Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 373 Decision
In the early morning of the second day, countless pieces of news rushed in all directions like snowflakes in an avalanche: the fall of the North, the extinguishing of the Ring, the Queen's sleep, Godwin sealed himself in the golden tree. Each and every one of these could shock the world, but at this moment they all gathered together, turning into a tide that subverted the world.

Unlike the isolated North, the intelligence network that Lucia had built in various places along the border over the past three years came into play immediately.

Before Godwin's messenger arrived in the East, the news of the fall of Lord Fortress was already on Lucia's desk.

He immediately ordered a total martial law in the entire northern Gelide area, and at the same time summoned Latan in Sunfire City to be on emergency alert, pushing more than 30,000 regular troops on the front line to the border between Nimgefu and Gelide to prepare for any eventuality.

After doing all this, he came alone to the top floor of the Heron Tower in the center of Ionia City, squinted his eyes slightly and looked westward. As time passed, the eastern sky gradually turned white, but the direction of Rodel was still dark.

He was waiting for the next bad news.

"Your Highness, the news from the temple has been confirmed by other parties. It has been confirmed that Queen Marica, Prince Godwin, and the head maid of the Eternal Temple, Aleto, are all trapped in the heart of the golden tree. They may not be able to appear in the world in the short term. In addition, Radagon just led the Rodel Knights to the north to rescue Roghar a few hours ago. The battle situation is not clear for the time being."

"The target of the rebellion in the north is not Rodel." Lucia opened her eyes and said calmly, "They have been planning for twenty years and now it has exploded. Given their mentality, they will not fight a war that they cannot win. They will withdraw soon."

Anacia nodded and said thoughtfully, "The strength of the city of Rodel is unparalleled in the world, and with Radagon personally in charge, it is indeed impossible for the rebel army to touch it. But if that's the case, why don't they just destroy the Lord Elevator, but instead make a big show of attacking the North Asia Altar and then go back? Is this a demonstration, or a declaration?"

"That's part of the reason," Lucia thought for a moment, "but it just happened that the Fire Giants were approaching Rodel a thousand miles north when the news of the Queen's Sleeping Ring going out came. This distance was just enough for them to witness the fleeting withering of the golden tree with their own eyes."

Anaxia was stunned at first, and then a sense of horror surged in her heart, "Your Highness, are you saying that the rebel army had already predicted the news of the turmoil before it even happened in the capital?"

"No matter how much they know, we must prepare for the worst case scenario." Lucia said, with a cold look flashing in her ice-blue pupils.

He didn't believe that there was such a coincidence in the world. The Fire Giant disappeared for twenty years, and once he revived, he annexed the entire ice field including Lord. Given the complex background of the various forces in the North, the speed at which the other party completely digested the North would definitely not be faster than his control of the East.

Obviously, the people south of Lord had not received the news of the fall of the North, but the giants ignored the great opportunity to recuperate and insisted on marching south to Roghal. If it was just to show off their strength - Lucia did not believe that such fools could possibly subvert the North.

At this moment, the magic ring went out and the golden tree fell into a state of withering. Although it was only a few minutes, considering the distance from the battlefield of Roghal to Rodel, it was enough time for the giant to confirm the news of Marika's sleep.

On the other hand, Godwin, who was supposed to lead the army in person against the backdrop of foreign invasion, did not appear on the battlefield. Instead, Radagon appeared. These few things connected together were enough to send out many dangerous signals.

At least the fire giants knew that Radagon would have to stay in the royal capital for a long time, and the most powerful opponents they would face would be the many heroes of the Golden Dynasty.

Unless——Lucia is willing to take action herself.

But if the other party already knew such a wealth of information, would they be unprepared against the most powerful demigod in the world?
The thirty thousand miles of Arctic ice field seemed to be just a pure white, but beneath the ice and snow that had been deposited for tens of thousands of years, there was most likely a tomb tailor-made for him.

Another guard came to report: "Your Highness, a letter from Prince Godwin has arrived." Lucia glanced sideways and asked, "Who is coming?"

"It was Lord Widdam, the head of the Blazing Sun Guards," the guard replied, "but he just left a letter saying that Your Highness should make all the decisions on your own, and left in a hurry without waiting for us to inform him."

Lucia took the letter, shook her head and smiled, and said, "I see, go down first."

Compared to the complicated and obscure communication between certain beings in the royal capital and the fire giants, the signal sent by Godwin was very simple - whether to go or not was up to Lucia's own preference. Widam left in a hurry just to avoid putting any pressure from Godwin on Lucia.

Lucia opened the letter and found that the handwriting on the paper was indeed familiar to Godwin. It was serious, upright, and yet peaceful, just like the mind and magnanimity of the golden prince who embraced all races in the world.

His eyes swept over Godwin's requests and promises line by line until Godwin wrote at the end of the letter:

"If you are willing to take the North, save two million lives, and resolve the turmoil in the world, then you can take the 70,000 Blazing Flame Guards in the East. If you are not willing, I hope you can return to the Far East as soon as possible to suppress the current situation. If you can keep Fam Azra safe, you will not lose your duty as the Dragon King. I will quell the turmoil in the North myself."

"Haha, you are still so proud." He raised his head and laughed, then handed the letter to Anasia.

After reading the shocking contents of the letter, Anasia, despite her tempered character, could not help but let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Your Highness, are you laughing at Prince Godwin for thinking too highly of himself, or are you still trying to take on all the responsibilities like you did in the past?"

"He doesn't think too highly of himself. He really deserves this pride." Lucia sighed softly and looked towards the unreachable Royal City of Rodel.

"I was thinking that maybe he is even more important to the Golden Dynasty than I am to the Ancient Dragon Dynasty."

"If the Golden Dynasty loses him one day, no matter what the outcome of the battle between their gods and kings is, will there be any real future for them?"

The sky finally brightened up completely. After several days of snowfall, the sky was still covered with dark clouds today.

"Call everyone here, including all officers above the corps commander level in our army and the Blazing Sun Army. Also send a letter to the two priests, Lance and For, to order the Far East Archipelago to enter Level 2 alert, and all Ancient Dragon Temples and subordinate institutions within the Golden Dynasty to enter Level 1 alert."

Anacia quickly wrote down all the orders and said, "Your Highness, are you going to hold a meeting to discuss whether to march into the North?"

"We don't have that much time, Anna—" Lucia turned her eyes away, her voice as calm as a frozen lake in winter, "Within three days, the army must march to the north."

(End of this chapter)