Tales of the Endless Empire
Chapter 172: The Last Preparations Before Stage Four (1)

"We need more time to make more poisons," Elise argued. She was one of the alchemists deeply invested in crafting potions similar to Molotov cocktails and poison bottles that could be thrown at the undead.

"We can't travel to the fourth stage today! It's too dangerous. What if the vampires are too powerful?" Isolde interjected.

"How much ammunition do we have for the catapults and ballistae?" asked Althira, one of the guards on the council.

"Not enough. We're still a bit behind. We've focused too much on equipment in the past few days," answered a smith named Calean.

"But we have enough material to make more. As things stand now, we can fire each defense system up to twenty times. That would only be necessary if we were attacked from all sides at once, which is highly unlikely. If all the smiths focused on ammunition, we could increase that to forty shots in a few days."

"Why not have all the smiths working on ammunition? That could be crucial in the future," Isolde said, panicking.

"Because we've been crafting armor and weapons for our fighters so they can survive the war. At some point, we’ll have to leave the base to address the special quest," Lucan explained, supporting his fellow smith.

"But that can’t be the solution! What if we're attacked by too many enemies?" Isolde continued, still panicking.

It was a bit annoying, but Thalion let them talk before stepping in. He had gained some new insights and didn’t have much to say at the moment.

Without the encounter with the Eleventh Daughter, he would have proclaimed the vampires useless and immediately started hunting them down as soon as they arrived on the fourth stage.

Now, with cold sweat still running down his back, he held back from commenting on the vampires’ power.

The future was not as certain as he had once thought. Everything had to be perfect to keep as many people alive as possible. Every death might add to the undead army.

"Is it even wise to pursue the special quest? Maybe that Ankhet isn't that strong, and we're risking our people's lives for nothing," Elise tried to support Isolde.

"We do have the portals, which will be a big advantage and help us escape if things look dire," Kaldrek said, showing no intention of backing down from the war against the undead or the special quest.

"That's the next problem—the portal is a gate inside our base. What if you lose the ship and the undead use the portal to enter the city?" Isolde continued, still panicking.

The upcoming war seemed to be too much for her, but Thalion didn’t want to remove her from the council, even if it was for her own good. Most people liked and trusted her. Also, it would be too much for a new council member to handle just a day before the war.

"If that happens, we can deactivate the portal from the city, which will close the gate," Lucan explained, reassuring them that his construction wasn't a threat to the base.

"How will we defend the city if a large army attacks? I was in the navy, and I have no idea how such a war would look," Maike asked curiously.

"I think we’ll barricade ourselves under the dome and use the defense equipment or the skyships to fight off the attackers," Kaldrek suggested.

"And what will you do if they set up a barricade like the orcs did?" Isolde interjected, her shoulders slumping.

"Attack. And if we don’t manage to defeat them or the situation looks bad, we’ll initiate the teleportation to the next stage," Thalion said with determination.

It was important that they didn’t see he was worried too.

"I'm not sure if everyone has enough credits to teleport immediately again," Isolde said, her shoulders slumping even more.

They needed hope, Thalion realized. People who were too stressed out would make mistakes, and mistakes in a war against bloodthirsty vampires would mean death.

"You really shouldn’t worry so much. Not all the vampires will be that strong, and our preparations are solid," Thalion said as he began his speech to lift their spirits.

"And if an extraordinarily strong vampire attacks, I will deal with it."

The last words were infused with mana and the sanguine thorn’s desire to feed on blood. Simultaneously, Thalion released his aura without activating the fear runes on his armor. The air around him vibrated with the power of his presence, and the whole room stared in awe at him. Their eyes were wide, and some had their mouths open in surprise. Yep, he had gained some serious power-ups over the past two weeks.

He was no longer twenty levels behind everyone else, and with his body tempering, he would be able to fight almost any vampire—unless they were as strong as the Eleventh Daughter, Thalion thought grimly. But that was something he wouldn’t tell them. It was crucial for the council to stay focused on their tasks. If a vampire that powerful appeared, he would deal with it himself.

The tension in the room eased noticeably after Thalion retracted his presence. Shoulders were no longer slumped, and eyes that had looked empty moments before now sparkled with renewed determination. Thalion hadn’t even realized how grim the atmosphere had been until now.

"Wouldn’t it be better if they attacked us so we could kill them from the safety of our walls?" Kaldrek suggested with a smile.

That was the spirit, Thalion thought happily. Just a brief show of power had lifted the tension. Everyone knew the vampires were dangerous, but they didn’t believe any vampire could currently be stronger than Thalion. The aura and bloodlust he had displayed were beyond anything anyone in the base—already at E grade—could hope to achieve.

"Maybe we should find some undead and lure them to the city to kill them," Maike added, greed flickering in her eyes. Thalion knew from what he had learned about her class that she was adept at running and dodging. She was probably already imagining baiting the vampires into their final slumber.

"That might be a good tactic," Kaldrek agreed, now grinning as well.

The mood had improved significantly in mere seconds.

"Don’t get carried away. We still have no information about how strong the undead really are," Isolde warned.

Before anyone could engage further in the now lively discussion, the door opened, and Amalia entered. She was as beautiful as ever, accompanied by a young man dressed in white robes.

"Okay, why are you here?" Thalion asked, perplexed.

He thought briefly about Amalia. She had mentioned before that some members of the council were under her control, but he had never asked who. That would have to wait until after the war. He didn’t want to appoint inexperienced replacements right before a major conflict.

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"I’m here to help with the preparations against the undead, of course," Amalia said in her melodic voice, stopping beside one of the guards on the council. What was his name again? Johnny, if Thalion remembered correctly.

"This young fellow here is a follower of a light god and has access to multiple powerful formations capable of launching extremely strong attacks against the enemy. He would like to provide those to you," Amalia said, gently pushing the young man forward.

"Hello, everyone. I’m Jim. My companions and I follow the Holy Guardian and want to help in the fight against the undead," Jim stammered, looking down after every word.

It was clear that he was under Amalia's control, and Thalion found it frightening how powerful her influence over another person could be. He was genuinely surprised by the extent of her power.

"Okay, so how many of you are there, and what can you do for us?" Kaldrek asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There are one hundred and four of us, all able to advance to the fifth stage. Everyone is at level eighty and combat-oriented," Jim answered quickly, glancing at Amalia for approval. She smiled at him almost maternally.

"What kinds of formations do you have?" Kaldrek asked, his eyebrow now raised even higher.

"We have over twenty, but for the fight against the undead, we would use our three strongest," Jim answered after Amalia motioned for him to continue.

"Okay, what do those three formations do exactly?" Kaldrek asked, now sounding a bit tired as he waved for the young man to elaborate.

"The first is a defensive formation that can shield a specific area. All our formations are extremely powerful, and this shield is no exception. It will take a long time for the enemy to break it down," Jim proudly explained.

"That’s not all—we also have a supportive formation. With it, we can empower one person. This person will experience a temporary increase in stats, and all their resources will recover much faster. The people providing the empowerment can be over five hundred meters away. The last formation I have is a solar beam that strikes from the sky, highly effective in breaking shields or defensive arrays," Jim finished, looking up at Amalia without seeming to care about the reactions of the others in the room.

"What’s the range of that solar beam?" Maike asked, leaning forward with interest.

"We’ve never actually tested it fully, but it should be around a kilometer. The further the distance, the longer it takes to channel," Jim explained.

"What do you mean by 'the longer the distance'? Aren’t we just charging the skill more so it reaches a longer distance?" Kaldrek asked, confused.

"...The formation creates a giant circle of light in the sky. Once enough power has been gathered, a solar beam descends from above, destroying everything in its path. This skill is particularly effective against shields or mana constructs," Jim concluded, seemingly just reading from the skill description.

"Ah, so it’s not a formation we can use across the battlefield, but something only followers of your god can do?" Kaldrek asked, squinting in suspicion.

"Of course! No one besides the followers of the Holy Guardian can use these absolutely amazing skills. Nothing else comes close," Jim proudly announced.

"This is why we’ve come to speak with you all," Amalia said, breaking the silence that had gone on too long, as most people in the room looked disappointed. Many had hoped that these formations would be accessible to everyone, making them a much stronger force. That hope had died quickly.

"I hope you will allow Jim to bless more people, as these formations will be extremely useful, and a blessing would only serve to further empower the individual," Amalia said sweetly, bowing slightly to Thalion.

This was turning into quite a tricky situation. Jim had a legendary blessing—something Thalion hadn’t expected, given the weak aura the guy radiated. This meant Jim could baptize people, theoretically allowing him to baptize many in the base in no time.

The problem was that this formation was incredibly powerful, and Jim was clearly under Amalia’s control. What if thousands of people ended up empowering Amalia? Even someone like Thalion might not be able to resist her charm then.

So far, it seemed that Amalia and her coven were loyal to him, but Thalion was confident that was just a charade to get on his good side. There was no doubt in his mind that they would kill him if given the chance.

Or would someone like Jim do it?

The coven already had control over many blessed individuals, and someone like Jim could become extremely powerful. The political situation was also precarious. If Thalion rejected Amalia’s offer, they could easily announce that he had denied the people access to blessings that would be a huge boon in the war. The problem with allowing it was that most people would then be very grateful to Jim—and through him, the coven.

Thalion also had no doubt that there were far more than just one hundred blessed individuals. He wouldn’t be surprised if the actual number was closer to double that.

This was truly a peculiar situation, and the silence was dragging on too long as Thalion tried to figure out a solution to the dilemma.

Even if he forbade Jim from baptizing anyone, Thalion was certain the guy would simply ignore his command and continue doing it in secret. It probably had already happened. Not that Thalion had explicitly forbidden it in the first place.

This was clearly Amalia's plan after growing bored of Jim baptizing people one by one. Allowing Jim to conduct mass baptisms would bring her influence to an entirely new level.

There was also the option of simply killing Jim here and now. That would eliminate the problem, but it would also weaken their fighting power in the war, leading to far more unnecessary deaths.

This wasn’t a course of action Thalion was willing to take. He wouldn’t endanger lives for political maneuvering.

He decided on the only reasonable course of action.

"I won’t tell anyone to get baptized. It’s up to each individual to make that decision. But I’d better not find out that you're influencing their choices in any way," Thalion said, ending his statement with a sinister tone.

"Of course! We do everything for the people living in this base," Amalia said with a wide smile.

"If you would excuse us, we have some work to do," Amalia happily anounced with an elegant bow.