Inside the Firmrock Stronghold, in the mage tower used to control the magic focus, the fierce but short battle had ended.
The once gorgeous and bright arcane hall was a mess. The explosion of magic energy and the explosion caused by the attackers had left shocking damage everywhere. The walls were full of craters, the ground was torn apart by the explosion, and the steel frame used to fix the runestones was also melted by the high temperature, turning into a pile of twisted metal skeletons on the ground. At the entrance of the hall, two arcane stone statues that were used to guard the hall had turned into lifeless obsidian fragments, scattered on the ground. In the center of the hall, in the huge circular magic circle, there were only some faintly discernible human-shaped scorch marks and armor fragments left.
Sir Maryland, who rushed to the scene as fast as he could, stood at the entrance of the hall, looking at the tragic scene in the hall, and did not say a word for a long time.
"… The battle was concentrated in the tower, and there were no traces of fighting outside the tower or in the nearby outposts." The mage consultant told Sir Maryland about the clues collected so far. "The attackers' fighting style is strange, and we have never seen it before. It was a concentrated explosion in a short period of time, and there were traces of high temperature burns and explosions everywhere. The guards seemed to be killed before they could react. We also found this next to the wreckage of an obsidian golem."
Sir Maryland looked at the thing that the mage consultant handed to him: it was a twisted broken blade or sword, and the remaining runes and inlaid alloy parts could be seen on the side. Whether it was the casting precision or the design style, it could not be a product of the Firmrock Stronghold, and it did not look like any standard sword in Ansu.
There was only a part of the blade, and the handle was missing.
"… Cecil's weapon!" A southern Knight who followed him exclaimed when he saw the broken blade, and then quickly said, "General, this is an extraordinary weapon. Its magic blade can emit extremely high heat, and in an instant, it can cut open a soldier wearing light armor. One of my squires was killed by this weapon …"
Hearing the southern Knight's words, Sir Maryland suddenly remembered another thing that had just happened: Viscount Carole fell to his death under the terrace... There were no traces of struggle on the terrace, so he could only conclude that the viscount had slipped and fell to his death.
The banquet was held last night, and Viscount Carole didn't appear after that. Everyone thought that the worried viscount had gone back to rest because he couldn't handle the alcohol.
The ambush happened inside the Mage Tower. Everyone was caught off guard and killed in the hall. There were no traces of battle outside.
Cecil was in the city, and he had been in the city for a long time. In fact … he was hiding among the guardians of the Mage Tower, or perhaps he had already gained the trust of the guardians.
The army of the southern nobles was responsible for guarding the Mage Tower and the inner walls. To be more precise, it was Luo Peini. Countess Glen …
Deep palpitations gripped Sir Maryland's heart. Along with this palpitations, there were also sounds of chaos and faint explosions coming from the distant city walls.
This war … this is a war?
"There's a mole in the city … Where is Countess Luo Peini?!"
The Knight on the side immediately replied, "Countess Glen hasn't appeared on the city walls since this morning. The guards she brought with her also haven't appeared."
Sir Maryland immediately ordered loudly, "Go now …"
Before he finished speaking, a disturbing whistling sound suddenly came from the upper floor of the Mage Tower. The whistling sound was mixed with the sound of something breaking. The other Knight and soldiers immediately looked up, but Sir Maryland and the mage consultant turned pale at the same time. They thought of the possible cause of the whistling sound.
It wasn't a problem with the Mage Tower, but something connected to the Mage Tower — the magic barrier of Firmrock Stronghold.
The magic barrier connected the walls of the stronghold and every Mage Tower in the city. When the barrier continued to weaken, the first thing to react was the magic crystals at the top of these towers.
He immediately rushed out of the Mage Tower with his men.
The interior of the Firmrock Stronghold was echoing with whistling sounds. Along with the whistling sounds, there was also a low rumbling sound that was becoming more and more obvious. It was the sound of the trembling city shield on the verge of collapse. It was the sound of the air within the shield resonating with the city wall. The layer of magic barrier that was emitting a faint light was now covered with ripples. A kind of deathly white pattern spread from the top of the city wall to the sky above the Firmrock Stronghold. When Sir Maryland rushed out of the Mage Tower, those ripples had already covered almost two-thirds of the sky.
The high-ranking knight had never faced such a hopeless situation in his life. However, at this moment, he calmed down instead. He looked at the magic barrier that was disintegrating little by little. With one hand on the hilt of the sword by his waist, he asked the mage consultant beside him in a low voice, "Master, how long can the shield last?"
"Twenty minutes or less," the mage consultant replied. "I'll lead the combat mages who are still alive to the city walls and use our own magic to recharge the shield. This may last three to five minutes."
"Don't waste your magic. It's useless to use manpower to fight against that kind of weapon." Sir Maryland interrupted the mage consultant. "Let the combat mages rest and prepare for battle in the city."
Then he turned his head and looked at his most trusted subordinate, Knight, who had followed him for many years.
This Knight should be one of the most powerful people in Firmrock Stronghold besides himself.
The city shield could last for twenty minutes. After the shield was broken, there was still the south wall. The south wall, which was cast with metal, could withstand the "Skyfire Explosion" of Cecil's people for at least ten minutes. Even if Cecil's people let the "Skyfire" fall over the wall and into the city, it would only destroy the surface facilities of the second wall. The magic focus and the main runes of the magic barrier were buried underground.
Before the wall completely collapsed, there was still something he could do.
"Guard this city well," Sir Maryland said to his personal Knight. "Also, find Luo Peini and her missing people. They are very likely to have betrayed us. Once this is confirmed, we must get rid of them before they cause more damage. "
Knight's eyes widened. "General, what are you going to do?"
"I once swore in the name of my family that I would defend Firmrock Stronghold until my death. Now it's time for me to fulfill my oath." Sir Maryland held the hilt of his sword and spoke clearly and forcefully. "If I succeed, Cecil's people may stop attacking. If I fail, your loyalty will end. You take the survivors out of the north gate and go to the Captical. Tell Prince Wales everything about the fall of Firmrock Stronghold."
"General! I'll go with you! " Knight immediately said. "I also swore that I would always follow you on the battlefield. Fleeing in the face of battle is not something a Knight should do. It's not something a noble should do!"
"The War of the Nobles is over!" Sir Maryland stared at Knight's face, and then his tone softened. "… The War of the Nobles is over."
…
The brave knights stepped forward, and under the leadership of the Lord Commander of the Citadel, a regiment of knights began to march towards the southern gate. Ser Maryland sat on his trusty warhorse, and watched as the gate drew nearer and nearer before him.
The magic barrier outside the city walls was already on the verge of collapse. Large areas of chaotic ripples were wandering everywhere, and there were even mana holes in some areas. In those areas where the barrier was broken, uncontrollable mana turbulence was jumping on the city walls like lightning, and everywhere it passed, it was chaos.
Groups of southern Knight and noble soldiers fled from the wall, mixed with some of the southern nobles.
A moment ago, they were shouting and yelling on the wall, and they were proud of themselves.
Looking at these unbearable guys, a thought suddenly came to Sir Maryland's mind.
Why did he accept these guys in the first place?
The nobles of this country … when did they become such guys?
Although he wanted to ignore them, Sir Maryland could not help but stop. He pulled the reins in front of a group of panicking southern Knight and shouted: "Ladies and gentlemen, if you still have a little sense of honor as a noble, as a Knight, at least go and maintain order in the city! Firmrock Stronghold has not fallen yet!! "
Then, he did not care how many people heard his words. He turned his horse around and rushed forward.
The enemy's saboteurs were hidden in the city, and they could cause more losses at any time.
After losing the commander, the order in the stronghold may fall into even greater chaos.
The highest commander of the stronghold should not leave the stronghold so easily under such circumstances.
Sir Maryland was very clear about this.
However, someone must go and stop the two ships, and stop the two terrible weapons on the ships.
Ordinary soldiers and slightly weaker knights would simply be sending themselves to their deaths if they were to go out. Only a high-grade knight like him would have a little bit of hope if he were to go out under the cover of the knights. This was the value and usefulness of a powerful individual.
The city gate opened, and a pungent burnt smell assaulted their nostrils.
It was the unique smell of high-intensity arcane energy surging in the air and decomposing some substances in the air.
The Knight raised their heads and looked at the two beams of light above them with shock and fear.
From this position and angle, they were even more terrifying. The pure arcane light poured down on the crumbling magic barrier like two long rivers of light, and like a majestic aurora, it was crushing the city bit by bit.
Firmrock Stronghold, built by the Second Dynasty of Ansu with countless manpower and resources and condensed the highest magic skills of the royal family at that time, had stood on this land for a century. It was slowly approaching its end under the impact of the arcane flood.
This stronghold was built to defend against the Cecil family, but in the past century, the Cecil family had never fought back.
Many people suddenly realized that this was just the first attack by the Cecil family since the establishment of Firmrock Stronghold.
"Don't look up, look forward!" Sir Maryland raised his longsword high and pointed it at Whitewater River. "Don't stop!"
The Knight pulled down their masks and began to slowly accelerate along with Sir Maryland's warhorse.
Most of them would not survive this attack, and in fact, most of them would not be of any use even if they made it to Whitewater River. The two ships were in the middle of the river, and as the king of the land, the Knight could do nothing in the face of the floating warships in the middle of the river.
But as a high-grade Knight, Sir Maryland could. As a high-grade Transcendent, he had countless ways to ignore Whitewater River. As long as he was close enough, a high-grade Knight could stop the magic devices on the two ships.
The Knight Regiment began to charge.
.。 m.
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