Ryan decided to face Chaos in a decisive battle at the foot of Conquata. This was a move born of necessity.
Unable to quickly conquer Conquata or retreat, the Knightly Army found itself in a dire situation. The Sea God Fleet had been driven back by the combined forces of Chaos and undead pirates, forced to retreat to Couronne. Now, Ryan was left with only two choices.
Either retreat to Newland and hold out in the camp there, or make a stand at Conquata and face the enemy head-on.
But Ryan knew that no matter what choice he made, he could not afford to show panic. As the soul of Bretonnia's military, every move the Sun King made could shake the already precarious morale of the Knightly Army. Therefore, Ryan had to appear as if he had a plan all along.
Did Ryan have a plan?
The answer was obviously yes.
Under Ryan's orders, the Knightly Army began setting up camp at the foot of Conquata. Along the city walls, the Dwarf auxiliary forces, under the command of Engineer Durgin Ironhammer, built a four-meter-high wooden wall. They also laid out large quantities of caltrops, erected rows of sharpened stakes, dug moats, and reinforced the wooden walls and barriers with Dwarf runes. To make matters worse, Durgin Ironhammer embedded numerous cannons and Dwarf flame cannons into the walls and built many wooden watchtowers filled with Dwarf gunners, human musketeers, crossbowmen, and Bastonne longbowmen, who found comfortable firing positions.
To counter potential flying monsters and spells from Conquata, in addition to Dwarf runes, Veronica's coven of witches also played a significant role. Under the leadership of the Supreme Matriarch, the witches began blessing the walls.
Even the Old Guard participated in the construction under Ryan's orders. The vast resources stockpiled in Newland were enough to sustain the army for 40 days, and Admiral Baudry sent word that, at most, the Sea God Fleet would break through the blockade in 25 days and bring reinforcements.
Thus, the Knightly Army only needed to hold out for 30 days at most to break free from the encirclement.
With this reassurance, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Ryan resolved to face his enemies in a decisive battle at Conquata. The northern side of Conquata was backed by the Beast Mountains, so Ryan only needed to build walls on three sides to encircle the fortress and then construct an outer wall.
The Dwarfs' long-prepared landmines came in handy, as did the moats and various traps.
Even luck seemed to be on Ryan's side.
The reason was simple: Chaos was once again embroiled in infighting.
Previously, the Daemon Prince Be'lakor had gathered the remnants of Hargroth the Bloody's forces to march on Conquata. However, on the very night the Chaos armies assembled, a bloody massacre erupted in the Chaos camp.
Whether they were the brave Skaelings, the brutal Vanaheimlings, the twisted Hellpeak tribes, the insane Hung, or the bloodthirsty Mongols, these followers of Khorne seemed to have no interest in "unity." Hargroth the Bloody was furious with Be'lakor for disrupting his revenge, and his Khornate followers, driven by their thirst for slaughter and skulls, acted on Khorne's divine will.
And what was Khorne's divine will?
The Blood God's will was simple: kill, charge, and hack!
Do you see Be'lakor's head?
Yes, chop it off! Aaaaah!
On the first night of the Chaos army's assembly, Hargroth the Bloody led his Khornate berserkers and barbarian warriors in a suicidal assault on Be'lakor's forces. In the thick fog and rain of Albion, the Chaos army attacked itself. The Khornate followers charged into the camp, hacking at anything that moved. Hargroth the Bloody, wielding a Khornate axe and riding a Chaos steel bull, led the charge, shouting, "For the Blood God!"
If I can't beat the southerners' Grail Knights, I can still beat you!
This fierce clash caused the Chaos camp to explode into chaos. The tribes, already united only by a common enemy, immediately turned on each other. That night, blood flowed along Albion's coast, and hundreds of heads were piled up in less than fifteen minutes. Under Hargroth's leadership, the sounds of slaughter and clashing steel became the symphony of Albion's northern shore. Hargroth demanded that everyone, including Be'lakor himself, swear allegiance to him, or he would kill them all.
Barbarian chieftains and monsters who refused to kneel and pledge loyalty to Hargroth were beheaded. By the time Be'lakor personally intervened, the Chaos army had already suffered over 3,000 casualties.
Be'lakor's problem was now evident. The Daemon Prince was theoretically a demigod, and in terms of pure combat power, he was even stronger than the new Everchosen, Archaon, without his full set of divine artifacts. However, Be'lakor had a fatal flaw: no matter how powerful he was, he was not the Everchosen. Therefore, he could not command the entire Chaos army and could only barely assemble a large force through slaughter, coercion, intimidation, and bribery.
Archaon, on the other hand, was different. The Everchosen only needed to defeat or subdue these Chaos champions, and then show them the blessings of the four Chaos Gods. These Chaos champions or Chosen would unconditionally obey his commands because he was the chosen one of the Gods.
However, Archaon was currently busy subduing the northern tribes. The Chaos Gods had prepared four Chaos champions for him: Khorne's champion, the Undefeated Abal; Tzeentch's champion, Sindar Redcrown; Nurgle's champion, Valnir the Reaper; and Slaanesh's champion, Dyssara the Betrayer, as his assistants.
But the new Everchosen found these four Chaos champions too weak. All four were only at the early Saint Realm level, with Sindar Redcrown and Dyssara the Betrayer being even weaker. Archaon considered them useless and was busy recruiting more powerful figures. Recently, a Nurgle Daemon Prince named Typhus and a Slaanesh Daemon Prince named Karsalon had pledged their allegiance to the Everchosen. It seemed that a Tzeentch Daemon Prince named Ahriman had also appeared by his side.
Be'lakor refused to be Archaon's dog, but for now, he had no choice but to continue serving him. What frustrated Be'lakor the most was that Hargroth the Bloody was also Archaon's dog, and this dog couldn't be easily killed.
Be'lakor needed to find a way out of this situation. Perhaps offering the Sun King's head and heart to the Chaos Gods would earn their favor?
The Chaos infighting bought the Knightly Army more time to prepare. A similar situation occurred with Ulfric's World Walkers. As everyone knew, the Wanderer Ulfric never cared about his followers' affairs. He even enjoyed watching them kill each other to select the strongest to duel him. In his eyes, his life only had meaning through duels.
Outside Conquata, today was a rare clear day. In the thick fog, King Ryan left his red-and-blue golden-domed tent.
Our King seemed to be preparing something. He arrived at a corner of the wall where several large stones were placed. Ryan softly chanted an ancient incantation, and a flash of blue light appeared before vanishing, as if something had been activated, yet nothing seemed to have happened.
The King's actions piqued the interest of many, including François and Calard, who approached Ryan. François, confident in his status as Ryan's father-in-law, asked directly, "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
"The Old Ones left many relics in Albion," Ryan said, signaling for a cart to bring more stones and slabs. He personally reassembled them, and despite the impending war, the King's expression remained calm. "We can activate them at the right time."
"Will they help us?" Calard also stepped forward. The Marquis of Garamont didn't understand these things, but he knew Ryan was well-versed in the Old Ones' language and ancient secrets. Perhaps the Lady of the Lake only shared these things with her chosen champion.
"Most of the time, they can only help us counter enemy spells, but if used correctly... they might have a special purpose," Ryan said with a meaningful smile, shaking his head. "It won't work if I say it out loud."
"Your Majesty, scouts report that the Chaos armies in the north and east are experiencing varying degrees of infighting. As for the undead pirate army in the west, they seem to have taken no further action after landing," François sighed. "It seems Count Noctilus of the Undead Ocean Empire is determined to wait for the Chaos armies to act before joining the attack."
"While I don't know why the undead have allied with Chaos, it's clear that Count Noctilus doesn't want to be the first to charge," Calard added. "Your Majesty, this might be something we can exploit."
"Oh ho! Calard, you actually thought of this yourself?!" Ryan's eyes lit up. He arranged the stones and slabs into a strange, mysterious pattern. When Calard tried to speak, Ryan raised a hand to stop him and instead spoke in the Old Ones' language to the stone pillars: "The courage of the Sun God Koteggu must be awakened by the sun."
"Thud!" The slab lit up.
After completing the ritual, Ryan stood up, his face filled with emotion. He enthusiastically patted Calard's shoulder. "Not bad, Calard!"
"Huh?" Calard was even more confused.
"François, Calard, do you know where the gap between us and the Empire lies?" Ryan chuckled, signaling for the two marshals to follow him to the next location, moving clockwise.
The second slab was set up, and Ryan chanted again: "The vengeance of the Serpent God Sotek must be shown through blood sacrifice."
This time, the slab did not light up.
"Where is the gap?" Calard was still puzzled.
"The gap between us and the Empire used to be comprehensive—whether in education, social systems, court positions, military mobilization, or the financial systems of the central and local governments," Ryan explained, spreading his hands. "When Emperor Karl-Franz had a complete central standing army, provincial troops, and village militias, what did we have in the Knightly Kingdom?"
"When Karl-Franz had a complete court cabinet and advisory council, a bureaucratic system that, while somewhat corrupt, was far more efficient, what did Bretonnia have?"
"When Karl-Franz had a complete education system, from church schools to court schools to several high-end universities, what did Bretonnian knights have? Just the Round Table and so-called knightly apprenticeships."
"But don't we have all that now?" Calard was still confused. "Besides, our system has little corruption, Your Majesty's advisory council is efficient and clean, and the central army, dukedom armies, and militias have all been established, haven't they?"
"Calard, all of this was forced into existence by His Majesty over a decade, through one victory and one reform after another," François said with a wry smile, explaining to the politically naive Calard. "Before, we had none of this."
"We have His Majesty," Calard said without hesitation.
"I won't be on the throne forever, Calard," Ryan said indifferently, his tone neither sad nor happy, just calm. "One day, Bretonnia will continue its legacy under another king."
François's eyes flickered as he thought of something, but he remained silent. Calard, however, was shocked. "Your Majesty, are you abandoning your people and kingdom? You are the Lady's chosen champion!"
"I will not abandon my people or my kingdom, but no reign lasts forever, Calard," Ryan said calmly. "One day, I will take off my crown and leave, like the first King Arthur, the Emperor Charlemagne, or Ludwig the Savior."
"Your Majesty, are you planning to ascend to godhood?" Calard pressed, genuinely worried. The Knightly Kingdom now relied heavily on Ryan's reforms and personal prestige.
"I will never attempt to ascend to godhood, whether actively or passively," Ryan simply shook his head, then began setting up the third Old Ones' stone array.
"The resilience of the Guardian God Queekish must be moved by unyielding determination."
This slab also did not light up.
"François, Calard, you are both close to me. Let me ask you a question," Ryan said after setting up the third array. "Why did I establish the Ten Marshals?"
Before François and Calard could answer, Ryan continued with a smile, "Is it because I think the title of Marshal is cool? Or because having ten marshals makes management easier? Or is it because the Empire has them, so I must have them too?"
"Your Majesty must have your reasons for establishing the marshals," Calard offered no opinion.
"The Ten Marshals were established by Your Majesty, signifying centralized authority under Your Majesty's management and command, and also representing a shift from the pyramid-like feudal hierarchy to a vertically managed bureaucratic system?" François mused, stroking his chin.
"The Ten Marshals are just the first step," Ryan didn't elaborate. "Think about it. In the old system, as the Baron of Quenelles, if I faced harassment from Marquis Anguish of Grascoll, could I just ignore him or even confront him directly? Because I wasn't subordinate to him? You can't control me, and you're not stronger than me, so why should I listen to you?"
Both François and Calard nodded.
"Now, what if I were a general, and he were a marshal?" Ryan smiled. "Would I still dare to confront him or ignore him?"
"Exactly. 'The vassal of my vassal is not my vassal,' but if we introduce a military rank system, a sergeant or lieutenant would never dare to speak disrespectfully to a general or marshal," François nodded. "Your Majesty, are you hoping to separate the military structure from the noble hierarchy?"
"That's only the first and second layers," Ryan shook his head again. The Sun King took a deep breath and, in the thick fog of Albion, made a shocking statement: "François, Calard, think carefully. Was the knightly system of our Knightly Kingdom truly designed to fight enemies? We all know that knights excel against light infantry but are at a disadvantage against light cavalry, heavy infantry, and many terrains. Yet, despite this, why did we invest so heavily in knights? The knightly feudal system is inefficient in mobilization, financially backward, and prone to becoming unwieldy. Moreover, not to mention enemies like Orcs and Chaos with their heavy infantry, even in human civil wars, how many times have we won against the Empire's fortified cities and artillery?"
François remained silent.
"If not for fighting enemies, then who is it for?" Calard pressed.
The fourth stone array was set up: "The hunt of the Jungle Tiger God Huangqi requires prey as a guide."
This time, the slab lit up.
"Who is it for? Do I need to spell it out?" Ryan bared his teeth. "Whose main forces consist of large numbers of light infantry? Who needs to distribute knights across the kingdom, each overseeing a piece of land to consolidate the existing order and efficiently handle internal issues?"
"Beastmen!" Calard blurted out without thinking. "Beastmen and Goblin tribes."
"Yes, that's right," Ryan sighed but didn't stop. "But besides Beastmen and Goblins, there's another group that the knightly nobility is particularly wary of."
"And that is our own people—the serfs, the foundation of the knightly system!"
The Sun King's words exploded like thunder in the fog of Albion, reverberating in Calard's ears.
One of the primary enemies the knightly system was designed to guard against was our own people?
The serfs?!
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