Under the vast cliff, a small army of human knights is walking through the Moon Shadow Forest. Above their heads is the bright moon like a clear spring - Manasrib, and the cliff wall that almost reaches the clouds - Keith
The Great Northern Wall of Lifu.
"Usok."
Rhodes called softly, but the white bear ignored him and walked alone in the dense forest. The north is a familiar home for the white bear. It came from here, and perhaps it will eventually end up here.
"Ursok!"
Rhodes called out again, but the white bear still ignored him and ran straight to the farther mountain peaks. The snow-covered branches broke and made a crackling sound as the giant bear ran.
Rhodes didn't know where it was going, and in fact he didn't need to know. Ursoc was his war bear, rather than his partner.
This giant white bear has always had its own independent thinking and judgment, and is independent. Unlike ordinary hunting dogs or pets, it only obeys orders.
"It's always like this. It likes to be alone. Especially it doesn't like crowded places. It probably won't enter the castle with us. The forest is its home."
Facing the stubborn white bear, Rhodes could only sit on the horse and smile awkwardly at the priestess beside him.
Lyanna didn't look surprised at all. In fact, she was also very familiar with the character of the white bear. The priestess had already seen this bear before the independence of the North and the unification of Kislev.
"It is the most spiritual animal I have ever seen. Or is there a possibility that it is not an ordinary bear at all, but a servant or messenger of the bear god Esun?"
Lyanna smiled.
"Maybe, sometimes I see myself when I look at it... I see those bloodthirsty and brutal desires, and those cowards and fears. It's strange, Lyanna, you know? It's like a shadow of me
, and it’s like a mirror. I can see another version of myself in its eyes.”
Rhodes said softly. He was not lying. Ursock's eyes have a magical power and can see into what is hidden deep in a person's heart.
While they were chatting, the troops had already walked out of the forest, and what came into view was the huge stone castle under the pale cliff - Black Crow Castle.
As the most important defensive fortress in the middle of the Northern Great Wall of Kislev, Black Crow Castle has been expanded many times, and its size has caught up with Black Hammer Castle on the west coast. It has become an emerging central hub fortress.
However, unlike Black Hammer Castle, Black Crow Castle's more functions are defense and military, while Black Hammer Castle located on the coast also plays a part in economic and transportation functions.
"Come on, we need some hot food to warm us up."
Rhodes urged with a smile.
The troops moved forward in the shape of a long winding snake on the vast snow. Warwick, the commander-in-chief who defended the city, had been waiting on the city wall for a long time. When he saw the arrival of the great lord, he immediately opened the city gate and went out to greet him.
Riding a tall black horse, Rhodes looked up and saw that the soldiers guarding the city of Black Crow Castle were all standing in a row. Because they were all wearing black robes, they looked like a group of ghost crows, guarding the city wall.
.
Snowflakes were flying, hitting his red face. Under the gaze of all the soldiers, Rhodes rode a high horse and slowly walked into the castle.
On both sides of the team, there were all familiar faces. The northern elites who had followed him in the north and south were all stationed here. However, Rhodes could not recognize those who were slightly further back.
The Great Wall implements a rotating guard system, and new soldiers are replaced every three years. Any low-level soldier who has lived at the Great Wall for three years can be promoted to the first level immediately after returning to the capital. It is different from the places where refugees and bandits gathered in the past years. It can be said that,
Under the single-handed control of Rhodes, all the elite troops of Kislev are gathered at the foot of the Great Wall.
They underwent both physical and mental training in the severe cold. During this short period of peace, the Great Wall in the North became the only area with war. Any soldiers who had stayed here for a period of time were not considered new recruits. Three years
The time is enough for them to experience several real battles and complete the transformation from new recruits to veterans.
After entering the city, Rhodes got off his horse and hugged his old comrades one by one.
Looking at the vicissitudes of the people in front of him, Rhodes felt an indescribable bitterness. More than ten years have passed since the Great Civil War in Kislev, and the current group of Kislev's elites have all grown up since then.
Now, most of them are in their forties, and they are only ten or twenty years away from retirement. And if there are no accidents, the first wave of chaos will arrive in twenty years.
By then, these elite veterans of Kislev will have reached their gray-haired years, and Kislev as a whole will have just lost its sharpest generation of defense.
At that time, those new soldiers will take the weapons and armor of their fathers and embark on their doomsday battlefield. When father and son go into battle, it is really sad to think about it. This tragic era is destined to destroy two entire generations.
Looking at his followers behind him, Rhodes didn't even know if they could survive until that time. In the past ten years, his appearance has not changed much as he has grown older, mainly because of being the Chosen One, but other
Human beings are not. Twenty years from now, Alves, Sibes, Celta... these mortals will eventually become old and decrepit.
Not wanting to think too much, Rhodes walked straight towards the city wall surrounded by everyone. He came to Black Crow Castle for two purposes.
First, there is an epidemic in the castle. Rhodes brought Lyanna here to investigate the source and true situation of the epidemic. If it is an ordinary typhoid fever disease, you don’t need to worry too much. If it is like the plague epidemic in Erengrad last time,
, it must be contained at the source.
Second, we also inspected the fortifications of the Great Wall and the soldiers who defended the city.
They are almost the security barrier of Kislev. In recent years, the rapid development of Kislev has not only benefited from sufficient funds and manpower, but also because of the guards of the Great Wall, which gave greenskins and beastmen few chances to invade.
The Great Wall of Despair extends to Black Crow Castle and is divided into five layers. The defense cornerstone on the lowest layer is the largest, made of pure black rock, and is invulnerable to swords. On the lowest layer, the largest number of soldiers are stationed, and the army's daily life and meals are all
Completed on this level, surrounding Black Crow Castle, there are many arrow towers and ice caves where soldiers can rest temporarily.
The second floor is where engineers and castle maintenance workers are stationed. Compared with the first floor, the scale here is at least two-thirds smaller. There is a simple rest room only a hundred meters away. Moreover, there are almost no wooden floors.
Structural building.
Above the third floor, there are the strongholds of the night watch. These soldiers who are responsible for guarding the city wall at night will set off in the evening, take the elevator, and go to various areas of the city wall to take charge of sentries. With each floor you go up, the temperature gets lower and the cold deepens.
marrow.
When the entire project was completed, Rhodes never imagined that the conditions would be so difficult and cruel. But it is undeniable that since the construction of this cliff city wall, the barbarians, beastmen, greenskins, etc. from the north have never set foot in Keith.
Leaf half step.
With the help of the elevator, Rhodes and his team slowly ascended to the top wall.
Under the cliff, the bodies of the Black Crow Castle soldiers were as small as ants. The cold front passed by, and the strong wind seemed to blow the thin night watchman off the city wall at any time.
The first sentry Rhodes saw stood in the cold wind for a long time. When he saw the great lord coming in person, he even forgot to salute for a moment. Only his eyes were still looking at the surroundings and the ground under his feet with vigilance.
Beyond the Great Wall in the North, the land is frozen for thousands of miles...