Throne of the North.

Chapter 654 The Knight in the Nightmare (Part Six)

The difficulty of each person's ascension to legendary status is unique; at least in Ryan's view, the difficulty of his own ascension was quite special.

The difficulty isn't about being big or small, but about being unique. His legendary blessing has already descended, but the spiritual panel's rank is clearly higher, and it doesn't recognize this legendary blessing.

Thinking of this, Ryan couldn't help but look at his spiritual panel.

【King and Monarch】

This was a legendary blessing he could have received; all extraordinary beings within the scope of his legendary blessing would either be demoted or promoted.

Yes, this legendary gift is an incredibly powerful and special one, allowing Ryan to gain power similar to that of a demigod at the legendary level. It is a legendary gift of a domain nature.

It can be said that it stands at the very top of the legendary gifts.

Demotion and promotion are not like a legendary becoming a holy domain, or a holy domain becoming a legendary domain. More like a priest's blessing, it weakens and strengthens.

In any case, Ryan will never get it.

His legendary gifts are evolving, awaiting his next sublimation.

Strictly speaking, it's a matter of dissatisfaction from the spiritual panel; the [King and Sovereign] rank is still insufficient.

Ryan slowly descended from the sky. No one doubted that he had become a legend. The pressure he exuded was too special, and the appearance of the dragon further enhanced the popularity of Ryan's bloodline.

The offspring of Earl Clayton, the Dragon Knight, inherited his unparalleled talent as a dragon knight.

He became a legend.

Like a dragon, it can become a legend once it reaches adulthood.

"Ryan!"

Inside and outside Zero Crossing City, shouts as loud as a tsunami resounded. Ryan's prestige in this land was unparalleled; he had brought all that was good.

Having become a legend in the North, Ryan was no longer just a rising star in the Empire; he was a shining star high in the sky. The Meyers members hidden in Zero Crossing City turned pale; they didn't know how to deal with the Northern Baron in this land.

"The North will usher in extraordinary glory, and a new legend will surely emerge from among the Eight Knights."

"We'll see."

Zero Crossing City is experiencing a new wave of fervor. The Baron has become a legend, legendary weapons are being auctioned off, and the battle for the Eight Knights is drawing to a close. As winter approaches, the eight most glorious commoner heroes of this land will be decided.

The enslaved also yearn for heroes; they see an opportunity to go further.

"Meyers will never have the opportunity to set foot on this land."

Ryan sat in his seat and addressed the nobles around him.

"No matter what desires the knight in the nightmare has, he will fail."

People come and go in a constant stream in Lingdu City. The merchants who are imprisoned in the northern border have no worries about unsold goods, as Lingdu City already has sufficient capacity to absorb them.

On the contrary, these chambers of commerce have already begun to think about how to expand their ranks.

"As long as there is food, the land in the North is large enough to entertain itself, and Meyers cannot lock it up."

Nearby, some nobles looked on with curiosity and confusion.

"Mr. Ryan."

He addressed him as "Your Excellency," a legendary status comparable to that of a great nobleman, making the title of baron seem insignificant.

"What exactly does Meyers want to do?"

“I’m sorry, Mr. Miles, I don’t know the answer to this question either. Meyers has never intended to discuss it with us. Perhaps it’s because the Grand Duke knows that once it’s brought up, none of the nobles of the North Wind will consider ‘agreeing’ to this option.”

"We don't need to know the answer, we just need to know that he will fail."

"This is a victory for the North Wind against that Grand Duke from thirty-five years ago."

"This land lost back then, but it will not lose again today."

"Ryan will shoulder all the responsibilities."

……

The hustle and bustle of Zero Crossing City was far from over, and Ryan returned to his own territory first.

However, no sooner had he returned to Rhinoceros Horn Mountain than a dark shadow appeared in the sky.

The aura of nightmares spread from the southern sky northward, crossing the Winged Canyon. Commander Farrell angrily took to the sky, and the roar of the dragon legion shattered the sea of ​​clouds in the sky.

"What is Meyers trying to do? Start a war on Imperial territory?"

The commander was deeply dissatisfied; Winged Canyon was his territory.

"This has nothing to do with Meyers."

Grand Duke Meyers would certainly not admit to starting a war. The gloom in the sky came from the Nightmare Lord of the Abyss, who appeared ferociously in the sky above the Northwind Province, with countless demons under his command covering the sky like clouds.

"The faith of the Dawn Church could not seal the passage to the abyss, and those terrifying beings eventually appeared on the continent of Norris."

"The North has put the Lord of Dawn to sleep. Without the blessing of a great being, what can humanity use to resist?"

Countless people wailed, despaired, and waited to die.

"When did Grand Duke Meyers begin to wield the power of the Abyss?"

Ryan was puzzled, but the problem was right in front of him: the power of the abyss was invading, and the peace of the Northwind Province was being shattered.

Ryan first sought help from the Emperor, since the Northwind Province was empire territory and Columbus III was the Pope of Light.

“I strongly suspect that this is something the Dawn Church used to defile the faith of light, since the soil of the abyss should not exist in the land of the faith of light.”

"The Church of Dawn does not accept defeat."

"He wouldn't even dare to appear on the holy mountain!"

The Flor Empire acted swiftly; indeed, before the conflict between Meyers and Ryan could tear down the last remaining veil, this was the abyssal evil force targeting the lands of the Flor Empire.

In less than a day, the Nightmare Lord that filled the sky disappeared. He had tried to drag the entire Northwind Province into His Nightmare Kingdom, but finally retreated with a resentful roar.

However, the wounds inflicted on the Northwind Province by the Nightmare Lord are real, and Ryan invites Count Sauron and Count Winter to join forces with the Extraordinary Legion to cleanse the land of the Nightmare Demons.

He cannot afford to deplete his own soldiers.

This was no easy war, but what followed was even more difficult. Wherever these nightmare demons passed, they left behind trails of hazy, pixelated flames.

Their deaths will unleash a nightmare upon the land, leaving vast swathes of earth shrouded in its aura.

That great ruler, a terrifying being, was not willing to be defeated so easily. He left behind his own methods, attempting to use his followers to turn this land into a kingdom where nightmares could hunt freely.

Ryan personally arrived at a battlefield, where Brand led the Bucks army, trampling on the barren grass. A cold, blue mist swirled around the hooves of the warhorses, but it couldn't conceal the gray, flickering fragments of fire beneath their feet. These fragments clung to the grass, burning it to ashes before settling into the soil.

The once dry and cold soil was transformed into the soil of nightmares. In the flames, Ryan seemed to see a complete world that did not belong to humans.

"That Nightmare Lord, no, it should be Grand Duke Meyers, he plans to turn the North Wind Province into two worlds, one inside and one outside?" A layer of Nightmare Kingdom covering the land of the North Wind Province, stepping on flames to enter the Nightmare's territory, and coming out to return to the human world, this is what Grand Duke Meyers originally planned to do.

It's just that things have become more difficult because of his existence?

Indeed, without Ryan, these Nightmare Demons could easily ignite the Northwind Province with their Nightmare Divine Flames, turning the land into a veritable abyss kingdom.

How can we get rid of these flames?

The extraordinary beings were in a dilemma, but the authoritative mages provided the answer.

The authoritative mages from the Mage Guild offered dozens of methods. They seemed quite experienced in dealing with this invasion of divine power from the abyss, as they were always dealing with it within the mage circle.

But Ryan couldn't accept any of them because the cost was too high.

The answers given by the magicians were that nine out of ten would require consuming a large amount of extraordinary materials, or even setting up a magic array, or using the divine magic of the clergy for purification. At this time, they did not belittle the divine magic of the Dawn Church.

Ryan couldn't possibly afford to spend so much money on this, and neither could the Northwind Province. Who knows when the next batch of Nightmare Demons will appear and come back after this batch is purified?

The key issue here is Meyers, not the nightmare monsters of the abyss.

"The Knight of Nightmare can only travel thousands of miles from his dreams and descend upon this land in an instant."

"And these nightmare flames can transform the land into another world, a nightmare kingdom, embedded within our world."

"Do you think it's possible that once these nightmare powers form a domain, Grand Duke Meyers' Nightmare Knight Legion could reach the Northwind Province?"

"Just like more than 30 years ago, the difference is that back then, the Northwind Province was immersed in fear, and nightmares were a daily occurrence. Now, the Nightmare Knights cannot reach the Northwind Province using conventional means."

"They want to create a path that belongs to nightmares, and then run wildly on it."

Ryan shared his guess, but believed the result was almost certain, for two reasons.

One is the legendary blessing he sensed. Although he didn't actually receive the legendary blessing into his body, he was no longer just a simple peak Saint. His soul was evolving, just like the spiritual panel was nurturing a legendary blessing that truly belonged to him.

The second reason... is quite cliché.

The Mayes members in Zero City had neither the talent nor the experience to be spies. This extraordinary world was so primitive that conspiracies and tricks had not yet taken center stage.

Ryan had already discovered them, and after observing them in secret, he naturally knew that they were actually waiting for Grand Duke Meyers' next move.

They provided clues, and Ryan guessed the outcome.

Well, it's that simple.

"In this case……"

Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly.

“They want to turn the Northwind Province into a nightmare kingdom and then roam freely within it. Well then, let me decide where you die.”

"Fear can cause nightmares, so do nightmares possess the power of fear?"

Ryan wrote to the Kingdom of Andara, inquiring about His Excellency Allah, the "Ivy," who was idly loitering in the royal capital.

"Of course there are."

"In the Abyss, nightmares are not some terrible demons, because the land of the Abyss is full of chaotic and disordered demons. They only have primal frenzy, not the fear and terror controlled by nightmares."

"What they fear is savagery."

"Well... to put it another way from the perspective of human civilization, they feared the power of the giants."

"giant?"

Ryan looked at the description in the reply and was a little curious. Giants were still very prestigious, and he felt that dragons were inferior to them.

"The only result of a nightmare trying to fear a giant is that it will be feared in return."

"Within the soul of the giants lies a terrifying power even more ancient than the Nightmare. Legend has it that the first Nightmare Lord was born from the body of a giant."

"The fear of giants is like a child's subservience to their ancestors; it has nothing to do with strength or weakness, it's an instinct."

Ryan finished reading and pondered.

"Where can we get the power of the giants?"

Ryan's first thought was of the Thunder Giants, and then of the Frost Giants tribe with whom he had a good relationship. But the problem was that the Thunder Giants were dead, and the Frost Giants had migrated to the depths of the North.

"Duke Sauron didn't completely devour the Thunder Giant, did he?"

Ryan wrote directly to Count Sauron's mountain castle.

The latter quickly responded that the Thunder Giant's core was indeed still intact, but Count Sauron intended to melt it down into the core of the castle to guard it.

Every Count of Sauron has this responsibility.

The primary responsibility is to have children and pass on the legacy of future generations.

Well... actually, apart from that, they're all side quests. The ancestors of the nobles didn't have any high expectations for their descendants; just passing on the glory of their bloodline was enough.

Count Sauron is clearly preparing to complete this side quest of the family bloodline.

The heart core of the Thunder Giant is extremely valuable, even surpassing the standard heirloom of the Clayton family—the Dragon Heart.

"This is for dealing with Meyers. Everything gained after the war will belong to Count Solon."

"I will try my best to be fair. If the gap is too large, I will give away some dragon blood."

Count Sauron was also conflicted, but ultimately chose to compromise. Two days later, Ryan saw a crystal-like heart beating, emitting a deafening thumping sound.

"It's fortunate that the Thunder Giant didn't become a legend back then. It's understandable that Count Weiss's ambitions grew, since the power of a giant can surpass that of a dragon."

The rest was simple. As a life mage, Archmage McKen was very professional in this area; he had even brought to life a stone monster made of piled-up stones.

"The energy is enormous."

"There's no need to become very strong. Lord Ivy said that fearing giants is an instinct, even if the giants are weak."

Without seeing the archmage nod, he said:
"That makes things simple. I can use this heart to create hundreds of monsters with the aura of giants."

Then Ryan saw a hundred miniature thunderstone monsters standing in front of him.

"Jump?"

"..."

Okay, listen to Chun. Ryan had Brand arrange for the knights to take these little ones to various parts of the Northwind Province to drive away the Nightmare Demons. Although they would still leave long Nightmare paths, eventually all the Nightmare Demons would gather in one place.

Red Wing Plain.

The place where Longshan County, Beifeng County, and Leiyun County meet is also the site of the decisive battle between the noble alliance and Earl Weiss's army during the civil war in Beifeng Province.

Ryan was the commander-in-chief at the time.

(End of this chapter)