Work Prophet

The Lady's cannon shot shattered not only a few trees at the foot of the hill but also Commander Harvin's long-held perceptions.

People born in the age of cold weapons could hardly contain their shock upon witnessing the power of firearms for the first time, especially since Ireya had also associated it with Saturday.

Harvin did not doubt this claim because it was clear that such terrible damage could not be caused by mere mortal strength.

On his way back to camp, he was in a daze, his mind replaying that terrifying moment—the dreadful thunder and the flash of light that came and went in an instant.

Meanwhile, Ireya stood atop the hillside with Duren, watching Harvin's retreating figure.

"Do you think he will accept our ceasefire proposal?" the young girl asked.

"He was never certain of defeating us in the first place, and now he's been frightened by the New Holy Artifact. At the very least, he probably won't launch an attack on us anytime soon,"

said the former Imperial Forest Guard Captain. "But peace won't last long. The Figrola family has already surrendered to those from the Winged Clan, abandoning their own territories.

"Without them taking the lead, it will be difficult for the remaining nobles of the Western Territories to unite and resist the Winged Clan. Consequently, everyone will only fend for themselves, becoming lackeys to the Winged Clan."

Duren spoke with a solemn expression. This was not just an issue of the Western Territories; many of the Empire's great nobles had not fared well when faced with this sudden war.

The battle of White River City had terrified numerous families; aside from a few places like the Northern Territory, Golden Valley, and Salt Island that were still resisting, many others offered a symbolic resistance before quickly backing down.

And there were families like the Pangluosi of Elk Valley, who didn't even fight but rushed to surrender.

Duren had spent a considerable time in the Royal Capital and often interacted with these important figures; he had some inkling of their thoughts.

Unlike their brave ancestors, these noble families had enjoyed nearly a thousand years of comfortable living by their generation, accustomed to a life of ease and resolving issues through political means, they only wanted to preserve everything their family had acquired.

In contrast, it was the smaller and medium nobles below them that displayed a greater spirit of resistance, but without the leadership of the great nobles above, their force could not coalesce into a united front, resulting in isolated battles and being defeated one by one.

Moreover, the Winged Clan had dragons.

The Lady knew that without dealing with the dragon problem, even if Harvin were intimidated by the Italian Cannon now, she would still have to fight him head-on sooner or later.

The Holy Artifacts crafted by the Double Rest Sect were powerful, but they performed poorly against enemies in the sky.

The accuracy of these Italian Cannons was poor, nowhere near as good as the dueling pistols in the Lady's possession.

Unless there were a hundred cannons set up in advance at some location and fired simultaneously, they might have a chance to injure a passing giant dragon.

So counting on this Holy Artifact to slay a dragon was obviously unrealistic. However, fortunately, Miss Rabbit still had more tricks up her sleeve.

"Merlin said he will take care of the trouble brought by the White Dragon," Ireya said.

Duren nodded, "By then, I believe the other nobles of the Western Territories will also be willing to sit down and have a proper discussion with us."

......

Harvin returned to his own tent and sat for a while to regain some energy, but soon his headache started to intensify.

He was able to become the Commander of the Alliance Army not only because of his own commanding abilities but also because many formidable opponents had not entered the competition, such as Fabrice from the Pope Family and Kamzi from the Treles Family.

Both men were remarkably talented in military affairs and had once fought alongside Ireya in the battle against the Dwarves. Harvin now understood why neither of them wanted to be the Commander this time.

The Arias Family was more troublesome than he had imagined; just the Black Cavalry, who appeared and disappeared like ghosts, had given Harvin a lot of trouble, and now he discovered that the former Imperial Forest Guard Captain was also on the opposite side.

Moreover, the New Holy Artifact of the Double Rest Sect was astonishingly powerful. Although the Alliance Army still held a numerical advantage, it was not enough to secure a victory in this battle.

However, Harvin dared not follow the Lady's suggestion to call for a temporary truce, because just before his departure, a Female Winged Clan member had already issued him a military order, demanding that he commence an attack immediately upon reaching Green Field.

Harvin was now caught between a rock and a hard place, feeling that no matter what he chose, it would lead to a dead end. After much internal conflict, he finally decided to throw the problem back to his superiors.

He wrote a letter with all the intelligence he had gathered about the Arias Family and the Double Rest Sect and had it sent back to Rock Snow City.

Even in the best-case scenario, the round trip would take at least six or seven days, and during this time he could hold his troops in place.

The letter was quickly delivered into the hands of Ivan, the former intelligence chief, who found her while Lannita and the White Dragon were returning to Rock Snow City for rest and recuperation.

"The Italian Cannon, is that thing really so powerful? And what kind of Holy Artifact can there be a hundred of?"

Lannita said this as she poured herself another glass of wine. She had not known grapes in the place she had lived before, and upon arriving at the Bratis Continent, she rapidly fell in love with this fine wine.

Now she felt uncomfortable if she went a day without drinking, even carrying two barrels on the back of the White Dragon when going out to "recruit soldiers."

However, the recruiting was about to come to an end. She had already visited some of the larger families, and the smaller ones were not worth her traveling to.

Now, the only major Lord in the Western Territory who had refused to send troops to participate in the campaign against the Arias Family was Angela from the Immanuel Family.

Like Ireya, she was a follower of the Double Rest Sect, and it was said that her ability to defeat her two brothers and become the new Family Head of the Immanuel Family was inseparable from Merlin's help.

If she could make Angela pay, on one hand, it would deal a heavy blow to the morale of the Arias Family and the Double Rest Sect, and on the other hand, Lannita believed that no noble in the Western Territory would dare to defy her orders again.

This thought was very tempting, only there was a problem.

After Angela became Family Head, she did not stay in Golden Tail City, the largest and most prosperous city under her family's control, but instead went to Black Stone City, which was slightly smaller but bordering Green Field.

Of course, from a safety perspective, Lannita could also choose to attack Golden Tail City, which would still severely damage the Immanuel Family.

However, after understanding the current situation of the Immanuel Family, Lannita gave up on this idea. Angela's two brothers were currently in Golden Tail City.

Although they had lost to their sister, they were not willing to give up so easily and had been secretly plotting to overthrow their sister's rule; in fact, they still had control over most of Golden Tail City.

They had already sent trusted envoys to Rock Snow City, subtly conveying their willingness to pledge loyalty to Lannita, so setting fire to Golden Tail City would not strike at Angela but might actually do her a favor.