With a public declaration from the Royal Capital of Leyndell, the ancient city beneath the Erdtree formally announced that it had joined Stormveil's government.
On the day the news broke, countless people lay awake all night.
It was not because of war-Leyndell had not endured so much as a single day of siege, and the knights on its walls had never even raised their weapons. Leyndell's submission had come from a collective petition by its citizens.
Stormveil's armies had never initiated an attack on any city. Tarnished had persuaded everyone with a more advanced, civilized system-reasonable taxation, free trade, equality before the law, and personal protection. Behind these seemingly simple provisions lay an entire system of governance far beyond this age.
The people benefited from this transformation, so they supported Tarnished, making it unstoppable.
Any leader who refused to change would face resistance and betrayal from their own people. Refuse to surrender, and they would lose everything; surrender, and at least they would only lose half-keep their fiefs, relinquish political power, and go from rulers to administrators.
This was the first social transformation in the history of the Lands Between driven by the people.
Before Tarnished appeared, the people of the Lands Between had spent every day struggling for food and clothing. They had no energy left to think about systems or rights. Tarnished had brought them peaceful, prosperous lives-he built roads and bridges, reclaimed wasteland, and established trade routes, allowing grain to reach famine-stricken villages and medicine to reach the bedsides of the sick.
And so the people began to demonstrate their tremendous power.
They produced supplies for Stormveil, volunteered for military training, and supported the cause of "creating a new era" through their actions. With their flesh and blood, they built Tarnished's throne, forcing one man to the