Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Deep autumn had passed, and early winter had arrived; another month had quickly gone by. Hill sat by the bay window, holding a teacup, quietly admiring the first snowfall of winter.

During this period, Hill's days were leisurely and comfortable.

The players were still dispersed throughout Saral, diligently building churches. Driven by the rewards of military exploits from William, they had exhausted all efforts to vie for the first piece of territory in the game, driving those clan families to madness.

A few days ago, Adrian had already sent him a message: all matters concerning himself and his family had been resolved.

Adrian was now free. Fran no longer needed to worry that his heir might be compromised in his later years, dragged down by family troubles. From now on, their branch would have no concerns about the future.

Fran's care and protection of Adrian was a sincere heart returned over 20 years. The future heirs of Adrian were now out of the scope of concern for Fran and Hill.

The snowflakes fell softly like fine salt, scattering quietly in the air. The valley crisscrossed with waterways retained its warmth. The snowflakes, halfway to the ground, slowly turned into raindrops. Mist wreathed the valley, dreamlike and ethereal.

Hill, watching Alice who climbed on top of a tall tree trying to catch the snow with her paws, felt a warmth and joy in his heart.

However, at that moment, the Spirit of Nature suddenly alerted him.

Hill immediately flew out of the Magic Tower, gazing towards Saral from afar.

Chaotic elemental power churned over the entire skies of Saral. Black clouds covered the sun, and several tornado columns, shaped like inverted cones, burst forth from the clouds, extending over the cities of Saral, overwhelming and rolling in.

But such terrifying power was firmly bound.

The power of the deities was so immense, yet they managed it so quietly that ordinary humans were oblivious while Professionals were thrown into panic.

This moment, the whole world's gaze would turn towards Saral. Elves and Dwarves could probably no longer remain indifferent.

Even List, who typically paid no mind to external affairs, now appeared at the top of the Mage Tower. For List, who depended on elemental power for existence, such elemental fluctuations were too dreadful.

The storm lasted for half an hour before abruptly ceasing. The elements that had filled the land of Saral were wiped clean.

Hill felt the elements within his own territory being wildly drawn towards the virtually emptied interior of Saral, and he quickly had List activate the isolating Magic Array. Dazzling golden light formed a hemispherical transparent Magic Barrier, firmly sealing Hill's territory.

Hill looked down to see the creatures and Magical Beasts living in his territory almost all gathered around his Magic Tower. They looked anxiously at Hill above them.

These creatures, dependent on the elements for survival, sensed the massive changes the world was about to face.

They hoped Hill could give them a reassuring explanation, but Hill could only shatter their illusions.

There had not been a newly born deity for 10,000 years; everyone had to confront reality calmly.

Although nature was alert, it did not feel sadness. The World Consciousness welcomed such transformations.

Alice jumped atop the tower, looking at Hill in panic, "What exactly happened?"

"The summoning of the Undead Tribe requires elements. The summoning of at least a million Undead has led to this result. The strength of this deity is unpredictable."

Alice, disheartened, buried her head in her forepaws, her white fur disheveled, almost crying out loud, "Hill, you had anticipated this, hadn't you? That's why you always urged me to train."

"There is still time. Alice, tell your friends. Hurry. My territory can still protect you for now. But I am not sure what will happen in the future."

Alice asked, "Won't they come here to summon?"

"No, why would they? They are likely to head south. In Haifasardo, a war awaits them! If there is another such large-scale summoning, they will only go to Haifasardo.

But Alice, if their numbers keep increasing, there is no need for them to come here.

"Elements are fluid, Alice."

Alice sobbed softly and quickly climbed down the tower.

She went to a group of small animals, mewing for a long time. The small animals, very upset, scattered. They had once thought they just needed to live in Hill's valley for a while, but now it seemed, only here could their lives be preserved.

The degradation of elements in the air would make the crystal cores in their bodies coveted.

How brutal humans could be was engraved in their ancestral memories.

Hill descended to the ground, summoning the elements, warning them never to leave the territory. Especially the Water Elementals, who must not swim out of the valley in their joy.

The river was the only exit from the valley now, and the fence Hill set up in the river could not stop an elemental that could transform into water.

Although the elementals promised him, they all looked worriedly towards the Elemental Realm. They lived on this land, having left the Elemental Realm, but they still worried about their place of origin.

The Elemental Realm maintained its superior status because humans could not defeat them.

They feared that the power of the Elemental Realm might also be dissolved, would the powerful deities spare the richly resourced Elemental Realm?

Hill shook his head and told them it might affect the Elemental World only after tens of thousands of years. Humans always die, but elements might survive tens of thousands of years. And this deity, being a Kind God, would not actively attack and occupy other worlds.

The naive elementals were soon reassured, knowing the Elemental Realm wouldn't participate in the struggles of the material world. They began to wander happily around Hill's territory again. Hill returned to his study and contacted Fran, "Grandfather! What's the situation in Saral now?"

"Directly entered, 1.5 million," Fran said stiffly. "William has gone mad! Let's not talk about this now, many things are happening in the capital, I'll tell you later. The Mages of Saral are all going mad!"

Hill cut off contact, anxiously waiting for Fran to reach out again. Fran didn't dare curse the deity, but Hill clearly understood whom he actually wanted to curse in his angry tone.

Outside the golden shimmering magic barrier, the early winter snow had already been erased by the elemental storm.

Life indeed had its highs and lows. Hill could no longer recall the pleasant mood he had that morning. Even though he had anticipated it, the reality still made him uneasy.

Hill silently awaited the storm of reality.

At midnight, the external elements finally calmed down, and Hill received another communication from Fran.

It was the first time Hill had heard Fran's hoarse voice.

"William is too harsh! The elemental concentration outside our territory has decreased by a third. In the best places within Saral, only half is retained.

The Mage Association is unlikely to hold out this time. William would rather see the entire Mage Association withdraw. They now only have the choice to either leave or bow down to the Saral Royal Family.

Back then, they forced the Royal Family to yield a magic tower, so it's normal for them to face such retaliation.

The Mage Association has been arrogant for so many years, taking away many talented mages from Saral! The nobles would rather deal with the Temple of Knowledge than learn magic from them.

It's the ordinary mages who are going to suffer again.

After all, Saral doesn't really have any ordinary mages. Whatever fate the nobles and the Mage Association meet with is normal.

Today, after those 1.5 million members of the Undead Tribe appeared, William declared that all elemental ore mines of city-level and above in Saral will be state-owned.

As for the mines currently owned by the nobility, William will purchase them at the market price, limited to those that have already been registered and taxed by the Royal Family.

By next spring, those who haven't handed over their ore, will be treated as committing treason. The army will take direct control. Those that weren't registered, if discovered, will be directly confiscated."

"All the ores?"

"Our small mine doesn't count. We are not touching those outside the borders of Saral Country yet. But William has declared that he plans to expand the territory, pushing the borders north and west together.

Such large mines are all held by the Great Nobility.

No one understands what William really wants to do now.

People in the Capital think that William believes that this chaos within the Saral Royal Family was caused by these Great Nobles colluding with each other.

He also hates Edward and Charles, saying that extending the borders is to push these two further away. The deep wilderness of the north, that should be punishment enough for them!"

Suddenly, Hill couldn't control himself and asked, "Doesn't anyone think that William just wants to build a fair and just nation?

The kind of ore that can influence a nation should not stay in private hands."

Fran said sternly, "Regardless of how many speculations or ideas you have, keep them to yourself!"

"Yes, Grandfather, I will only talk to you about this."

"What if I had someone else here? Now I am actually very glad that you sent Boen's family to stay with me.

Remember, keep your mouth shut."

"Understood, Grandfather. Where's Adrian? Isn't he by your side?"

"Adrian has gone to arrange accommodations. I will have many guests here.

Luckily, you mentioned before that the Undead Tribe would come, so we built a hotel.

Don't turn off your isolation magic array.

The mages, heartless and detached, do not want to deal with worldly matters. Unless they owe a great favor to some noble, swore an oath before the gods, or are unlucky like Adrian, they will not participate in wars to defend the properties of nobles.

I have already had many hint to me that they want to visit.

They want to go to the distant Western Mountains to find sites to build mage towers. If they can't find sufficiently safe places, they will give up.

They will either submit to William or migrate elsewhere.

My place will definitely be chaotic for a while, and only my place in the west can serve as a foothold now.

During this time, just stay quietly in your territory. Absolutely do not turn off the isolation magic array. Do you have enough elemental crystals?"

"Don't worry, Grandfather, I have enough for a continuous supply for 100 years."

"William has already ordered all the noble knights guarding the Haifasardo border to be recalled. Four families of the Undead Tribe have been granted fiefs.

If the commoners do not wish to live in the territories of the Undead, they can leave by next spring."

Fran couldn't help but sigh, "Something big will definitely happen next spring."