Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 494 Sacrifice of the Self
For the New Party, the spring of the 50th year of the Golden Calendar was definitely a period of torment.

First, the giant army that had always been thought to be "under control" suddenly cut off the connection between the North and the border. Although this meant that Lucia, whom they regarded as a serious threat, was in danger, it also meant that the Golden Dynasty had completely lost control of the vast northern border. The greatest achievement in the early days of the Unification War eventually disappeared in the hands of the descendants of the Golden Tree.

Then, the Kalia Dynasty, which had been plagued by frequent internal strife in the aristocratic system for many years, suddenly turned around and demonstrated unprecedented mobilization in their attack on the Ancient Dragon Dynasty.

While the top leaders of the New Party generally believed that Kalia would stand idly by in this conflict, the Kalia people not only mobilized an army of 120,000, but also recalled in advance the Twin Moon Lailana that was rumored to be developing in the Shadow Land, and broke through the Perum Fortress at the border between the two countries in one fell swoop.

This not only caused their siege of Folshanks and the Ancient Dragon Temple to fail, but also put the 350,000 golden army assembled in Yatan into a dilemma.

It is impossible to attack southward into the territory of Kalia. Although the power held by the New Party today is greater than that of the Western Expedition Army led by Radagon sixteen years ago, the foundation of the Kalia people in the Lienia region is too solid after all. Moreover, in the most recent confrontation between the two armies, Queen Reinara not only regained her sanity, but also seemed to have gained strength.

Moreover, during these sixteen years, the Kalia people have not completely stagnated. The New Party has long learned through intelligence from various sources that in recent years Mugram has been committed to strengthening the magic rune array underground in the Star-Moon City of the Kalia Royal Court. After years of investment at all costs, they have almost transformed the third largest city in the border area into an unprecedented super-giant magic array.

Queen Renara of the Full Moon, the most powerful magic master in the world and even in history, is in a super magic tower in Star Moon City that can be regarded as tailor-made for her. She is truly a one-man army. When she fights with all her might, the damage she can cause to mortal armies is absolutely at the level of gods. Even the golden army, which is at its peak, cannot bear such casualties.

If they turned eastward and attacked the Far Eastern archipelago, which formed the main part of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty's territory, it would have been the best strategy that the New Party would not have to consider a few years ago.

But after the Star Shattering War, Gelide had already fallen into the hands of Lucia, so Radagon had to urgently order Greg to lead the Southern Border Legion to advance eastward. Even if he was unable to get involved in the Far East, he had to at least take over Northern Gelide, a strategic springboard that could be used for both offense and defense.

Only after eliminating the worries on the southern front, can the 350,000 Rodel troops on standby in the direction of Yatan advance westward, wipe out the nails that Lucia has planted in the Gemir area for three years, and compress the influence of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty to outside the main border area. At the same time, use Gemir, Yatan and Nimgefu to clamp down on Lienia and firmly grasp the strategic initiative over Kalia.

However, the demigod Greg, the acting lord of the South Territory, the acting mayor of Stonewell, the third-generation direct descendant of the Golden Family, and the inheritor of the supreme glory of his ancestors, once again broke through everyone's cognition and imagination of the field of war.

In late April, when the news of the defeat of the 100,000-strong army in the southern border reached the royal capital, Radagan was personally stationed in the port of Rodria, making intensive preparations for the magic fleet to head south and land in the north of Nimgefor.

However, before the Golden Dynasty's mighty fleet could move south, bad news suddenly arrived - Stonewell, the capital of the southern border with 7,000 defenders, was captured by Latan and only 300 of his followers. The southern army led by Greg was defeated at the western section of Gale Avenue, and then at the Third Church of Marica. They were then chased by 10,000 cavalry led by Marennia. Only less than 40,000 remnants fled to the outside of Stonewell and set up camp at Storm Fortress to defend themselves.

At this time, Greg was still holding on and waiting for help, waiting for the opportunity for the Yatan army to move south to attack Latan and Malenia from both inside and outside.

After all, the Eastern Territory was still short of troops, with only more than 10,000 people in total attacking the Southern Territory. It was for this reason that after Latan conquered Stonewell, he was unable to continue to seize Storm Fortress, which served as the gateway to the capital, leaving Greg with a chance to breathe.

In this situation, even if Greg's Southern Border Army was useless, as long as he could stand up and stabilize the army's morale, relying on the solid defense of Storm Fortress and the large amount of food and grass stored underground for defense, and buying the Rodel Knights a week to cross the sea and land, the outcome would still be uncertain. But on April 26, the Rodel fleet was ready to set sail, but what Radagan received was the news that the Southern Border had completely fallen.

According to the battle report, three days ago, 40,000 Moren troops suddenly appeared on the north shore of Lake Valan south of Storm Fortress. After learning that his half-brother Gefuya was captured and that the swords of the Moren people were not pointed at the East Border Army but at himself, Greg was so scared that he abandoned his army and fled north with his personal guards overnight.

In this matter, Greg showed unprecedented tactical qualities. He led only a hundred people in disguise, ran more than 800 miles overnight, seized a small warship from the port of Tokaris on the north coast of Nimgefor, and fled to the Victoria Islands in the Storm Sea.

What’s even more terrifying is that these more than one hundred people were not only his elite guards, but also forty-three of them were concubines he brought from Stonewell, which shows how decisive his actions were.

Because Greg fled so quickly, not only did the East Border Army and the Moren Army fail to react and chase him, but even the Golden Dynasty itself was completely unaware of it.

Duke Hoyle, who was guarding the southern border, found out that his commander had fled when he went to the commander's tent to ask for instructions on defense in the morning. The deputy commander of the legion did not choose to put the entire army on alert immediately, but convened a military meeting as if nothing had happened. After assigning the defense work to his subordinate generals, he also fled to the port of Tokaris, but was arrested on the spot by the Eastern Rangers who noticed something was wrong.

The Eastern Border Army immediately contacted the Moren Army, and the two armies surrounded the Southern Border Army from all directions. They then pushed Duke Hoyle to the front of the battle and announced in public the glorious deeds of the Southern Border commander and deputy commander who had abandoned their troops and fled one after another. The remaining Southern Border troops were greatly demoralized and surrendered without a fight.

All this news did not come from Greg himself, but after he passed through a series of sea towns such as the Victoria Islands, Kai Island, and Alman Island, he was discovered by the Khoslau Islands, the core hub of the Golden Dynasty in the Middle Storm Sea area, which was ruled by the famous Khoslau Family. After multiple investigations, they finally restored the battle situation that was more outrageous than a drama. At this time, Greg had even crossed most of the Storm Sea and was about to escape back to Asia.

Therefore, when Rodel's fleet was about to set sail, Radagan was extremely speechless to find that the dynasty had lost the thousands of miles of territory of Nimgefu in just a few weeks, and the fleet that had just been assembled no longer had the conditions to land directly in the southern border.

With the talent of his eldest son, the northern coast defense line of Nimgfu is probably already an ironclad solid block, and is connected with the eastern border. In terms of strategic situation, it has the initiative to threaten the Storm Sea Islands from south to north.

Now Asia Tan no longer had to be in a dilemma. The 150,000 troops on board the fleet had to move south as usual, but they could only move south to the line of the Khoslau Islands and occupy the Storm Sea. The original plan to sweep Gmir to the west had to be postponed indefinitely.

The reason was simple. Once the 150,000 troops left, the Rodel Knights' suppression of Kalia in the Yatan area would be gone. The Full Moon Queen would inevitably advance to the front line of Dikedas, forcing them to move their forces eastward to ensure that this vital point related to the survival of the dynasty would not be lost. In this way, the alliance between Longyue and Longyue had gained an opportunity to march into Gemir in this tug-of-war.

In the next period of time, although Radagang can still draw troops from the cities in the Storm Sea, or issue an emergency mobilization order in the Asian arena to re-recruit troops, the Ancient Dragon Dynasty in the Far East will also respond simultaneously. It is impossible to break the deadlock by simply relying on the tactic of mutual reinforcement.

In other words, Greg's escape destroyed far more than just the 100,000-strong Southern Border Legion and the vast southern border. It also destroyed all of the Golden Dynasty's apparent advantages since the start of the war, thereby earning his enemies, Latan and Marennia, a reputation for their warlike abilities.

(End of this chapter)