Throne of the North.

Chapter 670 Power in the North (Part 8)

Above the sky, a colossal tidal dragon coiled and spread its wings, bringing howling winds, and finally descended not far from Ryan.

This sudden, intense dragon aura made it difficult for the nobles to breathe, as many of them didn't even possess the strength of a knight.

"You go back first."

Ryan said to the Tide Dragon, "This thing is just a bluffing shell."

The tidal dragon departed, but the next moment, Ryan sensed the arrival of a real dragon.

The Frost Dragon Areris has not slept since waking up recently. It sensed Isabella's presence again and came over without any politeness towards Ryan.

"Fake again?"

Ryan looked helplessly at Areris, as the frost dragon opened its mouth and a large amount of magic crystals fell down.

"Lord Areris, are you planning to move away and run away?"

"What nonsense."

The dragon's face was so thick that even a steel sword couldn't pierce it, so there was no sign of it blushing. Areris sat down unceremoniously dozens of meters away, and even after folding its wings, it still looked like a small mountain.

"Your Excellency Areris".

Compared to the previous Tide Dragon, this Frost Dragon was recognized by many nobles, and Earl Winter greeted it familiarly.

"It is you."

Areris exhaled a cold breath, harboring no goodwill towards Earl Winter.

In fact, among the nobles present, apart from Ryan, whom it could formally regard, everyone else was an ant to the dragon.

It felt that Ryan was more like a dragon in human skin, just like Isabella.

"Even if a weak human becomes a legend, he is no match for me."

Areris said this in a low voice, but it was not a quiet voice for a human.

"Lord Areris, you're not running away, what are you doing here?"

Areris thought about it and realized that this dragon was very different from the other tyrannical dragons, possessing a strong sense of human nature.

"I went out for a walk to find some delicious food."

After saying that, it looked at the nobles present.

"The tundra has a lot of meat stored up. If you want some, I can send you some."

"That frozen meat? It's not dragon food."

Dragons are the world's top hunters; when would they need to eat stale food?

Areris refused to admit that she wanted to run away, so she stayed put.

The nobles were initially alarmed, but soon became excited after realizing that the dragon had no destructive desires.

O dragon.

"Humans are so weak."

Areris watched as knights, adventurers, and orcs clashed on the distant battlefield.

At first, many were unable to withstand the dragon's might. Some of the knights who mustered their courage and rushed into the battlefield surrounded by the stag servants regretted their decision the moment they faced the orcs and turned to flee for the stag servants' protection.

Today, fewer than two hundred people are still fighting and battling the orcs on that land.

The number of orcs, however, is in the thousands.

The crowd of onlookers was densely packed. At first, they were excited, but they quickly grew bored.

"What? I feel like these knights are even worse than those slaves."

Many people were dissatisfied, feeling that the knights had performed poorly and should have been dominating the battlefield, just like the stag squire knights of Lord Ryan.

“Those people must be knights from the kingdom.”

A commotion arose in the crowd, and all the knights and adventurers who performed poorly were to be relegated to the kingdom's lands.

As time went by, more and more knights had to leave the battlefield, which naturally exposed the truly powerful knight adventurers. Among the orc enemies from all sides, they either stood ready, cooperated in groups, or charged so powerfully that the orcs could not gather to attack them.

From dawn to dusk, throughout the entire day, thousands of knights and adventurers gradually dwindled. Some died under the claws of orcs, while others withdrew in despair. Only then did they realize that the title of Eight Knights was not so easy to obtain. They could say they could do it, but in reality, only those who were still standing had that opportunity.

"Hey……"

In the small group, the last knight sighed. He wanted to persevere, but he felt he didn't even have the strength to lift his hand.

As the werewolf's claws drew ever closer, the knight didn't even have time to be terrified.

The warhorses roared behind him, and the knight felt a gust of wind whistle past his ear as an arrow pierced through the tall werewolf in front of him. He survived.

Turning back, he looked gratefully at the stag servant whose face was hidden by a mask. Just as he was about to say something, the servant spoke.

"you failed."

After the stag squire finished speaking, he raised his hand, and on his left and right sides, a hundred stag squires simultaneously drew their knightly longswords.

"charge!"

Boom! ! !
The warhorses galloped forward, leaving craters in the ground. By the time the knights reacted, the stag squires had already charged into the orcs.

Everyone witnessed a magnificent massacre. Cold longswords easily tore through the orcs' hides, which the adventurers struggled to break through. Blood splattered in the air, and in the twilight of the sunset, the hard armor was stained with hot, crimson blood.

The knight finally understood when he saw the stag's servant's actions.

He was the ninth.

He was the last knight to leave the stage in sorrow.

Besides him, there were only eight people left.

They will become the Eight Knights this year.

The knight was overwhelmed with grief, resentment, and regret in that instant. His body trembled, and then he fainted.

"Why, why?"

Ryan stepped through the void, slowly arriving above the battlefield. The fiery footprints beneath his feet never extinguished, and a power comparable to that of a legend descended in that instant. In the twilight, the flames transformed into a crimson cloak that fluttered behind Ryan.

"Congratulations on becoming the eight heroes of the new year."

"Warhorses, weapons, and armor are gifts for the brave."

The bards presented a northern warhorse and eight sets of weapons and armor. Ryan chose one of them to receive the horse. The eight knights were thrilled and grateful. Their muscles were stiff and their knightly manners were distorted, but no one cared. Everyone could clearly see how long they had been fighting on this battlefield.

"However, that's not all."

After Ryan finished speaking, his voice suddenly grew louder, echoing throughout the entire sky.

"Thirty-five years ago, North Wind became the territory of the Empire, and all the people of this land became subjects of the Empire." "However, for more than thirty years, no Imperial army has been stationed on the land of North Wind Province."

"We have no strong army to protect us, so the evil orcs in the icy north have repeatedly invaded. They kill our companions and plunder our food. Whenever the orcs are hungry, this land becomes their food!"

"I established the Northern Warriors Guild so that the orcs of the North would never have the chance to appear in the Northwind Province again. The Northern Warriors will kill any orcs that try to approach humans on that cold, calamity-ridden land."

"We need an army, an army belonging to the entire Northwind Province, to protect us!"

"I hereby declare that in the province of Northwind, all nobles will form a legion called Northwind."

"And you..."

Ryan looked again at the eight knights in front of him.

"You will become centurions in this Borean Legion."

"This legion will shoulder the responsibility of guarding the entire Northwind Province!"

"They will be stationed on the Fragrant Hills Plain to ensure that no orc will be able to invade human land!"

As soon as Ryan finished speaking, the crowd became extremely excited. Their atmosphere among the eight knights had already reached its peak, and at this moment they would not think about anything they could not understand at all. With the bards leading the way, everyone shouted loudly.

"North wind! North wind! North wind!"

Ryan landed and returned to his position. All the nobles around him stared at him in shock, especially Baron Winter, whose face was terribly ugly.

"Ryan, what do you mean? You made a decision without consulting us at all?"

Ryan turned around, and at that moment, Ryan lost his gentle demeanor, leaving only an undeniable arrogance.

“Lord Winter, you must understand, I simply do not wish for the tragedy of those years to repeat itself.”

“I also do not want your territory to be swept away by the orc army. I do not want any noble to die because of the sudden arrival of the orcs, and not even their bloodline to be preserved.”

“We have experienced tragedy, so we need to make changes so that tragedy will not be repeated.”

“People learn from their mistakes, Lord Winter, you must agree to my decision.”

After Ryan finished speaking, he also looked at Earl Sauron and Viscount Hogg.

"Lord Winter, Lord Sauron, and Viscount Hogg, you may make preparations. The North Wind Legion needs three generals, and these three generals are under your command."

"As for the commander of the North Wind Legion, it will be Viscount Landa. He has guarded the Fragrant Mountain Plain for many years, and he deserves it."

"Ryan, what exactly do you want to do?"

Count Sauron asked in a deep voice, he too was taken aback by Ryan's decision.

“Count Solon, we need to make a change. Why has the Empire become so powerful over the past hundred years? It’s because the Empire has many fortresses and armies like Winged Canyon. Those armies do not belong to any nobleman, but to the Empire, and they guard the borders for the Empire.”

"His Majesty the Emperor abandoned the North Wind Province, so we have no choice but to build our own army to protect us."

"You want to take away our army?"

Viscount Hogg also inquired, his expression extremely solemn. The hundreds of cavalrymen under his command were Viscount Hogg's absolute real estate.

"No, the North Wind Legion needs 30,000 soldiers, which is the number that can be stationed on the Fragrant Hills Plain."

"Centurions are chosen from the eight knights each year, while commanders of thousands are selected from among the outstanding military nobles. The commander of ten thousand is decided among the three of you nobles. However, the two earls may have no problem, but Viscount Hogg, you will be challenged by several other counties in the Northwind Province."

Ryan smiled again.

“I do not want the nobility to be complacent and stagnant. It is not enough for you to enjoy power within your own territories. What I am going to give you now is greater power. Think about it: do you want to command those slave-like soldiers in your territories, or do you want to become the leader of thousands of people?”

"However, in any case, you have no way of opposing me on this matter."

An army of 30,000 men, an army composed entirely of regular troops...

This number even silenced the two earls. They could also muster such an army, or even more, up to 100,000 men. But the question was, how many of those 100,000 men were slaves?
"That army can only operate in the Xiangshan Plain?"

"Yes, the Northwind Legion has only one goal: to help the Northwind Province withstand the disaster from the North."

Earl Winter looked at Ryan again and said seriously:

“I can agree, but I need Hora Winter to become the commander of the North Wind Legion.”

Ryan shook his head, refusing the offer.

"Impossible, Earl Winter. That position belongs to Viscount Landa. He has dedicated everything to the Fragrant Hills Plain. Do you want to compete with him for it?"

"But you didn't suffer the loss of most of your family's lives."

Viscount Landa... if it comes to playing the victim, no one can beat him. Nobody wants to be known as a bully or someone who kicks someone when they're down.

“I’m curious, Ryan, why don’t you become a legion commander?”

Count Sauron said that if the undefeated Ryan could become the legion commander, probably no one would have any objections.

"I?"

“My identity is not that of the commander of the North Wind Legion, Lord Sauron. The banquet in Zero Crossing City is ready. I am very pleased that the eight knights are qualified to participate with us. Let us first enjoy the precious delicacies from the North.”

"By the way, I will also tell everyone what I'm going to do."

The eight knights stood with the nobles in Zero Crossing City, and no one seemed to have any objections today. The only thing that bothered them was that one of the eight knights was a warrior from the North.

"He obtained the Knight's Breathing Technique two years ago after swearing an oath to become a Knight of the North at the Northern Warriors Guild."

"Over two years, he earned the resources needed for knight training as an adventurer."

Ryan also looked at the newly recruited Eighth Knight, whose face was sallow. He began to believe that there was such a thing as talent among knights.

This guy has no resources and no time, yet he managed to stand out among thousands of knights. What else could this be but talent?
“Northern warrior, in that case, you are the most suitable fortress in the North.”

Ryan's praise eased the Northern warrior's inhibitions, and Ryan then used this opportunity to announce something at the banquet.

"I plan to form a parliament."

"The military council belonging to the North."

"In this council, whether it is the North Wind, the Three Kingdoms, or the Gerald noble territory, they are all members."

"We share a common goal: to combat the catastrophic North and work together to ensure that the North can no longer threaten our territory."

"I will become the Speaker of the Northern Military Council, and at the same time, the Supreme Commander of the Northern Army."

Politics, military, and economics are the three elements of power. Ryan cannot control the politics of everyone because these nobles come from different kingdoms and empires.

He cannot control everyone's economy. In the economy, if someone makes money, someone else will inevitably lose money. Economic choices are essentially buying and selling; there is no absolute win-win situation.

Therefore, the only thing he could achieve on his own was in the military sphere.

From a military perspective, this will feed back into politics and the economy, naturally making Ryan's power incredibly secure.

(End of this chapter)