Surviving The Fourth Calamity

The Kingdom of Kalinsan, despite always appearing very powerful, might only have a genuine population of several hundred thousand... yet there are likely over a million slaves.

This is also the reason why this country completely collapsed in the face of powerful enemies.

For those slaves, the Kalinsanians were not exactly good people; they actually preferred to serve the Divine Beasts... the Divine Beasts didn't care what lineage was doing work for them, to them, it was all the same — slaves.

But what the Divine Beasts casually tossed to the slaves were things these slaves never dreamed of before... the abilities of Professionals.

If the Kalinsanians felt that such living was worse than death, the slaves, on the contrary, found it quite splendid... after all, they had lived like this before.

The harsh cruelty of the Kalinsanians towards slaves was renowned throughout the Ferun Great Land.

So when tens of thousands of refugees appeared outside the Mil Forest within a few days, there was surely a problem. Of course, the problem wasn't with these refugees themselves; most people just wanted to escape from the fate of becoming slaves… seeing the tall walls on the forest's outskirts, anyone with even a shred of courage would try to escape here.

After all, the Divine Beasts wouldn't bind themselves with walls.

But their ability to cross the blockade of the Divine Beasts was unusual... before the Undead Tribe arrived at Mil Forest, there were only a few hundred Kalinsanians who escaped here, and at that time, the number of Divine Beasts blocking the way was only in the hundreds.

Their formidable power was enough to kill most people who dared to resist.

Most importantly, the Great Wall of the Undead Tribe had been completed for a few days, and yet the two types of Divine Beasts hadn't attacked… the kind of surprise assault on the Great Wall from Alamir Mountain was the normal response of the Divine Beasts. They would only choose to ignore after many had died, not give up at the start.

The current situation was likely that the Divine Beasts wanted to use these Kalinsanians to exhaust the Little Fairy Queen's food supplies, and incidentally send in some spies.

Even with those Lesser Divine Beasts transformed from humans under their command, these Elemental Giants were behaving too calmly... under normal circumstances, the Divine Beast who suggested using plots and schemes to drag down the Little Fairies and Elves, publicly declaring enmity against them, would be directly killed by their own kind.

The Elemental Giants are fearless! Their normal demeanor is bold enough to strike even at the Deities.

Although it's uncommon for the Divine Beasts to employ strategies... this scheme feels a bit petty, filled with the fantasies of impoverished spirits.

This might be a plan conceived by that Smoke Elemental Prince… Hill somewhat suspected that Eckart was indeed the offspring of the Fire Element and Air Element; he could easily have these two Divine Beasts follow his orders simultaneously, and Karin and Mannan likely chose to grant him some authority.

Thinking of this, Hill couldn't help but ask, "Aren't the descendants of Elemental Giants usually self-generated? Could they also give birth to joint offspring when they fight?"

After speaking, he somewhat regretted it... using power from the same source to complement and oppose each other resulted in the most descendants around him… not just that Mystree, wars, diseases, murders, death, and other deities all emerged in this manner.

Celene didn't feel much about it; she had no fondness for those deities born from the conflicts between her and her sisters… apart from the steadfast Mystree, all those deities chose neutrality between her and Shaer, and ran away immediately after birth.

Shaer also didn't mind; in her heart, as long as her world destruction was successful, these deities would ultimately return to Chaos, so they weren't worth mentioning.

She just mused, "If Eckart was a Smoke Elemental born from the ongoing struggle between Karin and Mannan lasting tens of thousands of years, it would make sense.

Though the relationship between the Fire Elemental Duke and Air Elemental Duke in the Elemental Realm isn't great, there are few who battled from the Elemental Realm to the material world like them, refusing to return until a victor emerged.

Then certain matters become understandable… no wonder Fire God Beasts and Air God Creatures would choose to coexist in that small Smoke Elemental Plane… he has the essence of these two Elemental Princes most akin to Deities."

So Karin and Mannan decided that this time they must determine a victor while the deities are preoccupied elsewhere?

So their followers simply allowed Eckart to handle matters as he pleased?

Ultimately, they would return to the Elemental Realm, whether alive or awakening after some years… in the elements' mindset, there was never a sense of the passage of time.

Shaer suddenly spoke, "I want to convey this matter to the Elemental Realm… the Magma Elemental Prince Chilibiya's murder of Kindly Fire Elemental Prince Baristia, Eckart might not be a supporter, but the instigator.

Chilibiya is still imprisoned in the Elemental Furnace now!"

Her form dissipated instantly, looking somewhat in a rush, not even the mocking voice of Celene could hold her back.

As for Eckart's unsophisticated schemes, no one took them seriously.

Even without Hill's assistance, for the Undead Tribe, food had never been an issue.

For them, the trouble was only one.

The vast expanse of the Mil Forest, if not for the numerous Undead Tribe members, the construction of such an extensive Magic Great Wall would have been impossible; because the Little Fairies could fly, they didn't even build any city gates.

The Undead Tribe now could only use a few iron baskets capable of fitting twenty people to lift these Kalinsanians over the wall and send them straight into that Alchemy Room.

No matter how many conspiracies there are, for the Undead Tribe who own an oil painting, there's nothing to fear... they don't even plan to search these Kalinsanians.

Even if tens of thousands come, their Alchemy Hut can accommodate them... thanks to the mighty God of Time and Space, thanks to William's generosity.

After all, it's all public property, and no one would hesitate to use it.

The Kalinsanians and the spies line up on both sides, watching the refugees being sent into the terrifying hut... even if there's no malice, it's a nightmare for them.

At least those who used to be neighbors in the forest, even partners who depended on one another, now don't even want to look at each other's faces... some dare not look.

The reason they haven't fought is because the spies are too miserable, they're a bit sluggish.

After watching the spy show, there's no desire to fight... at most, some are more at fault, but no one is completely blameless.

At least everyone can confirm... they're all ordinary people, making normal human mistakes, jealousy is something everyone has.

So the spies don't need to worry about the Kalinsanians banding together against them... until now, only occasionally does someone greet a familiar face from the past, and when entering the refugee huts built by the Undead Tribe, they tacitly choose strangers as neighbors.

So, watching those entering the hut, the Kalinsanians who have enjoyed such light are filled with emotion... but no one hopes these newcomers won't go in.

One reason is they hope Mil Forest can remain safe until the nation is peaceful, another... if everyone has been hit like this, future interactions will be more pleasant.

They can't deny their mindset: those who haven't been bathed in light aren't truly one of us.

As for the spies, they're straightforward, either looking for familiar colleagues or unfamiliar ones.

Though they once fought fiercely, their relations are much better than the Kalinsanians, standing there arm in arm, pointing and gossiping.

Every frozen figure they see confirms an identity... just not which country they're from.

They're trying to identify before results show, demanding truth seekers to stay silent.

The spies' laughter even attracts some curious Undead to join their bets, but once the Undead participate, the spies swiftly change their stakes.

So a solemn 'Rain Falling on Mortal Dust' takes a lap and leaves... they choose to bet Elf Wine.

Although this wine is expensive, the Undead used to Agleya aren't lacking it... initially, spies felt like they struck a big deal buying with gemstones, but later realized these Otherworld Elves can buy as much as they want.

Moreover, spending some gold coins buys it, although the Undead use elven gold, the Golden Dragons can exchange them!

On Toril Continent, Elf Wine is indeed priced in gold coins... but the pure kind isn't available just for gold coins, that's a dream.

Everything on Toril has a market price, but truly good items are priced above market availability.

Despite the bustling auctions in major cities, unless using gold bars, purchases are only with their local currency... huh, anyone slightly versed in politics knows what they're up to.

Similarly, Dragon Coin can mostly be used normally in Deepwater City and Silvermoon City.

No, recently Deepwater City is a bit turbulent, simply because of these Teraxil Elves.

Thus, many opt for gold bar transactions with Deepwater City... instead, Agleya's elven gold coins are deemed more valuable, during upheaval, coins with high gold content are worth holding.

As for Kalinsanian gold coins, now they can't be spent.

So they haven't kept any local currency, but as spies, they wouldn't carry their nation's money either.

Gemstones as hard currency are standard for spies, at least they can be spent anywhere.

Unless someone assumes control of Kalinsanian's regime, willing to back up the Kingdom of Kalinsan... generally not, only issuing new currency benefits the new King most... at least the so-called remnants of the previous regime would suffer greatly, requiring more time to empower their families again.

Hill watched with interest as the spies showed sincerely smiling faces to the Undead Tribe.

Though uncertain about the future, for now, it seems they're truly planning to retire... clearly struggling for their future before coming to Iltmara.

The power of Shaer Priest is indeed extraordinary.