A series of astonishing things are happening in this two-hundred-year-old imperial capital – some people are being purged, some mistakes are being corrected, some abandoned plans are being restarted, some have left their homes and disappeared into the world, and some people are suddenly receiving hidden orders to be activated and restarted like seeds that have been dormant for ten years......

And all of this was shrouded in the extraordinarily thick and long fog of Typhon's 739 fog month.

The Count of Durreux stood in his family's mansion, standing on the balcony of the third floor, looking out through the wide crystal glass windows at the foggy street, which had lifted a little so that he could see the other side of the street—the spire and portico of the Church of St. Jolem Mars stood in the fog, but on this usual day of worship, there were no civilians in front of it.

The most daring civilians stayed dozens of meters away from the church gates, watching what was happening on the street with timid and frightened expressions.

There was about a large group of obsidian soldiers and a large number of black-robed wanderer battle mages gathered in front of the door of the church, and many scattered soldiers could be seen on the paths around the church and near various hidden intersections, and the Count of Durr saw that the commander of the forbidden army brigade was ordering someone to open the door of the church - the priests in the church were obviously not cooperative, but after an unfriendly "exchange", the iron-black door was still forcibly broken.

Heavily armed obsidian forces and battle mages rushed in.

The civilians watching from afar were screaming, some were holding their breath, and some of them were probably followers of the god of war - they looked pained, cursing and shouting something, but no one dared to actually step forward and cross the line of soldiers and battle mages.

The chaos lasted for a while, and even from a distance, Count Durer could sense more than one more intense magic fluctuation in the church, and he saw some flashes of light in the dark doorway, which made him subconsciously tug at the button on his chest - and then, the flash, the noise, and the magic fluctuations in the church were over, and he saw that the soldiers and mages who had just entered the church were withdrawing in an orderly manner, some of them were injured, and some were escorting a dozen God of War priests in priests' robes, The priest came out of it.

The civilians gathered in the distance became more agitated, and this time, at last, one of the soldiers stood up to stop the commotion, and another soldier pointed in the direction of the church door—the Count of Doureux saw that the commander of the Praetorian Army was the last to come out of the church, and the tall, burly man seemed to be carrying something wet on his shoulders, and when he went outside and threw it on the ground, the Count of Doureux could faintly see what it was.

It was a mass of rotting flesh that was clearly mutated, and even though it was blocked by mist, he could see the tentacles wriggling around the flesh and the hideous faces that kept emerging from the blood.

The crowd shouted in horror, a battle mage began to read aloud the results of the search of the Church of the God of War in St. Jorham, several soldiers stepped forward to summon a raging flame with magic orbs, and began to purify the filthy and terrible flesh in public, while the Count of Durre suddenly felt a strong nausea, he couldn't help but cover his mouth and take a half step back, but he couldn't help but look back at the street, looking at the treacherous and terrible scene.

The flames were already burning, and some kind of unvocal roar suddenly rang out for a while, and then quickly vanished.

Pull out evil spirits from churches, perform fire purification in the streets, and publicly judge heretics...... The Count of Doureux did not expect to see such a sight in his lifetime. In his impression, such a scene only appeared in the history books - in the era when human civilization was at its most turbulent, when the country was not firmly established, and all kinds of dark, degenerate, and distorted forces were still entrenched in this land, similar things would happen.

Great Typhon, when have you been so critical?

The Count of Dürer frowned and felt a little breathless, the same feeling he had felt when the parliament was temporarily closed, when he thought he had seen the most dangerous and tense moment in the country, but now he finally realized that the real threats to the land were hidden far deeper - and it was clear that the rulers of the empire were aware of these dangers and that were the reason for the actions they are taking today.

He didn't care about the parliament at all now, he only hoped that the measures taken by His Majesty the Emperor were effective enough, timely enough, and had time to pull the country out of the quagmire.

At this moment, footsteps came from behind him, and a familiar aura appeared behind the Count of Durre, and without looking back, he knew that the other party was an attendant who had been following him for many years, so he casually asked, "What happened?" ”

"My lord," the squire stood two meters away, his hand hanging respectfully, but with a hint of nervousness in his tone, "Viscount Connellian at 16 Maple Street was taken away this morning...... It was taken away by the Obsidian Forbidden Army......"

Count Durre's fingers shook subconsciously, and only after two seconds did he exhale softly: "I know." ”

"Do you want to meet Count Bourne Turan to-morrow?"

“…… Cancel the meeting, and I'll have Daun personally bring an apology to explain the situation," Count Duller shook his head, "Does Galia know about this?" ”

The attendant immediately replied: "Mademoiselle already knows—she is worried about her fiancé's situation, but she remains in the room without your permission." ”

“…… Let her stay in the room, no one can do anything about it," said the Count of Durre, closing his eyes and in a somewhat complicated tone, "and tell him that Viscount Connelian will return safely—but there will be no more Connelian 'Viscounts'." I would reconsider this marriage and ...... Forget it, I'll talk to her myself afterwards. ”

"Yes, sir."

The Count of Durre nodded, and just then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a new movement in the street opposite.

He saw a black wizard car approaching the intersection in the distance, with the insignia of royalty and the obsidian forbidden army hanging from it.

An unprovoked nervousness and panic suddenly welled up in his heart, causing the Count of Durre to clench his fists subconsciously, and though he did not think that he had the slightest stain or misdeeds that would cause trouble in this period, his eyes were still fixed on the car—almost every ridge, every wheel, every piece of crystal glass carved into his mind—and he stared at it coming from the direction of the crossroads, little by little, closer to the door of his mansion.

He felt his heart beat out, his concentration giving him the illusion that the car had begun to slow down, and his ears were filled with the sound of thumping blood, and then he saw the car drive past without slowing down, past his mansion, towards another house.

It was only then that the Count of Durreux realized that he had not breathed for a long time, and he suddenly gasped for breath, which even caused a violent cough. The attendant behind him immediately stepped forward and patted him on the back, and asked nervously and concernedly, "My lord, my lord, are you okay?" ”

"I'm fine, ahem, I'm fine," Count Dürer said as he coughed, his eyes still chasing the black magic guide car that was already driving into the fog, and after the discomfort eased a little, he couldn't help but smile weirdly, "It seems...... This time there really isn't anyone in his way......"

"Your Excellency?" The attendant was a little confused, "What are you talking about?" ”

"Nothing," said the Count of Dürer, waving his hand and loosening the button on his neckline, "go to the cellar and bring me that bottle of platinum fez, I need to calm down......"

……

Hadilan sat in his own study in the Obsidian Palace, the scent of incense delightful, and the decorative shields hanging from the nearby walls glittered in the light of the Magic Crystal Lamp. The young commander of the Obsidian Forbidden Army looked at his desk, a list spread out in front of him on the dark red table.

"Another name......" he muttered softly, picking up the pen next to him and crossing out a name, his brow furrowing even more as the name was crossed out.

A soft knock on the door interrupted Hadilan's thoughts.

The prince raised his head and looked in the direction of the door: "Please come in." ”

The door opened, and Diana, dressed in a black maid dress and with long black hair, appeared in front of Hadilan.

"Ah, Lady Diana......" Hadilan couldn't help but smile and sigh when he saw the head maid, "no wonder I can't feel the breath outside the door at all...... Is there something wrong? Don't tell me it's a new list......"

"Yes, Prince Hadilan, this is the new list," Diana nodded faintly, and took a few steps forward to place a magically encapsulated document on Hadilan's bookcase, "Based on the information that the wanderers have gathered over the years, we have finally identified a group of people who have been sabotaging the New Deal, or have been controlled by the God of War Church, or have colluded with outside forces - they still need to be interrogated, but the result should not be too bad." ”

"List, list, new list......" Hadilan took the document with a wry smile and his gaze scurried over it, "Actually, a lot of people know they're going to be on this even if they don't investigate." For more than a decade, they have been tirelessly managing their forces and eroding the dividends brought by the New Deal, and this sabotage is almost on the table......"

He stopped halfway through his words, glanced at a few more names, and twitched the corners of his mouth.

"Is it another secret collusion with Cecil...... Accepted a cash or share offer, or was seized politically...... In the proud and glorious 'high society', there is really no shortage of such people. ”

"There should be more lines behind these people - but most of our investigations have failed before they even started," Diana said with a blank face, "The people who contact them are very alert, all contact can be cut off in one direction, and these bribed people are just the last pawns, they don't even know about each other's existence, so in the end we can only catch these insignificant spies." ”

"I've heard of the Cecil's military intelligence and their 'intelligence agents'...... We've dealt with them a few times," Hadilan said casually, "a tricky opponent indeed, much more difficult to deal with than the agents and Shadow Brotherhood of the Kaolin Kingdom, and I believe your words, these people are only a part of the exposure, and there will only be more of those who are not exposed—otherwise I'm really sorry for the name of the MIA." ”

As he spoke, he placed the list aside.

"This part involves the list of nobles, I will personally deal with it, and every name here should be able to sell for a good price at the negotiation table."

Diana nodded, and her steps took half a step back almost silently: "Then I'll leave first." ”

In the next second, her figure disappeared into the room.

Hadilan blinked, looked at the still open door, and muttered helplessly, "At least close the door......"

Before he could finish speaking, he heard a familiar voice coming from the corridor outside the door: "It's because she saw me coming this way." ”

In the next second, a tall figure wearing a black court dress walked into the study, smiled and nodded to Hadilan: "It seems that you are very busy." ”

Hadilan glanced at Matilda, who had suddenly visited, with some surprise: "Why did you show up at this time?" Don't you have to deal with the nervous representatives of the aristocracy and the merchants who can't calm down? ”

"It's done—it's not worth the more than two hours I've spent on calming their emotions," Matilda said casually, "so I'll take a look at you, but it looks like it's going to take a long time to get your work done?" ”

"Lady Diana has just brought me a new list," Hadilan raised his eyelids, a look of exhaustion and helplessness in his deep eyes, inherited from Rosetta Augustus, "all of which must be dealt with." ”

Matilda's gaze fell on Hadilan's desk, and she looked away.

Hadilan glanced at his sister and said casually, "If you want to inquire about Andelsa, then I suggest you go to Lady Diana—the wanderer is better than I am in terms of intelligence." But I don't think there will be more detailed information on her side, now that our intelligence network on the Western Front is blocked, and the Cecil people have very tight control over Andresa's related information, we can only know some public information...... She's alive, she's alive and well, and the Cecil people haven't treated her and the other soldiers badly, and I think you can feel a little more at ease. ”

"I know that even for political reasons, the Cecilians will entertain 'important hostages' like Andelsa, and I'm not worried about that," Matilda said, pressing her hand to her brow, and glaring at Hadilan slightly, "but I'm not happy with your random guessing of my mind. ”

"Ha, my bad," Hadilan immediately raised his hands and gave Matilda another serious look, "Indeed, I shouldn't have guessed your mind—and you shouldn't have let people guess your own, did you?" ”