Throne of the North.

Chapter 688 Invasion
The orcs' full-scale invasion was accompanied by human despair and a brutal war.

Northern Military Council.

No day has been as smooth as today.

As the chairman of the Northern Military Council, everything Ryan proposed today has been fully endorsed by the nobles of this land.

"We need to ensure that the roads are clear. From today onward, all armies that do not lower the banner of Rhinoceros Horn Mountain are qualified to walk on the roads of any kingdom or noble territory in this land."

"I don't want this to cause conflict among the nobles of the territories. Of course, before the army advances, the orders from the Northern Military Council will be delivered to the noble territories where the army will be going!"

"We also need to complete the overall planning of resources. The Kingdom of Sera and the Kingdom of Kolan have more food, so they must assume more responsibility and obligations in this regard."

"The iron armaments of the Northwind Province must be provided to the army participating in the war at a more cost-effective price. I do not want soldiers to be using wooden plows to chop down tough-skinned orcs on any battlefield."

"If necessary, I will, in my capacity as Speaker, provide sufficient military support to all legions in need. Similarly, if necessary, all armies in the Council must act in accordance with my orders and those of the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army."

"The fortresses of the Kingdom of Andara are not strong enough to fight against the ever-increasing number of orcs. Don't forget that the scale of the orcs we have observed so far is already five or even ten times that of the last orc invasion. Since we cannot guarantee that the existing defenses will be effective, we should make them even more robust."

"With manpower and resources, I believe that when we do our best, the orcs are not a threat."

"In addition, I need the kingdom and noble territories to provide sufficient finished metals, stone, wood and extraordinary resources to Rhinoceros Horn Mountain. The Alchemy Academy and the blacksmiths of the Frozen Earth Territory will join forces to forge more powerful war machines."

"The key to dealing with orcs isn't who has more soldiers or who can wear them down. Humans can never outlast a litter of orcs that can reproduce every year. What we need to fight for is resources. The right goal is to use resources to overwhelm those damned orcs."

"Therefore, our first task in this war against the orc invasion is to defend and counterattack, at the cost of wealth, to preserve more of our population and soldiers."

"The emperor of the empire is dead, and the continent of Norris will soon face wave after wave of wars in the name of revenge. We will have to face the orcs, but while fighting the orcs, we must preserve our strength to wait for the war that will break out within human civilization in the near future."

"The Empire and the Papacy will have another battle to decide the victor. If we want to protect our wealth, military strength is indispensable."

The effects of the emperor's death were still settling, and the nobles present were beginning to accept Ryan's words more readily. Moreover, Ryan was right; everyone knew that the emperor would not have died in vain, so they needed to have more military strength to protect their territory and wealth.

Ryan discovered that his spiritual panel had erupted once again.

This time, he looked at the nobles around him.

"Is it because of these nobles? The birth of the legendary blessing, the recognition these nobles have of me, forming something like a backbone, thus increasing efficiency?"

Ryan pondered. His legendary gift should have been completed long ago, but it was missing a certain crucial characteristic.

This characteristic doesn't come from anywhere else, it comes from people.

……

Lingdu City.

One after another, tall and burly knights rushed out of the city gates and quickly headed towards the other counties of the Northwind Province.

On the way, they encountered their target, an army of nobles, numbering anywhere from a hundred to several hundred men.

Behind the knight, a banner bearing the emblem of Rhinoceros Horn Mountain stood in front of the army.

"In accordance with Ryan Clayton's will, from this moment on, you are under my control!"

The centurion, leading his squad of ten knights, forcefully took control of the army of over a hundred men before him. Seeing the soldiers' malnourished appearance, the knights frowned.

"Rest where you are, cook, and eat your fill! We must reach the Xiangshan Plain in three days."

Among the knights in the army, a nobleman was still refuting.

“We are Baron Locke’s army, and you have no right to command us.”

The stag squire approached him, staring coldly at the knight until the latter's voice grew softer and softer.

“From this moment forward, all the armies of the Northwind Province will be under the control of the Northern Military Council. Didn’t your Baron inform you of this?”

“We know, but the Baron said that Viscount Landa will be our commander.”

"Viscount Landa of Fragrant Hills Plains is the commander of the Northwind Legion. The supreme commander of the Northern Army will always be Ryan Clayton. Don't worry, we have no interest in you bunch of trash. What Lord Ryan needs is an army, not useless cowards like you who can't even lift a weapon."

"Three days. In these three days, you will become warriors, warriors who will fight the orcs!"

"Now, immediately, cook for me and make sure these soldiers are well-fed!"

The soldiers' eyes sparkled. "Well-fed"—what an admirable phrase.

Quite a few knights set off from Zero Crossing City, and even most of them went to the two kingdoms and noble territories to the east. Ryan did not accept those soldiers for short-term training in order to demonstrate the majesty of the Frozen Territory.

The key to the problem lies in the North. As the territory closest to the North, the Frozen Territory has received more news of orcs marching south in recent days.

An army that is not strong enough and soldiers that are not brave enough cannot stop the orc invasion.

"The gods caused avalanches in the North, forcing the orcs to approach our land at an even faster pace."

Ryan stood on Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, with Griff behind him; he had already awakened.

"According to you, the orcs of the North are almost entirely migrating south, no longer just led by the six royal courts, but also those ancient, sparsely populated but individually powerful orc tribes are in the process of migrating south?"

Ryan received a very bad answer from Griff.

The orcs have six royal families, but the existence of these families primarily reflects the orcish civilization—a unique system formed under the will of the gods, distinguishing orcs from beasts. Perhaps this is the source of the faith gained by those great beings.

Within the orc family, there are many orcs who, individually, are more powerful than the royal orcs.

To give a simple example, when Earl Clayton led the Flame Dragon Knights in a blitzkrieg against the Mammoth Orc tribe, the Mammoth Orcs were so strong that one could fight as many as dozens of werewolves, but they were few in number.

Besides the mammoth orcs, there are many other similar orc tribes. These orc tribes have small populations, but this is not a problem when facing humans. The powerful orcs often exist as war units.

For example... right now, outside the Wall in the North.

The Frozen Territory is the territory closest to the North, and because of this, one can encounter individual orc monsters here much earlier.

"Hill Beastmen are legendary monsters that live in volcanic caves and survive by eating scorching hot stones."

Amai, the Saint Realm Peak who sold his future, is now the highest combat force of the Northern Wall. Standing on this majestic fortress, he looked solemnly at the few three or five ten-meter-tall gray unicorn monsters with rock-like skin among the dense orc army outside.

He once lived in the Western Sea and had never encountered any land-based orc races, but that doesn't mean he had no knowledge of these orcs.

"They are best at destroying human city walls."

As soon as the words were spoken, the orc army below launched its charge, with tens of thousands of orcs roaring as they rushed toward the human city walls.

"Fire arrows!"

An order was given, and horns and drums resounded simultaneously over the fortress. Ballistae rained down a dense barrage of arrows that covered the area a hundred meters below the city walls. The arrows were poisonous; once they tore through the flesh of the orcs, those damned orcs would sway and fall like rotting metal, only to be trampled into a bloody pulp by the orcs behind them.

"Kill those hill orcs!"

The massive ballista emitted a slow, heavy grinding sound as the knight, whose arms were as thick as buckets, loaded a bolt several meters long and then locked onto the hill orcs.

"put!"

A blue rune flashed on the taut alchemical rope. In an instant, a crossbow bolt capable of drawing blood from a dragon streaked across the sky and crashed into the ten-meter-high hill orcs. Their skin was tough, but it was no match for the dragon's; the bone on their surface shattered like gravel.

The two hill orcs collapsed instantly, struck in vital areas, losing their momentum to continue. Their massive size gave them greater strength, but also required more energy.

Like a giant, once you fall, getting back up is not an option.

A few hill orcs remained, staggering. One of them was lucky enough to escape the crossbow bolts. With its head down, it resembled a charging rhinoceros, its rocky horn hurtling towards the walls of the Northern Wall fortress.

The fortress was covered with a layer of hard, smooth, and cold ice. The hill orc crashed into it, and instantly a large number of dense cracks spread out like a spider web. Then, suddenly, the layer of ice could not withstand the impact and shattered.

The hill orc froze, for although cracks had appeared in the city wall beneath the ice, it had not broken. It roared angrily and raised its head to ram down again, but time would not give it a second chance. Above the fortress, Egil, holding a long spear, hurled it downwards.

The slender spear pierced the hill orc's head, penetrated its chest and abdomen, and finally pierced through the monster's lower body and disappeared into the earth.

The massive orc, utterly lifeless, collapsed backward, crushing and killing countless other orcs.

Three white wolves howled beside Egil, and then he leaped down. The tens of meters high city wall did not pose a threat to his fear of heights.

The giant wolves howled and roared, their gaping maws flinging the charging orcs away. In this extraordinary world, war was filled with the aesthetics of violence and bloodshed. Once an orc was locked onto by the fangs of the three white giant wolves, he lost all chance of survival and became their ranged weapon.

Aegir slaughtered the densely packed orc army with madness. His weapons were two short swords, custom-forged by Brok and made from the legendary dragon teeth of Nidhogg, possessing the majesty of the top of the food chain. While the orcs were stunned by the dragon's roar, Aegir had already torn them in half.

"Damn guy."

On the fortress, Bogeld was frantic. She was not granted the right to move freely, and only Egil and Griff were traveling alone in the entire tundra.

She was incredibly envious and wished she could rush down immediately.

"It's all your fault, you bunch of guys."

Bogeld looked at the armored bear warriors around her; as the legion commander, she could not act alone in the war.

"Boss, I don't think these orcs will be able to break through."

The powerful armored bears were particularly eye-catching on the fortress, but the armored bear warriors didn't care; like Bogeld, they craved war and slaughter.

"It's over."

Bogurd was extremely frustrated, just as these skilled warriors had anticipated; the orc army beyond the Wall in the North had failed to breach any of the defensive lines.

Below, on the cold battlefield, the orcs could hardly get close to the fortress walls. The mindless orcs were besieging Egil, attacking only the closest enemy, whose eyes were sharp and whose body was radiating heat from bursting blood.

Egil continued to advance. The number of orcs was indeed enormous, but only a small fraction could ever appear around him. His extraordinary system gave him sustained combat power.

Behind the fortress, a dark mass of cavalry stood silently until, at a certain moment, an order was given from above the fortress.

Tens of thousands of slaves turned alchemical crops, and the turning of gears caused the towering gates of the Northern Wall fortress to slowly move to both sides.

Beneath the wind and snow, the stag servants slowly raised their heads as the two doors opened. Beneath their menacing stag masks, their eyes were chilling, and their large hands silently rested on their sword hilts.

Tread~
Tatata! ! !
Iron hooves pounded the stone pavement with a crisp sound. The snowflakes that had been slowly falling from the sky gradually accelerated, and the gale swept them back into the sky, making it murky. Through the haze, warhorses could be seen galloping wildly, charging toward the fortress with unparalleled momentum. The wide-open gates of the fortress were not the hope in the eyes of the orcs; what emerged from the gates were fanatical believers of death.

"Clear 300 miles of snow-covered land!"

The black blade froze the crimson blood and muddy snow beneath the earth, and the surging stag army overwhelmed the orcs on the snowfield like a flood.

(End of this chapter)