Free Web NovelChapter 1197: Chapter 1125: Are We Really Going to Slay a God?
The betrayal referred to in Ezrelek’s talk of the hundred-year script war is simply that Lilith’s oracle demanded that they fight to the end.
Even if it means devastation, even if it costs two million vampire lives, they should be prepared for it!
Just as over time, the Empire and the Church started to express Miseria’s oracle selectively.
Those Vampire Princes and Dukes also executed Lilith’s oracle selectively.
The result of this execution was that the vampires chose to abandon the war to save their lives, and the Princes and Dukes were "compelled" to cease fighting.
The hundred-year script war ended, leaving both Lilith and Miseria dissatisfied, but both the Empire and the Royal Court were quite satisfied.
Evidently, despite the destruction wrought in mythology by these two deities, they clearly did not possess such immense power.
At least in the short term, they could not impose any effective punishment on the Empire or the Royal Court.
As the voice of the gods grew more distant, the voice of man became ever closer.
It was only then that the subsequent exchanges between the two major powers and the birth of various cities and new ideas occurred.
It took just ten minutes for Horn to fully understand this hidden history.
He pondered for a long time before lifting his head again: "Personally, I am willing to accept this alliance."
Hearing the Saint’s Grandson say this, Ezrelek’s heart, which had been on edge, settled once more.
"However, I still have some questions."
Ezrelek drew in a breath through his nose: "Please, go ahead."
"What does Lilith want after her descent? To continue invading the Empire? But why?" Horn crossed his legs, subconsciously tapping a pen against the table, "If Lilith truly possessed such great power, she could just sweep the world with ease, so why go through all this trouble?"
"We don’t know either, but we have some vague suspicions."
"Go on."
Ezrelek thought for a few seconds before speaking slowly, afraid of saying something wrong: "We believe that if Lilith had descended into her old body, she could regain most of her power.
But now, something seems to have gone wrong, and Lilith descended into Serafe’s body.
Her active efforts to unify the Royal Court’s forces and prepare for war are likely aimed at invading the Empire again to reclaim her body."
Horn was taken aback: "Her body still remains in the Empire?"
Ezrelek hesitated, staring at Horn without speaking.
Suddenly, Horn shivered: "Alright, I understand. You don’t need to say more."
Standing up, Horn paced the room for a moment before sitting back down with his legs crossed: "Let me ask you one last question, what are Lilith and Miseria fighting for?"
Ezrelek hesitated, and after Horn urged him a few times, he finally spoke hesitantly: "It might be for mutual consumption."
"Mutual consumption?"
"We’re not sure if it’s true, but Lilith and Miseria may indeed be twin fruits on the Holy Tree, and only by consuming each other can they reach completeness."
The tapping of the pen on the table stopped abruptly, and Horn frowned: "Are you saying that the gods, recorded with supreme power in both the Gospel and your vampire history, are still incomplete versions?"
"Yes," Ezrelek replied with uncertainty in his voice, "Compared to Lilith a thousand years ago, the current Lilith can exert less than one-tenth of her power.
Compared to the full version Lilith after consuming Miseria, the power of Lilith a thousand years ago is just one-thousandth.
We gathered this information through the corpse-speaking spell from that body.
A Lilith from a thousand years ago was enough to cause several first-generation Princes to fear to the point of suicide, let alone a true deity."
When the vampires realized that deities were nothing more than illusions, they revered them immensely, believing that punishment would only come after death.
But when the deity genuinely existed, toying with their lives and deaths at will, they instead feared her.
"Invading the Empire could allow her to consume Miseria? That logic seems to not make much sense," Qianqian couldn’t help but ask.
"Indeed, I also couldn’t find the connection," Ezrelek shrugged, "But other than this logic, we couldn’t think of any other reasoning."
"So there must be some information we don’t understand..." Horn stroked the stubble on his chin, once again falling into contemplation.
Fortunately, he didn’t ponder for too long this time before he stood up briskly: "I have other matters to attend to. Mr. Ezrelek, please stay nearby, and we will inform you when a decision is reached."
"I will patiently await your news." Ezrelek bowed deeply to Horn.
Leaving the meeting room, Horn did not head directly to the next place on his schedule. Instead, he went to the terrace.
Lifting a cup of strong coffee, Horn took a gentle sip.
The glass windows of the fully enclosed, semi-circular terrace were covered in frost, obscuring the outside view.
But without looking, he already knew there were no beggars on the streets or workers braving the snow on scaffolds.
Through the blurred frost, Horn could see the nearby Saintess Bank.
Scraping away the frosty bloom with his fingernail revealed the scene ahead.
It was a facade with the vertical striped columns and thick gables of Ancient Aier, yet it had a three-story brick structure with green-painted wooden doors.
This is considered the Ancient Aier Revival-style architecture that has been rising throughout the Holy Alliance.
Simply put, it maintained the aesthetic of Ancient Aier on the exterior, but the interior was entirely modernized.
At this moment, at that green door, people were coming and going, depositing and withdrawing money—both well-dressed citizens and laborers carrying burlap sacks.
Although many small towns were gradually becoming accustomed to pious currency trades, most rural areas still retained the habit of holding some precious metal currency.
Many elderly people did not recognize paper currency.
Therefore, many farmers and drifters working in the ry Court Barracks would often exchange a portion of their paper currency for coins to take home upon returning.
Thanks to the aristocrats of Falan, and the trade deficit between the Holy Alliance and Falan, Horn had ample foreign exchange reserves.
Dealing with this wave of mass exchange posed no problem.
Watching the orderly queue, thinking about the distant Dawn Island, it’s clear that the Holy Alliance is indeed progressing toward a better life.
Since last year’s purification movement, the entire Holy Alliance seemed like it was wound up again and was back on track.
It’s just uncertain how long this winding will last.
From ten years ago to now, Horn has barely completed the initial industrialization and massively trained artisans and engineers.
Next year marks 1457, the end of the third four-year plan, and the fourth four-year plan welcomes the arrival of the roaring spring machine.
Although currently, only ry Court Barracks may have the conditions to develop the spring machine revolution.
But the productivity improvement from the industrialization of one city is sufficient to create a generational gap with most current enemies.
Once the snowball starts rolling, by around the sixth or seventh four-year plan, the technology and industrial level of the Holy Alliance will match that of the early 1800s.
The Holy Alliance will then have a crushing stance against the entire Empire.
It hasn’t even been two days since things got on track, and now another Lilith has emerged on the Royal Court side?
Putting the now cold coffee on the windowsill, Horn simply opened the window to let the cold wind blow against his face.
Judging from Lilith’s current progress of conquering the Royal Court, it might not be ten years before she comes ashore.
By then, when faced with a once true deity, will the Holy Alliance be able to overcome?
Snowflakes pelted his face and body, but it made the young Pope laugh.
Slaying deities? That would be quite the challenge.
"Starting anew means starting anew, as if I’ve never started anew before," Horn spoke slowly to his reflection in the coffee, "but there’s no more time to advance so sluggishly."
