Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 394: Five Thousand Miles of Desperate Journey

"First, the Samir people did not succumb to the power of Bolerius to become his followers."

"When Bolerius was defeated on the top of the Giant Mountain and fell into the icy lake, he originally planned to use the terrain to fight the giants to the death, but it was here that he met the ancestors of Samir who were oppressed by the Giant King's Court and had nowhere to go."

"The original Samir people had a bad relationship with the Giant King Court since their power attributes were naturally repelled by the Fire Giants. They were often bullied and abused by the Giant King Court. 1,500 years ago, the six Samir clans were forced into a desperate situation and had to migrate all the way to the lake area, relying on the icy fog and blizzards that lingered all year round to block the giants' pursuit. It was at that time that they met Bolerius who had fallen there."

"The specific circumstances are unknown except for Borelius himself, but what I know is that Borelius, who was still recovering from his injuries, stood up for the Samirites and defeated a wave of giant pursuers. This exposed his whereabouts and led to the attack by the Giant King's army."

"That time, Fam Azra was originally going to send his brothers north to rescue, but when the original dragons set out, news came back that Bolerius and the Samir people had joined forces to repel the giant army. At that time, there were other more important matters within the dynasty, so they did not ask more about his actions and just let him develop his faith there."

"A few years later, with the frozen lake as the center, the expanded Samir clan, part of the Kaidan people, and some indigenous people from different races in the surrounding areas all converted to the Dragon God faith through Borelus. Just like the Samir people, Borelus did not choose them, but they gathered around Borelus spontaneously."

"Over the past thousand years, more and more people in the North have believed in him. Even in the Golden Age, including in the Guntherfred region below us, more than one-third of the residents did not believe in the Golden Tree, but worshipped him as a god. And because of the help that Boileus and his followers gave to the Golden Dynasty during the Unification War, the latter also tacitly accepted this."

"Although the title of 'Ice Dragon God' has a hint of usurpation, in front of his people, Bolerius always regards himself as the Dragon God and the minister of the Dragon King, and the son of the Dragon Mother Guior. When facing the Fire Giants and the Golden Dynasty, he never uses the name of Fam Azra, but only protects his followers with his own strength. You should be able to understand the reason."

Seeing the thoughtful look on Rosalind's face, Lucia continued, "Second, I know he just went through two battles."

"One occurred shortly after we landed at Odysseus Port, three hundred miles east of Sol City. The other occurred just a week ago, one thousand six hundred miles west of the frozen lake. Although his opponent is slightly weaker than him, he is still strong enough to threaten him. More importantly, he has more than one opponent."

This time, Rosalind was truly shocked by what Lucia said.

The first one was easy to explain. As a core member of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty, she knew her own prince much better than outsiders. For example, his prince was knowledgeable and had communicated with the Dragon Mother at the Dragon Tomb not long ago. Therefore, it was not surprising that his prince knew some secrets that they did not know.

But the second one happened right now, but it was thousands of miles away, in a place that even the Flying Dragon Guards could not explore deeply. How could Your Highness have such an accurate understanding of those two battles?

More importantly, she completely trusted everything His Highness said.

If Polyus really fought against powerful enemies twice at this time, then his enemies could only be the Giant King's Court, and it was almost certain that they were some of the ten "Ancestor"-level giants.

However, the location of the fight was never on the frozen lake where he had the advantage of terrain, but deep in the heart of the central region. So what was he trying to do?

"Don't be surprised. This is an ability I just developed. It is not stable yet. I can only roughly sense oversized targets and energy fluctuations that exceed a certain limit. But I think you understand what I mean."

Rosalind recovered from her shock, and a hint of excitement gradually appeared on her heroic face as she thought deeply. "For thousands of years, Bolerius has always acknowledged his identity as a member of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty, but he is unwilling to bring trouble to the dynasty because of himself. And in the recent two battles, no matter what the specific reasons for his participation, it is obviously not for himself."

The reason was simple. The Watcher Fortress on the other side of the Snowfall Ridge was far less difficult to attack than the Frozen Lake that Bolerius had been operating for many years. The Giant King Court chose to temporarily put the former aside and focus on attacking the city of Thor. Why would they go and provoke Bolerius at this juncture? Moreover, the Frozen Lake was already at the westernmost part of the eastern part of the ice field, and the distance between it and the city of Thor was much closer than the Watcher Fortress. If the old dragon got angry and fought hard to connect the Frozen Lake and the city of Thor into a battlefield, it would have an immeasurable impact on the entire northern war situation.

But now, not only are the two sides fighting, but the fighting is so fierce. There is only one possibility.

For some reason, either to support the city of Thor or to protect his own family, Borelius fought a fierce battle with the Giant King's Court in the direction of Thor.

Afterwards, perhaps the Giant King's Court fought with Boileus during the pursuit, or perhaps Boileus himself took the initiative to attack and fight. In the end, the Giant King's Court was completely furious, and regardless of anything, they concentrated their heavy troops to rush to the frozen lake, vowing to make Boileus pay the price.

The Dragon Guards reported that the Giant King's Court had sent more troops in the direction of the Frozen Lake. They were indeed targeting Lucia, but that was after they received the news of the Eastern Regiment's defeat.

"Taking all these into account, the possibility of Boileus submitting to Your Highness is far higher than we initially expected, and the value of winning him over will also be greater than expected."

A strong man at the level of ancient dragon priest can either be ambitious and establish his own territory or stick to his principles and protect the country and the people. The difference between the two is as huge as the difference between heaven and earth.

In the consideration of the high-level officials of the Northern Expedition Army, with His Highness' current strength and growth rate, if Borelius really had rebellious intentions, they would not mind killing him and the Giant King's Court together.

But on the other hand, if such a person is really worth fighting for, he will become an important helper to Your Highness in the war in the north.

After figuring this out, Rosalind finally understood Lucia's plan.

Based on our current understanding of Polyreus, we wonder if he is subconsciously holding himself to the standards of a Dragon God. Compared to other powerful beings of the same level, he protects his believers to a degree that is even higher than many local nobles protect their subjects.

Facing such a seemingly bizarre strong man, the 130,000 soldiers and civilians rescued from the giants, including tens of thousands of his believers, were undoubtedly the most sincere gift.

At the same time, from another perspective, it is impossible for the Northern Expedition Army to be trapped in Guntherfred. Once the army sets out, even if these soldiers and civilians are not hunted down by the giants, they will soon run out of supplies and freeze to death in the snow.

Trying to send them to the frozen lake and using the old nest that Pollux had operated for fifteen hundred years to house them would not only save their lives, but also retain a manpower for the future of the North.

Thinking more deeply, even His Highness had never predicted a quick victory in the war in the north.

If a protracted war breaks out in the future, every extra life standing behind them in the North will increase the Northern Expedition Army's chances of winning.

However, these 130,000 soldiers and civilians who had just been freed from the ravages of the giants were not the elite troops of the Northern Expedition who had been tempered a thousand times.

Even if they were given sufficient supplies and horses, they could reach the frozen lake within a month under ideal circumstances, but the army of giants would never sit idly by. How could they possibly complete this nearly 5,000-mile migration safely amidst the fighting of thousands of troops?
(End of this chapter)