Chapter 366: Shifting Calamities

"Your Highness, I'm afraid I bear very bad news."

In the mountain palace of Aleisterre, the astrologer Selene once again stood before the throne as she addressed Donatien Charlemagne.

"Speak."

Donatien Charlemagne showed no outward reaction. His expression remained unchanged by Selene's ominous words. As a ruler, he knew well that no news—good or bad—should be taken out on his subordinates. The customs of Earth held no sway here.

"The squad sent north to intercept the rebels has been utterly annihilated. The stars have revealed this grim development to me after a period of silence. Your Majesty, how do you wish to proceed?"

Though Selene's tone remained calm, her message was far from comforting.

"..."

Donatien Charlemagne remained silent for a long moment. The outcome was difficult to believe. Two grand knights and a senior mage failed to take down a trio composed of a wingless dragon, his young sister, and a mage? Such an outcome seemed entirely unreasonable.

"Can you discern any further details?" he finally asked.

His concern had shifted. Though the losses Aleisterre had suffered were severe, it was more important to understand how a squad of defectors had amassed such power.

"I'm afraid not, Your Majesty. For a time, the vision of the stars was veiled by the Void. The events of the battle remain largely unknown to me.

"Not did Black Benn, Paul, and Remo manage to leave any shred of information. It was likely that they were struggling from the very beginning."

Selene admitted that she had been unable to perceive the details of the battle. Charles had previously ordered One to cloak it with the power of the void, limiting her observations.

"Their growth is astonishing. And this does not even account for the knight Wang Yu, whose whereabouts remain unknown. Presumably, he was tending to the affairs of the Church of Nightfall.

"The Church's expansion has been alarming. The benefits granted by its faith have drawn many adherents, including even scholars within the kingdom who venerate her secretly..."

"..."

Donatien Charlemagne brought his hand to his chin as he pondered. After a moment of reflection, he made a decision.

"Selene, you may leave. Summon the Minister of War."

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed Selene and prepared for his next audience.

The astrologer stepped back as the minister, Gerard, approached, lowering his head and kneeling on one knee in deference.

"Gerard, I have some grim news. Remo fell during the ploy against the rebels. I expect you to find another able right-hand man to replace him."

Donatien Charlemagne spoke plainly, leaving no room for obfuscation.

"I understand, Your Majesty."

Though Gerard's tone was outwardly respectful, he was surging with anger due to the loss of a trusted subordinate whom he had mentored for years. Even so, out of decorum, he could hardly reveal his inner thoughts.

"I had thought it unnecessary to make a show of force over those who defected, but the situation is proving more complex. Their threat is escalating faster than anticipated. Organize the reports accordingly."

The king's words caused Gerard to lift his head, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Your Majesty, you mean...

"Precisely. I had preferred to keep our matters separate from theirs. They are clearly a different race, and our rule has always been not to allow other races to meddle in our internal affairs.

"Yet there is more pressing business. The kingdom requires stability. Let those already pursuing the traitors handle them.

"You were the one who reported on the events at the Dying Crag. You have a rough understanding of the power of the Church of Dragonkind, do you not?"

Donatien Charlemagne's reasoning was methodical.

"Relay the news that the targets are moving north toward the Church of Dragonkind's headquarters. Their approximate location is the ruins of Selwyn. They seek the dragon Sieg, do they not? Let them pursue him.

"As for us, our focus must remain on the tasks ahead."

"Understood!"

Gerard accepted without question and immediately set about executing the king's command. He bowed and turned to depart.

"Informing the Church of Dragonkind is a wise decision. We need expend no further resources of Aleisterre itself, and the church has sufficient strength to handle those defectors.

"After all, Aleisterre has no better means of dealing with wandering potential threats beyond the kingdom. To waste limited resources on them would be unwise.

"Is His Majesty finally intending to act against the Nightblades? Not by destroying them outright, but by dividing their loyalty—is that the path you have chosen?"

Gerard ruminated to himself as he prepared for the tasks that lay before him.

Meanwhile, a blood-red chain lashed out across the endless snowfield. Its spear-like tip pierced the thick crust of snow and struck true, skewering Wang Yu's chosen target before he hauled it back across the frozen ground.

"Not bad. Animals in these cold lands really are plumper than they are elsewhere."

The snow hare, larger than his head by a fair measure, squirmed in his grip. Wang Yu drove a bloodforged dagger into its flesh, letting crimson threads creep through its body until the skin and meat parted cleanly from within.

"Do you always have to find something to eat, no matter where we are?"

Edward, seated in the rear of the bloodforged sled Avia had fashioned, gave Wang Yu a wry glance. He had plucked a fat hare from beneath the snow with a conjured chain so casually!

After cutting down the three would-be assassins who had ambushed them, the trio had wasted no time pressing deeper into the snowfield as they headed ever northward.

The further they went, the more absolute the dominion of ice and snow became. What little bare ground had remained was gone now. The environment was nothing but an endless white, a world drowned in the shroud of winter.

For Wang Yu, it was a small mercy: he was no longer forced to rely on his own legs and could instead ride on an alchemical sled. On good terrain, it was far swifter than his legs.

"Of course," Wang Yu replied with a shrug, cutting up the hare with quick, practiced motions. "When it comes to food, I won't shortchange myself. You want a portion?"

The skinned hare's meat glistened with fat. Tender and succulent, it would be a true delicacy.

"Of course."

Among friends, there was no need for any pretenses. Edward, who carefully upheld his noble image, shed the façade here without a thought.

"Good."

Wang Yu flashed him a thumbs-up. With a flick of his fingers, he summoned a flame of Cursed Fire with one hand and held up the hare's meat in the other, ready to roast it over an open flame.

"Honestly, you're so impatient. Give it to me—I'll make it properly."

A hand materialized out of the air to rap him on the head. Half of Avia's figure emerged from the Seed of Eden as she deftly snatched the hare—or rather, the hare's meat—from Wang Yu's grasp.

"Yeah!"

Edward clenched a fist in mock triumph at Wang Yu, mimicking Charles's antics, and only half in jest. Though Wang Yu would devour his catch with easy relish, Edward had tasted Avia's cooking before. Her skill as a chef was far superior to Wang Yu's.

"Fine, fine. I'll wait."

Wang Yu shrugged, leaning back in his seat. He and Edward began talking about recent affairs as Avia worked.

"We're bound for the Professor's homeland to investigate," Wang Yu said, tearing into their next lead. "Too many tangled threads all seem to trace back there. And those cultists... their vile bastards, stirring chaos everywhere. You've heard what happened at the Dying Crag, haven't you?"

Edward nodded gravely. "Yes. I saw it via the Prayer Network. The power wielded by the dragons and by the Church of Dragonkind is catastrophic. Their clash was nothing less than a natural disaster.

"Many innocents were harmed. If not for the intervention of the Church of Nightfall, the Church of Light, the Goddess of Fortune's clergy, and a few branches of the God of Nature's faith, the death toll would have been far worse."

He exhaled, troubled still. "Still, as a result, many who were saved by the Church of Nightfall have now joined its ranks. The faith of the Lady of the Night is spreading further with each passing day. That said..."

Edward let the thought trail off with a sigh. Wang Yu understood his unspoken words well enough.

"Mm. She likely wouldn't wish for faith to spread by means of tragedy. Even so, belief gives the powerless a strength to endure disaster. It's hard to call that a curse."

Edward nodded faintly, though sorrow lingered in his eyes.

"There was also a battle on the Ashen Wastes—dragons against the cult. A black dragon ripped the land apart and clashed with them before vanishing. Fortunately, none live in that forsaken stretch of earth. No innocents died there."

"The Ashen Wastes?" Wang Yu raised a brow. "Then beneath it must be the City of Sin. No wonder the Church of Dragonkind couldn't find it... it's a fitting hidey-hole for a black dragon, I suppose."

Wang Yu wasn't particularly surprised. Given his time in Skyborne City's archives, he now knew of many of the continent's hidden histories. The City of Sin was an eternal prison, a hell for the damned. Its builders were unknown, its age lost to memory.

Sieg himself had once commented that if he entered it in dragon form and failed to emerge within the hour, he might not make it out at all. Just how fearsome did the black dragon who had made it its hiding spot have to be?

Their chitchat continued as the alchemic sled sped northward.

At last, as Wang Yu bit into Avia's perfectly roasted hare, the silhouette of the grand St. Anna Snowfields rose into view. Before them stood the first great landmark on their long journey toward the Endless Sea.