From a certain standpoint, the Bardi Empire had the worst luck out of all the countries in this calamity.
The Bardi Empire was indeed one of the few mega empires in the continent. The powerful Dragon Knight Squadron was a powerful weapon of the country. The empire had a vast territory and abundant resources. Mining, metallurgy, equipment, and other manufacturing industries were also world-leading. Plus, they had ancient inheritances and strong support from the people, as well as a large number of powerful generals and cannon fodder trained from long periods of war. The Bardi Empire's status as a mega empire was quite solid, and its combat potential was limitless.
But sometimes, an overly large empire would easily become a target. The Bardi Empire's rich territory made it a juicy piece of meat for new factions. The Bardi Empire's many internal factions and ambitious domain lords were hidden unstable factors.
In the game's "history," the Bardi Empire had been the fastest to fall, to the point that outsiders couldn't understand. How could such a large empire be destroyed so quickly?
But while a gigantic war elephant was a weapon of war, a fat pig was nothing more than a delicacy in the eyes of a predator.
The Dimensional Door to the Undead Planes was opened in the Bardi Empire's territory. Countless spies had been planted both within and outside the Bardi Empire. Its citizens had been poisoned for a long period of time. Even the emperor was under Aso's control. The Dragons Squadron's reinforcements also had other motives. The capital was still under the threat of the Titan Giants. According to the game's "history," the Bardi Empire's army should have been completely destroyed no matter what.
"… It was the sixteenth year of the Holy War. Ever since the Holy War began, Emperor Orloss the Thirteenth of the Bardi Empire didn't show the decisiveness and initiative that he had since ascending to the throne. Instead, he constantly made extremely passive defensive decisions. Although he strengthened his military and prepared for war, he simply watched as the neighboring countries' battles fell into a stalemate.
"But in that year, the flames of war that no one could avoid still burned their heads. It was the undead who sought them out. On the third month that the pitch-black night mysteriously enveloped the Bardi Empire's capital, the undead arrived. In a single night, countless Dimensional Doors opened up in various countries. The largest Dimensional Door opened up in the Bardi Empire's capital. On the same day, Undead Emperor Aso of the Desecration Plane descended and cast a forbidden spell, Undead Calamity. Ninety percent of the population was transformed into undead, and the Bardi Empire was destroyed. "
This was what the game's "history" had recorded about the Bardi Empire. However, the current Bardi Empire had obviously changed beyond recognition. Sometimes, so-called fate wasn't unbreakable. A butterfly's wings were even more powerful than a God's prophecy.
Coincidentally, the game's "history" gave the Bardi Empire a chance to overcome its fate of destruction. All of this happened because of a single person, the Bardi Empire.
Everything … Amelia … Amelia … Amelia … Amelia.
Due to some additional factors, Amelia, who should have been doing her own research in the Mage Country, just happened to appear at the undead's first descent point. And so, due to the influence of many factors that couldn't be replicated, the wood spirits were born.
Due to some additional factors, Amelia, who was supposed to be doing her own research in the Mage Country, just happened to appear at the undead's first Dimensional Descent location. And so, due to many unexpected factors that couldn't be replicated, the wood spirits were born.
From here on out, fate took a completely different path. Aso was a sly Undead Emperor who had spent hundreds of years plotting. He was the one who planned the undead invasion. He was the one who controlled the Bardi Empire's capital and Orloss. It could be said that he was the key person who controlled the Bardi Empire's lifeline and forced the Bardi Empire into a desperate situation according to the undead's plan. Although Aso's unexpected death caused the undead invasion to happen earlier than planned, it also startled the entire Bardi Empire awake. The Bardi Empire's internal war that was about to erupt paused for a moment, transforming into a battle for the survival of the living and the undead.
From here on out, fate took a completely different path.
After Aso's shackles were removed, Orloss, who had endured for his entire life, finally had a chance to take revenge. This old man, who had experienced many hardships in his life, exploded with the most dazzling brilliance right before his death.
He unified the Bardi Empire, created new internal laws, required the domain lords to hand over their hostages, limited the size of the military, suppressed the domain lords, started wars against the outside world, and won every single one of them. In fact, he even expanded his territory to the highest point in history. Although all of this was already enough to leave his name in history, it was nothing compared to what he did in his final year.
"In the ancient Bardi Empire, pure Holy Light slowly rose like the morning sun in the center of the continent. From then on, those who steal the glory of Holy Light shall forever live in fear — the first Pope of the Southern Church of Pure Holy Light, Amoya the First."
The Southern Sect completely broke off all relations with the Holy Church. This seed that Roland had left behind gradually grew under the protection of Orloss and several other emperors. The first Pope of the Southern Church of Pure Holy Light established the headquarters of the Southern Church in the ancient Bardi Empire.
From then on, the entire world's Holy Light was split into two major factions, the Pure Holy Light Faction and the Conservative Faction. The God of Holy Light wasn't the only word for Holy Light anymore. The Holy Light faith, which occupied 70% of humanity's faith, obtained a new path. Holy Knights no longer needed to listen to the Holy Church's commands. There would be more and more independent Holy Knights who would only fight for their own faith. Far too many changes would become more and more obvious in the Holy War. This battle of faith would likely affect everyone.
Orloss's second great achievement was to cut off all connections with Dragon World, completely breaking off relations with the Dragons and Order Gods.
That's right, this was something that would be recorded in the history books for a long time to come. "In order to completely escape from the Titans' threat, the arrogant Orloss cut off the Dimensional Door connecting Dragon World to the mortal plane, causing the entire Dragon World to lose contact with the Titans for a long period of time. Countless lives were wiped out because of this …"
Yep, even though the Hades had been established and Orloss had taken all the blame, it would be difficult for him to clear his name before this Holy War ended.
Difficult to understand? Or, to put it another way, once the Order Gods lost control of the entire mortal plane, the Hades Gods would be on par with the Order Gods in terms of influence, power, and so on. That would be the time for Orloss to clear his name.
But now, everyone needed Orloss to take the blame, because nobody wanted to turn against the Order Gods yet!
"That's because of Orloss's personal recklessness. He's already received divine punishment. The Bardi Empire hasn't betrayed the Order Gods or the Dragons … Even if everyone knows that they're lying to themselves, as long as both sides have mutual benefits, this alliance still exists. That's enough reason."
While the Dragons had suffered great losses, it wasn't their foundation that was damaged. The dragons of Dragon World would one day return. The ones that had truly been thoroughly offended were the Order Gods!
The newly established Hades Gods were destined to challenge the Order Gods' authority. The new Hades Gods had been established in Bardi's Dragon World, so the relationship between the Order Gods and the Order Gods was still quite obvious. But for the Order Faction, it would be an incredibly foolish decision to treat the entire Bardi Empire as an enemy in this cruel Holy War.
"That's why, once Orloss takes all the blame and pays the price with his life, the Order Gods can pretend that they didn't see the Bardi Empire's betrayal or the Hades Gods' establishment … Although it's incredibly foolish, Orloss, who's nicknamed the Fox Scorpion, has already mentally prepared himself to bear a hundred years of infamy for the sake of this fragile alliance."
Of course, if Roland and the others had lost the battle against the Hades Gods, the Bardi Empire would have lost its backer, and the Southern Sect would probably have been destroyed as well. And when news of the battle reached the Bardi Empire, it would be the Hades Gods who had obtained the final victory. In that case, the Order Gods wouldn't bother with their "allies" anymore.
"When a new heir appears, all those who benefit from the Order Gods will want nothing more than to stomp him to death. But if he's truly strong enough to fight against the old Bardi Empire, everyone will greet him with a smile, as if they were brothers from the very beginning."
This was politics. It was dirty, unjust, and only cared about benefits. There was no honor to speak of at all. And the most pitiful part was that Roland and Orloss's schemes had grasped the hearts of the people. Everything developed as expected.
Now, everyone in the Bardi Empire knew of Emperor Orloss's foolishness. However, this only served to accentuate how outstanding Emperor Orloss's successor was. After all, Emperor Halent had hastily ascended to the throne amidst the chaos and crisis that Emperor Orloss had brought upon himself. He used his political skills and swift and decisive actions to "clean up the mess" left behind by his predecessor.
Inconceivably, Halent had reached an agreement with the Dragons (there were quite a few tricks involved) and signed a new alliance with them. The Dragons' Knight squadron was now three times as large as it had been at its peak. And as a neutral mediator, Halent had managed to get the Southern Sect and the Holy Church to sign a temporary truce. Halent also regained the title of "Holy". He could be said to be a wise ruler.
Unlike Emperor Orloss's militaristic development strategy, Halent had reached a truce with the Mage Country not long after he ascended to the throne. But internally, Halent had voluntarily released hostages and reached an agreement with many domain lords, stabilizing his position.
And this was only the beginning. After he ascended to the throne, Halent contacted the wood spirits and the Mage Country, forcefully stopping the undead from invading Bardi's main battlefields. The Undead Calamity was unable to reach its peak, even though Bardi was currently facing two Undead Emperors and countless Undead Calamities!
Dragon Knight Archduke Halent Milan … or perhaps I should call him Emperor Dragon Knight now. He was now viewed as one of the pillars of the human world, a hero that surrounded the entire human world. He was one of the brightest stars in this Holy War, and the prince charming of countless young girls. But if I had to say …
"He just has a good father."
It wasn't rare for an old emperor to control everyone's hatred and have his son, the new emperor, be a good person. Orloss's political inheritance would be enough for Halent to use for the rest of his life.
"Without the new weapons and armies that Orloss left behind, without the secret agreement that Orloss signed with the Northlands, Mage Country, and wood spirits, and without the Southern Sect that Orloss left behind, would Halent be able to defend Nightrain Castle? Everyone always sees how amazing the new emperor is, but they always forget about the wealth that he accumulated through enduring humiliation. Without that wealth, would he have been able to fly? "
Old Orloss had long since known that his greatest enemy was the undead. He had created countless powerful weapons and research projects that specifically targeted the undead in his country. In fact, even the Southern Sect had started using the Bardi Empire's research on the undead. And when the Bardi Empire truly helped the entire human world fight against the Undead Calamity, all of his past preparations became extremely useful.
"I can't deny that the Bardi Empire has indeed stopped the Undead Calamity and the Undead Emperors over the past few years. With Nightrain Castle as the main example, the Bardi Empire has become a meat grinder for the undead and the living. But in terms of losses, the undead have suffered far more. "
Even though the Death Council had caused quite a ruckus by trying to open up a Dimensional Portal to the Undead Planes in other places, if they had succeeded on the main battlefield, would they have needed to open up a new battlefield? Gathering all the undead armies and pushing through the Undead Planes would have been the fastest and best way to obtain victory.
And with such a large background, the dark cultists under the control of the Undead Lords were constantly active and searching for new exits. Although there would occasionally be news of undead armies flooding the main battlefield, this actually meant that the Undead Lords had lost their confidence in breaking through on the main battlefield and were forced to search for a breakthrough elsewhere.
It wasn't so easy to create a Dimensional Portal that was large enough to allow the Undead Calamity to pass through. The Bardi Empire's Dimensional Portal had been created by the Undead Emperors for over a hundred years, as well as Aso's soul sacrifice. It was quite difficult for the dark cultists who had "just entered the Bardi Empire" to move about. The undead army that they had obtained through the sacrifice was at most an Undead Lord's army. Although they had caused some losses, they were all quickly destroyed by the human countries. The undead hadn't achieved their foundational goal of breaking through the Bardi Empire's defenses.
Indeed, there were a few countries that were attacked by the Undead Calamity. Everyone knew that the Undead Calamity would only get worse as time went on. Right now, every powerful country had a mobile army that specialized in dealing with the Undead. The Churches of the Gods weren't doing nothing either. Even though there were a few small countries and cities that were suddenly turned into ruins by the Undead, the encirclement and suppression armies arrived just in time and didn't cause any big waves.
And this time, the Sala Dukedom was one country away from the Bardi Empire, which was over several tens of thousands of kilometers away. Even if the Undead Calamity arrived, it wouldn't have much of an impact … Fine then, the Sala Dukedom would probably be destroyed, but it wouldn't have much of an impact on the entire human world.
This time, if it was only a few Undead Lords messing around, I wouldn't even bother to interfere. But …
"… Since an Undead Emperor is involved, it can't be a small matter. I don't think that an Undead Emperor would waste time doing something so foolish. Either there's something we haven't discovered yet, or the ruins are incredibly abnormal. It's possible to create a second battlefield, but this place is too close to the Bardi Empire. In the end, it still depends on the size of the undead. If it's not just an undead army, but a true Undead Calamity, then it'll be of great strategic significance. "
"That's possible. The increase in the Elemental Tide is causing the dimensional laws to become increasingly weak. The Haletdam generation's artifacts are quite ridiculous. Nobody can guarantee what will happen. If the dimensional laws there are weak to a certain extent, it's possible that an Undead Emperor will directly descend even if there's only a few sacrificial offerings."
"And if an Undead Emperor really does descend, then that'll be a second battlefield. Two major battlefields will work together, which will be quite interesting."
The silly cat, who was a magic expert, agreed with me. This helped me make up my mind.
"It would seem that we'll need another expert … If I recall correctly, Timlad should be in the Bardi Empire, not far from us. Yep, Timlad, the Father of Steel, the God's Hand, and the Creator of Miracles. His nicknames are becoming more and more exaggerated. I hope that his strength increases to match his reputation. "
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