Chapter 243: The Shadow Calamity XX

Within the Perishing Volcanoes, the battle between the Dark Sorcerers and the resistance army of the Laval Giant King raged on for three days.

Seven days later.

On the shattered earth, the Lava Giant King’s body were shattered into thousands of tiny fragments. Its natural elemental soul was taken away by the Hearkening Whisperer while its precious Heart of the Lava was gifted to the new generation of King Jyorongshan, as a symbol of cooperation between the sorcerers and the new generation of Lava Giants.

A hole opened up on the Sacred Lava Mountain during the king’s fierce battle with the Stigmata Sorcerers after it drew up excessive power from the sacred mountain. Thick, boiling hot golden lava poured out from the hole and turned into a golden lake.

The remnants of the Lava Giants were subjugated by Jyorongshan, the new king of the Lava Giants. Although they had to follow the will of the sorcerers now and become the subjects of the sorcerer world, their hatred and enmity within could not be erased. They were covered by a deep layer of fear.

The past three days’ battle had shown the Lava Giants how formidable these people, who came from a mysterious, foreign, world, known only as ‘sorcerers’ were as an enemy.

The tactics that they used were mysterious, unpredictable, and extremely cruel. Their killings were instinctive; as if they were a race that was born to wage wars and slaughter.

Their advanced structures of organizations and their high civilizations were out of the Lava Giants’ reach.

Hence, some of the Lava Giants who were enraged by Jyorongshan’s compromise held back their thoughts temporarily, as though they understood King Jyorongshan’s intentions.

On this day.

The three Stigmata Sorcerers and King Jyorongshan, at the peak of the Sacred Lava Mountain, under the endless ray of the eternal sun on a cloudless day, signed an agreement with the sorcerer’s civilization at the presence of all the Lava Giants that were in the Perishing Volcanoes.

The Stigmata Sorcerers, in accordance with the internal constitutions of the sorcerer civilization, provided the Lava Giants of this “Fire Crystal World” a subjugated relationship with the sorcerer civilization. They read out, clauses by clauses, the rights and responsibilities of the clan of the Lava Giants within the sorcerer’s world.

Logically, between enslavement and subjugation, this was the best outcome that could be hoped for by a small world like this.

If the Amonros had not launched the Shadow Calamity, the Shadow Empire would have been one of the demon-hunters’ enslavement tactics, as with their other expeditions into foreign worlds.

As a subjugated world, other than paying huge amounts of resources and slaves as tribute every century, they had to succumb to the will of the sorcerers and enter themselves into a global trade that held the highest wisdom of the sorcerers.

The trade used what’s known as the Sorcerer Coin as currency.

…

Grimm stood quietly at the edge of the void fortress that was hovering at a height of a few thousand meters.

The past few days’ battle had renewed Grimm’s direct understanding of the Lava Giant clan’s might.

The battle strengths of massive elementals, especially within the sacred lands of the Lava Giants were exceptionally strong. Just one of them would be enough to deal with many of the Demon-Hunter Dark Sorcerers, who were the elite battle force of the sorcerer’s world.

In the heated battle of the past few days, Grimm was merely lucky to have been able to grab hold of a natural elemental soul of a Lava Giant. Many Demon-Hunter Dark Sorcerers had perished from the Lava Giants’ fight to their deaths.

Right now, Grimm’s loose robe was flapping amidst the blowing hot winds. The fat Myna was perched on his shoulder, enjoying a red-colored flesh fruit. Beneath the Mask of Truth, Grimm was staring at the gold coin, perched between his index and middle fingers. There was a magical hexagram array on the gold coin.

“So, is this the sorcerer’s coin?” Grimm mumbled to himself.

The gold coin had the same size and material as the gold coin that was being used as the commoner world’s currency. Yet, gold coins were not energy crystals and had no practical value to the sorcerers and all the races that resided in the boundless worlds.

Other than the inscriptions, the major difference between this gold coin and the ones that were circulating in the commoner’s world is the subtle, unseen scent of the principal will that marked its originating mint, the sorcerer’s world.

However, with the authority given by the sorcerer’s will, and after being pushed wholly by the sorcerer’s will, the coin that had no intrinsic value was the designated currency used by the worlds which were subjugated or had working relations with the sorcerer world. Massive amounts of cheap resources were needed just to exchange for goods from the sorcerer world.

The sorcerer world could just mint out these worthless things without any limit and plunder the resources of other worlds that were in range without firing a single shot.

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Many families of the Arcane sorcerers had a deep understanding of their trades with subjugated worlds and cooperative worlds.

At the same time, many of the Holy Towers in the sorcerer world took up huge commissions from the Arcane families’ trades. This was the most lucrative way for the Holy Tower institutes to acquire their resources. It was a hidden but enforced method of pillaging resources from the foreign worlds that were within the sorcerer’s world’s control.

Take sorcerer essence for example. Since the Holy Towers had a hold of resources and techniques that were out of reach from other sorcerers, the Holy Towers turned the useless item into the sole currency of the sorcerer world. From there, it went on to create the most elite force of low-level sorcerers before evolving to promote the will of the sorcerers and the demon-hunting systems.

“Now, even the little sorcerers are playing the game.”

As the Myna chewed on its fruit, it glanced at the sorcerer’s coin. Nonchalantly, it continued. “During ancient times, the endless slaves of the worlds that were conquered by the sorcerer’s world had only one path, and that is complete obedience to the sorcerer’s will, a total domination under their rule…”

Grimm automatically filtered out the Myna’s words.

The Myna was an antique. Its wisdom was left behind in the clouds of progress.

Grimm grabbed hold of the sorcerer coin after gently tossing it into mid-air. Calmly, he spoke,” This worthless sorcerer coin was able to preserve its value was due to the great sorcerer’s will! Speaking of that…King Jyorongshan sure had some wisdom with him to be able to come to a compromise and receive the sorcerer’s will on its own in such a short period.”

“Hmph! That kind of wisdom is just plain hideousness.” Suddenly, Millie chided in from behind Grimm as she walked to his side.

Grimm turned his head and looked at Millie quietly. Beneath the Mask of Truth, he showed a puzzled expression.

Millie looked at Grimm in a serious manner as she spoke in a deep tone. “Grimm, your future accomplishments should far exceed the average sorcerers. Hopefully, the cold, cruel wisdom of the Dark Sorcerers hasn’t clouded your real emotions as a human being from the sorcerer world.”

“What do you mean?” Grimm asked.

“What do you mean?”

Millie put the question back at Grimm. She then stared into Grimm’s eyes and said, word by word,” Father said this before. All of the most elite apprentices who were in contact with the heart of the world should know that the Abyss World is the perennial enemy of the sorcerer world.”

After pausing for a moment, Millie, almost in an admonishing tone, spoke in a loud voice,” One of the reasons that the Ancient Sorcerers became so great that even their descendants would sing eternal praises for them was mainly because they had never yielded to their great sorcerer’s will! Hence, the later sorcerers would sing praises of their high virtues, pure intentions, and their great sacrifice. Yet they were never condemned for their foolishness that almost wiped out the sorcerer civilization… and the power that they held.”

Grimm glared at Millie. He wanted to speak out, but nothing came from his mouth. He was in shock.

Slowly, as Grimm’s soul came to accept the fragmented hearts of the world, he recalled the combined bitterness, screams, and anguish of the principal will of the Ancient Sorcerers.

In an instant, in a deep corner of Grimm’s eyes that was rational, cold, and almost without a ripple, emotions common to a normal human being came back to him. Emotions that Grimm once abandoned.

From the views of Dark Sorcerers, emotions were weaknesses that distorted the rational thought process. They were something that Dark Sorcerers gradually hid and discarded.

At this moment, when Grimm looked at the world again with emotions, it was as if the world had completely changed in an instance!

With his renewed emotions, he looked again at the three Stigmata Sorcerers, King Jyorongshan, and its surrounding Lava Giants.

They were alive…but dead.

Previously, in the wisdom of Grimm as a Dark Sorcerer, the compromise that King Jyorongshan showed toward the sorcerers was their only opportunity of changing for a better future. But now, it looked like they had lost the only chance of changing their future for the better!

Grimm looked at the new generation of Lava Giant King again. At this moment, the giant’s “lights of wisdom” were, as Millie had said: utterly hideous.

The Lava Giant that once carried the hopes of its people, with strength that equaled his wisdom, and had unlimited potential had no noble intentions at all!

Hence, it looked hideous.

Everything that he did, was done with its hideous wisdom that buried the trust given to him by his own clansmen. He buried the glorious past of the Lava Giants and buried the hopes of the Lava Giants that fought in the battle.

That hideous creature used the struggling resistance of the Amonros to betray the world!