Chapter 386: Divine Shield, or SHIELD for short
Jonathan, who had originally planned to spend the rest of his days in seclusion in Green Shade City, never imagined that he would be captured as soon as he arrived in North City. What’s more, he was caught by the Templars, so he held no hope for his future.
He could only imagine what methods the Templars would use to purify someone tainted by Fel. A quick death would be considered merciful.
However, Jonathan’s fate did not end there. Instead, he was escorted to a castle, the only one in North City, by a whole squad of “iron cans.”
Jonathan, of course, knew who the owner of this castle was. It was precisely because he knew that he found it all so unbelievable.
Count Hydra, Lord of North City, the controller of the Northern Glory Alliance. But Jonathan couldn’t connect these titles with the young man in front of him who looked to be no more than twenty years old. However, after seeing his face and pointed ears, he understood why Count Hydra never seemed to care about his title, why North City hadn’t expanded for years, and why no one had ever seen the controller of the Northern Glory Alliance. It was because he was an elf, and an elf royalty above even high elves. All of this was probably just a small game in the long life of this elf.
“Please have a seat, Mr. Jonathan. I’m currently reviewing your information, it’ll take a little while longer.” Owen smiled at him slightly and then had the house elf serve desserts and drinks.
Jonathan nodded with a somewhat stiff expression, then began to eat and drink with abandon. To be honest, he had never eaten such delicious food in his life.
As for his personal information, Jonathan had confessed readily after being captured by the Templars. It wasn’t that he was a coward, but as a senior member of the Demon Hunters, he knew very well that because of magic, simply being stubborn was pointless. There were always potions, spells, or curses suitable for extracting information. Even death wasn’t a true escape unless one used extremely expensive and rare poisons or tools that could affect the soul. Otherwise, death was not the end. Therefore, he didn’t hide anything. This made things a little awkward. Everyone had their youthful indiscretions, their little “hobbies,” and the rigid Jonathan was no exception.
Owen put the information aside after reviewing it. Seeing the empty plates in front of Jonathan, he knocked on the table. With a snap of his fingers, the drinks and snacks were all refilled. Then, while Jonathan was still in an awkward state, Owen asked,
“How much do you know about Fel?”
Owen’s question stunned Jonathan for a moment, then he said seriously,
“Not much, but I personally believe that the threat of Fel is greater than that of demons and undead.”
Jonathan wasn’t speaking nonsense. It was mainly because demons and undead were not naturally occurring; they needed blood sacrifices to be summoned. This meant that as long as targeted actions were taken, they could be weakened, and there was even a possibility of eradicating them. On the other hand, Fel was a festering sore rooted in the Main World that couldn’t be easily removed.
“You have good insight. Take a look at these materials.” Owen nodded, then took out a crystal ball and let him see the information inside.
“You’ve held back Fel for thirty years!?” Jonathan exclaimed after only reading a part of it.
“Yes, because the Fel Skaven couldn’t break through the territory’s blockade, they chose to breach the Secret Realm. Although the casualties were heavy, it has to be said that they achieved their goal. Fel has finally contaminated the Main World.” Owen hadn’t expected the Fel contamination to spread so quickly. It had even mixed with the Demon’s Head and the Flesh and Blood Church. He had heard that necromancers were trying to integrate this new Fel into their undead system, which made him feel uneasy.
This world never lacked smart people, nor did it lack ambitious ones. The problem was that smart, capable, and ambitious people were themselves the biggest source of turmoil. They were restless and capable of stirring up trouble.
Now that more and more people were noticing Fel, it was conceivable that many smart people had begun to study it, even planning to claim it for themselves.
According to the research team in the territory, the Fel in the Main World had a special origin, and it was unclaimed. Therefore, in theory, whoever mastered this origin would master the Fel in the Main World. If it was handled properly, it wouldn’t be impossible to use it to condense divinity and ignite the divine fire. On the contrary, there was a very high chance of success.
The reason was simple. Fel could continuously strengthen itself by devouring life and souls. Once it reached a certain quantity, it could even erode the laws and essence of the Main World, completely transforming it into a Fel world.
Therefore, if someone mastered the origin of Fel and used it to become a god, then transformed the Main World into a Fel divine realm, a powerful god would be born.
This point wouldn’t be kept secret for long. To say that someone was already plotting this, Owen believed it. After all, there were too many smart people in this world, and it was impossible to eliminate them all.
Owen hadn’t wanted to deal with this mess. The problem was that the Empire was gone now, and in its fragmented state, who would have thought that the Northern Glory Alliance, which was originally just a joke, would actually become a force to be reckoned with.
In this situation, if he continued to bury his head in the sand and ignore everything, he might not even know when the flames reached him. Therefore, Owen decided to establish a special organization as a means of response.
Unlike the Hydra Interest Study Group he founded in Academy City, this time he planned to establish a justice organization similar to S.H.I.E.L.D. He had even thought of a name: Divine Shield, or SHIELD for short.
In Owen’s vision, Divine Shield was a semi-public, cross-regional organization that needed to reach a consensus and cooperate with local rulers. Therefore, it wasn’t suitable to use only people from his territory. That’s why he chose Jonathan.
Jonathan’s father was a first-generation member of the Northland Noble Alliance’s Demon Hunters. If he hadn’t died early, he would at least be a high-ranking member of the Demon Hunters now. As his son, Jonathan’s current upper limit was definitely not just a senior Demon Hunter.
Although Jonathan was rigid, he was fair and always led by example, so he had a good reputation among the Demon Hunters. Coupled with the connections left by his father, this was the reason why the Demon Hunters’ pursuit after his defection was perfunctory.
Owen was optimistic about Jonathan’s abilities and needed his connections in the Demon Hunters.
As long as he could get through the Demon Hunters and escalate the matter to the Alliance Council, Ferrier and Solari would take over and contribute.
These two weren’t just spies sent out from the territory. As the first batch of nobles enfeoffed in the Northland and veterans of the Alliance, they had considerable influence both openly and covertly within the Alliance. By offering some benefits in exchange, there was an 80-90% chance of getting them to cooperate.
However, in the organization Owen envisioned, Jonathan alone definitely wasn’t enough. In fact, he had already come up with a preliminary organizational structure and key personnel.
“Inform Harvey to come over.” Owen knocked on the table, and someone immediately went to inform Harvey. The Floo Network that spanned the territory made transportation extremely fast. Not long after, they heard a sound from the fireplace.
