Throne of the North.

Chapter 677 The Emperor of the Empire (Part 1)

"The Pope can never truly repent. As a blasphemer, if the Lord of Dawn had discovered that he had such a believer, the Pope would have been burned to ashes long ago."

"But why did he come to the empire in such a humble manner? Just to be a background figure for the emperor?"

Ryan had been thinking about this problem. He was initially nervous about the disturbance on the spiritual panel, but later he realized that it was just something that made him nervous, and there was nothing else going on.

I just glance at it every day, and if there are no new changes on the spiritual panel, that's fine.

Like all nobles, he was deeply concerned about the imperial capital at this moment.

"I really want to go and see it."

However, Ryan had already decided to hold the first military council meeting of the North on the day of Divine Grace, which was very important to him, so he had no choice but to skip the capital city.

He instinctively felt that nothing good would happen on the Feast of Grace, and that Pope Dawn would definitely betray the Emperor.

Ryan couldn't imagine what the meaning of the Dawn's faith would be if the emperor possessed the identity of the pope.

"It feels like war is about to break out. Could the Pope be here to issue a challenge to the Empire?"

Ryan closed the spiritual panel. The illusory dragon spirit floated around him, but he found it in the way and pushed it outside to play by himself.

Anyway, it will come back on its own, and as long as the dragon spirit doesn't want anyone to find it, no one can see it.

……

"Master! Something terrible has happened!"

Butler Beard, accompanied by several knight scouts, carried the blood-soaked Griff up Rhinoceros Horn Mountain. When Ryan rushed over, he saw a basin full of blood and Griff lying on a stone slab, breathing intermittently and unconscious.

"How could this be?"

This was the first time Ryan had ever seen Griff, the scout, suffer such serious injuries. Back in Hobby's kingdom, he had managed to evade them until the very end with ease.

At the same time, this was the first time Ryan had discovered an injury that even the Holy Water of Dawn could not directly heal.

"Physical injuries can be healed by the power of dawn as long as the person isn't dead, but his soul seems to have been frozen. Fortunately, it's not completely frozen, it's like..."

"Like ice clusters in that lake, frozen solid."

After reading it, the mage Luna said this and then offered a solution.

"It would be good if his soul could be revitalized, but it seems he will recover on his own in no time."

Griff's vitality is terrifyingly strong. As the sole survivor in the world of Herresweg, he has long since adapted to the cold environment.

Ryan placed many soul potions near Griff before leaving the room.

“Send an army to the north to gather intelligence.”

Ryan was curious and wary of the power that could injure Scout Griff, but this time, the news from the Northern Adventurers' Guild came back faster than from his army.

"master."

"Those adventurers who went to the North suffered heavy casualties. According to those who escaped, they were hunted down by orcs. A large number of orcs have appeared in the North."

Could an orc have injured Griff like that? Ryan couldn't be sure. An ordinary orc certainly couldn't, and Griff, as a scout, would have run away.

But this time, not only did Greif return severely injured, but not a single one of his Blood Eagles managed to fly back.

Even adventurers can escape, so Griff and Blood Eagle won't be that fragile.

The Wall stands majestically in the misty snow of the North, a stag squire leaping down and riding a northern warhorse swiftly into the vast, icy world.

A force of one hundred men could make no difference in the North. As the centurion of this scout army, Koo sensed the seriousness of the matter from the Baron's tone.

"Even Lord Griff couldn't escape unscathed?"

He looked up at the Blood Eagle circling above their group. As scouts, they knew Lord Griff's strength well, and it wasn't just in terms of combat prowess.

"The second to fifth squads will go from the west to the northwest, and the sixth to tenth squads will go to the east."

Koo quickly assigned tasks. Each of the hundred scouts was an elite among elites. They advanced towards the northern border at a 180-degree angle, with the azimuth of each squad differing by an hour on a clock face.

"Return via the same route in three days!"

Koo personally led a small team straight north. After only two hours of advance, the wind and snow in the sky had turned into a blizzard. Even with the adaptability of the northern warhorses, their speed had to be slowed down.

They could only see less than a hundred meters around them, and that was only because they had received the blessing of the Eagle Spirit, which made their vision far beyond that of ordinary people. For those adventurers from the Northern Territory, being able to reach out and see their own five fingers would be considered quite good.

The blizzard posed numerous dangers, but fortunately, they didn't need to worry about the snow beneath their feet collapsing, as the instincts of the Northern warhorses allowed them to easily avoid any landslides.

These extraordinary knights only need to be wary of the monsters that emerge from beneath the ice and snow.

The longsword was drawn, its cold light slicing through the snowflakes. A ferocious-looking orc was pinned to the ground. It was not completely dead, still staring savagely into Koo's eyes, greedy and hungry saliva dripping from its mouth.

"What kind of orc race is this?"

Koo had never seen such beastmen before. They had bull horns on their heads and tails growing under their thick, gray-black skin. They seemed to be cousins ​​of the minotaurs, but were clearly more savage.

"Such strong vitality."

Just as Koo was about to put away his weapon, he suddenly became alert to his surroundings and shouted loudly.

"We're surrounded! Break out!"

At some point, from beneath the snow in all directions, one after another, ferocious-looking orc monsters leaped out of the snow surface. Their heavy bodies not only allowed them to hide under the ice and snow to maintain their temperature, but their jumping ability to leap two or three meters off the ground was also incomprehensible.

There was no time to study what was special about these new orcs. The warhorse neighed, and the Northern Warhorse, whose eyes had turned completely white, raised its front hooves high, with clusters of ice shards blooming on its hooves, before suddenly kicking the falling orc.

boom! ! !
The orc flew out at an even faster speed. His whole body turned pale, and his blood was frozen and stagnant. The Northern Warhorse was no ordinary warhorse.

As his body gradually regained its balance, Koo swept his lance across the ground, sending the surrounding orcs flying. He did not linger in the fight, but led his nine attendants straight ahead.

"Kill out!"

The warhorses charged, and although there were only ten knights and squires, the power of the charge was in no way weak. In the raging wind and snow, they instantly sent the orcs in front of them flying. Their iron hooves galloped wildly and quickly disappeared into the roars of the orcs.

The only sound left in their ears was the howling of the wind and snow. Koo and the others stopped, but before they could catch their breath, the hazy fog ahead was parted, and a dense mass of families—truly families—were walking towards them. The tall orcs even carried their tents on their backs.

No, not towards them, but towards the south.

"Change direction!" The search route ordered by Koo was completely disrupted in just two hours. They were indeed powerful. As Lord Ryan's attendants, they had received several spiritual blessings and were confident that they could kill the orcs with fewer troops. But the problem was, there were far too many of them.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, they spotted the orcs again, and these orcs seemed to have caught their scent a step earlier, looking at the humans and warhorses with the frenzied fascination of someone who had just seen a full Manchu Han Imperial Feast.

"Centurion, what should we do?"

At this moment, Koo finally understood why Lord Griff was injured. The North had long since lost any peaceful land!

Countless orcs are migrating south!

"Signal: Retreat."

Phew~bang!
The sky erupted in crimson flames, the little contraptions created by alchemists. Koo wasn't sure if there were any knights or squires around, but this was a signal to retreat.

Their original plan was to search in all directions for three days, but now, in less than three hours, they had to turn back. The sudden changes in the North had to be reported to Lord Ryan as soon as possible.

In the sky, the Blood Eagle circled and swooped down. Just as Koo looked up, he saw the Blood Eagle suddenly plunge into the sea of ​​clouds. A moment later, a large number of blood-red feathers fell.

The skies of the North are not devoid of life, but in this desolate world, the skies are usually not a place to hide.

The Blood Eagle fell, stained with blood. When the clouds dispersed, Koo saw swarms of ghostly creatures that resembled bats, greedily chewing on the blood in their mouths.

Blood Eagle was surrounded and seriously injured. Koo led his men and rushed over, protecting Blood Eagle in his arms.

"retreat!"

The warhorses neighed and charged southward recklessly, pursued closely by a sea of ​​frost-white bat demons that formed a cloud-like pattern. They were no slouch.

"Five people stay."

Beneath the mask, Koo's voice became cold and cruel, a leader's instinct granted by the Wolf Spirit's blessing, allowing him to make the most correct decisions on the battlefield in the shortest amount of time.

The five knights suddenly reined in their horses, turned around, and stood still. They rode on their warhorses, drew their bows, and shot sharp arrows that tore through the snow and pierced straight through the terrifying demons.

Enraged, the demons surged downwards like a storm, engulfing the five knights and their attendants.

Boom! ! !
Burning flames erupted from the storm, melting the surrounding ice. Five squire knights from the Stag Legion were bathed in flames, their boiling blood power driving them into a thunderous rage as they fearlessly swung their swords to slay the demons and monsters around them.

The demons dared not approach, and could only circle around them, letting out threatening roars at the stag servants.

There were too many of them, and a large number of orcs from the north had also sensed the presence of life here. In the world of ice and snow, such intense activity would attract countless hungry predators.

The five stag servants could not hold out for long. As the demons roared, they swarmed and began to engulf the alchemical flames on the servants' bodies.

……

The Great Wall in the North.

When Koo and his party arrived at the fortress, the narrow gap that could only accommodate one warhorse was lifted and opened, and they filed in, which was the usual way to enter the fortress.

"Has the others returned?"

The first thing Koo did upon returning was to inquire about his other scouts, but the answer was not satisfactory; of the hundred-man team, less than twenty had returned.

"The scouts' mission is to bring back information. Each decimator has independent and excellent leadership skills. In the event of force majeure, they can decide for themselves whether to advance or retreat."

"Wait for them to come back."

Koo gave the order, and then led a few deputies on a wild run to Rhinoceros Horn Mountain.

Fortunately, the road system in the frozen tundra is now well-developed, and their journey to Rhinoceros Horn Mountain was unimpeded.

"So, this is the result you brought back?"

Ryan looked at Centurion Koo kneeling before him, and was not satisfied with the outcome.

What he wanted to know was why the orcs migrated south in such a large number.

Koo lowered his head.

"Please forgive me, Lord Ryan. At that time, I divided the army into ten squads, but we didn't have enough manpower to break through that orc tribe. The ghostly monsters in the sky severely damaged the Blood Eagle, and we lost our eyes in the North. So we had no choice but to order a retreat."

Ryan didn't blame Koo, he just murmured:

"So, the orcs will once again launch a full-scale invasion of human lands, is that right?"

He pondered, this was clearly against the rules, because just two years ago the six great orc royal courts had joined forces to invade human territory, and they suffered heavy losses. It would be difficult for them to recover to the scale of their previous invasion of human territory in less than ten years.

"I'm giving you a task: deliver my letter to the capital city with utmost urgency."

Ryan wrote a letter himself, explaining the critical nature of the situation, and entrusted it to Koo to deliver to the capital. At the latest, the Emperor would see the sudden threat from the North in his palace the day after tomorrow morning.

Ryan summoned the lady-in-waiting to his study.

"Tell the nobles of the Northwind Province that a large-scale orc invasion has occurred again in the North. I will give them ten days. I want to see the soldiers of the Northwind Legion assembled on the Fragrant Mountain Plain."

"Let the Shadow Vanguard prepare themselves. In ten days, anyone who fails to keep their promise will have no place on this land."

"Write a letter in my name to the kingdoms and lands to the east, so that they may also prepare to face the threat of the orcs."

Ryan gazed in the direction of the southern capital city and said intently:
"At this critical juncture, His Majesty the Emperor cannot ignore the threat from the north, can he?"

With only twenty-odd days left until the Festival of Divine Grace, the emperor would likely be very displeased if the orcs threatened the empire's security at this time.

Ryan's title was much more useful than before. By the evening of the second day, Koo and his party had already entered the capital city and, in the name of the Baron of the North, delivered the letter to His Majesty the Emperor, who was still immersed in the upcoming Festival of Divine Grace.

Opening the letter, His Majesty the Emperor gave a cold snort as he looked at the message.

Contrary to what Ryan expected, Columbus III... is very pleased.

"Tell the commanders of the northern fortress that in twenty-five days, I will use the head of the orc king to bear the divine fire of the God of Light and crown him as the High Pope of Light!"

"These damned orcs will add even greater glory to my coronation!"

The emperor said with absolute confidence that the empire was now much stronger than it was two years ago. If the orcs in the north dared to invade again, they wouldn't even be qualified to break through the fortress this time.

His prestige as Emperor Flor will rise even higher after the defeat of the second full-scale orc invasion.

(End of this chapter)