The Path of the Great Sovereign 165 Count Von Slane's Pligh

The Empire was held together by a hierarchy of Nobles with varying degrees of power. At the top was the Emperor, then in order from most senior to least Duke, Marquis/Margrave, Earl/Count, Viscount, Baron, Baronet, and Knight. A Dukedom was lead by a relative of the Royal family, therefore, he/she has a certain degree of freedom when it comes to their region as long as they obey the Monarch. Under each Duke, there could only be 2 Marquises and 1 Margrave and there were strict regulations on who could and could not be promoted to a Marquis/Margrave as you had to hold a certain degree of relation to the Royal family as you are a grand Noble with the lives of hundreds of thousands of people under your control.

An Earl/Count was the Highest a non-blood-related noble could ever be however this was rank was still considered to be a Grand Noble much more prestigious than the ranks below and there were even regulations on what you could and could not wear between noble ranks. Under each Duke, there could be 4 Earls and 2 Counts. Followed by 12 Viscounts, 24 Barons, 48 baronets, 96 Knights, now this may sound like a massive amount of nobles however there are only 3 Dukes within the empire, therefore, there are only 566 people ruling a population of 9 million.

Yet the Emperor made one fatal flaw when he banished the Hoga Clan, he made their direct senior himself the Emperor. Usually a Baron's Patron or senior would be the next higher-ranking Noble to impose a restriction on the overall population, resources, and military strength each noble has under the crown. Yet House Hoga has been given the same degree of Autonomy that Dukedoms are given.

At first, this doesn't sound like a lot however a Duke has the privilege of challenging a Higher ranking noble for his/her position and fief. Now the closest fief to the Hoga Barony is Count Von Slane's fief, therefore Tatsuo can exercise his right to challenge Count Von Slain in a fief war. The Winner of the fief war takes all, and as no one including the emperor is allowed to infringe on the sacred right of a Noble with no Patron yet serving the crown no one will interfere. Directly.

To put the size of the Empire into perspective the Hoga Barony took up 1/4th of the entire territory of the empire. The other three sections are split between the Royal family the 3 Dukes and the rest of the Nobles, as one of 3 fiefs with access to the ocean the Hoga Barony has an outstanding strategic position. Its troops are easy to deploy yet the terrain makes you think twice about invading while resupplying is easy, and the dangers of the land were solved swiftly making it a suitable place to raise children promoting population growth and tourism once the Fief is open to the rest of the world.

The fief itself was taking a giant leap out of the wilderness it once was 6 days have passed on the 10-day duration of the Isolation spell. There were now 5 cities within the fief that each handled different aspects of the economy, Dawn was near the shore so the seafood industry was in full bloom. Sea salt, Soap, agriculture, just to name a few were major developments that changed the lives of the people making the Citizens of the Hoga fief the most advanced people in the world currently due to the innovative techniques they were taught.

The city to the east along with the Chimamire Mountain range and the City to the west along the Azerlisia Mountain range were called Azuma(East) and Nishi(West) respectively and they were mining towns that also produce many on the weapons for the growing military of the Hoga fief.

To the South Dust was formed after the reclamation of the Swamp and the Great Hoga Wall was erected. The Wall went from the Azerlisa Mountain range in the west to the Chimamire Mountain Range in the east spanning over 2300 Kilometers.

The wall was a Magical treasure trove as it stood 300 meters high and 100 meters thick made out of a rock that was enchanted by Baron Hoga himself Tatsuo Hoga, reinforced with Mythril and adamantine, with anti-air magical runes all in all it screamed Absolute defense. You can't go over it without permission, you can't go under it, and you definitely couldn't go through it.

The Population of the fief also grew to 1.3 million making it the most populated fief in the empire.

When the Isolation spell was over Tatsuo met his retainers once more in the conference room.

"10 Years have passed for us yet only 10 days have passed for the rest of the World, the Emperor likely doesn't have us on his mind as we were seen as a minor inconvenience before however now we must bare our fangs. We March on Count Von Slane's territory."

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"Sire! There is an emergency! Noble has declared war on us!"

Count Von Slane was resting in his estate when he was rudely awoken by the shouts of his Stewart. Opening his eyes abruptly he swiftly got out of bed grabbed his mantle and walked to the fief's walls.

Stepping out of his estate he saw that the entire fief was on high alert despite it being twilight hours, many soldiers ran towards the walls after equipping themselves with their armor and weapons with nervousness.

Count Von Slane began walking at a gingerly pace as he could tell time was of the essence. When he arrived what he saw made his heart drop. Even in the dead of night, their bright Pearl armor refracted the moonlight perfectly rows upon rows of soldiers as far as the eye could see carrying a banner he could not recognize, a Dragon clawing through the Moon.
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"Division! ATTENTION!"

Boom!

Like the crisp clap of thunder, the soldiers snapped to attention, the sound echoing throughout the entire fief giving off an intimidating presence. The soldiers next to the Count swallowed their saliva as they knew what that level of discipline in the ranks meant. The Soldiers before them wouldn't blink in the face of death.

"PRESENT ARMS!"

BOOM!

Once that was completed there was the sound of footsteps neither too rushed nor too slow, this individual was walking as if he was walking casually through his garden, not on the soon to be front lines yet there was a certain grace to his movements that drew in everyone's attention.

This Individual was Toshiro Hitsugaya, despite all the time that has passed his overall appearance didn't change much yet his eyes had more maturity to them.

"I, Toshiro Hitsugaya, General of the 3rd Division, Baronet to his Grace, Baron Tatsuo Hoga am here to formally declare war on Count Justin Von Slane.

Under the Authority of the First Emperor, His Imperial Majesty Maximillian Sextus Rune Farlord El Nix the 3rd!"

Chapter end