Enoya was right. At this time, their letter of protest had indeed arrived on the desk of the frontline headquarters of the Glittergold Empire.
Looking at the letter in front of him, Frank frowned and did not say anything.
He raised his head and looked forward. At this moment, in addition to his confidants, there were also representatives of the Saint Roland Knights, representatives of the Bunok Air Force, and powerful figures of the three armies in the frontline.
But these veterans who had been on the battlefield for many years, at this moment, had a solemn expression on their faces. They frowned and did not say anything. If they did not know that everything was going well in the Glittergold Empire, looking at these people, they would think that the Glittergold Empire was going to perish in the next moment.
But it was not that Frank did not understand their thoughts. It was not that they were too timid, but it was just that what happened to Perstan's frontline legion was too unbelievable and shocking.
Not to mention his subordinates, even he himself was guessing in his heart at this moment.
To put it bluntly, it was because of the complete annihilation of the frontline legion.
In fact, if it was only Perstan who was defeated, then there was no need for everyone to be so worried. Victory and defeat were common in the army. The Glittergold Empire launched this invasion, naturally, they hoped to advance all the way and advance bravely.
But in fact, it was not that they did not encounter failure. Although it was rare to fail miserably, it was not unheard of.
If that was the case, then everyone would just ridicule Perstan, or sigh at his bad luck, and then let it go.
But this time the situation was different, because according to the intelligence, the frontline division was completely "annihilated".
Completely annihilated.
Just these two words alone made people feel strange. Because according to common sense, even if Perstan was defeated, they would still have retreated, deserted, and wounded soldiers.
And although the frontline division was elite, it was not undead. It was rare for them to not surrender until the last moment.
But the problem was that the frontline division was indeed completely annihilated. Except for a few lucky people who were stationed in the rear to guard the supplies and could not go to the frontline to fight, there was no one left alive.
Just thinking about this news made Frank feel a chill down his spine. Although he was almost 50 years old and was a veteran general, he had to admit that after reading the report, he felt an inexplicable fear.
Although Frank was unwilling to believe this fact, he even sent a large number of scouts and spies to the surrounding areas of Passus to find even a single deserter, but there was no result.
It was as if Perstan and his frontline division had completely disappeared from this world, without a trace.
Thinking until here, Frank sighed and knocked on the table. The people who were whispering to each other immediately stopped and turned to look at their commander.
"Alright, everyone, I don't think you know why you've been gathered here today."
After confirming that everyone was paying attention to him, Frank coughed and said.
"In fact, I just received a message from His Majesty …"
As he said that, he pushed the letter on the table towards everyone.
"This is an official letter from Passus. As for the content … it's simple. He raised a stern protest against our Glittergold Empire's invasion of Passus and requested for the Glittergold Empire to immediately withdraw their troops and leave Passus."
"… Huh?"
Hearing until here, almost everyone was stunned, including the few old generals. At this moment, everyone had a dull expression on their faces. "Are you f * cking kidding me?"
Frank looked at the supreme commander of the imperial army in front of him. Looking at everyone's expression, Frank shrugged his shoulders. In fact, when he first heard this news, his reaction was similar to his colleagues.
Or rather, if it wasn't for the fact that the person who sent this letter was indeed the emperor's trusted aide, perhaps he would have drawn his sword and killed him.
"I think you'd better take a look at it with your own eyes."
As he spoke, Frank gestured with his hand. Soon, his adjutant passed the letter to the others.
At this moment, these illustrious soldiers no longer cared about their demeanor. They gathered together and stared at the content carefully.
In fact, the content of the letter itself wasn't anything special. It was nothing more than a stern protest against the Glittergold Empire's invasion of Passus, requesting for them to immediately withdraw their troops and promise not to invade Passus' territory.
It was just some meaningless official statements and didn't seem to be anything special.
However, after reading the letter carefully, everyone looked like they were constipated. Their faces were twisted and they didn't know what to say.
"This, what exactly is this …"
If it were any other time, they wouldn't care about such a 'complaint letter' at all. At least on the surface, this was nothing more than a little brat complaining. What was even more ridiculous was that the Glittergold Empire and the Skal Federation had already started an all-out war, yet the other party still made such a fuss. If it were any other time, perhaps this would just be a joke to the generals of the Glittergold Empire during their leisure time.
But when read together with the news of the entire frontline division being wiped out, the atmosphere revealed by the official document made one feel a chill run down their spine.
It was precisely because of this that this official letter caused everyone present to feel bewildered and puzzled, and they were even slightly surprised.
For a moment, the study was filled with the buzz of conversation. No one knew what the Passus people wanted to do by sending this letter and what they were up to.
But very quickly, someone noticed the problem.
"This letter doesn't have the seal of the Skal Federation."
"That's right."
Hearing until here, Frank looked at the young officer with admiration. He knew who he was. This young man was the representative of the Holy Roland Knights, Knight Charlotte. It was rumored that he was only 25 years old, but he already had the strength of a Master. It was almost foreseeable that this young man would be able to break through the barrier of the mortal world and enter the realm of Legend.
The outside world had always had a high evaluation of this young man, and now it seemed that it wasn't without reason.
"What does this mean?"
Hearing this, everyone became even more puzzled. Generally speaking, there were certain rules for official things like letters of credence. Even they, who led troops to war, knew that this was common sense in politics.
But now, there was only a symbol of a snake wrapped around its head and tail, which seemed to be the emblem of one of the ruling families in Passus. Other than that, there was nothing else. There was no symbol of the Skal Federation nor the seal of the Federation's parliament.
It looked like … as if they had nothing to do with the Skal Federation at all.
"Could it be that the people of Passus are planning to seize this opportunity to become independent from the Skal Federation?"
This judgment immediately emerged in everyone's mind. Although they had seen internal divisions in the face of a great enemy, this was the first time they had done it in such a righteous manner. If it were someone else, even if they wanted to cause a division, they would send someone to communicate with them and then sell some information in exchange for benefits in order to protect their status and wealth.
Not only did this person slap the Glittergold Empire to the ground, he even came to them aggressively to declare that he had nothing to do with the Scal Federation, and that he shouldn't bother him with the matters between the Scal Federation … What the hell was this!?
"I also have some intelligence regarding the Passus region."
Frank said as he took out a stack of intelligence from his hand. To be honest, the intelligence agency of the Empire was quite capable. In the shortest time possible, they had already handed over all the intelligence regarding this region.
"According to the intelligence, Passus originally belonged to the Parkwood Family of the Skal Federation's parliament. I think everyone should be clear about this. The Parkwood Family had obtained the position of the Skal Federation's parliament chairman in the latest parliament … But this isn't the main point that we should be concerned about now.
What's more important is that a few months ago, a young noble came to Passus and through unknown means, he obtained the ruling rights of Passus from the Parkwood Family.
Rumor has it that he's close to the Parkwood Family's Daly Parkwood and helped the Parkwood Family a lot during the parliament. Perhaps this is the reason why the Parkwood Family handed Passus over to him … After all, there isn't much there. "
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement. They didn't care about a small place like Passus at all, and it wasn't an important strategic target. If it weren't for the tragic deaths of the frontline legions, perhaps many of them wouldn't even know where Passus was.
"And according to the intelligence, this Sir Overlord has quite a powerful force under his command. He has a group of nearly a hundred swordsmen. If the intelligence is correct, these swordsmen are all seventeen to eighteen years old, and each of them have the strength of a Master …" Frank paused for a moment and looked at his colleague.
"… And they are both sword and curse practitioners."
Hearing this, almost everyone's expression changed. They were all veterans, so they knew what this meant.
A group of nearly 100 swordsmen didn't seem like a lot, but their Master Stage strength was almost comparable to the Royal Guards of the Glittergold Empire. In addition to sword and curse practitioners, their strength had more than doubled.
If these were all acceptable, then the fact that these young ladies were 17 to 18 years old was even more disappointing. One had to know that behind this army was a very powerful force. Otherwise, ordinary nobles wouldn't have such power at all, unless they were Elves.
Unless they were all elves, but according to the intelligence report, these female knights seemed to be humans.
"Apart from that, the Sir Overlord isn't someone to be trifled with …"
After saying till here, Frank's mouth revealed a hint of a bitter smile.
"His name is Jenn Barxianon Mens, a noble who was rewarded by the Holy Church. Rumor has it that he has the strength of a Legendary Stage swordsman. He also has several powerful followers around him … Perhaps you don't have any impression of him, but I think everyone should remember the incident that happened in the Valkyrie Principality half a year ago …"
"So it's him?!"
Hearing until here, everyone immediately revealed a look of realization.
Perhaps they didn't know who Jenn Barxianon Mens was, but they were quite clear about the tragedy of the Valkyrie Principality. Gustav was an iconic figure of the Valkyrie Principality and had some reputation in other countries. Later, it was rumored that he was killed in the Underdark, which attracted a considerable amount of attention. But no one expected that the person who killed him was actually in Passus … and even became the overlord there.
Come to think of it, why did this guy come to Passus?
"This is what we know now."
Frank put down the intelligence in his hand and rubbed his forehead.
To be honest, the other party's identity was so complicated that it gave him a headache. What made Frank even more depressed was that from the intelligence on paper, this overlord didn't have any relations with the Scal Federation. So how did he get this territory?
But this wasn't the most important question now.
"Everyone, what do you think we should do?"
Finally, Frank reached the most important topic of this meeting.
"His Majesty the Emperor is very dissatisfied with all of this, and he wants us to come up with a strong response.
The dignity of the Empire cannot be challenged, even in that barren land … So, does anyone have any good ideas? "
Hearing until here, everyone's expression changed slightly. They weren't fools. Although Frank seemed to be asking for their opinions, from the way he mentioned His Majesty the Emperor's words, it was obvious that everything had already been decided. Next, it would depend on who would accept this difficult task.
For a moment, everyone couldn't help but look at each other.
This time, they were in big trouble.