When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1255 Secretly Crossing the River in Naoan
"Arriving in a single day, via airship?"

Despite repeated confirmations, the many vampires inside a castle outside Changge City still couldn't believe their ears.

This is just like a scene from ancient Norn mythology.

Not only was Herring Fortress lifted, but the sieges of Cheeseburg and Bobtail Fortress were also lifted, and a considerable number of Norn troops were wiped out in the process.

By the Lord of Immortality, that is the Norn army!

Moreover, I originally thought that flying soldiers were only available to the Royal Court, but now the Holy Alliance has them too.

How high can their spaceships fly?

"Around three thousand meters..."

"Shit!"

Inside the castle, a chorus of curses erupted, tinged with fear.

Aside from a few prince-level vampires, a stable flight of one thousand meters is a height that is difficult for them to reach.

Three thousand meters—it's estimated that only a prince-level vampire, exhausted, could barely manage that.

Where did this Holy Alliance come from?
Their royal court has cultivated the Blood Pact Gun and so many count-level vampires over a thousand years, so how come the Holy Alliance is getting stronger every year?

It seems that they are getting stronger much faster than they imagined.

However, after the initial shock subsided, the Central Route Army and the Southern Route Army both turned their attention to the Northern Route Army.

The primary target of concentrated fire was Pokkins, the Northern Army's spokesman in the area. (Lacunio directing from the Roaring Corridor)
"Lord Pokkins, didn't you say you were certain you'd break through the Norn defenses this time? Where will you break through?"

"Didn't you say that the Northern Route Army's plan goes beyond this? What about this? Let me hear it."

"Yo, you're blushing?"

After being teased several times, Pokkins, a vampire, actually turned red from his pale face.

He opened his mouth several times, but then swallowed it back, leaving only a few of his Northern Route Army colleagues and generals behind before slamming the door and leaving.

“Now that we know the Holy Alliance has this kind of weapon, we need to be careful with our Giant Eagle tactics when attacking the Holy Alliance,” Koniazmumu said.

“In that case, the Northern Route Army shall switch to a defensive posture,” a vampire noble from the Southern Route Army chuckled.

Another member of the central army, a vampire from a southern clan, immediately chimed in, "Since we've switched to a defensive posture, it's alright to take less loot, right?"

"Isn't a defensive posture a meritorious service? You were on the defensive before, so give back your merits..." The two remaining vampire dukes of the Northern Route Army immediately retorted.

Why should I pay it back?

"Then go and seek justice from His Majesty Serfaye!"

The noise was far from over, and a few more vampires quietly approached Koniaz.

"Lord Koniaz, we've advanced too quickly; we need to secure our rear."

"Yes, the potion of happiness is effective, but it still can't keep up with the pace of expansion."

“If you insist on going your own way, I will report this to Lord Serfaye.”

Their meaning was clear: they believed that the Northern Route Army's disastrous defeat was due to its rapid advance.

But in Koniaz's view, how could things not be fast?

Perhaps the other vampires don't understand, but Koniaz, the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Guard, is one of the few who knows the inside story.

Serfaye is Lilith's divine intervention. Although he is not as good as the real Lilith, he at least has half of Lilith's command and will.

Originally, when she came to the human world, her human form was specially kept by the Soridor clan—she was an unprecedented artificial witch.

Under Lilith's powerful soul, the artificial witch's lifespan as a witch is almost infinite; she only needs to go into slumber periodically to restart.

But something happened that caused Lilith's human form to go missing; in any case, according to Serfaye, it was a setup by Mysella.

The four conditions for the true god and witch to descend to earth are the true souls of Lilith and Myrcella, as well as the heart of Lilith and the head of Myrcella.

Originally, by descending to a human body, one could obtain infinite lifespan and endless opportunities.

But Lilith was once again tricked by Mysella, causing her to descend into Serfaye's body.

Serfaye is an old vampire; her bloodline is low, so her lifespan won't be long.

In addition, several life-risking actions, such as the time when she reforged the vampire holy grail in the volcano, greatly reduced her lifespan.

Although Serfaye gained strength above the prince level thanks to the flesh and blood feast, her lifespan will not change.

Although it's unclear exactly how many years are left, it's at most ten years.

They didn't know how strong the Holy Alliance's resistance would be, or what might go wrong, so they couldn't delay when making plans; they had to destroy the Empire within five years.

A year has passed, and one-third of Norn (Bearhold Territory in the Roaring Corridor) has been captured, as have Windmill Field, Golden Horn Bay, and Eagle's Foot Bay in the Kingdom of Leia.

Due to the Black Legion's delays, the originally scheduled deployment time has fallen behind, and they were already behind schedule.

It's important to understand that the Royal Court's original plan was to advance simultaneously from both the north and south. The first year was to conquer Leia and occupy the entire North Norn.

The following year, they destroyed the Franco and occupied the entire South Norn.

Gather the strength of all auxiliary armies, and in the next three years, suppress the resistance forces within the empire while completely annihilating the Holy Alliance.

Of course, this "annihilation" refers to defeating its organized army and normal government, barely maintaining a cooperative puppet regime, without demanding complete conquest.

People like Lacunio and the son of Prince Condé were prepared for a puppet regime.

Now, a year later, Leia has only won one-third of the title, while North Norn has won two-thirds.

This has already severely slowed down the progress.

Most importantly, many vampires, not the opposition vampires, but rather the loyalist rational vampires, felt the plan was too radical.

They weren't acting out of any ulterior motive, but rather because they felt the risk was too great and unnecessary to take the plunge.

Moreover, land seized in this way may not be able to be ruled for long. It would be better to proceed step by step, with a plan for ten, twenty or even fifty years.

But was Koniaz going to tell them that His Majesty's life was coming to an end?

That's even more terrifying. For a totalitarian dictator, the most important thing to keep secret is their health.

Even the slightest doubt is enough to cause division and trigger terrible infighting.

Koniaz could only adopt this crazy and stubborn stance, advancing according to plan while suppressing dissenting voices.

Fortunately, it was either Lady Lilith who understood him or she used her divine power to give Koniaz a new source of strength.

“What’s done is done, no need for further discussion.” Koniaz growled, silencing the vampires’ argument. “I have a new plan, concerning Farron.”

“Speaking of Fran,” Prince Vladislav suddenly spoke up, “this morning a delegation suddenly sailed south and entered the Nauan River, claiming to be acting on your orders. Are you aware of this?”

“I know,” Koniaz nodded. “I was the one who ordered them to march across the river to the Golden Fleece Beach while it was still daylight.”

"To Golden Fleece Beach?"

After a brief silence, the vampires stood up in horror: "That's Franz territory, heavily guarded. A delegation of five thousand vampires, aren't we just handing them war merits?"

"Lord Koniaz, what is the meaning of this?"

"Lord Koniaz, you haven't been bribed by humans, have you?"

Koniaz felt relaxed upon seeing the vampires' heartfelt words.

This is because it demonstrates that the intelligence was kept confidential, and also because these vampires are relatively loyal, even willing to defy him for the greater good.

“Actually, that’s not the case.” Koniaz’s tone remained mechanical. “It’s not that I’ve been bought off by humans; it should be the other way around.”

"The other way around?" Prince Vladislav was the first to react. "We've bribed the French general over there?"

Koniaz forced an awkward smile: "If anyone's to blame, it's Charles VIII himself. He hastily seized power by relying on external forces, which only drove them to rebellion."

On February 7, 1461, the Grand Prince of Wangting, who was originally marching towards Jangga Castle, suddenly sailed south.

Except for leaving the central army to continue besieging Changge City, the remaining troops launched a surprise attack on Kehan ​​Fortress, a key border town on the Golden Fleece Beach.

The garrison commander of Cohan Fortress was taken hostage by local nobles Count Slakain and Turos, and surrendered by opening the gates.

The two were immediately transformed into vampires by Prince Vladislav and given Lilith's blood, instantly becoming count-level vampires.

The royal army of 20,000 officially broke through the Nauan River defense line of Fran and headed straight for the capital city of Golden Fleece Beach.

…………

1461 October.

Rapids City.

"No, not again? What, you messed up too?"

Upon receiving the battle report, Horn slammed it onto the table with a thud, then slumped back into his chair, clutching his forehead in despair.

He had just resolved Norn's crisis and was dealing with Alexei's plans when Fran got into trouble.

Although I know you are on the front lines and are prone to making mistakes, surely not all of you have such big flaws?
The Holy Alliance borders the Royal Court in Shattered Stone Plains, so why didn't they encounter any major trouble?

“At least, at least Charlie is a smart man and won’t do anything too outrageous.” Horn said, panting. “Write him a letter of condolence and persuade him to strategically retreat; if he has to give up Golden Fleece Beach, so be it.”

“But Your Majesty,” Deputy Evangelist Alfonso hesitated, “His Majesty Charles seems to be preparing to assemble a large army to relieve the Golden Fleece.”

"Why?!"

"It seems that it's because the Queen Mother of France is currently vacationing at her thermal palace in Golden Fleece Beach..."

"...Holy crap, this old woman!"

(End of this chapter)