North East of the Sylvester Empire

50 km from the Marlose Swamp.

A stone statue stood out of the landscape. It depicted a man holding a large broadsword in the middle of a swinging motion. The statue looked relatively knew; it did not have any signs of damage from time or the weather. The statue was extremely realistic. One negative point would be that it needed to be cleaned. A few birds used it as a perch and ended up relieving themselves while on it.

"Oh! I finally found you. I knew something must have happened. Peace. This is what you get for trying to take my tasks and stealing my merits."

A shadow flew above the statue and swiftly landed in front of it. It was an effeminate man wearing a thick monocle. He took out his monocle and wiped it using a piece of cloth.

"Pouah! You really need to be cleaned but that's not my job. I don't even think you will be happy if I return you to normal but hey, that's the orders from the cardinal."

"I solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that the statement I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

"I hereby declare: Argen, the Commandment of Peace, shall no longer be petrified."

The effeminate man smiled and looked at the statue. But the statue had already disappeared, replaced by a man, having the same appearance as the statue and wearing its exact same clothes.

"D*mn, Truth. You could have at least wiped off the bird sh*t!" exclaimed Argen. He swore as he hurriedly wiped off his face. While he was petrified, his eyes were still open and unfortunately, the birds decided to aim exactly at them.

"Stop complaining, Peace. What exactly happened? I thought you were invincible or at least, that's what you always claimed."

Argen sneered. "You really need to rub salt in my wounds. [Armistice] prevents any damage from being dealt but buffs, debuffs and status effects can still be used. I suppose that's why you were the one who was sent to help me. With [Declaration], you are able to change anyone's status effects."

The effeminate man tossed the monocle in his hands as he listened to the Commandment of Peace's explanation. "Interesting but still, with your level and strength, not anyone can affect you, especially with such a strong effect as petrification. Who did this?"

"I don't know. I was just dealing with the Undead of Necro Valley when I found something interesting. The Aries died but he managed to conceive a child before. The child accompanies one of the runaways of the church. It should not be too hard to find them. I was going to capture them but before I could, a woman appeared."

"It was my first time seeing her but if I were to guess her identity, it is very possible that she is the mother of all snakes. She had a cobra wrapped around her arm and her pupils were vertical."

The effeminate man widened his eyes. "The mother of all snakes? What is that monster doing outside of the Marlose Swamp? This is getting very complicated. We need to inform the cardinals. She is not something we can take lightly. Let's quickly go."

"What are you talking about? Can't you deal with her easily? You just have to use the forbidden part of your [Declaration]," said the Commandment of Peace.

"I am not like you who recklessly use the forbidden part of their abilities. You should soon suffer from the side effects of [Betrayal]. We should return before it flares up. Furthermore, there is another mission waiting for you once we arrive at the Shrine of Faith. You were probably petrified at that time but about one week ago, a giant meteor crashed somewhere in the barbarians territory."

"We don't know what it contains but the archbishops are very interested in anything that comes from space. They want us to retrieve it somehow but due to the previous oath, we are unable to enter the barbarian territory. Even if it was not sworn by us, we still count as townsmen to the barbarians. The archbishops want you to negotiate. You are the best suited for this kind of things."

Argen fell into deep thoughts. "A meteor? I will try my best but I cannot guarantee anything. I will probably have to stay at the shrine to recover from the backlash. I really hope you do not have to use the forbidden part of your ability but it seems like it will be inevitable. Aside from this, I don't see how we can deal with the Mother of all Snakes. It is impossible to mobilize all the commandments to deal with just one monster with all the trouble rising up. And in a duel, you are the only one who can kill it."

"Don't remind me. I just hope she is not here to look for trouble." The effeminate man's expression was gloomy; what his comrade just said was the truth. Without his ability, no one would be able to deal with such a powerful monster. The problem was the backlash; none of the Commandments would lightly use their abilities to the full extent because of the terrifying backlash!

[Declaration] was a powerful ability allowing the Commandment of Truth to freely manipulate his targets' status effects. If he said somebody was injured, then that person would immediately become injured. If he stated someone was blind, his target would lose his vision. If he said a dying man had fully recovered, then the man's HP bar would instantly fill up.

Whatever he said would happen as long as it was about people's status, including the time he declared someone was dead.

...

Ormskirk town

Count's castle

"Count Desmonds, I apologize for disturbing you but your appointment of 14:00 has arrived," politely said the butler.

"Boom!"

Count Desmonds smashed his desk in frustration as he lost his train of thoughts. "I told you to not disturb me! Rahh. Fine, I know I need to meet them. Let them wait for another hour and bring me some tea! I need to calm myself."

The butler left without ado; he could see the count was infuriated by the report he just received. Things had not been going very well for the territory lately. The territory's income decreased by 3% despite all the ongoing projects. It did not sound like much but it was worth thousands of gold and the situation was not showing any signs of recovery.

All the problems were due to a single person; the mayor of Venetia. Out of nowhere, a town suddenly appeared in Count Desmonds' territory. The problem was that the town refused to be annexed and insisted on being independent.

At first, Count Desmonds did not think much of that new town. It was located in a rather dangerous area filled with monsters. However, to everyone's surprise, the town rapidly developed and slew all the beasts in its surroundings. It expanded and was already the size of a regular town, showing so signs of stopping.

It was good news that they got rid of the savage beasts but the problem arose later on. Count Desmonds' territory was located between one of the main cities of the Sylvester Empire and the Endless Archipelagos. It was right in the middle of the empire's major trade route. It was the trade route for all the merchants seeking wealth on the other side of the sea.

Count Desmonds had already come to an agreement with the other neighboring nobles. The territory's main source of revenue came from the protection fees and town entry tax of the merchants. They were all forced to go through the towns under Count Desmonds and money flowed in his pocket. But it all changed with the appearance of Venetia.

The town appeared out of nowhere and provided an alternative route for the merchants! Previously, the caravans avoided its area since it was filled with beasts and bandits but Venetia managed to clear out all the possible threats. With low competitive prices and taxes, Venetia managed to attract the attention of the merchants.

Most merchants still traveled through Count Desmonds' town but rumors were already circulating about Venetia and about how its prices were lower. If it was not for all the contracts of the count, many more merchant groups would have already left to use Venetia's route instead. The smaller merchant groups that Count Desmonds previously looked down upon were already starting the relocation process.

Venetia was growing at an astonishing rate. If the Count did nothing, it would not be hard for Venetia to take away more than 20% of the Count's income. People were still doubtful of Venetia but it would not be long before it would build up a solid reputation.

...

Inside the Count's office, Count Desmonds threw away the report in annoyance. The pages of the document spread apart and flew all over the place. He was going to have another meeting here soon but Count Desmonds did not care that his office was messy. He was only meeting a small group that recently started building some momentum; he did not need to take them seriously. If it was not for the shower of gifts he received, he would not even have bothered to meet them.

"D*mn woman! No wonder you were so confident! You had the Magic Council to back you up..." swore Count Desmonds.

The report he received from his spies contained crucial information: Lord Brann, one of the supreme elders of the Magic Council had been sighted at Venetia. The report stated he was in friendly terms with the town's mayor and would often be seen with her. Furthermore, just a few hours after his arrival, the Magic Council made the announcement that Venetia was a town under their protection!

Count Desmonds went crazy upon reading the report. All the resources he spent on trying to obtain Venetia had been completely wasted. Had it been an ordinary town, he could have made an appeal at the Royal Court, but Venetia was special. It was not a town registered under the Sylvester Empire; it was completely independent. As a result, it did not have to pay any taxes and could afford to lower all its prices.

Naturally, the Royal Court had already noticed its presence and a delegation should have been sent there but the administrative procedures took time. For now, Venetia was still not considered as part of the Empire; Count Desmonds would not be in the wrong if he forcefully tried to conquer it.

Venetia threatened Ormskirk town's economy. Count Desmonds tried several methods to get a piece of the cake and increase his own profits but everything failed. After the soft methods, he tried the hard ones. In the end, he only lost several men to Venetia, including the captain of his private army, a level 51 Shadow Wielder.

Count Desmonds lost so much in trying to get his hand on Venetia and was actively gathering a mercenary army to deal with it. He needed to act quickly before Venetia was recognized as a town of the Empire. However, his plans were bound to fail. He now knew the reason he lost miserably was that the Magic Council was protecting that town.

He was a noble of the Sylvester Empire but even the empire itself could not go against the Magic Council. It was a scholar organization that existed in all the empires. It had a tremendous amount of influence. All the court mages of the different empires studied at the Magic Court at some point in their life. While the Magic Council stayed away from the politics of the empires, they could influence the rise or fall of a monarch. The vast majority of the spells and magic circuits were designed by them; if an empire ever antagonized the Magic Council, it was bound to slowly fall behind the others in terms of technological advancement.

"What can I do now? I cannot just sit down and do nothing. She will slowly attract all the merchants to go through Venetia instead of one of my towns. Although most merchant groups have contracts with me, once they expire, they will immediately opt for the cheap alternative... Who does not like profits?"

"The situation is still manageable for now. Only adventurers are starting to move to Venetia, but I need to make a move or else, I'll lose everything. But what can I do? Forget about trying to be forceful and attack the mayor. It is bound to fail with Lord Brann staying at Venetia and even if it succeeds, the Magic Council will be able to trace it back to me."

"I cannot rely on the Royal Court either. They just want more towns to appear; they do not care that the profits will be diluted among more people, as long as they receive their taxes, they will be happy. I cannot lower the tax either... I need to find something."

Count Desmonds spoke to himself with a solemn expression. He looked at himself in the mirror. "Should I hire a few bandit groups to cause some trouble on the roads to Venetia? It will affect her reputation a little, but she should be able to deal with it very quickly. It is just a temporary solution, I need to find something else."

Time flew by as Count Desmonds walked around his office, racking his brain for a solution. Unfortunately, a whole hour passed but he did not manage to find a proper solution yet.

He collapsed on his chair and sighed. The office was a complete mess but Count Desmonds did not care.

'Magic council. Why did it have to be the Magic Council? Nobody will dare to go against them. She is basically set for life. Do I really need to start investing in the trade route? The only advantage I have is my reputation and wealth. The only way I can compete with her might be to improve all the infrastructure of my routes.'

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.

"Knock Knock!"

"Come in!"

Count Desmonds downed his fifth cup of tea while staring at the double door being opened by the butler. He briefly wiped his mouth and watched as the butler stepped to the side.

He allowed a small delegation to step into the office.

"My lord, they are the delegation of Blue Lagoon."