The Last King Of Darkness

Everyone took this news seriously; an ancient existence named "Supreme Will" created ancient evil thoughts, seemingly with the purpose of utterly destroying humanity in the flowing river of time.

Amendo said in a deep voice, "This is clearly a secret from the ancient times, happened after the appearance of the Black Fog and before the First Great Cataclysm."

The First Great Cataclysm, also known as the Twilight of the Gods, was a major event in the early Second Epoch.

In this event, powerful beings known as Ancient Gods were wiped out entirely, with not even residual souls or bodies left to be found.

Due to very few clues left behind, the academic circles in the Royal City have been continuously debating their actual existence.

Archbishop Horus said, "I will pass this information to the Jinworth Society; it should help their research on the Epoch of Gods."

Excitedly, Luo Weiya said, "Yes, Professor Bins and Professor Barrett have made many new discoveries in Sagus City. By combining them, maybe we can uncover ancient secrets and find the source of the Black Fog's birth."

Jelaba hammered his chest and excitedly said, "Maybe this 'Supreme Will' is the source of all disasters; if we find it and kill it, the world will see light again."

Although everyone knew it was just a conjecture, even a slight possibility made their hearts brighten, almost as if the Bright Festival came early.

The King smiled and said, "We can make the search for 'Supreme Will' one of the important goals of the Royal City, on par with finding other Fire King City, Horror Castle, Fire Spark, and Firewood."

Olivia's eyes flashed with moonlight as she said solemnly, "Yes, ancient evil thoughts are humanity's tumor; finding it might eradicate this hidden danger forever."

Many people's eyes brightened, as for long, Doomsday believers have been humanity's persistent nightmare; if the ancient evil thoughts can be completely cleared, the biggest internal instability factor of humanity will be eliminated.

Horus said in a deep voice, "I will take special responsibility for this matter. It wasn't Lucian's incompetence before; removing Doomsday believers is difficult due to the devious ancient evil thoughts."

Rod looked at Horus speechlessly, thinking, "Boss, are you sure about this? Don't set yourself up for failure like that."

But Horus misunderstood Rod's gaze and immediately added, "Rod, you are also one of the responsible persons for this matter; let us join forces to clear the Doomsday believers from Trolian."

"Indeed!"

In his mind, Asa shouted.

"They are all my food! Not a single one can escape!"

Rod immediately blocked Asa's observation permission to prevent him from seeing scenes of chatting up girls.

"I understand, Archbishop. I have made some connection with Amon. As long as he steps out of the sewer, he will face devouring—uh, getting killed by me!"

Horus nodded contentedly; Rod turned out to be the slayer of Doomsday believers, countless have been cleared by him, greatly reducing the number of traitors in the Royal City, with voices unified like never before.

He changed from despising Luo Weiya's theory to giving it limited trust, especially in the part concerning Rod.

He must be a messenger from the fiery will, sent to save us—a celestial being.

Horus thought.

Every new star is.

The stars of Trolian shine brightly, and the fire will revive.

Not just him, many think the same; Olivia's unexpected anointment as king further strengthens this belief.

The pains of the past are slowly healing.

An unprecedented improvement is happening in the Royal City.

If their Archbishop Horus takes another step forward, the Royal City will have its first Lawyer possessing the "Bright Light" characteristic; its most significant meaning lies in the medical capacity rising a level, possibly healing the exhausted Sun Knight Kai.

If Kai really comes out of the Spirit Coffin, Trolian will have another ace.

Unknowingly, everyone's eyes gathered on Horus and the wax figure of Kai; today's splendor is something they absolutely couldn't have imagined a few years ago.

All these changes, at their source, stemmed from the moment Rod passed through the Fire Trial in the second month of 1325.

Perhaps humanity has truly rebounded off the bottom.

The King gazed at the fiercely burning Holy Fire.

Indeed, we will usher in Trolian's first major change in two millennia.

I must seize this opportunity to elevate humanity to new heights!

——

——

The southern range of Trolian hasn't changed for many years; the outermost layer of defense remains Courage Fortress, Storm Castle, Victory Castle, and Crow Fortress, these four giant cores;

while the west has expanded outward significantly, reaching the furthest point at Storm Pass, with a straight-line distance from the Royal City exceeding 900 clicks, greatly expanding the area of the defense circle.

However, in the new areas, there are few high-quality veins, many mines had been completely excavated by Trolian centuries ago.

But the living space has increased a lot, greatly alleviating Trolian's population pressure.

Especially of the Royal City.

A large human settlement primarily requires a water source, with rivers or underground water, otherwise, not only would daily water usage become problematic, but filth would accumulate and breed monsters.

The second most important is fertile soil; this facilitates the home for the Holy White Tree and favors farming, livestock rearing, and breeding, with the Life Priest Group dedicated to such matters.

The third most important is mineral resources; without them, gathering a lot of people becomes meaningless; the Royal City has a large-scale workshop already, Sigve Food Factory, Simans Factory, Byron Alchemy Pharmaceutical Workshop are all centralized production like this.

Larger still are Iron Furnace City and towns focused on refining and forging; small workshops only serve a supplementary role.

Therefore, the key to establishing a new point outside the Royal City lies in whether there are nearby mineral resources, rare spiritual soil, or large areas of fertile farmland.

In the newly established outpost, there aren't many mineral resources, it mainly serves as an outpost for planting spiritual medicinal herbs or grain.

And it guards the Storm Pass, the junction of two continents.

Further west is not feasible. The development of Trolian is restricted by two powerful King Level monsters in the Land of Despair: the King of Light in the Destruction Temple on the red earth, and the King of Night in the Magic Forest of the Land of Eternal Winter. If the Soul Devouring King in the castle hadn't suddenly disappeared, they would be facing three King Level monsters to the west.

The south is the same, beyond the Black Forest lies the Despair Swamp, inhabited by an ancient evil entity. It is a crystallization of evil, a terrifying conglomerate that has mutated into a powerful Black Fog Symbiont after lying dormant in the black fog for tens of thousands of years, with its progeny spread throughout the swamp.

On the edge of the Despair Swamp lies the Dead Wood Forest, which is home to unusual Horror Demons. These mutated monsters are extremely troublesome, and worse still, a powerful King of Horror Demon resides here, shrouded in a massive black cloud. This cloud is essentially a special Spiritual Power Field that provides powerful spiritual energy to all its followers.

Under its influence, the Horror Demons are practically invincible.

Moreover, the south also has Demons under the Dead Land, countless corrupted Ancient Dragons in the Dragon Tomb, and farther away, corrupted Giants in the Giant Tower.

These areas are extraordinarily dangerous and highly unpredictable. If Trolian gathers all its forces for an attack, they may unwittingly provoke more distant monsters, thus triggering a disaster.

Therefore, the Royal City insists on waiting for the Source Prophecy to be fulfilled before expanding.

To the north of the Royal City is the Dark Great Plain, and to the east is a branch of the Dead Ash Mountain Range. It's best not to alter these directions, or the human and material costs will soar, and even if a territory is conquered, it would be hard to defend.

So, the only direction is southwest.

Beyond the Courage Fortress, after crossing a wasteland, lie Ash Lake and the Old Castle, where only one King Level monster resides—the Ancient Dragon King. It is said that during the time when Ancient Dragons ruled the skies, land, and seas, it was one of the five entities among the Ancient Dragon group referred to as Kings.

However, after its fall, most of its remains were damaged, and its power is greatly diminished, making it the only "soft target."

More importantly, after capturing Ash Lake and the Old Castle.

They can establish a foothold and then seize that gigantic Sun Crystal Vein.

However, claiming the Ancient Dragon King is a "soft target" is only in comparison to other King Level monsters. Despite its physical damage, it remains a powerful King Level monster, and the Royal City must be well-prepared to deal with it.

The campaign to kill a King Level monster is called the "King Slayer Battle."

The Royal City has not prepared for such a battle in a long time, hence, when the King's order was issued, everyone was filled with unprecedented enthusiasm, working their hardest to ensure the success of this first "King Slayer Battle" in decades.

It is truly an unprecedented opportunity, never before has Trolian's vast land seen such a peaceful moment, and the Star Phase has never been this stable.

The star phase forecast provided by the White Tower indicates that this star phase will not change for the next two to three weeks.

It is because of this that so many High Rank forces can gather in the Royal City.

The Fire Hall above the Royal City seems empty and cold for the first time.

The major castles, fortresses, and towers outside the defensive circle seem so peaceful for the first time.

Trolian's five outer cities are no longer perpetually embroiled in battle.

Defense Chief Dailin for the first time realizes the amount of force he can mobilize, it feels like a miracle!

The freedom to mobilize forces feels just too good.

The cheers from the Military War Department lasted a whole day, often when the east calmed down, the west would rise again.

How wonderful would it be to have this every day?

This is the dream resonating in everyone's heart.

Only Dailin, keenly aware, realizes that to achieve this, the outposts of the outer defensive circle must have stronger forces, such as...

Spiritual Power Cannons!

If every castle is equipped with enough new model Spiritual Power Cannons, at least two-thirds of the defense pressure will be reduced.

The only problem is resources!

Spiritual Power Cannons are static defenses, although powerful, they consume more resources.

Currently, there aren't enough resources for people, let alone to manufacture new models of Spiritual Power Cannons.

Dailin falls into a long contemplation.

——

On this day, after leaving the Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground, Rod took care of various chores.

The Life Priest Group came over and asked him for soul residue, telling him that the Holy White Tree's appetite has grown again, and the current stock is insufficient.

Rod directly gave them ten thousand portions.

The Life Priests walked away with their faces smiling crookedly, carrying away the soul residue in a hurry.

Afterwards, an apprentice of the Soul Master specifically handed him a list of materials, stating that the Soul Master has completed the design of his Soul Weapon, requiring him to provide materials according to this standard.

Holding the list, Rod went to the Fire Hall, where he had accumulated countless honors, just enough for a redemption.

Many of the materials listed are extremely rare, with some even lacking in the Royal City's inventory.

Rod redeemed the materials and gave them to the Soul Master's apprentice, but for the remaining part, he had no solution.

He could only remember them in his mind, hoping to encounter them in the future.

After that, Rod returned to the Dream Realm to organize his items; before such a significant battle, how could he not prepare well?

After finishing everything, the sky turned dark, the firelight dimmed a little, and the sky appeared slightly oppressive.

Rod finally stepped out of the courtyard and headed towards Olivia's residence.