Rasmus, Videl, Aris, and Carrion were drinking their tea as they watched people from the capital city load their stuff into the wagons and carriages. Fear was written all over their faces, they didn’t care about the people around them and only cared for themselves.

It all happened after the public trial that Thalior and the others did. It was a complete failure because they failed to control the chaos and turned it into a complete disaster. After they witnessed and heard of how those criminals killed themselves because of the demons that possessed their bodies, they would rather stay hidden than fight.

All Thalior and the others did was nothing but the complete opposite of what they were trying to do. The whole world heard their failures, and East Neva declared war against the demons.

The fear and chaos seemed to spread too rapidly in South Neva, and it made the South Neva Union unable to find the answer to that. They didn’t know that the people that Videl had been spending his time with had been possessed by his pawns. They pretended to be demon worshipers or became the voices of everyone’s deepest fear, death, and helplessness.

The death of the head of the Earnwind family also added to the tension. The most respected figure and one of the key figures who brought peace to South Neva. Knowing that Garret had taken the position, he began to fill in the shoes of his late father while at the same time keeping his own agenda. That made Garret less reliable and less trustworthy.

Agnesia left after she realized South Neva was incapable of dealing with the situation. The alliance that South Neva and West Neva had agreed on was on the brink of collapsing. Thalior’s incident with Rasmus made Agnesia look at him in a different light in a bad way.

The lords and rulers who had joined the alliance to fight against evil had been reduced quite significantly. Without any proof of Kiel’s evil existence, they preferred someone who could understand them rather than the one who forced them to join a fight they didn’t want to or believe in. The peace that South Neva had built had begun to shatter into pieces, slowly.

Arka couldn’t stay on land because he needed to keep the sea from enemies that hid in the shadows. His only job and concern was for groups of demon worshipers to enter the continent. It was also the order the Admiral himself gave to him.

“How are the mining sites?” Rasmus looked at Carrion as he took a sip of his tea.

“They entrusted their mining sites to me. I’m holding sixteen mining sites right now, and soon there will be more,” Carrion answered, leaning back to make himself comfortable on the couch.

It was Videl’s doing which put the owners of the mining sites struggling to maintain them. He made the miners stop working and persuaded them to leave because of the current situation. The owners of the sites were also too scared to stay and decided to flee to Central Neva or West Neva.

“And how many workers have you hired so far?” Rasmus asked.

“Too many to count. At the moment, I have seven hundred workers. Who doesn’t want to work for me when I pay them twice more than what the owners can offer?” Carrion responded by looking at the cigar in his hand and then smelling it. “Things are going smoothly, and I managed to get ourselves a little less than half of the mined minerals from each site.”

Rasmus looked at his wristwatch, and suddenly, a pigeon landed outside the window. He looked at the pigeon, and he still remembered it was Uriel’s. He then went outside and grabbed the small scroll on the pigeon’s leg.

When he came back, he showed the scroll to everyone. The content was something that Rasmus had been waiting for. He has been waiting for a month since the day of the public trial.

“Rebellion is happening in Lineva right now. The prime minister is dead, half of the ministers have run away, and the rest were executed…” Carrion read the message out loud.

“The South Neva Union can no longer tell if the rebellion is a good thing or not. We managed to interrogate some of them, and they did it because of the corruption that the government did for too long…” Carrion continued as he lit up the cigar.

“On the other hand, we found out the mastermind behind the rebellion was Baron Davis Green, one of the demon worshipers and possessed by a demon…” Carrion raised his brows, surprised by the news.

Videl suddenly got up, and Carrion, Aris, and Rasmus glanced at him. He looked so excited because he had also been waiting for this moment. He couldn’t wait to devour the souls of the dead.

“Go, don’t waste your time here…” Rasmus said as he took a sip of the tea.

Videl nodded and left the cafe hurriedly with a huge grin on his face. Carrion knew that Videl had learned dark magic, and he knew about Videl’s way of getting stronger. He was a bit worried because Videl might turn against them and join the demons.

“He’s not the type to follow others,” Rasmus looked at Carrion’s worried expression. “He and I have something in common, similar goals and purpose. He won’t betray me or any of us,” he assured Carrion.

Carrion looked at Aris since she was one of the few people he knew who had no reason to tell lies. Aris gave a nod as an answer, and he could breathe in relief because if she stayed quiet, that meant she was unsure about Videl too.

“You’re still keeping me in the dark, Rasmus…” Carrion sighed as he flicked the ash off his cigar.

“I am, but you’re one of the few people who know me well. Trust is all I’m asking from you, Aris, and Videl, that’s all,” Rasmus said and then slid Uriel’s message to Carrion again. “Show me that I can trust you, and I’ll tell you everything just like what I told Aris.”

Carrion looked at the paper and Rasmus back and forth with a confused look.

“What do you want me to do with this?” Carrion asked and grabbed the paper.

“The South Neva Union is struggling. Although I quit, I still care about humankind. I won’t let Kiel and his loyal servants do whatever they want here. So, I’m going to send you there as my representative,” Rasmus answered and took a sip of his tea.

“But my brother…” Carrion paused before he could finish his sentence. “I see. You want me to become better than my brother…”

Rasmus nodded and knew that Carrion could understand his intentions. He wanted to make Carrion appear to be more powerful and influential than his brother. He wanted Carrion to be free from his family and the shadow of his brother, Garret.

“I’ll do it…” Carrion nodded repeatedly with determination.

(Somewhere beyond the Blackcliffs)

A woman walked in the forest barefoot, unbothered by the cold of the snow. Each step she took left a black substance on the snow and melted the snow. She wore an all-black gown, her revealed shoulders and arms were pale as the cloudy sky above her.

She suddenly stopped walking and slowly lifted her head and stared blankly at the sky. Her red eyes were barely visible because of her messy, long hair. Her expression was blank until something black flew past her vision and landed right behind her.

“They’re all here, Ermaine…” A woman with gray skin with a slender body stood behind the woman and placed her long fingers with long sharp nails on the woman’s shoulders. “Are you ready, my child? This world will be yours, and we will make it happen…” she whispered, revealing her bright red lips with a gentle smile on her face.

Ermaine slowly looked over her shoulder and saw a pale woman with long straight hair that covered half of her gorgeous face. She stared into the woman’s bright red eye that was mesmerizing and beautiful. She then slowly turned around and saw thousands of Corrupted standing still in their armor and helmets that covered their faces.

Illidan landed in front of the Corrupted and stabbed the greatsword on the ground in front of her legs. She held the handle with both hands and stared at Ermaine with her dark eyes and the glowing pupils that looked like the sun.

Ermaine still had a blank expression, but then she nodded and bowed her head toward the Corrupted and Illidan. They all lowered their heads at her and bent their knees to show her the utmost respect.

“Let’s go to the world of the living and save those who are suffering,” the woman smiled gently at Ermaine.

“Yes, Mother…” Ermaine nodded and gave a faint smile to the woman.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep