Throne of the North.

Chapter 163: The War of Faith
"This is blasphemy against the gods! This is a war without hesitation!"

"The Empire actually dared to blatantly violate the agreement of the Dawn's Glorious Witness and took the initiative to start a war. They even dared to kill my Lord's loyal servant, a distinguished cardinal!"

"They are blaspheming the gods! They are declaring war on the dawn of the entire world!"

"The Church respects the changes in the world and recognizes the lords who are below the fifth-class nobles and above the knights. However, the will of the gods warns that the so-called pioneers of light in the empire are absolute heretics! Heretics!!!"

"This is a war recognized by the gods. This is a war between the faith of the Dawn and heresy. Our great Lord of the Dawn will surely win, and the Church will surely take back the glory that belongs to the apostles of the gods!"

"The Son of God has been born. This is the will of the gods. He supports our war!"

"In the Kingdom of the Dawn, the Archangel has awakened. He will come and bring the glory of the Lord of the Dawn to punish the heretics within the empire! Columbus III has been deceived by heresy!"

It's strange that the lords of the nobles in any country of the Holy See seem to be unaware that the lords of the Empire are the so-called pioneers of light.

Perhaps they knew it, but the believers did not know that in the Pope's roar, they really believed that in the northern imperial land that was not illuminated by the light of the morning sun, a heretic that opposed the gods was really born.

"We need to reclaim the faith in that land!"

"The ancient Crusaders' banners will no longer be covered in dust. They will atone for their crimes!"

On the Holy Mountain, the Holy See openly launched a war with the Empire. The whole world was shocked. They didn't understand why the Holy See was so extreme.

"They have to."

Ryan, who was walking in Yinchuan County, said so, his eyes deep.

"The Dawn Church, the Lord of Dawn they serve, that god, hasn't performed any miracles in over a hundred years."

"The majesty of the Church has suffered an unimaginable blow in the past hundred years. Without the appearance of gods, the Church's significance is not so absolute. The war between the Empire and the Church is a representative example. Without the huge nourishment of the Empire, the Church has been on a downward spiral over the years."

"Even outside of the Empire, those kingdoms and duchies have voices opposing the Church and want to expel the Church from their territories. I don't know how much gold coins those clergy have taken in the name of the gods every year."

"They must use war and victory to make the people of this world believe in the greatness of the Dawn again."

"The Son? The Archangel?"

Ryan smiled.

However, this matter should not have much to do with him. When he returned to the North, what he had to face most was the severe winter in the North. Last year's blizzard has not completely disappeared until now. Many people must have frozen to death or starved to death in the North.

"There seems to be a war going on here?"

As they went deeper into Yinchuan County, Shawkat looked around with a serious gaze. The slaves' eyes seemed to be glowing as they stared at their food transport team.

"War?"

"Indeed, it's a new year, and the unfinished war will continue this year."

There was coldness in Ryan's eyes. This was also his war.

As expected, Viscount Hogg appeared in front of Ryan again. This was Yinchuan County. Viscount Hogg controlled at least half of the land, not to mention all the land here. Moreover, the main roads would inevitably pass through the viscount's territory.

"Ryan, you're finally back."

Viscount Hogg looked at Ryan with a serious look. In this winter, he had completely regarded Ryan as his lifelong enemy. "Viscount Hogg, your choice may not be the right one."

Ryan looked at the viscount calmly. What he was talking about was certainly not the right or wrong of Viscount Hogg defecting to Count Weiss. After all, Viscount Hogg also wanted his family to have an extraordinary army.

What he calls right and wrong determines the outcome of the war.

"The results will prove us right or wrong."

After Viscount Hogg left a few words, he left with hundreds of majestic cavalry troops.

Next to him, Shawkat looked at Ryan in surprise, and even several mages in the carriage couldn't help but look sideways.

Ryan was very humble in the Imperial Capital, and even to the nobles he met along the way, he was more like a baron. But after arriving in the North, he seemed like a different person.

And just now, did he offend a viscount nobleman?
"Viscount Hogg, the bloodline of this viscount's family a hundred years ago should be traced back to the William royal family. That was the bloodline of a huge empire before the Pan-Plane War of Gods. The Hogg family is a descendant of the ancient William family."

"But within the empire, Viscount Hogg's family is not close to other nobles, or even to Earl William's family. After all, they are too far apart. Apart from the family tree, the only thing that connects them is interests."

"But since it's in the Beifeng Province, I'm afraid there's not much interest involved."

Shawkat said casually, but he didn't care about Viscount Hogg's connections in the aristocratic circle.

Among the nobles, as long as everyone took out the family tree and looked up it, they could more or less be said to be relatives of each other.

If everyone has it, then it means no one has it.

Looking at Yinchuan County's actions, Ryan's original idea of ​​taking the main road directly back to Lingdu County changed to taking a detour through Tieshan County.

Shawkat was wrong about one thing. Ryan was not just going up against a viscount noble, but a huge circle of aristocrats.

Walking on the only road and crossing mountains and ridges still made Shawkat, Grand Wizard McKen and others feel a little uncomfortable. Their speed inevitably slowed down, and they arrived at Viscount Walter's territory a few days later.

The vast plains have been planted with wheat seeds again. Winter has not yet passed and it is still snowing, but this is the environment in the north. Even if there is only a slight possibility, the crops must be planted.

"Baron Ryan, you are finally back."

The moment he saw Ryan, Viscount Walter's heart calmed down.

"You don't know that Yinchuan County started mobilizing for war before the God's Grace Festival last year. Viscount Hogg did this, so we in Tieshan County had no choice but to do the same. But if this is the case, our food reserves will be almost used up."

"But you also know that there will be fewer Chambers of Commerce coming to Beifeng Province this year, so we may not be able to buy so much food."

Viscount Walter looked grim. He had never imagined that the war would fall into failure prematurely because of food.

"What does Count Winter say?"

Ryan asked, for this question, the person Tieshan County should be looking for most is Earl Winter.

"The Earl said that there is no way to transport the food across Leiyun County. We can only find a way to transport the food through Longshan County, then enter Lingdu County, and then enter Tieshan County. But in this case, the consumption on the road will be an astronomical figure, and there is no guarantee that it will not be destroyed in the middle of the journey. You don't know that Viscount Hogg's cavalry has already started to move in Leiyun County."

"Their speed is much faster than that of the dragonblood warriors under Count Sauron."

(End of this chapter)