Heart of the Castle

Chapter 580 Bluff, Shackles of Faith

On the eve of the departure of the Kingdom Mission, the lights inside and outside the Green Castle were brightly lit all night, and the loud military horns sounded from time to time. The heavily armed troops stepped on the marching drums and walked out of the ancient torches lined up like two long dragons. The gate, stepping into the twilight outside the city; orderlies holding triangular flags come and go, the neighing of horses, people shouting, the sound of metal collision and friction does not stop for a moment; the sound of wheels is also endless , many heavy carts drawn by poor horses moved with the troops, either filled with cheese, wine, rough bread and dried meat, or brand new swords, armor and barrels of arrows.

I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, although the room arranged for the envoys of the Elven King's Court to live in is the best room in the Green Castle, but the window happens to be facing the city gate, and the view is excellent enough to keep the constant flow of people near the city gate away. I can see clearly.This scene of intense preparations made the envoy of the Elf King restless all night. He turned over and sat up from the bed from time to time, then walked to the window, opened the thick velvet curtains and looked out, his pupils reflected the torches outside the window With the blazing flames and the cold light of metal, the worries in my heart increased with time.

It can be seen that the human kingdom is preparing for war very seriously, and its strength is very strong.The emissary of the Elven King's Court was surprised to find that even though a large number of troops had left, the guards of Green Castle were still numerous.On the open-air watchtower, the huge ballista hides its sharp fangs under the felt, and next to the bow arm of the giant catapult, which is as thick as a pillar, several extraordinarily strong and burly men are making final adjustments.

Although the elven kingdom of the Moon Whisper Forest also has a fairly powerful army, especially the established elven sharpshooter troop, the prestige is even more famous in the mainland.But the fatal weakness of the elves is the extremely low birth rate. Once the flames of war ignite, even if the casualties of the elves are small, it will still be a tragic loss that will take decades to make up for them.

This is also the common weakness of all longevity races, especially for the emerald dragon race.

What's more, the war potential of the human kingdom cannot be underestimated. To capture such a tightly guarded castle, even if the elven kingdom in the Moon Whispering Forest sends an army to cooperate with the emerald dragon clan, it will have to pay a considerable price. Maybe?

"It is necessary to avoid serious conflicts with the human kingdom with such a powerful force." The emissary of the elf royal court thought secretly vigilantly, "I must report everything I see to Her Majesty the Queen and the royal court, the emerald dragon What the family said is not true, they obviously wanted to bring the elf kingdom down because they had a bloody encounter in the human kingdom."

What the envoys of the Elven King's Court didn't know was that, except for the guards in various camps and villages, almost all the troops in Northern County were gathered near Greencastle.These include the second branch of the Griffin Knights, the city guards of Deke City, the Sicilian port city guards, the Guardian Knights of the Temple of the Earth, and other troops whose defense zone is located south of the Dusk Forest.What he saw was already the largest army that Beijing County could display.

The light of the silver moon fell on the many guard towers standing behind the outer wall of the Green Castle, looking like a group of giant guards covered in snow.In the tallest guard tower, the griffin lord Liviston put down the bronze mirror tube in his hand, and an inaudible sigh escaped from his throat.

"Master Li Wei, the preparations for the mission's departure have been fully completed." Sir Rodriguez's voice sounded from behind, and then the Scourge Knight in black armor appeared in front of the spiraling downward stairs, "Now please go to Let's take some rest, tomorrow's itinerary must ride a griffin, I'm afraid it will be quite hard."

"I'm afraid no one can sleep tonight, and neither do I." Li Wei replied with a wry smile, while pointing out the window with his finger, "Sir Rodriguez, this good show we arranged is not just for the envoys of the elves, At the same time, it is also to deter those rich families in the royal capital who still have a fluke mentality in their hearts. But the effect seems to be too good. Before the noise stops, the only ones who can fall asleep are the deaf, right?"

Sir Rodriguez blinked pointedly, "Master Levi, there is actually a quieter place, and the room is far more spacious than Green Castle." He smiled and said, "Old Dish just now There is news that the internal adjustments of the Castle Heart have ended two days earlier, you can go there to drink a cup of Mermaid Tears, and then have a good night's sleep."

"Castle Heart has been adjusted?" Li Wei blurted out in surprise, "Thanks to the God of War Barud, this is the best news these days. With the new alchemy unit, facing the elf court and With the Emerald Dragon, we have another trump card in our hands, which can lift my spirits more than a glass of Mermaid Tears." His face showed the first time in days. The excitement from the heart , put the bronze mirror tube on the table.

"Sir Rodriguez, please instruct the Griffin Knights outside not to allow anyone to enter the guard tower, and then we will enter the heart of the castle together."

"Yes, Master Levi." Sir Rodriguez nodded, and then his figure disappeared in front of the stairs.

Compared with the last time I entered, the environment in the heart of the castle tends to be more stable. Although it is midnight outside, the heart of the castle feels completely clear at noon.The sky is as clear as a piece of blue crystal with no cloud in it, the brilliant golden sun shines on every corner, the vast land is covered with green grass, and when the breeze blows past, the green waves roll like an endless ocean, even the air There is a hint of sweetness in the middle, which makes people feel warm in their hearts.

The huge castle, which is the same size as the capital of the king, Fermeyer, is now very lively. When the heart of the castle was just advanced, alchemy souls were still relatively rare, so it seemed empty. Only some functional buildings in the center of the castle could see people. .However, after more than half a month of accumulation, this place has become extremely prosperous. Li Wei never imagined that a city as large as the glorious capital of Fermeyer would become overcrowded. However, in the castle in front of him, Pedestrians thronged each other in the streets and alleys, and the carriages at the city gate were so crowded that he couldn't help but feel sluggish.

Mr. Disch, who was wearing the robes of the great magister in crimson, descended from the sky. It could be seen that the alchemist was in a very happy mood. He was playing with the wooden dragon head cane in his right hand, and a simple pipe carved from meerschaum was in his mouth. What is burning inside is not ordinary shredded tobacco, but a magical herb that can refresh the mind and assist in meditation.

"Master Li Wei, welcome back." Although he was dressed as a magician, perhaps because he had been serving as a housekeeper some time ago, Mr. Dish still put on the polite and polite manner of an old-school aristocratic housekeeper, and treated the griffin lord deeply. A salute.

"Mr. Dish." Levi nodded to the old magician, his tone anxious, with a feeling of impatience, "How is the situation in the heart of the castle now?"

"Very good, Master Levi. The spatial structure of the Castle Heart is now basically stable, and it can provide about [-] warrior-level alchemy souls every week. Even mass production of alchemy units is no problem. Although there are still some The special building needs further construction, but the entire Heart of the Castle has roughly returned to its true posture as a masterpiece of alchemy." Mr. Dish replied with a smile, "Master Levi, as long as there is enough faith to replenish, the Heart of the Castle will be restored." Xin can even gather a steel army of tens of thousands for you within a month."

"Great, this is really a strong backing." Li Wei happily hit his palm with his fist, "Now with the assistance of the Earth Temples in various camps, the accumulation of faith power should be relatively smooth, even if it happens with those elves Conflict, we now have enough confidence."

Sir Rodriguez nodded yes, but Mr Dish looked less optimistic. "Master Li Wei, please don't forget the supreme law of alchemy - exchange of equal value. Although the heart of the castle has become stronger after the advancement, the demand for the power of faith has also greatly increased. Just two thousand per week The production of 400 warrior-level alchemy souls is enough to consume all the power of faith gathered in the Earth Temple, and the production of alchemy units above the middle level also requires power of faith, unless you create all the lowest-level pikemen and archers , otherwise, with the gems of faith accumulated in the heart of the castle, at most 200 hermits, or 120 high-level priests, or 40 elite knights of the grand knight level can be produced. , then only about [-] can be produced.”

These words made Li Wei's excitement subside a little, "Is that so... Is the power of faith always making ends meet?" He shrugged his shoulders regretfully, but soon became happy again, "However, this is also very good It's the Grand Knight Commander!" His face was glowing with excitement, "There are 40 Grand Knight Commanders, even the entire North Border County may not have 40 Grand Knight Commanders now."

"Maybe it's really hard to gather together, but, Master Li Wei, there are at least three people in Northern Border County who can chop off 40 great knight commanders like melons and vegetables, let alone me. Mysterious elves." Sir Rodriguez reminded in a serious tone, "Don't forget that mages can go beyond two or three levels to challenge, and elves have always been famous for producing marksmen and natural mages. If two hundred great magicians are brought out, I won't be surprised at all."

Li Wei was stunned suddenly, and his mind, which had just been feeling hot from excitement, quickly cooled down, "You are right, Sir Rodriguez, I was too excited just now." He sighed and admitted, "Master Sugard once told After that period of history, since the elves were able to defend the Evergreen Tower under the onslaught of the dragon, their strength is of course very strong. Although this is related to the combination of the marksman and the magician, which happened to restrain the attacking method of the dragon, but I have to admit that, at least for now, the strength of the Elven Kingdom is stronger than ours."

"Being able to see this, Master Levi, means that your brain is not overheated." Mr. Dish took a puff on his pipe and said, "Although the advancement of Castle Heart cannot produce powerful power immediately, it has already been laid after all. A sufficiently solid foundation. The biggest constraint now is the population of Beijing County. 20 people sound like a lot, but in fact it is quite limited among various beliefs. Even though so many miracles have been shown, most of their beliefs can only barely reach a qualified level, and there is still a long distance between them and true piety."

"I once said that it takes the devout prayers of a hundred believers to condense into a single gemstone of faith." Mr. Dish said while waving a silver light curtain.Levi and Sir Rodriguez leaned over to take a look. The light curtain not only marked the current operation status of the various functional buildings in the Heart of the Castle, as well as the working status of the alchemy soul, but also several lines of rolling numbers below.Among them, the number on the top row is the smallest, blooming a color similar to gold, but a thousand times brighter and ten thousand times more gorgeous than gold.

"Faith power...daily production, 490 standard units; maintenance consumption, [-] standard units; existing quantity, [-] standard units?" Levi read out softly, then raised his head, "Mr. Dish, this is... ..."

"That's right. At present, the sum of the power of faith that can be collected by the various earth temples in North Border County. Each standard unit represents the power of faith that can be condensed into the most basic gem of faith." Mr. Dish explained.

"From the perspective of production, among the 20 people in Beijing County, only 8 believe in the God of the Earth... Oh, God of War Balud, this is already nearly half of the number." Li Wei just complained After opening the beginning, he opened his mouth wide in surprise.

"That's it, Master Levi, have you seen it now?" Mr. Dish pointed to the line of numbers with some emotion, "After removing the consumption of maintaining the operation of the Earth Temple, the heart of the castle can only have a faith of just over three hundred a day The strength has been accumulated, and if it is replaced by the manufacture of champion knights, there are only three, and at this speed, it will take at least three months to accumulate the number of an entire knight order."

"Three months..." There was a trace of bitterness on Li Wei's face, "I'm afraid we don't have three months, judging from the current information collected through Director Bamilian and Mr. Babrupa, if we follow the worst It is possible to speculate that the army of demons occupying the capital will make some moves in a month... oh, bad!"

Seeing the young Griffin Lord's face suddenly turn pale, Mr. Dish and Sir Rodriguez were startled, "Master Levi, what happened?"

"On the way back from the small town of Morken, I encountered that female demon who called herself Serafalna..." Li Wei's expression seemed a little nervous, and he seemed to be gasping for air, but the next In an instant, he was choked up by Sir Rodriguez's words.

"Serafalna? Oh, I remembered, it's the red-haired girl who kissed you, young master!"

"Who has kissed a devil? I obviously threw a fireball on her head..." Li Wei argued with a red face.

"Perhaps for demons, kissing is throwing fireballs at each other? This custom is really interesting and worth studying." Mr. Dish twisted his snow-white beard and speculated solemnly, "Well, maybe you can ask Lord Burning Cinders Scott, he should have obtained the inheritance of the abyss."

"It's not an interesting question!" Levi's voice could almost be said to be exasperated, "Mr. Dish, even you are making fun of me..."

"It's not a joke, but it's really a question worthy of research." Mr. Dish nodded and emphasized his tone, "Humanity's research on the opponent of the devil is too superficial, and the abyss of hell has a full thousand planes. , each of which is almost equal to the overall area of ​​the main material plane. What kind of customs and culture do the demons living in these thousands of planes have? This may be the only way to fundamentally solve the evil disaster. After all, human beings will never be able to destroy the abyss hell, let alone all the demons. Master Li Wei, this kiss of yours is just an intimate contact personally, but in the history books of human beings, it is a kiss that deserves a lot of attention. An important moment to remember!"

Li Wei was a little dizzy by Mr. Dish's big reasoning, and managed to get out of it. "I never kissed her at all... Well, the point is not whether I ever kissed a female demon, but Serafalna mentioned Scott's name herself! And said her father—that is, One of the Seven Lords of Hell, Darija, the Lord of Burning—has noticed that Scott has increased his strength in a special way before reaching the level of Lord Burning Cinders. So she suspects that there is something wrong with Scott, no, never From the analysis of her words, it seems that Scott is my subordinate."

Mr. Dish was slightly taken aback, and then his expression became serious, "Burning Lord Dariga?" His tone was filled with surprise that could not be concealed, "Master Li Wei, did you really hear that name? Yes. Is it possible to remember wrongly?"

Li Wei's face showed a serious reminiscence expression, "There should be nothing wrong, burning the lord Dariga... that's the name, and it was the female demon who said it to me. Mr. Dish, is there anything wrong? "

The old magician snorted heavily, with a very strange expression on his face, "The devil usually hides his real name, but he will never hide his identity in hell. As far as I know, among the seven kings of hell There is no burning lord Darija at all, but among the five high-level dragon clans, there is a king of fire diamond dragons called Darija!"

(End of this chapter)