Chapter 252: War in the North

The two dukes put aside their past grudges and got together to discuss matters, which was a rare occasion.

Duke Nar himself is a fourth-level warrior, and it is said that he has some blood of the Ice Berserker, so he looks particularly tall and has thick hair.

Standing over there with a height of over two meters, he looked just like a ferocious humanoid beast covered with hair.

Duke Olivier standing next to him was just the opposite of him, only about 1.7 meters tall, handsome, with neatly groomed gray hair, giving him a mature charm.

He was wearing a robe that was luxurious to the point of being cumbersome, and his every move was full of aristocratic elegance, affectation, and pretentiousness, which formed a sharp contrast with the duke opposite him who looked like a ferocious beast in human form.

"He must have known there was a Ruby Dragon Egg inside."

Duke Olivier spoke first: "Otherwise he would never have eliminated the troops we left behind like this. We also found berry pulp unique to Dragon Island at the Ruby Volcano."

The Duke, who was as sharp as a fox, had a gleam in his eyes. "It's possible that he even found a Ruby Dragon, which enabled him to activate the Ruby Volcano's portal so quickly."

Although Duke Nar hated this opponent who dressed like an elf every day, he still agreed with his speculation.

Driven by common interests, even if the two of them have some dirty deeds, it can be ignored. After all, they are nobles, and everything must be based on the interests of the family.

The two of them couldn't accept the fact that their harvest was snatched away by a little wizard from a remote area in the North.

Although they knew that Kroya was well-known in the Mage Association and the Royal Court, it was impossible to estimate how much the daily income of the milk tea shop and the Warcraft Magic Plant War Pet Shop, which occupied an excellent location in the Royal Capital, could bring.

What made them even more helpless was that even the ladies and younger generations in the family often went to buy it, and they even liked to drink that sweet "magic potion".

Those two shops contributed a lot of tax revenue to the Mage Guild and the Royal Heraldry, in addition to the grain and various crops produced in the North.

So if they want to cause trouble for Croa, they must have a reasonable reason.

They had never considered that Croa could confront them head-on. As old dukes who had existed since the founding of the Kingdom of Norlant, they had the ability to fight...

Even the king had to be cautious.

How could a small lord who had only appeared in the North for a few years occupy the North if he had no connection with Prince Miffin?

The two dukes were plotting here, not noticing at all that there was someone listening outside the door - this was the Olivier family's property, the wind could come in, the rain could come in, but the king could not come in.

…

Ian Olivier's heart was pounding when he heard about his father's conspiracy with Duke Nar. The youngest master of the Olivier family was the one who had made a deal with Cloya.

He knew a lot about the North because of the still active merchant Seleu, so he was very pessimistic about his father.

Even...he still had some rebellious thoughts and secret expectations in his heart——

"If my father could fail or even die in battle..."

This thought was like a wild weed that grew wildly. Once it emerged, it could no longer be suppressed. It even gradually spread and covered his mind.

If his father had been able to use his power as a duke, his mother might not have suffered so much and even nearly died.

As a noble, he was only too aware of the limitations of inheritance rights among the nobility. No matter how hard he tried, his father would never give him the power he wanted.

No matter what, his mother was always a maid. He did not hate his mother for not helping him. The only thing he hated was his father who blocked his chances of advancement.

“…”

Ian took a deep breath and left quietly. He quickly came to his residence and saw his mother in a blooming garden.

The young lady was holding a pair of large scissors, trimming the overly lush roses. The large patches of roses were as dazzling as blood, yet so gorgeous and beautiful.

But even such a gorgeous rose could not suppress the charm of the lady. She seemed like a flower fairy in fairy tales, pure and beautiful.

It was this beauty that made the Duke favor her, but it also confined her forever in the gorgeous cage built by the Duke - such a beautiful object must not be coveted by others, and cannot even be seen.

"Mother!"

He walked up quickly, held the woman's arm, and said softly, "I want to take you to a place."

"Where?" His mother asked curiously, "Ian, you know I can't leave the capital."

She seemed to have accepted her fate, just like this garden nourished by magic. Once the roses in it left here, their fate was to wither.

"The North." Ian lowered his voice and said, "Father and Duke Nar are going to attack the North. We can take this opportunity to follow them.

I will personally go to the Lord of the Reef in the North and ask him to give you an environment where you can live in peace."

"And what's the price?"

Although the beautiful woman was imprisoned here, she was not stupid at all. She stroked her son's face and said, "Dear Ian, what price do you have to pay to let him protect a useless person like me?"

Ian said without hesitation: “I am going to betray my father. It should be possible to take my father’s life and the Olivier Family.

Mother...can you tell me your last name now?"

The woman's body stiffened for a moment.

She looked down at the rose covered in shadow and replied in a lighter voice, "Sethen."

“…”

The young Duke's son was stunned.

How could this be?

The princess of the former Sethen royal family looked at her son who was in a daze, and for the first time a bright smile appeared on her face.

…

Ten days later.

The two dukes' declaration of war was sent to Hanjiao Island.

Along with the declaration of war came Sir Kermoyer, who was considering gradual outward expansion.

He is now an earl, and in the official records of the Kingdom of Nolant, the North is his fiefdom.

But he remained humble in front of Croa.

After handing the letter of challenge to Croa, he waited for him to make a decision.

Croix glanced at the letter of challenge and said in amazement, "A friendly exchange between nobles, why can the nobles nowadays make war sound so easy?"

To be honest, he had thought about what the two dukes might do, but he never expected them to be so shameless as to act like elders and come to instruct Kemoye.

In other words, you have to give him some advice!

They are so daring.

Even though Cloya was calm now, he was still enraged. He immediately ordered, "Since they want to come, then let them come. I only have one request... that is to bring the two dukes to the Noble Island of Hanjiao Island as guests."

——The so-called Noble Island is where Croa imprisoned the nobles. There are barons and viscounts of all sizes, but there has never been an earl or duke.

If he could capture a few earls and dukes this time, it would complete Cloya's collecting habit in this regard.

"yes!"

Count Kmoyer nodded excitedly. He was well aware of Croa's war capabilities, and now he finally had the opportunity to show them to the outside world. He was extremely excited.

He immediately left Hanjiao Island and began to make preparations.

After Kemoye left, news from Miphiin and Estner of the Mage Association also came in one after another.

The first was Miffin, who said directly after seeing Cloya: “I just learned about this matter, as you know, there are many nobles who are uncomfortable with you.

Besides, they are targeting Count Kermoyer."

Miphiin's words were no longer a hint, but an explicit statement, telling Cloya to quickly become the lord of the North himself, so there wouldn't be so many troubles.

This statement was so obvious that even Cloya looked at him in surprise: "Aren't you the prince of Norlant, the noble among nobles~"

"..." Miffin looked at Cloya helplessly without saying anything.

The latter laughed and said, "Okay, okay, since there are no problems on your side, I will officially make the North independent after I resolve these issues."

"Well, you can tell the royal family... Think about what kind of title you should give to a wizard like me. If it's lower than a duke, I won't agree."

As soon as he said this, Miffin's heart finally settled down. He was actually quite afraid that Cloya would directly announce the verdict of the Nolant Kingdom.

After all, he is still the prince of Nolant, and this identity is a bit subtle and embarrassing. If Croa really declares autonomy, the kingdom will have to send troops to fight Croa head-on no matter what.

Just like the Lord of Gray Sand.

Completely relieved, Miffin talked to Cloya for a few more words, but this time he did not give any advice.

Because this time is different from the last assassination attempt, it is a head-on confrontation. Cloya already knows what he needs to know, so it depends on how the front battlefield is handled.

To be honest, he was also quite curious. Even he had never seen Croa engage in a direct war.

Miffin left soon after the conversation.

After he left, Croa had another brief conversation with Estner.

The latter shrugged and said, "Don't kill him. After you capture him, give him the treatment that a noble deserves. His family will pay the ransom."

"ah?"

"Nothing else to tell me?"

Cloya was speechless. How could someone be more confident than him? The battle hasn't even started yet, and already they're talking about asking for ransom after capturing prisoners.

But in a sense, he and Estner are really friends - one directly asked for a ransom, and the other planned to send them to the island to satisfy his collecting addiction.

Estner shook his head: "Nothing else, after all, nominally they are looking for trouble with Count Kemoye, and the Mage Association can't interfere directly.

But it doesn't matter if you're a little ruthless, after all, you're a member of our Mage Association. As long as you win, I'll go and negotiate with the people from the Heraldry Academy myself!"

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand and left. Croix was speechless again, but he knew in his heart that after this matter was over, he should control the North both legally and practically.

After ending the call, Cloya looked out the window with his mind cleared. His heart was far from being as confident and stable as he appeared to be.

War means death. Although he knew that as a superior he couldn't care so much about sacrifice and death, he still couldn't help feeling heartbroken.

Those are all my apprentices! They are usually so well-behaved and obedient. I just hope the monsters and plants can be more powerful.

He worked so hard to cultivate so many magical plants and beasts just to reduce sacrifices.

…

Following Croa's order, all the apprentices who were interested in participating in the war rushed to the front line, even Robert, who had not left the Reef Island for a long time.

At the entrance to the north, the Telenas Mountains, the starting point of the Tele River, has been transformed into a vast plain.

The flat land forms a stark contrast with the rolling mountains in the distance. Such a large plain is perfect for frontal combat.

Lina and Kemoye planned to eliminate the two dukes' armies here and try to prevent these people from entering the heart of the North and affecting the ongoing infrastructure work.

…

Knights Templar.

Count Cmoyer was patrolling the Knights' group on a tall, strong, red horse that looked like a ferocious beast.

This entire team of 3,000 people was composed entirely of level one knights and level two magical beasts, the Flame Dragon Horses. They were lined up in an extremely neat formation on the flat ground. Every knight had a serious expression and did not look away.

"I won't say anything more. This is the first time that Master Croix has shown his strength to the outside world..."

The Earl raised the classical knight's sword in his hand high, and a brilliant light burst out from the snow-white sword blade - it was a gift from his ancestors, a nearly legendary knight's sword.

"For Master Croix, we must win!"

He shouted loudly.

"For Master Croix!!"

The knights also roared along with him. The roar of two thousand knights who had studied basic and advanced knight courses was like a war cry, resounding through the sky.

This is a romance that belongs exclusively to knights. It does not have the gorgeous spell effects of a wizard. Instead, it is just training day after day, year after year, to hone one's martial arts and body to be as solid and hard as steel.

They urgently need a war to prove themselves and prove that Croa's training of them is not a waste of resources.

After all, the abilities of the wizards in the North are so exaggerated that the knights are not noticeable at all - at most they can only have a sense of existence by doing some dirty and tiring work.

They are all extraordinary beings. Are mages really more noble than knights?

Now they all held their breath.

Like a volcano eager to erupt - if Croa knew what they were thinking, he wouldn't know whether he would sigh or feel helpless.

On the other side, Lina was leading her apprentices to conduct the final inventory and inspection of the magical beasts and magical plants.

"Cloud Mist Demon Sunflower high-altitude support is ready!"

"The elemental plane summoned beasts are ready!"

"The Earthshaking Bull Squad has assembled!"

A series of reports sounded in the mycelium communicator on Lina's temple.

Lina nodded with great satisfaction.

Some of the things here are used for the first time, I hope they can really play the expected role.

…

Beyond the North.

There were two armies advancing in a clear and distinct manner without interfering with each other.

These two armies look mighty and their number should be tens of thousands, but the composition of the teams is actually quite subtle.

The vast majority of them were peasant soldiers temporarily recruited by the dukes from their respective territories, while the rest were heavy infantry and archers trained by the lords and temporarily hired mercenaries who specialized in war business and had certain combat effectiveness.

The last very small part is the knights and mages composed of the lord's retainers, as well as various war beasts.

The peasant soldiers may have undergone basic training and can serve as artillery and suicide squads on the battlefield in order to consume the magic power of the mages and the physical strength of the knights.

Cloya had a special and in-depth understanding of the composition of this aristocratic army. He felt that such an army was very worrying in terms of organization, discipline and technical content.

But he did not underestimate such an army.

Because no matter the two dukes who were in charge, or the battle mage group and the Warcraft group, they were all around level three to four.

In such an extraordinary world, such an army is enough to influence the outcome of a battle, and it is also the reason why the two dukes were most confident of victory from beginning to end.

It can be said that since these two armies entered the area surrounding the Northern Territory, they have all been exposed to the eyes of the reef eagles engraved with the Eagle Eye Technique and carrying image transmission magic devices.

Their every move was transmitted to the command center of the northern front base, where it was analyzed by the veteran lord Robert and the knights he had trained.

Although Robert is old, his mind is still very sharp under Cloya's careful care. The aura he exudes while sitting in the command room is so strong that people dare not look directly at him.

He looked at the screen with a serious expression: "According to the image, there should be 500 battle mages and more than 1,000 Gnar monsters... This time they really took out some of their trump cards."

To be honest, he found it a bit tricky.

Although Hanjiao Island is not afraid, he is thinking about how to achieve greater victory at a lower cost. Almost all of his apprentices have grown up under his watch.

If too many people really died in this war, he felt that both he and Cloya would feel a little painful.

After all... the time is still too short. Even if talents want to grow, it takes time. There is still a gap between us and these old ducal families.

While he was thinking, an apprentice hurried in and reported: "Teacher Robert, there is a man who claims to be the son of Duke Olivier and his mother who wants to see you."

Robert was slightly stunned, his mind racing.

...Is this a trap or something?

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(End of this chapter)