Cthulhu Gonfalon

On the upper gate of Darth City, another flag was erected.

Originally, there were two flagpoles present, and a dragon tail flag and golden coin flag were erected to represent the Darth family and the Commonwealth of Gold Coins, respectively. The latter flag was raised slightly higher as compared to the dragon tail flag to show that the Darth family had come from the Commonwealth. However, today, between the two flags, a third one was erected.

The Church of Void Mask’s green jellyfish flag swayed gently with the breeze, above the flag of the Commonwealth. This signified that Darth City had a leadership transfer from the traditional aristocratic leadership to that of the Void Mask Church as of today. The Darth family would, from henceforth, become the Church of Void Mask’s vassals. If there were any disputes about inheritance in the future, the Church of Void Mask would make the important decisions in place of the aristocrats. In summary, they had left the aristocratic system to join the clergyman system.

Such a change was uncommon but not impossible. Weaker top families tended to favor having big churches as their pillar of support and thus made such changes. To them, it was a way for survival, and for them to continue their legacy, which god they followed did not really matter. As compared to the powerful aristocrats who put on a fake façade of being gracious yet were vicious behind the scenes, most churches were seen as pure and trustworthy. The only issue was that these good churches had strict guidelines for the leaders of their followers, and families who were unable to follow the Way of Goodness faced the possibility of having their land confiscated; this had happened more than once in the past.

Even so, many weaker and smaller families still chose to join clergyman systems. The chance of failure was rare, and they would no longer face a higher threat of aristocratic families taking over their assets.

Big aristocratic families often used marriage to steal inheritances. They would marry off their ladies to smaller families, where the offspring would gain an automatic inheritance. Afterward, if there were disputes over inheritance, these big families could then step in as seniors to arrange matters in their favor. This was more a method of brute force than a method of ingenuity, but victory was almost always in favor of the big families. This was due to the undeniable fact that offspring and their future offspring had a right to inheritances.

Some bigger families were more ingenious. For example, through generations of marriage, they managed to interconnect themselves with smaller families and swallow them whole.

In comparison, although good churches were strict and rigid, they would not do such despicable things. Originally, Baron Dahl had not intended to change the leadership system, but his eldest son, whom he had painstakingly groomed, had met with an unexpected accident. No, he had not passed away, but rather, this “young man” who was wed with children found himself awakening a special bloodline.

Awakening special blood lineage was not a bad thing but… what is what he awakened was of a devilish nature? Baron Dahl was unprepared for such a situation. Although he had ensured that the news did not spread, that was not the main issue. He could confirm his eldest son was had his blood and was had direct blood ties to the Dahl family. However, if this child could awaken devil blood, what about the rest of the Dahls? This was what worried Baron Dahl the most. Thus, he invited Kabbalah to organize a secret yet large-scale ritual. After confirming that his wife did not possess any devil blood, Baron Dahl’s confusion intensified.

If one were to theorize, his eldest son’s devil bloodline could possibly stem from his grandparents, which were Baron Dahl’s father-in-law and mother-in-law. However, these two elders had passed away a long time ago, and he felt uneasy pursuing the matter. Even if he were to dig out their buried bones, there was a chance that tests run on them would be inconclusive. Furthermore… to be honest, Baron Dahl felt that this bloodline was more likely to be passed down from the Dahl side. He tried to think back carefully to days spent at his elders’ homes and had a hunch that some his crafty and devious ancestors had had reputations of being cunning like a devil. More importantly, one of his ancestors had made a fortune and died mysteriously the same year, and his son had not made any comment about it. Originally, Baron Dahl had suspected that this ancestor had been murdered by his own eldest son and… now that he thought carefully about it… his ancestor could have discovered signs of his blood awakening and chose death in order to protect the Dahls. The more he thought about it, the more Baron Dahl was sure that the devil bloodline was passed down from an ancestor that had built up his family inheritance. This led to the issue of whether Baron Dahl, as someone who possessed devil blood, could continue to be a leader.

What nonsense! Of course not. Aristocrats most valued “face” or “honor,” and things which were seen as dishonorable would cause one’s downfall. In this case, the entire Dahl family’s legitimacy was at stake! Possessing devil blood was a serious condition towards one’s honor, and only two other factors transcended it.

Towards this matter, Baron Dahl felt extremely uneasy. There was too much pollution going on within the aristocrats as it was—many looked human but had an evil nature similar to that of devils. Hundreds of years ago, a female aristocrat had seized all the girls under her rule and created a bloodbath to preserve her own youth and beauty. Even if Baron Dahl possessed evil blood, this was still something that was unthinkable to him. He could not be labeled as a good man, but evilness still had different degrees after all. As compared to evil women like that, devil blood was not the worst issue. Yet, no matter how much he thought about it, devil blood was an issue that could not be ignored.

In the end, Baron Dahl decided that the most appropriate plan was to separate himself from the aristocratic system and switch to the clergyman system. The Church of Void Mask had no particular prejudice to any race or bloodline, and devil blood was no exception. Previously, he had consulted Kabbalah on this, and Kabbalah had held a special prayer to ask the venerable Void Mask Lord for advice. The answer given was that as long as Baron Dahl was willing to follow his teachings, his bloodline would not be a concern as the Void Mask Lord would protect him on account of his faith.

With these words, Baron Dahl’s lingering doubts were erased, and he gathered the core members of his family for a secret meeting. At this meeting, he shared on the dangers that the Dahls potentially faced. Baron Dahl also arranged for these members to meet his eldest son, who was sprouting small devil horns after awakening the devil bloodline. The meeting concluded with a small blood screening ceremony by Kabbalah for those present. The results showed that there were three core members who showed signs of possible devil blood, and this did not surprise Baron Dahl at all. He had merely confirmed that his family did contain devil blood, albeit only faintly so.

At this point, he really had no choice anymore.