Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 438 - 11: The War Has Arrived!

Chapter 438: Chapter 11: The War Has Arrived!

"The Riptide boy is fearless of dragons." Elder Yige spoke, "You cannot intimidate him; the boy will rebel."

"This will benefit him; once I enter the gates, I can relieve the siege of Fertile City." Alex stroked his thick beard with his fingers.

He wore a horned crown, donned a wide royal cape, with his face meticulously groomed, features rich yet very aesthetic.

The Black Iron King once wanted to anoint him as King of the North, a position second only to the Black Iron Throne, below one man but above thousands. Given time, he could also earn the title of Lord.

But Alex did not agree, for he believed what he gained with his own hands would far exceed any endowment from others, with destiny siding with him.

Now, that belief has been affirmed.

The Black Iron King had fallen, and he became the rightful King of the North without any coronation from others. In the future, he aims to become the King of the Earth, attaining honors even more exalted than the Black Iron King...his achievements might rival the Conqueror. - Will the future really be so smooth?

Alex pondered. The Conqueror waged a distant expedition from the Black Iron Land to Igo. And he fought out from Igo Land, waging a distant expedition to Black Iron, a path only he could imitate.

"We can see, the boy is proud, unwilling to be beneath anyone, innate in his nature." Yidene said.

Iron Flower County is the gate of Riptide and even Black Iron Land, built during the conquest; if the fortress is attacked forcibly, the attackers will undoubtedly suffer severe losses with great risks of failure.

Alex intended to work inside and out, letting River Valley Forces strike Iron Flower County from both sides.

But the result was clear; not only did they refuse, they dared to counterattack.

Their attitude was firm and decisive, without any hesitation, astonishing many.

They once traded, exchanging steel goods for slaves.

But everything changed after the battle on Heavenly Pegasus Plain.

Now, they are hostile to each other.

"I think the Riptide boy is like a hedgehog; you need to handle it properly not to get pricked, Yidene, you fool, you’ve screwed things up." Another old witch cursed.

...

This year, the sun is fiercer compared to previous years.

Summer ended, yet temperatures rose.

Dry dust ascended, forming cloud-like particles mid-air, like the earth’s exhausted breath.

The Igo people believed that every end of summer, the gods must fall once.

After countless summers, the gods fell countless times.

They call this phenomenon the Twilight of the Summers.

At this moment, all things perish, except for the eternal world created by the Dragon King.

That is a world vaster and more mysterious than the earth, also the final resting place for the souls pursued by warriors on battlefields.

Dragon King Hall.

Outside, the weather was hot, yet inside the hall was chilly, as ice gems embedded in the pillars quietly emitted coldness.

Alex sat on the throne, below him on one side sat seven Igo Priests Elders, both men and women, unkempt and ragged, all were deeply magical Igo’s Wise Men.

Yidene was among them, not standing out.

Yidene’s face was full of wrinkles, with a gloomy temperament, reminiscent of an old witch brewing poison in stories, but within the tribe, the status of Wiseman Priest was very high.

Cassandra sat elegantly on the other side, her eyes narrowed, expressing an ambiguous smile.

Selin’s eldest daughter had smooth black hair and fair skin, wearing a feathered soft hat on her head, with a veil slightly covering her beautiful and bright face, fitted in a velvet narrow-sleeved long dress with pleats, her chest and sleeves padded, along with white embroidered leather gloves. Her attire was entirely noble style, in stark contrast to the ragged style of the Igo Elders.

"Now, River Valley King has won again, the boy’s territory is as solid as gold." The Igo Priest said. "For us to pass the wall, to reach the land behind it, we can’t do without the boy’s Steel Warriors."

"That’s foolish!" Cassandra said.

"Girl, don’t take that attitude. Watch your expression, you’re not a dragon," Wizard Geouin said to her. "Even if you were, you wouldn’t speak to us like that; we only respect the Dragon King, not all dragons."

Cassandra understood Igo language, and the elders understood Black Iron language.

The ancient Divine Mysterious language spread across the land during the conquest, also prevailing in Igo.

"The Blasphemers won’t send troops; he’s accumulating power." Cassandra pointed out incisively. "Now is not the time for him to come out - at least he thinks so; he won’t risk losing his territories, no one can make him help open the way."

"We think you can go; Alex knows you have two blood kin visiting in River Valley."

"They hate me to the core." Cassandra laughed heartily, self-introducing with glee. "Just as my father detests me."

She abandoned Selin in the icy Igo Land, prolonging the agreement between Iaos and the Dragon Clan through blood kin.

The Conqueror’s treasury was never gold or jewels, nor exceptional armor.

But power, and the power to converse with dragons.

"The girl and more dragons can go too; we can go, the boy has nowhere to run."

"That’s even more foolish!" Cassandra sneered mercilessly.

Her words were sharp and unpleasant.

"Elders, my prophet teacher is no vegetarian; even though she resides in Cangyue, as long as certain matters are too large, we haven’t departed, the future will have been dreamed by her, and the outcome predetermined! Haven’t you seen Lord Betrice’s tragic state?

"How does the Igo language phrase it? Ahem, you treat the Blasphemers as the boy, and Isabella treats you as children...a group of dying children. Believe me, your wisdom is ineffective before her!"

"We don’t believe that, or good girls wouldn’t have come to our side." The Igo’s Wise Man said, referring to good girls from Witch Forest.

The Holy City incident erupted; they had nowhere to escape, only joining pirates. Now, some were tortured to death, some barely survived.

However, no Black Iron Witch who joined pirates ever stood in this hall.

Cassandra stood up.

"Then go ahead, don’t expect me to have dragons help you. My divination ability fails on that land; the future is chaotic; I can’t see it. So, I won’t fight a battle I can’t win; presumably, Lord Valhall wouldn’t agree for you to approach the Riptide descendants because...a dragon would die."

"War will lead to dragon death too; all things have an end." The Igo’s Wise Man said.

Alex asked, "Unwavering witch, what insights have you?"

Cassandra was never impulsive.

She was always purposeful, selfish, and power-driven.

As per agreement, Igo and dragons conquered the earth, with the earth for him, the skies for dragons, and Cassandra being the Holy Seat of Dragon Clan’s faith, comparable to the Holy City Pope.

Dragons were her foundation. She wouldn’t cast dragons into actions with no gain.

When dispatching Yidene and Betrice to River Valley, Cassandra had strongly opposed.

’I have dragons, able to conquer Ice Island. I have warriors, an army of tens of thousands. I have Dragon Steel, immensely durable. I have Magic, with tribal priests of Igo serving me...’

Destiny also stands by me. Alex mused.

Igo’s Wise Man had told him, Dragon King’s Fury was inevitable, would spread across the earth, creating the world anew at the end of all things.

Yet now, he was blocked in the north by the gods’ believers, unable to move south.

Could it be the gods were not entirely dead, opposing him? Or perhaps it’s not time?

This was a war of beliefs. Alex felt he wouldn’t fail, nor did he think the Dragon King would lose to the gods.

The witch adept in prophecy pondered, contemplated, hesitated.

She frowned and told the Lord of the North.

"The war has arrived... and... the castle is destroyed from within..."

Skillful wizards all possess foresight, through observing the Netherworld, divination, deduction, interpretation, foretelling the future.

Most witches did not have a complete view of destiny.

Because the more involved, the more variables arise.

Approaching the Dark Age, this ability weakened.

Cassandra provided an unverifiable and imprecise future.

When will it happen? How specifically will it happen? Who or what is involved?

Alex knew nothing, and Cassandra only knew this much.

Undoubtedly—

Summer is over! Twilight of Summers is over!

War has come! War has come!