Chapter 108: Heading South

As the war of the ancestral gods drew to a close, the curtain also began to fall on the conflict involving Adis.

Below the walls of Cecil, during the stalemate between the Principality of Indri and the Principality of Adis, a force of five thousand knights from the Northern Nature Church launched a surprise attack on the Indri military encampment. Under the bombardment of divine arts, the camp was engulfed in flames. With internal and external forces coordinating, the enemy army was dealt a crushing blow. King Barrit of Indri was killed on the spot, falling by the hand of Grama, the Pope of the Nature Church.

Following this, as divine arts wreaked havoc and the knights cut through the lines, the grand army collapsed instantly. Adis launched a full-scale assault, linking up with the forces outside the city and slaughtering countless enemies. The remnants of the routed troops were slowly gathered by a few nobles before fleeing south. The situation reversed in an instant, catching countless people off guard.

It must be noted that before this turn of events, many had assumed Adis was doomed and had already made their own preparations. Not to mention the nobles within the city, even among Adis’s own subordinates, there were those of wavering faith who had prepared to defect, some having even begun to act. However, with Barrit’s death and the defeat of the Indri Principality, these people met a miserable fate. Those who had merely kept their options open fared better, but Adis had no intention of sparing those who had prepared to defect or had already taken action.

Suddenly, the nobles in the city found themselves in dire straits. Countless families with long histories and prominent lineages were dragged away under the coercion of soldiers and guards who had burst through their doors, their noble blood and illustrious status completely disregarded.

In a prison, dim light cast a shroud over the surroundings, accompanied by a chorus of clamorous shouts. Outside the prison, countless people stood with ashen faces. At this moment, another sound of footsteps echoed, causing their hearts to tremble as they looked toward the distance. Several guards clad in armor, looking quite formidable, were herding people forward. Knowing that most nobles possessed battle aura, Adis had dispatched officers who were skilled in battle aura—some even his own personal guards—to carry out the arrests. They appeared highly elite, and paired with the bloodlust they had acquired from days of constant warfare, they were a chilling sight.

Before them were several nobles in fine attire, their faces pale as if they had suffered a heavy blow, clinging to their last gasps of breath.

"That is... the head of the Anoka family. I never expected that even he would..."

Upon recognizing one of them, the crowd felt a chill run down their spines. Watching individuals they usually had to look up to being dragged into the prison like dead dogs by those they considered commoners, a strong sense of crisis rose in their hearts.

"Damn it!" a noble couldn't help but curse under his breath.

"What are they trying to do? To arrest nobles so brazenly and throw them into prison—are they not afraid of our resistance?"

As his words fell, those around him quickly pulled him back, only breathing a sigh of relief when they saw the guards ahead had not turned toward them. The others remained silent, and a faint, heavy sigh of helplessness seemed to drift through the air. Unlike the city-state powers of the past, the newly established Principality of Adis relied primarily on believers and priests, meaning it did not depend heavily on the strength of the nobility. In fact, it had specifically restricted many nobles, stripping them of their power and weakening them further.

Moreover, with the defeat of the Indri Principality, the situation in the Northern Territory was clear: the Principality of Adis was on the rise. Under these circumstances, any attempt by these nobles to influence the city-state or threaten the King as they had in the past was nothing more than a joke.

Meanwhile, in the Governor’s Hall of Cecil, several maidservants were moving about. They were all graceful and carried an aura of nobility, which left Nadir, who had just approached, momentarily dazed.

"How is it?"

Before him, Adis looked at his expression and asked with a smile. Seeing the inquiry, Nadir bowed his head and smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, I just feel that it is a pity."

"What is there to pity?" Adis turned and looked around. "These are the women the nobles have been desperately trying to send over during this time. I am told they are all noblewomen with high and mighty bloodlines."

"But as it stands now, they have no choice but to be sent here obediently to serve as maids."

He looked at Nadir and smiled faintly: "If you find any you like, just go ahead and choose a few."

Hearing this, Nadir’s heart skipped a beat. Looking at the beautiful women with their refined temperaments, he ultimately could not bring himself to refuse.

"How is the situation at the front?" Adis asked after a moment.

"Very good." Nadir looked at Adis and said: "As we won the victory and the news of Barrit’s death spread, the coalitions of small city-states that were attacking our defensive lines from the other two directions have all stopped and returned to their own territories."

Adis nodded slightly: "Keep the defenses at those locations unchanged. Although the probability is small, we must still guard against a sudden sneak attack."

"Then send people to all regions to persuade them to surrender, and have those small city-states that previously submitted to the Indri Principality do the same."

"Have Bazel and the others arrived?" he asked, turning around.

"They are about to reach the gates of Cecil, though due to the distance, some of the garrison troops are still on their way," Nadir replied.

These were the troops that had been left behind to suppress unrest. But with the end of the Battle of Cecil and the defeat of the Indri Principality, some of these forces could now be appropriately redeployed for the offensive.

Adis pondered for a moment, then said: "Let them rest for half a month, and then we shall lead the army out of the city to attack the south."

With the orders issued, messengers traveled throughout the Northern Territory, carrying the directives. It is worth noting that the content of these messages was identical to those previously issued by the Indri Principality. They used a mix of coercion and temptation, threatening the slaughter of cities and the eradication of clans to force surrender. Had the sender been different, there would have been no distinction at all.

However, simple as it was, it was effective.

At this time, with King Barrit of Indri dead, and because Barrit had been ruthless in his lifetime—having slaughtered almost all of his own brothers upon ascending to the throne—the royal family had to hastily support his child to succeed him as king; the boy was only ten years old.

Having just suffered a defeat and facing such a dire situation, coupled with a child on the throne, there was almost no confidence in the regime except for a small group of die-hard loyalists. Furthermore, Barrit’s previous extortion and frantic oppression of surrounding city-states had earned him much hatred. This resentment erupted all at once; several principalities killed the envoys and officials sent by the Indri Principality on the spot. While they had not yet surrendered to the Principality of Adis, they were effectively independent and openly defiant.

This situation was very similar to when the Indri Principality was at its peak and attacking the north. The difference was that even when Adis was at his lowest, he still had countless steadfast believers by his side who supported him with unwavering faith. The Indri Principality lacked this, and the few loyalists remaining appeared powerless amidst the chorus of defiance surrounding them.

Half a month later, Adis gathered the troops from all sides, totaling twenty thousand including the garrison and reinforcements, and marched grandly toward the south. Along the way, resistance at major defensive lines was minimal; most surrendered as soon as the army arrived at their gates, and some local nobles even led their people to welcome them. Only in a very few places was there any resistance. Thus, the army swept through like a hot knife through butter, arriving directly before a city.

This city was massive, even larger in scale than Cecil. A large number of troops were stationed there, and the knights watching from above stared down with expressionless faces. Seeing this, Adis sighed slightly, knowing in his heart that he had finally encountered the die-hards.

However, this was to be expected. After all, the Indri Principality had been established for hundreds of years; although it had been defeated, its influence could not vanish overnight, and there would inevitably be some loyalists. For such people, Adis felt a touch of respect and appreciation, but at the same time, a sliver of murderous intent began to fill his heart. After all, one man's hero is another man's enemy. No matter how loyal they were, it was only toward others. To Adis, such people were merely obstacles while they lived.

At this moment, a knight rode up from the distance, holding an arrow in his hand: "Your Majesty, they have refused to surrender."

Adis nodded, acknowledging the news.

"Your Majesty, please give the order to attack the city!"

"Those who dare to defy Your Majesty must be executed!"

Voices rang out around him. Adis turned to see that those speaking were all nobles who had previously surrendered, now competing to express their loyalty. He could not help but sneer inwardly, though he nodded silently.

He sent those who had surrendered to the front, coordinating with the priests to begin the siege. The process was exceptionally brutal. The scenes from before the walls of Cecil were reenacted, with bloody spectacles playing out once more. Soon, Adis was forced to send in his own troops, who, with the support of the priests, surged up the walls of the city.

Nearby, Nadir looked at the walls with a grim expression, feeling a sense of dread at the casualties caused by the siege. He looked back at Adis, whose face remained calm, and could not help but feel a sense of admiration.

"Is there no ancestral god here?" Adis looked at the city, sensing the air within, and thought to himself with some confusion. Subsequently, he thought of the ancestral god of the Indri Principality, Zarmad, and realized: "It seems that the ancestral gods of the entire Northern Territory were swallowed by the one from the Indri Principality."

"But this way, it saves me the trouble." He thought, watching the fierce slaughter unfolding before him.

A month later, with Adis relentlessly sending in waves of attacks, the city was finally breached. Adis had the entire clan of the lord who had defended the city slaughtered. Then, after a brief rest, he marched south to continue his conquests.

Instantly, the entire Indri Principality was shaken, and countless nobles surrendered under the weight of his prestige.