Watching the passionate crowd, Lind raised his hand, signaling for silence, while the cheers from the audience faded like rolling waves from front to back.
“Today, we have achieved a great victory! The Northern Border finally has only one governor. We have not only defended our homeland but also ended the civil war in the Northern Border. From now on, the Northern Border will unite under one banner!”
The people, who had long recognized the Northern Border and had a sense of national identity towards it, began to cheer, especially the younger individuals, who were like the sun breaking through the clouds on a winter day, full of energy, excitedly waving the Northern Wind Bear flag.
Some older members of the Lars Family couldn’t help but start sobbing softly, with Sean, who stood closest to Lind, tears brimming in his eyes.
Fully supporting Lind was essentially a gamble. After all, no matter how one looked at it, Lind was just a son-in-law, an outsider, and no one knew if he would act like Augustus III, taking over the nest once established.
But for now, the Lars Family had bet right. Although Lind had continuously downplayed the Lars Family, emphasizing the Northern Border as a whole, the Northern Wind Bear flag had evolved from merely being the emblem of the Lars Family to the symbol of the entire Northern Border. Lind had indeed lifted the Lars Family from the brink of despair.
Putting aside other matters, as long as Lena’s position remained secure, the Lars and Lind were essentially one family.
Once the cheers from the crowd quieted down, Lind continued, “We have defeated many enemies along the way, defeated Doug, defeated the Demon Clan, and even defeated those monsters from the Demon Clan. Our people are united, our warriors courageous and fearless, but is that really enough?”
Lind’s cloak billowed in the northern wind, but no matter how cold the wind was, it could not extinguish the flames that were gradually igniting in people’s hearts.
“The territory north of the Snowbreak Territory is still under the control of the Demon Clan. The Demon Clan rampages through our cities, trampling our faith, enslaving our people, plundering our resources! They conduct experiments on our people, breeding monsters, and forcing our people to serve their false gods!”
“But our people, our warriors have not succumbed!”
As Lind spoke, the doors of other compartments of the Northern Wind Train gradually opened, and soldier after soldier slowly emerged from those compartments. At that moment, the northern wind seemed to call out to something, ceasing its howling, allowing people to finally see the soldiers stepping out from the compartments.
Instead of walking, most soldiers came down supported by crutches, some were even in wheelchairs, with a long cloth covering their legs.
Although the logistics of Graywhite Territory were terrifyingly strong, many soldiers were still injured or disabled from the war against the Demon God Offspring. It was precisely because of the impressively strong logistics that some soldiers, who would have suffered fatal wounds in wars of this era, received the best medical resources available, with Holy Water potions essentially being distributed for free, allowing these soldiers to survive.
Many carried scars, and some were missing arms or legs, but there was little sense of loss in their eyes; instead, they were filled with pride. Although these individuals wore medals, the scars on their bodies were their true honors.
At that moment, the scene fell silent. Many people couldn’t bear to look at the plight of those soldiers and turned their heads away. Everyone knew the Northern Border had won, but no one had anticipated such a brutal victory.
But if Antipa were present, he would probably have spat in disbelief. Is this what they call brutality? Without mentioning the annihilation of the Demon God Offspring, there were still piles of Demon Clan heads not transformed, left displayed on the Golden Ear Plains, and the entire Demon Army had just fled to one Daniel.
It was merely that Daniel had fled in fear midway, while the remaining Demon Clan members were chased down mercilessly by humans.
And considering the casualty rate, it was already disturbingly low thanks to the strong logistics. If Antipa were to take over, his mouth would be gaping in shock, while the Northern Border remained in reflection.
In stark contrast to the public sentiment from the Demon Clan side, Lind’s records of the campaign against Fang Ge were lazily brief, mostly stating which day they arrived where and which day they won.
However, the battle against the Demon Clan, although they won, had to be elaborately documented for analysis.
Looking at the calming scene, Lind raised his fist and continued, “The Demon Clan wishes to obscure our faith and devour our dignity, but I want to tell them here: the Demon Clan can take our land, but they cannot take our beliefs!”
“Our unyielding spirit and vengeful fury will ignite this land anew! Our swords will shatter their armor; our knights will cleanse our humiliation with the blood of our enemies; our banner will once again fly high over every piece of land that once belonged to us!”
At that moment, those wounded and disabled veterans repeatedly shouted, “Victory! Victory!”
Lind’s words and the veterans’ shouts ignited the flames of the furnace, and the roar of the crowd soared into the sky.
“Long live the Northern Border!”
At this moment, Lind drew the sharp sword at his waist and shouted: “This victory is just the beginning. There is only one Northern Border in this world. We will reclaim our land and reduce the Demon Clan’s rule to dust!”
The cheers in the square erupted once more, grand and resounding, echoing through the skies.
But this wasn’t over yet. Taking advantage of the momentum, Lind proceeded with the station’s ceremony for awarding medals. Every soldier stepping down from the train was personally encouraged by Lind and Lena and awarded medals, while Lucanus stood by introducing each soldier’s merits.
At the same time, the construction of the Obelisks in the Golden Ear Plains and the River Valley had also been put on the agenda, as the surrounding defenses of the River Valley could no longer rely on the Northern Wind to transport Magic Stones and raw sand containers for recharging.
The names of the soldiers who fell in this battle would be inscribed on these obelisks.
Pierre felt increasingly alarmed; although he didn’t know what emotional value was, he hadn’t seen anyone from the kingdom take such meticulous care of their soldiers since its establishment.
Although Lind had only targeted the Demon Clan throughout, given the current situation on the continent, who could truly make sense of it?
After the ceremonial awarding to the representative soldiers finished, Sean led a group of students into the scene; these were the most outstanding students from school.
The veterans tied their red ribbons around these students, and Lind explained: “The red on the ribbons symbolizes the blood of the warriors; I hope you do not fail to honor the sacrifices of those fallen warriors.”
The students excitedly saluted, while the eyes of the surrounding students were filled not just with envy, but with fervor.
Pierre unconsciously took a step back at this scene, handing over the ribbons stained with the blood of fallen soldiers to the students as a legacy of their intent. Although it was merely symbolic, even the War God Church couldn’t achieve such a level, could they?
