OBS Chapter 444 Audrey's Pain
Chapter 444 Audrey's Pain
Chapter 444 Audrey's Pain
The conflict between the Eggers family and the Spirit Order has a long history. Even before Roselle opened the Frenzied Sea Route and started the colonization frenzy of the North Continent into the South Continent, the two forces were already fraught with conflict.
After the "Death God" of the Fourth Age established the theocratic Byron Empire, in order to quickly integrate the Southern Continent and cross the sea to land on the Northern Continent, the "Death God" had his offspring establish a royal family to be responsible for secular rule, and promoted his most fanatical believers in the Southern Continent to establish a church to be responsible for regulating the faith of his people.
This arrangement seems reasonable, as it can maximize the control and management of the entire Southern Continent. However, all of this is based on the premise that both sides share a common core: the Grim Reaper.
If Death were to malfunction, this dualistic system of governance would pose a significant threat to the empire, and in the Pale Catastrophe, it was precisely Death, the most crucial figure, who malfunctioned.
So, in the entire Fifth Age after the death of the "Grim Reaper," the Southern Continent, despite not having many gods, still fell into a great internal strife.
The internal strife within the Byron Empire not only allowed the Bound God to instigate rebellions in some of its vassal states and establish the Rose School, breaking the monopoly of the Death God's faith in the Southern Continent, but also caused the Aegis family to break with the Spirit Cult, creating a blood feud between them.
This situation changed somewhat after the Northern Continent launched a large-scale invasion and colonization of the Southern Continent, but the two sides only managed to avoid undermining each other and cooperate occasionally, while remaining wary of each other.
Moreover, due to the century-long exploitation and oppression of the Southern Continent by the Northern Continent, the people of the Southern Continent had no way to survive. This, in turn, forced the Spirit Church, an organization closely connected to the grassroots, to seek change.
The Spirit Cult believes that the biggest reason for the colonization of the Southern Continent is that "Death" is dead. They have no divine protection, so any resistance is futile. The most important thing now is to have a god to protect them, so they want to resurrect "Death".
The "artificial death god" project emerged under these circumstances.
The Eggers family, for their own benefit, were naturally not interested in the "artificial Grim Reaper," believing that the possibility of the plan being realized was very small, and that even if it were to succeed in the future, the resurrected "Grim Reaper" would be completely different from the previous one.
The Aegis family's transcendent status stemmed entirely from their bloodline and extraordinary characteristics, so when they learned of the Cult of Souls's insane plan, they were firmly opposed to it. However, they felt that such a thing was unlikely to succeed, so they did not interfere much.
However, after the Spirit Cult performed several large-scale blood sacrifices and received some responses from its followers, the Eggers family became restless.
According to Evan, the Eggers family secretly colluded with the Church of the Goddess of Night and the Church of the God of War, and leaked some of the Spiritual Cult's action plans to the two churches more than once.
The Cult of Souls harbors deep resentment towards the Aegis family, believing that their plan has already yielded some results. If the Aegis family were to cooperate with them and use the "Pale Emperor" extraordinary ability from their Sequence 1, relying on the spiritual imprint left by Death on it, they might be able to resurrect Death in one fell swoop.
Therefore, whether out of revenge or for the extraordinary properties held by the Eggers family, the Spirit Church has repeatedly used its influence to undermine believers' impression of the Eggers family and confront them head-on.
For over a century, the two sides have been locked in a fierce, back-and-forth struggle, only managing to avoid a complete breakdown in relations due to the overall situation of resisting the Northern Continent.
It is clear that the recent situation in the Northern Continent has affected the situation in the Southern Continent.
The Spirit Cult believed that with fewer interference from various forces, it could finally unleash its power to continue resurrecting Death. The Eggers family, however, could no longer tolerate the Spirit Cult's actions and wanted to use this plan to purge the Spirit Cult and completely integrate all the forces of the former Byron Empire.
The various countries of the Northern Continent were clearly pleased with the chaos in the Southern Continent.
It is clear to discerning people that the situation in the Northern Continent is irreversible, but at the same time, no country in the Northern Continent wants the various forces in the Southern Continent to develop peacefully.
From this perspective, a clash between the Eggers family and the Spirit Cult is inevitable. Even if they themselves do not want conflict, the various countries of the Northern Continent will not let them off the hook.
According to Alfred's description, Evan had essentially gained control over the situation in the Southern Continent.
What he should be considering now is whether he should take some action against the Southern Continent.
To be honest, the development of the situation in the Southern Continent has little impact on the Horn family, because the Horn family is already in the larger vortex of the Northern Continent. It is difficult for the Southern Continent to have a decisive impact on the Horn family's goals. At most, it can only be a matter of some indirect influence and holding more cards in their hands.
Investing one's precious resources in the Southern Continent, where it is difficult to generate returns, is not a wise choice.
However, things are not always divided according to the size of the profit. Although Evan is very confident and confident in the Goddess of the Night, as a qualified schemer, Evan cannot put all his eggs in one basket and cannot help but think about leaving himself a way out.
What if George III really did become the "Black Emperor"? What if the Goddess of Night really died at the hands of the God of War? What if the Augustus family discovered the Horn family's secret preparations? What if—
There's always a chance of something going wrong. If things really go wrong, Evan needs to leave himself a chance to turn things around. From the perspective of considering his options, Evan can't just give up on the Southern Continent. If we consider it from the perspective of his own defeat, then the Horn family will definitely have no place to stand in the Northern Continent after the war. So the Southern Continent is almost an inevitable choice.
As for small colonies like the Rothschild Islands, they're not even worth considering.
Moreover, if the retreat route is indeed placed in the Southern Continent, there is another advantage: by then, the Aurora Society may have already taken root in the Southern Continent, and it would be only natural for Mr. Z to ask the Aurora Society for some help.
Having made his decision, Evan's next task was to consider how to intervene in the affairs of the Southern Continent.
First and foremost, we must not use the Aurora Society's channels. Otherwise, whatever tricks he leaves behind, the Aurora Society will devour them all, leaving us at their mercy.
Another crucial point is that the escape route must be completely hidden from view to be considered a true escape route; otherwise, if it is discovered, the escape route becomes a dead end.
"Evan, what are you thinking about? Why are you suddenly spacing out?"
Just as Evan was lost in thought, Audrey's call brought him back to reality.
"Oh, I wasn't thinking about anything. By the way, thank you for bringing me the latest developments in the Southern Continent. It's been incredibly helpful!"
Evan snapped out of his daze and thanked Alfred with a smile.
"It's nothing. Even if you hadn't asked, I would have written my performance report anyway. By the way, is this information that Earl Robert asked you to get from me?"
In Alfred's eyes, although Evan was a demigod, he was clearly not a demigod in the official hierarchy of the Kingdom of Rune, and therefore not a member of the decision-making body of the Kingdom of Rune.
Inquiring about the situation in the Southern Continent is more likely because Earl Robert wanted to understand the situation there in order to formulate and adjust his strategy.
Count Robert happened to be his idol since childhood, so he naturally had the idea of taking the opportunity to get to know Robert.
Evan immediately understood Alfred's implied meaning and said with a smile, "Tomorrow night, the Earl of Ahova's mansion will be hosting my brother's first banquet since he inherited the mansion. You are welcome to attend."
However, my question about the situation in the Southern Continent wasn't actually asked by my brother; it was something I wanted to ask.
The new army is positioned as a strategic support force, which means that it does not have a defense zone like regular troops. Wherever the Kingdom of Rune has interests, that is our defense zone.
The possibility of the new army fighting in the southern continent in the future cannot be ruled out, so I would like to learn more details from you, a frontline soldier.
Evan cares a lot about the legitimacy of his actions in the eyes of others, because actions without legitimacy are likely to arouse curiosity and suspicion. For a conspirator, the curiosity and suspicion of others is a major taboo, as it can easily expose and ruin his schemes.
So even though Alfred only asked casually, Evan was bound to give him an explanation.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Alfred immediately ignored the fact that Evan's new army was newly established and essentially the king's direct force, and would not be sent to the Southern Continent given the tense situation in the Northern Continent. Instead, he exclaimed, "Actually, I don't want to leave the Southern Continent right now. This is a great opportunity to make a name for myself!"
Although he knew that upon his return he would be able to join MI9 with the help of Earl Robert and be promoted, Alfred still longed for the battles on the battlefield.
"MI9 is actually a stepping stone for your continued promotion, a place for you to accumulate experience. Without this experience, it would be difficult for you to become a commander of a major army if you entered the military now. At most, you could only become an adjutant to a general. So you still have to be patient for now."
Robert had always been paying attention to the young talents in the military and had always thought highly of Alfred, a junior in the army. He paid even more attention to him after Count Hall secretly approached him and decided to support him in becoming a demigod.
Therefore, the promotion path he arranged for Alfred was always to become a military commander, not to be placed in MI9. Placing him in MI9 was the same reason why Evan wanted to join MI9 in the first place. He used the special status of MI9 to make up for his lack of seniority, since the military is a place that values seniority.
Upon hearing this, Alfred secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Earl Hall only cared whether he could become a demigod, not whether he joined the army or MI9. However, Alfred himself still wanted to join the army, which was why he was so eager to meet Earl Robert in private. Now that he had received confirmation from Evan, he was truly relieved.
Alfred then chatted with Evan about the situation in the North, Backlund, MI9 internal information, and even the wedding date of Robert and the little princess. The two got to know each other for the first time.
Alfred at least to some extent acknowledged Evan's qualifications to be his brother-in-law, and subtly criticized Evan's philandering.
But Evan, in front of Audrey, could only laugh it off and change the subject.
Alfred had been away from Backlund for several years, and a few friends wanted to talk to him, but he was quickly pulled away.
"Your second brother is really not easy to deal with. I think if the difference in strength wasn't so great, he would probably be very interested in giving me a lesson in iron fists."
And I bet he hasn't given up on this idea yet, and is preparing to do it to me sooner or later.
Evan watched Alfred's departing figure and said with a joking laugh.
"Of course! Alfred has always been the one who loves me the most since I was a child. In his eyes, you are just a playboy who wants to marry his sister. It's not surprising that he has such thoughts."
Audrey blushed slightly as she stroked the head of Susie, the golden retriever sitting beside her, and said this.
But when she noticed her eldest brother Hilbert's unwavering gaze fixed on her second brother Alfred in the distance, she asked with a hint of sadness, "Was my decision really the right one? Will this truly protect my family to the greatest extent possible?"
"This is the best way, and the most advantageous way for you. Besides, after you accepted the mission, didn't you successfully get the hypnotist's potion formula from them?"
Your future career advancement will still require opening a door through the Psychological Alchemy Society!
Evan knew that Audrey was feeling very upset, so he could only try to comfort her by talking about her future career prospects. However, it didn't seem to have much effect, and Audrey's expression remained sad.
"I embarked on the path of the extraordinary because I was very interested in the mysticism and full of curiosity about the extraordinary. Later, after witnessing so many things at the Tarot Club, I set a wish for myself to protect my family and more people."
But I never imagined that one day I would use the extraordinary ability that should have been used to protect my family against my own family, and even instigate them to turn against each other.
Before joining the Tarot Club, Audrey was just a carefree noblewoman. However, after joining the Tarot Club and becoming an extraordinary person, the higher her rank and the more advanced the matters she came into contact with, the more painful it became.
Seeing this, Evan felt bad too, because he was largely responsible for the problems Audrey was facing. So he could only change the subject and say, "There will be a mind reader at the psychiatric exchange conference in Backlund next month." He used to be a member of the Psycho-Alchemy Society, but his superior went mad and he lost contact with the Psycho-Alchemy Society. You can attend this conference and take the opportunity to reconnect with him.
He can be another barrier protecting your safety!
"What's his name?"
"Dasser Guderian!"
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