An eight-star commission!
A mission involving entire nations; throughout the entire history of the Mercenary Guild, such commissions had appeared only a handful of times.
And now, one had been placed directly into Yechui’s hands. Looking at the solemn expression on Prince Geller’s face, Yechui turned and exchanged a grin with Debbie before accepting the scroll.
He had already anticipated this outcome and knew that he and his companions would soon be heading to the Tide Empire. Smiling, he said to Prince Geller, “We accept the mission.”
Prince Geller seemed to breathe a slight sigh of relief, yet his brow immediately furrowed again with concern. “This will be an extremely dangerous task. You may end up facing the entire Tide Empire as enemies.”
“Don’t worry, Little Seven. What storm haven’t we weathered? Even if we can’t win, escaping has never been a problem for us,” Debbie said cheerfully.
Prince Geller gave a wry smile. Normally, large magic guilds or mercenary groups cared deeply about their reputation and would never casually mention running away, but Yechui, Debbie, and company seemed to lack that particular hang-up entirely. They spoke of fleeing with perfect ease and executed it even more smoothly. If things truly became unwinnable, there was no need to worry; they would bolt immediately.
With all the bizarre magic and creations Yechui possessed, their escape methods were practically endless.
Yet Prince Geller suddenly recalled something else. He exchanged a glance with Jacob, and his voice turned colder. “We are already at war with the Church. Recently the Church has been gathering its Holy Army; fighting could break out at any moment. Under these circumstances, the Tide Empire absolutely cannot become an obstacle. I hope you can resolve the civil strife there. If you cannot… then…”
At that point, Prince Geller made a throat-slitting gesture.
He possessed the decisive ruthlessness required of an imperial administrator. For the prosperity of the empire, he would not hesitate to do anything, no matter how cold-blooded. However, looking at the youthful Yechui and Debbie before him, he worried they might not stomach such darkness…
“Easy!”
Yechui instantly understood Prince Geller’s meaning and actually looked excited. “If it really comes to that, I can just fire off a few magic-core missiles. Let me tell you, for an island nation like the Tide Empire, two would be enough to silence them completely.”
Debbie leaned in eagerly. “Or we could directly summon the undead army from the undead realm. That’s tens of thousands of undead. We could just sweep from the west coast straight to the east coast.”
“No need to go that far. I can create a self-spreading curse magic that infects one, then ten, then a hundred, quickly covering the whole country and turning everyone into walking corpses,” Yechui said, his imagination running wild. He was thinking of unlocking zombie movies and exchanging for the zombie virus. In this world, the zombie virus was essentially a life-curse magic. Forget wiping out an island nation in minutes; it could probably take the entire Castro continent.
Debbie continued, “But I think the best method would be to let Aqua lead the Axis Cult into the Tide Empire. We help her spread the faith and turn the whole empire into idiots.”
“And another thing,” Yechui added quickly. “There are so many ways to deal with an island nation. Create a massive tsunami or drop an ultra-large meteor. I have dozens of apocalypse movies for reference. We could also…”
“Enough, enough!”
Cold sweat poured down Prince Geller’s and Jacob’s foreheads as they listened. Prince Geller hurriedly said, “That is still an empire, for goodness’ sake. Stop bullying them like that…”
He paused, then said helplessly, “I never told you to destroy the Tide Empire! My meaning was that if you cannot resolve the situation, feel free to slaughter freely, but try to minimise casualties. The Tide Empire has been our ally for generations and has always had good relations with us. I am definitely not asking you to annihilate them!”
Hearing this, Yechui and Debbie exchanged another glance. Of course they understood the core of the mission. They had only said those things because they saw how worried Prince Geller and Jacob looked and decided to tease them a little. They were, after all, cheerful, optimistic young people. Destroying the world at the drop of a hat? They were not that brutal.
Of course, if things truly became unsalvageable… well, destroying it would not be a big deal…
“Relax, we know what to do,” Yechui finally assured Prince Geller and Jacob with a smile. “We will definitely complete this mission and completely settle the Tide Empire!”
“Not settle; help them resolve the civil strife and restore them as our allied nation!” Prince Geller corrected hastily.
“Oh, right, help them solve the problem,” Yechui echoed with a grin.
They then discussed further details of the mission. Matters had reached a critical juncture, so Yechui and his group had to depart today. As for domestic affairs, Yechui and Debbie need not worry; Prince Geller had been preparing for this campaign for a long time, and everything was already in place.
After leaving the palace, Yechui and Debbie hurried back to the guild castle. Yechui made the firm decision: they would set off immediately. At the same time, he decided to release the Axis Cult from the undead realm and deploy this heavyweight secret weapon first along the border of the Dawn Empire, which had chosen to side with the Church, to test its power!
…
Mountain Town lived up to its name: a small settlement nestled deep in the mountains, and a very special one at that.
The Doomsday Mountain Range stretched across the entire Castro continent for thousands of miles. The Star and Dawn Empires used it as their mutual border. Towering into the clouds and covered in perpetual ice and snow, it formed a natural barrier.
In the south, the rocky terrain of the range gradually flattened. There, at the tri-border junction of the Dawn, Star, and Rock Empires, lay Mountain Town.
Nominally part of the Star Empire, its treacherous location placed it outside the border walls of all three empires. It had become a famous town beyond any boundary, a forgotten place.
The inhabitants of Mountain Town were miners who eked out a meagre living from the small iron deposits in the area.
Events in the outside world seemed unable to touch this place. When news of the old emperor’s death arrived not long ago, the numb miners merely paused briefly before returning to their work.
The ascension of the new emperor and the declaration of war against the Church; these grand events felt utterly unrelated to them.
The numb populace repeated their daily toil until death.
In Mountain Town stood a church.
Compared to the hovels of the townsfolk, this church could almost be called a grand hall. Of course, to outsiders, the crude circular structure built from marble still looked shabby and ugly.
Mountain Town sat at high altitude. Though it was late summer turning to autumn, the cold here was already winter-like, with occasional morning flurries of fine snow. The reason the ancestors had chosen to settle here was a hot spring that provided endless warm water to comfort the freezing residents. However, ever since the new priest Barry arrived, he had claimed the hot spring entirely for himself in the name of faith.
Warm steam constantly rose from the stone building in the church’s rear courtyard. The obese Barry emerged comfortably wrapped in a bath towel. Being posted by the Church to this impoverished backwater, the only consolation was the hot spring. Daily bathing was the highlight of his existence.
He entered his private bedroom inside the church and changed into a brand-new black priest’s robe adorned with ornate gold trim at the hem, symbols of his priestly rank.
Every church required a priest whose duty was to expound scripture, spread faith, and answer questions on behalf of the divine for believers and followers. Usually, priests were authoritative figures among the faithful, but in remote areas, ordinary nuns or believers could fulfil the role. The elderly nun Rosia in Stan Town, for example, carried some priestly duties.
As Barry carefully adjusted his robe, he gazed at the snowy ridges outside the window and suddenly wore a troubled expression. The Star Empire had declared war on the Church, but Mountain Town was far too remote and easily forgotten. So far, the Church’s influence here remained unaffected.
Some time ago, imperial city guards had come to proclaim the royal decree expelling the Church, but the numb residents paid no attention.
For their numb lives, faith in the Church was perhaps a faint light of hope. Weak though it was, it sustained them.
Barry could not help cursing viciously under his breath, hurling the foulest insults at the stupidity of Mountain Town’s residents. If only they would abandon the Church, he could legitimately leave this godforsaken place… Where there were believers, there must be a guide of faith; that was the Church’s eternal doctrine, and as their guide he was forced to remain here hypocritically.
After a moment of silent mourning, Barry finished dressing, left his bedroom, and walked to the raised platform inside the church to prepare the day’s scripture reading and sermon. In his mind he wondered whether the new emperor’s recent coronation might affect this remote town.
Lost in thought, it took him a while to realise something was wrong: normally, at this hour, the idiots who saw him as their saviour would pack the church, making a noisy racket. Why was it so quiet today?
He looked up. The crude church was completely empty!
Where had all those idiots gone?
Just as he wondered, a believer rushed in, shouting in shock, “Lord Barry… something terrible has happened! Some Axis Cult suddenly appeared outside town, and all the residents have been drawn to them!”
“The Axis Cult?” Barry froze, his face full of disbelief. He strode over to the panting believer and demanded, “Since when does an Axis Cult exist in this world?”
“It’s true… they came here to preach, and now every single townsperson is gathered around them!” the believer hurriedly explained. “They… they are all eagerly asking to join this Axis Cult.”
“The only true faith in the world is the Church that worships the divine! All other cults are heretical!” Barry roared in fury. He had hoped these fools would abandon the Church, but he could not tolerate someone else stealing their faith. Axis Cult? What the hell was that? He snarled, “Those idiots treat me as their saviour. How could they possibly betray me, betray the Church’s faith?”
“It’s real, Lord Barry. They said anyone who joins their cult will receive a bar of soap blessed by the goddess Aqua and a bottle of laundry detergent that cleans clothes perfectly and is even safe to drink… so all the residents immediately chose to join,” the believer recounted in an odd tone.
Barry’s shock deepened. “Soap? Laundry detergent…? Are you telling me our divine would lose to soap?”
