"What can be done? What else can be done?" Inside the carriage, hearing Shadi's words, the translucent ghost named Setuot snorted coldly and then spoke.
"With your current strength, you can't afford to provoke either of the two groups of lunatics currently in dispute on the stage. They are either ridiculously strong or have influenced your team too deeply. When the first batch of lunatics came looking for you, I told you that you couldn't control them, but you didn't believe me, hehe... I had already predicted your current predicament back then..."
Setuot said to Shadi with a gloomy smile, his words seeming somewhat gloating, but Shadi showed no anger at Setuot's mocking attitude, as if he had already gotten used to it.
"There was nothing I could do... I was too weak back then. I couldn't defeat Baruk on my own at all. I could only place my hopes on powerful allies. The Savior Descends Faction personally came to me at that time; they were my only choice. If I didn't cooperate with them, I would never have had the chance to defeat Baruk head-on."
"After all, the foundation of all power rules in this world is the strength of Extraordinary power. Without the support of powerful Extraordinary power, it would be useless even if I could rally more people to resist Baruk. I desperately needed the support of powerful Extraordinary power back then; I had no choice..."
Covering his forehead, Shadi showed clear distress. Seeing Shadi in this state, Setuot paused slightly, then spoke in a slightly gentler, less mocking tone.
"So why were you in such a hurry? If your Extraordinary power wasn't enough, you should have improved it yourself. With me guiding you, it wouldn't be difficult to rise to the 'Creation Tier' in thirty or forty years. By then, you could have built up an Extraordinary force strong enough to rebel yourself. You couldn't wait and listened to the lunatics' nonsense, which is why you created this situation today."
Setuot continued to speak to Shadi in a reproachful tone. After listening to Setuot's words, Shadi paused slightly, then couldn't help but sigh.
"Sigh... It's true that I was too impatient, but there was nothing I could do. Ever since my parents died, my lifelong creed has been to avenge myself against Baruk. It was the determination for revenge that made me grit my teeth and survive after being abandoned in the tomb by those beasts, Shadi's father, and struggle for a month in the dark tomb. If it weren't for that determination supporting me, I wouldn't have had any chance to live and see you, nor would you have been able to gain freedom."
Shadi continued speaking like this, his eyes filled with melancholy, as if recalling past scenes. As he spoke, Setuot, who was beside him, couldn't help but fall silent, not saying anything further.
"Revenge against Baruk was the main reason I became an Extraordinary, and it was also the only support that allowed me to struggle and survive. I originally thought that as long as I could overthrow Baruk, any price could be paid, so I could borrow any power. That's why when the Savior Descends Faction came to find me, I agreed to the cooperation plan without any hesitation."
"Although I had already foreseen that by relying on the power of the otherworld, I would not be tolerated by the Holy Mountain even after overthrowing the Baruk Dynasty, it didn't matter to me at that time. If the Holy Mountain wanted to target me, I would simply give up everything and live a life on the run again. Anyway, Baruk was already destroyed, and I had nothing to worry about. Therefore, when I agreed to the Savior Descends Faction's request for cooperation, I didn't think too much about it."
"But everything that happened later proved I was wrong. I overestimated myself. When the day came that I successfully overthrew Baruk, I found that there were so many things I couldn't let go of: the comrades who had fought alongside me until now, the future of Adus, the people who had been supporting us since the most difficult times, the sacrifices made... This series of things was too heavy. I originally thought I was just a lone avenger, but only now do I realize that so many people have placed their hopes on me. I am no longer alone. Now, I must think about the future of Adus."
Shadi sighed with emotion as he spoke, his gaze towards the carriage roof filled with countless emotions. Setuot, floating beside him, also fell silent after hearing Shadi's words. After a long while, he finally spoke to the man who was initially an avenger and was now a revolutionary.
"Alright... I can see that you didn't intend to become a ruler before, kid. Things turning out like this today is also unexpected. As for the current situation, this country cannot do without you. If you truly want to save everything you've built, to save this country, then you cannot accommodate those lunatics from the Savior Sect."
"If you truly consider the future of this country, there is only one path for you to take, which is to accept the conditions of those lunatics from the Three Saints. After all, they are the Light Bearers of this Fourth Epoch, so powerful that they cannot be disobeyed. If you don't want this country to be ploughed by war again, if you want everything you have to be ruined, then the only option is to bow down to them. Continuing to mess around with the Savior Sect lunatics will only lead to self-immolation!"
Setuot said to Shadi in a suggestive tone, and Shadi replied after a slight pause.
"But... I have cooperated with the Savior Descends Faction for many years. The Revolutionary Army, from top to bottom, has been influenced and infiltrated by people from the Savior Descends Faction. Mukhtar was even directly placed by my side. To a large extent, the Revolutionary Army is no longer under my complete control. If I announce that I accept the Holy Mountain's conditions, not only will the Revolutionary Army split internally, but Mukhtar will likely directly attack me and then declare himself in charge of the entire Revolutionary Army."
"By then, not only might I die, but the Revolutionary Army would fall into chaos and even civil war. The Holy Mountain would also directly choose to send troops to prevent Adus from completely falling into the hands of the otherworld. The result would be even worse..."
Shadi said slowly like this. He was currently caught between the Holy Mountain and the Savior Sect, unable to easily choose either side. The outcome would be very bad no matter which side he chose, so he could only stall for now.
"These people from the Savior Sect only want me to fulfill my promise and legalize their faith, completely disregarding the consequences. Once the Holy Mountain takes the matters of Adus seriously, they are no match at all. I talked to them... about continuing to exist in Adus through covert missionary work, and I would provide cover for them, but they simply wouldn't listen... Even a fool can see that the Holy Mountain is not to be provoked, but they just don't understand! They insist on dragging all of us to our deaths!"
Shadi continued speaking with a trace of annoyance, clearly expressing his dissatisfaction in his emotions, while Setuot, who was beside him, then replied.
"Hmph, things that even a fool can understand, a lunatic cannot, let alone a lunatic of the Light faith. Their idea of wanting to become martyrs and sacrifice themselves at any moment is something ordinary people cannot understand. While there were such lunatics in the Second Era, they weren't as rampant and severe as they are now. As expected, the era dominated by the Light is terrible."
"In my opinion, both the so-called Savior Sect and the Three Saints are groups of lunatics. The only difference is that the Savior Sect is a bit crazier; one is slightly crazy, and the other is severely crazy. Although choosing between two groups of lunatics is difficult, you still have to calculate the pros and cons. Kid, make your choice carefully, you don't have much time."
Setuot spoke frankly to Shadi, offering his opinion, but he did not help Shadi make a choice. Shadi could only fall into deep thought once again, remaining silent for a long time.
...
On the other side, after finishing a round of talks, Mukhtar also quickly left the scene with his entourage. On a forest path near the palace, they were walking slowly forward. Mukhtar looked gloomy, while the attendants dressed as priests beside him were full of indignation.
"May the Lord punish him... That kid Shadi, he actually dared to break his promise. He's still being vague and evasive everywhere. He said he would legitimize the True Church in Adus and expel the otherworld once victory was achieved, yet now he's still cowering there."
"That's right... We shouldn't have trusted that kid Shadi so much back then. We should have replaced him earlier with someone easy to control. Now he actually dares to waver between the two sides, and who knows who gave him the courage!"
Walking on the road, the priests beside Mukhtar were expressing their dissatisfaction with Shadi angrily, one after another. It was clear that they were very displeased with Shadi's performance in the recent negotiation. Mukhtar walked for a long time, and only after the sounds of discussion around him quieted down a bit did he speak.
"Shadi... he's changed. He's no longer the man who would abandon everything for revenge. After overthrowing the Baruk Dynasty, the position of the king of New Adus has become a trap that has ensnared him. Wealth, power, status... all of this has blinded Shadi's eyes. He is no longer that pure person. It's a pity, Shadi ultimately became what he hated.
"I had seen it before; Shadi, after his victory, had long been corrupted by worldly desires for power. He was no longer willing to hand Adus over to us. His current behavior is also within my expectations. Not everyone can sacrifice themselves for a greater blessing like us.
"Shadi is not on the same path as us after all. That's why I hired someone to give that otherworld Sister a warning, to make her retreat in the face of difficulty and eliminate Shadi's chance to hesitate. I didn't expect that otherworld Sister to have quite some faith; she actually persisted until here..."
Walking along the road through the woods, Mukhtar spoke slowly. After hearing his words, a priest beside him spoke.
"Captain, what should we do now? It's obvious that Shadi is no longer of the same mind as us. He wants to waver between us and the Holy Proximity Mountain otherworld. This is too arrogant; we cannot let him continue like this. We must take action!"
Listening to the words of his subordinate beside him, Mukhtar paused slightly. Then he looked towards the sky outside the distant city and continued to speak.
"Wait a little longer, for the next round of negotiations. If Shadi still hasn't made the correct choice, we will help him make it. If he is still unwilling, I think there are many people in the Adus Revolutionary Army who are more suitable to be the leader than him."
After Mukhtar finished speaking, the priests beside him couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement when they heard these words. It was clear that they had all accumulated dissatisfaction with Shadi.
"That guy, Shadi, can finally be removed?"
"A traitor... there is nothing worth sympathizing with."
"The cowardly and weak are not fit to lead Adus..."
"Adus will belong to the Lord. Even if Adus and we are destroyed in the holy war against the otherworld, it will be a contribution to a greater blessing...
"Even if the faith of the nation of Adus only exists for a short time, it can still help the Lord to reawaken and descend. The brutality and wickedness of the otherworld will be seen by our vast brethren in North Wu..."
After hearing that Mukhtar had the intention of replacing Shadi, the priests beside him began to discuss excitedly. After hearing the words around him, Mukhtar quickened his pace.
...
Adis, within the hotel originally used to host foreign guests, in a room laid with luxurious carpets, decorated in a resplendent manner, and looking quite nouveau riche, Dorothy, who had removed her headscarf, was sitting on a chair on the balcony, gazing at the vast city before her.
As "merchants" who arrived with the Church, Dorothy and Naifnis received very generous hospitality and stayed in the hotel in Adis that only foreign VIPs could enjoy in the past.
In order not to arouse the suspicion of Vanya's guards, Naifnis had already taken on the responsibility of a "merchant" at this time, taking the purchased goods to sell in Adis, while Dorothy stayed in the hotel. Firstly, it was convenient to control the situation of Vanya's negotiations, and secondly, it was to control various intelligence in Adis.
For example, she observed the first round of negotiations, which had just ended not long ago, throughout the entire process and was also clear about the depth of the conflict between the two sides.
'The conflict between the Savior Descends Faction and the Holy Proximity Mountain Church... is not just generally big. Judging from the demands made by both sides today, there is absolutely no room for negotiation to reach a consensus. The Holy Mountain's bottom line is that no otherworld faith can be publicly spread in Adus, while the Savior Descends Faction must legalize and legitimize their faith... The divergence is so great, it feels like no matter how many rounds of talks there are, nothing will come of it...
'Also, there is Shadi's attitude. As the nominal leader of the Revolutionary Army, he did not express a clear stance until the end. It feels like he also doesn't want to be dragged into martyrdom with the group of fanatics from the Savior Descends Faction along with his entire new regime. According to the results of the previous divination, the divergence between them should be very large.
'It's a pity... I can't conduct reconnaissance with full firepower in this place, otherwise I could dig up more intelligence on both sides by relying on all-weather surveillance...'
Sitting on the balcony, Dorothy thought to herself while drinking iced juice. Due to her previous experience against the Spiderfang Priest, Dorothy did not dare to use micro Corpse Puppet for all-weather surveillance in front of a Crimson Tier Extraordinary, fearing that this Mukhtar might have some ability to discover Dorothy's micro Corpse Puppet.
Similarly, because the intelligence within the Church indicated that Shadi had some secret weapon that could barely resist the Crimson Tier, Dorothy did not take the risk of monitoring Shadi.
Dorothy is currently in a major diplomatic occasion. Once her attempt at eavesdropping is unsuccessful and discovered, it will bring very dangerous and troublesome consequences to Vanya. Therefore, for safety's sake, Dorothy did not engage in pervasive prying as before.
However, this way, Dorothy's intelligence will be much less. Without more intelligence support, Dorothy is currently also finding it difficult to help Vanya much in the negotiations.
'Hoo... If I can't help, there's nothing I can do... After all, this time the Crimson Tier's 'Light' is on the scene, and my room for maneuver is compressed; I can't be as free as before.
'I can't see any point of reconciliation in the conflict between the two sides. It seems that the plan to help Vanya settle the negotiations and achieve peace is difficult to achieve. If it really doesn't work, I can only settle for the next best thing and ensure Vanya's safety...
'But the good news is... my main purpose for coming to Adis is not to achieve a high-difficulty goal like national peace, but to obtain the advancement ritual of the Crimson Tier. Fortunately, there has been some progress in this area...'
Dorothy thought this, then looked towards the distance outside the city. At the end of her gaze, she could see a magnificent and huge building with countless stone pillars towering, showing a clear ancient Wufeigas style.
That was the original Three Saints Church in Adis, the Church of Prayer Light.
After flipping through the books in the Adis library, Dorothy learned that this Church of Prayer Light was the oldest building in all of Adis, so old that its existence was recorded in the earliest records of Adis. It is said that it was once an otherworld church, and later became part of the Three Saints Sect.
Dorothy, who was familiar with the history of North Wu, knew that this otherworld most likely referred to the Savior Descends Faction, which meant that this place was once the Church of the True Shining Lord, but later joined the Three Saints joint worship. However, Dorothy also knew that the True Shining Lord faith was essentially a branch of the Third Dynasty Empire's state religion, just like the Shining Light Church. And although that Church had undergone countless renovations, it still revealed the undeniable architectural style of the First Dynasty, and the First Dynasty was a product of the Second Dynasty.
Dorothy, who had read the works of Mr. Plar, an ancient Wufeigas architect, mathematician, and tomb raider, immediately saw what that Church was used for before it was renovated. It should have originally been a temple, a temple used to worship the deities of the First Dynasty.
This building, over seven thousand years old, after being renovated countless times, still inherited the purpose of sacrificing to gods, although the gods worshipped inside were no longer the original beings.
As the oldest building in all of Adis, as a former temple of the First Dynasty, it is very likely that the secret of ""enlightenment"" is hidden there.
However, Dorothy currently faces some obstacles in trying to find something there, because the people of the Savior Descends Faction have now occupied it. After clearing the traces of the Three Saints inside, they have restored it to the state of worshipping only the Save the World and have made it their main base for preaching and spreading the word.