Heart of the Castle

Chapter 458 Army Siege, Sacred Domain

"Supreme God, Father, have mercy!" The Earl of Brest, who was still speaking generously just now, uttered a miserable cry, and then collapsed on his seat; the Marquis de Vieri laughed loudly, The voice was hoarse like a howling wolf, "This is the decision of the gods. We must stay here to fight the devil and the dead. Only one side can survive."

"Who survived? We, or the enemy?" A nobleman asked in a deep and hoarse voice.

"I can only be sure of one thing. Among those who survived, there must be no cowards or soft-legged shrimps." Marquis Osiris glanced at the crowd and announced coldly.

"My lords, the matter is far from desperate." Earl Ansair spoke, trying to make his voice steady and powerful, so as to appear more confident. "Holy White Rock Fortress is not an ordinary fortress. The restraint of evil here is greater than you imagined. Back then, the great magister of the undead couldn't break through here, and now the devil and the dead must have no way. And although we don't have many people , but the rest are all elites, and it is not difficult to defend the Holy White Stone Fort."

"What's the use of just holding on to it? Could it be that holding on here will allow the demons and the dead to retreat without a fight?" Earl Robart said, "Although I advocate holding on to the Holy White Rock Fort, this must be done before sending people to Fei It is only possible under the premise that Ermeyer mobilizes reinforcements, if we stick to this place, we will not be able to win, and we can only die in vain."

"It is our greatest honor as a knight to be able to sacrifice our lives for His Majesty Arthur XII!" Marquis Osiris said sonorously, "Count Robart, if we can die with a sword, we should be very satisfied." Already!"

"Of course, of course it is..." Earl Robart's expression was a little stiff, but he could only reply with a smile.

"Of course we can't just stick to the Holy White Rock Castle." Earl Ansair said in thought. He spoke slowly, with deep wrinkles on his forehead, and he said every word after careful consideration. "It is conceivable that the attacks of the demons and the dead will be very violent, day and night, because they have a large number, at least dozens of times our number, so they can attack in turn. Even if we have the natural dangers of the Holy White Stone Fort and the Blade Rift Valley Relying on it is enough to withstand the most violent attack, but after all, the troops are limited, and the existing manpower is not even enough for defense, so it may be difficult to get a chance to breathe."

"Lord Earl Ansair is right." Earl Robart said in a muffled voice, "What's more, the supplies here are limited and can only last for about half a month. We can't hold on forever."

"Then what can you do? Do you still want to evacuate the Holy White Rock Castle?" Marquis Osiris asked sharply. Although it seemed to be aimed at Marquis Robart, the green lion's sharp eyes fell on Earl Ansair.

"Of course not, Marquis Osiris, the safety of His Majesty the King is more important than the lives of us. From the very beginning, I ruled out the option of evacuating here!" Earl Ansair said firmly, "I It is suggested that after withstood the first few rounds of enemy attacks, let one of us sneak past the blockade line laid by the devil in the south."

This proposal made many nobles look surprised. Marquis Vieri opened his mouth wide, while Count Robart simply jumped up from his seat. "Lord Earl Ansair!" he shouted, "Are you out of your mind? The demons will definitely guard us very tightly in order to trap us here! Those winged demons patrol the sky day and night, and the ground There is also a densely packed little devil patrol team, and even a carrier pigeon can't fly out. If it is a fully equipped knight order, it is possible to break through the blockade by force. Drowned!"

However, Marquis Osiris' eyes showed a thoughtful expression, "This is indeed a solution." He commented, "But there should be few people in the Holy White Stone Castle who can do it."

"For His Majesty's sake, I can try!" said Sir Salamis, puffing out his chest.However, Marquis Osiris shook his head, "No, you can't, you will die in vain." He didn't even look at Sir Salamis, whose face suddenly turned pale, and continued on his own. "Sir Chibe and other iron guard knights are not qualified. If Sir Lulula hadn't suffered a shoulder injury in the battle of the Lexington Bridge, he might be able to give it a try, but now... I am afraid that there are only three people in the Holy White Stone Castle who have hope. do this thing."

"As the only heavenly knight in the Kingdom of Arthur, you, Marquis Osiris, are of course one of them; the Earl of Ansair is known as a sword dancer, and his sword skills are second to none among the nobles with swords in the Kingdom of Arthur, and he is also one of the candidates." Earl Robart said, "Who is the third person? Is it Lord Ray Knight Leonardo Stilwell?"

Hearing someone say his name, the haggard Earl Stilwell's eyes moved, and he turned around stiffly. "You... what did you just say?"

"It's not the Lightning Knight. He might have been able to do it before, but now he's not as good as Sir Lulula." Sir Salamis explained, "The Lightning Knights are almost destroyed, and it's a big blow to him. I'm in charge of the king on the left. When he found Earl Stilwell, there were only more than 30 lightly and seriously wounded soldiers around him, and the rest were the disbanded troops encountered on the way back."

"The third person I'm talking about is the lord of the Griffin, Levi Ston, or, the Sir Rodriguez next to Levi Ston." The Marquis of Osiris said in a calm tone, and then his eyes turned to Ansai Earl and Archbishop Povavo cast their gazes over. Since Li Wei was not found, doubts and puzzled expressions soon appeared in their eyes.

"Lord Marquis Osiris, the northern coalition forces have fallen into a trap to kill the dead in Queensland City, and suffered heavy losses. When the coalition forces broke through, Lord Griffon led Sir Rodriguez and a great magister to undertake the mission of ending the siege, and their whereabouts are unknown now... " Archbishop Povavo explained in a low voice.

The green lion was silent for a while, and an inexplicable light flashed in the beautiful eyes unique to elves. "He will be fine, no one can stop it..." Marquis Osiris' next voice was as thin as a raving, and no one could hear what he was talking about.

"Then there are only two candidates left," said Count Robart.

"Who can guarantee that the person who broke out and asked for help won't leave without returning?" Someone muttered something in the corner, the voice was vague, but the content was like a dagger thrown from the dark.Afterwards, many people were whispering and staring at the Marquis of Osiris and the Earl of Ansair. There were too many doubts and apprehensions in them, and little trust.

"The Northern Allied Forces need me to command, so I can't leave." Earl Ansair shrugged his shoulders, "And if I were to break out and ask for help, I'm afraid many people here would object, right? Marquis Osiris, look I am afraid that the task of breaking out of the encirclement and asking for help will fall on your head."

"With loyalty as wife and responsibility as son, I swear to defend my king! Even if I die in ashes, I will die without regret!" The green lion announced each word, "This is the duty of the iron guard knight. Before here, I will not take a step out of the Holy White Rock Castle."

Then silence filled the room, save for the crackling of the logs burning in the fireplace.The flames burned hotter and hotter, and the red light illuminated everyone's faces and the armor on their bodies. Those faces were haggard, frightened, or determined, and there were all kinds of complex expressions.

"The enemy is just outside the city. Instead of sitting here and talking about it, it's better to go outside and observe the enemy's situation!" Marquis Osiris broke the silence, his voice was as cold as ice, and then he walked towards the door, with a gust of wind blowing behind his green cloak.Earl Ansair and Archbishop Beauvoir followed closely behind, followed by Earl Robart, the bannerman of the royal army, Marquis Vieri, deputy commander of the noble militia, Earl Stilwell, head of the Lightning Knights, and other leaders. brain, and then those ashen knights also left under the leadership of Sir Qibei and Sir Salamis.Soon, apart from the Earl of Brest, who was slumped on the seat and murmuring something, there were only Archbishop Mystra and the Holy Light Knight Titos sitting in front of the fireplace.

Seeing the nobles of the kingdom leave, Titos bent down to the old man in front of the fireplace, and asked in a low voice, "Your Excellency, you think we should..."

"Resisting evil and swearing to the death to defend the sacred territory of our Lord is the sacred mission of the humble followers of Flandara." Archbishop Mystra looked into the depths of the raging flames, with a pious fanatic expression, as if there It is the sacred temple of the golden sun. "Tytos, inform the ascetic monks to prepare for the prayer ceremony. After discovering the army of demons, we will open the sacred realm of the Holy White Stone Castle to deter evil, and let those blinded by the secular world see the power of our Lord's golden sun." majesty!"

Flandara's golden face rose to the top of the sky. Although it was deep winter, the sunshine in the south of the kingdom was still strong, making the armor of everyone standing on the watchtower glow.Everyone is looking far away, the demon army is not invisible, looking to the south, it is easy to see the thick smoke billowing straight up into the sky, like a giant pillar of the sky, and the same smoke column is also rising from the north, It's just that the number is smaller than that in the south, and the Holy White Stone Fort is tightly surrounded by it.Each column of smoke represents a village or town that has been ravaged by demon armies. Below the smoke is a raging fire. The houses there are burning violently. The residents may have been massacred. The corpses are either filled with demons or driven by the dead Then advance towards the Holy White Stone Fort.

This scene made many nobles of the kingdom panic. "We are surrounded." Someone commented in a low voice, "There is also an army of demons in the north. One or two hundred winged demons will never be able to burn such a big fire."

Earl Ansair frowned. These nobles' guesses were not unfounded. He had already communicated with Sir Qibei and Sir Magellan among the Knights of the Iron Guard. Called elite.Among them, there are thousands of Winged Demon scouts alone. If you spend enough time, it is not difficult to transport tens of thousands of little demons across the Silver Frost Mountain Range.

It seems that the devil's plan this time is to annihilate the high-level forces of the Kingdom of Arthur in one fell swoop.Earl Ansair couldn't help but sigh in his heart, and due to the unanimous thought of underestimating the enemy from His Majesty the King to the nobles of the kingdom, this seems to have become a foreseeable future. "I hope Firmeyer can find out that the situation is not good, and send reinforcements in time!" He muttered softly, and then his eyes caught a row of shaking black shadows on the southern horizon.

"Come, those demons... are here!" Baron Hanuk, who used to be the commander of the northern coalition army barracks, cried out in a low voice.The content of this sentence is well known, and it obviously dissatisfied the other nobles whose nerves were too tense. A young voice protested sharply, "Northern bumpkins, can't we see? Need Are you here to remind me?"

Although the nobles of the royal capital have always been arrogant and conceited, and look down on the nobles of the northern counties with the bitter cold climate and barren land, they would not say such rude words casually. It can be seen that the tension and fear have penetrated into the hearts of these people like poison. In the middle, it may be vented in the form of an explosion at any time.Baron Hanuk's face turned blue with anger, and when he was about to refute, his body shook suddenly, and he was stunned by the terrifying scene in front of him.

Countless demons poured in from the southern horizon, line by line, line by line, the mighty line was endless, and the end of the line could not be seen at a glance.Looking far away, you can only see a vast ocean of red and black. This is an ocean completely composed of demon armies. The demons are densely packed like ants. Disappeared in the cloud of smoke they raised that obscured the sun.

The demon army came overwhelmingly, and the drums rumbled like thunder rolling across the sky.More than a dozen huge commander's wheel palaces are particularly conspicuous in the queue of demons. Each of these behemoths needs hundreds of burly and strong horned demons to pull them; Cover it up; the brimstone and poisonous fire is constantly gushing out of the windows of these wheel palaces, and almost half the sky is burned red.

"Did you see those big guys? Guys? That's a movable castle!" A nobleman said in an altered voice, "That thing is higher than the walls of the Holy White Stone Castle, and it is equipped with The long suspension bridge looks like a huge windmill, and those demons are going to use these windmills to grind us and the fortress to pieces!"

"Listen, that sound is so terrifying, even the earth seems to be moaning under their feet!" Another nobleman also shouted anxiously.

The ranks of the demon army gradually approached, like an endless ocean that had created a turbulent wave, rushing towards the Holy White Stone Castle. The howl of the demons was the roar of the hurricane that was raging across the sea. It was so magnificent and fierce that it made people shudder.

"Belongs to the Northern Allied Forces, all go to the city! Prepare to fight!" Earl Ansair's voice was like a sharp knife cutting through frozen grease, waking up all the nobles at the top of the city from their endless nightmare.Heavily armed knights and soldiers ran up to the top of the Holy White Rock Fortress. Among them were the city guards of Dirk in long chain mail, the apostolic knights of the Tempest Temple in blue cloaks, and noble knights in various armors. .Lastly, more than a dozen heavily armed Griffin Knights appeared. Their armors were painted in blue and white, with Griffin emblems on their chests, and their two-handed giant swords shone with unstoppable sharpness.

"Noble people, noble people, assemble, prepare to go to the city and fight!" Earl Robart's voice sounded on the other side of the city wall, and there was also an army of demons in the north of the Holy White Stone Castle. There are huge monsters in the formation, but the number of several thousand cannot be ignored.Seeing this formation, the faces of many nobles turned pale. They seemed to have witnessed their doomsday coming, and the entire Holy White Stone Castle was soaked in blood.

At this moment, a deep and deep voice sounded, it was the singing voice from hundreds of throats accustomed to singing hymns in chorus, the ascetic monks in the Holy White Stone Castle began their sacred ceremony, with a deep and soothing tone Sing the solemn psalm in praise of the golden sun Flandara.This hymn is usually used for the prayer of light at noon. Since this kind of religious ceremony is often held in the Glorious Cathedral of Philmeyer, many nobles in the royal capital hummed along, and the familiar sacred melody effectively comforted The panic and fear in their hearts.

Afterwards, the singing became more and more high-pitched and holy, as if it did not come from the throats of humans, but the glorious angels who descended into the world were shouting the name of Flandala.The solemn and melodious singing voice spread over the stacked battlements of the Holy White Stone Castle like a vast ocean, and echoed among dozens of towering white towers. The sacred runes on the walls and towers seemed to shimmer and shine in response to the singing. No, it is really shining, emitting a bright light like a golden sun!
The rays of light became stronger and stronger, and finally gathered on the top of the three tallest towers of the Holy White Rock Fortress, like the three smaller avatars of the golden sun in the sky, and then thousands of golden lights shot from the top of the tower in all directions, Part of it was refracted back on the mountain wall of the Blade Rift Valley, and part of it was sunk deep into the earth. A faint golden light then appeared on the ground around the Holy White Stone Fortress, adding infinite sacredness to this pure white fortress.

The strongest defense method of the Holy White Stone Fort—the holy field, open!
(End of this chapter)