Throne of the North.

Chapter 602 The Battle to the Heavens (Part 1)

The Kingdom of Carlos.

The Kingdom of Carlos is now defunct in name only. To this day, no self-proclaimed royal has stepped forward to claim the kingdom's wealth. Half of the kingdom does not recognize Carlos, while the other half remains embroiled in internal strife and unable to unite, with the nobles holding differing opinions.

This place has become a battlefield between the Empire and the Papacy, but the battlefield is not limited to the Kingdom of Carlos.

More than 60,000 square kilometers of land were dragged into this meat grinder. The Dawn Church frantically sent troops from all directions to reinforce the area, while the Empire was equally unwilling to be outdone. The nobles were completely enraged by the assassination attempt by the Black Swan, and even the First Duke Freming no longer stopped the nobles from participating in the war.

Hundreds of thousands? Millions of soldiers, whether slaves or knights, were all soldiers on the battlefield, filling tens of thousands of square kilometers of land, and creating a vast and sparsely populated area.

And because of this war, the Empire and the Papacy gradually drew in all of humanity, and a global war had begun.

The Elector Freud alone could not manage such a vast battlefield, so the nobles therefore had great command authority on their respective battlefields.

Every great nobleman was entitled to command wars on a vast territory, and the emperor told them—the word "land."

That's right. The nobles can try to acquire ownership of one-third of the land they occupy. That is, no matter how successful they are in the end, two-thirds will belong to the Empire and to His Majesty Emperor Flor, while the remaining one-third can be taken by the nobles themselves.

Such a policy left no room for easing the war. During his reign, the non-stick Columbus III caused the largest number of accidental deaths of nobles in the history of the Flor Empire. This event could not be erased and would accompany him forever.

So the emperor went mad and clashed with the momentum of the Dawn Church.

The world is caught up in this. Now that the Black Swan assassins have begun to slaughter the empire's nobles without any scruples, and have even gone so far as to kill a Grand Duke, the empire's nobles will retaliate in kind.

Of course, since the Dawn Church has never acknowledged the existence of black swans, the nobles of the empire must maintain appearances.

Having a legitimate reason for an action is very important. If one cannot have a legitimate reason for an action, then one can only resort to insidious means.

……

In the darkness, masked figures moved through the dense forest. They rushed out of the forest and, under the bright moonlight, these assassins of the night continued their journey toward the tall castle on the hillside.

Under the moonlight, shouts of killing, screams of agony, and cries of despair mingled together. Just before dawn, all the assassins who had stormed into the castle retreated, leaving only corpses lying in the nobleman's ancestral land.

As the sky gradually brightened, Earl Ann Carlton, his face pale with fear and anger, arrived at the castle square, surrounded by knights. There lay more than three hundred corpses, piled up in the streets and alleys of the castle.

When he saw part of the corpse, he could no longer hold back and vomited. After a long while, he looked angrily at the corpse again.

He loved those corpses when they were alive, and two of them were his children.

The count's gaze finally fell on the other side, where there were more than sixty corpses, their masks removed, but no one recognized them.

Where did they come from?

The count asked in a cold voice, his tone filled with murderous intent.

The knights beside them lowered their heads; they didn't know either.

No one has ever seen these powerful killers.

In every world, the upper circles are very small, especially the circles of nobles. Even if you don't know each other, you can recognize the noble bloodline of the other person by their behavior and certain characteristics.

The knights were all roughly the same size, but the count's knights could not discern where these assassins came from.

Their fighting style and the extraordinary techniques they possessed were all unfamiliar, as if they had never appeared in this world before.

“We have no idea where they came from, sir.”

"Don't know? How could I not know?! My castle was stormed by these damned enemies, who even killed over a hundred members of the Carlton family, and now you're telling me you don't know where they came from?"

"The Carlton family has encountered its most formidable enemy, a mortal feud that we will fight to the death for!"

Earl Carlton clenched his fist and loudly and passionately vowed to bring the murderer to justice and to avenge his family in the name of blood. The entire earldom was filled with fervor, and everyone wanted to be a part of the avenging of their noble lord.

Their hostility towards all outsiders led to constant chaos.
But this did not stop a large number of assassins from storming the Earl's castle again the following night.

This time... the Earl wasn't so lucky.

Last night, the assassins figured out what the Earl's castle looked like, and tonight their blades will fall on the Earl's bedroom.

From the doorway to the inside, a mere twenty or thirty meters, the two sides fought fiercely for over two hours. More than six hundred of the count's soldiers fell, their bodies pushed far away along with pools of blood. After these soldiers died, the assassins finally stormed into the count's castle. Unfortunately, the count was not extraordinary.

He had never suffered extraordinary hardship, so tonight he suffered an extraordinary knife.

After killing the count, the assassins began to retreat, but looking around, they realized they couldn't retreat any further.

The leader removed his mask, which was already soaked in blood, revealing a clean and noble face. He was undoubtedly a nobleman.

Looking at the other assassins around him with a determined gaze, he gave his final order, then raised his knight's longsword and slashed it toward his own face.

He was a golden knight, strong enough to easily shatter boulders, but he failed to smash his own head. His face was a bloody mess, but he did not die immediately. The pain made him howl, and the power of the magic potion relieved his fear. Then, without hesitation, he swung his sword a second time.

boom!
The body fell to the ground. He never revealed his family's name until the very end, because in the extraordinary world, even if a name is spoken, it may be revealed by some kind of power.

Similarly, even the dead are not safe. The group of assassins kneeling around him pulled out magic scrolls, and soon flames burst into flames, turning the mangled corpse into ashes.

Immediately afterwards, all the assassins rushed in all directions. Their goal was no longer to escape, but to kill as many enemies as possible before they died, especially the Earl's bloodline, who had to be killed completely.

They may not have a third night.

This was their creed of loyalty to their monarch, which they upheld with their lives.

As daylight arrived, Carlton Castle was filled with the smoke of battle. Unlike yesterday, there was no crying today. Yesterday, the crying was due to anger; today, the silence was due to fear that left them uncertain about the future.

The Earl is dead, his sons are dead, and many members of the Carlton family bloodline are dead. The castle is full of corpses, and the sheer number and identities of those corpses fill the living with fear and trembling.

"Give the order to the noble bloodline of the Carlton family: Earl Carlton is dead, and his title needs to be inherited by a suitable person. We, we..." An old man walked out shakily, but after only a few steps, he knelt down, spat out a mouthful of blood, and fainted.

This time, not many people were unconscious, because they were afraid that their unconsciousness would lead to them being classified among the corpses.

The Carlton family has suffered an unprecedented upheaval, and this information must be conveyed to Carlton's followers as soon as possible. At the same time, the Earl's body must be properly disposed of, as the assassins have slashed him quite a few times to ensure his death.

However... before the Earl of Carlton could recover from their grief, news came that an army of tens of thousands had appeared on the border of the noble territory.

"It's the Imperial Army! It's the Imperial Army!"

The soldier who ran back to deliver the message could no longer suppress his fear, and his shouts plunged the count's territory into new chaos.

"Baron, the viscounts also died in their own castle last night."

The knight who delivered the obituary has also returned, bringing even more unbelievable news.

"It's the Empire, the damned Empire!"

Some people reacted, but their voices were barely audible in the chaos. They couldn't care less about the count's death. Now, the powerful and influential people in the count's territory were starting to think about escaping, the farther the better.

The imperial army crushed the Earl's army with overwhelming force, killing a large number of soldiers. When the fluttering banner appeared below the Earl's castle, the people inside the castle finally saw clearly the Heavenly Flower Banner representing the Flor Empire and the Dragon Flame Emblem of the Clayton family.

The army stopped at the foot of the mountain, and Earl Clayton looked at the few people beside him from the high platform of the advancing chariot.

These people were dressed in gorgeous clothes, and every move they made exuded the honor and etiquette of nobility. They used this behavior to prove that they belonged to the nobility, which was typical behavior of wandering nobles.

"Can I go up now?"

One of them raised his head and responded to Earl Clayton with a firm gaze.

“Lord Clayton, please rest assured, Miguel Donovan will never forget his mission. Since he died in that castle, then the nobles of that castle will certainly not live.”

"If I fail, please kill me."

The man gritted his teeth and said, he was also very nervous, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he prayed in his heart that Miguel Donovan would never let the family lose its last bit of dignity, and that he must succeed.

Upon hearing this, Earl Clayton ordered his troops to proceed to the Earl's castle.

Kaz Clayton personally led five hundred Flame Dragon Knights to the hillside castle. After entering the castle, Kaz dismounted and asked the Carlton nobleman if he was allowed to proceed. Only after receiving an affirmative answer did he continue on his way.

The army did not kill anyone in the castle, as is customary for nobles. Katz explained that he was there on behalf of Clayton to accept Carlton's surrender and wanted to know where Earl Carlton was.

"The Earl...the Earl is dead."

"Oh?"

Katz expressed strong surprise, then asked what had happened. After receiving the answer, Katz remained silent for a long time, apologized, and mourned for Earl Carlton before inquiring about Carlton's successor.

"All the heirs are dead, including the children."

Without an heir, how could Carlton announce his surrender to Clayton?
However, Katz expressed his understanding and offered his condolences to the surviving Carlton members.

"With us here, we will absolutely not allow any damned Black Swan killers to break into the Earl's castle. Clayton will do everything in his power to protect the Carlton bloodline while accepting the Earl's surrender."

"I hope you can find someone to inherit the title as soon as possible. Our army will not stay here. The army of believers of the Dawn Church may appear at any time."

Faced with the misfortunes suffered by the Carlton family, Katz, in his capacity as Clayton, showed sympathy and told them that since their family was in such a state, Clayton could waive any war reparations.

The Earl of Clayton showed great sympathy and pity for the Carleton family's misfortune and provided them with considerable assistance, allowing the army to retreat outside the Carleton Earldom's territory and respecting the Carleton Earl's noble rights.

Carlton expressed his gratitude and promised to find a new Earl Carlton as soon as possible and announce the process of surrender to the Imperial army.

Back in the army, Katz reported back to Earl Clayton, who looked at his son.

"This land is good; it can grow a lot of food. Would you like it?"

Kaz Clayton thought for a moment, shook his head, and said:

"It's too far from the empire."

"Father can consider giving it to those little ones. They are very eager, and Mother was so bothered by them that she went to the capital."

Earl Clayton nodded. He had many children, all of whom had the opportunity to receive fiefdoms. The Carlton family had died like this, and things would only get worse, because Earl Clayton had promised to give land to those wandering nobles from other worlds.

The land will not be given to those people in large chunks; dividing it into many small portions will be sufficient. Of course, the Earl of Clayton's own children can be considered among them.

The Clayton family needed to expand, and this was also part of his journey to becoming Grand Duke.

"Those guys probably won't become the second Ryan."

"I don't have much affection for my children, whether they are my eldest or youngest," Lord Clayton said listlessly. After all, he had been the one who had led the Clayton family to the top of the social hierarchy, second only to the Grand Duke, and had always had a busy life.

When it came to Ryan, no one around Earl Clayton could respond. Katz had to admit that Ryan's achievements had put a lot of pressure on him and others.

Who would willingly admit that they are inferior to their younger brother? But they couldn't think of any other way to surpass Ryan Clayton except by becoming Earl Clayton.

Where has the army of religious believers gone?

Earl Clayton gazed into the distance, and a knight beside him responded:
"Your Excellency, the army from the Kingdom of Nantes and the army of the Dawn Church are thirty miles to the south in the Snowy Valley. There are about 300,000 men under the command of Archbishop Maddie of the Church."

"Cleric soldiers" is the Empire's term for all soldiers in the army representing the Dawn Church on the battlefield. Not long ago, the army of this Earl of Carlton was also a member of the Cleric army.

(End of this chapter)