Gospel of Blood

Holy Calendar 1446, 1st Month, God’s Day

The ancient and bustling continent of Myria welcomed yet another new year. Under the holy light, people from different countries and races gathered to celebrate the beginning of the new year and the birth of the God Lord Harald.

However, for the residents of the North, this year’s God’s Day was destined to be less peaceful.

At the dawn of the new year, while most people across the continent were celebrating the festival, Countess Charlotte de Castell, the ruler of the North, led an army of twenty-five thousand northward, issuing an ultimatum to the rebellious Lagrisse family.

An army of over twenty thousand was no small number in any duchy of the Crescent Kingdom. Although Castell was a county, many nobles considered its wealth and prosperity to exceed the minimum standards of a duchy.

In the Yunette Empire, which was filled with fiefdoms, such mobilization would easily surpass many small duchies. Only in the Crescent Kingdom, dominated by strong duchies, would it not seem so conspicuous.

Nonetheless, as one of the major powers in the Crescent Kingdom, second only to the Twelve Duchies, Castell’s every move attracted attention from various forces, becoming a hot topic in noble salons and banquets.

Especially the protagonist of this rebellion, the Northern Countess Charlotte, who had been in office for less than a year.

“Youngest Countess”, “Jewel of Borde”, “Wealthy Charlotte”, “Saintess Walking on Earth”… Various titles and epithets made her the focus of attention and discussion among many nobles.

Whether as the last heir of the Castell family or for her promises to the Holy Court at a Borde banquet, each of these would make her a topic of conversation at noble gatherings.

For a time, the eyes of almost all the lords of the Crescent Kingdom were on Castell, wanting to know how this young and beautiful countess would quell the rebellion in her territory.

Many nobles believed that although an army of twenty thousand was powerful, the rebellion in Castell was not simple.

Especially considering the recent unsavory rumors about the Third Prince Philip in the capital and the king’s timely military ban, some conspiracy theorists thought that this countess, who leaned toward the church, might already be on the Crescent royal family’s blacklist.

Of course, conspiracy theories are just that—the Crescent royal family showed no reaction.

King Louis V of Crescent continued to hold grand feasts at the court, inviting vassals to celebrate the festival together.

However, Third Prince Philip and his wife, Duchess Eleanor de Borde, who should have returned from their territory to attend the court banquet, were absent.

Also absent was Hubert de Boite-Linte, the current Duke of Violet.

Although some major nobles missed the annual court feast for various reasons each year, the absence of both Borde and Violet aroused some curiosity among the kingdom’s nobles.

After all, one ruled the territory of Countess Castell, and the other was her neighbor, while the Third Prince was the nephew of the Duke of Violet.

Considering the rebellion in Castell and the ambiguous attitude of the Crescent royal family, some astute individuals couldn’t help but make some connections.

However, none of this concerned Charlotte.

Such feasts and intelligence were only accessible to the true upper echelons of the kingdom, and no matter how wealthy Castell was, as long as it remained a vassal of Borde, it could not enter the kingdom’s true upper echelon.

Naturally, this information was also beyond Castell’s reach.

Of course, Charlotte, who had long known about the Third Prince’s conspiracy through other channels, didn’t need it.

While Louis V was feasting with his ministers, she was already leading her army through Tulip County, approaching the main forces of the Lagrisse family rebels.

With the support of Count Gaston, Castell’s allied forces, passing through Tulip County, didn’t need to cross the Dorn River. The army could simply bypass it from the west and directly attack the rebels from the west.

The accompanying nobles were surprised by the support of the Tulip garrison.

After all, allowing twenty-five thousand soldiers into Tulip County was a huge risk and pressure. At this point, those doubtful nobles finally believed that Count Gaston truly intended to assist Castell in quelling the rebellion.

And when Count Gaston led the main force of the garrison out of the fortress to join the allied forces, the nobles of Castell were even more confident.

Unlike the Castell allied forces, mainly composed of noble levies, many of whom didn’t even have proper armor and were at best peasants in armor, the Tulip garrison was uniformly armored, with many equipped with armor comparable to the kingdom’s regular army.

Though few in number, no more than three thousand, over half the soldiers wore intricately engraved enchanted armor.

That was enchanted armor.

The Tulip garrison had at least fifteen hundred super soldiers equipped with enchanted armor, enough to form a minimum magic formation on the battlefield.

In other words, these fifteen hundred soldiers alone could be considered equivalent to fifteen thousand on the battlefield.

The remaining half of the soldiers, although not wearing enchanted armor, were uniformly in mail and plate armor, and almost all were cavalry.

Elite, this was Borde’s elite!

Any Castell noble who saw the Tulip garrison would think this.

In comparison, the Castell allied forces still seemed somewhat shabby.

Only the noble private soldiers and Castell’s fifteen hundred regular troops could hold the line, with better equipment, although not enough enchanted armor to form a formation, but at least more in number than the Tulip garrison.

There were far fewer cavalry.

Though the Crescent Kingdom was famous for its heavy cavalry throughout Myria, and the royal family maintained an elite enchanted heavy cavalry corps of over thirty thousand. Castell, mostly in the north, being coastal, had few horse farms.

Counting the accompanying noble knights and the cavalry from her domain, Charlotte’s cavalry force didn’t exceed three thousand, and most of her twenty-five thousand troops were infantry.

However, for a rebellion, this was more than enough.

A count-level war, albeit looking like a small ducal civil war due to Castell’s size, was still a count-level war.

The extraordinary resources it controlled were limited, and although Castell had great economic potential, it hadn’t developed its military much. Most of the enchanted armor in the territory was seized by Charlotte from the Castell mines.

In the eyes of higher-level lords, no matter the number, it was still a battle of rookies.

In a world with extraordinary power, military logistics were also easier. Especially with space magic, a few accompanying mages and space equipment accumulated by noble families over generations could save a lot of non-combat manpower.

Thus, Charlotte’s march didn’t face logistical difficulties.

After a week of marching, Charlotte finally saw the rebel army camped by the Dorn River.

“Countess, our scouts have engaged with the rebel’s scouts, but the rebels don’t seem to be taking action yet. Should we send envoys to issue a surrender notice?”

A respectful noble asked.

Charlotte pondered for a moment and nodded.

“Go ahead.”

Though she held little hope, it seemed issuing a pre-battle surrender notice was a tradition among Myria’s nobles.

Following her order, the nobles quickly arranged for an envoy, but it wasn’t long before the rebels sent the envoy back.

Or more accurately, they sent back the envoy’s head.

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