Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 1733: Chapter 310: Aesces’s Ruthlessness

Especially when Thunder pointed at another bunker parallel to his own and said that one belonged to the Night Slumber Clan, Ditte finally understood why his friend sounded so... well, sour whenever he talked.

Fortunately, his friend really was broad‑minded, and had probably already gotten used to this kind of brutal contrast, so he quickly perked up again and led Ditte into Cain Town.

Lind was squatting obediently at the door of the command hall behind the city gate, peeking out.

Even though he was very excited about Ditte’s reappearance, Lind still behaved extremely well and did not step a single foot out of the hall.

Ditte felt he could understand why Lind was being even more obedient than at his cutest—after all, that Undead Tribe commander ”Snow Cloud Peak” was standing right beside Lind.

Lind had never been stingy about acting like a good child in front of people who could decide his future... even if everyone knew he was nowhere near as cute as he looked on the surface.

But respecting those who could grasp his lifeline was a Law his little brother revered from the bones out.

Although Ditte had always found this a bit troublesome in the past... once he thought of Ellie, Ditte felt that Lind’s slightly bully‑the‑weak‑fear‑the‑strong temperament was actually pretty good.

At least it was better than the type who always wanted to bang their not‑even‑two‑liang‑heavy head against Diamond.

When it really came down to a life‑and‑death crisis, Lind was still the more reliable one.

”Brother, Brother Ditte.” Lind clutched the doorframe, looking depressed. ”Why do I feel like you’re thinking some very rude thoughts?”

”Probably because I’m rejoicing that your personality might actually let you live longer?” Ditte weighed his tone, then pushed him aside in one go, and stretched out both hands to the Undead Tribe commander who was smiling as he watched the brothers talk: ”I’m immensely grateful that you’re willing to accept me, this neighbor who can only drift about.”

Snow Cloud Peak raised a brow and shook his hands with deliberate care. ”You’re being a bit too polite.

But Lind is the lord.

We do refuse a few guests we don’t welcome, but that absolutely does not include family Lind acknowledges.”

Ditte glanced at his brother leaning against the doorframe, then turned back and spoke even more sincerely: ”I should thank you even more for your tolerance of Lind.

To have kept him hopping around alive until today, you must have put in quite a bit of effort.”

Ditte had sensed from Snow Cloud Peak’s wording that he absolutely wanted Lind on the front of the stage, so Ditte swiftly changed what he’d been about to say.

Though a little stiff, Snow Cloud Peak still sensed the sincerity of this Count Stelter, as well as his guarantee that he would by no means interfere in any affairs of Cain Valley.

He smiled. ”Welcome to Cain Valley, Mr. Ditte.

As for what’s going on in Basia City, you don’t need to worry too much; just wait patiently... don’t worry, it won’t be long.”

Right now, on the surface, the place that looked like it was fighting up a storm was the seaside, but the real key still lay in the distant Desert.

So Snow Cloud Peak didn’t care what Ditte might plan to do in secret in Cain Valley... if he really let people down, the only one who’d be sad would be Battlefield Lightening, and the only one who’d suffer would be Lind.

But if he was still that Ditte, then everyone would be delighted.

After all, it had been Snow Cloud Peak who’d told Thunder to make contact with Ditte first. Although the Great Commander Snow was always rather carefree, he still didn’t want his own bad judgment to end up hurting his friend’s warm heart.

Luckily, Ditte hadn’t disappointed anyone.

Snow Cloud Peak stood atop the Command Tower, watching Ditte—who had quickly blended into Cain Valley’s atmosphere and, other than having some of the women of his own household help teach the kids in Lind Castle, didn’t intend to meddle in anything—then silently tapped his tablet: ”There are so many normal people; why is your favor always on those messed‑up types?”

The reply from the other side came very quickly: ”Fate is not something I decide; it’s the candidate who will inevitably appear once the world reaches that step.

Such people will absolutely not be ’good people’ by your Undead Tribe’s definition.

In order to climb to the very top, they will definitely make some rather cruel decisions about certain people and certain matters.

A good person cannot become a King.”

Snow Cloud Peak blinked: ”So, you’re trying to make this world’s Nobles and King lose their absolute Control over power?”

”It’s a bit hard, but the timing is just right to give it a little try.”

”Unless you drop the world’s Level below 5, I think you’re just flailing around.”

”I don’t have such extreme ideas either. It’s just that even the trashiest Parliament is still a bit better than absolute monarchy, no?”

”That’s... hard to say. But with Deities’ restrictions, maybe it could work.

On this, we definitely can’t help you.”

”Doesn’t matter~ They betrayed me first anyway, so it’s only right that a World Master in anger gives them a little lesson.

As for whether it works or not, time will tell me.

I’m in no hurry anyway.”

”So the reason you rushed to have the Ismael Family taken away was to pull this off?”

”It’s strange—Ismael clearly comes from a more enlightened world where the power of Nobles has already dropped to almost nothing, yet they’re more willing to safeguard royal authority instead?”

”People over there really like chasing things they no longer have any chance of obtaining. Probably to prove they’re not the same species as ordinary folks.”

............!

”Stop talking in those roundabout sarcastic twists all the time, it’s too convoluted.”

”Your reaction speed is at least twice as fast as it used to be now, so shouldn’t you be thanking me properly?”

”No wonder Hill always says being scolded helps people grow.”

”Can you remember something good for once?”

-----------------

”Snow Cloud Peak” helplessly shared this conversation with Hill.

There were times when he really couldn’t figure out what was going on in Aesces’s head, but, how to put it... this world belonged to that guy; however he wanted to toss it around, there was nothing Hill could do.

Hill had actually guessed a bit of what Aesces was thinking.

That fellow was making a backup plan... in case Gaia and Triton ended up joining hands against him, and the Lady of Pain outside, or even other members of the Greek Gods hiding who-knows-where also came charging into the fight, then he’d just flip the table.

Aesces knew very clearly that even if all those guys came, it didn’t mean he’d lose right away, so... he was seizing the time to use these Nobles as an experiment. If it worked, he’d be able to save himself a lot of worry in the future and focus on guarding against external invasions.

Of course, if the invasion of the Greek Gods was finally beaten back by him and the Undead Tribe, then even if the experiment failed, it wouldn’t matter. After all, those Nobles were the ones who wronged him first.

Even though anyone could see it was his trial, that was the natural right of the Deities. Humans who couldn’t pass the trial would naturally be punished.

Humans brought it on themselves.

A naturally born Deity like Aesces, even if his train of thought only ran on a few tracks, instinctively acted in this way.

Hill didn’t like this kind of cold-blooded decision, but he could understand it.

Being able to treat Humans as beings you could communicate with, instead of ants beneath notice, already made Aesces a World Master with a rare trace of humanity in the whole Fantasy World.

It was just that every time he saw something like this, Hill had only one feeling: good thing he was a Teraxil People.

The Goddess of the Earth of Teraxil really didn’t bother much with Human affairs, but she also wouldn’t overturn the table just because Humans didn’t walk the path she wanted.

-----------------

The coastal border of Danboro once again turned into a Battle Field, and this time, almost every city along the shore was attacked; not a single one was spared.

Triton must have brought out a lot of good stuff; the Moon Clan’s assault became much fiercer.

He even tried to let another wave of Moon Clan in again, but unfortunately failed... this time it was because the world on the Moon Clan’s side hadn’t distributed enough gaming devices.

There was still stock, but they seemed unwilling to sell those devices to other non-Alliance countries.

Triton couldn’t figure out what was going on over there... the most troublesome part was that the World Will of that World Without Magic simply refused to communicate with him.

Clearly, the so‑called game hub was in that World Will’s hands, but it just wouldn’t answer Triton’s questions from this side.

And Triton didn’t have the guts to go talk to it face to face... he still wasn’t tired of living yet!

It wasn’t like before when they had Eosca. Although he couldn’t get close to that world either, the God of Portals, who was very good at opening doors, could at least communicate with the other side from the safest, furthest distance.

Of course, that was also back when that World Will was interested in the matter.

But now, the other side seemed to only want to sleep; after all... the rules had already been set.

Triton was helpless; he could only do his best to stir up the interest of the Moon Clan that were already here.

He didn’t need them to do much, as long as they kept the Undead Tribe occupied.

The rest was up to Scaret and to Triton himself.

Triton soon raised towering waves.

Yet the Danboro people were actually quite delighted... and some countries even farther away from here were sincerely hoping Triton’s waves could rise higher and crash harder.

After all, the world was still in the grip of a great drought!

Triton’s winds and waves brought a bit of hope back to many places where even Mages’ water‑condensing Magic had stopped working.

Some countries were even actively and enthusiastically asking whether Danboro needed help with the defense. Of course, they wouldn’t go to the coast, but they were more than willing to help guard the second line of defense behind the Undead Tribe.

-----------------

Hill suddenly discovered that only half a month after the war started, the Ismael Family had already appeared in the Heavenly Realm.

This actually wasn’t a bad thing... at least for those Little Ismael.

After all, Triton’s Moon Clan had already officially gone to war with the Undead Tribe, and many places in Danboro had become battlefields. With their current Fate, if they stayed down below, their outcome would be grim.

There was another benefit as well: because of this sudden decision, several other Mage Families that had been trying hard to sow discord among these Little Ismael—hoping they’d fight among themselves so the others could grab more spots—completely lost their chance.

The only thing Hill found a bit troublesome was that those reckless Little Ismael, after discovering his mountain range shrouded in mist with the sound of water in it, actually tried to fly over.