Chapter Forty-Five: Chaos Unleashed

Facing the king’s question, Qin Le shook his head and replied, “No, it’s not a prophecy. We simply made a reasonable guess based on the intelligence we’ve gathered—in short, we just took a shot in the dark.”

“I see.” The King of Dawn let out a slight sigh of relief before continuing, “Then, sir, what do you think we should do next? Is there any way to root out all the cultists hiding in the capital?”

Previously, such an idea wouldn’t have even crossed the king’s mind—for these mad cultists, unless they exposed themselves, it was virtually impossible to find them out. At least, the Kingdom of Dawn currently lacked that kind of power. Yet the miracles demonstrated by the High Humans had sparked a glimmer of hope in the king’s heart.

Perhaps he could gradually hand this troublesome matter over to the High Humans and let them deal with the cultists. Even if they failed to solve it, if those madmen wounded them in the process and truly angered them, wouldn’t the cultists in the capital be wiped out entirely?

After all, a mere exploration team possessed such formidable strength, easily resolving the Green Ogre Calamity—how much more powerful would a full regular army be?

Qin Le smiled inwardly, easily seeing through the king’s thoughts, and this was precisely what the Law of Mystery desired. The moment one thought to make use of the Law of Mystery, they had already unknowingly sold themselves out.

Once the initiative is relinquished, it is nearly impossible to take back.

Feigning deep thought, Qin Le said, “My suggestion is to wait and see. The enemy lurks in the shadows while we are exposed. Rash action would only throw us into disarray. In addition, we should try to win over other forces that can be persuaded, such as the Hunter’s Guild or the Church.”

In this world, aside from the state, two other major powers existed. One was the religious organizations devoted to various deities—like the Church of Holy Light, which the sixth prince followed. The other was the Hunter’s Guild, composed of a vast number of extraordinary commoners.

Both had a common trait: most of their strength stemmed from the lower classes, yet they had become detached from the people. They represented the only two channels for commoners to rise. Once someone qualified to become an extraordinary or an instructor, they immediately shed their commoner status and joined the ranks of the exalted—effectively becoming a new kind of nobility.

It was rumored that these two forces had another duty: serving as a kind of international police.

However, their vigilance was not directed at crime but rather at calamities like the Green Ogre, events that would endanger the world—cults included.

“To unite with the Guild and the Church...” The King of Dawn frowned. “Sir, if we wish to enlist their help, it will cost us dearly—one will demand gold, the other power.”

The Hunter’s Guild, despite being reputedly the world’s largest organization of extraordinaries, with a presence everywhere, was in truth little more than a naked mercenary group. Apart from taboo deeds like assassinating royalty or overthrowing nations, they would do almost anything for money. Without payment, even getting them to lift a finger was nigh impossible.

Commissions regarding cults carried an astronomical price.

As for the Church, there was no need to elaborate—their first demand was always the right to proselytize.

With a slight smile, Qin Le said, “Your Majesty, why must we be the ones to commission them? We can make them come to us of their own accord.”

“Oh? Make them come to us of their own accord?” The king’s face was a picture of confusion.

Short of the world’s end, what could induce those two insufferable groups to offer unsolicited help?

Still smiling, Qin Le said, “Exactly. We’ll let them take the initiative. We remain passive, but we leak certain information—rumors of suspected demonic activity in the capital, of mass deaths among the kingdom’s knights, and so forth. Yet we take no action. Not only that, but we clamp down on all news, ban public discussion, and even declare everything to be perfectly normal.”

If chaos is what they seek, then let chaos reign. Let’s see who loses their composure first. After all, this isn’t the Law of Mystery’s homeland—Qin Le could act freely here, and if things went awry, he could always retreat to the East with Olina and the Sword of Dawn to quietly build strength.

“This...” The king fell into deep silence. After a long moment, he finally began to understand.

If such phenomena were to occur, panic would spread everywhere, and when the anxiety reached a certain pitch, the Guild and the Church might well come knocking of their own accord.

“Sir, this could throw the kingdom into turmoil.”

“Is the kingdom not already in turmoil?” Qin Le retorted directly.

The Kingdom of Dawn was already in chaos. The king had lost control over the realm, and his commands barely held sway even within the capital.

The king was momentarily speechless. It was indeed as Qin Le said.

At last, the king gritted his teeth, “So be it. We’ll do as you suggest. I’ll have the Knights and the Shadow Guard assist you.”

It was chaotic enough already—a bit more turmoil would hardly matter. At least, it would reveal what monsters were lurking in the shadows.

After a few more casual words, the king, supported by medical staff, went for his daily treatments.

According to the Law of Mystery’s medical team, the king was in the terminal stage of tuberculosis—so advanced that he was teetering on the brink of death, with little hope of recovery. Were it not for supernatural means sustaining his last breath and the effectiveness of medication, he would likely have been buried by now.

Through treating the king, the Law of Mystery obtained a great deal of data on high-level extraordinaries—knights, specifically.

Their physical attributes were inhuman; their muscle density alone was dozens of times greater than that of ordinary men, their skin as tough as cut-resistant gloves.

Not to mention their terrifying strength—a man of seventy or eighty capable of unleashing hundreds of tons of force. By comparison, the Law of Mystery’s strongest experimental soldier, Iron Fist, currently held the human record with eighteen tons (on a machine leg press).

That was achieved with both legs, while the King of Dawn exceeded that standard many times over with his bare hands.

The only consolation was the absence of shields formed by energy. Anti-tank weaponry could still injure third-tier extraordinaries—assuming one could hit them.

At present, the Law of Mystery had no means of withstanding an assault by such high-ranking extraordinaries, and it was uncertain if the Knight Order’s battle formations could counter this threat.

Qin Le fell into contemplation. Outwardly, everything seemed to go smoothly for the Law of Mystery, but in truth, they were walking a tightrope, relying on the reputation of the High Humans for protection.

Should their true nature be exposed, it might mean starting over from scratch.

For now, however, if he could win over the King of Dawn, perhaps he could borrow the strength of the royal knights, temporarily compensating for their inability to counter sudden enemy attacks.

Law of Mystery’s soldiers were extremely vulnerable to extraordinaries, just as most extraordinaries were equally vulnerable to firearms.

“Your Excellency, Grand Duke of the East, Princess Olina seeks an audience.”

Suddenly, a voice interrupted Qin Le’s thoughts. Looking up, he saw the burly, stern-faced leader of the Knight Order—the strongest extraordinary Qin Le had yet encountered.

“Olina? What brings her here?” Qin Le asked, puzzled.

“Her Highness did not explain her purpose. Please follow me,” Mark replied with a slight shake of his head, turning toward the door.

Qin Le fell in behind him, and the exploration team members immediately followed.

...

In a palace garden, Olina was earnestly sampling a variety of cakes and fruits brought by the palace servants, while Aimea idly fiddled with her pistol, looking bored.

“Still eating? Aren’t you afraid you’ll turn into a pig?” Aimea shot a glance at Olina, whose mouth hadn’t stopped moving.

“Are you part-squirrel? Can’t your mouth ever be still?”

Olina swallowed her food and retorted, “That’s because you’ve never known hunger. You can’t understand how precious food is.”

“That’s no excuse for stuffing your face like this.” Aimea picked up a small red fruit, the size of a thumb, and popped it into her mouth.

“And after saying all that, how do you plan to face Qin Le?”

Her previous declaration had been both wild and shocking: to slay all nobles and found a land where all are equal and none go hungry—a feat even gods have failed to achieve. If not for the Sword of Dawn lending her credibility and power, Olina would have been dismissed as a fool.

And that last sentence—it was straight out of the kind of storybooks noble ladies adored, with only the genders reversed.

“What do you mean, ‘how will I face him’?” Olina looked baffled.

“I mean, you said you’d create a Qin Le something-or-other. How are you going to handle your relationship with him? What if he turns you down?” As far as Aimea knew, that man didn’t seem to harbor any such intentions.

At least, he’d never shown such interest in Olina.

Olina tilted her head in puzzlement. “Qin Le turning me down? How could that be?”

“So confident? He’s a high-ranking figure among the High Humans,” Aimea remarked with surprise at her friend’s self-assurance.

Olina had never shown any romantic inclinations before. Why, now that she had, was she so sure of herself?

Aimea had to admit that Olina was beautiful—just a little silly, a bit slow, and hard to understand at times. But Qin Le was a great man among the High Humans. It was hard to imagine him taking an interest in Olina.

“Hmph! Aimea, you’re being narrow-minded. Our relationship is far beyond what you imagine.” Olina lifted her chin, her delicate face radiant with confidence.

“We are comrades—kindred spirits.”

“My mistake,” Aimea said, covering her face. “I shouldn’t have tried to judge an idiot by normal standards.”

Having spent so much time with the High Humans, Aimea knew enough to understand what ‘comrades’ implied. It wasn’t the kind of relationship she’d imagined! This fool was still as clueless as ever. Perhaps even the war-hero, the rebellious Princess Irene, understood more than Olina did.

The mistake was hers, for treating a fool like a normal princess.

“Qin Le is coming,” Olina said, noticing a familiar figure approaching in the distance. Her face lit up with a brilliant smile, and she waved energetically.

As Qin Le drew near, he looked at the two and asked, “What brings you here?”

Olina smiled, “Why, to see you, of course.”

Aimea grinned as well, “I’m here to collect my wages.”