Knight and Wand

Chapter 219 The War of the Living

The Usato Mountains, located in the central part of Kantardar, are the center dividing the north and south of the kingdom, and have also been a natural barrier for the royal capital for hundreds of years.

Relying on the momentum of the mountains and backed by mountain streams and rivers, it was built on two desperate mountain passes in the north and east of the royal territory, claiming that it would remain unbroken for a thousand years and would never fall.

If the Orland army wanted to attack the territory of King Usato, theoretically they would have to take a detour and march to the plains and valley entrance in the southwest.

In reality, this is almost an impossible idea, because the king's territory "corridor" in the southwest is already in the heart of Kantadar.

Looking at the history of war between the northern and southern kingdoms, if we ignore the pass of the Usato kingdom and go deep into the center of Kantadar, we must bear the risk that the Kantadar army in the kingdom connected to the east will go directly north through the mountain pass and cut off the retreat of the Orland army.

Among the previous kings of Orland, there had been heroes who had marched to the territory of Usato, but every time they faced the two dangerous mountain passes, they returned empty-handed.

However, things are unpredictable.

The dangerous pass that even an army of 100,000 could not break through has, to this day, opened many mountain gates for the Northern Kingdom from within.

Orland's vanguard took over the empty northern city of Usato from the Kantadars.

The giant crossbows densely packed on the towering city walls and towers had all been dismantled and destroyed.

Ledwin, dressed in military uniform, rode a flying dragon and entered the mountain city that no previous kings had ever set foot in from the air.

The wings of the fire dragon named "Overlord" stirred up a strong wind, and the dragon's body fell into the square with a bang.

The giant beast raised its long neck, and its ferocious dragon head roared softly, flames gushed out from its mouth and nose. Its vertical pupils stared at the statue of King Kantadargu slaying a dragon in the square, suppressing its instinctive anger.

Ledwin looked at the giant stone statues of ancient southern kings.

The giant King Kantadar, whose body was abstracted, stepped on the dragon's corpse, tightly grasped the Uriah sword in his right hand, and held the dragon's head, which had turned into a skeleton, in his left hand, grasping the dragon's horn, symbolizing the feat of killing the dragon.

The difference is that this majestic image of a dragon slayer is fictional.

But the fact that the fire dragon was killed is true.

The dragon head held high by the statue is not a stone carving, but a real dragon skeleton.

In the hundreds of years of recorded history of the Northern Kingdom, five fire dragons raised by the royal family died one after another in bloody battles with Kantadar.

Two were killed in the north, and three were killed in Kantadar.

One died in the western city of Shuangxia, and the other died at the hands of a great knight from the southern kingdom.

Another one was killed by the dense crossbow arrows fired at the Usato Mountain Pass.

"Remove the dragon skeleton and transport it back to the dragon tomb in the country for burial." Ledwin gave the order to the guards around him in a deep voice.

Several of the king's guards immediately climbed up the statue and broke its raised arms.

The heavy dragon head skeleton fell down, and the stone statue's left hand was shattered, but the solid dragon bone rolled to the side without any sign of damage.

After the soldiers dragged the dragon bones away, Ledwin immediately urged the war beast under his seat, which had been unable to restrain itself for a long time.

The flying dragon moved its limbs and crawled towards the stone statue, roaring.

It slammed into the statue, crushing it and toppling it over, trampling it with its claws.

Looking at the dragon beast under his seat venting its anger, Ledwen's sharp face couldn't help but reveal a hint of pleasure.

He no longer worried whether this was a conspiracy of the Kantadar people. After all, the price of giving up the important pass of the Kingdom of Usato was too high.

The prince who sent the secret letter has ascended the throne as the new king of Kantadar, which means that Aviut is probably dead.

The frequent inquiries during this period, as well as the lack of resistance from the northern border of Kantadar since the southern expedition, finally made Ledwin convinced that civil unrest was breaking out in the southern kingdom.

However, I have never heard of the instability of the throne of King Kantardar's lineage in previous years. I don't know what kind of changes have happened that the crown prince of Aviut has fallen to the point where he has to bow his head and ask for help from a foreign enemy like himself.

Duke of Aberdeen.
Aviut's half-brother?
The guy who instigated the civil strife in Kantadar, in a sense, is legally closer to the throne than I was a dozen years ago.

Ledwin smiled sarcastically.

But no matter what, he has now accomplished a great feat that his former "cousin" would never be able to achieve in his entire life.

Once this southern expedition is completed, no one will dare to question his kingship anymore.

The army entered the territory of Kantadar and accepted the surrender of the new king of the south. He was worthy of the ancestors of the Drakmar family and the dragon crown on his head.
Lelia.

Time will prove that I am more worthy of being king than he is.
Ledwin closed his eyes, feeling a little regretful that his old friend could not witness this moment.

But soon, he put aside the distant memories, and countless ways to suppress the eastern nobles emerged in his mind.

With the victory of this battle and the support of a large number of emerging lords, he had more capital to control the Osdor family.

No matter how many tricks the fox has, it can never beat the trend of God's help.
Ledwin did not stay at the mountain pass for too long. He left the post to the Grayshan Valley army led by Trosa to guard it.

After a short rest, he immediately led the royal army to cross the mountain pass in a mighty manner, all the way south to Wusatoling, and still entered an uninhabited area.

The army soon arrived at the majestic royal city of Kantadar and set up camp outside the city.

Ledwin sat firmly in the military tent and met the messenger sent by Casso.

The person who came to the audience was the prime minister of Kantardar.

But Ledwin was not polite and directly ordered Casso to go out of the city in person to attend the alliance.

Watching the old prime minister leave angrily, Ledwin stroked his beard without any sign of urgency.

The other party gave up the mountain pass, which was a great show of sincerity. However, if he wanted to fight a bloody battle with Aberle's army to save the crown on his head, the price was far from enough.

He didn't want to sacrifice his own army and the blood of the Orland people, only to be tricked by this immature boy into doing something like "driving a tiger to devour a wolf".

Time and leverage were on Orland's side, and before Aberle's army arrived, he believed that the little king would once again succumb to the cruel reality.

While still waiting for Casso to come, the next day, Ledwin suddenly heard that Count Thornflower and Count Rahman had brought many lords to the army to ask for a meeting.

He was somewhat surprised. He had just sent out Pegasus messengers to issue the order to assemble, but how come these ministers arrived faster than Pegasus left? Unless, these people happened to be halfway on the way before the messenger set out.

Elifer is an important force guarding the security of the eastern side of the army heading south. Earl Rahman should also be expanding in the west of Kantadar with Wester's army.

Ledwin frowned and raised his hand to summon the ministers. He just hoped that the situation in the rear would not change at this time.
Southwest of Usato territory.

Having just captured another important town in the royal territory that was loyal to Aviout, the army led by the Duke seemed to be very close to the royal city as seen on the map.

But Abel was in the tent, with no trace of joy on his face.

"Did you see it with your own eyes?" He asked the spy repeatedly in a stern voice.

"It's the black dragon emblem of Orland. There's no doubt about it." The spy lowered his head and replied in a deep voice, "Nearly 20,000 northern troops have entered the royal territory. Some people have seen flying dragons. It's possible that the King of Orland is leading the army in person."

Abel, who felt that he was already one step away from the throne, heard the words and gritted his teeth in anger, "Caso, you little bastard!" He knew very well that even with a large army he could not enter the pass, and had to take a detour to attack the royal territory. There was only one possibility for the 20,000 Orland people to appear outside the royal city.

".He betrayed his country and colluded with Orland. My brother should have strangled this bastard to death in his cradle! If he attacks the royal city one day, I will cut him into pieces with my own hands!"

Hearing the Duke's gnashing of teeth, the Shannan lords and generals sitting below fell silent, looking at each other, and some couldn't help but murmur in their hearts.
It sounds as if you would spare His Highness Kaso's life if we could break into the royal city.

Although everyone knew that His Majesty Aviut and many princes and nobles were not killed by the Duke, it didn't matter. Leading troops to march into the capital was essentially the same as regicide and seizing power. The Duke of Aberle and Prince Casso had already been fighting to the death.

But in fact, allowing the Uriah people to massacre the royal territory and plunder at will to pay for the military pay is the same as colluding with the Orland people to enter the pass.

"Sir, shall we continue the attack?" asked a general.

Abel slowly suppressed his anger and closed his eyes in meditation.

In the face of such a sudden change, of course, we must act with speed and urgency.

But my family knows their own affairs.

Although he claimed to have returned with an army of 100,000 from the Eastern Expedition, in reality, of the 120,000 troops assembled before the war between the kingdom and Serion, more than 30,000 were from Kantardar and Uriah who fell under the city of Rolandar.

Afterwards, the strange realm in which the evil city swallowed up the news of the king and his ministers also caused nearly 30,000 elite Kantadars to disappear without a trace, with no idea whether they were alive or dead.

He seized the opportunity to hastily pull back 60,000 troops from the country, but halfway through, nearly 10,000 troops from various lords broke away from the army and returned home because they were dissatisfied with him.

Among the 50,000 people today, nearly 20,000 are the Uriah cavalry who were extremely difficult to control without the help of the tribal khans.

If they had not been promised the freedom to plunder the rich territory of Usato as a reward, these Ulias would have run back to the southern grasslands to seize power.

Now the only force that truly obeys his command is the 30,000 troops around him.

It was obvious that their army had been fighting for a long time, while the Orlando people and that kid Casso were now well-rested and waiting for them to tire themselves out.

Thirty thousand versus more than twenty thousand, such a scale is far from being able to form an absolute advantage in military strength.

And if Casso really let the Orland people in to garrison the royal city, facing the fortified city, it would be even more impossible for him to win, and he would need the power of the Uriah people.

But it is not enough. The Orlanders have already entered the royal territory, and there is no guarantee how many troops are left behind.

After thinking hard for a long time, he said bitterly: "Wait a few more days, and send someone to urge the Uriah army leader behind to catch up as soon as possible.

Tell them that if I lose, they will have to spit back everything they have snatched, and Ka Suo will not let them go."

After disbanding the army, Abel immediately ordered his attendants to bring paper and pen and wrote a secret letter himself.

A letter to Count Falcon, leader of the western nobility.

The letter denounced the false king Casso's treason and the harm of colluding with the Orland army, and promised the Falcon family a large tract of territory.

Helplessly, he now had to hold his nose and speak nicely to the western nobles who had been slow to take sides.

Aberle believed that once the Falcon family knew that Casso was in cahoots with the North, they would never stand idly by.

It was heard that the Orlanders had seized a lot of rich land in the northwest, and that maritime and land trade would definitely be affected. The Falcon family would no longer tolerate the monarch of Kantadar being controlled by the Orlanders in the future.

Thinking of this, Abel felt a little relieved.

He knew that with the wealth of the western territories, especially the southwest, it would not be surprising even if they raised tens of thousands of troops. As long as he had Falcon's support, his chances of winning would still be huge. Even if he didn't come to help him, if Orland invested a large number of troops in the Kingdom of Usato, the coalition forces in the west of Falcon would be able to launch a counterattack while the rear of its front line was empty.

After writing the earnest letter, Aberle asked his attendants to ride the Manticore to Western Port at night, and then he wrote another letter.

This second letter had to be delivered by a spy to the Orlando army entering the pass.

Regardless of whether the leader was the old dragon in the north, he promised that if the other party withdrew from the kingdom, he would cede the entire north to Orland with Mount Usato as the boundary when he ascended the throne.

Bluffing empty words may not impress the other party at all, but Aberle can't think of any other way at the moment.

The camp of King Orlando's army.

He followed the feudal lord and the nobles and left Redwin's military tent.

Leon walked through the countless red-robed and silver-armored king's guards and left with everyone else.

He looked around at the endless barracks of Wang’s army and sighed silently in his heart.

It cannot be said that this trip was in vain, but it did leave him disappointed.

In fact, halfway through the journey, everyone learned from General Trosa that the king had already led his army into the mountain pass and arrived at the city of Kantadar. Everyone understood that the advice to withdraw troops and prepare for war to resist the disaster in the east was destined to be unacceptable to the king.

Now we have learned from His Majesty Redwin that the new King of Kantadar is willing to borrow troops from the north to resist the rebels on the condition of surrendering to Orland, so the situation will not be shaken.

They knew that if it were them, they would not sit idly by and watch this once-in-a-millennium opportunity.

This means that Orland will become the overlord of the Western Continent in this generation, and no king will give up this opportunity.

"Fortunately, His Majesty is willing to send people to the east to investigate the situation. If the kingdom can end the war in Kantadar as soon as possible, it may not be too late to look back then. No matter how big the problem is, it is useless for just a few of us to worry about it." Elifer patted Leon's shoulder and comforted him to prevent the young man from being too angry about the king's indifferent attitude.

Leon glanced sideways and said sincerely to his lord: "Thank you for your trust and help, Lord Elliver, you are right, we have tried our best."

His gratitude to the Lord of Thorns came from the bottom of his heart.

Whether it was to Count Rahman, his family allies, or even the king, Elliver claimed that the disaster that was happening was the result of intelligence he had gathered in the east.

He did not tell the truth. In fact, it was just his one-sided statement as a newly promoted lord.

This may be to increase the credibility of the intelligence in front of the nobles and the king.

But it also means that Elifer trusts himself without reservation.

Leon turned around and looked at the king's tent behind him and shook his head.

Unfortunately, Ledwin would not give such trust to their warning at this time.

Not only did they not take the so-called disaster in the east too seriously.

Ledwin also issued an edict to everyone in person, requiring all lords who were participating in the southern expedition to dispatch troops and assemble under the command of General Trosa outside the mountain pass in the north of Usato.

The army of the dead is clearly about to sweep across the earth.

But among thousands of living people, they had to kill each other first.

Leon really couldn't laugh at this ironic situation.

Because he couldn't hide from it.

According to the king's mobilization decree, a baron like himself, according to military obligations, must at least provide a company of 100 soldiers to follow Earl Elliver's army and join the war that is likely to break out in the territory of Usato.

(End of this chapter)