Throne of the North.

Chapter 646 Frost Demon Trees, The Legendary Mage's Compromise

The world is collapsing, the laws are being annihilated, and everything is turning to dust. The sky and earth of the world of Swavnir are covered with countless cracks, and the once thick land is now as fragile as tofu, easily crushed.

This world is heading towards its end, and at the edge of the world, a roaring sound carries the song of doomsday.

Archbishop Adriana knelt on the endless dust of the earth, praying. The snow-white holy light emanating from her grew ever more brilliant and intense, until even the fragments of the collapsing world could not engulf her.

The dazzling light pierced through the barrier of the world. In an instant, all the gazes from the abyss that had been trying to corrupt the world, beyond the dense cracks of Swavnir, vanished. They all revered the divine power of the dawn, that eternal light that would never be extinguished, scorching every dark heretic who tried to approach.

The power of purification began to take over everything in this world, and in the far north, the Dragon Chosen Isabella was immersed in the ocean of the skeletal origins of great beings. The marks of greatness were etched on her naked body, tracing every inch of her skin like totems, perfecting her divinity.

"She is moving towards the gods."

Adriana looked at Isabella from afar and discovered this astonishing fact, but she never believed that Isabella could succeed.

Because gods are even more difficult to understand than demigods. Their existence is innate and cannot be changed even by fate. They only have the characteristics of birth and existence. Death cannot occur to gods, because they may be resurrected countless years after their death.

Isabella could become a demigod, but she could never become a god. There wasn't even a so-called chasm between them; they were an absolute barrier.

She would fail, and just as Adriana had anticipated, Isabella soon had to stop. She opened her eyes with regret, realizing that her understanding of the great beings was far less than that of the ordinary extraordinary beings of the Norris world.

She saw absolutely no hope.

……

When Ryan arrived in this ancient alien world again, there was hardly any place left to stand. Only two places in the entire world were still radiating light: the Archbishop of Dawn and Isabella, who was shimmering all over.

This demigod seems to have undergone a new change; he has become much smaller, and faint, crystalline lines have appeared on his body, as if something is flowing within them.

When Ryan arrived, the dimensional gate opened, and Isabella tossed over a piece of snow-white bone—it was a seed.

"Spiritual plants?"

Ryan was surprised. This was what he had obtained after trading with Isabella. It could continuously produce Frost Ghost Crystals. He never expected it to appear in the form of a spiritual plant.

This might be the best outcome; as long as there is spirituality, Ryan can create as many Frost Ghost Crystals as he wants.

The problem also stems from this: his spiritual reserves are likely to become increasingly insufficient.

Spiritual plants can also produce spirituality, but the ratio is too different. Ryan has never thought of relying on his spiritual plants to achieve financial freedom and balance.

In other words, there is now another major consumer of spiritual energy.

"Grand Master McCann would be very pleased."

Ryan smiled. In any case, he had achieved his second goal.

That is the otherworldly dimension of Słavnir.

Previously, due to the existence of the Frost Demon, Ryan had not been able to completely conquer this otherworldly plane, and therefore could not open up a new otherworldly plane.

Isabella did him a huge favor.

"Your Highness Isabella, you seem to have become even more powerful."

Having received many satisfactory benefits, Lord Ryan didn't mind his humility and smiled as he spoke to Isabella.

"If there are other worlds like this, you can tell me."

After Isabella finished speaking, she was still quite satisfied with the outcome of this world, so she gave Ryan her contact information.

Ryan was flattered, because this item that connected him to Isabella was truly exhilarating.

It was a layer of clothing, or perhaps clothing, because it was also a layer of skin.

The problem with the dragon's skin is that Isabella was also human, so the appearance of this skin was that of a naked Isabella, looking foolish and without any light in her eyes.

"This is... the skin that His Highness shed?"

"You can give it a try if you're interested."

Ryan asked in surprise. Isabella did not deny it, and with a seductive expression, she casually said something before leaving this world through the dimensional gate.

After she left, Ryan remained standing there for a long time, but the passion in his eyes for a naked woman standing in front of him gradually faded.

"She... is no longer human."

Adriana has completed some kind of special ritual, and this otherworldly plane will probably not fall into the abyss, but will instead go to the eternal heaven.

"Yes."

Ryan agreed with the archbishop's point of view, looking at the naked Isabella in front of him who was nothing more than a layer of skin.

Humans wouldn't do that. From beginning to end, Isabella never cared whether she was wearing clothes to cover her arousing skin.

She has completely lost awareness of this, doesn't care, or is indifferent, or perhaps she has never even thought about it.

Savage and primitive, only wild beasts would act without restraint. Even dragons themselves wouldn't act like that; many dragons are actually quite shy.

But Isabella had nothing; she had lost all the humanity that a human being possesses.

Therefore, Ryan felt nothing for the naked skin in front of him.

She's more like a beast.

A pure demigod tidal dragon, whose divinity gradually replaced her humanity.

"Will she become a great being?"

Ryan asked curiously, noting that Isabella's condition was clearly much more serious than that of the demigod from the Russell family.

The noble demigod is still clearly a noble, but the dragon-chosen demigod is no longer human.

"Can you turn into something else?"

Ryan spoke to Isabella in front of him, and without hesitation, a massive tidal dragon appeared before him.

Ryan tried to get onto the dragon's back to get a feel for the dragon knight's vision, but before he could even put any pressure on his feet, the 'dragon' sank in.

It was ultimately just a layer of skin left behind after Isabella regained some kind of status; it had no weight whatsoever.

Ryan didn't mind that the dragon knight's dream had fallen through. This thing looked pretty impressive, and he figured it would increase the prestige of the Frozen Territory.

"Let's go too." Ryan and Archbishop Adriana left. This world was completely useless now. He just needed to wait, and who knew what surprises the new alternate world would bring him.

……

On Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, a peculiar tree has appeared, well protected and rarely seen by ordinary people.

Lord Ryan no longer lives a secluded life and frequently appears in people's sight, which brings more vitality to the Frozen Territory. Many people are working hard to show off in order to get the lord's attention.

Outside the frozen tundra, the mages were the first to experience the harsh winter.

The North does not have the extraordinary resources that mages crave. The people here are curious about the mages, but at the same time, they keep their distance from them. Even the nobles have their own channels to obtain extraordinary things.

The mages in the Northwind Province have no source of income. The Mage Guild offers many benefits, but there are no free money handouts.

This put the mages in a difficult position, but being so engrossed in meditation, they lacked the talents of the nobles and were unable to generate their own power.

The North has very little need for mages; a lifestyle without mages has long been established there.

Worry arose among everyone, including the legendary mage Lyman, who had an even greater need: to purify the Dawn God's power within him.

This is not an easy outcome to handle. You must know that the bloodline curse of the Andara royal family back then caused the royal family to fall from grace and remain in decline for decades due to only a portion of the divine remains.

If it weren't for Ryan helping Daryl reach the Legendary level, the Andara royal family would have become the first monarch in the world to lose all authority.

The erosion of the power of the dawn will surely bring even more terrible disasters.

Mage Lyman did not want to continue to suffer from this power, but he could not think of any other way to purify the power of the Dawn.

Those methods we could think of were good enough if they didn't get purified by the power of the Dawn God.

He needed a lot of money to try, and the gold coins he received from Baron Ryan had already been used up without any results.

He did want to ask Baron Ryan if he needed more Ghostwood Mycelium, but even so it would be a drop in the ocean. Mage Lyman felt that the Flor Empire was not as wonderful as he had imagined, and the wealth he could obtain was limited.

“Lord Lyman”.

Outside, someone knocked on the door. It was a magic apprentice. The troubles of a legendary mage were unimaginable to the lower-level mages. They only knew of the existence of a legendary mage, as dazzling as a giant dragon flying overhead, whose glory was all that everyone could see.

"Baron Ryan sent someone to invite you to the Frozen Territory, but I don't know why."

After some thought, the mage Lyman went to the Frozen Territory and met with Ryan. The baron got straight to the point.

"Master Lyman, do you need any money?"

The mage Lyman looked at Ryan, wondering what the baron of the North meant.

"As you know, the Kingdom of Coran was embroiled in chaos that shocked the continent of Norris. Although it has now subsided, undercurrents are still swirling, and no one knows what it has become."

"The Kingdom of Coran is in chaos, with its nobles suffering heavy casualties, and it is also facing many troubles on the outside. In the eastern lands, which are unseen by the Empire and the Dawn Church, many, many changes have taken place."

“I would like to hire Mage Lyman to go to the eastern lands and create—panic.”

Ryan looked into the eyes of the mage Lyman. This legendary mage, who had half human flesh and blood, probably didn't have such high moral standards.

Sure enough, Master Lyman did not frown or show any rejection. He had lived on the East Coast, where there was no established human value system.

"What do you want to do?"

How much money can you give me?

Master Lyman asked two questions, and Ryan only gave one answer.

“I will use 10 percent of the proceeds from Ryan’s Vault to purchase the Spectral Mycelium in your possession, Mage Lyman. This contract is valid for ten years.”

He looked at the legendary magician and said:

"In other words, for the past ten years, Mage Lyman, you have earned thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins every year. If all goes well, this income will double in the second decade."

"In the third decade, you will have the freedom to purchase magical materials, and with the treatment of legendary mages within the empire, you will not have to worry about small amounts of money."

Ryan made grand promises, and after thinking about it for a long time, Mage Lyman readily agreed, as it was not a difficult thing for him at all.

"Of course, to avoid being discovered, I will send someone to help you, Your Excellency."

It is in times of suffering that people sing praises to the dawn, seek hope, and actively reach out to the followers of the Dawn faith, thus making the Dawn faith stronger and more steadfast.

Ryan would even deliberately create several incidents, which would then be resolved by the Dawn Cult members, thereby enhancing the prestige of the Dawn faith.

Before His Holiness the Pope returns from Mount Dawn, Ryan wants to control the power of faith in the eastern lands to the greatest extent possible. The Empire has helped him isolate the east and west sides of Dawn, and if he doesn't seize this opportunity, he may never have another chance.

The smooth sailing with Mage Lyman made Ryan feel much more at ease; he still had to reach an agreement with Archbishop Adriana.

The reason for inviting Archbishop Adriana was to have her act as his bodyguard, but of course, this couldn't be without a price to pay; the archbishop's wisdom is not so easily fooled.

“I have a lot of divine substances left behind by Surtur at dusk, which may be of help to you.”

Ryan has promised to provide Archbishop Adriana with a great deal of supplies, in addition to fulfilling her wish to purify the darkness and serve the Lord of Dawn.

"besides……"

Before Ryan could finish speaking, Archbishop Adriana shook her head and rejected his proposal.

Just as Ryan was wondering what was going on, the archbishop spoke up.

“I need more nuns, the ones you sent. They are my Lord’s most devoted believers, but their faith has gone elsewhere.”

“I want to help them correct their distorted beliefs and become my Lord’s most devout servants again.”

The problem seems to have become simple, yet somewhat troublesome; this is what turns Mr. Ryan into a human trafficker.

Would selling nuns make people think I have some kind of unusual fetish?
Has Archbishop Adriana properly trained those nuns? If so, could she simply use them herself?

Ryan's thoughts had drifted far away. Archbishop Adriana seemed different from before. The previous archbishop had plunged headlong into the North, but now her thoughts had changed.

Ryan couldn't tell whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, but he could agree because it relieved a lot of the heavy pressure on him.

"Next, we will gradually erode the Dawn Faith in the eastern lands. Archbishop Adriana's request is actually helping me. If things are exposed, I can shift the blame onto her."

Lord Ryan is now resorting to any means necessary to expand his power.

(End of this chapter)