Eagle Byzantium

When Ostus came to the inner hall of the fortress with a scimitar and a group of soldiers, he found that the woman Tancred had raped in the past, Messand, the granddaughter of Toros, was sitting on a chair in the hall in mourning clothes and an amber necklace. When she saw Ostus's knife refracting the light, she said in a sad and mournful tone, "All women in this world are no longer people endowed with gods, but all are sacrifices on the evil and dirty altar. Put your blade into my neck? I will not serve the new victor again."

"That depends on me being willing to let you serve, ugly freak!" Amid the screams of several maids, Ostus drew out his scimitar and walked towards the sitting Messand.

"Stop, Ostus!" Fer, who came from behind, stopped him from committing the crime. "Take her hostage, don't embarrass her, maybe it will be of some use."

"Kill me, kill me." Amid Messand's begging and wailing, several soldiers lifted her up and dragged her to the dungeon under the castle...

Then, under the clear sky after the snow, the Armenian lion flag was proudly raised on the towering Acropolis of Samosata. It was strikingly imprinted in the eyes of Tancred, who came to help from several miles away. His eyes almost bleed and he almost fell off his horse. The dozens of armored Norman knights beside him also watched this scene in fear and anxiety. This was a huge blow to their fighting spirit and morale.

"Messander, Messander..." Tancred gritted his teeth in agony, and then his anger rose. "If it weren't for my uncle's greed for the exchange of interests between Gawain and him, how could he force all the Armenians in Edessa and Samosata to rebel? And how could my woman die in this castle? Most of the territory that I, Tancred, fought for in bloody battles was lost overnight!" Now, Tancred actually developed a sincere hatred for his uncle...

After the snowy night uprising of Pakard, the entire East fell into extreme chaos in just a few days, with all kinds of true and false news and Letters were flying all over the place - there was no doubt that Marash, Tubercena, Lavodera and Samosata were occupied in an instant by the desperate surprise attack of Pacoade and Fell. A new Armenian alliance, an alliance that was unwilling to be oppressed by foreign pilgrims, was formed almost overnight. It was protected by the iron and blood of the Armenians. Most of the Armenian nobles were exiled from the areas occupied by Gawain, such as Reuben's cavalry commander Saliki, some came from the Norman-occupied areas, and some originally accepted Bohemond's orders, but now they were inspired by national justice and rebelled. Finally, about 140 honorable people gathered in Tubercena. They surrounded the steps where Fell and Parkard stood, cheered and indignantly, cut and bit their fingers, and pressed their bloody handprints on the "Establishment of the Great Armenian Empire" made of exquisite kraft paper, cheering the arrival of independence.

In the past, they had been humiliated by the powerful countries in the East and the West, and were pulled by one faction and beaten by another. Now everyone was forced into a desperate situation, but they united sincerely, "With our blood, we swear to put the lion's flag back on the Ark Mountain!" After pressing the handprints, all the nobles present burst into tears and shouted in unison.

Then Fell raised his arms and shouted, "We can no longer rely on others. In addition to uniting all armed forces to defend ourselves, we must also have an independent foreign policy. We must unite all those who are willing to help Armenia restore its country, from the Holy See in Rome to the emperor in Constantinople, and even the Frankish lords and the Emirs of the Turks! Remember that our mortal enemies are only Gawain and Bohemond." With this winter thunder-like cry, the Armenian Chamber of Commerce (these mountain people are actually not bad in martial arts and business acumen) played the role of liaison. They sat in cargo ships and carriages and connected everywhere to win allies.

One group of merchants directly crossed the Pontus Mountains and came to Trebizond. Then, carrying General Theodorus's letter, they directly arrived at the bay of Bithynia and landed, letting the emperor in command in Nicaea know this thunderous news.

Previously, the emperor had learned that Reuben and his legion had been ambushed and annihilated, which made Alexius hold onto the palace column and feel sad for a long time, "My 200 pounds of gold... Even if I hire a group of horse bandits and herdsmen, they can last longer than a fool like Reuben..." Alexius became very depressed afterwards. He was very worried that Gawain and Bohemond would quickly expand their power by eliminating Reuben, and he would not be able to suppress them in the future. But the news that Pakade and Fer revolted again made the emperor smile. He called Dido over, and then the father and daughter quickly reached an agreement and issued the Golden Edict:

"Now, in the name of the emperor elected by the Roman elders and subjects, I allow and congratulate the revival of the Kingdom of Ani in Armenia, and as a protectorate of the empire, I will enjoy all diplomatic, self-defense and taxation powers. I hereby appoint Fer Shagiliel as the regent of the kingdom, Pakade as the vice regent, his son Hercules as the commander of the kingdom's armed forces, and General Saliki as the general manager of the kingdom's cavalry... The capital of the kingdom is temporarily set in Tubercena, but the legal jurisdiction is in Vanka City, and Samosata and Edessa are also recognized as the legal territories of the kingdom."

Alexius's edict was destined to bring this emerging kingdom, Seleucia and the Principality of Bohemond into an eternal bloodbath.

At the same time, several envoys from Fer also came to the Amasya Palace and met with Merick, the ruler of Danishmond. "What? Bohemond originally wanted to recruit you to attack my Melitene Fortress, damn it!" The hot-tempered Merick was furious. The Persian painter beside him immediately drew a red-bearded donkey. Then Merick asked the painter to send it down to the envoys to see, "Does this look like that Bohemond?"

"Yes, yes." The envoys laughed and said hurriedly.

"No, not yet!" After seeing the painting, Merick was very angry, and the painter was so scared that he filled it with armor and painted flames and black smoke around it.

Finally, what appeared before Merik was a donkey named "Bohemond" wearing armor and with a red beard. Sharp spikes pierced through "his" mouth and made a screaming expression. He was roasted in the terrible hellfire. "Very good, send this painting to Antioch to humiliate this bastard." Merik was satisfied and slapped the painting in the painter's hand with the end of his whip. "In addition, recruit all the warriors in the entire plateau and Greater Armenia. I will personally conquer Melitene!" (To be continued ~^~)