Sword of Dawn

Page 173

He just needs to do what he promised - destroy the last noble resistance force when the time is right, and protect Glenn Ling and her daughter in the process.

He looked at little Patty who was sitting next to him dangling his feet, and asked casually, "Mother isn't home, are you afraid?"

"Don't be afraid." Patty raised her neck proudly, "I'm so courageous! And I'll be accompanied by the maid sister at night... and the new maids and guards in the castle recently, they will give me tell a story."

"The new maids and guards." Gao Wen said casually, feeling a little more at ease.

Those so-called "maids and guards" all entered Glenn Castle through the channel of the Countess Ropeini before the war started. They were well-trained Iron Ranger fighters and officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau. To protect her castle and daughter while away from the territory - on the other hand, to monitor the situation in Glenland.

Gao Wen trusted the Countess of Luo Pei Ni very much. He believed that even if it was for revenge, the Countess would not abandon the covenant he made with her, but he could not trust the loyalty of other people in the noble territory of this era—especially In Glenland, a place with a precedent for rebellion, and Ropeni Glenn herself obviously agrees with this.

No one can guarantee how long the Glenn Territory can maintain stability when the Viches leaves the territory and "whereabouts are unknown". Based on the information Gawain has obtained so far, in Carroll, Peibo, Consco, etc. Within a week after the news of the disastrous defeat of the noble coalition forces spread in the region, there was already chaos in the area, and he couldn't let this happen to Glenland.

Looking at the little girl Patty in front of him, Gawain was slightly lost in thought.

At this time, Ropeni Glenn should have arrived or is about to arrive at the Rock Fortress. According to the previously agreed schedule, it is time for him to send people to "receive" Glenn's leadership—after all, if Cecil's army wins a big victory But deliberately ignoring Glenn Ling is very easy to attract suspicion.

……

Trekking in the wild and boundless wilderness, eating the worst food, wearing tattered clothes, not only have to entangle with the mud and gravel in the wilderness, but also be ready to fight those wandering wolves and brown bears... …The past ten days have been a nightmare for Carroll and his companions.

Not to mention the shadows of the Cecils in this nightmare, and the shadows of those terrible magics with sharp whistling sounds that may set off a devastating explosion around them at any time-although they are in the second half of this nightmare It doesn't appear much anymore, but Viscount Carroll still can't help but feel chills all over his body whenever he thinks of what he experienced on the gravel ridge and on the way to escape.

But fortunately, any nightmare will wake up, and the long night will eventually usher in the sunrise.

After more than ten days of fleeing, the only remaining noble army—probably the last glorious bloodlines in the southern land (at least the people in the team think so) finally reached the end of the escape journey.

On the northern border, the magnificent fortress standing on the border of the Holy Spirit Plain finally appeared in front of them.

When the majestic city wall of the Rock Fortress appeared in sight, Viscount Carroll almost burst into tears. The wind blew on his dry and gray face due to many days of hard work and neglect of maintenance, and it hurt like a blade cutting. But at this moment, the Viscount could completely tolerate and ignore the pain. He immediately waved his arms and said loudly to the Viscount Consco next to him: "Look! Rock Fortress! We are finally here! We are safe!"

"Thank you for the protection of the gods..." Viscount Concisco also said excitedly, not forgetting to take a look at the admirable and ambitious lady leading the team not far away, "I also thank the Viscount Luo Penny...she It really saved us all!"

Viscount Mary Orland couldn't help but glanced in the direction of Ropeni Glenn. After seeing the slender figure on the horse, the viscount whose territory and Glenn's territory is only separated by a small river appeared on his face. A moment of complicated look appeared.

What a strong-minded lady... really strong-minded.

But his complex expression at this moment was fleeting, and the sense of security brought by his safe arrival at the Rock Fortress overcame everything at this moment.

The commander of Rock Fortress, Sir Maryland, who was directly loyal to the royal family, stood on the high wall, watching all the changes around the fortress with a vigilant look.

The recent news from the north and south of the fortress has made the high-ranking knight lord extremely worried. He has heard about the great changes in the royal family—although he has only heard some inaccurate news, it seems that a Great changes are about to hang over the kingdom, but what is more worrying is in the south: south of the Rock Fortress, the Cecil family, which has been silent for 100 years, is finally no longer silent.

The business travelers traveling from south to north brought shocking news, and the news came one after another. First, more than 40 nobles in the southern border suddenly united to conquer Duke Cecil, and then it didn't take long before 7 people came directly. The news that the coalition forces of the nobles were completely wiped out by Cecil's Great Magicians—I don't know where this Arabian Nights-like "Great Magicians" came from.

When Jazz Maryland received these news, he couldn't believe that they were true. Just kidding, a coalition of 7 people!How many people are there in Cecil?

That is 7 people, 7 people led by noble lords and knights!Even if it's [-] pigs, it's impossible for the Cecils to catch them all so quickly, right? !

However, what happened after this made people deeply disturbed, and even Sir Maryland couldn't help but believe that what the businessmen from the south said was true-since then, all correspondence with all noble families in the south interrupted.

The nobles in remote areas may not have contact with Rock Fortress for a few months, but even the Carroll family outside a hill to the south has lost contact, which is not a good situation.

Lord Maryland walked around the city wall a little restlessly, thinking whether he should send a knight team to the south to check the situation—or send a messenger team to the south in the name of visiting the Carol Land, but just in Just as these thoughts came to his mind, a personal soldier suddenly ran up from the side.

"General! Below the fortress... a large group of people have come under the fortress!"

Sir Maryland is used to letting soldiers call himself a general on any occasion. This is a habit he developed after taking charge of this fortress. Looking at the slightly flustered soldiers in front of him, the general's face was a little unhappy: "panicked What—a large group of what?"

"Looks like beggars—but they call themselves Southern nobles!"

Sir Maryland's expression froze.

It seems that he doesn't need to send any knights and envoys to the south.

Chapter 0419 Look at this city, it is impenetrable

Ever since disturbing news came from the north, and the situation in the south seemed to be suddenly clouded, the atmosphere in the Rock Fortress became more and more tense day by day. The most majestic fortress at the southern end of the Holy Spirit Plain, everyone is proud of it, but now this fortress has suddenly become an isolated island caught in the middle of two storms - all the nobles in the southern region have suddenly lost contact, that silence The 100-year-old Cecil family seems to be planning something big, but the messenger sent by the fortress to the north for support can only bring depressing news——

Due to the deteriorating situation in the royal capital and the cloud of civil war, the two regent dukes and the supervising prince have begun to call on nobles from all over the country to send troops to deal with the rebels in the eastern border. This is even more so when there is no substantial attack: the big figures in the capital seem to be far from realizing how fast the situation in the southern border is deteriorating. The army is obviously much more serious than the "chaos" in the south.

In this tense and delicate situation, the Rock Fortress could only close its gates tightly and began to implement the strictest closed-door ban. Except for businessmen with passes issued by the Earl of Pompeii and extraordinary people in the surrounding area of ​​the fortress, everyone is prohibited from Passing through customs and borders—and in fact, even without these prohibitions, the number of business travelers in Rock Fortress has dropped to the lowest point recently.

Merchants with a keen sense of smell have developed a sense of crisis early on. At this sensitive moment, no one dared to risk being caught by the noble lord as a spy. In the last few days, the number of merchants passing through the gate of the fortress every day is the least. Even less than two digits, not to mention compared with the peak of last autumn and winter, even compared with previous years, this is a very small number.

And today, the Rock Fortress has finally welcomed a large number of "guests"—the nobles who were defeated and expelled from the southern region.

Seeing nearly a thousand ragged, sallow and emaciated but armed teams, the entire fortress was almost ready for battle. The soldiers really couldn't tell that this was a noble team, but thought it was all the down-and-out mercenaries and robbers in the southern border The bandits have gathered together and are coming to plunder the city.After a tense confrontation and complex and cumbersome identity verification, the chief of the fortress, Sir Maryland, finally confirmed that the team in front of him, which looked like a combination of bandits and beggars, was actually the nobles of the southern border—the nobles in distress.

He will never forget this scene in his life.

The closed gates of the fortress, covered with purple steel rivets and fine gold linings, were opened. The tall and strong Sir Maryland with black curly hair led the knights out of the city to meet these distressed gentlemen and ladies. He looked at the procession in disbelief. The young man in the picture was wearing a tattered coat, greasy and frizzy hair, and a sallow and chapped face. It took a lot of effort to recognize that he was the Viscount of the Carroll Collar—the Carroll Collar is the closest to the Rock Fortress, and the Carroll Collar is the closest to the Rock Fortress. Viscount Lore and Maryland have met more than once, but this is the first time they have met under such circumstances.

"My ancestors! My Mr. Viscount! What have you experienced?!" Sir Maryland looked at the people in distress in front of him in shock, and saw several familiar faces in the team, "It seems that those terrible Are the rumors true?!"

"A disaster, a disaster, a terrible, ruthless, cruel and devoid of ancient etiquette war destroyed everything," Viscount Carroll couldn't help trembling slightly, "and my lord sir, please Don't lament that the ancestors are here... I will have nightmares when I hear these words now."

Viscount Consco next to him held his forehead, and his tone was full of pain: "We were beaten by our ancestors..."

"...Gods bless you, everything will be fine," Sir Maryland has seen many ups and downs in his life, but he has never seen the situation before him. He didn't know how to pick up this weird topic, so he had to Take these distressed gentlemen and ladies into town hastily, "I've got hot water for you, it must be awful to wade through the muddy moor."

"We need to eat something first, cheese, steak, wine, my God, the bathing can be put aside!" Viscount Mari Oran said hurriedly, "Is there anything to eat?"

"Of course, I ordered the city to prepare food when I came out. There is enough food in Rock Fortress," Sir Maryland nodded immediately, but as a high-ranking knight guarding the fortress, he still couldn't help but look at the nearly thousand people vigilantly. The people's team glanced, "But I'm sorry-it's dangerous to put so many people in the fort at one time. I must conduct the necessary inspections on them to prevent the enemy's spies from mixing in. This situation is very easy to happen."

Viscount Consco looked back at the soldiers and knights who followed him all the way through the entire theater, and said loudly to Sir Maryland: "My lord, these people have followed us through life and death, loyal and respectable - of course, I understand the fortress The rules, so I only hope that you can finish the inspection as soon as possible, so that these brave fighters can go to the city to eat and rest as soon as possible."

Hearing these honest and generous words, the soldiers were all moved. Viscount Consco drove his horse to Sir Maryland calmly, and said in a low voice: "Check whatever you want, take us to eat first."

The nobles, knights, and priests in the team walked towards the city accompanied by Sir Maryland and the Knights of the Fortress. Others began to be inspected by the soldiers of the fortress. The Countess of Luo Penny just looked at the soldiers who performed the inspection indifferently. Then followed the pace of other nobles.

She knew what this check was all about, so she wasn't worried at all—without a perfect personnel registration and identification system, the so-called check was nothing more than asking other people in the same team to see if everyone It can only prove their identities to each other. Maybe this method of interrogation is useful when a few spies are mixed into the army, but who would have thought that the entire personal team led by a nobleman is full of spies from top to bottom?

She raised her head, watched the majestic gate of Rock Fortress getting closer and closer in front of her, and then stepped into it.

"Gentlemen and ladies, you are safe," said Sir Maryland on his horse, and when he passed through the gate of the fortress, he turned his head with a smile and looked at the relaxed nobles, "This fortress is impenetrable. "

Viscount Carroll raised his head and looked at the black city wall emitting a slight magical halo. This famous city wall really made him feel much more at ease, but he still couldn't help but said: "Dear sir, let me say something ——The danger of Gawain Cecil is beyond your imagination! He used some unknown method to create a terrifying legion. We almost failed to confront that legion and were defeated. Now he is probably gathering in the south Manpower, accumulate strength, maybe he will stare at this place..."

Jazz Maryland couldn't help turning his head: "But I heard that he wasn't the one who started the war?"

"...Indeed, we are the ones who started the war," Viscount Carroll showed a look of pain, "but now I want to say, this was a trap from the very beginning! We were induced! Duke Cecil started from He was ready for war from the very beginning, passively fighting is just a cover, he has been aggressive from the very beginning—sir, don’t be fooled by the illusion that he hasn’t attacked Rock Fortress for a while, he will definitely come!”

"I will seriously consider your warning, Mr. Viscount," Sir Maryland gave Viscount Carroll a deep look, "and I will report your encounter to... the capital as soon as possible. But with all due respect, you can get I am afraid the help is limited, even the Rock Fortress can only give you a shelter."

"Sir, the Cecil family is back! They want to recover everything they lost in the past 100 years! You forgot the original purpose of the Rock Fortress..."

"Mr. Viscount, of course I remember the original intention of the Rock Fortress, but please remember that you are the ones who betrayed the Cecil family or divided up Cecil's land, not us, not any surname on the Holy Spirit Plain," Maryland slightly Raising his hand, he interrupted Carroll's words, and then sighed softly, "It's not that I'm unaware of the crisis in the south, I can see the threat of the Cecil family from you, but what I can do is quite limited .”

Seeing the complex expression on Sir Maryland's face, Carroll and the surrounding nobles finally realized that the atmosphere was not right. Viscount Consco couldn't help asking hesitantly, "Sir, what happened?"

"Don't you know?" Sir Maryland shook his head and said softly, "The king is dead."

……

Cecil Territory, the business district, "Tianping Square", a new large-scale facility is being erected.

The tower-shaped skeleton made of alloy is erected in the center of the square like a strange monument. The outer cladding for decoration—and for providing lighting at night is lightly and precisely covered on the surface of the tower after being treated with weight reduction technology. The magicians used lifting devices and safety ropes to climb to various key positions on the tower, and welded the cladding and frame of the tower firmly with scorching energy beams. At the top of the tower, there was a floating A large obelisk in mid-air, exuding radiance.

The facility is almost complete, and it is only doing the final touches. The magic obelisk on the top of the tower is the core device of the facility, and it is also providing energy for various magic devices on site. Below, the alloy pillars connected to the underground magic net are being gradually covered by the cladding of the tower. Those shining magic runes are extracting surging energy from the magic net and injecting it into the obelisk base at the top. The obelisk is released outwards, forming a magic field enough to cover the entire city.

Standing near the construction site, Gao Wen watched the runes and magic spar lamps all over the tower light up and go out one by one following the tests of the magician, feeling a little emotional in his heart.

After the completion of this tower, the westernmost block of the business district and the newly established Xicheng District will be completely covered by the new magic net.

At the same time, this also means that Cecil City will be completely within the signal coverage of the "Magic Network Communication". After a while in the future, when the several magic energy obelisk relay towers on the North-South Avenue are completed, they will be able to Any corner of Cecil City has communicated with Kant Territory.

Of course, the premise is that the output of communication equipment must keep up.

Gawain glanced not far away, where several soldiers were guarding a large vehicle, and on that vehicle were several large devices with triangular bases and crystal structures. Those were Nicholas Mr. Dan personally made the "public magic network communication terminal" before the production line was in operation, and now they are waiting to be installed.

Rebecca stood next to Gawain, the girl's face was full of pride, because she was the one who came up with the idea of ​​putting the obelisk of magic energy on the tower - it was because of her knowledge of every obelisk of magic energy in the territory Continuous tracking and monitoring of the actual operation of the monument: "Placing the magic energy obelisk on a special 'tower' can effectively improve the stability and transmission range of signal transmission. Of course, this will also make it conspicuous and easy to change. It becomes a living target for long-range spell attacks, so I set up a mana shield rune set in the tower—anyway, the magic obelisk has a lot of redundant energy, and it is more than enough to carry a set of shields."

"Is it just a set of shields?" Gawain turned his head and glanced at the girl, "Why did I hear that you planned to plant three hundred catties of magic crystal bombs under the tower?"

"Um... Didn't you say that you want to set up relay towers in the wilderness to ensure full coverage of all signals?" Rebecca scratched her head in embarrassment, "It's so dangerous in the wild, in case the enemy comes to destroy How to do……"

"This is an energy broadcasting tower and a signal relay tower, not a front-line bunker." Gao Wen tapped Rebecca's head, "It's enough that it is strong enough, and you still expect a signal tower to wipe out eight thousand enemies during the war?" what?"

Rebecca smirked and tried to pass the test, but Gao Wen couldn't help rubbing his chin and thinking about it after he had taught the child a lesson.

Rebecca's idea of ​​planting a bomb under the magic obelisk relay tower is indeed a bad idea, which is dangerous and not worth the loss, but her consideration is partly justified-this world is really not peaceful.

The wilderness of this world is full of dangers. Human beings are far from spreading the light of civilization in the wilderness, and it is still an era of war. The self-protection capabilities of those relay towers installed outside major cities really need to be considered...

Self-explosion is not enough, it seems that it is also possible to make an Austrian explosion...

Seeing that the ancestor suddenly fell into a state of thinking, Rebecca couldn't help but bravely stood on tiptoe and waved in front of Gao Wen: "My lord ancestor, why do I feel that you are beginning to recognize my words?"

"I'm just thinking about the defense of various outdoor facilities..." Gawain pulled Rebecca's hand away, and was about to say something more, but from the corner of his eye, he saw Amber running towards this side.

After Amber came to him, he asked curiously, "What happened?"

"Wright is back!" Amber gasped twice, "He seems to have experienced something... He has regained the Holy Light!"

Chapter 0420 Questions and Answers

To regain the Holy Light?

Amber didn't know what to say, and if Gao Wen continued to ask, she didn't know anything. She only said that Wright had just returned to the territory - and now he had returned to the church.

"Keep an eye on the construction side," Gao Wen hurriedly confessed to Rebecca, and grabbed Amber who was about to slip away, "Follow me to see Wright."

"Hey, don't pull me... I am the God of the Night, do you know... I am the God of the Night... I feel awkward entering the Holy Light Church..."

Amber's weak protest quickly disappeared into the air. Gawain clamped the short wax gourd under his arm, and strode straight to the church. It didn't take long for the two of them to arrive at the church where Wright himself In front of the built chapel.

At the moment the church is not open, but the door is not locked either, on the half-hidden door of the church, a white death chrysanthemum is quietly inserted in the gap of the door.

Gao Wen glanced at the death chrysanthemum, then stepped forward and gently opened the door.

A tall and burly figure stood in front of the pulpit, with his back to the door, wearing a scarred Cecil magic armor. The sunlight coming in from the side window fell on the figure's shoulders, rippling in a hazy circle. glow.

In the vague and illusory glow, Gawain seemed to see something flashing away, but when he looked carefully again, all he saw was the hazy light spots brought up by the dust flying in the sun .

Gawain walked towards Wright, the sudden sound of footsteps echoed in the empty church hall, and the figure in front of the podium swayed for a while, Wright turned his head, bowed and saluted after seeing Gawain: "Lord, I am just now Going to report to you..."

"It's okay, I'll see you too," Gawain waved his hands, and then noticed that there was a shocking wound on Wright's face - the wound stretched from the left forehead to the cheek. Will take away one of Wright's eyes, and at this moment the wound has healed, but left a deep scar, "...it seems that you have experienced a lot."

"I... have regained the holy light," Wright lowered his head and spread his palms. A mass of clear light that seemed to have substance appeared and flowed out of the air almost immediately, gathering above his palms. This mass of light seemed to be Aroused the holy energy in the air, covering his whole body in a hazy halo, "I have never felt... the relationship between me and the Holy Light is so close, so it has always been by my side, Around each of us, it's like magic in nature..."

Gao Wen quietly watched the holy light flow in Wright's hand and slowly dissipated, and then asked curiously, "How did you do it?"

"I... don't know all the reasons behind this, but maybe I have found the true path of the Holy Light," Wright's voice hesitated at first, but then became firm and forceful, "Lord, do you still remember that you asked Have you ever said that to me?"

Gao Wen had a feeling in his heart: "About your belief?"

"Yes, you once asked me, do I believe in the Holy Light or the God of the Holy Light," Wright said while turning his head, looking quietly at the back of the pulpit - Gawain remembered that the Holy Light was once placed there But now, there is nothing there, "I think I understand what you mean now..."

The disappearing icon, the regained holy light, and the quietly changed temperament of Wright, Gawain had already thought about the general situation of the priest regaining the holy light, but he didn't know how this amazing change happened ——How does a pious believer suddenly break through his own beliefs, breaking through the influence that is almost like a spiritual seal?

He couldn't help asking, and Wright was silent for a long time after hearing these questions, and then he said quietly: "Lord, do you know what their defeated soldiers did after the nobles and priests of the Holy Light were routed?" ?"

"I can probably guess it." Gao Wen said in a deep voice.

"We passed a village on the edge of the Cansco area...it was completely destroyed," Wright said calmly, his tone seemed very indifferent, but when he spoke, Gawain could feel the faint About the floating power of the Holy Light, "There are more than a dozen survivors in the village, and we spent the night there..."

From Wright's mouth, Gawain and Amber learned about the night that happened in Consco, about the rout of the nobles and the knights of the Holy See who were crazy because of hunger, about the little girl named Emily, and about Wright's recovery. The whole process of Holy Light.

After listening to Wright's story, Amber inevitably showed a regretful expression on her face, which is always heartless and cheerful. She frowned, looked up at the gloomy Gawain, and then at Wright, In the end, I still couldn't help muttering: "The group of god-killing nobles... and those gangsters..."

After she finished speaking, she immediately patted Gao Wen's arm: "Gao Wen, I didn't mention you—you are still different from them."

"I know, you don't need to emphasize it deliberately," Gao Wen looked at Amber dumbfoundedly, and then looked at Wright, "Although you have regained the Holy Light, you should still have doubts... otherwise you wouldn't be standing here thinking It’s been a long time since I reported.”

"I'm just thinking about something... I don't know if I should think about it or not," Wright frowned and sighed slightly, then he looked into Gawain's eyes and asked in a particularly firm tone, " Lord, I have a question."

"go ahead."

"Those nobles, as well as those priests and knights, they claim to be the protectors of the people, but in the end they are more robbers than robbers. Of course they deserve to die. We can kill hundreds of nobles in this war and priests, but ... what on earth caused such nobles and priests? They were not so depraved hundreds of years ago, even decades ago ... We wiped them out today, but dozens of Hundreds of years from now, will people after us follow the same path of depravity?"

Amber looked at Wright's expression in disbelief, as if she didn't expect him to ask this question. In her impression, Wright was just an enthusiastic pastor who preached at ease and helped people everywhere in the territory, but she didn't expect him to come back Then the question pops up—a question that almost calls into question whether what Gawain has done makes sense.

And this question...

Amber couldn't help but glanced at Gao Wen, she thought of the plans that Gao Wen had said, about the disposal plan for the old nobles, about the future territorial laws, and she couldn't help asking: "Yes, when you I also said that there is always greed in human nature, even in the government office that seems to be orderly and clean, as the territory develops and becomes richer, there will always be people corrupted by power, if that is the case..."

Gawain looked at Amber and Wright, and he wasn't too surprised by the latter's question.

Transforming and establishing a kind of thinking is not a matter of one day, even in the case of constantly promoting new education and new ideas, even in the innermost circle around him, there are very few people who can fully understand his thinking, and It is quite normal for Wright to have such questions after seeing the battlefield with his own eyes and seeing the corruption of the old nobles and the old church.

This has nothing to do with personal thinking or understanding, it is simply the limitation of the times.

He asked the priest who had regained the holy light in front of him: "Wright, what kind of group do you think 'nobles' are?"