Chapter 77: Noah's First Punch To The Northern Nobles!
While Merlin was still contemplating the opening of the Land of Shadows arc, the other five kings among the Northern Six Kings were utterly stunned by everything Rivalen had revealed.
"Though I heard similar accounts when questioning Pictish prisoners earlier... King Rivalen, is all this true?" said King Mark, who shared some kinship with Rivalen. Rivalen responded with a slight nod, eyes closed.
Witnessing Rivalen's demeanor, the other five kings fell into silence.
They had previously speculated about tactical strategies or assumed the elite forces appearing in Camelot during the luminous screen's manifestation had played a major role.
But now it appeared King Arthur alone had crushed the massive Pictish army solely through his kingly aura!
This seemed utterly invincible!
The three kings whose territories bordered the Saxon Barbarians in the south turned their gaze toward King Pellinore. These three territories had already considered yielding after Noah's defeat of the Picts—after all, in the north, the weak submitting to the strong was no disgrace!
Learning how Noah had crushed the Picts only strengthened their resolve.
However, the Northern Six Territories were a unified entity.
For years, they had followed King Pellinore's leadership. Thus, even with their individual thoughts, the three kings awaited his decision.
Both Rivalen and King Mark also looked to King Pellinore.
King Mark was fiercely loyal to Pellinore.
As for Rivalen... Noah had instructed him to cooperate freely with the plan here, so he had no intention of taking the lead—instead, he planned to remain in the shadows as a hidden player.
Naturally, he would follow whatever others did.
Under the collective gaze of the five kings, King Pellinore remained silent for a long while before finally releasing a deep sigh.
"The plan remains unchanged... Hearing is believing, but seeing is truth. If King Arthur can shatter the Picts with his kingly aura alone, then luring some magical beasts should pose no problem for him."
"In terms of human conflicts, his battle with the Picts was proof enough—but he hasn't yet faced magical beasts or demonstrated his personal combat prowess."
"So first, we'll test his capabilities with the magical beasts. After that, before signing the agreement, I'll challenge him to a duel. If he triumphs in both, then the North will submit to him completely!"
The North valued martial prowess.
Thus, after learning how Noah had defeated the Picts, King Pellinore had briefly considered simply signing the agreement and surrendering.
But ultimately, he refrained.
Though he now believed the North's submission to King Arthur was inevitable, he still had to maintain his standing in the North afterward.
As the current leader of the Northern Six Territories, even after submitting to King Arthur, he aimed to remain the supreme authority in the North, second only to the king.
Thus, the plan shifted from requiring King Arthur to prove his worth to Pellinore seeking to subtly demonstrate his own capabilities through the scheme.
This way, after the North submitted to King Arthur, he could bolster his own prestige and influence in the region.
Unlike the other five kings who nodded in silence after a brief pause, King Pellinore was already contemplating how to demonstrate his capabilities during the impending beast invasion and his duel with King Arthur.
He also intended to curry favor with King Arthur and prove his competence—killing two birds with one stone. This was the true essence of King Pellinore's plan.
The method of using bait to lure magical beasts was rarely known in the south of Britain. Before the arrival of the Saxon Barbarians, southern Britain had long been a peaceful hinterland, where some might never encounter a magical beast in their lifetime. After the Saxons came, with Vortigern aligning with them, southern magical beasts largely migrated northward, leaving southern Britain with "truly little" knowledge of such creatures.
Northern Britain, however, had always been a region overrun by magical beasts. After Vortigern brought the Saxon Barbarians, their numbers surged even further. Over the years, the north had to contend with the Picts, Saxon Barbarians, Roman defenses, and magical beasts, fostering a society exceptionally skilled in warfare, where martial prowess was revered, and tactics saw significant advancements.
It was during this period that bait for attracting magical beasts was discovered—essentially a special formula. When magical beasts caught the scent of this concoction, they would gather toward the bait. Typically, northern knights used it in the wilderness to guide beast herds, but now it was being employed to congregate them.
Noah was familiar with this substance—deeply so. During his simulation as the Alchemy King, he had retrieved it from the north and, recognizing its potential against magical beasts, even developed an enhanced version. This alchemical creation could attract beasts over a wider area, causing them to linger in one place without attacking.
Upon learning of King Pellinore's plan, Noah devised a new strategy. He first discussed the matter of Rhongomyniad with Merlin, who merely informed him that reaching its location required passing through the Land of Shadows and that further investigation was needed before departing.
As Mary recounted how, in her world, she had known the exact location of Rhongomyniad and the method to enter that hidden realm even before meeting King Uther, Noah marveled at Merlin's reputation as Britain's ultimate schemer. Since Merlin was unwilling to elaborate, Noah didn't press further, simply setting the matter aside for the time being and instructing Mary to monitor northern developments.
For several days, nothing major occurred; everyone was occupied with feasts and exchanges. It wasn't until Mary noticed King Pellinore's subordinates gathering a significant amount of bait to congregate magical beasts in one spot that Noah sprang into action simultaneously.
King Pellinore was not a man without principles.
He had the soldiers gather the magical beasts, not intending to launch an attack on the villages or to—
He merely planned to assemble the magical beasts into a horde, then put on a show and inform Noah that the beasts had gathered and needed to be dealt with.
Dangerous.
After that, he would lead a team with Noah to confront them.
He had no intention of letting the magical beasts cause large-scale damage, nor did he plan to truly bring harm to Noah.
But his plan changed due to Noah's interference!
A massive number of magical beasts began to gather, and the Great Surge, which should have erupted much later, started to flow at this moment.
The gathering point of these magical beasts was located in the central region of the north; otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to cause such extensive casualties once the Great Surge erupted.
Thus, as the Great Surge began to flow, the gathered magical beasts immediately surged toward the Northern Six Territories!
However.
These magical beasts bypassed the villages where the people lived, and as if with premeditation, headed straight for the locations of some northern nobles!
Noah had already marked their targets for them.
And this was Noah's first blow against the northern nobles!
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