Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Shouldn't you be happy that your plan succeeded?

Edmund sensed something was amiss, but the question remained.

what is the problem?

At this point, some people couldn't help but quietly leave the banquet. There was no way they could bear it; half of the main force of an army group had been wiped out, and the Grand Duke of Ural's years of hard work had gone down the drain.

I don't want to resist! That damned Lermontov even threw a banquet. What if the Grand Duke finds out and gets blood on himself when he takes revenge?

Sometimes, being a coward is a kind of survival wisdom. For example, how many heads do you have to dare to get involved in the struggle between the emperor and the nobles?

Those who felt they couldn't handle the situation have already quietly left. Those who are still in place are basically powerful forces with considerable influence within Ursus.

Their existence is no longer solely about making money; they must obtain firsthand intelligence for the people behind such a significant event that could impact the domestic political landscape of Ursus.

Has the Emperor and Parliament finally reached their breaking point and are about to intervene? Will it escalate into a full-blown confrontation?

These are things they need to know.

Lord Edmund was one of them. He was a member of the old aristocracy, and according to his position, he should be reprimanding Lermontov now. But looking at the absurd mess in front of him, the banquet that was just now full of laughter and conversation was now deserted, and Lermontov, who was just surrounded by everyone in the center, was now sitting on the sofa looking lost and dejected.

Those chambers of commerce that were just fawning over him now wish they could avoid him and wouldn't even dare to look at him twice.

Lord Edmund could not understand what benefit Lermontov and his family would gain from siding with the Emperor and Parliament... It would only bring him the wrath of the dukes, and could the Emperor and Parliament protect him?

That must be difficult, right? Then why would Lermontov do that?

Duke and Kayle, who were standing nearby, were also bewildered; no one could figure out what was going on.

"Lermontov! What exactly do you want?" Duke was the first to lose his temper. He grabbed Lermontov by the collar and forcibly dragged him off the sofa. "Say something! What have you done?"

"Why did the Sixth Army suffer a natural disaster? Was that disaster fake?"

The butler, seeing this, tried to step forward to help his master, but was grabbed by Lord Edmund.

Those who remained in the banquet hall all wanted to know the truth.

“I…” Lermontov looked at Duke’s ferocious face, opened his mouth to explain, and then glanced at Alexei out of the corner of his eye.

In the end, he still didn't say anything.

"You!" Upon seeing this, Duke was furious and raised his hand to slap him across the face to bring him to his senses.

Others could stay out of it, but he couldn't. He was just an illegitimate child who had climbed to this position through his own abilities. Moreover, his family's faction happened to be affiliated with the Grand Duke of Ural. If he couldn't bring back any useful information, there would be many people in his family who would be envious of his position.

One poor performance could wipe out all the hard work he had put in during the first half of his life, after all, his family couldn't afford to offend the Grand Duke of the Urals.

But the moment he waved his hand, he was stopped by an Originium Arts.

"Who?" Duke turned around angrily.

Everyone else also looked towards the entrance of the banquet hall.

Standing there was an officer, dressed in tattered clothes, but the style of his clothes was still vaguely discernible.

“Mayor, we need to have a serious talk.”

Jonathan strode into the banquet hall.

"You guys?" Upon seeing this, Duke's eyes lit up, and he quickly abandoned Lermontov and stepped forward to stop Jonathan. "You're survivors of the Sixth Army, right? What exactly happened with that disaster?"

“A natural disaster,” Jonathan sighed upon hearing this, “I’d rather…”

"It's that...it's...it's that messenger of calamity!" Suddenly, Lermontov seemed to realize something and jumped up, saying, "It's him! It must be him!"

“He’s from St. John’s Castle! He must have been bribed beforehand; he gave me the wrong information,” Lermontov said, as if he had seen a way out. “Yes, it’s definitely him! It can only be him!”

Whether it's him or not is unimportant; the most important thing is to shift the blame.

“Save those words for the Duke,” Lord Edmund said, shaking his head. Whether the messenger of the calamity was problematic was irrelevant to him. What mattered most now was to ascertain the situation of the Sixth Army and the inclinations of the city of Ceprini.

"Major, what were you about to say?"

“What I’m trying to say is,” Jonathan sighed upon hearing this, “that if it were a natural disaster, I would rather we were facing a natural disaster.”

"What do you mean?" Upon hearing this, Lermontov, who had just been in a daze, instantly snapped back to reality, jumped up, and stared intently into Jonathan's eyes, asking, "What do you mean by 'I'd rather it be a natural disaster'?"

"Could a natural disaster be faked? Are you giving false military intelligence?!"

“Mr. Lermontov, I know you’re in a hurry, but please don’t rush,” Jonathan glanced at him. “Can you wait until I’m finished?”

"There's no need to go around looking for someone to shirk responsibility; what's meant to be yours will always come to you."

“…Go on,” Lermontov said, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself down.

"I have never seen a natural disaster in person, but I am certain that it is not like what we have experienced."

Jonathan sat wearily on the sofa and held out his hand to Lermontov. "Do you have a cigarette? They took everything from me."

"..." Hearing this, Lermontov lit a cigarette for him with a gloomy face.

"Where was I?" Jonathan took the cigarette, took a deep drag, and squinted. "Oh, I've never seen a real natural disaster, but I'm sure this wasn't one."

"The reason?" Ms. Kayne asked succinctly.

"How can a natural disaster come at the exact moment our warships enter that area? How can a natural disaster form a complete circle in such an orderly manner, perfectly encircling the Ural?"

"The most important thing is that ship. They knew what was going to happen all along. They actually stopped even with us chasing them... as if they were really not afraid of death."

"Furthermore, the disaster just happened to engulf us completely, turning everyone inside, including the Ural warship, into ice sculptures. But just a few hundred meters away, the ship stopped precisely there."

"The temperature right next to them wasn't even much lower."

Jonathan's fingers, holding a cigarette, trembled slightly as he recalled this. "I'm sure it wasn't a natural disaster, but a spell. A natural disaster wouldn't form a hemispherical shield outside."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the group exchanged bewildered glances.

“Do you know what you’re saying, Major?” Lord Edmund’s voice was tinged with his own unexpected panic. “This is no laughing matter.”

“The Sixth Army only has about a hundred of us left. You might think I'm joking,” Jonathan sighed. “What’s the point of me doing this?”

“If what you’re saying is true, then this matter is probably much bigger than a natural disaster,” Ms. Kayne said, frowning.

“So, there’s no natural disaster? Right?” Just then, Lermontov finally regained his composure. “The spell… that means it’s man-made, right?”

"It has nothing to do with natural disasters, right?"

“That’s certainly true at the moment,” Jonathan nodded.

call.

Lermontov slumped heavily onto the sofa and let out a deep sigh of relief.

If it's not a natural disaster but man-made, then you bear no responsibility.

After all, the intelligence was wrong, and since he didn't provide the intelligence, the Grand Duke couldn't possibly pin the blame on him.

"Wait!" Realizing this, he suddenly stood up and glared at the butler beside him. "You're telling me it's a natural disaster?!"

"Master, this is the message I received," the butler complained bitterly.

“I told him to say that, and I also had the soldiers spread the news about the natural disaster outside,” Jonathan said at that moment.

"Why? I need an explanation!" Lermontov turned to look at him upon hearing this.

If it weren't for this news, how could I have ended up like this today...?

“Because this is the only thing I can do,” Jonathan said without backing down. “What else? Tell everyone that something capable of causing natural disasters is roaming around the city? Or do you have any other way to explain the destruction of the Sixth Army to people?”

“…” Lermontov fell silent upon hearing this.

This reason is indeed impeccable.

"But, do such people... really exist?" Duke asked incredulously. "A natural disaster... that's a natural disaster!"

“Ha, that’s how illegitimate children are,” Lermontov hadn’t forgotten his earlier rudeness. “It’s one thing to be unaware of these secrets, but have you forgotten even the history of the Four Emperors’ War?”

"The Witch King of Letania... the calamity cloud he unleashed once destroyed the Gallic vanguard fleet, causing the once invincible Gallic Empire to suffer its first defeat."

"Further back, there are records of the Blood Lord of Kazdel single-handedly destroying an entire army of Victoria."

“Such people do exist, but…” Lermontov took a deep breath, “why would they appear on that ship?”

"What exactly does our Emperor intend to do?"

408 The Royal Court of Sarkaz?!

“Who knows?” Jonathan shook his head upon hearing this.

“As for telling you all, it’s simply because I think there are some important figures in Ursus who should know this news,” Jonathan looked around. “You are all prominent figures, and I believe you should also know the importance of this news.”

"Whether you are from the aristocracy or the emperor's faction, we are all Ursus people, and we are facing a huge problem."

At this point, Jonathan took a deep breath. "I suspect that the one who stirred up the cold wave was a Sarkaz king."

“The reason,” Ms. Kayne’s pupils contracted upon hearing this.

"First of all, it doesn't seem to be pure Originium Arts, but rather some kind of... unknown technique."

"Secondly, there were Sarkaz on that ship."

“Many Sarkaz, nearly a thousand of them, are all battle-hardened veterans,” Jonathan said, bowing his head. “An equal number of Ursus soldiers would be scattered by them in a single encounter.”

"If there were such important figures around, and so many Sarkaz, how did you manage to escape with your soldiers?" Lermontov pressed.