Chapter 617:The Entangled Mess
Chapter 617: 617:The Entangled Mess
"Is that the only reason?"
"Nah," Duke Lancelot replied immediately while waving his hand dismissively.
"There are far more reasons than that."
A faint sneer appeared on his face.
"It’s just that the late Ascension Realm expert was troublesome."
"It won’t be wrong to say that he is a son of bitch."Lancelot cursed hatefully.
"He spent decades hiding behind the scenes while carrying out all kinds of schemes, political manipulations, secret operations, and shady plans that repeatedly provoked the surrounding powers."The Duke shook his head.
"How can one man simply pull so much hate?" Ethan asked in stupor, his brows knitting together in disbelief as he looked at Duke Lancelot.
"You are saying this because you haven’t met that guy!" Lancelot shook his head with a helpless smile before letting out a quiet sigh. "Think about it, my boy... What was Arcadia before?"
"It was just a small kingdom. These small kingdoms were left by the Empire to survive at their mercy. They were discarded because they didn’t hold any significance."
He paused briefly and looked out the nearby window as if recalling the past before continuing.
"Amidst such kingdoms, Arcadia rose, and it began with the rise of a single man."
"He made enemies everywhere.He offended far too many people.And because he possessed overwhelming strength, nobody could do much about it."
His eyes narrowed slightly as his expression hardened.
"But now?"
"Now he’s dead."
"And all those people he offended finally have a chance to settle old scores."
Ethan quietly clicked his tongue.
As expected.
That old bastard really sounded like an asshole.
After thinking for a brief moment, another question entered Ethan’s mind. He shifted in his seat and looked back at Duke Lancelot.
"How many Ascension Realm experts are there in total?"
Duke Lancelot turned toward him before answering in a calm tone.
"The Human Kingdoms currently possess ten Ascension Realm experts.They have the highest number."
"After them come the Demons with nine."
He slowly raised another finger while counting.
"The Orcs have five."
"The Elves have five."
"The Dwarves have three."
Ethan silently absorbed the information while rubbing his chin.
The numbers were much larger than he had expected.Then another thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"Are there any loose ones among them?"
Duke Lancelot blinked in confusion and frowned slightly.
"Loose what?"
Realizing how that sounded, Ethan immediately coughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
"I mean someone who doesn’t belong to any race, Empire, or major faction."
Understanding immediately appeared on the Duke’s face.
"Ah."
"There should be."
"Although they are extremely rare."
His expression became thoughtful as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Besides, don’t forget the Evil Organizations and the Holy Nation."
"Their strength has always been highly secretive."
"Even now, nobody truly knows how many Ascension Realm experts they possess."
Ethan slowly nodded before suddenly remembering something else. Looking up again, he spoke a single word.
"Church."
Duke Lancelot raised an eyebrow.
"What about it?"
Ethan leaned forward slightly, curiosity visible on his face.
"Now that you mention the Holy Nation, I wonder what the Church’s stance is regarding this war."
"Can’t they intervene?"
The moment those words left Ethan’s mouth, Duke Lancelot froze for a brief second.
Then suddenly...
"Hehehehehe..."
A strange laugh escaped him.
Moments later, it became louder.
"Puahahahaha!"
He laughed so hard that he nearly struck the armrest of his chair while trying to steady himself. His shoulders trembled as he continued laughing.
Ethan simply stared at him with confusion written all over his face.
"What?"
Eventually, Duke Lancelot calmed himself and wiped the corner of one eye before taking a slow breath.
"Sorry."
"I just heard the funniest thing I’ve heard all week."
He shook his head while letting out another quiet chuckle before his expression gradually turned serious again.
"Why would they care?"
"This war."
"This suffering."
"This bloodshed."
"To them, it is nothing more than another harvest season."
Ethan frowned deeply.
Duke Lancelot slowly pointed toward the distant city outside the window.
"The more people suffer, the more desperate they become."
"The more desperate they become, the more they pray."
"The more they pray, the stronger their faith becomes."
A faint smile appeared on his face as he continued.
"Think about it."
"Thousands of frightened people asking for miracles.Thousands of grieving families seeking blessings and thousands of soldiers begging for protection."
He spread his hands as though presenting an obvious fact.
"This is the perfect opportunity for the Church to showcase its influence, healing, blessings, and miracles."
"So tell me."
"Why would they stop this farce when they benefit from it?"
Ethan’s expression slowly darkened as he lowered his gaze.
"Still... aren’t they supposed to help people?"
"They can’t even if they wanted to."
Duke Lancelot immediately shook his head.
"Do you honestly think the Empires would listen?"
His gaze became deeper as he looked directly at Ethan.
"Ethan."
"My child."
"The world is far crueler than you think."
His voice softened slightly, carrying an unusual weight.
"People like to speak about justice."
"They like to speak about honor."
"They like to speak about righteousness."
"They like to speak about protecting the weak."
A tired sigh escaped his lips before he slowly closed his eyes for a moment.
"But once power, resources, ambition, survival, and authority become involved, most of those ideals quickly become secondary."
He rose from his chair and quietly walked toward the window. Warm sunlight fell across his figure while he looked at the military camps outside in silence.
"So when you walk onto the battlefield..."
"Do not expect humanity from everyone you meet."
His expression became unusually serious.
"Because the higher you climb, the less of it you will find."
"And the more powerful a person becomes, the easier it becomes for them to stop seeing people as people and start seeing them as numbers, tools, sacrifices, or stepping stones."
The room fell silent after that. Neither of them spoke for several moments. Only the quiet breeze drifting through the open window disturbed the stillness.
Then Duke Lancelot slowly turned around and faced Ethan once more.
"Remember that."
"Because forgetting it is often the first step toward becoming one of them."