Snowflakes were blown by the wind outside the arched window inlaid with crystal glass. The thick walls and magic circulation blocked out the cold air outside the castle, keeping the temperature in the room warm.
The bright fireplace was burning not far away. The light of the flames shone on the bronze ornaments, reflecting a hazy and shaking light. The warm firelight made the travel-worn high-grade ranger relax — this cold winter did not seem so cold anymore.
"Tell me about the situation at Winter Fort." Gwen walked into the room, took off his cloak and hung it on a hook. "How many of us are there now?"
"The main force of the Steel Rangers has retreated to the area under our control. Currently, there are three reconnaissance teams and two mobile squads carrying out missions from Winter Fort to Frost Woodland." Solderlin nodded. "In addition, due to the changes in the situation of several major towns, the divine contamination is spreading beyond the army. The MIB agents lurking in the city have withdrawn from the danger zone in batches. Only a few well-protected contact stations are still operating at a lower level."
"Hmm …" Gwen nodded slightly. "It's good to evacuate early. The situation is going to change a lot. The stalemate is about to end. Next, it's time to see the results."
"I was a little surprised when I received the evacuation order. The situation is changing faster than I thought," Solderlin said. "It seems that the God of War is deteriorating very quickly. Oldenheim can't wait any longer. This is also in line with some of the phenomena I observed before I evacuated."
"Some phenomena?" Gwen immediately became serious. "What phenomena?"
Solderlin organized his words slightly and began to report the situation he had observed during his activities in the Winter Fort area. "As of the time I evacuated, the land of Typhon had begun to show very obvious signs of divine calamity. Ordinary people began to hear and see some 'messages' related to the gods. Strange noises also began to frequently come out from the sealed churches of the God of War. In addition, some people witnessed a huge phantom in the sky in the direction of Winter Castle. Some eyewitness reports described the phantom as an iron-gray giant with heavy armor all over its body. "
"… The classic image of the God of War in most religious scriptures," Gwen said in a deep voice. "The armored giant marching in the storm and clouds, overlooking the earth …"
Then he asked, "Did these phenomena appear after the aerial battle?"
Solderlin thought for a moment. "If you are talking about the common auditory and visual hallucinations, they happened occasionally before the aerial battle. The locals thought that it was a magic phenomenon caused by a large number of combat mages gathering together. If you are talking about the giant … it did appear after the aerial battle a few days ago."
Gwen let out a sigh. The information brought by Solderlin further confirmed his conjecture about the 'God of War'.
As soon as this thought came to his mind, Solderlin suddenly spoke again. "If my analysis is correct … these phenomena indicate that the activity of the God of War is getting stronger, and he is very 'close' to our world. Now that you are here in person … Could it be that the God of War is coming?"
Gwen's eyes widened in surprise. He looked Solderlin up and down. Before he could speak, Solderlin smiled. "I am not an expert in the field of theology, nor do I have a strong ability to deduce the overall situation like you. But I have accumulated some miscellaneous knowledge in the past hundreds of years. The phenomena observed in the recent activities in the Winter Fort area are enough to make me think of something … I just didn't expect that the situation would really become like this."
"Rosetta seems to want to do something big." Gwen let out a long sigh. "Even I have to admit that he is a very scary guy … but also a very decisive and decisive person."
"In my opinion, you are all very 'scary' people." Solderlin laughed and said with emotion. "Sometimes I can't help but think of the time when I first met you more than seven hundred years ago … At that time, you were a more reckless person and feared on the battlefield. But in my opinion, you were much more reassuring than you are now."
"After all, at that time, I only had to be responsible for an army. The burden of the country was on Charlie." Gwen said casually. As soon as his voice trailed off, a familiar mental wave suddenly appeared in the depths of his consciousness, interrupting what he was about to say.
He waved his hand at Solderlin in front of him, motioning for him to wait for a while. Then he quickly focused his mind and immersed his consciousness into the neural network. A moment later, he ended the sudden communication. Solderlin, who was on the other side, noticed that he had "returned to reality" and immediately asked, "What happened?"
"I just received news on the 25th," Gwen said in a deep voice with a solemn expression. "Rosetta Augustus has left Oldenheim yesterday, and Duke Ferdinand left with him."
Hearing this, Solderlin's expression instantly turned serious. At this special moment, under such a change in the situation, Rosetta Augustus suddenly left his imperial capital. This could only reveal one thing …
"Looks like it's about to begin." After a few seconds of silence, Gwen said slowly in a low voice.
…
The dizziness from the mental connection quickly faded away, and Daniel, who was sitting on the chair, opened his eyes.
The fireplace beside him was burning, and the warm flames danced happily in the hearth. The magic crystal lamp illuminated the spacious living room, and two magic brooms were automatically sweeping the dust at the corner of the stairs. The old mage was sitting in a reclining chair near the fireplace, with a warm blanket covering his lower body. An open magic book was placed on his lap, and the rune pages in the book were flowing with a glossy luster. All this made him look like he had just taken a small nap.
The young female mage, who was sitting on a chair and reading a book, noticed the subtle movement of her mentor. She immediately raised her head with a concerned look on her face. "Has the news been sent out?"
"Yes." Daniel nodded simply. "Is there anything unusual?"
"No, the sensing runes set up everywhere in the house are not responding," Mary said immediately. "No one is spying on us."
"That's good." Daniel nodded. "Now the situation in Oldenheim is very stable on the surface, but the Obsidian Imperial Guards and the royal spies are on the verge of breaking their nerves. So, even a few minutes of communication has to be extra careful. You haven't used the neural network these days, have you?"
"No!" Mary immediately shook her head. "I've been very careful."
Daniel nodded softly, and then his eyes fell on Mary. For a long time, he did not move his gaze away. The black-haired female mage finally twisted her neck awkwardly under his gaze and asked with a hint of nervousness, "Teacher … what did I do wrong again?"
There was no fear in her voice. It was just the nervousness of an apprentice facing her teacher.
"If you want to go back to the countryside, I can arrange it for you," Daniel said with no expression on his face. "With your current ability and qualifications, I can make you the manager of a regional mage society. Even if you don't want to take up the position, you can live a good life there and be respected by many people."
"Why do you suddenly say that?" Mary's eyes widened. "It's because I've messed up in the lab recently …"
"I just suddenly realized that the things I've been doing are getting more and more dangerous, and I'm afraid your brain can't cope with this kind of work," Daniel said faintly. "When there's a situation, I have to divert my attention to tell you what to do."
Mary was stunned for a few seconds. It seemed that she needed this time to understand the true meaning behind her teacher's words. After that, she mustered up enough courage. She finally sorted out her thoughts and bravely broke the silence. "Teacher, I can take care of myself. I don't want to go back to the countryside. I think I'm fine here."
Her voice finally weakened. The courage she had gathered in a few seconds was only enough for her to say a few words in front of her majestic teacher. However, Daniel looked a little surprised. He looked at his apprentice, who had not been very promising, for a moment and remembered what happened when he found her parents in the countryside a year ago.
After a moment, he looked away and snorted coldly. "Then do as you wish. There won't be another chance like this in the future."
…
The magic train glided smoothly and quickly on the track. The scenery outside the window receded rapidly. In the snowy landscape, there were fields buried in snow after the harvest, as well as patches of peaceful villages.
"We still have some time before we reach the eastern checkpoint of Winter Castle, Your Majesty." Ferdinand looked at Emperor Typhon, who was sitting in the seat opposite him. "Do you need to take a rest?"
"No need," Rosetta said casually. At the same time, his gaze swept across the scenery outside the window. "… The magic train is indeed a good thing, and so are the magic-powered machines."
"Indeed," said Ferdinand. "So, no matter how much it costs, we have to think of a way to create them ourselves."
Rosetta grunted. His gaze seemed to be attracted by the fields outside the window. He stared at them for a long time before he broke the silence again. "Ferdinand, do you still remember our last hunt in 716?"
Ferdinand recalled for a moment. "You're talking about that winter hunt? Of course, I remember it. It left a deep impression on me … That was the year before your coronation. The winter that year was also very cold. We caught several deer at the hunting grounds north of Tarrenkins … That was also the last royal winter hunt. The year after that, you were crowned and temporarily canceled the winter hunt that year. In the third year, you officially announced the complete cessation of the royal winter hunt. This royal tradition that had lasted for hundreds of years also came to an end. "
"Yes … Then, do you still remember what happened during the winter hunt that year?" As Rosetta spoke, he glanced at Ferdinand. "Don't tell me that you only remember those deer."
"Of course I remember what happened." Ferdinand recalled very seriously. "A hunter broke into a forest where hunting was prohibited in the winter and wanted to secretly hunt a rabbit … His pregnant wife was sick and needed some meat to nourish her body. However, the soldiers patrolling around the hunting grounds discovered him. Without any trial or notification, the soldiers directly shot the hunter to death with their bows and arrows … Just like shooting an animal in the hunting grounds."
"Yes, just like hunting an animal," said Rosetta calmly. "At that time, many people thought that it was only right and proper."
"Even a few years ago, some people still thought that it was only right and proper. All of this has only gradually changed in the last two to three years. More and more scholars, capable merchants, and rune craftsmen have appeared among the literate commoners. There are even commoners who have started to enter all levels of government offices and parliaments. After the nutrition, education, and newborn preschool systems have matured and gotten on the right track, the number of awakened Extraordinaries among the commoners has also started to increase. Now, there's almost no difference in the ratio of awakened Extraordinaries between the nobles and commoners. After this, the nobles have no choice but to admit that commoners have the same thinking, learning, and growth abilities as them. Or to put it more bluntly … admit that commoners are the same species as them. "
As Rosetta listened to Ferdinand's narration, his calm and slightly sinister expression hid all the changes in his emotions. It was only after more than ten seconds of silence that he looked in the direction of Winter Castle and softly broke the silence. "Yes, we used close to twenty years to barely achieve all of this …"
"Using more than ten years to make a portion of people realize an obvious fact that conforms to the laws of nature. This is truly ironic," Ferdinand sighed. "What's even more ironic is that even you and I didn't realize these things clearly from the beginning …"
Rosetta didn't reply. He only looked out of the window, seemingly in a daze, in the direction of Winter Castle. At the end of the snow-covered fields on both sides of the train was the undulating mountain range of the Winter Castle Defense Line. Rosetta's eyes were fixed on the vast and boundless sky between the mountain range and the clouds.
Faint starlight floated in one of his eyes, and there seemed to be another eye embedded in the depths of his pupil. He could clearly see the strange phenomenon in the depths of the sky.
A giant covered in iron-gray armor was standing among the clouds, looking down at this tiny and fragile world with his empty and cold gaze. He carried a flag and a greatsword on his back, and held a war bow as tall as a clock tower in his hand.
That was God. He stood under the clear winter sky as if he was the king of a hunting ground that belonged solely to Him. The majestic city and undulating villages were like hunting ground decorations with colorful flags in front of that enormous body. Under God's war bow, all the mortals in the world — regardless of whether they were kings or commoners, heroes or pawns — were like animals waiting to be slaughtered.
The wheels rolled, and the train whistled. Between the repulsive mechanism and the relay poles, gusts of wind with snowflakes were stirred up. The magic energy train gradually accelerated, charging straight towards the end of the horizon where the majestic God was about to enter this world completely.
While this magic energy train was driving towards the border, on the dozen or so transportation routes from Typhon's hinterland to Winter Castle, between the wilderness and the valleys, between the rivers and the plains, dozens of Knight's Regiment, Battle Mage's Regiment, and hundreds of thousands of Extraordinary soldiers were moving towards the war zone.
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