The First Magic World War

Freeman Martin's early life was quite humiliating, as everyone knew him to be a rude man who had done only one thing to shatter the peace of his hometown—he chased the future Duke Mecklen, sword in hand, who ran wildly through the streets as if he were "walking a bird."

But in his later years, he became a cultural celebrity, known across both the New and Old Continents by his pen name "Freeman Simon Qing Martin." He was posthumously heralded as the ancestor of erotic literature, the founder of the racy novel genre, history's shameless author, the Old Continent's fastest draw in the literary arena, and the most unscrupulous wordsmith among other distinguished yet vulgar titles.

Freeman Martin was also one of the best-selling novelists across the New and Old Continents...

Ah, but all the royalties had gone to Charles, not a cent had made it to him.

It was only after Charles had reviewed the novels from the period of the Twenty-Two Centime Conflict that he realized some immoral writers, eager to fulfill Key Performance Indicators like gripping openings and shocking content to make their books impossible to put down and wildly popular, had peppered their stories with unspeakable content.

Charles had even come upon a particular biography titled "The Legend of Wood Brandon," authored by one such quick writer. This peculiar biography lacked an authentic narrative and was supplemented by "The Young Widow Winnie." Despite its fresh and elegant prose, reminiscent of "The Lady of the Camellias," its solid content classed it squarely as a part of the vulgar literature genre.

In any case, Charles had paid a significant sum to silence all these fast writers, ardently promoting Freeman Martin, far off in Seagull City, and adamantly denying any connection to these novels.

He even completely relinquished the copyrights...

He couldn't go to Freeman Martin for a signing!

The gentleman would surely never agree to it.

After the Twenty-Two Centime Conflict, the "Triple Head" of the rebellion was reduced to just Asturias Axel. This first-rate fighter of the Axel Clan was powerful, but he had one significant flaw: he lacked the Axel bloodline.

His ancestors had been knights and squires to the founding Emperor and were orphans, adopted by the Axel Family, who later granted him their surname.

Although Asturias Axel had distinguished himself through his martial techniques, his bloodline issue rendered it impossible for him to contend for the inheritance, not even the slightest claim to the succession.

Nearly all the "Emperor hopefuls of the Axel Clan" wanted to win him over.

But Asturias Axel wasn't optimistic about any of them; he was very troubled.

Asturias couldn't fathom how a rebellion—carefully planned and with high chances of success—could have turned into a complete mess.

With Morgan around, legitimate claims were no issue, and it was easy to gain the support of the old noble families of Fars.

And with Wood Brandon, the astute and experienced political strategist, Asturias even believed they could force McLaren Brittany to abdicate without warfare, just by using momentum and public opinion. Should a war break out, he was confident about gaining a significant strategic advantage while the Four Great Empires were entangled on the front lines.

But within just a span of ten days, Morgan had been assassinated, and Wood Brandon was forced to resign. The situation took a drastic downturn, and now they couldn't even select an Emperor. How could they carry on with the rebellion?

Asturias put down the papers he was holding, massaged his temples, and sighed heavily, suddenly regretting his involvement in this affair.

Inside Strasbourg City now, seven individuals sharing the Axel surname proclaimed themselves the best candidates for Emperor.

Truth be told, Asturias would rather support Midaphis than back any of these candidates.

Midaphis was, after all, a figure who contended with Antonio; he was far stronger than this batch of misshapen and split dates.

Charles handled some official business and climbed a watchtower on Machu Picchu, gazing in the direction of Strasbourg.

He had promised the old Emperor to settle the Strasbourg matter within a month, and now more than half the time had passed, everything was heading in the best direction. Strasbourg was now in chaos, no longer capable of mounting an effective resistance; as long as on the last day, he let Antonio lead the army to besiege the city, they would undoubtedly be able to conquer it in one battle.

Now, Charles was worried about two things; one was the whereabouts of Wood Brandon, and the other was the movements of Midaphis.

What he dreaded most was Midaphis heeding Strasbourg's call and bringing his troops over; that would be really bad.

Midaphis had a high place in the line of succession and, moreover, within the Axel Clan, he possessed strong influence and unity. During Asturias Axel's recovery, he was in fact the de facto strongest member of the Axel Clan, and he did not fear assassination.

Midaphis had one flaw, though; it was Redmir who had personally killed the old Emperor, and because of this, he was ostracized by the Axel Clan.

But politically speaking, this was trivial.

Compared to the imperial throne, a stain on reputation was hardly worth mentioning. It all depended on whether either side had the talented and bold individuals needed to propel this matter forward.

To Charles's relief, neither Midaphis's camp nor Strasbourg's had such a person. Midaphis, arrogant as he was, simply looked down on these people. It was clear that the Axels in Strasbourg didn't want him over, trying to snatch the "fruit" of victory, even though they were still far from victorious.

Charles's intelligence system had not yet reported any news of collusion between Midaphis and Strasbourg.

In fact, neither Midaphis nor the rebelling Axels of Strasbourg understood that this was their only chance.

Once Strasbourg was recaptured, the Brittany Dynasty would have no more hidden threats. Even if the old Emperor had no such intentions, Charles would take the initiative to send all the Axels to the Agres Sea to pioneer the islands.

Without the people of the Axel Family, Midaphis was just an ordinary rebel; Charles was confident that with a single surprise attack, he could sweep this rebel from the stage.

Once these two rebellions were suppressed, Fars would have no more hidden dangers, and in fact, the disputes between the four countries would be easier to resolve.

As Charles was taking in the view from the high vantage, he suddenly heard a voice ring beside his ear; the voice was gentle, cultured and full of wisdom, yet very unfamiliar.

"Greetings for the first time, Duke Charles Meklen."

Charles felt an abrupt sense of alarm. He was already at the nineteenth rank, though he was only at the initial stage of the Sacred level, but with his Insight Ability, how could someone so easily get close to him without notice?

He turned to look and found a Magic Mirror opening, out of which stepped an old man. Though his age was advanced, his spirit was vigorous. Seeing the expression on Charles's face, the old man smiled slightly and said, "Indeed, I am a man from the Van Gaal Family!"

"This secret, I've hidden for a lifetime, but now there is truly no need to keep it hidden any longer."

Charles's mind raced, and he quickly thought of the most improbable possibility, speaking deliberately, "Wood Brandon?"

The old man smiled faintly and said, "Indeed, it is I."