentice said in the Void.
Let's not go into details on why he referred to the the Fairy as Baiyi's wife but from his words, it was not hard to figure out that the Templar Fort was usually very strong and stable.
Throughout history, the Templar Fort had seen countless of wars, be it small or huge, but still, it had never gotten to a point where it was in a dire situation. That was mainly because of the strong backup that the fort was continuously given. Even supposing a civil strife broke out in the Southland, the supplies and reinforcements given to the fort were never once halted. Most of the contributions came from the Church, and some were from other conscientious commoners.
"It is okay for trouble to arise everywhere else but not at the Templar Fort," During the most recent rebuke of the dynasty, that was a quote from the speech given by the Duke of Walthart before he ascended the throne when he visited the fort. Indeed, true to his words, he had done it perfectly. Even during war time, the supplies and reinforcements given to the fort had never once been cut off. With his sheer determination, he took up the heavy burden. It was precisely because of his resolute attitude that he won the support of the Church who was usually in a neutral position. They assisted him in becoming the Emperor of the current empire.
From that it could be seen that the Templar Fort was even more important to humankind than the throne. That was also why the news of the fort being placed under an emergency state was such a shocking news even to the Voidwalkers.
"Why is this happening?" the Devil was the first one who queried, "I had meticulously planned out an attack on the Templar Fort before and based on my calculation, unless all of the monarchs and feudal lords in the abyss were united, otherwise with just only 1-2 overlords or monarchs, there was absolutely zero possibility for us to defeat the Templar Fort. But of course, wanting the abyss to unite and work together would be the biggest joke of the era."
"Not only would a frontal attack not work, attacks from the flanks would not be effective as well. The entire southern line of defense is like an arc that is protruding northwards, with a narrow middle but two long ends. If you want to bypass the Weimar Mountain or the Dark Swamp, not only do you have to contend with the terrible monsters inside, but you also need a lot of supplies. Even the strong body of a devil could not withstand such a harsh journey," the Thane added.
Well, all of these make sense but right now, there's undeniably an emergency going on over there as we're speaking. Anyone of you have a plausible explanation for that? Baiyi thought. He didn't seem inclined to speack as he decided to wait for the butler to continue his report.
Undine continued to ask multiple questions regarding the fort but the butler was not able to answer any of them. It appeared that he was not that informed about the details of the situation at all. Still, since the news was obtained from the Church, there was no reason to doubt the legitimacy.
How did this happen? Don't tell me those devils flew here or something?
"If it isn't some powerful forbidden boost spells, then I guess they must have successfully bred a new species or something. Or, it could be that there are traitors from this realm and a huge number of them, too. They would need to work from both inside and outside in order to take the fort down," the Devil said confidently,
According to the Walkers' memory, the Templar Fort's wall was not just a simple high wall. There was a moat outside the wall and a little farther out, there was a trench and other fortifications. Even the wall itself had multiple walls like the city fortress in Ancient China. Not only that, there were also many reinforcement enclosing the fortified entrance. The entire place was basically as complex as a maze.
Coupled with the Holy Ground that enveloped the entire line of defense, there was no way the devils could get through. Cults that were deluded by the devils were easily spotted as soon as they approach the fort. For that reason, the Devil was 100% s ure that such a formidable fort could not be breached by just some traitors inside the fort. There must be some civil unrest there, a large-scale civil strife.
However, the Templar Fort was the fortress of the Church. The secular forces were merely assisting in holding up the place. The main defensive line for the fort was made up of the very pious and loyal crusaders and paladins, how could it be possible for a large number of spies to be placed there?
From what Baiyi could see, the situation at the Fort was filled with many questionable points but from the butler's word, it seemed like the communication spell connecting Arfin city to the fort was cut off and no further information could be obtained. It was only when the civilians that stayed in the area near the fort saw the smoke signal that they found out that something was wrong. With so little information, nobody knew how long it took for the news to finally reach the city and nobody could even tell when exactly the incident took place.
Although, logically thinking, the devils might have a way to sabotage the communication method of mankind, Baiyi could not help but subconsciously relegate the whole situation to the Godsfall sect. Still, rationally, it seemed like it was impossible for this to happen. After all, it was only a mere cult, who was it to fight with the Church directly?
"At a time like this, I can't help but envy the two divine weapons of Earth... Satellite and Internet ," the Archmage suddenly said.
At any rate, all hopes of continuing the important celebration was dashed to pieces. After the clergies had all been cleared down from the stage, President Rhansey hastily rushed to the stage and together with the Archbishop, they briefed the crowd about the situation at Templar Fort. After they were done, they quickly went off again, leaving a huge clamor among the crowd below the stage.
Baiyi walked out of the box just in time to see a few people chasing after the president. They must be some aristocrats or the senior cadres of some associations who were sent to participate in the celebration.
Very soon, the news from Templar Fort was spreaded throughout Arfin city. The joyous and festive atmosphere was instantly replaced by horror. Right now, the entire city was in a heated discussion about the possibility of another realm war. Faint sense of panic gradually enveloped the whole city, the academy anniversary long forgotten.
Baiyi could not help but drew in a breath of worry wondering if he was indeed a curse to all festivals. Perhaps the Voidwalkers were not suitable to attend this sort of ceremonious event at all? Fortunately, this time, the ordeal took place somewhere far, far away at the Templar Fort.
Even Baiyi's little girls were sitting in the living room discussing the situation with a cup of black tea each in their hands. Listening to their naive remarks and thoughts, Baiyi felt like they were just trying to put on a show of acting cute. Still, a part of him knew that most of people had more or less the same views as the young girls.
However, there was another serious discussion that was taking place in the president's conference room. Presently, the room was filled with many people. A closed sound barrier was cast over the room, with many grey robed mysterious people guarding the door outside. Without a doubt, it was an important and confidential meeting.
Let's take a look at the people who were present in the meeting. Other than the President and the old Archbishop who had made his appearance before, there were other representatives from various associations and other top-level aristocrats like the Duke of Wright. The only person who seemed to be out of place was the gray-robed old man who was sitting beside the Archbishop, eliciting many puzzled gazes from the rest of the attendees.
"This is the Paladin Grand Cross of the Church, Lord Haart. He's also the Chief Judge for the Supreme Judicial Court," The Archbishop introduced him to the rest of the people in the room.
"H-He's one of the Big Three of the Judicial Court?" An aristocratic representative exclaimed out loud in shock, "W-Why is he here?"
Even though the anniversary of the Celestial Fortress Academy was highly valued by many authorities, but still, it was only the princes, vice presidents, or sons who representated them to attend the ceremonious event. However, not only did the Archbishop personally came to make the trip, even the mysterious Big Three from the Supreme Judicial Court sent one of their own to attend the event. It was obvious that the level of emphasis that they placed on the event was much more greater than they had thought.
"For the sake of a glorious and great cause, of course" The grey robed old man replied with a hoarse voice before taking out a small note that was completely filled with small, densely printed words and handed it to the prince sitting beside him, "This is the news that was sent by the Holy City just a moment ago. Please have a look, Your Highness."
The prince hurriedly took the note and read it on the spot. The lower his gaze went, the more blood drained from his face. After he had finished reading it, he gaped in shock, "... T-This is i- impossible! I... I don't w-want to believe this to be true.."
His voice was somewhat strained. The magnificent aura that he exuded previously in the ceremony had completely vanished.
One could only imagine what earth-shattering news could shake the royal prince to his core.