After Tiana left along with the Vicious Lightning King, the situation in the Pinhian Republic turned rather precarious.
The reason was quite simple.
The Pinhian Republic's neighboring nations discovered that the Vicious Lightning King had left the kingdom for some time.
It was unknown who leaked the information, but it led to pure chaos within the Pinhian Republic.
All of the Pinhian Republic's neighboring nations suddenly launched a series of attacks on the Pinhian Republic's borders.
They knew that this was once in a lifetime opportunity.
Their motive wasn't the territory.
They know that once the Vicious Lightning King returns, they will be forced to return that territory. It would be dreadful if they truly drove that man insane.
With no morals binding him, the Vicious Lightning King would become a terror on the battlefield.
Thus, the Pinhian Republic's neighboring nations planned to utilize this opportunity to send hordes of their men into the country.
Their task would be very simple.
To establish an identity in the kingdom so that the Pinhian Republic can't identify them as illegal immigrants.
These illegal immigrants are all loyalists of their respective nations. They had a single task. To take down Rueben Blake while the Vicious Lightning Paragon is away.
Since the entire country was under attack from different directions, the Pinhian Republic couldn't assign skilled guards to protect Rueben.
Even Rueben's brothers or close comrades couldn't stay by his side.
Rueben was forced to escape from his hideout. Even in his injured state, he killed a Lord-Ranked Expert. However, his injuries worsened due to his battle.
After a few seconds, he lost consciousness.
The last thought in his head was whether Tiana survived after fleeing that day.
He naturally remained oblivious that his master was escorting Tiana into the Empire of Qian Guo at this very moment.
Rueben felt that he would never wake up.
However, a few hours later, Rueben felt the urge to open his eyes. When he did, he was shocked to find himself in a completely unfamiliar location. He looked around and thought that it was an infirmary.
Rueben tried to get up but experienced a sharp pain in his arms and legs.
"Where am I?" He muttered in that empty room.
Half an hour later, a couple of women entered his room. They wore long white robes with a blue insignia on them.
Rueben instantly recognized that insignia. It belonged to the Church of Mubesni.
"W-What?! He is awake?!"
"No way! With those injuries, he should have remained unconscious for a week! How can he open his eyes?!"
The two women seemed flabbergasted by this development.
"Why am I here? What are you doing to me?!" Rueben spoke bristly.
His irritation could be imagined. Rueben had no idea about the Vicious Lightning Paragon's secret deal with the Church of Mubesni.
All he knew was that the Church of Mubesni had always contended against the Vicious Lightning Paragon.
The two women seemed to have calmed down from their initial shock. One of them spoke, "Relax. You are safe here. It's the Church of Mubesni that saved you from those assailants. Though I don't understand why High Pontiff would decide to save a heretical soul like you, it is his command, and we shall follow it."
"We are even healing your injuries," The second woman spoke as if trying to make Rueben understand that he owed them a great favor.
Rueben looked at his body and noticed that his wounds were truly recovering. He could feel his Ardor much better.
"…Thank you. I apologize for suspecting you like that," Rueben spoke.
"Hmph. I would never accept regards from a heretical soul. It will be different if you swear to follow Divine Lord Mubesni all your life."
Rueben replied calmly, "I apologize, but I have sworn my life to this nation."
"Hmph. You just wasted a good chance. Whatever. I don't feel like healing you today," One of those women spat.
With that, those couple of women left.
Rueben was left alone in that large room with only white walls. He only held the strength to turn his head and look outside the window.
'I better use this time to cultivate my Ardor.'
With that, he entered a meditative state and began cultivating.
Rueben had no idea that the High Pontiff was observing his condition closely.
Upon noticing him falling into a meditative state, the High Pontiff admitted, "He is truly a hard-working genius. It's a pity that he will never join the Church of Mubesni. But I wonder why the Divine Lord Mubesni is interested in him if he will never join the Church?"
This was the truth behind the Church of Mubesni's interference.
They had received orders from the Celestial God Mubesni to protect Rueben at all costs! Five Archangels had been deployed from the Heavens to protect Rueben!
Except for the High Pontiff, everyone else in the Church remained oblivious to this fact.
The High Pontiff was also focused on another task. He was working with the Pinhian Republic's government to capture illegal immigrants.
Naturally, this wasn't because the High Pontiff suddenly felt a deep love for his nation. His devotion to the Church of Mubesni was much deeper when compared to his love for the nation.
He chose to help the Pinhian Republic's government because all the illegal immigrants captured by the Church of Mubesni were forcefully converted into their followers.
Actually, the captured illegal immigrants had two choices. Either become a sacrifice to the Church of Mubesni or officially become a follower of the Church of Mubesni.
It was pretty strange that most of these warriors actually chose death rather than submitting and becoming the Church of Mubesni's followers!
This was strange because humans tried their best to survive even in the worst conditions. Their survival instincts force them to keep on thinking of ways to survive. Thus, when they have the option to choose to live or to die. Most of them would instinctively select the option to live.
However, the situation in the Pinhian Republic was the exact opposite of this thinking.
This was all because these illegal immigrants were all loyalists of their respective nations. They were proud of their nations and were on a mission. Once they were captured, they resigned themselves to death.
They would never choose to live and become a part of their nation's enemy. Such is one's pride for his nation.
