Three days after the second prince arrived at Broken Dragon Fortress.
"The messenger sent to the Lombard camp has returned."
Standing on the wall of the fortress, Commander Sonia Satherley looked at the front of the fortress with a serious face:
"Charmaine replied that he is waiting for the arrival of His Royal Highness."
"I'm afraid you have to leave for the north today."
Thales was lying in front of the observation port on the city wall, looking at the broad snow-colored plain to the north.
In the field of vision, a series of broad military camps can be vaguely seen, with the iron fist flag representing the Lomba family of the Black Sand Territory erected. There are also many military camps hidden out of sight, with smoke rising from the kitchen in the distance.
"With tens of thousands of people waiting for my 'arrival'?" Thales sighed: "I turned out to be so popular."
The Flower of the Fortress turned her head and said to Thales: "Charmaine Lombard is the Grand Duke of Exeter who borders the stars. After the assassination of the Exeter delegation, he quickly mobilized the vassals of the Black Sand Territory. In a few days,
Within a short period of time, more than 10,000 troops were gathered and approached the border."
"They have been stationed there for two weeks. At first they were just watching and deterring, but in the past three days, Lombard began to send small groups to clear the surrounding arteries, and even looted two villages and fought with our patrols several times... We
We have to reduce the scope of the Sentry Cavalry and retreat to the perimeter of the fortress."
Feeling the biting cold, Thales rubbed his hands and exhaled a breath of warm air into his palms: "I have arrived at the fortress, and the nine-pointed star flag of the Brilliant Star has also been raised... Why hasn't he withdrawn his troops? Obviously there is no invasion of the stars.
Excuse."
Putilai, who was behind Thales, raised his eyebrows: "From the perspective of Charmaine Lombard's special life, he is a standard gambler. One of the characteristics of a gambler is that even if he loses at the last moment of leaving, he will still be able to win.
Don’t want to look back.”
"So my arrival has no impact on this gambler?" Thales snorted: "Even if it is a sure-losing situation, he still wants to place a bet?"
"That may not be the case," Putilai replied seriously:
"What we were most worried about was that the other two archdukes who were also bordering the stars - Trudida of the Reconstruction Tower and Oresius of the Welland Territory both sent troops. The three archdukes and even more vassals of Exeter
They gathered their forces to oppress the lonely old tower, watch tower and cold castle that were mutual aids to the fortress. When they were unable to rush for reinforcements, they attacked the isolated Broken Dragon Fortress at all costs - Exeter's soldiers regardless of physical strength and quality
, are more adaptable to the cold winter than our reinforcements heading north."
"If they capture this place, they only need to wait for the coldest cold to pass," Sonia took over from Putilai: "Wait until next spring, when they will use the fortress as a base to move south in large numbers - just like ten
It was like one or two years ago."
Putilai nodded:
"But with your mission to the north, the two Grand Dukes have not appeared now... This shows that our mission has been completed less than half: Under the coming extreme cold, the Grand Duke of Lombard cannot rely on his own more than 10,000 people.
Take the fortress before supplies run out."
"He has already lost."
Putilai said calmly.
"So, the other half of our mission - to completely eliminate the war trouble between the two countries, I'm afraid I have to go to King Nun in person to complete it, right?" Thales shrugged helplessly:
"First I have to pass through the military camp of the Grand Duke of Lombard - and there are more than 10,000 strong northern men with nowhere to vent their energy waiting for me."
Putilai shook his head: "Lumba does not dare to endanger your safety... Attacking the fortress to annex the northern territory, and murdering the heir to fight against the Kingdom of Stars are two different concepts."
"Lumba may not dare, but his opponents may be happy to see such a thing... We still have to be careful," Sonia said with a hearty smile: "Alaka will bring his angry guards to escort you to Lumba's military camp.
Doorway."
"Alaka?" Thales thought of the aggressive and dangerous man and the disdainful look in his eyes when he looked at him, and shook his head: "Are you sure he is willing to do this?"
"I don't deny that I hate him," Sonia snorted coldly: "But he is indeed the guy who has fought the most with Exeters on the battlefield."
"Moreover, this is what he insisted on himself - originally I planned to let Miranda..."
Thales couldn't help but be stunned.
Insist on escorting me?
He began to recall the appearance of that man again... Alaka Mu.
It's a really familiar name.
I must have heard it somewhere.
At this moment, a black-haired female swordsman walked up to the city wall slowly, put her black gloves on her left chest, and gave Sonia a slight salute with an expressionless face: "The team of the mission is ready. Please invite your Highness."
People will do the final confirmation."
Although the female swordsman addressed herself as Your Highness, she never glanced in Thales' direction from beginning to end, nor did she salute him.
"Yeah." Sonia nodded and turned to look at Thales and Putilai.
Putilai on the side sighed: "I'll go with you...Miss Arend."
Thales was startled again.
Arend...
The female swordsman Miranda Aronde nodded stiffly, and she and Putilai walked down the city wall.
Still didn't look at Thales.
"Don't mind," Sonia said with a faint smile: "Miranda is the only daughter of Duke Arend. Her father was imprisoned in the royal capital, and the family was humiliated. It is normal for her to have a grudge against you."
"Oh," Thales nodded awkwardly and said, "I think I heard Huai Ya say that there is a very famous female terminator swordsman in the fortress. I heard that she is some kind of 'seed' from the Tower of the End..."
"It's a 'seed'," Sonia looked at Miranda's back and sighed: "The Tower of Ending preserves a large number of various combat skills and inheritance of the power of ending before the end of the war - among which swordsmanship is the most important.
Its inheritors are still constantly developing new swordsmanship, techniques and even the power of termination, cultivating generations of masters of the power of termination for the human world - and only a few of the best students can obtain the 'seeds'
title, such as Miranda."
"They are people with hope and the mission of inheriting the power of the end."
Thales looked at Sonia and frowned slightly.
The power of ending.
The extraordinary power awakened by human beings.
Another news worthy of attention.
Does it have anything to do with my kind of fluctuation?
Sonia didn't know what Thales was thinking. She continued helplessly: "But even so, Miranda's situation is still very difficult recently."
"After Duke Arlend was imprisoned, the Northern Territory was managed by several of her father's most trusted vassals, waiting for her to return after the crisis was over... But several of Arlend's cousins and nephews were all interested in the North.
Duke Jing’s succession is closely watched.”
"Fortunately, although Val Arend is in prison, he is still the Duke of the North - His Majesty did not charge him with treason, nor did he deprive him of his title and territory, but only accused him of murdering foreign dignitaries.
It’s a little bit of comfort.”
Sonia sighed deeply: "It's just that I didn't expect that he would do such a thing. You know, Val has been our backup for more than ten years in Broken Dragon Fortress."
"He's a coward!"
At this moment, a deep yet unsettling voice came from afar.
"Compared with his heroic brothers, Val Arlend is a complete coward, and has disgraced the face of his blood brothers... They defend His Highness Horace to the death and never retreat a step." Only Arak was seen.
·Mu’s figure walked up slowly from under the city wall, his face full of impatience:
"In comparison, twelve years ago, that Duke of Val was scared out of his wits by the bastards of Exeter... and he actually believed in someone like Lombard."
"I would say that the only good thing he did was to kill the prince of Exeter."
"At least this time, you said that after Miranda left," Sonia covered her forehead and sighed: "Should I thank you for your thoughtfulness and taking care of her mood?"
"Her mood?" Alaka snorted: "Do I seem like someone who would consider this?"
Thales rolled his eyes in his heart: Why does this guy always act like someone owes him money?
Sonia snorted lightly: "What's the matter with you?"
Alaka gave her a disdainful look.
"I'm here to find this kid," Araka looked at Thales with a fierce look, making the latter slightly nervous: "The three hundred men of the Fury Guard are ready... If you really want to go to Exeter to die,
At least don't keep me waiting too long."
"It seems that you are not satisfied with my trip north, Baron Mu," Thales couldn't help but ask: "Then why are you sending me to the military camp in Lombard?"
Sonia let out a breath.
Alaka looked at Thales steadily, making the latter feel a little uneasy.
"Because I owe Canxing a favor," he said slowly after a while, "and you, annoying little brat, happen to be named Canxing."
After saying this, Alaka turned and left without looking back.
"We'll leave in the afternoon."
"Don't dawdle."
Thales and Sonia watched Araka's figure go away.
"Don't get me wrong," Sonia said sarcastically to Thales: "That's his unique way of saying 'hello' - you know, Alaka is quite shy."
shy?
Thales couldn't help but stick out his tongue.
"Is it due to ideological discord?" Thales suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Sonia showed a puzzled expression.
"The dispute and discord between you and Baron Mu does not seem to be a specific enmity." Thales thought about it and said silently.
"And what you said about him and my uncle, Prince Horace..." Thales hesitated for a moment, but still said: "Although he looks quite annoying, Alaka
He doesn’t look like someone who would stab him in the back.”
Sonia was silent for a second.
"Those are indeed angry words." Sonia said with a bitter smile: "It was Alaka who took the remaining troops, bathed in blood all the way, to break out of Exeter's siege and snatched out the body of Prince Horace."
"Before the "Fortress Peace Treaty", the Starlight Legion went north to join up with the kingdom's remaining remnant army, and fought three fierce battles with Exeter in the northern border, cliff land, and central territory regardless of casualties. We suffered heavy losses, and the other party also suffered heavy losses.
The casualties were not small. And I saw with my own eyes: the almost crazy Araka, his impact and lethality on the battlefield, even the heavy sword infantry that Exeter is most proud of are afraid of... I think this
That was also the reason why Eksteken sat down to negotiate in the end.”
Thales was surprised.
The man with the impatient face turned out to be...
"As for the concept, yes," Sonia sighed: "John, your father's uncle, the combat principle of his Star Legion is to be prudent and cautious, try to protect yourself, flexibly pivot, and wait for opportunities to attack."
"But Prince Horace's army is known for its ruthless command of troops and strict military regulations. Under his command, Alaka is accustomed to fighting hard and bloody battles. Because the casualties are too high, Alaka's army always has a large number of new recruits, and
He only left behind those tough guys who could withstand bloodshed and death..."
Sonia shook her head: "I don't understand why Your Majesty would put the two of us together - we can't even agree on whether to advance or retreat on the battlefield."
"Maybe this is the king's purpose." Thales suddenly said.
Under Sonia's doubtful eyes, Thales raised his head: "When guarding a fortress for a long time, you need a commander who is both steady and cautious, but when Exeter's soldiers press the border, you need someone who can fight a tough frontal battle.
"
Sonia raised her head and glanced at him.
"Maybe." Sonia chuckled softly: "They are right, you are really not like an ordinary child. There is a reason why His Majesty chose you to go north."
"Ahem..."
Thales scratched his head in embarrassment, trying to find a different topic: "By the way, with such a brilliant record, why has Alaka never been so famous?"
Sonia was completely stunned for a moment.
"Not very famous?" Sonia looked at him with wide eyes, an expression of "how is that possible" on her face.
Thales narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"No," Sonia responded, shaking her head with a smile: "You must know him - even if you don't know his real name."
Under Thales' confused eyes, Sonia raised her head and looked at the Exter Army Camp in the distance, her eyes shining brightly:
"From beggars to kings, every Starling knows him."
"At least I know his nickname."
Thales' eyes widened in surprise.
Everyone knows……
At that moment, he knew who Alaka Mu was.
——————
Under Ramon's "diagnosis and treatment", Jorah's injury has stabilized, but it is obvious that he cannot follow him to the north.
"Yes, we need to replenish our entourage."
Putilai walked beside Thales who had packed up, followed by Waia who was wrapped in bandages, Rolf who had his arm splinted, and Ada who was still decadent from the cold:
"At least there are some benefits... the people we recruit from the fortress are all battle-hardened veterans, not the manor private soldiers of the Bright Star family who are mainly trained in single combat and protection——"
Thales looked at the thirty veterans standing in front of him with awe-inspiring postures and firm eyes. They were equipped with weapons ranging from swords and shields, crossbows, spears to axes.
Genard, the former Duke's bodyguard of the Star Legion, stood resolutely at the front, leaving Thales in a daze.
Putilai continued:
"Thanks to your trial under the gallows, many veterans are willing to join our mission...even though many people think that our journey is dangerous."
They passed the last row of soldiers, and a young man with black hair holding two guns waved to him happily.
Thales frowned: "Veteran?"
"He insisted on coming," Putilai looked at Willow Ken, who had a sunny face, and spread his hands: "But there are only twenty-nine veterans among the volunteers, and the others are recruits - I want to collect thirty
If so, at least this new recruit who is grateful to you will be more reliable."
Thales smiled at Willow: "At least they gave him a new pair of weapons."
Putilai shrugged: There were a lot of broken spears in the warehouse, and it was not difficult to cut a pair of short ones.
"But that suspicious doctor... do you really want to take him with you?" Putilai turned to look at Ramon, pursed his lips and shook his head: "I thought you had learned the lesson from Duke Iris..."
Ramon shrank in the team and inadvertently raised his head to see Taylor's eyes. He was slightly startled and quickly lowered his head.
"Don't worry, I asked about his origins and made an agreement with him," Thales looked at Ramon with complicated eyes: "And he did save Jorah."
Strange doctor.
That kind of power in his hands.
If your guess is correct, then...
I need to know more.
"If you have no more questions, Your Highness," Sonia came from a distance, followed by Miranda with a cold look on her face: "According to the agreed time, it's time to set off."
"Alaka has selected three hundred sword and shield soldiers of the Fury Guard." Fortress Flower squatted down and patted Thales on the shoulder, but this time her hand was a little stronger: "Sorry, the number of people
There can't be more, there are only three thousand people in the fortress, but Alaka has chosen all his veterans."
She pursed her lips at the light-armored man in the distance who was carrying a bow and arrow and was obviously impatient: "They will escort you all the way to the border."
Thales exhaled a breath of mist and stepped on the snow that belonged to the stars under his feet.
He raised his head and said silently: "Of course."
Sonia nodded at him.
The second prince of the stars showed a relaxed smile to everyone:
"Let's go."
"Follow me and see the kingdom of dragons!"
As a result, the cross-double-star flag representing the Kingdom of Stars and the nine-pointed star flag symbolizing the Bright Star Family were erected at the same time.
Huaiya got on the Northland horse, which is unique to the north and has wide hoofs, and pulled Thales into the saddle.
"I will fight to the death to hold on to the reins, Your Highness," Huaiya said solemnly, "Please don't worry about your safety."
Thales nodded naturally: "Then I'll leave it to you, attendant." - He was already used to Huaiya's "excessive force" attitude.
Putilai and several people who had been trained on horseback riding, and the remaining private soldiers of Bright Star mounted the remaining horses.
Rolf was obviously not suitable for riding a horse, and Ada shook her head violently at the sight of a horse for some reason.
Araka rode up to Thales, and the sword and shield soldiers behind him followed with a solemn expression.
"Don't freak out, kid," Alaka said coldly: "I heard from the person on duty above that Exeter has prepared a welcome ceremony for us."
ah?
Thales was startled.
Before he could react, he heard Alaka shouting at the noose of the gate above his head:
"Open the gate!"
With the sound of metal friction on the hinges, the north gate of Broken Dragon Fortress slowly rose.
Thales took a deep breath, followed the Star Envoy of less than 40 people, and the escorting team of more than 300 people, slowly walked out of Broken Dragon Fortress and headed north.
They first passed the five fortresses in the north direction of Broken Dragon Fortress, and the soldiers above had their crossbows cocked and were ready for battle.
But Thales soon understood what Alaka meant by the "welcome ceremony".
On the white snow in front of me, many people suddenly appeared.
In other words, Exeter's army.
They were six groups of infantry, arranged in an "eight" shape on the left and right, distributed on both sides of the road in front of them.
Putilai's pupils shrank: Each brigade has nearly 400 infantrymen - that is to say, more than 2,000 Exeter's infantrymen are waiting for them to go north.
The people in the mission became nervous unconsciously, and Wyatt tightened his grip on the reins.
"Is this our welcome ceremony?" Thales looked at the Exeter army formation not far ahead with a displeased expression: "They really crossed the border..."
He turned back and glanced towards the fortress, where Sonia's figure was vaguely visible.
"Be prepared for war," Alaka, who was walking in front, turned back to his soldiers and said in a deep voice: "Don't relax."
"Perhaps for demonstration," Putilai frowned: "But there is no need to form a formation in front of the fortress... waiting for us to enter Exeter's military camp will have the same effect."
"I have a bad feeling." Thales said with a pale face.
"So you want to retreat, little prince?" Alaka said sarcastically: "It's still too late to turn back now."
"Are you kidding me?" Thales closed his eyes and exhaled, then opened his eyes and said, "Let's move on."
"Don't worry," Putilai said solemnly: "Lumba will not be stupid enough to kill the prince and heir of the Star Envoy on the border between the two countries in full view of the public."
"As long as we don't do anything provocative and give each other an excuse."
They marched slowly until they entered the "eight" shape.
"They didn't say such a thing would happen..." In the team, Ramon nervously touched a black-haired soldier next to him: "The envoy will be fine, right?"
"Ah?" Willow Ken was stunned for a moment, then reacted and patted Ramon on the shoulder with a smile: "Don't worry! I've met them before... Exeter's soldiers are pretty good."
"Very good?" Ramon was startled, but Willow's next words made his face turn pale.
"If they want to kill you, their swords are very sharp - and they won't be blunt. You won't suffer."
At this moment, six infantry brigades began to move slowly.
The people in the mission suddenly became nervous!
But fortunately, Exeter's soldiers did not come towards them.
On the left and right sides of the mission, the leading two Exeter brigades advanced slowly, almost passing by the mission. Thales could even see the beards and yellow teeth of the Northland soldiers.
Their appearance is rough and fierce, and the tall soldiers are often equipped with large axes or huge maces.
The Exeter also turned his head and looked back at the mission of the stars with a bad expression.
"Puff puff……"
The sound of heavy footsteps on the snow came in scattered directions, but the momentum of more than two thousand people from all directions made these dense footsteps quite shocking to the ears.
They walked on both sides of the mission.
Thales looked stern.
It was the first time that he faced such an army formation of thousands of people, and he felt a little panicked.
But it's not just him.
Even the sword and shield soldiers of the Fury Guard couldn't help but become nervous.
"Puff puff……"
"Steady." Alaka said in a deep voice.
Thales, who was feeling anxious, wanted to calm down, so he turned his head and took a clear look at the soldiers from the North on both sides.
From the armor, weapons, movements to marching, Exeter's infantry brigade is obviously not as orderly and uniform as the phalanx of the stars. Some hold axes and wear chain mail, while others hold one-handed swords and only wear breastplates.
Yes, there are shields in one hand and spears in the other, and there are even sword and shield soldiers similar to the star sword and shield soldiers, but Thales can clearly feel that these infantry are different from the star infantry.
They all have one thing in common: their eyes are evil, their expressions are fierce, their aura is overwhelming, and their expressions are full of contempt and disdain.
These infantrymen held up the iron fist pattern - the flag representing the Lombard family, but from time to time they were rubbing, banging, and swinging their weapons in a demonstration, with murderous intent, as if they were wild beasts that could go mad at any time.
"Puff puff……"
Not quite right.
Thales told himself secretly.
If it were a demonstration...
"They're all light infantry - at least by Northland standards."
"Exeter's famous two-handed heavy sword infantry and heavy armor sword and axemen are not there, and even the heavy cavalry in the North are not there, not even the light cavalry." Putilai said slowly and thoughtfully:
"If it were the troops at the back, it would be too easy to kill us... As for the light infantry, it should just be a demonstration."
"Then why don't they use other powerful military units to demonstrate?" Thales frowned and asked aloud: "A group of heavy infantry stepped on us with alarming momentum... This would have a better effect, wouldn't it?
?”
Putilai also frowned.
It's really strange...
"Puff puff……"
"Don't relax!" Alaka Mu's voice sounded.
"Even if there are more than two thousand light infantry, if they swarm us, it will be enough to chop us into pieces in half an hour." Alaca tightened the silver-black metal bow behind him, turned his head and said coldly to them:
"On a battlefield with thousands of troops and horses, without support and cover, even an extreme master can't last even half a quarter of an hour."
But in just the next moment, the situation completely changed.
The six brigades of the Exeters moved slowly. After passing them, the two leading brigades suddenly turned around under the orders of the officers to meet the other side.
"Puff puff……"
The scattered footsteps of two thousand people kept coming!
Exeter's light infantry surrounded them, slowly changing from an "eight" shape to a "kou" shape.
"They are surrounding us!" Huaiya shouted angrily: "What does this mean?"
Putilai looked at the Exeter man in front of him in shock.
Thales looked into the distance in disbelief, trying to see clearly ahead.
impossible.
"Stop!" Alaka roared angrily, stopping the entire mission and convoy: "Arrange on the spot!"
Despite being nervous and apprehensive, Xingchen's more than three hundred soldiers - especially the veterans - still stopped and turned in an orderly manner, forming a wall of swords and shields to form a circular formation around the prince.
"It's impossible to rush out now," Araka looked at the surrounding Exters angrily: "These bastards..."
Everyone in Xingchen looked at the murderous Exeter infantry around them in surprise and nervousness.
"What should we do now?" Wyatt asked through gritted teeth.
"Do they have anyone they can communicate with? An officer or a commander?" Thales asked nervously: "For the benefit of Lumba, they don't dare to kill me..."
But the next moment, several strange and powerful orders sounded in Exeter's military formation.
The expressions of Araka and Putilai suddenly changed!
There are also many veterans.
They recognized this Exeter military order.
The next second, six brigades of more than 2,000 Exeter infantrymen raised their weapons and roared in unison!
"wooh! wooh! wooh!"
The sky-shaking roar made Thales panic: "What... happened to them?"
The next moment, I saw Exeter's infantry looking ferocious and moving away.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The sound of footsteps, louder than before, sounded like thunder.
More than two thousand infantrymen, holding their swords, rushed toward Thales's mission from six directions!
"kill!"
Exeter's light infantry roared feverishly and charged towards them.
Thales stared blankly at everything in front of him.
Didn't it mean that Lombard didn't dare to endanger my safety?
[Waiting for the arrival of His Royal Highness]
Then why...
Why would he... kill me?
"Damn it," Putilai's eyes widened in surprise, and he drew out the half-sword at his waist: "They actually..."
A louder roar exploded out of thin air, interrupting Putilai's words:
"The enemy charges!"
In the center of the team, Alaka Mu's face was ashen. He controlled his restless mount, pulled out a fierce two-handed sword, and roared at the escort of the stars - his Fury Guards: