199 Ice Dragon Duke (1)

“The empire’s diplomatic mission once assassinated the previous governor here?”

The ivory-white door slowly closed behind him as William asked in disbelief, “There was such a thing?”

Although assassination had never been absent from any historical era as an extremely important tool in the political toolbox, assassinating while carrying out a diplomatic mission was taboo in almost all civilizations.

Be it the local human civilization on the Vic Continent, the elves, or their derived branches, or even the powerhouses who had fled from the Orsis Continent to the Quicksand Province, as well as the barbarians who believed in strength on the Damon Continent, they came to an astonishing agreement despite their development in different environments. Falling out during the negotiations and carrying out an assassination was the most despicable and shameless action. It was a sinful act that would be written in history books for a thousand years of infamy. They might even shake the legitimacy of governance to a certain extent.

!!
This wasn’t difficult to understand. Due to the existence of supernatural forces, the combat strength of some individuals in this world could even form an army alone. Therefore, if they couldn’t maintain the tacit understanding of lowering their respective guard when inviting diplomatic missions to their center of power for negotiations, there would be no peace negotiations between nations.

In history, assassinations through diplomatic missions could be counted on one hand. Moreover, all of them kicked off a long chaotic era for the future.

It only took an instant to destroy trust, but it took a very long time to rebuild it.

Forgetting was always more difficult than remembering.

Morton walked in front and asked without turning his head, “Did you imperialists not write this good deed of yours down?”

William recalled the brief history of the Riel Empire that he had read. Even the failure of the Wandering Battle was recorded as objectively as possible. However, this matter was not even mentioned.

However, now that he thought about it, if Ava State was captured, the known human world other than the Dragon Bone Islands and the Damon Continent would be included in the Riel Empire’s territory. When that happened, the empire wouldn’t need to care about what others thought.

From this perspective, such radical acts weren’t incomprehensible.

Of course, it was also possible that the empire had other intentions for conquering Ava State that they couldn’t care less about their dignity.

However, the failure of the final conquest was another matter.

The wide and long corridor gave the castle a sense of religious solemnity. The moonstone was carved into the shape of a teardrop and decorated on marble pillars with silver edges. The gems were connected by complicated elven inscriptions. Faint light flowed through them, dyeing the surroundings with a thin veil that resembled the moonlight.

William could feel the mana flowing in it.

If William activated his ether domain to probe, he would be able to sense a magical network woven throughout the castle…

“I advise against that,” Morton suddenly said.

Perhaps he had caught a glimpse of William’s gaze on the surrounding magic circuits, Morton continued to add, “After that assassination, the entire Moonlaw City’s internal defense design was handled by Tacma Church consultants. If you don’t want to lose any body parts before meeting the queen, I advise you not to do so.”

William smiled and didn’t comment. Then, he asked, “In that case, the Tacma Church is still working with you?”

If there was anyone in this world worth being wary of, it was the elusive Tacma Church members.

They were the source of magical concepts; they had inherited the secrets of the God Era and the believers of the full god, Ma.

They were also ultimate riddlers who never spoke comprehensibly.

William had interacted with members of the Tacma Church before. He concluded that the Whispering Empress’s words were easier to understand than these people’s.

“It’s not us…”

Morton slowed down and turned his head slightly. He looked at William from the corner of his eye and said, “They’re only cooperating with Ava State’s ruler.”

However, they don’t care who the ruler is. They only wanted to be consultants to the ruler? William muttered inwardly.

If the Tacma Church was willing to help, the scale balance of strength between Ava State and the empire’s expeditionary army would instantly be leveled. It might even tip the scale in the former’s favor.

The Tacma Church member William came into contact with back then claimed to be an Adept. Although he didn’t know what level that was within the Church, it didn’t seem to be at the highest level. Otherwise, the other party wouldn’t have personally come to the Vic Continent to research on day and night and seasonal changes.

Even the parish member at the Adept level was a true powerhouse who could cast Divine Realm spells and was proficient in all spells.

It was difficult to imagine the overall strength of the Tacma Church.

He had come to Ava State with the hope of interacting with them.

Of course, William didn’t have his hopes up.

“Therefore, your governor, Remides, came to power after the assassination?”

After walking for about ten meters, William suddenly asked, “Yes, she’s the only survivor of that assassination. Not long after, she was elected governor at the Mooncycle Conference.”