Throne of the North.

Chapter 599 So Easily, the Blood of Silver
As the lord of the Frozen Territory, Lord Ryan only had one mount, which his steward, Beard, was very dissatisfied with.

He had to personally set aside time to take care of the master's mount. Beard had tried to select other mounts to put in the castle, but they were all driven away by the winter. Even the blue lion had now become the baroness's pet.

Winter is its name.

Butler Beard treated it as an ordinary warhorse, even though it was incredibly handsome. But shouldn't the master's mount be the king of horses?

In Signi's eyes, the horse was a different beast altogether. She felt that the horse was very much like herself, the only difference being that she was more deeply immersed in the essence of greatness, while the tall warhorse in front of her only scratched the surface. It was full of vitality, while she was a cold-blooded leader.

Winter wasn't particularly intelligent, but it instinctively sensed a threat, restlessly rubbing its hooves and warily looking around.

How did you manage to escape the world's great gaze?

Signy reached out, her cold fingers tracing the wintery skin. The warhorse calmed down, as if locked by a terrifying force and dared not move easily. Curiosity filled the girl's eyes; she couldn't find the reason.

The other party can evade the sun's patrol in the sky and even walk easily in the sunlight. You should know that every ray of sunlight is the origin of that great being in the sky.

Signi wanted to know the secret of Winter, so she revealed a dagger in her palm. But the next moment, the warhorse's iron hoof kicked towards her. The huge force made Signi retreat and dodge. When she came to her senses, Winter's warhorse had already appeared ten meters away.

Signy's eyes narrowed into slits, her snake-like vertical pupils scanning her surroundings. She saw several figures surrounding her, one of whom was the powerful knight she had encountered that day. He was very strong; in a direct confrontation, even she, a Saint, would not be his match.

The remaining few were equally powerful. Signi glanced in Egil's direction, then shifted his gaze to Wolfskin Ulf, who was probably the weakest of the group. If they wanted to break through, he was the one to go for.

Signy stretched out her hands, clenched them into fists, and threw the dagger on the ground. Brand stepped forward and tied the girl's wrists with a rope.

How did you find me?

"I don't understand," Signi said. Brand snorted coldly. He had suffered a loss before and now he didn't like this uninvited guest very much.

……

"No one can break into my castle without a sound."

Signi stood in Ryan's study and saw the otherworldly nobleman point his finger at the void in front of him.

Ryan withdrew his finger from the spiritual panel. The dragon spirit within it, having eaten today's extra meal, was frolicking and soaring about, all of which was invisible to outsiders.

The discovery of Signi was, of course, thanks to the Dragon Spirit; that guy finally proved useful.

Ryan was quite surprised that Svafnir's natural leader had come to Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, as there were two hundred knights guarding the other side of the dimensional gate.

Ryan looked at Signy, who was arguably the most powerful 'hero'-level native he had ever encountered. Anyone could feel the blessing of a great being emanating from her.

The two just stared at each other, and Ryan didn't know what to say. This was different from what was written in the script. As for Signi, the cold-blooded young female leader was more skilled at killing and destruction.

Suddenly, they ran out of things to talk about, until Avril, who was next to Ryan, couldn't help but break the silence.

"I've heard that in your world, the Frostfiends of the North can create a kind of frost crystal?"

"They are precious, especially for frost mages."

As Avril spoke, she took out a piece of white crystal. This crystal, left behind by the Frost Demon after its death, enhanced the magical power of this mage of the same element.

Signi looked at the active frost magic in the void and said to Avril:
"We have many more, we'll give them to you."

"Okay."

About half an hour later, Ryan understood what Signi wanted: a world that wouldn't be plunged into a long, dark night. The people of Svafnir were no different from other alternate worlds in this respect; they were all struggling to survive in the apocalypse of the North.

"So, you suspect that your gods are truly dead?"

“I felt His departure.”

"Perhaps I can help you verify this doubt. Your extraordinary powers weren't innate, were they?"

Ryan inquired that if they could obtain the sacred object containing the essence of the gods and receive new spiritual blessings, they could verify whether the gods were dead or alive, or at least whether the gods still had control over their authority.

“Every rebel who wants to become an avant-garde must go to the swamp forest and come back alive to become a shadow avant-garde.”

Signy said she didn't have the relic in her possession, but she knew where it was.

Ryan thought of the location opposite the first dimensional gate he opened, a place completely out of place in the Northern Realm, untouched by snow and wind, and filled with all sorts of snakes and giant pythons.

"What is that place?"

Ryan asked, and Signy gave him an unfamiliar answer.

"The unique environment formed by the decay of tree branches in the world also buried the sacred Gunnir altar in the muddy decay of tree branches."

After saying that, Signy walked outside. Brand stood in the doorway to block her way, but Ryan raised his hand to signal Signy to leave, as she was going to pass through the dimensional gate back to the world of Swafnir.

The exchange between the two sides was relatively pleasant, but this does not mean that Ryan has gained the loyalty of the indigenous people of the Signi and Swafnir world.

"Is the sacred relic in that swamp forest?"

Ryan thought for a moment, then looked at Brand, who spoke:
“I’ll send the knights to find it.”

“No, they still have to deal with those natives, and Frostfiends are very valuable. I plan to mobilize Nidhogg’s army.”

Nidhogg, the dragon spirit world, had a population that gave Ryan a huge headache, but it also allowed him to achieve spiritual freedom to this day. Ryan built a regular army in that world, about 60,000 men. The number of soldiers, one in twenty-five, was not much stronger than the Empire's slave army. This was because the humans enslaved in Nidhogg were all malnourished. After Ryan took control, those people gradually began to grow stronger.

After training for so long, it's time for them to have real combat experience.

Over the next two days, more than 20,000 soldiers left Nidhogg, entered the Frozen Territory, and then headed to the world of Svafnir. These soldiers were naturally not as well-equipped as the knights and squires, wearing only leather armor and spears on their upper bodies, with a round shield attached.

"Let's see if these soldiers are usable." Ryan stood at the rear of the army, with two hundred knights serving as his oversight force. With a command, twenty thousand soldiers from Nidhogg marched toward the swamp forest.

They are soldiers of Nidhogg, a world ruled by dragons. Under the dragons' rule, there are many powerful beasts and monsters. The leather armor worn by the soldiers is made from the raw materials of these ferocious monsters. The lingering scent of the animal hides makes many snakes in the swamp forest nervous and fearful.

But soon, screams came from the front of the army, and the soldiers began to riot.

"Don't retreat! Kill those snakes!"

The knight roared, and the army fell silent.

The humans from Nidhogg had lived as slaves for countless years, and even as soldiers, they could not change the enslaved nature rooted deep in their souls. When Ryan gave the order, these soldiers did not break down even though a large number of them died.

What is more terrifying than collapse is death, but these Nidhogg enslaved humans are utterly numb to death, and sacrificing lives is commonplace for them.

Despite their pitifully low military skills, this army of 20,000 men maintained high morale and continued to advance. Their numerical advantage turned the swamp forest into a bloody and murky place, with large numbers of snakes fleeing and being killed along the way.

The army also suffered considerable losses, which is why Ryan was unwilling to let the knights clear the area; the venom contained in some of the snakes in the swamp forest could kill his knights and squires.

Having just returned from his trip to the south, Ryan was unwilling to let his knight squire perish in such a place.

The swamp forest was not wide, but it was very long. After being cut off at a certain point, it began to expand to both sides, cutting down all the trees and roots along the way. The complex swamp quickly turned into clear land in the face of the power of the Destroyer Temple.

When a large number of snakes gathered in one place, Ryan knew he had found his purpose. The sacred object containing the divine essence of this world attracted these snakes, but they were not favored by the great being and could not obtain extraordinary means from His power.

"Get rid of these snakes."

Ryan frowned. The sight of thousands upon thousands of snakes twisting and intertwining together made him uncomfortable. The knights around him couldn't help but grip their longswords, even though they were thousands of meters away.

On the contrary, the Nidhogg soldiers seemed to have had their threshold changed because of the dragon lord, and they didn't feel much in the face of this horrifying scene.

To kill such a dense swarm of snakes, using an axe and spear is clearly not an option, and Ryan's men are not limited to such physical methods.

As the wooden barrels were carried out one by one, large amounts of black oil were poured out, mixing with the swamp water and forming a layer of dark oil film on top. Before long, this oil film began to cover the snakes' skins as they rolled around.

"Back off!"

As the army retreated, Ryan's knights and squires drew their bows and shot arrows, the flames streaking across the dim sky before finally falling like shooting stars into the swamp.

In an instant, raging flames erupted, and countless giant pythons and snakes began to roar and struggle in the depths of the inferno. They writhed and tensed their bodies, and the giant pythons raised their heads and twisted their bodies. The ear-piercing screams made the army extremely tense. They gripped their weapons and watched the snakes fleeing in all directions, preventing them from rushing towards the army.

The night in Sławniel lasted twenty-two hours, but after the flames burned for twenty-two hours, daylight arrived. Before Ryan's eyes were still a large number of giant pythons roaring in the sea of ​​fire, and as for his army, they had retreated several miles again.

"Keep burning."

The knight's squire possessed great strength; he threw the oil barrels into the sea of ​​fire, and the black oil flowing from the broken barrels naturally intensified the flames.

"My lord, the Frost Demon has appeared."

Since they were locked on, they have been unable to shake off these Frost Ghosts, who attack them every two hours of daylight, and each time the number of them is larger than the last.

After glancing at the sea of ​​fire in the distance, Ryan gave the order:

"Enchant the army."

The knight's life force can damage elemental life forms, those frost demon monsters, but the tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers here have no such means. At this time, magic... the power of alchemy is needed.

The knights began digging on the spot, and soon a pool of water was dug out. After throwing in a piece of Frost Demon Crystal, the pool was frozen. The knights then chiseled a hole inside the huge block of ice, poured in a large amount of thick silver liquid, and then commanded the more than 10,000 ordinary soldiers to stick their spears into it and stir it.

The drawn spears were no longer ordinary; they contained a faint silver glow, an extraordinary power that endowed them with exceptional destructive properties.

This is the Alchemy Academy's greatest alchemical achievement in recent years, involving hundreds of alchemists, including Dean Rose. Ryan gave it a resounding name—Silver Blood.

The materials for creating Silver Blood are expensive, the most crucial of which is mithril. Thanks to the Narcissus Tree, which Baroness Avril obtained from Countess Blade Rose, which can nurture mithril, Ryan can squander mithril on alchemical experiments.

He was curious about the tree and was amazed by the countess's wealth, since the Countess of Narcissus, the Rose of the Blade, was probably already financially independent.

"Kill all invading enemies!"

The frost demons howled as they charged in. This time, Ryan did not retreat to the other side of the dimensional gate. More than ten thousand soldiers raised their enchanted spears and launched a counterattack against the elemental life forms that were floating and attacking in mid-air.

The effects of the Silver Blood were powerful; it allowed ordinary iron spears to kill these Frost Demons. Ryan couldn't understand the underlying principles, and could only say that alchemy was definitely beyond the technological realm he was familiar with.

Two hours seemed to pass quickly thanks to the power of the Silver Blood. When night fell again, all that was left for Ryan was to collect the precious Frost Demon Crystals from the ground.

This thing is very precious. Not only did Archmage McKen give it a high evaluation, which inspired him to further develop the breeding of warhorses in the North, but it also became highly sought after by the Mage's Guild.

This 'infinite' is reflected in the extent to which the Mage Guild indicated to Ryan that they would take as much as they could get.

The Mage Guild collects each Frost Demon Crystal for ninety-nine gold coins.

Most magical materials are priced below one hundred gold coins each, because those magical materials that cost more than one hundred gold coins are often difficult to measure in gold coins, as they are rare and cannot be harvested in large quantities sustainably.

The simplest example is the corpse of a magical beast. Even a first-tier magical beast is worth more than a hundred gold coins. However, it is impossible to provide hundreds or thousands of such magical beasts. It is even more impossible to provide them today and have more tomorrow and the day after.

Therefore, the number ninety-nine appears to be very high.

However, Ryan still didn't plan to sell it, because Archmage McKen needed it, and also because he felt that this thing... could be worth more than a hundred gold coins.

The Mage Guild thought he had discovered an extraordinary mineral vein, but what was the truth?
Ryan looked at what lay before him. The earth was brightly lit by the still-burning fire, and the Frost Demon Crystals lying on the ground were not things mined from any mine.

(End of this chapter)