The Consequences of Usurping the Nest and Failing the Dragon Spirit Blessing

It was summer, and the Northlands was gentle, reflecting off the snow-white earth with dazzling light.

More than a century after the Northlands covered the world, summer has become the most joyous time of year for humankind.

However, this was not the case for Nidhogg.

The great being, the Lord of Dawn, the God of Light, cast his gaze upon this world because the Flower of Morning Radiance was blooming.

Being watched by Great Being is not a good thing, especially in the world of Nidhogg, where there has never been a custom of worshipping Deities. They only have the tradition of worshipping Dragon Monarch. Deities are foreign to the humans of this world.

The Lord of Dawn, the God of Light, could not draw faith from this world, and thus His power was no longer warm.

Instead, it was filled with cruel heat. The scorching summer heat, a term so unfamiliar to the Norris Continent, was perfectly suited to describe Nidhogg this year.

He is trying to use the scorching sunlight to make the people of this world pray to the Sun in the sky, become His believers, and become His glorious kingdom.

No one can stop Him; the Great Being of this world has vanished.

"The noble Dragons emperor has fallen, and he has left behind punishment."

Hughes, whose vision was already extremely blurry, grabbed the Braille Wooden Board in his hand and shouted in the street. He gleaned more Braille knowledge from it, many of which told stories of the ancient past, of the great Dragon Emperor's Favor mankind and protected the land destroyed by the evil Dragons.

Hughes went crazy over this, shouting and yelling in the street, and no one around dared to stop him.

The fear and apathy of the humans of Nidhogg towards the Dragon Monarch is instinctive. The arrival of Ryan has only been less than a year, and it is far from enough to eliminate the world's habitual submission to the Dragon Monarch.

Moreover, the weather has indeed worsened. When humans were enslaved, they would think of the Dragon Chosen rebelling against the Dragon Monarch. But now times have changed. Without the Dragon Monarch, they also think of the Sun is, making it almost impossible for them to survive.

That's how humans are; they always think of the past when faced with difficulties.

If they don't occur simultaneously, then the difficulties that haven't occurred don't seem so unacceptable.

It's like how people yearn for winter in the summer, and shiver in the winter while shouting that they'd rather die of heat in the summer.

"This is the Dragon Monarch's punishment for us."

Some people began to kneel on the ground, actually praying to the Dragons.

An unseen power of faith emanates from them, and it is unknown who has obtained it.

"What are you doing?!"

The soldiers arrived.

On the back of a tall Northern Warhorse, a burly Knight Retainer coldly watched those kneeling on the ground kowtowing repeatedly, and shouted at them, wielding his whip mercilessly, striking them until they cried out in pain, and were forced to stand up at the knight's command.

"Who gave you permission to kneel? What are you serving?"

In a world with Deities, faith is not something to be taken lightly; otherwise, if it were to attract the worship of Evil God, the entire land or even the whole world would suffer a great disaster.

"You are the people of the Frozen Earth Territory, the people of Lord Ryan!"

"Remember your place! No one is permitted to perform a ritual without Lord Ryan's permission!"

The knight roared, and those around him were naturally terrified of this fearsome knight who could single-handedly hunt down and slaughter hundreds of them.

However, the knights' authority could not stop the people of Nidhogg from secretly serving the Dragon Monarch.

There are no longer any Dragon Monarch in this world; their faith naturally extends to a deeper level of existence.

That is... the world itself.

Under these circumstances, a nascent will began to emerge in the world of Nidhogg.

Just like withered trees coming back to life, it is much simpler for a new will to be born from the dead than from nothing. It is vague and chaotic, but that does not prevent it from having the instinct to be Great Being.

"Sacrifice..."

At night, in the southern land of Purple Potato City, which is close to Blue Butterfly City, a population of 150,000 people live in the city and surrounding villages due to population migration.

In a corner of Purple Potato City, more than a dozen families, totaling more than sixty people, gathered together in a cowshed. They nervously yet devoutly formed a circle, and then a not-so-sharp iron knife slashed their wrists.

Some of the younger children were terrified, but they were held down by the elders next to them, and after their mouths were covered, they were also forced to bleed.

"The Dragons master will return, and we will become His most loyal servants."

The next day, the discovery of sixty-five corpses caused panic throughout Purple Potato City. Soldiers were on guard to prevent anyone from approaching, but the news still leaked out.

Some say they are offering sacrifices to their former Dragons master, while others say they are asking for the Dragons master's help because the weather is too hot and they feel a burning pain as soon as they leave the city.

People feel fear towards the former, but only empathy towards the latter.

It was summer, and much of the grain outside the city had died. With people coming and going without effective shade, many people suffered sunburn and peeling skin. Their health was already poor, and the sunburn caused many to die.

When the news reached Rhino Horn Mountain, Ryan's good mood suddenly turned gloomy.

More than a month has passed since the last inspection of the territory's development. How long have I been able to enjoy this leisurely time as a master before such a thing happened?

"What are those political appointees doing?!"

Ryan slammed his fist on the table in anger. The group of people in front of him were too afraid to look up, but they also had their own grievances to express.

The number of young governors trained in the Frozen Earth Territory, which number over two Dovan, is too small. Due to their lack of experience, they are simply unable to manage such a large population. Once they arrive in the area, apart from a few hundred people in the surrounding area, the rest are left to fend for themselves.

Becoming a consul is the bare minimum requirement; it's simply ensuring those people survive. But even so, they are so busy every day that their eyes are glazed over.

They had no idea that those people were secretly holding a sacrifice, a cruel blood sacrifice at that.

The pain inflicted by the green flames during the previous Dragon Monarch's rituals was less than one percent of the blood those people bleed themselves with knives.

Even the most foolish people can endure and continue the sacrifices.

Why do they perform sacrifices?

From the crowd, a middle-aged man stepped forward and spoke:

"Sir, it seems that due to the weather, 20% of the wheat in the farmland outside Nidhogg has been scorched to death, including the wheat of more than a dozen households whose fields have all withered and died."

Drought...

Ryan looked up, his eyes seemingly already seeing the gentle the Sun in the sky through the window.

"Do you really have to go against me?"

No one knows how many more years Nidhogg will live. The farmland there is what Ryan planned to use for storing grain. Losing even a tenth or twenty percent of it would be enough to feed the current population of over Dovan in the Frozen Earth Territory for several years.

"It's just hot weather, what can't be solved!"

Ryan appeared in Nidhogg and, while leading hundreds of people toward the Purple Potato City, suddenly looked up.

Dark clouds gathered in the sky, and... it started to rain.

Is this rain normal?

Ryan instinctively sensed something was wrong.

He summoned the Mages in the group, who hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"Based on previous celestial phenomena, the cloud cover was insufficient to produce rainfall."

This explanation was only accepted by the Mages after Ryan revised it.

"There are no Mages in this world, so... this rain is unusual."

Ryan's expression was grave. The unusual rain, whether Deities Miracle or not, was just too ill-timed.

Sure enough, when Ryan arrived in Purple Potato City, the people of the city were celebrating in the rain.

They believed that the ritual had been effective.

No one around Ryan dared to breathe loudly. They could vaguely sense the terrifying killing intent emanating from this lord, and even the coolness brought by the surrounding rain was Dispel by the scorching power.

roar--

Ryan appeared in the sky, his body engulfed in raging flames that transformed into a blazing fiery Dragons.

He placed the Dragon Emperor's Crown on his head.

In Purple Potato City, countless people looked up in shock and saw the phantom of the Dragons above them. Instinctively, they knelt on the ground, their bodies trembling. The majesty once brought by the Dragon Monarch awakened ancient memories within them.

"Master of the Dragons."

People were calling out, their teeth chattering.

In the sky, the Dragons dragon formed from Ryan's own blood and energy hovered for a long time, ensuring that everyone could clearly see its appearance.

Finally, he landed on his warhorse, turned it around, and stopped heading towards Purple Potato City.

This rain came at the worst possible time. Its appearance rendered all of Ryan's previous methods of suppression and appeasement ineffective, and everyone would only think that the priest had brought the rain to Dispel the scorching heat.

That's the power of Miracle.

"Since they want to offer sacrifices, then offer sacrifices to them!"

Ryan turned around and gave the order.

"Arrange for all the artisans to erect my statue in every city, as well as the statue of that Dragons from before."

Ryan glanced around, his imposing gaze silencing all who dared to ask why.

"You should have seen it clearly by now, right?"

The Mages was quite clever; he took out a stone, infused it with Magic Power, and somehow captured the image of the fire Dragons and Ryan within it.

This is also one of the spoils of war in Nidhogg. These Dragons always like shiny things, and this stone, under the radiation of the Dragons's power, has also developed extraordinary properties.

"Then do it. Tell everyone that only highly respected elders are qualified to be sacrifices to the Dragon Monarch and the Dragon Chosen. Every year, only ten out of every ten thousand people are qualified to sacrifice to the noble Dragon Monarch and the Dragon Chosen."

"I am the Dragon Monarch, and I am the Dragon Chosen."

Ryan already possessed the passive loyalty of everyone in this world due to the power previously Dragon Emperor's Favor. He was the Dragon Chosen, the Dragon Emperor's Dragon Chosen, without a doubt. He could also be Dragon Monarch, after all, he had once truly transformed into the form of the Dragon Emperor.

"Also... never mind, I'll let Apia handle this."

Back at Rhino Horn Mountain, Apia arrived before Ryan, who was recently training a new batch of Catfolk assassins and human informants.

After all, Catfolk are too short, and even if they wear cloaks, it would be obvious that they are not human, which would be too conspicuous for their actions.

Therefore, Catfolk assassins also need human help, that is, the so-called unofficial members of the Catfolk assassin group.

"Send some people to Nidhogg to investigate whether there are any supernatural powers in that world besides us and the Dragons, especially those related to Deities."

The rain, coupled with his previous failure to control Nidhogg, made Ryan wary.

If the power of the Dragon Emperor, or rather the Dragon God or the Demon Dragon, still remains, then we'll be in big trouble.

"As you wish."

Apia left to select manpower, while Ryan pondered in his study how to solve the problem of the ignorance of the Nidhogg people.

Are they foolish? They certainly are, but in a fantasy world where Deities exist, it seems to make perfect sense.

However, this is not the kind of people Ryan needs.

"Based on historical experience, the best approach would be to first implement a literary inquisition. However, this step is meaningless for Nidhogg, as those people have no idea what knowledge is and their communication with each other is minimal."

"Then we just wait, until one generation dies and a new generation grows up. After two or three generations, the new population will have basically forgotten the history of a hundred years ago and will treat the legends as stories."

"But... I can't wait that long for them. To be precise, Nidhogg's lifespan is definitely not that long."

"Then we can only let nature take its course. It's better to guide than to block. We should respect folk customs and become a part of them."

Ryan pounded on the table. The rain had forced him to do this, turning himself into an object of worship for the people of Nidhogg, becoming the Dragon Monarch in their eyes.

Of course, to complete this process of usurping someone else's place, there is still one crucial step to be taken.

He too must have his own Miracle.

Nidhogg.

Despite the recent turmoil, the rulers of the Frozen Earth Territory have no problem governing this population. Having been enslaved for too long, the humans simply have no desire to rebel.

They could only passively obey orders, the orders loudly proclaimed by the armed knights.

"Hurry up, you damn bastards, grab your hammers and tools and smash all the best stones down!"

"The esteemed Dragon Monarch, the Dragon Chosen Lord Ryan, requires you to build a statue for him! This is an honor you could only dream of in your entire lives, but starting today, it's a bargain for you!"

"Hurry up, no dawdling!"

Indeed, there was no delay; in fact, it could be said that in many places, people were quite positive about this matter.

Especially the elderly, who once gained a voice over others in the village through sacrificial rites, are now naturally reclaiming their authority.

Moreover...

"Only the most virtuous and respected are qualified to become the sacrifice of the Dragon Monarch, and that can only be me. No one else can take it from me."

Many elderly people are like this. It's not that they aren't afraid of death, but rather that for the past few decades, the Dragon Monarch and the priests have been their entire lives. After losing these things, they no longer know the meaning of life.

"But why are there Dragon Chosen?"

Many people are puzzled, as they have heard the legends of the Dragon Chosen, who should be the enemies of the Dragon Monarch.

"Your esteemed Dragon Chosen, Lord Ryan, has slain the evil Dragon Monarch and made a deal with the remaining Dragon Monarch. Because of this, no Dragon Monarch will now come to destroy our houses and farmland!"

"Lord Ryan has ensured we'll never go hungry again; he's given us an endless supply of food!"

The Bard spread the word, and as Nidhogg citizens who could only follow the crowd, they made choices by conforming to the majority.

Whether it's the Dragon Monarch or the Dragon Chosen, they are beings they cherish deeply, so what's wrong with building a statue of them?

Doesn't this prove that their desired Dragon Chosen has succeeded?

And so... in just over twenty days, statues of Ryan were erected, each with a towering, majestic Dragons standing behind it. There were fifteen cities in total. In each city, Ryan's appearance was fixed, but the Dragons behind him varied in appearance: some lay prone, some roared, some gazed majestically, and some...

The Dragons all look different, and since their creation, people have knelt and worshipped around them every day.

Most importantly, Ryan actually absorbed a faint spiritual energy from it.

His spiritual balance increased slightly as a result.

Standing in the vast square, Ryan looked up at his own statue and the enormous Dragons statue that was even larger than his own, and couldn't help but laugh.

"No matter where you hide, I accept your faith."

He discovered that these statues were slowly developing extraordinary properties.

Just like the Spiritual Plant Nastrond back then, these statues can also generate spiritual income for Ryan.

Spiritual Statue? A nice name.

Ryan turned around, and at that moment everyone could see clearly that his face was exactly the same as the statue's face, so people knelt down once again.

"Are you simply slaves to receive this blessing?"

Ryan looked at the more than one hundred people in front of him, more than one hundred elderly people who were about to die. They knelt on the ground excitedly, their bodies trembling. It was hard to tell whether it was from fear or excitement, or whether they were just too old and their bodies couldn't take it anymore.

"Honorable Dragon Chosen Master, we are your loyal servants."

Ryan nodded and extended his palm.

"In that case, I acknowledge your loyalty."

More than 1,600 spiritual beings instantly showered down, and Ryan bestowed the power of the Dragon Spirit Blessing upon these elderly people.

In the entire Frozen Earth Territory, only a few people Brandt are currently able to receive and absorb the Dragon Spirit Blessing.

Are these hundred-plus people in front of me comparable to Brandt, the Guardian Knight?

That's impossible.

"Watch closely, this is the price of a failed Dragon Spirit Blessing."

"I hope that each of you will come to me for blessings when you are at your most confident."

Ryan's voice was calm; he was speaking to the thousands of Knight Retainer followed him.

As he spoke, the more than one hundred elderly people in front of him began to burn with emerald green flames. They wailed in the flames and were then consumed by them.

Finally, six hideous, pitch-black monsters appeared before Ryan.

They were born to kill, their bodies covered in fine Dragon Scale, and their hands sprouted Dragon Fang Sword resembling bone.

Seeing this scene... the hundreds of thousands of people around were completely shocked, and they never got up from their knees.

(End of this chapter)