In the Name of Empress-Chapter 380 - 265: The Name of the Netherworld

Roland couldn’t bear to see Sif sad, and from his standpoint, he couldn’t directly persuade his future wife to kill her father-in-law.

Sif could take action, but he couldn’t counsel her to do so.

On the other hand, it might actually be better if the old Emperor could wisely decide to stay at the bottom of the sea.

If he couldn’t figure it out, then someone should talk to him until he understands.

Roland believed that Edward could figure it out; if he voluntarily abdicated, at least he could live well. Did the old man really have to be the Late Emperor?

Edward, after all, had been in politics, so he should understand this reasoning.

But Roland couldn’t figure out what exactly the Sea Witch Adina wanted to do.

What benefit could capturing the old Emperor bring her?

Did she honestly believe that controlling the old Emperor meant controlling the Sussex Empire?

The decision of power has never been dictated by status or lineage but by strength.

Regardless of whether the power next falls to the new Emperor Sylph or the Cabinet, it’s no longer related to Edward.

Except for a few disgruntled old-timers, who would care about an abdicated old fellow?

Not being able to figure it out, Roland wouldn’t bother himself with worries. He smiled and comforted Sif.

"Don’t worry, your father is after all the Emperor of a top powerful nation. Even if he’s under house arrest, his life wouldn’t be difficult. The Sea Witch Adina can’t keep him forever, you two will eventually meet again."

"I know, I will govern the country well so that he can retire with peace of mind."

Sif quietly wiped away her tears, her attitude firm.

Being mindful of family ties doesn’t equal political naivety; she could differentiate the two.

If her father’s existence posed a threat to her rule, she’d rather be an orphan.

Roland didn’t continue this heavy topic; he merely held Sif’s slightly trembling shoulder, offering her the most genuine comfort.

...

Hansa City, Governor’s Mansion.

Back at the headquarters, Roland had many things to attend to.

The appearance of General Nephropidae made him feel the return day was nearing.

The strength of the Sea Palace indeed couldn’t be underestimated, though General Nephropidae died leaving his shell, he was killed by arrogance, not by a loss of strength.

With his massive physique and defense as hard as orichalcum, it was hard for human Transcendents to kill him.

Hence he arrogantly leaped onto the deck, thinking to awe the insignificant human Ocean General.

But he underestimated Roland, underestimated humans.

Humanity stands tall among the world’s powerful races not due to strong bodies or sharp fangs, but intelligent minds.

The Monarch accompanying him in death was a glorious burial, not everyone was so fortunate. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Many sailors of the Fourth Fleet lamented the sinking of the Monarch, even the usually composed and capable General Bridges hung his head in silence.

But in Roland’s view, this was the perfect opportunity to change the flagship.

The Monarch represented past glory, the long-standing history, and brilliant battle achievements of the Imperial Navy, but its actual performance was not outstanding.

The glorious achievements couldn’t hide the over fifty-year age of the ship.

This old lady was already faltering, her tonnage not particularly large among First-Class Battleships.

She was a perfectly designed warship when launched.

But perfect design also meant zero upgrade redundancy.

Glory and obsolescence coexisted; this was the Monarch.

In the hearts of officers and soldiers of the Imperial Navy, known for its illustrious naval tradition, this storied ship held an irreplaceable status as flagship.

But in Roland’s eyes, obsolescence is obsolescence; the data speaks volumes.

Nominally, Roland was grilling a giant turtle; in reality, he was burning the shackles hindering naval development.

The giant semi-ironclad ship was under construction.

This giant ship could not only become the "father" of all navies but also effectively counter speaking seafood.

This was the flagship Roland wanted.

In Sussex, a nation with a long naval tradition, even with his high status and great power, Roland couldn’t easily replace the flagship.

Unless the old flagship sank.

As long as the new flagship was also named the Monarch, the navy’s mood wouldn’t be as heavy.

Roland fully understood the navy’s feelings toward the Monarch, was willing to respect them, but would not be shackled by them.

The new Monarch was a month away from launch for sea trials, and Roland was full of anticipation for this giant ship.

But before that, he had a more important task to accomplish.

Uncover the secret of the Magic Armor.

He even felt the path to becoming stronger lay within it.

For this, he specially invited Master Anthony to Hansa to serve as the appraiser.

In terms of knowledge in the field of magic, Master Anthony was undisputedly the first person today.

Roland didn’t wait long; three days later, the old mage, as robust as a giant bear, arrived.

The host and guest met, and entering the study, before Roland could speak, Anthony’s hearty laughter nearly lifted the roof off.

"Hahaha, Roland, how did you know my last disciple Lisa passed the Mage examination and has already become a distinguished True Mage?"

"Ah?" Roland was momentarily stunned; no one had mentioned this to him.

A few days ago, Lisa returned to the Magic Association for meditation and conveniently delivered the invitation to Anthony.

This trip, Lisa experienced several battles, gaining considerable combat experience, and with a master like Anthony guiding her, her progress would be swift.

Of course, Roland wouldn’t hinder her progress.

Anyway, there wasn’t much happening during this time; everyone was busy with their own things.

He had a premonition that Lisa could break through in the near future, he just didn’t expect it to come so soon.

Amidst the joy, Anthony seemed to think of something regretful, shaking his head and sighing:

"It’s a pity, that child Lisa underestimates herself, she’s just unwilling to take the path of dual-specialization."

The more Anthony thought about it, the more upset he became, and Lisa’s breakthrough joy was greatly dampened.

Walking on one leg can never go far. At the beginning of the Magic Empire’s founding, specialisation in a single element and being a full element mage were both mainstream cultivation schools.

Some believed dual-specialization had no obvious weaknesses and had stronger overall abilities, so they chose it.

Others believed that not having a special strong suit meant all were weaknesses, so they chose specialization.

The debate on cultivation routes lasted for hundreds of years, and both methods had produced superstrong mages equivalent to Tier Three.

In the exchanges between these powerhouses, both dual-specialization and single-specialization mages had their wins and losses, with no single school completely dominating.

People once thought both paths could lead to a powerful other shore, until higher-level extraordinary mages emerged, ending the debate.

All these Saint Mages, equivalent to Tier Two, were from the dual-specialization school.

The argument started leaning one-sidedly, but the specializing faction was not convinced; they believed that being dual just meant advancing first, not that specializing was wrong.

They wanted to prove the correctness of specialization, so they accelerated their training pace.

However, in the following decades, the top mages of the specializing faction all vanished in the river of time or failed to break through.

In conclusion, they all died.

You can boast about victory, but life and death cannot be faked.

The debate between specialization and dual-specialization ended with the death of the top mages of the specializing faction.

Since then, there were no more single-specialization mages.

Even those with a pure attribute constitution, very suitable for single element magic, would be required to learn other elemental magic.

To ensure they could learn, pioneers also created attributeless magic.

Attributeless magic uses the purest magic power, without any elemental attribute, yet it can also blend with any elemental magic.

Attributeless magic is very versatile, but because it doesn’t have elemental attributes, it isn’t particularly strong in any area.

Even the most extreme dual-specialization mages would train in a main element and attributeless attributes.

Anthony hoped Lisa could also emulate the sages and walk the path of fire and attributeless dual-specialization, but Lisa firmly disagreed.

Her reason was simple: she was a transcendent, and dual-specializing in magic was already taxing enough; she simply couldn’t manage dual-specialization.

Anthony then advised her to just give up the path of transcendence and just study magic, but Lisa refused even more.

Her given reason was that the path of transcendence had a promising future, but the truth was that she wished to continue being a high-level chef, preparing more delicious dishes for Roland.

This reason, of course, she told no one, not even her teacher.

Seeing Anthony’s expression of sorrow, Roland feared the old man would ask him to persuade Lisa, so he quickly changed the topic.

"Master Anthony, I recently acquired a piece of magic armor, can you help me take a look?"

Anthony nodded listlessly, saying without much spirit, "Bring it here."

His somewhat empty gaze fell on the magic armor, and Anthony suddenly stood up, with a bit of astonishment in his voice.

"This is White Demon Armor, where did you get this?"

"Obtained from battle spoils. As expected of the erudite Master Anthony, you recognized it right away. Does this White Demon Armor have any special attributes?" Roland raised an eyebrow and followed Anthony’s words.

"Demonized Armor was the battle armor for elite magic-armor warriors during the Magic Empire’s heyday. This armor itself isn’t too valuable, but White Demon Armor is different. Through it, one can contact the devils of the Netherworld and even make deals with them."

Netherworld? Netherworld!

Sweat beaded on Roland’s palms as he recalled a few places mentioned by Elf Sylph.

She once said, "To revive me, one must traverse the Nether River, cross through the Netherworld, and pick up the shattered spirit fragments at the deepest part of the Sea of Annihilation, piecing them together to re-gift the soul and body."

Elf Sylph had provided Roland with much assistance, and Roland remembered it all.

Originally, he thought there wouldn’t be any opportunity to visit those places in the short term, but he hadn’t expected the distant Netherworld to connect with him in this way.

Anthony looked at Roland with a strange expression, his face slightly changing, "Roland, you aren’t thinking of making a deal with the devils, are you? I must solemnly warn you, those who do business with devils never end well."

Roland shook his head with a smile, decisively denying, "I’m not stupid."

This was standard misleading rhetoric.

He only said he wasn’t stupid, but didn’t say he wouldn’t trade with devils.

Anthony had no idea Roland had such a clever mind. He also thought Roland wouldn’t trade with devils, so he didn’t say much more, rather continued to praise Lisa.

When Anthony lamented for the fourth time Lisa’s refusal to dual-specialize, Roland finally couldn’t help but interrupt his lamentations like Xianglin’s wife.

"Master Anthony, has any mage walked the path of dual-specialization and reached the Divine Domain?"

Anthony’s face looked unpleasant.

Roland was rubbing salt in the wound.

If the Magic Empire had such a peerless genius, it wouldn’t have perished from divine punishment.

Seeing his unpleasant expression, Roland smiled and comforted, "That’s why dual-specializing in all elemental magic isn’t necessarily a bright road; instead, the Path of Transcendence has produced three goddesses. Lisa dual-specializing in the Power of Stars and fire magic might just be the correct path."

Unconvinced, Anthony lightly growled in retort, "What if it’s not correct?"

Roland didn’t speak.

Anthony was taken aback for a moment, then laughed at himself.

Yes, there’s no absolutely correct path. The Path of Transcendence indeed produced three goddesses, perhaps dual-specializing in the Power of Stars and magic really is a good path?

Anthony laughed heartily, letting go of his concerns.