Sword of Dawn

The situation in some areas of the giant wood crossing has been clarified, and the current situation of the Eastern Border Legion has been clarified. Although further information from Solderin is needed to supplement and corroborate it, many things can already be started.

He didn't wait too long. Three or ten minutes later, Betty's voice came from outside the study door: "Master! Knight Philip is here!!"

Philip, dressed in a knight suit, walked into the study room. After he entered the room, he first saluted Gawain, but before he could speak, the magic network communication terminal next to Gawain's desk suddenly lit up again, and at the same time, buzzed. beep.

"Wait a minute." Gawain waved his hand to Philip, signaling him to wait, and then turned on the communication device—judging from the special logo that appeared in the air after the magic network terminal was activated, this is an emergency with a high priority. Communication, if it is not very important information, will not be connected through this line.

The communication device was activated, and the holographic projection above the device quickly condensed a clear image. Solderin wearing a golden wig appeared in the image, with a serious face: "We have important progress here."

Gawain nodded: "Say."

"We have reached the edge of the polluted area and rescued a group of Royal Army soldiers who retreated from the north," Soldering reported clearly and quickly. The entire area has been polluted by the "Curse of Crystal Clusters", Boulder City has fallen, Earl Thorin died in battle, most of the main force of the Royal Army was wiped out, Duchess Victoria Wilde and her mountain army were trapped in the north, the current situation is unknown, and some of the remnants of the Royal Army headed northwest Breaking through, the current situation is unknown, there are a large number of crystal cluster giants forming an army, and they are moving in the direction of San Sunil."

"Soldiers of the Royal Army who retreated from the north?" Gao Wen's heart moved, but he suddenly thought of another piece of information he had just received, a warning from Belk Laurent, "You should check the blood of those people first... "

Although Solderling didn't quite understand, he carried out the order as soon as possible. Gawain got up and went to the Ansu map next to him, and marked and deduced on the map based on what Solderin had just reported.

Soon, the high-level ranger returned to the front of the holographic projection again. Fortunately, the soldiers of the Royal Army rescued by the Iron Rangers did not show signs of infection.

"Who are those soldiers leading? How did they come to the southern part of the contaminated area?"

"A knight named Mitchell, he and the team he led were one of the teams that followed the large force to break out to the northwest, but the entire breakout team was ambushed by the 'Crystal Cluster Legion' near the Zishui River Valley, and the main force was cut off. Mitchell and his corps were also separated from the main force - and with no hope of breaking out further north, they began to move south."

"Ambush by the Crystal Cluster Legion?"

"Yes, those crystal cluster infected people...Although they seem to have become monsters, we found that they are still rational, but their thinking and cognition have been completely heterogeneous, and they regard normal living beings as enemies..."

Solderling and his Iron Rangers really gathered a lot of vital information.

In the next period of time, Gao Wen asked many more detailed questions about the north, about the "infected crystal clusters", and about the situation in the polluted area. Soldering also quickly and in detail the many information he collected along the way. report.

Gradually, the situation in the originally foggy Holy Spirit Plain finally became clear. Gawain quickly combined all the known information in his mind. On the satellite image overlooking Ansu, a large number of vague and unknown areas were obtained one by one. Fill and perfect.

Belk Rollen brought information on the Eastern Control Area and the Eastern Legion, and Solderin obtained the first-hand information from the Royal Army. All the information was mutually confirmed and filled in completely. The main pollution zone, the crystal cluster The distribution of the "monsters" and their many characteristics, the possible hiding places and escape routes of the survivors...all gathered together.

Gawain turned his head and looked at Philip who was standing in front of him with a serious face - the young knight was waiting for an order.

"The First Combat Corps and its affiliated mechanized corps—attack immediately, target, Holy Spirit Plain."

"Yes!"

After thinking for a while, Gao Wen continued: "This time, I will also go out."

"Are you going to fight?" The first person to stare wide-eyed was not Philip, but Amber standing beside Gawain, "Aren't you..."

The disgrace of the elves abruptly cut off the topic halfway through her speech. At least she restrained herself from saying the words "the result of the last expedition resulted in a sudden death on the spot, which left a psychological shadow", but her staring eyes Obviously, the content of what was in his mind had been fully exposed.

"The situation is different," Gao Wen could guess what Amber wanted to say, but this time he was not angry, he just smiled lightly, "In the current situation, only by doing our best to ensure the victory of the war can we have a future and hope."

Then he paused and sighed slightly.

"The kingdom has turned into an unresolved mess after all - and it's time for me, the guy who climbed out of the coffin, to clean them up."

Ten minutes later, Philip left the Lord's Mansion. He was going to the military area, summoned his adjutants and staff officers, reorganized all the information and worked out a more complete and practical marching plan before heading north. Amber also left the Lord's Mansion. She To arrange a series of affairs of the Military Intelligence Bureau, to ensure that all matters such as wartime intelligence and public opinion in the rear are running in an orderly manner, Gao Wen left his study and came to Tyre's room——

Miss Siren is not soaking in her favorite big pool at this moment, but is entrenched on the west side of the room, occupying a huge space round after round. When the door opens, she is shaking the tip of her tail slightly , humming an unknown song.

That is not a sound that humans can make. The tune of the ballad is mixed with a lot of ethereal reverberations and harmonies like waves. It sounds beautiful and mysterious, but there seems to be a richer frequency beyond the frequencies that can be recognized by the human ear. , A complex sound range that only the people of the deep sea can hear.

Gao Wen came to discuss things with this sea monster. He didn't expect that the other party was not only awake, but even singing—to be honest, it's really rare for her to do something that fits the racial identity of a "sea monster". Gao Wen couldn't help but ask, "So you can sing?"

"I'm a siren, is this our instinct?" Tire poked the floor with the tip of his tail, and expressed his dissatisfaction with Gawain's question in a voice of "do-do-do", and then asked curiously, "So you have something to do with me? Look at your serious face... I'm afraid it's not a small matter."

Gao Wen nodded, and got straight to the point: "I would like to know more about the situation you mentioned last time that the smell of 'food' was sensed in the northeast direction."

"Ah..." Tire sighed softly, the winding snake tail slid on the floor, and his body moved a little bit in front of Gawain, "It seems that the matter is really serious..."

……

In the deepest part of the fortress of rebellion, beyond the border of the material world, beyond the shadow realm that mirrors the real world, next to the fortress of rebellion in the shadow realm, a huge corpse is as silent as it has been for thousands of years in the past.

The giant deer as towering as a hill is quietly suspended among the broken floating islands and gravel, and countless twisted metal wreckages criss-cross to block the space around this god corpse. Around the giant deer, a layer is filled with holy, powerful The radiance of the senses floated slightly as if it would never go out, and farther away, most of the ancient magic devices with a history of thousands of years inside and outside the Fortress of Rebellion had been extinguished, leaving only the faint glow of the runes slowly flickering in the darkness , accompanied by the 3000-year-old body of the giant deer Amoen.

This constant state of silence seemed to last forever.

But suddenly, a change happened——

On the huge god corpse, a twilight flowed slowly, and the closed eyes of the giant deer Amoen quietly opened a little.

Chapter 0614

Many days later, a student of Godwin Orlando described the scene on the 738th day of the Moon of Recovery in Ansu 30 with these words——

When the southern border opened its gates, the power of machinery and steel poured out, and the wheels and tracks of the chariot crushed the land that was once opened up with sword and fire. Before the power of Cecil, all living beings will be equal.

Cecil's magic combat corps left the southern border for the first time and set foot on the Holy Spirit Plain.

The engine sounded, and the steel chariot driven by gears and levers drove out of the Rock Fortress amidst the sound of horns and whistles, and moved forward in a mighty manner to the north. A large transport convoy full of soldiers and supplies also drove on the north-south road Kingdom Avenue formed a giant python on the plain.Philip sat on the command car in the middle of the first convoy. He opened the armor plate on the roof, leaned half his body outside, and stared at the team through the shimmering vehicle shield.

Heavy Warhammer tanks were escorting both sides of the road. The steel armor and the main gun of the tank were glowing coldly in the sun. Large transport vehicles were in the middle of the road, lined up with "Steel Ambassadors". The spacious compartments were full of heavily armed soldiers. Every [-] meters or so in the team, there is another truck with a silver-white fist emblem hanging on it. It is a troop transport vehicle belonging to the White Knights Chapter-the White Knights who are chaplains do not have their own main battle tank yet. , but with the efforts of Patriarch Wright, their battle group has begun to take shape.

In addition to the vehicles, there are soldiers lined up to follow on foot-infantry is an important guarantee to ensure the vision and emergency response capabilities of tank troops.

The sight of this army attacking is shocking, and the power of machinery and steel is breathtaking.

But after all, Cecil's magic industry is still short, and the entire army cannot be mechanized-in the rear of the First Battle Corps, there are still long teams that rely on animal power to transport soldiers and supplies, but even Vehicles pulled by animal power are often equipped with howitzers or continuous firing gun towers, so that they are truly fully armed.

Philip withdrew his gaze. During the process, his eyes briefly met with a young man leaning out from the nearby chariot. The young man immediately put his hands on his chest and respectfully gave a "half-knight salute".

The young man wore a sword badge on his chest, and a corresponding badge on his shoulders, which showed that he was an enshrined knight and one of the civilian officers promoted after the establishment of the Principality of Cecil.

Of course Philip knew each other. After all, about half of the new-generation officers in this team were trained by him, and he also knew that the young man with the knight badge was just an ordinary person without extraordinary power—— In Er's legion, more than half of the enshrined knights or officers are ordinary people without any extraordinary power.

"A new age of chivalry..." Philip sighed softly, but there was no regret in his tone.

Here comes Cecil.

Before the attendants came to report, the Earl of Pompey saw the mighty army on the Kingdom Road on the balcony, and saw the creation of the magic industry that was difficult to understand with common sense. With the blessing of the eagle eye, he clearly saw I saw the wheels and tracks of those mechanical monsters, their guns, and the heavily armed soldiers who traveled with the convoy.

The Earl of Pompeii, who was slightly fat, stood on the cold windy terrace and watched quietly for a long time. He not only looked at the Cecilian army, but also thought of the army he once owned—the one led by knights. , composed of conscripts, wearing a variety of protective gear, holding colorful flags, relying on drums and flutes to form an army, and then surprised that Sir Maryland of the former Rock Fortress relied on that level of troops. Persevered for a full forty hours.

It seems that it is really the credit of the fortress shield and city wall.

Then the earl left the terrace and came to the main hall of the castle, where he ordered his servants to prepare a grand luncheon. He put on the dress he wore only once when he was entrusted—the dress was already a little tight ——Put on the bow tie, hair cover and ribbon again, and he asked his wife and children to also put on formal attire, and sat at the table as if attending a royal canonization feast.

After taking his seat, the Earl of Pompeii in formal attire looked around the hall and saw the servants standing nervously in the distance, so he smiled and said, "Come too."

Servants look at me, I look at you, no one dares to move their place, they can't understand their master's abnormal behavior these days, let alone understand the abnormality of today's abnormality.

The Earl of Pompey just shrugged his shoulders, and then he raised his wine glass and shook it slightly in the air, paying tribute to Francis II who had passed away from this world.

The door was pushed open at this moment, and an attendant ran in out of breath: "My lord, it's coming outside..."

"Let them come in," Count Pompeii said calmly, then turned his head slightly, and said to the band not far behind, "Please change to a more solemn song, "Valsa's Closing Song" would be good."

The gate of the castle was slammed open, and a group of heavily armed soldiers walked in. The leader was a heroic female knight, and beside her were two wearing heavy white full-body armor, full of blood. Heavy armored fighters of the power of the Holy Light—the Cecilians call this kind of heavy armored fighters "priests".

The valiant female knight strode up to the Earl of Pompey, holding a document in her hand: "Mr. Earl, I am Margarita Crete from Cecil, here representing Gawain Secil Duke Sil, convey to you..."

The Earl of Pompeii took out a stack of sealed documents without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, and said gently and slowly: "This is the canonization document granted to me by the Moen royal family. These are the land documents on my territory. List of possessions outside the castle."

Then he looked at the document in the female knight's hand and nodded slightly: "Where should I sign?"

Margarita froze for a moment, probably because the situation was beyond her expectations, but she still reacted quickly and handed over the document: "At the end."

The Earl of Pompeii took the printed matter, glanced at it roughly, then picked up the dip pen he had prepared earlier, and after bringing the tip of the pen close to the paper twice, he smiled wryly and looked up at the female knight: "Ma'am, I can Do you want to sign after this meal?"

"Yes," Margarita calmly looked at the count, who is located in the southernmost part of the Holy Spirit Plain and whose entire territory is within the firepower coverage of the Rock Fortress, and said calmly, "We will watch you finish eating here."

……

In the large command vehicle, Amber left the communication station and came to Gao Wen's side: "The Earl of Pompeii has signed it—there really was no battle."

The half-elf's face was full of disbelief.

An earldom with a huge area, land that is not considered barren, and overall even considered wealthy, has simply accepted the "management" of the Duchy of Cecil in this way.

Gao Wen just smiled nonchalantly: "This should be a relief for the earl, at least he doesn't have to worry all day long about whether he should stick to being a nobleman of the royal family or quickly switch to being a nobleman of the southern border."

After speaking, his attention was refocused on the combat map in front of him.

On this accurate map, a quarter of the area of ​​the Holy Spirit Plain has been marked with dazzling red.

The Gorgon River running from north to south and the Kingdom Avenue along the Gorgon River are marked in striking blue and white.

On the Gorgon River and the Kingdom Avenue, two arrows have been marked. They are the inland river fleet that is going up the river, and the army troops that are advancing north along the Kingdom Avenue and the plain area.

His battle plan is clear, and he has reached an agreement with the generals and staff of the army - the most important goal is to complete the cutting and blockade of the entire eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain!

The "plague" created by the death of all things is dangerous and terrible, but it obviously still needs the media and the corresponding excitation "ritual" to realize it (from the information of Solderin and Belk), so at this stage, its The spread has not been out of control, and the contaminated area is still dominated by giant log crossings, and the Gorgon River has not been crossed.

He wanted to block the plague on land before it crossed the Gorgon River—relying on the warships in the river to clear the coast with firepower, and then the mechanized troops equipped with heavy burners advanced all the way, from south to north, Create isolation zones and purification zones from west to east, and after initially controlling the scope of pollution, advance and shrink the envelopment of mechanized troops to gradually remove the "Crystal Cluster Legion" that will end everything.

Now all factories in the southern border have entered a wartime state, and all production lines are working overtime to manufacture simple and quick versions of "fire-breathing chariots". A large number of civilian ships have also been temporarily requisitioned, equipped with small naval guns and incendiary projectiles They will soon enter the Dorgon River through the Rock Fortress to support the First Fleet, and since last year the entire Principality of Cecil has been consciously preparing for this war, so as long as the contaminated area does not break through a few The key point is that this plan is the most appropriate and effective.

But correspondingly, the easiest and most risky part of this plan to get out of control is the pollution breaking through the blockade...

Gawain's gaze moved up, and finally landed on the northern end of the Gorgon River, on the junction of the Kingdom Avenue, on the largest city in the Holy Spirit Plain, and also on the main fortress——

City of San Sunil.

This royal capital with a population of 10,000+, which controls all traffic arteries from east to west, north to south, and the gate to the north, must not be lost, let alone be polluted!

……

In the north of the Pompeii area, across a hilly area directly under the royal family, several chariots formed a small temporary camp, and a team was camping in the wilderness to rest.

Wearing black full-body light armor and wearing a closed helmet, the ranger warrior climbed onto the roof, adjusted the observation mode of the tactical eyepiece, and scanned the dark wilderness in the distance vigilantly. Two howitzer operators and two heavy burner operators Hands were sitting on their respective chariots, blocking every direction with their weapons - not only to block the road, but also to be alert to the seemingly hard-to-walk gravel wilderness, this is fighting those monsters big and small After more than a dozen games, the fighters have accumulated valuable experience.

Druse giants are not humans—although they are mutated from humans, after gaining a powerful body, their way of action has been freed from the constraints of humans. They can walk freely among gravel, depressions, shallows, and even poisonous swamps. Launch an attack, which must be kept in mind at all times.

From the royal capital, the Mitchell knight with blue eyes and brown curly hair was wrapped in a blanket, leaning against the heating lamp heated by the heat rune, looking at those strange warriors from the southern border with complicated eyesight, and he The few remaining soldiers sat not far away, mostly in a daze.

Until now, this noble knight still seems to be in a deep dream—he woke up from a nightmare and fell into a strange and strange new dream. Explosions and deadly flames fell from the sky, and he and his men were rescued by warriors calling themselves the Iron Rangers, whose equipment and fighting style... opened his eyes.

You know, as a son of a royal family with a long history of education, he has always been proud of being well-informed, but these fighters from the southern border and their fighting methods... Knight Mitchell has never seen them before.

The royal army also received weapons from the southern border. The knights all wore melting swords and heat ray guns. The army was also equipped with a small amount of "light accelerator guns" propelled by runes, but until today, Knight Mitchell did not realize that I realized one thing: what the people from the southern border handed over to the Kingdom Army... was just the tip of the iceberg of their huge armed forces.

What's ridiculous is that until more than a week ago, the commanders of the Royal Army were still complacent about those weapons, and they were still planning to launch an attack on the eastern border after the end of spring to completely end the war.

Now the war is indeed over... The war between the royal family and the East is over.

Knight Mitchell laughed at himself, and the sound of footsteps came from the side. The elf ranger with long golden hair came to the heating lamp and sat down next to Mitchell.

"How's the injury?"

"It's healed, and about [-]% of my physical strength has recovered," Mitchell didn't hide his gratitude, "Thank you for the alchemy potion."

Solderin nodded: "Washing the wound with Qubing Mixture mixed with Rejuvenation Potion can effectively prevent suppurative infection and allow the wound to heal quickly without losing energy. This cannot be achieved by oral medicine alone."

Mitchell kept smiling, but the corners of his mouth were a little stiff.

In the Kingdom Army, even the knight class can only be allocated two bottles of alchemy potions for each battle, two bottles!Only half a mouthful per bottle!Only dare to drink when you are about to be beaten to death!

Who doesn't know that washing the wound with alchemy potion will speed up the healing - but who can afford it...

After a moment of embarrassment, the Royal Knight forced himself to change the subject: "Where are we going next?"

"Moving towards the Gorgon River, our warships will pick up there, and then we will join the First Corps in the river bank area," Soldering said, "Let's not talk about this—according to your judgment, you How long do you think it will take for those druse troops to reach San Sunil?"

"If they don't sleep, I'm afraid it will be another week... This is because most of them can only walk, and there are no horses and vehicles that can fit their huge bodies," Mitchell recalled. Impressed, I couldn't help shivering, "I think they can travel without sleep for a week."

"In the worst case scenario, they will arrive in San Sunil within a week," Soldering frowned, "...I hope that city can hold out until the main force from the southern border arrives."

As a proud royal nobleman, Knight Mitchell immediately spoke subconsciously: "Saint Sunil has Anzu's most powerful magic shield and a self-repairing city wall, as well as hundreds of battle mage towers and The powerful Knights of the Royal Capital and the Guards Knights can withstand the attacks of those monsters."

However, the blond-haired high-ranking ranger just glanced at him indifferently, and said calmly: "I believe in the shields, city walls and mage towers you mentioned, but I don't trust the defenders."

Mitchell met the eyes of the high-ranking ranger, and said firmly: "The two major knight orders will stick to the last moment."

"...It's okay, there are still knights like you in this generation of Wangdu, and it's not completely bad," Soldering patted Mitchell on the shoulder, and he didn't know if it was a compliment or not. "I hope, I hope that city can hold on."

……

Continue to follow the Gorgon River to the north, in the east of the river, between the Boulder City and the Gorgon River, in the city with a long history "Red Maple City", the last shouts of killing finally gradually subsided.

Blood overflowed the streets, broken swords and equally broken corpses lay on the ground, the pungent scorched smell permeated this city famous for its red maple leaves, and the sun shining from the clouds illuminated the city, which was gradually cooling down On the battlefield, under the sunlight, the army formed by the cluster giants is sweeping the ruins, collecting the trophies, and counting the losses, while a man in a black robe with a tall, thin figure and a sullen face walks through the blood-stained streets, swarming around the clusters. While the giants saluted respectfully, they came to the square in front of the lord's castle.

All things die Master, Heaton.

This sinister man has changed a little compared to before. Tiny crystals have grown on his cheeks and hands, and his eyes are filled with powerful arcane energy. Many of the traits have emerged in him.

This gave him extra strength and allowed him to command this large army more effectively.

"The ones who resisted to the end... turned out to be mercenaries and adventurers," the headmaster in black robe looked at the corpses around the square with disdain on his face, "The lord here is a coward."