But now, because of a sudden "Calamity," everything is over.

All their lofty ambitions, their dreams of kingship and hegemony, have gone up in flames.

A semi-transparent golden projection stood silently like a stone statue atop the ruined Edge Fortress, taking in the entire bloody battlefield at a glance.

Though she had just gone through a crushing defeat amounting to total annihilation, her back was still straight, as if nothing in the world could bend it.

"Your Majesty, the preliminary investigation results are out." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

A General hurried over and handed a battlefield investigation report into the hands of the Evernight Queen.

When Margaret I received the news that the Faroe Islands and the Union’s homeland had suffered a Beast Tide, and that her own Crown Prince’s Life Gem had shattered, she had still been fighting to the death on the Church’s behalf, unable to respond at the first possible moment.

By the time she finished the Battle and, as a firefighter once again helping the Church and the feeble Habsburg Dynasty secure Victory, used the Law Network to project herself back to her own naval port, the overall situation was already decided; she could only watch in silence as she supervised the reinforcements cleaning up the battlefield.

At this moment her face was iron-blue, and she read, word by word, the reconstruction the Sheriff had pieced together with Scene Replay and various clues.

The exact time the Beast Tide descended, its scale, how the garrison responded—and of course it also included the Bearkin’s vile act of diverting disaster eastward for self-preservation, luring the Beast Tide toward the homeland.

But none of that was the key.

Several hundred ordinary small-type Sea Monsters with combat power equivalent to Fourth- or Sixth-Level Cruisers or large armed merchantmen; over a dozen large-type Sea Monsters equivalent to Third- or Fourth-Level Battleships; and on top of that, a single gigantic Ancient Dragon King Whale equivalent to a First- or Second-Level Battleship.

After the naval port was taken by surprise, even though Ulysses drew off half of them, the remainder was still enough to inflict devastating losses on a Legitimate Fleet of comparable strength.

Moreover, after that Pyrrhic Victory, many among the defenders had already been infected with "Coelenterate Disease" and turned into secondary Polluters, who then turned around and butchered their own comrades.

After dealing with them, the final survivors—aside from over a hundred Frost Giant Guards—were merely a few hundred Transcendent officers and regular soldiers, at most a little over a thousand heads in total.

With losses exceeding two thirds, it could hardly have been more tragic.

And once the formations were shattered and all levels of Commanders lost, there was no core; the collective effect had been reduced to next to nothing.

But what happened next seemed to have been interfered with by some higher-Rank existence; nothing could be seen clearly.

Combining the scene of soldier corpses frozen to death everywhere with the Frost Giant Guards who were ultimately bitten apart by Sea Monsters, one could infer that some further mishap must have occurred at the end.

There were no signs of Human external enemies invading; rather, it felt like a Supreme Kin from the Deep Sea had launched a sneak attack on the Bearkin, and in the end the remaining survivors were dragged into it, leaving not a single living witness.

More precisely, not even a single soul was left behind.

They all vanished together with Crown Prince Bearman Ulysses.

This situation bore some resemblance to the Abaddon Secret Teachings that had appeared earlier during the Hightins Throne War, yet it was difficult to lock onto a target.

The Evernight Queen set down the papers in her hand and looked toward the homeland.

The Crown Prince she had chosen was already dead and done with, but in the time ahead there was still a domestic storm waiting for her to face.

"Convey my order: effective immediately, issue a top-level gag order.

Crown Prince Bearman Ulysses, when facing the Beast Tide, fought to his last breath to protect the citizens of the Union. He is, beyond any doubt, a hero.

In the name of the Royal Family, invite the Church to hold a memorial ceremony for him.

The Sea Monsters that attacked the major ports did so because of an accident and not through his fault. No one is permitted to recklessly pass judgment on right and wrong."

The General at her side nodded.

This was the tone the Queen set for the incident, to prevent others from using it as a pretext to attack their Church Faction in the future.

The actual truth didn’t matter; only the "truth" that the Supreme wanted mattered.

He then reported to Margaret I:

"Your Majesty, the Lords have reported that they wish you to order the Church to hold mass to attempt to purify the ’Coelenterate Disease’ on the soldiers. What is your view..."

The Evernight Queen fell silent.

In fact, she had already petitioned the Saints long ago, but the answer she received was no surprise.

They merely handed over another stack of "zero negative reviews" Indulgence Certificates.

They asked these converts to understand the Church’s difficulties: War was raging everywhere at the moment, and there was simply no way to spare elite personnel to conduct the rites.

Let the Kalmar Union and the Church weather the trials together; once they defeated the Protestant Doctrine and successfully secured the "Captain" position, they would definitely reserve a few good seats for them in Heaven, perhaps even elevate them to Angels.

If Byron were here, he would see at a glance that this was just the "I, the First Emperor, demand tribute" routine.

But to the superstitious, it was utterly convincing.

They would rather wrong themselves than wrong the Church, and so they could only make those soldiers suffer.

As for asking for help from Black Sorcery?

She hadn’t even been willing to resort to that when her own grandson came down with Tuberculosis, so how could she for a mere crowd of soldiers?

In the end, this Queen could only say, with a trace of sorrowful compassion:

"Convey my decree to all coastal Lords: all those infected with ’Coelenterate Disease’ are to be destroyed along with the Sea Monsters... destroy them together."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The General accepted the order and was just about to leave when the Queen called him back.

"Tell the Lords not to panic. Conduct attack-response drills properly. As soon as the Empire’s War situation stabilizes even a little, I will petition the Saints to allow me to return to the Kingdom to preside over the overall situation."

The rulers of the Old Continent Nations, as long as they weren’t blind, understood perfectly well that as the Spiral Annals drew ever closer, the external situation would only grow more dire.

The first Beast Tide had only struck the Faroe Islands and the territories of various Dissenters, but by the time the second Beast Tide came, the targets of attack would no longer be so selective.