The King led the Iron Rose Cavalry to station outside the gate of Bomari Castle, and they watched the flames of the castle ignite from various places the entire night.

The King’s army surrounded the entire castle, and the castle became a cage for the rebels at this time. The lions circled their hunting grounds, and then watched indifferently as the prey in the hunting grounds put up the last struggle of a trapped animal. Conspiracy and betrayal, the armies of the three kingdoms who turned against each other ended up fighting each other in the inner city.

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Any soldier who intended to leave the city gate would be accurately reaped by Legrand’s longbowmen.

This was the King’s sand table, and everything in the sand table obeyed the King’s will.

“It’s almost dawn.”

General Sheehan, standing beside the King, looked up and said.

In the deep shadows, a vulture circled and soared.

The vulture was a large bird of prey in the Legrand Northland high forests. It was fierce and greedy by nature. Balboa’s general was nicknamed “Vulture” not only because he had a huge hooked nose, but more importantly, his character was just like this black raptor in the Northland, greedy and cold-blooded.

General Vulture was not the kind of person who would rather die than bow his head. If he was just told about the crisis in Balboa Royal City, General Vulture would indeed surrender when the situation was not good for him.

However, the King did not need the surrender of General Vulture.

From the very beginning, the King ordered the Ingres State to assist Earl Henry in attacking the Royal City of Balboa, which was a “plot” on its own. But the target of this plot was not General Vulture or Lantoft the Red Beard.

The King’s ultimate goal was the state of Chavos.

Chavos State was located in the alpine region of the Northland, with a sparse population, insufficient food, and the weakest military strength. And all these years, the King of the Chavos State had always been greedy, but at the same time too cowardly. It was a chess piece that the King chose to keep from among the three rebel states.

With the defeat of the powerful Newcastle and Balboa to force Chavos State, forcing it to fear and retreat, making it feel that even Newcastle and Balboa have failed, and so they could not resist Legrand’s army at all. The storming of Blackstone Fortress the day before yesterday was also to strengthen this sense of urgency.

The reason why the King deliberately let go of General Vulture was to let the old Marquis of Chavos feel the power of Legrand more intuitively through General Vulture.

This was more convincing than the King directly and secretly contacting him.

In order to bring about complete turmoil in Bomari Castle, another fuse was needed, and this fuse was the treasure of the Rose family in the castle.

After learning from the Devil that there was treasure in Bomari Castle, the King realized why Lantoft was stationed here and insisted on holding onto it. There was a certain connection between the Rose family and mystery, and the fact that the treasure of the Rose family could be valued by the Holy Court——perhaps the treasure of the Rose family was one of the holy objects that the Holy Court was looking for. After Saint Val never returned, Lantoft was especially anxious to find the treasure of the Rose family, thus gaining angelic support for the second time.

When freeing the captives, the King took advantage of the presence of this treasure.

With the character of General Vulture, after learning that there was a treasure in Bomari Castle that could allow them to get help from the Holy Court, the choice he would make would definitely be to fake surrender first and then ally with the Marquis. After killing Lantoft and snatching the treasure, he would then take advantage of the confusion and make his escape.

Greed was an endless sin, and the King took hold of the knife called “humanity”, and gently placed it on the necks of General Vulture and ‘Red Beard’ Lantoft, just waiting for the time to behead them.

In the whole scheme, a small and insignificant person played an especially important role.

The King needed someone to act as a bridge between him and the Marquis of Chavos, and the King had made preparations early on. But after breaking the Blackstone Fortress, the King had a better choice.

——The soldier who was abandoned by General Vulture without hesitation when Blackstone Fortress was captured.

When faced with life and death, money, and aristocratic title, this soldier betrayed General Vulture and became a hidden pawn of the King.

Through this personal guard, the Marquis of Chavos, who was already in a state of anxiety, eventually chose to abandon General Vulture and defect to the King. And tonight, General Vulture’s original order was that after the King arrived at the Blackstone Fortress, to disconnect the bridge connecting the second Blackstone Fortress and the castle, and trap the King in the second Blackstone Fortress in order to gain time for their retreat.

But the personal guard and the old Marquis changed this order.

The betrayer was eventually betrayed by others.

The fire in the city burned until the sky became gray with smoke. When General Sheehan saw the smoke in the city gradually subside from outside the city, he knew that the internal strife in the city had ended. He took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a little nervous for some reason, and fixed his eyes on the city gate in front of him.

“It has opened.”

The King said flatly on horseback.

The suspension bridge was lowered little by little, and when the suspension bridge was laid flat on the moat, there was the sound of metal gears twisting. As the jewel in Legrand’s crown, Bomari Castle was composed of black stone and metal as a whole, so it was indestructible. The heavy boulder city gate slowly opened with harsh screeching sounds.

The King stood still, as did the Iron Rose Cavalry.

Those who survived came out of the city.

They threw the white salamander flag into the moat to show their allegiances, and then the group of people untied their swords and threw them on the ground. This meant giving up all resistance and surrendering in the Northland.

The Marquis of Chavos came out holding a wooden tray, on which was placed the head of the rebel alliance, Lantoft and the vulture of Balboa, the head of General Aldo.

The moment the city gate opened, the cold wind poured in with the morning chill. The Marquis of Chavos fought a shiver.

Outside the city gate.

The young King Legrand was sitting on his horse. The sun had just risen, and the first rays of sunlight fell on the King’s scarlet robes. The knights with roses engraved on their armor were neatly lined behind the King, their lances pointing straight to the sky, forming a ferocious forest of spears, glares of cold light reflecting off the tip of the spears. The north wind blew fiercely through this torrent of steel, fluttering hundreds of Rose Royal flags like a bloody undercurrent.

At that moment, the Marquis of Chavos felt that he saw a sea of burning fire, or an ocean of boiling red blood.

Austere, fearsome.

So long as his actions were even a little suspicious, these proud knights, led by their King, would charge ruthlessly and trample him into mud.

The chill ran up his spine to the top of his skull, and the Marquis knelt down in fear, raising the wooden tray high:

“Chavos State is willing to be at His Majesty’s disposal!”

The King urged his horse forward, and he looked down at the heads of the rebel leaders on the wooden tray. The Marquis only felt his heart beating like a drum, and even though he had surrendered, he still only felt fear.

“Nail it to the city gate.”

The King pointed at the heads of the rebel leaders on the wooden tray with his whip, ordering coldly.

The Marquis only felt the weight in his hands lighten, and a soldier had already taken the heads away.

When the soldiers were nailing the heads to the city gate, a group of Iron Rose knights in full armor stepped out from the ranks and solemnly lined up on the road leading to the city gate. The Marquis retreated to the side and prostrated himself on the ground. When he looked up it was to see in shock, the Iron Rose Cavalry suddenly parting down the middle.

A total of eight knights in scarlet cloaks walked out of the ranks carrying a black coffin.

At this time, the world was barren and cold, but around the coffin, there was visibly a ring of fiery roses.

No one spoke, and the world was quiet and solemn.

The King dismounted from his horse, and walked alone to the coffin.

Those who carried the coffin were former subordinates of the Duke of Buckingham. They used to fight side by side with the Imperial Lion, and earlier they had knelt before the King and begged the King to entrust them with this task——they failed to accompany their former general in death, so they must now personally bring him into the territory of Legrand he had wanted to recover all his life.

The coffin was heavy and contained the soil from the place where the Duke of Buckingham was last buried.

The King reached out and touched the coffin, and it felt as if a scalding fire was passed from the coffin to his palm. He withdrew his hand and ordered:

“Enter the city!”

He took his uncle to step on the road to Bomari Castle.

The world was silent.

This was Bomari Castle. The former Duke of Buckingham followed William III on an expedition and once made it less than twenty miles away from it. This was the territory that the Duke of Buckingham wanted to take back all his life. He had guarded Legrand his entire life, fought for Legrand until his death, but had never been able to set foot here.

The King walks behind the coffin.

The lion of the empire, the Duke of Buckingham, surrounded by his soldiers, was the first to step onto the territory that the Rose family had lost for too long.

After the eight old knights stepped through the city gate, they slowly lowered the coffin and placed it on the grounds of Bomari Castle. They knelt down on one knee, raised their hands and clenched their fists to beat their hearts: “My lord, we have taken back Bomari!”

“We have taken back Bomari!”

They shouted.

They were sent by the Duke of Buckingham to assist the King in the King’s army, and lost the chance to accompany the old general in his final battle. They fought silently all the way, and fought bravely at the forefront of all battles. They wanted to fight for their general, and to realize the greatest wish of the Duke of Buckingham when he was alive.

This was February 1432.

On the tail end of the biting winter chill, the lion of the empire finally set foot on the territory he always longed to recover. The King’s left-wing army broke through Balboa’s royal city, and the heads of the rebel leaders were nailed high on the city gate. The flames of war ignited on the last day of the old year finally came to an end in the north.

Roses bloomed in the embers of the fire.

The King reached out and took a brand-new royal banner from the knights, and held it up high: “The glory of Legrand is eternal!”

This was Legrand.

Legrand that was unmatched anywhere in the world.

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In this land where the dragon’s bones were buried, a family marked by roses had ruled for generations.

The long wind was fierce, blowing the tail of the flag and fluttering it violently.

“The glory of Legrand is eternal!”

The knights raised their swords high and shouted loudly in unison.

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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.

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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.

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“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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Bomari Castle.

All the important figures of the Rebel Alliance in Bomari had arrived.

This time, the rebellion in the North was led by Newcastle State, assisted by Balboa State and Chavos State, becoming an ally of Newcastle State. The Balboa State sent their “Vulture”, and the Chavos State sent one of their old marquises. At this time, the three parties sat down with clear boundaries, and the meeting did not have the joy and harmony of the past.

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General Vulture had high cheekbones and deep-set eye sockets. He looked like an eagle cold-bloodedly sizing up its prey.

At this time, the vulture was confronting the poisonous snake.

Lantoft, the King of Newcastle with a red beard, tightly grasped the armrest of the chair with his right hand and leaned forward slightly. The usual amiable smile on his face had long since disappeared without a trace. His voice lost that cheerfulness, and was as cold as a poisonous snake flicking its forked tongue: “I don’t doubt you, General Aldo, but the famous Balboa State Vulture lost the vital Blackstone Fortress so easily that I really can’t help to worry about Balboa’s sincerity in this rebellion.”

“Balboa’s sincerity?” General Vulture laughed angrily. He pointed to the blood-stained armor he hadn’t taken off, “I myself nearly lost my life, and you call this a lack of sincerity? Balboa State and Newcastle State participated in this rebellion together, and the covenant we signed at the beginning was to advance together and retreat together, to live and die together. Since Newcastle wants to accuse us of defeat, then I have to ask one thing——since we are allies, how can Newcastle stand by and watch your allied country be destroyed?!”

As soon as General Vulture’s words came out, all his soldiers stood up and drew their swords on the left side of the long table. As soon as General Vulture’s soldiers drew their swords, the guards behind Lantoft also drew their swords.

The cold light of the blades dazzled people’s eyes, and the brief peace was instantly torn apart. The meeting hall was suddenly full of hostility and tension.

The red-bearded Lantoft stared at General Vulture, and a trace of ferocity flashed across his eyes.

“Balboa Royal City is being surrounded by Legrand’s heavy troops, why didn’t you tell us?” General Vulture had no intention to back down, and said aggressively, “Where were your elite soldiers from Newcastle when our Balboa soldiers were defending the fortress? Having us and Chavos act as external human meat shields, while you sit back and relax inside the castle, what clever calculations!”

Hearing “Chavos”, the old Marquis of Chavos State’s eyes twitched. His eyes wandered between Lantoft and General Vulture, but he didn’t immediately express his opinion.

The loss of one of the Blackstone Fortresses in the main trunk of the Lacey River was equivalent to the loss of an important arm of Bomari Castle. No wonder Lantoft called everyone together in a hurry. It was normal for Lantoft to be angry, but the Vulture General of Balboa State was also not a pushover, and he was also full of anger.

Hearing General Vulture mention the siege of Balboa Royal City, the muscles on Lantoft’s face twitched slightly. His eyes quickly swept across the face of the old Marquis of Chavos State, and found that his expression did not even change, as if nothing had been heard.

Old fox.

Lantoft cursed secretly in his heart.

The soldiers on both sides were at a deadlock, waiting for their master’s order, and allies turning into enemies seemed about to happen at any time.

When the atmosphere was at its most tense, the sound of metal falling to the ground seemed particularly harsh to the eardrums.

All eyes turned to the direction where the sound came from. It was a general under the Marquis of Chavos who accidentally knocked over the wine glass.

The old Marquis of Chavos State bowed slightly: “The young man has never seen much of the world, so please pardon his rudeness.”

The string that was about to snap was buffered because of this episode.

Lantoft looked away from the calm old Marquis. He waved his hand and signaled his guards to put away their blades first: “If the Balboa State is lost, the alliance will cease to exist. Could it be that General Aldo thinks I’d do something stupid like this?”

With that said, Lantoft stood up, grabbed a guard’s sword, and pointed to the sky:

“I swear in the name of the Holy Lord, I have never received any news about the siege of Balboa’s royal city!”

He then looked at General Vulture: “Isn’t even the Holy Lord trustworthy now?”

General Vulture looked at him coldly, and with a wave of his hand, his soldiers also put away their swords.

“Exactly so.” The red-bearded Lantoft put on his smiling and amiable mask again. He clapped his hands and motioned for the maid to come over and pour wine for everyone. “We are allies sworn in front of the Holy Lord as close as brothers, and there is no unsolvable misunderstanding between brothers. The heroic reputation of General Aldo is well known to the world, it is I who misunderstood the general. Come, I shall punish myself with a cup of wine.”

The spirits were poured into the golden goblet, and Lantoft raised his cup high, saluting General Vulture before drinking it all in one gulp.

“Then it seems that I have also misunderstood you.” General Vulture also raised his cup with a smile on his face, and saluted Lantoft. Both sides returned to the harmonic atmosphere from before, “I am indeed responsible for my improper defense which has led to the defeat and capture of the fortress. But, as you know, the population of Balboa is far less than that of Newcastle. It is too difficult for the soldiers I brought to hold the outer defense. I heard that the royal snow cavalry guards of Newcastle are extremely brave, so I think, why not have Newcastle guard the fort from now on, and let us Balboa guard the internal defense?”

The smile on Lantoft’s face subsided slightly, and he shook his head slowly: “Bomari is the royal city of Newcastle, and no one is more familiar with the structure here than the soldiers of Newcastle. Internal defense requires more manpower than external defense. You are short of manpower, I am afraid it is not appropriate to entrust you to guard the internal defense.”

The air began to faintly become cold again.

The Marquis of Chavos coughed lightly.

General Vulture was slightly taken aback.

In similar conferences of the three states, the old Marquis of Chavos State was generally taciturn, playing the role of a peacemaker, and seldom expressed his opinions actively.

However, General Vulture quickly came to his senses, and his expression became a little ugly.

In the past, the old Marquis of Chavos State did not speak because among the three rebellious Northland states, Newcastle had the strongest military strength, followed by Balboa, while Chavos State was the weakest. But now, Legrand had already taken back most of Newcastle’s territory, leaving only the last bit of forces to hide in Bomari Castle. It was precisely because of this that he dared to confront Lantoft head-on. However, he overlooked one thing:

It was not just Newcastle that had been weakened.

He lost a black stone fortress, and the royal city of Balboa was besieged as well.

In the current rebel alliance, the Chavos State had not been hit too much because it was located behind the two countries, and so its strength was almost the same as theirs now.

Lantoft was also aware of this gap, and the smile on his face became a little stiff.

“Alas…..the Blackstone Fortress has been lost, and Legrand’s army is far superior to ours. Sooner or later, Bomari Castle will not be able to hold on.” The old Marquis said slowly, “If you ask me, we can retreat to Cauchy Castle, as long as we defend the canyon outside Cauchy Castle, no matter how many soldiers they have, it will be useless.”

Old fox…..

Almost at the same time, Lantoft and General Vulture cursed in their hearts.

Cauchy Castle was in the state of Chavos, and the headquarters of the rebel army was originally set at Bomari Castle in Newcastle State because Newcastle State was the strongest. Now that the old Marquis proposed that they retreat north and move their headquarters, it was clear that he wanted to take this opportunity to give the Chavos State the upper hand in the rebel alliance.

These days, the old guy’s submissiveness was all fake. Once he had the opportunity, he was also a greedy opportunist comparable to Lantoft.

The meeting remained deadlocked for a while, the three parties each holding their own opinions, and it seemed that no one was willing to make concessions.

Finally, Lantoft slowly put the wine goblet on the table, and made a concession to General Vulture: He would not accept the proposal of Newcastle exchanging defensive positions with Balboa, but he allowed Balboa to enter the inner city of Bomari together with the soldiers of the Chavos State, and the three allies would then jointly defend the inner city.

At this, the Marquis of Chavos sensed that the Balboa State and the Newcastle State, which had just been on the verge of turning into enemies, had reached an agreement. He was afraid of the mysterious power behind Lantoft, so he also backed down.

The meeting ended here, and the three parties got up and left, each with thoughts and concerns of their own.

Walking in the icy wind, the head of the guards next to General Vulture couldn’t help asking him in a low voice: “General, are we really…..”

General Vulture waved at him.

The chief guard fell silent.

The group of people passed the corner, and General Vulture stopped suddenly.

He saw the old Marquis who was supposed to return to the castle’s outer fort defense was waiting in front of them. Seeing General Vulture, the old Marquis showed a smile on his face, and stepped forward quickly: “Good day, Mr. General. Please don’t take offense, I didn’t mean to target you just now.”

General Vulture also had a smile on his face, and he went up to greet him: “Good day, Lord Marquis, you came just in time, and I also have something important to tell you.”

“Oh?” The old Marquis showed a surprised expression.

General Vulture lowered his voice: “Actually, I agree with the Marquis. It is clear that Bomari Castle cannot be defended any longer. The reason why I forced Lantoft to switch defenses was because I suspect that there was a reason he did not allow our men to defend the inner city from the very beginning.”

“What could that reason be?”

“I only found out not long ago that hidden within Bomari Castle, there is…..” A mysterious look appeared on General Vulture’s face, “Treasure!”

………………

In the center of Lacey River, Blackstone Fortress.

The night was dark, and this fortress stood facing a distance from the other Blackstone Fortress on the opposite side. Under the dim sky, the soldier patrolling at the bottom of the tower heard a soft noise. He looked for the source, and saw an arrow landed not far from him. The soldier walked over with the torch and picked up the arrow.

There was a ribbon tied to the arrow.

The soldier looked up and across at the opposite side.

He saw in an archery hole in the opposite fortress, the light of a torch flickering three times.

Ten minutes later.

The King unfolded the well-rolled silk satin, and the words on the silk satin were written densely and neatly. The King skimmed through it quickly, and handed it to General Sheehan who stood on the side.

After reading the letter, General Sheehan smiled and raised his head to look at the King: “It seems that we can easily take back Bomari, your plan has succeeded.”

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

“It cannot really be described as such.” The King said flatly, with no joy on his face, “just a rabble of dogs in a dogfight.”

General Sheehan shrugged and put away the letter: “Three days later…..It seems that they can’t wait any longer.”

“Get ready.”

The King closed the book he was reading, and stood up.

“In three days, I will be bringing my uncle into the city.”

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The rebel army guarding the tower raised their shields and long swords in vain, trying to prevent Legrand’s soldiers from entering, but without the protection of the solid tower wall, the greatest barrier no longer existed.

Swords collided, shields were knocked flying and colliding against the tower, and blood cascaded from the necks of the slain, flying high and leaving behind cruel paintings on the walls. Under the command of General Sheehan, the soldiers swept up floor by floor, and the warm corpses rolled down the spiral staircase inside the tower.

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

General Vulture retreated from the southeast tower of the fortress to the northwest tower under the escort of his own soldiers.

“Retreat, General!”

The captain of the guard said anxiously to General Vulture.

“We can’t hold the tower anymore! Let’s retreat to the fortress behind!”

“Look down.”

General Vulture replied coldly with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.

The sound of fighting was getting closer and closer, and the octagonal Blackstone Fortress which had a tower on each corner, capable of resisting approaching enemies from all directions. But so long as any tower was breached and the enemy entered the interior of the fortress, their advantage would disappear.

The captain of the guard followed General Vulture’s words and looked down from an archery hole he passed.

His breathing suddenly stagnated slightly.

Under the high tower, the King and the Iron Rose Cavalry stood quietly in the northwest of the fortress. They held the uniform rose royal flag, which fluttered violently in the wind.

They were like a pack of lions looking down upon their hunting grounds haughtily and grimly.

The lions have completed the most dangerous part of the hunt, and the rest was just the struggle of the prey. Within the line they delineate, all the prey were simply just putting up a dying fight, their death was already determined.

While the captain of the guard was looking at them, the King in the center of the cavalry suddenly raised his head, and he involuntarily took a step back abruptly. At that moment, he got a feeling——the other party seemed to have keenly picked up on his gaze from such a long distance. But soon, the captain of the guard shouted in surprise: “General! Look! General!”

General Vulture gave him a strange look, and walked to the archery hole.

The Iron Rose Cavalry stationed under the northwest tower of the fortress turned around and headed towards the corner they had breached, and the path to the opposite fortress was opened up.

“They’re gone! Let’s go!”

Surviving a desperate situation, the captain of the guard exclaimed excitedly.

General Vulture frowned tightly. One who was able to make dangerous moves as soon as he stepped on the battlefield, and break through their outermost defenses with the cavalry who were not valued in siege battles…..He didn’t think the King would be so stupid that he didn’t know that they would withdraw unless…..

General Vulture recalled the letter that was carried into the tower by the arrow that day, and his heart jumped, but there was no trace of these thoughts on his face.

“Withdraw!”

General Vulture gave the order, and he quickly ran down the stairs of the tower with his personal soldiers. Legrand’s army had captured all the towers on the south and east sides of the fortress, leaving only the tower in the northwest corner that had not been captured yet. General Vulture descended from the upper floors of the tower without any obstacle and lowered the drawbridge of the tower.

The group of people quickly ran towards the bridge connecting the opposite fortress.

They only destroyed the pontoon bridge before, but left a few small boats under the bridge as a back road. At this time, the group of people jumped on the boat and rowed with all their strength to reach the fortress in the wetland of the tributary of the Lacey River on the inclined side. Seeing that the general managed to escape, the rebels guarding this fort hurriedly lowered the drawbridge to meet them.

When General Vulture fled to the second fortress, the battle had already come to an end. Only a few rebels left who were abandoned by General Vulture fought stubbornly, while the rest had thrown down their weapons in despair and surrendered.

In the Blackstone Fortress at this time, blood could be seen splattering everywhere.

The King climbed to the top of the tower of Blackstone Fortress, his path paved in blood.

The wind came blowing with the chill of the end of winter. The King stretched out his hand and pulled out the white salamander flag of the rebel army that was planted on the flag stand of the tower.

In the next moment, he let it fall.

The King watched icily as the white banner tumbled from the tower and fell into the smoldering fire beneath the tower, which rose up and devoured the rebel banner.

The Iron Rose knight behind him took a step forward holding the brand-new royal flag in both hands, and walked to the King’s side.

The King unfurled the royal banner.

On the blood-red background, the dark golden iron roses were in full bloom.

The King firmly planted the royal flag on the flag stand of the tower, and the wind from the extreme north howled and whipped at the royal flag. After a thousand years, this flag had finally returned to its old place.

“I will take back everything that is occupied.”

The King whispered to himself, like an old promise.

………………

The temporary pontoon bridge was reinforced and spanned the Lacey River. When night fell, the King had already rested in the conference hall in the center of the cleaned up fortress.

It was James who came to see the King first.

Holding a large stack of thick, densely written papers, James excitedly gestured at the King, explaining his ideas for the reconstruction of the fortress, and also mentioned again what he said in his letter about the role of iron crossbows in military affairs. He got some inspiration from the battering ram, and thought that he could place a siege crossbow on a fixed corner of the tower and use it as a defense.

The King listened for a while, and felt that this gentleman seemed to have the intention of arming the fortress like a hedgehog.

Although they were both architectural designers, James and Mr. Architect from the King’s Lunatic Academy of Sciences chose completely different directions.

The King coughed lightly and interrupted Mr. James’s endless diatribe: “One question, sir, weren’t you a holy church designer before?”

General Sheehan, who had just stepped into the conference hall, couldn’t help laughing when he heard this sentence: “My God, Mr. James, you used to be a church designer?”

James said logically: “All architecture is art, the collision of cold rock and wood, they are eternally solidified, different types have different beauty…..If you can install some more powerful artillery, it will be a song of ice and fire.”

General Sheehan: “……”

For some reason, he felt that what James said made sense, but he also felt that something was also not right.

The King laughed. He shook his head and handed James another letter of appointment that had already been written: “Sir, now you have a choice.”

James took it over and saw that it was a letter of appointment for the chief research officer of the Legrand First Academy of Sciences.

“I noticed that you said it is a choice?” James glanced at the letter of appointment and then at the King.

The King looked at him with a smile: “Do you think there is a choice other than accepting?”

“If I refuse…..” James said as he folded the letter of appointment and put it away.

“Ah…..you must know, that you have knowledge of a lot of military secrets now. In the event of war, I must ensure that the military secrets will not be leaked, am I right?” The King said with a smile, his tone relaxed.

James snorted heavily, grabbed the stack of papers on the desktop, turned his head and left.

Just before he was about to leave the room, he could be heard complaining bitterly in a low voice:

“Tyrant!”

General Sheehan glanced at the King.

The King didn’t take it seriously: “Go and tell him later that I need a batch of improved siege towers, and send him the essential gift all members of the Academy of Sciences are given by the way.”

Having said this, the King laughed.

When General Sheehan led his soldiers to blockade the southeast coast some time ago, he dealt with several scientists from the Lunatic Academy of Sciences. At this time, when he heard the “gift” mentioned by the King, his expression became extremely complicated…..Your Majesty, are you sure that’s really a gift and not a threat?

However, thinking about it, if Mr. James, the current war weapon maniac, was thrown into the Holy Court, the end would really be a burning stake.

Jokes aside, General Sheehan began to report to the King on business.

Mainly about what to do with the rebels they captured.

Before the battle, the King had ordered that the captives not be beheaded directly.

Over the past few days, General Sheehan had gained a deeper understanding of their King. Their majesty was disdainful of keeping a good image and reputation. He didn’t care about using the bloodiest means to achieve his goal. He possessed both kindness and cruelty. Since he ordered the six prisoners to be kept alive, there must be a reason.

“Wait until night, then let them go to the second fortress.”

The King pondered for a moment before answering.

General Sheehan nodded in agreement. After hesitating for a while, he still asked, “Your Majesty, I don’t quite understand why you let General Vulture go…..?”

The King seemed to have expected that General Sheehan would have this question. He picked up a letter from the table with the wax peeled off and handed it to General Sheehan: “Have a look.”

General Sheehan took the letter with both hands and opened it to read.

After reading only a few lines, General Sheehan’s face was immediately filled with joy, and he looked up at the King: “This was what you had been waiting for during these days?”

The King nodded.

The letter was a battle report sent by General Edmund of the Ingres State.

With the assistance of the Ingres army, Count Henry led Legrand’s left-wing army to break through the outer defenses of the Balboa State’s royal city, trapping King Balboa within the castle. General Edmund successfully intercepted a letter from King Balboa to General Vulture, requesting him to send troops back immediately to break the siege.

This important letter was sent by General Edmund together with his letter.

The King picked up the letter from King Balboa requesting aid, put it under the light, and said slowly: “We don’t have much time, if there is a better way to take back the Bomari Castle, why bother to have our soldiers shed more precious blood?”

General Sheehan bowed his head and saluted the King: “Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty.”

“Are there any officers among the prisoners who are familiar with General Vulture?” The King asked.

General Sheehan thought for a while: “There is one, his personal soldier, who couldn’t escape because he was injured.”

The King handed a sealed letter to General Sheehan: “When he is released, let him take this letter to his general…..if his nickname ‘Vulture’ is true, then we just need to wait.”

General Sheehan understood. He took the letter, and left respectfully.

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

In the room where the King was alone, the King pressed his fingertips together. He was thinking about another thing that the Devil had mentioned to him before. When the Devil sent him back to the human world, he had suggested that he’d better try and take back Bomari Castle without doing too much damage to the castle itself. Although this was his original intention, the fact that the Devil would pay special attention to Bomari Castle showed that there was something up with Bomari Castle.

When he asked the reason, the Devil replied pointedly:

——The Rose family’s castle itself was a precious treasure.

What did that mean?

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Another long prepared fleet set off from the upstream of the camp. This fleet was different from the raft fleet that was the vanguard just now. The cabin of the boats were made very wide and the hull was relatively flat. The punts were loaded with thick planks of worked wood. There were two types of people on the fleet, one was the soldiers holding shields against the rain of arrows, and the other was a team of experienced military engineers.

The second fleet passed unimpeded through the wooden stakes burned by the ancient holy fire, braving the rain of arrows shot from the Blackstone Fortress, approaching the isolated island in the middle of the river.

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All the boats spread out on the river, the hulls of the boats closely arranged together, forming a horizontal belt connecting the bank of the Lacey River on the right and the small island in the center of the river. When the boats were side by side, the soldiers on board quickly threw iron cables to the neighboring boats on the left and right. The iron chains tightly connected the entire fleet, the head and rear boats were slightly larger than the other boats, and from them heavy anchors were thrown into the water.

On the Blackstone Fortress, the iron arrows shot through the air making “swooshing” sounds. Although there were soldiers holding up their shields to block it, the dense rain of arrows still posed a huge threat to these soldiers whose task was to build the pontoon bridge.

“Splash”, “splash”.

One after another, soldiers were shot by arrows and fell headlong into the rushing river. The surface of the water was instantly stained with patches of blood, and the river began to become turbid.

Laying the planks of the pontoon bridge was the most dangerous juncture, and it was also the point in the battle when the loss rate of manpower was the highest. The King sent another fleet to arrive near the Blackstone Fortress with longbowmen on board to prevent the enemy from coming down from the Blackstone Fortress and destroying the head boat and anchorage.

The King watched the progress of the construction of the pontoon bridge in the Lacey River on the river bank.

Under the rain of enemy arrows, the number of military engineers and shield soldiers on Legrand’s fleet gradually decreased.

General Sheehan raised the flag at the reserve fleet.

In order to launch today’s attack, almost all of Legrand’s military engineer teams were sent by General Sheehan to chop wood to build temporary military warships and other siege equipment. Under the orders of General Sheehan, the reserve fleet paddled their oars quickly and arrived near the pontoon bridge that was gradually erected.

At this time, the previous fleet had almost all been damaged by the arrow rain from the fortress.

On the half-built pontoon bridge, some of the corpses of military engineers hung on the iron chains, and some lay on half-paved wooden boards. Blood flowed from the wooden boards into the Lacey River, and was quickly washed away by the icy water. But soon, new blood dripped down again, dyeing this section of the river into a lingering pale red.

On the fortress, General Vulture organized a group of soldiers, lowered a drawbridge, and the rebels armed with sharp axes rushed to the head ship on the island.

The longbowmen who had been waiting for a long time drew their bowstrings without hesitation.

The rebels were like Legrand’s soldiers who built the pontoon bridge, their lives were taken away by sharp arrows, continuously falling down one after the other on the way to the head boat of the pontoon bridge.

On the broad Lacey River, the pontoon bridge was erected little by little. This was a bridge stained red with blood.

“Advance!”

When the last plank was laid, the King ordered without hesitation.

Under the leadership of the King, the long-awaited large army quickly advanced across the pontoon bridge.

This was the moment to test one’s courage. Although the pontoon bridge on the rapid Lacey River was fixed by iron cables, when the cavalry passed by, the bridge deck still continued to rise and fall with the trampling of the iron horse hooves, the river water splashing up from under the bridge and landing on the knights’ armors.

On the top floor of the tower, General Vulture saw the King, surrounded by the scarlet royal banner, leading the Iron Rose Cavalry in a march through the rain of arrows. They were fast and wore excellent armor. The rebel army did not have good archers like Legrand’s longbowmen, and the arrows falling from high altitudes could not hit the horses of the cavalry like they would on the flat ground to stop them from moving forward.

The Iron Rose Cavalry quickly landed on the isolated island in the middle of the river.

The Blackstone Fortress was located in the center of the isolated island. It was an octagonal fortress as a whole, with a tall tower on each corner.

There were double-layer defenses of wooden stakes that surrounded the fortress. Once the enemy attacking the fortress approached, they must first break through the defense of the wooden stakes. However, there were also many archery holes at the bottom of the tower. Once the infantry attacking the fortress approached, they would be greeted by a dense attack of flying arrows from the archery hole at close range and the asphalt and hot oil falling from the top of the tower.

But the Iron Rose Cavalry galloping by like a breeze could not be stopped by the arrows at the bottom level. The cavalry circled the fort tower, shooting arrows from atop their horses.

The light cavalry led by the King, carried special fire arrows on their backs. The arrowheads were not refined iron, but a special fuel wrapped in waxed paper.

The arrows flew out rapidly, and the fire blazed on the arrows. The arrows lit with fire hit the wooden stakes around the tower. More and more arrows landed, and the fire gradually rolled up. Finally, it jumped upwards in the blowing wind. In the archery hole behind the double-layer wooden stake defense, the archers of the rebel army were scorched by the heat wave, black smoke poured in from the archery hole, and the entire bottom level of the Blackstone Fortress was instantly filled with suffocating smoke.

The rebel archers had to flee upwards from the ladders in the tower, and the wooden stakes that were originally used for defense aided their enemy instead at this time.

There was no snow today, so the fire got stronger and stronger with the help of the wind, the flames rolling into the high air, and the black smoke was sent to the upper floors of the tower. The sight of the archers was blocked, and the rain of arrows falling from the sky was affected and weakened. Taking advantage of this opportunity, General Sheehan on the other side of the river led the remaining large infantry force to cross the Lacey River by the pontoon bridge with a tall battering ram.

Several oath knights of the King were sent to temporarily protect James at this time.

Even the most proud knight had to admit that even if he couldn’t swing a sword to kill the enemy and couldn’t charge on horseback, James himself definitely had the courage to stand shoulder to shoulder with any knight.

Almost every day, James risked being shot by the archers of the fortress while observing the Blackstone Fortress from various angles and in various ways, and successfully drew down the structure of the fortress with his own architectural experience and observations, marking out the positions of all the archery holes on the fortress, and finally successfully calculating where the fortress was most vulnerable.

The military engineers who arrived at the fortress first had cloth strips blocking their noses and mouths. They filled up the trenches in front of the Blackstone Fortress with boulders, soil, and branches.

After the trenches were filled, the military engineers approached the bottom of the solid Blackstone Fortress. At this time, the fire was still burning. The engineers poured cold water on the flames at the attack point chosen by James, and began to dig tunnels from that point. Compared with the solid Blackstone Fortress itself, the foundation on which the fortress stood was far less solid.

The soil layer was dug up quickly, and the military engineers carefully took out the gunpowder from the box carried on their backs.

On today’s battlefield, towards a strong castle, gunpowder was just a monster that made loud noises and raised bravado. Even if the two chemist brothers of the King’s Lunatic Academy improved gunpowder from powder to granular form——it was still not enough to shake a solid fortress.

But the King didn’t intend to use it to directly blast the Blackstone Fortress, but planned to use the more powerful gunpowder to expand the damage to this corner of the fortress.

After the military engineers placed the explosives, they retreated quickly.

In the “rumbling” explosion, soil and some gravel were lifted up high, and several military engineers who underestimated the power of the explosion and did not retreat far enough were caught in the waves of the explosion. They were knocked out by the impact of the explosion and fell heavily on the ground with blood all over their face and head.

No one helped them, life was the least valuable thing on the battlefield of life and death, and the huge battering ram pushed from behind even directly crushed a collapsed military engineer.

Braving the enemy’s arrows and stepping on the blood of their comrades, the soldiers pushed the huge battering ram to approach the bottom of the tower where the foundation was blasted a hole by the gunpowder.

James was the man who commanded the battering ram, and he had made improvements to the giant siege machinery according to the King’s orders.

In a siege, generally used were huge battering rams and trebuchets, in addition to siege towers. But this time the fortress they were going to attack was made of black stone, which was so hard that ordinary trebuchets were of little use. So James modified the battering ram, reducing its damage range but increasing its impact force.

The main body of the battering ram was made of Ingres’ hard millennium old ironwood tree trunk, and was placed in a triangular frame with a height of two people by iron cables. In this era, a giant siege machine like this had blasted through many solid city walls.

At this time, more than sixty tall and strong warriors pushed the battering ram to the position that James personally confirmed, pulled the rope together, shouted, and pulled back. The iron chain hanging the battering ram made a “creaking” sound, and the heavy battering ram was pulled back little by little.

General Vulture, who stood up high, discovered the battle situation in this corner of the fortress, and while he waved back the smoke in front of him, he directed the archers to quickly move closer to that part of the tower.

The arrows rained down from the tower like rain droplets.

James laughed triumphantly at the battering ram.

In order to meet the King’s request, he installed a bunker similar to a sloping canopy on the top of the battering ram. The roof slanted to cover the wheels and push rods of the battering ram, protecting the soldiers pushing it as much as possible under its roof. However, this device had a limited service life. Once it was attacked for too long, there was a possibility that it would collapse and in turn injure its own soldiers.

But before that, the military engineers had already used the new version of gunpowder to blast the foundations at the bottom of this corner of the tower in aid of the battering ram!

“God bless Legrand!”

The junior officer in command roared loudly, and as soon as he waved the flag, more than sixty soldiers let go of their hands together.

The iron chains were stretched forward almost instantly, and the rattling sound of the iron chains irritated everyone’s eardrums. The heavy battering ram hit the wall of the Blackstone Tower with a terrible sound.

Rumble——rumble——

The fine iron hammer hit the point that James carefully calculated, time and time again. The soldiers’ foreheads were covered with sweat, their shouts coming from the top of their lungs.

Cobweb-like cracks appeared on the tower wall.

When the battering ram collided with the wall for the last time, the noise was completely different from the previous few times. The wall of the tower finally couldn’t bear the pressure any longer, and it shattered suddenly. The iron chains on which hung the battering hammer slammed into the tower, and broken stones flew everywhere.

“My calculations are correct!”

Amidst the loud noise, James cheered. He grabbed his pen and began to scribble on the piece of paper he carried with him. Just when he was obsessively trying to record the conclusion, the oath knights who were closely guarding him raised their shields and dragged him out from under the battering ram roof.

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Accompanied by a loud bang, the roof of the battering ram, which could no longer withstand the attack, crashed down, and the soldiers on either side of the battering ram fled in all directions.

On the other side, the King who had long been awaiting, pointed with his long sword:

“Attack!”

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While Legrand’s King led his soldiers to fight in the north, the King of Bressi, which was separated from Legrand by a strait, was also in the midst of war.

The new King Bressi with dark blonde hair was not having a good time these days.

After the Pope announced his excommunication, his dear brother, Prince Charles, couldn’t wait to raise troops to punish him. It was called a “punishment” but in fact it was actually a usurpation. The power of the Holy Court was deeply entrenched in Bressi so although Ferri III had made a lot of preparations in advance, the situation was still very bad.

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“Your Majesty.”

General Karl stood behind Ferri III in full armor.

Waiting near Ferri III was an elite army of knights. They stood quietly in front of the Palace of Bressi.

Ferri III, like them, wore armor.

He looked up at the Palace of Bressi, the palace marked by tulips, whose spire was as straight as a sword in the dark night.

After tonight, this place would cease to exist.

With the support of the Holy Court and most nobles, Prince Charles had crossed the important Kobia River and seized the royal castle in Nader City. After losing Nader Castle, the area controlled by Ferri III shrank rapidly, and now his good brother was approaching the capital aggressively.

General Karl sent letters to the major families, asking them to send troops to support them.

Ferri III said to his teacher with a smile that asking for help from these great nobles was the most stupid thing in the world. If they were not just biding their time, then they were already on their way to attack him. Facts have proved that Ferri III’s judgment was much more accurate than his teacher, or perhaps he was just more clear-headed than his teacher.

“When it has come the time for me to really leave here, I still cannot help feeling sad.”

Holding the torch, Ferri III looked around the familiar palace and sighed.

When he was young, he knew that he would inherit the throne one day, and once ran to the throne in the middle of the night to look at it. His father walked up from behind, put his hand gently on his shoulder, and asked him if he thought this chair was beautiful? He hesitated then, and replied frankly that he thought it was very impressive. His father picked him up, put him on the marble throne, and told him that this chair was colder than all the chairs in the world, and that if he wanted to sit on it, he had to be prepared to walk through fire.

His father was not a promising monarch, and he often gave in to the nobles and the church. It was more accurate to call him cowardly than to say that he was magnanimous.

Ferri III thought so when he was in his teens, and he didn’t realize until later that the prestige of that throne was all an illusion.

A real king did not just mean a chair and a crown. If being a king meant he still needed to kneel, just like his younger brother who had become the Holy Court’s lackey, then was such a king really a king?

“Your Majesty…..” General Karl wanted to say something.

Ferri III interrupted him with a smile: “No need to persuade me.”

He took the flaming arrow from the servant’s hand, pulled it full force, and shot it steadily into the palace. In the Palace of Bressi, oil had already been poured all over on the floor, and the flames shot up quickly as soon as the flaming arrow hit the ground.

“Let’s go.”

Ferri III threw the bow and rode forward.

Behind him, Bressi’s thousand-year-old palace printed a brilliant shadow in the raging fire——a vainglory prosperity was being burned by red fire.

“After Charlie captured Aseri, I wonder how furious he would be when he finds out that what awaits him is just a burned palace?”

The army headed by Ferri III went out from the north gate of the castle and headed northeast. On the horse, Ferri III still had the mood to crack a joke with General Karl.

General Karl couldn’t figure out what his former student was thinking, so he could only bow slightly: “Your Majesty, do you really believe they are truly reliable?”

General Karl was referring to the group of members of the Holy Court that Ferri III cooperated with.

The smile on Ferri III’s face disappeared.

He snorted coldly: “It is only the difference between a jackal and a poisonous snake, there is nothing trustworthy about them.”

“Then we…..?” General Karl asked worriedly.

They set fire to the palace, and left the capital of Bressi with the most elite troops in the middle of the night. This was tantamount to surrendering the entire country to Charles and the Holy Court. And the purpose of their journey now was to go to the cold region in the northeast, where there was a territory belonging to Ferri III himself.

Like Legrand’s Ingres State, the terrain there was dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack.

“As long as there are people, there will never be one voice.” Ferri III said lightly, “Is not the Pope’s throne also the most supreme throne among the believers? Servant of servants, king of the world…..Who wouldn’t want such a throne? There are far more people who died because of it than the secular throne, am I right?”

Under the more glorious the throne, the more bones and blood there were.

The selection of the pope was absolutely as intense as that of a secular monarch. In the last three hundred years alone, six popes died of assassination or other reasons. There were also different theological systems in the Holy Court. Though the Pope’s current intention to establish a nation had received the general support of the entire Holy Court and this faction held mucg authority, this did not mean that everyone would hope that things would develop as the Pope hoped.

Today’s Holy Court was like a moving steel chariot. Pope Julian drove this iron chariot to crush the earth, but in the shadow of the wheels, countless things were brewing, and everyone had joined in this torrent of chaos.

“How is Legrand now?” Ferri III asked, he knew that General Karl had just received a secret letter from Legrand a few days ago.

“The impact of Duke Buckingham’s death in battle has been completely suppressed by Pureland’s victory. As long as he can capture Bomari Castle, Legrand’s rebellion will be over.” General Karl replied.

Ferri III heard this and said: “I hope he will succeed.”

Would they be able to stop the chariot with their arms, or would they be crushed into dust by the iron wheels?

……………………

Legrand, Bomari Castle.

In the external fortifications of the castle, all the guarding soldiers of the Balboa State performed their duties. General Vulture of the Balboa State stood on the Blackstone Fortress in the center of the Lacey River, overlooking the Legrand army camp on the other side of the river from up high.

In the past few days, Lantoft, the leader of the rebel army, the King of Newcastle, had become a little irritable. General Vulture looked on coldly, thinking that some of the other’s plans that were thought to be surefire must have failed.

And this morning, Lantoft specially dispatched a messenger to relay the order to guard the castle to the death.

When he received this order, General Vulture couldn’t help subconsciously thinking of the letter shot into the fort with an arrow that day. For the past few days, General Vulture had been pondering over that letter.

He couldn’t make up his mind.

At this moment, the shrill sound of warning horns echoed throughout the fortress.

General Vulture was startled, and immediately looked out from the archery hole.

Legrand’s army, which had been standing still for the past few days, suddenly dismantled their camp and began to march forward, and a small fleet built temporarily from tree logs was pushed into the river. The soldiers on board were all wearing bright red smocks, obviously Legrand’s vanguard.

In the past few days, Legrand’s soldiers have been logging nearby, and for the rest of the time there was some seemingly small-scale tentative probing. General Sheehan also sent a team with axes several times into the Lacey River, braving the rain of arrows overhead to chop down the wooden stakes put by the rebels in the water.

These several actions have yielded no results.

General Vulture relaxed his vigilance a little because of this.

But, today, without any warning, Legrand launched an attack on the fortress!

The vanguard fleet on wooden rafts quickly approached the rows of erected wooden stakes along the current. The archers moved forward like several times before, and fired arrows at these soldiers from the archery holes on the tall black stone fortress tower. The torrential rain of arrows enveloped that fleet. But unexpectedly, the fleet did not come close to the fort and the stakes.

When there was still a distance from the stake, the soldiers holding their shields quickly threw the piles of branches and dry grass on the raft into the water. The rushing water carried these debris straight down, and the branches and dry grass were quickly stopped by the closely arranged wooden stakes in the water.

“What are they doing?”

Just when General Vulture was at a loss, amidst the rain of arrows, the soldiers lifted the barrels one by one from the rafts, and worked together to pour the contents of the barrels into the river. The poured liquid floated on the surface of the water, and was quickly carried to the front of the defensive line drawn by wooden stakes.

Only then did General Vulture understand what the soldiers had thrown down the branches and dry grass for.

Seeing the barrels of liquid they poured down being blocked by the branches and dry grass in front of the defense line of stakes, and were not washed away by the rushing Lacey River.

A bad premonition welled up, and General Vulture immediately ordered to shoot the vanguard fleet with all their strength.

On the wooden rafts in the Lacey River, the soldiers shot flaming arrows one after another.

The flaming arrows landed on the layer of unknown liquid blocked by the branches and dry grass in front of the stakes. General Vulture could hardly believe his eyes——the flames began burning on the water.

On the other side of the river, General Sheehan was directing the soldiers to prepare the pontoon bridge that had already been built. When he looked up, he could see the King reining in his horse and standing quietly in front of the army, and he was finally able to let out the breath he had been holding for the past few days.

——Only a very few number of people knew that during these days, the King was actually not in the main tent at all!

General Sheehan didn’t think about what the King did during the few days he was away, he just carefully did everything he should do as a general, and strictly blocked the news from leaking.

Fortunately, before the battle officially started, the King returned.

Holding a thick stack of paper full of numbers and symbols in his hand, James stood beside the King, gesturing to the opposite castle and fortress. After taking back Newcastle, the King did not let him continue to preside over the construction of the castle there, but brought him in as a military architectural consultant during the war.

The King’s evaluation of James at the beginning was not wrong——

This one should indeed belong to the Lunatic Academy.

“Although the ancient holy fire is powerful, it has too many limitations.” James shook his head in dissatisfaction. He looked at the blueprint in his hand, and then looked at the archery holes in the fortress. “If the danger of the cannon can be reduced, if the explosive damage can be increased, then we can create an unbreakable fortress! It will definitely be ten thousand times better than these piles of rubbish!”

Listening to James’ blabbering, the King raised his eyebrows slightly.

“There will be.”

He replied thoughtfully.

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

While speaking, the wooden stakes that the rebels had planted in the Lacey River to stop them had been almost destroyed by the ancient holy fire.

The wooden stakes were burned, and the ancient holy fire was gradually no longer blocked in a line, and began to be washed away by the river. Large and small warm yellow flames floated on a section of the river, presenting an unreal, beautiful and dreamy image.

The King officially gave the order to attack.

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