The Vastness of Magical Destiny

Early summer in Livonia was exceptionally comfortable, with the lightening eastern sky hinting at the imminent arrival of the season. Nikotsburg, as the capital of Livonia, had more than doubled its population over the past three months, and everywhere there was a sense of restlessness and unease mixed in the air.

Komer gently nudged his horse, and the chestnut steed surged forward, making him somewhat unaccustomed to riding after a long break. Seven or eight foxhounds had already dashed ahead, forming a semi-circle and converging upwards along the gentle slopes. The lush greenery of the bushes and the sunlight-drenched trees presented an excellent hiding place for small beasts and birds, making this sunny morning something truly worth looking forward to.

The arrow deftly struck the fluttering dove, and Komer was quite satisfied. Although this hunt had only yielded a few doves, grouse, and hares, it was better than coming back empty-handed. He was never much of a hunting expert and had no expectations of bagging any leopards or bears, especially since this area was too close to town and any such larger game would likely have already been hunted by the nearby nobles.

Komer had been in Nikotsburg for nearly three months, during which the kingdom’s situation had changed dramatically. As Komer expected, the Golden Oak Legion, which lost the support of the Royal Court Magicians, could not shoulder the heavy trust of the people. Jazair held out for only three days before falling, with the Golden Oak Legion and the Iron Cross Corps likewise crumbling; and the still-intact Blue Dove Corps, facing encirclement, could only retreat from the northern defensive line to the south-east.

What was surprising this time was that the Half-Beastmen did not loot indiscriminately as before. Instead, they showed remarkable restraint. Apart from confiscating the near-empty royal treasury, they selectively plundered the nobles and left the common people largely unharmed, which had a positive effect on stabilizing the situation inside Jazair City. With the fall of Jazair, the entire northern area, except for the northeast, had officially been conquered, and the Beamon Kingdom was formally established, although it had yet to be recognized by any mortal country, nor was it likely to be.

The fall of the northern region of the Kingdom of Nicosia had merged it with the beastmen-controlled territories of Myron Duchy, Susoer, and the Meine Region. While the beastmen adopted a relatively mild policy, refugees from the northern region of Nicosia still flooded south and east like a deluge; anyone with a means sought to leave the beastmen-occupied areas, unwilling to become second-class citizens of the so-called Beamon Kingdom.

The establishment of the Beamon Kingdom, unrecognized by any human nation, had effectively thrust its influence deep into the heart of the Northern Alliance, especially by making Jazair its capital, which directly challenged the legitimacy of the Kingdom of Nicosia’s existence. Throughout the spring, a mood of gloom and oppression hung over the countries of the Northern Alliance.

What made the Nicosians even more uneasy was witnessing a completely different scene—beastmen no longer destroying the human castles and fortresses, but instead doing their best to protect these structures. At first, everyone thought the beastmen had changed their nature, but they soon realized something else was happening.

Immigrant beastmen lead by the Tiger Clan, Bear Clan, Fox Clan, and Wolf Clan began moving south, quickly occupying these cities and towns that were once populated by mortals. Following them was a large influx of Cow Tribe, Sheep Tribe, Deer Tribe, and Mouse Tribe beastmen, who began taking over the abandoned farms and houses of mortals and started trying to learn agriculture, emulating mortals. This spectacle left mortal scouts dumbfounded. Were these beastmen truly giving up their ancestral home in the Mogan Wilderness to migrate to human settlements?

The establishment of the Beamon Kingdom and their great migration shocked the entire Blue Continent, with all countries observing and discussing what the beastmen, so different from mortals, would do next. Would they expand further, or simply seek to capture a civilized base from humans to evolve themselves? Military spending in the nations of the Northern Alliance soared, as the beastmen had turned their equally threatening offensive into the fruits of victory; no one believed anymore that the beastmen were mere brutish plunderers—they seemed to have changed their old ways of looting, shifting from stealing food and treasures to seizing land and resources, becoming plunderers of the foundations of mortal civilization. That was the most terrifying kind of plunderer!