The Valley of the Ice Barren, the northernmost part of the Sakran Empire, the gate of hell and the world, and the final junction.

Or maybe it's another, more Imperial name, "Valley of Blood".

In the sixth generation of the Sakran Empire, the "Sage" Brandon I personally led an army of 50,000 to the north, abandoning the defensive advantage of the Broken Mountain Fortress, and unexpectedly fighting a war that bordered on gambling with the invading monster army here. At the cost of a dragon and two archdukes, only two or three thousand remained of the army of tens of thousands, and even he himself was seriously wounded, so that he was unfortunate in his old age.

But no matter how much it took, the result was a final victory, a victory that will go down in history and will be remembered forever by posterity.

No matter how many mistakes he made when he was in charge of the empire, and how many disputes he caused by his reckless actions, an unparalleled victory changed everything, and all the right and wrong actions were classified as wise acts, leaving memories that can be traced back to a generation.

It also forged his reputation as a "sage".

Not a benevolent monarch or a tyrant, but a "virtuous monarch" - to be praised forever by posterity, it can be said that it is the highest praise that an emperor can receive, and the founding monarch of the Sakran Empire has never received.

Even the Valley of the Bloodbones has become a place of pilgrimage, with a few fanatical believers heading north each year to pay homage to the Heroic Spirits in the middle of summer with patrolling rangers, or simply join the legions of the Broken Mountain Fortress.

But in fact, the Valley of Blood, like its original name, "Ice Wasteland", is just a slight protrusion on the northern ice field - just like Brandon I chose it as the location of the final battle because of how special this place was, but because it was just enough to spread out the entire army and limit the enemy's attack.

And in this cold and slaughtering wasteland, the banner of the Iron Crown once again fluttered in the bitter blizzard.

Following the old road, the army that had been scattered all the way finally arrived near the Valley of Bloodshed two days later.

I say "nearby" because the area is small, but it's also very large - "Valley of Blood" is technically just that protrusion, but in reality the name usually encompasses all the surrounding areas.

If he doesn't want to turn around and leave immediately or end up in the same fate as the watchtower guards, he must go north as soon as possible to join the Church's army to avoid the possibility of the two sides being broken separately.

Brandon couldn't risk losing half of his army and the Church Knights, who were the few elite members of his army - and more importantly, they were the veterans who were truly familiar with the North, and the remaining half of the main force were Legionnaires from the South.

In order to cover the team on the ground, even the dragon Milasis, who had often "disappeared", followed closely, and the soldiers could often see a huge shadow passing through the ground, although the figure was terrifyingly large, but there was a dragon protecting itself and the soldiers were very reassured.

After all, this is already a Valley of Blood, so it wouldn't be surprising if hundreds or thousands of werewolves or carrions appeared at once.

............................................................

"Although various documents and history books describe the north as hell, in fact, since the establishment of the Broken Mountain Fortress, the empire has never faced a real 'evil god invasion' - even in the northern war of His Majesty Brandon I of the sixth generation, he did not really confront those evil gods head-on, otherwise he would not have been able to come back!"

Along the way, Brandon awkwardly walks back and forth on the foal, while introducing the "enemy" they are about to face to the wizarding advisor next to him:

"Just like the reason why we call them 'monsters', it is also to distinguish them from the evil gods in the southern lands, there should be no difference between the two except for strength, they are all legendary hideous and terrifying devils!"

Apostle?

Recalling the serpentine rune on his wrist that had been left behind by Asrael, Loren frowned vigilantly, as if sensing something very terrifying.

"In the existing documents of the empire, the evil gods who destroyed the ancient dragon kingdom also paid a huge and heavy price, so they can only pin part of their power on a certain existence, and each of them has extremely special and powerful powers!"

His Royal Highness shrugged his shoulders: "In a sense... It is these so-called 'Evil God Apostles' who will really pose a threat to the Empire and spread fear - they are the ones who lead every invasion, not really the so-called evil gods, as many Imperial nobles believe. ”

"So, these so-called... Apostles. Loren asked calmly, "How many are there?"

"There are four evil gods who destroyed the Dragon Kingdom, as the book says. Brandon blinked:

"So there should have been four apostles... At least that's what I know. ”

Four evil gods, four apostles... It sounded like it was between himself and Asrael.

Loren frowned, and the sudden amount of information made him a little dazed, and even regretted why he didn't take history when he was in Wimpal.

"Actually, it's not surprising that you don't know - it's better that if you do, it's really scaring me to death!"

Sensing the expression of his wizard advisor, the corners of His Royal Highness the Prince's mouth curled up with a slight smile: "What I told you just now, even in the imperial capital of Golovin, is the 'truth' that only the De Salion family and a very small number of powerful people plus the top of the church know, and most history books will not record this!"

"Even the soldiers holding on to the Broken Mountain Fortress don't know?" the black-haired wizard asked rhetorically.

"It should be said that... It is precisely because they are holding on to this that they cannot really know who their enemies are!" Brandon's expression became rare and serious, and he pointed to a group of legionnaires passing by:

"No matter how brave and useless they are, they are still ordinary people, they will still be scared and afraid, they will be at a loss because they don't believe what is happening in front of them - and most importantly, it is better to make them believe that their enemies are just mutated monsters than to tell them that their enemies are a group of evil gods!"

Loren frowned slightly, he vaguely remembered what had happened in the Ancient Wood Forest before—the elven elders of the Morning Star Forest had made a similar decision.

Even at the last moment, the brave elven wardancers were not told that their real enemy was actually a fallen evil god, and that the battle was just another ogre invasion.

"How, then, did these so-called 'apostles' come into being?" Loren continued, "and them, or... How did their army, the thousands of monsters, come to be?"

"I don't know, and no one knows—just like the dragon kingdom a thousand years ago, they don't know where the evil gods who brought down the catastrophe for them came from. ”

Brandon shrugged his shoulders and smiled indifferently: "All we know is that these monsters are wandering in the ice fields north of Broken Boundary Mountain, and they always want to repeat the great feats they once accomplished thousands of years ago, destroying the entire Sackland Empire and even the whole world!"

No, it's not.

These so-called evil gods are not brainless slaughter, they are just making a final death struggle in front of the light of the Holy Cross, using fear and intimidation to maintain their existence in the world, and not to completely disappear.

It didn't come, but "fell" into this world, and there is a very obvious gap between the two.

In order to maintain their existence, these demons and evil gods are capable of doing anything beyond imagination.

"And for us, it's just a matter of defeating them again and again, no matter what the cost – like the sixth generation patriarch who bears my name. ”

Smiling as he spoke, Brandon raised his right hand and pointed straight ahead, and the protrusions that appeared in the wasteland formed a large gentle slope:

"Valley of Blood, we're here!"