Chapter 741: Volume 22: Revival and Rise - 1: Innovation
When Komer received the news from Maha Gummi in the Caucasus, it was already more than half a month later. Maha Gummi’s intelligence network was expanding quite rapidly, thanks in no small part to Komer’s generous financial support. Komer was clear that to compensate for his weakness among the upper echelons of the Kingdom of Nicosia, this was the only way to achieve that.
Additionally, Maha Gummi’s abundant energy and natural talent for intelligence were the main reasons the intelligence network in the Caucasus had extended swiftly into areas of interest. This half-beastman hybrid had an unusually keen instinct and intuition for intelligence work, surprising even Komer who felt that such sensitivity should not be present in a half-beastman hybrid. The only explanation was that this offspring of a mortal rape, might have an extraordinary endowment from his paternal side.
Komer was well aware that his deal with Katya could not remain secret. Katya’s circle of interests was not solidly unified; undoubtedly, Hoffman had planted insiders within Katya’s group, just as Katya had her own informants within Hoffman’s influence. The news about Renta’s dispatch to Galle and Homer was instantly relayed to the Caucasus, clearly a countermeasure against his secret agreement with Katya. What troubled him was that he was unable to appear openly in the Caucasus now. What kind of agreement the old scoundrel Philip had reached with Hoffman and whether there would be any actions detrimental to the Caucasus in the short term—Komer was eager to understand all this, but Maha Gummi’s information did not clearly reveal these points.
However, some indications had already suggested that the situation was turning dire. In Jazair, Hoffman was frequently meeting with the chief mage of the Nikosia Kingdom Royal Mage Corps and continuously bestowing rewards upon its members. Whether it was necessary to spend such a huge sum of money to bribe members of the Mage Corps when the kingdom’s finances were so strained was debatable. In the battle for royal succession, this group of outsiders forming the Mage Corps had no say unless both sides resorted to war, but the current situation was far from that stage. Neither Tez nor Mathew would allow such an occurrence. Wasn’t Hoffman aware of that? Komer didn’t believe it, which could only point to one possibility—that the Homer Mage Corps, having suffered a severe defeat, might have lost the confidence to conquer the Caucasus alone or did not want to suffer another failure. With the support of the kingdom’s court magicians, combined with Homer’s regular army, Bruce and Leon were in considerable danger.
Watching the letter burn slowly as it hovered in the air, Komer was troubled. While he had gotten a firm foothold in the South, it seemed that his homeland in the Caucasus was once again facing danger. If the situation were as severe as Maha Gummi’s analysis suggested, then the Nikosia Kingdom Royal Mage Corps was no trifling matter—it was one of the top Mage Corps in the Northern Alliance, with many magic practitioners who had either reached or were on the verge of becoming archmages. If Hoffman and Philip had reached a deal on this matter, Komer knew that his half-beastman forces would inevitably collapse, especially with Homer also possessing strong infantry and knight forces.
Maybe he should quietly return to the Caucasus, the thought suddenly arose in Komer’s mind. But he immediately dismissed this somewhat unwise intention, fully aware that the Religious Court certainly had eyes and ears in the Caucasus, and if he returned, he could not avoid their scrutiny. Moreover, the promising situation in the South was thriving, and his absence could lead to some chaos.
The fortress of Gdansk had already begun to be restored quietly. The barbarians had completely withdrawn from the Flanders region, and the start of the Gdansk fortress’s restoration had a surprising effect on Komer. The Flanderers, once they fled their homes and heard the news, returned to Flanders en masse. To them, the retreat of the barbarians and reconstruction of the Gdansk fortress seemed more effective than any promise. As the inhabitants returned to Flanders, the first Dark Chapel was built in the heart of Antwerp City. In this region, the Church of Light’s influence was quite weak, and their temples, demolished by the barbarians, had no funds to rebuild. Meanwhile, the grandeur of the Dark Temple replaced the Church of Light as the new landmark of the city center.
The construction of the Dark Temple in Antwerp was just a microcosm of the entire Southern Region. In Piraeus, the Iberian Kingdom, Troy, Carthage, Tilo, Piergos, and even in Spartan Patre, Dark Temples rose one after another. A few months after the Olympia Championship, dark forces emerged like a giant awakening from a thousand years of slumber, suddenly swelling throughout the Southern Mediterranean Region. After integrating several small sects worshiping Hades, the god of darkness, the Great Mysterium Sect began to raise the banner of the Dark Holy Church, signaling the full resurgence of dark forces in the southern Continent.
In response to all these developments, Komer maintained a policy of guiding without involvement, encouraging without indulgence. Faced with Xerob’s frequent requests for Komer to appear before the people as the Dark Lord, Komer had not positively responded. In his view, the situation was not yet at the point where he needed to rally others to his cause. The rapid rise of dark forces was sure to bring negative effects, and the Church of Light, along with some secular powers, would not stand idly by. Variables and obstacles would arise, and by staying in the shadows and deliberately maintaining a distance from these dark forces, Komer might be better positioned to respond to these variables more advantageously.