Chapter 228: The New Divine Chosen and the Coming War

Name: Tisiana Ortiz

Level: Tier 1 (Divine Chosen of Holy Light)

Class: Vanguard

Divine Artifact: Wings of Sacred Embrace

(A powerful artifact integrating melee, ranged, and defensive capabilities)

Divine Skill: Divine Wing Assault

(Uses wings to execute rapid, short-range bursts. Extremely low consumption, deals heavy rending damage to a single target.)

Talent: The Cage of Holy Light

(Isolates the user from the outside world, grants immunity to detection, and restores the body to peak condition.)

Trait: Light of Humanity

(Deals significantly increased suppressive damage to the Five Calamities Divine Chosen and creatures, as well as the Seven Deadly Sins Divine Chosen and creatures.)

Territory Bonus:

More likely to mutate ordinary plants into Holy Light–type magical plants.

Negative Status: Dark Reproductive Divine Curse

(Periodically enters a pseudo-pregnancy state, greatly increasing desire toward the contractor. Channeling divine power accelerates the process. Relief methods: extraction or release.)

Army Bonus: None.

Lord Bonus: None.

“Damn, so there really are Five Calamities… Corruption must be one of them.”

After reading through it several times, Phield nodded to himself, then let out a troubled breath. “Shame the curse only mentions how to relieve it, not how to cure it completely. Though… that method of relief is… interesting.”

“Whew~ A Divine Chosen like this is worth at least three million gold coins, right? You said that yourself.”

Sylvia brushed the dust off her skirt from the earlier fight and stretched lazily.

“We’re even now, Phield. I’m heading back to my tribe. Recently, the High-tier Beastfolk have been gathering…”

Halfway through, Sylvia quickly covered her mouth and laughed awkwardly. “Sorry, sorry. We cat beastfolk are vassals of the higher races, so I can’t disclose military secrets.”

“Come on, just tell me. It’s fine.”

Phield smirked teasingly and reached out to rub the catgirl’s head.

“I don’t know. Stop asking, I’ll die.”

Sylvia shook her head frantically, her eyes full of pleading.

“Alright, I won’t make it hard for you.”

After a moment of thought, Phield smiled. “Fine. A deal’s a deal. We’re even. Thanks for your help—if you ever run into trouble, you can come to Nightfall Domain and find me.”

Without digging deeper, Phield could already guess—

the Empire’s neighbor, the Beastfolk Alliance, had begun preparing for war. Their likely opponent: the Sacred Griffin Empire.

Still, Nightfall Domain was separated from them by several provinces. No need to worry.

Even a simple-minded cat beastfolk knew—surely the Empress had long received this intelligence.

“Thanks for understanding.”

Sylvia nodded happily, then added, “Let’s search again. There should be gold in the monastery.”

“…”

Tisiana wanted to speak, but remembering she was now Phield’s Divine Chosen, she chose to remain silent. Wrapping the cloak tightly around herself, she found a clean corner and waited patiently.

After searching the monastery thoroughly, they found no gold.

The heavy crates Sylvia had seen earlier contained only machine components. However, they did find an entire box of Tier 1 magic cores—valuable enough to make the trip worthwhile.

As dawn broke, the group stepped out of the monastery. The once-beautiful white irises in the courtyard had been trampled into ruin, and corpses lay scattered everywhere.

Tisiana clasped her hands in prayer, silently mourning the dead.

Once she finished, Sylvia bid Phield farewell.

She was leaving the Empire, returning to her homeland.

“If we meet on the battlefield, go easy on me, okay?”

The catgirl pulled down her eyelid with a slender finger and made a playful face. “I’m off~ And if you run into pink cat beastfolk in the future, don’t bully them.”

That alone made it clear—the Beastfolk Alliance and the Sacred Griffin Empire were about to go to war.

“I wonder when we’ll meet again.”

With a sigh, Phield took out a pouch containing thirty gold coins and handed it to her. “Take care of yourself. If things don’t work out, come find me. I don’t really care whether someone’s human or beastfolk—as long as they’re good-looking, I don’t mind.”

“Hmph, jerk!”

Sylvia waved vigorously and walked off into the distance.

Watching her leave, Phield sighed. “Let’s go. Time to return to Nightfall Domain. The territory needs us.”

Back at the inn in Maple Leaf City, Phield received a letter from his family.

Opening it, he saw a line of elegant handwriting: Adrian has left us. Return to Ross Territory at once. The Count summons you for urgent matters.

“Heh. When things are good, I’m forgotten. When something goes wrong, suddenly I’m remembered. I’ll return to the family eventually—but definitely not now.”

He placed the letter over a candle, watching it curl and burn to ash, a sneer tugging at his lips.

With his current strength, going back now would likely be a one-way trip.

“I’ll return when I’m stronger… or when the Empire’s decree of ennoblement arrives.”

“My lord, this outfit is far too revealing.”

Dressed in a black-and-white noble gown, Tisiana stepped out of the changing room, covering the exposed skin at her chest. It wasn’t even intentional—if she took a larger step, her pale thighs would be completely exposed.

Blushing deeply, she said, “I’d rather wear my nun’s attire. This doesn’t suit me.”

“Forget about being a nun for now. Your Holy Light power is still intact—that means your goddess doesn’t mind what you’re wearing.”

Shrugging, Phield encouraged her, “Besides, the long version is just for going out. In the castle, there’s also a short version.”

“…?”

If this was the long version, she didn’t even dare imagine the short one.

“…I understand now. And besides, I will overcome the demonic descent.”

Confidence returned to Tisiana. The confusion in her eyes faded, replaced by sharp determination.

Phield nodded in satisfaction. She was stronger and more resolute than he had expected.

“Let’s go. We need to buy slaves and build the city—there’s no time to waste.”

Thinking of the impending tide of corpses, the mysterious curse on his family, and the increasingly tense atmosphere of war, Phield felt a headache coming on.

The price of male human slaves had risen from 40 silver coins to 70. Such a sharp increase made him wary.

“War is coming. Labor is becoming valuable again. This time, we’ll buy more in one go.”

Most of the time, the lower classes were ignored—until they were needed. Then suddenly, they became indispensable.

Phield purchased a thousand slaves.

It was an enormous number—his territory only had 1,300 people. With this addition, the population instantly doubled.

He bought up nearly all the able-bodied slaves in Maple Leaf City and several surrounding baronies.

Then, at great cost, he purchased from Simon: three tailors, one blacksmith, two carpenters, and one architect.

Most of them were apprentices—or just slightly above that level.

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