Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 5, Heading Out
Late night. Within a quiet study, there was a desk with a lit lamp atop it, flickering with dim light.
Atop the table, there was a hawk-nosed, skinny man with long violet hair. This man was flipping through a thick book. Under the dim light of the lamp, the hawk-nosed man’s appearance couldn’t be clearly made out. But just at this moment…“Knock, knock, knock.” The sound of knocking.
“Enter.” The hawk-nosed man didn’t even look up, continuing to leaf through the book.
“Creaaaak.” The door swung open, and a handsome-looking golden-haired middle-aged man walked in. As soon as he walked in, he shut the door, then bowed respectfully. “Lord Praetor, Linley’s forces have already taken the prefectural city of Moat.”
The hawk-nosed man was the awe-inspiring Praetor of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Radiant Church. Osenno.
Publicly, the Holy Emperor was the leader of the Radiant Church. The church did, however, whitewash its actions to make itself look pure. When dealing with some experts, they had the Ecclesiastical Tribunal carry out missions with extreme ruthlessness. Their leader, the Praetor, within the Radiant Church itself, had power and authority not one whit lower than the Holy Emperor’s.
“Oh.” Osenno continued to read his book.
The golden-haired man said respectfully, “Taking over the prefectural city of Moat is a small affair. More importantly…Linley’s side used that mysterious Saint-level panther-type magical beast in order to break through the city walls!”
“They used the Saint-level beast?” Osenno’s head suddenly snapped up.
Osenno’s eyes were as deep and dark as the depths of the sea. The golden-haired man felt his heart shake from Osenno’s gaze, but he forced down his fear and said, “Lord Praetor, Linley’s side actually used Saints to do battle. This is a clear provocation.”
Generally speaking, Saints did not get involved in battles.
Once a Saint got involved, that meant that there was no leeway left, nor any chance of reconciliation. It would be a fight to the death.
As the prefectural city of Moat was not part of the Radiant Church’s territory, for Linley to act in such a way wasn’t a direct provocation towards the Radiant Church. But for him to have Saint-level magical beasts engage in battle…this was a gesture. A provoking gesture towards the Radiant Church. Linley’s intentions were quite clear…
My magical beast has already shown himself. These forces belong to me, Linley. So what is your Radiant Church going to do about it?
At the same time, Linley’s side was displaying their might. ‘Since I dare to send out my Saint-level magical beast to do battle, if your Radiant Church wishes to battle me, you’d best bring your Saints along as well. Don’t bother with the soldiers.’
“Lord Praetor?” The golden-haired man looked at Osenno.
Osenno’s deep, dark eyes were totally unreadable. Suddenly, Osenno spoke. “Remember. From today forward, don’t fight head on against Linley. We will endure!” The golden-haired man was shocked, and he stared at Osenno in disbelief.
Osenno was definitely an extremely, terrifyingly powerful expert.
As one of the towering figures of the Radiant Church, his power was no lower than Haydson’s, and probably higher. The Radiant Church had quite a few Saints in the Anarchic Lands as well. There was no need for them to fear Linley.
“Lord Praetor, Linley’s side only includes himself and those two magical beasts.” The golden-haired man said uncomprehendingly.
Osenno said calmly, “No. He doesn’t only have so few Saints. Those five Barker brothers, if our predictions are correct, should be the descendants of Armand. They are all warriors of the ninth rank now. Upon transforming, they would be early-stage Saints. Only experts on the level of mid-stage Saints would be able to beat them.”
“Undying Warriors?” The golden-haired man was shocked.
Osenno glanced at him.
When Cesar had rescued Barker and his brothers and threatened Stehle, the Holy Emperor Heidens had immediately suspected that the Barker brothers were of the Armand clan. After all, for Cesar to act in such a way and so strongly…there was no other explanation.
“They aren’t much weaker than us.” Osenno lowered his head to his book again. He said a few final, calm words. “Remember. Endure.”
“Then what if Linley erects a Duchy and begins attacking our territory?” The golden-haired man asked. Although he was the managing supervisor for the Radiant Church’s forces in the Anarchic Lands, now that Osenno was here, naturally Osenno was now in charge.
Osenno said calmly, “If they attack our territory, we retreat and let them take it.”
“Uh…” The golden-haired man stared at Osenno in shock.
Osenno said calmly, “If they provoke us, we will endure. If they attack our territory, we will retreat! Let Linley think that we fear them and that our power is less than theirs…however, understand this. When he takes over our territory, he will naturally reorganize and make use of the soldiers of those cities.”
“Ah!” The golden-haired man’s eyes lit up. He understood Osenno’s hidden meaning.
“The Lord Praetor is wise.” The golden-haired man said excitedly.
Osenno chuckled calmly. “This is how warfare has always been. Human resources are of the highest importance! In terms of ensuring loyalty, what can be more powerful than faith? Linley…I’ll let you know how terrifyingly powerful ‘faith’ can be.”
The golden-haired man was secretly shaken.
Osenno was simply too sinister.
They possessed great power and many experts, but they still used such sinister methods. The golden-haired man could totally visualize…how the cocky, overconfident Linley’s forces would suddenly be beaten back to the starting point.
“You can leave now.” Osenno lowered his head to his book as he spoke calmly.
“Yes, Lord Praetor.”
The golden-haired man left respectfully, leaving behind Osenno by himself in that dimly lit study. He quietly continued to read that book. Next to it, there was another scroll, which had a few words written atop it; ‘Linley Baruch.’
…..
In the northern area of the Anarchic Lands. In one breath, they had taken over a prefectural city and nine small cities, erecting a dominion which controlled nine million citizens. But although they had taken over the prefectural city of Moat, the political center of Linley’s side was still in Blackdirt City.
The current Blackdirt City was extremely developed.
The policy of no taxation caused many people to desire to migrate to Blackdirt City, and caused Blackdirt City to be bursting from the seams. This had resulted in the population management department of Blackdirt City to raise the immigration requirements. But as the political center of this dominion, Blackdirt City continued to attract many migrants.
“Boss, Blackdirt City has changed so much.” Standing on Linley’s shoulders, Bebe accompanied Linley as he walked along one of the primary roads.
Linley also stared at the surrounding hotels, clothing stores, and weaponry stores on each side of the road. When Linley had first arrived at Blackdirt City, the local citizens were dressed in rags and most looked yellow and malnourished. But in recent months, Blackdirt City had totally changed.
Those tattered old stores had all been completely renovated.
The streets had been repaved as well, and there were trees on each side of the road. In some of the hotels, Linley saw many commoners drinking wine while casually chatting. Most of them were talking about their ‘five wargods’.
Under the leadership of these five virtually invincible wargods, their lives had become stable, and the null taxation rate had caused their quality of life to improve by several levels.