Throne of the North.

Chapter 506: War on the Dawn Road, Faith in the North

Ryan's guess was correct. The reason why the Kingdom of Sera declared war on the Kingdom of Andara was because of the war in the south.

However, it was not because of the conflict between the Thousand Lakes Province Empire and the Holy See.

But on the road to dawn.

According to the ancient rules of the Dawn Church, choosing the Path of Dawn requires first going through three steps.

The first step is for at least 300 clergymen of the Holy See, who are bishops or above, to pray for three consecutive days and nights to inform the great Lord of the Dawn of the believers' infidelity.

The second step is to send the Holy Knights of Heaven to patrol the entire land of faith, that is, all the lands that believe in the Lord of the Dawn, and warn any human whose faith is shaken.

The third step is for the Pope to pray personally, and then receive guidance at dawn one day. This process is the most uncertain as the guidance may be obtained the next day or it may take a long time.

According to some ancient noble records, there was once a time when the Pope prayed in the church on the top of the Holy Mountain for thirteen years before he was granted a 10,000-mile-long Morning Road with winding and complex road conditions.

The price of the Dawn Road's success was that almost half of the Holy Heavenly Knights died due to various troubles along the way.

They cleared out all the monsters along the way, all the evil wizards, and all the noble lords who exploited the people in their territories until they could only live to their twenties.

Then, Chenxi's faith became pious again.

But that is a story of the past.

The choice of the current Dawn Road route is actually very troublesome, but the trouble is no longer the prayer, but the noise on the holy mountain.

The Pope is high above, and below him are the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and those elders who have retired but still hold power in certain key departments of the Dawn Church.

They argued and quarreled endlessly until one day a result was produced, and the way of the Dawn Road would be decided.

This is how the choice of the path of dawn was born.

It passed through the lands of five kingdoms, stretched for 2,300 miles, and involved a large number of nobles, both large and small.

Of course, most of the nobles can be dealt with through means other than killing, such as wealth, land, and men and women of high quality.

In a few places, it is impossible to quell the chaos no matter what, because the essence of the Road of Dawn is deterrence. If nothing could happen by just collecting money, the Holy See would probably have been overthrown by the empire and the nobles long ago.

A lean camel is bigger than a horse, not to mention that the current Dawn Church is not even lean, it is still very strong.

When the Knights of the Holy Kingdom of Heaven passed by, there were flowers everywhere, but where they passed by soon became a river of blood.

Every time in the past, it ended with the nobles' compromise.

But this time, the Holy See no longer had the smooth sailing it once had.

Just like the Church of Light in the Andara Kingdom in the north had suffered repeated assassinations, on the Dawn Road in the south, hunters from the Empire also stopped the Holy Heavenly Knights who should have been swift.

"Aatrox!"

Under the bright sky, the distant mountains are vast, the sky is brilliant, and on the fertile land, the snow-white Knights of the Holy Heaven are in chaos. The legendary legion commander [Holy Knight] Damon furiously kills Aatrox Clayton in front of him. The snow-white holy light gathers in the nothingness connecting the sky and the earth to form a greatsword that destroys all evil. Correspondingly, the demon form of Aatrox is indeed as evil as the devil in the abyss.

He launched a surprise attack on the Holy Heavenly Knights Legion, causing more than sixty Holy Heavenly Knights who were covered with hundreds of blessings to be corroded and turned into monsters of the abyss. This was because they were Holy Heavenly Knights, otherwise, with the power of a legend, tens of thousands of knights here might have been turned into monsters of the abyss.

But it is still blasphemy.

"Damon, you can't do anything to me."

Aatrox sneered as he floated in the sky, his body surrounded by darkness. He once had to hide, but as the conflict between the Empire and the Church became increasingly irreconcilable, he finally appeared in the sun openly.

Seeing Damon coming towards him, Aatrox had no intention of taking on the holy sword in the sky head-on. He was no match for Damon.

As the commander of the Holy Heavenly Knights, Knight Damon's fighting ability is unquestionable. Even the frost dragon Areris couldn't stop him from staying in the Borean Province.

Aatrox fled directly into the distance, and Damon kept chasing him. About ten minutes after the two legends disappeared, when the Holy Heavenly Knights were about to suppress the power of the abyss inside, the ground on one side bulged, and then a burly underground worm crawled out. It let out a deafening roar, and its large ring-shaped mouth full of fangs opened, causing cracks to appear on the ground.

Fully armed knights rushed out from the passage it had opened. They charged on their war horses, and it was visible to the naked eye that there were actually thousands of people rushing out. Without exception, they were wearing weapons and equipment printed with the emblem of the Flor Empire.

The key is not the number of people, but the fact that these thousands of people, the lowest of whom are silver knights, have no attachment to life in their eyes under the visors, and they fearlessly launch an attack on the Holy Heavenly Knights, the leader of the ten extraordinary legions of the Holy See.

"For the glory that never falls!!!"

"For the ancient glory!!!"

The fact that they did not mention the empire also showed that this army wearing imperial equipment did not actually come from the empire, but from aristocratic bloodlines that they could not mention in front of the Vatican.

This is a shame unless no one knows about it, so the eyes of thousands of knights revealed through the gaps are filled with the determination to die.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Thousands of meters away in the sky, magicians chanted. The battle on the battlefield would be impossible without their participation, because these magicians needed to help those thousands of people to suppress the various blessings on the Holy Heavenly Knights.

Otherwise, let alone these one thousand people, even if there were ten times as many, they would not be able to kill any of the Holy Heavenly Knights.

"Destroy the great resurrection magic on them!"

There were magicians roaring in low voices, magic robes fluttering, terrible gales swirling in the sky, and then, the ancient power descended.

In the void, an indescribable face emerged. His appearance came from the skull of an ancient life in the hand of a magician. The red skull seemed to come alive at this moment. Fortunately, the magicians around him were always keeping an eye on him with a stronger vigilance than the Vatican Legion.

The moment the great being's gaze turned down, on the battlefield a thousand meters away, a terrifying snow-white holy light appeared on the bodies of tens of thousands of Holy Heavenly Knights. They were invaded by some kind of power, and as a result, some kind of divine blessing engraved as a passive skill was consumed.

"Death Engraving! These damn mages dug up the wreckage of the fallen great beings!!!"

Some Holy Knights were angry, but then, more of the Blessing of Dawn on them were inexplicably consumed. It was pure magical power. Around them, there was a group of magicians hiding, casting magic on them.

Until a certain moment, dense and transparent cracks appeared on the bodies of the Holy Heavenly Knights.

That was the forbidden magic blessing, a power specifically used to fight against magicians, but it was broken at this moment.

This scene frightened the Holy Heavenly Knights, and the next moment, under the leadership of a Holy Land Knight, they launched a counterattack against the thousand people who were rushing over.

"The light of my Lord!"

The knight raised the sword in his hand, and the next moment, the voices of tens of thousands of people echoed behind him.

"——light up the dark night!"

Tens of thousands of snow-white knights roared across the land, and it was difficult to see the end at a glance. Wherever they passed, there was almost no other color. The holy light sprinkled on the land where the horses were galloping, dyeing the soil snow-white. The stones in front of them and the battlefield they were about to arrive at were all a holy white.

Just like a filter, the Knights of the Holy Kingdom of Heaven turned this land into their home ground and the field of their war.

"Kill these heretics and sacrifice them to the glory of our Lord!"

The cold-blooded Knights of the Holy Kingdom of Heaven actually launched a one-sided massacre against an army of at least a thousand Silver Knights.

"The morning sun never falls, and it stays the same every day!"

There was a glow on their bodies, and this light should have been gentle and sacred, bright and just, but at this moment on the battlefield it was like sharp spears, making the thousands of knights feel hot all over, and blood was seeping into every pore under their armor. They became weak under the sacred morning light.

If it weren't for the armor on their bodies blocking the attack, this legion of a thousand people would have completely collapsed at this moment.

The one-sided war once again allowed the magicians in the distance to see the power of the Church of Dawn.

Fortunately, they did not rely on these people to win. "In the southern land, even a tree must be split in half and one half must be handed over to the Church. They are too weak."

The extraordinary people from the empire were hiding at the end of the passage opened up by the underground worms. Looking at the massacre on the battlefield, they were all dissatisfied and frowned.

"Does the Empire really need the help of these rubbish?"

Some people sneered, saying that these knights showed nothing but fearlessness of death.

"So they need the Empire's help."

In the center of the crowd, a tall young man in golden armor raised his head. His golden hair and eyes showed his nobility. More importantly, the mark on the chest of his armor was the eternal flower of heaven of the royal family of the Flor Empire.

When he spoke, the people around him fell silent.

"It's our turn now. Aatrox will hold Damon back. As long as he doesn't ascend to angelic form, he won't be able to come back."

"Your Highness Floyd, it's up to you to decide."

The knight in golden armor in front of him was none other than Floyd Columbus, one of the empire's elects.

Just as the Emperor of the Empire gave another elector, Volvo, the test, the other two electors will also undergo the same test.

This is the first step for the Emperor Chosen to move towards the highest power in the Empire, and it is also their chance to prove their abilities to the nobles of the entire Empire.

Volvo rebuilt the West Sea Fleet, which is currently the only naval force of the empire. In comparison, Floyd, who brought the nobles to the southern lands to hunt down the Holy See, received a worse task.

The nobles speculated that this was helped by the family of Grand Duke Meyers. After all, Grand Duke Meyers was the only one who had clearly stated who he was helping.

The empire was first the empire of the royal family and the grand dukes, and only then the empire of the royal family, the grand dukes and the nobles.

Therefore, Freud must prove himself more perfectly.

Looking at the battlefield ahead, Floyd did not hesitate and drew the sword from his waist.

One of the three elects, he has a pure desire to fight.

"kill!"

Dozens of powerful nobles rushed out of the cave and were exposed to the sunlight, piercing through the army of the Holy Heavenly Knights like a sharp sword. Not only were each of them more powerful, they also had a large number of extraordinary treasures on them. Not to mention anything else, Floyd directly tore through the forbidden magic during the charge, making the earth as hard as gold and iron.

At the same time, the magician team hiding on the other side also took action. They destroyed the forbidden magic blessing on the Holy Heavenly Knights. At this moment, the magic was at its most lethal.

Flames and wind blades gradually turned into meteorites falling from the sky. Giant stone hands stretched out from the cracks in the earth. Vines grew on the flat land, and the strong wind turned into a tornado.

The originally clear sky became like a doomsday picture because of the power of these magics. Even the Knights of the Holy Heaven could not form an effective counterattack. They were the target of all forces.

"Kill them all!"

Floyd shouted, and the long sword in his hand easily tore apart the holy light of the Dawn Church, making these holy knights open their eyes wide and become angry.

"The Sword of the Betrayer."

"It's a meaningless call."

Floyd cut off the opponent's head, then frowned and looked around. He seemed to sense something, and the next moment he shouted to retreat.

"Get out!"

The sky is bright and the sun is shining. The greatest strength of the Holy Heavenly Knights is not their individual combat capabilities, nor the dozens or hundreds of divine blessings they have, including the means of resurrection.

Rather, they are the only group in the Holy See that can communicate with the Holy Mountain of the Dawn Church at any time and in any place, and obtain help from the vast amount of faith in the Church.

In the extremely high sky, as the sun shines, a vast expanse of snow-white holy light falls straight down, connecting with the sun and also with every living Holy Heavenly Knight.

Xilulu~
The war horses leaped high and never fell down, because snow-white wings grew on their backs. Not only them, but also the holy heavenly knights were shrouded in a hazy glow. The phantoms of angels with soft faces floated down, and their warm, exposed arms embraced the shoulders of every knight. They lay on the knights' backs, and their wings became the wings of the holy knights.

The power of faith is terrifying, just like at this moment, the Holy Heavenly Knight, bathed in the light of faith, has snow-white eyes and kills all the enemies around him.

"The longer time goes by, the stronger their faith becomes. It's time to go."

Floyd sighed, he had only been in the battle for less than ten minutes and it seemed that he would not be able to kill the Holy Heavenly Knights.

Once again, the scroll of forbidden magic spells was torn open. This thing was very precious and of course a luxury to use. Fortunately, the honeymoon period between the empire and magicians had become closer and closer over the past hundred years.

There was a loud rumbling sound in the sky, and the dark clouds brought with them strong winds and heavy rain. Their appearance reduced the efficiency of the Holy Heavenly Knights in receiving faith. Then, the clouds flickered continuously, and thunders that tore through the void roared down.

In this final moment, Floyd will also deal the final blow to the Holy Heavenly Knights.

"withdraw!"

Amid the thunder, Legionnaire Damon returned and looked with great anger at the devastated land and battlefield, as well as the more than a thousand holy knights who could no longer fight.

Soon after, the Pope on the Holy Mountain of Dawn also roared.

The Holy Heaven Knights were attacked, but not only they were attacked. On the Road to Dawn, the extraordinary knights kept appearing and killing the believers of Dawn. They were resisting. Those damn nobles whose faith had been shaken actually dared to resist the will of Dawn.

"They should just accept the judgment of the Dawn obediently! What makes them dare to go against the great Dawn?"

The Pope was furious, and the nobles lost their reverence for the Dawn, and even began to resist the purification of the believers on the Road of Dawn.

Since when did these damn nobles become so bold? Could it be that the dawn could not judge them?
So...there was a war.

The war between the Kingdom of Sera and the Kingdom of Andara.

……

"Obviously, the Pope believes that the defeat of the Andara Kingdom has caused the nobles on the Norris Continent to have improper thoughts."

"The Kingdom of Andara is a very bad example. The faith of the Dawn was damaged by the Empire, but it was in the Kingdom of Andara that it became unstable."

The empire is fine, but what is the Andara Kingdom? It actually caused the Dawn Church to fail, and even the believers of that kingdom were sold back to them.

This matter is shameful, but shame is the least of all.

The key point is that the example of the Andara Kingdom has allowed other lands in the south to see that the weakness of the Holy See does not seem to be beyond resistance.

The fierce resistance on the Road of Dawn was the follow-up impact of the Andara Kingdom incident. The most important thing was that they were successful in theory.

That land was now in chaos, and many nobles had even lost control of their own territories. Wars had broken out in many territories, between nobles, and among the clergy of the Vatican.

In short, the situation was in complete chaos, and even the Holy Heavenly Knights, who were supposed to continue moving forward along the Road of Dawn, had to come to a halt.

How could the Holy See not be angry and murderous at the same time?

They want to start a war between the Kingdom of Sera and the Kingdom of Andara. The ultimate goal is most likely for the Kingdom of Sera to win the war and for the Church of Dawn to take control of the Kingdom of Andara again. By then, many nobles in this land may have to retire early.

There is no retirement for hereditary authority, only force majeure, such as death, which takes away the nobles' birthright.

Therefore, they also sent an archbishop as the vanguard of the Church of Dawn to lead the faith of the Kingdom of Serra.

Now...the archbishop is dead.

(End of this chapter)