A Kingdom on the Brink of Collapse!

Before the Endless Wasteland, Achilles stood on the northern border, gazing at the vast expanse of ice before him.

Under the endless darkness, the wind and snow raged on, and the road ahead was completely buried by the heavy snow, leaving no trace of its former course.

Achilles reached out, and snowflakes fell onto his armored palm.

The snowflakes were neither natural nor magical; they could not be melted by fire or dissolved by light.

It is a product of this eternal winter.

The soldiers guarding this place gradually grew haggard under the frost, and one of them came to Achilles' side shivering.

"My lord... it's just too cold here. Most of us here are from the capital and aren't used to the weather in the north, especially since the north is already deep into winter..."

The Endless Wasteland is known as the Northern Frontier. It is a desolate place with no mountains or trees around it. Further beyond the Endless Wasteland, you can reach the Pilgrimage Snow Mountain.

The cold wind comes from the north, and non-local residents are not used to the climate here, let alone the current situation.

Achilles turned his head and saw that the soldiers who were camped behind him were all sitting around the fire, covered with thick fur blankets.

Their eyebrows and hair were covered in snowflakes, and some of their faces gradually turned purple.

Continuing to defend like this is not a solution.

However, if the Holy Sword were to strike within the wasteland, its power would inevitably awaken the Ancient God beneath it.

However, if the defensive line is withdrawn one by one, this withdrawal will require moving hundreds of miles.

If those ghouls were to cross the northern border at this time and scatter to all corners of the world, it would be far more terrifying than if they were to gather in one place.

Just then, a knight riding a black horse suddenly rushed back!

"My lord, a secret order from the church!"

The knight quickly presented a scroll, which Achilles unrolled and discovered two seals, one from the church and one from the royal family, on the bottom.

The Holy Church and the Aaron Empire are bound together, but under normal circumstances, they are two independent political entities that do not interfere with each other.

The church has its own decision-making power and army, and the empire also has its own decision-making power and army. Only in very rare cases will there be a dual decision-making process between the royal family and the church.

This letter was written by King Aaron to Achilles.

The above begins as follows:

"To Lord Achilles, after the outbreak of the ghoul crisis, worms have begun to grow within the Empire."

"This may not be a new thing for an empire that has existed for nearly seven hundred years, but this time the parasites are no different from those of the past."

"I can feel it. An invisible darkness is seeping in little by little, even eroding every corner of the empire."

"After just a few dinners, I realized that the city's atmosphere had completely changed. I had smelled this smell when I was a child, the smell of iron and blood."

"But this time the taste is purer, so pure that it's just blood."

"This reminds me of the night before Empress Susanna left, when she told me about the Vampire before she died."

"For the past few nights, I have been unable to sleep because every time I close my eyes, I see pale faces and blood-red eyes."

"I felt like those things were watching me from outside the window, and there were rats everywhere in the walls. I don't think this was a hallucination."

"This unease and fear is more like a warning from my ancestors."

"Perhaps the empire has already inadvertently headed towards destruction. My most beloved Lord Achilles, the ghouls may not be the cause of our demise. Please return to the capital as soon as possible..."

Achilles closed the scroll and shut his eyes.

After a long while, he glanced at the people around him and said, "Let's retreat. We're going back to the capital."

Even the strongest fortress will crumble when beset by internal and external troubles.

However, compared to external threats, internal troubles are the most terrifying.

The corruption of a nation or country always begins from within.

But the internal troubles of the empire are not a problem that arose overnight.

This country has been sick for a long time now.

While soldiers were fighting desperately on the front lines, nobles and landowners could still enjoy themselves in peace and prosperity in the rear.

Furthermore, the empire was surrounded by powerful nations, and its military strength was repeatedly divided among the nobles. Some of them held their own armies and refused to use a single soldier after the war began.

As a result, the empire's power has gradually declined year by year, and now it is difficult for it to sustain wars with other countries.

If it weren't for Achilles' existence, which made other countries wary, the Aaron Empire might have already perished.

This became an excuse for the nobles, who would say, "We have the Holy Sword anyway!" when it came to military spending and troop deployment.

But now, even Achilles felt powerless.

Their retreat was slow, and Achilles could not return to the capital alone; he had to look after the soldiers, bringing up the rear to ensure everyone's safe evacuation.

Otherwise, if he leaves, and the ghouls come after him, it's uncertain whether anyone will survive.

This is the spirit of a wolf pack. In a wolf pack, or rather an army, the Wolf King and generals are always at the back, so that they can see everything and take care of the overall situation.

But the situation in the capital is clearly dire.

Normally, Achilles should have gone back to protect the king first.

But don't forget, he's not an imperial knight, he's a holy knight of the church.

In his view, the lives of these hundreds of thousands of people were more important than the life of the king.

His paladin code granted him power, but also imposed a shackle upon him.

A paladin's power comes partly from their creed; if they break their creed, commonly known as breaking an oath, they will lose that power of light.

It is even said that if the king commits evil, the paladin, following his creed, should also cut off the king's head.

Each paladin's creed is more or less different, and the number of creeds that need to be upheld varies.

The more beliefs a paladin upholds, the stronger their abilities become.

The fewer beliefs one adheres to, the weaker one becomes.

Conversely, creeds are an invisible shackle; the more creeds one has, the more shackles one is bound to.

Achilles now resembles a person whose entire body is bound in chains.

Every step he takes, every decision he makes, must adhere to the principles he has established.

The number of beliefs he upheld was unprecedented in history!

There are a total of 247 creeds!

A normal paladin only needs to adhere to the seven tenets.

But in order to gain even greater power...

"Did you miss your uncle, my dear nephew?"

Just then, a sharp, hoarse voice suddenly came from behind!

Upon hearing the voice, Achilles' gaze sharpened, and he saw a skeletal creature dressed in a black robe behind him.

Clearly, it was just an undead creature controlled by necromancy.

Achilles reached out, guiding the oath to transform into a sacred golden light that adhered to his hand.

"You successfully missed an opportunity to ambush me."

With that, the golden light in Achilles' hand transformed into a spear, piercing through the skull of the undead in one strike!

Boom!

A flash of light, and the undead instantly turned into black smoke and vanished!

Just then, a strong north wind carrying cold frost swept in!

Large numbers of ghouls began to emerge from the snowstorm!

A group of White Walkers on horseback followed behind, including the Frost King.

"Have you ever heard of Absolute Trait?"