Chapter 1024: Illuminati
“This is the picture? It doesn’t seem like a mageweath or a Magic Array. Is it really just an ordinary symbol?” Among the few senior executives of the Tower of Dusk, Basel who had once lived in hiding in the library of Doland was the most knowledgeable. However, after he looked at the photo that Alan handed him, he felt a little helpless as he could not recall that picture.
“This drawing is from a person named Tanu, and it’s rumored that he’s the one who instigated those forces to unite and deal with us. I suspect that this Tanu has something to do with the prisoner our president brought back previously. I wonder if you’ve found anything similar from that prisoner,” said Alan as he voiced his conjecture. He looked at Gavin who was in charge of interrogating the prisoner.
“I didn’t notice that. Wait for me while I get someone to check on that person.” Upon hearing Alan’s conjecture, Gavin immediately looked for the person who was in charge of guarding the prisoner, and told them to search the prisoner entirely from top to toe. Although there was nothing on the back of the prisoner’s hand, there was no rule that the picture had to be on the back of his hand.
As expected, the person who proceeded to check soon returned to report that they had found a picture on the nape of that person and copied it. Although it was much smaller than the one on the back of Tanu’s hand, they were largely similar.
“They’re indeed in cahoots with each other, but what does this picture mean? Is it the symbol of that mysterious force?” Their subordinate’s report allowed Gavin and the others to confirm something, but they were still clueless about the meaning of the picture.
As for the captive, Gavin had also resorted to plenty of interrogative means, but the timidity of that guy became his life-saving card. They could easily knock him unconscious with a little trick. In fact, Gavin had even invited Ujfalusi over in a bid to let him use Necromagic to read the soul memories of the prisoner.
Unfortunately, Ujfalusi who had already reached the peak of the Legendary-realm in terms of strength actually did not know what to do about him, either. His soul was as fragile as paper, and Ujfalusi dared not use much strength at all for fear that he might cause his soul to shatter, and thus cause them to be unable to get any useful information.
Lin Li, a Sanctuary powerhouse, was probably the only one who could read some useful memories from the prisoner’s soul. Unfortunately, Lin Li was now in seclusion in the library. Gavin and the others could not disturb him because of this matter, either. After all, the captive was right there, and they just had to keep him alive until Lin Li came out.
Although they could not find out anything from the prisoner for now, Gavin and the others did not give up on investigating that particular picture. In fact, they even specifically sent a letter to the Ashen Warlock in hopes to get an answer from him. After all, the Ashen Warlock had lived in the Breezy Plains for numerous years, and he might know something.
Although the Ashen Warlock had been living covertly in Gran Town, and seemed unconcerned about the world, he knew everything that happened in the Breezy Plains. He was a Sanctuary powerhouse who could not be bothered to care about the existence of randoms, but he decided to respond to Gavin and the others on Lin Li’s account.
“Illuminati? What kind of force is this? Why haven’t I heard of it before!?” After receiving the Ash Warlock’s reply, Gavin and the others gathered together to open the letter, only to see the word ‘Illuminati’ written on it. However, none of them, not even Basel, remembered anything about the Illuminati.
Fortunately, thanks to Lin Li, the Tower of Dusk had always been on good terms with the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine. After finding out about the Illuminati from the Ashen Warlock, Gavin immediately wrote letters to the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine to ask about the Illuminati.
Although the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine were established only at the end of the Dark Age, unlike the Ashen Warlock who had existed for countless years, they also held a lot of secret information about the history of Anril. Besides, they both had a massive number of devotees. Even though the Darkness Shrine had fallen, they had had their heyday, and the Brilliance Shrine was still prospering now.
Soon after Gavin sent the letter, they received a reply from the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine. Finally, they learned the origin of the Illuminati. The Illuminati had a longer history than the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine. They had been in existence since the High Elves ruled Anril. In fact, they had been around before the Dark Age.
In the Dark Age, the Illuminati had had a large base of devotees, and the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine had yet to exist at that time. Hence, the Illuminati could definitely be called the first major religion of mankind. Unfortunately, that was also what caused the High Elves to be wary, and the leaders of the High Elves began to annihilate the Illuminati in each of their respective territories. Rumor had it that during that massive wipeout, there were more than 100,000 followers of Illuminati who had been killed by the High Elves. Many of the senior executives of the Illuminati had been eliminated too.
After the purge, the Illuminati disappeared from Anril, as if they had been completely wiped out by the High Elves. At the end of the Dark Age, humans and other enslaved intelligent races set off a wave of resistance against the rule of the High Elves. The Illuminati, who had disappeared for centuries, once again appeared in front of everyone, and played an important role in the war of resistance.
Unfortunately, hundreds of years had passed, and the doctrine of the Illuminati was no longer accepted by most of the humans. The establishment of the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine had also compressed the survival space of the Illuminati. After the end of the Dark Age, the Illuminati once again disappeared from Anril, and there was no longer any news about them since then.
“According to Ralph, that person named Tanu is from the sea. Do you guys think that it could be that the Illuminati had fled to the sea back then?” Alan asked with a frown, holding the Darkness Shrine’s reply in his hand. He could tell from the reply that the Illuminati were definitely extraordinary.
The Illuminati was a religion that could survive since the Dark Age and stay strong despite suffering the purge launched against them by the High Elves, followed by the stiff competition against the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine. Clearly, they had high tenacity. Although the Tower of Dusk had built a great reputation, and was helmed by a Sanctuary powerhouse, Alan was still full of scruples about the Illuminati.
The religion of the Illuminati, which had been passed down for thousands of years, definitely had a few Sanctuary powerhouses among their faithful. After exploring the Sky Castle with Lin Li, Alan, too, knew that his president, Lin Li, was not someone ordinary Sanctuary powerhouses could compare to. However, Lin Li was still human, after all, and he could not constantly stay in the Tower of Dusk. There was no way he could guard it forever.
“Just because that Tanu is from the sea, it does not necessarily mean that the Illuminati are also from the sea. Maybe they’ve been lurking on land.” Gavin’s opinion made sense too. The fact that those from the sea had joined the Illuminati did not mean that the Illuminati’s base was in the sea. There was no necessary causal relationship between the two.
However, Master Basel, who had been pondering quietly for a long time at the side, suddenly thought of something at this moment, and asked them, “Have you guys forgotten about the kingdom in the sea?”
“The Gilded Kingdom!” Alan and Gavin called out a name unanimously.
The Gilded Kingdom was an archipelago that was made up of thousands of islands. Although it was involved in sea trade with the nations on the mainland, there was actually very little information about the Gilded Kingdom that could be found on the mainland. Rumor had it that back when the Brilliance Shrine was blocked outside the Felan Kingdom when spreading its doctrine, they had coveted the Gilded Kingdom. They even sent two archbishops and 10 cardinals, as well as hundreds of believers of light to preach, but in the end, the higher-ups of the Brilliance Shrine were at a loss for words and could not voice their grievances.
After the two archbishops went to the Gilded Kingdom by boat, the Brilliance Shrine began to receive letters that were about the problems encountered by the mission and what they had gained. However, after half a year, the Brilliance Shrine actually received letters of withdrawal from the two archbishops and other believers of light. In the letters, they even persuaded the pope of the Brilliance Shrine to give up on his faith in Holy Light. The pope was truly infuriated.
The reason that the two archbishops and believers of light wrote back to the Brilliance Shrine to inform them of their withdrawal was because they had decided to change their faith, and became members of the Illuminati. The Brilliance Shrine failed to achieve their goals, and even lost their devotees. Not only did they fail to spread the doctrine of the Holy Light in the Gilded Kingdom, they also lost two archbishops and 10 cardinals.
If it were not for the fact that the Brilliance Shrine had been keeping the news from the public, and even announced that the two archbishops were in distress at sea, the Brilliance Shrine would probably have really become the laughing stock of Anril.
Of course, Basel and the others were well aware of this embarrassing incident that the Brilliance Shrine encountered. However, they could only vaguely remember that there was some historical information that mentioned the Brilliance Shrine’s missionary trip to sea to spread the doctrine of Holy Light. Even though they were unsure of the details, they could also guess that the mission had likely failed, otherwise it would have been widely publicized. As for the claims that the two archbishops had allegedly encountered a mishap at sea, it seemed rather iffy as the two archbishops were peak Legendary powerhouses, while the 10 cardinals were also at the Legendary-level. How could they have been as unlucky as to meet a mishap at sea?
“Did the Brilliance Shrine fail to spread the doctrine because the Illuminati had already taken over the Gilded Kingdom?” Once Gavin said those words, their faces turned sullen immediately.
If the Illuminati were only lurking in the mainland, they would probably have limited strength, if any. However, if the Brilliance Shrine had been developing in the Gilded Kingdom, it would’ve been a problem on two levels. The Brilliance Shrine was developed in the Ledin Kingdom, and now they were a force that was second only to the Supreme Council.
Although the Gilded Kingdom was just a kingdom in the sea, it was not a pathetic kingdom that was made up of only a small island. It was truly composed of thousands of islands which each covered a large area. The largest one was 10 times the size of Alanna, and the ordinary islands were all just as large as Doland. If all the islands were combined, they would probably be larger than the area covered by two human kingdoms. Naturally, they had a large population too.
Hence, if the Illuminati could really make the Gilded Kingdom their foundation, their strength after years of development would definitely not be far behind the Brilliance Shrine, even if they were not on par with it. The fact that a force that was comparable to the Brilliance Shrine targeted the Tower of Dusk was definitely not a good thing.
After summarizing all the information, Basel and the others went to the library again in a bid to report the information to Lin Li and discuss what preparations the Tower of Dusk should make next. However, when the trio arrived at the entrance of the library, they saw a tightly shut door.
The three looked at each other helplessly, but no one went to disturb Lin Li by getting him to open the door. In their opinion, Lin Li must have suddenly understood something since he closed the door immediately after he returned. Such opportunities for an epiphany were very rare, and once he was disturbed, it would be difficult for him to get such an opportunity again.
At any rate, it wasn’t like they could resolve the current situation even if they informed Lin Li about the Illuminati now. They could not go all the way to the Gilded Kingdom anyway. Besides, the Tower of Dusk had grown to the point where not any force could pose a threat to it. Putting aside the Eternal Furnace and the Sky Castle, the powerhouses by Lin Li’s side were enough to protect the Tower of Dusk. Hence, they decided to wait for Lin Li to emerge before thinking about the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom.
The matter of the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom might be major, but it was not something that the Tower of Dusk had to face urgently. Hence, Gavin did not disturb Lin Li, and instead put the matter aside to focus all his attention on restoring the operations of the Tower of Dusk.
However, what Gavin and others did not expect was that although they had temporarily put aside this matter, they were compelled to face it. Soon after they investigated and found out some information about the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom, one of the mines of the Tower of Dusk that was situated on the southern coast of the Breezy Plains was suddenly attacked from the sea.
A fortress-like battleship suddenly appeared in the sea near the mine, and a round of artillery bombardment wiped out the defenses of the mine. Next, a large number of crew members rushed in, and emptied out the warehouses of the mine. Before they left, they even destroyed all the mining routes on their way out, making it impossible for the mine to resume production for at least three months.