The first thing that greeted Henry in the morning was a bundle of reports coming from their north. No, not the Northern Lands, rather the continent above theirs.
Hundreds of thousands to millions of people were migrating towards theirs—mostly nobles, royalty, and their subjects.
The reports came from the northern lands. Most of the migrants came from there and well, they're not being well received by the Vikings. A miniature war is occurring there.
"I should probably step in. These migrants might be seen as freeloaders to some, but I can think of plenty of ways to make them useful."
With that decision, he called upon his great generals in the war room.
Inside, he dropped the bomb on their heads, "We're taking the war to the lands of the Vikings. Our objective is simple, push them enough to make them think twice before messing with us again, and also grab the migrants that fled there from another continent. Any questions?"
"Isn't this a bit too sudden, Your Majesty?" General Liam chimed in with a worried tone.
"Suddenness is exactly what will bring us victory in this war."
Henry's confident reply confused the others. How would it be suddenness when their enemies would know the mobilization of thousands of troops through their spies and channels?
"Ladies and gentlemen. Or just gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you the Mass Teleportation Gate spell."
These past few days, among his side projects was the improvement upon the teleportation spell. Teleporting only one or two people might sound amazing but for an Emperor like him, it's inadequate.
So he did what someone with his talents would do. He innovated, enlarging the magic circle, rearranging magical nodes, intricately weaving magic through each line, and spending sleepless nights finishing it.
And just last night, he was successful. He had successfully created a warp gate. It was big enough to fit three large wagons riding side by side which is equivalent to teleporting 10 to 20 people per second.
Meaning, within just 3 hours, he could transport more than 200,000 knights.
After adjourning the meeting, General Liam and General Darius promised to assemble a hundred thousand-strong army.
Meanwhile, Henry made his way to an open area just outside the capital city of Lioncrest. He already had someone construct walls and defenses, conjoining them with the main walls of Lioncrest.
This would be where Henry would place the first Mass Teleportation Gate that will transport massive armies throughout the continent. After he's done, the next step is to head somewhere close to the Northern Lands, preferably inside, and place a similar teleportation gate.
———
"Take them all away!" The Jarl stared at the people in cuffs, grinning as each of them was slowly herded and brought to cages.
Just this morning, many Jarls and their mens were dispatched as soon as the news of immigrants reached the High King's ears. His order was simple, grab as many as they can, place cuffs on them before using them to tend the mines and farms, basically free slaves.
And the Jarls couldn't agree more with the High King's wise decision. During their war against the Central Lands, they had suffered great losses, forcing a few Jarls to withdraw and focus on recovering their strength.
With this god-given opportunity of free slaves, they wasted no time assigning them to their iron and gold mines, while the younger, older ones, and women were sent to their farms, forever toiling their soil.
However, not all were immediately captured. A few stubborn ones, especially the Kings with their armies, were resisting very hard, colluding with one another to break through the Viking armies.
"They have nowhere to go. It's just a matter of time before they either surrender or die from whatever they're running from." The Jarl clicked his tongue. His eyes wandered over each of their captured slaves when one particular girl, young and fresh-looking, caught his attention.
'Well well, would you look at that. A maiden with flawless skin like a babe.' The Jarl licked his dry lips. He called out to a nearby Viking.
"You there! Fetch me that woman here, quick!"
Startled, the woman looked around only to find two thick, burly hands grabbing her by her eyes. Panic filled her eyes as she tumbled and resisted as she was dragged forward.
"Wait! No! Please, don't!"
The Viking who was grabbing her tightened his grip and mustered even more strength to pull her.
"Get your filthy hands off her, you animal!" A youthful yell echoed from deep within the ranks of lined-up young men who were on their way to be transferred to the mines.
Someone broke from the line and smashed himself against the Viking causing the two of them to fall on the muddy ground.
The girl yelled, "Brother!"
The Viking was the first to recover. Standing up, he made his way to the fallen young man, "You're dead meat, boy!" With a raise of his leg, he stomped heavily on the young man's chest, a sickening crunch was heard followed by a guttural scream.
"Gaaahhh!"
"No! Please! Brother!"
The Viking threw two more stomps on the same spot in quick succession before unbuckling his war-axe, "There are plenty of other men, we're not gonna need the likes of you."
Everyone simply watched, some in amusement while others in pain—likely familiar with the young man who's about to meet his maker. Even the Jarl stayed still, his eyes locked on the young woman's despairing expression which he relished.
Fwoosh!
Twack!
A single arrow flew through the air, slipping past several figures before landing on the Viking's temple, a bullseye.
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise just in time as the body of the Viking swayed and fell to the side. The young woman, albeit shocked like the others, immediately crawled down to her brother and gently caressed his cheek, "Please wake up. Please."
The Jarl was the first to react, "Enemy attack!"
He was about to pull the reins of his horse, when another arrow came flying by but this time, the target was him. Unfortunately, he wasn't just a Jarl without a reason.
His instinct combined with his sharp eye and quick reaction made him able to deflect the arrow with his war-axe. But the others weren't that fortunate, as several more arrows whizzed past and hit a few of his men, each tumbling down on the ground with arrows either sticking in their heads or their throats.
Only then did the others react, dropping whatever they were doing and brandishing their respective shields and axes. Meanwhile, the captured men and women took this opportunity to back away, getting behind the Vikings.
"Over there! By the hill!"
Everyone looked at the place where the man was pointing. To their surprise, there was indeed a person standing on top of the hill. And this particular person was not alone.
Two more emerged behind him, then another, and then hundreds, then thousands until the entire hill was filled with knights wearing familiar armor.
"It's them Lioncrest Knights! How could they reach this deep in the north?!" The Jarl couldn't believe his eyes. Their current location is at the back of the Northern Lands, literally thousands of miles away from their borders against the Central Lands.
If an army this large wants to cross from the Central Lands to here, they would have to bulldoze through several Jarldoms, and even the High King's Jarldom would inevitably be encountered.
"Must be the work of that blasphemous magic of their Emperor!" The Jarl screamed, he raised his war-axe, "Shove your bloody axes on their throats!"
"Feed the ravens!"
Despite having so many questions about the sudden appearance of their enemy, they were experienced in the field of war and knew when to start asking questions. So they simply raised their axes and charged forward, leaving the captives to a few Vikings who stayed behind.
The clash was immediate and bloody. The side of the Lioncrest, whose numbers ranged more than 200,000 quickly outmatched the Vikings who only had a few thousand, some battered and injured as they were in the middle of licking their wounds from their skirmish against the immigrants.
Within just a few minutes, the victor was quickly decided as the golden color of the Lioncrest knights littered the field.
The captives, still in cuffs, didn't dare to utter a word. To them, they had no idea what kind of people the Lioncrest were. Who knows, their captors might've just gone from worse to worst.
Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case as a few minutes later, their cuffs were snapped and thrown on the ground, the knight in the front, wearing black armor that looked as if it was absorbing the light itself, spoke about their freedom and how their lands were wide and open for them to occupy and start anew.
Most of the wealthy merchants, nobles, and royal figures stepped forward to take charge, initiating a deal with the Knight General.
The common folk understood everything as soon as the deal was sealed with a handshake. The Lioncrest Empire, the largest and strongest empire on this continent, would help them rebuild their Kingdom. In exchange, they would become a Vassal Kingdom under the banner of the Lioncrest Empire once they've gained enough of a foothold.
To some, the deal might sound bad and outrageous, but to them, who had just lost their home to the unknown, it was good enough that they wouldn't have to rebuild on their own, not to mention, fighting for a land where the foundations of their new Kingdom would be built upon.
They were slowly rounded up soon after, children and the elderly were offered to ride inside the wagons that the Lioncrest Army brought with them. To everyone's surprise, those wealthy merchants and nobles weren't offered one, instead, they were forced to walk along with their subjects.
They could only swallow their pride and endure marching on their own feet. To them, this action made them silently resent Lioncrest in their hearts but to the common folk? Who hadn't seen something like this throughout their whole life, it gave them a slight bit of hope that their new rulers wouldn't be as bad as the usual nobles are.
The army then slowly marched back to the Teleportation Gate where they came from, a few miles away from their position, hidden deep inside a forest, guarded by Henry's magical runes and a few knights.
Meanwhile, three riders separated from the marching army, riding in the opposite direction of where the army was facing.
Henry gave them a simple mission. Assess the darkness that is spreading and calculate its speed, and how far it would take before it reaches the Central Lands.
——————————
[Ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to officially announced that this book is now at its final chapter on my p-atreon.]