I just covet their strength

Chapter 294: Alexia

In the border province of the Holy Tree Empire, behind the towering fortress, in the center of the prosperous city, the light of the small holy tree has obviously dimmed a lot and can no longer illuminate the night.

In today's era, this blessing from the God-Ancestor is no longer something that makes the people of the empire proud, but a disaster that may strike at any time.

The physical conditions of different holy trees cannot be generalized. Many small holy trees could not withstand the erosion of chaos and sank into corruption, but there were also more small holy trees that resisted the erosion and survived with difficulty.

However, even if the city had not fallen, the locals no longer dared to accept the blessing of the small sacred tree so easily. A blessing that could explode at any time was not a blessing but a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

What's more, after the [Supreme Holy Tree] was disconnected, the small holy tree could no longer provide any benefits.

As a result, all provinces across the empire completely cut off the roots of the little holy tree. Now the little holy tree still standing in the middle of the city is already a dead tree. The reason why it has not collapsed and rotted is because it has been put in a state of stillness by a special ritual.

The holy tree is the belief of the people of the empire. If they look up and cannot see the light, a huge sense of uneasiness will loom over their hearts, so it is necessary to maintain the existence of the small holy tree.

Fortunately, this provincial capital is not an ordinary city like the rest of the empire, but a rare border town that guards the border between the empire and Yonglan.

Even though conflicts between orderly kingdoms are rare, they do exist, and no one can be sure whether the knights will suddenly go crazy.

What's more, the gods of the current protective kingdoms have all gone away, and there are no longer any limiters between the kingdoms of order.

So the empire quietly gathered heavy troops at the border, and the [Immortal Wall] led by Alexia arrived here. This famous legion was led by the [Valkyrie] Alexia and was an important pillar of the empire's border defense.

The arrival of the [Immortal Wall] was nominally to protect the vast area of ​​the eastern part of the empire, but the main reason for its stationing there was probably to guard against the Kingdom of Yonglan.

Inside the fortress where the [Immortal Wall] is stationed, generals and officers gathered together, and the projection on the conference table kept flashing intelligence information.

After a moment, an officer stepped forward, turned off the projection, turned on the lights in the conference room, looked around and said:

"That's the intelligence. It's been compiled."

"One of the empire's [Branches of Prosperity], Lord Qinghui, has become the Knight King of the Kingdom of Eternal Mist. This is certain."

"And according to the intelligence, after Lord Qinghui took office as the Knight Queen, he immediately issued several orders. The abolition of Yonglan's serfdom was the main reform measure, but these have little to do with us. What is really worthy of attention is the chivalry expedition initiated by Lord Qinghui."

The officer paused and said:
"Lord Qinghui has summoned all the knights of Yonglan to prepare for an expedition to the Empire, ostensibly to help the Empire resolve the chaos disasters that have occurred one after another."

"This expedition has received a wide and enthusiastic response. The knight army has used Twilight Territory as their forward base and is gathering troops. By then, they should be able to cross the border directly. By then, hundreds of Yonglan knights will arrive on the territory of the empire."

After the words were spoken, silence fell in the conference room.

In fact, when Westhead just announced the ceremony, the border provinces of the empire had already paid attention to this matter. After all, it was hard not to pay attention to this matter. The commotion in the Kingdom of Yonglan was too big and the situation was too sensitive. This was the first time in nearly a hundred years that a king had proclaimed himself king and the throne was claimed by a foreigner.

The king is the "Branch of Prosperity" of the empire, and his assistant is the princess of the empire, a governor. Together, these two people control nearly a quarter of the territory of the entire empire.

Such a combination running to the Kingdom of Yonglan can almost represent the will of the empire.

The fact that Lord Qinghui ascended the throne as the Knight King in Yonglan did not make the people of the empire feel proud. They thought that they were superior to others by stepping on Yonglan. The sense of belonging and honor and disgrace were not calculated in this way. Instead, it would cause a sense of anger of betrayal.

You eat in the east and sleep in the west, right? Although the [Branch of Prosperity] has a high degree of autonomy, it is still a part of the Holy Tree of Glory system. Even if it is separated, it still needs to wear a chastity lock. It's impossible to run for the throne of Yonglan.

"Lord Qinghui is the mother of all milk! He will be the Knight King of the Yonglan people!"

A general was the first to break the silence, pounding his legs and cursing:
"What the hell? When will it be the turn of the Yonglan people to intervene in the civil strife of our empire? Do you look down on our abilities?"

Armed intervention under the pretext of "quelling rebellion for the empire" would naturally not be recognized by the imperial soldiers, and the proposer would also be hated.

Lord Qinghui! You are the one who led the Yonglan people here? !

"This is too outrageous. What qualifications does he have to ask for help on behalf of the empire?"

"As for qualifications, it is because Her Highness Leixia has given the authorization. She is the governor of the empire, and Lord Qinghui is a guardian."

"Your Highness Leixia? Forget about that Long. That Highness has been completely bewitched by Lord Qinghui. Even though he is powerful and noble, he only follows Lord Qinghui's orders. It seems that he does not have the qualities of an emperor."

In the past few years, the "Dragon Blood Princess" Leixia has been making her presence felt in the empire. Her footprints can be seen in many provinces. Almost everyone in the empire admits that she is indeed a gifted, elegant and noble royal aristocrat.

But at the same time, I also got to know the "characteristics" of the silver-haired princess quite well.

This is a complete love-brained person. Everything he does is for Westhead. Don't you see that as soon as Qinghui Gong learned about it, he immediately brought his own dry food to help.

Although it is understandable why Her Royal Highness is so affectionate, it is somewhat regrettable that her feelings are so pure and she lacks the political talent that a royal family should have.

Hope is not like a human king!
"Even if we have the endorsement of Her Highness Leixia and have a legitimate reason to fight, we in the Immortal Wall will never allow the Yonglan people to swagger through our base!"

"Speaking of which, where is the legion commander? Let him make the decision."

"The commander of the army has already consulted His Royal Highness the Regent, and should get a reply soon."

"."

"Da da da--"

Just as the discussions in the conference room were growing louder, there was a crisp sound of metal feet hitting the ground, and all the officers in the discussion immediately fell silent.

They were very familiar with the rhythm of footsteps. After a few breaths, a tall figure came into the conference hall.

"Everyone, sorry to have waited so long. Are you discussing the changes in the Kingdom of Yonglan?"

The visitor had long flaxen hair that fell to his waist, and a pure black lining that fit tightly against his beautiful figure. On the outside he wore a double-breasted everyday military uniform, and only the golden embroidered shawl revealed his identity as the head of the legion.

The feet and important joints were covered with platinum light armor, which matched the bright outfit and looked cool and dashing. Although she was the leader of the entire [Immortal Wall], Alexia's expression was not so serious and cold. On the contrary, her delicate and soft face was always smiling, her purple eyes were slightly narrowed, one hand was behind her straight back, and the other hand was against her chin.

The temperament that should have been stern became softer because of this action, and even gained a sense of affinity out of thin air.

"Legion Commander!"

"Lord Alexia!"

The officer presiding over the meeting immediately stepped forward and saluted:
"Yes, as you can see, we just discussed the matter of the Kingdom of Yonglan. Lord Qinghui is going to lead the people of Yonglan to the imperial territory to run wild!"

"We all agree that this is utter contempt. We should fulfill the duty of the [Immortal Wall] and prevent foreign armies from setting foot on the Empire's soil!"

"I know you are anxious, but don't worry. This is a serious matter and it is not up to us to decide."

Alexia nodded slightly, then waved her hand and said:
"I have received a reply from His Royal Highness the Regent."

Upon hearing this, the high-ranking officers of the corps in the conference hall became stern and silent.

[Immortal Wall] This legion is not Alexia's private armed forces, but was reorganized from the troops directly under the imperial capital, among which there are a large number of royal factions.

Alexia, who holds the title of Martial Goddess, rose through the ranks of the Imperial Legion and was not from any aristocratic family. Because of this, after her promotion to Legend, she was wooed by the royal family.

They were originally loyal to the late emperor, but after the late emperor committed suicide, they switched to the command of the eldest princess Celivela and became a noble royal unit.

Alexia rubbed her index finger and thumb repeatedly, raised her eyebrows, and her purple eyes made it difficult to tell where the focus was.

"This news has spread in the imperial capital. Many elders are angrily accusing Duke Qinghui of treason. Her Highness the Regent is also confused, but she believes that Her Highness Leixia and Duke Qinghui are both pillars of the empire and their loyalty is unquestionable. However, in order to appease the anger of those people in the imperial capital, there should be an explanation."

"So, get ready. I'm going to go to Twilight to get it."

In Dusklight Territory, a border territory forever obscured by the argent sky and thick dark clouds, the army of knights once again set foot there.

The elite knights from Yonglan's capital, each of them armed with sharp weapons, were extraordinary and heroic. They brought with them a variety of war weapons that amazed the natives of Mudeng Territory. They were either giant knight statues that stood tall and straight; or autonomous knight puppets made of steel and runes that walked like ghosts; or exquisite crossbow chariots with sharp reinforcements.
Even other knight lords did not have these things. Many of them were unique to the Heart of Storm. Under Westhead's orders, all that could be pulled out were brought from the warehouse in the giant city.

However, this time, they did not come aggressively to clean up the filth, but followed the footsteps of the Knight King and used Twilight Territory as the initial base for the expedition.

All kinds of camps, outposts and even fortresses sprang up from the ground, and the knights worked hard on the vast barren and withered land of the Dusklight Territory.

Westhead started his pilgrimage from Dusk Lantern Territory and finally returned to Dusk Lantern Territory. Compared with the grandeur of Storm Heart, he still felt that Miwana's hometown was more intimate, mainly because of the beast-eared girl! Westhead was still thinking about the orcs' talents.

These are all soldiers worth training, natural anti-chaos warriors.

"The Dusk Light Territory seems to be a little too backward."

So when His Majesty the Knight King arrived at Dusklight Territory, he immediately began to direct the local construction work:
"As the starting point of the expedition and the most critical transit hub, I think we can build more here. Not only should we have the most basic logistics base to welcome the expedition teams that will arrive later, but we can also establish a complete training institution in Twilight Territory to train orcs into warriors."

"There must be many knights in our team who are prejudiced against orcs. I always think that Myvana's achievement as an orc to become a great knight is a special case."

Mephis nodded repeatedly: "In fact, my Lord, you are a bit conservative."

Many people? Almost all of them!

If they were not bound by their loyalty to the monarch, bloody conflict would have broken out on the first day they entered the Dusk Territory.

Now we are able to keep to ourselves and not interfere with each other, simply by forcing ourselves to ignore these inhuman creatures and classify them as sub-humans.

"Prejudice is a huge mountain. It's okay. Let's train first. Myvana should be happy to help her compatriots. She is bragging to her brothers and sisters now. I will go and tell them later."

Westhead didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Anyway, he had no intention of eliminating the prejudice of the knights. After training the orcs into warriors, he would definitely use them himself. This would be a good opportunity to give Myvana a direct army. Resia even had her own royal guards, and the wolf-eared girl was wandering around as a ranger all day long.

As his own designated apostle, it was a bit too shabby.

"Your Majesty, an Imperial warship has arrived for a visit."

Just as Westhead was talking about the future development of the Dusklight Territory, a Knight of Yonglan rushed over ahead of the Qinghui Guards and reported:

"It's Alecia, the commander of the Empire's [Immortal Wall]."

"Alexia"

When Leixia heard the name, she reacted quickly and looked at Westhead and said:

"I remember this name. She is the direct descendant of the imperial sister."

"Ok, I know."

Of course Westhead knew about this legendary strongman of the empire, because she was not some ordinary-looking legend.

After the Age of Strife, due to the trials of troubled times, the value of the legendary rank plummeted. Many people could gain enough merit just by doing it casually, and there were more and more legendary strongmen.

But there is a clear distinction between legends. The departure of the gods has removed the constraints of the path, and the legendary strong men can continue to expand their own realm and power. Although there is no clear division of realms in the extraordinary system, those who are obviously superior to ordinary legends are called "transcendents."

The Valkyrie Alexia was one of the very few legends who would be able to step onto the ladder of transcendence in the future. She made great contributions to the survival of the empire until she died in the attack and defense of the sacred roots with the real dragon in the future disaster of the Return of the Dragons.

Westhead stroked his chin and smiled:

"It seems that the capital has finally responded. However, this kind of thing will indeed cause a sensation, and the two of us are not powerful enough to suppress it. It doesn't matter, let's meet."

(End of this chapter)