Throne of the North.

Chapter 583 Bringing the World into a New Era of Extraordinary Power (Part 1)

Due to the great victory in the Royal City War, Archbishop Doyle took over command of the war.

Thus, the archbishop, seizing opportune moments, transferred away the three extraordinary legions, which led to... when Ta Walter was surrounded and pleaded for help, not a single papal legend was able to save him.

When Ryan heard the news, he glanced in surprise in the direction of the newly risen archbishop of the Papacy.

Ryan didn't believe there wasn't something fishy going on.

Otherwise, how could the cardinals have ended up surrounded? They are not just powerful clergy, but also the pinnacle of power within the Vatican.

Their immense strength gives them the power to disregard legends, and their pinnacle of power ensures they will always be the ones bullying the weak.

Ryan didn't know what was happening in the north of the Kingdom of Carlos, but it seemed... even more exciting than in the south.

The King of Carlos is dead. In just one month, two kings of Carlos have died in succession. What is the key point, however? It is that the bloodline of Carlos has become history.

In the northern kingdom of Sera, Ryan murdered all of Carlos's nobles; on the southern battlefield, the Cardinal killed the last Carlos.

This kingdom no longer has a strict Carlos bloodline.

The king's death caused a great upheaval, and the cardinal was besieged and killed by the imperial nobles, which also shook the southern lands.

The war between the Empire and the Papacy buried a powerful figure of noble status in such a short time.

Ryan sensed the turmoil unfolding around him, but it didn't concern him much; as the victor, he had returned in triumph.

On the vast land, there were no ornate paving stones or flowers to welcome his return, which made Ryan somewhat nostalgic for the long-vanished royal city of Carlos.
However, ahead of him was a large army. The nobles of the empire looked at the baron of the North with complicated expressions, as well as the army behind him that wore the inscriptions of 'tragic,' 'glorious,' and 'resilient.'

At the beginning, no nobleman had imagined that Ryan would achieve such a huge victory in the southern lands, in the territory controlled by the Papacy.

The army of hundreds of thousands of nobles was defeated by this army of only five thousand knights and had to abandon their campaign halfway and return to their noble territories. In addition, an archbishop and tens of thousands of Holy Knights died at their hands.

After the war in the royal city ended, the southern lands continued to put pressure on the battlefield of the Kingdom of Carlos, and Ryan alone overcame most of that pressure.

The nobles of the empire hadn't even waited for the war to arrive when it was already almost over.

"It is my honor to meet you, Your Highness."

Ryan dismounted and bowed to Freud, who was at the forefront of the nobles. The Elector's face was much sharper than Volvo's, and he looked more capable, like a warrior.

"It is a great pleasure that you have returned alive. You have brought back a tremendous victory for the Empire, and His Majesty will be pleased with you."

Freud nodded in acknowledgment, and after the welcoming ceremony for their return was over, the nobles lost their solemnity.

Ryan also noticed that these important figures seemed to be... injured?
"My Lord Count."

Ryan apologized to his count father, but the latter didn't take it to heart.

“I thought they would all die on the southern battlefield. I heard that you wiped out the Holy Light Knights of the Holy See with your own hands. That can be called an extraordinary legion.”

"I had some luck."

After exchanging pleasantries, Ryan asked:

"It seems His Highness the Chosen One is injured?"

Earl Clayton glanced at Ryan and replied:
“It wasn’t just him; we were all injured. The Cardinal of Dawn Church… is more favored by the gods than we imagined.”

Ryan learned that several of their legendary figures had nearly managed to kill Cardinal Ta Walter, and that under the holy light of dawn, the power of the cardinal clergy was incredibly terrifying.

They had to pay a price to kill their opponent and 'avenge' King Carlos.

The cost is certainly not simple; even the most powerful nobles with the best resources and the princes who are chosen by the royal family would find it difficult to recover.

"The divine power of dawn remains in our legendary origins, and is difficult to eradicate."

"That's what Earl Clayton said," Ryan said, and as he listened to the Earl's description of the battle, he couldn't help but frown.

Are the cardinals of the Dawn Church really that hard to kill? He remembered that back in the Kingdom of Andara, Cardinal Raymond wasn't as difficult to kill as the Count had described.

Does it vary from person to person?

That doesn't make sense either. Judging from the description here, Cardinal Ta Walter's destructive power seems to be less than that of Cardinal Raymond.

In other words, his strength is at most on par with Cardinal Raymond.

However, this caused considerable losses to the imperial nobles.

What's the difference here?
Ryan has a bold guess.

Even if the Lord of Dawn hasn't awakened, he's probably not in a deep sleep anymore.

The reason for this speculation is also due to the gods that Ryan has seen, whether it is Surtur of Twilight, the hobi, or the dragon god and the demon dragon.

The activity of these deities indicates that those gods who had slumbered because of the North are no longer at peace.

Ryan didn't voice his guess, which would only make the imperial nobles more nervous and fearful.

……

Sadly, it was only after King Carlos died that he was abandoned by the light.

The immortal god of light, a great being, has issued a divine decree: King Olsen Carlos, who usurped the power of the Carlos Kingdom, will be judged and punished by the immortal god of light.

His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire, His Highness the Grand Pope of Light, angrily denounced this shameful act and ordered the nobles on the front lines of the Southern War to escort King Carlos to the Empire to face trial by the Light, where he would be imprisoned by the Church of Light.

His Majesty the Emperor angrily questioned a group of nobles, led by Grand Duke Freming. The Grand Duke offered to donate 15 million gold coins to build the Imperial Church of Light and requested His Majesty the Emperor to allow his successor to inherit the title.

All of this happened after King Olsen was confirmed dead.

"Our Emperor is truly amazing; nothing sticks to the pan!"

Columbus III wanted to cultivate a perfect image, and no one could stop him, given that the empire had been steadily improving under his rule.

The emperor's authority was immense.

After the order was issued, His Majesty the Emperor was astonished to discover that the King of the Kingdom of Carlos had died at the hands of the Cardinal of the Papacy.

He expressed his grief and regret, while also angrily condemning the Dawn Church.

"No one is qualified to kill a person of noble blood!"

"Even the Dawn Church had to pay a heavy price to quell the king's death."

In response, the Vatican mocked the Empire. "I wonder who killed Kaan Diaz?"

The empire, of course, would not acknowledge it.

"The king of the Kingdom of Carlos can only be of Carlos blood. The despicable thief is nothing but a false king. He has tarnished the Carlos name and even abandoned the dignity of his own bloodline."

However, after the initial outcry, neither the Empire nor the Papacy took any drastic action on the matter; killing one king on each side was considered fair.

The Vatican's anger began to manifest itself in the death of Cardinal Ta Walter.

"The evil empire not only killed the esteemed Cardinal Tom Walter, but also cruelly murdered his successor, Cardinal Ta Walter. The Lord's followers will not turn a blind eye to this, and every citizen of Dawn will be filled with the fury of revenge for the death of His Excellency Cardinal Ta Walter."

A new round of war has begun.

And it was even more grand than before.

It was so grand that Archbishop Doyle, who had previously achieved great military exploits, was no longer qualified to take over the title of Supreme Commander of the Papacy's army in the following wars.

This made Archbishop Doyle very unwilling and nervous. He wanted to achieve another great victory before this grand gathering to solidify his absolute military achievements.

Meanwhile, the empire's nobles were urging the rear to provide more soldiers and supplies.

At the same time, both sides need to discuss the upcoming war.

"The royal city of Carlos is gone; all that remains is a huge crater. Lord Stuart said that the aura of the abyss is being nurtured within it, and the power of divine punishment has penetrated to a very deep place."

"But that has nothing to do with us. The problem is that we no longer have the royal city as a defensive line. How are we supposed to fight the war now?"

The Imperial Commander-in-Chief, the legendary knight Kral, has been stripped of his title by His Majesty the Emperor for failing to protect King Olsen. He is now returning to the Empire to face trial and punishment.

On the southern battlefield, Elector Freud took over the reins of the war effort. This was something the royal family had fought for, and it could be considered the emperor's second mission to train Elector Freud.

This also signifies that the elector has officially stepped onto the political stage of the empire. It remains to be seen whether any grand duke will make a choice under this order.

"We have lost too many soldiers below the capital. The empire is conscripting, but it won't be long before they arrive here."

"Before that, we must fight back against the Dawn Church's attack; at the very least... we cannot lose."

Freud and Klar are definitely different. His words are something all nobles should think about. What to do about the war is indeed a problem that the nobles will soon face.

Ryan intended to leave. He came to the south to bolster the emperor's confidence and ensure that the empire would always stand at the forefront of the conflict with the Dawn Church, thus giving the Frozen Territory enough time to develop.

With this matter now concluded, the Empire has reignited its fervor against the Dawn Church, and he naturally wants to return to his territory to oversee the construction of the fortifications.

However, given Baron Lane's exceptional military talent, he was spared.

At this moment, Ryan looked at the huge sand table among the nobles and felt extremely surprised.

This thing is a brand new product, supposedly created by the magicians under Grand Duke Rodrigo. It possesses extraordinary power, and Grand Duke Rodrigo seems to want to use it to prove the magicians' influence on the empire.

In fact, the Grand Duke was successful. The emergence of the war sand table gave the nobles a more complete understanding of the battlefield, and the veil of magic was being lifted little by little in front of them.

It is said that Brutus, the heir to the Grand Duke of Rodrigo, has recently been inviting magicians to create something new. It seems very mysterious, and every magician who participates has an excited look in their eyes.

"We have lost our capital city, and what we urgently need now is a new defensive line."

When a nobleman spoke up, it was clear that everyone was thinking about one thing: defense.

The nobles seemed to have tacitly accepted that the upcoming war would be a defensive one. Ryan wasn't too surprised, after all, the nobles of the empire had already reaped too many benefits, and their enthusiasm for war was not as strong as before.

Furthermore, the fact that the capital city is gone makes people feel unsafe.

A massive defensive fortification was definitely necessary, but Ryan disagreed with the nobles on the general direction of the war.

"A one-sided defense will only lead to an even greater defeat."

Ryan was invited to stand near the sand table, and his words were naturally not ignored. All eyes turned to him, wanting to know what this Northern Baron, whose body was covered in blood, was thinking.

"Mr. Ryan, do you have any suggestions?"

Freud also asked, wanting to hear Ryan's thoughts, after all, this young baron seemed to have never lost a war.

Including the recent blitzkrieg in the south.

"Defense is not an option."

Ryan pointed to the sand table and said:

"This land, not just the kingdom's land, but the entire south, is generally flat. Such terrain means there are no key passes to serve as fortified defenses."

"The fortresses in the North can withstand ten or twenty times the attacks of alien races, and thirty or forty times the attacks of humans. But we can't build such a defensive line here. The flat land allows our enemies to ignore the fortresses."

"Since there are no easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack defensive lines to build, we can only build military fortresses and connect them to form a defensive line."

"This is also the most common defensive line in war, but there is a very serious problem with it."

"The number of our soldiers is far less than the number of soldiers the Papacy can control."

Is the Empire fighting against the Dawn Church all by itself, or is it only the Dawn Church that it is fighting against? No, it is the kingdoms and noble territories throughout the southern lands, all of which are the soil of the Dawn Lord's faith.

The empire has a large population, but the combined population of all the kingdoms and noble territories in the southern lands, plus the believers and soldiers of the Dawn Church, will definitely exceed the number of soldiers in the empire's army by a large margin.

"It could be two or three times, or it could be five or ten times."

"A purely defensive approach means that every time our military fortresses enter the battlefield, they will face an enemy several times larger."

"With a thousand soldiers attacking a defensive line defended by only one hundred soldiers, on such flat land, the advantage is definitely in the area with more soldiers."

"After all, we can't build an impregnable fortress in a short period of time."

"So, according to you, we can't defend and we have to continue attacking?"

Freud asked, and the nobles frowned as well. They, of course, refused to continue the attack, as it would be too costly.

"No, what I mean is simple: defense is essential, but offense is also necessary. We need to use offensive tactics to make our defense face fewer enemies."

"Use offense to distract the enemy's army, so that the defending soldiers of one hundred do not have to face a thousand enemies."

"Coincidentally, isn't it me who showed you all this method?"

Ryan raised his head and looked at the nobles around him. The undeniable fact that he had used five thousand knights to stop an army of hundreds of thousands from advancing was right before his eyes.

(End of this chapter)