Cthulhu Gonfalon

Mages formed a special group that showed no devotion to beliefs.

It was not that they had no beliefs. Most mages also had their own beliefs. They often believed in the Master of Mystery, or the God of Spellcasters, or some even believed in the God of Scholars. These three were considered the mainstream gods that the mages believed in. Furthermore, there were also all kinds of other beliefs… Right, because the God of Spellcasters and the God of Scholars had fallen, now among the gods that the mages believed in, in second place was the God of Knowledge and Culture, Wall. There was even quite a substantial number placing their belief in the wonderful jellyfish god, who was none other than the Void Mask.

However, no matter which god they believed in, it was very rare that the mages would truly place their beliefs on an equal level as life, or even place their beliefs higher than life.

To them, beliefs were nothing more than things that could hold their ideals. And ideals were ideals because they were the opposite of reality. Most mages were realists, and of course, they were willing to pursue their ideals, but rarely, would they be willing to devote themselves to pursuing their ideals.

In a sense, this group of mages was very unrefined. They were far less than the purity of the group of scholars. No matter how these two groups had great similarities or even places of overlap, the scholars were far above the mages both in terms of reputation in the outside world and cohesion within the group.

Of course, the mages were not concerned about this. Instead, they felt their attitude was the right way to handle their beliefs—for a belief to become established, the key lay in the conformation of everyone’s ideals. Humans could sacrifice for their ideals, but if they sacrificed themselves for their beliefs, that would be tantamount to using the wrong purpose and means. They would be doing the unimportant things before the important ones.

Some extreme mages even called those who were devout followers of beliefs fools, finding that they had abandoned the most precious things humans had—spiritual independence. hey felt they had been degraded to domesticated beasts or even mere tools of gods. In certain worlds, there were also mages who had formed powerful unions to ostracize all religions, and they even forbade the people to believe in gods.

Tello Hailaer was certainly not such an extremist, but neither could he be said to be devout to his belief. Or in other words, he was a typical mage. This kind of person could either become absolute believers who came to hold the same ideals as gods, or at best, real followers. But unquestionably, they could never become devout followers or passionate followers. This was because their attitude towards life revolved mainly around “I,” so they would never give up their independence.

Mage Hailaer’s belief in the Master of Mystery roughly fell between the range of absolute and real. On one hand, he agreed with a large part of the teachings of the Master of Mystery, but on the other hand, he also had completely different views from those of the Master of Mystery on various other matters. Such a situation was commonplace among the advanced mages, so there was nothing surprising about it.

To him, the problem with belief could be seen as a deal. So long as there were reasonably good conditions, he did not mind switching over to believing in another god.

But this did not mean that he would become a devout follower of the other god. This was because he would never change his principles.

So if Easter had wanted him to change his belief, he might give it some careful consideration, coupled with some negotiation, and agree to come to terms with a change of belief.

However, what Easter wanted was not his belief. Easter wanted a change in the political attitude of Mill City, and this put him in a difficult spot.

As a city in the middle east of Mifata Federation, Mill City’s status was way beyond that of Golden Tower City, it could even be said to be the most important city within the whole of Mifata Federation—this was apparent from the fact that they had two Legendary Masters in command of the city.

For such a city to change its political standpoint, this was no small matter at all!

Back when Golden Tower City became independent, the Mifata Federation mobilized a large army, despite the costs, and fought a siege that lasted several months. In the end, though the army did not manage to bring down Golden Tower City and had to withdraw its soldiers and depart dejectedly, the Federation still did not acknowledge Golden Tower City as an independent state. From this event, the Federation’s attitude was evident.

If Mill City wanted independence or wanted to pledge allegiance to the Republic of Northwest instead, it would evoke an even greater reaction from the Mifata Federation. By that time, it might not only be a great army of soldiers charging over to attack, but even be more than a dozen Legendary Masters coming together. They would attack with their powerful legendary spells progressively, which would fall upon Mill City like raindrops.

Would Tello Hailaer be able to weather through such a scene?

Without deliberation, he knew, for sure, that he could not possibly hold it off.

And there was no need for the Legendary Masters to participate. His teacher, Master Mill, would most likely show his disapproval as Mill City was a city hand-built by Master Mill himself. Though he had handed the position of city lord over to Hailaer, the highest authority of the Mill Magic Tower still fell within Master Mill’s hands. In other words, he truly remained as the city’s most powerful figure with the highest authority.

With the magic tower given to him by Tu Ya’an, Hailaer was not without the ability to fight a war against his teacher, but being able to fight, also did not necessarily mean it was possible to win. If Master Mill was willing to, so long as he paid the due cost, he could definitely destroy Hailaer, along with the magic tower that was given by Tu Ya’an, and blow everything up.

After all, Hailaer was not the creator of that magic tower, so the tower and him were not a very good fit. More importantly, his ability was inferior to that of Master Mill. This perfectly depicted what a famous line in a martial arts novel meant—for most people in this world, even if they had a sword in hand, that would not make them a Sword God.

To make use of that magic tower to grapple with Master Mill, then it would be more viable for Tu Ya’an to personally fight the battle instead.

But Tu Ya’an clearly would not run all the way back to render support to Hailaer, and it was all the more impossible for him to fall out with Master Mill, who had guided him as a teacher. So this was absolutely impossible.

Hailaer was silent for a long time, then at long last, he heaved a deep sigh.

“Honestly, I’m almost close to a dead end. I’m just like a drowning person, even if it’s just a straw of grass, I’ll still grab it tightly while hoping that it can save my life,” he said slowly with a heavy heart. “But I really don’t have the capacity to change the political standpoint of Mill City. This is not a question of whether I want to or don’t want to do, but rather, whether I can or can’t do it.”

Easter laughed. Hailaer had seriously considered this before rejecting him, evidently showing that he had, indeed, taken the matter to heart and also, clearly showed that he had indeed been tempted.

If that was the case, it would make things much easier to handle.

“If you are worried that you lack combat power, I can think of a solution,” he said straightforwardly. “If there is a need to, I can always deploy at least ten Legendary Masters over to help you hold the fort. I believe with so many Legendary Masters out in the open, even the Mifata Federation wouldn’t possibly risk trying to annihilate so many Legendary Masters and try to resolve the problem by force.”

Mage Hailaer, who had already given the matter serious consideration, still shook his head and said, “The problem doesn’t only exist here. Even if you all can help me in the fight against Mifata Federation, what if Teacher were to show up? I can’t possibly rope in outsiders to go against Teacher. If that is the case, I’d rather die!”

He sounded so resolute and determined that there was no room for any other alternative solution to change his mind.

In truth, Tello Hailaer was not under the control of Master Mill and thus did not dare to become enemies with his teacher. If there was a need to, he did not mind fighting his teacher. But if he had to fight his teacher, he also had a baseline. He could look to his senior or junior brothers, who were all disciples of Master Mill for help, and that was acceptable to him. But if he were to enlist help from outsiders to tackle his teacher, that was simply unacceptable!

Using Earth’s lingo, this was known as the difference between “internal conflicts” and “external conflicts.” If it was an internal conflict, even if the fight involved thrashing the wits out of one another, it was still acceptable. After the fight, everyone could still sit down together to eat and drink. There would not be any problems if they were to swear and yell at one another. But if it one was to collude with outsiders and get them to meddle in the fight, that would be a treacherous act where one would be a snitch or a traitor! Without bothering on whether it was justifiable or not, the first thing to do would be to punish oneself by driving a sharp blade into your leg as a form of self-inflicted injury. Driving a silver blade in and pulling out a red one thereafter was the right thing to do!

Just like in China, two parties fought one another till there was only chaos and darkness, and they killed until all the blood flowed like a river. But the moment the Japanese Invasion began, the first and foremost thing they did was cast aside their internal disputes to join hands against Japan. This was what it meant by saying, “internal disunity dissolves at the threat of external invasion.” Resisting foreign invasion was the cardinal issue of right and wrong, and before this matter of great pertinence, nothing else was worth mentioning.

Of course, ideals and reality were two different stories altogether. From Nan Ming’s, “Borrowing the captives to put down the invaders,” to the end of Qing’s, “Better to be bullied by outsiders than to be bullied by people at home,”—such situations of incompetent and hateful people breaking through baselines were commonplace. Even for a VIP, so honorable that his name must always be surrounded by more space to distinguish it from the rest, would never forget the need to suppress the Communists. And the desire to do so was so strong that it even led to the Southern Anhui Incident, but at least, Tello Hailaer was not such a person.

To him, one of the basic principles that he adhered to in life was never to collude with outsiders to go against his teacher.

He could die, but he must never go against his principles!

Easter saw how resolute he was, and with a slight frown, he looked towards Tu Ya’an.

Tu Ya’an could not help letting out a sudden bitter laugh. He knew he would definitely be implicated in this matter, but there was nothing he could do.

“Honestly, I don’t want to become enemies with my teacher,” he said. After hesitating for a long time, he shook his head and said, “Mr. Easter, if you truly want me to go against my teacher, just you speaking up is not enough.”

Easter naturally understood what he meant.

It was only him doing the talking, but his words did not carry enough weight.

For Tu Ya’an to make up his mind to help Tello Hailaer tackle Master Mill, the Void Mask must be the one asking for the favor in person.

This was the greatest concession that Tu Ya’an could allow and also his baseline.

He had received grace and kindness from His Majesty, the Void Mask, and had long since entrusted his entire life to this god. If the Void Mask was the one asking him, he would be able to convince himself to fight his teacher.

But this made Easter somewhat hesitant.

It was obvious that Tu Ya’an did not have much fighting spirit. Given his state of mind, if he were to exchange blows with Master Mill, a Legendary Master with a reputation of almost a thousand years, exactly what would the odds of winning be?

Easter only feared the chance of winning was not high. Not only that, Tu Ya’an might get seriously injured, and it would not even be surprising if he were to lose his life.

To the Republic of Northwest, Tu Ya’an and his skeleton labor corps were an important source of power that was indispensable. If necessary, Easter could even use his life to protect and keep this Legendary Master alive. So no matter what, he could not allow Tu Ya’an to risk his life in any way.

The situation was akin to when herders wanted to exterminate wolves. Of course, there was nothing wrong with using sheep as bait to lure the wolves. But those who went against the principle of “having your cake and eating it too” were either naturally cold-blooded beasts or mental retards with brain problems.

No matter what the situation seemed to be, one’s own children would always be much more important than the wolves!

Easter pondered for a long time, but in the end, he was still unable to make up his mind. With a deep sigh, he silently prayed to Sui Xiong, beseeching Sui Xiong to make the decision.

Sui Xiong received the prayer right away, and almost immediately, he rushed over to where Tu Ya’an was. A green light flashed by, and then a palm-sized floating jellyfish appeared right before them.

Easter and Tu Ya’an hastened to bow and pay their respects while Tello Hailaer also expressed reverence for this great god.

“Your Majesty, what do you think?” Easter asked with some anxiety after the salutations were done.

Though he was still fond of the Mifata Federation, it did not mean that he would not do his best to consider what was best for the Republic of Northwest. Just like roping in the border cities at the northern boundary, like Gray Tower City, to join the alliance, or digging up a corner of the surrounding wall of Mill City—he saw no problem with any of these things at all.

So long as what was done did not cause any natural disasters or dire poverty loss within the Federation, he saw no problems at all.

As for digging a hole in the corner of the wall, that would not even be considered a problem either…

Sui Xiong had learned of the entire matter from Easter’s prayers. After thinking about it, he asked Mage Hailaer, “If Master Mill doesn’t mind Mill City changing its allegiance to another camp, then naturally, that is a happy ending for us all. But if he’s unwilling to, what is the greatest extent you can go in fighting him?”

“I can combine forces with the other disciples against Teacher or even chase him away,” Tello Hailaer replied without hesitation, “but I’ll absolutely not kill him. Nor will I collude with outsiders against him.”

The green jellyfish swayed back and forth a few times, which meant he was nodding his head.

“So if you were to become a legendary creature now, do you suppose you will be able to fight Master Mill?”

Mage Hailaer frowned, and he thought for a long time before replying, “That depends on what kind of legendary creature I become. If it is one that’s especially powerful, of course, I am confident in going to battle with Teacher. But if it’s something mediocre, then I don’t think I can.”

“How powerful do you need to be?” Sui Xiong asked.

“At least to the level of the legendary dragon race,” Hailaer replied. “Like the Iridescent Dragon, the Forceful Dragon, the Time Dragon… if I have that level of power, coupled with my own spellcasting ability, I should have enough power to fight Teacher.”

Now, it was Sui Xiong’s turn to frown. The three types of dragons that Hailaer mentioned were none other than the famous “Legendary Three Dragons.” Once they reached adulthood, they would become Legendary Masters, and when they become full-grown dragons, they would even be worthy opponents of the gods.

“You… are you willing to become a dragon?” Sui Xiong thought for a while, then asked.

Hailaer shook his head right away, then said, “I’m just willing to become a legendary creature, not actually become a dragon—my human form, this is the limit to what I can accept. Even if I were to take the appearance of a goblin, so be it, but to become a dragon… is really way beyond the limit to what I can accept.”

Sui Xiong sighed. He had expected Hailaer to think as such too.

For Hailaer to become part of the legendary dragon race or to become a legendary creature of this level, he might still be able to come up with something. But under such a situation where he had to enable Hailaer to maintain his human form while becoming a legendary creature of this level—that was seriously a little beyond his power.

This was mainly because he was not a true “expert” in legendary creatures. His ability to transform the physical mortal body was, in fact, only an attribute of his own creativity.

Like how the Sun God had created the Angel race out of nothing, he was not capable of achieving the same thing.

Thinking of which, his eyes suddenly lit up as an idea struck him.

“Do you mind long wings?” he asked.

Mage Hailaer thought for a while then shook his head.

“Alright!” Sui Xiong laughed and said, “Then, that’s it!”