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    Preparation of the Envoys(1)


    The first Holy War, generally referred to as the War of The Holy Saints, took ce a thousand years ago. It was a glorious and sacred war in which the four Holy Saints led the ck Dwarfs to end the tyrannical ruling of the Darkness Dragon.


    The second Holy War began at the end of the Year of Mayhem, waged by the Farnezain, the Kirrlutzian, and the Wind Elves to open up the vast wilderness and the ck Forest between the three kingdoms. It was a time that belonged to the pioneering knights. The sorrowful timested until after the founding of Aouine, after which the three empires took shape, leaving only the narrow ck Forest as a buffer between the kingdoms. This war was equally dramatic,sting nearly two centuries, and the name of the Holy War was established as a result.


    The third Holy War began in the Year of Glory andsted nearly half a century–a war that proved to be neither morous nor honorable. The battle in thest seven years became the only piece of memory of the people in which immense bloodshed had urred. What led to the beginning of the war was the Magicite technology brought upon by the rising Haizaiers. The introduction of the new technology led to the most prosperous era of the nations, but the dangers of the expanding poption also became apparent. As the poption began to pour across the borders, the kingdoms had to shift their attention to the remaining unexplorednds.


    From the Year of Glory, the three kingdoms, inpliance with the Covenant of the Gods, advanced together to the borders of the Wilderness of Four Realms and began the war from south of Alkash Mountains. However, it eventually turned into a terrible mistake.


    Throughout the war, because of conflicts over the division of thends, conflicts between the mistrust of the royal houses and the doctrines of the churches, as well as the sabotage and demagoguery of the followers of the All For One, the local legions of Vollez, Kirrlutz suddenly attacked the nks of their ally, Wind Elves, in the year 320 of the First Era. It was a battle that was ostensibly in retaliation for an earlier conflict, but the role yed by All For One was evident.


    The human legions on the Wind Elves’ side then retaliated in kind,pletely inming the conflict. Humans and Wind Elves fought each other on a narrow battlefield while All For One infiltrated the orderly society of nobles, invoking disputes that ultimately led to battles. By the time most of them came to their senses, the oue was already irreversible.


    However, this was, in fact, a reflection of the human heart in a way, as the schr of Runeburg, Ron Samirian, wrote in his book: “People too often me some evil force for their sins, instead of reflecting on their own faults, when in fact history has long proved that this force has only served as a sort of catalyst in the course of the war and has merely exposed the ugly side of human nature.” This statement described the scene of the war at that time.


    After six months, the Farnezain joined the war, followed by Lion Beastmen and duchies and kingdoms,rge and small. The war dragged all the participants into an endless battle that began out of hatred, greed, or whatever it was. Just like that, they fought each other to the point of exhaustion.


    The Kirrlutzian came out of the war upying the entire Wilderness of Four Realms plus a small portion of the Four Leaf Clover ins, including arge swath ofnd that originally belonged to the Wind Elves. The Farnezain were the biggest winners, taking advantage of both sides. The Lion Beastmen fulfilled their need to resolve their hatred while many duchies were enved in the war because of the nobles’ greed or the need for the course of the war. On the surface, it appeared that the second Holy War had ended around the Year of the Cave Beast, but in truth, the seeds of a deeper hatred had been nted long ago. Thest trust between empires was lost, and friction in the borders was growing. Almost everyone understood that the three beasts had merely lost their strength and needed a brief respite. Each of them was eager to jump up and bite the other immediately.


    The Kirrlutzian needed to make some sort of payback for the blood of the nobles shed in the war of thest seven years. While they gained from the war, it was more of suffering. The entire noble ss became fiery, driving them to extricate themselves from that dishonorable war and impose punishment on the Farnezain and Wind Elves. This social conduct led the Kirrlutzian to increase their exploitation of the smaller nations and gave a wider area for the infiltration of All For One. However, the same hatred was engrained in their bones for the Wind Elves, both toward the Farnezain and for the Kirrlutzian. After all, they had lost their territories in the war and naturally wanted it back. Farnezain, the only ones hoping to retain the gains of the previous war, gradually began to grow impatient because of the constant provocations of the Kirrlutzian and Wind Elves.


    The fourth Holy War, or widely known as the third as the world, was increasingly reluctant to associate the third Holy War with the War of The Holy Saints, especially the schrs. Many did not regard the War of The Holy Saints as the same kind of war for territorial expansion but rather weed it out of history alone and put it aside. That was so that the misery from the second Holy War, destined to erupt in the third, were something that all nations had anticipated, but it really began earlier than anyone had expected.


    Inte July, an explosion happened in Deadly Tundra Forest.


    On the same day, the regions of Toquenin, Vollez, and Ogins were bombarded with the tier fourteen spell–Divine Judgment, killing and injuring countless people and reducing three cities to almost ashes.


    Within the next two months, the Lion Beastmen began to assemble arge army and began attacking from Grey Mountain Ranges, Janirasu, crossing St. White ins and finally advancing toward Kirrlutz. At the beginning of the Month of Frost, they left the warm, great ins and reached the Lion Fortress. The news of the imminent war spread throughout the Kirrlutz within half a month. In the same month, the avengers of the Wind Elves set out from the ruins of Ogins and ambushed Crimson Legion of Kirrlutz on Four Leaf Clover ins. Soon, the Wind Elves recovered several towns and forts on the ins and held their own with the Kirrlutzian on the Wilderness of Four Realms borders.


    As for the Farnezain, though still seemingly inactive, their armies had long since begun to assemble from White City and Greyhus.


    When the decree from Constance and Vr—summoning the envoys and nobles of the nations under the rule of the Holy Cathedral of Fire to Lusitar, arrived, Brendel understood the second chapter in the game–the era of war and chaos–hade early.


    Gryphine chose the group of envoys in the shortest possible time.


    Naturally, the head of the envoy was Brendel. Although there was much opposition in the Royal Faction, Gryphine suppressed all the dissent with a flourish. She understood well the true purpose of Brendel’s trip and supported him in going for it. Most of the opponents of the Royal Faction saw it as an act of indulging in childishness and impulsiveness, but she did not think so. Brendel’s words, “this is the pride and integrity of a nation,” finally struck her. The kingdom did need to have some pride of its own, and Gryphine understood that such a banner would get her some real supporters, not just cowardly and fearful nobles.


    They had parted ways with her back in Ampere Seale, and she had not cared about that the slightest bit.


    If the nobles of a kingdom did not stand with her, then she must at least stand with its citizens. Brendel’s words seemed to have lighted up a beacon of light for her in the midst of darkness.


    As for the envoys from the royal family, Gryphine still stubbornly chose Haruz – which made Brendel feel a bit ttered. After all, he was well aware of the rules among the nobles of Vaunte and thus knew the reason she made such a choice. That was because Haruz was the future crown prince of Aouine, and the Kirrlutzian could not possibly hold him within their kingdom for whatever purpose. Otherwise, Constance would not only offend all her vassals but would also leave an extremely bad reputation among the Kirrlutz’s royalty.


    However, making such a decision came with risks. Haruz’s expedition itself was fraught with danger, and Lenarette, who was still living in seclusion in Trentheim, was a ready example of that. Nheless, Gryphine was determined, willing to let her beloved brother take the risk and protect Brendel, the head of the envoys because she understood very well what Brendel meant to Aouine at this moment. If he died in Kirrlutz, her and Haruze’s futures were equally bleak. She knew exactly what she was about to do, and in her opinion, it was time for Haruz, as the future king of Aouine, to take responsibility for the future of this kingdom.


    These were her exact words to her only brother. “Haruz, your experience on this mission with your teacher will likely be the most valuable treasure of your life. This may be thest time I tell you this–you must be strong alone, for you are King of Aouine.”