Chapter 197: The Calamity of the Dark Lands

The great sweep Merlin Heavenly Principle mentioned was naturally no simple housecleaning. All the council members pricked up their ears, sensing that the Nordhill Continent would not see peace for a long time to come.

Merlin Heavenly Principle's voice dropped low.

"Over the past few millennia, the Council focused its main energy on the Blood War Battlefield. We never expected demonic forces to quietly take root and sprout inside Nordhill, using the cover of darkness to extend their evil claws into our world."

"In the last hundred years, demonic traces across the continent have multiplied, and the cults have swelled in scale. The Council has already secured several leads on the Demon Church. It is time to trace the melon to touch the vine and uproot them completely."

Merlin Heavenly Principle swept a piercing gaze across the gathered members, speaking through gritted teeth.

"This undertaking requires the cooperation of all major organizations, because according to our latest intelligence, some have already forgotten the bitter lessons of over ten thousand years ago! They actually dare to collude with demons!"

Merlin Heavenly Principle slammed his hand against the table, letting out a rare roar.

"We! Absolutely! Cannot tolerate the actions of such traitors!"

"What?!"

Hearing this explosive news, the council members instantly broke into a commotion. They clustered into small circles, breaking into hushed discussions.

The Silver Dragon Scholar, Jetesla Nashudine, naturally had his own social circle. Two more council members gathered around him: a beautiful elf and a towering, powerfully built human.

The Silver Dragon Scholar extended his mental energy to form a soundproof bubble around their group and smiled.

"Alright, now we can speak freely without worry."

The dwarf in their group laughed heartily.

"I don't know which poor fool managed to piss off the Council Speaker, but we dwarves would never cooperate with demons. It looks like some organizations are about to undergo a massive purge."

The two dragons, one dwarf, one elf, and one human exchanged glances and smiled knowingly.

Like attracts like, and birds of a feather flock together.

Anyone accepted into the Silver Dragon Scholar's circle was naturally an individual of upstanding character and firm morals.

The targets of this great sweep would mostly be those organizations that had resorted to reckless measures for the sake of profit.

Even so, Merlin Heavenly Principle still offered the offending organizations a way to survive.

By specifically mentioning the Demon Church, he was sending a clear signal to the guilty factions: as long as they turned back from their dark path and threw their full strength into destroying the Demon Church, they could earn lenient treatment.

The White Dragon Lord could almost foresee the outcome. As long as the offending organizations performed well during the sweep, they would only need to execute a few of their demon-colluding higher-ups once the dust settled, and the whole affair would blow over.

After all, clear water has no fish. Merlin Heavenly Principle couldn't simply beat them all to death with a single strike.

The Silver Dragon Scholar smiled and offered a reminder.

"Everyone, you should still run a thorough investigation when you return to see if there are any black sheep within your own ranks. Don't let anyone catch you by the tail."

The leader of the Brotherhood, Kolkraf Quick, let out a booming laugh.

"The warriors of the Brotherhood would never associate with demons!"

"By the way, Little White Dragon,"

the female elf said, smiling at the white dragon.

"You ought to be careful. Your Overseas Archipelago has practically become a demon base. Every so often, it manages to generate massive news."

Faced with the teasing from the Nine-Eyes Alliance's female elf, the White Dragon Lord just chuckled.

"Isn't that a good thing? Those demons are lining up just to hand me points."

He said as much, but the White Dragon Lord knew full well that such a good thing was likely over. Demonic factions had initially taken root in the Overseas Archipelago precisely because it was isolated from civilized society, vast, and sparsely populated, making them incredibly difficult to detect.

Now, however, the white dragon's dependents practically spanned the entire Overseas Archipelago. Furthermore, the White Dragon Lord was an official member of the Guardian Council.

Unless the leaders of those demonic factions had completely lost their minds, they would never try to develop their forces in the Overseas Archipelago again.

A little while later, Merlin Heavenly Principle clapped his hands, signaling for the discussions to cease.

"I expect all of you to thoroughly purge the maggots within your own ranks upon your return. Now, I will announce the regional jurisdictions assigned to each major organization."

"The Brotherhood and the Northland Witches' Council will take responsibility for the seven kingdoms in the northern region."

"The Nine-Eyes Alliance will conduct a sweeping investigation of the Elven Forest and its surrounding territories."

"The Black Robe Wizard's Association and the Bolton Dynasty will jointly purge the entire southern region."

"The Raven Council, the Temple Alliance, and the Dwarf Kingdom will oversee the central continent."

"..."

"White Castle will be responsible for the East Sea Coast."

After announcing the jurisdictional zones for each major organization, Merlin Heavenly Principle fixed his gaze on a Drow Elf standing alone in the corner and declared,

"The Emerald Tower and the Modobur Alliance will jointly oversee the Dark Lands!"

A colorful array of expressions instantly flashed across the gathered faces.

Demonic organizations operating on the continent's surface had always been the primary targets of the Council's crackdowns.

Because of this, in order to survive, those evil factions did everything they could to relocate their key bases to desolate, uninhabited regions—like the Overseas Archipelago or the Dark Lands.

The Dark Lands were by far the most prominent choice. After all, the subterranean region possessed countless irregular exits to the surface, scattered randomly across the continent. This made it incredibly easy for cult personnel to slip out and recruit new believers.

If discovered, they could quickly retreat into the labyrinthine, sunless depths of the Dark Lands, vastly improving the demonic organizations' operational secrecy.

Most importantly, the Floating Towers that the Council relied on for warfare suffered heavily reduced effectiveness in the Dark Lands.

Behemoths like the Floating Towers simply couldn't maneuver in underground spaces. Not only were they unable to fly, but they also had to constantly monitor their surroundings during battle; a single high-powered spell could easily trigger a massive cave-in, burying themselves and their enemies together.

Thus, the Underworld had become a breeding ground for demonic factions. Despite the Council's repeated crackdowns, they had never managed to completely root out the problem.

Now, the Emerald Tower—the organization belonging to Merlin Heavenly Principle himself—was taking direct charge of purging the Dark Lands.

Everyone could easily imagine the sheer calamity the Underworld was about to endure.

Furthermore, within the Drow Elves' society, a great many were absolutely going to suffer.

"Alright, that will be all for this meeting. Everyone is dismissed."

One by one, the spiritual projections of the council members vanished from the mysterious space.

Merlin Heavenly Principle noticed the white dragon making no move to leave and asked, "Amos, do you need something?"

"Yes, Speaker."

The White Dragon Lord organized his thoughts before speaking.

"I suddenly recalled that during my childhood, while crossing the Moto Great Forest, I stumbled upon a cavern radiating demonic energy. The cavern was very deep, and I sealed the entrance. You might want to go there to take a look; you might reap some unexpected harvest."

Using his mental energy, the White Dragon Lord immediately sketched a map, pointing out the approximate location of the Scorpion's Cave to Merlin Heavenly Principle.