Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 317 Old Friend
Time goes back to an hour ago, in the Ancient Dragon Dynasty camp sixty kilometers east of Selia, Lucia met the commander of her own army - Karen, the priest of the Sky Temple.

This person was an old acquaintance that Lucia had known since she first arrived in the capital. As early as thirteen years ago when Lance went to Rodel to develop the Ancient Dragon Temple, Priest Karen accompanied her and shouldered many difficult missions in the early days of the temple.

After Lance returned to Fam Azra, she carefully assisted his successor, For, until the latter grew into a capable and capable person to help Lucia handle all the affairs of the temple. Then she rushed to the Ancient Dragon Dynasty without stopping to continue assisting Lance in the development of the Far East archipelago and the reorganization of the new army.

During the three years when the Ancient Dragon Dynasty's national strength was developing rapidly, what was more terrifying than the external enemies' covetous eyes was the shortage of internal talents. The management pressure caused by the surge in territory and population almost drained the dynasty's already scarce talent pool.

If it weren't for the existence of a true pillar like Priest Karen, who could be moved wherever needed, there would probably be no need for external enemies to intervene, and the dynasty would have collapsed due to internal chaos before its full revival.

"Long time no see, Priest Karen." Lucia was quite emotional when she met her old friend again after a long absence. "It has been nearly two years since we last met, and the Far East is full of complicated things, but you are even more charming than before."

The priestess with white hair on her temples smiled gently and said, "Although the Far Eastern Islands are not as prosperous as the Golden Capital, there are fewer intrigues, darkness and filthiness. Even the sky above is much wider. I don't feel tired serving Lord Lance, but Your Highness and Priest For have suffered too much over the years."

Lucia nodded and smiled. Facing Priest Karen, he didn't need to put on a humble attitude or say many words of comfort and encouragement. The king and his subject were of the same mind, so there was naturally no need to act like Radagan and Kavin Duoris did in the past, to act like they were of one mind in public.

He knew very well that the Ancient Dragon Dynasty had many prestigious elders, but this time, Priest Karen, who was not on the elders' seat, was allowed to lead an army of 100,000. This was because Sister Lance had eliminated all potential conflicts for him in advance so that he could take charge of the military power without any hindrance.

The fifteen elders accompanying the army must have been screened, and currently they can be determined to be the most loyal to their faction. This is enough to show that Sister Lance's reorganization of the dynasty over the past three years has been quite effective.

"Your Highness, in accordance with the decree you sent back to the dynasty earlier, in addition to the fifteen elders, there are a total of 8,000 flying dragon warriors, 12,000 storm knights, and mixed legions of various races, totaling 116,000 people. 30,000 elite troops are stationed in the main camp, and the remaining 80,000 people are divided into 46 small camps, evenly distributed within our dynasty's defense zone, in order to deal with the next attack from the evil god's followers."

When she heard the specific number, Lucia's expression changed slightly, and she said, "So many elite troops are heading to the front line, Sister Lance."

"Lord Lance has specifically instructed that Your Highness, please rest assured, no matter the situation in the court or her personal safety—" Priest Karen showed a gratified smile as expected, "There are still tens of thousands of troops under the control of the Lord. What's more, have you forgotten the evil omen legions under your command? Under the careful teaching of the Lord for three years, the strength of the two today is probably not much less than yours!"

That's true. Lucia patted her head. She had just learned about the existence of the "Beile" in the Dragon Tomb not long ago. Combined with the fact that the ancient dragon traitor had escaped from under her nose in the Yatan Plateau before, she was concerned about Sister Lance's situation.

In fact, even if 120,000 troops loyal to the royal family were mobilized this time, the forces around Sister Lance were still enough to suppress the entire Fam Azra.

In addition to the regular troops that stayed behind, the group of evil-omen fat men who dominated the sewers of the royal capital in their previous life have now received the highest level of training in the Ancient Dragon Dynasty. When they put down their tattered axes, took off their rags, put on the strong armor and sharp swords produced by the Far East military factory, and even practiced the combat skills and prayers of Fam Azra, what level of elite will they eventually become?

Lucia felt that her imagination was not enough. At least, the Burning Sun Legion under Godwin could not be compared with it, right?
At this time, Priest Karen glanced at the soldiers who were doing routine drills outside the tent, then looked at Lucia and said, "Your Highness, now that the war is imminent, most of these soldiers are not familiar to you. Do you want to hold a pre-military oath-taking ceremony to boost morale and inspire people?"

Lucia looked in the direction she had just been looking. On the open parade ground, the dynasty's elite soldiers, armed to the teeth with sharp weapons, were training in strict accordance with the marching regulations. Amidst the forest of swords, spears, and halberds, the shocking sound of military bugles resounded through the wilderness, and murderous aura soared into the sky.

“No need—” he said, “They are the best soldiers. A king who has never really stepped onto the battlefield has nothing to teach them before the battle.” He turned his eyes and said solemnly: “This battle is not complicated. All I have to do is stand in front of the army and become the first sword to cut the evil god. After this battle, the army will understand what kind of king they are serving and dying for.”

Hearing this, the smile on Priest Karen's face quietly disappeared. She stood up straight in her military uniform, knocked her right fist on her breastplate, and said, "Then, I hope my king will be victorious in this battle."

As for the battle arrangements, Karen had been planning them wholeheartedly since the Ancient Dragon Dynasty army arrived at the Gaileid Continent, and there was no need for any last-minute changes. The purpose of Lucia's trip was nothing more than to contact her own troops in advance and remind the commander to be prepared for any changes in the city. Now that the army was ready for battle, she only needed to wait here.

In the city, Latan and Luther are in charge of the Temple of Mysticism and the Temple of Night respectively, and Anasia monitors the entire city and is ready to cooperate with the Demigod Guards under the command of Lani in the State Guesthouse at any time. Even if the other party has made arrangements in advance, they can only cause temporary unrest.

And when the other party has revealed all their cards, the armies of the three dynasties led by the three demigods will be able to crush all conspiracies in the first place with the force of a mountain.

"Have you made contact with the Kalia Dynasty Army and the Blazing Sun Legion?" Lucia asked as she paced outside the tent.

"Kalia just completed its deployment yesterday. His Highness Lakkad has sent an envoy this morning to establish a wartime communication route with us. Messengers exchange military intelligence every quarter of an hour. The Golden Dynasty has also made preliminary contacts before. We proposed to establish a similar communication route three days ago, but the other party has not responded positively."

Lucia paused for a moment, "Who is the commander of the Blazing Sun Legion this time?"

"Phil Taylor-Jones, Marquis of Summerset," Karen introduced. "He was originally considered a member of the New Party. I don't know what the capital decided this time, but they sent him to temporarily take over the military power of this part of the Blazing Sun Legion."

Lucia sneered and said, "It's nothing more than that our King Elden is training the next one, no, the next batch of assistants like Duoris, to gain military merit while going to the East to intervene in the layout, and by the way, he can also annoy us during the war - it doesn't matter, as long as he doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, he can jump around as he pleases."

"Finally, how is the preparation for the seal going?"

"The sealing method is not reliable—" Suddenly, the voice of the priest Karen behind him changed without any warning into another lazy and pleasant female voice, "Rather than giving it another chance to revive after sleeping for a thousand years, it is better to destroy it here completely."

Lucia turned around abruptly, and the sword of night and fire at her waist was unsheathed in an instant as she twisted her body. Like a flying silver dragon, it pierced straight into the throat of the visitor with a sharp roar!

However, the unstoppable sword seemed to have pierced into the quagmire of time, and it suddenly slowed down three steps in front of the figure. Lucia could even clearly see the wave-like air flow breaking through the edge of the sword, but she could not stop the sword from getting slower and slower, until it stopped in front of a white palm with five fingers spread out, and could no longer move forward!

"Oh, look at his violent temper now - compared to that boring first meeting in the Vanya Valley, this reunion seems to be even more sad."

A step away, the white-robed woman with black silk covering her eyes teased, "I say, if things continue like this, aren't you afraid that you will become the first notorious tyrant in the history of Fam Azra?"

(End of this chapter)