Knight with Wand

"You must help me defeat Abel, and you must fulfill your promise." Casso clenched the armrest of his chair and gritted his teeth.

He came in person, but was not humiliated as expected. Ledwin still gave him a chair in the military tent and talked with him as a king.

But the courtesy that Ledwin extended to a king only ended there.

He looked at the young man in front of him with sharp green eyes: "Nothing is necessary. I have never given you any promises."

"I handed over the mountain pass for you to freely enter and leave the king's territory, and allowed Olander's army to enter the forbidden land that has never been set foot in the past thousands of years. Isn't this enough?" Ka Suo asked.

The King of Orland was unmoved: "Yes, that majestic pass now belongs to me, but this is just a condition for me to come and meet you. It is indeed not enough for me to use the blood of Orlander people to protect you." 's throne."

"But I have given everything, my dignity, my surrender, and now even my life is in your hands, what else do you want?" Ka Suo said excitedly.

Ledwin shook his head and refused to accept this nonsense: "Your dignity is worthless to me, but you still have a big city, soldiers guarding the city, loyal guards, residents in the city, food and wealth , do you think you can sit in the palace and watch me go shopping with your uncle? "

Ka Suo understood and asked in a deep voice: "You want my army? How much?"

"All. All the palace guards, plus at least four thousand soldiers, will go out of the city to be dispatched, and my soldiers will take over your royal city." Ledwin replied.

"Impossible!! You might as well kill me now!" Kasuo said angrily.

"What's the use of killing you?"

Ledwin waved, and the guard on the side immediately handed Abel's secret letter to Castle.

"You can refuse me, then it's not bad if I accept your uncle's proposal."

The young new king of Kantadar pulled away the letter and quickly scanned the contents.

He raised his head and sneered sarcastically: "Do you believe my uncle's lies?"

Ledwin was noncommittal: "I don't believe it, but so what? By retreating to the mountain pass to avoid this meaningless bloody battle, I can save the precious lives of countless soldiers. When the time comes, Oland can still use these soldiers to get everything they have won. The new north and south territories will be divided with Usato Mountain as the boundary.”

The lords of Orland have already eaten up the vast territory that was swallowed up from the northern border of Kantadar. No matter how big their appetite is, they cannot digest it all in a short time.

This sudden large-scale war lasted for more than two months, without sufficient preliminary preparations, and the burden of food consumption was astonishing. Even if you want to send troops to fight to support the war, Kantadar was destroyed by Aviut's Eastern Expedition last year. The people have long been overwhelmed.

This southern expedition was intended to break the political pressure he faced at home by conquering new territories. If the new land was turned into a scorched earth without any vegetation, it would be more than worth the gain.

Instead of this unexpected opportunity, Ledwin had already considered stopping as soon as possible to stabilize the current situation.

An atmosphere of silence spread in the military tent.

He did not urge the young king who was ill and rushed to seek medical treatment. After all, he had already lost 90% of his fortune as a gambler, and it was only a matter of time before he put the last chip on the table.

Finally, the new king of Kantadar surrendered.

Kasuo made the final concession, he had no choice.

Orland may have retained his throne for the sake of easier rule and the virtual division of the southern kingdom.

But once Abel invades the royal city, all family members of his and his father's bloodline will be killed without leaving a trace.

In response to the request to gather all the troops out of the city to receive command, Kasuo stood up and left.

Ledwin looked at the other party's back and spoke again: "Don't worry, my soldiers will not step into the palace after taking over the city, and your family members will also be treated politely. What I want is the surrender of the Cantadar Royal Court. Not a bunch of worthless slaves."

"." Ka Suo stopped, looked back at the old dragon who had reserved the last bit of dignity for himself, and said solemnly: "I only hope you keep your promise."

After the new king of Kantadar left the camp, Ledwin's attendant couldn't help but asked the king: "Is it as simple as letting him go back? Your Majesty."

"If you don't let him go back, will he waste my military rations by keeping him?" Ledwin didn't care.

"I believe that there must be many Kantadar nobles in the city who want to join Abel more than us and Kasuo. Only by keeping Kasuo alive can we control the courtiers in the king's city for us. Now I just want to control them without any bloodshed. "This royal city"

However, even if he controls the Cantadar Royal Court, Ledwin does not intend to fight to the end with Duke Abel.

No matter whether his army could defeat the opponent, he didn't need to help Kasuo quell the rebellion.

I really want to eliminate Abel, who claims to command an army of 100,000 people. No matter how much water the opponent's nominal army has, it will turn this war into a quagmire that is difficult to get out of.

The situation is just right if Kantadar remains divided in the future, and he holds on to the legal bloodline of the Southern King and indirectly brings the Usator Kingdom under his control.

It's just that the Duke of Abel who provoked the civil war will definitely not cooperate with him.

The only way is to take advantage of the current peak of the Southern Expedition, use a victory to make the opponent pay the price of blood, and retreat in the face of difficulties.

Seeing Kasuo's back disappearing at the end of the camp road, Ledwin couldn't help but have ambitions for the future of completely taming the southern land.

He will become the king of Orland who will bow to the king of the south.

He suddenly recalled the ancestral era described in the well-preserved ancient books of the Drakmar family, especially the true "King of Kings" who made all tribes submit, stood above all kings, and ruled the people of the continent.

Ancient language, "King of Law".

That is also the etymology of the ancient title "Emperor" in Feru language.

Thinking of the supreme authority that even the founding monarch, the Twilight Knight who established Kronia, had to be loyal to and serve.

This inexplicable surge of emotion made Ledwin suppress the pride that had been dormant for many years for a long time.

Shaking his head, he knew that this was too far away and unrealistic.

In his lifetime, taking the opportunity now to dismantle the threat of the Southern Kingdom would be enough to make him comparable to the ancient hero who unified the North.

People will record themselves with the great feat of completely defeating Kantadar, and will no longer care about the deeds of seizing the throne of their cousin.

While thinking, it was like putting down a burden that he had been carrying for many years. Ledwin was in a good mood. When all the generals came to the military meeting, he handed over the task of taking over the city of Kantadar to the troops he trusted the most.

While arranging the dispatch of his army, a guard reported outside the tent that another group of envoys were eager to see him.

Ledwin stopped the discussion and looked up from the temporary sand table. He felt that even in the capital of Orlandon in the past, it was not as lively as the front line in the past few days.

First, the leaders of the thorn flower asked for an audience, and then the envoy of Abel asked for an audience. Just after meeting the new king of Kantadar, where did this group of envoys come from?

"Where did they come from?" Ledwin asked.

".The knights who landed outside the camp on griffins were wearing the clothes of the Holy Sun Church. They claimed to be from the Kingdom of Dieneshien, representing the throne of the Holy Court, and had important affairs to visit the kingdoms." The guard replied.

"The Holy Sun Church.?" Ledwin was surprised.

Although Orland borders the two Holy Sun Kingdoms of Serian and Dinethen, and the relationship is not cold, Orland and the church have not had many official exchanges with the upper level for many years, except for limited border trade.

Especially in history, witnessing how the Holy Sun Church took power from the Dinethen royal family, the successive kings of the Northern Kingdom were particularly wary of this huge religion that almost controlled the beliefs of 90% of the Feru people.

The kingdom has always suppressed the spread of the Holy Sun faith in both open and covert ways.

So to this day, basically except for a few trade areas on the eastern border and individual nobles, there are still not many Holy Sun believers in Orland, and the traditional ancestor worship of Feru and the belief in the ancient Feru gods are still the mainstream.

Regarding the holy prophet who is the incarnation of the Holy Sun in the church's belief myth

Although the successive Orland kings did not want to offend the church, which is particularly powerful among the Feru countries, they did not say it publicly, but through the ancient books passed down for thousands of years in the Orlandon Palace, Ledwen and countless previous kings were not interested in the church's myths.

They did not deny the greatness of the legendary ancient saint, but they did not think he represented God.

After all, the founding monarch of Kronia had served Ilaril personally as a guard, and the ancestral precepts left by the Twilight Knight Gelvin also clearly denied that the lord he worshipped was the incarnation of God.

Compared with the myths spread by the church, Ledwin and countless kings of Orland before him believed more in the black and white words left by their ancestors.

Of course, no matter what attitude he held towards the church's statement, as a powerful force that unified the beliefs of the eight Feru Kingdoms on the continent, Ledwin knew that he could not easily neglect the other party.

"Let the believers of the Holy Sun come in."

After several days of going back and forth, the lords who came to help said goodbye to the people of the Thorn Flower Family halfway and left.

Although this trip to advise the king was fruitless, at least with their help, the news of the disaster in the east could be spread among the Orland nobles as soon as possible.

No matter how many people believe it, the northern lords finally got the warning.

Leon hurried back to Glade County with Elliver to participate in the military meeting of the lords in the Farolis family.

The two major events at the moment require everyone in the family to focus on military preparation.

After taking over the new territory for several months, the Thorn Flower Family has harvested the summer crops of this year's rotation because the various parts of Glade County have not been too devastated by the war. Next month, they can also harvest autumn crops in some areas, which has alleviated the excessive consumption of the Thorn Flower Territory by the previous war.

Elliver immediately issued a mobilization order to the barons to intensify the training of the young and strong in the territory.

Regardless of the cost, it is necessary to make sure that the farmers in their respective territories put down their farm tools and pick up spears, that is, soldiers who can form a basic front.

Even if the funds on hand of the lords cannot support a large-scale army, if a real disaster strikes, people who have to defend the territory in order to survive will no longer consider anything else.

At least, teach everyone who can hold a weapon how to fight.

".Under that dark cloud, the ghouls are more ferocious than those you have seen in the Nightmare Forest.

Bows and crossbows have limited killing effects on them.

In addition to the most common zombies and the armored ghoul warriors who were soldiers or knights in their lifetime, there are also some bat-like ghouls that seem to have their twisted limbs sewn together. There are two sizes, the small one is only the size of a human, and the large one is bigger than a working ox. They can fly up to the city wall and over the heads of the warriors.

The semi-solid ghosts are the most difficult to deal with. Magic can kill them, and fire has a certain effect, but ordinary swords are difficult to disperse them. At present, except for recruiting spellcasters to join the army, I don’t have a good way.

In addition, once you encounter an army of undead, you must find the wizard who controls them as soon as possible, as well as the witchcraft altar carried by the corpses of the undead."

Leon carefully taught the lords at the meeting the experience of dealing with the undead and reminded them of the types of undead they saw.

"Also, we must find and burn as many bodies as possible in the territory."

"Burning the dead in the cemetery? Isn't this too blasphemous to the ancestors?" a baron said.

"Wouldn't it be desecrated when the remains of our ancestors are taken over by evil spirits and crawl out of their graves? If you really don't want to burn them, just seal each coffin with an iron cage, or bury it so deep that the corpses can't crawl out. "Elliph looked at him and "suggested".

Everyone was speechless. According to the method proposed by the Lord, one or two of the former is fine. If there are more, no one can afford the waste of manpower and material resources. However, digging a deep hole is somewhat feasible.

After discussing the matter of resisting the threat of the undead, Elipher immediately announced that he would assemble two thousand family troops within half a month to respond to the king's edict.

After the meeting ended, Elliot stood on the terrace of the castle, watching the vassals who were dubious about the undead disaster and rushed back to their territories one by one.

His heart became heavier and heavier. Judging from the map, if the dark cloud realm mentioned by Leon completely engulfed the eastern part of Kantadar, the one who would bear the brunt of the disaster would be the Thornflower family that had just acquired Glade County.

Elliot did feel a little regretful.

If the time had been turned back a few months ago, if he had known this news, he might have changed his plan, went to attack the county leaders in the west, and simply gave up the position of Glade County to the Gunnar family.

Looking at his father who was thinking a lot, Fyodor couldn't help but ask: "Father, do you really believe what Mr. Pendragon says?"

Hearing his eldest son's doubts, Elipher turned back to look at him. After thinking again and again, he patiently explained: "I do trust Leon, but do you think I would call on so many allies and mobilize just for trusting someone's words?" The whole territory of Boguo?”

After speaking, he pointed to the cabinet in the room: "Go take a look at the third drawer."

Feodor obeyed the instructions and opened the wooden cabinet where his father stored letters in doubt.

After seeing clearly the contents of several letters, he couldn't help but turn around in surprise: "When did you send so many people to the east to investigate?"

"On the night Leon came to report the news." Elliot turned and walked back into the room.

Feodor was surprised at this and said, "Then why are you so silent?"

The Lord of the Thorn Flower came to his son and patted him on the shoulder: "Even you feel that I trust him beyond measure, so how does Leon feel about me?

Feodor, as a monarch, your attitude and what you really want to do do not need to be entwined like vines.

Necessary vigilance and vigilance will not conflict with your sincerity in treating others. The difference lies in how you show it. "

"But, you have always loved Lord Pendragon so much. If this continues, won't it cause dissatisfaction among other vassals in the family?" Feodor asked in confusion.

"If there is such a narrow-minded person among the ministers, and he is dissatisfied, who is the essence of this dissatisfaction directed against?" Elifu stared straight into the eyes of his eldest son, silently regretting that this should come from among the vassals, but The most undesirable thing for the monarch to take care of right now is the eldest son who is the next monarch.

"This" Feodor hesitated.

"My child, there are some things that can help people when viewed from the front, but can kill people when viewed from the back. It just depends on when and how you want to use it. When you want to use it, there are many swords. Use the sword that is dignified on your waist. You don't have to find it on the ground. The dirtiest one."

Elliot looked at the eldest son in front of him, who had a deep prejudice against Leon, and said helplessly: "I tell you this because I hope you understand that planning can be used to spur the ignorant fox, but in front of the clever lion, holding too much weight is too much. The vulgar mask of conspiracy will only make you farther and farther away from the people who should love you."

Leon, with his complicated thoughts, returned to Avalon Castle from Archers City. It was already dark.

He returned to the fortress, washed up, and then went to his lord's bedroom and turned the handle.

As expected, it was locked, and Olivia had probably already fallen asleep.

Unable to bear to knock on the door and disturb his lover who was taking care of things these days, he turned around and prepared to find a guest room to rest for the night.

It was just that the girl in the house was worried about something important and slept lightly, but she still heard the movement outside the door.

"Leon!" Recognizing the familiarity of the footsteps, Olivia hurried out of bed with bare feet and opened the door and called.

"Woke you up?" Leon was helpless.

"I wasn't asleep to begin with." The girl shook her head and didn't care. She looked relieved and said, "Fortunately, you're back. I don't even know what to do."

"What's wrong?" Leon asked strangely.

"The dwarf uncle named Herm, he came back, and he brought some dwarf uncles I have never seen before, saying that he would come to pick up Master Adea and the others before they left." Olivia has a good memory, and she is sure that Herm The bearded men beside him were not among the dozens of ancient dwarves.

"A dwarf I haven't seen before? Pick him up? Where to take him?" Leon was stunned.