Sword of Dawn

Page 476

"I've been worrying about what will happen to their reunion—I'm even worried that they'll fight," Bertila shook his head. "Someone in the imperial capital is paying attention to this matter. I don't want any surprises. Fortunately, So far everything seems to be going well.”

"Of course it will go well, at least you don't have to worry about them fighting from the very beginning," Sister Marianne showed a gentle smile, like any qualified clergyman, her smile is warm and reassuring , "A father who is reunited with his daughter is bound to be impossible to do anything to his daughter, and it is even more impossible for the 'Miss' who has not recovered from his serious injury to have the strength to argue with his father-not to mention that I am still in her last dose of alchemy." The potion has doubled the dose of Moonlight Mixture..."

Bertila: "??"

Chapter 0993 Double Stage

Andersa returned to the bed, her father was sitting beside her.

Everything seemed to be in a dream—even the pain caused by pulling the wound just now could not convince Andesa of the reality of all this.She felt that her head was dizzy again, and that kind of weak and unbalanced dizziness hit her in waves. Is this a sign that she is about to wake up from the dream?

She raised her head and looked at her father's face, confirming all the details again and again, as if she wanted to thoroughly engrave every wrinkle, every hair, and every subtle change of expression of the other person into her mind, and then use it Seriously comparing it with the appearance in her memory more than ten years ago, she didn't know what the point of doing this was—but she had to find something to do for herself in order to calm down a little bit.

Her father was completely different from what she remembered. Except for those eyes, Andersa could hardly find many details that matched her memory... This was just because she had forgotten her childhood memories for more than ten years. detail?Or is it because these years of life experience can really make such a huge difference in a person?

"You are completely different from what I remember," she couldn't help but say, "I remember you had a very high forehead...and a wider nose bridge than now..."

Bud reached out and touched his face.

Yes, this face should indeed have changed a lot, a change that is difficult to explain with the passage of time - there is a price to be paid for embracing darkness and depravity, he can no longer remember how many taboo and dangerous powers he has come into contact with, remember I don't know how much I have paid for those powers... flesh and blood transformation, evil factor test, mutation, toxin, this face has been transformed between human and non-human again and again, and has been reshaped again and again, even though I have been Trying to maintain the original human appearance as much as possible, but this face will eventually become unrecognizable.

There are probably not many people in this world who can recognize themselves.

"This is the price of living to this day," Bud twitched his lips, and said with some self-mockery, "Fortunately, everything is over, and I have a good life here."

Andersa was silent for a while, and finally couldn't help asking the question she wanted to ask from just now: "So you have been in Cecil...Ansu? You didn't die at all, you were just caught by Ansu and then became theirs?"

There was a questioning tone in her words, but she was somewhat lacking in confidence—because she was just a prisoner of war who chose to surrender, and she didn't seem to have much qualifications to question her father.

But she was obviously still a little angry, almost annoyed—it was the emotion caused by the impact on the outlook on life she had insisted on for a long time. She stared at her father, as if not only looking for an answer, but also hoped that the other party could answer. There is a complete set of rhetoric that can convince oneself, so that this "betrayal" will not be so shameful.

Bud had already expected that this question would be waiting for him, and he had prepared for it for a long time, but when this moment really came, he was silent for a long time before gathering the courage to speak: "Ann Desa, I... have been through a lot. In the past few years, I have done some... more terrible things than you can imagine."

……

Margarita came to a tower on the west wall of Solinburg. Although the "outside" world was already cold in winter, the wind blowing over this tower was still as warm and suitable as spring. She opened her forehead With a strand of hair blown by the wind in front of her, she looked up at the direction of the trunk of the giant tree and exhaled softly.

This is the highest place in the entire Solin Fort, but even here, the majestic crown of the Solin giant tree is still a long way from Margarita. She looked up at the layers of green "dome", in the The countless luminous vines dotted between the domes and the mycelia hanging down like veils glow charmingly like the starry sky at night—if you don’t know the secret behind this, who would have thought that such a dreamlike spectacle is actually rooted in a Above the flesh and blood abyss of the Dark Order?

There was a soft rustling sound nearby, and some flower vines that were originally clinging to the outside of the tower squirmed and came behind Margarita, and Bertila walked out slowly from the crowd of flower vines: "Good day, General Margarita."

Margarita didn't look back: "Is the reunion between the 'Miss' and her father going well?"

"The atmosphere is not bad...Although it's a little bit bad now, I think they will be smooth in the end," Bertila said, and then she paused, "Actually, I don't think Bud will send himself over a dozen He told his daughter that it was a good choice, especially if the latter was not healed, because of his experience at the end of all things, but he doesn't seem to think so."

"...They haven't seen each other for too long, maybe Mr. Bard can't find a better topic than this, and it seems to me that Miss Andersa Wendell doesn't seem to be on this kind of thing An impulsive person."

"Perhaps," Bertera was silent for a moment before he said softly, "I haven't had relatives and friends for too long, and I don't quite understand this aspect...The experience and memory of hundreds of years ago, put It probably doesn’t apply to the current generation.”

Margarita took a deep look at this ancient druid who could no longer be regarded as a human being, and said casually: "You should have received the news too—the Thorin area will send a team including combat, construction and A mixed support force, including medical personnel, went to the front line of Winterwolf Castle to deal with the increasing counterattack of the Typhon there."

"Ah, of course I received it. After all, I undertake a lot of work here," Bertila said calmly. Changfeng—the situation in the Winter Wolf standoff zone."

"...Don't you feel anything personally?" Margarita couldn't help asking.

Bertila asked her back, "What do you want to say?"

"You used to be a Typhonian, although it was a long time ago," Margarita looked at the other person seriously, "Strictly speaking...you are even one of the ancestors of Rosetta Augustus. Feng royal family. Now that Typhon is encountering a divine disaster, and Cecil is in a state of war with them, I thought you would pay extra attention to this."

"You also said that it was a long time ago," Bertera smiled suddenly, although the smile was a little stiff and rigid, "I left Typhon far longer than the time Bard separated from his daughter, so long ago that I Already forgot what those faces of the Augustus family looked like. There are no people I know there, no cities and streets I know, even the Orlandal I remember has sunk into the earth 200 years ago Deep down... now that's a foreign place to me, and I don't think I have anything to be emotional about."

Margarita was taken aback for a moment, and then slowly smiled a little: "That's true."

A gust of wind blew from the far north, and the canopy of the giant tree of Sorin made a large area and long-term rustling sound in the wind. The far east—but beyond the perception area of ​​the giant tree, all she could see as a plant was endless darkness.

……

The fog, the endless fog, the fog that covered the whole of Aldernan.

In this month of every year, the long-lasting fog will always cover this city standing on the plain. People in Aldernan have become accustomed to this season of dense fog, and are used to staying in the city during the months-long fog. Living under the chaotic sky, in the eyes of poetic people, the fog floating among the buildings and the shadowy roofs and towers in the fog are even a kind of fascinating beauty - about the imperial capital in the fog His poems can be seen everywhere and at any time for two centuries.

Yet in the Brumaire of Cecil 2 (Typhon 739), the townspeople of Aldernan felt most nervously from the familiar fog.

An atmosphere of panic is spreading in the city with all kinds of rumors, those churches of God of War that keep making strange noises and are said to have been occupied by evil spirits, those frequently mobilized troops, those news from the front line, Everything was stirring the nerves of the Typhon people, and on the last day of the first week of Brumaire, another really big event happened.

Compared with the vague and anxious gossip before, at least this matter is clear: with the unanimous vote of all members of the Imperial Diet, His Majesty the Emperor temporarily closed the Diet.

No one knows what the future holds for the city — or the country — for that matter.

But for the civilians living at the bottom of the city, they have not yet reached the level where they can worry about such "big things".The factories are still running, and the exchanges, stations and docks still need a large number of employees. Even because of the outbreak of this inexplicable war, the machines in the factories are turning a little more happily than before, and those who work in the factories People... they have to work harder to keep up with those bearings and gears that are turning faster and faster.

Bonn wrapped his already very old coat tightly, and hurriedly walked on the road to the magic train station. He had walked this road many times, and he would set off from here almost every day to the station or station Moving things in the nearby warehouse, loading and unloading trucks, and then going home until the sun sets, and then back to the dilapidated apartment on Lower Cross Street.And he was not the only one walking on this road, there were many people who also went to the station to work on the same route as him - they walked fast or slowly in the fog, silent to each other, only their footsteps The sound is like the gears and chains in the factory that are also silent.

The bell of the two-wheeled bicycle came from nearby. Bonn glanced to the side and saw the young postman riding his bicycle through the fog. The big black bag was draped on the back seat of the car, which was already soaked by the fog. .

When the postman walked through these workers, he looked very energetic, and even had a proud attitude. Obviously, he thought his job was more dignified than these coolies who could only carry goods.

Bonn shook his head, thinking nothing of it, just going on his way.

But there was another sound, which broke the tranquility in the mist: it came from mid-air, as if some kind of sharp resonance sounded across the entire city in an instant, and then a short and high-spirited music sounded from the air , it was so sudden and loud that even the lingering mist in Aldernan seemed to be shaken by the sound and flowed in the winter sun.

Bonn was stunned for a moment, and quickly realized what it was - this was the sound released by the magic towers set up all over the city, and these magic towers were all directly connected to the Obsidian Palace, Aldernan's The townspeople are well aware of what it means for these "mage-controlled powerful things" to make a sound—clearly, someone who has the right to speak over the city is about to speak, and the whole city will listen.

The following voices will even appear in recent newspapers and be sent to various parts of the country.

Bonn shrank his neck subconsciously, and then he heard a majestic, low-pitched male voice suddenly, which startled him——

"...greetings to my industrious and loyal subjects, I am your protector and loyal servant of the Empire, Rosetta Augustus...

"...the royal family has noticed the tension in the city, but please relax, the situation has been effectively controlled, and the recent...

"...the empire has entered a state of wartime emergency, and the royal family will spare no effort to protect the rights of every citizen during this difficult time. I hereby promulgate the following bills personally:

"...the rights and interests of the workers in the factory will be guaranteed, and the income of all positions will not be lower than... For workers who work overtime for extended working hours and actively contribute to the empire, corresponding rewards are specially formulated...

"About wartime food supply and medical supplies..."

……

The magic broadcast echoed over the city, and could be heard clearly from any corner of Aldernan.

"Crazy... crazy... crazy!!"

A stocky man walked back and forth angrily in the dark red carpeted hall, his expensive and exquisite leather boots sank into the thick carpet, making only a small sound.The expensive dress on his body was wrinkled by his rough movements, and even a button on the collar was missing-it was pulled off by himself in an angry display of attitude.

Several high-ranking battle mages in black short robes were standing near him. These battle mages were staring at the man who lost his posture with indifferent eyes, and there was neither pity nor mockery on their faces.

"He can't do this! Listen, he can't do this—even if he's the emperor!" The short man blushed and shouted at the black-robed mages, "He has no right to deprive me of any honor or title , these titles were given to my family by his father, his grandfather, his great-grandfather! What did I do? I did nothing! I just tried to maintain our glorious tradition! You go and reply to the man who lives in Obsidian Palace People here, he has no right at all..."

"Sir Yule, there is still one minute left for you to arrange the housework," a black-robed mage suddenly said calmly, interrupting the man's angry shout, "If you confirm that you have finished the arrangements, please contact me." Let's go for a while—besides going through the formalities, you have to explain a lot to Prince Hadiron."

"Confess what? I have nothing to explain!"

"For example, the three illegal manors under your name, or those extra gold letters in your treasury—" the black-robed mage said quietly, "or those people who disappeared in your family castle?"

The short and stout man blushed even more, and looked angrily at the rogue mage in front of him: "Listen, I don't know where these baseless accusations come from--and even if they exist, it's a big deal for a man like me. What is it to the nobles? Are you going to take me away from here just based on these accusations!?"

"Unfortunately, you really have only one choice—go to the Obsidian Palace with us, which at least proves your loyalty to the empire and to His Majesty the Emperor himself."

The short and stout man stared, and then he suddenly seemed to calm down again. He took half a step back, tugged at his coat, and said word by word: "Let that brat Hadillon August Come to see me in person, or let his father come!"

The battle mages looked at each other.

"Well, Sir Jules, then there is the second plan."

A mage took a step forward while talking.

"You are not loyal."

Chapter 0994

A series of amazing things are happening in this 200-year-old imperial capital - some people are being purged, some mistakes are being corrected, some abandoned plans are being restarted, some people have left their homes, Since then, they have disappeared from this world, and others suddenly received secret orders, and were activated like seeds that had been dormant for ten years and resumed their activities...

And all of this was shrouded in the extraordinarily thick and long fog of Typhon's 739 Bruma.

Earl Dürer was standing in the mansion belonging to his family. He was standing on the balcony on the third floor, looking out at the foggy street through the wide crystal glass window. Today's fog has dispersed a little, so he can see Clearing the scene across the street—the steeple and porch of St. Jolem's Mars Church stand in the fog, but on this day usually used for worship, there is no civilian traffic stationed in front of the church.

The most daring civilians stayed tens of meters away from the church gate, watching what was happening on the street with timid and terrified expressions.

About a brigade of Obsidian Custodians and a large number of rogue battle mages in black robes are gathering in front of the church door. Many scattered soldiers can also be seen on the paths around the church and near various hidden intersections. Earl Durer sees The commander of the forbidden army brigade was ordering someone to open the door of the church—the priest in the church obviously didn't cooperate, but after some unfriendly "exchanges", the iron-black door was forcibly broken up.

The heavily armed obsidian guards and battle mages rushed in.

Some of the civilians watching the commotion in the distance were exclaiming, some held their breath, and some of them might be believers of the God of War—they showed pain, cursed and shouted something, but no one Dare to really step forward and cross the line of defense formed by soldiers and battle mages.

The chaos lasted for a while. Even at a distance, Earl Durer could sense more than one violent fluctuation of magic power in the church. He saw some light in the dark doorway, which made him grab it subconsciously. Pulling the buttons on his chest—then, the flashes, noises, and magic fluctuations in the church were all over, and he saw that the soldiers and mages who had just entered the church were withdrawing in an orderly manner, some of them were injured, and some of them were injured. People escorted a dozen God of War priests and priests wearing priest robes to come out of it.

The civilians gathered in the distance became even more agitated. This time, some soldiers finally stood up to stop the commotion, and another soldier pointed in the direction of the church door——Earl Durer saw the imperial army commander walking out of the church for the last time When he came out, the tall and burly man seemed to be carrying something wet on his shoulders. When he went outside and threw the thing on the ground, Earl Durer vaguely saw what it was.

It was a large group of rotten flesh and blood that obviously showed a mutated form. Even though the mist blocked him, he could still see the wriggling tentacles around the flesh and blood, as well as the hideous faces emerging from the blood stains.

The crowd shouted in horror, and a battle mage began to announce the search conclusion of St. Jolem's Church of Mars with a loudspeaker technique. Several soldiers stepped forward to use balls to summon raging flames, and began to purify the filthy and terrible flesh and blood in public. Earl Durer suddenly felt a strong nausea. He couldn't help covering his mouth and took a half step back, but he couldn't help but look at the street again, looking at the eerie scene.

The raging flames had already begun to burn, and some kind of howling that didn't sound like a human voice suddenly sounded for a while, and then quickly disappeared.

Pull out evil spirits from churches, perform flame purification on the streets, and publicly judge heresy and demons... Count Durer never thought that he would see such a scene in his lifetime.In his impression, such a scene only appeared in history books—in the age when human civilization was most precarious, the country was not stable, and all kinds of dark, corrupt, and distorted forces were still entrenched on this land. Something like that will happen.

Great Typhon, when did you become so critical?

Earl Durer frowned tightly, feeling a little out of breath. He also had this feeling of suffocation when the parliament was temporarily closed before. At that time, he thought he had seen the most dangerous and tense moment in this country, but now he Only then did they finally realize that the real threats this land was facing were hidden far deeper - obviously, the rulers of the empire were aware of these dangers, so they took the current series of actions.

Now he doesn't care about the affairs of the parliament at all. He only hopes that the measures taken by His Majesty the Emperor will be effective and timely enough to pull the country out of the quagmire.

At this moment, footsteps came from behind, and a familiar aura appeared behind Earl Durer. Without turning his head, he knew that the other party was an attendant who had followed him for many years, so he asked casually, "What happened?"

"My lord," the attendant stood still two meters away, lowering his hands respectfully, but his tone was a little nervous, "Viscount Cornelian of No. 16 Maple Leaf Street was taken away this morning... by the Obsidian Guards ..."

Earl Durer's fingers trembled subconsciously, and he exhaled lightly after two seconds: "I see."

"Are you going to meet Earl Bern Turan tomorrow?"

"...cancel the meeting, I will let Dawn personally bring an apology to explain the situation," Earl Durer shook his head, "Does Jialia know about this?"

The attendant immediately replied: "Miss already knows - she is very worried about her fiancé's situation, but without your permission, she still stays in the room."

"...Let her stay in the room, there is nothing anyone can do about it," Earl Durer closed his eyes, and said in a somewhat complicated tone, "Also tell him that Viscount Cornelian will return safely— But there will be no more 'Viscount Cornelian' in the future. I will reconsider this marriage, and...forget it, I will go and talk to her myself later."

"Yes, my lord."

Earl Durer nodded, and at this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a new movement on the opposite street.

He saw a black magic car approaching from a distant intersection, with the emblems of the royal family and the Obsidian Forbidden Army hanging on the magic car.

An unreasonable tension and panic suddenly surged up from the bottom of my heart, making Earl Dürer subconsciously clenched his fists. Although he didn't think that he had the slightest stain or bad deed that would cause trouble during this period, his gaze Still staring at the car—almost every ridgeline, every wheel, and every piece of crystal glass is engraved in his mind—he stared at it coming from the direction of the intersection , a little closer to the gate of his mansion.

He felt that his heart was about to jump out, and his high concentration even gave him the illusion that the car had started to slow down. His ears were filled with the sound of blood beating. Then, he saw that The car drove past without slowing down, passed his mansion, and drove towards another house.

It wasn't until this time that Earl Durer realized that he hadn't breathed for a long time, and he suddenly gasped for breath, which even triggered a severe cough.The attendant behind him immediately stepped forward to pat him on the back, and asked nervously and concernedly, "My lord, my lord, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, cough cough, fine," Earl Dürer said while coughing, and at the same time his eyes were still chasing the black magic vehicle that was about to drive into the fog. Zhu Zhu showed a weird smile, "It seems... this time, there is really no one who can block his way..."

"My lord?" The attendant was a little confused, "What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing." Earl Dürer waved his hand, and at the same time unbuttoned his neckline, "Go to the wine cellar and bring me the bottle of Platinum Fez wine that I treasure. I need to calm down..."

……

Hadiron sat in one of his own study rooms in Obsidian Palace, the scent of incense pleasing to the eye, and the decorative shields hanging from the nearby walls glistened in the light of the magic spar lamps.The young commander of the obsidian imperial army looked at his desk—on the dark red desk, a list was being spread out in front of his eyes.

"Another name..." He muttered softly, picked up the pen next to him, and crossed out a name heavily, but his brows became more furrowed as the name was crossed out.

There was a sudden knock on the door, interrupting Hadiron's thoughts.

The prince raised his head and looked towards the door: "Please come in."

The door opened, and Diana, dressed in a black maid dress and with long black hair, appeared in front of Hadiron.

"Ah, Ms. Diana..." Hadiron couldn't help but sighed with a smile after seeing the head maid, "No wonder who can't feel the breath outside the door at all... Is there something wrong? Don't tell me again It's a new list..."

"Yes, Prince Hadiron, this is a new list," Diana nodded lightly, and stepped forward to place a document that had been sealed and solidified with magic on Hadiron's desk, "according to the wanderer Based on the intelligence we have collected over the years, we have finally locked down a group of people who have been undermining the New Deal, or who have been controlled by the Church of God of War, or who have colluded with external forces—they still need to be interrogated, but the result should not be too bad."

"The list, the list, the new list..." Hadiron took the document with a wry smile, and glanced over it hastily, "Actually, even if I don't investigate many people, I know they will appear on it. For more than ten years , They have been working tirelessly to manage their power and erode all the dividends brought by the New Deal. This kind of sabotage is almost always on the table..."

He stopped in the middle of his words, glanced at a few names, and twitched the corner of his mouth.

"Are you colluding secretly with Cecil again...Accepting cash or shares as a bribe, or being caught politically... There is no shortage of such people in the proud and prestigious 'upper class'."

"There should be more lines behind these people-however most of our investigations have failed before they even started," Diana said deadpan. To cut off, these bribed people are just the last pawns, they don't even know each other's existence, so in the end we can only catch these most insignificant spies."

"I've heard of the Cecilian's Military Intelligence Bureau, and their 'intelligence agents'... We have dealt with them a few times," Hadiron said casually, "It is indeed a very difficult opponent, It is much more difficult to deal with than the secret agents of the Gaoling Kingdom and the Brotherhood of Shadows, and I believe you, these people are only part of the exposure, and there will be more people who are not exposed-otherwise, I am really sorry for the name of the Military Intelligence Bureau. "

As he spoke, he put the list aside.

"This part involves the list of nobles. I will handle it personally. Every name here should be able to sell for a good price on the negotiation table."