Chapter 684: Intelligence in the Mist
In the brightly lit study, the ruler of the Typhon Empire and an unexpected visitor faced each other in tense silence.
Over the past hour, Rosetta Augustus had come to understand the boldest, most secretive, and most insane plan in the world—the ultimate limit of mortal ambition. The weight of it left the emperor speechless for a long moment.
“In the face of a plan spanning a thousand years, any temporary setbacks or failures are insignificant. Surely, with your insight, that’s not hard to grasp,” Filna’s voice finally broke the silence, accompanied by Laelna’s. “Your Majesty, do you doubt the authenticity of the ‘Defiance Project’?”
“Before discussing its truth, I’m more curious why you came to me,” Rosetta fixed his gaze on the elven twins before him. “Are you eager to find a new investment target?”
“Should we have gone to that Gawain Cecil instead?” Laelna laughed softly. “Visionary leaders are rare. Aside from Gawain Cecil, you are the only suitable choice.”
Filna quickly added, “Emperor Rosetta Augustus, heir to the Augustus bloodline, this isn’t our first contact. We know the madness that shadows you and your family…”
Laelna stepped forward half a pace. “Two centuries ago, the great collapse of the Old Imperial City exposed your ancestors to things mortals should never have glimpsed. That twisted, insane knowledge seeped into the Augustus bloodline. Yet, through it, you also glimpsed some truths about this world…”
Filna followed her lead. “So, with just a little thought, you’ll realize what we say is true—and that we should be natural allies.”
The elven twins stopped before Rosetta’s desk, their smiles perfectly mirrored. In unison, they said, “You need to resist the madness brought by the gods. We need new allies. Our needs align.”
Rosetta raised a hand slightly. “Step back.”
The twins immediately retreated to their original positions. “As you wish.”
“According to you, the Defiance Project is a secret plan of the Gondor Empire, directly controlled by its royal family. How, then, are you two elves connected to it?” Rosetta’s face remained as calm as still water, showing no sign of being swayed by their earlier persuasion. Instead, his tone was sharp with suspicion.
“The Defiance Project is indeed a human imperial legacy, but humans aren’t the only participants,” Laelna answered calmly. “A significant part of the project requires druidic knowledge, and the Silver Elves are the source of most druids. We were once scholars secretly recruited by Gondor, serving it a thousand years ago. The magical cataclysm seven centuries ago interrupted our work, forcing us to return temporarily to the Silver Empire. It was the birth of the End of All Things Society that made us realize the mission was unfinished—we returned to our duty, right up to today.”
“As elves of the Silver Empire, you served Gondor and kept the Defiance Project’s secrets from your homeland?”
“…Elves are not suited for large-scale involvement in the Defiance Project. We have our reasons.”
Rosetta studied the twins for half a minute before slightly averting his gaze. “The birth of the End of All Things Society… Seven centuries ago, what exactly did the three dark cult leaders see atop the Ancestor’s Peak?”
Filna and Laelna exchanged a glance, then spoke together: “If your ancestors saw only fragments of the puzzle in the Old Imperial City’s collapse, the three cult leaders saw the entire picture atop Ancestor’s Peak.
“They reached the divine realm and witnessed the birth and destruction of the gods—also their true nature and inevitable end.
“A thousand years ago, Gondor’s scholars believed the gods were gradually descending into madness and would, in their final stage, destroy the mortal world. But they were wrong—madness was not approaching the gods.
“The moment mortals began to think, the gods were already mad.”
Rosetta was silent for a moment, pondering. Then he shook his head. “I’ve heard enough of these vague ancient myths. Let’s get practical—what exactly happened on the Holy Spirit Plains? What did the End of All Things Society do? And what about those Cecils?”
“Before the final battle, we had already left Ansu, so we can’t provide detailed intelligence,” the twins replied. “But some things we do know—The End of All Things Society created an artificial god, but it was mad from birth. Those Cecils… they destroyed this artificial god in the White Sand Hills.”
Rosetta’s eyes sharpened instantly. After a brief pause, he asked slowly, “An artificial god? How powerful was it? Did the Cecils really have the strength to destroy such a being? What price did they pay?”
“The artificial god was a counterfeit, but its power exceeded any mundane creature you know. As for the Cecils… they seemed to have allies, though we don’t yet know who.”
After a moment’s thought, Rosetta nodded and leaned back in his chair, his voice cold. “I understand. This conversation is over.”
For the first time, the confident expressions of the elven twins faltered, replaced by surprise. “You won’t accept our cooperation?”
“Did I say I would?” Rosetta gave them a half-smile. “I admit, your words are persuasive, but you’ve misunderstood one thing—”
The twins exchanged a glance and spoke in unison, “What?”
“I don’t cooperate with cultists—you don’t have that privilege yet.”
“You previously—”
“That was manipulation,” Rosetta raised his right hand slightly. “And now, it’s still manipulation.”
Suddenly, the twins sensed the immense magical power Rosetta had been quietly gathering. Their faces changed instantly as countless poisonous vines erupted from the cracks between floor and walls, shooting like arrows toward the emperor behind his desk. At the same time, green light enveloped the twins, transforming them into small nightingales that darted straight toward the nearby window—
A series of explosive booms shattered the study’s silence. Lightning arcs twisted and split, radiating from Rosetta and incinerating the poisonous vines into ash. Then, with a wave of his hand, shimmering arcane barriers crystallized, sealing off the fleeing twins’ escape routes.
The two nightingales let out eerie yet melodious cries. Invisible ripples pulsed through the air, disrupting the closing of the arcane barriers. Sparks flew wildly, dancing across the study. Amid the chaos, a slender black shadow slipped through a gap in the barriers and vanished into the bustling night outside. The other shadow was trapped within the magical cage, struggling fiercely before collapsing to the floor.
Rosetta Augustus finally rose from behind his desk, arcane electricity crackling around him. Stepping over the still-smoking floor, he approached the fallen nightingale, expressionless as he looked down. “Catching even one is a start…”
But before he finished, the nightingale suddenly twisted and shuddered, then was engulfed by a halo of light, dissolving into drifting motes of glowing dust that vanished within seconds.
Rosetta watched quietly until the residual magic faded, then murmured thoughtfully, “So the ‘twins’… were really just one person all along. Interesting.”
Footsteps echoed down the corridor, slightly hurried and disordered. The study door opened, and several palace guards entered, accompanied by a court mage clad in a purple robe embroidered with stars. The latecomers took in the disarray of the room, their expressions a mix of surprise and concern. After a brief hesitation, the lead mage gathered his courage and asked, “Your Majesty, here—”
“A visitor came late tonight,” Rosetta waved his hand dismissively, “but she refused to stay long. Just clean up. It’s nothing serious.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Rosetta nodded slightly, then his gaze swept over the nearby bookshelves and walls, settling on a map not far away.
He stared at the border between Typhon and the “Kingdom of Ansu.”
Ansu’s monarchy had ended. This map needed to be changed.
…
At the Typhon border, inside Winterwolf Fortress, Andersa Wendell withdrew her gaze from the battle map.
Longwind Fortress and Winterwolf Fortress faced each other across a vast plain. The “peace agreement” between the two nations was still in effect, with a mithril copy stored in the Treaty Fort at the center of the plain. Yet a tense atmosphere simmered over this standoff.
Longwind was reinforcing its troops, and so was Winterwolf. In just one month, border forces on both sides had nearly doubled. Scouts patrolled between controlled zones and buffer areas, while spies worked to infiltrate towns and villages near the border. No one openly challenged the status quo, but everyone was quietly preparing—the two sides had formed a bitterly ironic “war tacit understanding.” Even more ironically, cross-border trade continued as usual, recently even expanding.
Andersa was a general, but not a reckless one. From the trade orders passing through her checkpoints, she gleaned much information. The growing volume and activity of merchants meant two things: first, Ansu’s vitality had not been severely damaged by the previous war—they still had the capacity to buy and consume large quantities of goods. Second, the Cecil family had consolidated control over the eastern region, explaining the surge of merchants bearing the Cecil emblem at the eastern border with Typhon.
The young wolf general pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to ease the pressure mounting in her mind. Just then, a knock interrupted her thoughts.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and a young knight entered.
“General, new intelligence,” the knight reported crisply after saluting. “Another force of about two thousand troops has entered Longwind Fortress from the northwest. They bear the Mountain Legion’s insignia, but their commander is unknown—not someone we recognize.”
“Two thousand more…” Andersa frowned. “Wasn’t the Mountain Legion heavily depleted? Where did they find so many reinforcements?”
The knight, an experienced officer who had served alongside Andersa for years, offered his guess: “Perhaps they’re just northern mercenaries flying the Mountain Legion’s flag. The Ansuians might be bluffing.”
“Using poorly trained mercenaries to pose as elite troops… that might be possible. But it doesn’t matter. Even if they pull all those mercenaries up front just for show, their numbers are still limited. They probably won’t have any more reinforcements,” Andersa shook her head. “The Emperor’s orders are clear: no offensive moves until we’ve confirmed the true strength of Changfeng Fortress, to avoid falling into a trap. We have to wait until we fully understand their forces before taking action.”
Her young knight adjutant hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help but ask, “General, do you think we’ll still be fighting this year?”
Andersa glanced at the young man. “Do you want to fight?”
“Of course,” the young knight said, lifting his chin proudly. “Winning honor on the battlefield is a knight’s duty—especially for us, the Winter Wolf Legion.”
Seeing the earnest look on her subordinate’s face, Andersa felt a pang of bittersweet emotion.
With the Emperor’s new policies taking hold, many of the empire’s minor noble families found their traditional land-based incomes drying up. These smaller houses turned their ambitions toward military glory—earning merit on the battlefield had become the best way to sustain their families and secure wealth under the current regime. That’s why so many young nobles of modest birth, like this knight before her, were joining the army.
Of course, the empire’s burgeoning magitech industry also offered a path for middle and lower nobility to reclaim their former prestige. But investing in emerging industries required more than courage and vision—it demanded solid financial backing and connections. That path wasn’t open to everyone.
“I want to fight too,” Andersa said, gathering her thoughts and exhaling softly. Yet in her mind, her father’s face flickered briefly. “Don’t worry. This war… it will come.”
(End of chapter)