In the King's Command Hall of the Lion's Castle, Lei Xiao stood in front of a huge sand table, leaning his chin on one hand and carefully examining the current situation.
Seven days and nights have passed since the red dragons retreated that night.
During this entire week, the internal order of the Cold Flame Kingdom became increasingly orderly, and no further incidents occurred.
The purification troops headed by Holy Queen Sophia and Holy Light General Ju Bai have completely removed the sacred markings in the bodies of our soldiers and people by building purification barriers everywhere, so that all our personnel will no longer be affected by mutations.
influence and control.
All the innocent priests who were kept in the dark were screened and informed of the whole story.
With Sophia's influence, the testimonials of our manipulated soldiers, and other supporting evidence we collected on the battlefield of Sunset Fortress, it is not difficult to prove this.
After all, there is no airtight wall. These priests who live in various branch temples all year round have been vaguely aware of some subtle clues in daily life over the years. Coupled with our explanations, they quickly connected everything.
When the priests learned about the series of evil deeds and despicable methods of Ganelon IX, they were shocked and unbelievable, and they all expressed that they wanted the Temple of Light to return to the Holy Light, rather than becoming the hands of one person.
A terrible tool.
According to the planned plan, Lei Xiao took advantage of the situation and divided these priests into three parts. The first part continued to stay in the Kingdom of Cold Flame, the second part was active in other human countries, and the third part was deployed mainly in the Kingdom of Grim.
All priests have only one purpose, and that is to tell the truth of the matter. Everything is only to Ganelon IX, not to the Temple of Light.
Lei Xiao clearly understood that compared to the Temple of Light, which had stood for three thousand years in the human race, he was, after all, an alien lord who had just arrived. If he directly denied the entire Temple of Light, it would obviously not be convincing.
Therefore, finding the black sheep is undoubtedly our best choice. As long as we successfully eliminate the power of Ganelon IX, the Temple of Light will naturally be under our control, which is hundreds of times better than directly destroying it.
At the same time, Lei Xiao also sent a large number of elite guards to accompany them to protect the safety of these priests. As for whether Ganelon IX would send strong men from the Brotherhood to attack secretly, Lei Xiao was not worried.
If the other party behaves like this, it will be self-inflicted. With the other party's cunning and scheming, they will naturally not attack these priests easily, and will only describe these priests as tools to be bribed by us.
Sure enough, as Lei Xiao expected, King Ganelon IX quickly expelled all these priests from the Temple of Light, declaring them as degenerates who betrayed the Holy Light.
On the other hand, we continued to act according to the predetermined plan and did not suspend the activities of the pastors.
All Lei Xiao had to do was to reduce the influence of Ganelon IX in the human nations and arouse suspicion, so that the nobles and commoners of the human nations would no longer completely turn to each other.
From the moment Ganelon IX expelled the priests, Lei Xiao's goal had actually been achieved.
In this process, the Dark Green Kingdom and its ally Iron Hand Islands, which have been controlled by Lei Xiao, not to mention their full support, except for the new king of the Kingdom of Grim, who vetoed everything.
The responses of the Pars Empire, the Kingdom of Holy Night, and the Canlan Federation were all tepid, and they did not take any too drastic actions, especially the Holy Night Kingdom and the Canlan Federation, whose armies were still trapped in the Eternal Sleep Canyon.
I have sent people to contact you secretly many times.
For these envoys from the two countries who tried to let Lei Xiao let go of the army, Lei Xiao was nowhere to be seen. Although there was scarce water in the Evermian Canyon, there were still enough water energy particles, enough to allow the opponent's army to survive.
And with this handle in our hands, the Holy Night Kingdom and Canlan Federation will naturally not act rashly.
"Your Majesty the Prince, our army is overwhelmingly powerful. We have just captured Liuguang Fortress and are already approaching the hinterland of the Kingdom of Grim!"
As the door of the command hall opened, a middle-aged herald kneeled down in front of Lei Xiao, held his chest and saluted.
"I know, let's go down and rest."
Lei Xiao waved his hand slightly and focused his attention on the huge sand table again.
I saw Lei Xiao's gaze move and fixate on a fortress built on the mountain, which was the Flowing Light Fortress of the Kingdom of Grim.
After so many days of back-and-forth deductions, coupled with the detailed maps provided by Lawrence, Lei Xiao already knew the terrain of the Kingdom of Grim very well.
"The Flowing Light Fortress is the eastern gateway to the hinterland of the Kingdom of Grim. Now that it has been captured, it is within easy reach of the Temple of Light's sphere of influence."
Lei Xiao's eyes moved slowly, and he nodded thoughtfully.
To the west of Flowing Light Fortress, there is almost a flat plain area, which is the hinterland of the Kingdom of Grim, which is the central area with the largest area.
Compared with the more complicated terrain of the Kingdom of Cold Flame, the Kingdom of Grim is simpler and clearer.
The vast area where its hinterland is located is surrounded by mountains, just like a cauldron. It is connected to other areas by pass fortresses, which can be called a natural barrier.
"I originally thought that the Temple of Light would deploy heavy troops here, but I didn't expect that it was easily captured in just an hour."
Lei Xiao nodded thoughtfully and turned his attention to the war chess symbolizing our army.
This time our army is divided into four parts. The first part is composed of the elite of the Royal Legion, the Merchant Army and the Lancaster Army, with a total of 20 main legions.
The second part is the summoning of puppet legions by the heroic spirits of the kings and the strong men of the country, a total of 30 main legions.
The third part is the 20 legions converted by Prince Yaoguang Lawrence from Grimm's surrender.
The fourth part is the rear troops of our 10 ordinary legions, a total of 80 legions.
Among them, the first two parts, especially the puppet legions that can be summoned repeatedly, are the main force in the siege. Lawrence's descending legion is mainly responsible for maintaining the order of Grim City along the way. As for the ordinary legion at the rear, it is mainly responsible for supply work.
It is worth mentioning that according to Lei Xiao's instructions, Prince Yaoguang Lawrence also officially announced that he would not recognize the coronation of the new king and that he would participate in the competition for the throne, and delivered a series of speeches in Grimm City along the way.
Such a big fanfare, in addition to his close followers, also received responses from a considerable number of Grimm nobles who had been suppressed by Holy King William, causing many Grimm cities along the way to open their doors on their own initiative.
Although this is still a bit stretched compared to the deep-rooted New King Grim and the Temple of Light, with the full support of Lei Xiao's funds, personnel, and various equipment and potions, Lawrence can be considered to have officially become a leader in the Grim Kingdom.
A new force that cannot be ignored has also gained a lot of influence.
It is precisely because of Lawrence's all-out efforts, coupled with the priests who were sent to the Kingdom of Grim to give speeches every day, that the cities captured by our side gradually stabilized, allowing us to continue without any scruples.
go ahead.
After all, these cities still officially belong to the Kingdom of Grim, but are controlled by the nobles who have surrendered to Grim, headed by Prince Lawrence of Light, who has the right to inherit the throne.
Of course, as a subordinate, Lawrence himself is still controlled by Lei Xiao.
In this way, we can undoubtedly slow down our resistance to the greatest extent. After all, the influence of Ganelon IX and the Temple of Light in the Kingdom of Grim is too deep-rooted, almost to the point of being unshakable.
Even the birth day of Ganelon IX was celebrated by the entire Kingdom of Grim for several weeks, which can be seen from this.
In short, under the premise that catastrophes and plate wars may come at any time, Lei Xiao will naturally not focus his time and energy on these matters of stabilizing the results. Instead, it is more important to expand the results and further obtain resources.
Once your power and influence are unshakable, everything will naturally fall into place.
"Just leave the rear to Lawrence, and I can fully concentrate on Ganelon IX."
Just when Lei Xiao thought of this, another young herald hurriedly walked into the command hall.
"Your Highness, the 600,000-strong army from the Iron Hand Islands has captured the Shimmer Fortress leading to the hinterland of Grim from the west and is advancing towards the hinterland of the Kingdom of Grim!"
The young herald's face was full of respect and he stroked his chest to report.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Lei Xiao nodded to the herald and began to observe further on the giant sand table.
The Glimmer Fortress is located at the western pass of the Grimm hinterland, which undoubtedly means that we and Catherine opened the passage to the sphere of influence of the Temple of Light from the east and west at almost the same time.
As for the Dark Green Kingdom, which attacked from the south, according to the planned plan, it contained a large part of the remaining troops of the Kingdom of Grim and the legions that were subsequently raised.
After all, the mountains in the southern region are criss-crossed and extremely steep. In addition, Eckhardt's elite legion is limited in number and is not good at mountain warfare. It is impossible to catch up with the pace in the other two directions.
"Your Highness, it seems everything is going very smoothly!"
I saw Karin, the war-avoiding king who stayed behind in the royal capital, walking over, his unshaven face full of excitement.
"This is all the result of your majesty and the strong men who govern the country."
Lei Xiao smiled slightly at Ariel's grandfather, maintaining due respect.
As the father of Ariel's father, the war-avoiding king Karin did not leave much of a good reputation to future generations, but after getting along with him for a period of time, Lei Xiao discovered.
Apart from lacking a bit of kingly courage and courage, there is nothing to criticize about the other party. At least he has a lot more sense of responsibility than those fallen nobles, but his ability is limited.
"Your Highness, where are you? If His Highness hadn't been strategizing, how could our army have been so powerful?"
Karin chuckled, and then sighed helplessly: "It would be great if His Highness the Prince came to my time, and I wouldn't end up with the unsound title of king."
"Didn't Your Majesty also cultivate a brave Cold Flame Lord like His Majesty the King of Steel?"
Lei Xiao tried his best to comfort the other person and said with a smile: "In addition, His Majesty appeared at the critical moment to save the Cold Flame Kingdom, and his achievements are enough to be praised by future generations."
"His Royal Highness is still able to comfort people, unlike those ancestors who only lecture me."
Although his hair is gray, his face is wrinkled, and he even wears a crown on his head, Kalin still looks like an old child with his lips pouted.
"While I am away, the royal capital will be handed over to His Majesty for your protection."
Lei Xiao didn't know how to answer this alternative king's words, so he could only smile helplessly.
"Please rest assured, Your Highness, Your Highness not only saved my son, but also my granddaughter. I will always remember such a great kindness in my heart."
Karin nodded solemnly and said: "I will protect this place together with my father, and I will never let His Highness be distracted!"
Needless to say, the father Carlin mentioned was naturally the landless King George.
"Then please leave it to your majesties."
Lei Xiao still maintained a faint smile and responded.
Although the title of the father and son kings does not sound very reliable, with the help of the miraculous function of the Lion King Palace, the elite puppet army summoned is real, and it is easy to significantly increase the safety factor of the royal capital.
"Your Highness, then I won't disturb Your Highness. I just want to go see my son Burdette."
Knowing that he couldn't be of much help here, Karin trimmed his beard, said goodbye and left.
After watching the other party leave the command hall, Lei Xiao turned his attention to the giant sand table again.
"According to the scheduled plan, as long as Catherine and I continue our unstoppable journey, it won't be long before we meet under the opponent's main city. By then, it will be the end of Naganelon IX."
Lei Xiao looked at a very conspicuous golden city sign in the center of Grimm's hinterland, which represented the Holy City of Glow.
Feeling excited in his heart, Lei Xiao frowned slightly.
Although everything was going on in an orderly manner, I always felt that something was wrong.
"If you think about it carefully, this week has been too smooth. Not only has the reinforcements sent by the new King Grimm been extremely limited, but there is not even a shadow of a strong Brotherhood man, and the opponent will never be able to capture him without mercy..."
Lei Xiao frowned and thought for a moment, and finally it suddenly dawned on him: "So, Naganilon IX must be planning some unknown conspiracy?"
Thinking of this in his mind, Lei Xiao's brows almost knitted into a knot.
Thinking about it this way, this week's unusual calm may very well be a precursor to the coming storm.
"There is no turning back when I shoot my bow. Now I have no choice but to move on."
Lei Xiao's face was filled with a fighting spirit, and he secretly said in his heart: "As the saying goes, knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, and going to the tiger mountains, let me see what other tricks the other side can pull off."
After making up his mind, Lei Xiao's brows stretched again and he began to continue thinking.
But having said that, before that, all of my trump cards have been exposed to the opponent's nose.
Before officially fighting against the opponent, maybe you can make some preparations to add a ray of light that breaks through the endless haze.
Just when Lei Xiao had just thought of this, the familiar and rapid voice of the reminder suddenly sounded.