From Prisoner to Si Chen..

Chapter 435 Gambling Fight
Dawn calendar, AD.

End of July 1927.

The third Bu-O war entered a white-hot stage.

The Imperial Army and the Federal Army engaged in a seesaw battle in the mountains and forests on the eastern border of Bremen, while at the same time, a second battlefield was opened in the north.

As the battle line lengthened, the consumption of both sides gradually increased. Countries around the world were moved and paid close attention.

People from all walks of life in Bremen also kept an eye on newspapers or radio news, hoping to hear good news about the war.

Bosvia, the northern city of the Empire that was razed to the ground by the Federation's "final explosion", has now become the main area of ​​the second battlefield between the two sides.

This place is located on the plain at the bottom of the mountains. It is also a pass city where the source of two rivers is located, connecting Bremen and Owena.

Both parties tacitly chose this place to engage in a large-scale exchange of fire... There is also a deeper meaning in this.

The first two wars between the two sides were caused by Bosnia.

This time, Bosvia was destroyed by bombing, and the head of state Caesar Jide deliberately chose this ruin as the battlefield. He probably intended to inspire his own morale and express his attitude of revenge against the Federation.

This war was uniformly referred to by major newspapers as the "War of Ruins" or the "War of Scorched Earth Revenge."

In recent days, newspapers that are printed twice a day have been conveying the latest developments from the front lines to the public as quickly as possible.

A tense atmosphere permeated the streets.

On the evening of March 3, the Imperial Foreign Minister Gillan Iros went upstairs to his room after dinner as usual.

He sat on a chair by the window, looked at the bright crescent moon rising outside the window, and chose to fall asleep again.

"It's the last day of the Gladiator Month..."

Jilan sighed and closed his eyes.

After 12 o'clock tonight, we will enter the month of "Miss Elegy" in April.

If he visits the God's Land again, he will be targeted. The "Three Artistic Officials" will not tolerate him, and just because of his strong "mottled aura", the inspectors will always be following him and hunting him down.

For now, Gilan is unable to defeat the "lower-level patrollers" of level 6 strength.

So he also hopes to gain something tonight.

Otherwise, there will be no chance of promotion for the entire next month, thus wasting precious time.

He controlled his consciousness to sink and fall into the spiritual kingdom. Then, instead of walking towards the open-air stone temple, he went straight to the shore, summoned a spiritual boat, and set sail towards Toyalan, the hometown of God.

After drifting for a long time, Jilan landed again on the shore of the "lower level" of God's hometown.

This time, after he stepped onto the salty beach, his face lit up with joy.

Because in his spiritual perception, the hot, shining waves were coming clearly and distinctly from the northeast, guiding him there!

'The gathering place of fire elements has appeared!'

Jilan said to himself, then took a step and followed the instructions.

He didn't dare to waste time, for fear of missing the opportunity as happened last time.

'Once this last "footprint" is formed, all the promotion requirements will be completed, and you can climb to level 5 in one fell swoop.'

...

...

Sea of ​​dreams.

In an area that cannot be measured by time and space, a continent is reflected on the sea surface.

Toyalan, the hometown of God.

The endless corridor located on the "mountainside".

A beautiful woman wearing a white evening dress, revealing her white shoulders and collarbones, is walking barefoot in the woods.

The mountainside was filled with mist, connecting to the clouds.

The environment presents a dreamlike scenery.

Just like an elf fairy in the legend, she took lazy steps, shuttled through the clouds, stepped on the clouds, and walked towards the empty air.

When she left the ground and flew high into the sky, she raised her hand to clear away the fog in front of her.

A ray of golden sunlight shone from afar.

"…At the beginning of the seventh month, the 'midday dawn' that symbolizes July has lost its trace and disappeared from the world, but the sunshine in the God's Land remains."

Sasha looked at the sun in the distance and murmured.

She continued to walk deeper into the clouds, but the road under her feet was made of white fog.

An ancient palace made entirely of yellow-brown stone bricks is located in front, shining brightly in the sun.

Sasha arrived at the palace gate.

Here, there is a huge stone round table, and there is a throne in each of the four directions: east, south, west and north.

Behind the throne, there are patterns of spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, which symbolize swords, holy grails, star coins and scepters.

The rest of the seats around the table are filled with slightly smaller high-back chairs at equal intervals.

These seats were filled with men and women.

Moreover, each of them is mysterious and exudes a terrifying aura.

"After three years and two months, the 'Tiangong Dawn' finally held its long-awaited gathering again... Please take your seats, honorable 'Queen of Diamonds'."

At this time, the man sitting on the "Spade" throne laughed.

The man had his graying hair combed back into a ponytail, and he was wearing a black and white tuxedo, white gloves, and his back was straight.

Hearing this, Sasha nodded and smiled at everyone, then quietly sat on the throne of Diamonds.

To her left and right are seats 1-10 belonging to the "diamond" camp, and the "knight" seat just to her right.

"Ms. Peyton, you are finally here. We have been waiting for a long time."

The "Knight of Diamonds" sitting next to Sasha is a simple-looking strong man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He is wearing mottled leather armor, revealing his muscular bronze right arm.

This person is an 8th-level transmuter under the command of the March Apostle "Bulwark" Taunos, an ascender named "Camel Shield" who is famous for his combat skills.

"Hetto, long time no see."

Sasha greeted the strong man with a smile.

"But remember to call me Sasha next time."

"Ah?" Hetto was startled. Although he was confused, he apologized and greeted again: "Ms. Sasha."

Sasha nodded with satisfaction and asked:
"Do you know about this gathering? Is there something important?"

"It's not clear yet, but it should be related to the war in the mortal world... After all, the struggle involving those two is too complicated and we can't stay out of it."

Hutto scratched the back of his head and laughed.

Sasha nodded to show that she understood.

At this time, the "King of Spades" who had invited us to sit down spoke again:

"It has been more than a thousand years since the establishment of 'Heavenly Dawn'. We Ascended Ones all have our own destiny and our own pursuits... All things in the world follow the Twelve Laws, and the goals we strive for throughout our lives can also be called our laws."

"'Club Hermit', 'Princess of Hearts', 'Queen of Diamonds'... Today, the four of us apostles are hosting a gathering together to summon all the ascended members of the secret sect to come here for one thing."

The man in the tuxedo stood up and looked around.

His face was solemn, and he said in a deep voice:
"In the mortal world, the dispute between Bremen and Owena involves the game of many forces, but I think this will lead to an extremely chaotic situation that is unpredictable, which will cause countless deaths and intensify suffering."

"After experiencing the dark ages in the past, mankind can no longer afford such troubles... Therefore, I suggest that we, 'Heavenly Palace Dawn', take the lead and contact the major secret societies in the mortal world to have a gambling fight!"

"Betting?"

At this time, a blonde girl sitting on the "heart" throne looked puzzled. She was cute, about fifteen or sixteen years old, like a girl next door, wearing a white dress.

But she has a pair of arm-length white wings on her back and a golden halo above her head, which makes her look quite holy.

The girl's true identity is the July Apostle "Dusk" Angel.

He was once called the Fourth of July Angel together with "Chen Zhou" (Santa Claus), "Polar Star" (Windmill Cat) and "Hu Dan".

"That's right." The man in the tuxedo nodded. "'Tiangong Liming' has always maintained an absolutely neutral attitude, and it has credibility with other secret societies."

"We will host the gambling match and invite the six major secret societies, namely the Priory of the Stars, Midnight Rose, Spiritual Society, Choir, Ascetic Sect, and White Dove Tower, to participate. The winner will determine whether they will intervene in the Bu'ao War."

The black-robed old man sitting on the "Plum Blossom" throne lowered his head and said slowly:
"Do what thou wilt desire, the fulfillment of the law."

"If it can reduce unnecessary chaos and keep the situation in the mortal world under control, then this is also my wish... So, I agree with this decision, Mr. Gago."

The old man is the September Apostle “Salt Spring Old Man” Ryan Pendra.

His words certainly have corresponding power.

The ascenders present had a clear idea in their minds, and some of them spoke up to express their support.

After some thought, the two women, Angel and Sasha, who represented the kings of the "Hearts" and "Diamonds" camps of the cult, also agreed to the decision.

"Since everyone has no objection, let's send a member to make contact... As an April Apostle, I'm afraid it would be inconvenient for me to go, so as to avoid any misunderstanding."

The tuxedo man named Gago smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"So this task should be left to everyone here to discuss."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"Miss Elegy" is one of the "Three Gods of Art" and is a deity that clearly stands in the "Blind General" camp.

As the April Apostle "Mr. Qin", Jia Ge is naturally not convenient to show up... and he is indeed an outlier, otherwise he would not have served as the "King of Spades" in "Heavenly Dawn".

"How about I go?"

At this time, a woman with short blond hair sitting in the "Knight of Heart" seat asked.

She was wearing knight armor, a crimson cloak embroidered with rose patterns, and an exquisite cross sword slung around her waist.

"Ms. Jeanne, it seems that it is not convenient for you to come forward."

Angel played with her golden hair and pouted.

"As a Transmutator under the command of the Twelve-Month Apostle 'King Doumo', you are more or less involved in this, and you will be misunderstood."

"That's true." Jeanne sighed. "It seems that the knights like me are all involved in the problems of our respective camps, so it's not easy for us to come forward..."

"I'll go."

A gentle voice sounded.

Everyone looked over and saw Sasha, wearing a white evening dress, standing up with a smile on her face.

"I think everyone will have no objection to my coming forward with my identity... I also plan to go to the mortal world."

"It's great that Miss Bishu is willing to come forward."

Kago raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Then I'll trouble you with this matter."

After saying that, he took off the white glove on his right hand, touched his chest and saluted the white-haired woman.

The other two apostles present, the young girl Angel and the old man Ryan, also nodded.

The ascenders present followed suit and bowed.

...

...

at the same time.

The "lower" area of ​​God's Hometown.

Following the guidance, Gilan came to a plain area covered with obsidian and fire.

There was an endless flame burning here, the air was distorted and fluctuating, and it was filled with a pungent and unpleasant smell.

He covered his mouth with a wet handkerchief, frowned, and stood on a huge obsidian rock, looking around quietly.

Gillan has been here for some time.

He did not find any trace of the residents of the divine land. There was silence all around, with only the whirring sound of burning flames.

But this is not a bad thing for him.

After all, Jilan only needs to stay in this gathering place of fire elements for a certain period of time to automatically form "footprints", thus completing the last condition required for promotion.

After standing quietly on the big black rock for a while, Jilan noticed something strange.

He suddenly smelled a faint smell of sulfur.

"Huh?" Jilan jumped down and hid behind a rock.

Almost in the next second.

A huge fire suddenly ignited in the open space in front of him. The fire gradually formed an irregular crack, and then two red-skinned devils fell out from it.

They had horns on their heads, bat wings on their backs, and each held a trident and a broadsword. After falling out of the "flame rift", they quickly stood up and looked around.

Jilan hid behind a rock and with his spiritual vision, he determined that these were two devil nobles, both of whom were powerful enough to be Level 4 Hisaishi.

"What's going on?" The devil holding the trident said in a deep voice in ancient Hiru. "How did we get here directly from the border..."

"Bad luck. I ran into the environmental changes in the 'lower level' area."

Said another devil with a big knife.

"Don't worry about it. Lord Quan Bo's orders are more important. Take the things he has sent you and go to the mortal world. The army behind us is waiting!"

"This time, Lord Spirit King Losersh sent an Ascendant to convey instructions to the Eclipse Society... Only by obeying their orders can Lord Pal have more time to recover from his injuries."

"Damn humans, damn the Bremen Empire, this time they will pay with blood..."

Hearing this, Jilan frowned.

The conversation between the two demons seemed to reveal very important information.

Among them, "Dog Uncle" should be the "old acquaintance" Schnauzer, and the "Eclipse Society" seems to have received orders from a big shot in hell to take some action against the Bremen Empire.

"Spirit King Lotherhu..."

Jilan muttered the name inwardly.

He always felt that it sounded familiar.

Soon, Gilan thought of something and narrowed his eyes.

'Could that Lother's Ouija board be the work of this so-called "Spirit King"? He who can command the Ascended Ones must also be an Apostle!'

While he was thinking.

The two demons who had already walked far away suddenly stopped and looked up.

They seemed to have received some invisible instructions, and they all turned their heads and looked at the obsidian rock where Jilan was.

"and many more……"

The devil holding a trident has a ferocious expression.

"Abdu, you have also received the warning from the will of the Divine Land... There are human visitors hiding here!"

"kill him!"

(End of this chapter)