Chapter 1956

"Because the Soul Mark of the Queen contains Dika's Divine Strength."

"That's impossible!" Princess Rupert replied decisively, tears glistening in her eyes.

Ye Hua shook his head, "But all of this is true, Princess. This was one of the roots of the attack ten years ago; they should all be related to that notebook in your mother's possession; except perhaps only the King of Sand, Barbaltan knows what really happened back then..."

Fang Hong listened silently, his expression unusually calm, asking: "So from the beginning, Affia was the vessel for Dika's resurrection, her Dragon Soul, was actually nothing more than Dika's Divine Fire?"

In Eteliria, the death of a god, or rather, falls into an endless slumber.

And in that deathly still world where the deities sleep, their divinity does not completely perish, the scattered seed of fire merely awaits an opportunity to reignite.

Just like the Lizardman Deity Fang Hong encountered on Fenris Isle.

The remnants of Divine Strength, also seeds of divinity, at an opportune time, a New God would be birthed from the corpse of the old god.

The blind followers have already retrieved Dika's divinity, and with the help of the King of Sand, Barbaltan, reshaped a vessel for it. Now, they merely need an opportunity to rekindle the Divine Fire.

And this opportunity, evidently also exists within this Sand Sea—

Centuries ago, Alchemists discovered that souls created using the power of the Emerald Star often carried a breath of divinity. Initially, people didn't think much of it, merely believing souls themselves to be holy, which matched their understanding.

But soon, the twisted divinity quickly shaped those terrifying monsters known as Divine Miscreation or Abomination, wreaking havoc across the world. After some bloody incidents, people quickly woke up to the realization, leading to the grand Alchemical Creation movement, quieting down.

Yet, driven by the ultimate pursuit of alchemy—Creation—privately, the research on the Emerald Star never ceased.

Evidently, a certain divinity exists within the Emerald Star.

Yet few people understand what that truly means.

After Achilles captured Affia, she was handed over to the blind followers. And Seniman had already set a trap in the Phantom Sea, causing the King of Sand, Barbaltan, to invoke the power of 'Fallen Star'—

The purest Dark Divine Power contained within the fragments of the Star of Calamity continuously poured into Miss Affia's Dragon Soul from that moment, more accurately—the embodiment of Dika.

But was that truly just a trap?

Since the King of Sand, Barbaltan, already knew the secret of the Emerald Star's power, wouldn't he be aware of the clumsy conspiracy of the blind followers?

He once again remembered the question he had previously asked, only back then, the other party didn't directly respond. Now he almost knows the answer to that question, yet still turns back to Ye Hua to ask that almost identical question again:

"So, does the King of Sand, Barbaltan, know all of this?"

This time, Ye Hua looked at him, after a moment of silence, nodded.

A gleam of realization flashed in Fang Hong's eyes.

Princess Rupert froze for a moment, nearly stunned.

"I... my father knows all of this, but why...?" she asked, her voice somewhat hoarse.

"The reason is here," Ye Hua's gaze swept across the square, "Princess, do you see, your father's initial purpose was actually here."

Fang Hong softly said: "So he intends to resolve this problem once and for all, whether it's the blind followers or Dika, they will ultimately converge at this place—"

"Because by this point, both sides have no room to retreat."

Princess Rupert took a gentle breath, her gaze falling on Ye Hua's face, seemingly seeking the answer to this question from his expression.

Ye Hua didn't answer, but his silence said it all.

For a moment, she was slightly dazed.

She thought all of this was simply because her father was deceived by the blind followers, but didn't expect in the end, it was his true intention.

Yet so many people died, Quistack nearly turned to ashes, and now the life of everyone in the city hangs by a thread; what was he truly trying to achieve with all of this?

Was it for revenge for her mother, for the beloved ones?

But was it truly worth it?

The Grand Princess's tearful eyes welled up: "But my father he... how could he..."

Yet Fang Hong asked softly: "Why not tell us all this sooner?"

Ye Hua sighed lightly: "Ade, the Southern Alliance is merely a participant in this plan, actually, Star and Delan didn't tell me the truth from the start."

"...Delan, like his brother, is blindly loyal to the Royal House of Penelope, or rather, to the 'Princess' who in his heart has passed away many years ago... And Star, his heart probably only has thoughts of revenge left, finding the mastermind behind those events is probably his only purpose for existing in this world..."

"Hence, it's understandable why they hid this information from me."

"And the King of Sand, Barbaltan, likely decided from the beginning. After leaving Kashan Palace, I once thought he had given up on investigating the Emerald Star, planning to capture the blind followers there, but didn't expect things would still return to this."