Blaze Dragon Knight Legion, War of Contracts

During the snowstorm, Ryan needs to travel east for a while before continuing north.

"The Andara Kingdom now has a single road leading to the Northlands, but a mountain blocks the way. The Mountain-Bearing Warthog is probably unknown to many, but it is a Demigod."

Ryan knew little about Demigod until Nidhogg appeared and the battle between the Tidal Dragon Isabella and Surtr opened his eyes.

The Frost Dragon Arryris harbored a deep hatred for Isabella, but throughout the entire ordeal, Arryris dared not provoke the Tidal Dragon.

The Mountain-Bearing Warthog also deterred some people who knew the truth from approaching it.

At this very moment, Ryan stood before this mountain peak.

Beside him stood Anla, one of the ten Legendary patrons known as the "Ivy".

"I can't leave the Andara Kingdom for the time being. In less than five months, that member of the Imperial House has already been assassinated sixteen times. The Church of Dawn will stop at nothing to completely eradicate the faith of light in the empire."

"So, I think if we're really talking about danger, the Church of Light is much more dangerous than here."

"It won't wake up easily."

Anla used his Mage's Hand to smash a huge rock towards the mountain peak. The loud noise from the impact made Ryan feel a little scared and worried.

"This road is safe. The Archbishop of Dawn calmed it down before. Without a huge stimulus, it won't dare to show its face."

Anla then spoke to Ryan:

"Do not underestimate the power of the Dawn; they also wield blasphemous power."

Ryan was surprised. He crossed the mountain with a hundred Knight Retainer. Now that Anla had assured him of safety, he no longer needed to worry about the Demigod Warthog.

Ryan pondered Anla's words for a long time until he saw round fortresses standing in the snow under the bright sunlight ahead.

Or, to put it another way, houses.

In the snow, a few scattered people were dressed in thick white animal skins, holding bows and arrows, and some were carrying prey.

This is their food, and also the food for the 150 people in this village.

The only out-of-place building in the village was a small church. Such an impractical thing shouldn't exist in this freezing winter, but its existence was the hope for everyone in the village to live.

The Frozen Earth Territory is already on the edge of the Northlands, but here, it is completely plunged into the despair of the Northlands.

Ryan marched forward, the flags of Rhino Horn Mountain familiar to the locals among his army. Ryan dismounted upon reaching the church and saw the burning flames within its empty halls.

"It seems like it will never go out."

Ryan said in a gentle voice, "There is no one else in the church except Adriana, who is kneeling in front of the flames, bathed in the pure white Holy Radiance."

"Don't you need to eat in your condition?"

Ryan asked a question that was bigger than the sky and the earth.

Adriana turned her head, her expression so sacred that Ryan wanted to take back his joke.

"The Lord's guidance has eliminated all hunger."

"Real?"

"The desires of mortals are of no benefit to me."

Archbishop Adriana's words made Ryan frown; they sounded like cult rhetoric. But looking at Adriana's holy expression, he didn't say anything.

What's terrifying about this Archbishop is that she sensed Ryan's thoughts.

"Evil heresies use this to confuse believers' piety, but only a small number of God's chosen ones are qualified to absorb the Lord's glory and be satisfied."

After the woman finished speaking, she looked at Ryan again.

"You come with great anxiety and need the Lord's guidance."

Ryan nodded.

"Do you still have allies in the Church of Dawn? The Empire and the Church are already at war. If the Pope's control over the Church of Dawn is going smoothly, the Andara Kingdom and the Sera Kingdom will soon be engulfed in war as well."

Ryan's idea was simple: if he could control both the Church's army and the armies of the two kingdoms, he could use a staged performance to deceive the empire and the Church in this war.

However, Adriana gave him the answer he least wanted to hear.

"The Church is corrupt, and even the light may not bring peace. Desire and power will ultimately bring about all kinds of disasters."

"I am no longer one of them. That Holy Mountain of Dawn is filled with dirty deals and the deepest greed in people's hearts."

"Following the Lord's Divine Oracle, I will Dispel all the cold with fire and drown the darkness of the Northlands with divine light."

"This is the only thing I want to do in my life."

Adriana refused Ryan, showing no interest in the war between the Empire and the Church.

"Then war is inevitable, but I hope you can give me something."

"An identity."

Ryan glanced behind him and Bard Sven emerge.

"I want to give him an identity within the Church of Dawn, which should be easy for you."

Regardless of what Adriana herself thought, firstly, she was Archbishop within the Church, and secondly, she possessed a strong Dawn Divine Favor.

Adriana glanced at Sven, and the next moment, Holy Radiance descended from the void, forming a fiery red mark between Sven's eyebrows.

Those are the marks of flame.

"No one would doubt his identity as Dawn Believers."

As Adriana said this, Ryan frowned. He wouldn't doubt that he was a believer, but could the clergy of the Church of Dawn doubt his stance?

In true theocracy, seniority is determined by devout faith in the Deities and the reciprocation of Holy Radiance; but in today's Church of Dawn...

Hereditary power allowed the Pope to remain seated high in the clouds atop the Holy Mountain.

He was less like a Pope and more like an emperor.

Ryan left the snowy village in the Northlands, his warhorse galloping relentlessly towards the Calais Province.

After three days of rapid travel, Ryan arrived at his former homeland. The Clayton County vast, but most of its territory lay in the mountain range where Dragons once roamed.

A group of over a hundred fully armed knights galloped through the vast city of dragon slayers. The dashing Lord Ryan dismounted in front of the castle and quickly headed towards Count Clayton's study.

"Father."

"I've heard that His Majesty the Emperor has released his brother Aatrox; this is truly a joyous occasion."

Count Clayton looked at Ryan and replied:

"That was originally the power of the Grand Pope of Light; His Majesty the Emperor was merely exercising his immunity."

Is what you're saying true?

The Count Clayton was not so concerned about his children and inquired about the story in Ryan's letter.

"It is true. Now, Twilight Surtr has restrained those two great beings. He is my ally, and it seems that the Twilight Kin will not overwhelm the lands I control."

"But my current strength is insufficient to launch an effective offensive in the war between the Dragons and the Twilight Kin, and my army is unable to confront the Dragons on the seas."

Strictly speaking, it was Ryan's army that couldn't handle more than a few Dragons; the Frost Giant Tribe and the Frost Dragon Arryris had far more impressive victories than the humans.

After a moment of silence, Count Clayton produced a contract.

"I will make a deal with you in exchange for the right to wage war against that world, in my capacity as Count Clayton."

Ryan solemnly extended his hand, on which was the emblem bearing Ryan surname.

At that moment, the two nobles, father and son, branded their badges onto the contract. As the contract vanished into dust, an invisible force enveloped them.

A moment later, the power of the contract disappeared, and Ryan and the other person sat down again.

"You're really lucky, or maybe it's not even luck."

Count Clayton said to Ryan, he was not surprised that Ryan had encountered a powerful Otherworld Plane, but he was surprised by the speed at which Ryan encountered Otherworld.

"Every powerful noble family, royal family, and Flor Royal Family that you know of on the Norris Continent has inherited the legacy of the War of the Deities Across Planes."

"One world after another became the foundation for the rise of us great nobles, enabling us to confront the Church."

"For over a hundred years, we have acquired the value of those worlds at any cost. We are the hunters, Otherworld are the prey."

"If you want to become a great noble of an empire, then hunting in Otherworld is essential."

"You have fulfilled the most important condition."

"If you can become a powerful noble in the North, then Count Clayton will have a greater chance of becoming the Fifth Grand Duke of the Empire."

"The bloodline of Clayton will become one of the most noble bloodlines in the Empire."

This is why Count Clayton is paying more and more attention to Ryan. The Count Clayton Family is now planning to become the Fifth Grand Duke of the Empire, and he needs to expand his family and cast a wide net.

But now it seems that in the middle of this wide net, a big fish like Ryan has emerged.

This was exactly what surprised Count Clayton: the effort of one Clayton bloodline could not compare to the effort of two Clayton bloodline.

"I will abide by the covenant and wage war against another world."

In that instant, the sky Flame Dragon roared deafeningly, and in the study, Count Clayton, who had stood up, became incredibly majestic.

Deep within the castle, Ryan followed behind the Earl's father, watching the vortex of flames around them, until finally, the two of them disappeared into it.

In an instant, the view opened up to a vast expanse, the blue sky and white clouds were so clear, and the distant land was full of lush green life, even the fragrance of the soil permeated the air.

Ryan saw an uneven field. It might be a hilly area, but it had been softened by some terrible force, and even the mountain peaks had slumped over the ground.

This is an Otherworld Plane controlled by the Count Clayton Family.

Ryan saw snow-capped Snow Mountain on the distant horizon, shrouded in a hazy Cloud Sea.

"The Northlands covers every world, so I was quite surprised to hear you say that world doesn't have Northlands."

"There aren't many resources here, but this world is the most indispensable place for Clayton."

As Count Clayton spoke, the Cloud Sea tore open, and the terrifying Flame Dragon Alistairman, descended, landing in front of the two.

Standing on the Dragons's back, Ryan felt the wind rushing past his ears. Soon, he saw the ground beneath his feet covered with countless black dots, like ants moving in one direction.

Those were not ants, but an army, the Extraordinary Legion of the Count Clayton Family.

The Dragons advanced through the Cloud Sea, while tens of thousands of terrifying cavalrymen galloped across the land beneath its feet. The iron hooves of the Highland Warhorse trampled and crushed all obstacles, leaving behind countless patches of mud in the direction where Ryan had previously smelled the earthy fragrance.

The Dragons landed on a broken mountain peak, and tens of thousands of knights stood before it.

"Glory belongs to Clayton!!!"

One knight's shout drew a chorus of tens of thousands of knights.

"Glory belongs to Clayton!!!"

The Blaze Dragon Knights were the first name Ryan heard upon arriving in this world. This Extraordinary Legion could traverse three thousand miles across the northern Orcs Northlands to slaughter Mammoth-folk. They were the most powerful force within the Count Clayton Family.

Clayton, a shining lineage of the Florian Empire, whose glory is due to them.

This was Count Clayton, whom his father had raised from scratch. At this moment, tens of thousands of eyes were fixed on him, making Ryan feel a little breathless.

Count Clayton remained calm and composed, with the Dragons hovering in the sky above him, until a small group of knights arrived atop the broken mountain.

"Father."

Ivar Clayton, the Earl's second son, was the successor to the Earldom's power while the Earl was away from the territory and Aatrox, the heir, was imprisoned in the Imperial prison.

He was also the only descendant of Count Clayton with the talent of Mages.

"Ryan, you're back too."

Ivar gestured to Ryan using aristocratic etiquette, indicating that Ryan's identity was no longer that of his brother and the earl's child, but that of a nobleman.

"Ivar, it's been a long time."

Looking at the tens of thousands of Blaze Dragon Knights soldiers below, Ryan understood why Count Clayton said that this world was an indispensable Otherworld Plane Clayton.

Because the Clayton Family needed a piece of land like this where their cavalry could roam freely, and this was the only piece of land the Clayton controlled.

Without this place, this Extraordinary Legion of tens of thousands, which could instill fear even in Legendary, would only be running rampant in the Earldom. In such a scenario, the nobles would collectively doubt and fear such a terrifying Extraordinary Legion.

"They are ready to depart at any time."

As Count Clayton said this, Ryan swallowed hard, filled with envy.

"Don't we need to prepare supplies?"

Such a large army must have very complex logistics.

"They will receive all the supplies on the road to war."

Count Clayton said this, and those few words made Ryan feel an immense cruelty.

This army has no burdens whatsoever; even the warhorses themselves, if they lose their fighting ability during the war, will become food.

Extraordinary legions are not called Extraordinary Legion because of their numbers, but because they possess extraordinary characteristics.

Just like the Stag Legion, after receiving various blessings from Ryan, which allowed them to max out their attributes and skills, as well as the allocation of Northern Warhorse and the forging of weapons and equipment, they finally entered the ranks of the Extraordinary Legion.

Unlike Ryan, who had many blessings to stack up various basic attributes, the Flame Dragon Knight Legion possessed characteristics that made them appear extraordinary.

The Dragon's Stomach.

This refers to the power Ryan obtained after refining one-tenth of the Dragon Heart.

Ryan even suspected that the extraordinary characteristics of the Flame Dragon Knight Legion were not limited to this one.

Count Clayton didn't say anything, and Ryan didn't bother to ask, after all, he was already the head of the Ryan Family.

Ryan donned the Dragon Emperor's Crown, and an ancient and noble power descended, causing the Flame Dragon to plummet to the ground, and the blood of tens of thousands of the Flame Dragon Knight Legion flowed backward from their bodies.

Extending its palm, it was as if the dragon claw had emerged from the bones of the Dragon Emperor, who once sat on his throne like a human Monarch, tearing open the space before it and creating a rift hundreds of meters long in this world.

There are only three keys to Nidhogg. Their rarity signifies their power, as they can open the portal back to the Dragons ' homeland at any time.

"Nidhogg..."

The Flame Dragon opened its eyes wide and stared intently at the crack, sensing an ancient aura.

"His Majesty the Demon Dragon has awakened..."

Its words caught both Ryan and Count Clayton somewhat off guard.