Throne of the North.

Chapter 313 The Man Behind the Scenes, the Shrewd King

More than ten miles away, Grand Duke McReynolds was watching the war in the east. His extremely powerful mental strength allowed him to overlook the battle and chaos there. Even the incarnation of the alien god did not notice his gaze.

“Who is He?”

This is why Grand Duke McReynolds was unwilling to confront the alien god. He didn't know who the other party was. He knew a little about the one who spread fire, disaster, war and faith in the dusk, but he couldn't tell from the scene in front of him who the one inside Hernan's body was.

If you don't know who the other side is, there is no possibility of victory.

"Sir, should we send troops there?"

Beside Grand Duke McReynolds, a knight in light armor bowed and said that he was the Grand Duke's steward, a powerful and extraordinary man who had served as Grand Duke McReynolds's guardian knight when he was still in the stage of magic training.

"No, let the Griffin Legion go and test their capabilities and bring back some samples."

“I want to know who He is.”

There was a hint of greed in Grand Duke McReynolds' eyes.

After the Pan-dimensional War of Gods, the awe and fear of gods are no longer so deep, especially for legends like them.

All living legends have, to one degree or another, stolen the power of the gods.

In the distance, on the battlefield where it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe, the Griffin Legion appeared and descended. They swooped down and rushed towards the location of the Witch and Ghost Legion and the Dusk Legion. There were not only these two extraordinary legions, but the Death Legion was also participating in the battle. They also did not expect Hernan to become a vessel of the alien god, and at this moment they had to launch an attack on the opponent's army.

The scary thing is that the Dusk Followers Legion, which originally had only 10,000 people, was suffering from increasing deaths on the battlefield, and Hernan in the sky was constantly releasing power to convert more followers.

On the extraordinary battlefield, the number of Dusk's followers increased as the battle went on.

The arrival of the Griffin Legion greatly reduced the pressure on the two extraordinary legions of Witches and Death. They rushed down from the sky and tore the bone armor on the surface of the Dusk's followers. Some griffins grabbed the Dusk's followers and flew into the air, intending to return to the west.

But at this time, Hernan in the sky whispered again, and then above the earth, at dusk, the flames were boiling.

Among the living followers of Dusk, some began to tear off the bones on the surface of the bodies of their dead companions on the ground. The flames of Dusk burned on their surfaces, which were hazy between white and black. The bone armor flowed in their bodies like liquid, and then condensed into hideous bone wings on their backs.

A pair... no, it should be said that there are two bone wings, side by side on the right side of their backs, and there is no bone wing on the left side.

The bone wings wrapped around the right hand and right leg. The only blood-red crystal on the bone surface raised up and looked towards the griffin legion in the sky. The next moment, thousands of Dusk followers with bone wings grew flew towards the sky.

Their right hands were wrapped in wings, and they used their sharp claws to slash at the griffin, bringing out large pieces of flesh and blood, while their left hands held weapons and chopped at the griffin's head and the knight on its back.

Having lost their greatest advantage and not wanting to suffer too many casualties, the Griffin Knights finally retreated, leaving behind a fierce battle.

The war lasted until the second half of the night, and when the morning light gradually spread across the sky and dispelled the darkness, the war finally stopped.

Alla of the Leta family returned with less than a thousand witch soldiers and did not even stay in the Twin Cities. Only a small part of the other troops left. More of the noble troops were either wiped out and died on the battlefield, or stayed there and became believers of foreign gods.

They didn't even have a choice but to become soldiers of the dusk.

Of the 100,000-strong army, more than 20,000 died, 30,000 escaped, and less than 50,000 were left, all of whom became the followers of Dusk.

"Your Majesty Bishop."

Baron Huffman came to Williams with some fear. He didn't dare to get close to His Highness Hernan. The looks of the Dusk soldiers around him gave him goose bumps. In contrast, the Williams in front of him seemed to be more human.

"Baron Haffman, the glory of our Lord has come, and you have played an indispensable role."

Williams pushed over a box with three bright red crystals inside. These were different from the ones used by the soldiers, more precious and more powerful.

"This... is all worth it for my Lord."

He was a little dissatisfied, but when Williams saw this expression, he was very satisfied.

Huffman had no right to resist him, so even when Baron Huffman made many contributions at dusk, he only used three Dusk Bloods to get rid of him.

"You may leave now. My Lord does not want ungodly believers to get too close to Him."

Williams drove Baron Huffman away; he didn't want another person to share his power and Twilight's favor.

Baron Huffman left, and when he turned around, Williams could not see the satisfaction in his eyes.

Although his efforts were not as great as his gains, he would not dare to accept blessings and greater power if they really were offered to him.

On the contrary, the three extraordinary materials in front of him are very suitable. They are precious and unique, but there is no way to use them for the time being.

The Legion of Dusk occupied the Twin Cities, but did not give up the land belonging to Grand Duke McReynolds, because no matter how many people there were, they could not survive by just eating the northwest wind, they needed food.

After two days of brief calm, the royal family of the Andara Kingdom still did not respond accordingly. They seemed to have fallen silent on their own land.

"Is it Hernan who has become a believer of a foreign god, or have all of you in the Andara royal family become heretics?"

Pastor Soto was questioning the royal family. The old king strongly denied it and even opened the palace to let the holy light of the dawn fall. Only after he was sure that there was no second heresy did the matter stop briefly.

"I'm sorry, my Lord."

Pastor Soto knelt in front of the old king and apologized for his transgression, but the old king still knew people's hearts and didn't care about Pastor Soto's hypocrisy at all. When he descended from the holy light and inspected the palace just now, he didn't care about the attitude of the king at all.

"Why did Hernan become a heretic? Why did the belief in a foreign god appear in my kingdom? Pastor Soto, your church needs to give me an explanation."

He questioned the Vatican priest in front of him, and Pastor Soto didn't know how to refute for a moment. He looked at the old king and guessed that if someone else was in this position, he would definitely not have the courage to question himself. He could even ask the other person the same question.

But the king in front of him was not a mascot. In the past, he had controlled the kingdom from top to bottom, and the Holy See was deeply trusted by him. Pastor Soto himself respected his power and skills.

So, if the other person asked, he would listen, instead of him asking the king sitting on the throne.

"Your Majesty, the Holy See will not allow any foreign gods to come. We will definitely rescue His Highness Hernan."

"No need to save him. If you save him, I'm afraid your Church will send holy lights to inspect my palace every few days."

"Find him and kill him! Tell the Pope behind you that there are no more foreign gods in the Andara Kingdom."

"I think this is the best choice for you."

The old king looked at Pastor Soto. He would not let the Holy See catch any evidence against the Andara royal family. It was already troublesome enough. If Hernan was alive, it would crush the Andara Kingdom.

"As you wish."

Pastor Soto left the palace. The moment he walked out of the palace, he was no longer the priest kneeling on the ground, but the highest person in charge of the powerful Holy See in this land.

But he still left something behind, which was a holy medicine sent from the Holy Mountain across space.

The old king almost died a few days ago, but under the current situation in the Andara Kingdom, the Holy See would not allow the old king to die, so even at a huge price, the old king's life had to be kept hanging.

He cannot die, because no matter who is in the next generation, they will not be able to intimidate the nobles in the Andara Kingdom. If it were a stable situation, it would be fine, and the nobles would not cause trouble, but in the current situation, the Holy See needs the old king to be alive to keep the kingdom together.

The most direct truth is that as long as the old king is alive, Grand Duke McReynolds will not have any more ideas. If he is dead, Emperor Feng may do something crazy.

The same goes for other nobles. If the new King of Andara fails to handle the situation properly, territorial wars among the nobles will break out.

This was not what the Church wanted to see, because they still needed the nobles' army to help them fight against the alien god's followers. It was difficult to draw an absolute boundary between royal power and divine power. In the intersection, it was already difficult to distinguish between the two.

This is why Pastor Soto knelt before the king to make amends.

When he represented the gods, he could arrogantly patrol every corner of the kingdom with holy light to look for possible heretics, but after the end, Pastor Soto, who was not a true pope, was naturally just a priest.

But the old king was still feeling aggrieved. He almost smashed the holy medicine that was sent to him.

At this moment, his heart actually leaned towards the Empire. If he had been able to be ruthless and follow the Empire's example to expel the Vatican, how powerful would the king's power be at this moment?

A single word can decide the life and death of countless people, recruit many powerful extraordinary people to be loyal to him, and even order the execution of legendary beings, so that now he no longer needs to rely on the holy medicine of the Holy See for his own life and death.

After a long time, a sigh was heard in the palace.

He is old...

The other is still young.

The army of Dawn set out from the giant city. They will attack the Twin Cities and kill and burn all the heretics there. This is a holy war. Many nobles in the southern continent are watching with interest and curiosity.

To the extent that the Kamikaze Corps of the Carlos Family outside the Unicorn Fortress actually stopped their attack.

……

In the Frozen Territory, when Ryan received the message, the Dawn Army was less than a day's journey away from the Twin Cities.

"Ability God?"

"Is the situation in the Andara Kingdom so complicated?"

Master Ryan didn't even have breakfast. Looking at the complicated situation in the Andara Kingdom, for a moment, he couldn't tell who had more power in the Andara Kingdom.

"Most of the nobles are still loyal to the old king. They raise armies again and again at his command to fight against McReynolds and the Twilight Family. Decades of authority have made him unable to leave the palace even in his old age, but he still commands his kingdom."

"Who will win?"

Ryan pondered over the answer based on the limited information, but the only conclusion he could get in the end was that as long as the old king was still alive, there would be no major changes in the Andara Kingdom.

More than 90% of the nobles are still loyal supporters of the king. Grand Duke McReynolds was able to gain the remaining 10% of the nobles by relying on the advantages of geography and strength. After all, the concept that knights are loyal to their lords and nobles are loyal to their kings is powerful both in inertia and in cognition.

It can be seen from the fact that so far, no earl on Grand Duke McReynolds' side, not even the earl who has no real power and only has his own manor and castle, has spoken out.

He fought for his family and for the interests of the Griffin Mountains, and fell out with the old king, but he is likely to reconnect with the new king and be loyal to the Kingdom of Andara again.

All the new king needs to do is tear up the contract given to them by the four southern nobles regarding the Griffin Mountains.

As long as this is done, the Andara Kingdom will welcome back its loyal Griffin Grand Duke, but this step will rub the face and dignity of the Andara Kingdom to the ground.

My Lord, be serious. If this were really done, the Andara royal family would probably be completely destroyed.

Otherwise, the war will give the answer. McReynolds will defeat the kingdom and the four noble lords in the south.

There is always someone who wants to break the contract. The one who has started to do so is the Grand Duke of Griffin, but the emergence of the alien god has brought many variables.

"I don't know why this great being who uses dusk to spread faith dares to come so openly."

"Shouldn't He choose a weaker world?"

"In Norris, even if he descended upon the Andara Kingdom, I'm afraid his power wouldn't survive for long, right?"

Ryan never doubted the power of the Holy See and its determination in this regard.

He couldn't tell from the limited information who would have the last laugh, but this twilight god would probably not be the first one to be crushed into ashes.

"Four legends have appeared so far. Are there more legends in the Andara Kingdom? Even if the kingdom does not have its own legends, it should be able to invite legends to take charge. The extra ones may have to come from farther away."

Judging from the power of the six legends, the extraordinary strength of the Andara Kingdom is actually comparable to the glorious times of some other worlds.

Perhaps the backbone force is a little lacking because the Holy See will exclude other extraordinary paths headed by magicians, but it is also because of the Holy See that this part can be made up.

"The Griffin Duke is the most powerful among the legends, but the Griffin Legion... they have to face too many enemies."

"The Kamikaze Corps of the Carlos Family in the south seemed to be very restrained towards them. No wonder they wanted to take down the Unicorn Fortress as soon as possible."

In the castle on Rhino Horn Mountain, Ryan analyzed the current Andara Kingdom from various aspects including politics, military, geography, economy and faith. He put himself in the position of the Grand Duke of Griffin, the old king and the four noble territories in the south, thinking about all ways to break the impasse.

Finally, his gaze returned to...Dusk's followers.

"It feels like no matter who it is, as long as they can grasp the righteousness and truth in this area, they can successfully achieve their goals."

He thought about it. If the army of the Holy See destroyed the Dusk Sect, then naturally, the kingdom would need to pay too much benefit to the Holy See. The priests and missionaries of the Holy See would take root completely in the land of the kingdom, and even the image brought by the Empire would be eliminated.

The nobles will see the power of the Church, and the people and slaves will know that the Church has once again saved the world, allowing them to have enough food and peace.

On the other hand, if the king finally quells all the rebellions, his prestige will rise again. Even if he dies, the kingdom will be stable for at least ten or twenty years under his remaining power. Until the new king grows up, the kingdom will at least not fall into civil strife.

As for Grand Duke McReynolds, it is also possible. If he killed Hernan, no one would doubt his devout belief in the Lord of Dawn and the God of Light. The Holy See would not be able to punish him in a short time. If the kingdom were to do something bad to him, it would also be suspected that he was involved with the alien gods and was taking revenge on the Grand Duke.

Seizing the opportunity, Grand Duke McReynolds went south to defeat the four noble lords and make the Griffin Knights great again.

At that time, even if the contract was still in place, the nobles in the south would not dare to covet the McReynolds family for decades.

It's the same even for Carlos and other noble lords... they just can't get up.

"From this perspective, Dusk's appearance is to save the Andara Kingdom. Does the old king really have any deal or connection with the alien god?"

Without the appearance of dusk, the territory of the Andara Kingdom was a hodgepodge, and the empire and the church on the southern continent were fighting over it.

When He appeared, peace seemed to be restored to the kingdom of Andara.

The chaotic parties have a common enemy, so they have a common language. As long as they follow the rules...

"As long as we follow the plan, the conflicts within the Andara Kingdom will dissipate and everything will return to the king's hands. The church will calm down, the nobles will calm down, and the king will smoothly complete the transfer of hereditary power."

Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly. Perhaps the biggest driving force behind this was the king.

The old king, who once almost approached the Wing Canyon, his political talent and vision, even though he is now old and a little confused, are still top-notch in the continent.

In this regard, Grand Duke McReynolds, who practices silent magic, is far inferior.

The only difference is that the old king chose the Holy See, while the Grand Duke of Griffin chose the Empire.

"So...will it be what he wants?"

(End of this chapter)