Chapter 1086: Appraising the Situation

"Extra! Extra! The Kingdom has declared war on Feysac!"

Klein, returning to Backlund from Meigge Estate, sat in the carriage, listening to the newsboys shouting loudly as they hurried down the street.

Although he was already prepared for this, confirming that the war had truly erupted still made Klein sigh. He couldn't help feeling a bit more dispirited.

"Resentment over the loss of the key territory of Sonia Island... Entanglements over colonial interests... Defeat in the previous war... Economic downturn from pollution control measures... Massive bankruptcies of domestic farmers hit by foreign grain since the repeal of the Corn Laws... The extreme destitution of the lower classes... The widening gap between the rich and the poor... The middle class's blind confidence in Loen's strength, eagerly seeking a chance to raise their status... Intensifying conflicts and mutual fracturing among the different parties of high society... The King and his faction wanting a large-scale war... Adding all these factors up, purely from an objective, materialistic perspective, Loen exporting war was almost inevitable... Reality is the best writer..." Klein stepped out of his previous standpoint and re-evaluated Loen's domestic situation from an observer's angle, realizing that the tide of the era had already formed, rolling in unstoppably. Without a True God descending, it truly couldn't be held back.

In comparison, what puzzled him more was why the Feysac Empire was willing to take the initiative in starting the war.

Even if a member of that ancient, hidden organization was indeed a high-ranking member of Feysac or the Church of the God of War, a key figure with the authority to make decisions, on such a monumental matter, it was impossible for them to act arbitrarily. How could the others agree to a world war?

"Could it be that the contradictions between the various classes within Feysac have also completely intensified, urgently requiring a war?" Klein lacked sufficient understanding of the northern empire to make an accurate judgment. "But they just won the Eastern Byram War, seizing even more colonial benefits. There's no reason for their situation to be worse than Loen's... Hmm, the royal Einhorn family controls the 'Red Priest' pathway. Their desire for war is understandable, but the Church of the God of War had no reason not to stop it. As a member of the true god alliance, they lack sufficient motive to help Amon's brother advance to Sequence 0."

Thinking this far, Klein suddenly had a guess: "Did Amon's brother realize that the Goddess has obtained the 'Uniqueness' of the 'Death' pathway, and at a critical moment, leaked this intelligence to the Church of the God of War? The 'God of War' is on an adjacent pathway to the Goddess and couldn't possibly ignore this. It would inevitably provoke a fierce response...

"Of course, it might not be Amon's brother who did it. It could also be that Angel Haiter of the Church of the Dead's Artificial Death faction, prompted by Sauron Einhorn Medici, that expert in scheming, detected the anomaly ahead of time. On the one hand, he pretended not to notice anything and continued preparing his probing actions; on the other hand, he brought in the Church of the God of War, making the situation worse and more chaotic... The 'Red Angel' evil spirit is truly a symbol of war...

"If this is really the case, then Feysac starting a war was also inevitable. Moreover, the matter of the 'Death' pathway's 'Uniqueness' simply can't be reconciled. At the critical moment, the 'God of War' might descend directly, and a war of gods, unseen since the Fourth Epoch, would break out...

"The fact that the Feysac airship fleet was able to pass through nearly a hundred kilometers from the coast to Backlund with such extreme stealth, completely undetected, means they must have had a 'Weather Warlock' providing its blessing. Otherwise, even if they took a detour through sparsely populated areas, they would certainly have been spotted in advance and would have encountered interception by the Loen airship forces... A 'Weather Warlock', this is an Angel! Since the Fifth Epoch, the number of times a Beyonder of this level has appeared in war is absolutely minuscule... After the Great Emperor's fall, most military personnel in various colonial wars didn't even know about Beyonders... What does the intervention of this 'Weather Warlock' imply?

"This really is a war sweeping the entire world, involving all levels. Is this what Amon's brother wanted?

"At that time, what stances would the 'Lord of Storms', the 'Eternal Blazing Sun', the 'Earth Mother', the 'God of Steam and Machinery', and the 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom' respectively choose? Would their contradictions, which have been temporarily suppressed for one or two thousand years, intensify because of this?

"The 'Earth Mother' likes giants, so even among Her divine favorites, there are Feysacians. And the Kingdom of Feynapotter, due to the splitting of Lenburg, Masi, and Segal, bears a deep-seated hatred for Loen and Intis. The will of the royalty and the clergy can most likely be unified. They will probably ally with Feysac, attacking Loen and Intis from the south. Of course, Lenburg and the other countries sandwiched in between, along with the Church of Knowledge, will surely put up a fight... Ah, and in the Disi Bay area, Feynapotter directly borders Loen. The south won't be peaceful either..."

The more Klein thought about it, the more he felt the situation on the Northern Continent was going to become exceptionally chaotic, and there was no way for him to stop it from any angle.

Even a Sequence 4 demigod, under this tide of the times, in a situation that could lead to divine war, had almost no way to exert a key influence. Being able to protect himself and those he cared about was already pretty good.

When the Feysac airships had attacked earlier, Klein's first action was to arrange for his butler, Walter, and the others to hide in the underground area serving as the wine cellar. Only then did he 'teleport' to Backlund Technical University. By that time, a bomb had already fallen there; some had died, some were injured. Klein's only consolation was that his sister, Melissa, wasn't within the blast radius.

By the time Melissa and Benson regrouped, the Feysac airships didn't linger and quickly evacuated Backlund, allowing him to return to Dwayne Dantès's residence.

Whew... Klein slowly let out a breath and turned his head to look out the window. He saw the pedestrians on the street. Upon hearing that the Kingdom had declared war on Feysac, a small number showed fear, as if recalling the morning's air raid. Most looked bewildered, somewhat panicked, wanting to do something but not knowing what.

They might not be able to truly realize what such a war would bring, but they instinctively felt that their peace had been broken, that the future was a haze, full of dangerous unknowns.

Klein looked away, towards his valet, Enyuni, standing opposite him. From his eyes, he found that he himself also looked slightly lost.

Half-smiling, half-sighing, Klein raised his hand and rubbed his forehead, setting aside his frustration and helplessness, thinking about what he could do and what he needed to be careful about: "Regardless, with this experience and the lesson learned, the King's faction has launched the war they wanted. Before Loen suffers a total defeat on all fronts, it's almost impossible for Feysac to invade Backlund again. It's actually safer for Benson and Melissa to stay here...

"What needs to be worried about are food shortages and various assassination attempts. The latter isn't much of a problem. Given where Melissa and Benson live and their own level, they don't come into contact with high-value assassination targets, so they won't be affected. Luckily, Portland Moment's lab was just formed and hasn't produced any results yet, so it won't become a must-destroy target. As for the former, I can get some 'aid' through Miss Audrey...

"The Saint Selena Cathedral is in Winter County, the northernmost part of the kingdom, bordering Feysac. It's the front line for every war. Lady Arianna might return there to help the military. Hmm, She might also be sent somewhere else to protect the coast. After all, Backlund's defenses are sufficient. The royal family undoubtedly has '0' Grade sealed artefacts, and also Angels. The three major churches most likely have hidden methods as well... This way, my greatest support is gone. At best, I can get a certain degree of aid from the Church and use some sealed artefacts...

"I wasn't too worried before about the 'Red Angel' evil spirit's return affecting me, but now I have to increase my vigilance on this front.

"Patrick Breyne clearly knows that Dwayne Dantès equals Gehrman Sparrow, who equals 'Death's favored one.' I deliberately revealed this, hoping to shift suspicion towards Mr. Azik, the 'Death Consul.' Now, this means that the 'Red Angel' evil spirit will grasp this intelligence sooner or later...

"The 'Red Angel' evil spirit is currently just highly ranked; its actual strength probably hasn't recovered to the Angel rank. I don't have any irreconcilable enmity with Him, nor do I possess anything He wants. Even if He knows that Dantès is Gehrman Sparrow, the likelihood of Him directly coming after me is very, very low...

"Aside from direct action, what other harm will Him knowing this bring?"