Knight: Becoming King of the World

Henry thought for a moment, then decided to ask directly, "Please forgive my rudeness, Countess Ratifa. I was just thinking about some things concerning the snowfields of the Northern Lands and may have gotten a bit lost in thought."

Ratifa let out a small sigh of relief, her smile holding a trace of both reassurance and disappointment.

"It’s alright, Baron Henry."

Henry nodded and asked, "Indeed, Countess Ratifa. I was wondering if you have any special intelligence. Perhaps I can help the Prince better deal with the enemies in the Northern Lands."

Ratifa pondered for a moment before speaking slowly, "Baron Henry, I must admit, the number of enemies in the Northern Lands has far exceeded our expectations."

"However, I believe that as long as we can find their weakness, we will surely find a way to defeat them."

Henry shook his head and pressed on, "Countess Ratifa, you should understand what I mean... I want to know why there are so many enemies... Do you understand?"

Seeing that Ratifa Villarreal was being evasive, Henry didn’t beat around the bush and continued to question her directly.

’I just want to know why there are so damn many enemies.’

Ratifa sighed softly. It seemed she hadn’t managed to hide it after all. In fact, anyone but a fool would have thought of this.

How could a bunch of mongrels driven out by the empire—even if this so-called Kyiv Rus’ Principality was established by the remnants of both Stegia and Kuset—possibly raise such a large population in a desolate, bitterly cold land?

Henry’s intuition was correct. In that seemingly endless expanse of ice and snow, growing crops was practically a fool’s dream, and the wild animals were exceptionally wary and difficult to hunt.

Raising livestock was even more difficult in such an environment. Even if they had transitioned to a fishing and hunting civilization, it couldn’t possibly support a population so large it was described as "endless."

’There’s definitely something wrong here!’

"Baron Henry, you are correct." Ratifa finally spoke, her voice tinged with gravity.

Henry nodded. "Then, Countess, what do you believe the reason behind this might be? The Prince must have sent people to uncover some intelligence, right?"

Ratifa considered the sensitivity of the topic...

However, Henry was the emperor’s student and a natural supporter of the Prince. Being frank with him shouldn’t be a problem.

Besides, Henry was strong. Really strong!

On her way here, Ratifa Villarreal hadn’t thought Henry’s side would win, but the facts were laid out before her.

Those three skull mounds had left her speechless.

Ratifa glanced behind her, then stepped out of the tent to confirm no one else was nearby. Only then did she sit back down and say seriously, "Baron Henry, I hope you will keep what I’m about to say confidential until the emperor or the Prince makes it public."

"Based on our current intelligence, we have reason to believe the enemies in the Northern Lands may be receiving support from some kind of external power."

"This power may originate from a domain we don’t understand, allowing them to multiply and expand at an extraordinary rate and scale."

Henry’s brows furrowed. ’Multiply and expand?’

’This...’

"In other words, the war in the Northern Lands isn’t just an ordinary war, but a conflict that might involve unknown powers?"

Ratifa nodded. "Exactly, Baron Henry. It might sound hard to believe, like the lies charlatans use to fool the masses, but we have to admit that it’s the truth."

Henry stood up and began to pace instinctively inside the tent. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Have the Prince’s men discovered any strange phenomena? For example, a place where a group of enemies suddenly appears?"

Ratifa stood up as well, her eyes meeting Henry’s. "Baron Henry, it seems you know something?"

Silence fell over the tent once more, but this time, the eyes of both held only the search for unknown intelligence.

In response to Ratifa’s question, Henry simply explained it away as something he’d heard from church personnel in the streets, talking about armies from other worlds and the like.

Henry "guessed" that perhaps they were people from another world.

Ratifa sat back down, looking somewhat lost as she said, "Maybe... maybe those charlatans were right. Perhaps there really is another world?"

Henry didn’t interrupt Ratifa, but waited for her to continue.

Soon, Ratifa continued, "The Prince’s scout cavalry discovered many fissures that looked like shattered air. You know? They looked very much like shattered glass from the western coastal regions."

"According to the observations of those scouts, a considerable number of enemies came running out of them."

Henry frowned and asked, "Then why are the enemies said to be remnants of the Kyiv Rus’ Principality?"

Ratifa blinked her pretty eyes and said, "Because their shields and banners indicate their identity."

Henry returned to his seat and fell silent, tapping his fingers on the table.

He wondered, ’Could those fissures of shattered air be Subspace rifts? Could it be that because my communication with the Four Gods has become more frequent, Subspace is now able to act freely against the continent of Caladia?’

The idea that Chaos could launch an invasion so easily was a misconception.

In the relevant memories that remained in Henry’s mind, it was extremely difficult for creations of Subspace to enter the material world, unless they were human believers who purely worshipped Chaos or other physical entities.

Generally, a Chaos invasion could only be facilitated by weakening the barrier between reality and Chaos, or by opening a Subspace passage.

This was not a simple task. In most cases, the membrane between the material world and Subspace was relatively stable.

Chaos could only spread discord through its believers who had infiltrated the world, and then attempt to open portals for their invasion by relying on Subspace rituals.

’Yishier... if I remember correctly, that’s the name. It’s the Realm of Chaos, also known as the Supreme Heaven or the Other Dimension.’

This realm has no area, no height, and no volume. The only thing that exists there is energy. Energy is everything in that world, and the laws of the physical universe are almost entirely inapplicable to its principles.

The energy within Yishier is not stagnant or sealed within this boundless space; the physical universe and the realm of energy interfere with each other.

Yishier’s energy comes from the physical universe, while the mystical forces of the physical universe originate from the realm of energy. This interaction has been ongoing since the birth of living beings.

The energy of Chaos comes from the desires, emotions, beliefs, and thoughts of any living creature. Even the slightest ripple in one’s mind will create a corresponding ripple in the world of Yishier, and this ripple is energy.

When a vast number of people experience the same mental fluctuation, it creates countless ripples of power of the same nature in Yishier.

At this point, the countless fluctuations in the Chaos Realm, influencing and converging with one another, will form a mighty vortex of energy.

This "energy vortex" can then resonate with beings in the physical universe.

If people in this world respond with intense energy of a similar nature, this energy vortex will connect with the physical universe, infusing living beings with Divine Power and allowing mortals to attain power beyond the ordinary.

This is the legendary Blessing!

’Based on the current situation, perhaps the Chaos invasion is happening because of me.’

Of course, Henry felt no guilt about it. ’A Chaos invasion? So be it.’

No one knew what purpose or ambition the Four Gods truly had for the world; in short, all the various theories lacked any solid evidence.

Regardless of the theories, the only thing that was certain was a passage in an ancient Necromancer’s codex that detailed how this world would be destroyed by Chaos...

’Huh? A Necromancer? For heaven’s sake, don’t tell me there are already things like Necromancers on the continent of Caladia, are there?’