Heart of the Castle

Chapter 429 The counties fell, and the flames ignited

This news set off a low exclamation in the hotel, and even Grand Duke Raul's face became gloomy, "Such things happened in the west and the south at the same time, why didn't there be any news beforehand?" He The question made the Ember Knight lower his head even more, not daring to speak.So Grand Duke Raul sighed and waved his hands. Then the Ash Knight stood up, kowtowed again, and walked out in a hurry.

"Lord Griffon, since something like this happened, let's go to the palace immediately." Grand Duke Raul suggested.Li Wei nodded, "Okay, Your Excellency Grand Duke Raul, but give me a few minutes to change clothes first." Then he walked quickly to the back door leading to the guest room, and Grunwalm, who was an attendant, immediately followed.

Li Wei took off the wine-stained clothes as quickly as possible, put on a thick brown knight coat and a bronze cloak, and then pinned the ruby ​​blood knight badge on his chest, representing the Griffin of the Ston family The badge and the golden high-level knight badge are pinned side by side at the lower position.Grunwalm wrapped a heavy silver chain belt around him, and hung the knight sword on the buckle of the belt, "Master Levi, shall I accompany you this time?"

Li Wei frowned, "No need, you and others must be ready to leave at any time..." His voice was slightly uneasy, "I suspect that we can stay in the capital for a long time It's short."

When he left the Mermaid Hotel in Grand Duke Raul's carriage, night had already embraced Firmeyer, the City of Glory, and after the bell disappeared, the entire capital fell into a panicked silence.At the same time yesterday, the bustling crowds that once appeared in the streets and alleys had completely disappeared, replaced by teams of heavily armed royal guard patrols, their horseshoes beating on the bluestone slabs on the ground, sending out loud noises. The sound was especially loud in the silence.

Adil was still sitting in the driver's seat of the carriage, and the long whip exploded a series of whips on the heads of the four pureblood horses.Inside the carriage, Levi and Grand Duke Raul sat facing each other, accompanied by Sir Bona and Knight Hyde.Since the incident happened so suddenly, except for the information revealed by the ashen knight, everyone knew nothing about the coming of the disaster, so they didn't have the mind to chat and talk, and the carriage was also full of depressing emotions. silence.

Looking out through the finely carved windows, a fragmented silver and red moonlight could be seen hanging low beside the spiers of Citadel of Ashes.The seven guard towers of the Ashes Fortress are now ignited with raging beacon fires, and the blazing flames seem to make the sky above the palace ablaze; the guarding power of the palace has obviously also been greatly strengthened. The fine steel arrows shone coldly.On the city wall below, a group of ashen knights holding halberds were patrolling back and forth.

The burly and tall Sir Magellan and Sir Salamis stood guard under the arch of the Ash Fortress. After putting down their visors, their gray armor and cloak made them look like two ominous shadows.The gate covered with red rust rose high, and it could be seen that countless pine torches were lit on the palace square behind. A large number of nobles had gathered there, whispering to each other, which seemed very noisy.

The carriage stopped in front of the iron gate, Li Wei jumped down first, and then Grand Duke Raul stepped out of the carriage with the support of his two sons.Seeing Grand Duke Raul, the two iron guard knights immediately raised their swords to salute, and then made a gesture of "please come in".

"The younger brother of His Majesty the Great King, Your Excellency Grand Duke Raul Adams has arrived!" The court attendant announced loudly, and the nobles who were discussing then shut their mouths and cast their eyes over.Li Wei saw that many of them looked pale, with a sense of panic as if a catastrophe was imminent.

"These are the elites among the nobles of the royal capital." Grand Duke Raul sighed with emotion in a low voice, then walked through the crowd with the support of his two sons, and walked towards the gate of the palace.Li Wei hesitated for a while, and did not continue to follow. Grand Duke Raul's status is extremely noble, and of course he is qualified to directly enter the palace, but as the Viscount of the Kingdom, his status is obviously not enough to do so.

However, Grand Duke Raul soon discovered this, and immediately stopped, "Lord Viscount Leviston, come with me." His voice was surprisingly low, "Now His Majesty must need your opinion very much. A reference for dealing with the serious situation at hand."

So Li Wei followed Grand Duke Raul and entered the audience hall of the palace together.Dozens of torches arranged symmetrically at both ends of the hall were burning with raging flames, filling the entire hall with a gloomy red light, and the heat was so high that it was suffocating.Arthur XII sat on the magnificent throne at the end of the hall, wearing a gleaming silver ceremonial armor, with an extremely ugly face. A deflated gold cup fell down the steps, and fragments of rubies and sapphires were scattered on the ground.Obviously, His Majesty the King just lost his temper.

There were still a few people in the audience hall. Several important officials of the kingdom that Li Wei had met once in the court meeting were there, and two new faces were added.One is an old man wearing a black robe. The robe is inlaid with countless diamonds by fine handwork. It shimmers and glows with the old man's movements, as if covering the night sky and the sea of ​​stars on his body.The other is a handsome young man with the shadow of a little boy on his face. His waist, hands and feet are surprisingly slender. His gorgeous golden hair is neatly divided from the center of his forehead to both sides, and then hangs down like a waterfall. at the waist.The young man was wearing a chain armor shirt as green as a dense forest. Behind him were two surprisingly huge long-handled epees. The scabbards were engraved with exquisite patterns. The elaborate head sculpts of unicorns and a green dragon are more works of art than weapons.The most peculiar thing is the young man's ears, which are more than twice as slender as that of ordinary people, and the front end is as sharp as a dagger.

"This is... an elf?" This thought arose in Li Wei's mind. Elves are very rare in the Kingdom of Arthur. When he was in the northern border, he had never seen such a beautiful life known as "the darling of nature".Perhaps it was because his eyes stayed on the elf for a longer time, it seemed that the elf felt something, his emerald-like pupils turned from the window and swept across Li Wei's body.The awe-inspiring cold taste in his eyes immediately made Li Wei feel a bone-chilling chill.

"This is Lord Marquis Osiris, the head of the Knights of Ashes, the head of the Knights of the Iron Guard, and one of the important ministers of the kingdom." Grand Duke Raul explained on the side, "Lord Griffon, Lord Osiris, like you, has once Beheaded a demon lord."

This sentence is not about introducing Osiris to Li Wei, it is better to say that it shows Li Wei's achievements from the side. Sure enough, the coldness in the eyes of the elves looking at Li Wei has faded a lot, although it still makes people feel lack of emotion , but it will not be as cold as the ice blade.

"Leviston, I have heard of your name." Marquis Osiris said, his voice was between a human boy and a girl, and it was as clear and sweet as a series of crystals knocking on each other, but his tone was very difficult to pronounce, " You, not bad."

"Your Excellency, Sky Knight, you are honored." Li Wei hurriedly replied, while bowing his head to pay tribute, but when he raised his head, Osiris' gaze had already left him and returned to the vast starry sky outside the window.

"Oh, the Marquis of Osiris has such a temper. Don't worry about it, Mr. Li Wei." A soft voice sounded from the side, and Bamilian, the head of the court, came over with a scent of lilac powder, "Your Majesty just now It’s terrible to see us furious! But Marquis Osiris still has that indifferent face, which makes me very envious.”

"His Majesty the King is furious, Lord Bamiriyan, what's going on?" Grand Duke Raul asked in a slightly surprised tone.

"Isn't it because of the incidents in Xifeng County and the four southern counties that the defense line in charge of the Lightning Knights was instantly torn apart by the demons, but the main force actually withdrew." Bamilian Yang said with disdain in his tone, and turned towards the front of the throne. She curled her lips, "It seems that although some people's lives are still there, they are no more masculine than me, the chief eunuch."

Count Leonardo, who has been deprived of the position of head of the Lightning Knights, is the only one among the important ministers who does not have a seat. He is now kneeling on one knee under the steps of the throne with his head bowed, with a panicked expression on his face.Li Wei noticed that there was a bloody spot on his forehead, which seemed to be related to the deflated gold cup, so he guessed that the person who had just suffered the thunderous wrath of His Majesty the King was the former Knight Commander.

A knight wearing the badge of the Stilwell family's bleeding lance on his chest knelt behind Earl Leonardo. His broken cloak was covered with dust and blood. It seemed that he brought this unfortunate news to His Majesty the King. It also aroused the anger of His Majesty the King.King Arthur XII on the throne was still furious, and the sapphire eyes shone with red-golden light, which was a characteristic brought about by the special fighting spirit of the Arthur royal family, and at the same time expressed the strong emotional fluctuations in the heart of His Majesty the King.

"You mean that the sheriff of Xifeng County suddenly betrayed and led troops to attack the rear of the Lightning Knights, so you were forced to retreat, right?" His Majesty's voice suddenly sounded.The knight kneeling behind trembled, and replied in a tired and dull voice, "That's right, Your Majesty the King. And then traitors also appeared in the four southern counties, and the Lightning Knights were violently attacked from all directions. If If the acting head, Viscount Harris, didn't immediately order the troops to retreat..."

"Then the kingdom should still have a position that has not been captured!" Earl Gregor interrupted in a cold tone. "Xifeng County and the four southern counties are places where the people are weak, and there are no strong soldiers at all. On this matter, I, who used to be the county guard in the south, have more say than you."

The knight pursed his lips a few times, but he still didn't dare to refute the black death's accusation. After all, His Majesty Arthur XII held a similar attitude on this matter.

"But, how could this happen?" Marquis Reeves's gloomy voice sounded, "Humans and demons have never had the possibility of peaceful coexistence, and it is even more impossible to co-exist with the dead, unless the West Wind County and the four southern counties The sheriff's brains are suddenly rotten, and they are not brats, so it's impossible for them not to know that the devil and the dead never accept surrender, right?"

"Lord Marquis Reeves, do you mean that this messenger from the Lightning Knights is lying?" Bamilian's voice also added. "But judging from the news from Sleepless Eye, a great disaster has indeed occurred in the west and south."

"Your sleepless eyes have been blinded, and no news has come back!" Marquis Reeves pointed out coldly.

"There is no news at all, and this is the biggest news." Director Bamili Yang replied, and then he turned and bowed deeply to King Arthur XII, "Your Majesty, if the coalition forces of the devil and the dead will attack the west and south If the line of defense is breached, then the eyeliner of Sleepless Eye can send back some news. Since there is no news now, I can only explain one thing, that is, the fall of Xifeng County and the four southern counties. That's right."

"An inner ghost?" Li Wei's heart moved, thinking of Viscount Ryan's horrible death.At that time, judging from the distance between the Viscount and the old butler Trien, it seemed that the blood-sucking prince disguised as the old butler had not directly threatened the life of the Viscount, and the reason why the always cowardly Viscount Ryan chose to jump off the tower , is it because if you don't do this, you will face a more terrible ending than death?
Is there anything more terrible than death?The face of Huck, the fat village head of the refugee camp, flashed in Li Wei's mind. The face after being eroded by the devil insects was extremely terrifying, with swollen and pale skin covered with bred sarcoma and connective tissue. "I see!" Li Wei suddenly yelled loudly, startling Bamilian and Marquis Reeves who were arguing, and stopped involuntarily.

"Viscount Leviston!" After the Marquis of Reeves came to his senses, he suddenly felt furious, "This is a meeting that only important ministers of the kingdom can participate in. For the sake of Grand Duke Raul, it is already illegal for you to attend the meeting Mercy. If you make noise at will and interrupt the meeting, I will expel you from this sacred hall as the law enforcer of the kingdom!"

"Wait a minute, Faceless." Arthur XII's voice came down from the throne, "You haven't forgotten the nickname of Leviston, have you? Listen to Dawn of the North's views on the evil disaster and the current situation. It's beneficial." Then he nodded slightly to Li Wei, "Viscount Li Wei, what did you think of just now? Tell us and let us listen."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Wei bowed his chest and saluted, then cleared his throat and said, "Your Majesty, all the important ministers of the kingdom, when the first disaster came, such things happened..." He told Ryan The death of the Viscount, the matter of the old housekeeper Trien and his "son" Pami, and the matter of the fat village chief Huck in the refugee camp were all described one by one, and they were connected in series with the possibility that he had just thought of. stand up. "...What happened in Westwind County and the four southern counties is very similar to these. My lords, just imagine, if the blood-sucking prince Trion corrupted Viscount Lane into a demon slave or a descendant of blood, then the viscount's territory would no longer be A barrier for the kingdom, and a cover for the actions of the demons and the dead!"

"My lords, what Viscount Li Wei said is correct!" the knight of the Lightning Knights shouted, "At that time, our defense line did not consider the attack from behind at all, and all defensive facilities were still facing forward, because No one would have expected that there would be a rebellion in the rear. When the sheriff of Westwind County came with a large number of men, Sir Bartel, the military assistant of Viscount Harris, the acting chief, went to greet him in person, but just met with the sheriff Hugging, a sharp short knife was cut directly from the throat to the lower body..."

"There is no vigilance at all, that guy really deserves to die." Earl Gregor commented, "If my subordinates have such an idiot, then even if he comes back alive, I will cut him from throat to penis."

"Before that, didn't you receive any unusual news?" Director Bamilian asked suspiciously, "Didn't the Lightning Knights arrange scout troops to find out the news?"

"Of course, there are more than a dozen light cavalry squads." The knight of the Thunder Light Knights replied, "However, until Viscount Harris ordered the evacuation, our scout troops still did not come back. It is estimated that they encountered an army of demons. was killed."

"Estimate! Is it an estimate to encounter the demon army? If you say that, you didn't even see the shadow of the demon, and you all fled?" It was placed on the hilt of the sword at the waist. "This is a betrayal, a complete betrayal of the kingdom!" He turned towards the throne, "Your Majesty, I ask you to allow me to lead the troops of the Dreadfort to attack. Those cowards and traitors must be severely punished by the kingdom's laws!"

"Your Majesty, the line of defense was lost by the Stilwell family, and it should be taken back by the Stilwell family!" Earl Leonardo suddenly yelled, taking off his helmet and putting it on the ground, "Let me go, I beg you La! If I can't regain the line of defense and drive the demons and the dead from the land of the kingdom, then let me die fighting there!"

"You are an idiot." Count Gregor stood up, his face as cold as if carved out of rock, "Those in the Lightning Knights are also idiots, the demon army is not good at attacking solid fortifications, but in field battles, Except for the Death Knights, there is no army in the kingdom that dares to win!" His body was dyed blood red by the flames, and a deep shadow was cast on his face, "Your Majesty, the Death Knights Request to attack and regain the land lost by those scumbags!"

"Recaptured from the hands of the devil and the dead, and then trampled and ravaged by your death knights?" Count Leonardo retorted, "Your Majesty, what did Gregor do to his domain, years ago We all know it! For the people of Westwind County and the four southern counties, the devil and the dead are no more terrifying than the name of Gregor, the black god of death!"

"you……"

"Shut up, it's all the same!" Arthur XII's angry roar suddenly came from the throne, and then His Majesty the King stood up, his golden hair shaking like a flame rising from the angry Dragon King. "I'm fed up with this kind of quarrel. The Lightning Knights can't do it, and the Death Knights can't do it! But there is a knight order that can definitely... Osiris!"

"Your Majesty, I'm here!" The elf immediately stood up, with an agile and graceful posture like a civet cat. "Please tell me."

"When will the Knights of Embers be ready to attack?"

"wait!"

Arthur XII then walked down the steps of the throne with great strides, "Well, pass down the order, I will personally conquer the four southern counties!"

(End of this chapter)