Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 491 Chapter The Solitary Swimmer

"...At present, the northern part of Thorn City has been basically cleared, and the speed has completely exceeded the initial expectations of the Imperial Military." Sean Mountbatten reported with the record book in his hand, "Grand Duke Grimm Rosario sent a messenger to inform us that he is ready to lead the Eastern Army to officially besiege Thorn City, and hopes that we will cooperate with the action."

It was already the end of October, and the sky over Neuschwanstein Castle was gloomy. In the early morning, there were even a few snowflakes falling from the sky.

So, the maids of Igor's family in Swan Castle spent the whole morning cleaning the long-unused fireplace in the meeting room, and then lit the firewood at dinner time to keep the temperature in the meeting room within a warm and pleasant range.

Shortly after the meal, the lord lazily leaned back in the recliner, reading the religious code of the Supreme Church in his hand while listening to the military report made by Sean Mountbatten.

"So... the area north of Thorn City was cleaned up by our Frost Maple Ridge and the Eastern Army. It must be fine now." Xiahou Yan put down the codex and looked at Sean curiously, "But the area south of Thorn City has also been cleaned up? So quickly?"

"The pacification work in the southern region was completed by the Central Army under Commander Liam and the Inquisition." Sean took out a page of the report from the booklet and handed it to the Lord. "Let's not talk about the Central Army's achievements for now. The intelligence I received is that the Inquisition's troops made great efforts."

Xiahou Yan glanced at the military intelligence report on the southern region handed to him by Sean, and saw only a series of brilliant battle records and exaggerated numbers of enemy troops killed.

Xiahou Yan, who had long been aware of the level of the Central Army, of course knew that these achievements must be largely attributed to the reinforcements of the Inquisition led by "The Killer" Estherville.

Sean Mountbatten took the report from his boss, hesitated for a moment, and said:

"My Lord, I have recently heard some unconfirmed rumors... It is said that in the southern part of Thorn City, there have been a large number of killings, tortures, and attacks on civilians, which violate the continent's military norms and humanitarian regulations. It is not yet known whether it is the Central Army or the Inquisition that is in charge. Grand Duke Rosario has sent an inquiry letter to Marquis Liam on the relevant issues, but has not received a response."

  Xiahou Yan waved his hand:

"It would be strange if something like this didn't happen at this stage of the war. Whether it's the Central Army or the Eastern Army, the experienced soldiers who have received systematic training have long been exhausted, and the only ones left in the team are a bunch of low-quality ruffians! As for the Inquisition, haven't these fanatical, stupid religious lunatics done enough bad things in history?"

The Lord's comments on the Inquisition were clearly full of strong personal emotions - this was partly because, considering that the Inquisition was also on the front line, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he had been refraining from using necromancy these days, which made him feel quite depressed.

"In short, no matter what other troops do, we in Frost Maple Ridge must enforce discipline." Xiahou Yan looked at Sean with a warning, and then glanced at Eldridge who was warming himself by the fireplace. "Prisoners are not enemies, but objects that can be united and influenced! If we dare to kill a prisoner today, the enemy will refuse to surrender tomorrow out of fear, and the day after tomorrow, they will launch a retaliatory massacre against our captured soldiers! Those who start this will have no descendants!"

  Sean Mountbatten patted his chest and assured:

"Don't worry, Lord. We in Frost Maple Ridge will treat the captives well and will never abuse or massacre them! You see, most of the enemies we captured recently were sent to the East Ice Depot to write novels. They are living a comfortable life!"

Xiahou Yan thought about it carefully and wondered whether forcing the captives to update novels every day could be considered a form of "torture".

It’s hard to say the conclusion.

As the two men were discussing the treatment of the prisoners, a messenger knocked on the door and walked into the hall.

"What's up?" Sean turned and asked.

"My Lord! Chief of Staff Mountbatten!" The messenger saluted the Frost Maple Ridge Army and shouted, "Commander Liam of the Central Army sent a food box of dried meat, saying it is a local specialty. Please have a taste, my Lord!"

"I won't eat it. It's too oily and salty and unhealthy." Xiahou Yan shook his head. "Well, you give the food box to Grand Duke Grimm Rosario. He's been busy planning the siege lately and has worked very hard. He deserves a good reward."

"Yes!" The messenger took the order and left.

"Sean, you should pay more attention to the issues of prisoners and the united front, or you can let Tom Lawrence's political department take charge. However, the focus of the troops should still be on cooperating with Grand Duke Rosario to complete the siege of Thorn City as soon as possible." Xiahou Yan pinched his brows and said, "If we don't take down this God-given city as soon as possible, there will only be more unnecessary sacrifices and killings on this land."

"I see. Master Nicholson told me yesterday that he plans to modify the weapons and equipment of Frost Maple Ridge to adapt to the siege operation." Sean Mountbatten asked, "Would you like to go to the workshop to inspect it tomorrow?"

"No, you just go and take a look. I trust you to do the job. I have more important things to do tomorrow." Xiahou Yan shrugged, "I'm going to go take a look at Thorn City."

It took Sean Mountbatten half a minute to understand what the lord meant.

"Huh?" Chief of Staff Frost Maple Ridge made an incredible sound.

……

The next day, at dawn.

The walls of the Thorn City, built with moonstone, emitted a pale fluorescence even in the darkness before sunrise. Several "Stefano Thorns", which were unique to the Central Plains of the continent, broke out of the mud at the foot of the wall, clinging to the frost-covered bricks of the wall, trying their best to climb up.

However, the walls of Thorn City were still too high: the 200-meter-high white wall looked like an ancient giant reaching into the sky from those below the city, looking down upon all the creatures on the earth.

The terrifying height of the city wall has almost exceeded the firepower limit of all existing siege weapons, and it always demonstrates the awe-inspiring power of the legacy of the Age of Gods.

Even though these "Stefano thorns" under the city have gone through hundreds of years and have grown to be as thick as an orc's waist and even comparable in size to the elven plants in Yongri City, they can still only climb up to less than one-fifth of the height of the city wall and can no longer overcome the obstacle of gravity and continue to rise.

Apart from these thorns, there is nothing else attached to the smooth moonstone wall. Only the top of the wall radiates the elemental light emitted by the shaman totem pole, which looks like the aurora against the backdrop of the dark purple starry sky.

Xia Houyan hid in the shadow of a giant thorn tree and adjusted his "Meursault Invisible Satin" cloak.

Although the plains around Thorn City had been basically cleared by the Imperial Army, there were still many orc scouts active and patrolling in the area closest to the city wall. These scouts could get fire support from the top of the city wall, so they were not afraid of potential attacks from the Imperial Army. However, even the most elite cavalry was only cavalry, and the orc soldiers on horseback did not have the ability to see through the "Meursault Invisible Satin".

With the cover of the invisibility cloak, Xiahou Yan reached the foot of the City of Thorns almost unhindered. Along the way, he even had the illusion that he was Harry Potter, who could lift the invisibility cloak at any time and bite the orcs.

Sneak into the heavily guarded Thorn City alone - this is a mission that sounds dangerous, but is actually even more dangerous.

Xiahou Yan dared to guarantee with his lower body that if Catalina was here, as soon as she heard that her brother was going to do such a stupid thing, she would definitely tie him to the bed and make him unable to move.

However, Xiahou Yan still thought that this trip was worthwhile: until now, neither the Empire nor Frost Maple Ridge had any detailed intelligence about the military deployment of Thorn City. The only information was the Nikon magic frame he took from the air while riding Sindragosa.

The Imperial Army had actually tried to send spies into Thorn City, but such a mission would be problematic if too many people were involved. And there was no way the Imperial Army could find a strong man who could complete such a mission single-handedly and gain enough trust from the Empire.

——Except the Duke of Frost Maple Ridge himself.

For some reason, Mr. Xiahou is now quite confident in his own abilities. He feels that he has the capital to experience the same fantasy as Yang Zirong in conquering Tiger Mountain by clever means - and complete a few tasks that he must complete in the meantime.

Therefore, he did not inform anyone about the plan to sneak into Thorn City except Sean Mountbatten, Master Laurie, and a few of his close associates Eldridge, and he just sneaked into Thorn City alone - even Alice Comstock, Xia Hou Yan was afraid that she would be worried, so he just said that he was out on business and did not tell them the truth.

  Xiahou Yan stood at the foot of the old wall of Thorn City and looked around in the light of dawn:

The nearest entrance to Thorn City was the northwest gate two kilometers away on the left. Xiahou Yan had just seen that the iron and wooden door of that gate was tightly closed, and there were orc soldiers, shaman priests and heavy weapons waiting on the top of the city.

Therefore, he did not intend to enter through the city gate in a swaggering manner.

The best thing about being a magician is that you can always go your own way.

Xiahou Yan held the "Meursault Invisible Satin" cloak and took a deep breath, letting the netherworld magic power in his body flow out and wrap around his body like foam.

Suddenly, he had a wonderful feeling, as if the world had been cut off from him: yes, he was no longer bound by gravity like ordinary things, his whole body was floating in the air, with his feet more than two feet off the ground.

Using one's own magic power to fight against gravity and "fly in the air" is the privilege of intermediate magicians and above! At various celebrations of the "Wagner" special forces, Master Moliere had shown this flying skill to everyone more than once, making Victor Lowry, who could only fly with the help of wind power, and Calvino Linge, who had never flown before, envious.

After accepting the magic infusion of "Evil Thoughts" Gorsa and advancing to the level of high-level magician, Xiahou Yan theoretically already had the conditions to fly in the air, but he had never tried it.

Xiahou Yan first stayed at a low altitude, and after adjusting to the flying posture, he climbed upwards close to the wall of Thorn City.

He originally planned to take advantage of the cover of night and fly directly over the city wall into Thorn City. However, as the altitude increased, Xiahou Yan suddenly felt that the elemental fluctuations in the air became stronger and stronger, and the operation of the magic circuit in his body also showed a sense of awkwardness and obstruction.

He cursed in his heart.

It was obvious that the Glorious Federation defenders were not completely defenseless against similar wall-climbing attempts: the interference with Xiahou Yan's magic power showed that there must be demon-annihilation totem poles placed every ten steps and five steps on the city wall of Thorn City - these magic items infused with the demon-repelling metal "Shankley's Mercury" could generate a large-scale demon-annihilation force field when driven by a shaman, curbing the operation of magic power of human magicians and other magic items.

With the magic power reserves of the Lord of Frost Maple Ridge, which is as high as the level of a seventh-level magician, he may not be afraid of these demon-annihilation totem poles, but the "Meursault Invisible Satin" cloak on his body will definitely not be able to withstand this powerful demon-annihilation force field - once the invisible cloak is damaged, he, the "stowaway", will be exposed to the sight of all federal defenders.

In fact, as the altitude increased and the strength of the magic annihilation field grew, he could clearly feel that the cloak on his body was showing signs of disintegration and cracking.

Xiahou Yan hovered in the air about thirty or forty meters above the city wall.

He carefully calculated the resources at hand and thought about how to break through the magic blockade of the Demon Annihilation Totem Pole:

  The most direct method is undoubtedly to let Sindragosa swoop down from high in the sky and spray the top of this section of the wall. At that time, not to mention the Annihilation Totem Pole, the orc guards on the top of the wall will also be in trouble. However, Xiahou Yan is actually quite worried that once Sindragosa launches a dive attack, it will be hurt by the orcs' long-range firepower;

Moreover, if we do this, it will make too much noise, which is completely contrary to the purpose of sneaking in secretly.

Similarly, he actually carried a lot of magic props that could directly destroy the Demon Annihilation Totem Pole, but the noise they made when using them was a bit too shocking.

Xiahou Yan thought it over again and again, and finally decided to use his trump card directly.

He took out a black skull from his arms.

This skull may not look impressive, but its origin is terrifyingly important. It is the Skull of Death that Xiahou Yan brought back from the Hesse Swamp.

After returning to Swan Castle, he avoided everyone's eyes and conducted a series of inhumane, if not cruel, magical experiments on the remains of the god. Although he still hasn't figured out its essence and full function, at least he has made some discoveries...

Xiahou Yan floated in the air, holding up the Death's Skull with both hands, pouring magic power into it while chanting his own ancient Iorian spell:

"...The sea of ​​suffering is surging, and the sins are self-inflicted, and the deceived are not awake at all...If people do not remember Yama, they will live in vain in this world..."

With the Death's Skull as the center, an invisible pressure spread out in all directions.

(End of this chapter)