A National Guardian Knight was essentially a state-level retainer knight. The difference was that retainer knights served families that had yet to establish a nation, while National Guardian Knights served states or royal families. Take the Sainer Family, for example. If the Devil Race were to completely occupy the Blakerson Human Corridor in the future and distribute rewards according to merit, and the Sainer Family gained control of a country, then the retainer knight who had once served their family might become a National Guardian Knight—or perhaps a legion commander.
In the Blakerson Human Corridor, any Knight who took up office generally started at the rank of legion commander. Yet many countries in the Blakerson Human Corridor had armies numbering fewer than three or four hundred thousand men. They lacked the means to establish or support a legion. If such a country could win a Knight to its service, then, since that Knight could not hold a post like legion commander, they would become what was known as a National Guardian Knight.
A National Guardian Knight was an honorary title equivalent to a lifelong marshal, as well as a nation's highest fighting strength. A country with a National Guardian Knight was far stronger than one without a Knight, though weaker than countries capable of forming legions. Such countries occupied the middle tier of power in the Blakerson Human Corridor, and they were also the most numerous.
The Saipan Republic was such a country, and so was the Remlan Empire. It was only that the Saipan Republic's National Guardian Knight had fallen outside Moge City, while the Remlan Empire's National Guardian Knight now stood in Zhang Tie's path.
There were also some countries and powers with armies numbering several hundred thousand, yet unable to attract a Knight into their service. These