Throne of the North.

Chapter 675 A New World, New Power

The Pope is preparing to travel to the Flor Empire.

This news swept across the continent of Norris like a whirlwind, drawing the attention of countless people to the Holy Mountain of Dawn.

Are the Papacy and the Empire preparing to reconcile?

The nobles speculated in their hearts that they did not want to see such a scene, but no one was able to go to the Holy Mountain to ask the Pope of Dawn what he thought.

As a result, many nobles who had not originally planned to set off suddenly announced that they were going to the Empire.

Columbus III was overjoyed and welcomed all the nobles' requests.

A month before the Festival of Divine Grace, an even grander celebration was being prepared in the capital city. Countless slaves were conscripted, and precious timber and stones from all directions were being transported to the heart of the empire.

"So, the deal between us and His Majesty the Emperor no longer exists?"

In the province of Calais, Aatrox asked his father, Earl Clayton, who remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.

"His Majesty the Emperor previously believed that the Pope would not come to the Empire, but now, he probably won't acknowledge the deal he made with me."

"Then we've lost another opportunity."

The Earl of Clayton, however, did not care about this.

“We never had the confidence to kill Pope Solarion. Ignoring the existence of gods, Solarion is the most powerful human being.”

"The first Pope, without the title of the first, would not have been a match for Solarion. Don't forget, in ancient times, humanity didn't even have legends."

"Father, what should we do?"

Aatrox asked, his tone filled with anger. They had been considering how to kill the Pope, and he was ready to use his own body as a vessel to enter the furnace the emperor had mentioned and forge the power of a demigod.

"Let's pretend nothing happened."

"His Majesty the Emperor now wields absolute authority within the empire. Didn't you notice this when you were in the capital? Those Grand Dukes no longer wish to enter the Emperor's palace. They weren't like that before."

"When he is crowned the High Pope of Light on the Day of Divine Grace... everything will be different, and the Flor Empire will become the most powerful land in history."

Danube Province.

Count Pascal did not want to hear such news.

His hatred for the Dawn Church was not a simple matter; he hoped that the Empire and the Church would be locked in a life-or-death struggle, and as a high-ranking nobleman of the Empire, he could become the most fanatical advocate of war.

He did not want the Papacy and the Empire to reconcile.

"This shouldn't be happening. How can the Pope of the Dawn Church bow down to the Emperor? Damn Dawn Church, what are you now?"

Count Pascal gritted his teeth, increasingly convinced that the Dawn Church was not the Church, but rather another empire in the world.

The Empire of Dawn—perhaps this name is more fitting than the Papacy.

Pascal decided not to go to the capital city; he disliked its flowery scenery.

Grand Duke Freming's Castle, the Grand Duke's castle stands atop a high mountain, unlike the vast estate of the Meyers family, which is isolated and detached from the world.

Vibrant flowers covered the mountains; the colorful blossoms were the glory and emblem of the Fleming family.

Grand Duke Freudin was not in his castle, but in the imperial capital. Of course, this refers to the young Grand Duke Freudin, while the castle is still owned by the old Grand Duke Freudin.

Only when a nobleman dies will his heir inherit the title, and the situation in the Grand Duke Freming's family led to this awkward situation.

The young Archduke Fleming was unwilling to return to his castle because he did not want to see his father.

"He is maturing."

Grand Duke Freming, on the other hand, was quite relaxed and at ease. While he could only lie in a chair in the capital, he could actually arrange flowers with assistance in his own castle.

"Solarion, from what I understand, this Pope is not one to bow down easily. Why would he be willing to come to the capital?"

"He should be hiding in the abyss until next year, until the end of the Feast of Grace."

Grand Duke Fleming wondered to himself, this was the conclusion he could draw from his understanding of the Pope. The cardinals of the Holy Mountain of the Dawn Church all thought the same thing, which was why they had remained silent for the past few months.

Unexpectedly, the Pope returned to the continent of Norris before the Feast of Grace and made no attempt to conceal his decision to travel to the capital city.

Grand Duke Freming didn't understand, but he felt that the Pope would never bow down.

"Master... the Grand Duke is back."

The servants didn't know how to address the father and son, but since Grand Duke Freming had never returned before, they weren't too bothered by it.

The young Grand Duke was not young at all; in his fifties, he was at the prime of his life. Looking at his father, Feredias remained respectful, but without any hesitation, he sat down in another chair.

"You've really grown up."

“Father, I’m not young anymore. I already have grandchildren.”

The new Archduke of Freming smiled and then explained the purpose of his return.

"His Majesty the Emperor has ordered Grand Duke Russell and me to assemble an army and head south to prevent war from the Dawn Church. However, the Pope has suddenly said that he is coming to the Empire. His Majesty the Emperor has not yet given me any information and has ordered me to stop heading south."

Should I go south?

Grand Duke Freming shook his head.

"He never admits his failures or misunderstandings. Ever since Solarion said he was coming to the Empire, the Emperor had already regretted it, but he was unwilling to take back his words."

"You can stay in the castle and wait. Just wait until the Festival of Grace is over. Then you and the Emperor will naturally forget what you were talking about."

"so……"

Grand Duke Freming nodded; he knew no better than his father about His Majesty the Emperor.

"However, I hope you go to the south."

"And with the Freming family's extraordinary legion—the Divine Pattern Knight Legion."

Grand Duke Freming looked at his father, who seemed to be getting more and more energetic since returning to the family castle, puzzled.

"Father, why?" Grand Duke Freming asked worriedly.
“I am worried that the Pope is not as fragile as we think. I suspect that a new war is about to break out. If you can appear in the south at that time, you can become a hero of the empire.”

"This will allow you to establish authority in the hearts of the nobles. You should have felt it too. The current Flor Empire is trying to consolidate the power of the nobles. The royal family, relying on its prestige over the past hundred years, has begun to build more and more imperial armies, ostensibly to protect the empire. But in reality, compared to these armies, the small number of troops held by the nobles are negligible."

"This is inherently a suppression of the power of the nobles, and now Columbus III is doing it even more smoothly."

"He's already doing it."

Grand Duke Freming remained silent. Indeed, the Emperor had already devised a plan for this matter, which would begin after the Festival of Grace. It was unknown how much the great nobles of the empire would be affected, but the lesser nobles would lose their former voice.

It's a very simple principle: a baron or viscount's army can only have a few hundred or a thousand men at most, which is quite a lot. But what if any army in the empire had tens of thousands of men?

The nobles held political power because of their titles and ranks. In reality, this power stemmed from the nobles' strength. They had absolute power over their own territories; they were the kings of their own lands.

"Because of the northern border, the nobles were unable to provide their offspring with opportunities to expand into new territories and become lords. As a result, more and more noble bloodlines began to pledge allegiance to His Majesty the Emperor and take up positions in the empire's military and political system."

"Can you imagine what the future will be like if things continue like this?"

“Those imperial officials who collected taxes were once just commoners. When they saw nobles, they had to kneel on the ground, bow their heads, and beg the noble lords to hand over the taxes to them.”

"But in the future, those tax officials might be the brothers of nobles. Imagine your younger brother becomes the empire's tax official and comes to your territory to collect taxes. Would he be afraid of your noble title and kneel down to speak to you?"

"No, that will not happen. As a result, the empire will be able to collect more taxes. I mean the empire, not the royal family. It will become stronger because of the increased tax revenue, and the emperor's authority will become supreme, like a god that no one can defy."

"At the same time, the nobles either grow old and die in such an empire, clinging to their own territories, or they gain new rights in a completely new empire."

"Rights that are different from those of noble titles."

“And you, my child, you don’t have two paths to take. You are the Grand Duke of Freming, and your territory is too vast. Therefore, you can only preserve everything in Freming through new power.”

New power?

Grand Duke Freming fell into deep thought. He couldn't fully understand what his father was saying. Why would a new power emerge in the future empire? What did this have to do with grand dukes like him? They had long since become top predators; if they wanted, they could even establish their own duchies.

“I don’t understand, Father. I haven’t seen any of the things you’re talking about in the Empire. Even if my brother and my children become officials in the Empire, it’s because we are all nobles who are loyal followers of His Majesty the Emperor. And I also believe that the children of the Freming family will not betray their bloodline.”

"This has nothing to do with betrayal."

Grand Duke Fleming's eyes were cloudy, but his mind remained perfectly clear.

“Freming’s children will never betray Freming, you’re right, but it has nothing to do with betrayal.”

"Instead... the rules of human civilization have changed since the gods went into slumber."

"Do you understand? This has nothing to do with anyone else, but with the great gods. They are asleep and can no longer suppress the development of human civilization. Humanity will begin a new evolution on its own because there are no gods."

As an arrogant grand duke and the first blasphemer, Grand Duke Freming knew all too well how the most fundamental rules of this extraordinary world operated.

God.

All civilizations are born around great beings; in one world plane, all wisdom revolves around gods.

why?
Because all intelligent life is too close to the divine.

After the interdimensional war of the gods, the gods went into slumber, and intelligent life finally had a brief period of more than a hundred years to be away from the gods. However, in just a hundred years, such enormous changes have occurred in humanity.

If human civilization no longer had gods, what would it evolve into in a thousand years?

"As a Grand Duke, you no longer need to gain political power. You should focus on the entire civilized world of mankind, and even the world beyond mankind."

"You are the highest nobleman, you should become the hero who leads human civilization forward."

Grand Duke Freming looked at his child and said earnestly:
"On the continent of Norris, human civilization originated from two mountains. The first mountain was the Dawn Pope, the first Pope, and his thirteen knights."

"The second mountain is the original nobles, the former heroes and hero kings."

"Fredias, I have only one request for you now."

"Abandon your faith and do not let the gods occupy your soul. Whether it is light or dawn, you can praise them with your words, but they cannot have a place in your heart."

Feredias was shocked. He had been confused by what had been said before, but he understood this sentence.

"Father, do you want me to become a faithless person?"

Grand Duke Fleming wanted to say that unbelievers and those who do not believe in God are two different things, but looking at the young grand duke's expression, he remained silent and simply nodded.

"Yes, my child, you will become a faithless person, and do not let the great being occupy your soul."

"I……"

Grand Duke Freming stood there blankly. If you were to say that the nobles of the empire had any devout faith, you couldn't see it. The nobles were all sophisticated egoists, just a group of humans who cared about their own interests.

However, it is impossible to say that the nobles of the empire had no faith at all; even the slightest bit of faith existed within them.

After all, there really are many omnipotent gods in this world, and their greatness has made human civilization prosperous.

“Father, I’m afraid it will be difficult for me to do that. I cannot eliminate my inner expectation of the gods.”

"I can't imagine that faithless people really exist in this world."

Grand Duke Fleming looked at his children and sighed inwardly, realizing that his successors could never compare to his generation of blasphemers who dared to challenge the gods.

"It does exist in this world."

"Do you know what the Baron of the North, who once rose to prominence in the Empire, has been up to lately?"

"I haven't been paying attention to the North. The capital city is too bustling for me to focus on."

“But I’ve been keeping an eye on things ever since Meyers started having a conflict with that baron from the North.”

Grand Duke Freming restored the capital city to its former glory, his mind clouded and confused, yet he always managed to grasp certain key points.

“I once suspected that Solarion was a faithless person, yes, the same His Holiness the Pope of Dawn you are thinking of.”

"I haven't confirmed whether he is or not, but before that, I've discovered that the Baron of the North is already behaving like a faithless person."

"Fredias, do you know him? He was once a hero in human history."

(End of this chapter)