You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 348 The Posture of a Conqueror

As the autumn wind rises and the sky darkens, the withered yellow grasses on the vast plains sway gently, creating a scene of turmoil and melancholy.

The camera zooms in, revealing a vast battlefield where the smoke of battle has not yet dissipated. Corpses lie scattered everywhere, some with broken arrows or spears embedded in their bodies, others piled high like small mountains, their blood staining the earth like a giant, blood-soaked swamp. A flock of crows is drawn in; it's a feast for the eyes.

The thorny iron rings that the Holy War Army hated so much still fluttered over the Pegasus Plain.

Over the past five days, the River Valley Army and the Holy War Army have engaged in five large-scale battles on the Tianma Plain, with a fierce battle every day, which is like a meat grinder.

The real enemies are the Shield Guard, the Crimson Judgment, the Dark Demon Hunter, the Silver Temple, and the War Knights, while the believers in the gods have become expendable.

They fought alongside the Icelandic warriors.

The war ended in a draw.

They can fight a battle to rout the enemy, but they can't fight a battle to annihilate them.

Relying on their exceptional level of organization, they maintained their formation amidst the chaos of battle, repeatedly scattering the followers.

But those people will be quickly regrouped and launched a new attack.

They are not afraid of ordinary soldiers or elite soldiers.

The ragtag troops will scatter, while the elite troops will wear each other down, each suffering losses and pain.

The real danger lies in the possibility that an elite force will join the wave of attacks from the regular troops, drastically increasing the pressure on the defensive line.

The river valley army could only manage a defensive posture; they dared not divide their forces for fear of being annihilated by the enemy's elite units. They could only constantly rotate their troops to ensure that the frontline soldiers always had sufficient physical strength.

The scene was deadlocked.

There are too many enemies, they're everywhere, we can't kill them all, we just can't kill them all.

Explosives will run out, arrows will be used up, swords will become dull, physical strength will be exhausted, and supplies will run out.

Meanwhile, the Jihad Army was able to obtain a continuous supply of materials from various places.

The stalemate in this chaotic battle was finally broken when both sides made their appearances.

The armies of the two Black Iron Dukes marched together onto the battlefield.

There are over 700 Deep Blue Knights and over 300 Broken Crossbowmen, while the two dukes' noble auxiliary forces number around 20,000 to 30,000.

When they appeared, the entire battlefield fell silent.

Immediately afterwards, oak banners also arrived from the south.

The Knights of the Storm tried to stop them, but they couldn't.

The Oak Soldiers were exceptionally agile; their armor was light, and their movements swift. They turned and disappeared into the vast mountains. They possessed a faint bloodline of the children of the forest, traversing the boundless dense forest and bypassing the ambush of the Storm Riders.

Thus, all the kings of the earth gathered together.

Duke is equivalent to royal rank.

The King of Raging Tides, the King of Cracked Armor, the King of Iceland, the King of Oak, the King of the Valley, the King of Sinnoh—all sorts of forces have appeared on this battlefield.

The quality of either of them is enough to overwhelm a conscripted army of tens of thousands.

After the appearance of the armor-piercing and oak trees, the royal nobles who had hesitated to act for fear of being ambushed also led their armies to the scene.

When everyone is well-equipped and difficult to breach, physical fitness becomes the biggest factor hindering the war.

This was an unprecedented war among kings.

At that moment, the gates of Blackburg opened.

The attacking army blocking the city gate was alarmed and wanted to annihilate them.

But the high-ranking officers of the Jihad Army guarding the city gates were so shocked they were speechless.

The first to leap out on horseback was not Princess White Steel, but the Black Iron King wearing a black iron crown.

The most important and highest-ranking king of kings has left Blackburg.

Behind her are the White Steel Princess, hundreds of Black Iron Knights, White Knights, and a host of conquering knights.

It was clear that he had taken all of Blackburg's elite forces with him.

The attacking forces could not be stopped, because most of the main force of the Holy War Army was tied down by various armies coming to the aid of the king.

The man with a long, thin face, sunken cheeks, and thin lips arrived on the battlefield. He truly possessed the aura of a king, as everyone thought—even though that aura stemmed from the black iron crown atop his head, projecting unparalleled power and kingly might.

He looked around; the land had become a blood-soaked swamp, devouring the lives of everyone present.

He had to show up; there were too many enemies.

This is a long and arduous war, and the loyalist army has no chance of winning.

As long as the Papacy shows no intention of withdrawing its troops, the siege of Blackburg will never be lifted.

Furthermore, Blackburg had been defending itself for too long and could no longer hold out.

The pressure on the city's population and food supply was too great; people had already starved to death long ago.

The longer they hold out, the more demoralized the defenders will become, and Blackburg will eventually fall.

It wasn't until the banners of Raging Tide and Shattered Armor appeared together that the Black Iron King finally made up his mind to confront his many vassals.

A hint of struggle and pain appeared in Io III's eyes.

The Black Iron King said, "I have not seen the Highland Cavalry and the Winter Guard. I do not know whether to be sad or happy." His weathered words carried far.

Payne stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the Highlands are on the verge of destruction, and the King of Wandong is dying on his deathbed. I believe he is the last king of Wandong."

Iolion looked both amused and dismayed. "You still call me Your Majesty. I feel like I am the last king."

“I will always be the Duke of the Iron, and you will always be the King of the Iron,” he said. “But the age of the Iron has passed, and a new era needs a new order. How can we expect an order from a hundred years ago to protect us forever?”

King Io III said, "The Age of Iron was the Age of Peace, the Order of the Conquerors was the Order of Humanity. The late king hoped that all nations could cease hostilities, recuperate, and accumulate strength, but this vision has long been shattered. You have given him an era even more chaotic than a hundred years ago. It is over, it is time to end it..."

The Black Iron Kingdom is the most powerful hegemonic kingdom among the land's nations. Its Conqueror's Order is equivalent to international law and can be used to mediate international wars.

No single country could defeat it; only a combination of factors, including internal divisions, external pressures, natural disasters, social upheavals, and so on, could have brought it to this point.

A deep sorrow was evident on the face of the Black Iron King.

He was like a child trying to press down a pressure cooker, only to have his hands blown to pieces.

Because the times are progressing, and he cannot resist the powerful historical inertia, the current contradictions on the Black Iron Land have become extremely acute.

He and Princess White Steel were on one side, while Payne and the Papacy were on another.

One of them will eventually fall.

The King of Black Iron said, "If it is to continue, then I will continue it; if it is to end, then I will end it."

His figure became lofty and powerful, his face exceptionally noble against the backdrop of the crown, his emerald eyes shining brightly.

“Your Majesty, you need not do this. I am willing to protect your throne,” Payne said.

“I would like to do the same,” Gale said. The Archduke of Oak watched this scene, as quiet as an ancient tree.

Iolion was truly exhausted and felt despair; the burden of maintaining peace was too heavy. He lacked the vision and ability of his predecessor, and could only leave the decision to the former king.

“Paine, Gale, Lane, come, let the era our ancestors began come to a glorious end here,” he said again.

Iolion raised his hand and reached out to grasp the gray, hazy sky.

For a fleeting moment, all the high-ranking knights witnessed the dazzling power emanating from the black iron crown.

It contains no gold or silver, no precious stones, but is forged from black iron and bronze. Ionus cast a spell upon it, and it is engraved with the magical runes of the ancients. It is deep and cold, dark and hard—the crown of a king who defies the gods.

Now, it seems to radiate boundless light, yet it illuminates no one. Dark, murky clouds obscure the sun, and everything on earth is either gray or black, like a harbinger of a dark age.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three beams of divine light responded to him in various parts of the earth.

Two streams came from the northern lands, and one from the rocky castle.

They tear through the sky, illuminating the earth, flying like comets, trailing trails of light.

When the three divine lights descended upon the Iron King, the world was astonished to find that Iorilian had changed his appearance.

The Black Iron King wields the Sword of Glory and the Shield of Immortality, and wears the Legacy of the Raging Tide—the Armor of Resistance.

More than a hundred years later, the heroic figure of this god who once illuminated the dark ages has reappeared on this land.

Iori's body seemed to suddenly grow taller, while everyone present shrank accordingly. They were looking at each other at eye level, yet it was as if they were looking up at each other. From the God Armor, the world briefly captured the power and majesty of the stone statue of the king in the Kings' Square.

This is truly the posture of a conqueror!
The winds of the desolate battlefield blew mercilessly, twilight descended upon the southern mountains, and the White Horn River surged with tears. The melodious epic sung through the ages remains as clear as ever, even across an entire era.

-

Black Iron, Black Iron! From the highlands in the east to Sinnoh in the west, from Azure Moon in the south to Iceland in the north!
Tianma Plain, the King's Royal Garden!
Once, Ionus forged the sword White Dawn, and the divine steed was reborn to quell the darkness!

Seven swords stand atop the crown, the majestic Black Fortress is the source of order!
Son of Ionus, son of Ionus!
Inheriting the mandate from the past, armor confronts the enemy, divine swords cleanse, and shields stand alone!
King of the Iron, King of Kings, King of Eternity, march to the battlefield!
Alas! Black Iron!
The former king has passed away, and the next king has arrived!
When will you return?
……

Iolion felt a powerful force within him, and his perception of the invisible world became increasingly clear.

The reflection of kings.

The reflection of the armies of the kings.

The mist coalesced into warhorses, the Shield Guards, the Storm Knights, the Shattered Archers, the Oakwood Elite, the Black Iron and White Knights of Blackburg, and the three great knightly orders of the Papacy…

Those superhuman units, fully armed, were reflected in that world.

It is the steel phantom of the army of the real universe in the Netherworld.

Some warrior knights can use various extraordinary materials such as magic steel, orogen, mithril, adamantite, gem crystals, etc., to present their ghostly appearance.

Low-level warriors rely on equipment, while high-level warriors rely on themselves.

The better the equipment and the stronger the combat power, the clearer the reflected face will be.
Correspondingly, in this invisible world, all the mortal armies have vanished.

He looked around at the reflections and was surprised that the River Valley Army, despite not having widely adopted supernatural equipment, could still be vaguely reflected.

Other supernatural entities are phantoms draped in steel, but they seem to be phantoms made of steel, their exposed phantoms reflecting the luster of various metals.

Is this the secret technique of that young king? Iorilian thought to himself, the new king's experience is far from sufficient, he can only rise to prominence by relying on other means, otherwise how could he fight against the armies of the kings in just a few years?
Every other faction present had existed for far longer than them. Many times longer.

He was no longer able to pay attention to these worldly things.

Of all those present, no one's reflection was clearer than his; it was almost lifelike.

Because when he summoned the three divine artifacts, he stepped halfway into that dark, cold, and eerie world; he was both a creature of the underworld and a creature of the real world.

Iolion wore a crown, and behind him stood another tall and imposing king, seven feet tall, wearing the same crown—the will of Ionus the Conqueror.

That was the source of his constant mental anguish.

This is the power inherited from the conqueror Ionus, a means to maintain order.

The group whose phantom was second only to his in clarity was neither the Shield Guard nor the Storm Knights. Instead, it was a group of Hymn Sisters radiating white light.

Their figures were clearly visible even in the Netherworld.

They dedicated their lives to those nameless and faceless ancient gods, offering them their pure, noble, and devout faith.

The hymn nuns' power was also peculiar; they called that power 'divine power' and 'miracle'.

The gods' power can only be fully unleashed in the underworld.

And now he has completely stepped into this invisible realm.

The witch Lin was driven to the brink and had no choice but to launch a suicidal attack on the holy city in an attempt to kill the god.

Valia, the Frost Witch from the northern lands, wielding two divine weapons, wreaked havoc in the Holy City, unstoppable by anyone, not even the five paladins who could retaliate.

However, the brilliance of the artifact was ultimately suppressed by the Sister of the Hymn.

This is because only another divine power can suppress divine power.

They fell silent, gazing intently at the King of Kings, the Eternal King, before them. Compared to him, all the elite units became indistinct.

"Your Majesty Ionus! Please break your spell!" they pleaded with the conqueror.

Ionus wielded the Sword of Glory, and a dazzling, rainbow-like sword light surged forth!

brush!
……

The present universe.

Iolion also swung his divine sword, its blade gleaming and crystalline like glass. As he swung it, it unleashed a burst of intense sword light, a dazzling light that seemed to contain life in this dim world.

But it is indeed reaping lives.

Like mowing grass, a large number of ordinary auxiliary soldiers died in the blink of an eye, dozens were cut in half at the waist, their blood gushing out, a cruel sight too gruesome to witness.

Only the extraordinary army, clad in extraordinary armor, escaped unscathed, using their shields and armor to withstand the surging sword light.

"Mortals, retreat!!" The high command of the Holy War Army shouted in unison.

The worst thing has happened!
Facing the River Valley Army, the Axe Guard, and others, the believers could use their lives to greatly deplete the enemy's physical strength, so they were driven to serve as cannon fodder.

But against Ioriron in his divine armor, those mortals couldn't even muster the strength to fight him off.

The consumables have now been replaced by the knights who wage war; the existence of mortal armies has actually hindered the knights' performance.

There is nothing more terrifying than this.

But as long as we get through this, as long as we get through this...

Light is hidden behind terror.

(End of this chapter)