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In the east of the Holy Knight Empire, a seemingly barren land filled with giant pillar rock formations, steep cliffs, and towering mountain peaks stretched all the way to the Eastern Sea.
In terms of land coverage, this stretch of barren land was not inferior to the Holy Knight Empire. However, it was a dangerous place where powerful winged beasts dominated the land and sea monsters ruled the waters.
Given such terrible existing conditions, it should have been a No Man's Land.
But, contrary to expectations, humans were able to thrive in such a place, becoming a mighty nation that wasn't inferior to the Holy Knight Empire.
This mighty nation was called the Great Ratholos Empire. It was also considered a holy land for Aura Masters.
Despite its dangers, it was also the best place for warriors to train and test the extreme limits of their human bodies.
Nevertheless, the Great Ratholos Empire's greatest attraction did not lie in their extreme terrains but in their unique food.
The meat acquired from hunting the winged beasts and sea monsters were all precious resources capable of supplementing Aura Masters in their training, allowing them to improve twice as quickly and with half the effort.
As such, the Great Ratholos Empire's warriors were not just strong but also great climbers of mountains and swimmers of seas.
If the Great Ratholos Empire didn't have such a strong, stubborn belief in a warrior's body being their strongest weapon, perhaps their nation's military might would have greatly surpassed the Holy Knight Empire.
But even if the Great Ratholos Empire lived a less-developed lifestyle than other countries and lacked the advantage of quality weapons, its extreme terrains made their country a natural, impregnable fortress.
It was a strong country that couldn't be invaded.
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Shortly after Vaan stabilized the Holy Knight Empire, he buried himself inside the holy capital city's imperial library to read relevant books about the various powers in Pangea.
Since he had become the Holy Knight Empire's 'Sun God,' there were no doors he couldn't open or books he could not read.
Whether it was general knowledge or the highest level of classified information in the empire, they were all made readily available for his perusable.
When Vaan finished reading up on the Great Ratholos Empire, he immediately knew it was a place he must visit at least once.
His soul might have hit a bottleneck, but his body could still improve, and the Great Ratholos Empire was a great place to do so if the recorded information was correct.
Furthermore, by relying on just its fist, the Great Ratholos Empire was comparable to the Holy Knight Empire in power.
Clearly, the Great Ratholos Empire possessed more advanced and developed martial arts.
Still, the Holy Knight Empire didn't necessarily lose to the Great Ratholos Empire. At least in terms of aura cultivation methods, the two empires should be roughly equal.
But once again, this was all based on the accuracy of the Holy Knight Empire's information.
Nevertheless, only by learning all the aura cultivation methods of both empires would Vaan be able to forge a clearer and smoother path ahead for himself.
After Vaan grasped a good understanding of the Great Ratholos Empire, he began looking up information on the Freedom Federation and other various neighboring countries.
Although the truth behind the war had been spread to the neighboring countries, Vaan couldn't be completely certain that none of them wouldn't do anything foolish.
Ambition and stupidity had always been destructive.
As such, Vaan had long dispatched the dragons to the borders to watch the neighboring countries for suspicious movements while he stayed in the capital to consolidate his authority and stabilize the country.
That said, the Holy Knight Empire still had numerous internal affairs and other issues that also needed to be addressed.
However, they could wait for Astoria to recover and handle.
Suddenly, Vaan sensed a spatial distortion in the airspace above the holy capital before a Rank 5 dragon returned from the eastern border post to give him an update on its situation.
'Supreme Leader, the Great Ratholos Empire has been increasing their western outpost's garrisons in the last few hours. However, their numbers are far too few to pose any real threat to this empire's eastern border,' Chaezi gave her report via telepathic magic.
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm 'What are the exact numbers and strength of their current outpost?' Vaan asked after a moment of thought.
'Yes, Supreme Leader,' Chaezi complied.
'Originally, there were 500 soldiers stationed to guard the outpost, and their strength varied between Rank 2 and Rank 3. Now, another 40 had been added to their numbers. However, their status doesn't appear to be ordinary.'
'They all arrived on wyvern backs, and their strength varies between Peak-level Rank 3 to Low-level Rank 4. Only one person was at Mid-level Rank 4,' Chaezi reported.
'Wyvern backs, huh?' Vaan mused with interest.
Wyvern riders were another unique asset of the Great Ratholos Empire. Only they had the ability to tame the wild and hostile wyverns that dominated their skies.
Nevertheless, it was true that the addition to the western outpost was far too few for the Great Ratholos Empire to attack or defend.
Thus, there were only three possibilities for the wyvern riders' appearance at the border: They were either scouts sent to confirm the news, envoys preparing to make contact with the Holy Knight Empire, or a combination of the first two.
Vaan didn't doubt the Great Ratholos Empire would express a strong interest after hearing about the emergence of true dragons.
Most likely, Emperor Varan sent his representatives to come and negotiate a deal regarding this matter. Depending on their attitude and demand, the Holy Knight Empire's relationship with the Great Ratholos Empire could turn hostile.
'You may return to post and continue to monitor the Great Ratholos Empire's movements, Chaezi.'
'Yes, Supreme Leader!'
Shortly after Vaan dismissed the Rank 5 dragon, he glanced at the big map of Pangea hung on the library's wall and set his sight on the southern countries.
More specifically, he was looking at the Freedom Federation, the only other superpower that could rival the three empires on Pangea.
'The Freedom Federation is the leader in the field of magic engineering. Let's see what the empire has recorded about it,' Vaan mused.
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