War was cruel to begin with.
Well-trained troops with successive victories and high morale were the best of the best.
Unless they were met with a tragic situation that caused their morale to drop. Otherwise, they would be able to easily defeat the enemy in a normal battle with their unparalleled morale and their valor from the successive victories.
Not to mention the poor troops that were once on the north bank of the Resniston River, armed with defeated soldiers and peasant soldiers.
Using the poor troops that were on the verge of collapse to fight against the elite troops that had high morale.
Even if they fought with their full strength, there was still no way to explain how they could win.
Moreover, the commander of the main force of the Silver Platter Kingdom was not stupid. On the contrary, he was led by a famous baron in the country. He was unstoppable on the south bank of the river and even captured Nazaire Castle, which was originally under the jurisdiction of the East County.
This caused the East County to collapse, and they retreated to the East County City on the north bank.
They even had a plan at that time.
They had already begun to prepare.
The East County gave up the capital city, East County City, and led the remaining troops to escape all the way to Avilis Castle.
If they could not even defend Avilis Castle, then they would break out of the encirclement and retreat to the North County. At least at that time, the barren North County was not the first line in war, and it could be used as a place to regroup.
The battle situation at that time was so decadent that even the southern county, which was directly under the royal family, could not take care of itself.
Fort Vaulti and Fort Lobito on the north bank of the Resniston River were in tatters. It was said that more than 10,000 people had died.
Although the ones who died were mercenaries and armed militia, the real noble troops did not suffer many causalities.
However, the Grand Duke of Leo, Cameron, personally led the troops to launch a surprise attack. With the help of Baron Dylan, who had betrayed the Silver Platter Kingdom at that time and had held back the reinforcements, they finally won that victory.
Of course, the exact details of the victory had not been revealed. It was just that from ten years ago until now, they had lost many lands.
Many noble families also had many changes in their mind.
After negotiations, the Fort Nazaire of Countess Agatha located at the south bank of Resniston RIver was ceded to the Silver Platter Kingdom.
This was also the main reason why Countess Agatha and the Grand Duke Cameron had the biggest conflict. It was even the main reason why both sides were closed off, allowing the East County to be independent. They had not interacted officially with each other for ten years.
Because of the loss of Fort Nazaire on the south bank, the East County City on the north bank of the river was basically defenseless.
It could even be said that the entire East County City was wide opened, completely exposed in front of the front of the Silver Platter Kingdom’s soldiers.
The key point was that even Viscount Gibran, who had once saved the East County and became a famous general, had begun to not entirely obey the orders. He wanted to become a semi-independent warlord within the semi-independent East County.
He also completely controlled the only castle in the East County Avilis Castle.
If it was truly independent…
With the military strength that Viscount Gibran possessed, it was likely that Countess Agatha couldn’t do anything if Viscount Gibran insisted to. She could only watch as independence happened.
Although the East County City was the capital city and had developed its economy, it was not an excellent military city. Its military strength might only be able to protect itself. It was impossible for it to go on an expedition.
This was also the reason why Countess Agatha sent Bertram to Avilis Castle.
The art of political compromise.
It was to comfort and appease Viscount Gibran.
It was also to secretly warn and plant a mole to this famous general’s castle.
Kant, who had already lived in this world for 16 years in the Dukedom of Leo, naturally knew very well about this method. These were the methods that the noble families liked to use the most, and it did not have many disadvantages.
However, no one had expected that Viscount Gibran, this old and famous general, had changed.
He had completely surrendered to the decadence of the abyssal demon!
The tent was silent.
Kant’s thoughts were scattered, and no one made a sound.
They just waited quietly. Even Bertram bowed his head and knelt down as if he had accepted his fate. He no longer had the honor of being a knight. He was humiliated as if he was the most humble slave.
However, to him who was born a noble in the palace, this was not something that was hard to accept.
It was seen as groveling.
Once, his father, the sheriff of East County City, and his mother, who secretly controlled a trade caravan, had warned him that if he wanted to live, he had to grovel.
Bertram now felt that what he said was right.
As for the honor of a knight, it was useless now.
Looking at the grand knights surrounding him, Bertram felt dejected.
He did not know when it started, but there were so many grand knights who had mastered extraordinary powers existed. He once thought that it was scary enough that the three senior brothers of Avilis Castle were actually grand knights who hid their identities.
But now, there were a total of 30 grand knights here, which meant that there were even more grand knights than in the Dukedom of Leo!
Bertram’s heart pounded even harder.
He thought of Viscount Gibran. He had transformed into legendary demon, which made his heart palpitate.
This was the fear of the unknown that came from humans!
“Interesting.”
Kant’s divergent thoughts had returned.
Looking at Bertram, who was kneeling on the ground and covered in cold sweat, Kant put on a smile. “The bloody battle ten years ago, there are indeed many secrets that we don’t know. This is really interesting.”
“Yes.” Bertram only responded obediently.
“Then what makes me curious is,” Kant finally got to the point. “The power of Viscount Gibran definitely did not appear out of thin air. There must be a reason. Then, do you know where this power came from or how it was obtained?”
“This power…”
A hint of struggle appeared in Bertram’s eyes.
But he still closed his eyes and answered dejectedly, “Mountain of Death, the mountain where thousands of people were executed, has long been controlled by a religious force called the Crimson Sect.”
“Mountain of Death, the Crimson Sect.”
Kant heard this place name and nodded thoughtfully. “It’s really interesting.”
It was indeed interesting.
Previously, Viscount Gibran had mentioned this place before he left.
Mountain of Death was the symbolic peak of the East County.
Just like the Mountain of Leo of the South County and the Senwaya Range of the North County.
Moreover, when Viscount Gibran left, he said that if he wanted to know everything, he would have to go to Mountain of Death to look for him.
Of course, it would definitely not be a good thing if he went there. It was most probably a trap. Now that he knew that the Crimson Sect was secretly developing there, Kant would naturally not show up recklessly.
Even if his current army was powerful enough, it was not powerful enough, unless he mobilized the main force.
As for the Crimson Sect, Kant did not know what this organization was. Not to mention that he had only heard of the term and did not know anything about it. Even when he was in the academy, he had never heard of it.
As for associating it with the abyssal demons, Kant only knew that it had once appeared in the Dukedom of Leo, the Demon Worship Cult!
“They are the remnants of the Demon Worship Cult.”
Seeing that Kant was deep in thought, Bertram did not hide it. Instead, he directly nodded and admitted it.
Although he did not come into contact with the core secrets in Avilis Castle, there were still some things that he could roughly understand. “In fact, Viscount Gibran’s family has always been surrounded by the Demon Worship Cult. Although their faith is not strong, they have contact with quite a lot of people from the cult. They have also provided financial assistance. I did not expect that they would really come into contact with the existence of demons now.”
“As expected.” Kant nodded. This was not out of his expectations. Regarding the Crimson Sect, which was formed by the remnants of the Demon Worship Cult, he knew this enemy.
However, after the incident in the Senwaya Range, he didn’t think that this was just a cult.
Perhaps there really was that so-called abyssal demon.
The Supreme Lord of the Hell Demon, the Lord of Sins, and Master of Flames, Flensas.
Perhaps it was a complete demon that had broken free from the seal and was still recuperating!
At that time, this battle would be much more tragic than the underground city. If there was no seal, the abyssal demons that could replenish their strength at any time would be enough to defeat an elite army of a thousand men without suffer serious injuries
Kant needed to pay more attention.
He frowned slightly.
He looked at Bertram and asked, “Did the Sect of God of War not react?”
“No.” Bertram smiled bitterly. “The East County has been locked down for ten years. Although there is no ban on commercial activities, the officials are strictly restricted and ostracized. Even in terms of religion, they have been severely rejected.”
“I really underestimated the East County’s lockdown,” Kant muttered to himself.
At first, he thought that it was just an official lockdown.
He did not expect that even religion had been strictly restricted.
Now that he thought about it carefully, perhaps the situation was not as he had imagined.
After all, traces of demons had already appeared in the East County territory. Even the most powerful general, Gibran, who oversaw a county, was a servant and lackey of the demons. That was the situation of the entire East County.
It was like the surface of the sea that seemed to have no waves at all, but there were undercurrents surging beneath!
“Lord.” Rolf, who was listening by the side, spoke up at this moment. “Let’s not go to the East County.”
He said worriedly, “The current situation is clearly not as simple as we had predicted. Now, it seems that even the North County is not as complicated as the East County!”
“It is indeed very complicated.” Kant agreed.
However, his eyes narrowed slightly. “We still have to go to the East County City.”
Rolf said anxiously, “But…”
“There’s no ‘but’.” Kant waved his hand.
Since things had developed into this direction, he would definitely not back down. The most important thing was the conquering of the East County. It was related to his plan to conquer the entire Dukedom of Leo. If he failed here, then he could only be locked up in the Nahrin Desert.
Perhaps in a short period of time, the strategic layout of charging out of the North County would have to postpone.
And the situation in the Nahrin Desert was even more complicated.
There were resurrected god’s descendants in the depths.
There were gradually recovering abyssal demons under the mountain range.
If Kant continued to stay in the Nahrin Desert and foolishly lived his unrivalled and powerful life, then he would really be ignorance. He would probably be wiped out in the next ten years.
