Chapter 322: Chapter 322 - 233: Return

There are always those who cling to life, just waiting for that delayed beam of light.It's the knights of the Red Tide Territory.""Lord Louis sent them here.""It was the Dragon Ancestor who sent him to save us."In the word-of-mouth among survivors, the young lord who broke through the siege in the Battle of the Northern Territory and swept the Doomsday Nest is no longer just a person, but the Sun that continues to shine upon them.Children secretly drew the red flag on the muddy ground, and women sewed strips of Red Tide Territory cloth into their prayer bands.There were old men whispering "Louis Calvin," as if reciting a prayer for redemption.The synonym for a miracle.Returning to the knights' ranks of the Red Tide Territory, the injured, the weary, the soldiers just crawling out of corpse water, dismounted and removed their armor.Walking to the carriage, a dust-covered rescue captain knelt on one knee, hoarsely reporting, "Pine and Fir Valley. all remaining twenty-four people have been safely brought back."He glanced at the blood-stained report and then at the knights.He simply nodded lightly, without saying more.His gaze fell onto the tactical map, over the entire Northern Territory that was once mountains and rivers, now turned to scorched earth."Continue."His voice was calm, low in tone, but everyone knew behind those two words was the responsibility for countless lives.Now, the team has taken in over three thousand refugees.Wounded soldiers, orphans, widows, fleeing nobility, solitary mercenaries.The carriage moved slowly; every time it passed a village or town ruins, the air grew a bit heavier.The once fertile fields are now just fragments of charred black embers.Beside the village entrance stone monument, only the remnants of a child's body remained, with a few small ribs scattered nearby.He saw the corpse of an old man sitting beneath the eaves, covered in thick snow.The river was no longer clear, parts of it turned eerie red-black due to decaying bodies and spores; fish had long vanished, leaving only froth and stench.Some forests were burned by spores, charred branches stood black as ink, reaching skyward, like in mourning.The knights remained silent, even the horses grew restless, as if they sensed the unresolved death on the land.Inside the swaying carriage, Louis looked at the picturesque ruins outside the window, his fingers unconsciously tapping the map's edge.The Northern Territory terrain was shattered, roads broken, bridges collapsed.Population gaps, nobility wiped out, resource supply chains entirely collapsed."The Northern Territory has already died once completely."