The frontline messenger brought back the assassin's arrows, still glowing with a silver light.

This seemed more like a warning; the frontline soldiers were already in a state of panic, with morale at its lowest.

Every time the ghost arrives, it always issues them a warning.

Stop fighting, and this hunt will cease.

The Gallog Dynasty was also frequently beset by bad news, and all these changes pointed to Vivian Gallog.

Possessing the bloodline of the Gallog family, yet no one knows where she emerged from, just like a chosen one who descended from the heavens as the decaying dynasty was about to fall.

In the past three days, the Royal Capital underwent a great purge; those ministers bought off by Filareze or who willingly surrendered to them without exception were all settled, almost all having their homes raided and sent to prison within a day by the Forbidden Guards.

Thus, no one could disclose the dynasty's troop deployment before the war, making the dream of winning the war feel more and more unreachable.

The King glanced at the arrows brought back by the messenger; he hated this kind of feeling.

The ghost had already hunted down more than ten officers, yet no one had ever witnessed its face.

He waved his hand in anger, and the herald was relieved, quickly leaving the hall, leaving the King and the woman dressed in a luxurious gown with gold edges, wearing a strange golden mask. She was originally the Saint of the Church Court, but not long ago, she listened to the revelation of the Divine King, voluntarily donning such a strange mask.

She brought the message from the Divine King.

The Great Guardian Merlin was dead, which means the Gallog Dynasty's fortune is exhausted; right now is the perfect time to dispatch troops to annex its territories.

The king trusted the Saint's suggestion, and the initial course of the war was indeed as she depicted; if not for the sudden emergence of Vivian Gallog, they should have already achieved victory in the war.

"As you see, destiny's trajectory has changed."

The Saint didn't need to speak, her voice reached the King's thoughts directly.

"Is the Elemental Shaper beside Vivian Gallog really Merlin?"

This was the second time the King asked the Saint. In his understanding, only the dynasty's Great Guardian could rewrite fate and reverse the battle's course.

But he dared not think further; if Merlin were resurrected, the entire Filareze would face extinction, and now he's in a dilemma, all because of the Saint and the Divine King she mentioned.

"His Majesty the King, Merlin is indeed dead, there's no doubt about it."

The whisper that kept echoing in his mind sounded very calm, seemingly unaffected by the series of recent bad news.

These days his sleep had been troubled; whenever he thought of the diplomats' returned news, he found it hard to calm his heart. The troops stationed at the Land of Gold were Filareze's elite, their purpose being to prepare for military conquest in case negotiations were unsuccessful; and thanks to those traitorous ministers, they could insert troops into the Land of Gold.

Yet it was precisely such an elite force that nearly perished due to a meteor falling from the sky.

More eerily, diplomats claimed the damage and flames caused by the meteor did not affect the Land of Gold, and the Forbidden Guards also affected by the meteor were all safe and sound.

A meteor with friend or foe recognition capability.

The King could only harbor such thoughts, yet he still couldn't understand the diplomat's statement that the Gallog people burned by golden flames not only weren't scorched, their original wounds healed at a visibly fast pace.

"Where did that Elemental Shaper come from?"

"The future."

"The future?"

"That is a world where you have already achieved victory."

This conversation became more and more bewildering, the King deeply gazed at the golden mask on the Saint's face; since listening to the Divine King, she had become increasingly mystifying.

An enemy from a future world?

"Are they specifically here to oppose me?"

"His Majesty the King, forgive me for being blunt, you are not as important as you imagine; beings like them would not come specifically to deal with you."

The merciless answer made the King's face turn red, his breathing more rapid, struggling to suppress his inner fury.

Reason told him he still needed the Saint and the mysterious Divine King she mentioned.

And now, the war had only just revealed a fraction of its true nature before him, "Is his true target the Divine King?"

And the "beings like them" the Saint unintentionally revealed.

Could it be...

Such beings actually exist in large numbers?

Then what about Merlin? Is Merlin among them?

The King's mind was filled with many doubts, which instead calmed his anger somewhat; if that Elemental Shaper was aiming for the Divine King, it also meant Filareze gained an ally comparable to him.

"What about you?"

The King asked again, "Is your mission to just watch from the sidelines? If we suffer a complete defeat, it shouldn't benefit the Divine King, right?"

"Our mission is already complete."

"Explain."

"The meteor that descended upon the sky of the Land of Gold, Vivian Gallog appearing in the Royal Palace, at the moment fate changed, our mission had already been completed."

This explanation made the King even more confused, but he understood one thing—everything that happened in the past three days seemed to be part of the Divine King's plan.

This feeling was terrible, making him feel like a pawn in someone else's hands, unable to determine his own position and unable to see the direction of fate.

The Saint seemed to see through the King's thoughts and said, "To arbitrarily change fate, one must bear the corresponding cost, this is the unchanging rule of the world, even beings like them cannot be exceptions; Merlin is such, so is that Elemental Shaper."

"Regardless of any twists that occur during the process, fate will eventually return to the same trajectory, and those who cause deviations will pay a painful price."

The Saint said, "And all of this is the rule set by the Goddess."

"I understand."

The King received the information he most wanted to hear.

Despite still not knowing the specific identities of the Divine King and Goddess, loss and setbacks are only temporary.

The future revealed by the Saint settled his heart.

He and Filareze were the ones victorious, the path to extinction was the destiny of the Gallog people.

No one can shake the course of fate.

...

On the other side, the Land of Gold.

That morning, Ethan welcomed an unexpected guest, and upon seeing the visitor, Vivian also couldn't believe her eyes.

She almost blurted out, "Father?"

She felt her brain stop functioning, why would her father suddenly appear in the year 407?

And the one who brought King Siwalant here was none other than Cynthia bearing a longbow, but compared to Ethan and Vivian, their interaction mode was somewhat strange.

The King wore a golden mask and was brought in unconscious, making one wonder if the King hadn't been in a coma all along.

"I didn't want to bring him, but opening Merlin's magic requires Gallog's bloodline as the key."

Cynthia said plainly.

Yoda and Kara had set a wrong example; they tried to imitate Ethan but ended up bumping into the wall, with their hands full of glass shards. Cynthia was much smarter, she noticed Vivian Gallog was the key to the ceremony, even Ethan was first letting Vivian push the cart forward.

So, she noticed King Siwalant brought by Yoda.

She also brought a cart, binding the king tightly to it, and pushed the cart crashing into the wall.

"I admit I was a bit disrespectful to the king, but that was forced by circumstances."

Cynthia said, "I've already handled matters on the front line, Filareze won't launch an attack in the short term, you can focus entirely on looking for Merlin's legacy."

"I understand."

Ethan nodded, Cynthia had always been a reliable ally, but now he had to point out an issue everyone couldn't ignore.

He pointed at the large bump on the back of the King's head, feeling as if the old King's head had reshaped, "What happened here?"

"...Car accident."

Cynthia's face showed a hint of blush, her eyes guilty as they wandered elsewhere, "Got into a car accident by accident."