the last king of darkness

Chapter 25 The King's Choice
Eastern Gray Earth Continent.

Dead Ember Mountains.

Trorian King City, Uptown.

Holy Fire Sacrificial Site.

The king looked up at the burning holy fire in front of him.

The golden and blazing flame was so huge that it almost occupied most of the sacrificial field, and people standing in front of it were so small that they were not even considered as dust.

The tumbling fire obscured all sight, as if the entire universe should be burning like this, filled with fire and light.

But the fact is quite the opposite. Coldness, darkness, silence and death are the eternal themes.

And the small episodes of life here are all brought about by the miracles in front of us.

No matter how many times he looked up, the king marveled at its magic and greatness.

The existence of the holy flame is the basis for the existence of the Trorian King City, the reason for the existence of the Trorian Kingdom, and the belief of the survival of these tens of millions of people.

However, it is about to go out.

This is something only the king can perceive.

The power of the sacred flame is irreversibly weakening, its source is being lost, and it has been like this since three years ago.

Wang stretched out his hand and touched the holy flame lightly.

It was surging, with no sign of dying out.

But this is just an appearance. If no spirituality is injected, no matter how much phlogiston and firewood are added, the black mist will gradually erode the city, turning all living creatures into living dead.

When the king's city fell into darkness, all the towns outside the king's city, all the fortresses, and everything attached to it, would be extinguished like flying sparks.

On this land, there will be no more incongruous noises, and the dead silence will become its unchanging theme for hundreds of millions of years.

And to save it, there is only one way, one possibility, one hope.

I will definitely succeed.

Wang clenched his hands tightly, flames flowed through his fingers, caressing his skin gently, like an old friend, old brother, old senior.

"My lord, everyone has arrived."

White-robed archbishop Horus said respectfully.

"The council is only waiting for your arrival."

Wang was awakened from his contemplation. He turned his head and said with a smile, "Let's go, Xiao Hehe."

The corner of "Xiao Hehe" who looked like a piece of dry old wood twitched, but he wisely did not refute the king's eccentricity, and just silently followed behind the king and walked out of the sacred fire sacrificial field.

The most elite fire guardians and fire priests in the royal city stood outside the holy fire sacrificial site. They formed an unshakable line of defense to guard the safety of the holy fire.

Even the appearance of the king and the archbishop did not make them look away for half a second.

In order to protect the holy fire, they have given up everything, and their life has only the duty of guarding. The holy fire is the light of their lives, the fire of their souls, and everything they have.

Whenever he saw these lovely warriors, the king was full of confidence and said loudly: "My spirit is in the sacrificial field, you go back and rest, and come back at night."

A trace of confusion appeared in the eyes of the fire guardians and fire priests.

But this was not the first time after all, they all bowed to the king and walked out.

Wang said: "Remember to bring gifts and blessings to your wives and children. Only when your heart is filled with love can the holy flame last forever."

It wasn't until everyone left that Horus whispered slightly dissatisfied: "My lord, the guardians of the holy flame don't need to think, so as to ensure their absolute loyalty and completely cut off the infiltration of doomsday believers."

Wang smiled and said, "Xiao Hehe, you are wrong. I am the closest person to the holy flame. So shouldn't I be the most mechanical puppet? Otherwise, how can you guarantee that I will not be infected by the thoughts of doomsday?"

Horus choked up: "Yes, yes, but this is against the rules."

Wang laughed and said, "I am the king, and my rules are the rules."

Horus was choked speechless.

The two walked towards the due east of the sacred fire sacrificial field.

The center of Shangcheng District is the King's District, and the center of the King's District is naturally the Holy Fire Sacrifice Ground.

And in the four directions of the sacred fire sacrificial field, there are four most important institutions in the royal city.

they are, respectively:
The Supreme Council of the Royal City, which represents the highest center of power, occupies the position due east.

The Wangcheng Government Affairs Office, which represents the highest administration, occupies the position due to the west.

The holy church, which represents the highest academic affairs, occupies the position due south.

As well as the highest military department in charge of all military warfare, it occupies the position of the north.

This meeting was related to the war, but because of its high importance and complexity, it was moved to the council.

Wang walked into the central hall of the meeting, and saw the seven sons of fire sitting in the front at a glance.

They are the strongest in the royal city, the highest combat power that humans can dispatch, their status is only below the king, and they have the greatest voice besides the king.

On the side of the Son of Fire, there are four knight commanders, they also have extraordinary strength and extraordinary status.

These eleven people are the eleven giant pillars of the royal city, they are the hope and belief of tens of millions of people, and they are the example and ultimate dream of all those who hold fire.

Behind them are the commanders of the major armies, the bishop of the Holy Church, and the guardians of each defense zone.

They are also the pillars of the royal city and the supporters beside the giant pillars of Optimus.

After that, there are the leaders of the major institutions, the consuls of the administrative districts, and the elders of the council.

They are the ones in charge of maintaining and trimming the giant columns.

The 10,000+ fighters, millions of workers, and tens of millions of hard-working people that cannot be seen here are the foundation of the Trorian Kingdom.

The king took the central seat.

In an instant, everyone stood up and saluted together.

"Welcome to the king, may the fire be with the king."

Wang raised his right hand and made a fist.

"The night will pass away, and the dawn will come!"

"The night will pass away, and the dawn will come!"

The neat voice echoed in the central hall. This feeling of unity was his favorite and his only expectation for any meeting.

Sure enough, as soon as they sat down, conflicts and disputes broke out.

Cross, the commander of the city defense corps, stood up together with dozens of elders and consuls:

"The Kuroshio is imminent. We believe that the royal city should stop expanding outward immediately to reduce the casualties of combatants and the pressure on defense."

"Our defense line is stretched too long, and our logistical materials and medical supplies can't keep up. Our losses this month have exceeded the past ten months!"

"I think we should give up Star City. It is too far away. Outside our defense circle, its defense has already consumed one-third of our strength!"

"This is really unwise!"

But the Legion Commander Lockhart and another group of elders and consuls raised objections.

"The City of Stars is the most important ancient ruins we have discovered in the past 20 years. We have found a huge amount of material resources and spiritual materials in it."

"There are also a large number of relics from the Tertiary Period. The Institute of Industrial Machinery has found a lot of useful tools from them, and its excavation may bring us more unexpected things."

Cross is a gigantic fat guy who inflates like a balloon when he gets angry:
"A pile of garbage-like toys, a little useless material, let our soldiers die?"

Lockhart, the head of the Conquest Legion, was a standard hunk, with scars all over his face, one eye was blind, and there was only a big black hole left.

He said coldly: "In terms of sacrifice, no one can speak in front of the conquest legion. Do you think it is an ordinary relic? A pile of historical dust?"

He turned around and shouted louder.

"No! In Star City, there is the highest quality sunstone mine, the perfect soul crystal raw ore, and the highest grade true silver mine. Is that a cold material? No, it's the phlogiston of the holy fire, which is the life of a warrior. and strength, is the warm light!"

The logistics manager Harvey added: "Sunstone is what we are in urgent need of now. The phlogiston of the holy fire must use sunstone. Our current inventory is running out."

This sentence played a decisive role.

Cross' tone was a little calmer: "Then shrink the defense line, retreat to the position 12 years ago, and give up the Mushroom City, the City of Mountains, and the City of Beasts."

This suggestion was endorsed by most of the consuls and elders.

But some guardians and the consuls of the three cities expressed their opposition.

"Mushroom City and Beast City produce one-third of our food, and there are many materials and resources. Mountain City is our largest iron and copper mine base. If we give up, many people's lives will be in trouble. Food It's not enough!"

Tallinas, one of the three chief executives, said impatiently: "What's the point of this, the untouchables who fail to become fire bearers are worthless, let them die."

The atmosphere in the hall was a bit colder, and many people cast disgusted glances at him.

But Tallinas didn't care, he said loudly:
"I have long believed that if we survive by whatever means we have, the black mist will not stop eroding because of our pity, and the monsters will not show mercy to us because of our kindness. We must be harsher and more ruthless than them, Only then can we truly overcome this world and win a place in existence.”

Iron Mask Manolobana, one of the four chief judges, also stood up and said: "To be fair, the words of Lord Talinas are not very pleasant, but they are very reasonable. Kindness and kindness cannot defeat the enemy. , A harsh world should have harsh rules of survival, civilians are very pitiful, but worthless people should not waste resources, the protection we provide has a price.”

"Bullshit!"

The blond Mipple almost jumped up.

"No warrior would fight with such conviction! If home is no longer home, why would they risk their lives?"

Wearing an iron mask, Manolo Bana sneered and said, "So, just embrace your kindness and drown!"

"If the end of this road is death, then I would rather die!"

"If you miss, you can die, don't drag everyone to die together."

As before, the hall once again fell into endless quarrels.

Only the seven sons of fire and the four knight commanders sat still and did not join the quarrel.

Their status is detached, they only obey the king's orders, and they don't need to express their opinions.

Wang rubbed his chin, looked at the map of Trorian Kingdom on the long table in front of him, and fell into deep thought.

The Kingdom of Trorian is actually just a name of historical inertia.

Its main component is Trorian King City.

Since the human hero Trorian placed the sacred fire in this city built by giants, the city of Trorian, the Lord of Fire, was born.

It is located on the mountainside of the Dead Ember Mountains. At first, there was only the upper city, and the lower city was expanded in countless years later.

With the prosperity and growth of human beings, Trorian began to lack food and supplies, so they had to leave the shelter of high walls and holy fire, and go out to open up new cities and strongholds.

This is also the origin of many towns in Trorian.

In order to protect their safety, people had to build more castles and fortresses to form a defense line, and finally formed today's defense circle.

Over the long years, the scope of human territory has changed many times, either shrinking due to disasters or expanding due to prosperity.

But in any case, humans have not stepped out of the red soil plain.

This is because the terrain of the Red Clay Plain is very good. Its north and east sides are blocked by the Dead Ember Mountains. It only needs to deploy defensive lines on the west and south sides to have a relatively safe environment.

Then purify the land, clean up the water source, sprinkle the seeds of the holy white tree, and soon there will be output.

Then set up a defense zone, establish a patrol team, form a battle group and a battle cluster, and kill the threats missed by the defense network, so that the production and transportation of materials can be basically guaranteed.

But if you want to expand further, because there is no shelter from the eastern mountains, the defense will change from two sides to three sides, the pressure on defense will rise sharply, the contact area with the black mist will expand rapidly, and the number of monsters that need to be cleared will increase dramatically.

Excessive disturbance may even disturb the existence that is silent in the depths of the black mist, and the danger increases geometrically.

However, without expansion, existing resources are no longer sufficient to meet people's needs.

Around this issue, Wangcheng is roughly divided into two factions, one is the expansion faction, and the other is the contraction faction.

There are also many nuances in these two factions. There are iron factions like Tarinas and Manolobana who advocate creating a harsh environment and reducing resource consumption by giving up some people, and there are moderates like Mipoor who advocate tolerance.

However, although there are many cracks, as long as the victory is achieved, they can all be made up.

Wang stood up, intending to end their quarrel.

"I remember when I was a child, there was a lack of supplies and I ate very little, especially the white and green sugar cubes that children love to eat."

The hall fell silent, and everyone listened quietly to Wang's speech.

Wang smiled a little, as if nostalgic, but also as if he liked the atmosphere without quarrels.

"But every little kid gets one piece, and parents often like to put their hands behind their backs and ask if we want the left or the right."

"I like the softness of green sugar cubes and the sweetness of white sugar cubes, but I can only get one of them. At that time, what I longed for the most was to taste them at the same time."

The white-robed archbishop Horus shouted: "I understand! The king means that we have to make a choice, either shrink the defensive circle, or give up the city of stars."

Cross shouted: "Shrink the defense circle!"

Lockhart said: "Give up Star City."

Manolo Bana said: "I say with conscience, just give up..."

"Do not."

Wang smiled.

"I mean, kids make choices, and I want them all."

(End of this chapter)