Throne of the North.

Chapter 824: A Faith War Unleashed in the Name of Dawn! (Part Six)

The soldiers couldn't get an answer, but they dared not look at Grand Duke Oren in the sky. As a result, Stie Oren felt a faint, indistinct gaze around him.

The gazes of those peasants, those slave-like fellows, made the future Grand Duke's face burn with embarrassment; he wished he could disappear into the ground.

For the first time, he couldn't accept being the center of attention.

The sunlight shone on him, yet it was incredibly cold, making him instinctively seek out the light. It was clear that the Grand Duke of Oren in the sky was no longer a believer in the sun. So, Stie looked at his father, the first heir who was decades older than him, a father who was able to live out his old age in peace only because of his extraordinary power.

However, no one in the entire city of Oren believed that the future of the Oren Grand Duke's family did not belong to this young, energetic, and capable Stie Oren.

"what should I do?"

Terrified, Stie saw the armored bear legion still charging wildly, and the Oren City army, whose morale had plummeted, being slaughtered indiscriminately in front of this army.

He gritted his teeth, stepped out of the shadows into the sunlight, and raised his unadorned but practical weapon.

"For the honor of the Oren family, we will absolutely not allow any invading enemy to occupy Oren's territory!"

"Stop them!"

The soldiers became excited, picked up their weapons again, and attacked the armored bear legion, but the absolute difference in strength meant they could not stop the armored bear legion's advance.

“My grandson, you are the most outstanding descendant of the Oren family.”

Grand Duke Oren watched with satisfaction as Stie stood up again from the sky.

"But that's not enough."

He could tell that the extraordinary legion from the unknown was not something these ordinary soldiers could fight against. Morale was rising because of the glory of the Oren family, but morale could not lead to victory in this war.

"The only one who can truly save Oren is me, and the faith we hold."

As the Grand Duke of Oren spoke, he did not continue his actions, but instead watched as the soldiers of Oren surged towards the Armored Bear Legion from all directions.

In the void, a deep purple mist permeated the air, distorting and projecting the scene of battle outwards, like a curtain that blocked distant views, making it difficult for many people in Oren City to clearly see what the battlefield looked like.

On the ground, the Armored Bear Legion did not stop; with Commander Bogeld far ahead, they had no right to remain where they were.

"Push them! Kill them!"

"In Ryan's name, grant us innocence!!!"

The armored bear warrior tossed aside his shield, drew a longsword from the bear's back, wielded both a short sword and a longsword, and then leaped wildly, soaring over the heads of the soldiers on the battlefield before landing among them. The weapons from the North unleashed the extreme cold of their ancient homeland, causing scalding blood to splatter.

The smelting technology in this area is much less advanced.

"kill!"

Soldiers who are blinded by rage are never merciful, especially since the enemies around them are too weak. They are human beings, the individuals that Lord Ryan cares about most, but this is a battlefield.

"kill!"

With a single sword stroke, the armored bear warrior cleaved through the inferior armor, flicking his beard which was tied up like a braid. The short sword plunged into the chest of the knight opposite him, and hot blood spurted out, causing the northern warrior, who disliked the south, to frown. He tilted his head back slightly, then slammed it down instantly.

A head split open like a watermelon, red and white fragments scattering in the air. The drawn short sword, disregarding the glory brought to it by the dead knight, slashed through the air and in the next instant severed another soldier's spear. Before the broken metal spearhead could even make a sound as it fell to the ground, its owner was already lying there.

The bloody gash embedded the spearhead perfectly into its own flesh. The armored bear stomped down with its hind legs, and the spearhead vanished completely into the muddy flesh.

"Kill this monster!"

The soldiers of Oren City shouted, their eyes bloodshot, and surrounded the armored bear warrior who had killed more than a dozen of them, wanting to kill him right there. But they didn't have the chance. The sunlight overhead was silently blocked out. Some people wondered why the sunlight had disappeared, and then the armored bear's appearance appeared in front of them.

The thick armor that even metal weapons couldn't tear open, the ferocious and cruel war bear's teeth still stained with blood, and its heavy claws, it is said, shattered the walls of Oren.

Naturally, this force also tore their flesh and blood apart.

The armored bear warrior flipped over and landed on the back of an armored bear. He had no time to mourn the dead enemies before him, because all the armored bears had already rushed to his side. In a minute at most, all the enemies would lose their faces and dignity, and be covered on the ground in a bloody mess. The armored bear's limbs never showed any mercy to the dead enemies, whether they died a gruesome death or not.

"kill!"

"Push them down and kill them all!"

The towering walls of Oren City had given its people countless years of confidence, but today that pride was crushed by the armored bears. At this moment, the rolling armored bear legion, like the vanished walls, pressed majestically towards them. The suffocating pressure that once belonged to all enemies was now borne only by them.

"Stop them! Stop them!"

Under the protection of the knights, Stie once again appeared in front of the Duke of Oren's mansion, putting up a final resistance. He was heartbroken, his army falling in droves before the iron-clad army, like wheat in autumn harvest. If golden wheat were harvested at such a speed during the autumn harvest, it would surely bring smiles to everyone's faces.

Stie was already somewhat dazed, staring at the banner of the Extraordinary Legion, at the swaying mountain peak—or was that a mountain peak, like a rhinoceros's horn—getting closer and closer in mid-air, becoming more and more solid, and deeply imprinted in the depths of his pupils.

All I could hear were screams, wails, panicked fleeing, and a blank, hopeless despair.

How can such an army resist?

In the sky, Grand Duke Oren watched as the Oren family's army grew increasingly disadvantaged, their morale crumbling. Those who survived no longer cared about glory or honor; the pressure of death had completely robbed them of their fighting spirit.

It's impossible to win this way.

The last glimmer of hope was extinguished, and the whispered call of a great being echoed in the ears of Grand Duke Oren.

My servant, you seem to be suffering the calamity of defeat.

Grand Duke Oren opened his eyes and called out:
“Great Lord, as Your gaze sees into the future, Your servant truly needs Your help.”

After he finished speaking, the voices around him disappeared, and the Grand Duke of Oren looked at his grandson.

“Stie, the Oren family still needs me to save it. You are not mature enough, you are not strong enough. The greatest master of this family is still me.”

"Your grandfather."

"I will show you what true power is like."

After Duke Oren finished speaking, his voice suddenly grew louder, echoing throughout the entire battlefield.

"In the name of the Oren family, I summon you, my soldiers!"

"You should be loyal to your master, loyal to Oren!"

"Loyalty to—me!" The last word, hoarsely roared, came from Grand Duke Oren's throat. All the purple mist in the void was swallowed by Grand Duke Oren. In the space behind him, a hazy and distorted image appeared. It was an abyss of evil, the deepest place in the world, the most chaotic and irrational place, a world that did not belong to mortals.

His reflection appeared in the city of Oren, and on the continent of Norris, representing a great king who began to expand his divine kingdom!

At that moment, alarm bells rang loudly on Mount Dawn, and the renovated Cathedral of Light outside the capital city shone brightly in the sunlight. At the same moment, a blurry shadow appeared in the void above Oren City. The gods of the abyss descended upon their divine kingdom on the continent of Norris in this way.

This is His projection, mocking the sun in the sky and coldly looking down on every ant-like life on the battlefield below.

Grand Duke Oren roared, purple demon horns solidified on his head, and his flesh hardened and strengthened, like the skin of a dragon, appearing before thousands of people.

"With the authority of the Grand Duke of Oren, I bestow upon you the reward of loyalty. My soldiers, awaken the grace bestowed upon you by the Oren family!"

As the deep voice of Grand Duke Oren faded, the aura of the Abyss Lord's divine kingdom descended, enveloping each and every soldier.

Their linen clothes became tattered, with hard barbs growing out. The fear in their eyes was gradually replaced by a cold, murderous desire. They threw away their weapons and replaced them with new, sharp weapons—their claws.

The demon's claws struck the armored bear's armor, finally leaving deep scratches and faint bloodstains. The wounds made the armored bear even more ferocious, and the appearance of the demon's army of minions gave the armored bear the courage of righteousness.

Although, it doesn't really matter.

"kill!"

Bogeld looked at Grand Duke Oren with immense excitement. She sensed that the monster before her had become even more powerful, no longer a paper-thin legend. The abyss god behind him had bestowed upon him even greater authority.

"You also feel that you, a worthless servant believer, are incapable of helping you expand God's kingdom?"

"But even so, it's still not enough."

Roar--

In the crimson fog of war, the war bear that controlled thunder stood up. Bogeld disappeared into the depths of the fog and reappeared in front of Grand Duke Oren, his weapon tearing through the purple light and slashing at Grand Duke Oren.

"You lowly human, have you forgotten whose kingdom you live in!"

From the mouth of the Grand Duke of Oren came a voice that did not belong to him.

Bogeld looked up and saw a pair of deep, cross-shaped pupils, and deep within those pupils, the land of the Abyss God Kingdom.

"Thanks to that idiot Surtur, who connected the eternal night with twilight in such a short time, allowing me to enter the edge of this eternal heavenly land."

"He hasn't woken up yet, and this taste is absolutely delicious."

"Finally, finally we're not just eating the garbage left behind by the world's death and decay anymore!"

Bogeld struggled, the purple light around her growing increasingly solid. The power of the great being rendered her armor ineffective, and she instantly turned into a blood-soaked figure.

"Humans who inherit the world's will? How fortunate you are. If you become my follower, I will allow you to come before me and serve me."

The voice of the Duke of Oren returned, but the gods still held sway. The moment the gods descended, things changed; half of Oren became His kingdom.

The hellish difficulty of waging war within the kingdom of a god is self-evident. The armored bear legion, which originally held an absolute advantage, was now trapped in a swamp and surrounded by countless demon armies.

The power of the abyss helped the demon army heal their wounds. As long as they weren't fatal, they could regain their fighting strength in just a few breaths.

Do you have a mother?

Bogeld's voice came to the ears of the Duke of Oren. This 'He' was somewhat bewildered. This word really... did not belong to the realm of divine language.

"what?"

Bogeld looked at the great being before him with a troubled expression, unsure of what to say.

"You don't have a mother, so what right do I have to scold you?"

"Damn Galic, he only taught me this one sentence."

The moment the words fell, lightning covered the short sword, transforming it into a hundred-meter-long warhammer that crashed down towards Grand Duke Oren.

“The spiritual origin…this shouldn’t be.”

A look of shock flashed deep in the eyes of Grand Duke Oren. The thunderous power released by that spiritual force finally gave Bogeld the confidence to confront a great being.

Spirituality and primordial purity are equal, as the famous frost dragon Areris once said.

When energy becomes pure and equal, then the way of fighting becomes a primitive means of wearing down each other.

The surging spiritual essence and the divine essence of the abyss god are equal. Bogeld and the opponent are not on the same level of strength, but at this moment, the two are not even in the same plane.

The projected deity could not crush this ant-like mortal, so things became primitive.

The raging lightning raged wildly in the void, tearing apart the soil of this god's divine kingdom, preventing its complete emergence, and stopping more abyssal aura from spreading across the battlefield of Oren City.

"Crush them!"

The flag of Rhinoceros Horn Mountain was planted on a rock. The armored bear warriors landed on the backs of their berserk war bears and fought side by side with them. At this moment, they no longer worried that the war would be over and that the surrounding demon army would continue to advance towards them.

"Spirituality..."

The great being within Grand Duke Oren's body was still murmuring, its confusion and bewilderment making it sluggish, but it also instinctively understood that its current efforts were insufficient to crush the insignificant humans before it.

"Then... let's sink into the abyss together!"

No longer a purple light, but pure darkness, rolling in from all directions like dark clouds, engulfing Oren City. It was the most fundamental dimensional power of the abyss, about to devour the entire city of Oren and erase it from this world called Norris.

"In the name of Oren!"

On the dimly lit battlefield, Stie Oren, leaning on his longsword, rose from his kneeling position, roaring as he brandished his weapon against the rapidly approaching abyssal evil outside the city of Oren.

Meanwhile, in the far north, in the tranquil frozen tundra where only the sounds of birds could be heard.

Ryan felt the spiritual ocean energy surging faster and faster, disappearing into the distance, and put down the history of the Norris continent he was holding.

"Brand."

(End of this chapter)