The female paladin rose from the cold floor. The light of dawn shone unmistakably upon her, bringing a hint of warmth to the young woman who had been in devout prayer all night.
"Katie?"
The male paladin, clad in armor, strode into the sanctuary, looking at the girl before him with a hint of concern.
"Did you receive..."
"I received a divine oracle from the Goddess of Dawn."
Katie discreetly stretched her numb legs, speaking with a voice full of excitement and joy. Hearing this news, her companion showed an expression of unspeakable elation.
"Really? The Goddess of Dawn, she truly..."
"Yes."
Katie nodded gently, confirming her companion's thought. This sent the slightly older male paladin into a jubilant cheer. He raised his hands to the sky, murmuring piously and excitedly, tears streaming down his face. To an outsider, this might be incomprehensible, but only they, as followers of the Goddess of Dawn, knew the significance of this day. As a deity who had fallen during the dark and turbulent era, it was even rumored that the Goddess of Dawn was long dead. Her followers, naturally, had not had an easy time. Though they worked hard to spread her teachings, for the common person, believing in a god whose fate was uncertain was too great a risk.
But just last evening, Katie, as a Knight Favored by the Goddess of Dawn, had clearly felt her goddess's will. This had astonished both her and her male companion. It was precisely because the Goddess of Dawn had not shown her divine might to mortals for so many years that her followers had gradually dwindled. If Katie had not been born bearing the power bestowed by the Goddess, and if the paladin beside her had not clung to his faith for so many years, it was hard to imagine if they, too, would have abandoned their belief like so many others.
"Then, the goddess's oracle is..."
Faced with her companion's question, Katie's expression turned a little strange.
"The goddess wishes for us to find a person," she answered softly, her words filled with an unconcealable confusion. "Only he can lead us out of our current predicament."
While the two followers of the Goddess of Dawn were puzzled by this cryptic oracle, the same scene was unfolding in various places across the Aethel Continent. In forests, by clear springs, in caves, temples, wastelands, and graveyards. Whether they were elves, dwarves, humans, or other races, their reactions were identical to those of the two paladins—from initial ecstasy to final bewilderment. But their actions were perfectly synchronized: they immediately packed their belongings and set out for the location indicated by their oracle.
After handing the bartender a few gold coins and instructing him not to be disturbed, Lysander returned to his room. There, Angela was listlessly toying with a wine glass on the table. Beside her, a young prostitute of some minor beauty lay in a deep, flushed slumber. Lysander glanced at the two small puncture wounds, still beading with traces of blood, on the thin girl's arguably fair neck and asked casually.
"How was it?"
"Exceedingly average." Angela traced the rim of the crystal glass with her finger. "As I thought, only the blood of a virgin is the finest delicacy. Blood of this quality is merely better than nothing. But in any case, it's better than a male's. The bodily fluids of those wild dogs are filled with savage desire and a lowly stench. As food, it's truly the worst of the worst."
"Just make sure you don't cause any deaths." Lysander pushed open the window, gazing at the flow of people outside. The emblem of the God of Justice's temple was exceptionally dazzling in the distance. "This world is different from Earth. If you go too far, you'll be hunted down by priests and paladins."
"Rest assured, Master." Angela giggled and gently stroked the girl's cheek. With the movement of her fingers, the girl's eyes slowly opened. Those eyes, which should have held a spark of life, were now vacant and hollow. Angela watched the girl's eyes with a triumphant smile. Then, deep within the girl's eyes, a faint, demonic red light began to glow.
"You have done well. It is finished. Leave this place, and go live the life you wish to live."
"Yes... I... have done well... it is finished... I will live... the life I wish to live..."
"Good girl."
Angela laughed with delight at the girl who repeated her words as if in a dream. Then, she clapped her small hands lightly. The girl stood up stiffly like a puppet, walked out of the room, and closed the door behind her. She would wake up in half an hour and completely forget everything that had just happened. Perhaps, for her, this was also a form of luck.
"Humans are such easily manipulated animals. They are only things of this caliber, after all."
"But the power of humans can also be terrifying, even ordinary humans."
Responding to Angela's words, Lysander couldn't help but think once again of the fall of the Magic Empire. In that final battle, the five heroes he had faced were all ordinary humans. Not powerful mages like him, nor envoys of other races. For what reason, then, did they wield such immense power? Lysander couldn't imagine it, nor could he understand it. That must be what desire is, he thought. For the sake of desire, humans can unleash any kind of power.
"What are you thinking about, Master?"
Small, soft hands wrapped around Lysander's neck, pulling him back to the present. He looked at the beautiful, delicate, and lovely face of the girl before him. Angela's soft body was curled up in his arms. Having just fed, her small body radiated a pleasant warmth that he found very comforting.
"Nothing, just lost in thought." He paused for a moment. "I was thinking about what to do next."
When paying for the room, Lysander had played the part of an out-of-town guest and asked the server about the recent situation on the continent. The news was not optimistic. Just as he had thought, the five nations that had occupied the Magic Empire had now all become major powers on the continent. But alliances are fleeting, and even friendships cannot last a thousand years. The relationship between the kingdoms of Kuris and Serra had become increasingly hostile, with recent border disputes flaring up. The other three of the five great nations had no intention of living in peace either.
From Lysander's perspective, this situation was a grand joke. Back then, these five small kingdoms had invaded the Magic Empire's territory, destroyed the nation, and occupied its lands. How "united" they were then. And look at them now. The five divided nations were already trying to devour each other, yet they were still standing on the Magic Empire's territory... even though the empire itself was no more.
And the fall of the Magic Empire had brought more than just that.
After the loss of the Empire, the dwarves of the far northern mountains had fought several great wars against human armies and were ultimately defeated. The elves of the southern Moonlit Forest had also lost many of their people in the chaotic wars and were now unable to even maintain a nation. Their fate was slightly better than the dwarves', but not by much. As for the elementals, they had completely sealed the passages between the elemental planes and the continent, declaring they would no longer have any dealings with humans. The Magic Empire's former allies were almost all gone, not a single one left.
They were ruthlessly thorough in rooting them out.
Of course, when recounting this history, the bartender had been animated and boastful, endlessly bragging about how evil the Magic Empire had been, how it oppressed other nations, and was ultimately overthrown. And its evil supporters, naturally, were no match for the armies of justice and were utterly routed, and so on.
Although most of this information was just lies to legitimize their own ambitions, Lysander was still able to extract more useful information from it.
First, the council of the Magic Empire, led by the thirteen arcane mages (of which he was one), had been completely wiped out, with no survivors. In fact, Lysander had already figured this out after his reincarnation. At the time, he was in charge of the final line of defense. Since the enemy had reached his sector, it naturally meant the other twelve arcane mages had met with no good end.
Second, the continent was in turmoil for a full hundred years after the fall of the Magic Empire, and most of the empire's mages were slaughtered. In the period that followed, the profession of mage gradually declined—which was to be expected.
Now, apart from the mages kept by the various royal families, one could hardly see a mage anywhere. Perhaps out of fear of the Magic Kingdom rising again, the five nations were exceptionally cautious on the matter of mages. Whenever they discovered a child with magical potential, they would use various pretexts to send them to the Mage Tower in the capital to receive a magical education. Of course, only after confirming they were harmless would they be allowed to leave. Before that, these magically gifted children could only spend their days in the Mage Tower. Each tower was guarded by thousands of knights, and if anyone was found learning "improper" magic, they were to be executed on the spot. Even those who safely became mages could only end up being recruited by the state, becoming their exclusive mages.
To put it more vividly, the mages of today were nothing more than dogs on a leash.
All of these were major obstacles for Lysander, who sought to revive the Magic Kingdom.
"In other words, the current situation is not optimistic."
After explaining the current situation to Angela in his arms, Lysander's tone became somber. Clearly, it wasn't just a matter of time; the severity of the situation had exceeded his expectations. His allies were struggling to survive, and it was hard to say if any of the Magic Empire's people were even left. But then again, sometimes, these problems were not really problems at all.
"Don't worry, Master. You will surely succeed." Angela's smile was like a demon's and an angel's—cruel, pure, and innocent all at once. "To put it bluntly, humans are just a pack of animals that submit to power. What they stole from you through despicable means, you just need to take back. You possess power. This world should rightfully be ruled by you. The trash blocking your path now are just minor hindrances. Once you show them strength they cannot possibly surpass, these little rats will naturally not dare to resist anymore. Power. Only power is the ultimate guarantee. Not numbers, not laws, not rules, not ideas."
"Whether the power I possess can reach that level is still hard to say." Lysander patted Angela's head.
"You definitely possess such power, Master." Angela stood up from Lysander's lap, looking intently into his eyes. "You are the only master I have ever acknowledged. You naturally have this strength. Please, believe in your own power. I will always stand by your side and be your strength. If there is resistance, kill it. If there is an obstacle, overcome it. If there is a barrier, destroy it. That is the way of the ruler, is it not? In the face of that, what is a single failure?"
"Bravery is not recklessness, just as caution is not cowardice." Lysander picked up Angela, placed her to one side, and then stood up. "But you are right. At the very least, we need a start... And I think, now is the time."
With that, Lysander shifted his gaze towards the temple outside.
This was the last, and most important, piece of information he had gotten from the bartender.
The temple was planning an expedition into the ruins of the Magic Empire in the near future.