EFB Chapter 222 The Mysterious Version of "Candlelight and Axe Shadows"
Chapter 222 The Mysterious Version of "Candlelight and Axe Shadows"
Chapter 222 The Mysterious Version of "Candlelight and Axe Shadows"
"You have this blasphemous card in your hand? What do you want?"
Robert's eyes narrowed, and Evan, sitting opposite him, even sensed danger emanating from him through his spiritual intuition.
It's clear that Robert cares a lot about this blasphemous card, and even has plans to take action against Bernadette.
This surprised Evan, because he had clearly told Robert that Bernadette had become an angel, and the report about Bernadette killing Lanius yesterday should also be in his hands.
Robert knew perfectly well that Bernadette possessed a powerful sealed artifact; he wondered what it was that made Robert dare to target Bernadette.
"He confessed to me that he knows where this blasphemous card is and wants your help to prevent the birth of a new 'Black Emperor'!"
Evan's words were earth-shattering. As a demigod of the Arbitrator pathway, Robert knew historical truths that many people did not know. He also knew that the "War of the Four Emperors" in the Fourth Age was essentially a "War of the Four Gods," and that the "Black Emperor" was a god of the "Lawyer" pathway.
"A new Black Emperor is about to be born? Who is it? Who was the previous Black Emperor? Was it Emperor Roselle? What did the Mysterious Queen tell you? Tell me everything."
Robert keenly grasped the meaning behind Evan's words and pressed him for more information.
"The emperor to whom we all serve is prepared to bypass the sacred oaths signed by the nations of the Fifth Age under the witness of the gods and to elevate the Black Emperor to power in this era."
So all these years he has been secretly supporting the reforms in preparation for the initiation ceremony.
The previous Black Emperor was none other than the mysterious Queen's father—Emperor Roselle the Great.
When Emperor Roselle had no way to ascend to the highest level, he used his achievements to take a potion through a different pathway to ascend to the Black Emperor. He then hoped that the Black Emperor's ability to resurrect would allow him to expel the excess extraordinary traits and get rid of the madness brought about by taking the potion through a different pathway.
The best way to kill the Black Emperor is for a new Black Emperor to be born, so the Mysterious Queen is determined to prevent the Black Emperor's birth at all costs.
The news brought by Evan was truly shocking, and it reminded Robert of many things. When he faced obstruction from conservative forces and was determined to reform, he could always feel a force, intentionally or unintentionally, helping him and pushing him to persevere.
Now he understood that it was George III, the seemingly most conservative figure in the kingdom, who was secretly undermining the conservative forces.
In the past, Robert would have been as grateful to General Buck and the Earl for George III's quiet support.
But ever since he learned the true attitude of the Augustus family towards the Horn family, he has harbored resentment towards the Augustus family. Now he only feels disgust and resentment at being used, and no gratitude whatsoever.
Thinking about the promotion ceiling he had reached, and recalling the old count's resentful curse before his death, the scales in Robert's heart began to tip.
Moreover, Robert genuinely did not want George III to become a Black Emperor. The presence of an archangel acting as arbitrator above him was already unbearable for him, and he did not want to see an even greater "master" standing above him.
"The mysterious queen wants to use that blasphemous card to gain my cooperation?"
Although Robert already had plans to sabotage George III's ascension to godhood and profit from raising him to become the "Black Emperor," he still wanted to see what Bernadette's offer was!
Evan shook his head slightly and then said, "No, this blasphemous card is of extraordinary significance to her, and he would not give it up easily."
This card is now hidden among the relics of Emperor Roselle, kept by the Church of Steam and Machinery.
She and I agreed to use the Roselle Memorial Exhibition as the theme to entice the Church of Steam and Machinery to release Roselle's personal belongings for exhibition. Once the exhibition arrived in Backlund, both sides would use their own methods.
This action is based on your agreement to stand on the same front against the "Black Emperor" in the future before it will be carried out.
Of course, even if she eventually obtains the Blasphemous Token, she will still give you the next sequence of potion recipes you need for your ascension! This is a tacit understanding between us.
Upon hearing the deal that Evan and Bernadette had discussed, Robert gently shook his head and then said:
"I don't have enough bargaining chips. If I don't get this blasphemous card, besides giving me the potion recipe for the Sequence 3 'Mad Mage' from the Lawyer's Path, she also has to give me the potion recipe for the Sequence 2 'Duke of Entropy'!"
[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 10 ...
Robert clearly didn't think a Sequence 3 potion recipe could bribe him into cooperating with the Mysterious Queen, although he also didn't want a new Black Emperor to be born.
"Alright! I will convey your request to the Mysterious Queen as soon as possible and get her a response."
This is a deal between Robert and Bernadette, a game between the two, and more importantly, it concerns the issue of who will have the upper hand in the future cooperation. Since Robert has already made an offer, it means that he is determined to fight against the Black Emperor.
"By the way, did you ask about the 'arbitrator' approach to blasphemy?"
Actually, Robert would prefer to continue along the original arbitrator route rather than change course.
"Of course I asked her too. According to her, this card was sent to the Castilian royal family of the Kingdom of Feneport by Emperor Roselle as soon as it was made. The current internal strife within the Castilian family is probably related to this."
Robert knew that the Castile family was unstable, with two factions emerging. If it weren't for the Church of the Earth Mother mediating, a civil war might have broken out long ago.
However, he did not expect that the source of the matter was actually Roselle's scheme more than a hundred years ago. He couldn't help but sigh that Roselle's legacy to Intis was so profound, allowing the Kingdom of Rune to benefit from it.
After all, the southern county of Dicey in the Kingdom of Loen borders Fenneport and, like Intis, faces the danger of fighting on two fronts against both the Fussac Empire and the Kingdom of Fenneport.
Ivan, unaware of Robert's inner thoughts, continued with his trading advice:
"Actually, compared to acquiring the Sequence 2 potion recipe, I feel that acquiring the Sequence 3 extraordinary materials is more important. It can improve your strength much faster. Is considering Sequence 2 a bit too far off now?"
Even if Evan was confident in his future path, he didn't think he could be promoted to angel within five years, not to mention that the extraordinary path ritual on the Order side was very troublesome.
Bernadette, who inherited a large portion of her father's wealth, was able to become an angel yesterday thanks to Evan's help.
Even Nast, the Pirate King and King of the Five Seas, has lingered on that threshold for many years despite possessing extraordinary characteristics, and has yet to cross it.
Robert picked up his coffee from the coffee table, took a small sip, and said with a smile:
"I have a copy of the extraordinary characteristics of the 'Mad Mage' that I collected a long time ago, and I have also digested the 'Law Mage' potion. However, I am unable to advance through this path because I do not have the corresponding recipe."
Since becoming a Sequence 4 "Law Master" on the Arbitrator path, the royal family's support for me has diminished, and I've long planned to switch paths.
Evan was somewhat surprised by Robert's decisiveness.
He should have been promoted to demigod last year after the repeal of the Grain Act. The fact that he digested the corresponding potion so quickly is probably thanks to Evan's help in pushing for the Government Employees Recruiting Act. It took him no more than two years to digest the potion.
According to the usual plan, without Evan's help, it would have taken him at least three years to digest the potion. Yet he has already obtained the Sequence 3 "Rampage" extraordinary trait. One has to admit that Robert's foresight is remarkable. It is estimated that the vampire beauty, Ms. Amanda, has helped him a lot behind the scenes.
"Actually, I also have a copy of the extraordinary trait of the Arbitrator pathway 'Chaos Hunter,' but it's not one I found."
Rather, it was a legacy from the Horn family ancestors, which the old Earl entrusted to me after I officially became a Lord!
Although the Horn family was forced to change their name and submit to the Augustus family in exchange for protection, the Earls of Akhova never gave up on restoring their former glory. Generation after generation, they worked together to leave behind a rich legacy, but they always circulated through arbitrators and lawyers, never daring to cross the line. "Is this legacy from the ancestors of the Horn family? Or from the ancestors of the Einhorn family?"
Evan brought this up directly, telling Robert that he already knew the truth.
Robert abruptly stopped, his hand hovering over his lips, and then, striving to remain calm, asked in return:
"What 'Einhorn' family? You've been in charge of intelligence work for the Fussac Empire lately, have you lost your mind?!"
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"Brother, you don't need to hide it from me anymore. This is a record I found in the historical materials collected by the Church of the Night, and it has been verified after some investigation!"
Evan once again brought out the Church of the Night to endorse himself.
Robert sighed, downed his coffee in one gulp, and began to recount the history that had unfolded over a thousand years to Irwin.
Just as Evan had predicted, it turned out to be a mysterious version of the "Candlelight and Axe Shadow" incident.
The leader of the Einhorn family in the Fourth Age, the first-order archangel, the ancestor of the Sauron family, and the war angel Medici were all killed by the suddenly appearing Tudor, becoming the most wronged archangel in history—killed by the most unexpected enemy.
At that time, the Einhorn family still had two Sequence 2 angels under their protection, and actively joined the Terensost Empire, supported by the six gods, to participate in the War of the Four Emperors.
In the final battle, "Blood Emperor" Tudor was the most insane and the strongest, and his subordinate angels hated him the most (Bethel, Antigonus Amon, and Adam). In addition, he was the top "Challenger" of the Hunter path, which attracted the most hatred. With many buffs stacked up, he was the first to be focused down and killed.
The reason why "Blood Emperor" Tudor was the most insane was not only because he took potions from other sources, but also because the three portions of "Conqueror" extraordinary properties he consumed all carried extreme resentment and distinct mental imprints. He never fully digested the potions and was constantly affected by the mental imprints within them.
When the Blood Emperor "Tudor" died in battle, the extraordinary properties and uniqueness of the three Sequence 1s were automatically split.
The extraordinary traits bear the spiritual imprints of the ancestors of the Einhorn and Soren families. Combined with the aggregation effect of extraordinary traits, the angels of the Einhorn and Soren families present each obtained a "Conqueror" extraordinary trait again and withdrew from the battlefield.
According to the rule that the extraordinary ability should be more in line with the spiritual imprint on the extraordinary ability, the extraordinary ability obtained should be inherited by Evanhorn's direct descendant, namely Plato Evanhorn, the son of Evanhorn who was killed by Tudor.
This aroused Dante Einhorn's resentment. He was the younger brother of the previous head of the family, the uncle of the current head of the family, and also another Sequence 2 angel of the Einhorn family.
In short, Dante Einhorn ambushed and severely injured his nephew, Plato Einhorn, the head of the Einhorn family.
He stole the extraordinary "Conqueror" trait that did not belong to him.
Finally, through subsequent wars, he successfully rose to the rank of 'Conqueror' at Sequence 1, and at the end of the Fourth Age, taking advantage of the death of 'Night Emperor', he established the current Fusak Empire.
After Dante Einhorn, who had become the first emperor of the Fussac Empire, successfully ascended to the throne, he once again sought out his nephew, intending to kill him to eliminate any future troubles. However, he ultimately failed for various reasons.
However, the authority of the "Conqueror" was too troublesome for the enemy. Although Plato Einhorn escaped the pursuit, his injuries became more and more serious and irreversible. Even if he found other Sequence 1 Archangels, he could not reverse the damage caused by the "Conqueror" and could only delay it slightly.
Finally, for the sake of his descendants' continuation and to leave behind the seeds of future revenge, Plato Einhorn converted to the Church of Storms and, under the witness of the Church of Storms, submitted to the Augustus family.
By signing the contract, one agrees to offer up the Sequence 2 "Weather Wizard" extraordinary trait and the Sequence 3 "War Bishop" extraordinary trait respectively after one's death, in order to obtain the dual protection of the Church of Storms and the Kingdom of Rune.
For various reasons, the Kingdom of Rune accepted Plato Evanhorn's conditions, which aroused the hostility of the Fusak Empire, and the two sides went to war.
During this time, Plato Einhorn died from his injuries, and his extraordinary traits were divided between the Church of Storms and the Augustus family according to their previous agreement.
At the end of the Fourth Age, the entire northern continent was in chaos as people fought over the legacy left by the Tronsost Empire.
The Underworld Emperor, who benefited the most from the "War of the Four Emperors," united all the forces of the Southern Continent and joined forces with the "Primordial Witch" to attack the Northern Continent, unleashing the "Pale Catastrophe."
Because of the threat from Death and the "Primal Witch," the seven gods put aside their differences and pressured the nations to ease tensions and unite against the enemy.
Compared to the Einhorn family, which has become the royal family of the Fusak Empire and possesses an archangel, the Rune Einhorn family, which no longer has an angel, does not have as much value in uniting the people.
Initially, the Fusak Empire demanded that the Kingdom of Rune hand over the "rebellious" lineage, but the Church of Storms was not easy to deal with. In addition, the Church of the Goddess of Night strongly supported the Church of the God of War's demands because of the Church of the God of War.
Ultimately, the Fusak Empire backed down, demanding that the "Rebel" lineage change its name, cease bearing the surname "Einhorn," and that future generations be barred from the "Hunter's" extraordinary path, among other stringent conditions.
Their ancestors naturally strongly opposed this, but the Einhorn family of the Fursac Empire refused to budge an inch. Seeing that the Fursac Empire was willing to make concessions, the Storm Church had no further intention of intervening.
The Augustus family also did not want an extraordinary family with an independent lineage and the ability to advance to higher ranks within their kingdom.
Furthermore, they also wanted to gain stronger control over the "rebellious" faction in Einhorn, so they used helping them switch routes as bait.
They used coercion and enticement against the Horn family at the time.
When the head of the family at the time, Matthew Einhorn, saw that no power was on his side, he had no choice but to "believe" the lies of the Augustus family in order to ensure the survival of his bloodline. He was forced to change his surname to "Horn" and push his family members to switch to the arbitrator route to accept royal investiture and marry into the Augustus family.
At first, Augustus helped the Horn family train demigods through the arbitration or legal professions, but with the arrival of the Fifth Age,
The major orthodox churches strictly prohibited the spread of role-playing, and the Augustus family used this as an opportunity to reclaim all the promises or privileges they had given to the Horn family.
After more than a thousand years of erosion, the Horn family, once known as the "Angel Family" of the Fourth Age, gradually became an ordinary secular noble family. Apart from its long history and some accumulated wealth, it had nothing particularly special about it.
The Horn family has considered ways to break free from this predicament and restore their family's glory, but the fact that the role-playing method cannot be passed down has already limited the Horn family's potential. Occasionally, a family member with exceptional talent, like Robert, will come up with a role-playing method, but they can only sign a confidentiality agreement with Augustus and cannot pass it down.
Therefore, for more than a thousand years after the Horn family entered the Fifth Age, although there were occasional ripples, they ultimately did not cause any major waves.
After hearing the history of the Horn family, Evan really didn't know how to respond.
When faced with absolute self-interest, no one can be trusted. As an angel on the "Hunter" path, Plato Einhorn, whose prerequisite sequence is "Conspirator," is completely oblivious to this.
After obtaining the "Conqueror" extraordinary trait, the first person Sleeve should guard against is her uncle, followed by other hunter or witch angels.
Moreover, as a seasoned "scheming manipulator," it's no wonder that he failed to see through his own uncle's true colors and thus suffered a setback.
However, Plato Einhorn's subsequent choice to join the Church of Storms and the Augustus family was a good one.
On the one hand, under the pursuit of the Fussac Empire, his descendants, who were not protected by angels after his death, would find it difficult to preserve their extraordinary characteristics and escape the pursuit.
Since nothing can be saved, it's better to speak with the Storm God while you're still alive and exchange the extraordinary traits of "Weather Sorcerer" and "War Bishop" for the protection of the Storm Church and the Augustus family for your descendants.
Plato Augustus's choice to ally with the Church of the Storm and the Augustus family was not arbitrary; it was clearly a well-thought-out decision.
On the one hand, he was unwilling to accept his defeat and still harbored a desire to set things right. However, with the Fussac Empire already established and Dante Einhorn having the support of the God of War, he also had to choose a true god and a powerful nation as his backers.
The Soren family of the Intis royal family also possesses the "Hunter" pathway. Joining the Kingdom of Intis is like a lamb entering a tiger's den; you will be devoured without even a bone fragment remaining.
At that time, the Kingdom of Feneport, which had not yet split, was an ally of the Fussac Empire and the Church of War, and could not be defected to.
The Grim Reaper of the Southern Continent is abnormal, and the Southern Continent is not the center of the world stage, so it cannot be chosen.
Joining the Kingdom of Rune became an inevitable choice for Plato Einhorn.
However, how to get the Kingdom of Rune to willingly accept his lineage and become an enemy of the Fusak Empire is also a problem.
Back then, it was the era of the true gods descending to earth. The God of Storms and the Goddess of Night dominated the situation in the Kingdom of Rune. The Goddess of Night and the God of War were absolute enemies, and she would definitely support going to war with the Fusak Empire.
Therefore, Plato Einhorn set his sights on the Church of Storms, offering his lineage's faith in the God of Storms and his extraordinary "Weather Wizard" trait after his death as conditions for the Church of Storms to grant him protection.
Originally, the Storm Church and the War God Church didn't get along well because the Goddess of Night was an ally of their side. This time, being able to get an angel-level extraordinary trait for free is simply too good a deal.
At the same time, in order to appease the Augustus family, who at the time appeared to be the Storm God's underlings, Plato Einhorn, while worshipping the Storm God, also humbly submitted to the Augustus family.
It's important to understand that while angels and archangels differ greatly in strength, their status is essentially the same. This also shows that Plato Augustus was a formidable figure, capable of both yielding and standing firm. If he hadn't suffered a setback, his image would likely be on the currency of the Fussac Empire, and he wouldn't have been forgotten by almost everyone.
If Plato Einhorn's performance was somewhat commendable, then Martin Einhorn's performance, forced to change his surname under pressure, was disastrous.
The Grim Reaper and the Primordial Witch unleashed the "Pale Catastrophe," and the Seven Gods' re-formation of an alliance to integrate the powers of the various nations of the Northern Continent is an unstoppable trend.
Compared to the royal family of the Fusak Empire, the "rebellious" faction at that time was indeed no match for them. Plato Einhorn's plan to trigger a war between the Fusak Empire and the Kingdom of Rune and take revenge had essentially collapsed.
At this point, Martin Einhorn should have been more decisive and led his people into hiding, living in seclusion. At that time, the northern and southern continents were in chaos, and the Fussac Empire was powerless to pursue him. This is what is meant by "a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall."
In this way, the Einhorn royal family of the Fusak Empire would lose its excuse to use the Seven Gods Alliance to deal with them, and the Storm God would be happy to see this happen and continue to support them in secret.
However, Martin Einhorn listened to the lies of the Augustus family and made a series of compromises, which ultimately reduced the Horn family to an ordinary extraordinary noble family over a thousand years, making them a tool for the Augustus family to control the Fussac Empire.
Evan even speculated that this whole surname-changing drama might have been a charade orchestrated by Augustus and Einhorn, all in an effort to weaken the Horn family to the greatest extent possible.