Throne of the North.

Chapter 813 A Deception, A Do-or-Die Battle

The system of nobility originated from the empire.

Clearly, for these noble lords, their land was mismatched with the noble bloodlines who desired it. With too many wolves and too little meat, the system proposed by the Flor Empire, as the beacon of the Norris continent, undoubtedly made these noble lords think.

Because of the empire's power, they had to accept the emergence of the title of Lord, a low-ranking noble. At the same time, as staunch supporters of the traditionalists, they cautiously tested the waters for the arrival of the title of Lord.

As a result, the lords who came from the empire have always been on the verge of existing or not existing.

Now, with the invasion of the Abyss Faith, the clergy of the Dawn Church are powerless to stop it. These nobles have been forced into this situation and have no choice but to make certain decisions.

Perhaps this is the driving force of change brought about by the variables of history. When Zakaria heard Count Kanazawa say this, he couldn't help but breathe heavily, and he knelt on one knee, facing Count Lurie with firmness and loyalty, and said:

"Zakaria will do everything in his power to protect all of the Count's wealth."

"Keep up the good work, future lord."

After saying this, Count Jinze left the cave. Of course, they didn't live in the cave. The people who remained behind had strange looks in their eyes. The lord's appearance had an unimaginable impact on this place.

They didn't have the advanced acceptance capabilities of the Empire, so their gazes toward Zakaria gradually became respectful, and they dared not speak so loudly.

The support from several counts undoubtedly gave Zakaria even greater power, and the commander of the noble alliance began to ponder how to perfectly resolve these two problems.

Late at night, on Zakaria's bed, where he was all alone, the commander, whose mind was filled with the word "lord," had a cold and crazed glint in his eyes.

"Sacrifice is inevitable."

The next morning, the commander abandoned his usual cautious approach and completely overturned his plans from the previous day, instead distributing large amounts of food and water to the soldiers.

"Just yesterday, the esteemed lord took pity on his servants and soldiers and decided to bestow food upon them. Offer your loyalty, you foolish peasants!"

Zakaria laughed loudly as he spoke, but the dirty soldiers in front of him were not hurt by his words. They had long accepted the fact that they were peasants, and they became excited and joyful because the food was placed in front of them and entered their bellies. They praised the Lord of Dawn and their lord for his benevolence.

Yes, in their eyes, the fact that the noble lord was willing to share his food with them was already a divine blessing and act of kindness.

That's enough to make them pay the price of their lives for loyalty.

"Our noble lord said that we will definitely defeat those evil servants of the abyss, our souls will surely ascend to the heavens of dawn, and our bodies will become strong and powerful!"

"The demons of the abyss want to devour our souls; this must not be allowed!"

"Today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, we will have so much food, so eat as much as you want, you peasants."

"Praise the dawn!"

"Praise the Lord!"

Cheers rose and fell, and many people, in their joy, took out their treasured drinks and soon began to leap and frolic on the earthen ground.

However, as time slowly passed, the sun shone high overhead, and the golden sunlight shone brightly and warmly on everyone in Brady Canyon. Enjoying the long-awaited warmth, many people became lazy.

It wasn't until the air temperature rose higher and higher, their mouths became drier and drier, and the sunlight they saw through their squinted eyes seemed to grow increasingly intense, that some people's expressions gradually turned to terror. The intense firelight instantly swallowed up their drunkenness.

If anything could represent the joy of commoner slaves, it would be the golden harvest; if anything could bear witness to their despair, it would be the fire dragon burning the granaries.

"Fire!!!!!"

"Help! Help! Fire!"

The burning flames soared into the sky and blazed fiercely, like a giant dragon roaring in everyone's ears. Not only the soldiers, but also the nobles who were safer in the distance became frightened. Many members of the great noble families ran out and looked in the direction of the granary with fear.

"Fire! Fire!"

The magician chanted spells urgently, and the surrounding magic crystals quickly turned into powder and dissipated, but compared to the spreading flames, it was still a drop in the ocean. The most serious problem was that in Brady Canyon, obtaining water was difficult, and there were no lakes or rivers around to supply the firefighting efforts.

"Damn it, how could this happen?!"

The counts and nobles also looked grim. The reason they were able to stay here and hold their ground was because food was of paramount importance and could not be lost. Zakaria had done a good job so far, and no matter how fierce the battle was, the food supplies were always safe and secure.

"Soldiers, soldiers!"

"Seize those damned fallen ones corrupted by the faith of the abyss and kill them!"

"Where are the knights? Protect the lord!"

"Everyone, stay put! Stay put! Anyone who runs away will be killed as a servant of the Abyss!"

Zakaria's voice grew louder and louder on the scorching land. He commanded the troops inside Brady Canyon in an orderly manner, and under his skillful manipulation, the chaotic scene quickly became stable. The people sent to put out the fire also became orderly, and the flames began to gradually recede, leaving only the aroma and smell of burning in the air.

"damn it!"

Everyone saw the commander's ugly expression. The soldiers remained silent, and many instinctively hid the food in their mouths.

No one dared to move, except for the knights who ran around. In the distance came screams and wails, the sounds of servants of the abyss being killed. Hearing this, the soldiers became united in their hatred and wished they could kill those damned human traitors themselves.

Time passed slowly, and they saw the commander running around Brady Canyon, looking extremely disheveled, with more and more sweat pouring down his forehead. Clearly, he didn't know how to explain things to the nobleman.

Two hours later, the commander finally returned to the military camp, and the fire that burned the granary seemed to have reached a definite conclusion.

"Those believers in the abyss, those rats in the gutter who wear robes but dare not even show their faces, the reason they surround us without attacking with all their might is because they are secretly corrupting the souls of the soldiers guarding the grain, turning them into servants of the abyss, letting their souls fall into the abyss forever, to be cruelly toyed with by the devil. They want to see our despair, so they burn our grain."

"This is devastating news. We have lost tomorrow, and we have lost our food supply for the day after tomorrow."

As Zakaria's voice faded, a sense of despair filled the army.

"but!"

"But they could never have imagined that our noble lords are so benevolent. Today they have provided us with food so we will not go hungry. They foresaw the despicable behavior of those disgusting rats!"

"This is the divine decree of the Lord of Dawn. The great Lord has blessed us. Our food was burned by the monsters of the abyss, but at this very moment, we already possess the strength to fight!" "Look at your weapons. Have you ever had a day when you possessed more abundant power than you do today?"

Some soldiers in the army had already received the warning, which was the basis of Zakaria's high ability. He had already placed some so-called 'officers' in the army.

He's just the leader of the army.

Holding their weapons, they felt an even greater surge of energy than the day before. This energy came from the abundance of food they had eaten. They should have been feeling languid after such a feast, but a great fire had burned away all their drowsiness, leaving only the power within their bodies.

Those around them, seeing how these people behaved, also started to imitate them. That's just how they are; the instinct to follow the crowd has long existed in the deepest part of their souls.

"The lord's mercy has saved us from starvation, and the great Lord has shown us the way."

"To our north, we are only half a day away from the Kingdom of Kolan. Soldiers, tell me, will you be too hungry to move in half a day?"

“If we kill those servants of the abyss, we will survive, and by this time tomorrow, we will have food on the land of the Kingdom of Kolan.”

“The benevolent noble lords could have left, but they saw our loyalty and stayed in Brady Canyon. Now, it is time for us to reciprocate their loyalty!”

"Soldiers who do not wish to have their souls devoured by the abyss tomorrow due to hunger, take up your weapons and let us slaughter those ugly servants of the abyss!"

"The Lord of Dawn guides us. For the honor of the Earls, for tomorrow's food, victory will be ours!"

Zakaria, solemnly clad in his knight's armor, arrived at the forefront of the army, then walked step by step to the most dangerous part of the battle line.

Behind them, the personal guards of the great nobles also sprang into action, and Zakaria knelt down in the direction of Count Lure.

“My esteemed master, Zakaria swears by the code of knighthood that you trust your soldiers and entrust this war to us. Your soldiers will never allow a single abyssal servant to cross our lines, and even if we are reduced to corpses, we will stop them from approaching you.”

"The great Lord of Dawn will surely favor you, the merciful one."

"For Lu Rui's glory!"

With a rustling sound, the magnificent banners fluttered in the wind as Zakaria led a group of knights in a resolute and loyal chant of chivalry. The same chant echoed from the armies of several other noble families.

"Let those abyssal servants who dare to burn food see just how terrible the consequences of their actions will be!"

Drawing his knight's longsword, Zakaria shouted an attack.

"Kill them all!"

The afternoon sun was shining in the west, making it difficult for the army to see the exact size of the Abyss servants. The light was no longer sufficient. In this dim light, as the army advanced and launched its offensive, the personal guards of the great nobles also began to slowly move towards the higher ground to the north.

This was the plea Zakaria had made to them not long ago, begging them to leave Brady Canyon as soon as possible before their food ran out, and that he would stay behind and lead the army to defeat the servants of the abyss.

The nobles were naturally unwilling to give up their wealth, which included not only gold coins, gems, and agate, but also people and slaves.

Zakaria then assigned a portion of the well-behaved commoners and slaves to accompany the high nobles, ensuring that even when they appeared in the Kingdom of Kolan, they could maintain the dignity befitting a high noble.

"We are not without the chance of victory."

"Those servants of the abyss, those followers of the Church of the Abyss, they besieged us in order to turn these 100,000 people into servants of the abyss. It was a task given to them by the devils of the abyss. They need faith, and therefore they need the soldiers to live."

"They won't launch a full-scale attack, and that's our chance to win."

Zakaria spoke with certainty to Count Kanazawa and the others, and the nobles who saw the granary burned down silently agreed with him. Even Count Kanazawa no longer insisted on staying in Brady Canyon to stabilize morale and the army.

"You only have one chance at war."

Count Kanazawa said this to Zakaria, who knew that his actions would be hard to hide from this count, who had already proven to be wiser than other noblemen.

This is a do-or-die battle on the edge of a cliff, and the key to this do-or-die battle lies in how to transform the despair of a near-death experience into a fervent fighting spirit to bravely advance.

Zakaria succeeded in this high-stakes gamble. He gave the soldiers food they had never had before, creating a high-spirited atmosphere and ensuring their morale was at its peak. Then, through a series of ideas that these peasants couldn't grasp, he ignited their morale with the fire.

The flames are intense before the new firewood has burned out completely.

This was the state of morale within Brady Canyon. The only thing that angered the nobles was that they needed Brady to guarantee victory in this war, and that their population would not decrease too much after the war.

Only Earl Kanazawa, who had seen through everything, silently prepared to abandon everyone who remained here.

After all, although they kept talking about reinforcements, only a few nobles knew that so far only Countess Kanazawa had escaped the siege. Not to mention asking for help, they hadn't even received a reply from His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Coran.

Even the nobles themselves were unsure whether the Kingdom of Coran would send troops. How could they possibly get Coran's reinforcements to Brady Canyon within a day, before these soldiers were starving?

Count Kanazawa remained silent, pondering whether he had been inconsiderate in telling Zakaria about the lord yesterday.

He knew very well that Zakaria did this because of the lord's promise.

This led him to abandon his original, conservative ideas and instead seek the favor of a high-ranking nobleman, or rather, Earl Lurie.

In comparing how to fight the war in Brady Canyon, it is clear that the approval of Earl Lurie is more important. The former might make the war there go smoothly, but only the latter can make Zakaria a lord.

How dare he burn down the granary?!
Count Kanazawa was furious, but it was no use now. Zakaria was a man who dared to fight to the death, charging at the forefront of the army. Only in this way could they gain more illustrious morale and catch the Abyss Servants off guard.

The nobles began to quietly relocate, taking their wealth with them.

High up north of Brady Canyon, Bogeld watched with great interest the sudden surge of fighting amidst the raging fire, commenting on the few words he had just learned.

"remarkably brave."

This is a term that can be both positive and negative; it always describes an absolute disadvantage.

On the high ground south of Brady Canyon, which is shaped by the canyon, some enormous creatures that clearly do not belong to the Norris continent are expanding in the approaching sunset.

(End of this chapter)