Three days later, night.

The King and the Iron Rose Cavalry stood quietly in the northwest of the Blackstone Fortress. When the warhorses breathed, the steam from their noses turned into clouds of white mist. The rushing Lacey River in front of them made splashing sounds. This was a night suitable for infighting and a coup d’état, the sky was very cloudy and there was no moonlight at all.

The King was at the front of the line, and he lowered his eyes slightly, looking at the long river that flowed eternally.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

He remembered the early days when the Duke of Buckingham had taught tactics to him in his brief moments of lucidity, when he was Pureland, Pureland who was shadowed by madness. He remembered that when he was young, except for the Duke of Buckingham and his cousin Johan, few people actually wanted to approach him, because no one knew when His Majesty the King, who was violent by nature, would suddenly go mad and kill someone.

Everyone knew that Legrand’s Lord and Master was a bloody tyrant, and only that old man would stroke his hair gently, and when he was entrenched in a fit of madness, he would walk over the mess on the ground and take away the sword in his hand to prevent him from hurting himself.

An old man guarding his crazy nephew, the Rose Palace in those years was actually quite empty of any signs of life.

Pureland, although shattered and corrupted, in the end there will come the beauty of rebirth.

His rebirth came too late, too late that he hadn’t had the chance to let his uncle know that he never forgot the battle tactics his uncle taught him.

On afternoons in the royal palace, in the lounge room of the young king, sunlight would come in through the beautiful rose windows, spreading magnificent light and shadow on the ground. When he was a child, his toys were different from that of other children. It was a huge military sand table filled with large and small flags. The Duke of Buckingham simulated various war situations, and both uncle and nephew would fight out battles on the sand table.

“The monarch is actually the most important banner on the battlefield. The significance of the banner of the monarch is not that one person’s strength could change the entire battle situation, but that when the monarch is the same as his soldiers, all swords will follow his will. If the monarch could be the first to charge bravely, his soldiers would not back down no matter how powerful the enemy is. This is the meaning of the royal banner.”

“In war, kindness, forgiveness, and ruthlessness…..are just means to an end. One would rather bear the criticism of lacking virtue than pursue the emptiness of mercy. Your Majesty, you must possess the bravery of a lion, the cunning of a fox, and the cruelty of a poisonous snake.”

In the afternoon sun, the Duke of Buckingham inserted the banner on his high ground and devoured his captain.

Did you see it?

The King asked softly in his heart.

He was already brave enough, as his uncle wanted, and fearlessly he was always the first to meet the enemy on all battlefields. He was already cunning enough, as his uncle wanted, and ingeniously he schemed to gain the greatest benefit. Living up to his uncle’s expectations, he possessed the courage of a lion, the cunning of a fox, and the cruelty of a poisonous snake.

The King longed to look back at that carriage in the middle of the army.

Splash, splash.

The sound of water splashing suddenly became louder.

The King looked up and saw a fleet of boats coming from the direction of the Blackstone Fortress opposite them. General Sheehan turned his head and waved to the longbowmen behind him, ordering them to be on guard just in case.

One of the fleet of boats that came out of the fortress occupied by the rebel army on the opposite side quickly rowed to the shore of the island in the middle of the river.

A soldier without armor jumped out of the boat, approached, and knelt down in front of the King: “Everything is ready, the general and the marquis are already in action, and everything is going well.”

The King recognized this soldier, he was a soldier of General Vulture among the prisoners they released, and it was through him that the King delivered the second letter to General Vulture.

The King nodded.

The fleet quickly lined up on the river, and speedily laid out a wide pontoon bridge. The King pulled the reins and was the first to step onto the slightly undulating pontoon bridge. The iron cavalry followed closely, and Legrand’s army set foot on the second Blackstone Fortress without a single battle.

At this time, the rebel army on the Blackstone Fortress had already taken off the white salamander flag and replaced it with the bloody royal flag.

The King led the army and did not stop.

The second pontoon bridge was also built soon, and this time, it was directly connected from the second Blackstone Fortress to the opposite Bomari Castle.

All the horses’ hoofs were wrapped in cloth, and when they moved, they were as quiet as the night.

In the end, the King did not look back at the carriage in the army.

He faced forward the whole way, and wherever he passed, the original rebels put down their weapons and knelt down on the ground.

When he stepped onto the sandy ground in front of Bomari Castle, the King looked up and saw that the castle that originally belonged to the Rose family was faintly flickering with fire in the dark night.

The King looked coldly at the flames.

General Sheehan was by the King’s side. He saw the King’s eyes at this time, and couldn’t help being slightly taken aback. In the light of the torch, the King’s face was cold and stern, and he looked at the castle as if it was not a castle to take back, but a sand table that belonged to him.

He was the master of the sand table, and all the mixed banners and ever changing battles in the sand table were just games that followed his will.

………………

Within Bomari Castle was a scene completely different from the outside quietness.

The fire dragon rolled and burned in the center of Bomari Castle. At this time, the interior of Bomari Castle had already fallen into a melee.

Lantoft, wearing heavy armor, carried his huge battle ax, and with one blow he killed an approaching Balboa soldier. The soldier’s head flew high, and blood gushed out of his cranial cavity, splashing all over Lantoft’s body, making him as ferocious as an evil demon in a nursery rhyme.

“Excellent! As expected of Balboa’s vulture!”

Lantoft didn’t wipe the blood on his face. He looked at the front coldly, and laughed angrily.

After General Vulture entered the inner city, he settled in a large and magnificent mansion. At this time, the fountain in the wide courtyard was filled with corpses, and blood flowed on the cold rocks. Lantoft led the soldiers to break through the door, preparing to kill General Vulture. On his charge here, he found himself surrounded by the soldiers of Balboa and Chavos.

Lantoft glanced coldly at the old Marquis of Chavos State and General Vulture standing not far away.

“You forced us to do this.” General Vulture held up the torch, with a smug smile on his face, “We are all rebels, but Newcastle wants to be the King of Balboa and Chavos. How presumptuous.”

“The Marquis came to see me and told me about you defecting over to Legrand. Did you plan this together?”

“Actually, at the meeting, the reason why Lord Marquis proposed to have us retreat to Chavos State is exactly because we had already discussed it before.” General Vulture smiled, “Who doesn’t know that the ‘Red Beard’ of Newcastle is full of suspicions? If we didn’t first let you feel that the Marquis harbors ambitions, how could you believe the Lord Marquis’ words?”

“Good, good, good!” Lantoft almost gritted his teeth and said, “Lord Marquis, you are indeed talented at double-dealing.”

In order to take out the treasure in Bomari Castle, Lantoft’s soldiers have suffered a lot of losses during this time. That was why he refused from the very beginning for the allies to cooperate in stationing in the inner city of Bomari, just because he was afraid that his allies would find out the truth about his strong outer appearance but weak inner forces. After being forced to give in at the meeting, Lantoft had already started pondering about how to get rid of his allies for good.

When the Marquis of Chavos approached him and told him that General Vulture had defected to Legrand, Lantoft, who had already been suspicious, launched the night purge without hesitation.

It was just that he didn’t expect that the other party was waiting for his arrival all along.

“What you have done is not much better than our actions.” General Vulture also sneered, “Balboa and Chavos formed an alliance with you, but we have no intention of being pawns in your hands. You wanted us to serve as cannon fodder, while you secretly planned to dig the treasure and escape. But do you really think that everyone doesn’t know the truth?”

Lantoft’s eyes narrowed slightly: “How do you know about the treasure?”

“Because we’re not stupid.”

General Vulture snorted coldly.

Lantoft glanced at the corpses of Balboa soldiers on the ground: “Sacrificing the soldiers under you, letting me lower my vigilance, and then joining Chavos’ army to ambush me…..Aren’t you afraid that our Lord Marquis will betray you too?”

General Vulture’s expression was slightly ugly, just like what Lantoft said, in order to trick Lantoft, he did not inform his soldiers about tonight, so Lantoft easily killed to the core of the garrison, only for him and the Marquis to surround him.

This time, he indeed suffered a heavy loss.

Lantoft’s words made him faintly uneasy.

The soldiers in the courtyard today were all subordinates of the old Marquis. If the Marquis was persuaded by Lantoft and turned around to deal with him, then he had no power to resist.

The Marquis who was standing on the side hastily reminded him: “General, the treasure has already been loaded into your carriage.”

General Vulture instantly returned to calmness.

When discussing how to act with the Marquis, General Vulture had doubts about whose soldiers to sacrifice as bait. Eventually it was agreed to sacrifice Balboa’s soldiers. After the Battle of Blackstone Fortress, Balboa’s army strength had already been hit hard. If Chavos’s soldiers were sacrificed, it would be difficult for them to compete with Lantoft.

But in exchange, the treasure that Lantoft found would be loaded on General Vulture’s convoy after they act.

That was enough treasure for them to enlist the Holy Court!

General Vulture had no intention of actually surrendering to Legrand!

In their plan, after killing Lantoft and taking the treasure, they would quickly retreat to Chavos Castle, and then use the treasure found in Bomari Castle to ask the angels of the Holy Court to provide aid——Lantoft kept the news well hidden, but who didn’t have such a thing as spies?

They also knew how the Duke of Buckingham died!

If there was such an existence to take action, their rebellion would not fail. The fact Lantoft still gritted his teeth and did not give up after most of Newcastle was taken away, wasn’t it because he had the very same idea?

“Kill him!”

General Vulture didn’t want to waste time with Lantoft any longer.

“You actually thought you are the winner…..” Lantoft laughed out loud when he was pointed at by a sharp arrow, “You fool…..”

A sharp arrow pierced his throat, and the ambitious Red Beard fell backwards, slamming heavily on the stone slab.

The other having finally died, General Vulture breathed a sigh of relief, he turned to look at the Marquis next to him: “Okay, let’s go quickly, the second fortress won’t stop the King for long…..What are you doing! Have you forgotten our agreement?”

General Vulture’s voice was full of panic and anger.

After killing Lantoft, the archers of Chavos State did not put away their bows and arrows, but turned around and aimed at him.

“You betrayed me?! You are the one who really defected to Legrand!”

General Vulture realized something.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“The general betrayed Lantoft, and betrayed His Majesty.” The old Marquis laughed coldly. “Shouldn’t a person like the general be very forgiving of betrayal?”

“Aren’t you afraid that Legrand will settle accounts?!”

“Balboa State and Newcastle State have committed a lot of good deeds in the rebellion. Of course, you will worry about His Majesty’s reckoning, but Chavos State has done nothing.” The old Marquis smiled complacently.

As he spoke, he waved his hand:

“By His Majesty’s order, kill the traitor.”

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