Chapter 319

This is where Haino came in. She led a caravan that, in the name of Empress Vainay, began to secretly trade with some of the Western Barbarian tribes, exchanging goods and supplies for their livelihood.

There's a saying, "It's not scarcity that's worrisome, but inequality." If everyone suffers, no one will complain. But why should I eat tree bark while you feast on meat and fish?

With a start, the rest is easy.

As more and more small tribes began to trade with Augustus, even the Western Barbarians who were still holding firm to their position and insisting that the steppe god could save them began to feel uneasy.

Life in large tribes is naturally better than in small tribes, but the Grand Duke comes to beg for alms every day.

The Western Barbarians never imagined that one day the balance of power would shift, with the Western Territory plundering them instead.

In the past, if Magana had done something like this, malicious individuals within the Empire would have seized upon it to smear her. And the senile Old Emperor wouldn't have stood by and watched the Iron Blood Legion grow stronger; if the Grand Duke wanted to continue his conquests, would he still be emperor?

So it wasn't that Augustus lacked ability, but rather that his internal problems were too severe.

As for now, everyone says that Grand Duke Magana and Empress Vainay are at odds. Do you believe it?

Whether others believe it or not, the Western Barbarians certainly do.

In the past two weeks, more than half of the Western Barbarians have secretly reached an agreement with Vainay. They conveyed the will of the Great Plains to Vainay through Haino, stating that they would submit as long as Augustus promised to open trade.

Ryan knew that some of the Western Barbarians had only temporarily submitted as a stopgap measure, but they underestimated the power of this tactic. When war was no longer a necessity for survival, even the brave and skilled Western Barbarians would gradually lose their will to fight.

At that point, the Western Barbarian Army, having lost its will to fight, will be no different from a tiger with its teeth pulled. Not to mention that Ryan will gradually infiltrate the Western Barbarians and eliminate all those who attempt to rebel.

At this point, Magana didn't need to do anything more. As long as the Ironblood Army remained stationed there, the Western Barbarian Army wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

To show her sincerity, Vainay ordered the Iron Blood Army to withdraw from the Great Plains back to the Western Territory. Magana then staged a performance, openly criticizing the Empress for being incompetent, but still withdrew her troops.

Then the Western Barbarians reached a high level.

They had reason to believe that the great Empress Vainay would protect them from the brutal Iron-Blooded Grand Duke!

When Ryan arrived in Childe City, he encountered the Ironblood army returning to defend the border. Magana left half of the Iron Blood Army to guard the border, and then led the rest of the army back to their base.

When the legion returned, cheers erupted throughout the streets and alleys of Cherd. Countless flags of all kinds lined the streets, and everyone was singing praises to Grand Duke Magana's greatness and the invincible Iron Blood Legion.

"What a fine legion."

Ryan and Witch K stood on a tall building, watching from afar.

Adele had previously told the witch K about Ryan's identity. Of course, the so-called Imperial Earl was just for the convenience of developing the Primal Church. Ryan explained that when he was chosen by the Creator, he was just a minor Security Officer.

Witch K had no doubt whatsoever. In fact, she would believe whatever Ryan said now, because the Creator himself had chosen Ryan, and that was enough.

"The strength of this legion is probably no less than that of the Holy Blood Army," Witch K said with some surprise.

"There are still differences. The Holy Blood Army takes the path of war, so its strength is slightly greater than that of the Iron Blood Army. However, the Iron Blood Army has more people, so overall, the Iron Blood Army is still stronger."

"That child named Magana is quite impressive, managing to forcibly integrate so many people into the extraordinary path," Witch K chuckled. "I wonder if she's willing to follow the Creator."

"Well... there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

Ryan seemed to have never seen the Grand Duke show much reverence for the God of Death. The Grand Duke became Chosen of the Gods simply because she was chosen by Death. Although she possessed supreme power, her body stopped growing, which made her very unhappy. She would occasionally curse the damned God of Death.

Ryan was actually quite curious. When the Grand Duke's body stopped growing, he already possessed the power of a peerless scholar. If it hadn't stopped, he would at least be at the level of Amabena, or even higher, right?

Amabena almost lost her title as the Queen of Breasts.

Now that Witch K had reminded him, Ryan did have an idea to bring the Grand Duke into the Primal Realm. After all, she wasn't interested in the Hand of Darkness, and now that they had the Death Legion, Ryan didn't care about the Hand of Darkness's power.

After watching from the high-rise for a while, Ryan did not show himself, but went straight back to the castle to wait for the Grand Duke.

Half an hour later.

The castle gate entrance.

"... That wretched Empress! She actually ordered us to withdraw at such a crucial moment. Does she even know anything about warfare? We should have pressed our advantage and crushed those Western barbarian bastards with one blow! If you ask me, Grand Duke, you're too kind. What are you afraid of? Why don't you dare to fight the Empress?"

Everson kept muttering to himself; within the entire Iron Blood Legion, he was the one with the strongest opinion against retreating.

"Alright, Everson, that's enough." Macaos thought to himself, "The Grand Duke isn't going to hold it against you, but you're taking advantage of it. The Grand Duke's withdrawal of troops was naturally due to her carelessness."

But good words can't persuade a damned devil, Everson continued to ramble on, "If you ask me, that Empress never wanted anything good for us. Otherwise, Grand Duke, why don't we rebel? Anyway, we're strong and well-equipped now, and Augustus's royal army is no match for us."

Bang!

As soon as Everson finished speaking, his nearly two-meter-tall frame was sent flying backward, crashing directly into the large iron gate outside the castle.

"It's so noisy! If you have a problem with that, go outside the city and bang your head against the wall!"

Magana cursed, her face full of displeasure.

Everson's body rolled more than ten meters away, landing sprawled out on his back. As he looked up at the blue sky and white clouds above, a head suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Everson, you're supposed to be a good guy, so why do you have a mouth? How did you even grow to be so big?"

"Huh?" Everson opened his mouth, "Ah--ahhhhhh! Ryan brothers!!!"

Upon seeing Ryan, Everson's body trembled, and she jumped to her feet in excitement. Just as she was about to give Ryan a firm hug, Magana delivered a flying kick to her back, sending her flying again and smashing through the castle gate.

"Ryan!"

Grand Duke dives!

"Ah, Your Grand Duke, it's been a long time."

"Hmph! You finally know how to come back? Do you even know your place? You're my fiancé, the Grand Duke's fiancé! What kind of fiancé is always out and about and never comes home!"

"Ah, yes, yes, I'm sorry, Your Grand Duke, I've been quite busy lately."

Magana clung to Ryan, who comforted her with a smile while stroking her head.

"Oh, so she's still my fiancée."

Witch K smiled with interest as she sized up Magana. Having also passed through the Path of Death, she was intrigued by Magana, and the more she looked at her, the more she felt that Magona should be qualified to perform the transformation ritual. Perhaps the number of members in the Witch Society could be increased by half.

"Huh? Who are you?"

Magana then noticed the witch K.

Beautiful, very beautiful, both beautiful and mysterious.

She immediately felt as if she were facing a formidable enemy.

"Hehe~ Don't misunderstand, child, I'm not your rival in love," Witch K said with a smile.

To lure Magana into the Primal Church, she naturally needed to make a good impression.

To everyone's surprise, Magana flew into a rage. "Who are you calling a child? You're the child, your whole family are children!"

Witch K was taken aback.

What's going on? Is such a big reaction necessary?

I'm older than you, what's wrong with calling you "kid"?

"Uh, Your Grand Duke, please don't get agitated. K has lived for over a thousand years; there are some things she doesn't understand." Ryan quickly stroked the cat, "We're magnanimous; don't take it to heart."

"My lord, a large amount... "Magana was in high spirits.

Witch K: "?"

Why don't you just ignore me?

"Forget it, Grand Duke 'm in a good mood today, I won't argue with her... But has she really lived for over a thousand years? Someone from the last era?"

Magana cast a suspicious glance at her.

Even the Chosen of the Gods couldn't live that long unless their strength reached a certain level, like... the Eighth Tier?

Magana may be young, but she's very perceptive and immediately assessed the witch K's strength.

"Hehe~ Yes, I'm from the previous era," Witch K readily admitted.

Magana's expression changed, and she immediately ordered everyone to leave.

"Macaos, carry that idiot Everson back and make him stand still for three hours!"

"Yes, Your Grand Duke!"

Macaos ordered his men to carry the dizzy Everson away, then dismissed everyone else, leaving not even the guards behind.

Ryan looked around and said, "Let's go inside the castle and talk about it."

He carried Magana into the castle.

Witch K followed beside her with a smile.

Once inside the room, Ryan briefly explained the recent situation in the Southern Continent.

Magana was surprised when she heard that Ryan was expanding the church's influence. She had never really understood how Ryan had done it, but now she finally knew.

"So Janus really wasn't the Creation God after all. I, the Grand Duke, have known this for a long time."

Witch K was puzzled. They actually believed that? Ryan mentioned the existence of a creator—a topic that overturned the very concepts of the Rhea Continent —and they just believed it?

"You suspected it all along?" she asked. "Do you have some kind of clue?"

Magana shook her head. "No."

"Then how did you..."

"It's simple, just intuition."

"Intuition?"

Ryan said, "Don't be surprised, you'll get used to it. That's just how the Grand Duke is."

"Um..."

Even though Ryan said that, Witch K still wasn't quite used to it.

After all, the more powerful a person is, the higher their acceptance of the path they have taken. Conversely, they are less likely to easily believe the claims of others who have taken different paths. This is an invisible influence. Over the years, Witch K has seen too many people who are obsessed with the extraordinary paths. They always believe in the uniqueness of their own path and deny the power of other gods.

Just as the witch K was surprised by Magana's unconventional behavior, Ryan extended an invitation to her to join the Primal Church, which the Grand Duke accepted without hesitation.

"You agreed?" Witch K was stunned. "Aren't you the Chosen of the Gods of death?"

"So what? I never believed in death." Magana curled her lip. "Besides, Ryan wouldn't lie to me. Joining the Primal Church is definitely better than the Hand of Darkness."

Looking at Magana's completely matter-of-fact expression, Witch K fell silent.

She understood; this child was just obsessed with love.

There's no problem with the Grand Duke; Ryan is confident. Moreover, he not only wants Magana to join the Primal Church, but also wants to take Magana to the Southern Continent to develop the market.

After all, having Shally as a henchman is not enough. The Iron Blood Legion is so powerful that it would be a waste to leave it to guard the borders of the Augustus Empire.

With two large legions at his disposal, Ryan was confident that he could take down Lorient in the next half month, and he would also be able to take down the neighboring Kingdom of Oen in less than two months.

Of course, when the Primal Ones truly rise to power, Ryan must also guard against other churches joining forces to deal with them, given the precedent set by the Gate of Janus.

Fortunately, Lin Qi had already arrived at Port of Misi, and together with Helen, the two of them were enough to mobilize the power of the Gate of Janus to help the Primal Church.

The remaining issue is with Sylvia. According to the message Helen relayed, the philanthropist Ryan has been taken under her control. Once the Primal Chaos stirs up trouble in the Southern Continent, Helen will arrange a suitable opportunity for Ryan to meet Sylvia directly.

Sylvia didn't doubt it. After all, although Ryan was controlled, there was still Witch K and so many old monsters in the Primal Church. It was an ancient organization that spanned eras, so Sylvia wasn't sure if there were other witches inside, but she figured there probably were.

As the Holy Son, Ryan might be secretly protected by some witch, so Sylvia didn't dare to act rashly and instructed Helen to wait for the best opportunity before making a move.

Ryan planned to lure Sylvia to the Southern Continent, then use her as a diversion to attack Gate of Janus headquarters and obtain the Advancement Fragment as quickly as possible.

As for now.

Ryan spent two days in Childe City to observe the local customs and culture, and also had a good chat with the Grand Duke for two days. To be honest, although Adele is also petite and cute, the feeling of carrying her and sprinting is definitely the best with the Grand Duke!

The charge is the same, but the reactions of those being charged are different. Adele now has a bit of a devilish vibe, while the Grand Duke's panic and unpreparedness after his feigned composure is always fantastic, especially the way he gets his eyes rolled back when he's charged at the end. It's almost like Ryan is having a blast.

The Grand Duke has three good qualities: she is delicate and easily pushed over.

"Ryan, you can't go on like this. Get down to business."

On the third day, Ryan took a great shower.

"It's time to go to the Kingdom of Lotte to find Amabena. According to Witch K, the Order's caravans often stop in the Northern Federation, so we can go and see Amabena and the others on the way."

On the fourth day, Ryan did not continue to attack the Grand Duke. He had the latter select a portion of the Iron Blood Legion to sail to the Southern Continent, while he and the witch K used the Chaos Space to travel to the Kingdom of Lotte.

Speaking of which, it's been a while since I've seen Queen Elvian. Anyway, the situation in the Southern Continent is stable now, Ryan is considering whether to bring her, this seventh-tier transcendent, along as well.

Karvin~~

As the title suggests, I'm struggling with my writing, like I'm constipated. My thought process is a bit off, so I'll organize the outline for the rest of the document.

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