Sword of Dawn

Page 273

"The knights and civilians who broke out should have reached a safe place—at least, we have reached the limit.

"There's no point in continuing to defend, it's time to end this.

"After the blizzard disappears, the enemies will swarm in. They may have been our compatriots, the Ansu people we are familiar with, but now, they are enemies, monsters, irreparable mutants and sources of pollution. We The only thing we can do is to take up arms and defend our dignity as human beings.

"Maybe every monster we kill here is giving other Ansu a chance at life.

"Unfortunately, I cannot bring you back to your hometown alive.

"But it is an honor that I can die with you.

"For Ansu!!"

The staff filled with magical radiance was raised high, and then hit the ground heavily.

The soldiers' swords were like a forest, and their roars shook the blizzard that was rapidly collapsing: "For Ansu! Die with you!!"

Relying on the blizzard, maybe the people here can live for three more days, but it will completely exhaust all the mana of Victoria and the mage group, as well as the resources stored in the castle. After the blizzard subsides, the brave and fearless mountain corps can only resist Faced with a one-sided massacre under the circumstances.

Northerners don't like this.

Northerners choose to die on the battlefield.

The Duchess knew it, and so did the warriors.

There was only the last aftermath of the blizzard, and those twisted and terrifying crystal cluster monsters were faintly visible on the opposite side of the blizzard.

The knights ran to the city wall, and the mages drank the last potion. On the castle terrace, everyone held their weapons and rushed to the last line of defense of the kingdom's fortress. Victoria just held her staff, silently. Wait for the blizzard to dissipate completely.

At this moment, a familiar figure came into her sight—the maid Maggie walked between the soldiers, carrying two long swords, her black hair blowing in the wind.

This was the first time that the soldiers of the Mountain Corps saw the "maid head" armed.

"Maggie," Victoria called her maid, and said after she approached, "you don't need to stay here, you are not from Ansu."

"I once swore to you," Maggie held a long sword in her hand and looked at Victoria quietly, "And in this situation, where can I go?"

"No, you're the only one who might leave," Victoria said, looking into Maggie's eyes. "You know that—and I do."

Maggie showed a little astonishment and panic for a moment, but before she asked, Victoria continued: "You go to the south."

"Why the south?"

"The previous knights broke through to the northwest. San Sunil is the first line of hope, and you head south—perhaps there is the second line of hope."

The black-haired maid met the gaze of the hostess. She knew that the "hope" the other party spoke of did not belong to the Mountain Corps.

"I see," she bowed her head, "I'm going south."

"Very good," Victoria exhaled softly, and walked forward slowly, "I will create a cyclone for you in the south—take it, hide yourself, and then...

"Fly, Maggie."

Chapter 0621 Ups and Downs

fly.

The words of the mistress echoed in the heart of the black-haired maid.

This is not a command, but a blessing.

She looked at the two long swords in her hand, buckled them on her belt casually, and then walked towards the edge of the terrace, walking faster and faster until she was running fast.

Finally, she jumped down from the edge of the terrace—a gust of wind and snow appeared just in time, covering the jumping figure and lifting her to the sky.

Among the fluttering snowflakes, there was a faintly huge shadow rushing towards the southern sky, but the shadow flashed by so quickly that everyone who noticed this vision thought they were hallucinating.

If it rises with the wind, its deformed and degenerated wings can also flap its wings and fly.

Victoria quietly watched the sudden gust of wind gradually dissipate into the sky, and looked at the huge body passing by in the leaden gray clouds in the distance. A swirling snowflake was reflected in her eyes, and she sighed softly:

"It's not good for you to hide at all—especially under the premise that the Wilder family has dealt with the Holy Dragon Principality for hundreds of years."

Afterwards, the duchess withdrew her gaze towards the sky and stared at the city wall of the castle area not far away.

Now is the time to fulfill the responsibilities of the Duke of Protector.

……

An astonishing number of humanoid monsters surged from the direction of the Holy Spirit Plain, and the terrifying cluster giant army bulldozed countless fortresses and fortresses along the way. Elrond City, Windy City, and the Corridor of the Valley were attacked one after another. Fighting, heavy losses...

One after another bad news came from the southeast, and in addition to the increasingly approaching attack information and more and more loss lists, the exhausted royal intelligence department was still receiving reports about the appearance of the Kingdom Army equipment in the monster army, the front line Dire news of soldiers being transformed into drake giants.

The city of Saint-Sunil has entered the highest level of martial law. A terrifying and tense atmosphere enveloped the entire city. Heavily armed knights and soldiers patrolled between the city walls and outposts all day long. Citizens closed their homes and dared not go to the streets. Almost all nobles canceled banquets on rest days and hunting in the outskirts.

Every day, there will be messengers wearing blue and white blouses and riding fast horses running into the city, or there will be griffin riders flying across the sky; every day, more soldiers will come in and out of the city gates, and there will be urgently called up reserve soldiers , There are also knights who go to the front line to support; every day, there will be new news circulating in the market.

In Silver Castle, the nobles of the kingdom gathered in the Golden Oak Hall. The urgency of the situation finally made these gentlemen and ladies who are accustomed to speaking in a certain elegant tone give up their reserve. They discussed fiercely, proposed one plan after another, and exchanged the latest Information, the atmosphere is warm, and the head is battered. Fear and exhaustion enveloped more than half of the people.

Finally, after the fire reached San-Sunil, they became positive.

"They have already begun to attack the corridor of the valley - our two fortresses there are under attack at the same time, those monsters are not only amazing in number, but also far more powerful than our soldiers!" The voice said, "If we can't stop them in the valley corridor, then there are no forts and fortresses that can stop them!!"

Another person stood up and said loudly: "We should also send the Knights of Black Iron Fortress and Knights of Fort Chanel over there. The local knights in the valley corridor will definitely not be able to stop the enemy..."

"I still say the same thing, we can't send more knights abroad," at this moment, the supreme commander of the royal knights, the Earl of Cromwell White Mountain with dwarf blood, stood up, "We should Gather the effective elite together and shrink the defense of Saint-Sunil City, this is the only possible plan to defend..."

The short and chubby Earl of Bahrain couldn't help standing up: "What's the use of this kind of defense?! Detention is waiting for death. Do we have reinforcements!? The situation is already clear, the main force of the Royal Army and the Mountain Knights are finished! No one will come back from the Holy Spirit Plain to support us, we have no reinforcements!!"

The hall fell silent for an instant, and the depressing atmosphere almost condensed into substance. Earl Balin mentioned this obvious fact that no one wanted to face so directly, which made many people who wanted to speak lose the courage to speak.

Cromwell Baishan stared and his beard trembled, but he also understood that the Earl of Bahrain's words were irrefutable—his shrinking defense might indeed be the only effective way to defend the city, but the necessary follow-up to shrinking the defense It is to be able to wait for reinforcements, or to be able to polish the morale and soldiers of the enemy-but the fact now is that the morale and soldiers of those monsters are probably far better than Saint Sunil, and the reinforcements...

The main force of the Royal Army and the Mountain Corps should really be finished.

The head of the Royal Knights couldn't help but smashed the table.

Even for him, the best he can do at this moment is to come up with a defense plan that barely prolongs Saint-Sunil's survival time, and there is still no follow-up defense plan.

At this moment, the door of the Golden Oak Hall was suddenly opened, and an officer wearing the armor of the Royal Knights ran into the hall.

In the past, no one could break into the Golden Oak Hall so casually, but now, obviously, no one cares about this.

Cromwell Baishan recognized the officer who broke in, and a terrible premonition suddenly rose in his heart: "What happened?"

"The Corridor of the Valley was lost, Earl North was missing on the battlefield, and Earl Baril was killed in battle," the officer said with a slightly trembling voice, "The Knights...the Knights and the Holy See guards who just went to support are completely wiped out..."

There was a sound of gasping in the hall.

Now, they don't have to discuss whether to support the Vale Corridor.

"We...we have no danger to defend," a royal nobleman in a dark blue velvet jacket propped his hands on the table with sweat on his face, murmured, "The defense line of the valley corridor is gone. The royal capital is only two days away..."

"There are really no forts and fortresses to stop them now," another voice sounded immediately, "The next one is San Sunil."

Cromwell Baishan said in a deep voice: "Now we should immediately shrink our forces and strengthen the defense of the capital."

"But sticking to it is not the answer, Your Excellency the Earl," said a royal nobleman in a white hairdress and a brown coat, "We may be able to move to the west—and then take advantage of the remaining fertile areas in the western region and the western part of the Holy Spirit Plain With the strength to maintain the position again, and then slowly plan for the future..."

"Transferring to the north is also a way. The cold northern border may be able to stop those monsters, and there are mountains in the northern border..."

"The Legion of the Western Territory is already on their way to the capital. Without them, it would be too early to give up on San Sunil..."

Duke Baldwin Franklin did not say a word, as if he was thinking about feasible defense plans, or weighing the proposals to abandon the capital. No one could guess from his deep and restrained expression that the Duke of the West Region was what to think.

In deep thought, he looked up and saw Wales Moen sitting at the head of the long table with a sinking face. The crown prince seemed to be watching all this quietly, with deep eyes and no expression, the same No one could guess what was going on in the crown prince's mind.

Not even Baldwin Franklin.

On both sides of the long table, the people who are really in charge of the power of the capital and the remaining army of the kingdom, they also did not participate too much in the noisy discussion.

Some of them focused on Baldwin Franklin, others on Welsh Moen.

Outside the castle, a team that was scheduled to go to the valley corridor stopped before leaving the city, and a silent Holy See Knights also stopped because of a sudden order.

No one knows what the future fate of this royal capital will be. People only know that its darkest day has arrived.

At the same time, in the Holy Light Cathedral and the Great Hall of Light, the low voice of prayer has come to an end, and the glorious holy light is still rippling in the aftermath of energy resonance, in the cloud of holy light covering the dome of the entire hall, faintly The holy, ethereal voice of Covenant lingers for a long time.

"We have lost a large number of Holy See knights and battle priests," a white-haired archbishop said to the holy seat in the center of the hall after praying, "They are all the best and most devout believers, loyal and fearless of the Lord. Soldiers, Your Majesty, we should make an exception and confer the title of saint on the most eminent of these martyrs."

"Their glorious martyrdom is the greatest homage to the Lord. They have fulfilled their oath to the Holy Light and protected the kingdom and people of the Lord. They really deserve the name of saints," said Pope St. Ivan III's old A voice came from the Holy See, "Go and draw up a list. Loyal and pure actions should be manifested."

Another bishop stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the army of blasphemy is approaching this holy city. How should we respond?"

"The Lord has revealed to me that I should fight to protect it," said Saint Ivan III's voice with little hesitation, "this is the test of our faithful faith-the dark days have come, and the first light is in the darkest The hour is lighted, and now it is up to us to fulfill our vows to the Lord."

The bishops in the Great Hall of Light immediately said in unison: "The first holy light shines at the darkest moment... to fulfill the oath to the Lord."

On the holy seat in the center of the hall, an illusory light appeared on the old face of Saint Ivan III, his eyebrows were lowered, and he prayed softly: "It's time... to be faithful to the Lord..."

Beside this devout pope, Veronica Moen just stood quietly, as if she was also praying silently, and the radiance pouring down from the top of the holy light cloud surrounded her, brighter and more brilliant than ever.

"Dark enough... will be bright enough..."

The saint princess opened her lips and whispered in a voice that only she could hear.

……

Ansu has been plunged into a near-extinction disaster.

But the trade line between Cecil and Typhon miraculously unfolded as scheduled, and developed rapidly from the very beginning.

This is a very strange thing in the eyes of Emperor Typhon Rosetta.

It seems that the wonderful "Principality" has completely resisted the man-made natural disaster that happened around them, and even entered a state of rapid development in the war caused by this natural disaster. Their merchants, machines, vehicles, everything is in a steady stream Constantly crossing the border and entering the territory of Typhon through specially opened trade channels, and the massive cotton textiles and industrial products that Typhon exported to them were completely swallowed by them.

The restoration project of the Great Wall that Typhon was in charge of had ended ahead of schedule, and Rosetta had also returned to his imperial capital, sitting in the study of the Obsidian Palace, the talented emperor was carefully watching the information collected by the consultant team The information, which accurately and vividly summarizes all the key data in the trade process between Ansu and Typhon, as well as some information that the intelligence personnel finally obtained from Ansu.

"Industrial production, stimulated by the war, has exploded . . .

"The reason is that a large number of industrial industries are linked to the military. They have generally used magical machines in the field of warfare. The demand for the military has stimulated the entire industrial system...

"Cecil's homeland doesn't seem to be involved in a direct war, they're fighting outside the homeland...

"Cecil swallowed an astonishing amount of cotton textiles, and it is not known what they used them for, except that some of them were used for battlefield wear and tear...

"The daily-use cheap magical products made by Cecil are very popular in the empire..."

Rosetta Augustus put down those materials with a pensive look on her face.

The trade between the empire and the Cecilians has started surprisingly smoothly, and is developing well.

In this process, the empire seems to have really reaped the expected huge benefits, exporting a large amount of cotton textiles, and the textile mills in the Aldernan area have thus made huge profits, and the empire has also reaped the advanced transportation technology of the Cecilians, and Recently, the Manufacturing Association has made great progress in the project of imitating magic vehicles...

Everything seems to be going in a good direction.

Yet Rosetta Augustus vaguely sensed a quagmire, an invisible quagmire.

At this moment, the attendant's voice came from outside the door: "Your Majesty, Master Daniel has arrived."

Rosetta Augustus immediately sorted out his expression, he put the documents aside, and cleared his throat:

"Master please come in."

Chapter 0622 Security Advice

The door of the study room was opened, and an old mage wearing a black dark-pattern robe, hunched over, and artificial nerve cords squirming behind his back appeared in front of Rosetta Augustus.

This is not the first time they have met.

Daniel used to be a hermit mage who lived in the countryside, but before that, he was one of the high-ranking members of the Royal Mages Association, and today, he is the most outstanding expert of the Crafts Association, he is still The mentor of the president of the Royal Society of Mages, the creator of a large number of new technologies in the empire, and the master of technology sought after by many nobles in Aldernan today, he has won the trust of the royal family—including the trust of Rosetta Augustus himself .

Emperor Rosetta has always treated technicians with great courtesy. He didn't mind Daniel's scary appearance at all, and at the same time showed a slightly stiff smile on his face: "Master, I hope my summoning will not affect your work."

"It's my duty to work for you," Daniel said with a slight bow, "I'd be happy to answer your questions in the technical field."

Rosetta nodded. After the old magician sat down, he asked: "It is said that the imitation of the magic car has been successful?"

"Yes, the prototype will be tested in two days," Daniel replied. "If all goes well, we will make it into the practical stage as soon as possible."

"Your wisdom is the immeasurable wealth of the empire," Rosetta couldn't help sighing, "With new means of transportation, coupled with a new railway system... we can finally solve the problem of transporting raw materials and finished products in factories gone."

"My personal wisdom is not important. The imitation of magic vehicles is the result of everyone's joint efforts, and compared to our meager wisdom..." Daniel said, shaking his head slightly, "Perhaps we should sigh Ansu more. The wisdom of human beings is that they first created magic guides, and then created such precise and powerful machines as magic vehicles."

"Strictly speaking, it's the wisdom of the Cecil people—I called you here today to discuss this matter with you."

Daniel lowered his eyelids, concealing the flickering light in his eyes with a gesture of respect for the imperial power. He lowered his head slightly: "Please speak."

"Magic technology originated from Cecil—including the magic net we imitated. Although the structure and unit specifications are different from Cecil's magic net, many characteristics are common," Rosetta said. He said slowly, "In addition, there is also the railway system that is currently under construction in the west and south of Alder South. It is the product of the Cecil people, and all the core technologies are in their hands..."

Daniel raised his head: "Are you worried that these technologies originated from the Cecils will eventually threaten the security of the empire?"

"Even if you don't consider these things, it is inappropriate to hand over the lifeblood of the empire to outsiders, even if it is only part of it," Rosetta Augustus said solemnly, "The Cecilians are good at using the magic net energy, and now they have built railroads across the Empire - those powerful trains can transport goods, as well as weapons and troops, and I can even conceive some plans for war based on railroads, Cecil It's impossible for people to miss it."