Chapter 318: Shaken

Chapter 318: Shaken

In the cruel war, the Demon Clan had also been analyzing and learning. Although the formation process of the Mist by the sea was still a mystery, as the Mist accumulated, the traces of Mana within it gradually became obvious. The Mana contained in the Mist was chaotic and mottled, like several damp trees or piles of weeds that, once ignited, produced a large area of billowing thick smoke.

A Wizard pointed out that this was using the Mana carried by seawater, “igniting” the Mana on land through methods they did not understand. So the best way to stop this from spreading was to prevent the flow of Mana here.

But how to stop it? They were at a loss.

The reason the alliance of the Demon Clan could accept the unified title — Demon Clan — was because their power was closely related to Mana. Even though they took various forms and maintained autonomy under a loose alliance system, their reliance on Mana was largely the same.

If one observed carefully, they would find that the Demon Clan’s towns, villages, and other settlements, large or small, were mostly places relatively abundant with Mana. Many large-scale internal disputes also arose from land struggles over this resource.

Apart from some Wizards whose talents leaned toward killing, most Wizards in the Demon Clan were more like geomancers. For example, they assessed the flow trend of Mana at a location to see if it was suitable for building a house. Or, which flowers, plants, trees to plant around the house would be more conducive to the accumulation of Mana.

After thousands of years of construction, the Demon Clan had long turned their homeland into a fertile land. This was the common belief among the Demon Clan; they thought they had already mastered the secrets of Mana. It was only when facing the thick Mist before them that they gradually realized they might still be far from it.

Fate also shook his head at this. The Wizards in the army told him that Mana reactions on this scale were already like a prairie fire, very difficult to extinguish. To put it out, they had to cut off the source or draw a real Mana storm to blow away the mixed and entangled Mana here all at once.

Cut it off? Cutting it off from the sea was already impossible; they could only think of ways on their own side. But relying on those skills of planting flowers and trees within the Demon Clan, who knew how many years it would take. Moreover, the plants cultivated by the Demon Clan were mostly for channeling or gathering Mana.

Suddenly, Fate had a flash of inspiration — vegetation! A military order was sent to various places within a few days. The Demon Clan carried out a large-scale clearing along the coastal area. Tall trees were uprooted, and the grass on the ground was trampled beyond recognition. Compared to building, destruction seemed easier.

Perhaps even Fate didn’t notice that when giving this order, he actually glanced at the Nightfall Divine Statue drawn in the intelligence report, still placed on his desk.

The spy’s drawing technique was quite exquisite; in Fate’s eyes, it could absolutely be called lifelike. Fate even saw Reverence in it, which was why he dared not be careless or disrespectful. Fate didn’t know how long such a spy could endure.

In the picture, countless Souls emerged from the Divine Body shrouded in Shadow. He couldn’t tell if those Souls were joyful, sorrowful, or anything else, but he could sense the firm will to fight they conveyed — a fight to the death.

This made him seem to see the scene of the surrender plea again, where the Cannibal who called himself Rio stood in front of the formation, shouting at them, “Do you think I fight merely for survival? No! I do not fight only for survival.

I am not the only one who has seen the divine, so we know Death is not the end. I have experienced the fear and Reverence that the living should have, and I have seen The Dead wandering aimlessly on the land. You boast of bravery and fearlessness only because you have not seen true terror.

The divine has descended, right among us, all around us. They watch our every move, saving those worth saving and punishing those who desecrate them.

After I die, I will return to the embrace of the divine, while you will suffer endless torment there.”

The remaining Cannibals stood behind Rio and shouted in unison, without a hint of wavering. In their shouts, Fate heard sincere devotion, free from any falsehood. So Fate was shaken then, and the army behind him was shaken.

This intelligence report should have been put away long ago, but Fate left it on his desk. Even the Attendants who came to tidy the tent seemed to have forgotten to put it away. Instead, they respectfully kept it spotless, cleaning the area around it meticulously. It was flattened under weights at its corners, placed square and neat there.

How did those Cannibals pray? Fate had never truly paid attention, which made him feel a hint of annoyance. Fate did not understand about the Light, but he believed in the power of Nightfall. That day, the thick Mist here retreated simply because the Nightfall Divine Statue in the distant Yong’an City had a slight tremor.

Recently, the Mist had been very calm, as if watching and waiting. So the clearing of the isolation zone proceeded smoothly. Perhaps this was truly the divine providing protection.

At dusk, instead of staying in his tent to eat the unpalatable meal, Fate walked out. He casually went to a small hill, his gaze passing over the vast Mist toward the horizon. The clouds there churned, slowly pressing down the setting sun as the Night grew thicker and more apparent.

The sea surface, which originally shimmered with rippling light, was also replaced by increasingly heavy Darkness. Faint sounds of prayer rose from the military camp beside him. Although deliberately lowered, the voices linked together due to the number of people.

Fate was not unfamiliar with these prayers. Whenever Night fell, those Cannibals would chant devoutly and softly. The sound carried a strange aura, bringing a sense of peace and removing the fear of Death.

So he unconsciously began to pray along. The prayers he thought he had long forgotten flowed very smoothly from his mouth. When the prayer ended, Fate realized he had unknowingly knelt on one knee. As he slowly stood up and looked around, he suddenly felt much lighter on his body, and the pressures of the past days no longer seemed so heavy.