Things had not developed as Hudson had imagined. Caesar IV's reply had yet to arrive, but the situation in the Black Forest Kingdom had stabilized first.
After a series of defeats, the nobles of Gutterland Province had finally redeemed themselves, dealing the Centipede Army a crushing blow in the defense of the provincial capital.
The exact results were not announced to the public. In any case, the front had held. The facts proved that the defenses of great nobles' strongholds could still be trusted.
For a major power, as long as it steadied itself, everything that followed could be worked out.
Many things had two sides. To a certain extent, the worsening situation had also driven reforms in the Black Forest Kingdom.
Feeling the pressure of survival, the Black Forest nobles had flocked to expand their armies and prepare for war.
It was indeed a little late to start praying at the last minute, but at least they were making an effort.
In theory, as long as they endured the initial hardship, everything they lost now could be recovered in the future.
Hudson held nothing but deep contempt for this refusal to shed tears until they saw the coffin.
If the Black Forest nobles had possessed such initiative a few years ago, the heretic rebellion, the Magic Disaster, and the Underworld Race invasion would all have been no problem.
One only had to look at neighboring Moxi Duchy. On paper, it possessed only half the strength of the Black Forest Kingdom, and the enemies it faced were of comparable strength, yet its performance on the battlefield had been the complete opposite.
The fighting on the Moxi front had indeed been brutal, but aside from taking some losses early on due to lack of preparation, they had basically held the upper