All it took was a few minutes.
Every person in the castle was now in the throne room, waiting for the answers.
Rumours had spread that Gunlaug had stepped down, but many didn't believe it. Gunlaug just wasn't someone to step down.
The entire hall was filled with loud murmurs. Everyone was in anticipation of the news.
All the lieutenants, except Kai who was stuck at the dark city, were now standing near the bottom stairs of the throne. This speech was one of the reason's Caster sent Kai away as well. He couldn't let Kai figure out what the full truth exactly was. Not yet at least.
And suddenly a figure of gold appeared from behind the throne. His cloak snapped in the wind, but his stance was unshaken.
Behind the throne was the same place where Sunny and Harus fought in the original novel.
Instantly, the entire hall's focus shifted to the figure for a moment before everyone of them looked away. They couldn't stare at the figure, because if they saw their reflection, they'd be attacked mentally.
They all knew it clearly.
And this instantly cleared their doubts about Gunlaug's stepping down or potential death. Because no one except Gunlaug would ever get their hands on that armor.
And just then, the armors helmet got dismissed, revealing the handsome face of Caster.
It stunned the entire human population on the forgotten shore, apart from a select few that knew about it.
It was an outroar.
Caster smirked for a moment before composing his face again.
He coughed to catch everyone's attention, and somehow his cough wasn't overturned by the loudness of everyone in the room.
Afterwards, he spoke up with a voice full of confidence, elegance and authority.
"Good morning, the resisdents of the bright castle. "
There were still murmers going on but as soon as Caster spoke something, it all died down instantly.
"I will first of all introduce myself. I am Caster of the Han Li Clan back in the waking world, I am also the Opposer of Miracles, a true name provided to me by the nightmare spell for doing exceptionally well in the first nightmare, and now..."
A pause. A small pause to dramaticize his introduction.
"...I introduce myself as the Lord of the Bright Castle."
Someone clapped, then another, then another dozen. All of them seemed to from Caster's previous camp at the outer settlements.
However, he didn't want such applause, not right now at least. Because he will now reveal a lot of bad news to them.
Hence, Caster simply raised his hand as a gesture to quiet down. The applause didn't get loud, but it was definitely heard.
Many people seemed to be confused, like where Gunlaug was what happened to him and more, but none of them spoke it out.
After the crowd calmed a bit, Caster continued speaking.
"It seems all of you are immensely confused about what is happening. A lot of questions must be arising. I'll try mentioning all the important ones at least, so do not worry. I have a lot to say."
With a clap, Caster brought the few people who weren't paying attention to pay attention to him.
"First and foremost, I will say this. Moving forward, I will continue to bring massive changes in the way we live here. Some you might like and some you might hate. Simply for the reason that we only have about 10 more months on this shore."
Another pause, to see the reactions of the crowd. They were obviously not good.
"I will begin from the start to make sure everyone understands. The reason we are stuck on this shore in the first place is because the gate here is in the crimson spire. As most of you should already know. And the spire is filled with monstrosities beyond our rank and class. Giving us basically no chance to escape."
Caster's tone now suddenly changed. Changed to something darker and heavier.
"However... in about ten months from now, the ruler of the crimson spire which is currently a fallen terror, will attempt an advancement. Advancement to a corrupted titan. A being impossibly out of our reach. Which means, if that happens, this place will soon be filled with fallen rank creatures. Or it can wipe out the entire forgotten shore by itself. Because of this, we must attack the terror of the spire before that happens. Or else we will all die."
The crowd started murmering again, unable to hold back their worries.
"This brings me to the next topic. What does all this have to do with Gunlaug stepping down and having me take over? The answer is simple, Gunlaug didn't believe he was competent enough to lead people out of this place, nor did he think he was strong enough to fight the terror. So he gave that opportunity to me. Because I am willing to risk my life to have all of us escape. Because it is my duty as a member of a proud, noble legacy clan to fight against the nightmare spell!"
After that, Caster took a deep breath, lifted his voice, and though the spell of dread still coiled around them, he shouted with vigor, challenging the spell itself, his eyes reflected fire.
"You give me blood, I will give you freedom."
A louder shout came out of Caster after that.
"We shall prevail against this nightmare!"
A murmur rose from the crowd, fragile at first, like the first breath after drowning. Their eyes kindling with the reflection of his fire.
But eventually, the murmurs turned into chants.
"We shall prevail against this nightmare!"
"We shall prevail against this nightmare!"
"We shall prevail against this nightmare!"
It went on for a while. The people weren't calming down. But eventually they started noticing that Caster has more to say.
After the crowd calmed down, Caster spoke up again.
"We will attack the terror right before its seeming evolution."
However this time, he was interrupted.
"Why dont we attack it as soon as possible?"
It was Ren. Caster had asked him to ask this question during the speech, to better manipulate the people in the crowd.
"Attacking while it is evolving will give us the best chance at killing him. Because it will be at its most vulnerable during then. And also, almost everyone here is too weak, so going to the crimson spire right now, wouldn't be a good thing at all. Because the spire has way more threats than just the terror. And I will need all of your help to succeed."
"I wil announce the most changes that will happen now. First and foremost, anyone that is completely weak compared to the others will recieve battle training. All the people that are training will have to work at the Castle in shifts, whether its as guards, as cleaners, as food makers, every person in training will have a job to do. Once you reach a decent level of skill, you'll start hunting outside the castle with other people. And those who already have a decent level of skill will start hunting immediately. Their job will be to saturate their cores."
"For those who have an aspect that can be used for healing others must focus on saturating your cores as well, to improve their potency. And those who have an aspect that can not be used in combat at all, can either try to get stronger through just skill and memories or focus on becoming a good medic. We will need as many medics as possible for the battle."
"Once anyone reaches the level of the Hunters, they'll have to start hunting in the Dark City. Like how Hunters will hunt constantly, starting now."
"I want anyone with aspects related to crafting and manufacturing things to join the aritisans and work on making things we'll use in the battle. The materials will be provided by the hunters, the carcasses of the monsters slain by them will be optimal for them."
"In short, I basically want every person in this castle to reach full saturation, including the artisans. I will provide as much help as I can to achieve that. Whether it be through helping in hunts or providing memories."
After that Caster abruptly paused for a moment. He was hesitating on saying what he needed to say next. In the end, Caster forced himself to go forward with it.
"However, I will need a lot of help as well, from you all. Because I am the one who will fight the Fallen Terror."
The people who were already loyal shouted out: "What must me do?"
Caster simply smiled at them for a moment before responding.
"I want all of your cooperation to the highest degree. Each of your lives depends not just on you, but on the rest of us as well. I want all of you to coordinate. I want all of you expend effort to not just get yourself stronger but to make the people surrounding you to become stronger. I will set order after discussing things with the lieutenants, they will come to test if you are fit for certain roles and assign you them if the result was positive."
He took another deep breath.
"I also want your help in hunting for me. After your core saturates, I wish you hunt for me. And bring me the soul shards. Because my core requires way more shards to saturate."
With a deep breath, he continued.
"I am a divine aspect user and because of that... at my highest I can have upto seven cores."