Chapter 237: War Is a Terrible Thing

A werewolf suddenly woke from its slumber, howling at the sky, startling the slumbering orc warriors. Many of them awoke briefly, but seeing that it was just a werewolf howling, they quickly went back to sleep. After all, wasn’t it normal for werewolves to howl?

A werewolf that didn’t howl in the middle of the night was hardly a proper werewolf.

Only this werewolf looked puzzled. It sensed an ominous energy trying to infiltrate its body and instinctively activated its combat energy to repel the intrusion, waking it in the process.

It glanced around but couldn’t detect anything unusual. After a while, it fell into a deep sleep again.

Charlot Mecklenburg, hiding nearby, shook his head and abandoned his attempt to corrupt the werewolf.

The Machubi Fortress Labyrinth was near Strasbourg and was once a fortress of the ancient Orc Kingdom. Though it now lay in ruins, several orc armies had entered the area for brief stops.

Charlot followed the orc armies back to Machubi. Using the Threefold Maze, he concealed the West Wind Knight Order and the merchant company within the ruins, attempting to convert a portion of the orc warriors into labyrinth guards.

Previously, he had only experimented with converting eighteen warriors from the Redback Bear Tribe and prisoners from Silver Dove Castle. This time, attempting a large-scale conversion of labyrinth guards brought problems he had never encountered before.

The conversion process relied on using a strand of corruptive power from the Labyrinth God Agmirlas to invade the life forms that entered the maze, transforming them into cursed entities. However, Agmirlas was not omnipotent. When the orc soldiers gathered in sufficient numbers or when their ranks included more powerful transcendent warriors, the conversion process failed as the orc warriors resisted the transformation.

Dolores Soumet couldn’t help but remark, “This is the Old Continent, not the New Continent. The light of the Nine Radiant Gods shines strongly here, protecting us. You’d best not rely too much on the power of such foreign gods of chaos like Agmirlas.”

Charlot gave a bitter smile. “I understand.”

The Old Continent worshipped the Nine Radiant Gods, and apart from vampires, almost no one paid homage to foreign gods of chaos. In contrast, while the New Continent also revered the Nine Radiant Gods, their influence there was weaker. Many New Continent residents instead worshipped foreign gods of chaos. Agmirlas was highly revered there, and many New Continent cities had become labyrinthine to protect their inhabitants.

As a high priest, Auguslatin had knowledge of Agmirlas, and Dolores was no stranger to the Labyrinth God either. She worried Charlot might sink too deep into this path.

Charlot couldn’t explain that he had already gone too far.

Though Charlot Mecklenburg was a follower of the Lady of the Black Moon and had attended Sheffield University, which was under her patronage, his transcendent path was that of Blood Glory. While he did not worship the vampiric gods, his abilities still fell within the domain of corruptive energy.

To ascend further in his transcendent path, Charlot had once summoned a foreign god of chaos…

That was an even more unfortunate tale.

Later, it was Huang Haisheng’s story. Unknowingly, Huang had encountered a painting tainted by Agmirlas’ influence, inadvertently drawing the attention of two foreign gods of chaos. He nearly lost his life in the process.

If Charlot had a choice, he wouldn’t have walked this path. But his predecessor had already taken this road to its bitter end, leaving no room to turn back. Charlot had even fantasized that if he had transmigrated earlier, back to Charlot Mecklenburg’s university days, he would have chosen the Lady of the Black Moon’s path to transcendence. Even if he failed to master Dark Breathing Techniques, he could have pursued the path of a Dark Moon Warlock.

...

As dawn broke, the orc armies resting in Machubi began to move out, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

Charlot silently sensed the NPC markers he had placed earlier. These markers, gradually worn away as the orc armies marched toward Strasbourg, became less potent over time.

Unlike labyrinth guards, NPCs could not be directly controlled. While the maze master could assign them tasks, NPCs could only carry a few missions and would eventually lose connection once they left the labyrinth. At best, Charlot could only sense their approximate locations.

This was the first time Charlot realized NPC markers could fade over time.

If Charlot were alone, even a single high-ranking transcendent commanding a few hundred people could dismantle this maze. However, with enough NPCs and labyrinth guards, the maze could withstand several times the attacking force. This was why many New Continent cities opted for labyrinthine transformations. Agmirlas’ power was highly effective against the rampant threats of the New Continent: malevolent entities, abominations, magical beasts, and other dangers.

The labyrinth’s greatest strength lay in its secrecy.

Its power was most effective when the target was unaware of its existence. Once discovered, it became much easier to counter.

Charlot also discovered that the labyrinth was highly effective against vampiric threats but less so against ordinary transcendent beings. For instance, Lord Leo had once been trapped in a maze and couldn’t escape, while Aubrey Tildon Atwood, former head of the Fierce Horse Detective Agency, had managed to break free. At the time, Charlot thought it was a fluke, but now he understood otherwise.

The more Charlot delved into his studies, the more he realized the labyrinth’s power had limits.

Agmirlas remained nothing more than a foreign god of chaos. Its blessings were far from the boundless grace and might of the Nine Radiant Gods.

...

Belisa, like Dolores, had spent a long time in Machubi. She had also noticed the peculiarities of this ancient Orc Kingdom fortress. Though Charlot never spoke of it, her knowledge of the New Continent led her to suspect that Machubi had become a labyrinth.

She had grown to love the city deeply.

Belisa had chosen the Path of the Skyfarer because it promised freedom. Life in Machubi was far freer and more enjoyable than serving as a maid to Duchess Josephine. Here, she could do as she pleased without fear of making mistakes that would earn her punishment or scolding. In Machubi, she was no longer a servant but one of the city’s masters.

Unlike Dolores, Belisa wasn’t worried. In her heart, she quietly mused, “Labyrinth transformations aren’t so bad. Plenty of cities in the New Continent have done it.”

Of course, she wouldn’t dare voice this opinion to Dolores. As a God Pact Holder, Dolores, though not fanatically devout, was among the Old Continent’s most steadfast believers.

Charlot clapped his hands and said, “Ladies, please guard Machubi for me.”

“I’m off to witness the war between the orc armies and Strasbourg.”

“I’ll take all the labyrinth guards with me. You’ll need to rely on your own strength and the remaining West Wind Knight Order to hold off the orc forces.”

Dolores reassured him, “I’ll take good care of everything here. Go without worry!”

Charlot waved, leading a contingent of hundreds of "orc" labyrinth guards. These were the fruits of his conversion efforts, and he departed Machubi quietly.

Dolores watched him leave and remarked to Belisa, “War is a terrible thing.”

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