The Lord Of Blood Hill

The two giants of the Western Federation have done so much precisely because they want to interfere more in the affairs of the various countries.

In particular, increasing their influence over each country's decision-making level is their current main demand.

But once they interfere in this kind of matter, it means changing the Western Federation's previous stance entirely.

The royal families of the various countries will immediately become alert and fiercely oppose such a situation.

As Ulysses said, the various countries are not actually afraid of the Western Federation.

If they fight without holding back, the Western Federation might not even be able to defeat Lumir.

War is not a ranger mercenary mission where individual strength is enough.

No war that decides a nation's fate has ever been won simply because of a powerful special-force unit.

The same principle applies here.

Wars that concern a nation's fate, or even its survival, do not rely solely on powerful individuals.

War is fought with systems of armies numbering in the thousands and tens of thousands. It is fought with a country's population, resources, and foundation.

The Western Federation may win tactically, or even win a partial strategic victory, but on the overall strategic level, it is almost certain to fail.

The Western Regions has too small a population, distorted development, and narrow marching routes that are easy to block.

Its armies' movements are heavily restricted, which makes it difficult for them to gain strategic room.

Of course, the Western Federation can use teleportation arrays to jump directly into the royal capitals of various countries and carry out decapitation plans.

But as long as the kings abandon their palaces and directly deploy heavy troops to surround and defend the area, the same method becomes a threat to the Western Federation.

Besides, operating through teleportation arrays consumes an astonishing amount of resources. If the strategic objective is not achieved, the operation becomes a ruinously expensive failure.

Most importantly, there is the question of legal legitimacy.

One of the actual purposes of those teleportation arrays is for the Western Regions to provide support and assistance when the royal families of the various countries are in danger.

Now they want to activate the teleportation arrays to attack those royal families.

The Western Federation's Imperial Royal Inspectorate would not agree to that. A single report would go straight to the imperial emperor.

At that time, the Western Federation's operation would immediately be halted.

Finally, if the Western Regions truly wants to act, the various countries will not stand aside either.

Even the weakest Lumir would receive support from every country.

At that point, the Western Federation would effectively be at war with all the countries together.

The Western Federation's armies are indeed elite, but if the elites mobilized by the various countries join together, they will form absolute suppressive force against them.

They can bury the Western Federation's invasion with sheer numbers.

And once all sides tear off the mask, the various countries will immediately blockade the entire Western Federation.

Food problems, population problems, and all those livelihood issues that are usually hard to see will immediately throw the Western Federation into turmoil.

Before long, the entire Western Federation will decline.

This is also one of the main reasons why the Western Federation needs a suitable excuse if it wants to expand its influence.

They are not powerful enough to suppress the armies of all the countries. What they possess is merely the ability to make the upper ranks of those royal families wary.

Now, this operation has cost them a large number of elites. An explanation must be given.

Even though they are the rulers of the Western Regions, they still have to provide an account.

The archbishop must explain the operation to the Judgment Bishop, and the grand marshal must explain the operation's losses to the Imperial Royal Inspectorate.

They cannot be local emperors cut off from the world. The empire and the church still possess strong control over them.

After finishing the questioning of Henwell, Luke looks at Ashiburn. "This young man you chose is quite something."

"You are truly willing to give him up. Such a talent, and you sacrifice him just like that. Why not hand him over to me?"

Ashiburn says calmly, "Bait naturally has to be fragrant and sweet. I gave him the honor of a Paladin so he would shine at a moment like this."

"Unfortunately, he did not understand what we meant, and he lacks the spirit of self-sacrifice."

Luke smiles and shakes his head. "Do you think he is still dreaming about becoming a double agent?"

Ashiburn laughs as well. "Heh... the little fellow is just clever in his own eyes."

"We have fought the Veil for so many years. We understand the Veil far better than he does."

"He thinks he can infiltrate the Veil? He thinks we have no people inside the Veil?"

"He only wanted to take the opportunity to obtain our shelter. That was his own greed. He stepped into the game and made himself bait. He cannot blame us for being ruthless."

In truth, Henwell has already understood that the reason he became a Paladin back then was not because the church wanted him to act as an undercover agent.

The church only wanted to use his influence and use him to put pressure on the royal families of the various countries.

The church treated him as a sharp blade against those royal families. After learning about his force, they discovered that this blade had other uses as well.

If the blade could cut the royal families, all the better. If it could not, then it would be best if it broke there.

That way, the Western Regions would have a reason to intervene and could also use Peace Haven to reach deeper into the affairs of the various countries.

Unfortunately, the blade is sharp, but also tougher than expected. It actually did not break.

After Henwell figures all of this out, does he give up on the idea of becoming a double agent?

Of course not.

Henwell has already found a better opening. He guarantees that for quite some time to come, neither the Western Federation nor the Veil Organization will have peaceful days ahead.

Of course, before that, he needs to return to Peace Haven and lie low for a while.

After the questioning ends, Henwell goes to see Catherine. As someone who experienced the incident, Catherine has also been questioned.

Now, the only people who know Henwell has Iron Rank strength are Catherine and the female guard at her side.

Neither of them has revealed this secret. For both of them, that is a good thing.

After all, in Divine Revelation City, they do not have many powerful professionals. Only Henwell can protect their safety.

When Henwell arrives at Catherine's residence, he sees Catherine from afar, standing in the garden in a daze.

After hesitating for a moment, Henwell steps forward to offer comfort. "My condolences. This is not something we could change. At least your father fought until the end."

"Although he had already lost his combat power, in the end, he did not die in humiliation, nor was he captured by the Veil."

"He chose a dignified way to end everything. He sealed the exit with a mechanism and buried that sword-and-shield fighter with him."

Catherine looks up at the stars. "Henwell, my feelings are complicated right now. I do not know whether I am grieving or relieved."

"My father was not a good father. He caused my mother's death, and I always hated him."

"He stripped away my military authority, captured me, and made me lose everything. I should have hated him even more."

"But now, I cannot hate him anymore."

"Do you know? When I was young, Father was very good to me. He gave me everything I wanted. I do not know when he started changing, becoming gloomy and inscrutable..."

"But now he is dead. He died just like that."

"Many people actually do not know that he was a very powerful person."

"I heard from the royal family's guardian that my father was once the youngest Iron Knight in the history of the royal family."

"He simply did not want to reveal his martial strength, so very few people knew. In that sense, he was quite similar to you."

Henwell's face stiffens. He works hard to keep his expression normal. "You mean your father was an Iron Knight?"

"Yes. Perhaps the Veil's curse weakened him."

"Otherwise, he should have been even stronger by now. Maybe he would even have been the royal family's first Glory Knight..."