On the way back to Eldenborg.
Leon opened his Divine Art panel and began to think.
【Sacred Light Shield experience points +30】
【Sacred Light Shield Lv1 (78/100) → Sacred Light Shield Lv2 (8/300)】
【You have upgraded Sacred Light Shield. You may choose one of the following three traits for enhancement:】
【Rebound: When the Sacred Light Shield takes a close-range attack, it can reflect a portion of the damage back to the attacker.】
【Light Breath: When an enemy attacks the Sacred Light Shield at close range, the shield erupts with intense light, briefly blinding the enemy.】
【Linkage: Creates a linkage with the Divine Art “Radiance Longbow,” converting the light arrows generated by the longbow into light shields, thereby increasing the arrows' power, penetration, and attack range.】
The three traits—Rebound, Light Breath, and Linkage—were all quite good.
After a moment of deliberation, Leon made his decision.
“I choose the Linkage trait.”
【Selected enhancement trait: Linkage】
Light shimmered across the panel, and the other two traits instantly vanished into nothingness.
Leon’s reasoning for choosing Linkage was simple: unless the other two traits were significantly stronger, Linkage was always the best choice.
Among the three, Rebound was certainly decent, but Leon wasn't lacking in damage output. Furthermore, Rebound only worked against close-range attackers and couldn't reflect long-range damage, which limited its utility.
As for Light Breath, it was also good for blinding enemies, but... the Divine Art panel didn't say anything about him being immune to the blindness himself. Even if he were immune by default, what about others who weren't his enemies? If someone tried to ambush him and Alicia or his guards moved to intervene, they might be blinded by the intense light just because they happened to look his way.
All things considered, the Linkage trait was the best. It not only enhanced the power of his Divine Arts but also allowed him to gain experience for the linked Divine Art whenever he cast it.
With the trait finalized, Leon’s mood improved. He turned to look at the turret monster at the back of the group, which had been tied up and was being carried back to Eldenborg.
“I'll try it out once we're back. First, I'll see if I can farm experience from it...”
...
Because they were carrying the turret monster, their pace was slowed. It took Leon’s group over an hour to return to Eldenborg from the small village.
Before they even entered the fortress, they could hear the noisy chatter of the people inside.
“How is it so sudden?”
“I’ve hated them for a long time! This should have happened sooner!”
“I’m going to answer the call...”
Has something happened in Eldenborg?
Hearing this, Leon rode his horned horse quickly through the fortress gates. He saw Old Hunter and Baron Pierce already standing by the entrance, looking out expectantly.
Seeing Leon’s return, the two of them rushed forward to meet him.
“What happened?” Leon asked, noticing the panic on their faces.
“Young Master, war has been declared! The Heron Empire and Nightmare have declared war!” Old Hunter said in a frantic rush.
Baron Pierce, standing beside him, quickly added with worry in his voice, “Master Leon, once His Majesty starts a war, the merman tribes in the Dusk Sea will likely take the opportunity to cause trouble. They might even... seize the chance to land and attack!”
A declaration of war?!
Leon’s eyes narrowed.
Declaring war now... has that Sage King already completed all his war preparations?
“Look, this is today’s issue of the 《Imperial Truth》 newspaper.”
Old Hunter handed over a newspaper.
Leon took it and scanned the contents:
“In the name of the Eternal Sacred Light, the Supreme Emperor of the Heron Empire hereby declares to Ommisiah:”
“We have long bathed in the light, upheld our treaties, and held life as sacred. Yet the Nightmare Empire tramples upon the laws of the world, reaching into our lands with shadows and piercing the peace with their fangs...”
“...They have violated our borders, plundered our people...”
“...Desecrated humanity, and kept blood slaves...”
“...There is no room for reconciliation. Either the enemy falls, or we do!”
This style was unmistakably a war declaration written by the Sage King himself.
In the declaration, the Sage King listed the Nightmare Empire's crimes. From invading imperial territory to kidnapping imperial citizens to serve as blood slaves, everything was detailed. It covered everything from the Gray Mist invasion to the Soleneum tragedy, even including the attack on Leon by the Blood Tribe archduke.
It was organized and backed by solid evidence.
Even someone like Leon, who had known about the Sage King’s warlike intentions for a long time, felt a sense of humiliation for the empire and felt his blood boil with a desire for battle after reading it. He felt an urge to immediately answer the Sage King’s call and strike down all those vampires of the Nightmare Empire.
“Wait! There’s something wrong with this war declaration!”
Leon immediately cast the Power of the Three Saints on himself for half a second. Under the combined reinforcement of his physical, mental, and divine powers, he quickly calmed down and peered closely at the war declaration.
When reading this declaration, some kind of power was influencing him, making his blood boil uncontrollably while simultaneously stirring up hatred for the Nightmare Empire deep within his heart.
This power was very subtle and quiet. If Leon hadn't already known the Sage King’s intent to start a war and used that knowledge to realize his emotions were off—using the Power of the Three Saints to clear his mind—he wouldn't have been able to escape the influence of this unknown force at all.
“The Sage King’s handiwork?”
Leon was internally shocked. Influencing a reader's emotions directly through a written declaration... was this really a technique a legendary rank mage could perform?
No, a technique of this level had already transcended the power of a legendary rank mage, hadn't it?!
Then, Leon recalled the lightning dragon that had streaked across the sky from the capital, hundreds of kilometers away, when they were ambushing the Blood Tribe archduke Grant...
“Damn it, I was planning to reach the Epic rank and beat the Sage King so badly his own mother wouldn't recognize him... Now it seems the Epic rank might not be safe enough...”
Leon wasn't a man to hold a grudge, so he decided to let the Sage King off for the time being. Once he reached the legendary rank, he would then carefully plan how to repay the Sage King.
In any case, Leon was determined to repay the Sage King’s 'sun-like' kindness.
“Have you two read this war declaration?” Leon asked, pulling his thoughts back.
“We... we have...” Old Hunter and Pierce didn't understand why Leon was asking, but they answered normally.
Leon asked again, “And what were you thinking as you read it?”
“What were we thinking?” The two looked at each other, both seeing confusion in the other's eyes.
After a slight hesitation, Pierce replied, “I, of course, fully support His Majesty’s decision. We should have used the empire’s iron fist to crush those damned bats long ago!”
Old Hunter also said, “His Majesty is so wise and brilliant. Since he has declared war on the Nightmare Empire, he must be fully prepared. He will surely defeat those vampires.”
Leon looked at their expressions but couldn't discern much. The Sage King’s prestige among the people of the Heron Empire was too high. Leon couldn't tell if their current attitude was due to the influence of that unknown power or if they truly felt that way.
Leon suddenly remembered the Sage King’s methods of manipulating hearts... even if they truly felt that way, who was to say it wasn't the result of the Sage King’s long-term manipulation?
There was no point in dwelling on it. Leon put away the 《Imperial Truth》 newspaper, making sure Alicia, who was sucking on a lollipop behind him, didn't see it.
Leon then said, “Baron Pierce, gather the administrative staff of Eldenborg. You are coming with me to Stormveil City.”
“We will discuss countermeasures for the coming war with Viscount Finn of Stormveil City.”
Rate on N.U.
