Throne of the North.

Chapter 457: The Emperor and the Great Pope of Light, the First Battle of the Chosen Dragon

With the gradual arrival of spring, the entire empire was like a lion awakening from its slumber. Ryan drove out of the frozen land and stood on a mountain, looking at the huge monster in the distant sky.

The powerful and extraordinary gargoyle army belonging to Count Pascal was flying in the sky. They held the Wonder Manor in the sky. A huge magic circle was imprinted on the wonder. This wonder belonging to the North Wind Province left this land in such a shocking way.

On the earth, countless civilians and slaves knelt on the ground, praying excitedly for the belief in light.

"Where is it going?"

Ryan marveled at Count Pascal's strength. He spent so much effort to move the wonder of light. He was afraid that His Majesty the Emperor would make a big move soon.

"It should be sent to the Imperial City. I know that some members of the royal family have begun to take charge of the Church of Light."

Viscount Hogg said that the Festival of Grace had passed and the arrival of spring made His Majesty the Emperor unable to wait any longer.

……

Imperial capital province.

This is the most extensive and prosperous province in the empire. The imperial capital is located here, which means that all the power of the empire is destined to be born here.

It used to be royal power, but now, His Majesty the Emperor in the imperial capital is gradually gaining control of divine power.

The integration of politics and religion, His Majesty Emperor Flor wants to make his authority unrivaled throughout the entire Norris continent. After the Divine Grace Festival, this honorable emperor has been preparing for this.

The arrival of the bright wonder in the North Wind Province will allow him to completely complete the unity of royal power and divine power.

For this purpose, he specially invited people from the Dawn Church to watch the ceremony.

"To celebrate the victory of the Empire over the evil orcs under the will of the great God of Light, I, the Emperor of Flor, will once again accept the oracle of the great and immortal light. I will lead the Empire to the eternity of light! The Emperor of Flor will become the believer closest to light!"

"The light has granted the emperor of the empire a precious oracle, and the emperor of the empire will repay the great being's devout faith."

"Orcs have threatened the human world for thousands of years. Every time an orc invades, it brings unimaginable disaster and destruction to the entire human world. But from now on, it will never happen again!"

"Under the leadership of the Empire, and relying solely on the Empire, we can defeat the evil orc army. Our powerful army can even prevent the orcs from appearing before the eyes of the people of the Empire!"

"The only chance those evil orcs have left before us is to become slaves!"

"We no longer need to fear the hideous faces of orcs!"

The emperor's will not only reverberates in the land of the empire, but also in all the kingdoms and noble territories in the southern lands.

His meaning was very simple. In the past, human civilization was led by the Church of Dawn. However, under the leadership of the Church, every full-scale invasion of orcs was a disaster for all human beings.

It is different now. Under the leadership of the Empire, the orcs cannot even invade across the Empire's borders. Under the Empire's protection, mankind will have eternal peace.

Even more, this is under the will of light, and the great being also favors the empire.

"The emperor of the Flor Empire should be the pope of light."

There will be a second Pope in this world.

This news undoubtedly swept across the entire southern land like a tornado. All the nobles looked in the direction of the empire in shock. They did not expect that the emperor of the Flor Empire would be so bold.

The power of the Dawn Church comes from faith. Strictly speaking, all the power in the hands of the Pope, all the power to command the nobles and direct mankind, comes from the great Lord of the Dawn, from mortals' faith in gods.

The Pope controls the way to heaven, just like the superstructure of the world, representing the nobles' flashy fantasies, while kings and nobles control the rule over mortals and are the foundation of everything.

But now, the Emperor of the Flor Empire is going to become the Pope. He is also the emperor with the strongest royal power in the world. He has to control both the upper level and the foundation at the same time.

Regardless of whether it succeeds or not, the first contradiction of this matter is that when the emperor of the empire has a foundation and faith, then is there any meaning for the Dawn Church to exist?

The emperor of the empire wants to turn the entire Church of Dawn into ashes from the root and make it disappear into history.

The Church of Light will become a substitute for the Church of Dawn, but it is no longer the Church of Dawn, and most importantly, it is no longer controlled by the current high-ranking clergy.

"Shameless, thief! You will never be recognized by the great Lord!"

"The holy light of the dawn will burn your soul, purify your body, and make you bear the Lord's punishment for eternity!"

A cardinal from the Dawn Church who was watching the ceremony started yelling at the emperor.

The emperor was very experienced and did not let the cardinal get too close to him. He looked at the guy with a sneer.

"Do you want to commit suicide and die in front of me? Are you going to use your Dawn Church's dirty tricks to slander the emperor of the empire, the apostle of light?"

This cardinal would naturally not commit suicide. Cardinals who had previously used suicide to frame the empire were rare in today's Dawn Church.

The rest of the people were greedy for power, wealth and glory. What they were fighting for with the emperor was power and the final right to interpret faith.

The cardinal didn't quite understand the ways of the imperial nobles, but he knew very well that the faith in the great being would not easily befall human beings.

"You will never be recognized by my Lord, Emperor of the Empire. You smell too much like a mortal. My Lord will not favor you."

"You also cannot use the divine essence brought by the blasphemer to deceive believers all over the world."

"cheat?"

Inside the imperial capital, the emperor laughed heartily.

"Besides you, the Dawn Church, is there anyone else who would deceive the nobles of the entire southern land?"

"I am the Emperor of Flor, the Grand Pope of Light. I will never deceive my people, nor will I deceive the believers of Light!"

"Faith? Favor?"

"The great being, the God of Light, will never favor any mortal, but He will definitely favor His faith."

The Emperor of the Empire looked at the Cardinal. If possible, he would have led his troops south and destroyed the Holy Mountain.

"You, the Dawn Church, fear the Lord of Dawn more than you respect him, so you have never figured it out over the years."

"Why can humans establish the Church of the Dawn? The Pope will become the mortal closest to a great being."

"Because faith born from human beings needs to be borne by human beings!"

“Only humans can bear the devout faith of human believers.”

"The Lord of Dawn needs a human to purify the power brought by humans for Him. It can be the Pope of Dawn or the Pope of Light."

“He will favor anyone who can bring Him the power of faith.”

"The Lord of Dawn will not favor the Pope just because he was born, and the God of Light will definitely favor Emperor Flor who can provide Him with countless faiths."

“I will become the most honorable existence in Norris!”

The emperor stood in the sky, with sunlight from all directions converging towards him like a whirlpool. The spectacular golden light and shadow in the clear sky shocked the tens of millions of people in the imperial capital province. Countless people knelt on the ground, looking at the distorted picture in the sky in awe.

Emperor Flor became the only one in the sky. He was full of heroism in his heart, and as a king he looked down upon the world. Now he had reached the limit of this height.

As for the other side, the cardinals of the Holy See, no, it can even be said that in the more distant southern world, on the Holy Mountain of Dawn, every clergyman, including the Pope, was staring at the direction of the empire.

They felt it, felt the power of faith, just like the divine power bestowed upon them by the great Lord of Dawn, exactly the same aura.

The empire's faith in light is concentrated on the empire's emperor.

The spectacular scene in the Imperial Province will continue until the arrival of the bright wonder in the North Wind Province.

……

"Can humans bear the power of faith that gave birth to humans?"

"It took the Empire a hundred years to come to the conclusion that it had reached since the Blasphemer..."

In the north, in the snow, Archbishop Adriana walked barefoot on the snow, surrounded by hundreds of believers who served her devoutly and reverently. Soon, the Archbishop stopped paying attention to the southern sky.

"All vile people will become vessels for our Lord. Only those who are truly pious can serve our Lord and enjoy eternity in heaven."

"Archbishop Adriana, we have to go back."

"Lord Ryan has sent news. We cannot stay here to help you. If the emperor finds out, Lord Ryan won't be able to explain."

The Northern war horses ran closer, and several sturdy men spoke loudly, and then began to call on others to leave.

"Every three months, we will deliver a batch of supplies here. If you establish a new base, please inform us in time. It will take a long time to gather supplies from the Andara Kingdom and transport them here."

In the frozen land, on the Rhino Horn Mountain, even the most remote province in the empire, the North Wind Province, which has gradually become detached from the empire, can still feel the tension brought about by the emperor's will.

The most direct thing is that Meyers' voice in the Northern Province has increased. The new round of war between the Empire and the Church will inevitably lead to an arms race, and the huge iron ore reserves in the Northern Province will become even more important.

Some nobles have already sold iron ore to more distant places through the Meyers family, bringing in enviable profits.

But on Rhino Horn Mountain, Ryan made a completely opposite choice.

"I plan to reduce the output of iron ore."

"Not only my territory, but yours as well."

"Baron Ryan, if we reduce production at this time, the nobles in the south will pay high prices to buy iron ingots from us. If we miss out, we will lose a lot of wealth."

Viscount Walter of Tieshan County was a little anxious. Tieshan County used to be one of the largest suppliers of metal mines to Earl Winter, and now there was such a good opportunity, no one wanted to miss it.

Ryan was relieved.

"Don't worry, the war won't come so soon, nor will it end so soon. Only when the war really comes, the nobles will understand what kind of weapons they really need."

"That includes us."

"If we want to earn wealth, first of all, we must gain the trust of the nobles. This trust comes from how much help we can provide to those nobles in the war."

"All we have to do is wait, wait for the response of the Church of Dawn. We need to know what kind of weapons the Church of Dawn has, and whether the weapons forged with our current technology can fight against them. If not, many people will die on the battlefield, but if they can, then we will be able to gain a lot of wealth."

"This is not a simple transaction. What we need is a steady and long-term development."

"The war in the south will not spread to the Northern Wind Province, so we have plenty of time to stock up. The more we stock up, the more wealth we will be able to gain."

These nobles didn't understand things like war economics. Ryan directly asked them to stop transporting iron ore resources to the nobles in the south.

"We already need to provide the Emperor Chosen with a large amount of metal ore. Even the richest mines cannot withstand excessive mining."

The emperor of the empire wants to be officially crowned as the Grand Pope of Light. If nothing unexpected happens, the day he becomes the Pope of Light will also mark the beginning of a new round of war between the empire and the Holy See.

Because this is the perfect time point. There is no need to worry about the threat of orcs in the north of the empire. The enemy will only exist in the south.

Faced with such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the honorable Emperor Flor would certainly not be able to hold back.

"The war will begin at the hands of the emperor."

With the momentum and prestige of defeating the orcs, the Empire is now qualified to overthrow the Vatican.

“I really want to go and see it.”

Ryan was curious. He was curious about the south of this world, the prosperity of the west coast, the elves of the woodlands, and the melting pot between humans and woodlands, the kingdom of the dwarves.

But for now he cannot leave the frozen land.

"I wonder how many surprises Nidhogg can bring me."

In another world, the emperor selector has been found.

However, it was not found by the bard Sven, but exposed by the elect himself.

No one knew when it started, but news of the emperor elect began to appear in the southern cities.

People began to discuss who the Chosen Emperor was, because many people who claimed to be the Chosen Dragon appeared around them.

but……

Roar--

The giant dragon spread its wings and flew in the sky, its fiery breath burning the sea of ​​clouds. From the hole in the clouds, the giant dragon monarch descended from the sky, stepped on the ruins of the city, and looked down at the humble ants at its feet.

"Where is the Chosen Dragon...?"

The giant dragon roared angrily, and its heartbeat could be heard in its chest. Some mysterious power made it certain that the Chosen Dragon was nearby.

Some people were pushed out by human slaves. These people used to call themselves the Chosen Dragons in order to gain benefits, but now they are trembling in fear and dare not move forward. However, it is useless as there are too many people around them and they cannot escape.

"Honorable dragon master, they, they are all chosen ones."

The slaves knelt on the ground in fear, and the dragon had already breathed out a breath of fire, burning those fake dragon choosers.

Terrifying screams and wails spread throughout the streets and alleys. The giant dragon rose into the air angrily, and then its dragon breath began to wantonly destroy the houses below.

"How dare you lie to me!"

The dragon was angry. Those people were fake. It could tell them apart. It did not feel the instinctive palpitations disappear. The Chosen Dragon was still alive.

The dragon wreaked havoc in the city for three full days until everything in sight was reduced to ruins and the farmland outside the city was burned to ashes. After the sound of its heartbeat in its chest faded, the dragon spread its wings and disappeared into the distant horizon.

In the ruins, the human slaves lingered on, and despair was spreading. It was not until a long time after they heard no more noise from outside that they dared to run out. However, looking at their hometown in ruins, no one could smile as if they had survived a disaster.

"The Chosen One will definitely kill the dragon. He will avenge us."

In a corner deep in the ruins, Fuan felt that his power had grown stronger. He heard many people calling out to him. Even if he could block out the voices, he could not stop them from ringing in his ears. His soul began to find it difficult to bear these increasing calls.

A majestic roar came from his heart, and everything became quiet. Fuan also opened his eyes at this time.

"damn it!"

Fuan screamed, ran to the side, lifted the stone that was pressing on the executioner, and struggled to pull him out.

However, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the rocks piled above his head began to collapse, and Fuan had to hold on to a pillar and keep himself on the ground.

It was not until the executioner woke up that the two of them finally climbed out of the ruins with great effort.

They looked around, and saw smoke everywhere after the fire was extinguished. Their strength was far beyond that of ordinary people, and even they almost couldn't climb out. It is conceivable how many people will be trapped to death underground in this world full of ruins.

"Save someone quickly."

Fuan shouted loudly, and the two began to rescue the human slaves who were calling out.

Outside the ruined city, the bard Sven also arrived here. He crossed a vast land and finally reached the area of ​​fifteen cities in the south.

Following Sven at this moment were hundreds of dark dragon warriors. Originally, the number was more than this. The dragon lord Drummond gave Sven three hundred dragon warriors, but along the way, due to the attack of the Bucks Legion, the number was only a little over a hundred.

"That Lord Rhinedart destroyed this city. It seems that the Dragon Chosen One is not here."

Sven talked to himself, mainly because the dragon warriors behind him couldn't speak and he was a little bored.

Sven rode his Northern warhorse towards the city. Seeing this terrifying army, the human slaves in the city, who were in grief, finally remembered the oppression of the Dragon Lord from the ancient legends, and looked at the dragon warriors in fear.

Sven ignored these wary and fearful humans, and instead locked onto Fuan and the other man who were busy in the ruins.

With the instinct of a bard, he could tell at a glance that the other person must have many stories.

Wonderful story.

At the same time, the Dragon Chosen One Fuan also raised his head and looked at Sven.

"It seems that I have found my target."

Sven murmured, hesitating whether to order the dragon warriors behind him to attack and capture Fuan.

But the next moment, more than a hundred dragon warriors behind him roared like wild beasts, and then swarmed towards Fuan.

There was a more powerful will that gave them orders.

"So, can you really monitor me?"

"so far so good……"

Sven narrowed his eyes slightly. The dragon lord Drummond really had the ability to observe with the help of dragon warriors. Fortunately, his previous actions did not reveal anything.

what--

On the other side, Fuan was furious because right in front of him, more than a dozen humans were torn apart easily. The sight of blood and flesh flying everywhere stimulated the Dragon Chosen One. He drew out the rusty sword and blood spilled instantly.

(End of this chapter)