Marwayne was completely unable to imagine how Graycastle would deal with the miracle before them. Other than raising their heads to look up, the only other thing they could possibly do was to pray.
The demons are bound to win this war.
He no longer had any doubts.
All his frustration and fear from before were swept clean and replaced with an indescribable excitement. Since the demons could win the war, his payback would no longer be imaginary. This contrast could not be in any way compared to a drowning person gaining a new lease of life but a person at the end of the road being welcomed back to the peak!
As for the Knights that had escaped, they were bound to feel remorse for the rest of their lives—No, not only that, they no longer had the right to live to ripe old ages. Marwayne swore that the very first thing he did as King of Everwinter was to take care of the traitors!
Marwayne knelt down emotionally and lowered his head towards Hackzord. "Yes, we have seen it."
The other n.o.bles replicated his actions.
"This is the Deity of G.o.ds that belongs to my race, and also the most direct form of displaying true power," Skylord said with his hands to his back. "Bringing all of you here was not just to dispel your doubts because I have a mission for all of you to complete."
"We await your instructions!" everyone immediately replied.
"It will still take some time for the Deity of G.o.ds to arrive at the Impa.s.sable Mountain Range, but the territories that you are all in charge of have signs of losing control. Every single one of the deserters have the possibility of becoming enemies and I do not want the situation to worsen as it is." He swept his gaze across everyone. "From now on, all of you will organize manpower and evacuate everyone here. At the same time, I will mark out a region here in the Deity of G.o.ds for all of you to reside in, until the Battle of Divine Will is over."
"You… want to let the sc.u.ms ascend to the the miracle?" Narnos asked in surprise.
"Whose fault do you think this is?" Hackzord glanced at him coldly.
The latter immediately closed his mouth.
"It will not take long for the news of the Knights escaping to spread to the lower cla.s.s. That is when Everwinter's social order will completely crumble. Rather than allowing Graycastle to take advantage of them, it's better to control them before the s...o...b..ll effect comes into play. If any of them challenges you, use a blade or sword to shut them up. That shouldn't be difficult for you."
"Of course, of course." Marwayne was the first to take a stand. "I will do it now."
The other n.o.bles agreed in succession.
"Be at ease, your territories will not be abandoned, because the battle will not last long." Hackzord seemed to have noticed their worries. "Aside from that, joining the Deity of G.o.ds implies that you have partic.i.p.ated in the war. This will increase your contribution to the war and when the time comes to distribute the human realm, obviously we will not overlook this. Understood?"
Happiness immediately filled the hearts of the n.o.bles. The failure of their sneak attack on the small Graycastle team had undoubtedly failed to satisfy the Grand Lord, but the opportunity to make amends had appeared once more, with the possibility of improving their positions. This immediately stirred up their emotions.
"Yes, of course! We will do our best!"
Hackzord opened a new portal. "It's good that you understand. I only have two requests, evacuate as quickly as you can, and do not reveal the existence of the Deity of G.o.ds. Now, start moving."
…
After sending the n.o.bles back, he walked deep into the great rupture.
Hackzord endured great pressure from the majority for allowing the "lowlifes" to interact with the Deity of G.o.ds. Not all the Grand Lords were on the same page, and Mask felt that it was blasphemous, but Hackzord managed to pull it off with his status as the Commander of the Western Front.
Skylord gradually realized that the Graycastle warriors were nothing special. They might had been farmers or hunters, but after a few months of training, they joined the army as new recruits with firearms capable of killing their trained counterparts.
In other words, the efficiency of their enemy's build up soldiers had far surpa.s.sed any kind that the Demons had ever faced. Even Mask's prideful Symbiotic Demons were unable to reach that level of efficiency. It was the reason why Graycastle was raking in people from both Everwinter and Kingdom of Wolfheart frenetically, not because they were a burden or for a long-term plan, but because they were provided practical short-term benefits!
Once order in any n.o.ble's territory collapsed, it meant gifting the enemy a large quant.i.ty of soldiers. It was what Hackzord was trying to prevent.
At the same time, their work efficiency was nowhere inferior to the Demons. Hackzord considered killing them as a waste, and decided to move them to the Deity of G.o.ds to serve the Demons. Therefore, this plan could be considered the most rational choice based on the present circ.u.mstances.
Of course, the others did not approve of it, but Hackzord couldn't care less.
The Deity of G.o.ds or any so-called holy land were not as important as winning. Hackzord was already betting everything on the Western Front; not only did he promise the King, he had even applied for the Deity of G.o.ds. This just added to the discourse and blame he was already receiving.
Compared to the pressure from his superiors, Sky City caused an even bigger problem for Hackzord.
He walked down the steps of Birth Tower to the lowest level, where another dark figure now laid within the thick and dense Red Mist Pond. The figure sat opposite Nightmare, motionless with both hands holding onto its palms like a statue.
"You haven't given up?" Hackzord frowned in annoyance. "If there were any clues about her in the Realm of Mind, I would have done so a long time ago."
He did not know what kind of bad luck he had received to have every single one of his peers so unreliable.
This person was Silent Disaster, who was sent to the Western Front as reinforcement.
Just like its name, the Silent Disaster was wrapped up tightly in its armor, rarely revealing its true face and hardly ever spoke. No one truly knew what was on its mind. But Silent Disaster was different from the Mask and the other Grand lords; its individual strength was known amongst the Grand Lords, and even Sky Lord himself did not dare criticize it much.
If it was any other person, Sky Lord would had cursed a long time ago.
After all, Sky Lord had waited quite a while for the arrival of the reinforcements, but upon arriving in Sky City, the first thing Silent Disaster did was to run straight to the Red Mist Pond to accompany the Nightmare Lord's body instead of clarifying the situation.
Everyone knew that getting lost in the Realm of Mind indicated a high probability of never returning. One could use the vast ocean, the sun and stars as indicators, but the Realm of Mind had nothing—It was always in chaos with storm-like undercurrents, making the preservation of oneself a challenge. Additionally, one's consciousness would experience continuous erosion.
The Nightmare Lord had been gone for a few months. Even if it did come back, it might not be the 'it' from before.
"It must have discovered some leads and decided to take the risk," Silent Disaster commented, "Since it is related to Valkries, I had to verify it personally."
Silent Disaster obviously did not trust Hackzord, leaving him to ma.s.sage his forehead helplessly. Although the Nightmare Lord was a unique existence to the other Grand Lords, it was even more special for a few others—Silent Disaster being one of them. Hackzord remembered that Silent Disaster's upgrade ceremony was presided by the Nightmare Lord.
"And you've confirmed it?"
"Almost, but my conclusion is different from yours." Silent Disaster spoke concisely. "I believe that Nightmare Lord isn't completely lost, and is merely trapped somewhere in the Realm of Mind."
"Reason?"
"Intuition."
Heh, intuition. Hackzord silently lampooned, if there was something more unreliable than the Mask's promise, that would be the Silent Disaster's intuition. "How does your conclusion bring any help? You're unable to track down Nightmare Lord and unable to wake it up. In the end, nothing's changed. Rather than spending more time here, why not think of ways to deal with the humans."
That male human." Silent Disaster looked at Hackzord.
"What?"
"I will help you destroy the humans; that is the goal of me being here." It suddenly stood up from the Red Mist Pond, its helmet flickering with a dangerous red light. "But the male human that appeared in the Legacy Hall must be left to me. I think that the Nightmare Lord's whereabouts is linked to him."