- Fantasy Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence
- FLDI Chapter 176
The divine awakening was about to begin, and the heirs of the major noble families were arriving one after another to “offer their support.”
The outcome was already obvious.
It was easy to figure out, even with just a thought.
Especially since Thor knew that the Tulip Kingdom, along with other kingdoms, was preparing for the divine awakening. However, they weren’t ready for the bloodthirsty werewolves to trigger the divine intervention. This made it all the clearer to him.
— The Divine Ruins.
Without a doubt, these powerful noble heirs were likely coming for the Divine Ruins.
At this moment, it wasn’t just the noble heirs of the Tulip Kingdom who had arrived. The heirs of powerful nobles from the surrounding kingdoms — the Blazing Kingdom and the Violet Flower Kingdom — had also likely arrived.
Thor had already guessed this.
But the others had no idea.
Even Brian was still confused.
“I wonder what the nobles back in the kingdom are doing…”
“Why do they need more support at this point?”
Brian sighed, voice tinged with doubt.
“Brother Brian, this has nothing to do with us. Most likely, we don’t need to worry about those noble heirs,” Thor replied with a light chuckle.
“That’s true!”
“Those guys are probably not coming to our line of defense.”
Brian paused, then nodded with a smile, agreeing without much hesitation. After all, these were heirs from powerful noble families. Why would they come to a defense point like theirs?
If something unexpected happened, it would be a huge joke.
“Brother Brian, could you tell me more about the terrain around here? Also, I’d like to know about the war situation.”
As Brian continued speaking, Thor subtly shifted the topic.
“Ah, right. You should familiarize yourself with the area; the kingdom’s war is about to begin.”
“Now’s a good time; I’ll explain it to you in detail.”
Brian nodded, quickly switching gears and began explaining to Thor as they moved to the side.
Thor’s gaze briefly drifted to the distance before returning.
He didn’t plan to concern himself with the arriving noble heirs, nor did he intend to do anything about it.
There was nothing he could do.
The best course of action was to pretend he didn’t know anything.
Just like those noble heirs, he would wait for the Divine Ruins to descend.
On the battlefield, Brian continued his explanation, and Thor listened attentively.
Though his words were meant to distract Brian, they were also genuine. Preparing for the upcoming kingdom war was essential.
Time passed as the two conversed.
—-
Meanwhile, at the center of the northern defense line, powerful heirs from the great noble families were arriving in succession.
Just as Thor had expected.
It wasn’t only the powerful nobles from the Tulip Kingdom who had arrived at the northern defense line. Many noble heirs from the surrounding kingdoms — the Blazing Kingdom and the Violet Flower Kingdom — had also sent their heirs to this location.
In an instant, the Autumn Leaf Territory, where the defense line was located, became very lively and noisy.
“Hey, Yosef, so it’s you representing the Campbell family this time?”
“Hahaha, Arcadia, long time no see.”
“My god, the Goddess of Life didn’t take you, filthy as you are, Dimonsia. This is a miracle.”
“Haiteumon, sorry, even if the Goddess of Life took you, I wouldn’t care.”
Voices mixed and clashed. A gathering of powerful noble heirs from a single kingdom could create a lot of tension. With the heirs from three major kingdoms now gathered together, it was even more chaotic.
The atmosphere, lively as it was, quickly descended into confusion.
Even the Marquis of Lehmann, the current de facto ruler of Autumn Leaf Territory, felt a headache coming on.
He had no choice but to seek the help of Duke Karenina.
“Your Excellency, if this continues, the whole Autumn Leaf Territory is going to fall into chaos. These people don’t seem to be here to offer support.”
Marquis Lehmann, whose severed arm had already healed, rubbed his forehead as he spoke to Duke Karenina.
“Hahaha, Marquis Lehmann, these are just young people, naturally, they’ll be a bit troublesome.”
“However, don’t worry. Their strength is not to be underestimated.”
“Here’s what we’ll do: have them spread out around the area to provide defense. With their help, even some of the defense points facing fourth-tier orc tribes will be able to hold.”
“Maybe they can even clean up some of the orc tribes.”
Duke Karenina chuckled lightly as he looked at the massaging Marquis, then slowly spoke.
Though he understood why these powerful noble heirs had come, he couldn’t reveal the truth. On the surface, they were still here to offer support.
So, it was best to resolve the issue quietly. Otherwise, if these people caused a mess at the northern defense line, the situation could escalate.
Luckily, Duke Karenina had already discussed this matter with the other two dukes. A plan had been decided, and all they had to do now was follow through with it.
“Thank you, Your Excellency.”
“If they don’t leave soon, I feel like my hair is going to fall out.”
Marquis Lehmann’s eyes brightened, and he quickly expressed his gratitude.
“Alright, Marquis Lehmann, go and make the arrangements.”
“Tell them it’s the king’s command, and that it also represents the will of their kings. If they are unwilling, they can leave now.”
A serious expression appeared on Duke Karenina’s face as he spoke.
“Understood!”
Marquis Lehmann nodded and let out a sigh of relief before quickly leaving.
It was clear he was going to handle this issue.
Duke Karenina watched Marquis Lehmann leave, shaking his head.
“Such a pity, if only the level was higher this time, we would have had a chance to participate.”
He sighed lightly, a sense of helplessness in his voice.
“To accommodate the Sky Knights, the Divine Ruins at least requires a mid-tier god-level ruin. A small ruin like the Wolf God’s wouldn’t be enough.”
“But after this, a few youngsters in our family should have the potential to break through to become Sky Knights. That’s something to look forward to.”
As Duke Karenina sighed, a soft voice suddenly echoed.
A figure appeared silently in the room.
“Grandfather.”
Upon seeing the figure, Duke Karenina’s heart tightened, and he quickly bowed.
But the figure didn’t pay attention to him and instead went to the window, gazing at the distant sky.
“Only 150 years left. I wonder if our Karenina family will make it through this time.”
The old man sighed deeply, his expression full of worry.
“Grandfather.”
Duke Karenina instinctively began to speak, but halfway through, he was stopped by the figure.
“Make the most of this opportunity.”
“If all goes well, after the kingdom war, our king will likely start an orc war as the final preparation. That will be your only chance to break through to become a Saint Knight.”
The old man’s words were filled with a sense of melancholy.
“An orc war?”
Duke Karenina’s brow twitched.
His heart tightened with unease.
The orc war was different from the kingdom war.
Even for the three great dukes, the intensity of such a war might be beyond what they could bear.
But clearly, the old man had no intention of explaining anything further.
“Focus on your cultivation. This time, we’ll do our best to expand the scale of the divine awakening. However, the Wolf God’s divine position is too low; it may be difficult to ensure that the Sky Knights can step in.”
“At least, we hope it can reach a level where the Earth Knights can enter.”
As his words fell, his figure began to fade into nothingness.
“Grandfather.”
Duke Karenina instinctively called out, but the figure had already vanished from the room.
It was as if the person had never been there at all.
With a deep sigh, Duke Karenina began to carefully reflect on the content his grandfather had just shared with him.
“Orc War.”
“One hundred and fifty years!”
His whispered voice trailed off as a thoughtful expression replaced the initial look of despair on his face.
Of course, no one knew of this scene at that moment.
After Marquis Lehmann left, he quickly began organizing the powerful heirs of the noble families.
At first, these noble heirs were not inclined to follow his orders. However, once Marquis Lehmann made it clear that this was the will of the King of the Tulip Kingdom, and represented the will of their own kings as well, there were no more objections.
The arrangements went smoothly after that.
To avoid trouble, Marquis Lehmann made sure to group the noble heirs he was more familiar with together.
The heirs from the three major kingdoms were divided into separate groups.
With all these arrangements in place, the situation in the center of the Autumn Leaf Territory finally stabilized.
Marquis Lehmann let out a sigh of relief.
He wasn’t worried about one or two powerful heirs, but with so many noble heirs gathered together, especially those from the core families of the three great dukes like the Karenina family, even he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Fortunately, nothing major had gone wrong, and everything had gone smoothly.
Watching the nobles leave, Marquis Lehmann wiped the sweat from his brow.
Yet, as he wiped the sweat, his eyes flickered.
He hesitated for a moment.
“Come here!”
Marquis Lehmann called out.
“Sir!”
A knight swiftly stepped forward.
“Return to Loren City and bring Yuriko and Cortez to me.”
After a brief pause, Marquis Lehmann gritted his teeth and issued the order.
Although he didn’t yet understand what was happening, he quickly made up his mind.
“Yes, sir!”
The knight, though confused, responded immediately and hurriedly left.
“Could it be… an opportunity?”
Marquis Lehmann muttered to himself, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.
After all, he had just recently become a marquis. Compared to other marquises, or even powerful noble families like those of the counts, his foundation was quite shallow.
There were many things that, clearly, he had no way of knowing the truth about.
At this point, all he could do was hope that bringing his two heirs along would allow them to gain something useful.
That was the only thing he could do for now.
With his thoughts turning over, Marquis Lehmann sighed and pushed his concerns aside, resuming his work.
—-
Meanwhile, the powerful heirs of the noble families were being assigned to their respective posts.
Across the long defense line of the Autumn Leaf Territory, nearly every defense point was now occupied by one or more of these powerful heirs.
The defense point where Brian was stationed was no exception.
Under the twilight sky, as Thor was discussing battlefield matters with Brian and preparing to start his cultivation, a group of people approached from the distance.
Thor halted his movements.
His brow furrowed slightly.
This was unexpected.
Just earlier that afternoon, he had said those powerful noble heirs wouldn’t show up, but now, here they were, arriving by evening.
His face twitched slightly.
“Are these people crazy? They really came?”
At that moment, Brian walked over, his voice tinged with surprise, and his expression also full of strange confusion.
“Not sure!”
“But, with them here, it’s good. The defense line will definitely be stronger.”
Thor shook his head with a smile.
Indeed, as he said, adding these noble heirs would certainly enhance the defense line.
Even from a distance, Thor could sense the presence of two Earth Knights.
And there were many more Great Knights.
With these people joining, the strength of the defense here had probably doubled.
Even if a fourth-tier orc tribe were to charge, they might be able to hold it off. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“These guys won’t be easy to deal with.”
In contrast to Thor’s optimism, Brian shook his head. As a court viscount, he was more familiar with these powerful noble heirs.
He knew very well that while their strength would increase the defense, the trouble they brought with them was no small matter.
Sometimes, the trouble they caused could outweigh the benefits.
Thor smiled but didn’t seem overly concerned.
It might be troublesome in the inland provinces.
But this was the northern defense line, not the inland provinces.
Trouble?
Well, that depended on strength.
With enough strength, so-called trouble wouldn’t be a problem.
As for the two Earth Knights in their early stages, he wasn’t too worried.
His own strength, compared to a typical Earth Knight at that stage, was far greater. Even facing an Earth Knight in the middle stages, he wouldn’t be concerned. Plus, with Raine by his side, just his own power was enough to match theirs, not to mention Brian. There was no need to worry.
Just as he chuckled, his brow furrowed slightly. His expression became one of surprise as he turned his gaze toward the two leaders at the front of the group approaching from the distance.
(End of Chapter)