Chapter 822
Daffodil Duchy Declares Independence
March 30th, Star Antinomy.
The heavy snow caused by the Winter Envoy’s ascension had still not stopped.
The fighting on the front lines of the Black Hawk Battlefield had completely ceased—under such heavy snow that could obscure sight and sound, the execution of any tactic was impossible.
Many times, merely taking one step forward would suddenly mean no one could be seen or heard. Yet, it was impossible to stay in place and let the snow bury oneself… one could only wander around lost. And then, it was easy to accidentally wander into the enemy’s camp and be captured directly.
As a result, the side that leaned towards defensive immobility had an advantage.
The mages of the Daffodil Duchy were already skilled in positional warfare. They could also control the power of this demonic snow, integrating its power into their own spells.
Among the army composed of more than 70% Black Hawk people, spellcasters were severely lacking. The warriors had no way to deal with this, and could only barely use Ritual Arrays to protect their camps and block spell searches.
Under these snow-choked roads, supplies could not be delivered to the front lines. The only water source was also frozen far away by the mages using spells, and they could only rely on alchemists to melt ice and get water. Demon Scholars were already doing their best just to maintain the concealment rituals.
The alchemical puppets were also completely unmovable due to the lack of mana sources—the mana of the alchemists themselves was simply not enough to support the operation of so many alchemical puppets. Not to mention that this heavy snow, which obscured senses, had completely turned the alchemical puppets blind, rendering them unable to act autonomously and requiring them to be operated at close range.
Even the power of those necromancers had been greatly weakened.
Since the Winter Envoy’s ascension… in just one night, the mana required for most necromantic spells had suddenly become Water Attribute. Although the mana pool of the profession itself had changed from pure Earth to half Earth and half Water, the chosen Path Traits could not be undone.
The Path Traits built around the Earth Attribute mana pool… such as “Earth Affinity” or “Earth Vessel,” had instantly become largely useless. Now, Earth Attribute mana could only be used for Preservation Technique and Petrify spells, not for animating undead. Staves and other equipment that boosted Earth Attribute mana had also lost most of their meaning.
Despite being the attacking force, they seemed to be in a besieged situation at this moment.
A week after the heavy snow began to fall, they had not made a move for three to four consecutive days. The morale of the front-line army suppressing the Daffodil Duchy’s rebellion had dropped to freezing point, only half a step away from mutiny.
Normally, at such a time, the military police should deal with these disobedient soldiers to suppress them… but at this moment, even the military police had stopped and adopted a wait-and-see attitude. It seemed they had developed some ideas of their own.
At this time, the herald, who had been lost in the heavy snow for several days, finally arrived late and issued the order to retreat.
They suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and began preparing for their retreat.
After they evacuated the camp, such a large personnel movement was immediately detected by the Mage Towers, and their exact location was pinpointed.
From a distance of over ten kilometers, the mages bombarded them—they used spells to whip up the snow, condensing it into blizzards mixed with invisible wind blades, and ice storms mixed with high-speed ice pellets. They also summoned legions of elemental life far away, continuously firing ice spears to harass and intercept.
Even with the spell amplification of the Mage Towers, the precision of spells at this distance was close to zero. Only large-area spells that did not select targets could be of some use. However, they could only play a small role in interference, with actual lethality close to zero.
But the result was—they were too useful.
The Star Antinomy army, in retreat, lost its last bit of morale due to this wave of magical attacks and collapsed directly, quickly devolving into a rout. All command was practically ineffective. Some spellcasters were even trampled to death, while more spellcasters could not keep up with the retreat speed and were abandoned, completely losing their way.
In addition to spellcasters, many soldiers, fearing falling behind and having no clear direction during their escape, chose to spread out and proceed, and consequently also got lost.
Compared to those killed directly by these long-range strategic spells, far more people were lost.
The first batch of soldiers to return to the forward fortress of the Black Hawk Territory was less than a third of the original force!
At this time, the chaos in the rear finally reached the front-line soldiers.
Valentine the VII and Valentine the VIII died successively—although the excuse given for Valentine the VIII was “serious illness requiring long-term bed rest,” everyone knew that he was killed and was about to be transformed into a Child of the Moon. The so-called bed rest was just an excuse that no one believed.
Rather than letting a Child of the Moon inherit the throne, what the soldiers could not accept was that Valentine the VIII had “died of illness” after only a week on the throne.
Going out to war once, the monarch changed twice—then who exactly were we fighting for?
Choosing a full retreat in the crucial suppression of rebellion war, and then experiencing a rout during the retreat, meant that the independence of the Daffodil Duchy was already unstoppable.
Thus, the generals of the Black Hawk Territory also began to have their own ideas.
—Compared to the indigenous armies of Star Antinomy, they themselves formed the main body of the entire Star Antinomy army. Originally, they lacked High-Tier Extraordinary, but now, with the re-emergence of the “Warrior” profession, the number of Extraordinary individuals and High-Tier Extraordinary individuals in the Black Hawk Territory had surged.
How long had it been since then? The Black Hawk Territory had already produced two Fifth Tier Warrior-class Extraordinary individuals, and the number of Fourth Tier Extraordinary individuals had more than tripled!
Originally, most of them belonged to the “Hunter” profession—a profession particularly skilled at long-range strikes, capable of attaching will and mana to ranged weapons for precise strikes and enchanted strikes. Whether it was bows, hand crossbows, or even handguns, rifles, and cannons, all fell within the scope of “ranged weapons.”
They could turn the powerful but imprecise artillery weapons invented by alchemists into precise strikes. Alchemists also crafted powerful hand cannons for them as individual weapons. These weapons, lacking any aiming capability, combined with the Hunter’s professional abilities, could become extremely accurate long-range strikes within a certain distance… because the cannonballs could curve.
It was as if the sights were sticky.
Although at extremely high speeds, this subtle bullet attraction couldn’t guarantee a hit 100%. However, in a battlefield environment, it was definitely enough.
However, a big problem was… they were “Hunters” after all.
They were Extraordinary individuals who adapted to the Path, hunters who should be hunting wild individuals like beasts, monsters, demons, and dragons.
Although their abilities were suitable for war, this was not considered practicing their Path, nor did it meet the conditions for their professional level advancement… In other words, they gained no experience from this mode. The vast majority of Hunters were stuck at Third Tier—and they had already graduated at Second Tier.
But now, a significant portion of Hunters had transitioned to Warriors.
Although they lost the ability to guide ranged weapons, the accumulated experience was not wasted. And the Warrior profession itself had various abilities beneficial to combat—strong life force, and innate mastery of weapons were key.
After all, they had been engaged in warrior-like tasks all along, just without the corresponding profession. Once they took up the profession, almost everyone was a “genius.”
It was like an old artist with years of accumulated artistic experience, who, upon entering the Path of Beauty in his fifties, would certainly be able to advance continuously.
Unless those on the very front lines, where the fighting was most intense, did not dare to advance, fearing sneak attacks at night… others who had the materials to conduct rituals could generally advance immediately.
The Black Hawk Territory today was completely different from before—they no longer had to be cannon fodder due to the lack of a large number of High-Tier Extraordinary. At the same time, they were no longer afraid of being attacked from both the north by the Daffodils and from the south by Star Antinomy.
In fact, on the same day the army retreated… the Daffodil Territory had already announced its re-establishment.
Mages used spells to send this news directly to surrounding countries. Avalon and Iris Flower immediately issued statements, solemnly offering their congratulations.
Without asking for permission from Lionheart City, several military nobles from the Black Hawk Territory led small teams on the second day after the retreat to the Daffodil Duchy, to negotiate the release of prisoners with diplomatic protocols—those spellcasters who were left behind during the rout and had frozen to death in the heavy snow were basically captured.
After all, for the Daffodil Duchy, which had a large number of Children of the Moon, letting these high-quality blood sources die outside would be the greatest loss.
And these military nobles encountered no obstruction or difficulty in the Daffodil Duchy… even though they had only officially retreated for one or two days, and a third of the soldiers had not even returned to the forward fortress yet.
Because long before the order to retreat was issued… they had already made preparations for peace talks.
It was just that they could only move out after the first batch of soldiers arrived at the fortress.
After all, these military nobles of the Black Hawk Territory all had scarlet eyes.
—And in the Daffodil Duchy, the mage lords who warmly received them also had eyes of the same color.
Unlike the Children of the Moon in indigenous Star Antinomy.
They did not worship the Banquet Master, nor were they as greedy for pleasure… but rather believed in Sister Sasha and the Blood Heavenly Envoy.
Washing all with sacred blood—
(End of Chapter)
