Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 437 Price
"It's not shameful to lose to Ingwill. He was once Opheline's right wing, and he was as famous as Lord Silyua," Radagon said gently to Earl Beruf, who was wrapped in bandages. "Besides, your mission is not to kill Furl, but to chase and delay them and drive them to the designated battlefield."

Lying on the hospital bed, the golden hero who had participated in the Unification War tightly held Radagon's hand. His Majesty personally went out of the camp thirty miles just to visit these defeated generals. Such an honor made Count Beruf so excited that he could hardly control himself. He couldn't even say the words of thanks he had thought of in the morning, and just kept sobbing.

"Don't worry, we will win this war in the end," Radagan patted the back of Beruf's hand, "even if we have to pay a heavy price for it."

When we left the wounded soldiers' camp, the afternoon sky had grown overcast. Dark clouds obscured the sky, and a thin layer of water vapor filled the air.

The rain is coming.

The accompanying guards consciously fell behind by a few steps to leave enough space for His Majesty to be alone. Radagan's tall and straight back like a mountain top walked alone at the front of the team, inexplicably looking a bit lonely.

He was not as relaxed as he had appeared to be.

It was not surprising that the reinforcements from Karen defeated several troops that were besieging the Ancient Dragon Temple. Since Karen changed hands in the 46th year of the Golden Calendar, Lucia had been planning in the Nangemir area for more than three years. It would be surprising if it did not have a backup plan of this degree.

The intelligence about Karen's ruling Clavell and internal affairs officer Orvins had long been piled three feet high on the table in the Sun Wheel Hall. It could be said that the new party had made all preparations for this war. They knew what kind of enemy they were facing, including Karen's command level, the military deployment in the Nangemir region, and Ingwill, the former right-winger of the Storm King who had recently defected to Lucia.

To some extent, it was the in-depth study of Lucia and his forces that prompted Radagan and the top leaders of the New Party to decide to launch this seemingly hasty war.

Time waits for no one. As Lucia displays more and more qualities of a king who dominates the world, the rise of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty is becoming increasingly difficult to contain. Ingwill's surrender is just a microcosm. If it is delayed until the war in the north ends smoothly, Lucia's strength is bound to expand to the point of being completely out of control.

The current Golden Dynasty no longer has enough capital to go to war with such an enemy.

Sufficient investigation and careful planning created efficient actions. From the outbreak of the rebellion in the royal capital, to chasing the Ancient Dragon Temple to the southern part of Asia, to the news that Kalelius launched a seal to isolate the north, every step of the war so far was within their predictions.

The rangers of the Rodel Knights even blocked the information channels of the Temple Intelligence Network, ensuring that at the critical moment, the news of Lucia's fall to the North would be delivered to the ears of the Temple people, completely destroying the last bit of the enemy's morale.
But after the encounter last night, Radagan found that things were starting to go wrong.

According to information from various sources, the Karen reinforcements led by Ingwill were equipped with at least 1,200 Giant Wolf Knights. Count Beruf and several golden heroes led the Rodel Knights with a cavalry force that was three times the size of the enemy's, but they suffered a nearly crushing blow in the frontal battle.

It is true that the fighting power of the Knights of Rodel has long lost its peak state during the Unification War, but the scale and training level of the Giant Wolf Knights are far beyond the New Party's cognition.

As the former master of the heroic red wolf, Radagon knows the horror of this better than anyone else.

Those giant wolves were definitely not just the Moon Wolves native to Kalia. Judging from the combat power they displayed, their bloodlines must have been purified and optimized for many generations. Coupled with their huge scale, it must have taken at least five years or even more than ten years.

However, five years ago, Kalia was still the era when Beta had absolute power, and the Golden Dynasty had spies throughout the ancient country. Even the Duke of the dynasty like Ogrian had to report to him regularly. How could Kalia have hidden the truth from him and secretly completed such a long-lasting project?
What's more terrifying is that if even Karen, an ally and subordinate, can produce such a large number of wolf cavalry, how many will Kalia have? In addition to these giant wolves, what other cards do they have hidden in the dark?

Radagon couldn't help rubbing his temples. Deep in his mind, he felt a surge of pain. He heard the high and grand whisper again. "Leinara, did you set this up in advance? No, it's impossible. It shouldn't be like this."

The sweet smile of his ex-wife flashed before his mind vaguely, and the confusion that had lingered in his heart for more than a decade once again filled his consciousness. Unfortunately, after so many years, he still could not come up with an answer to it.

"Pass the order down..." He turned around and ordered, "The entire army should speed up and complete the division and encirclement before the Ancient Dragon Temple and the Karen Legion merge. Order the commander of the Perum Fortress, Count Makar, to respond synchronously and prevent Furshanks from escaping southward along the Perum Tunnel."

The guards passed on the military order without stopping. Radagan's eyes, filled with golden blessings, looked through the veil of rain in the direction of the "Perum Tunnel" he mentioned.

The Golden Dynasty and Kalia have established fortresses at both ends of the Perum Cliff, facing each other for nearly ten years. However, few people still remember that the tunnel, which was once famous for its rich magical ore, was dug by the two countries in the early years and was once a symbol of close cooperation between the two sides.

That was the day when he had just been forced to abandon his wife and children and return to the Golden Dynasty to inherit the throne. After hearing the news that a large amount of mineral reserves had been discovered at the border, he was ecstatic. With joy and trembling in his heart, he found Malika and proposed to start a long-term cooperation with Kalia for joint mining.

He thought Malika would obstruct it, but unexpectedly she agreed without hesitation.

So he eagerly sent a letter to contact Lenara, with whom he had not contacted since the betrayal. He still remembers that his pen was shaking so much that the ink stained the letter paper again and again, and he had to start over.

He wanted to express his surging thoughts, but he had to use his reason to build a thick dam and suppress the surging emotions in formal and polite writing. He only dared to send a brief greeting at the end of the letter and express his courtesy to the three children.
However, Lenara did not reply.

After waiting for many days, he only received a letter signed jointly by Kalia's Minister of Finance and Minister of Industry, politely agreeing to the request for cooperation.

Three years later, just one year after the Perum Tunnel was put into use, Kalia unilaterally terminated the cooperation again. It is said that Beta was furious about this, but he could not overcome the personal order of the Full Moon Queen.

Over the years, he had visited the southwest of Yatan many times, standing alone on the edge of the cliff and gazing at the huge misty lake.

In fact, the whole picture of Lake Lienya could not be seen from the Perum Fortress. Between the towering mountains and the vast forests, one could only vaguely see a blue water line and the misty white fog. But he still repeated this action again and again, as if he could get a glimpse of the figure that kept him tossing and turning.

In the end, he never saw her again.

It has been four years and nine months since he last set foot in Perum Fortress, but when he goes to that land again, it is no longer as the hero Radagon, but as the supreme king under fundamentalism, to wipe out the enemies of the Golden Tree.

Maybe this is the price he pays.

"Let's go." he said softly.

(End of this chapter)