Atus West, Kanak.
After the roar that surpassed thunder, the wind and sand dispersed, the sky clouds reopened, and under the scattered sunlight, the entire small city of Kanak was covered with a thick layer of dust. The soldiers who survived the disaster crawled out from the dust of the fortifications, looking around blankly, as if the scene of doomsday just now was merely an illusion.
After the storm caused by Diya Ding completely dispersed and disappeared, the entire Revolutionary Army in Kanak began to organize and operate again. Under the command of General Shadi, all Revolutionary Army soldiers began to clean up Kanak after the apocalyptic disaster.
Reorganizing the troops, recalling the personnel who had originally retreated, searching for and suppressing the remaining Savior Sect armed forces, and searching for potentially surviving local residents, under Shadi's command, the Revolutionary Army soldiers in Kanak quickly recovered from the chaos, and everything was operating in an orderly manner.
"Over at the municipal building, there are still a few people shooting from the shadows. If you can negotiate their surrender, do so. If not, open fire and blow up the building. Don't attack directly to avoid casualties... Someone heard a cry for help near the East Market. There seem to be some local survivors. Send a few more people over, confirm the situation, and rescue people as much as possible..."
Standing on a tall building, Shadi skillfully directed and arranged various tasks for his soldiers. Although since the Adus Revolution entered the stage of a national revolution, Shadi had focused more on strategic planning and rarely directly commanded a single unit in such detail. This time, it was because the Battle of Kanak was the crucial final battle of the Adus civil war, and facing the undead troops required him to personally be on the front line to boost morale, which is why he came here to act as a front-line general.
Finally, after initially arranging the tasks, Shadi let out a long sigh, then looked up at the clear sky before him, recalling the massive sound that had shaken the heavens and earth and destroyed the hurricane. For a moment, his heart was filled with emotion. He then spoke to the ancient spirits within his mind.
"Hey, Setuot, did you figure out what that sound just now was?" Shadi asked Setuot. Since hearing that massive sound, Setuot had been silent, completely unresponsive. This was somewhat contrary to Setuot's attitude of being able to explain any strange phenomenon Shadi encountered. Shadi couldn't help but ask with a hint of worry in his tone. Setuot, after a slight pause, responded slowly with a sigh.
"Not yet... What that sound was... What principle it used to unleash such great power... I haven't figured it out yet. At most, I only have a little speculation..."
"Speculation..."
"That sound had a profound ebb and flow, a rhythm. In my opinion, it might be a language... A language that even I have never known."
"Language... That was a language? There's actually a language in this world that you don't understand?" Shadi said to Setuot in surprise. In the field of languages, he had never heard of anything that Setuot didn't understand.
"Of course, I'm not an omniscient Lord. That language just now was very special, very powerful. Just a few syllables could unleash such powerful strength. I still can't see the principle. Perhaps it's some kind of primitive spirit power with a natural and profound connection to power..."
"Primitive... hmm... Spirit power?" Listening to Setuot's words, a clear look of confusion appeared in Shadi's eyes, and Setuot continued to speak.
"This is related to the profound realm concerning all origins and structures... Even during the peak of the Second Dynasty, it was the cutting edge of research... It was a key subject of First Dynasty research. In short, the Spirit Sight in this is very deep, and I can't explain too much in detail to you... Even if I did, you wouldn't understand..."
Setuot replied to Shadi in this way. Shadi was choked by Setuot's response and didn't know what to say for a moment, so he didn't delve further into what that mysterious language was, but instead changed the subject and asked.
"Then... if Setuot's judgment is correct, doesn't that mean that the Judge of Heaven has begun to master a large amount of the First Dynasty's legacy? They have inherited even cutting-edge research and can even use its results." Shadi continued to question Setuot, and after Setuot pondered Shadi's question for a moment, it replied.
"It's possible... Perhaps I underestimated them before. Kid... In the future, find a way to cooperate with them more deeply. I need to understand them from more angles..." Setuot said to Shadi in this way. At this moment, in its heart, formal contact with the Judge of Heaven had been put on the agenda.
After a simple exchange with Setuot, Shadi continued to command the Revolutionary Army to clear the battlefield and handle the aftermath. Meanwhile, in the distance, on a clock tower in the city of Kanak, a figure of Naifnis stood there, looking at Shadi in the distance, with a complex expression on her face.
"Is that... the current ruler of Adus... the end of Baruk?"
Looking at Shadi's figure, Naifnis murmured softly. Beside her, a Corpse Puppet wearing a long robe responded under the control of Dorothy from afar.
"Yes, Shadi, the leader of the Adus Revolutionary Army, the man who killed Diya Ding's physical body and destroyed the dynasty you personally created. How about it? Captain Rahman, are you going to raise another army, fight this rebel, and restore Baruk?"
Listening to Dorothy's slightly playful words, Rahman, who was relying on Naifnis, did not respond immediately. Instead, after seeing the many wounded soldiers in the city and the large number of civilian corpses piled up outside the city due to the Corpse Coffin ritual, he answered calmly.
"It depends on the situation. If he is truly qualified to rule Adus... then there is no need for Baruk to be revived. A rebel's funeral is its best destination. If he is not qualified, then I can only make Adus endure a few more wounds in pain..."
"Oh... So, you want to examine him?" Dorothy asked Rahman curiously, and Rahman replied affirmatively.
"Pretty much... After repairing the damage to my soul, I will travel around Adus and see how he's doing..."
"Examination... So, does this count as your royal trial for Shadi?"
"Royal trial? Heh... Please don't mention that word again. I originally thought that the system I designed could ensure the long-term stability of Adus, but I didn't expect it to end up with such a tragic result. The royal trial... was the most foolish decision I ever made..."
Listening to Dorothy's words, Rahman chuckled and then said self-mockingly. Listening to Rahman's words, Dorothy couldn't help but become curious.
"So... Captain Rahman, can you tell me specifically what this royal trial is all about?"
Listening to Dorothy's question, Rahman paused slightly, then sighed and began to speak.
"Alright, as things stand, this is no longer something that needs to be kept secret..."
"The so-called royal trial was a ritual system I established to ensure the basic qualities of the future kings of Adus and to pass down my power."
"Passing down power... Did the royal trial have this effect?" Listening to Rahman's words, Dorothy asked curiously. She had initially thought that this trial was just to test qualities.
"Of course, or rather, passing down power was the primary purpose. After all, in this world, a ruler must possess the power of a king. The foundation of a country must be some kind of Extraordinary power that can be stable and effective for a long time, or that can be continuously inherited. This is true for other countries, and it is also true for Adus..."
Rahman said. As he spoke, he extended Neff's hand and gazed at it before him.
"Adus is not a small country; it is one of the important countries in North Wu. Both its population and territory are among the foremost in North Wu. To stabilize a country of this size, the inheritance of Scarlet-level Extraordinary power is essential. However, shaping a Scarlet-level powerhouse is extremely difficult. It not only requires a large amount of resources but also opportunities and the aptitude of the person being shaped."
"To become a Scarlet-tier Extraordinary, resources, opportunities, and aptitude are all indispensable... Often, even a country's king finds it hard to guarantee that his heir will definitely be able to advance to Scarlet. Therefore, for the Royal Families of various countries, having every generation of heirs advance to Scarlet according to the usual method of advancement is not the first choice. We are more inclined to establish a stable Extraordinary inheritance system that is independent of the normal advancement system."
As Rahman said this, when he spoke of an Extraordinary inheritance system independent of the normal advancement system, Dorothy immediately thought of the Black Dream Hunter Group's Pseudo-Moth breeding method. This method of obtaining Extraordinary power by coexisting with Extraordinary creatures is outside the normal advancement system. According to Rahman, this kind of non-mainstream Extraordinary system might not be uncommon.
"Then... what method did you use to stably inherit Scarlet-tier power within the Adus Royal Family?"
Dorothy continued to ask Rahman, and Rahman also put his hands behind his back and answered calmly.
"In my lifetime... I was an Extraordinary whose main path was '"Cup"' and auxiliary was'Silence'..."
"Main '"Cup"', auxiliary'Silence'... Plague Path?"
"Heh... The main branch is indeed called that, but I am a bit different. My Extraordinary class is a sub-category under the Plague Path, a variant class that advanced through a special ritual. My Scarlet-tier class name is Blood Knight. And the main class name for the Scarlet tier of the Plague branch is Plague Knight..."
"Variant class..."
Listening to Rahman's words, Dorothy recalled the information about variant classes. This was one of the basic Extraordinary lessons Aldrich had told her about a long time ago.
A variant class is a special branch on an Extraordinary path that is different from the main line. If an Extraordinary path is a tree, then the trunk of the tree is the series of main classes, such as the Path of Bitter Discipline from Black Earth's Ascetic Monk all the way to Golden's Hand-Ranked Bitter Venerable, taking one step at a time with a corresponding advancement ritual for each tier. This is called the main class line. Outside the main line are the variant classes, which are like the side branches of the tree.
Variant classes are branches of the main line and can appear at any tier from Apprentice to Golden. They advance through special rituals different from the main class rituals, just like the '"Cup"' Taster Dorothy had seen before.
Generally speaking, variant classes and their corresponding main classes have many common abilities. In addition to the common abilities, variant classes have fewer abilities from the main class but more of their own special abilities. A variant class is just another way of presenting the main class, a variation of the main line.
And because variant classes are essentially branches of the main line, they do not have their own advancement path. For example, Rahman's Blood Knight advanced from the main Chalk-tier class of the Plague branch, but if he wanted to advance to the Golden tier, he could not advance to the Blood Knight Golden tier because that class does not exist. A variant class can only return to the original main line to advance, advancing to the Plague Knight Golden tier, and can rarely continue forward independently, because branches are ultimately branches and are attached to the main trunk.
Dorothy recalled the information about variant classes in her mind, and at this moment, Rahman continued to speak.
"As a Blood Knight... compared to the main classes of the Plague Path, my ability to create diseases is significantly weakened. However, in contrast, another ability has been greatly strengthened, and that is the ability to utilize bloodlines. Simply put... I can use flesh and blood as a medium to establish a connection with others on a soul level. I can read long-lost memory fragments within my own or other life forms' bloodlines and gain power from these fragments, reproducing the power and even partial forms of ancient creatures that have gone extinct in the distant past."
Rahman introduced his ability in this way. Hearing Rahman's ability, Dorothy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She thought to herself, could this guy's ability be to read the genetic information within a creature and use this information to reproduce the power of ancestral species on the creature's evolutionary chain? If there were Dragons in this world, could he transform into one?
Dorothy speculated about Rahman's ability in this way, and at this moment, Rahman continued to speak.
"Therefore, my ability is closely linked to bloodlines, which is why I was able to speak to all Adus people just now. Seven hundred years ago, when Adus was still in a period of war, in order to make warfare and governance more convenient, I once asked all the people who joined me to contribute a drop of blood and perform a ritual to establish a contractual connection with me, and the medium of the contract was my sword. Therefore, after I unified Adus, all Adus people were connected to my soul through blood. This connection would be passed down with the continuation of bloodlines. Even now, I can still communicate with all Adus people through this connection, after all, they are the descendants of my subjects from back then."
Rahman explained in this way. Listening to his words, Dorothy now understood why she couldn't hear anything when Rahman declared his denial of Diya Ding at that time, because she was not an Adus person.
"My power lies in bloodlines, so as long as I am willing, I can directly bestow my power upon my direct descendants through the closest bloodline connection, even after I die, as long as my soul is still in the present world. This is the truth of the Scarlet power that has been passed down in Adus for hundreds of years."
"I was the only person in the entire Baruk Royal Family who truly reached the Scarlet tier. The other Baruk kings were essentially Chalk-tier Extraordinary, it was just that I used the characteristics of the Blood Knight to give them power using bloodlines as a link. A Baruk king, after accepting my inheritance, would gain Scarlet-tier strength and stabilize the Adus court."
"However, the Scarlet achieved through this method is not a true Scarlet after all. Although there is no discount in terms of strength, the lifespan is still that of an ordinary person. Therefore, for the Baruk Dynasty to continue, this kind of inheritance must be continuous. To allow my descendants to use my power to protect Adus forever, I decided to refuse to return to the Netherworld after death, and instead let my soul sleep in the mausoleum, providing and reclaiming power for generation after generation. I originally thought that Adus could achieve long-term stability as a result, but I didn't expect to make a huge mistake..."