Sword of Dawn

Page 471

Ferdinand found that there seemed to be no other furnishings in the room except the runes, and even the place where he lay himself was a circular magic circle engraved with runes.

"Your Majesty," the old duke finally recovered. The repressed memories and correct cognitions in his mind were "surrendering" crazily, making him realize the terrible things that happened in the past few days in just a few seconds. The former wolf general who had experienced countless winds and rains couldn't help but feel a chill at this moment, "I may be polluted! Before I..."

"I know, I know, Sir Ferdinand, something has happened—you need to recover your composure further," Rosetta Augustus said calmly, "The situation is indeed bad, but it's not too bad."

Ferdinand took a deep breath, stood up from the magic circle, and said hurriedly, "We and Cecil..."

"We have entered a state of war—the war we declared first, or the God of War declared it for us," Rosetta looked into Ferdinand's eyes, "Mr Ferdinand, Malm Dunit, with the help of the power of spiritual intervention Blinded and distorted your perception, the explanation we sent to Cecil was tampered with as a declaration of war, but this is not your fault."

At this moment, Ferdinand felt his heart stop beating, but he stopped the tendency of falling into dizziness. After realizing that this matter was irreversible, he seemed to suddenly notice the abnormality in this room——

This place seemed to be a magic laboratory, and there were rune-like things everywhere, but after looking carefully, he realized that none of the magic runes he knew were actually magic runes.Those crooked lines are complex and exquisite, but their style is not like any race on land. When he watched them, Ferdinand felt that his depressed mood quickly calmed down and became clear. Some muddled thoughts remained. soon became extremely clear.

The old duke subconsciously asked, "Your Majesty, this is..."

"It's still in Obsidian Palace, and this room was one of Lady Windsor Maple's laboratories. If you're referring to those runes—they come from the deep sea, first brought to Cecil by the Kraken, and later by the Cecil gave it to us as a gift. I think you should have seen a few samples of these runes, but this is indeed the first time you have seen a large-scale, fully assembled 'House of Barriers' like this."

"Runes from the deep sea..." Some relevant information finally popped up in Pei Dinan's mind, and he remembered that there was indeed such a thing, "Then these runes are used for..."

"Remove your pollution," Rosetta said lightly, "and ensure that you will not be affected by the will of the gods again for a period of time in the future—it seems to be working well now."

Feeling the rapid improvement of his mental state, Pei Dinan realized that the "effect" mentioned by the other party was indeed good, but in the next second, he thought of another thing.

"Your Majesty, did you know that I..."

"No, I don't have the ability to see foresight," Rosetta waved her hand and interrupted Ferdinand, "but I'm sure that the pollution of the gods will spread to the top of the empire—I just didn't expect the first person to be polluted and The person who was completely unaware at first would be you, a person who has consciously distanced himself from the church since many years ago. From this aspect, I underestimated the power of the will of the gods to penetrate the mortal mind, but never On the other hand, we have now gone one step further to determine the penetration and spread of 'contamination' and the range of affected populations, which is very meaningful."

Rosetta said very indifferently, but Ferdinand quickly heard another meaning from the attitude and words of the ruler of the empire——

The emperor was indeed surprised, but only those "details" surprised him. As for the direction of the whole thing...it seems that he has not deviated from his judgment until now.

Does this include the war?

"Your Majesty," Pei Dinan whispered after a few seconds of silence, "what are we going to do next?"

"The war broke out," Rosetta said as if talking to herself, his eyes did not fall on Ferdinand, "...the empire should enter a state of emergency."

"Are you going to activate the emperor's supreme ruling power?"

"More than ten years ago, we tried to change the situation of this country. We did this, and indeed achieved many feats that we could not have imagined before, but looking back now, we still have a lot of things that we haven't done. It’s over,” Rosetta said calmly, “Some people who shouldn’t be alive are alive, and some things that shouldn’t be preserved are still preserved... Don’t you think it’s regrettable?”

"It's really a pity," said Ferdinand Wendell, "It seems that we can finish what we didn't finish back then—but there is one more thing, Your Majesty, we are in full-scale war with the Cecilians."

"It is the crazy god who is fighting Cecil," Rosetta looked into Ferdinand's eyes, "The god who is out of control is the common enemy of all mankind-this time, we are actually standing with Cecil." side."

Chapter 0984 Controllable Reaction

Hearing Rosetta's answer, Ferdinand fell into deep thought, as if he raised his head after a long time, and saw the ruler of Typhon standing there with a calm expression, It seemed calmer than ever.

However, Ferdinand felt a kind of power that was ready to go from the other party's calm appearance—this power had been accumulated for many years, and many people even thought that this power had disappeared with the passage of time, but At this moment, Ferdinand suddenly discovered that it was still there, and it had never been weakened in the slightest.

Rosetta Augustus, prudent strategist and astonishing gambler—was as daring as ever.

"This may turn into a big gamble," Ferdinand couldn't help but said, but he didn't want to dissuade anything, he just wanted to express his opinion, "Your Majesty, if the balance is out of control, we and the entire empire will be lost forever."

"We are already on the road of undoing—it's not that we're pursuing a gamble, but that all our lives are already in this gamble." Rosetta suddenly smiled, "This is a doomed gamble." The crisis that is coming, and now that it has happened, we should find a way to turn it into an opportunity."

"...Then I will do my best," Ferdinand lowered his head after a moment of contemplation, "also to make up for and wash away my shame this time."

"You know, none of this is your fault...but now it's really something you'd say."

At this moment, a knock on the door suddenly came from not far away, interrupting the conversation between Rosetta and Ferdinand.

Rosetta looked towards the door: "Come in."

The door of the magic laboratory opened, and the dignified President of the Royal Mages Association, Windsor Mapel, appeared at the door. After seeing Grand Duke Ferdinand who was talking to Rosetta, she was a little surprised, then nodded to the other party, and then Then he walked quickly to Rosetta, with a hesitant expression on his face, as if he wanted to say something but had some scruples.

Rosetta looked at the expression of the legendary mage, and seemed to have guessed what the other party wanted to say. He first turned his head to look at Duke Ferdinand next to him, and then turned his gaze to Windsor Mapel and nodded slightly: "What's the matter? Just say it."

Windsor Mapel subconsciously glanced at Duke Ferdinand, and after a brief hesitation, he said, "Your Majesty, the communication tower has just received the news that Winter Wolf Castle... has fallen."

Ferdinand's breathing suddenly fluttered, and the old prince's body shook imperceptibly, his fingers clenched and then released, and finally he couldn't help but say: "Then Andersa..."

"General Andersa is not dead," Windsor Mapel said quickly, but her expression was weirder than before, and she hesitated. "She...she was captured by the Cecils."

Duke Ferdinand seemed to heave a sigh of relief, but his expression soon became quite complicated: "Is... was he captured by mistake?"

"No, she surrendered—with the entire Winter Wolf Knights and Black Flag Mage Corps and a large number of surviving standing soldiers." Windsor Mapel gritted her teeth and said in one breath, "The news is The Cecilians did not block the relevant information sent back from the mage post in the Winterhold area, and now the banner of sword and plow has been raised on Winter Wolf Castle, and the Cecil Empire's army is constantly building more fortifications around it."

"Vote..." Duke Ferdinand suddenly widened his eyes, as if he had received a greater shock than when he heard the fall of Winter Wolf Castle just now. The expression on the old man's face was weird and distorted, as if he had heard the most incredible thing in the world. , "Surrendered?! And she surrendered with two legions and countless standing corps? She surrendered with the entire defense line of Winter Wolf Castle?!"

Finally, the old wolf's tone gradually became high. It was the mood swings after decades of perseverance in life were hit head-on. His face was flushed, but he didn't know whether it was anger or sadness, as if the joy just now Before he could disperse, he was completely overwhelmed by the completely opposite emotions.

His emotions were so agitated that even Windsor Mapel, the president of the Royal Wizards Association, couldn't help but backed away a little, and then she said as if to defend someone: "Information shows that Cecil Humans have used unprecedented warfare techniques—they launched attacks from high altitudes, with amazing power, and completely destroyed the large shield and outer city of Winter Wolf Castle in a short period of time, only the castle survived under the protection of the spare shield , In that case, the front line can no longer be maintained, and it is meaningless to delay for a while..."

Pei Dinan couldn't help but said loudly: "Then she should choose to evacuate! At least the main force of the legion can be..."

As soon as he was halfway through his words, Rosetta put her hand on his shoulder suddenly: "If the Cecilians really launched such an attack, I don't think Andersa has a chance to take the The people in the castle evacuated safely."

Ferdinand stopped speechless. He glanced at Emperor Rosetta, but was shocked to see that the other party had a smile on his face.

"I understand why you are so excited, Miss Ferdinand," Rosetta said with a smile, "but to be honest, when I heard that Andersa chose to surrender in this situation, I felt a little relieved."

Pei Dinan didn't seem to understand the deep meaning of the other party's words for a while: "...What do you mean?"

"Andersa is sharper than you, maybe because she is in the deepest part of the vortex, she saw the essence of this matter earlier." The smile on Rosetta's face became more obvious, "Mr. Pei Dinan, it seems that you Slower than before."

Ferdinand cooled down from his excitement, his face showed a thoughtful look, and in his thoughts, he heard the voice of Emperor Rosetta again: "Aren't you happy for Andersa's safety? ?”

"I..." Pei Dinan opened his mouth, he hesitated, but finally he couldn't help sighing softly, "Hey, of course I'm happy about it..."

"Perhaps history will prove that she is a hero—for a wolf general, choosing to give up honor may be more difficult than giving up life," Rosetta said lightly, "but we have to do something quickly, The offensive capability of Cecil's army is stronger than I expected, and I suspect that Gawain Cecil has not yet returned to Loren Continent, which may become the biggest variable... To be honest, I don't trust Gawain. The resourcefulness of anyone in the governing body of the Cecil Empire other than Cecil."

Ferdinand nodded.

Then he looked at Rosetta, hesitant for a few seconds, the former wolf general seemed to have a fierce struggle in his heart, and finally couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, Andersa..."

Rosetta glanced at Grand Duke Ferdinand and finally laughed: "Don't worry, I will do whatever it takes to bring her home safely—every Typhon soldier will return home safely."

……

Cecil's flag fluttered high above Winter Wolf Castle, the sword and plow with blue background and golden pattern greeted the first ray of gold in the morning light, hunting and flying in the cold winter wind, while the original black of the Typhon Empire The red flags had all been lowered—they were not thrown on the ground randomly for people to trample on, but were properly put away under the orders of the superiors, and were packaged and sent back to Changfeng as part of the spoils.

Philip stepped into the fortress, and when he drove through the front portal that had collapsed into a huge gap, the young general suddenly felt a little dazed.

He never thought that he would step into Winter Wolf Castle in this form, at least he didn't think that this day would come so early-this strong fortress standing on the border of Typhon is a special "special" in the hearts of countless Cecil soldiers. Symbol", from the time of the Ansu Kingdom to the current Empire, generations of generals and soldiers have been vigilant against this fort, and regarded the army in the fort as the greatest opponent and threat, but today... this fort is It was captured so easily.

Of course, it’s not accurate to say it’s “easy”. Although the entire attack lasted only one day and night, and the process seemed to go smoothly, Cecil’s mechanized army still encountered the most tenacious and threatening attack in front of this fortress. counterattack.The strategic spells of the Typhons caused a lot of casualties, and the brief but tenacious resistance of the Winter Wolves and the Black Banner Magicians when they finally attacked the inner city also shocked the front-line commanders. The fighting strength of the defenders of Winter Wolf Castle was cut in half, and they were not familiar with Cecil's "new tactics", so this battle could never be so easy.

But if there is no "if" on the battlefield, no matter how powerful a warrior falls, he is just a corpse. On this stage where only the results are talked about, the Cecilians still have the upper hand.

The outer city was littered with bricks and smoke billowing. After the aerial bombardment penetrated the shield, the results of the battle far exceeded expectations. Almost all the places where the bombs had been baptized were turned into ruins, and the fires ignited everywhere until the sun rose. Hours are still not extinguished.It is said that some of the fires were set by the Typhon defenders themselves—the purpose was to stop Cecil's soldiers entering the city, and judging from the results, it cannot be said that their actions were completely useless.

The magic guide car passed through the potholed outer city, entered the relatively intact inner city, and drove towards the more intact castle.

Philip looked through the side window and saw many disarmed Typhon soldiers lined up for registration. After preliminary statistics and bookkeeping, these Typhon soldiers would be scattered and sent to several prisoners of war in the rear In the camp - Cecil's army has always been familiar with receiving a large number of prisoners of war and quickly building storage facilities for them - and after entering the prisoner of war camp, it is the first step in the "harmless treatment" of these Typhons.

Technicians will find ways to identify the pollution suffered by these soldiers and give various solutions. At the same time, these soldiers will also become valuable research samples. The information collected and sorted from them will definitely be used by ordinary people the future of.

The adjutant was sitting on the seat next to Philip, and he was also looking out of the window. After seeing those Typhon soldiers lined up honestly, the young officer from the southern border couldn't help asking: "General, what do you think is there?" How many people are polluted? How many people are awake?"

"... I judged that the entire Winter Wolf Castle has been completely controlled by the spiritual pollution of the gods," Philip said, shaking his head lightly, "but after the 'Wolf General' voluntarily surrendered, I doubt that we have any control over Typhon and The judgment of Winter Wolf Castle has gone wrong... I am afraid it is still too early to regard Typhon as a disaster-polluted area. It depends on the follow-up technical appraisal results."

"It's unbelievable," the adjutant said with some surprise, looking out the window, "These Typhons are so quiet, they don't show any symptoms of spiritual pollution at all... If it weren't for us to randomly select a few people from it, use our minds The double identification of the protective runes and the 'Human Barrier' really found out the pollution, and I can't believe that the mental structure of these people has actually mutated...how could they cooperate so much?"

"Not all mental pollution will turn people into muddled monsters, and sometimes clear and rational thinking may also be the result of mental pollution," Philip said, "For God of War, what he is looking for at this moment is only war, and For war... Combat is part of war, surrender is part of war, charging into battle is part of war, becoming a prisoner of war is part of war, starting a war is a war, and stopping a war after a war is even an 'element' of war—in these In the absence of major conflicts in basic conditions, it is quite normal for infected people with less pollution to behave quietly and cooperate."

"General, you really know a lot."

"You should read more books in your spare time, in all fields - it will be good for you."

During the conversation, the magic vehicle drove through the front courtyard of the castle, and after passing through the well-preserved gate, Philip finally came to the core area of ​​the fortress.

After getting out of the car, he took only his most trusted entourage, and under the leadership of the soldiers leading the way, he finally met the supreme commander of Winter Wolf Castle, the wolf general who chose to surrender.

She was leaning on a soft bed, her body was covered with bandages in many places, and mottled blood seeped out of those cloth strips, looking horrifying, Philip noticed that the position of the other's left eye was even wrapped in a circle There were also blood oozing from the bandages, and compared with the pale complexion on his face, the red was even more eye-catching.

Philip's footsteps could not help but pause.

He remembered that he had met this wolf general before, and the opponent at that time was heroic.

Fate is really a tricky thing.

Then he looked at Andersa's side again—a chair was placed next to the table, and a young lady in a military dress with soft blond hair was sitting there. She seemed to be lowering herself He read a book carefully, while a combat "staff" with a holy light blaster component was quietly leaning against the wall next to him.

An armed nun... No, not an armed nun. Philip noticed the golden lines on the opponent's gloves and alloy armor, and judged that this should be a "war nun" higher than the armed nun.

It should be one of the military priests who came to take care of the seriously injured wolf general.

Judging from the blood stains on the battle staff and the mottled and worn surfaces of the opponent's gloves, this should be a loyal and respectable sister.

Unspeakable loyalty, the kind that can kill a cow with one punch.

Chapter 0985 Destined

When the war nun saw Philip appearing, she immediately stood up and saluted. The latter waved her hand to signal that there was no need to be polite. This movement also woke up Andersa who seemed to be in a trance. She turned her head and looked at Philip.

She struggled with her upper body, as if she wanted to sit up, but just in the middle of this movement, she was pushed back by the nun in full armor.

"Lie still - your injury is much worse than you think."

"It's better to follow the doctor's advice at this time," Philip came to the front, looked down at Andersa and said, and then he pulled a chair next to him and sat down, "I didn't expect to meet in this situation. "

"I didn't expect either..." Andersa said with a pale face, but her voice was much clearer and stronger than when she just woke up before. Obviously, the subsequent series of treatments had an effect—she couldn't say no. It is clear whether the rescue by his subordinates is effective or the dozens of healing techniques released by the nun next to him with a "war hammer" are effective, "It's really embarrassing, I make you laugh."

"Let's not talk about that," Philip waved his hand, and said bluntly, "Let's talk about the current situation—there is a problem with Typhon's Church of God of War, and the pollution of belief has caused your army to lose control. We already know about this , but now it seems that the actual situation may deviate from our judgment, and I would like to hear this part.”

Andersa opened her mouth. She looked at Philip's face that was almost as young as her, but behind this face she saw another empire that had been armed to the teeth. She took a light breath, and within this breath , she suddenly realized... that she hadn't left the battlefield.

She tidied up her thoughts, as if she were tidying up her military uniform, and then slowly said: "Indeed, as you said, a certain spiritual 'plague' is spreading among our soldiers, and even some officers have been affected—— The former Knights of the Iron River were victims of this spiritual plague. But the spread of this 'pollution' is still limited—not all Typhon soldiers are followers of God of War."

Philip looked into Andersa's eyes, and said in a deep voice after a while: "It seems that you have your own judgment on this divine disaster—but do you know that we have received a declaration of war from Aldernan, which is It came directly from Obsidian Palace."

He paused, and then continued: "This gives us a very bad signal-whether the announcement is true or not, the situation is very grim. If it is true, it means that our enemy is not just out of control God, and your Majesty the Emperor, if it is fake...then the situation will be even worse for you."

After his words fell, Andersa spoke softly: "...Yes, I know, I only found out not long ago."

As she said that, a self-deprecating smile appeared on her face: "As the commander on the front line of Typhon, I was the last person who knew that the two countries were at war. This is really ironic, isn't it?"

Philip thought for a while and nodded: "So there is a problem with the declaration of war, so the 'divine disaster' in Typhon is even less optimistic. Is that what you mean?"

Andersa shook her head: "No, I don't think the 'divine disaster' you mentioned has completely gotten out of control. The situation is not as irreversible as you imagined..."

"I need more convincing evidence or reasons," Philip interrupted. "According to what we have just learned, Winter Wolf Castle has actually been in a state of information isolation in the past few days. The soldiers contaminated by the God of War Cut off all connections within and without this fortress—in which case your judgment of Typhon's situation would be less convincing."

Andersa stared at Philip's face with her remaining right eye, and she made her tone firm: "I admit the facts described in the first half of your sentence, but I think I still have a say in this matter.

"It's true that the declaration of war is very disturbing, and its original original document was indeed sent out from Obsidian Palace, but this does not prove that Typhon's entire military system is completely 'infected', in fact... As much as I hate to admit it, in this case the communication system we used showed a very serious flaw."

"I don't know if you know about the network of communication towers used by Typhon. In this network, although most of the transfer and reception are done by the magic agency, at some key nodes, manual intervention can easily make things go wrong. I After careful consideration of the entire process, I found that there are huge loopholes in it, so as long as those key nodes go wrong, even if only a few people are polluted by the 'spiritual plague', things will get out of control."

Speaking of this, Andersa added: "Of course, we have very strict monitoring, reward and punishment measures for those key links, but in the face of spiritual pollution and mutation, material rewards and punishments or even threats of life and death are obviously not enough. Make a difference - crazy people don't care about anything."

Philip nodded slowly: "This is a convincing argument."

Andersa endured the noise still ringing in her ears from time to time and the pain in all parts of her body, she took a light breath, and continued: "Besides, I don't think this 'plague' can completely subvert Typhon's life so easily. Order. Although Typhon has a wide range of God of War beliefs, we are not only warriors and knights - Typhon also has a large number of battle mages and several direct legions that are completely loyal to the royal family. I believe these legions are not affected by this. Affected by a plague—and they must have been mobilized by now to deal with the chaos.

"Her Majesty Rosetta has been consciously controlling the power of the Church of God of War many years ago, even dating back to several generations of emperors, the royal family has begun to make efforts in this regard, those directly subordinates who are completely loyal to the royal family and do not accept the baptism of any sect Knights are the product of these initiatives...

"Besides, we were already taking some actions before the situation started to deteriorate—it's not that Typhon didn't do nothing. We've been isolating priests with hidden dangers and replacing those nobles and knights who have too much connection with the church. We miscalculated the power of the god's pollution, and we were caught off guard, but this is enough to prove that Aldernan is prepared...

"...Not all places have the same composition of soldiers as Winter Wolf Castle, so the situation in Winter Wolf Castle certainly cannot represent the entire Typhon. According to my judgment, at least in the south, west, and most parts of the north-central part of the empire, the situation is certain. Still in control.

"There is one last point... this may be my subjective judgment, but I think Her Majesty Rosetta must be doing her best to control the order, and Aldernan will definitely respond effectively. This 'war' is of great importance to both of us. It's no good, it's just a carnival of fanatics and polluters. I know the situation is irreparable, but after this we must find a way to bring the situation back under control, which requires both of us..."

Philip listened quietly to every word of Andesa, and he didn't stretch his brows until the other party finished speaking, and returned to reality from the state of listening and thinking.After a brief pause, he broke the silence: "I can feel your frankness."

"Now we are not enemies," Andersa said calmly. "I have heard that your emperor often said a word - in the face of the doomsday disaster, the fate of all mortals is closely linked. I once said that The sentence was full of doubts and misunderstandings, but now... I find it to be true."

Philip looked at the young wolf general in surprise, and gradually, a trace of admiration appeared on his face, and he nodded solemnly to Andersa: "It's not easy to make this kind of transformation, I think It is also necessary for me to re-evaluate you, Miss Andersa Wendell."

Then he stood up from the chair, tidied up the hem of his clothes, and at the same time lowered his head and said seriously: "The things you said today are very important, and I will report them to the Supreme Government Affairs Office. Intelligence can lead everyone to a better future—for now, you can rest well, and we will treat all prisoners well."

Andersa seemed to want to say something more, but she just opened her mouth and then calmed down in relief, closing her eyes.

The war nun stood up and greeted Philip.

"Sister, what's your name?" Philip asked casually.

"You can call me Marian," the blond young war nun said with a smile, "I belong to the Seventh Company of the Iron Crusade, and I serve you under the order of the Patriarch."

"Very well, Sister Marianne—Miss Andersa will be taken care of by you," Philip nodded, "We will arrange to transfer her to a rear with better conditions as soon as possible, but before that, you must do your best to ensure that Her safety and her health are very important to us."

"I swear to the Holy Light, General," Sister Marianne said solemnly at once, "I will live up to my mission!"