The majestic Alps rose and fell in the northwest of the empire, with the lowest col at more than 2,000 meters above sea level and the highest peak at more than 7,000 meters.

On the west side of the mountain range is an uninhabited desert, and on the east side is the northern blood rocks of the plateau that spread out from the remnants.

Due to natural geographical factors, after the great war of extermination against the sub-human tribes, the human empire divided six lords along the hilly terrain of the Alps, serving as outposts to monitor and guard against the invasion of the sub-human tribes into the empire.

The Barony of Eaton is one of them.

However, now the title of the Eaton family has become viscount.

Moreover, the family's territory has also become the only surviving territory of the Human Empire in the southern foothills of the Alps.

The reason for this has to start after the war stopped.

But when the battle was over, the subhuman tribe took root in the northern blood rocks.

The harsh environment made them hungry and hungry, and they missed the fertility of their ancestors' homeland, and also made the hatred of almost being wiped out unforgettable day after day.

Decades later, they finally adapted to the barren land.

It was also rebuilt with the help of the "friendly" of countless greedy businessmen who sent a steady stream of material goods.

Naturally, the seed of revenge for the human empire engraved in the bones began to sprout, and it grew into a towering tree in an instant.

The bloodthirsty trumpets of rage, the drums of war sacrificed to the ancestors, shook the snow of the mountains every year.

At that time, the Human Empire had already deployed most of its forces on the border between the Terror Ze in the southwest and the grasslands in the north, guarding the snake people and centaurs, and there was no concerted effort to launch another war of extermination against the subhuman tribes.

And those lords whose territory is not in the northwest hills are also familiar with this.

It's none of your business.

What does it have to do with the revenge war launched by the subhuman tribes?

It's not an invasion of your own territory!

And it won't bring them any disadvantage!

On the contrary, it would be more beneficial for those lords in the northwest of the empire to be attacked and killed by the subhuman tribes and their territories were taken away!

Because at that time, they can let their sons and nephews who have no inheritance rights under the banner of the empire lead the troops to take these territories back, so that the family can be given another title and another territory under the banner of the empire.

However, their expectations were disappointed.

The subhuman tribes, who had long been devastated in their vitality, only frequently raided the outposts in the hilly areas of the southern foothills of the Alps, and did not have the strength to invade the territory of the rear plains.

Or, the subhuman tribes can't wait to start a war, and they don't expect to recapture their ancestors' homeland in one battle.

The human demigods are still alive!

The human empire, which has only been established for decades, has not yet decayed to the point of falling apart.

The Imperial Center did not send legions to fight, but it happened suddenly, and there were no troops to deploy for a while.

The subhuman tribes all knew that if they only sent troops to raid the lords of the northwest hills, did not penetrate into the hinterland of the empire, and did not cause fundamental damage to the human empire, then the human empire and the demigods would regard this war as a skirmish on the frontier.

But if they cross the hilly terrain and go deep into the Northwest Plains, touching the bottom line of the Human Empire, the human demigods don't mind personally leading an army to completely wipe them out and never suffer in the future!

Therefore, under multiple factors, this war initiated by the subhuman tribe has lasted intermittently for nearly a hundred years.

The result of the war is that both sides lose.

The lords of the southern foothills of the Alps have to steal some of the food they have sown and stored every year. The endless wars caused the farmers to flee one after another, the lands became increasingly desolate, and the life of the lords became extremely difficult.

And the subhuman tribes are also having a hard time.

Every year, their people die in the raids.

And as these territories became more barren and tribesmen died more and more, their raids began to outweigh the losses.

The turning point came from the Eaton family.

At that time, Mack Eaton, who was just thirty years old, inherited the title and became the fifth Baron of Eaton.

With indignation that the Human Empire did not send troops to save him, and unable to bear the damage caused to the territory by the repeated wars, he made a "rebellious" move.

The night before the horn of the subhuman tribe whined in the wind in the Alps, he placed two cartloads of food and some daily supplies prepared in advance at the border of the territory, and a wooden sign with the words "Do not enter the Eton family territory" was set up next to it.

Yes, he intended to save his realm from war by paying tribute.

This act is a betrayal of the Empire.

It will also make all the human lords think that the Eton family has tarnished the glory of the human empire and is no longer qualified to be with them.

But Mike did it anyway.

Despite the opposition of the other members of the family, he categorically rejected the request of the territorial guards to die in battle rather than submit to the subhuman tribe.

"My grandfather, the third Baron of Eton, has never stopped asking the Empire to send troops to rescue the territory since he inherited the title, but until he closed his eyes, the banner embroidered with griffins did not fly above the Alps!"

"My father, the fourth Baron of Eton, who has just passed away, will take you to defend the realm and protect your people to the death! Five brothers, two sons, three nephews, and more than 500 soldiers were killed! Let the heroic deeds of our Eton Territory become the ballad of the bard! ”

"But at what cost?"

"Every year the wheat we grow is plundered, and we live in poverty and without food! Every winter, old people freeze to death, young girls can't afford to buy new clothes and jewelry when they get married, and children don't have shoes to wear even in winter! ”

"Seventy-four years!"

"It's been seventy-four years since the subhuman tribes invaded our territory!"

"The Empire has abandoned the Eaton Domain, but we Barons of Eaton cannot abandon ourselves! Now that I'm a baron, lord of Eton's land, I just want us to live! I just want us to stop living in poverty, stop worrying about food, and don't have to build a fire to hold a funeral for our loved ones every autumn and winter! ”

"So ......"

"Go to the Imperial Glory of TM!"

"No matter what, I'm going to put an end to this senseless war!"

In the midst of the opposition, young Mack raised his left hand in the air, letting the bronze ring symbolizing Baron Eton's status reflect the sunlight and shouted these words hysterically.

It also made everyone shut their mouths.

That year, of the six human territories in the southern foothills of the Alps, only the Barony of Eton was not infested by the subhuman tribes; Only the people of Eton's territory had enough food to survive the sowing season the following year.

Young Mike also gained the love of all his people.

But he wasn't satisfied.

Because when the subhuman tribe took the food and supplies offered by the Eton territory, they also hung four or five shawls sewn from snow fox skin on wooden signs.

It was a sign of their acceptance of the Eaton Territory and their promise not to encroach on the Eaton Territory again.

In Mike's eyes, this is an opportunity for the territory to usher in development.

Once again, despite the opposition of his family and people, he crossed the Alps alone and entered the territory of the subhuman tribe.

No one knows what he discussed with the subhuman tribes.

All it is known is that he brought back countless skins, animal bones, and fruits that only grow on the blood rocks of the north.

Mike exchanged these supplies for a large amount of food and iron tools, half of which were used for the construction of the territory, and half of which were stored until the autumn and winter when they were easily "snatched" by the subhuman tribes.

As the years passed, the Barony of Eton quickly became wealthy and the people lived in good terms.

It also ushered in the wrath of other lords in the same hilly area.

It's not surprising to think about.

When they see their territory being infested by subhuman tribes year after year, becoming increasingly impoverished and depressed, and the barony of Eton, which should have been sympathetic, slowly becoming richer, the feeling of jealousy will torment them day and night, devouring their sanity bit by bit.

In particular, they had followed the example of Mike Eaton by sending their henchmen into the northern Bloodrock to ask for an end to the war by trade, but the subhuman tribes replied that their messengers had been flayed alive.......

They are all lords of the Human Empire, why can the Eaton family be blessed and they are still suffering!

With such unwillingness, the inferiority of human beings was rapidly magnified, and all the lords determined the cause of the matter-

"Baron Eton has betrayed the Empire!"

"The Barony of Eton has become the domain of the subhuman tribes!"

"The Eton family is the lackeys of the subhuman tribe and has tarnished the glory of the human empire!"

.........

The indignant lords denounced Mike Eaton's actions and sent people to the imperial capital to accuse the Eaton family of treason, and asked the empire to condemn the Eaton family as a traitor, strip them of their titles, and send troops to fight against them.

This made the House of Eaton the public enemy of the Northwest of the Human Empire.

When the Earl of Mykonoki, the most powerful in the Northwest Plains, heard of this, he severed the Barony of Eaton's right to trade, and took a break from the trade truce between Mack and the subhuman tribes; The Ice and Snow Goddess Cult, which is believed in throughout the north, also can't help but say that the Eton family's faith is not strong.

Even the Baroness, who had been Mack's wife for two years, was sent back by her family.

He left Mike with a divorce letter signed by the High Priest of the Ice Goddess Sect and an apologetic word: "My territory is on the plains, and if I do not break the marriage contract, then my family will be denied by the Church and will be destroyed." ”

Men in the north will never give in when faced with the injustice and predicament of fate.

They will only swing their knives and try to fight their way out, whether they succeed or not.

Faced with the dilemma of his family's isolation, Mike's choice is also very decisive.

Although he knew that the grain that was transferred to the Northern Blood Rock every year could feed more people of the subhuman tribes, the concentrate ore would also be turned into knives and axes and fall on the human body.

But he felt he wasn't wrong.

His family had not seen a banner embroidered with griffons for more than seventy years, and the people of the territory had been reduced by more than half, and it had reached the point of exhaustion, and now he wanted to keep his family and let his people live well, what was wrong with that?

So he went to the Northern Blood Rock alone once again.

For he also knew that the subhuman tribes were waiting for his visit—that they had rejected the requests of the other lords for a truce in trade, a means of discord and division.

In order to isolate the Eton family, in order to make Mike come to ask for help under the pressure of survival, and finally turn the Eton family into vassals of the subhuman tribe.

Mike, of course, would not let the family become vassals.

His visit only made the subhuman tribe make a choice, "In the human empire, there will be no more lords like the Eton family who are honest with the subhuman tribe. If you still want to maintain fair trade treatment, and if you don't want to see the griffin banner of the Imperial Legion in the Alps, then come out in three days. ”

When he returned, he sent invitations to a banquet to the lords who were also in the hills and mountains.

Claiming that he should not turn his back on the responsibility of standing side by side with them to defend against foreign tribes, he also regrets his previous behavior of trading with the subhuman tribes, and is willing to divide the wealth accumulated by these years of trade among them, but beg them to retract the accusation and clear the "misunderstanding" that the Eton family is traitors to the human empire.

This request made the five lords of the hilly and mountainous areas all gladly come to the banquet.

The Eaton family has succumbed to them, and is about to live a precarious life like them, so why refuse the wealth of the Eaton family's sincere expression?

However, they were greeted not by fragrant roast pigs, bread smeared with honey, and spirits from the plains, but by swords and axes that demanded their lives.

Their family has also become the dust of history under the combination of the Eton family and the subhuman tribe.

When the Empire of Mankind was left with only the Eaton family in the hills and mountains of the Alps, Mike did two things.

First, he had a sociable uncle rush to the imperial capital with rare items from the northern blood rocks.

These rarities can be sold for an extremely high price in the heart of the prosperous empire, more than the tribute that the six lords of the hilly region have lacked since the invasion of the subhuman tribes.

Yes, Mike not only paid the lord's tribute that his family and the other five lords had owed for more than seventy years, but also increased the share of the annual tribute!

The intent is also obvious.

He wanted to tell the Emperor and the Imperial magnates that the Alpine Hills were still the territory of the Empire, and that one House of Eaton was more beneficial to the Empire than six lords.

The other thing is that he tried to open up another trade route.

In order to secure a trade agreement with the subhuman tribes, he sent his family caravan across the Alps and south along the edge of the Western Desert to bring goods to the western stronghold of the Empire's defense against the Serpent Tribes, and the hub of the continent, the city of Gardinaras.

It was a trade route that risked the lives of everyone in the caravan.

Mountain avalanches, glacial caves, bitter cold, desert thieves, Imperial soldiers patrolling defenses, and any other possibility will make the caravan disappear completely.

But it's also Mike's only option.

The Earl of Mykonoki on the plains has blocked the Eton family's trade routes, and the Ice Goddess Cult has also made all the Northwest nobles want to have nothing to do with the Eton family.

The only thing Mike can do is leave the fate of his family to time.

The wait was long.

The Imperial Center happily received the Eaton family's tribute, but the jury has not been made as to whether Mike's actions betrayed the Human Empire.

Sometimes, silence is also an answer.

Three months later, the Count of Mykonoki united the soldiers of the other nobles, and the Order of the Ice Goddess sent the Knights of the Cathar to wage war against the House of Eton.

The reason is very just.

"Defend the glory of the Empire of Mankind, and the traitors will be judged by justice!"

"With the wisdom of the goddess of ice and snow, guide the soul of the lost lamb to salvation!"

.........

The momentum of this coalition of justice is huge.

Not counting the knights' personal servants, not counting the believers who followed the goddess's glory and volunteered to participate in the war, there were more than 8,000 warriors alone. Compared to the Eaton family, which has no more than a thousand adult males in the general's territory, this is undoubtedly an unrivaled catastrophe.

But the Eaton family is not alone.

When the Tyrannosaurus Clan as scouts soared above 10,000 meters in the sky, when werewolves rode tall wolves frequently haunted the hills and ravines, when the dinosaurs with exposed bone spurs escorted the priests of the subhuman tribes and beat the war drums, the Count of Mykonoki, who was elected as the commander-in-chief, did not blow the horn of attack for a long time.

Without the participation of the Imperial Griffin Legion, the alliance of many lords of the Northwest Plains alone would not be able to defeat the subhuman tribal alliance.

Otherwise, their fathers and ancestors would have turned the Northern Blood Rock into a family domain long ago!

What's more, they don't have much interest in carving out territory for the empire.

I don't want to fight to the death with the subhuman tribe.

The original intention of sending troops was simply to wipe out the Eton family, give the family more territory, and replace Mike as the master of the subhuman trade.

So the Count of Mykonoki convened the nobles to confer and made a compromise decision.

Sending emissaries to show the subhuman tribes that they are not hostile, that they have only summoned troops to settle their personal grievances with the Eton family, and swear in the name of the Ice Goddess that after they wipe out the Eton family, they will abide by the trade agreement between the two sides, just like Mike.

It can even be even more profitable!

But the subhuman tribes do not lack wise men.

For the Tribal Alliance, they did not dare to occupy the hilly terrain and touch the bottom line of the Human Empire before the demigods fell, so the powerful Earl Mykonoki was not a friendly neighbor, and the weak Eton family was the best choice for the Tribal Alliance.

Negotiations were fruitless, and war broke out unsurprisingly.

It also ended in everyone's expectation.

When the coalition army had lost several hundred soldiers, the Earl, at the unanimous request of all the lords, dismissed the army and returned on the grounds that the army had run out of food.

The Eaton family was unscathed, not even the banner of the coalition army.

But there was also a price.

Since then, the Eton family has become the public enemy of the northwest of the empire, the human traitors condemned by the major lords, and has been completely isolated in the hilly terrain. As the High Priestess of the Ice Goddess Cult described the Eton family as follows: "When a fly flies over the Barony of Eton, it will be infected with the smell of evil." ”

When the results of the battle reached the imperial capital, the emperor and the minister of war suddenly remembered that in the northwest of the empire, there were disputes between lords that needed to be mediated and settled.

Soon, Mike's knighthood was promoted.

From a baron to a viscount, the domain also covered the entire hilly area.

However, the annual tribute was twice as much as the share of the original tribute paid by the lords of all the hilly regions combined.

As for the other five lords whose families had been destroyed, the Emperor was saddened by what had happened to them, and angry at the subhuman tribe that had killed them, and vowed to send the griffon legions to exterminate them.

Then, there is no then.

This was incomprehensible to the small lords of the north-west of the empire.

The Count of Mykonoki, who is well versed in aristocratic games, is not at all surprised.

It was in the dead of night that he couldn't help but greet the women in the emperor's family in the direction of the imperial capital.

Yes, the decision of the imperial capital is to guard against the Count of Mykonoki.

For example, if a bucket of honey stored at home leaks and is found by a fly, don't worry.

Because no matter how much it steals it, it won't finish the honey.

But if it is discovered by a bear, not only will the honey be eaten, but even the wooden barrel will be torn to pieces; It even eats the marrow and continues to look for other barrels where the honey is stored.

For the Empire, the benefits of subhuman tribal trade are the honey that flows.

Sweet and delicious, it's something anyone wants to get their hands on.

The Eaton family is the lucky fly, and the most powerful Earl of Mykonoki in the Northwest Plains of the Empire is a bear with a great appetite and great destructive power.

Whether the promotion to the knighthood or the fact that he was seen as an insignificant fly, it didn't matter to Mike.

What really made him happy was the return of the caravan from the city of Gardinaras!

The successful opening of new trade routes meant that the Eton's trade agreement with the sub-human tribes was secured; It also means that Mike's original intention of letting the people of the territory live well has finally ushered in a guarantee.

Yes, Mike doesn't have any ambitions.

He is willing to bear the shame of being a "traitor to the human empire" and ignore the verbal and written criticism of all the lords in the northwest, all he wants is to save his family from war and the people of the territory to survive.

Therefore, he also regarded the new trade route as the lifeblood of the family.

For the rest of his life, he often personally led caravans to the city of Gardinaras.

Moreover, in order to maximize the benefits of the trade routes and expand the trade routes to the south of the empire, he accepted the baptism of a Vulcan archbishop with trade as a bridge and the conversion of the faith as sincerity, added the flame to the family coat of arms, and promised that the people of the Eton realm would always believe in the god of fire, and every subsequent viscount of Eton would be a faithful servant of the god of fire.

The southern part of the empire was originally a purely religious state.

The ruler is the Pope and the two archbishops, who are elected by the faithful.

When forcibly incorporated into the empire, the title of Vulcan Pope turned into the dust of history with the unrivaled power of human demigods, but the two archbishops were given the title of duke, turning the south into a hereditary domain for the family.

The Einske family was one of the hereditary dukes and archbishops of the South.

Such a deep-rooted and wealthy family is disdainful of the weak Eaton family according to common sense.

But there are no absolutes.

The special environment of theocracy in the south allowed the Einsk family to see the benefits of extending a helping hand to the Eton family - accepting the Eton family meant that they spread the glory of the god of fire to the northwest of the empire.

This seemingly illusory benefit is exactly what the Einske family is looking for.

Because the Vulcan Pope is a thing of the past, and they are equal to the power of another archbishop's family in the Church.

When the odds are evenly matched, a single straw can overwhelm the scales of victory.

For the Einske family, leading the Eton family and their people to bask in the glory of the god of fire was the straw that overwhelmed the other archbishop's family in terms of prestige and power.

Therefore, with this win-win and mutually beneficial bond, the Einske family did not hesitate to help the Eaton family.

Not only did he use the profits from the trade routes for the construction of the Eton family's domain, but he also sent many family private soldiers to the northwest in the name of religion to help the Eton family resist the harassment of the Earl of Mykonoki.

This assistance has lasted for more than 100 years.

It wasn't until the ninth Viscount of Eaton, Henry Eaton, inherited the title.

It's not that the interests of the Einske family and the Eton family are at odds with each other, but the news that the imminent fall of the human demigods has become everyone's consensus!

The normal lifespan of an ordinary human is only seventy or eighty years.

And the human powerhouses who have stepped on the pinnacle of martial arts can live for more than 100 years, but they have never exceeded 150 years. As for the human demigods who broke through the racial category, after living for a full two hundred years, they are finally about to usher in the fate of turning into the dust of history.

The assertion that the human demigods will fall is confirmed by the centaurs at the cost of the lives of the two khans.

The powerhouse at the pinnacle of martial arts, known as Khan in the centaur clan.

More than ten years ago, the centaurs that bred in the northern steppes ushered in the most glorious moment in the history of the race, and actually had three khans at the same time. The increase in peak force also made this notorious race, known for its brutality, begin to expand its ambitions, and every year they went south to wantonly burn, kill, and plunder the human empire.

They have also paid a price.

The demigod, who had not appeared in front of the world for more than thirty years, rushed to the northern steppe alone and brought back the heads of two centaur khans.

As for why he didn't get rid of the evil and bring back all three heads......

The human demigod is wounded.

Although it is said that with the blessing of racial talent, the strength of the three centaur khans is comparable to that of five human powerhouses, but the human demigods who were still unharmed and gorgeously killed under the siege of seven human powerhouses were actually injured for the first time?

The only explanation is that the power of the demigods has begun to decay.

If you think about it any further, it means that he is about to fall.

This inference caused the undercurrent of the human empire to surge, and also inspired and sharpened the expelled races such as subhumans, centaurs, and snake people.

The Einske family is also planning for the future.

For the south, which was forced to merge into the empire, the fall of the human demigods was the time to break away from the Holy Empire, and it was also the time for the Vulcan to welcome the Pope again.

The Einske family was determined to win the Pope's scepter.

Because on the road of power struggle, there is never a word of mercy.

For example, if another archbishopric family were given the papal scepter, the Einske family would inevitably be doomed.

So the Einsk family hibernate all their power in the south, waiting for the moment when the empire falls apart to show its fangs to another archbishopric family.

Henry Eaton, who had just inherited the title, knew the family's situation well.

In the northern part of the empire, where the Ice Goddess Cult is widely believed, the Eton family does not tolerate the human realm, and is an existence that the major lords want to get rid of as soon as possible.

And the subhuman tribes will no longer support them.

Most of the northwestern part of the empire is the home of the sub-human race, including the hilly terrain where the Eton family is located.

If the human demigods fall, the subhuman tribes will no longer need the Eton family to maintain the trade routes. They would wage war to return to their ancestral lands, and the Edons would either prostrate themselves at the feet of the tribe as servants or as sacrifices on the altar of their ancestors.

Don't expect the friendship that the two sides have accumulated over time.

In the face of racial positions, camaraderie does not change the outcome, and there is no right or wrong.

What's more, in the earlier era, the Eaton family was also a participant and beneficiary of the expulsion of the subhuman tribes from their homeland by the Human Empire!

Therefore, Henry Eaton is also actively planning for the future of the family.

Actually, there's nothing to prepare for.

The Eton family has been spurned by the lords of the north and the Ice Goddess Cult, and it is impossible for them to become slaves of the subhuman tribe, and the only future is to migrate their family and people to the south to become vassals of the Einsk family.

As for the past, whether the Eaton family still has the title of viscount or can be their own territory~~

The era is about to play the prelude to the rise and fall of the race, and the primary issue is to ensure that the family can continue to pass it on, and the rest is left to fate.

To this end, Henry worked hard to train the people of the realm to become warriors, and expanded the size and number of caravans between the north and the south.

The purpose is also clear.

It is hoped that in the war for the monopoly of the south launched by the Einske family, the Eton family will be able to obtain a territory by virtue of the merit of participating in the war, so that the family and its people have a place to stay.

Sometimes, God will occasionally glance at those who are struggling when they are bored.

Henry was the lucky one.

When he was actively fighting for the future of his family, he was kindly favored by God, and then gave the Eton family a hope that they could continue to take root in the northwest.