Griffin crawled for three days. He dragged his two stumps across the snow, leaving red and bck streaks. The wounds no longer bled. Burnt flesh and bone shards were frozen together. Every movement made a cracking sound.

  Bart's scouts found him on the third day.

  In the council hall of the Northern Capital, two guards pressed Griffin to the floor. Half of his body was gone. He leaned against a stone pilr to stay upright.

  Blood Earl Bart sat in a high-backed chair. He held a gss of red wine and watched the recording crystal.

  The crystal projected a floating image—a young man in an old cotton robe stood on scorched earth, holding up one finger. The stone ground behind him was shattered. Charred metal debris y everywhere.

  There were no corpses.

  Out of three thousand wolf riders, not one was left whole.

  Bart crushed the recording crystal. Shards fell between his fingers and cttered onto the floor. His fingers bled, but he did not notice.

  "An ancient ruin."

  Bart stood up. His wine gss tipped over on the armrest and shattered on the ground. He did not notice that either.

  "That trash found a far-off alchemy ruin and used it against my men."

  Bart looked down at Griffin.

  Griffin's lips trembled. He wanted to say it was not a ruin. He wanted to say those pipes and fmes were unlike any magic or alchemy he had seen.

  But he did not speak.

  Bart was finished listening.

  "Pass the order."

  Bart walked to the map and punched the location of the Winter Wastend.

  "Draft every man of age from the thirty-six northern territories. I want one hundred thousand soldiers. Not one less."

  The officials looked at each other.

  An older civil servant stepped forward. "Lord, the supplies for one hundred thousand men..."

  "Take them from the warehouses of every territory. If anyone refuses, I will destroy them first."

  Bart turned around. Gold-tier aura spread from him. The candles in the hall flickered and leaned.

  "An exiled loser, a broken iron shack. Those three thousand men were just to scout the path. Now the path is clear. He has some tricks, but that is all. No matter how powerful a ruin is, can it stop a charge of one hundred thousand men?"

  No one answered.

  Bart knelt in front of Griffin and patted his face.

  "You did well. You brought back the intel alive."

  He stood up and walked away.

  "Give him Soul-Soothing Grass. Send him on his way."

  Griffin opened his mouth wide. A guard covered his face.

  The doors to the council hall closed.

  ......

  The draft orders reached the thirty-six territories within two days. Bart’s messengers rode until three horses died. They smmed the red parchment with the Blood Wolf seal onto every lord's table.

  The message was one sentence: Assemble within three days. Anyone te is a traitor.

  The lords compined, but they sent the troops. Bart was the only Gold-tier powerhouse in the North. His word was w.

  Within three days, the army was ready.

  Seventy thousand infantry. Twenty thousand light cavalry. Ten thousand heavy enchanted knights.

  The ten thousand knights were Bart’s final card. Each was at the peak of Bronze or early Silver rank. They rode imperial enchanted horses and wore steel pte armor with three yers of defense arrays.

  Bart pced them in the center. Banners covered the sky.

  He wanted everyone to see this absolute power.

  ......

  At the same time.

  St. Laurent City, the Imperial Capital.

  Inside the pace.

  Emperor Charlie sat in his study. A report from the North y on his desk. It was short. Bart cimed he was going to suppress a rebel in the Winter Wastend and asked for official authorization.

  Emperor Charlie did not sign it.

  He flipped the report over and took a sip of tea.

  A shadow moved nearby.

  Lin Zhentian.

  The head of the Lin family and a Dark-Gold powerhouse. He wore deep blue formal clothes with an enchanted thin sword at his waist.

  "Your Majesty, should we intervene in Bart's business?"

  Emperor Charlie did not look up.

  "Intervene in what? A territory dispute between northern nobles has nothing to do with the court."

  Lin Zhentian's face muscles twitched slightly.

  "The person in that fortress... is my son."

  The Emperor looked up.

  "Your son? That trash fourth young master you exiled yourself?"

  Lin Zhentian stood straight.

  "Yes. I sent two groups to handle him, but they vanished. Bart's move saves me the trouble."

  Emperor Charlie set down his tea.

  "Are you sure Bart will win?"

  "One hundred thousand soldiers against an iron shack on the wastend." Lin Zhentian bowed. "There is no doubt."

  The Emperor said nothing. He picked up the report and wrote "Read" on it. He did not use his seal.

  No approval, no objection.

  Lin Zhentian bowed and left.

  On the pace steps, he stopped and looked at the imperial fg.

  He looked away.

  Win or lose, the Lin family gained. If Bart won, the trash died, and the problem was gone.

  He touched his sleeve.

  One hundred thousand soldiers could not lose.

  ......

  The Iron Fortress.

  Lin Yuan did not care about the capital.

  He stayed in the factory for three days. Karl brought food three times a day, but twice it went back cold and untouched.

  Mining golems worked day and night. Pipes ran twenty-four hours a day. The mineral storage numbers kept rising.

  The Dragon King was busy too. The Bone Dragon King was locked in the mine pit behind the fortress. Its job was to smelt ore with dragon breath. Its fire was eight times hotter than a normal furnace. Smelting efficiency was maximized.

  In three days, Lin Yuan equipped the heavy weapons from the system.

  First, the tanks.

  [Mana Tank x 50: Costs 250,000 Gold + 400,000 Energy + 2,500 Tons of high-grade ore]

  Fifty tanks lined up in the open space outside the factory.

  Bck composite armor. Hull with reactive armor modules. A 120mm smoothbore gun on the turret. The engine bay held four medium mana crystals. They made a low hum while idling.

  Each tank had three system operators summoned directly into the seats. No training was needed.

  Next were the cannons.

  Ten were not enough. Lin Yuan built ninety more.

  One hundred alchemy cannons lined up inside the fortress. The barrels pointed north. Hydraulic spades dug into the frozen ground.

  Finally, the infantry.

  Three thousand heavy grenadiers walked out of the factory. They were shorter than the berserkers but thicker. They wore full-seal pte armor. They carried ammunition packs and six high-explosive grenades.

  They held short-barreled weapons—modified shotguns. Effective range was fifty meters. One shot fired a cloud of armor-piercing steel balls.

  Lin Yuan stood on top of the factory and looked down.

  Fifty tanks. One hundred cannons. Three thousand grenadiers. Plus the berserkers, crossbowmen, and shadow assassins.

  He opened the system panel.

  Total strength: 12,740 units.

  Tanks: 50.

  Cannons: 100.

  Gatling guns: 10.

  Modified ballista: 1.

  The number was small. But it was enough.

  ......

  The fourth day.

  The red dots on the radar moved.

  They pushed south. One hundred thousand dots filled the northern half of the screen. The vanguard entered the 200km circle.

  Lin Yuan turned off the radar.

  He put on a clean bck coat, tucked his revolver into his belt, and walked out.

  Karl met him.

  "Young Master, the scouts say the vanguard reached the 150km mark. They are slow because of the supplies. They will arrive tomorrow evening."

  "Where is Bart?"

  "In the center. He's riding a mutant giant wolf."

  Lin Yuan nodded.

  He went up to the wall and stood behind the highest battlement.

  To the north, the horizon was empty. The grey sky met the white wastend.

  But under that white, one hundred thousand feet were stepping forward.

  Tomorrow.

  ......

  The fifth day, evening.

  They arrived.

  First came the dust.

  The frozen ground was hard and the snow was thick. But one hundred thousand men moved together. Ice and snow were crushed into a grey mist that rolled south along the ground.

  Then came the fgs.

  Fgpoles appeared over the horizon, followed by the banners and the soldiers. Dozens of rge fgs and hundreds of small ones appeared. The colors and crests were a mess.

  Only the center fg was consistent.

  Blood-red background. Bck wolf head.

  Bart's fg.

  The army stopped three kilometers from the city.

  Light cavalry was in front. Infantry blocks followed. Supply wagons were at the back. In the middle, ten thousand heavy knights formed a huge rectangle. Steel armor reflected the dim light. Enchanted horses snorted and kicked the ground.

  Bart rode the mutant giant wolf at the front.

  The wolf was much taller than a horse. It was covered in grey-bck fur. Bart wore gold-trimmed armor and carried a broadsword.

  He looked at the Iron Fortress.

  On the bck wall, only dozens of people stood. The base of the wall was messy. Some iron objects covered in cloth sat behind the battlements. They looked like scrap metal.

  Bart ughed.

  He cupped his hands and used his Gold-tier aura to shout.

  The sound filled the wastend.

  "Lin Yuan!"

  "I will crush your iron shell today. You have no other choice."

  "Come out. Crawl to me on your knees. Hand over your head and your ruins."

  "If I am in a good mood, I might leave you in one piece."

  The sound echoed across the pins and vanished in the wind.

  There was no answer.

  Bart waited thirty seconds.

  No one spoke.

  An official stepped forward. "Lord, should the mages fire first......"

  "No."

  Bart pulled the reins. The giant wolf moved forward.

  "Form ranks. Heavy knights in front, infantry following. Charge on my command. Wipe them out in one go."

  The horn blew.

  The army moved. The knights marched forward. Heavy hooves hit the ground with a deep thud. Infantry closed their ranks. Shields were raised and spears pointed forward.

  The mages prepared. Dozens of mages raised staves and chanted. Energy gathered in the air. The clouds hung lower.

  The earth shook.

  Karl watched from the wall. His face was pale.

  One hundred thousand. It really was one hundred thousand.

  As far as he could see, there were only heads and fgs.

  He looked back.

  Lin Yuan stood on the stairs. He took out a cigar.

  He put it in his mouth, struck a match, and lit it.

  He took a drag and blew out the smoke.

  The wind carried the smoke away.

  "Old Karl."

  "Yes!"

  "Open the gate."

  Karl paused. "Young Master, there are one hundred thousand men out there......"

  "Open the gate."

  Karl bit his teeth and signaled the soldiers below.

  The winch turned. Chains rattled.

  The gates slowly opened.

  Bart saw the gates open from three kilometers away. He was surprised.

  Then he smiled. "Surrendering?"

  The officer next to him ughed. "Lord, it seems that trash has some sense......"

  The ughter stopped.

  A sound came from the open gate. It was the sound of metal grinding on the ground.

  Rumble, rumble—

  The first Mana Tank drove out.

  Bck hull. Thick barrel. The treads crushed the stones of the threshold. Mana crystals in the engine glowed blue. Exhaust vents puffed white steam.

  The second tank followed.

  Then the third.

  Then the fourth.

  One by one, fifty tanks drove out. They formed a wedge shape on the snow.

  The engine noise did not stop.

  Bart sat on his wolf. He tightened his grip on the reins.

  He looked at the bck iron blocks and frowned.

  On top of the wall, Lin Yuan leaned on the battlements and looked down.

  The barrels of the fifty tanks turned north. They aimed at the army three kilometers away.