134: A descendant of the Golden Royal Family?

After emptying Bright Moon Territory, Renn did not spare the original Black Iron Territory and Rye Territory either.

The two Baronies, which had already lost all order, were forcefully brought under control by Renn; any thugs or criminals taking advantage of the chaos were executed on the spot.

Subsequently, the populations of the two territories were relocated, and all supplies were hauled away by Renn.

Dario and Edwin had only taken their most precious personal belongings when they left. It was impossible for them to carry away things like grain and minerals on short notice, so these were all left for Renn.

In Black Iron Territory, Renn harvested a large amount of iron ore. Clearly, Baron Dario had intended to stockpile the ore until the merchant caravans arrived next spring, but now it all benefited Renn.

The vast quantities of supplies stored by the two Barons for their respective territories were essentially taken over intact by Renn and transported back to Red River Territory.

However, among the three Baronies, the defense force of Bright Moon Territory had suffered a devastating blow and was nearly wiped out. The Guard Army soldiers of the remaining two Baronies had been taken away by the Barons when they fled.

As a result, there were no Professionals among the population Renn gathered—they were all ordinary people. Most were Slaves, with only a very small number of freemen and common subjects.

Two days later, Renn had completely emptied the three Baronies, bringing nearly seventy thousand people under his wing.

The large city for a population of one hundred thousand that Renn had originally planned was achieved in just two days.

To accommodate them, Renn organized manpower to start constructing a new batch of residential buildings. These new buildings were taller, with more floors, reaching six stories, allowing more people to live in them.

With an ample population—and since most were young and strong without the elderly or weak, as the three Baronies were newly established and the people they brought naturally didn't include the infirm—Red River Territory's human resources were now extremely abundant.

Renn immediately organized a Militia of twenty thousand men. Currently, the limit of his organizational capacity was twenty thousand; any more and the ranks would become chaotic, which would be detrimental to combat.

Renn selected the group with the best physical fitness for these twenty thousand, letting the Guard Army lead them in intensive training to learn some basic combat knowledge.

The rest of the population began war preparations: forging weapons and equipment, building defensive structures on the city walls, reinforcing houses, constructing new homes, and so on.

The seventy thousand newly relocated people also let the subjects of Red River Territory know how terrifying the powerful enemy from the north was. Everyone worked even harder at the task of defending their home.

Inside the hall of Red River Fortress, Renn discussed war preparations with several experts of the territory.

The Wolf Pack, which had been scouting outside, had already brought back news: a large number of magical beasts and Dragon-blooded Monsters had been spotted near Bright Moon Territory.

“It seems the Dragon Army has arrived.”

“A bit later than expected. Moreover, that Dragon-blooded Monster that escaped didn't bring any experts back for revenge. It seems Roderick doesn't intend to take action personally.”

Anatolis breathed a sigh of relief. Based on the current intelligence, the situation was very favorable for them.

“It seems my previous judgment was correct; a Legendary will not intervene. However, the Dragon Army is numerous, so it will still be a major test for the territory.”

“Don't worry. The territory has three Gold Peak combatants, plus you, a Gold Knight, and my hundreds of descendants. Defending Red River City will certainly not be a problem.”

With the confirmation that there were no Legendary Experts, Anatolis's confidence surged. Given the current defensive strength of Red River Territory, without a Legendary taking action, there was simply no possibility of it falling.

However, Renn was not so optimistic. What he wanted was not just to hold Red River City, but also to ensure the territory's losses weren't too great.

“I'll have to trouble you all for the time being, especially Senior Anatolis. I hope you will continue to lead the Wolf Pack and monitor the movements of the Dragon Army at all times.”

“Leave it to me and rest easy, kid Renn.”

After Anatolis, Alistair, Melissa, and the others left, Fornal and about ten other Red River Territory administrators entered the hall.

“Lord!”

“Are those supply warehouses all repaired and ready?”

Johnny gave a serious report.

“Everything is settled. All warehouses were built according to the previous standards. Since we had already built many empty warehouses in advance, the placement of supplies went very smoothly this time.”

“Very good. These supplies are the lifeline of the territory and must not encounter any accidents. Arrange for personnel to guard them around the clock.”

“Continue reinforcing the defensive structures on the walls. Don't stop—reinforce as much as you can.”

“Housing for the subjects must also be prioritized. With so many people and this cold weather, they can't keep sleeping out in the open.”

Renn arranged the territory's affairs one by one. With the population explosion and the imminent war, various problems followed. Fornal and the others were already busy beyond belief.

But everyone knew the territory had reached a moment of life and death. No one complained of hardship or exhaustion; they all gritted their teeth and persevered to do every task well.

While Red River Territory was united in its preparations for war, to the north in Bright Moon Territory, Dragon Hawk led his army to occupy Bright Moon Town.

Dragon Hawk's eyes cautiously scanned the familiar town. Finding not a single living person, he felt a mix of anger and relief. His tense heart relaxed slightly.

Subsequently, Dragon Hawk vented the anger in his heart on the empty Bright Moon Town, ordering the town to be burned.

Over a hundred Dragon Beasts spat flames, turning Bright Moon Town into a sea of fire. Looking at the burning town, Dragon Hawk recalled his humiliating encounter from two days ago.

He had been ordered to capture a fairy, but not only did he fail to catch her, he even lost Fire Wing in the process.

After fleeing back, he had received dozens of lashes from Cult Leader Roderick. Roderick's dragon-head whip could kill a Silver Peak Dragon-blooded Warrior with a single strike; after dozens of lashes, even Dragon Hawk was in a bad way.

After Dragon Hawk reported the intelligence he had gathered to Roderick, this leader of the Dragon Worship Cult thought the same as Dragon Hawk, assuming Alistair was the scion of some great figure in the human kingdoms.

In Roderick's eyes, having a Gold-rank Peak fairy as a partner, along with a Gold-rank Peak Magic Wolf and a mage for protection—this combination made Roderick think of the Golden Royal Family.

The Fairy Forest had been sealed off for thousands of years. How could an ordinary human have a fairy partner, especially one with strength reaching the Gold Peak?

There was only one possibility: the human Golden Royal Family had an ancient covenant with the fairies. As the royal Golden Family, it would make sense for them to be accompanied by a fairy who had wandered outside and never returned to the Fairy Forest.

At the same time, the Golden Royal Family was extremely skilled at nurturing magical beast partners. The first Golden King had a Golden Dragon King as a partner, and both the second Golden King and the current third Golden King possessed powerful Golden Lions as combat partners.

The number of magical beast mounts bred by the Golden Royal Family was also significant. Only the Golden Royal Family could dispatch magical beasts of Gold Peak strength to protect their scions.

Thinking of this, Roderick had already abandoned the idea of capturing that fairy, and he also had no intention of seeking out the human suspected of being a Golden Royal scion.

He was clear about his purpose for coming south. If he provoked that Golden Royal scion, it was very likely to attract the attention of the Golden King. Roderick never wanted to face that sovereign.

He was here to support the Demon God Cult. He was a supporting character, while the Demon God Cult was the protagonist. The Golden King's attention had to be focused on the Demon God Cult, not on him.

So in the end, Roderick only ordered Dragon Hawk to take a portion of the army and follow the established plan to clear out the minor nobles in the Red River Valley, but to avoid provoking the Golden Royal scion.

Dragon Hawk deeply resented that human brat, but he was also extremely terrified of returning here. He didn't want to provoke a scion of the Golden Royal Family in the slightest.

Two hundred years ago, when the Golden King swept across the entire northern Dragon Army, he had been a Dragon-blooded Warrior, standing in the ranks of a Legendary Dragon.

As a result, his arrogant and powerful master was decapitated by the Golden King after just a few exchanges. The dragon's corpse crashed down right in front of him. It was then that he bathed in dragon blood and stepped into a higher level.

If the Golden King hadn't disregarded him as a mere ant and allowed him to escape, Dragon Hawk would have been dead long ago.

Thus, the fear of the Golden King was deeply etched into the depths of Dragon Hawk's soul.

When Roderick analyzed that the person he encountered might be a Golden Royal scion, Dragon Hawk couldn't help but feel lucky that he hadn't succeeded in the end; otherwise, he would be dead for sure.

“Lord, we have found traces of human migration!”

A Wyvern Knight subordinate interrupted Dragon Hawk's thoughts.

“I see. Let's go take a look!”