Chapter 1392 - 1263: The Outcome Decided

"Have the vampires retreated?"

A resonant inquiry echoed from the Brass Throne, causing both the staff and officers present to bow their heads simultaneously: "The enemy's main forces have withdrawn. We've defeated over ten thousand of their troops in this battle, and the count of captives is still underway."

"Alright."

It's no wonder the soldiers and officers present dared not raise their heads—the scene before them was too solemn to gaze upon directly.

A brass throne towered like a mountain on a platform at Mount Mote, nearly three meters high.

The base was a hexagonal brass block embedded with densely packed star-shaped rivets.

The structure consisted of three nested brass frameworks, the outer layer featuring Gothic lattice patterns entwined with thumb-thick chains.

Through the latticed gaps, one could see gears and springs continuously ticking and turning inside.

Above the base were three steps, and above the steps stood the Pope's throne.

This Papal throne, due to the lack of suitable high-end furniture manufacturers in the Holy Alliance, was managed by the furniture contractors of the Falan Royal Family.

Since last year till now, it was only barely completed upon Horn's arrival at Huaqiu City.

The armrests of the throne consisted of two upward-coiling giant serpents, and the backrest was a pointed arch soft woven cushion connected to countless brass conduits.

Inside the conduits, moon mercury flowed, spiraling on the adhesive surface of a spine.

At the top of the throne hovered a metallic crown of olive branches, linked by twisted mithril threads with the backrest conduits.

At this moment, that crown was worn atop Horn's head, whose voice was accompanied by dense ticking sounds from the base's main springs whenever he spoke.

Though unseen, the continuous flow of ether could still be felt supplying the entire battalion.

The exceedingly high concentration of ether twisted the space around, causing Horn's voice, though close, to reverberate like an echoing hall.

Observing the soldiers' mix of fear and fanaticism, Horn shook his head in resignation.

This throne is essentially a mobile ether radiation tower. Horn tried naming it the Spark Tower and altering its shape to that of a tower.

But Hilov dismissed it as too rustic.

Finally, to intimidate the enemy forces and boost morale, the theologians of the Holy Council remodeled it into its current form.

The great Sun Horn said that the crown must be worn.

Indeed, Ayl's crown only manifests the function of a micro ether tower when worn by someone with mana.

Essentially, it is an ongoing ether extraction ritual.

From this perspective, it also imposes high usage requirements.

So far, apart from Horn and a few powerful witches, almost no one can use it.

The sunset was like blood, casting its glow over the verdant land and watching the vampires retreating beyond view, Horn finally removed the crown.

Immediately, fourteen jets of steam spewed from the side conduits, billowing out behind Horn like the snow-white wings of an angel.

"Your Holiness, don't catch a cold." Petier promptly draped a coat over Horn.

As Horn donned the coat, he casually asked, "How did the soldiers perform?"

"Initially, they were a bit unaccustomed, but they adapted later. Now, with your powers withdrawn, they're likely to feel unaccustomed again."

Horn chuckled wryly; having tasted endless ether, it's hard to return to how things were.

Looking back at the completed battle, His Holiness the Pope as the commander didn't seem to have any standout maneuvers.

Just methodically deploying troops, organizing counterattacks, and reusing forces, defeating the enemy with plain tactics.

After all, Horn hadn't commanded a grand battle in nearly ten years and needed to proceed with caution.

Moreover, his personal command style had always been like this—Saint's Grandson waging war is always in this manner.

Before engaging, he ensured all preparations were complete, there's even a saying that victory or defeat was determined before the battle started.

Cheka caused disturbances to reinforcements in vampire-occupied territories.

He personally led the army, approaching the battlefield with full force, compelling Konyaz to engage.

He seized control of the battlefield ahead of time, continuously drawing enemy troops into the grand battle.

Not to mention the Holy Alliance's training, weapons, morale, and logistics operations remaining committed.

Given numerous factors of victory accumulated in advance, as long as Horn himself didn't make mistakes, failure was almost impossible.

The Saint's Grandson himself neither craved grand victories nor feared great losses, akin to a relentless strategic machine.

He consistently amassed small victories, then utilized a critical point to merge into a massive triumph.

And in this battle, the key point for Mote's decisive engagement, was evidently the debut of the Brass Throne.

Its entrance was stunningly impactful.

When both sides reached equilibrium, teetering at the brink, Horn decisively sat upon the Brass Throne.

And then, the storm of lead bullets and cannon bombardment caught the enemy off guard, instantly tearing through their defenses.

Konyaz was a rational enemy. Sensing the shift, he disengaged from prolonged combat, promptly focused on preserving his active forces.

He abandoned some clan troops, withdrawing from the battlefield.

It's conceivable that entering the night, the Holy Alliance's troops couldn't pursue aggressively again, inevitably allowing retreat from the dock.

"Your Holiness, we've achieved a stage victory." Petier couldn't hold back his excitement as he viewed the retreating vampires under the sunset, "After this battle, the crisis at Huaqiu City has essentially been resolved."

The Royal Court forces in the north were pushed across the Nao'an River, the Falan Army merely needed to seize the docks, preventing troops from River Island from crossing over, and the Royal Court forces in the southern back couldn't return.

No matter the outcome in the south, their final result could only be withdrawing to Laurel Fortress and White Sand Land.

Laurel Fortress had just been breached recently, leaving no time to repair the defenses, likely only capable of defense and not offense.

Though many Royal Court forces remained on Flower Hill, Huaqiu City Royal Capital's safety was at least secured.

"I know." Horn glanced toward the Falan military observation team members.

Through their eyes, the power of the Papal Throne would be relayed back, allowing Charles VIII and Lorenzo to make rational decisions.

Soon enough, Horn himself could forge the Triple Crown, without needing the Triple Crown from Golden Horn Bay.

"Now, it's just down to the southern engagements."

The sun sank low, a dark night sky completely enveloping the world, and yet the cuirassiers continued battling vampires deep into the night.

By the next day, only sporadic gunshots were heard, and by the third day when Horn arrived at the docks, the vampires had already crossed the river.

This speed was unexpected for Horn.

In just two days, Konyaz managed to organize nearly twenty thousand vampires to cross the Nao'an River.

Bear in mind, this was a defeated army, along with negative factors like chaotic command across various ranks, yet he effectively organized the retreat.

This level of organizational strength and command ability could at least earn a battle army commander position within the Holy Alliance.

In the following week, the central battle army maintained sweeping leftover enemies across the north side, while awaiting news from the south side.

The Holy Alliance couldn't fight all of Falan's battles.

In this battle, Horn left behind his military academy's staff team and elite officers for Charles VIII.

Even devised a reformed supervisory system, promoting Falan nationalism to bolster morale.

If they still suffered a major defeat in spite of this, it would indeed be unredeemable, and Horn wouldn't invest further effort into them.

Yet the Falan people exceeded expectations this time, with Horn receiving new information by the first day of the second week—

The southern confrontation between Falan and the Royal Court forces determined, Charles VIII personally led the front, bringing victory to the Falan Army.