The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Almost everyone inside the tower fell silent; they all knew what Anastasia's words meant.

"What about those non-staff personnel?"

Someone started talking about other topics, but Anastasia replied, "Let them leave while the tower's protective mechanisms are still working. Otherwise, the situation might get worse if these people are affected by the black rain."

Anastasia sighed. Once the tower was sealed off, these unofficial professionals would be unrestrained, potentially causing huge chaos.

However, it is impossible to imprison all these professionals inside the tower.

At this moment, the emotionless synthesized sound became rapid and resounded throughout the entire tower, with some places flashing with blinding red light, seemingly warning that the tower was about to be closed.

"Just as we've studied, this rain curtain makes it difficult to transmit information using magical means, but now, the outside world needs to know about the tower's situation."

After speaking, Anastasia pointed out several younger professionals who would then relay messages to the outside world.

Of course, these people are also those who inherited the knowledge of the tower.

The other members of the tower looked at these professionals with complicated expressions, unable to tell whether it was envy or something else.

These people are no longer bound by the God of Contracts and can directly intervene in the secular world.

Anastasia was also hesitant, because the situation on this continent was quite chaotic. Not to mention the countless small countries, the two kings of Anjou and Cape were at war. The conditions that the Tower had proposed were actually hoping that the two countries could temporarily cease hostilities and deal with the matter of super-level magic first.

Although the Tower seems to favor Capet, that's mainly because Capet was directly affected by super-level magic, and Anjou not only took the opportunity to annex part of Capet's territory, but also unearthed some things from the old empire era.

Anastasia still believed that Anjou was still occupying Capet's territory, and had no idea that Capet had swiftly reclaimed the territory and was even planning to push it back. Therefore, when she asked Lind to pass on the message to Alberto, she seemed to be pointing fingers from Capet's side.

Although Deborah said that Capet's steel creations were extremely powerful, Anastasia did not have a clear understanding of this. On the contrary, in the eyes of outsiders, Capet had not only just experienced internal strife and coup, with the Governor of the North effectively sidelining the King, but also purging a large number of nobles in the capital.

Not only that, the Eastern Territory was also directly hit by a super-level magic attack after the mutation, and was subsequently occupied by the demons, not to mention that it was still at war with Anjou.

Aside from having a good relationship with the elves, Capet is surrounded by enemies on all sides.

In this situation, the governor of Capet assured the Tower that he would not use super-tier magic until the very last moment, and actively established contact with the Tower. In any case, his attitude was much better than that of the hypocritical Anjou.

So from Anastasia's perspective, Capet is more like a pitiful white lotus who just promised the Tower that he wouldn't use super-level magic, only to be hit by it, go through a coup, and barely managed to stabilize the situation.

As everyone began to prepare, Anastasia summoned those who had previously been responsible for relaying messages to the outside world.

"Erex's return is probably just the prelude to war. After that, we will probably be unable to interfere in the situation on the continent for a while, and those unofficial professionals may make the whole continent even more chaotic."

"So while you are sending messages to the outside world, you should also try your best to get the two great kingdoms of Cape and Anjou to cooperate. Even if you can't, you should at least work together to fight against the dragons that are about to attack and the counterattack of the Kingdom of Avar."

Anastasia then kept the person in charge who was preparing to go to Cape behind and said, "The situation in Cape must be stabilized. Tell Deborah, who is staying in Cape, that if the governor has any further ambitions, we can provide some support."

It is clear that the demons have now completely sided with the dragons and the Kingdom of Avar on the other side. Under such circumstances, if the Cape regime continues to waver back and forth, the worst outcome will be that the Cape, which is embroiled in internal strife, will be divided up by the demons, the Kingdom of Avar, and even Anjou, and the entire continent will fall into chaos again.

After a slight hesitation, Anastasia handed another tablet to the person in charge who was preparing to go to Capet: "Although the Holy Grail may not be able to connect to the equipment in the tower afterward, the Holy Grail itself is still somewhat useful. If that governor can't hold on, have Director Deborah hand the Holy Grail over to that governor. Capet cannot fall yet."

After everything was arranged, Anastasia saw off those who left with the flame, and then the tower's floors began to slowly close.

In the level where Anastasia led the Tower members, there were many containers about the size of a person, filled with liquid.

"Please remember that we do not have permission to enter the Ocean of Consciousness. Therefore, we are also invaders within the Ocean of Consciousness's program. We must be even more careful to purify the pollution without being deleted by the Ocean of Consciousness's protection program."

Just then, Erex's voice rang out around them: "Why do you have to stay? Who will remember your sacrifice? Who will care about you? This tower is about to become your grave, but as high-ranking professionals, what can stop you? That old elf? Just one step out, and you can step out of this grave!"

Anastasia then noticed that the rotting, corroded flesh on Erex's body had become part of him. These pieces of flesh not only crawled on the outside of the tower, which was not yet sealed off, but could even grow mouths to speak for Erex.

Erex has become a monster. Although the protective mechanism prevents him from entering the tower, his several large mouths, like demons from the abyss, have begun to tempt the people inside.

“You are high-level professionals. Wherever you go, even the king will have to come out to receive you. Why do you want to be buried with this old-fashioned elf? As long as you take one step, you can enjoy power, wealth, and everything in this world!”

The rotting flesh of Erex could not corrode the tower, but the voice seemed not to come from outside the tower, but to resound in everyone's hearts. Perhaps this was just a collective auditory hallucination of everyone present, or perhaps Erex had connected with everyone's consciousness through the black rain curtain and the huge phantom that appeared above it.

Upon hearing this voice, many people hesitated for a moment. Just as Erex said, everyone present, once they went outside, could almost stand at the pinnacle of this world by virtue of their status as high-level professionals and the knowledge of the tower.

Beside the cold container, on one side is the overwhelming fear that may never return, while on the other side is the temptation that one can stand at the pinnacle of the world with just one step.

Anastasia glanced around at the crowd. The tower's layout was quite interesting, consisting mostly of humans and a small number of elves, with almost no other races.

"I will open the sealed systems of each floor of the tower one last time. If you want to leave, take this last chance to leave."

After Anastasia opened the sealed system, the outside of the tower was filled with chunks of Erex's flesh, but these chunks of flesh did not seem to have any intention of entering the tower or attacking the professionals.

Many people quietly left after seeing the closed system open.

"Hahahaha, how ugly Anna! Without restraint, you Tower people are nothing but a bunch of cowardly mortals!"

Several chunks of meat and several large mouths mocked the weary elf in the black rain, but Anastasia was the first to lie down in the container, and the lid slowly began to close.

“Erex, there have been many deserters in human history. It’s normal for humans to be afraid, to feel fear, and to despair.”

As Anastasia began talking to the scattered Erex, those still inside the tower seemed to muster their courage and stepped into the containers.

"But the world has never lacked those who stand up to change the world."

As more and more people step into the container, the tower's closed system is activated again, and the tower is about to be isolated from the world.

"Whether it is fear, terror, despair, or unity and resistance, these are all human emotions. Even in the most prosperous times, there is a dark side to humanity, but even in the darkest times, there are still believers in hope among humanity."

"Humans are very complex creatures."

Seemingly sensing that more and more people were entering the container, the chunks of flesh of Erex said irritably, "Anna! Don't forget you're an elf! You're not human at all! And you never will be!"

As the tower was about to be completely sealed, Anastasia turned her head one last time to look at the chunks of Erex's flesh and said, "No, I have always been human, we have always been human."