Throne of the North.

Chapter 729 The Second Orc War (Fifteen)

Earl William was certainly not thinking about whether telling Ryan the secret would affect his family's power.

Times have changed. It's no longer the era where having three or five extraordinary followers could make you superior. In this new era, being extraordinary is commonplace, and vampires have long lost their former fearsome reputation.

Even the mighty dragon is no longer a symbol of invincibility.

A century ago, Earl William acquired vampire powers through blasphemous means. At that time, he was fighting for life; he feared death and longed for a longer life.

Now, within the empire, William's name is ancient and glorious, but the old count has realized that this is not enough.

In this empire, this surname might bring him enough respect, but in this empire where even gods can be blasphemed, such respect is too superficial.

Those nobles can be blasphemous, so how much do they elevate William to?

Therefore, in the empire, it is no longer acceptable to be concerned with ancient surnames and reputations. With the arrival of a new era, it is necessary to form cliques and factions.

However, Earl William's pursuit of vampire powers for immortality also significantly diminished his abilities in this area.

Other nobles would not treat William with utmost respect or become his friends simply because of his surname. Instead, they would keep their distance from him due to the changes brought about by his vampire powers.

This cannot continue; the Earl William family cannot remain confined to this land in this way.

Therefore, Earl William valued Lane's letters more than he had imagined.

It's not just Ryan.

He has been like this all these years. You should know that Earl William did not ignore Ryan's questions about werewolves back then, when Ryan was not as powerful as he is now.

Earl William was always so charitable towards other nobles in the empire, as long as their demands were not excessive.

However, in recent years, Baron Lane's reputation has grown, which naturally makes him worthy of Earl William's greater attention.

The previous casual attitude of befriending the imperial nobles has transformed into a formal exchange.

So, Ryan in the Frozen Territory soon received a reply from afar.

……

"To my dear friend, Lord Ryan Clayton, Lord of the Frozen Territory."

“I have received your letter and I am very worried about you, Ryan. Werewolves are undoubtedly a powerful enemy, and those freed from the curse will be even more terrifying than in ancient times.”

"I can't imagine how those hideous monsters have been pressuring your defenses in the North, but perhaps I can offer you some small assistance."

"Werewolves are ancient. They existed in this world during the time of our human ancestors and heroes."

"When humanity grew strong under the leadership of heroes and the first Pope of Dawn and gained territory that belonged to humanity, werewolves became a dark part of human civilization."

"They suppress their thirst by drinking blood. Ryan, you guessed right. Devouring blood is a calamity in itself."

"That is a curse imposed on werewolves by a great being, making them constantly thirsty for blood. Werewolves that lose their blood supply will lose their lives and die in a terrible state."

"Blood will change them. Werewolves prefer pure blood, which is to be expected, because only pure blood can prevent them from losing their minds due to the impurities of blood they consume."

“A werewolf who has lost its mind is powerful, but also vulnerable. Without reason, the werewolf loses the civilization it has inherited over countless years, and becomes as crazy as a wild beast.”

“I was shocked. According to the information Mr. Ryan mentioned, the werewolves have shown such wildness. It seems that they can no longer suppress the curse of the blood in their bodies.”

"Werewolves become powerful by consuming blood, which is the benefit they gain from blasphemy; but they also become vulnerable because of blood, which is the price they pay for the backlash from the gods."

"After all, even dragons at the top of the food chain are hunted by humans, let alone wild beasts without reason and intelligence?"

"Even magical beasts understand the power of wisdom. What is there to fear about a werewolf who has lost its mind and is controlled by its wild instincts?"

"When I heard this news, I was no longer worried about the war in the Northwind Province, even though I was in the distant Highlands Province."

"I believe in your abilities, Mr. Ryan, to withstand the werewolf army's attack. I am eager to tell our esteemed Emperor this news, but I will leave this opportunity to you, Mr. Ryan, who is the one who deserves it."

"Perhaps, by the time this letter appears before you, the werewolves will have already been defeated. We humans have never lost to beasts."

"Regarding the wild power of werewolves..."

“This Earl William is quite old.”

Ryan put away the reply from the old count and couldn't help but smile. He could naturally see the importance placed on him in it.

This was a gesture of goodwill, and Ryan had no reason to refuse the goodwill of such an ancient nobleman.

Looking at the descriptions of werewolves' wildness, Ryan couldn't help but fall silent.

"The price of killing a god?"

The werewolves' savagery is clearly abnormal, exceeding the boundaries of intelligent life. Even a single human individual going mad and losing their mind is considered a disease, let alone the indiscriminate savagery and ferocity within the bloodline of this race.

Only a curse from a great being could cause this, turning an entire intelligent race into a raging beast.

Clearly, this kind of wild power is something werewolves don't want; it's something they vehemently reject.

Who would willingly become a mindless beast?

That wasn't something the werewolves actively pursued. Moreover, Earl William mentioned that when the werewolves withdrew from human civilization thousands of years ago, they had already resolved the calamities of the wild.

Legend has it that the ancestors of werewolves paid a heavy price to seal away their wildness. Long ago, werewolves would go mad on special days, attacking human towns indiscriminately, and were eventually burned to death by human soldiers and church clergy.

After resolving their wildness, the werewolves left human civilization and began fighting among the orcs. Ultimately, thanks to their bloodline talent gained from slaying gods, they became the royal family of the orcs.

However, it is clear that the battle at the Xiangshan Plains Fortress a few days ago proved that the werewolves have not completely eliminated the calamity of this great power.

The curse of the gods has an eternity.

"According to this logic, the werewolf army's savagery during that war wasn't voluntary?"

Ryan looked up. He remembered that after the blood moon disappeared and the dawn broke, the werewolf legend regained a bit of his sanity and then roared in fury.

It was a roar imbued with wisdom; they were also angry and bewildered.

Something happened within the werewolf group.

"Send Ulf to see me."

Wolfskin Ulf, a citizen of the world of Gam, a believer of the hyena god, and the children of the apocalypse of Gam under the northern cover. However, this group of humans is special; they have now become followers of Ryan.

Serving a powerful being is what the people of Gam desire, especially since Ryan possesses the spiritual authority that grants them the power of berserkers.

Through the sublimation of their souls, they can transform into powerful beasts by donning animal skins. In their ordinary state, they can become ordinary beasts, while those with extraordinary power can, in theory, even transform into dragons.

This power is similar to that of the Druids, but also different.

The Druids' power comes from nature, from the elements, while the people of Gam'm draw their power from the faith deep within their souls.

Ulf is currently stationed at the Wall Fortress in the North. As one of Llane's hero-level followers, Ulf also holds significant military authority within the Frozen Territory. Fortunately, with the werewolves' retreat, the pressure on the Wall Fortress has eased somewhat.

"Lord Ryan."

With the road clear, Ulf quickly arrived at Rhinoceros Horn Mountain.

"I want to know what's going on inside the werewolves that caused their reason to be taken over by their wildness."

Ryan handed over Earl William's letter, which Ulf glanced at before looking at the butler, Beard.

As a citizen of Gam, Wolfskin Wolf was very averse to the arduous task of reading and writing, which slowed his progress.

He scratched his head, worried about Ryan's scolding.

Beard looked at Ryan, and after receiving his consent, took the letter. He then briefly described Earl William's analysis of the relationship between werewolf bloodline power and the gods.

"That's it."

Ulf may be illiterate, but as one of the leaders of the Gam people, he is still quite intelligent.

"I suspect that there are irreconcilable conflicts within the werewolf community."

"If possible, I hope to use this contradiction to defeat the werewolf army."

Ryan began to speak:
"Although the werewolves haven't attacked since that day, it doesn't mean there won't be a next time. I highly suspect that the next full moon will be the time when the werewolf army returns."

"Their change in wildness must be related to the moon in the sky."

Unlike the powerful Lord of Dawn and the God of Light, the Moon Lady's power is inferior to that of the Sun. Therefore, for only one day each month, the Moon Lady is closest to the mortal world, and on that day, her power is at its strongest.

Ulf nodded and, after leaving Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, gathered a group of his followers.

Clad in gleaming wolf pelts, these citizens of Gam transformed into ferocious giant wolves of the North, charging headlong toward the werewolf stronghold discovered by the Blood Eagle scouts.

They are no different from the wolf packs in the North. As is well known, werewolves can also transform into wild wolves to launch attacks.

All the werewolf clans are stationed around the Silvermoon Royal Court. Now that the war has stopped, the werewolves' hunger will not be relieved.

They also need to forage and hunt.

Moreover, because so many werewolf clans gathered here, the werewolves' hunting range could only extend further.

Ouch——

A wolf howled in the snow, and a ferocious giant wolf leaped up from beneath the snow layer. The startled deer darted off in another direction, but the next moment, another giant wolf appeared and leaped after it.

They were excited and eager; this large deer was much fatter than their previous prey.

With its limbs gleaming black, the Great Deer possesses extraordinary strength. It dodges left and right to escape the bites of sharp fangs. In the snowy north, its survival to this age is not just due to luck.

The werewolves were furious, but the next moment, a gaping maw blocked their view in front of the Great Deer that had already broken out of the encirclement. By the time they realized what was happening, a giant wolf with snow-white fur was gracefully walking forward on all fours, warm blood dripping from the corner of its mouth, leaving a glaring crimson trail on the snow-white ground.

The giant deer was still struggling, but soon became still.

Upon seeing this, dozens of giant wolves stood in a row, baring their teeth and making a clear threat.

"This is the territory of our 'Monka' clan. Where did you come from?"

The clan's powerful werewolf was the leader of this group. It noticed the agility in the eyes of the suddenly appearing wolves, a quality not found in wild beasts. Moreover, even magical wolves wouldn't approach werewolves like this; among magical beasts, wolves are prey for werewolves, and the two were not even of the same kind.

Ulf abandoned the Great Antlered Deer, which made the werewolves of the Monka clan envious and even more eager to fight back.

“I come from the depths of the North, where our former homeland was buried by snow, and we came to the South following the great will.”

Ulf said this, and then spoke generously.

"This is your prey, here it is back."

After saying that, he nudged the carcass of the giant deer with his head and pushed it towards him.

"You are not strong, is there not enough food here?"

“You know, in our hometown, we had more food than we could eat.”

The friendship between werewolves is that simple. When Ulf pushed the food over, all the snarling werewolves stopped exposing their fangs and looked at the giant white-furred wolf with surprise and curiosity.

Goodwill was spreading, and the werewolves lost their ferocity. The lead giant wolf stood up, transforming into a two-meter-tall werewolf, and said:

"Guest from afar, my name is Lei, and I am the next leader of the Monka clan."

“My name is Ulf, and I come from the depths of the North.”

Ulf nodded, remaining in the form of a white giant wolf, as did his followers, since they could only transform into humans, not werewolves.

However, this clearly displeased Lei, but he refrained from acting out of consideration for sharing the prey.

“In my hometown, we were all solitary hunters, so we were used to maintaining this way of life.”

Ulf offered an explanation, saying that after all, different places have different customs, and the werewolf couldn't possibly question their traditions.

Indeed, no, considering the still-warm blood of that great deer on the ground.

Lei laughed in agreement.

"That's a very primitive method. It seems you hunt quite often."

When werewolves hunt, they always appear as wolves, because this allows them to run faster and hide themselves.

Ulf got straight to the point; werewolves don't ask questions as tactfully as humans do.

"Not long ago, I felt the call of the wild. Damn it, what happened? Did the king of the royal court do something blasphemous again?"

"Werewolves never heed the call of the wild, have you damned Southern werewolves forgotten that?"

Ulf's voice roared, filled with angry questioning.

"Damn it, even from afar we can feel the moon's call. What on earth has the king done?"

“We almost became beasts. How could those damned, mindless beasts compare to the noble werewolves?”

Upon hearing Ulf's words, the werewolves involuntarily shrank back, clearly indicating that they were now the ones suffering from discrimination.

"It's not Her Majesty the Silver Moon."

Lei gritted his teeth, his old anger seemingly rekindled once more.

(End of this chapter)