The First Magic World War

In the Fars Empire, government departments paid salaries every Monday, thus in the Fars Empire, Monday was affectionately called — Empire Payday.

Most lords in the Fars Empire collected taxes on Tuesday, thus Tuesday was affectionately called — Lords' Tax Day.

The person responsible for the infamous Baron Fabolais Tax Day Massacre was Charles, who was refurbishing the Knighthood at Machu Picchu.

As he led an entire Knighthood into Machu Picchu, a thought immediately transmitted through his diary, telling him that he could undergo the third "Maze-ification."

Charles originally had no desire to go to the frontline and fight to the death for an Imperial Duke he didn't even know, so he settled down to refurbish in Machu Picchu, as the Westwind Knights needed training and motivational speeches anyway.

Now, with the "secret passage" between Machu Picchu and Silver Pigeon Fort, Charles no longer worried about supplies. He could get food directly from Silver Pigeon Fort, just by placing the food at a designated spot in the fort, and it would appear in Machu Picchu the next second.

Silver Pigeon Fort itself is a commercial city with numerous waterways, indicating prosperous trade and an ever-abundant food supply.

Although Machu Picchu Fort had been long abandoned, some houses just needed a bit of repair to make them quite livable. The fort gradually became lively after the Westwind Knights took up residence.

Occasionally, Charles had someone go to Silver Pigeon Fort to buy barley beer. The person sent to buy the beer only remembered the fortune he hadn't yet retrieved when he saw Baron Fabolais leading his Knights to collect taxes.

As Baron Fabolais stared at his empty treasury, Charles was also looking at his own treasury, dazzlingly filled with Gold Aegeus.

Dozens of boxes filled with Gold Aegeus were arranged in two rows, some from Baron Philedrica's estate, some from Baron Fabolais' estate. Charles wasn't too clear on the source of each piece of Gold Aegeus, but… does it really matter?

No, it doesn't!

What mattered was that all these Gold Aegeus belonged completely to him, Charles Mecklen.
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This amount of Gold Aegeus exceeded one hundred thousand, to be exact, about one hundred twenty thousand Aegeus. It was a collaborative contribution from both Barons, and represented their entire hidden wealth.

In addition to these gold-created currencies, he also had a considerable amount of Fu Er paper money. Over ten thousand of it came from Baron Philedrica, and more than thirty thousand from Baron Fabolais.

Baron Philedrica was fine since he was already dead and had no further use for the money.

Without this cash flow, Baron Fabolais probably only had debts remaining.

This money was actually a loan secured by Baron Fabolais using the tax rights of Silver Pigeon Fort; his expenditures were so great, he had run out of cash surplus long ago.

Charles counted the Gold Aegeus and Fu Er paper money over and over, becoming almost addicted to this game.

The most joyful game in the world is counting an unexpected windfall from the heavens.

Each recount added a bit more joy, although no matter how many times he counted, the wealth remained the same, but the secretion of dopamine was honest in providing happiness.

Charles grabbed a handful of Gold Aegeus, letting them fall through his fingers. He suddenly remembered that Baron Fabolais also had some expensive private collectibles. Just as he was about to make another trip back to Silver Pigeon Fort, he mused discreetly, "Better not, I fear the shock might be too much for the Baron to bear."

"Hmm! If Baron Fabolais couldn't handle the shock and had a heart attack, dying on the spot."

"Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Empire sent over another, wealthier Baron?"

As Charles was about to "tirelessly" make an effort, he sensed someone breaching the labyrinth—not infiltrating Silver Pigeon Fort but Machu Picchu. Astounded, he hurriedly left his vault.

A team of Beastmen had stormed into Machu Picchu. They instantly became aware that something was amiss with the ruins of this ancient Beastman kingdom's fortress and were just about to evacuate Machu Picchu.

If Charles had emerged just a little later without activating the labyrinth, these Beastmen might actually have escaped it.

With a feigned grab, Charles made the Beastman team unwittingly change direction amid the confusing structure.

Having worked for some time as "colleagues" with Philedrica, Charles had learned a bit about Beastmen.

The southern continent was a relatively chaotic place, several major countries had their sphere of influence there, but none could completely control the southern continent. There were nearly a thousand Beastman tribes; some formed alliances, some carved out their territories, and others waged wars against each other, even holding age-old grudges. But no matter the tribe, each one despised the Sherlock Dynasty without exception.

After the fall of the Sherlock Dynasty, the Beastman tribes of the southern continent came to despise the Fars Empire. Although it was Fars that had destroyed Sherlock, who else but Fars had inherited the lands and people of the Sherlock Dynasty?

Thus, this time, the Beastman tribes from the southern continent joined Byron, the Black Phoenix Dynasty, and the South Serif in forming a New Order International Coalition.

This was a squad of Beastmen on a special mission.

They hailed from the Hunchback Red Bear Tribe. The Beastmen of this tribe, half man, half bear, possessed immense strength and were covered in either black or brown coarse fur, but their backs blazed red like flames. Hence, they were named the Hunchback Red Bear Tribe. Their mission might be reconnaissance or even the assassination of a leader.

Charles trapped this Beastman squad and was about to split them up to interrogate one of them about their true purpose.

If it was unrelated to him, he would just let them go.

Though it was a time of war, Charles still felt some aversion to "killing."

He waited patiently for a while and realized that this experienced Beastman squad, undisturbed by the labyrinth's shifts, remained cohesive.

Charles thought to himself, "Since I can't separate them, I might as well ask outright."

Having dueled Cyrus hundreds of times, even though his best record was a draw, Charles had honed some fighting resolve. Facing a Beastman squad trapped in the Machu Picchu maze did not frighten him. He revealed himself and demanded, "What are you Beastmen doing in Machu Picchu?"

His response was a meteor hammer, as large as a human head!

Capitalizing on the Quickness Technique, Charles somersaulted, dodging the hammer. However, the Hunchback Red Bear Warrior who had thrown the hammer continuously swung a pair of spiked meteor hammers like bolts of lightning and thunder, relentlessly targeting Charles's face.

Charles hadn't expected to encounter such a master.

In terms of hammer technique alone, the Hunchback Red Bear Warrior was at least of the intermediate high rank, possibly even a Knight of the Tenth Grade or higher.

The meteor hammer, a heavy weapon unleashed by the Hunchback Red Bear Warrior, packed crushing force. Charles dared not intercept it with his magic sword. Instead, relying on his movement technique, he constantly jumped and dodged, again shouting, "If you don't explain your intentions quickly, I won't be so courteous."

The Hunchback Red Bear Warrior wielding the meteor hammer bellowed, "We are here to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand!"

"Since you've discovered us,"