Chapter 213 : Chapter 213
Chapter 213. Kadiya’s Nonresistance
“But Your Majesty! You are Kadiya’s root.”
The Prince’s eyes were red as he tried to grab Feir IV’s sleeve, only to be flung away by him.
“If a root does not sink deep into its homeland, what sort of root can it be?”
Feir IV’s voice was terrifyingly calm. He waved his hand.
“Palace Knights, carry out the order.”
The knights knelt on one knee, then rose. Ignoring the cries and struggles of the Royal Family members, they forcibly took them toward the Secret Realm Entrance.
The Prince’s roars and the Princess’s sobs gradually faded into the distance. In the empty palace, only Feir IV’s figure remained, reflected beside the dust-covered throne like a stone statue about to be weathered away.
Outside the Royal Capital, the soldiers of the Royal Legion were carrying massive stones to reinforce the city walls. Ballistae were pushed onto the city towers, and arrowheads flashed with cold light beneath the setting sun.
Most of them were bearded veterans. There was no fear in their eyes, only an almost numb resolve. If the king would not leave, they would accompany him and defend this place to the death.
Yet the streets inside the city were deathly still.
The young and strong had been sent into the Secret Realms, and the nobles had already taken their families and vanished into the Secret Realm Entrances three days ago.
Now, only stumbling old people and women holding children remained. They curled up before their own doors, looking at the busy soldiers on the city walls with hollow eyes.
Feir IV slowly walked up the city tower. The wind lifted his dragon robe, revealing the polished armor beneath.
He looked toward the distant horizon, where the banners of the Kroll Legions could be vaguely seen moving, like a flock of circling vultures.
“The Radiant Sun Empire…”
He murmured softly, his fingertips clenching until they turned white.
Half a year ago, the Envoy of the Radiant Sun Empire had thumped his chest and promised that as long as Kadiya pinned down the Kroll Kingdom’s troops, they would send soldiers from the flank to support them. When the time came, the two kingdoms would attack from both sides and divide Kroll’s territory.
But from the moment the Northern Frontier war began until now, he had replaced one Communication Crystal after another, and all he had received was silence.
Had he been deceived? Or had some change occurred within the Radiant Sun Empire itself?
Feir IV gave a bitter laugh. What use was there in thinking about such things now?
He was like an abandoned piece pushed into the center of the chessboard. Even knowing that only death lay ahead, he did not even have the right to retreat.
“Your Majesty, the city walls have been reinforced.”
The Commander of the Royal First Legion stepped forward, his voice hoarse.
“The grain can still last for three years, and we have enough crossbow bolts.”
Feir IV nodded, his gaze sweeping over the old, the weak, the women, and the children below the city tower. “Open the granaries and distribute some food to them.”
“Your Majesty?” The Legion Commander froze.
“Let them have a full meal.”
Feir IV looked into the distance.
“No matter what happens next, they should not face it on an empty stomach.”
The Legion Commander bowed and accepted the order, then turned and left.
On the city tower, only Feir IV and the snapping royal banner remained.
The lion pattern on the banner had already faded somewhat. It swayed weakly in the wind, as though singing the final elegy for this kingdom.
When night fell, the lights of the Royal Capital were scattered and sparse, far less prosperous than in the past.
Feir IV sat on the stone steps of the city tower and wiped his sword by the moonlight. It was the sword his father had passed down to him. The words “Defend the Land” were carved upon its sheath.
At that moment, the hooves of the Kroll Legions trampled across the Royal Territory of Kadiya, stirring up dust mixed with the scent of withered grass.
Most of the castles along the way had their gates wide open, their drawbridges lowered. Fallen leaves had gathered in the courtyards, and weeds had grown between the cracks in the stone.
Clearly, they had been empty for a long time.
On the rare occasions when they encountered a few Barons guarding their castles, those men immediately raised surrender banners the moment they saw the Legion’s banner. They did not even put up a token resistance, as though they had long since been waiting there.
“This is going too smoothly…”
Xilan reined in his horse and looked at the empty noble manor ahead, his brows tightly furrowed.
Behind him, the Gold Legion’s formation remained orderly, yet because they had encountered no obstruction along the way, there was an odd looseness about them.
Dragon Mother Daenerys rode her Giant Dragon and hovered at the side of the Legion, her silver-white robe spreading in the wind.
Hearing Xilan’s words, she lowered her head and looked at the Legion Commander on the ground. Her voice came through the wind, carrying a trace of understanding.
“It is precisely because it is smooth that it is normal.”
Xilan raised his head. “You mean… they fled long ago?”
“They did not flee. They ‘retreated,’” Daenerys corrected him, while the Giant Dragon’s golden vertical pupils swept over the desolate fields.
“Kadiya has managed seven medium-sized Secret Realms for hundreds of years. Half of the resources they plunder in ordinary times are stored inside the Secret Realms, all for the sake of this day.”
“When they encounter a powerful enemy they cannot resist, they take their core forces and hide inside the Secret Realms, leaving an empty shell for their opponent.”
She paused and gently stroked the Giant Dragon’s scales with her fingertips.
“They have four Domain-Level Powerhouses. On our side, just the Domain Giant Dragons who came with me number five, not to mention the two Domain-level Elders of the Royal Family. Those old fellows are skilled at calculation. They will never clash head-on.”
Xilan suddenly understood.
No wonder he had not seen young people along the way, and no wonder the castles were all empty shells. Kadiya had deliberately abandoned its surface territory and transferred every living force it had into the Secret Realms.
Those middle-aged and elderly people had either been deliberately left behind or had failed to catch up with the evacuation. They had become the final remnants upon this land.
“Then the matter of the Three Great Empires invading the Eastern Continent…” Xilan thought of the scattered intelligence they had intercepted along the way.
“That is exactly the excuse they are using to go along with the current.”
Daenerys gave a cold laugh.
“The Eastern Continent is about to be engulfed by war. No one will keep their eyes on a small kingdom hiding inside the Secret Realms.”
“Once we establish ourselves here and turn back to deal with the disputes across the continent, suffering serious losses in the process, they may very well crawl out of the Secret Realms again and nibble away at our territory.”
As she spoke, the Legion had already crossed the border of the Royal Territory and entered Kadiya’s core region.
The scene here appeared even more desolate than along the way. The once-prosperous market towns were left with only shuttered shops. The stables at the relay stations were empty, and even the stone steles by the roadside had been pushed over, as though someone were deliberately erasing certain traces.
One month later, the Kroll Legions finally arrived outside the Kadiya Royal Capital.
The massive city walls stood upon the plain. The royal banner above the city tower was already gone, leaving only a few tattered flags swaying in the wind. The city gates were tightly shut.
“Shall we attack the city?” Xilan looked toward Daenerys, who hovered in the air.
Daenerys’s gaze fell upon the tallest tower in the center of the Royal Capital.
There were faint Mana Fluctuations there. Clearly, that was the direction of the Secret Realm Entrance.
She urged the Giant Dragon forward a few steps, and her voice turned into a thunderous roar that resounded inside and outside the Royal Capital.
“You rats of Kadiya, whether you hide inside the Secret Realms or crawl into the cracks of the earth…”
“From this day onward, this land belongs to Kroll.”
The roar echoed over the city walls, startling countless birds into flight. On the city tower, a lonely figure slowly stood.
It was Feir IV.
He held his sword and looked from afar toward the Dragon Mother in the sky. He did not roar, nor did he surrender. He merely stood there quietly, like a stone statue holding fast until the very end.
Daenerys looked at him, her eyes without a ripple.
To her, this resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. It held no meaning at all.
“Xilan.”
She gave the order. “Have all Legendary Combatants and the Gold Legion attack the Royal Capital directly.”
“Yes.” Xilan accepted the order, turned, and began deploying the Legion.