Godrick, leading his Misbegotten Knights and the former retainers of the Golden Lineage, galloped forward at full speed, striving to catch up with Radahn's forces ahead.
They hoped to meet up with Radahn as soon as possible and jointly discuss strategies against the Grace-Given King. The throne belonged to the Golden Lineage, and Morgott—that bastard who lacked both a proper surname and even the Golden Blessing—absolutely had no right to sit upon the throne.
In Godrick's opinion, even if Miquella or Radahn became king, it would still be better than letting those two bugs that crawled out of the sewers seize the throne.
Having introduced the attackers, next came the defenders.
Within the Royal Capital, Leyndell, under the leadership of the Grace-Given King Morgott and the Lord of Blood Mohg, stood the Tree Sentinels of the Golden Lineage, the Ancient Dragon Knights, and numerous Leyndell soldiers.
In addition, Leyndell's high-ranking Perfumers provided enormous quantities of perfumes and technical support for this war, fully preparing the army for battle.
Four demigod legions, carrying the will of their respective kings, launched a thunderous assault toward Leyndell.
Watching this scene from atop Shimaraga's back, Xiao suddenly felt a strange sense of familiarity, as though he were witnessing the "War of the Five Kings" from Game of Thrones.
Without a doubt, the first to arrive were the Dragon and Serpent Allied Forces from Volcano Manor.
At present, this army was the most powerful aerial force in all of The Lands Between. They advanced in a straight line at astonishing speed.
In just three days, they had already reached the forest outside Leyndell and swiftly established the most basic defensive perimeter.
This force acted quickly and efficiently, displaying astonishing combat strength and organizational ability.
While waiting for the remaining allied forces to arrive, Xiao also made several new discoveries.
Deep within the forest, he encountered a group of mutated Ulcerated Tree Spirits—grotesque monsters with worm-like faces and eerie auras.
These creatures had clearly once possessed the Blessing of Grace, but for unknown reasons they had now been corroded by the Law of Death.
Their formerly normal faces had completely transformed into writhing worm-like tentacles, a sight horrifying enough to make one's scalp go numb.
The abilities of these monsters were terrifying. They could release a golden-black Death Mist.
This mist possessed extremely powerful corrosive properties. Once a large amount was inhaled, countless Deathblight thorns would begin growing inside the victim's body. These thorns were incomparably sharp and could easily pierce through flesh and bone, ultimately triggering the effect of instant death.
For ordinary mortals, once Deathblight was triggered, death was absolutely guaranteed. No matter how strong they were, they would be killed instantly.
Only demigods who also possessed the power of law stood a chance of resisting the erosion of the Death Mist.
Through his research on these worm-faced monsters, Xiao mastered a black thorn sorcery.
He could summon Deathblight thorns through the Law of Death to inflict massive damage upon enemies and even had a chance of directly triggering the instant death effect.
Time spent researching always passed quickly. After half a month of marching, the four allied demigod legions finally converged outside the forest.
Thus, an army of tens of thousands of armored warriors—composed of Dragons, Trolls, Demi-Humans, Misbegotten, Serpent-Men, Humans, Sorcerers, and Albinaurics—rapidly assembled under Radahn's command.
However, when Radahn arrived and saw the forces brought by Volcano Manor, his expression instantly darkened.
Although Volcano Manor's forces had arrived, there were fewer than a thousand Serpent-Men in total, and the Dragon Legion numbered less than a hundred dragons!
Even though these soldiers appeared well-equipped and radiated powerful auras, compared to the Dragon and Serpent Legion that had directly confronted the allied forces previously, the difference was like heaven and earth.
A strong sense of dissatisfaction surged within Radahn's heart. He had already granted Volcano Manor to the Gloam-Eyed Queen, yet she still responded to his orders in such a perfunctory manner!
However, Radahn did not explode in anger on the spot.
Although the Gloam-Eyed Queen had been defeated by him and her Great Rune seized, her faction still possessed terrifying strength, and the Dragon and Serpent Legion remained the strongest army in The Lands Between.
Any demigod army attempting to face them head-on would undoubtedly be defeated. If he wanted to deal with the Gloam-Eyed Queen, he would have to wait until after he ascended the throne himself.
Otherwise, it would only backfire and might even cause the Dragon and Serpent Legion to directly betray the allied forces, completely ruining his road to kingship.
In truth, the fact that Xiao had even brought a hundred dragons was already giving Radahn considerable face.
Actually, the people Radahn should thank the most were the Mohg brothers within Leyndell. If those two had not been so shortsighted and refused to ally with Xiao back then, the situation of the world would never have become this passive.
If they had formed an alliance and strategic partnership at the time, the entire political landscape of The Lands Between would have undergone earth-shaking changes.
The Royal Capital, Leyndell, would have formed a pincer alongside Volcano Manor and Liurnia, trapping Radahn's Allied Forces squarely in the middle.
In that situation, no matter which side Radahn chose to attack, he would immediately be caught in a pincer assault from the other direction, leaving him unable to act recklessly.
Thus, both factions would only be able to enter a prolonged arms race, continuously accumulating strength while attempting to outlast one another.
Xiao could then take advantage of the situation to sell massive quantities of armaments, profiteering from the war while extracting Runes from all across The Lands Between.
As time passed, the Golden Order would gradually collapse.
The Greater Will, having lost the support of the Golden Order, would also lose control over this world and could only helplessly watch as The Lands Between sank into endless chaos and stagnation.
At that point, it would face only two choices: either forcibly expend enormous amounts of power to maintain the prosperity of The Lands Between, or admit defeat in the wager and hand The Lands Between over to Xiao, allowing him to bear the world's consumption instead.
However, everything had already become irreversible.
The moment Morgott and Mohg refused to cooperate with Xiao, it meant they could only continue down the path of the original fate.
They would allow the Golden Order to continue lingering on its last breath, falling into endless stalemate and ultimately leading the world toward destruction.
…
…
Although Radahn remained calm on the surface, he had already made up his mind internally.
He intended to use the Dragon and Serpent Legion as the vanguard. After all, the thick-skinned Dragons and the elusive Godskin Apostles were clearly the most suitable cannon fodder available.
The allied forces set up camp outside the forest to rest, while the logistics units entered the woods to hunt for meat and gather firewood for cooking.
At the same time, the demigods gathered within the royal command tent to discuss strategies for besieging Leyndell.
During the meeting, Godrick—who had grown up in the Royal Capital—proposed a suggestion:
Could the army be divided into two separate forces?
One force would attack directly through the main gate along the grand avenue, while the other would travel along the forest path and strike the side gate of the Royal Capital.
In this way, Leyndell's defenders would be unable to respond effectively to both fronts simultaneously. The allied forces clearly outnumbered Leyndell's defenders several times over, and a direct assault on the Royal Capital's main gate would only provoke a desperate counterattack from the defending army.
However, if the army split into two attack routes, then the defensive forces stationed at each point within Leyndell would naturally become weaker, greatly reducing the difficulty of the siege.
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