Chapter 516: The Frost Maul Disaster
Rebels…
Annan vaguely recalled this matter.
A curse vessel that replaces the essence of the Austere-Winter family. This is critical.
Even if the curse vessel was destroyed later, the idea that “the Austere-Winter family was not completely necessary” had already taken root in people’s minds.
Grand Duke Ivan spoke slowly, “By the time we realized that Vladmir might have betrayed Austere-Winter, he had already tampered with a third of the Frost Beast’s memory, changing the highest authority from me to ‘him’.
“Fortunately, it was discovered in time. Bella turned herself in, claiming her intention to shoulder her crimes by committing meritorious deeds. Then, we used her information to clean up the inside of Winter’s Hand.
“A total of 31 traitors were found, and 17 fled. Although it isn’t a big number, they have quietly stolen a lot of supplies by relying on the Winter’s Hand authority.”
In other words, they had planned it for a long time.
With his father explaining the matter, Annan slowly sorted out what had happened six years ago.
At that time, Vladmir lent the Rotten Man’s power, sneaked underground, and escaped Austere-Winter Dukedom after the Rotten Man acquired the bet. No one knew what price he paid or if he had already conspired with the Rotten Man in the first place.
The Austere-Winter Dukedom immediately seized Vladmir’s students.
But even so, there was still a person who slipped through the net — Vladmir’s disciple, Th.o.r.eau Nick, who did not pa.s.s the Wolf’s Kiss ritual and left Frostwhisper Province long ago.
Annan still remembered the name.
He met this man in the Wolf’s Kiss Nightmare.
Th.o.r.eau Nick was a shy young man with light brown hair, fair skin, and freckles. He had thin and sunken cheeks.
His parents were murderers, so no one wanted to teach him swordsmanship. In the end, Vladmir brought him up and led him to the path of transcendence.
“—Teacher is my benefactor! For the sake of Teacher, I can even offer my life!”
It seemed that Th.o.r.eau Nick’s sonorous and pa.s.sionate words still lingered in Annan’s ears.
“Relying on Vladmir’s authority, Th.o.r.eau Nick led the defected Winter’s Hands and organized a rebel army called the ‘Iceshredders’.
“They claim that Austere-Winters have no human emotions, so the laws are harsh, unkind, always sacrificing others but never self-sacrifice, which is unconvincing.
“Since the fundamental reason for the Austere-Winter Family to serve as the Grand Duke is that Austere Winter’s Blood can freely control the Frost Beast, and the Frost Beast is an irresistible military strength. Then, as long as other means are used to control the Frost Beast, we don’t need the Austere-Winter Family to be the Grand Duke.”
When Ivan said this, he sneered, “The winter year is still too long.
“The younger generation who were born in the winter year and grew up in the winter year have forgotten their Old Grandmother.”
“Then?”
“After that, they made a lot of promises locally and got the support of some local n.o.bles.”
However, it happened that Ivan Austere-Winter was the most recognized and capable Grand Duke in the past two hundred years. His charisma made most people unwilling to partic.i.p.ate in the rebellion.
Sacrifices had happened.
Therefore, the rebels did not stir up many public opponents against the dukedom.
“Most people are waiting and watching. They hope to ‘sacrifice less and pay a lesser price’ by capitalizing on the rebels.”
Everyone hopes that they will not become the losers of this ordeal.
That is reasonable.
After that, it was a rebellion that lasted three years.
Having the curse vessel that controlled the Frost Beast allowed the Iceshredders Rebel Army to recruit soldiers at almost no cost outside the small barrier. It was also possible to collect a large number of cubs through the underground world and release them into the blizzard to artificially generate the Frost Beasts.
Ordinary soldiers could not resist the a.s.saults from the Frost Beasts, except for the First Legion trained with the Frost Beast.
Although the rebel numbers were not significant, they only launched the Frost Beast from a distance to attack those towns that did not support them, mainly to annihilate the troops that came to back up the officials. Actual rebels were rarely on the move, which was also tricky to deal with.
Only the Austere-Winter Family, the Winter’s Hand, the Priest of the Old Grandmother, and the First Legion with the Frost Beast mounts were effective against the Frost Beast.
“In the beginning, their strategy was successful. As the number of towns they attacked increased, many towns could not survive before reinforcements came, or the reinforcements could not resist the Frost Beasts. The dissatisfaction against us gradually increased.”
Grand Duke Ivan said slowly, “At this moment, your elder brother, Dmitri, the Iron-Blooded, came up with a plan with Bella’s suggestion.
“After all, the Iceshredders have many Frost Beasts but few people. They h.o.a.rd the Frost Beasts without thinking, but our Frost Beasts have soldiers from the First Legion and criminals to feed them, but they don’t have enough people.
“Then, we can reduce the rebel attack frequency. Then, more and more of the Frost Beast gradually lost control because they did not kill soldiers and lacked food. The hungry Frost Beasts finally slaughtered the first town for food, and the tables had turned.
“The Iceshredders lost the support of all marginal towns and local n.o.bles immediately. The Frost Beasts under control are weapons, but the Frost Beasts that have gone wild turn into a natural disaster. Natural disasters can only be resolved under the dukedom’s power. From this point of view, Bella’s strategy has immediately taken effect.
“However, the ma.s.sive hunger of the Frost Beast was uncontrollable. The greedy predation made more of the Frost Beast lose their food source and go crazy, and finally formed a natural disaster called the ‘Frost Maul Disaster’ like an avalanche.”
The natural disaster overshadowed the rebellion.
At this time, Bella, who had made up for it, displayed her power. The werewolf would not be the first to be attacked by the Frost Beasts, so the efficiency of the werewolf hunting the crazy Frost Beasts is superb. As long as ordinary people were used as bait, the frenzied Frost Beasts would turn a blind eye to the werewolf’s attack.
Therefore, Winter’s Hand tried to recruit a group of werewolves and trained them as “Windrunners”, which were used to go to various places to kill and eliminate the excess frenzied Frost Beasts.
Things are going pretty smoothly.
To combat the Frost Maul Disaster, Austere-Winter Dukedom absorbed more werewolves into the army and the Winter’s Hand. At this time, people gradually forgot about the Iceshredders. They could only control ordinary Frost Beasts, and the newly born Frost Beasts would soon go crazy.
Finally, Maria Austere-Winter successfully inherited the power of the Daughter of the Storm.
She utilized the power of the Storm Tower to scan the entire territory of Austere-Winter and came about the Great Barrier to kill the Frost Beast on a large scale. Finally, the disaster came to an end.
On the flip side, she located the Iceshredders and executed the counterinsurgency.
“However, Nick Th.o.r.eau, who was the leader, is missing.
“After Maria intensified her detection efforts and monitoring scope, although she did not find Th.o.r.eau Nick, she unexpectedly reached a discovery. Bella and some of the werewolves recruited into the Winter’s Hand sent out messages secretly.
“The person who received the news this time was no longer Vladmir, who fled the Austere-Winter Dukedom and entered the underground world.
“It’s an ambitious man named [Professor Wolf] Frederick.” In other words, she betrayed the Austere-Winter Dukedom for the second time.
It was most likely that the strategy she offered back then was the strategy “Professor Wolf” was given to improve the status of werewolves.
In other words, the destruction from the Frost Maul Disaster, which was at least five folds the Icebreaker Army, could be their conspiracy.
“This is the cause of the ‘Second Purge’ where all werewolves were purged from Winter’s Hand and executed in secret.”
After Ivan finished speaking, he looked at Annan and said calmly, “Bella fled for several years and was found and killed by Maria two months ago.
“But Annan, you know… It’s not over yet.”
Vladmir, who sneaked underground; Th.o.r.eau Nick, who disappeared inexplicably; and Professor Wolf, whose plans remained hidden…
Annan nodded slowly.
“I see.”
Is that why Dmitri completely lost trust in her and even in werewolves?
I got it now.