Chapter 345: 333: The Parade that Shocked the Kingdom (Happy New Year!)
Chapter 345: Chapter 333: The Parade that Shocked the Kingdom (Happy New Year!)
“Your Majesty Hattar, we have arrived late, and for that, please accept our apologies,” Lynn said with a slight nod, giving the new king all due respect.
And just like a traveler who had grasped a lifesaving straw out of despair, Hattar hurriedly spoke. “Knight Lynn, the church’s army has already penetrated our kingdom’s borders, we must organize our forces as soon as possible to expel them from our lands!”
“Please, Your Majesty, remain calm,” Lynn soothed the agitated Hattar, taking his time.
It must be said, compared to his father, King Basel, this second prince’s cultivation and demeanor were severely lacking…
As for those nobles in the eastern part of the kingdom who had switched allegiances, Lynn was not surprised at all.
After all, the church’s power had been long established within the kingdom, and their occupation of the capital was nothing more than a cunning move, hardly enough to win everyone over. Such a situation was within his expectations.
Lynn looked around at the nobles with various thoughts running through their minds and slowly said, “Reinforcements from the lands of wizards should have already arrived. If you are interested, we might as well go have a look together!”
“Well, that I would like to see!” Marquis Mortan said mockingly.
Years ago, he was fortunate enough to witness the triumphant return of the Punishment Army from their crusade against foreign demons in the Holy City—a force that was simply invincible!
It was said that the personnel of these Punishment Armies were selected from the elite of the military, and even from among witch hunters, with all members being knights who received God’s blessings. It can be said, quite literally, that merely three or four thousand of them could sweep across the entire kingdom!
And then there were those precious Griffin Knights, each a clergy member in their own right. What kind of army could stand against the church?
Under Lynn’s lead, King Hattar and the assembly of nobles stepped out of the grand palace hall.
Upon exiting, Mortan immediately sensed something was amiss, for instead of warm sunshine, there was darkness.
“Has it turned dark? Is it already evening?” asked Gard, now a duke, completely baffled, while another noble beside him stared in horror at the sky.
“Look up at the sky!”
All present lifted their heads and then saw that immensely shocking sight: hundreds of flying ships hovering a hundred meters above, each as large as a house. They stretched out, covering the sky, their vast shadows spreading over the entire palace, creating an odd scene where, though it was afternoon, it appeared as if night had fallen…
Even though Lynn had employed flying ships in the war that led to the annihilation of the kingdom’s elite, this was the first time such a contraption was displayed before everyone’s eyes.
The awe brought on by these gigantic aerial objects was unspeakable, and even Mortan, who had previously worn a mocking expression, was now too shocked to speak.
“Let’s go, they will descend in the square!”
Lynn’s call broke through the nobles’ stupor, awakening them from their reverie.
By the time they reached the square, these sky ships had already neatly landed in the vast plaza.
The army from the mysterious land of wizards was unlike anything they had known before, bizarre in composition, not a single person wielding sword or spear, nor using crossbow arrows…
Rows upon rows of rifle-bearing soldiers dressed in formal attire descended from the flying ships under everyone’s gaze, their bayonets glinting, sparkling brightly under the harsh sunlight.
Mortan and others furrowed their brows deeply. In the months following the battle at the capital, they had collected much intelligence, which naturally allowed them to recognize that the items in these people’s hands were a peculiar weapon known as firearms.
These firearms were powerful enough to pierce iron armor from a hundred steps away, and when fired, the sound was akin to thunderclap…
Previously, Mortan had assumed that the three thousand firearm troops that had taken the capital were the limit these devils’ believers could muster, given that such alchemical contraptions should be difficult to make. He had not expected that there would be enough of these weapons to equip an army of ten thousand!
What concerned him even more was the transport of those strange iron-clad lumps from the aerial ships…
Such heavy objects, without horses or camels to transport them, yet they moved effortlessly. Mortan couldn’t comprehend where the propulsion came from and guessed it must be some sinister magic from the wizards.
For this first battle against the church, both Lynn and the council had taken it extremely seriously; they could only win, not lose, else all their previous efforts would be for naught.
Lynn had brought nearly everything that could be brought!
Cannons, alchemical armored vehicles, electromagnetic railguns, and those ironclad ships sailing on the high seas…
However, due to the limited carrying capacity of the aerial ships, this was merely the first wave of reinforcements, totaling around twelve thousand men.
Even such a small-scale parade was shocking enough for Mortan and the others!
“Lord Lynn, may I ask what these strange steel boxes are for?” King Hattar curiously inquired.
What he could think of was naturally to have these iron boxes rampage across the battlefield, but he knew it couldn’t be so simple, even with just a guess.
Facing those fearsome cannon muzzles, they even had a vague feeling of facing death itself.
“You’ll naturally know in a few days,” Lynn said with a smile, showing no intention of revealing more.
These high nobles from the kingdom were practically being detained in the capital, allowing Hattar to swiftly bring much of the kingdom under control. Who knew if anyone could bypass their surveillance and secretly leak information about them to the church.
The very purpose of this flagrant parade was to stabilize the situation, deter any devious thoughts, and prevent internal strife within the kingdom from creating a burdensome situation, both internally and externally. Naturally, information on those newer weapons couldn’t be revealed so easily…
Looking at the effect so far, it seemed quite satisfactory… Lynn’s gaze swept across the faces of the terrified nobles and then looked towards the observing commoners in the distance.
Lynn’s deliberate secrecy caused King Hattar some dissatisfaction, but he was well aware that the Kingdom of Hadlata now needed to rely on these wizards to confront the church, so he suppressed his slight discontent.
After the brief parade ended, Lynn transferred the prepared laser emitter schematics to Anthony, instructing this master of electromagnetism to study them and, hopefully, manufacture them quickly to be ready for the upcoming war.
As for Lynn himself, he returned to the residence arranged for him by Hattar to work on developing new flame magic.
This time, he did not come to the Kingdom of Hadlata in the form of a magic projection but in person.
To support the war, the council had dispatched a full thousand wizards to the capital, including several archwizards, and even the Legendary Councilmen would act when necessary. As the planner, the key connection between Wizard Land and the Secret Magic Society, he certainly could not be an exception.
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