The Ring: Sell Dung Beetles in Junction

Chapter 478 The End of the Holy War
In Shadow City, another golden crack opened up, and a bronze-skinned female warrior with two eagle axes on her waist and leather armor decorated with gold walked out of the crack.

Nepheli breathed the air of Shadow Land, observed Shadow Land, and felt a lot of emotions.

In the tent in front of Shadow Land, several black knights pointed their weapons at Nepheli when they saw the unknown female warrior who suddenly appeared.

Nepheli looked at them and smiled, then picked up her two axes.

After a while, Nepheli boarded the big elevator of Shadow City, followed by a group of black knights who had fallen to pieces.

Wuming and others are holding a meeting in the square of Shadow City.

Seeing Nepheli coming, Millicent went to meet her.

When the others heard that he was the new king of Nimgfu, they also showed him courtesy.

"You unlucky kid, you're here just now." Wuming sat aside, crabs with runes, shrimps with scorpion soup, "It's all finished."

"Busy." Nefeli slumped down next to Wuming and took away a piece of shrimp from him. "I finally asked Hyde for leave."

"Are you here just for sightseeing?" Wuming said.

"I came here to worship my ancestors," Nepheli said. "This is my ancestral home."

Nepheli ate the shrimp and sniffed:
"There's no smell of blood. I thought I'd come back to see the weak being ravaged, plundered, and killed. It was a scene of hell on earth."

"There's no war going on now," Wuming said, "thanks to my intervention."

"You are worthy of it." Nepheli elbowed Wuming, causing him to cough a few times and almost choke.

"You little brat, don't hit me like that." Wuming slurped up the crab meat he had coughed out.

"Are you feeling weak?" Nefeli also noticed Wuming's weakness.

"The result of the dredging," Wuming said, "is a huge loss."

Nefeli took out a large piece of golden rune from her pocket and said, "Here."

Wuming grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth, somewhat surprised:
“It’s so grand.”

"We have a good harvest this year." Nepheli said, "I wanted to come and visit you, so I picked out some gifts. You like this the most, so I prepared this for you. When we get back, I'll give you tens of millions of runes."

"Little sister." Wuming called out respectfully.

After being called out, Nefeli actually began to pant, crossed her legs, and hugged Wuming's shoulders:

"Call me King Nefeli, follow me and you'll have meat to eat. Hyde calls me for marriage every day, do you want to be my husband? Rune will take care of it."

Before Wuming could answer, a strand of golden hair fell in front of Nepheli's eyes. Michaela bent down and approached the two of them with a smile: "Come here?"

"Thank you for opening the door." Nefeli greeted Michaela.

"You're finally back. How were the negotiations these days?" Wuming asked.

In the peace talks, Wuming is only responsible for opening the way. Serious discussions will involve all aspects. Michaela is good at negotiation, so this task was given to him.

Michaela said: "Because the Jihad Army can make a lot of concessions, the Horned people will not have any complaints about the benefits. However, there is one thing, there are still many different voices among the Horned people."

"I guess it's still hatred." Wuming said.

Mikaela nodded: "After all, some time ago, both sides were trying their best to destroy each other. The Crusades did use the forbidden method of fire. For the Horned People, this is always a hatred that is difficult to let go."

Michaela said: "Everything else is as you wish, and the Horned Man also agreed to build a factory in the Cemetery Plain.

"Regarding the revival and reconstruction project of the Horned People, I would like to let the Horned People have more contact with the Golden Tree during the project, and it would be best if their interests are tied together. There is nothing we can do about the Horned People who have deep hatred, but for the Horned People who are willing to follow the old woman but still have grudges, the hatred can be eased."

Nepheli raised her hand: "I can help with this."

"You still have this ability?" Wuming didn't believe it, "This is a job that requires wisdom."

Nepheli said, "Isn't it the same story as the Golden People and the Platinum Sons?"

"It's a bit similar." Wuming said.

Nefeli said, "You worked so hard for so long, and I learned a lot from you. Now in Nimugfori, the Golden People and the Platinum Sons can live together normally. We have rich experience in how to persuade the Golden People. We also have mature plans to alleviate the conflicts between the two groups."

"That's right." Wuming said, "But this time it's not just the Golden People who are difficult to deal with. The Horned People are not as gentle as the Platinum Sons."

"If it doesn't work, ask Hyde to come and help." Nefeli pushed the matter to Hyde without any pressure.

Mikaela said: "Nefeli should be able to have a say with the Horned People. After all, they have some connections. Having a domain king come to smooth things over will also give the Horned People more confidence."

Wuming said: "As for those horn people who can't let go of their hatred... let me deal with them. Messermo and I have already discussed it."

On Messermo's side, Lailana was applying medicine to Messermo to heal the injuries he suffered during the battle with Monger.

After applying the medicine, Lailana leaned against Messermo's back, her expression showing peace and relief:
"The holy war is finally coming to an end."

"Yeah." That was all Messermo responded.

"The war is over. Can you accompany me back to Kalia?" Lailana said, "I haven't been home for a long time."

Lailana hugged him from behind:
"Then I will accompany you back to the Golden Tree to meet your mother and confirm her will in person."

Messermo seemed a little silent, and the winged red snake on his body pulled Lailana's hand away.

Messermo put on his clothes and moved away from Laelana.

Just like before.

Lailana looked at Messermo, the moonlight flickering in her eyes:

"why?"

"There is one thing left to do," Messermo said. "Before that, I can't make any promises to you."

"One more thing?" Laylana asked at a loss, "But... the holy war is over."

"Hatred not yet." Messermo left the dark room.

Outside the door, Wuming was already waiting.

"Are you ready?" Wuming asked.

Messermo nodded:

"Take me to see the Horned Man."

Lailana opened the door and watched the two people leave.

“What are they going to do…” Lailana murmured.

Melina suddenly appeared beside her, like a ghost, and said, "Messermo has freed the fire and ignited the Sealed Tree."

"So what?" Laylana asked.

Melina opened her left eye slightly, revealing the glow of the night sky, and saw the departing figure of Messermo:

“Since the holy war, Messermo has taken all the lamentations and curses on himself.”

"That's for Marika," said Lailana.

Melina nodded: "Yes, he took most of the curses and lamentations for his mother. Therefore, he is the most hated person by the Horned People."

"He doesn't want to do that..." Lailana murmured, "Every night, he can't sleep in agony. He dreams about the people he killed, and is tortured by their wailing and can't fall asleep. That's why I want him to end the holy war."

"But he still did those things." Melina said, "So, the one who sealed the tree can only be him. Only by taking the initiative to remove the seal can he be forgiven."

Lailana said, "He also built a vault."

Melina nodded, "He has done everything he could. Now he is going to do one last thing."

"One last thing?" Laylana's heart skipped a beat.

"Those who follow the fire will eventually meet their destined death." Melina said, "Now, he has to take the initiative to welcome his own destiny and that day."

Lailana finally understood, and her feet felt weak:
"How could this happen? The holy war is clearly over..."

She looked at Melina, her lips trembling slightly:

"He hasn't seen his mother yet."

"Messermo was talking to me about this the other day," Melina said. "He said that he was the one who started the holy war and ignited the fire of betrayal, so he had to be the one to end it. This was the only way to end the holy war. Those who followed the fire would meet their destined death."

Melina closed her eyes, recalled the sound of the wind on the city wall that day, and repeated Messermo's words -

"You can lament or curse, but come to me."

Messermo walked beside Wuming and said this without any self-pity, but with a relaxed smile.

"I've always taken responsibility for myself, and now it's finally paying off," Messermo said. "All these years have paid off."

"It's not just this one that was not wasted." Wuming said, "Greck has found a way to cure the witch."

"Have you found the last piece of the puzzle?" Messermo asked, "Didn't they say that witches would go crazy and be difficult to treat?"

"It's the horn of the Horned Man." Wuming said, "In order to descend to the gods, the Horned Man not only practiced hard, but also had the technology to improve his reason and will. Greg found the documents in the storage vault. I asked the Tower People, and they also preserved a lot of hybrid horns that can be used as materials."

"It's actually the Horned Man..." Messermo was stunned for a moment, then smiled with relief, "Great."

Messermo looked at the shadow tree in the distance:

"Now, there are no regrets."

"Are you really free of regrets?" Wuming said, "Not waiting any longer? You can wait a little longer, maybe you can see your mother again."

"No need." Meiselmo smiled, "It's not appropriate for a criminal like me to go see my mother."

"It's not a big deal. Your mother is guilty too." "I still want to solve the problem of Shadow Land first." Messermo said, "A clean Shadow Land is my salvation and my mother's salvation."

Messermo looked at Wuming: "And I believe you."

Wuming laughed and patted Messermo on the shoulder:

"Don't worry, the hardest stage will soon be over, and the rest will come naturally."

Wuming said: "The most radical members of the Horned People have been collectively sacrificed and turned into souls. As for the rest of you, considering how much you have done, plus my eloquence and my good employees, you can control them."

The two walked through the scorched earth, the ruined church, and the tombs that were engulfed by flames.

There, new shoots are pushing their way out of the soil.

The two came to Tower Town and came in front of the Horned Man.

Led by the old horned woman, the horned people have gathered in front of the stage square of the divine beast.

They saw Messermo and caused a commotion.

Most of the people in the corners did not know the purpose of Messermo's visit. They believed that Messermo came to persuade them to let go of their hatred.

“Just because Messermo comes to tell us personally, can we let go of our hatred?” The representatives of the Horned People stood opposite the old woman, representing another position. They said to the old woman, “We must never let go of this hatred.”

"You don't have to put it down." Messermo walked forward and came in front of the horn man.

He stepped onto the platform where the mythical beasts once danced, which was once the stage for sacrifices.

This action caused another wave of anger. The Horned People still remembered how many mythical beasts Messermo had killed.

Messermo looked at the bustling crowd of horned people under the stage, lowered his head, teased the winged snake on his body, and said softly: "Thank you for accompanying me for so long."

Messermo looked at the Horned Man:
"Everyone, you should already know my identity. I am Messermo, the leader of the holy war."

"What are you doing here?" the hornmen shouted.

"I come to atone for my sins," Messermo said. "I started a holy war. At first I believed in my righteousness, but a thousand years have passed and I have caused too much slaughter."

When the hornmen heard what Messermo said, they became even angrier: "Do you expect us to let you go just because you said that?"

Messermo shook his head: "I didn't ask you to let me go. I came here today to eliminate hatred."

The people in the horns watched coldly, ready to laugh and curse at whatever Messermo said.

Messermo said, "Today, I will eliminate my life and my sins here."

"Life is eliminated?" The horned people were stunned for a moment, and for a moment they did not dare to believe what Messermo meant.

Messermo threw away his big spear, drew out a dagger, stabbed it into his body, and pulled it off a piece of flesh.

Blood splattered on the sacrificial stage, and Messermo shaved off his own flesh with a single cut. He grabbed the snake-like muscles on his body and tore them off one by one.

The already emaciated shadow on the altar was now little more than a bloody skeleton.

The bloody figure opened its single eye angrily and announced to the horned people in a stern manner:

"Today, I am cutting my flesh and removing my bones. My life is more than that."

Messermo grabbed the ribs and removed them one by one.

His right foot shattered, his left foot shattered, his right hand was broken, leaving only two red snakes, weaving through the skeleton, still supporting his body.

Finally unable to hold on any longer, Messermo fell on the altar, stretched out his left hand, and took off his eyeball.

A black aura emanated from Messermo's eye sockets, and his broken and disintegrating body swelled and deformed, as if an evil black snake had emerged from his flesh and blood. But in this broken body, it only appeared for a moment before wailing and struggling and disintegrating.

Finally, there was complete silence. After the black snake's struggle, only a pool of blood, snake scales and broken bones remained on the altar.

The horned people stared at the sacrificial consciousness with bated breath, and remained silent for a long time.

Wuming also jumped onto the altar, collected Messermo's bones and the eyeball, and put them into a bag.

"Okay, now, is there anything else to say?" Wuming said.

The Horns looked at each other in bewilderment. The Horns who were previously obsessed with revenge focused their attention on the Horn representative, hoping that he would help make the final decision.

The representative of the horn people stood up, a little unnatural:
"I want to ask, where are the others?"

Wuming jumped down from the altar:

"Messermo has explained this to me. When ordinary soldiers fight with you, they will both kill and injure each other. Everyone is fighting with hatred for the deaths of their relatives and friends. As for those who are truly corrupt, Messermo has already digested them internally - there is a special punishment team to punish those people. You can go to the punishment fortress for inspection."

"Where are the top leaders of the Black Knights?" The Horned Man said, "Captain Andros, and Vice-Captain Xiu."

"To be honest, Andros didn't kill many people." Wuming said, "He was the first leader of the Black Knights. He was imprisoned in the cemetery early because he rebelled against Messermo. Messermo was seriously injured because of this, which directly led to a significant delay in the purge progress. He also saved many of you in disguise."

The horned man blew his beard and glared: "Can it be calculated this way?"

"Let's judge by performance, not by heart." Wuming said, "He does hate you deeply, but he didn't use despicable means to deal with you, right? He killed your beast on the battlefield, which is fine to me. Do you hate Ge Fulei as well? He even killed your king."

The horn man pursed his lips, somewhat speechless.

The most taboo thing for the Horned People is indeed fire. Although they are also sad about other deaths and injuries, it is still far from the hatred they have for Messermo. After all, what Messermo made them suffer was fire, which would melt their souls and disappear. For the Horned People who advocate asceticism, this is far more difficult to accept than physical suffering.

Thinking of this, the Horned Man realized:

"Messermo caused us to suffer from the fire, but he himself is like this, so his soul should not be destroyed."

"You found out." Wuming laughed, "So, what are you going to do?"

Wuming handed the bag of blood and bones to the horned man:

"Do you want to follow Messermo's example and burn him at the stake, completely burning his soul so that he can never be reincarnated again?"

The Horned Man's eyes flickered as he looked at Messermo's flesh and blood with a complicated expression.

The Horned Man looked around, at the expressions of the other Horned Men, and finally returned to the blood and bones of Messermo.

"Our tribe punishes sinners by preserving their souls in the hope that they can be reborn as good people," said the Horned Man. "His sins and karma have been destroyed along with his body, wiped out."

The horned man raised his head proudly:

"We will not be like the Golden Tree, who has no bottom line and burns even people's souls, depriving them of the chance to reincarnate as good people."

The nameless person on the opposite side stretched out his hand and said with a smile:
"So, it seems that we have reached a consensus?"

The Horned Man wanted to shake hands with Wuming, but he extended his hand halfway and then retracted it. He retreated behind the old Horned Man woman.

The old horned woman reached out and took Wuming's hand again, just like she had given him a guardian spirit before.

"The peace talks are done," said the old woman. "You have truly kept your promise."

Wuming nodded: "The holy war is over."

When Wuming came out of Tower Town carrying a bag, he saw Lailana waiting for him outside.

Laelana's eyes were red and filled with murderous intent.

"You've planned this a long time ago, right?" Lailana said, "That's why he never dared to promise me anything."

Wuming nodded: "Yes, I told Messermo about it a long time ago, and he agreed. This is the only way to eliminate hatred."

Lailana rushed towards Wuming and grabbed his neck with a ferocious expression, but she didn't know what to say and tears gradually overflowed.

"Don't be anxious, it's not a big deal." Wuming said.

The murderous intent in Lailana's eyes grew stronger.

"Come on, your husband is a snake." Wuming said, "I wonder what the characteristics of snakes are?"

Laylana was a little confused: "I don't know. He never accepted his true nature."

"Immortality." Wuming said, "You've never heard of snakes being immortal?"

"You mean he's not dead?" Laylana was surprised.

"Oh no, he's still dead, dead as hell." Wuming said, "Faking his death is too insincere."

"Then what do you mean by immortality?"

Wuming said: "Do you know Dragon Feast?"

"What does this have to do with Dragon Feast?" Lailana became more and more confused. It was related to Messermo's life. She was very anxious, but she did not dare to urge Wuming.

After all, his lover's life is in his hands.

"A flying dragon devours pyroxene and will gradually be assimilated by it. A person who devours a dragon's heart will also be devoured by the dragon." Wuming said, "It is difficult for a strong life to die. Even if it dies, it will be reborn. After all, the soul is immortal."

Wuming said, "Malika's golden tree controls the soul and locks death. The golden tree is used to imprint the memories of demigods, allowing them to be reborn. The Great Snake also has immortality. Messermo's men use his flame to study resurrection, and my men are also studying the resurrection elixir from the Great Snake. Your sister Man Yue's birth secret technique has been perfected, and I also have the curse of immortality. Even the Horned People's technology understands that the soul is immortal."

Wuming stuffed the bag of flesh and blood into Laelana's hands:

"If you're dead, you're dead. It would be better if you were born again."

Lailana hurriedly caught it and said blankly:
"But you don't have the confidence that you can be resurrected."

"How many certain things are there in the world?" Wuming said, "But you have to believe. Sometimes, only by believing can things be accomplished. Messermo and the old lady believed me, so the holy war ended."

Wuming put his hands behind his back and said, "Go back and celebrate."

"Celebrating my man becoming like this?"

"Celebrate the end of the holy war." Wuming smiled, "Messermo told me to do this after it's over."

(End of this chapter)