Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

They set out in early spring, journeying north, traveling a hundred miles each day, constantly advancing.

After more than ten days, they successfully entered the Winter Land, personally feeling the biting cold from the Northern Land, as fierce winds swept in, causing their muscles to tremble involuntarily.

The Black Iron Land occupied the fertile and affluent Central Valley.

Winter Land is also known as the Northern Land.

Its territory is vast, with more land area than Black Iron.

However, the price is harsh environment and severe climate, covered in ice and snow all year round, making it difficult to develop resources, sharing high latitude bitter cold with Igo Land.

It's said that human civilization has not yet explored the boundaries of Winter Land.

It's expansively incredible, boundless and endless, the further north, the more extreme the cold, reaching the Endless Ice Field where all explorers must halt.

They ventured north from the south, entering Winter Land was just the beginning.

Their target was deep within the snowfield.

This meant traversing the entire Winter Kingdom.

Fortunately, the troop had a highly high-end configuration.

Over twenty Silver Moon Knights shining brightly, led by Herman. He was the deputy captain of the special force, ranking only below Green and other officers. Additionally, eight witches accompanied them.

This journey was difficult; Winter Land's biggest impression on everyone was the collapse of order.

The Black Iron Land also experienced a collapse of order, but the Conqueror Order was quickly taken over by the Order of Gods.

Despite the suffering of Black Iron citizens, priests and nuns strived to maintain basic order, sustaining a unified stance.

Winter Land was entirely different.

Ever since the Winter King passed away on his sickbed two years ago, just days after Black Iron King Iolion's death.

The Winter King had no offspring, and the royal family's power waned, with the vast kingdom instantly falling into chaos.

Winter Dukes hoarded troops, mutual conflicts ensued.

Some dukes invoked Conqueror Order, while others used the name of the Church Court Gods, and yet others evoked the name of the Winter King.

Winter Land had nearly ten large and small dukes and many independent Frontier Marquises, some marquises being even stronger than the dukes.

Now, most forces joined this power struggle.

But the war situation in Winter Land was unrelated to Herman and others.

Silver Moon Knights were light cavalry, their silver-white armor extremely light, agile and frighteningly mobile.

With the brilliance of the Silver Moon Gem, the combat prowess of Silver Moon Knights could be compared to Winter's Internal Guard or the frontier's Frost Knight, making them a formidable external high-end force.

Winter's local forces viewed them with hostility, wariness, temptation, exploitation, and even sought to subjugate them.

Herman had to negotiate, exhaustively explaining their origins and purpose to those nobles, which took considerable time.

Later, every place they visited faced different treatment by local nobles. But Herman was long accustomed to it, only wanting to exchange gold coins for supplies.

They traveled light, reaching Winter Land, nearly depleted of supplies.

Though the Silver Moon Gem could restore their physical and energy levels, it had remarkable effects on witches and even miraculous effects on Silver Moon Knights.

But this didn't mean they could go without food and drink; they could only replenish resources nearby, advancing with difficulty.

Herman led his group through Winter Land, taking more than a month to finally escape the mire of civilization, arriving at civilization's boundary.

Civilization's frontier meant hardly any humans, no villages or towns.

According to the information Herman received.

A group of intelligent creatures operated here.

Not humans, but the Frost Clan.

...

"Are you here to rescue the granddaughter of the Ancestor?"

They were descendants of giants, seemingly walking from ancient times, all taller than two meters, their bodies like rugged white stones, eyes ice blue, hair pale, features deep like some statue.

Ular was the Frost Leader.

Upon first seeing the Silver Moon Knights, Tarek lost his mind, furiously attacking them.

But the young Frost people quickly became captives.

Thus, it was the current scene.

Hundreds of Frost Warriors came at the news, Ular also appeared, conversing with the witches before them.

The Frost Leader said, "Valia and the black-haired spellcaster left and returned near death. We tried everything to heal her, but Valia remains unconscious."

"That's exactly why we're here!" Monica repeated. The black-haired spellcaster was Shasta.

The leader pondered deeply and spoke in halting human language, "You released Tarek... He was once a member of Valia's tribe, which was later destroyed by human knights."

Gwen added, "The knight's name was Keton; he was a High Rank Knight of the Demon Hunting Knights and an enemy of the Witches."

Shasta had said that in that battle, Valia's tribe was completely destroyed. Keton himself had his spine severed by Shasta and narrowly escaped death.

This event led Valia out of the snow plains to join the Witch Forest, where she became one of the Forest's Seats.

Silvermoon Laisa gave Herman a look, and he moved the Silvermoon Longsword away from Tarek's neck.

"I will take you to see the Grandfather's Daughter." Ular turned and left.

Valia held a very high status in the Frost Tribe, revered as "the Grandfather's Daughter."

Grandfather referred to the mythical Frost Giant.

The Grandfather's Daughter was the elder and mother of all Frost people.

The Frost people were descendants of the Frost Giants, originating from the Endless Ice Field, later migrating to Wandong's snow plains.

Though Valia had barely come of age, she was the only bloodline awakener in hundreds of years and the sole hope for leading the tribe back to the Endless Ice Field.

Yet, the Frost people exhausted all efforts to awaken Valia from her near-death state.

Now, the old enemies have emerged from the ice plain, stepping onto the snowy plains.

Upon glimpsing the tracks of those vile creatures, the Frost Tribe grew increasingly despairing, placing their hopes on these outsiders to awaken Valia.

"Monica, is our trip really necessary?" Herman was greatly disappointed, doubting the significance of it all after encountering the legendary Frost people.

Because the Frost people were not strong.

Their physical resilience was no match for the Silvermoon Armor. The sharpness of their wooden spears paled against the Silvermoon Sword.

If Valia couldn't resist the combined assault of twenty Silvermoon Knights, was the act of awakening her worth it?

Herman knew the River Valley was about to take significant action. His Highness urgently needed manpower.

At this juncture, they failed to alleviate his Highness's burden, far away in the distance, even if the order came from his Highness himself, yet they felt guilt and worry in their hearts.

"Certainly, you don't understand." The Witch smiled mysteriously, but her eyes carried mockery, prompting Herman to feel repulsion.

These witches had a carefree nature, playing in the mortal world, finding joy in hardship, even when punished.

Don't bother engaging with them. Herman told himself.

This team was actually led by Silvermoon Laisa.

She did not participate in the Holy City's battle, having shallow experience, but she was the source of the Silvermoon Knights and the appointed Seat Witch, so her status was second only to the sleeping Valia.

Ular led them to the tribal camp, composed of various-sized fur tents. The Frost people lived a migratory life, living off the raw meat.

The Frost people in the camp came out to greet the Leader, conversing with each other in Frost language.

Moments later, Ular's face was as hard as ice rock, believing these outsiders should be aware of the situation, he turned to Silvermoon Laisa and said, "We found tracks of the great enemy ten kilometers from the camp. This is the closest they've ever been."

The group exchanged glances. The Prophet had mentioned that this trip was fraught with challenges, but the result may not be favorable.

If not so, Roman would never have sent twenty Silvermoon Knights and several Battle Witches to this place, when they could have greater impact elsewhere.

Silvermoon Laisa asked, "What is this great enemy you speak of?"

"You don't know? Has the Human Clan no cold tales related to them?"

With a smile, Gwen responded, "The Human Clan has many ancient legends, each nation vastly different. Wandong is quite unfamiliar to us; we've only heard scant tales of Wandong's prisoners, fallen in snowstorms, and cold night deities, but nothing extensive."

Ular then began to tell a cold story:

"They are the nemesis with whom my tribe has battled on the ice plain for countless years.

"Our Grandfather, the Frost Giant, fought their creator in ancient contests. As descendants, we followed the Grandfather, engaging in life-and-death struggles.

"Until later, as the Frost bloodline waned, they remained strong. We had to migrate from the Endless Ice Field to the less cold snowy plains more than a hundred years ago.

"We thought they would stop the warfare and calmly reproduce, until we regained our homeland,

"but two years ago, during a hunt, my tribesmen found a mangled, hunted, and devoured animal corpse, realizing they had crossed the cold barren frozen frontier, invading the space beyond the ice field..."

Laisa said, "You still haven't said what they are?"

Ular lowered his head, gazing at her with ice-blue pupils:

"When you see them, you'll know everything. They are cold creatures that lurk during the day and emerge at night, vile and cruel, fond of death, and their creator... is the ancient dark god in your Human Clan's legends of cold nights!"