Chapter 583.1: An Encounter (1)
Under the crimson evening sun, Roel supported himself with a dry tree branch as he took in the vast expanse of barren desert before him. The scenery of primitive nature left him with an uncanny feeling as if he was the only person left in the world.
It was rare for him to journey alone, but having more people would only be a liability. It would be harder for him to avoid the deviants’ notice if he traveled in a large group.
This meant that he could only fall back on himself, so he had been focusing on his recovery in the last few days.
The awakening of his Gold-tier Kingmaker Bloodline allowed him to automatically absorb mana from his surroundings to nourish his body. His Crown Origin Attribute had also reached the final phase of its assimilation. He hadn’t regained his connection with his ancient gods, but he could at least tap into his Crown’s Stones now.
“Glacier,” Roel murmured.
A sliver of frost aura crept from his arm and froze the leaves of a nearby tree.
He nodded in satisfaction at the outcome. It felt like his drifting heart had finally found an anchor now that he had regained a portion of his powers.
His ability to wield the Crown’s Stones was much stronger than before now that he had become an Origin Level 2 transcendent. His fighting prowess indubitably far surpassed that of his peers. In terms of sheer offensive prowess, he might even be on par with some of the ancient gods.
Admittedly, this was still insufficient for him to go against the Race Sovereigns, but it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to traverse a desert.
Furthermore, Nora should have shared his plans with others after returning to the human world. They should be organizing a rescue operation now. As long as he could hold on for a few more days, he should be able to reunite with his allies, thus greatly boosting his chances of getting to safety.
Standing by the edge of the forest, Roel hesitantly took one more look at the desert before making up his mind to rest for the night. He figured that it would be better for him to spend the night in the forest than to venture into the treacherous desert. Thus, he climbed up one of the nearby trees and hid amidst its canopy to rest.
…
In Tark Stronghold, Nora tightly clutched onto a letter she had just received from the church as she recalled the events that had transpired over the past two days.
After Ascendwing’s ability came to an end the previous morning, Nora’s consciousness returned to her body. The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was multiple layers of thick barrier, as well as a huge congregation of clergymen who had gathered in the area to protect her.
The church had already known in advance that she was going to wake up. As soon as she opened her eyes, a magician circle consisting of fifteen high transcendents invoked their spell and basked her possibly wounded body in the light of a recovery spell.
At the same time, the emergency communication magic tool with Holy Eminence John was also activated.
“Grandpa! Roel is inside the depth of Tark Prairie! We have to send…”
“I know. Calm down first.”
Holy Eminence John first calmed his worried granddaughter before enquiring about key details concerning Roel’s status. Following that, he relayed his decision and the church’s plan to her.
The involvement of an Origin Level 1 transcendent was necessary if they wanted the operation to rescue Roel to be a success, but stepping onto the battlefield at this juncture was too risky to the Race Sovereigns.
The Deviant Sovereign was simply that big of a threat. It was the reason the united army had been suffering setback after setback.
Even so, Holy Eminence John decided to go ahead with the rescue operation after weighing the pros and cons. He believed that humankind couldn’t afford to lose the inheritor of the Kingmaker Bloodline at this juncture.
As powerful as humankind’s Origin Level 1 Race Sovereigns were, none of them was able to rival the Deviant Sovereign in a frontal fight. This disparity in fighting prowess was the reason behind the current stalemate, and it was also humankind’s biggest weakness at the moment.
Should the Deviant Sovereign wake from its slumber and join the battlefield, humankind would be at a decisive disadvantage. In the worst-case scenario, it might even spell the end of the human race.
The upper echelons of the united army were rightfully worried about the matter, which was why they came up with a series of plans to counter this situation. Of them, the most important one was the ‘Nurturing Plan’, which sought to increase humankind’s number of Origin Level 1 transcendents.
If quality doesn’t work, then let’s compete in terms of quantity!
That was the best solution humankind could come up with.
It was under such guiding principles that they focused on nurturing the newer stars of the golden generation, such as the Saint Mesit Theocracy’s Nora Xeclyde, the Rosa Merchant Confederacy’s Charlotte Sorofya, and the Austine Empire’s Lilian Ackermann.
The goal was to nurture at least five more Origin Level 1 Race Sovereigns within the next three years to ensure humankind’s survival.
The deviants were awaiting the awakening of their Sovereign, whereas humankind was in the midst of conserving their energy. It was a relatively peaceful period compared to a year ago. However, Roel’s reappearance changed Holy Eminence John’s thoughts.
If there was anyone who could defeat the Deviant Sovereign in a direct confrontation, it could only be an awakener of the Kingmaker Bloodline. This wasn’t just a guess on Holy Eminence John’s part, but a fact backed by historical data.
It was a history that had been long forgotten, but Roel, the only existing awakener of the Kingmaker Bloodline, was a special entity known as the Kingmaker. Back in the ancient era, he was the Overseer of the races, one of the symbols of Sia’s authority and power. They were known to possess powers surpassing those of other races upon reaching Origin Level 1.
Rather than going ahead with a plan as uncertain as simply nurturing five Origin Level 1s, Holy Eminence John believed that rescuing Roel was the true way of returning hope to humankind’s survival and ending this war… and he was willing to risk his life for this belief.
He would have still come to the same decision even when putting aside those lofty ideals.
As a Xeclyde, he couldn’t turn his back on the only descendant of a long-time ally that had helped the Theocracy through its ups and downs. As a grandfather, he couldn’t bear to bury his granddaughter’s happiness with his own hands.
Whether it was in a personal or official capacity, Holy Eminence John knew that he had to give everything he had to ensure this operation. For that, this operation mustn’t be limited to just the Genesis Goddess Church. He would require the support of the entire united army.
The first step was to secure the support of other key stakeholders.
Holy Eminence John had already sent a letter to the Country of Scholars’ Antonio, the Rosa Merchant Confederacy’s Bruce, and Knight Kingdom Pendor’s Friedrich, setting the stage for the largest-ever rescue operation involving multiple countries.
However, there was one country that had been conspicuously excluded from the operation: the Austine Empire.
“Lukas Ackermann cannot be trusted. He has been maintaining an unusual attitude toward the Ascarts,” Holy Eminence John grimly answered when Nora asked about it.
Nora, who had been wary of the Austine Empire, was convinced by the response. After all, that was the country that had chosen to side with the Elric House during the Theocracy’s internal war to weaken them.
Little did she expect to receive a letter from Charlotte that complicated matters.
According to Charlotte, the first thing she did upon receiving news about Roel was to divine the rescue operation with her bloodline ability. The result wasn’t optimistic.
“The alignment of the stars indicates that the rescue operation will not go smoothly. It feels like we’re lacking something or someone… I suspect that it might be referring to that woman.”
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