Throne of the North.

Chapter 567 The Eternal Interest: The Massacre of Papal Refugees
The division of profits from the lands of the Kingdom of Carlos by the imperial nobles has led to the current chaotic state of the Kingdom of Carlos.

Traitors, military dictatorships, political maneuvering, and greed all permeated that small land.

In reality, the chaos in the kingdom's lands extends far beyond this, as it involves much more distant places, such as the Kingdom of Sera.

Ryan controls the northern lands, so he is naturally well aware of what has happened in the Kingdom of Sera over the past few months.

Just after King Carlos demanded that the four Carlos bloodlines of the Kingdom of Sera pledge allegiance to him as king, an internal strife broke out within the Kingdom of Sera.

Large numbers of noble armies began to rebel against King Sera's authority, emboldened by the presence of King Carlos.

Of course, the civil unrest did not break out because of this. Although the nobles' armies resisted, they dared not start a war because they were at a disadvantage in terms of military strength.

It was the Dawn Church that truly ignited the internal strife.

The Dawn Church in the Kingdom of Sera has been leaderless for a long time because several bishops and archbishops sent by the papacy to oversee the clergy died on their way there.

Is the lack of a leader a good thing for the Papacy? Ryan doesn't think so, because the corrupt clergy in the Kingdom of Sera are no longer restrained and are plundering wealth with unbridled abandon.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Sera gave them the best way to make money: taxes.

The king had no right to interfere with the taxes levied on the Lord of Dawn, and the papacy of the Kingdom of Sera, running free as it pleased, naturally became increasingly audacious.

They still revered the king's authority, but they had been familiar with some of the nobles' territories for many years.

These nobles were those of Carlos bloodline. Before the Kingdom of Sera appeared, the clergy of the Dawn Church were already lording it over their territories. After the Kingdom of Sera appeared, it gave the Church the power to collect taxes from the Dawn Church, and these clergy became even more unscrupulous.

So... that's just how unpredictable things are.

Who could have imagined that within the Kingdom of Sera, the first to rebel against the Dawn Church would be a noble of the Carlos bloodline?

Grand Duke Carlos, Earl Olsen, and two other nobles of Carlos blood declared a trial and expulsion of the Dawn Church, as they were now the royal family of the Kingdom of Carlos.

The royal family of the Kingdom of Carlos stood on the side of the Flor Empire and opposed the Dawn Church. So the Carlos bloodline of the Kingdom of Sera, whose armies had been fighting against the authority of the King of Sera, suddenly turned their attention to surrounding the churches of the Dawn Church.

This turn of events left the other nobles of the Kingdom of Sera completely baffled, and even Ryan was surprised for quite some time.

"A few years ago, when the area south of Unicorn Fortress was still a noble territory with its own sovereignty, and when the royal family of the Kingdom of Sera was still Grand Duke McCreynolds, who could have imagined that the four great noble territories of the devout Dawn believers Carlos would become enemies of the Dawn Church?"

Is this the allure of politics?

Ryan waited on Rhinoceros Horn Mountain for the civil war in the Kingdom of Sera to end.

As expected, over 70% of the priests of the Dawn Church in the Kingdom of Sera were expelled from the kingdom. They were driven out of the kingdom and driven to the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sera, south of the Gerald noble territory, to that wild plain filled with herds of beasts. If nothing unexpected happens, they will slink south from that grassland back into the embrace of Dawn.

As for the Kingdom of Sera, there were still 30% of the clergy of the Dawn Church remaining. Their churches did not belong to the territory of the nobles of the Carlos bloodline, and some of them were hiding in the churches, trembling with fear.

Immediately afterwards, the real internal strife broke out in the Kingdom of Sera.

The Dawn Church, from the sacred mountain in the south, issued an order, sternly rebuking the Kingdom of Sera. His Holiness the Pope personally spoke with King McCrenos, questioning whether the Kingdom of Sera had betrayed the Dawn Church and whether it was prepared to face divine punishment.

Everyone fears divine punishment. King Sera, the legendary "Wind Emperor," humbly declared that the Kingdom of Sera would forever remain loyal to the glory of the Lord of Dawn. As for what happened within the Kingdom of Sera, it was absolutely the private act of the Carlos royal bloodline.

The Pope once again questioned the King about why he hadn't stopped the traitors of Dawn, those shameless betrayers.

The king stated that when King Olsen became a member of the Carlos Kingdom, four great nobles within the Kingdom of Sera had already become the royal family of Carlos.

As king, he could not declare war on the royal family of Carlos without first negotiating with King Olsen.

Since there is equality between kings, King Sera was unable to punish the royal bloodline of Carlos.

In reality... this was a statement made by Ryan and King Sera after discussion. They stood by and watched as those of Carlos bloodline expelled the clergy of the Papacy, and did not punish the nobles of Carlos bloodline afterward.

There are no explicit rules governing the king's reasons for speaking to the papacy, but when the king uses them as reasons, no one can refute them, and everyone praises King Sera for adhering to the ancient etiquette of the nobles.

What happened after that?

His Holiness the Pope of the Holy Mountain declared the betrayal of the Carlos bloodline, the hypocrisy of the Carlos Kingdom, and the illegitimacy of its founding.

When Ryan received the news, he was almost numb and couldn't stop laughing for most of the day.

Nearly a century ago, Kaan Diaz, as Carlos's son-in-law, established the Kingdom of Carlos. It was the Dawn Church that personally helped him resolve all the doubts and opposition in the southern lands.

Now, the Dawn Church has personally taken action, producing countless pieces of evidence to prove that the Kingdom of Carlos was not legitimately founded. They possess all the favorable and unfavorable evidence about the Kingdom of Carlos over the past century.

"This is the political struggle under the power structure."

Ryan shook his head helplessly at Rhinoceros Horn Mountain; all of this was just part of the war between the Empire and the Papacy.

The Empire crowned King Olsen Carlos, but the Dawn Church immediately produced all sorts of evidence to prove that the so-called king, and even the Kingdom of Carlos, should not exist or should not have been established!

With such a swift maneuvering, even the nobles of the Kingdom of Carlos themselves probably couldn't keep up.

A few months ago, they were citizens of the kingdom, the most devout believers of the Lord of Dawn, and the most trusted lackeys of the Papacy.

Months later, they became traitors to the Lord of Dawn, targets of the Holy See's relentless pursuit of eradication, and even lost their own kingdom and their banners.

All of this happened in just half a winter.

This also reflects the nobles' fear of epochal changes.

If times hadn't changed and the world hadn't undergone tremendous transformations, who could have imagined that such a vast kingdom would have crumbled and even had its titles stripped away?
Who could have imagined that the two sides, who were originally friendly, would suddenly become enemies and fight to the death?
Who could have imagined that the death of a nobleman was used to prove his loyalty to the king, and that this led to the prosperity of one large group of nobles and the decline of another?

This was all a result of the Empire's destruction of the Kingdom of Carlos, which made the whole world see that the world was no longer the world it was before the interdimensional war between the gods.

Times have changed, and everyone is vying to cross the river.

When the Dawn Church judged that the Kingdom of Carlos should not exist and declared the Carlos bloodline to be heretical, the nobles on the Dawn Church's side naturally accepted this result.

For example, the royal family of the Kingdom of Sera.

They were still followers of the Dawn, and almost on the same day the Pope pronounced the verdict, the King ordered that Crown Prince Otto McCreynolds lead the Dawn Church fanatics inside Unicorn Fortress to attack the noble territory of the Carlos bloodline.

He did not deploy the Griffin Legion because this was a war of faith, and it should be judged by the followers of the Dawn.

The real reason was that Ryan and King Sera were worried that the deployment of the Griffin Legion would end the civil war too quickly, thus thwarting their objectives. In any case, the Papacy was currently extremely busy in the south, and the only remaining Dawn Kingdom in the north, the Kingdom of Sera, only needed to show its stance.

Even the Crown Prince has been sent out to fight against the traitors of Dawn. What could be more sincere than this?
The emperor of the empire would certainly not abandon his precious friend, King Carlos. The Papacy declared that the Carlos bloodline was a traitor, and Emperor Flor immediately followed suit. The empire's nobles would not neglect their allies, and the empire's army would not stand idly by while its allies were embroiled in a protracted war.

His Majesty the Emperor has issued the order to the North Wind Province.

That's right, Baron Ryan, who once participated in the founding war of the Kingdom of Sera and helped the Sera royal family command the army to cripple the noble Carlos, has once again been entrusted with a critical mission.

This time, his goal is to fight for Carlos.

"Politics under the power structure is so wonderful."

With Avril's help, Ryan got dressed and slowly walked down Rhinoceros Horn Mountain.

There are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.

In just three months, Ryan gained a profound understanding of this statement.

At the foot of Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, on the first day of April, thousands of elite knights of the Buck Legion were ready to go. Ryan mounted his horse, and the mighty army marched toward the North Wind Road.

The Northwind Road brought convenience to the North, and Baron Ryan, following the will of Emperor Flor, helped the Light fight against the Dawn.

Within a day, Ryan had reached the eastern border of the Kingdom of Andara and then entered the territory of the Gerald noble family.

"Mr. Kemon, it's been a long time."

Ryan smiled and spoke to Clement Gerald, the eldest son of Earl of Dark Eyes, who was standing opposite him to greet him.

The self-proclaimed mature Kemon puffed out his chest, but facing thousands of Bucks Legion knights, his confidence seemed somewhat weak.

“I am acting on His Majesty the Emperor’s orders to help Grand Duke Carlos and his men fight against the Dawn Cultists in Unicorn Fortress. Come with us, Kmon.”

"You've grown up, and you should experience real war."

Kemon was tempted, but still said with dissatisfaction:
“Mr. Ryan, I have experienced war.”

"Oh? You mean the war against the orcs under your teacher's protection? Or the war that was defeated by food shortages?"

Ryan laughed, and Kemon blushed slightly; it seemed he wasn't mature enough yet.

In Ryan's army, a new banner belonging to Gerald has appeared. The romantic and savage Gerald noble family seems to have returned to the time before the war.

Why "seems"? Because Ryan did discover the changes in Gerald's noble territory.

"Father allows slaves to rise to the third class of commoners after hard work and own their own houses. If they work hard enough, they can become second class commoners and be eligible to marry commoner daughters. If they can become first class commoners, they can own their own piece of land."

This was Ryan's suggestion, but it wasn't entirely Ryan's suggestion. For example, Ryan never mentioned this first, second, and third class division.

However, it is clear that, as a true native, Count Gerald did a more meticulous job than Ryan, and was more suited to ruling this noble territory.

Ryan is moving too fast. If his people were not taken from another world and had experienced the apocalypse and the destruction of their systems, they would not so easily accept his various...modern rule in the Frozen Territory.

"Above the first class of citizens are the knight's squires, who are qualified to own slaves. When a knight obeys the lord's will, these knight's squires will bring their slaves to form the knight's squire army."

Ryan remained silent for a long time after hearing this.

"A very good system."

His assessment stemmed from a genuine belief that Count Gerald, with his dark eyes, was truly suited to be a reformer. Under such a system, coupled with the considerable wealth Gerald still possessed, it would likely allow the Gerald noble lords to catch up with other great noble families very quickly.

After a night's rest, the army advanced again the next day, and the Bucks once again entered the southern plains of Gerald's noble territory.

As the snow melted and the land became damp, the herds of water buffaloes watched the imposing human army. Memories that hadn't completely faded flooded their minds, and the next moment they thundered away, fleeing the area.

They were terrified, and it took them a year to recover.

The frantic flight of the buffaloes exposed the open space of the land, allowing Ryan to spot the massive caravan in the distance.

A blood-red eagle swooped down from the sky and landed beside Ryan. It remained in the air, acting as a compass to locate the team.

Beside him, Kemon was about to ask Ryan why he was here when he was supposed to be helping the Carlos bloodline, but he was stopped by the knight, Foul, who was standing next to him.

"teacher?"

Kemon was puzzled. His teacher seemed very nervous, as if telling him that he shouldn't have come here.

"Knight Fu'er, is it? Being so timid and hesitant, you can't become a Sky Knight. Gerald has Lord Moonlight as his teacher, so you shouldn't be so weak as Kemon's teacher."

"Perhaps that gentleman also commented on you, saying that you never finish what you start?"

Ryan smiled and said to Sir Foul, then grabbed Kmon's hand and pointed it forward.

"Do you know who they are? They are the priests, priests, missionaries, and knights of the Holy Light of the Dawn Church, driven out by the bloodline of Carlos, within the Kingdom of Sera."

"These people have been driven away for a month, and they've only just slowly made their way here. If they don't die, who will?"

After Ryan finished speaking, he grabbed Kemon's hand and slapped the reins downwards.

"attack!!!"

Ryan took the lead, and Kmon, who was being held by him, turned pale and followed the baron as they charged into the army of tens of thousands.

"Mr. Kemon, this is true war participation!"

Ryan raised his knight's longsword high and beheaded a Holy Knight. Blood gushed out like a pillar, soaking Kemon's body. The scalding blood made the earl's heir's blood boil, and he hacked wildly.

What consequences will these murdered clergy members bring?

Ryan was filled with anticipation.

(End of this chapter)