421: Chapter 408 Boring, I want to see rivers of blood.

Zhang Mu walked through the city gate and along the packed dirt road for a while. Seeing a relatively flat rock by the roadside, he sat down and pulled out the parchment to examine it.

He looked it over front and back, carefully feeling every corner with his hands, confirming that it wasn't special in itself.

It was just a piece of ordinary parchment, made from an ordinary sheep.

Zhang Mu shifted his attention to the text on it.

The impression he got from a quick glance when he first received it at the palace was correct; these were indeed very niche characters.

After reading a line, Zhang Mu felt something unusual.

Regarding the script.

It was said that a long time ago, the scripts of various countries on the Saul Continent differed greatly, making communication extremely inconvenient. When people from different kingdoms met for the first time, they mostly relied on gestures to express their thoughts, often leading to conflicts over inexplicable reasons.

For instance.

Two people from different kingdoms might meet by chance in the wild. One would follow their country's etiquette and wave as a greeting, yet in the other's customs, waving was a gesture full of contempt.

What happened next goes without saying.

Some empires did try to popularize their own script and language to eliminate such misunderstandings, but they were met with resistance from other empires. The reason wasn't complicated: why use yours and not mine?

What, not convinced? Then let's have a fight; whoever wins gets to promote their script.

The scale of a clash between nations was incomparable to a personal brawl, and once tempers flared, stopping was a mere pipe dream.

Many empires gradually became involved, and the strife was endless. Finally, the Church grew tired of the noise they made and, to restore peace to their lives, introduced the Continental Common Tongue—according to the Church's own claim, the Common Tongue was a gift from the gods.

The Common Tongue was easy to learn and simple to write, making it very popular among the people of various nations. As the number of people who mastered it rose rapidly, it seemed poised to replace the native languages of every country.

The royal families of various nations had no objection to this and instead helped spread it, though they didn't have the courage to defy the Church's decision anyway.

Over time, the Common Tongue became the first choice for communication on the Saul Continent, and native languages were gradually forgotten. However, many kingdoms in remote areas still retained their mother tongues because they had little contact with the outside world, spoke mostly with their own countrymen, and rarely used the Common Tongue.

But over the long passage of time, some foreign merchant caravans would always enter their borders, and communication with them could only be done in the Common Tongue, so the native languages were more or less affected.

This was reflected in the writing. The royal families of various nations simplified their own scripts to some extent, referencing the simpler-to-write characters of the Common Tongue.

Therefore, no matter how niche the script was, traces of the Common Tongue could still be seen.

However, Zhang Mu carefully read every word on the parchment and found that none of them bore such traces.

This... was very interesting.

"Novak... no, where did the Naqi Kingdom get this parchment?"

Zhang Mu wondered if he should return to the royal capital to ask Novak, but he figured Novak wouldn't tell him, and even if he did, it would likely be half-truths.

He shook his head to dismiss the idea, tucked the parchment away, stood up, and looked around.

"According to what's written on the paper, it should be... this way."

The parchment was covered in writing, but the actual content narrated was very little. It could be summarized in one sentence—in a certain mountain in a certain place, two faith artifacts were buried.

With the panel's automatic translation, Zhang Mu didn't have to worry about misinterpreting anything. Seeing the direction clearly, he flew into the air without hesitation and sped toward his destination.

The distance wasn't very far. Zhang Mu flew at full speed and arrived at the edge of a snowfield by dusk.

In the western region of the Saul Continent, where the Allied Forces and Lake were located, only this area had heavy snow falling year-round and was frozen for ten thousand miles, with almost no greenery visible on the outskirts.

Zhang Mu landed on the ground, his magic power enveloping his body to resist the biting cold, as he gazed across the boundless snow.

"This place, I think the Senior mentioned it in class; I remember it being quite dangerous. Heh, Novak, you didn't have good intentions."

In fact, it wasn't as if Zhang Mu only just realized Novak intended to harm him. He had already suspected it when the other party proposed maintaining the independence of the royal capital.

"What a coincidence; my greatest fear is someone taking my life." Zhang Mu put his hands behind his back and stepped into the wind and snow.

The process of finding the location of the faith artifacts was peaceful, not at all like the twists and turns of a dungeon crawl. The parchment stated that a solitary snow mountain stood on the snowfield, with one artifact stored in a cave halfway up and another placed on a platform at the summit.

The one Novak had was the one from the cave.

Zhang Mu's goal was naturally the one at the summit.

There was only one snow mountain on the snowfield, visible from afar. Zhang Mu used his Shadow Technique to avoid the interference of magical beasts and monsters, and with smooth sailing all the way, he soon reached the foot of the mountain.

Exhaling a pillar of cold air, he looked up.

The mountain wasn't very high. His Mental Energy sensed some high-level magical beasts wandering above. If an ordinary person dared to fly to the summit, they would likely be attacked by a swarm of magical beasts, torn to pieces, and swallowed into their bellies within three minutes.

Zhang Mu naturally had no such concerns and flew directly toward the summit. After a few minutes, the edge of the platform came into view.

"Let's make this quick," he muttered, urging his magic power to increase his flight speed.

The short distance passed in an instant. His rapidly rising head was about to cross the edge of the platform when suddenly, his vision went black. When his consciousness returned, a resurrection countdown appeared before him.

Zhang Mu looked bewildered: "How did I die?"

He couldn't move in his soul state. In front of his vision was the cliff wall; he couldn't see the scene on the platform.

After resurrecting, Zhang Mu immediately surged his magic power, but before it could even accelerate, his vision went black again.

Looking at the constantly ticking numbers on the countdown, Zhang Mu knew he wouldn't be getting up there today.

"No wonder Novak was willing to hand over the parchment."

After thinking for a while and failing to come up with a solution, Zhang Mu simply stopped thinking. When the numbers hit zero, he gave up control of his body and let it free-fall, only activating his magic power to land slowly on the snow when he was close to the ground.

"As I thought." He looked up at the sky, his gaze piercing through the gaps in the falling snowflakes to stare at the pitch-black cliffs.

"That fellow can peer into people's thoughts." Zhang Mu didn't know what the entity that instantly killed him was, but through the verification just now, he had reached this conclusion: attempting to go up resulted in an instant kill, while giving up left him unharmed.

He stood there for a while, figuring that staring was useless. The items wouldn't grow legs and run away anyway, so he would come back when he became stronger.

As for now, he would settle the score first.

Zhang Mu summoned "The World" light gate and walked in, then stepped out of the light gate at the Lake Royal Capital and found Domit, who was stationed at the Command Post.

"Have the legions supporting the Third and Fifth legions set out yet?"

Domit was taken aback: "After you ordered the suspension of the offensive, I commanded them to stay in the occupied cities to maintain order first."

"Have them leave enough troops to maintain order. The rest are to set out immediately and head for the Naqi Royal Capital at full speed. Then, level it."

"Yes!"

...

One month later, Naqi Royal Capital.

The adjutant carried a tray with both hands and walked into the council chamber hall, seeing Novak sitting in the middle of the steps leading to the high platform as usual.

He walked over, slowing his pace, a look of confusion in his eyes.

Since Zhang Mu left, Novak had kept his mouth shut and hadn't uttered a single word or syllable, as if he had become mute. Even when the adjutant spoke to him, he responded with silence.

The adjutant didn't understand the reason.

Amidst his thoughts, he reached the steps and said softly, "Lord Marshal, it's time for lunch."

Many years ago, Novak had been promoted to Magister and didn't need to eat to sustain his life, yet the adjutant still brought three meals a day on time.

Novak lifted his eyelids and nodded. The adjutant walked up, placed the tray on the steps, and watched his Marshal eat every bite.

"Does it taste alright?" he asked.

"Mm." Novak didn't open his mouth, his throat vibrating in response.

Just as the adjutant picked up the tray to turn and leave, a muffled explosion suddenly came from outside, and the ground vibrated slightly.

What was going on?

He was somewhat dazed. It sounded like the firing of a Magic Crystal Cannon. Judging by the volume, the source seemed to be at the city gate. But the enemy Marshal had promised not to attack; who could be firing at the city gate past the Laike Legion...

The adjutant snapped out of it, suddenly enraged: "He broke the agreement!"

"Hahaha..." Beside him, Novak wasn't angry at all. Instead, he stood up and laughed, his laughter filled with triumph and madness. "He's dead, he's dead!

Hahaha..."

"Who? Who's dead?" The adjutant was a bit bewildered by the laughter and asked instinctively.

"Zhang Mu! That heretic! That madman who defied the gods!" Novak was no longer silent. His arms waved wildly in excitement, and his shrill cries echoed in the hall.

"Zhang Mu?" The adjutant realized, but then became confused again. "Isn't he Lake's Marshal?

If someone could kill him, Lake would surely be destroyed by that person first. Why would there still be a Laike Legion shelling the city gate?"

Having vented enough, Novak panted as he explained, "Remember a hundred years ago when I led the personal guard on a long journey, and in the end, I was the only one who returned?"

"Of course. The King even punished you for it because you left the borders without permission."

"faith artifacts. I went to find faith artifacts back then." Novak sat back on the steps, a lingering smile on his lips. "It was a snow mountain. There were two faith artifacts on the mountain—one at the summit and one halfway up.

I followed the guidance of the parchment and got the one in the cave halfway up."

Hearing this, the adjutant asked in surprise, "The faith artifact that mysteriously disappeared from the altar?"

"Against the odds, it didn't mysteriously disappear; it was stolen by Zhang Mu." After saying that, Novak sneered and continued, "Afterward, I set out for the summit with the personal guard and soon reached the vicinity.

Being cautious, I had the guards scout the surroundings for danger. On the way, one of the guards unintentionally approached the summit platform and suddenly exploded into thin air."

"Exploded... what do you mean?"

"Just exploded. His entire body burst into a blood mist."

A chill ran straight to the adjutant's head: "Then... then what happened?"

"I didn't know the reason, but I speculated it had something to do with the summit platform, so I ordered the guards to walk toward it one by one."

So, that was how the personal guard was wiped out. The adjutant shuddered, his instinct controlling his consciousness to ignore why the guards, after witnessing their comrades die at the edge of the platform, still followed orders and walked over voluntarily.

However, the more he told himself not to think deeply, the clearer the matter became in his mind.

He tried to distract himself and quickly changed the subject: "The Lord Marshal hoped to use that platform to kill Zhang Mu."

"Exactly. Judging by the reaction of the legion outside the city, I succeeded." He couldn't help laughing again, filled with immense satisfaction.

"It's just that the price will be very high." The adjutant's gaze swept across the hall, out the door, and toward the staggered pointed roofs outside the palace.

The smile on Novak's face slowly faded. With their Marshal murdered, Lake would bound to retaliate madly, and the most suitable target was the royal capital right before their eyes.

The adjutant turned to look at him, questioning his Marshal for the first time: "Is it worth it?

Naqi's downfall is already certain. Even killing Zhang Mu cannot reverse it."

After a moment of silence, Novak said slowly, "He is the root of this disaster. Killing him indeed cannot save Naqi, but at least I have my revenge."

"No, Lord Marshal. The source of the disaster is Naqi itself." The adjutant grew agitated, his face flushing red. "In the cities Lake has occupied, not a single citizen in any of them has been harmed. But this time, they will massacre!"

"As subjects, it is our duty to give everything for the King, even our lives."

"Well said!"

A familiar voice rang out in the hall, interrupting the impending argument between the two. They both looked toward Zhang Mu, who was standing in the middle of the hall.

Novak's lips parted, but he couldn't say a word for a long time, only squeezing out a few meaningless, raspy syllables from his throat.

After a long while, perhaps having accepted reality, his head drooped weakly, and he stared blankly at the tops of his feet.

"Why are you still alive? How can this be?

Did you notice beforehand?

No, impossible. Only the King and I knew about this. The King has already left, and I—I didn't even dare to speak for this whole month, fearing I'd let something slip.

Besides me and the King, who else? Who else could have tipped you off?"

Novak's bewildered expression suddenly turned hideous as he roared at Zhang Mu, "Speak! Who tipped you off! Was it him!?"

The adjutant looked at Novak's right index finger pointing at him. He didn't defend himself or get angry; his gaze remained calm.

Zhang Mu said cheerfully, "Want to know?"

"Speak!"

"Hehe, I'm not telling you." Although he couldn't die, resurrecting twice had cost him a bit of memory, so Zhang Mu naturally wanted to get his revenge.

The anger in his chest rushed to his head, and Novak nearly fainted, taking several deep breaths before he recovered.

"Huff— huff—

I, I will, I will kill you!"

He suddenly pulled a wand from the sleeve of his robe, and violent magic power surged into the crystal at the top of the wand, shining with a piercing white light.

Zhang Mu remained cheerful, his hands hanging naturally at his sides, with no intention of defending or counterattacking.

"In my hometown, your state is called 'impotent rage'."

"Bastard!" Novak's anger was beyond control. He didn't even want to wait for the longer condensation time of high-level magic and raised his hand to hurl a Wind Blade at Zhang Mu, even though he knew a Wind Blade couldn't possibly harm Zhang Mu, who was also a Magister.

The Wind Blade shot out, and Zhang Mu sidestepped it nonchalantly.

"I could kill you right now, but that would be boring. I want to see blood flow like a river, together with you."

As the words slowly fell, Zhang Mu's figure became illusory and vanished.