Throne of the North.

Chapter 765 Slaughter and Malice in Broad Daylight
[Moonlight] The legendary knight Tiffany is Gerald's pillar of strength, the source of his protection even in his weakest period.

His age, combined with his position, made him someone that all Geralds respected and could not easily separate from.

In other words, Gerald is not represented by the two counts, but by this legendary knight.

In the Moonlight Manor, Tiffany, though showing signs of aging, maintained a vigorous vitality that made Ryan suspect he could live for many more years.

"Mr. Ryan."

Legendary perceptions are mutual, and this knight was also shocked to feel the surging power emanating from Ryan.

Because Ryan is too young. He can be a legend, but he shouldn't be a legend this powerful.

For a moment, Tiffany began to doubt Ryan's purpose in coming.

Ryan stared at the knight for a long time before replying:

"Your Excellency Tiffany."

He briefly explained the purpose of his visit. Count Golden Eyes and Count Dark Eyes, along with their respective heirs, were all present. Tiffany frowned upon hearing this.

He did not participate in any of the two nobles' rights over the land.

"The two masters of Gerald should make their own decisions, which is beyond my influence."

Tiffany said that he was always a knight, adhering to the ancient knightly oath.

Both Earl of Golden Eyes and Earl of Dark Eyes lowered their heads. "Your Excellency Moon Knight has saved Gerald from too much disaster."

“I watched them all grow up, and now they are all suitable noble lords. I also believe that they can reclaim the lands of the Gerald royal family and rebuild the once glorious kingdom.”

"Lord Ryan, what is your purpose?"

Ryan looked at Tiffany, surprised that this knight was so determined to place himself below Earl Gerald.

“Even if Gerald wants to rebuild the kingdom, there can’t be two kings.”

“If Lord Tiffany cannot resolve this, then I only need Gerald’s soldiers.”

"To be honest, you are too weak. Only the combined armies of the two counts would be worthy of my attention."

"An army? To be commanded by Kemon?"

Tiffany looked at Kmon, who lowered his head.

"What about the children of the Meilan family?"

“He could be the deputy legion commander, and of course, if he’s strong enough, he could switch places with Kemon, but in my opinion, he can’t beat my student in this generation.”

"Lord Ryan, you will bring war to Gerald."

Tiffany looked directly at Ryan, her gaze heavy.

"What will happen a hundred years from now? Do you want the Golden Eye and Dark Eye territories to start a war?"

"A hundred years from now?"

Ryan laughed.

"If I don't die, all the wars in Gerald's next few generations will inevitably involve Lane's name. If I unfortunately die, then Gerald probably won't have much energy left to fight for power in the civil war."

Tiffany glanced north and nodded after a long silence.

"Then let the armies led by Golden Eyes and Dark Eyes unite into one."

Ryan narrowed his eyes, surprised that things had gone so smoothly. He then continued, wanting Gerald to make even bigger changes.

"Now that the army is united, all the land within Gerald's territory, including the houses and manors belonging to the knights, can be left to them. However, the rest of the land must return to Gerald's hands, including the commoners within the knights' territory. Only the knights will be left with servants."

Strangely, after Ryan finished speaking, no one uttered a rebuttal, and the two earls stared at Ryan with wide eyes.

"Of course, the army is unified. This army belongs to Gerald, and Gerald has the obligation to pay all the soldiers their wages."

"Ryan, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Earl Mo Tong stared intently at Ryan. He hadn't expected Ryan to say such a thing: Gerald would reclaim all the manor lands ruled by the knights...

Such a thing has never happened in the history of Gerald's bloodline.

“I want Gerald to have all the power over this land called Gerald. What, is that not good enough?”

It's good, centralized power is certainly ideal for a monarch, but...

“That’s impossible. Our forefathers promised their loyal followers eternal land.”

"Let's take it slow then."

Ryan didn't care. He was just trying it out anyway. He was only mentioning the action that might not happen for decades, given how cooperative the Tiffany Knight was.

Let these people think about it internally first, so that things won't be too rushed later.

"So, we've reached an agreement?"

Ryan looked at Kmon, who straightened his back and came to stand in front of him.

“I will do everything in my power to help Kemon advance to the Legendary level. This is my way of showing goodwill to your Gerald family, and I hope you will always support me.”

Upon hearing the word "legend," Kemon couldn't help but shrink back, asking in a low but expectant voice.

"really?"

His face felt hot, and he felt as if the blood in his body was boiling.

“Ryan never goes back on his word. You are my student, and you should not question your teacher.”

Ryan said with a smile that the group stopped at Tiffany's estate, had a meal, and planned to leave the next day.

"What are your thoughts on Ryan's proposal?"

That night, Tiffany found the two counts.

From their expressions, Tiffany already knew the answer.

"You all agree that he proposes unifying the army, but you all want to control the army yourself?"

Tiffany wasn't particularly intelligent, but having lived for so many years, he had a lot of experience in that area.

Neither count spoke. Standing before Tiffany, they were like two children, their youthful authority leaving them speechless.

“I shouldn’t have agreed to him on your behalf. Do you know why I used Gerald’s authority this time?”

Tiffany looked north.

"The moonlight guides me; our world is undergoing tremendous changes. During the centuries that the gods have been asleep, the human soul has been more active than in the past thousands of years."

“This is a calamity. I don’t care what the gods see, but for Gerald, any change means disaster.”

“Gerald has lost the support of Dawn, so you must have new allies, and powerful enough ones at that.”

“Ryan has great ambitions, but there is no denying that he is also very powerful.”

"Gerald also needs a powerful and extraordinary army of his own to protect this legacy."

“We can no longer continue down the old path. You may not know this, but even the stubborn and ancient elves are making changes to adapt to the new world.”

The two counts looked up in surprise. "An elf?"

"Yes, the Woodlands are changing. The Elven royal family is trying to unify the four great forests and establish a powerful Elven empire."

This news truly shocked the two counts. They were no strangers to the elves' bad temper; they were simply stubborn. How could such a creature possibly bring about change?

"Why is this happening?"

"I don't know, but this isn't a good thing."

Of course, it's not a good thing. Gerald is right next to the Woodland, and the neighbors look like they're sharpening their knives. How can they not be nervous?

"Just be wary of them. Also, I'm a little curious, can Kemon become a legend?"

Tiffany was curious. As Gerald's pillar of strength, he was very familiar with the members of the two earls' families. In the past hundred years, he could not see any of Gerald's members who had the potential to become legendary.

They really think it's just a common cabbage.

“We don’t know either, but Ryan is indeed very capable, and one of his followers has become a legend.”

"Brand?"

Tiffany knew the name; not long ago, the man had commanded the army supporting Gerald to clear the forests, so he hadn't heard the orcs howling for several days.

"Yes, Ryan has several such followers."

"What a blessed fellow!"

The conversation yielded no results, but it did calm the two counts down, so much so that when Ryan woke up the next day, he noticed that their gazes towards him were no longer hostile.

“From now on, I will organize military exercises within the Northern Military Council every year to maintain the combat effectiveness of the troops in various lands.”

"Of course, if you can perform well, that can also be considered an opportunity."

Ryan had another goal: to ensure that all the knights on this land were born within his territory.

He wanted to establish a knight academy belonging to the North in the Frozen Territory.

……

Ryan's carriage appeared in the Kingdom of Coran.

Inside the royal city, the nobles became tense again, and when news of Ryan arrived, even the Duke of Gaelan's gaze turned gloomy.

"Father."

Standing beside Grand Duke Galic, Galic somewhat regretted telling his father about Ryan's threat.

"I'd like to see how he dares to kill me!"

Grand Duke Galan growled, feeling utterly humiliated by Ryan's threat; it was an absolute trampling of his dignity.

Ryan arrived at the royal city and saw the army of Grand Duke Galan blocking his way on the clean and tidy main road.

Ahead lay a dense, imposing mass of soldiers, armored and spears in hand, ready for battle. On Ryan's side, however, there was only a carriage and a few knights and servants following behind.

The carriage slowly came to a stop, and Brand's warhorse strode forward, blocking the way for Grand Duke Gaelan's army. Someone stepped out from the opposite side, seemingly wanting to say something, but Brand did not give him the chance.

The legendary pressure descended, pressing down on everyone's heads, but that wasn't all. A surge of energy rippled around Brand, engulfing the hundreds of soldiers instantly. Brand charged out, his legendary power unstoppable, until finally grabbing a figure and throwing him in the middle of the street.

There were no commoners around; the subtle glances were all from the nobles' spies.

Ryan stepped down from the carriage and looked at the weathered middle-aged man.

"You're the one from the Holy Domain who's by the Grand Duke's side?"

The middle-aged man lying on the ground struggled to his feet, staring intently at Ryan, but the next moment he saw Ryan draw Brand's knight's longsword.

The Holy Domain was terrified and wanted to escape, but he couldn't lift a foot and could only watch helplessly as the sharp weapon sliced ​​across his neck.

"You know what? You had two chances, two chances to become a legend."

The warm body fell to the ground. The hundreds of soldiers opposite were terrified and charged towards Ryan, but Brand blocked their way, preventing them from even getting within ten meters of Ryan.

As Ryan continued walking forward, not a single soldier on the street ahead could stand in front of him.

Instead of going directly to the royal palace, Ryan visited some nobles in the capital.

Ryan calmly walked into each mansion, emerging with a thick stench of blood. Behind him, in the tightly closed noble mansions, blood pooled and flowed from the cracks.

Ryan thus made his way slowly, step by step, toward the mansion of the next nobleman.

The nobles all lived on one street, which saved a lot of trouble. Finally, on this most prestigious street, the remaining nobles could no longer hold on.

Soldiers and servants were dispatched, while the nobles themselves fled to the Coran Palace.

Ryan did not give chase, but simply watched the one or two thousand men ahead, who were being temporarily sent out by the nobles to serve as soldiers.

"killed."

Ryan entered the palace in the afternoon, and the entire royal city was practically silent.

The royal city was filled with a strong stench of blood, but no one could stop it, for the kingdom's main forces were currently in the north, clearing out the orcs.

Led by a trembling servant, Ryan entered the king's palace. The nobles were already waiting there, and seeing him enter gave them a great deal of confidence.

"Damn you, Ryan! How dare you kill nobles! You must pay for them with your lives!"

“Lyan, you’re not even a nobleman of the Kingdom of Coran, you’re an Imperial citizen, you have no right to kill our servant!”

"You are starting a war; you are declaring war on the Kingdom of Kolan!"

“Ryan, you deserve to die.”

The nobles' voices grew louder, and Ryan looked at Desire, performed the noble etiquette, and then turned to look at the clamoring nobles.

He kept loosening and clenching his fingers, and then in the next moment, the legendary power burst out as a burst of energy, pulling down the shouting nobles.

The nobles collapsed in disarray before Ryan, looking up at his face with utter terror.

“More than a month ago, the Kingdom of Koran broke its alliance and refused to provide supplies for the war against the orcs, which led to low morale among the frontline soldiers and a series of defeats.”

"Later, in the military court, I learned that it was some nobles of the Kingdom of Kolan who instigated and obstructed the transport of war resources to the battlefield."

"In other words, it is you nobles who caused the defeat in the front-line war and the heavy casualties of our soldiers."

"I came to the Kingdom of Kolan to verify this answer."

"I'd like to know, were you among those who blocked the supply transport at the front lines?"

Ryan moved forward slowly, his terrifying killing intent filling the fallen nobles with dread. This devil before them truly dared to kill them.

"No...not me."

Finally, one of the nobles couldn't take it anymore and said, trembling, that they were not even as good as the soldiers in the face of such pressure, and how could they possibly hold on?

"Yes, it was the Grand Duke who told us that the kingdom's resources are no longer sufficient to support the war on the front lines, and we must consider the interests of our own territory."

Ryan stopped and looked at Grand Duke Galan not far away.

"Your Excellency, they are slandering you."

(End of this chapter)