Over the past year, the Kingdom of Aldor has fought three wars simultaneously, each of which has impacted the fate of the nation.
The first battle was the Northwest Legion's deep penetration into the grasslands to wipe out the orcish Royal Tent. Paul Greiman personally led two infantry divisions, crossing the Rocky Mountains from the already subjugated Stonemason Clan territory, penetrating deep into the grasslands. Simultaneously, Baron Andrew led an expeditionary force eastward from the North Three Territories, controlling water sources and forcing various tribes to surrender, thus launching a pincer attack. Ultimately, the orcish Great Chieftain Abar was defeated and killed, and the orcish Royal Tent forces that had dominated the grasslands were completely dismantled, eradicating a major threat to the kingdom's northern borders that had plagued it for over a decade.
The second battle was the royal army's campaign against the Paradise Basin. The Veblen Family, entrenched in the southeastern stronghold, had previously allied with the southern rebel Giles, representing the kingdom's last openly separatist territory. During the war, the wizard Dirk Doyle, formerly under Giles' command, defected to the royal family and offered a secret strategy—using a plague spell to infect the garrison, breaching the formidable fortress without firing a shot. The Royal Army successfully entered the basin, and the Veblen Family collapsed.
The third battle was the Sentinel Legion's eastward advance into the Redstone Desert. This oasis region was traditionally Aldor's sphere of influence, but during the kingdom's decline, the west was occupied by the orcs, and the east by Gabella. Now that the orcs had been defeated, the Sentinel Legion seized the opportunity to conquer several western city-states. However, they had barely established a foothold when they touched a nerve with Gabella, and the Empire quickly dispatched General Marshal McDonald and General Siegfried to lead the Fire Dragon Legion north. The two sides clashed fiercely in the desert, with the Ausser Army initially gaining the upper hand, but a sudden defection of their hired " The Free Men " cavalry caused a complete rout, forcing them to retreat to the western edge.
Despite the setback in Redstone Desert, most people believed that this defeat did not shake the overall situation. After all, it was a wild land outside the border. In comparison, the disappearance of the northern orc threat and the elimination of the southern strongholds were the most important factors.
People from all walks of life in the kingdom saw this and believed that Aldor had stopped the country's decline and that the time for revival had arrived.
King Rodney XVIII's prestige reached its zenith since his accession to the throne. He did not waste this momentum and soon issued a decree in the name of the king—officially recognizing the legal status of Spellcasters in Aldor and granting them the same rights as ordinary citizens: the right to own property, hold public office, receive education, form guilds, and no longer be hunted or tried for using magic.
On the surface, this was a fulfillment of the promise made by the wizard Dirk Doyle for his great contributions in the Battle of Paradise Basin. In reality, Rodney XVIII also clearly saw the value of magic in war. Since Horn Bay and Gabella had already taken this step, why couldn't Aldor?
The issuance of this edict caused a stir across the mainland.
In just a few years, the situation has quietly reversed. First, the Horn Bay nations took the lead in legitimizing magic after the religious war. Then, Emperor Antonio of Gabella incorporated spellcasters into the national power structure after defeating the Papacy. Now, another great power, Aldor, has also openly accepted magic. Horn Bay alone would have been one thing, but the successive shifts of two major human powers have finally formed an unstoppable trend.
All of this is undoubtedly another heavy blow to The Holy See of Light.
Although the Papacy had already suffered heavy losses in the Horn Bay War and a crushing defeat in the conflict with Gabella, causing its prestige to plummet, it could at least maintain its spiritual authority through its so-called "orthodox faith." But now, even the Aldo Royal Family has begun to embrace what it calls "evil magic," and its original view that "magic is corruption" is rapidly losing its persuasiveness.
The Spellcaster community, suppressed for thousands of years, finally began to emerge from cellars, mountains, and exile. Overnight, the force that was once considered "blasphemous" and "heretic" became the object of courtship for many rulers.
People sang praises of Antonio's decisiveness and Rodney XVIII's enlightenment, calling them "great monarchs who ushered in a new era."
However, no matter how wise a person is, they cannot see the whole picture of history when they are in the midst of this great change, which is the so-called limitation of the times.
They only knew what had happened in the past, and could only see a corner of their own eyes. They could not, like later historians, use the world as a chessboard and centuries as a scale to piece together and systematically organize the scattered events, thus gaining a glimpse into the whole picture of history.
The grand transformation of the so-called " rise of Spellcaster " is merely one of countless ripples stirred up by a deeper, more silent, and vast undercurrent of history.
The Vatican's defeat stemmed from the religious war in Horn Bay, but it was not defeated from the outset in that war!
Despite initial setbacks, once the Vatican intervened, it and its representative, Horn Bay Church, swept through the region with unstoppable momentum. The anti-papal Protestant Alliance suffered repeated defeats, and at its most critical moment, only a few isolated coastal cities remained, barely surviving the war. Even with Gabella's presence... The Arcane Society secretly supplies weapons and sends advisors, yet the resistance remains like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.
The turning point came from Northwest Bay, where the industrial revolution was in full swing. Factories were operating day and night, and ocean-going merchant fleets were traversing the oceans, bringing back profits many times over. Horn Bay was a key hub on its trade lifeline.
However, the oppressive rule of the Horn Bay Church —imposing heavy taxes, restricting trade, and shutting down warehouses under the guise of "purifying heresy"—severely disrupted the commercial order.
The business community in Northwest Bay has reached its limit. To them, this is not a matter of faith, but a matter of business damage.
Under pressure from various sides, Paul Greiman, the de facto leader of Northwest Bay, made the decision to send troops to Horn Bay.
It wasn't for freedom of religion, nor to save Spellcaster —it was to protect the channels of capital.
Large amounts of military aid were delivered to the anti-papal forces, who were struggling to resist. Large numbers of Alda troops, equipped with firearms and cannons and employing line infantry tactics, landed on the Horn Bay coast and crushed the Papal's proud traditional army with dense firearm salvos and artillery barrages, like crushing dry branches.
The tide of the Horn Bay battle turned, marking the first time in the history of the Papacy that it suffered a crushing defeat on a main battlefield, resulting in a collapse of its prestige and a significant loss of power.
Gabella, who had been secretly watching... The Arcane Society immediately realized that the Vatican was not invincible.
This emboldened them, prompting them to make the decision to wage a direct war against the Papacy, and through the victory of Fire Dragon Legion, to elevate the mages to the stage of national power.
This unseen, quietly driving force is the development of productive forces and the expansion of capital.