Throne of the North.

Chapter 725 The Second Orc War (Part 11)

In the past, this person would have been a prince, but with the advent of the marquis system, the status of members of the royal family plummeted.

Many members of the royal family can no longer rely on their noble bloodline to occupy high positions. They have also ushered in a new era where they need to compete for power and status.

Van Die Columbus was the tallest among a group of short people.

While other members of the royal family were still basking in the glory of their Columbus surname, Van Die surpassed them through exceptional self-discipline.

He may not have that much talent, but this member of the royal family also has his own strengths.

Van Die is a person who rarely makes mistakes.

Therefore, when he learned of Ryan's purpose, he immediately frowned.

"His Majesty the Emperor has ordered me to guard the Flying Wing Canyon Fortress. This is the empire's defensive line and cannot be lost."

Ryan was also troubled by the royal family's attitude; the other party neither agreed nor refused, making them the most difficult to influence.

With this in mind, Ryan decided to force the emperor to resign.

"His Majesty the Emperor? Which Emperor is Commander Van Die referring to? His Majesty Columbus IV told me that I am already the commander of Winged Canyon. Did His Majesty give you the same order?"

Ryan sneered, his friendliness vanishing.

"Or is it that Your Excellency, the Legion Commander, is acting on orders from His Majesty Columbus III?"

That's for sure. The Flying Dragon Legion is stationed far away in Flying Wing Canyon. The current Emperor Volvo has no time to care about Flying Wing Canyon, which is so far away. He's too busy with the politics of the capital and the war in the north.

"Of course it was my father. He told me that no matter what, the Winged Dragon Legion of Winged Canyon could not leave Winged Canyon and had to guard this fortress."

"I see. His Majesty Columbus III is a worthy ruler to be loyal to."

"I will write to His Majesty the Emperor about this matter."

Ryan stood up to leave, glancing at Van Die Columbus, who remained frowning and oblivious to what was happening.

Ryan shook his head secretly and turned to leave.

This wooden-like member of the royal family, through self-discipline, or rather, dullness, came into the emperor's view. If Columbus III were still alive, it would be understandable, but now that he is dead, this legion commander still doesn't know what flexibility is.

With a new emperor comes a new court; how will Volvo react?
……

In the capital city, the many nobles who were urgently monitoring the war at Hot Spring Fortress were suddenly awakened by the emperor's angry rebuke and turned to look at the emperor who was angry for some unknown reason.

"Vande Columbus, what exactly is he trying to do?"

"Convey my order: bring Van Die Columbus back to the Imperial City!"

The nobles pondered the name for a while before finally remembering it.

"Prince Van Die? Wasn't he in Winged Canyon? What happened?"

"Grand Duke Meyers asked, puzzled."

The emperor snorted coldly and said:

"This brainless bastard! The empire is currently fighting to the death with the orcs in the north, and everyone is working hard to resist them. Yet he's just sitting here with the Wyvern Legion, not doing anything. I don't think he's fit to be the commander of the Wyvern Cavalry Legion."

Is that so? Grand Duke Meyers didn't think this matter could make the emperor so angry, but he didn't intend to investigate further. Winged Canyon wasn't the focus of everyone's attention right now. The act of killing a god could easily lead to the downfall of the empire. Why were these nobles staying in the palace?

Aside from the fear of death, isn't it the worry that if they fail to kill the god, they will have to use all their family's trump cards to fight back against the divine punishment.

Compared to this, nothing else matters.

Suddenly, however, Grand Duke Meyers thought of the Northwind Province, where Winged Canyon was located.

"Has something happened in the North Wind Province?"

This Grand Duke doesn't care about Winged Canyon, but he is very interested in that Baron of the North, which makes Grand Duke Meyers resentful.

"Baron Ryan wrote that the werewolf royal family in the North is gathering and about to launch a full-scale attack on the Fragrant Mountain Plain Fortress, requesting that I send wyvern cavalry to support them."

Upon hearing this, Grand Duke Meyers understood why the emperor had agreed.

The emperor must achieve a perfect outcome in his first major event as emperor, ensuring that the orcs do not enter an inch of the empire's territory.

Columbus III did not care about the Northwind Province, but Columbus IV believed that the Northwind Province was also part of the empire.

The differing attitudes of the two emperors led to a sudden rise in the status of the Northern Wind Province, significantly increasing its influence within the empire.

After thinking it over, Grand Duke Meyers decided to try and trip up Ryan.

“Your Majesty, Prince Van Die is also considering the interests of the Empire, and I believe that Baron Ryan of Northwind Province is fully capable of resisting the werewolf attack.”

"The werewolf pack is no longer the royal family; they have become weak. You should trust the resolve of the nobles of Northwind Province."

The emperor looked coldly at Archduke Meyers, then glanced at the scathing letter in front of him.

"I don't know whether the current empire should obey the orders of His Majesty Columbus III or His Majesty Columbus IV."

This was a letter delivered to the capital by Baron Ryan using extraordinary means. Every word and phrase on it made Volvo feel that his authority was being trampled on.

"Grand Duke Meyers, are you questioning the Emperor's order?"

He was very dissatisfied, as Grand Duke Meyers referred to Van Die as His Highness.

Grand Duke Meyers was surprised, then shook his head.

“Meyers has always been your loyal follower.”

"Humph!"

With a cold snort, Volvo issued an urgent order to strip Van Die Columbus of all his power. The Emperor demanded that the mission seize all of Van Die Columbus's power within a day.

Unfortunately, they had no choice but to rely on the power of space mages.

……

Flying Wing Canyon.

Ryan did not leave; he waited, unsure of Volvo's attitude toward his imperial power, but he doubted he would allow Van Die Columbus to act in such a manner.
Thinking of this, Ryan smiled and nodded at the royal family member in the distance.

If Columbus III were still alive, this legion commander would also be addressed as His Highness; as it is now, he is merely a member of the royal family.

“Baron Ryan, I’ve already told you, I cannot allow the Wyvern Cavalry Legion to leave Winged Canyon.”

Van Die was not arrogant; he was a down-to-earth person. In ordinary interactions, many nobles would probably praise this member of the royal family for his approachable and friendly attitude.

But how can those born into royalty escape political stances?

Ryan didn't demand anything more from the legion commander; he simply had to wait. "Your Excellency, Legion Commander, I think you don't need to explain to me; you should explain to His Majesty."

After Ryan finished speaking, he looked at the sky to the southwest. He could already feel the fluctuations in the void, which were the echoes of magic.

Wow, Volvo, that's fast!

In just one day, His Majesty the Emperor was already eager to teach Van Die Columbus a lesson, clearly showing that His Majesty cared about this matter much more than Ryan.

"It seems that the political struggles will be even more intense in the era of Columbus IV."

Ryan saw a vision of the future, then smiled again at Van Die Columbus.

The emperor is coming to take you.

The Flying Dragon Legion has finally been acquired. Hopefully, the war at the Fragrant Mountain Plains Fortress will not be beyond Ryan's control.

The snow in the North Wind Province always recedes later than in the other border provinces of the empire.

The sky above the Xiangshan Plain Fortress welcomed the last snowfall of the winter. As scouts came and went, reporting their findings, the officers inside the fortress felt as cold as the falling snow.

"No other orcs? How could there be no other orcs?"

Viscount Landa gripped his cane tightly, staring at the scout before him as he asked.

The other party had the emblem of Rhinoceros Horn Mountain on his chest. Scouts from the Frozen Territory were the best scouts in the North, and the circling Blood Eagle was the envy of all the nobles.

“Viscount Landa, we have observed from six directions and have not seen any other orc groups.”

"Only werewolves, at least 300,000."

The orc royal family's wars with humans have always involved driving other orc tribes to serve as cannon fodder to deplete human fighting power. This is the military wisdom that those orc leaders are proud of, a crude method that has caused humans endless suffering for countless years.

It is only in the last hundred years or so that the development of other world planes has caused the population of Norris continent to explode, and the nobles who do not care about human life have made it seem like everything is fine on the surface.

More and more scouts returned, and the imperial army inside the Xiangshan Plain fortress stopped resting, standing on the fortress in their protective gear, watching the werewolf army slowly approach from the north.

Xiangshan Plain was originally wide at both ends and narrow in the middle. It was the only passage for the Northern Wind Province to enter the northern territory. Crossing mountains and ridges was not considered a 'road'.

Looking at the densely packed, tall, thin werewolves with menacing fangs, even Viscount Landa couldn't help but swallow hard, feeling a sense of fear.

The only place in the Northwind Province where the Frozen Territory has encountered a direct battle with the werewolf army is the Frozen Territory, but that was in the mountains within the Frozen Territory. The nobles of the Northwind Province have never witnessed it firsthand, and even that time it was just a small-scale war between the werewolf clans.

And now? The werewolf army that appears before them now is a vast army of werewolf clans and tribes from the Northern Territory, gathered by the Silvermoon Royal Court. As far as the eye can see, it stretches as far as the eye can see...

The snow-white earth was thus covered by the gray-black werewolf army. Viscount Landa did not believe that the towering Fragrant Hills Plains Fortress could withstand such a pure werewolf orc army.

Why would they abandon the idea of ​​using cannon fodder orcs to wear them down?

The werewolf army, baring its teeth, arrived a kilometer in front of the fortress. With a wolf howl that echoed through the sky from behind, this disorganized and unordered werewolf army came to a quiet stop.

At such close range, the extraordinary knights on the fortress could even clearly see the werewolf at the forefront suppressing his desire to charge, drool dripping onto the snow, his sharp eyes fixed on the high walls of the fortress.

The werewolf army halted and did not launch an attack immediately, which surprised the noble legions inside the fortress, as it was not in line with the savage and brutal nature of the orcs.

What are they waiting for?

One by one, the werewolves raised their heads, watching the sun gradually set in the west, their sharp eyes becoming increasingly agitated.

"High Priest Erdi, when can we perform the sacrifice?"

King Ardon of the werewolves questioned the werewolf high priest beside him, who was dressed in a human-like manner and had a fanatical appearance.

"Wait, wait until the moon rises, the full moon will grant the werewolves an extraordinary ascension."

The greatness of the gods is beyond doubt, and the werewolf leaders present were all waiting expectantly, but some hesitated, such as the legendary Draco.

"High Priest, won't this ritual cause the werewolf bloodline to mutate?"

Orcs have never been bound by the worship of any particular god. Many weak orc tribes have nothing to do with worshipping demons from the abyss.

However, among the orcs, there are only six truly great beings.

The reason is that by worshipping these six great gods, the orcs will not become their followers simply because they are too close to them.

Werewolves certainly don't want to become monsters.

"Humph!"

Such suspicion displeased High Priest Erdi.

“You are not yet qualified to become my Lord’s followers. Rest assured, the Lord will grant the werewolves new power.”

As the sunlight gradually disappeared, the dim world made the human soldiers at the Xiangshan Plain Fortress even more terrified.

Just because, to their north, pairs of glowing eyes were greedily staring at them, like fireflies illuminating the darkness in the night sky. If only they were gentle.

Ouch——

Under the cover of night, a tall werewolf howled to the sky, its tail dragging on the ground, its head facing the rising moon.

Immediately afterwards, the howls of wolves echoed through the night.

The sight of hundreds of thousands of werewolves howling at the same time was terrifying. In that instant, many veterans in the Xiangshan Plain Fortress, who had experienced many wars, couldn't help but tremble, and their spears fell to the ground with a thud.

Beside him, a knight's longsword slashed down, decapitating the veteran. The knight glared angrily at the other soldiers around him.

"Who gave you permission to discard your weapons?!"

"So what if they're werewolves? We can still defeat them!"

"For the Empire, for the Northwind Province!"

Boom! ! !
In the sky, flames swirled around, as the magicians ignited the oil that had been prepared on the high mountains on both sides. In an instant, the blazing firelight illuminated the dark night, making the Fragrant Hills Plain no longer pitch black.

Light is humanity's faith in fighting against darkness, and many people, even nobles, pray for the blessing of the god of light at this moment.

The firelight illuminating the night also allowed the human knights to see the changes that had occurred in the werewolves.

As the moon gradually rose overhead, the hundreds of thousands of werewolves that had been howling incessantly turned their eyes into a frenzied, blood-red rage. Their backs bulged, and their limbs rippled with muscle. The originally slender werewolves suddenly became burly and powerful. The werewolf clans, known for their physiques, swelled up even more, transforming into colossal beasts. Their bodies were shrouded in a violent, blood-red aura, and they charged towards the Xiangshan Plain fortress like chariots.

Ouch——

In that instant, all the werewolves lost their wolfish rationality, leaving only pure, beast-like wildness.

"Damn it! Why did this happen?!"

King Ardon of the werewolves looked at his werewolf people with great fear, ancient memories resurfacing in his blood.

(End of this chapter)