Chapter 421 — The Beast Unleashed
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 5
He remembered a saying from his past life: society develops in a spiral. Whether that saying was absolutely correct he did not know, but it had at least some truth to it. Yet in this world where extraordinary power existed, society could not even manage a spiral—once extraordinary power took shape, it would almost permanently petrify the social structure. The lower classes would not have even a ten-thousandth of the capacity to resist, so that even if the upper classes became deformed and corrupt to the extreme, society would still sink onward in darkness. And "magitech" was the fierce beast Gaoyang had bred and tamed to break that deadlock.
Perhaps he could not establish the most advanced social order in one step, because that would be a castle in the air—but he could give ordinary people of later generations the ability to overturn the table.
From the very beginning, the "Cecil New Order" had never been his greatest achievement. "Extraordinary power returned to mortals" was.
The former allowed him to build the Cecil Empire; the latter allowed ordinary people to overthrow the Cecil Empire.
Yet the things involved were too complex and too shocking—it seemed even the most carefree Amber would be frightened—so he could not go on explaining.
So he simply patted the somewhat dazed half-elf girl on the shoulder: "Let's go. We'll talk to Pi Yun first."
……
Frostrest, the Silver Fortress.
The study where Francis II had once bent over his desk was now cleared out.
Virodai??Moen stepped into this place that fire had once devoured. Everything burned had been carried away, yet across the bare stone walls and floor, great swaths of smoke and scorch marks remained.
Holy light drifted through the air, scattering the dust and lingering ash. Clad in the white robe of a goddess's priestess, Virodai came to where the desk had once stood and lowered her head, as though she could still see the old king lift his gaze from behind it and smile at her.
"What a pity..." the holy maiden princess said in a voice only she could hear. "You did well enough..."
Footsteps sounded behind her. Virodai turned and saw Wales??Moen—the elder brother nearly twenty years her senior—standing in the doorway, casting her a puzzled look: "You're not at the church today?"
"Today is the day I return to the castle," Virodai lowered her head slightly. "Father always met me here on such days."
A flicker of sorrow surfaced in Wales??Moen's expression. He glanced at his sister standing at the center of the study and shook his head slightly: "Everything has been burned or carried out."
"I know," Virodai said softly, walking slowly toward the study door. As she passed Wales, she asked, "You've already gone to war with Edmund, haven't you?"
"It is the royal house that has gone to war with the Eastern rebels."
"You represent the royal house now, my brother."
"...Yes, I have gone to war with Edmund," Wales??Moen said, looking at his formidably clever sister. He had never been able to fathom what went on in her mind—not when she was small, and even less so now. "Does this concern the Radiant Star Church?"
"The church only carries out the Lord's will and does not meddle in royal authority," Virodai shook her head. "I only wished to warn you, as family, that troubling news has been coming from the south of late."
"...Bedrock Keep has sent some intelligence, but Duke Baiyu believes the Eastern rebels pose the greater threat."
"...Perhaps that is so," Virodai said, meeting Wales's eyes. Suddenly she shook her head gently. "I am only warning you. That founding ancestor of yours is not as safe as you imagine. He has loosed a savage beast—you would do well not to wait until it has grown."
Virodai walked away, and the comforting warm radiance in the air slowly faded. In the study, once more empty, Wales??Moen still gazed in the direction she had gone.
Only after a long while did he shake his head: "What good would my words do?"