Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 388 - 18: This Bastard Won’t Bend!

Ioannos held numerous titles such as "Gods’ Birth," "Conquest Knight," "Determiner of Fate," "Guardian of Earth," and "Ancestral Priest."

The mortals explained Ioannos’s background as being divinely ordained.

The gods felt that the earth had been in chaos for too long, so they sent Ioannos from heaven to save the Human Clan—he did not emerge from a mother’s womb but descended directly to earth in the form of an angel.

This simple explanation was so widely accepted among the people that even a century later, many believed he would return to save the land once again.

Of course, the reality was different.

Ioannos was not a son of the gods.

A century ago, it was rumored that Ioannos came from Divine Mystery, but since it was not confirmed, it was dismissed as a rumor.

Tashina: There’s a rumor that Ioannos is from Divine Mystery. I’m here to clarify, it’s not just a rumor.

The Divine Mystery Kingdom is the successor to the Dark Empire, but not entirely so.

The Conqueror received another part of the legacy, which laid the foundation of this land, naming it "Black Iron."

This was a strange metal forged from a mix of Magic Steel, Mithril, and Fine Gold.

It didn’t offer as high defense as the Shield Guard Army, wasn’t as highly mobile as the Surging Wave Knight, didn’t have as high an attack as the Shattered Archer, nor was it as easily obtainable as Oak Elite soldiers...

However, Black Iron’s overall performance was the best, with the longest endurance in battle; a hexagonal warrior with no weaknesses and truly the strongest warrior. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

For instance, although the Shield Guard Army was indestructible, the Mountain Copper Plate Armor was extremely taxing on the human body, not suitable for long-term wear, as even daily activities could reduce lifespan or cause sudden death without combat involved.

Black Iron armor, however, was very lightweight, allowing one to be fully equipped for over ten hours a day. It was no problem for Mid-level and High-level Knights to sleep in it, as it didn’t burden the body too much.

During the Conqueror Period, there were over a thousand of such "Black Iron," forming the foundation of the Black Iron Kingdom, and its peak far exceeded this number.

Later, Ioannos went to the Land of Divine Fall—the Church Court vehemently denied and opposed this place, considering it a heretical blasphemy—yet to treasure hunters and bounty hunters, the Land of Divine Fall was a far more enticing legend than the Conqueror’s Treasure Vault.

Many had heard of this legendary land where the gods had fallen, yet no one knew where it lay.

Iota Hina didn’t know either; she only knew that Ioannos had forged the Black Iron Crown there and brought back Three Divine Artifacts from there.

The Black Iron Crown belonged to Ioannos.

The Three Divine Artifacts went to the Three Dukes.

This was personally decreed by the Conqueror.

Fury was of the Deep Sea Bloodline. Oak was of the Elf Bloodline. Only Riptide was of Divine Mystery Bloodline, with very distinct physical traits.

True Divine Mystery individuals were tall and strong; the males reached a height of one hundred ninety centimeters as adults, and females about one hundred eighty. They had a longer growth period, lived between one hundred to two hundred years, and those with distinguished bloodlines could live up to two or three hundred years, having strong immunity and were not prone to common diseases.

But they could also lose lifespan due to battles or other reasons.

The people of Divine Mystery had pale and tough skin, distinct and deep-set features, hair colors including brown, black, red, and eye colors like light green, emerald, or crimson.

The King of Divine Mystery always regarded the Earth Countries as barbarians, an attitude not without reason.

For they were once a mighty and advanced group of humans, now only declined. Over the long years, mingling their bloodline with the locals, attributes like height and lifespan were compromised, losing much of their former glory.

However, in Tashina’s eyes, Roman’s bloodline was extremely pure and rare, untainted by any lesser bloodlines, and her own bloodline was equally noble, originating from the ancient Divine Mystery.

Roman said, "So, I am also a descendant of the ancient Divine Mysterious."

Tashina responded, "Exactly, as far as I know, the First Generation Riptide came from the primitive secret forest south of Black Castle, and were exiles of Divine Mysterious."

During the Dark Age, the power of the Human Clan collapsed, and the people of Divine Mysterious were displaced, resisting their enemies by either crossing the ocean, dying in foreign lands, or rebuilding kingdoms.

Some of the Divine Mysterious people entered the primitive forests to the south of Heavenly Pegasus Plain and were called the ’Southern Divine Mysterious.’

Their civilization and bloodline had severely declined, and they lost the lineage of the Divine Mysterious Empire, not even knowing their own ancestors. The once-glorious empire had degenerated into primitive tribes living off hunting.

Later, that tribe followed the Conquerors, and the best hunters became the Duke Riptide, while the remaining hunters became the Shattered Archers.

But that disgraceful history was ultimately covered up.

The current descendants of Riptide were young and oblivious to many truths, which Tashina revealed to everyone present, shocking them; no one had expected the illustrious Riptide Family to have such a history.

Roman squinted at Tashina, wondering if this woman was trying to play on emotions and expand her influence.

Her statement was factual, and the shared bloodline made it psychologically easier to feel a kinship and accept her words.

For instance, if one day Roman suddenly died, it would be natural and lawful for the White Steel Princess to inherit the abundant "Origin" as she had no successor, and the Black Iron Royal Family and the Riptide lineage had marital ties in the past, complicating everything. Why not inherit Roman’s legacy?

"How so? My ancestor served yours, so you want me to serve you as well?"

Tashina assertively said, "Can I not?"

Roman retorted, "Then why can’t you serve me?"

Tashina replied, "Because the authority of Duke Riptide does not match that of the Conqueror."

Roman snorted, "That was Riptide, not me. And you are not your ancestor."

This bastard was stubborn!

Tashina was somewhat exasperated.

The Conqueror was the first king, and she, carrying a noble bloodline and being the reigning Black Iron King, was already pushing her limits to treat Roman as an equal. It would have been a disgrace to her bloodline to be considered lesser, and her competitiveness was very strong.

Actually, Roman didn’t dislike Tashina; the White Steel Princess understood the bigger picture and had a strong strategic mindset—even if it was to covet his family’s wealth, he still found her commendable.

No direct descendants in the conference room intervened as they saw the clash between their leaders, they could only keep silent and count the ants.

Tashina, unconvinced she could seize power, said, "Is this all the military force available? Just this much?"

Jet stood up and said, "Your Highness, these are all elite troops."

They had suffered substantial losses in front of Black Castle and hadn’t replenished since a lack of good recruitable soldiers was found, currently totaling over thirteen thousand. This information was openly shared with Tashina, a special treatment indeed.

Because before Tashina, no outsider had ever known the specifics of River Valley so clearly.

Tashina was surprised to discover that the two cities had only about two hundred thousand people. She had thought River Valley had at least four to five hundred thousand, if not a million residents.

Yet she found the population here was almost the same as Black Castle, but the military force of River Valley was multiple times that of Black Castle.

What was more shocking was that these forces consisted of professional soldiers, each comparable to a lower-ranked Conquest Knight.

Jet, as the Commander of the Corps, was well aware of their capabilities.

Their numbers might be few, but their combat prowess was undeniable.