Realm of Power

The heavy horse's hooves stopped on a patch of dark green weeds. A slender young man with flaxen hair wearing a cross helmet tightened the horse under his crotch and stared deeply at the towering city wall of the capital of Aero in the distance. There is an unquenchable fanaticism in his eyes. The Royal Capital of Eero carries not only the functions of the city itself, but also a symbol of the most powerful period of the Eero Empire.

Following the wilderness road to the north, although it was built on the northern wetland, as the huge carrier of the political, economic, cultural, and military center of the Héro Empire, the Royal Capital of Héro was a rare highland city.

When it was built, it was deliberately chosen to be in a higher-lying area on the plain. The tall city wall is said to have hollowed out an entire mountain. The towering tower tops and five major expansions in the past few decades have further transformed this city. The city, which was originally only fifteen square kilometers, stretched north and south from the original high platform and divided into sixteen districts, and now covers forty square kilometers.

It is a huge city with two large rivers running through it. Looking from where the young man is, it looks like a huge dragon lying on the high hills in the distance. The population here reached 800,000 at its maximum. It is called the most populous city in Barrow in southern Europe. Relatively speaking, the holy capital of the Order of the Nation at that time had only 300,000 people, the royal capital of Fezer had 270,000, and only the distant royal capital of Aden was said to have 61,000 people. Thousands of people, all of this succumbs to this great city. Although its glory has now faded, after the brutal plunder by the enemy's religious group, the current population of the royal capital has dropped to 300,000. This is still the empire from the religious group. After being bought from the hands of the country, the results of the resettlement of those Elo people who went bankrupt due to plundering, of course, to the young people in front of them, is an insult to their own country.

"This city will become the most majestic city on this continent, and it will become a place that everyone looks up to." In the young man's mind, he remembered the scene when his father held his hand and looked at the entire Eero map with excitement. The young man was exactly The second son of Farouk, the former King of Elro, Alter His Royal Highness Prince Liega, just as he was clenching his fingers, the guard captain Reis in mail armor came up from behind with an anxious look, took a deep breath and whispered, "Your Highness, the southern princes are holding a secret meeting this time. , but did not notify anyone in the royal family. It seems that the rumor is true."

"Whether it's true or not, it doesn't actually matter. You and I both know that those people are not trustworthy in the first place, and their current behavior is not surprising."

Prince Eltrega said with a cold face, his eyes still looking at the Royal Capital of Erro in the distance. He has been watching here for more than a month. In his eyes, it seems that he can still see the fire rising into the sky and the black smoke filling the air. In the sky of the royal capital, the streets are full of people fleeing in chaos, whether they are nobles or commoners, in this They are all desperate and helpless all the time. The gate to the south of the capital of Eero has long been blocked by countless congested people and horses. The cry for father and mother screams loudly in the sky. The empire suddenly collapses and hundreds of thousands of troops are wiped out. , the capital of Erro was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, trembling under the butcher's knife of the cult team,

Eltrega subconsciously clenched his fingers, and the pulling feeling from his right hand reminded him of how he was hung from the top of the city by the guards with the rope in his hand in embarrassment. Because he was unprepared, Eero The royal family also suffered heavy losses in that catastrophe. Three hundred members of the royal family There were many people, but only twenty-one escaped in the end. As a legitimate member of the royal family, except for one prince, Eltrega, the other direct bloodlines of the royal family either died in the catastrophe or disappeared, and that was Ero The fall of the empire was also the fall of the Eero royal family.

Seeing that Prince Eltrega's face did not change at all, the guard captain Reis couldn't help but said, "The Kentam family has been in contact with the empire's high-level officials and proposed to buy back the capital of Ero for two million gold and shake hands with the enemy. It is a huge insult to our Eero royal family. If they are allowed to continue like this, once the Eero king is really taken back by the southern princes, then our royal family will have to..." Reis's voice stopped, and his eyes were filled with emotion. Angry, unable to speak

"What are you afraid of? As long as the Eye of God is still in our hands, the situation will not get out of control."

"But isn't that Eye of God already..." Guard Captain Reis whispered subconsciously

"Okay, don't worry too much about such things."

Eltrega sighed, turned around, glanced at the pale guard with sharp eyes, and slightly raised the corners of his slightly resolute mouth, "You don't really think that whoever can take back the capital of Ero is just Can you really become the Emperor of Ero? Are you kidding? If someone really takes back the capital of Ero, even if our royal family agrees, other princes will not agree. Then we will choose supporters from them. , so that the royal family can easily get the biggest share of the benefits in retaking the royal capital without any cost, because no matter who wants to become the Emperor of Aero, they must get the permission of the Aero royal family, and the Eye of God is always there In the hands of the royal family, the last time it was displayed was when the sacrificial hall opened ten years ago. According to the rules, these southern princes are not eligible to participate. If we say it is true, then it is true! "

Is this okay? "Guard Captain Reis looked stunned.

As the guard captain of the second prince, he had not been with him for a long time. He was only transferred by the second prince after the previous guard captain died in the royal capital. The reason was that the Royal Guards Squadron of Reis was because of He went to the south on a certain mission and escaped the annihilation of the entire army in the Battle of Lutia Castle. For Eltrega, this was The last military force of the Hérault royal family, and the loyalty of the Hérault Guards is unquestionable. In response to the fall of the previous emperor, the guard captain Reis knelt down on one knee when he saw the fleeing Eltrega for the first time. Despite his reluctance, he vowed, "If I had been in Lutia Castle at that time, I would have protected His Majesty the Emperor!"

"You may not be able to protect my father, but you can protect me."

Eltrega, who was in a state of embarrassment, stretched out his hand and put his hand on Reis's shoulder, like a real monarch, with a tough and cold expression. Farouk was dead. In a sense, he was the heir to the throne, even though he was still on the run. A prince was born, but that prince was famous among the King of Héro for not doing his job properly. The reputation within the royal family is quite bad. He was able to escape this time because the prince was hunting near the royal capital. When he saw the religious group surrounded the royal capital, he was immediately frightened and fled south, bypassing the royal capital. Such a person, It is impossible to expect it to be able to shoulder the hope of restoring the empire, and it does not have the qualifications to restore the empire.

Yes, qualifications. Eltrega believes that no one has such qualifications except himself, because he is Prince Eero, the second heir to the throne of Eero. In the case of the disappearance of the first heir, he is the first heir, but The princes in the south of Aero obviously don't think so. Compared to the pressure they feel by relying on the emperor's bloodline, which prince who laughs and laughs all day looks more in line with what the princes want.

"The Eye of God is in my hands, and the throne is in my hands. Who is that person?" Eltrega looked at the camp behind, with very clear contempt,

It was the camp of the coalition forces. Countless gray tents were like large groups of gray goats crowded together, covering the flat wilderness south of the capital of Aero. The hot air was fluttering in the hot air, representing the thirty-one princes of southern Aero. With various colored flags, the coalition forces of the southern princes of Héro used a semi-arc shaped raft of pointed wooden rafts to form a huge semi-arc shape. Although it is not very hot, for the soldiers of the southern princes who are scattered all over the mountains outside the capital of Aero, they have been here for a full summer, from the cool spring to the hot summer. From the very beginning, each family was called by the royal family. , under the glorious banner of regaining the royal capital, they marched northward with great momentum, but now they look lazy and listless.

This northern advance was no less sacred than a holy war in their hearts. For so many years, the Southern Ero people have struggled with the yellow sand in the south and struggled in the desert area, but few people would go north. It was because of the southern invasion. The Elo people have always believed that they are the real Elo people and the continuation of that civilization, while the northerners are traitors. They have abandoned their original heritage. Although they are becoming more and more powerful, But it is getting further and further away from the original Elo tradition. Initially, the belief of the Elo people came from the Holy City, and the Holy City advocated animism, and its external expansion was completely a peaceful cultural expansion. The priests of the Holy City were like It is the seed of civilization, spreading farming, culture, animal husbandry and other knowledge to all parts of Barrow in southern Europe. If nothing happens, the holy city may become the core of Barrow in southern Europe in more than a hundred years.

But when the Holy City collapsed, everything changed.

As the most pious Southern Ero people in the Holy City, they found that the Ero priests who guided them suddenly became the enemies of the Holy City. They launched a massacre against the remaining priests of the Holy City, burned the Holy City's classics, and abandoned all things. Spiritual belief began a rapid expansion, which eventually led to the The catastrophe in the southern part of the country considered it a divine punishment, a punishment for the part of the part of the part that abandoned the Holy City. In the end, the part of the part of the part of the part moved north, but there were still many people from the south who stayed. In front of their eyes, the people from the north The Elo people are traitors. Just as the northern Elo people look down on the southerners, the southerners also look down on the northern Elo people.

"The people of Northern Héro finally proved themselves wrong. In the face of a more powerful enemy, they have no power to fight. Now it is time for us to prove that Southern Héro is right."

"Are there too many people?" Don't be afraid. As long as we can take back the royal capital, everything will be worth it. The empire's garrison in the royal capital of Ero is only 20,000 people. Even if we shout, we can scare the emperor to death. Pants"

"We can't defeat 20,000 people even if we have 200,000 people?" "Maybe the imperial army will flee, so we can take back the royal capital without any bloodshed." Originally, the total strength of the thirty-one princes was only five Ten thousand people, with the vigorous encouragement of the southern princes, became 150,000 in a month, and finally exceeded 200,000. You must know that the total population of the entire southern part of Hérault is only about one million. Such a huge number of people made the princes of southern Hérault themselves feel fear, and their inner ambitions began to expand in a direction consistent with this power. The royal power of Hérault , it is not so far away. The era of the Farouk family has ended, so whose era will take over...

In the spacious meeting tent, there are ventilation openings on all sides, and the cool breeze keeps flying through it, taking away the heat from people's bodies. However, when the meeting was held, Marquis Kentam had been wiping sweat from the north. The news that came brought the Kentam family to the forefront. Originally, they just wanted to give it a try, but who knew they would get a response from the top officials of the empire. Even the cunning Marquis Kentam didn't know what to do for a while. how to express this

"This is an accident. I, the Kentam family, have absolutely no intention of becoming the emperor."

The Marquis of Kentam looked slightly pale and sat on a bench specially arranged for the meeting. While all the lords were still discussing, he first said that this matter was not a conspiracy, but an accident. He knew that if he did not express his attitude, These lords will detain him and then attack the Kentam family in groups.

If that is the case, for the Kentam family, the Jedi will be an irresistible disaster.

Although the Kentam family is one of the three major lords in the south, it cannot stop the attacks from all other lords. Moreover, the Kentam family itself is not good at military affairs, but business. The Kentam family uses the Nanero The largest chamber of commerce, and also has good relations with the major families in the north, so this makes the Kentam family even more popular among them. In the eyes of his princes, there was glittering gold, the color of gold coins. In the past, they were united to fight against the pressure from the north, and all the families were still harmonious. But now it is different. The royal family in the north is already weak, and the south has lost the greatest pressure. Among the princes, there are naturally ambitious people who have their eyes set on the Kentam family.

"Haha, why haven't I encountered such an accident?"

When a short-haired and sturdy middle-aged lord sneered, he twitched the centipede-like scar on his right cheek, which looked like he was alive. His name was Wright, and he was the patriarch of the Boying family. The territory is connected to the Kentam family's territory. The Boying family's territory is not large, it is one third of the Kentam family's, and it is mostly barren yellow sand wasteland, because the Boying family's territory is not large. Bandits are rampant in the territory of the Ying family. In fact, there are rumors that those bandits are the private army of the Boying family. "Emperor, the Kentam family is about to become the emperor. Shouldn't we first salute the future emperor respectfully?" A fat middle-aged man in a red dress stood up from his seat, with a mocking look on his face, while pretending to be thinking of the Marquis of Kentam and bending down to salute.

"Ha ha!"

"Emperor, Emperor Kentam, what a ridiculous feeling"

"Jokes like this will make us laugh to death"

The crowd suddenly burst into laughter. Marquis Kentam's face was as pale as paper, his fingers were clenched, and his whole body was trembling. In addition to scolding Atlis for bringing disaster to the family, he also felt like he was at this moment. He is a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered. Everyone wants to cut him off. Marquis Kentam feels like he is going to be dizzy in this atmosphere. What on earth did he do to give birth to such an unfortunate child? My daughter who knows that the sky is high and the earth is high!

At this moment, a servant of Marquis Kentam came in with a note from outside the tent,

"Sir, this was just sent from the north."

"How long has it been? Why are you still sending this?" Marquis Kentam was so angry that he almost vomited blood and snatched the note from the servant's hand. What kind of good news could be coming from the north? It's just that Atrice has reached a formal agreement with the empire, which will only make himself and the Kentam family even more doomed. If other lords hadn't seen this scene, he might have swallowed the note in one gulp. It's better to be invisible than worse. It's just a piece of paper, not a bottle of poison!

"Sir, Mr. Kentam, what's on that note? Wouldn't it be nice for everyone to take a look?" the burly Wright shouted strangely.

"Yes, let us also know when will Mr. Kentam become the emperor!" The other lords were booing, but the greed in their eyes was slightly red. One lord even walked over directly and stretched out his muscles. With stiff fingers, Marquis Kentam pulled out the note from the seam of his hand, and slowly opened it with a sinister smile on his lips.

"No, that's not what I meant." Marquis Kentam felt that his heart was going to explode. He struggled to stand up, but a big hand on the left and right pressed heavily on his shoulders.

"What's written on the note?" The other lords couldn't wait and looked at the lord who opened the note. However, they unexpectedly found that the sinister smile on the corner of the lord's mouth froze, and his whole body seemed to be under a spell. Like a certain spell, he suddenly became motionless, and the expression on his face began to change. It was a look of fear. Only then did everyone realize that the lord's hand holding the note was shaking.

"What happened, Armoric?"

"Why is that expression like this? Something really happened, right?" Someone came over curiously, glanced at the note, and his steps suddenly trembled.

"The Imperial Minister of State, Hu Keqili, landed at Cairo Port two days ago... The negotiations with the Kentam family broke down! Eighty thousand imperial troops have gathered and are about to go south!" A low voice, almost wailing, sounded like it was coming from that man. It was like it was squeezed out from the man's mouth,

"How could it be possible? Didn't I say that we have already contacted the Kentam family!"

"Why did it collapse? Didn't we talk about it well!" Someone scratched the few hairs on his head.

"It's too big. The empire goes south. What should we do? Do we really want to fight the main force of the empire? That is Hu Keqili, the most famous general in the empire!" Someone shouted in despair, and the lords in the meeting room exploded. , they all stood up immediately and ran over one after another

Although they talk about the empire going south every day, who dares to face the iron current of the empire going south? As the imperial minister of affairs, Hu Keqili is recognized as the first general under the emperor. Even if he is sent to destroy the country, this imperial killing god is more than enough. Why is it used to deal with a small place like the princes in the southern part of Ero? The empire is killing a chicken with a knife. Is it trying to kill us all?