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Barov was waken up by his servant.
During the wartime, the staff of the Administrative Office stood vigil in turns so that they could notify Barov immediately in case anything out of ordinary happened.
Edith no longer worked in the Administrative Office, but she still had certain influences on Roland. Barov always tended to seek counsels of the General Staff before making a plan. The presence of such a genius rival constantly reminded Barov to work hard.
Nevertheless, this was not the only reason Barov was so dedicated to his work.
In fact, he enjoyed being busy, as being busy represented power. It meant that Neverwinter needed him. Also, His Majesty would trust him even more if he succeeded in his undertaking.
Barov slid off the bed and pulled on his clothes.
Speak up. What’s the matter now?
Sir, this is an order from the king. He calls a meeting at the boardroom in the castle. All the ministers should be there at once.
Right now?
Barov asked in surprise as he looked out of the window. Without a doubt, it was in the dead of night.
Yes. The telephone operator didn’s say much. Do you want to send someone to the castle first to make sure…
No, that’s fine,
Barov said quickly. The call was from the Administrative office, so it was not likely miscommunication. Since he was the only person who had installed a telephone at home, he must inform the other ministers verbally.
Ask the servants to notify the other ministers. Remember that everyone needs to be informed. If you ever miss one, it’s on you!
Barov would have hesitated for a while had the order been issued by the old Prince Roland. However, now, Prince Roland had become a competent king. If he decided to call a meeting at this deadly hour, it must be about something of extreme urgency.
Yes… yes, sir,
the servant said in the earnest.
Are you going to the castle alone?
No, I’m going with the Pearl of the Northern Region,
Barov returned.
I’ll notify Edith Kant myself.
…
Your Majesty, almost everyone is here,
Nightingale said as she put on a coat for Roland.
Do you need a cup of tea?
Yes, please,
Roland said while nodding.
Sorry to wake you up…
That’s nothing,
Nightingale said while smiling.
I’m not tired at all. I was just pretending.
Pretending?
No, no,
she denied quickly, a little flustered.
I mean I did yawn, but it was because my eyes were dry. I’m not tired at all. By the way, is Anna coming?
Let her rest,
Roland said while shaking his head.
She doesn’t need to worry about such things. Plus, she’s been working so hard lately.
To further improve the Cube-powered motor, Anna had been working in the laboratory at the North Slope day and night. At the same time, she also had to work on the biplanes.
You’re working hard as well,
Nightingale said as she handed the tea to Roland.
You didn’t sleep at all in the Dream World, did you?
Don’t worry. I’m used to staying up late…
Roland said smilingly. It was common to sleep at irregular hours in his previous world. This was actually not the worst. He simply needed to take a rest later to make up the hours he had lost.
I won’t be able to sleep well if I don’t finish my work.
Roland thus drained the cup and sighed,
Let’s go.
…
The boardroom lapsed into a dread silence after Lightning told them what she had discovered during her journey. Everybody was completely awake and wearing an extremely grave expression.
Agatha looked toward Roland apprehensively and said,
Your Majesty, we…
This isn’t your fault,
Roland comforted.
The rapid increase in the number of Senior Demons and Spider Demons has already indicated that our enemy is now very different from the one 400 years ago. Apparently, they also progressed.
There was no point in blaming the Taquila witches for providing inaccurate intelligence, as the event was unforeseen. Indeed, the soldiers in Neverwinter and the Taquila witches had reached a mutual understanding on the strength of the demons in the third Battle of Divine Will.
Although the Exploration Group is not 100% sure about the ‘presence of the Red Mist’, the Red Mist did reach the crest of the Impassable Mountain Range. I believe that we’ll hear from the front within a week. Now, the problem is that what we should do in the event that the demons do have the ability to activate the Obelisk in a short period of time. Before we discuss this matter, I want to make sure how much Red Mist an activated Obelisk could produce.
Agatha said hesitantly,
After the Union discovered the special demon at the bottom of the mine, we speculated that the Obelisk is probably a type of giant Magic Stone. If the small Magic Stone embedded in the demons is transformed from a Chaos Beast, then the Obelisk would be from raw ores. The Obelisk does have unique properties, but its size also depends on the mine where it’s growing from. However…
Roland knew why Agatha was hesitating, but he urged,
That’s OK. Speak up. It’s better than nothing. Plus, everything is subject to change during a war. If our prediction is a little different from the reality, then we can make adjustments accordingly.
Alright…
the Ice Witch said while nodding in great relief.
Based on the Union’s experience and Lightning’s information about the location of the mine, the Red Mist produced by an Obelisk transformed from a God’s Stone mine the same size of Taquila could probably reach here…
She then conjured an icicle and pointed it at the map.
This is… the Archduke Island?
Edith asked thoughtfully.
That’s right. If we move the great rapture to the Taquila area, then the borderline would be around the Impassable Mountain Range area,
Agatha explained.
Of course, the Red Mist won’t reach there all of a sudden. It needs time to permeate the surrounding area, and the whole process may take a few days. The farther it goes, the slower it’ll travel. Therefore, it’ll be another few months before the Red Mist covered the area within a radius of 100 kilometers.
It appeared that they had done a good thing to seize Taquila in advance. Had they failed or been a little slower, say, they had just completed the railway construction now, the Red Mist would have not only invaded the Four Kingdoms from the Impassable Mountain Range but it would have also hindered the operation of the First Army. The Red Mist was fatal to the witches. Even though the army had advanced weapons, they would not be able to carry out military operations effectively while being interfered with by the Red Mist.
With that being the case, we must hurry up,
Roland said as he looked toward Edith.
Does the General Staff have any plan?
Of course we do,
Edith said confidently. She was the first person to see through the demons’ intention.
Although the demons are faster than we thought, from the perspective of military strategy, erecting the Obelisk at the ridge of the continent was actually their last resort. The ridge of the continent is a good hiding place, but the demons could not launch an attack effectively from there. This affords us time to remedy the situation. The General Staff believes that if the demons do appear in the Kingdom of Everwinter, our defensive line will definitely not in Graycastle but here.
She tapped the map.
It was the Cage Mountain in the Kingdom of Dawn.
