The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 358 - 251: Black Battle Group

Chapter 358: Chapter 251: Black Battle Group

The presence of the Holy Church in the Royal City has always been minimal, only noticeable during festivals and the guarding of the fire rituals, otherwise, their figures are barely seen.

Archbishop Horus was also very low-key among the four leaders in the Royal City, and often people would even forget such a person existed.

But this was exactly what Horus wanted.

The core of the Holy Church was to guard the Holy Fire, and its ultimate duty was to assist the King.

To become a shadow beside the King, invisible when the King was strong, and to step forward when the King was weak, was the state an Archbishop should maintain.

Now, it had been twenty days since the King had merged with the Holy Fire, and the disturbances had yet to slow down, suggesting that the changes in the Spirit Realm might have reached deep into the Sea of Source, shaking the very foundation of the Holy Fire.

The situation expected to occur in three to five years had already manifested.

The Holy Fire plan had to be accelerated.

Horus thought to himself.

To obtain a new Holy Fire Seed and strengthen the Source of the Holy Fire was essential to support the ever-thriving humanity.

With this belief, he worked tirelessly, taking over all the daily affairs after the King entered the Holy Fire.

Trolian was a complex federation that, over its history of 1300 years, had welcomed many human survivors from outside, who brought a variety of traditions, odd surnames, and customs with them.

But six hundred years ago, they stopped encountering any survivors.

Two hundred years ago, they ceased all exchanges with civilizations outside of Trolian.

With successive disasters, records of the past exchanges were also lost.

The Trolian of now has become the sole flame in the vast darkness.

Under such circumstances, many people’s notions began to change quietly, the once unshakable Will of Fire faced skepticism, the belief in overcoming darkness wavered, and a trend slowly grew among some people who tired of fighting for the glory of fire, preferring to huddle in a corner of the Dead Ash Mountain Range and enjoy a life of comfort.

They even thought that one hundred million was too many people and that a thousand-mile radius was too large an area—they could shrink further inward, allow half of them to die, in order to ensure Trolian’s eternal peace and their status never challenged.

Under these circumstances, the King’s expansionist tendencies faced strong opposition, and the acts he attempted to pass to gather more resources for further expansion were hated by them.

The expedition team from Star Town that proved expanding outward was feasible thus became a thorn in their side.

After Horus took over the King’s daily affairs, he deeply felt the tremendous resistance from all sides, which became exceptionally strong without the King’s authority to suppress it.

Many times, Horus felt powerless, and often his orders couldn’t even pass beyond the Holy Fire Sacrificial Ground.

Horus tried every possible way to change the situation but to little avail.

Every day upon opening his eyes, all he saw were various pieces of bad news.

Negative, dark emotions gathered in his heart, making him want to kill all these troublesome people, and it was at this time he received an unexpected and tremendous surprise.

Rod occupied Star Town, ignited the Star Town Flame, and took the first step in pioneering.

This news came so suddenly it felt like a dream.

After Horus repeatedly confirmed its authenticity, his overjoyed emotions completely overwhelmed him, and he determined at that moment to immediately incorporate Star Town into Trolian’s territory.

And Rod was the official Defender of Star Town, and no one could stop it.

But yet again, in the Supreme Council, he encountered severe opposition.

Leading opposition figures like Talinus and Manolo Bana strongly contested this, arguing that only the main body of Star Town was occupied without cleaning up the nearby areas and establishing an effective defense system.

Should there be any movement in the darkness, the Flame of Star Town could be extinguished quickly.

This was an unstable area still in contention, not at all part of Trolian territory.

At the same time, they also believed that with Rod’s current qualifications, he was not suitable to control the super-large True Silver Vein beneath Star Town and it should be taken over by the Royal City.

Of course, to compensate for his loss and recognize his merit, they could give him a reward of 5,000 silver coins.

Manolo Bana said quite generously, "That’s half his weekly salary."

Horus barely suppressed his surging Spiritual Energy.

The Royal City was very clear about all resource points within two thousand miles, and the super-large True Silver Rich Ore vein beneath Star Town produced at least 7 billion silver coins a year, equivalent to one-fifth of the entire Trolian.

Offering compensation of 5,000 silver coins was simply an insult!

Despite Horus’s logical arguments, the Supreme Council has never been their home field, and if the King were present, his authority could suppress most opposing views, but now with the King engulfed in the Holy Fire, Horus alone couldn’t control the situation.

Just as Horus was about to despair, someone from the Elder Council suddenly spoke.

"I believe that Trolian’s existence until now owes much to its strict internal rules and order, which are indispensable. If people lose the constraints of rules and act only on instinct, wouldn’t they be like monsters? Before the expedition, the Supreme Council made a pledge with the King, can it be so easily broken now just because one side has achieved an unexpected victory?"

Astonished, Horus turned towards the speaker, it was Elder Grael, the former Commander of the City Defense Legion, whose overly conservative thinking made him detest any uncertain adventures, and he was always a staunch opponent of expansion plans. Why would he suddenly speak for them?