Throne of the North.

Chapter 581 Forbidden Magic, The Knight Returns

When you can't win a war but still want to achieve victory, the best way is through guerrilla warfare.

However, Ryan's guerrilla warfare was a little different.

"A two-legged person can never outrun a four-legged horse. Remember, don't get too close to them; always keep a distance of about 300 meters!"

Ryan's smile, in the eyes of those priests, seemed like a demon, bringing despair.

The Flame Dragon Knights have completed their mission; now it's time for the Buck Legion to showcase their skills.

Under the Holy Judgment, there was no possibility of reversal. The tens of thousands of believers whose lives were sacrificed grew stronger and stronger, without fatigue, pain, or even easy death.

But they won't grow wings to fly, nor will they grow four legs to run faster than the extraordinary Northern warhorses.

They were in pursuit, but they couldn't catch up with the Bucks, nor could they inflict any casualties on the Cavaliers.

However, they could not stop. The bishops at the rear had not given the order to return. After all, the fate of these believer soldiers was already sealed, and the most important thing was whether they could gain merit before death.

And so Ryan witnessed the so-called "borrowing arrows with straw boats".

The only difference is that the one who borrowed the arrows was not a straw man, but a living believer of dawn.

The quivers on the knights' squires' backs were gradually becoming empty. Ryan did not intend to waste any more supplies, so he led the knights to keep running ahead of the believer army behind them. The distance between them remained ambiguous, but it caused many clergymen to vomit blood and faint.

They probably don't want to see that terrible outcome.

Unfortunately, they were able to see it; a few days were enough for these comatose clergymen to witness firsthand the silent collapse of each of God's followers before their very eyes.

Because Ryan had been gone for a few days and then returned to them.

The believers and soldiers who had been chasing them naturally returned to the original battlefield, to Archbishop Catherine's side.

"Ah, their vitality has reached its limit."

Ryan glanced back, then smiled at the clergy once more.

Behind him, the knights and squires drew their lances once again.

Upon witnessing this scene, the Holy Knights realized something and turned pale. As expected, Ryan gave the order to charge.

The thunderous charge of the cavalry caught Theodore off guard. He wanted to make a move, but the dragon in the sky revealed an even more cruel gaze. Clearly, if he made a move, the dragon's power would bring even more devastating destruction to the humans here.

Fortunately, the Flame Dragon Christman did not make things difficult for Theodore. During the attack, it forced the legendary ascetic to be driven out of the battlefield once again.

This place had nothing to do with him anymore, but the charge of the cavalry legion behind Ryan filled Archbishop Katherina with despair.

She dared not unleash the divine spell, Holy Judgment, because it would only bring about the same result as a few days ago.

But without the Holy Judgment, how could she possibly withstand Ryan's army?
Seeing the dense and terrifying army of knights charging in, the believers were naturally thrown into chaos once again. This time, Ryan's target was the archbishop. He didn't know how many powerful divine spells the archbishop still possessed, but the hundreds of Holy Light Knights guarding in front of her were clearly not qualified to stand in front of thousands of cavalry.

“Sir Anderson…you must fulfill your piety.”

Katherine spoke with a pale face, while the knights in front of her lowered their heads. They did not want to, but the archbishop's authority left them no right to refuse.

The Holy Knights of Light are the backbone of the Papacy, but they can never reach the higher levels of power.

As Katherine prayed solemnly, the holy light emanating from the archbishop's scepter in her hand deepened.

This time, the holy light did not fall directly from the sky, which means that it was not borrowed from the power of the Lord of Dawn, but a divine art that had been mastered by the clergy.

[Divine Art - Imperial Guard]

There are many archbishops in the Papacy, but they are not all the same. They are granted different divine arts according to their respective duties.

The divine spell that Archbishop Katherina was unleashing at that moment was a spell that only a small number of archbishops on the Holy Mountain could obtain.

The Royal Guard, one of the ten extraordinary legions of the Papacy, is called the Royal Guard of Judgment. They belong to the Lord's punishment of sin.

In other words, the Judgment Guard belongs to the Great Lord of Dawn.

The power of the Divine Arts and the Imperial Guard belongs to the Pope.

The Pope is God's spokesperson on earth, God's incarnation on earth. His noble Pope needs to protect his own guards, just like the Praetorian Guard who guards God's wrath.

As the divine spell descended, a strong and powerful heartbeat resounded from the chests of the thirteen knights standing before Katherina. Their souls radiated a dazzling power of faith, a source that should have been sublimated upon entering the Eternal Kingdom, yet was offered up at this moment.

The thirteen Holy Light Knights, some from the sky and others from the gold, slowly raised their heads. Gone was their earlier resentment and fear; only absolute piety and determination remained.

They slowly turned around under Katherina's gaze, their armor gradually bathed in a snow-white glow, and snow-white wings sprouted from their backs.

Angel?

Ryan's eyes widened as he stared at the thirteen Holy Knights who had suddenly transformed into Holy Knights of the Holy Realm, his surprise barely concealed.

But the next moment, he looked at Archbishop Catherine, who was being protected behind him.

This person is not simple.

Because the Dawn Church occupies such a vast territory, it has many archbishops. However, just as there is a huge gap between earls, there is also a huge gap between archbishops.

The Archbishop Elliot, who was killed by Griff, was of unknown character and probably not very powerful, but the Archbishop in front of him who could elevate the power of the Holy Light Knight was clearly not simple.

He had only seen this method in the human forms of those few gods back then; they could directly create inferior legends.

"But even so, so what?"

Ryan has made his decision. You have a trump card. Is the esteemed Lord Ryan just a pure knight?
When Ryan realized that Archbishop Catherine was not just any archbishop, he knew that this archbishop's value might be greater than that of the 100,000 believers.

He no longer hesitated, and he had many trump cards up his sleeve, the most terrifying of which was the magic scroll given to him by the legendary Ivy.

The moment the magic scroll was torn open, all the soulless matter around Ryan was swallowed up in the cracks created by the scroll. After a large amount of flesh and blood was discovered, the power of magic abandoned the soil, trees and stones and began to focus on devouring the flesh and blood of the believers.

From within the ever-growing vortex, a gigantic monster emerged.

It had hundreds of arms and legs, growing like tentacles atop a body made of stone, soil, and trees. Each arm and leg had a fleshy eye. The moment Ryan's soul connected with it, this fleshy monster came to life. It was not a puppet, and Lord Evergreen never created such dead garbage; he was passionate about creating life.

However... the finished product caused too many people to tremble and faint.

"Kill them."

The moment the legendary power descended, Theodore, who was fighting the dragon in the distance, turned around and roared angrily at the monstrous creature that made his soul uneasy.

"Damn heresy!"

Which of the ten great mage priests of the Flor Empire wasn't a heretic whom the Dawn Church had wanted to kill but had been unable to kill for many years?

Theodore erupted. He was an ascetic, and his mind was free of the sordid thoughts of the other clergy of the Dawn Church. He had only absolute faith in the Lord of the Dawn. Now, seeing the heresy created by magic, he no longer cared about his own fate.

As the radiant light descended from the sky, even the dragon showed a solemn expression. Of course, it was even more excited and ferocious at the moment. Its claws, carrying terrifying power, slammed Theodore directly into the ground, creating a giant crater with a diameter of 100 meters.

Theodore willingly endured the dragon's claws, but it was to take this opportunity to confront the monstrous heretics under the life magic.

Ryan understood the other party's intentions when he saw the legend charging towards him from the giant pit, but there was enough time.

The power of the legendary is visibly different from that of the Holy Domain. The thirteen ascended Holy Knights were almost instantly overwhelmed by the wave of blood energy. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ryan also surrounded Archbishop Katherina. These hundreds of people were no match for Brand and his group. Of course, the priests who could not be protected died the fastest.

All the priests are dead, including the bishop and archbishop inside.

"Catch her!"

Ryan slashed away the surrounding Holy Knights with a single sword strike, while Bogeld behind him charged out. The power of the berserk war bear instantly shattered the divine barrier surrounding Archbishop Katherina. This girl's power, after receiving the blessing of the dragon spirit, had surpassed that of Brand.

The aura of the distant legend grew increasingly magnificent and terrifying. Ryan had no time to linger and ordered his troops to quickly disperse and leave.

Without the divine spell "Holy Judgment" to turn believers into monsters like minions, these rabble were no match for the knights' charge and left even faster than they had come.

Theodore was more concerned with the heresy in the sky. He and Archbishop Catherine were not from the same system, and the heresy attracted all his attention.

The dragon was enraged. This damned human cultist had ignored the noble dragon. Christman felt his dragon dignity had been desecrated. The enraged dragon stopped playing and was bathed in terrible flames, bringing annihilation to the land.

Ryan turned around and saw the most terrifying power of this legendary dragon.

The sky darkened, not because anything was blocking the light, but because all the light in the world paled in comparison to that enormous fireball. The scorching fireball was like a sun too close to the world, distorting the void as it burned. Ryan saw the distortion of the void with his naked eye.

The fiery dragon was enraged. It roamed within the fireball, and as its power grew more terrifying, the fireball grew larger and larger. The burning power invisibly connected with the earth, and a vast amount of matter was ignited.

The vegetation withered and then burned at a visible speed. The clothes of the Dawn Believers were set ablaze, and they screamed in agony amidst their terror and agony. Their clothes stuck to their flesh and blood as they burned.

The fiery dragon in the sky is rapidly falling until a blazing red sun rises over the earth and engulfs everything.

"no no!!!"

Archbishop Catherine let out a sharp roar as she watched all this. Tears streamed down her face as she stared intently at the world destroyed by the dragon, seeing nothing but scorched earth and ashes filling the sky.

"Just as the Empire never allows civilians to participate in war, the Vatican should not allow unarmed believers to participate in war."

"Or rather... you no longer regard them as believers, but as expendable resources to win wars, is that right?"

"No, no, I didn't."

Katherine stared in anguish at the lifeless earth. The battle between the dragon and Theodore had no end in sight; the so-called flesh heretic before them was nothing but trash with a brief period of legendary power.

“If you didn’t have these believers, you shouldn’t be here. They could be praying at home instead of on the battlefield.”

Ryan sneered. He wasn't bloodthirsty, but he would show no mercy to soldiers.

"You turned them into soldiers, that's why they died."

Ryan retorted mercilessly, not believing that the archbishop was merciful, after all, she hadn't shown any leniency towards the tens of thousands of people under the previous holy judgment.

"It's not like that, it's not like that."

Archbishop Katherina shook her head frantically, her eyes filled with despair.

"They were devotees, and their dedication would have given millions of people in their world hope of survival. Now it's all over."

“That world, that world… millions of people will be judged and sentenced.”

"The court will not let them get away with this."

Are there any other possibilities? Ryan raised an eyebrow, but what did that have to do with him?

This is a battlefield, and they are charging forward in their respective formations.

……

The Blood Eagle of the Sky remains the darling of the heavens. Its kingdom is a height that many flying magical beasts cannot reach, making it appear aloof and proud.

The eagle's eyes guided their advance, and no surprise could escape its sharp gaze. Ryan's army appeared in the southern lands like ghosts, and returned to the north as silently as phantoms.

When they arrived, only the nobles of the Kingdom of Carlos noticed them, and when they returned, only these same nobles, who were engaged in fierce fighting, knew that this extraordinary cavalry legion was made up of flesh and blood.

However, all the nobles avoided this blood-stained army as if it were a venomous snake.

Ryan taught the world a lesson: ten thousand men on the front lines can keep a formidable army fighting for a whole day, but once such a powerful army is unleashed, the hundreds of thousands of troops in the southern lands will only suffer a crushing defeat.

On the battlefield of the capital, two hundred thousand Dawn followers could kill hundreds of thousands of Imperial soldiers, but in the south, one hundred thousand Dawn followers couldn't even kill a single Imperial knight.

War is never just a matter of two armies charging and clashing in formation.

Just like on the battlefield in Carlos right now, the war is also filled with ruthless disputes between nobles.

Archbishop Doyle finally found an opportunity to send the cardinal to the battlefield, while the emperor of the empire, after Ryan's repeated victories in the south, was wavering in his decision and preparing to abandon His Majesty King Carlos, whom he had just nurtured.

(End of this chapter)