Page 2417

　Therefore, the act of sabotaging the robe could not be done openly, so it could only be done secretly through Charles.

　But Chi certainly didn't expect that Charles's sabotage would be thwarted by Dak, who had stumbled into the mess.

　He certainly couldn't have imagined that it would be all eleven great races that awakened that time, not just Hermes alone.

　By now.

　The "Twelve Heavenly Gods" have already gained momentum.

　The god behind Austen has essentially lost the ability to fight against him.

　So what will Chi do next? Will he make a grand comeback before giving up, or will he change his approach and start over? The Duke's Mansion has analyzed and investigated this matter.

　The survey focused primarily on a person who has been largely overlooked.

　That person was none other than Prince Charles, who had already lost the struggle for succession.

　The survey results show...

　Charles had indeed disappeared from the place of recuperation.

　The person who took his place and remained bedridden was merely a substitute who was not him.

　What the mastermind behind Austin wants to do with Charles is currently unknown.

　Charles's whereabouts are very secretive, and his whereabouts have not yet been found. However, based on the above information, it can be seen that Austin's low profile is not an admission of fate, but rather a temporary retreat and forbearance.

Chapter 1724 Darkdemon is fifteen years old and has a twelve-year-old daughter (1/3)

　The future developments in the kingdom are not entirely unpredictable.

　Dark unilaterally believes that a direct conflict between gods is impossible.

　Now, the "Twelve Gods of Poropus" are riding the wave of power.

　Countless gods joined the "Way of the Magic Gods," seeking a swift resurrection. These gods who joined the "Way of the Magic Gods," while not necessarily bound to the "Twelve Gods of Poropus," were certainly on the same side.

　Once the "Magic Path" is forged, although they will not be the biggest beneficiaries, they will still be able to get a small share of the profits.

　After all, as long as one participates in the "Shinto Ritual," one becomes one of the creators of the "Magic Shinto."

　The addition of even a minor deity would occupy a far greater "share" than that of an ordinary mage.

　According to the ironclad rule of "effort equals reward", the will of the world will compensate them with "fortune".

　In the words of the prophets, it is what is called "fate." Afterwards, they will be "favored by fate" and live a more comfortable life in this era.

　As for how much of this "little bit" actually is...

　To put it simply, it's like building a cemetery and getting someone to donate money so you can have your name inscribed on the tombstone.

　You can donate a small amount, but your name must be on the tombstone. Following the will of the world doesn't necessarily guarantee you tangible benefits.

　But going against the will of the world will surely teach you why the flowers are so red.

　When you can't even drink cold water, you should first ask yourself what the problem is.

　In short, under the current circumstances, it would be absolutely unwise to engage in a direct conflict with the "Twelve Gods of Poropus".

　But in other words, as long as it's not a direct conflict and you can bear the consequences, it's not that you can't do anything.

　Everyone is in the same boat, but who should be listened to by those on the boat is a matter of debate.

　As long as you act within the rules, you won't be affected. Just like the god behind the scenes in Austen, although he can't openly oppose the twelve gods, he can still do some cat and dog things behind the scenes.

　If Hera, the "Queen of Pop," can support Elizabeth, then he can support Charles.

　The key is to have a good entry point.

　So here's the problem. Shi's approach wasn't very good.

　At this point, Charles has effectively lost his right to compete with Elizabeth for the throne.

　His only advantage over Elizabeth was that he was not one of the "chosen ones" of the twelve gods.

　So why is this considered an advantage?

　Becoming one of the "chosen ones" of the twelve gods means voluntarily giving up the competition for the title of the God of Magic.

　Even though Elizabeth will not guard the temple of Hera, the "Queen of Gods," this rule remains unbreakable.

　Therefore, Elizabeth no longer has a place on the path to becoming the God of Magic.

　Charles, who is not subject to this restriction, still has a chance.

　Even if the chance is so slim as to be practically nonexistent, that's the difference between 0 and 1.

　Dark believed that Charles's only possibility was to participate in the struggle for "Magic God Path" as a mage.

　If he's lucky, he might see Charles again in the "God's Cup" tournament.

　If a god from the underworld were to provide full support, even Charles, as a "chosen one," could potentially gain some competitive advantage.

　But when that time comes, most of the archmages who will qualify for the competition will probably have divine support behind them.

　The so-called identity of "chosen one" is essentially meaningless.

　Therefore, Charles's whereabouts don't really need to be a major concern. What's more important now is King Austen himself. Faced with such a dire situation, beset by internal and external pressures, what will Austen choose to do?

　It's about acknowledging defeat, peaceful evolution, and finding any excuse to abdicate the throne to Elizabeth.

　It's better to remain low-key and patient, submitting to the will of the unseen god, and waiting for the almost imperceptible opportunity to turn the tide.

　Dark actually lacked a lot of understanding of Austin; his knowledge of the old king was basically based on intelligence analysis.

　However, based solely on that intelligence analysis, Austin wasn't actually a bad person. Compared to previous kings, he could even be considered a "wise ruler," and he even had the great achievement of "ending the war against the demons."

　Even after he grew old and frail, he had already prepared to "retire after achieving his goals".

　Otherwise, what would Elizabeth and Charles be fighting over?

　If it weren't for the sudden appearance of that god of the underworld, Austin would probably have already abdicated the throne and was enjoying his later years.

　As for whether it was Charles or Eliza who came to power at that time, that remains to be seen.

　As it stands now, one can only say that Austin's ambition remains undiminished. So, after gaining the support of a certain god of the underworld, he immediately regrouped and had even more ideas.

　To determine what Austin would choose to do, the first step is to understand his thoughts.

　In other words, it shows how ambitious he is.

　Austin's style of doing things was quite different before and after the "Tea Party of the Gods".

　This shows that the will of Zeus, the "King of the Gods," did indeed put a lot of pressure on him at the tea party.

　Will his thoughts change as a result?

　Dak raised his head slightly, looking at the sky outside the balcony, pondering many possibilities.

　He was quite interested in the kingdom's developments, but only to the extent of "reading the news and browsing forums".

　After all, he had absolutely no desire for power and truly regarded power as nothing more than fleeting clouds.

　It's fine to let him be a keyboard warrior for fun, but to actually plan and manage a country, well, forget it.

　Whatever Austin wants to do, as long as the final result doesn't affect him, he doesn't mind just watching.

　In short, there was internal strife within the royal family.

　Charles's "disappearance" suggests that there was likely a disagreement between the old king and the eldest princess.

　Austin had originally designated Elizabeth as his "first in line to succeed him," and had been carefully grooming her over the past year, seemingly preparing to hand over the throne to Elizabeth.

　Therefore, Eliza's support from "Queen" Hera should have been aligned with Austin's wishes.

　But now it seems that something went wrong somewhere. And this kind of problem is probably only known to Austin and Elizabeth herself. Even the Duke's intelligence department couldn't have discovered it.

　Therefore, Dark could only speculate based on various signs.

　"The simplest explanation is that Hera behind Elizabeth and Hades behind Austin belong to different camps and cannot coexist."

　As the saying goes, "what the superiors do, the subordinates will follow," and the code of conduct for subordinates is often determined by the will of those in power.

　If there are irreconcilable conflicts among those in the upper class, it will be difficult for those in the lower class to continue getting along, no matter how harmonious their relationship was originally.

　Given the current situation, it's estimated that the core conflict between Elizabeth and Austin will erupt soon.

　The battle for the throne may soon be unfolding. It's uncertain how Austin will be able to maintain his low profile then.

　Dark looked away and continued scrolling down.

　After Alvit returned to the capital, the Valkyrie faction's power had been consolidated and reduced, gradually moving away from the center of power and drawing a line between itself and the struggle for the throne.

　The original "Valkyrie faction" was a staunch supporter of Princess Elizabeth.

　However, during the time Arvit was missing, a large number of Elizabeth's supporters voluntarily broke away from the "Valkyrie Faction" and formed the "Empress Faction" together with another group of forces.

　To outsiders, this seemed somewhat like "reaping the benefits," and the "Valkyrie faction" used this as an excuse to gracefully withdraw from the battle for the throne.

　The original "battle for the throne" was a legitimate struggle between a prince and a princess. But now, the "battle for the throne" is a struggle between a princess and a king.

　This is actually not in line with the greater good.

　However, the Valkyrie faction's decision to distance itself from the "War for the Throne" was not for any grand cause, but simply because they did not want to become victims of the "Gods' War."

　Hera, the "Queen of the Gods," Zeus, the "King of the Gods," and Hades, the god behind Austin.

　Even if these gods don't personally intervene, the aftermath of their wars is something humanity cannot withstand.

　Staying away from "the struggle for the throne" is staying away from "the war of the gods".

　After the "Celestial Tea Party," the Duke's mansion also had its own celestial background.

　However, Ares, the "God of War," was only a patron of Alvitt, and not a supporter of the "Valkyrie faction."

　Chi truly supports the "Hall of Heroes," now renamed the "Hall of War Gods." Besides this, the "God of War," Ares, also has to stand up for the "Holy Church." Although Ares doesn't support the "Holy Church," the Robe Society provides it with some degree of protection.

　Under this protection, the Holy Church at least doesn't have to worry about being swallowed up by a suddenly rising new religion in the short term. But the Holy Church cannot rely on Ares forever. Their future still needs to be controlled by themselves.

　The strategies of the "Holy Church" and the "Valkyrie Faction" are actually quite similar. Both are shrinking their influence and distancing themselves from conflict.

　Therefore, they occasionally communicated during this period.

　The "Holy Church's" goal of staying away from the conflict is surprisingly similar to that of the "Valkyrie Faction," both aiming to avoid being affected by the "God War."

　It's important to know that wars between religions can sometimes be even more brutal than wars between royal families.

　Moreover, these new religions are all subordinate to the Twelve Celestials. The "Holy Church" is merely an unrelated sect under the protection of Ares, the "God of War," and has no right to compete for faith with those Celestial religions.

　Their power has shrunk dramatically as a result, with a large number of grassroots members defecting to the Celestial God Religion, and the territory they control is gradually being lost.

　But what can they do under these circumstances?

　There is nothing they can do.

　But if they really do nothing, they will probably become dust crushed by the rolling tide of history in the near future.

　Dac did not believe that the "Holy Church" would simply sit idly by and wait for its demise.

　……

　Scroll to the latest information.

　The page shows that a large number of "Paladins" have appeared in the City of Freedom.

　These "paladins" are both knights and mages, each one righteous and powerful.

　They registered with the Adventurers' Guild in the Free City and joined the "Western Development" as adventurers, venturing into the Black Soil Region alongside the group of adventurers lured by Zeus's great treasure.

　Since we cannot find miracles, let us seek out the gods' secret treasures!

　The expedition of the "Paladins" is just one of the paths the "Holy Church" takes to save itself.

　But it is currently the only traceable one.

　Dak shook his head.

　The current situation of the "Holy Religion" is extremely difficult. But religions are founded on faith, and they also collapse because of faith. What makes the "Holy Religion" what it believes in is "holiness." What also binds the "Holy Religion" is its belief in "holiness."

　Unless they abandon their faith and change their lineage, the only viable path for them is to create "holiness".

　However, those who are most compatible with the "divine origin" of "saint" are precisely the two least likely to become "saints".

　The only solution for the "Holy Church" now is to find someone else, someone new, who can become the vessel of "holiness".

　"But speaking of carriers..."