Throne of the North.

Chapter 575 Knight's Blitz (Part 3)

In just three days, with less than ten hours of rest, Ryan's extraordinary legion swiftly routed four noble armies that were heading from the south to the Kingdom of Carlos.

……

"Three days, just three days! How could he possibly defeat so many of you at once?!"

Aside from the first day, on the second day, messengers began flying everywhere, and the nobles roared in disbelief, some even wondering if there was some internal strife and infighting among them.

“Ghosts, those Imperial Knights are like ghosts, moving through our land. They come and go without a trace, always appearing behind us, giving us no chance to fight back.”

Some nobles were filled with fear and dread, and their incoherent ramblings provoked the anger of the other nobles.

"They appeared precisely behind us. Why is that? There's a traitor among us!"

The guess was somewhat plausible, but the result was that the nobles began to suspect each other. The numerous failures of the surprise attack caused them heavy losses, and now they saw everyone as a spy.

"We have already suffered heavy losses. Are we going to use our own army to harm others?"

Some nobles managed to restore some trust among the nobles, while others expressed their doubts:

"Could he be a nobleman from the Count (Grand Duke)'s domain?"

The southern lands were not entirely harmonious and peaceful either; there were many conflicts among the nobles. Now that they had suffered heavy losses, it was natural for them to suspect their enemies and rivals.

"Could it be the Kingdom of Lausanne?"

Some nobles suspected that because the Kingdom of Lausanne had been a powerful noble family in the southern lands for a century, the influx of nobles from the north had affected the Kingdom of Lausanne's interests in the southern lands.

Their conflicts have persisted for over a century, so such suspicions are certainly valid.

However, half a day later, before the nobles could decide who to question, they heard news from afar.

"The Kingdom of Lausanne's 150,000-strong army was defeated by the Imperial army, and even His Highness Maxwell Lausanne was captured by those damned Imperials!"

The nobles were shocked when they heard the news. The Kingdom of Lausanne was still very powerful, and even the prince had been captured.

At this moment, they also lost their reason and confidence to question the Kingdom of Lausanne.

Along with it, the little courage they had left also vanished.

"How could this be? The army of the Kingdom of Lausanne is over a hundred miles away from the allied forces of the nobles under Grand Duke Haywood, yet they appeared there in just half a day?"

They were shocked and puzzled. Even cavalry... couldn't possibly be this fast. Would a road appear for them to walk on as long as they ran?
The same problem also befell a distinguished prince.

"Weren't you still behind Duke Haywood's army yesterday?"

Maxwell Lausanne stared in shock at Ryan, who was being helped by knights to remove his armor. Slowly, blood covered the ground beneath his feet, spreading all the way to the prince's feet.

He couldn't help but take a few steps back to avoid stepping on the blood. Seeing the blood reminded Maxwell of how the enemy had slaughtered everyone not long ago. Of his 150,000 troops, only 50,000 were slaves, yet they had been utterly crushed by this imperial cavalry. They had only resisted for half an hour before succumbing to the sharp arrows. With each cavalry charge, the army couldn't even protect him, the prince.

Was he the only one captured? No, not far away, a Holy Knight was tightly bound. The latter was quite sensible; after losing the noble's war game and being captured, he didn't think about struggling to escape, but only asked Brand to loosen the chains.

Flames rose from his palms as Ryan heated the water in the iron basin to a boiling point, then began wiping the bloodstains off his body. Thousands of knights were doing the same thing. On the outskirts of the army were hundreds of thousands of troops from the Kingdom of Lausanne. They watched in fear as the extraordinary legion, which had already removed its armor and wiped its bodies and warhorses, did not have the slightest intention of taking this opportunity to launch an attack.

One reason was that they were terrified, and another, of course, was that His Highness the Prince had already been captured.

Ryan, shirtless, poured the scalding water over himself, then turned around and looked at the prince of Lausanne while putting on his baron's robes.

Maxwell is not the crown prince. The crown prince would naturally remain in the kingdom to wait for the throne. Maxwell is the second son. In the ancient tradition of the Kingdom of Lausanne, he has the right to become the king's most loyal supporter and the future Grand Marshal of the Empire.

Just like the younger brother of the current King of Lausanne, he can command the army assembled by the nobles.

"Yesterday? Your Highness, you said it yourself, yesterday. That was more than ten hours ago. Isn't it only right that we're here?"

Is this to be expected? Maxwell was puzzled. Is this to be expected? He had been gathering troops from the Kingdom of Lausanne for five or six days and still couldn't catch up to even a tenth of Ryan's speed.

"You don't understand, and that's why you failed."

As Ryan spoke, he used a linen cloth soaked in hot water to wipe the back of his warhorse, Winter, without turning his head, and said:

"So, Your Highness, do you intend to write a declaration of defeat, or do you intend to prove your innocence with your death and have the Kingdom of Lausanne send an even stronger army to avenge the Empire?"

In the war games of nobles, if the knight leader is captured, it's a matter of ransom; but if the noble monarch is captured, then no matter how much fighting power they have left, the war can be declared over.

Although Maxwell was not the crown prince, his status was not low, and he was qualified to be the one for whom the kingdom had to declare defeat in the war because he was captured.

"You despicable and shameless sneak attack us!"

Maxwell said angrily that he was unwilling to admit his failure, as it would be a stain on his life, but he absolutely could not die; that was too terrifying.

"A sneak attack? As a person of noble blood, Your Highness, you must have known of my existence for days, right? You mean I spent several days sneaking up on your army, and then wiped it out in a matter of minutes?"

Maxwell clenched his fist, while on the other side, Ryan, with the help of his attendants, had already put on his cleaned mithril armor again. That's how convenient superhuman power is; as his blood boiled, the scorching power directly evaporated all the moisture.

Now fully dressed, Ryan no longer had that blindingly bright gleam. His mithril armor had been worn down considerably in the many battles, and perhaps it was time to find a new one.

Thinking of this, Ryan looked at Maxwell.

"What do you want to do? The noble bloodline of the Lausanne royal family will never compromise easily."

The noble prince spoke with a fierce but weak voice, for the imperial baron who had almost directly pierced through his army had left him with a great psychological shadow.

"Not going to compromise easily? How about I beat you up, then hang you on a cross and expose you to the scorching sun for three days and three nights, and finally take you down and rub salt into your wounds so that maggots can burrow into your flesh, then you'll compromise?"

“I think at that time, none of the nobles of the Kingdom of Lausanne, including your father, will blame you for your compromise.”

"do not want!"

Maxwell turned pale just imagining the maggots in his mind.

"During the Northern Crisis a century ago, the Kingdom of Lausanne compromised on many interests, but it must have also gained a great deal of wealth. I wonder if there is any suitable armor among them. As Your Highness has seen, my mithril armor is about to be retired due to the siege of your knights."

At this point, the prince became even more frightened. He never imagined that his capture and the defeat of his dozens of knights would be accomplished through this nobleman's frenzied fighting.

The Holy Knight was defeated, and before that, he didn't even have a chance to rescue him.

Ryan picked up a quill pen and began to write; it was even from the Kingdom of Lausanne, including His Majesty's fine paper.

"As war reparations from the Empire to the Kingdom of Lausanne, a set of legendary armor isn't too much to ask, is it?"

Maxwell had already compromised during Ryan's description of the scene, and upon hearing Ryan's words, he subconsciously nodded, intending to say it wasn't unreasonable. But little did he know that Ryan was only just beginning.

"The war between the vast kingdoms and empires was extremely brutal, with countless deaths and injuries. It is reasonable for the reparations for the defeat to be two million gold coins."

"The ancient royal family of Lausanne has always stood at the pinnacle of the Norris continent. The occasional defeats they suffer, even if it is only a matter of ten million catties of grain, are not enough to make the kingdom feel the pain."

"Even if a person of noble blood bows his head, he should have 100,000 livestock supporting his back."

"The nobles who serve the truth of the dawn fight for the dawn and also fail because of the dawn. The devout faith given to the great Lord of the Dawn, and the immortal God of Light, can still complete the baptism and purification of the soul."

"The ancient loyalty of the land will help the bloodline of the kingdom bear all the losses, and the two thousand weavers and artisans will wash away the stains on the bloodline of the kingdom."

"Hmm... what else?"

Ryan was thinking, but every word he said made Maxwell's face grow increasingly grim.

"You're asking for too much; you shouldn't be paying such a large sum in compensation."

"Oh? You think you're not worth that much?"

Ryan's eyes lit up after he finished speaking, and he continued writing:

"His Highness the 32nd Military Prince of the Kingdom of Lausanne possesses extraordinary abilities that would barely keep him from collapsing even with ten thousand oak trees."

The Kingdom of Lausanne is also rich in oak trees, and a third of its land is near the sea. It is the southwesternmost kingdom on the continent of Norris.

"The honor of the kingdom's army is built upon the dignity of the royal family, even in defeat..."

"enough!"

Maxwell said through gritted teeth, "That's too much, and we'll have to haggle."

“No, this is not much at all, Your Highness Maxwell Lausanne.”

"This treaty, signed after the defeat in the war, will allow the Kingdom of Lausanne to gain even more."

Maxwell stared wide-eyed at Ryan in disbelief. "You asked for so much and you still say the Kingdom of Lausanne will get something?"
We've already lost so much money.

"This contract can save the Kingdom of Lausanne from participating in the upcoming war. Isn't it precious enough?"

Ryan laughed and said to the prince:

"Your Highness doesn't think the war is over yet, does he?"

"The outcome between the Empire and the Papacy is still undecided, and the war will continue. At the request of the Dawn Papacy, the nobles of the southern lands will continuously send troops and supplies to the front lines."

"Let me think, how many gold coins would we need each year? How many livestock? How many slaves... It's terrifying."

"Now, the Kingdom of Lausanne only needs to pay this much to avoid the upcoming large-scale war. You have already signed a contract of surrender, which is the tradition and rule of the nobility, and no one can break it."

"Besides that, the only soldiers that the Kingdom of Lausanne can send out are soldiers composed of believers within the kingdom."

Maxwell looked at Lane in disbelief, then hesitated before saying:

"But it's the divine punishment of the royal city of Carlos..."

"You yourself said that it was divine punishment from the Kingdom of Carlos. The Kingdom of Carlos offended the Lord of Dawn, what does that have to do with the Empire?"

"Only the God of Light could punish the Empire, but He did not. He still favors the Empire that is fighting against the northern barbarians, doesn't He?"

"The Carlos royal family probably did something that displeased the gods, but that's their business. You know, the Kingdom of Carlos had previously sided with the Dawn Church."

“I now suspect that the divine punishment came down because the Dawn Church was no longer willing to protect them. Before that, the Dawn Church had been helping the Kingdom of Carlos deceive the great being by virtue of its faith in the Lord.”

Ryan's eyes lit up as he spoke, and he planned to tell His Majesty Emperor Flor about this possibility. As for why he had such a guess, it must be because of the help from the Kingdom of Lausanne.

"Really?"

Maxwell said, his eyes wide. He seemed to have... found a pretty good reason for himself.

The member of the royal family readily signed the agreement, even making two copies himself to ensure that the surrender document would not have any mishaps.

"So, congratulations, Your Highness, for helping the Kingdom of Lausanne avoid future wars."

"Thank you for the gift, Mr. Ryan."

Maxwell was free. He led his remaining troops back the way they came, eager to tell his father, the king, the good news.

Ryan had already mounted his horse and stood there watching the army of the Kingdom of Lausanne depart into the distance.

"From this moment on, the influence of divine punishment, which led nobles to scramble to return to the embrace of the Dawn Church, has been shattered, hasn't it?"

Not far from him, Kaz Clayton slowly approached.

“It’s actually possible.”

He is still shocked, but he still can't understand the outcome of these events.

"What do we do now? Should we go back to the Empire? Those nobles have surely been alerted, and it's impossible to regain our previous gains."

"Go back? It's not time yet. We haven't won the crucial battle."

Ryan shook his head. They had only managed to blitzkrieg a portion of the noble alliance. These nobles weren't even blasphemous nobles; they were quite weak. The Empire's true enemy was always the Dawn Church.

"We still need to win the war against the Papacy's army."

"But we've already been exposed. If that's the case, why didn't we just attack the Papacy's army of believers before?"

Kaz asked, puzzled, and Ryan gave him an answer.

"Because we don't know if the Vatican will produce a second Archbishop Doyle, do we?"

“Our exposure is to ensure… that a second Archbishop Doyle will appear.”

"Only after defeating the army of believers who brought divine punishment to the Kingdom of Carlos will the mission be considered complete."

(End of this chapter)