[Quest: Kill The Leaders of the Holy War]

[Rewards: Duke of War +2]

[Quest fulfilled through different means...]

[Means acceptable...]

'Julius and Augustus finally did it?'

Justinian received the notification just as they were on their way back, using bags handed to them by the tribesmen to carry all the new artifacts they had received from Mithral's treasury.

And even if they did leave some, Justinian could always use the ring of wealth to specifically grab one treasure per day from the treasury when needed.

What they had merely brought were the most important.

And among them, these three were the most special.

The Golden Monarch's Armor.

The Golden Monarch's Sword.

And the Golden Monarch's Eye.

"You suddenly stopped. What's up?" Maria said from behind, curious as to why Justinian suddenly just stopped while they were currently on a dangerous thin path.

And Maria couldn't help but get slightly irritated, because, well... is there really no better time for someone to suddenly just stop ominously while they were one slip away from death?

"I-It's nothing, I've just received some excellent news, that's all."

Justinian smiled, continuing on their merry way.

*** Gwent Palace

While Augustus was talking logistics with the archbishop and the rest of the priests, Julius had far bigger concerns.

Something that resulted from Jiang Chen's death.

"The Eastern Pantheon... they're uneasy..."

Jiang Chen paced around the palace aimlessly, biting his nails. The timing was just absurd. Why did it have to happen while Marcellus and the gods were currently busy?

[What is it, child?]

Northros returned, having nothing to do since his connection with Marcellus was temporarily severed; the only thing he had to entertain himself was now Julius.

It wasn't like he could bother Cassia anyway; she had more... personal affairs going on.

"Are you aware of the Jade Swordsman, Lord Northros?"

[I'm afraid not, information from the East doesn't reach our ears that often.]

"...I see..."

Julius said in a very concerned tone, one that even made Northros confused, Why would such a powerful mortal be so concerned? and from what?

[What's wrong?]

"I have a feeling the heavenly dragons may attempt to invade."

[Impossible, even if they were to invade, it should only concern the Eastern continent.]

"..."

Julius didn't reply, continuing to pace around. He didn't know how to explain it; he didn't even know what was going on. The only thing he knew was that there was a disturbance in the divine forces of the world.

He didn't know about Jiang Chen's pact, nor his death, even the existence of Jiang Chen himself was unknown to him.

After all, this wasn't supposed to happen.

[I'll take your silence as confirmation.]

But luckily enough for Julius, Northros was one of the more agreeable gods, just like Mithral. If their favored mortal was concerned about something, then surely something must be wrong.

[If anything were to happen, feel free to call upon me]

"Of course, Lord Northros..."

And with that, Northros's presence disappeared completely, leaving Julius with a mind that was just about to explode.

He had just been done with gaining his own land, invading vast swathes of land, and now a certain divine war.

What in the world was going on...

"If only I had someone to comfort me in times like this."

Julius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to find a solution for a problem he was sure to face in the future.

***

ACHOO!

Maria sneezed while she and Justinian were climbing down a cliff.

"Looks like someone's talking about me."

"I suggest you focus on the task at hand..."

Justinian chuckled, already reaching the bottom as he waited, body tensed just in case Maria was going to fall.

And speak of the devil, she really did fall.

THUD!

"Be more careful."

Justinian caught her easily, but it was definitely not without some slight annoyance. The fact that they were now bringing bags full of treasure definitely made her weigh more than just a satisfactory amount.

The overall path downwards was far faster, after all, gravity was on their side, and with the durability and powers of two fairly extraordinary individuals.

Every lethal drop they took to speed things up was nothing more than... well... shortcuts.

***

"Finally!"

Maria yelled out, reaching the foot of the mountain and seeing their personal guards still waiting for them, the camp looking far better than she had expected.

'Wow... leave it to two elite guards working together...'

"Hand over the stuff we hauled to them, they'll handle the transportation."

Justinian stretched.

"As for me, I'm gonna go get some well-deserved rest."

Justinian headed inside the carriage, planning to sleep the entire ride home, waking up early consecutively in such bad areas definitely took a toll.

And now he was able to recuperate.

"Count me in!"

Maria quickly took off her winter coat, wearing just a simple white t-shirt and trousers as she joined Justinian on the carriage.

"They sure did get close from that entire thing, huh?" One of Maria's paladins muttered to another.

"Stop it with that nonsense, the duke is engaged!" The other paladin reprimanded his comrade; talk like that would get them executed without hesitation.

"Looks like even the royal paladins are prone to these kinds of stuff." One of Justinian's personal soldiers chuckled, holding two bags at once and preparing them for the ride.

"Seriously? What do you take them for? Stone-faced brutes?" The other dryly replied.

"To be honest... yeah."

THUD!

A sudden sound rang out.

It was a dead body, a tribesman, it was one of the scouts that was following Justinian and Maria a few nights before...

"What the..."

A paladin approached the body, his hand on his sheathed sword, tense and confused.

THUD!

Another body fell.

"Huh!?"

The same paladin yelled out in shock, unsheathing his sword, and the rest followed suit as they began to prepare for battle.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

More bodies continued to fall, each one mauled and broken, their corpses turned into pure jade.

But to both Maria and Justinian's soldiers' surprise, no attack ever came, and now they were surrounded by blood-covered jade statues.

But it was clear they weren't just statues; they weren't that stupid. The emotions on the faces of the still 'statues' looked too real to ever be just carved by man.

"Quickly! Prepare everything, let's not stay here for longer!"

The head of both the paladins and Justinian's guards yelled out, now unnerved enough to stop their casual banter and to quickly get the hell away from the mountain.

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