Throne of the North.

Chapter 756 Military Deterrence on the Kingdom
Brand led the Bucks army all the way into the Kingdom of Coran, and within half a day, they were at the foot of the royal city.

This scene terrified many nobles in the royal city.

"Damn it, why are the imperial army on the kingdom's territory?!"

The nobles were both shocked and furious. The king hurriedly dispatched troops to the city walls, and as soon as the order was given, new news arrived.

"Your Majesty, Ryan's army bypassed the capital and went south, leaving only a hundred men outside the capital in the north, saying they were going to enter the city."

The Kingdom of Kolan... has no legends.

Brand rode his horse through the streets of the royal city, followed by only a hundred knights and squires. But the imposing presence of these hundred men made even the already mobilized royal city garrison dare not raise their heads.

This royal city has experienced a lot. The originally muddle-headed people have become much bolder because of these changes, daring to stand on both sides of the road and watch this army from the empire, from the legendary baron of the North.

"It's so cold, these horses are even emitting cold air."

Some people discussed it curiously and discovered that these knights were completely different from the knights in the royal city.

They were taller, more robust, and even their eyes were different, like demons devoid of emotion.

Brand arrived at the most prestigious place in the royal city. Thanks to the changes in the previous two years, the nobles of the Kingdom of Coran were no longer complacent. At the same time, with the gradual formation of the kingdom's military system, the nobles began to flock to the royal city. Only in this royal city could they gain more power.

Therefore, there were quite a few nobles in this palace.

Of course, there were only two people in charge: the King of Corinth and the Grand Duke of Geylan.

The hundred cavalrymen remained outside the palace, while Brand entered the palace alone, feeling bewildered. This was the first time he had appeared in such a place in such a manner.

"His Majesty."

Brand performed the knightly etiquette, and everyone who saw his upright appearance couldn't help but admire him as a noble guard who strictly adhered to the chivalrous code of justice and protection.

King Coran looked at Brand without speaking, but Grand Duke Gelan beside him narrowed his eyes and asked:
"Are you a legend?"

Brand replied neither humbly nor arrogantly:
“When Lord Ryan bestows it upon me, I will become a legend. However… even if I am not a legend yet, Brand is confident that I can defeat a legendary lord.”

Grand Duke Gaelan's suspicions did not originate from himself, but from those in the shadows. The warning he received from the peak of the Saint Realm had not expected to elicit such a response.

"Not a legend, yet able to defeat a legend? Are you deceiving His Majesty and the nobles of the Kingdom of Kolan?"

"Besides, if you're not a legend, what right do you have to stand here?"

Grand Duke Gaelan questioned him in a cold voice, his expression furious.

A knight has no right to stand here, much less to make these nobles of the Kingdom of Coran wait for his arrival.

Baron Ryan's envoy is not qualified.

“I come on behalf of Lord Ryan to inquire whether the Kingdom of Coran intends to withdraw from the Northern Military Council.”

“I did not deceive His Majesty and the nobles, but Lord Ryan wants to know why the Kingdom of Coran deceived the Kingdom of Andara, the Kingdom of Sera, the Gerald Noble Territory, and the Frozen Territory.”

"During the war, according to the allocation of the Northern Military Council, the three batches of supplies that the Kingdom of Coran should have sent to the Kingdom of Andara and the Gerald noble territory have not yet arrived at the battlefield. The soldiers there who are constantly fighting against the Northern Orcs have suffered heavy casualties due to the lack of logistics."

Upon hearing this, the nobles narrowed their eyes, and many snorted coldly.

In fact, this is why they gathered here. Otherwise, how could a king and many nobles gather in such a grand manner in the palace hall just because of a knight?

They gathered here to await questions from their northern allies. This was not a question of status between nobles and knights, but a diplomatic and political issue between the Kingdom of Coran and the two northern kingdoms and noble territories.

Half a month ago, the Kingdom of Kolan stopped providing supplies for the war against the Northern Orcs, breaking its promise to the agreement made long ago.

They only gathered at the palace today to face the envoys from the Northern Military Council because they were in the wrong.

However, they did not expect that the envoy would be an army, an extraordinary legion.

So... why did the Kingdom of Kolan stop providing war resources?
There are many answers, but they also come in different orders.

The most immediate concern, of course, is the overall situation in Norris.

The Flor Empire and the Dawn Church have once again clashed, and the conflict is on the verge of erupting. This clash between the world's superpowers has also blown into the Kingdom of Coran.

Strictly speaking, the Kingdom of Kolan was somewhat afraid.

They feared punishment from the Dawn Church, and besides, the Kingdom of Coran was different from the Kingdom of Andara; it was so close to the Empire, yet their faith still belonged to the Dawn, and their backsides were still on the Dawn's table.

They were no longer willing to get too close to the nobles in the North, and wanted to use this as a way to sever ties.

Or perhaps, with the clash between the Dawn Church and the Empire, and the Empire's victory in the Orc War in the Hot Springs Province, the nobles of the Kingdom of Coran gained some confidence and believed that they no longer needed to care about the north.

His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire boasted to the world immediately that the Empire had once again single-handedly repelled the orc invasion.

This is due to external factors, but of course, there are also internal problems and conflicts within the Kingdom of Kolan itself.

The Kingdom of Coran has suffered great losses over the years, that much is undeniable; otherwise, Ryan's Vault wouldn't have entered the Kingdom of Coran so easily.

From the last full-scale orc invasion to this orc war, the Kingdom of Coran has consistently provided and contributed to the war in the North, without even a moment's rest.

The Kingdom of Kolan's productivity and national strength were already struggling to keep up with the continuous wars. The nobles of the kingdom were not like the nobles of the empire, who had such wealthy family fortunes.

The Kingdom of Coran had lost a large number of nobles before, which made it easier for the heirs to squander their wealth in the short term. However, the nobles of Coran have now stabilized after the loss of their fathers.

They had to consider their immediate interests.

In short, external factors have led the Kingdom of Kolan to seek a proper alignment of its beliefs.

Internal factors made the kingdom's nobles unwilling to squander their wealth any longer.

All of this led the Kingdom of Coran to cease supplies to the Northern War.

Of course, all of this requires a leader; without someone taking the initiative and gathering the nobles to do it together, it will not succeed.

In the Kingdom of Kolan, there is only one person who can do this.

Even the king isn't enough; the King of Coran still needs the help of Ryan and the war in the North to help the Kingdom of Coran centralize power.

This step has already shown initial success, as evidenced by the fact that the nobles have been gathering in the royal city and around the king.

The kingdom's power was gradually converging at the political center, but the problem was that the king was not the biggest beneficiary in this process.

Grand Duke Gaelan was the biggest glutton of this feast, and only he had the mind at this juncture to manipulate the kingdom's nobles to unite and prepare to sever ties with the northern lands.

Grand Duke Galan had always been very wary of Ryan. Admittedly, in the past, Grand Duke Galan believed that he had no choice but to cooperate with that devilish baron from the North; he had to compromise in order to strengthen himself.

Now, this grand duke of the kingdom believes that he has gained sufficient power.

He didn't want the war in the North to endlessly deplete the resources of the Kingdom of Coran, so he came up with this idea, which was subsequently supported by the king and nobles.

The situation is complex, but this takes into account all aspects, after all, this is not a political struggle within a single region.

But Ryan doesn't care about any of that.

Regardless of the complex inner thoughts and entangled interests within the Kingdom of Kolan, Ryan only needs to find the one who has emerged.

Brand's eyes turned to Grand Duke Gelan.

The Grand Duke, with a gloomy look in his eyes, stared down at Brand.

"Lord Ryan said that all members of the Northern Military Council, regardless of anything else, must help each other when war comes. This has nothing to do with politics or economics. Some people contribute manpower, and some people contribute labor, all to protect our land from invasion by foreign races."

"Now that the Kingdom of Kolan has made its decision, why is it going back on its word?"

"Isn't this a betrayal of all the noble members of the Northern Military Council?"

Speaking of breaking one's word, many nobles of the kingdom became dissatisfied, especially the king, but His Majesty still did not step in to communicate with a knight.

Nearby, a nobleman shouted loudly.

“Slander! This is utter slander! Is Baron Ryan questioning the noble character of the nobles of the Kingdom of Coran?”

The reputation of nobles is very important.

"We have already paid countless sums of money for the war in the North, for fighting against those evil orcs. We have sent countless amounts of food and tools, clothes to keep warm, and even wood."

"But the war has never ended. Does this mean that if the war continues, our Kingdom of Kolan will have to keep paying the price?"

The nobles' anger was in unison; the nobleman's roar of discontent with the war in the North was the reason why they all supported Grand Duke Galen.

The nobles of the Kingdom of Coran saw the bottomless pit of the Northern War.

They didn't see any benefit in this, and their territory was indeed on the verge of collapse.

All the expenditures were a waste of money, and the kingdom's nobles refused to continue like this.

Brand remained silent. He was just a knight, and he had already said most of what Ryan had told him.

Brand, no, even if Ryan were here, he would have no right to interfere with the politics and noble rights within the Kingdom of Coran. Therefore, this matter cannot be allowed to veer towards politics.

The Northern Military Council only discusses military matters.

"The alliance of the Northern Military Council is one that all nobles have agreed to."

"No, we did not agree. Baron Ryan shamelessly forced us to leave the kingdom without any discussion, and we became members of the Northern Military Council. He deceived us!"

One of the nobles roared angrily. He had no choice but to live under someone else's roof before, but now he was a noble lord.

However, these words made the king's eyes darken, because it was the king who had pushed this matter forward in the first place, and now the nobles were opposing it, not against Baron Ryan, who was far away in the northern border of the empire, but against him, the king.

"So, are you refusing to acknowledge your mark on the Northern Military Council?"

Brand asked a question, and this time, before the nobles could react, the king finally spoke.

"The king and nobles of Coran will not deny any of their decisions."

When the king spoke, all the nobles bowed their heads, and Brand once again performed the knightly salute.

“Your Majesty, according to the covenant of the Northern Military Council, Speaker Ryan has the right to command the legions of all the councils. The Kingdom of Coran has broken its promise, and now, in the name of Ryan, I will take over the command of the Kingdom of Coran’s legions.”

"At the same time, in the name of Speaker Ryan, he will take over all military command authority of the Northern Military Council."

"The purpose of this decision is to completely resolve the war in the North. The nobles can no longer be dragged down by the orcs, preventing their territories from developing and producing wealth."

"The war between the orcs in the North will end in two months. This is Lord Ryan's promise to all members of the Northern Military Council."

"The Kingdom of Kolan can choose to refuse, but please be prepared to pay the price for betrayal and breaking your promise."

"The Northern Military Council only talks about military matters, and everything is resolved through military means."

"Of course, if the Kingdom of Coran has never considered withdrawing from the Northern Military Council, then as the commander of the Coran Kingdom's army, Mr. Galic Gelan needs to go to Zero Crossing City to explain to Speaker Ryan why the Kingdom of Coran has not transported any supplies to the Northern War for half a month."

“I am merely Lord Ryan’s envoy, a knight, and I am not qualified to accept the explanations of the Kingdom of Coran.”

After speaking, Brand bid farewell to King Coran and left; he had not come to issue an ultimatum.

However, he was the executor.

Brand left the kingdom and, with a hundred servants, caught up with the southern army.

Several more members of the Dawn Cult have joined the army.

Today, the Dawn Faith in the Kingdom of Kolan is entirely comprised of the Dawn Cultists, whose priests, Sven, possess unparalleled authority.

The Confucian priests belonged to Ryan.

On that very day, within the royal city of Coran, as the nobles discussed how to resolve this matter concerning the reputation and interests of the Kingdom of Coran, Brand led the Stag Legion, with the help of the Dawn Cult, to hunt a legendary beast.

It was a golden-maned lion with an aura of the abyss, its ten eyes testifying to its legendary status. According to the Dawn Cult, this legendary monster of the abyss must have come from a great being of the abyss.

Back then, during the Southern War between the Empire and the Papacy, clergy fell into depravity and betrayed the cause, leading to the gods of the abyss beginning to invade the continent of Norris.

Many lands thus gave rise to heretical beliefs.

This golden-maned lion was brought here by the gods of the abyss during that period.

Brand returned to the royal city of Coran once again with the legendary remains, to prove to a certain Grand Duke that he was not lying.

"The evil god is close at hand. Lord Ryan is worried that it will cause panic in the Kingdom of Coran and corrupt the faith and soul of the Kingdom of Coran, so he sent me to kill it."

"An evil monster from the abyss; may the Dawn Priest purify its abyssal aura."

Brand entrusted the legendary remains to the Dawn Cathedral of the Kingdom of Coran.

(End of this chapter)