Chapter 78: The Largest Monster Tide In History
Had it been according to King Pellinore's plan, after sending people to attract the magical beasts and gather them into a horde, his next step would have been to report this matter to Noah.
But King Pellinore never expected that just as his dispatched men returned, before he could even go to report to Noah, Noah would take the initiative to seek them out first.
When the Northern Six Kings were gathered together by Noah, King Pellinore clearly sensed the other five kings watching him. Unable to openly declare his plan in this setting, he could only shrug and repeatedly shake his head, signaling that he had not yet done anything.
His reaction only deepened the others' puzzlement.
As for Rivalen, observing the scene before him, he seemed to vaguely understand.
—Was the King preparing to take action?
Just as Rivalen was thinking this, Noah arrived at the forefront of the meeting with his entourage. Without taking a seat, he walked straight to the table, placed both hands firmly on it, and spoke with a grave expression.
"I have just received news that in the central part of the north, a massive number of magical beasts have emerged directly from the forests, mountains, and valleys, and are now heading toward the territories of all six of you."
Huh!?
When Noah mentioned the magical beasts, the other five kings—excluding King Pellinore—subtly shifted their gazes toward him.
Noah noticed this immediately but pretended not to see it. King Pellinore, however, felt extremely uncomfortable upon realizing their stares. He instinctively wanted to explain but restrained himself before speaking.
Noah ignored all of this and continued.
"The scale of this magical beast horde is immense, surpassing any beast tide we have ever encountered. The number of magical beasts alone is estimated to exceed six hundred thousand, significantly more than the combined military strength of the Northern Six Territories!"
Due to the lingering divine protection from the Age of Gods in Britain, if they were to enter a wartime state and conscript troops immediately, the Northern Six Territories could muster up to four hundred thousand soldiers.
But beyond that... it would be nearly impossible.
Even if the north could temporarily conscript five hundred thousand, they would still be vastly outnumbered by the magical beasts.
Moreover, in a one-on-one duel between an ordinary knight and a magical beast, the knight would most likely be defeated.
Hearing Noah's words, the Northern Five Kings, who had been preoccupied with their own petty schemes, suddenly grew serious.
Rivalen, however, fixed his gaze on Noah.
His trust in Noah surpassed even the threat of hundreds of thousands of magical beasts.
Thus, even with such a massive horde gathering in the north, Rivalen did not believe Noah would be helpless.
"Your Majesty... what should we do now?"
King Mark initially intended to question the accuracy of Noah's intelligence, but before speaking, he realized that if the number of magical beasts was not so exaggerated, it might be a case of faulty intelligence. However, with numbers this staggering, the report was unlikely to be wrong.
Not to mention that Merlin was still by the King's side...
Fully aware of this, King Mark exhaled deeply, abandoning any wishful thinking, and promptly changed his question.
"I have already ordered the use of special communication spells to spread the alert throughout the entire North. The North has always been a region with frequent monster outbreaks, so the defensive lines you originally set up are quite interconnected. Now, by slightly contracting them, and considering the martial spirit of the Northern people, who are all skilled in combat, defending their villages should be manageable. With hundreds of thousands of monsters scattered across the North, it won't be easy for them to swallow the entire region."
Hearing Noah say this, the five Northern Kings, who had been extremely tense just moments ago, calmed down a bit.
Then, at that moment, Noah added another point.
"However, reinforcing village defenses is already the limit. The residences of the nobles are often built far from the villages, and I recall that Northern nobles typically recruit their own forces. Some even have castles and fortresses for defense. In such cases, their defensive capabilities might be weaker, but they should be able to handle it themselves."
"Indeed, it is as the King says."
Noah's addition was first echoed by Rivalen.
Rivalen likely already understood what Noah intended to do, which is why he was the first to express his agreement.
The other five kings pondered for a moment.
Noah's words made sense. After all, the nobles had their own private armies, some even quite substantial, and their residences were fortified with strong defenses. In such circumstances, even if their defensive lines were slightly weaker, it shouldn't pose a major issue.
Thus, unaware—or unable to even imagine—that the monsters might deliberately bypass the villages and launch targeted attacks on the nobles' locations, they all nodded, finding no problem with this arrangement.
Seeing their reactions, Noah smiled.
"Good. In that case, you should now lead your troops back to your respective territories. Be careful on the way. The North has already become a battlefield, so while your territories urgently need you, don't rush too much and risk encountering problems on the road."
"First, return to your territories and stabilize the situation. I will go back to Camelot to mobilize troops, directly deploying elite forces from Camelot to systematically defeat these monsters."
Hearing Noah's plan, the Northern Six Kings had no objections.
After all, the solution Noah proposed was one of the better options available in an emergency.
Hundreds of thousands of monsters sounded terrifying, but if they attacked in a scattered manner, the Northern Six Kings thought they could hold out for a while without issue.
As long as Noah could lead Camelot's forces north during this time, the monsters might cause damage but wouldn't deliver a devastating blow to the entire North.
Perhaps there were better methods for handling this situation, but at the moment, they couldn't think of any.
Moreover, they were genuinely concerned about the affairs in their own territories.
Thus, they simply nodded in agreement with Noah's arrangements.
As they stood up to leave, Noah added one final remark.
"By the way," "when my people were reporting intelligence, they mentioned discovering someone in the north using bait that can attract magical beasts during this operation... This is somewhat unfamiliar to me, but it shouldn't be unfamiliar to any of you."
"Normally, magical beasts wouldn't gather in such large numbers, so I suspect someone might be intentionally gathering the beast hordes behind the scenes, likely with ulterior motives. Be careful after you return."
"Wait for me—I'll come with reinforcements at the fastest possible speed!"
After leaving these words, Noah turned and departed.
Among the remaining Northern Six Kings, aside from Rivalen who left quickly, the three northern kings bordering the Saxon territories and the south subtly glanced at King Pellinore and King Mark...
Yet none of the three spoke, merely exchanging looks before taking their leave.
Though King Pellinore and King Mark noticed this, it wasn't the right time for explanations, so they consulted briefly before returning to their respective territories.
Noah had Mary monitoring the situation throughout. When he confirmed events had unfolded exactly as anticipated, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"While it won't escalate into conflict, the three territories near the Saxons and the south likely won't cooperate with King Pellinore and King Mark anymore. As for Rivalen—he's my man. Regarding Selkirk Territory... The Picts have been fighting Britain for so long, they'll struggle to integrate if they remain inactive. We can have Scáthach lead the Picts to assist there..."
"The three territories bordering the Saxons... Hmm, let White investigate that area. She can use the Saxon barbarians to divert the three kings' attention—just prevent them from aiding the nobles."
"Then there are King Mark and King Pellinore's territories..."
At this point, Noah picked up his helmet, donning the specially crafted full plate armor for the first time since becoming king.
"These two territories—I'll lead the forces there personally!"
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