NOVEL NEXT Chapter 58: The Approach of the Blood Cataclysm
The Blood Clan had already exposed the Blood Servant to the Church. To ensure that the Church wouldn't interfere when he attacked Sivis, he needed to create enough trouble for them.
For example, he could mass-produce Blood Servants and spark a small-scale Blood Cataclysm!
Minnet City had a substantial population, and the initial infection rate of this catastrophe would definitely be slow, but it would eventually grow exponentially!
It might take the Blood Clan over ten days to infect one-tenth of the population, but converting those one-tenth into Blood Servants and then infecting the entire city of Minnet might only take a few days!
This would also be a disadvantage for Sivis. If the Blood Clan infected a large number of civilians, it would lead to the death of many of his half-subjects. The Extraordinary Dark Power he had obtained earlier would have to be returned, and his potential would decrease.
The time it would take to cultivate to the Silver Realm would be extended.
Sivis and Vikalina discussed this point.
The female knight's expression was extremely grim.
She did not know that the Blood Clan wanted the shackles in Sivis's possession, but she knew that the Blood Clan's tactic of sparking a plague was very common!
"In Minnet City, commoners are like ants in the eyes of the nobility and the Church. If the Blood Clan wants to cause trouble, there are plenty of loopholes for them to exploit." Sivis added.
The female knight's face changed instantly. "What do we do?"
Faced with Vikalina's question, Sivis could only shrug.
"It's difficult to completely thwart the Blood Clan's plans with their hiding capabilities."
"We can only try to gather as much strength as possible, search the slums, and the sewers, and see if we can find and eliminate any hidden Blood Servants."
"See if you can request assistance from the churches in neighboring cities to get more manpower."
Sivis proposed a crude solution: have the Knight Order and the priests from the church conduct patrols. On one hand, this could indeed slow down the outbreak of the blood plague. On the other hand, it would also tie up their resources, delaying the construction of the Radiant Great Array.
However, once other churches came to assist, whether they managed to extinguish the blood plague or not, it would result in the construction progress of the Radiant Great Array speeding up again.
Sivis didn't mind this. Speeding up later was a concern for later. What he needed was to buy time to break through to the Silver Realm.
"Looks like that's our only option." Vikalina nodded, her expression resigned.
Sivis took the opportunity to bring up the previous topic. "If you participate in the patrols, you'll likely end up in conflicts with the people from the Knight Order again."
"Perhaps, as I suggested earlier, I could hire you. You would primarily patrol the area around our Daister family stronghold, ensuring our people are safe. What do you think?"
He finally revealed his true intentions — as a Demon Lord, he did not have the magnanimity to care for the entire city of Minnet.
He only wanted to rely on the power of holy light from the female knight and himself to slow down the outbreak of the blood plague, so that it wouldn't affect his accumulation of Extraordinary Dark Power or his progress in breaking through to the Silver Realm.
As long as he broke through to the Silver Realm, even if the newly recruited subjects suffered heavy casualties... it wouldn't matter!
Sivis did not want to see people being slaughtered by Blood Servants, but he could accept it, as it wasn't he who harmed the civilians.
"I just need to return to my territory and reclaim a batch of Silver-level monsters to develop slowly."
"Although the situation is already beginning to become chaotic, the true turmoil that will sweep across the entire continent won't start until a year from now."
"I have the support of Extraordinary Dark Power and the system, so I lack nothing but time to develop."
He thought silently.
Vikalina's expression became conflicted.
She felt that Sivis's suggestion didn't seem to have any issues.
If she accepted the employment and patrolled the area around the Daister family, it wouldn't be much different from randomly choosing places in the city to clean up Blood Servants.
However — she always felt that there was something hidden in her companion's smile.
But Vikalina recalled that her previous suspicions of Sivis had all proven to be malicious conjectures.
This time, she slowly nodded. "I will report to the Church and explain that I need to provide you with assistance."
"But how should I explain it? Why would I suddenly help the Daister family strengthen their vigilance?" She looked puzzled.
Sivis suggested, with or without intention, "You could say you want to become my exclusive knight."
The term "exclusive knight" had a different connotation in the noble class — nominally a hired guard, but in reality, often a kept lover, providing intimate services in addition to protection, regardless of gender.
It was a term with a subtle insult.
But it also represented Sivis's sincere hope. In his previous life, when he pursued Vikalina, he wanted to see the knight fall, a classic trope in various adult works.
But Gandanyir was an all-ages game, and some anticipated content had no CG scenes, which left Sivis feeling regretful. After crossing over, he was determined to make up for it!
Not just the female knight, but also the Saint, the Dark Elf Queen, the succubus, the angel...
None of them could be spared.
Sivis thought while looking at the female knight in front of him —
Vikalina was completely unmoved.
Having spent years in the Church, she had no idea about the nuances of an exclusive knight.
Vikalina thought seriously for a moment and shook her head. "No need. I can simply state that 'due to the purity of your power of holy light, I need to assist in its protection.'"
"'Exclusive knight' is out of the question —— sorry, Sivis. It's not that I'm unwilling to serve you, but I have sworn to dedicate my life to the Church and the fight against evil."
Her expression was serious, with determination shining in her eyes.
Sivis secretly admired her — wasn't Vikalina's charm precisely derived from her serious and loyal noble demeanor?
If one day, this virtuous Church knight transformed from a 'great love for all the world' to a 'small, devoted love for him, a Demon Lord,' and from 'unyielding purity' to 'voluntarily seductive allure,' that contrast would be the most captivating.
And all of this...
Would only require turning her into a dedicated guardian, the Spear of the End!
"I'll go investigate right away." Before Vikalina finished speaking, she turned around, eager to engage the Blood Servants in battle at the next moment.
Sivis didn't dampen her enthusiasm and nodded silently.
Watching Vikalina's figure disappear at the end of the ruins, Sivis looked at the enthusiastic civilians working under the supervision of the overseers.
He stretched his limbs.
"I've got a busy day ahead of me too."
Sivis was very concerned about Vikalina, but he also needed to gather materials for Reina's transformation into a guardian.
So —
Sivis quickly left the family stronghold and headed to the city's shops and the Adventurer's Guild to start collecting supplies.
He had a very productive day.
The gold coins stored in the family treasury weren't too many, but Minnet City wasn't a large city, so Sivis couldn't expect to gather all the materials Reina needed for her transformation in one trip.
Most of the materials weren't particularly rare, but the city didn't have everything in stock. Sivis could only buy what was available and post a commission at the Adventurer's Guild to gather the rest.
He worked until midnight, returned to the inn where Reina was staying to rest for the night, and spent the next half-day gathering all the resources he could buy. For those he couldn't buy, he posted tasks, which he would collect after some time.
As Sivis expected, all the materials except for Dragon-related Fossils were collected smoothly.
He also found a lead on the Dragon-related Fossils — a certain adventurer had discovered a similar item in the ruins on the outskirts. As long as he was willing to pay, he could obtain it.
However, upon examination, the fossil was only from a Silver Tier 3 Green Dragon, far from the Silver Tier 10 Crystal Dragon fossil described in the game. Sivis didn't rush to post a task and decided to search the area around the church first.
After finishing his tasks, as he left the Adventurer's Guild, his relaxed mood suddenly turned heavy — he saw a red-highlighted task flashing repeatedly, with several adventuring parties gathered around discussing it.
The task title was alarming:
Hanseter Town • Monster Territory Clearing
Initial Difficulty: Bronze Mid-Tier
Current Difficulty: Bronze High-Tier (Suspected Silver)
Task Description:
This territory was once taken over by an elite squad with Bronze Tier 8 strength. All members involved in the task are currently missing.
No traces of returning adventurers have been found in Hanseter Town, making it extremely dangerous! The task difficulty has been increased, and the reward has been additionally raised: 50 gold coins + 1000 Adventurer's Guild Contribution Points.
Sivis stared at the bounty, his expression grave.
The so-called "monster territory" was his own domain — the birth of a Demon Lord required a fortuitous event, and in the vicinity of Hanseter Town, there was only his domain.
"The efficiency of the Adventurer's Guild is truly astonishing. Upon discovering that Johnny and his group have gone missing without a trace, they immediately upgraded the threat level of my domain and offered a high reward to attract more adventurers to raid it."
"They're giving me no room to breathe at all!"
Sivis couldn't help but complain.
Don't be fooled by the task being labeled as "Bronze High-Tier." not reaching the Silver Tier. However, 1000 Adventurer's Guild Contribution Points are worth a fortune — ordinary adventurers need to work diligently for years to accumulate enough points to exchange for rare resources.
Upon the news spreading, surrounding adventuring parties began to stir, and even teams with Silver Tier members might be drawn in.
"What should I do?" Sivis rubbed his temples.
The threat from the Church's Radiant Great Array had not been resolved, and his territory was already unstable, with a Silver Tier Blood Clan secretly watching. Now, he had to deal with the potential onslaught of adventuring parties at any moment.
He couldn't leave Minnet City to return to his domain to oversee it, especially with his commitment to Reina...
Even if no Silver Tier individuals were to attack his domain, the Bronze Tier teams salivating over the 1000 Contribution Points, if they all came at once, would give Sivis a headache!
Several adventuring parties nearby were gathered around the bounty board, discussing heatedly:
"Isn't the contribution points reward way too much? Usually, such Bronze tasks would give a maximum of 50 points."