Surviving The Fourth Calamity

39: Chapter 39 The impending war 39: Chapter 39 The impending war The Undead Tribe’s month-long war had left the entirety of Saral eerily silent.

William didn’t even need players to follow his army around the nation.

After purging those Great Nobility who believed that William could only govern with their assistance, nobody dared to oppose him any further.

Even as William, during this period, completed the nation-wide abolition of slavery, a census, and even allotted land to the former slaves.

Hill couldn’t help but say, “William is a fierce man.

Bold and decisive, he commands respect.”

In the recovered territories, William appointed a multitude of lower-ranking officials.

Although these followers who had joined him in battles from the south to the north had all been ennobled, they were only granted estates, while a pension replaced their domains.

William had people estimate the average annual income from being a Lord to a Duke and issued pensions accordingly.

Maybe some of William’s followers were dissatisfied, but all they could do was accept.

William showed no interest in soliciting anyone else’s opinion.

If these nobles also held governmental positions, they would receive a sizeable salary.

Moreover, officials could receive a pension equivalent to the highest salary level upon serving 30 years, even after retirement.

But all officials had to sign a contract at the Justice Temple or church before taking office: in the presence of the deities, they swore an oath not to violate Saral’s laws, to remain incorrupt and clean, not to abuse their power for personal gain, not to oppress the common people, to remain diligent, and to govern practically.

William pragmatically didn’t require them to love the people as their own children but essentially plugged the gaps for greed and corruption.

It was a shrewd use of the reality of the existence of deities.

Similarly, the Army’s treatment also substantially improved.

William directly abolished the previous squad leader system and adopted a military rank system: from soldier to general.

Each level’s salary and allowances were publicly listed, with the standard being slightly higher than that of a government official of the same ranking.

Hill silently compared this to the memories in his mind, and realized that William had a deep understanding of the military rank system of the Liberation Army.

Saral silently accepted such significant reforms.

Many people actually understood that this was not merely William’s will—the demands of the deities were no longer a matter of Saral people’s approval or disapproval.

They obeyed not the will of William, the King, but the authority of the deities behind him.

But if the God of Time and Space hadn’t withstood the attack from the Nobles and the God of Monarchy and His Divine Subordinates, failing to achieve Divine Descent, everything William was doing now would only become an eternal stain of guilt.

The month-long war of the Undead Tribe only scared those nobles who thought to take advantage of Saral; the faithful followers of the Nobles and the God of Monarchy, however, still gradually converged on Haifasardo.

The legends they were waiting for were just a few days away.

And William, in the gaze of all of Saral, stood on the wall of Kexlote, the largest city on the southern border’s Great Wall.

By his side stood three legends, Legendary Mage Orlando Carl, Legendary Mage Zastor Miller, and Legendary Knight Alphonsus Zeman.

The other two Legendary Mages had not come but instead were left to defend the Royal Capital.

Adrian had always wanted to know what kind of benefits the deity behind William had offered to persuade these three legends; otherwise, apart from the Zeman Knight from the royal branch, the other two would also likely have chosen to defend the Royal Capital.

Fran, however, keenly noticed that these two Legendary Mages were not young.

They had stood at the pinnacle of Saral for so long that many had forgotten even Legendary Mages could age and die.

In a world without Necromancy Creatures, death is an everlasting presence, unless one becomes a deity.

But a Mage, who studies, utilizes and disregards laws, yearns for the freedom of the soul, lives wantonly, and will never be chosen as a spokesperson for the World Rules.

The only path to longevity for a Mage is to touch the hearts of the deities and be sealed as a Divine Subordinate.

Such so-called Divine Subordinates are either powerful deputies for the deities, who would share a small portion of their Divine Authority with them, or attendants, like the angels of our legends, who though also immortal, are completely controlled by others.

That’s why some Mages worship the God of Knowledge, as knowledge is one thing Mages never abandon from birth until death.

If a Mage were to write a book that even catches the attention of the God of Knowledge, that deity would not hesitate to offer a position of Divine Subordinate.

Even among Legendary Mages, not all possess the talents and learning to touch the hearts of the deities.

But now a new deity has emerged, and positions for Divine Subordinates are vacant.

There is only one Legendary Knight by His side, and He has declared a God War.

After tens of thousands of years, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to aid another in their time of need has appeared.

The younger Legendary Mages may scorn it, but these two, with only three to four hundred years of life left, seem eager to compete for it.

Fran found this hard to believe, no wonder some of their students were involved in royal family struggles—their teachers, too, had lost the pride of Mages with the passing of life.

Hill wanted to say that the longer one lived, the more afraid one became of death.

But he dared not voice it out loud.

Fran was quite youthful among Magisters, but after all, an elder, and one young did not have the standing to speak so freely.

As soon as the city battle with the Undead ended, William dispatched commanding officers.

Their actual task was to monitor the Undead and ensure they follow William’s orders.

Especially during an all-hands defense, they were not allowed to attack or engage in combat outside the city on their own initiative.

Saral had fought defensive battles against beast tides for many years, this was the first time such an order was heard.

Previously, supervisors placed by the King in the Border City were there to ensure the defending army did not engage in combat outside the city, but now, it seemed there was a fear of the army engaging in battle outside.

Hill felt that William all but branded “no stealing kills” on the players’ foreheads.

The Noble Temple dispatched a total of eight legends, the Love Temple also sent one.

When the legends with their large retinue arrived at the Haifa Border, the news swiftly reached Fran’s ears.

Fran and Hill said that if this were the past, Saral would have had to surrender.

A legendary mage exerting all their power could probably kill a few hundred Magisters.

And a legendary knight or swordsman might be able to kill a few dozens?

How many Magisters could a country have in the past!

Maybe ten or so Magisters, less than a hundred Sky Knights.

The swordsman profession is the one to die the quickest, and great swordsmen are rare, let alone high-level Sword Masters.

Many countries might not even produce a Sword Master in a hundred years.

But at the legendary level, this profession truly can kill legendary mages, coming and going like the wind, instantly slaying others.

They are even more terrifying than magicians.

But no matter how terrifying or dangerous a legend is, in the face of overwhelmingly large numbers, no one believes they can win.

The Noble Coalition’s only chance of victory is to kill William.

But within this month, players in Hill’s Domain had basically all reached level 50, the Magister rank, not to mention those who had been fighting for a month.

Hill’s potion shops had been bought out these past few days, as players excitedly made preparations for the grand battle task of defending the king.

When the legends of the Noble Temple arrived, all the players from Hill’s Domain left.

Hill, watching them call out to friends and leave in groups, actually felt a bit envious:

The Noble Temple sent four Cardinals.

These are beings capable of invoking Divine Descent.

Although only one arrived from the Love Temple, this person heralded as the Saintess is specially reserved for the Goddess of Love’s descent.

This war will definitely end with the arrival of the deities.

Hill had an itching curiosity to watch the excitement.

The Haifasardo-Saral border is now the focal point of the entire world, with the eyes of the heavenly deities likely all fixed on this place.

Whether there’s a need for faith or not, it’s rare for deities to witness either a god gloriously ascending the Divine Throne while accompanied by the weakening, or even demise, of two Main Gods, or an arrogant, powerful new deity shattered and cast down into the Abyss.

Hill had a strange premonition that this world has devils and demons, but has never had an Evil God.

Nobles as creatures are a joke if the Main God can maintain neutrality.

The Goddess of Love’s actions are also neutral leaning towards evil.

These two temples don’t even have the Holy Knights to eradicate evil, dealing with people and affairs with high pressure.

If these two deities fail, the devils of the Abyss will surely welcome Their arrival with loud cheers.

Hill couldn’t contain his excitement any longer, continuously inquiring whether Fran intended to watch the battle.

Hill was unable to go watch himself; after all, as an Archmage among those in a legendary war, he didn’t even have the qualification to hover and watch from the air.

But Fran had an incredibly powerful Alchemy Ship.

The former Fran never thought he would one day leave the Capital, build his own Magic Tower, so he spent great resources to build an airship with a defensive power rivaling that of a Magic Tower.

Fran’s myriad Alchemy Huts were originally just practice builds for creating this airship.

This thing required a large amount of Elemental Crystals for one use, and the crystals must be of the same type and purified.

In the past, Hill wouldn’t dare to covet such an object.

After all, it was Fran’s escape route, and being able to spend money to save one’s life in an emergency was already fortunate.

Although he had accumulated them for decades, the Elemental Crystals Fran possessed wouldn’t endure many uses.

But now it’s different.

The attribute-less Elemental Crystals brought out by the players were all refined.

These were the best materials for the Airship.

The Airship was highly responsive and fast, it could even stay hidden above the clouds.

Even if the deity truly captured historical images to create an instance, at most, they would see a spaceship from above.

Facing Hill’s persistent pleas, Fran didn’t dangle his interest too long.

He readily agreed, promising to take him over after the battle started.

Now, everyone was waiting for the Noble Temple to issue the declaration of war.

According to the rules of this world, the initiating party must openly state their righteousness.

And the attacked party also has to release a statement condemning the attacker’s injustice.

Perhaps because wars between humans are so rare in this world, the rules are quite elaborate.

Hill felt that even those who were eager to fight would automatically give up after reading the lengthy rules for declaring war.

But this also eliminates the kind of kingdom wars for the sake of a woman or a contemptuous remark, as seen in his world.

If you want to fight, check the rules first, and once you’ve read them, your mind should cool down.

William has an excellent memory and loves the military.

Hill believes that an ordinary person would not likely remember the specific scores of the military parade songs of the three forces.

So, how will he respond to the Noble Temple’s declaration of war?

Hill was looking forward to it.