The defenders of Winterwolf Fort have surrendered?! "
When he heard the news, Philip stood up from his chair with his eyes wide open.
"Yes, General." Not far above the magic net terminal, a ground force commander with smoke and dust on his face was standing in the holographic projection. Behind him was a large area of ruins that was still smoking and burning, and soldiers were busy moving about. Under the temporary light in the distance, disarmed Typhon soldiers could be seen being escorted. "Their supreme commander has given up resistance, and now the shield of the castle has been shut down from the inside. We are taking over all areas of the castle."
Philip frowned. Just like how he could not understand why the Tiphons would suddenly start a war a few days ago, he also could not understand why the Tiphons would choose to surrender. This did not conform to the intelligence report on the behavior of the current supreme commander of Winterwolf Fort. It also did not conform to the tendency of the God of War to seek "as much bloodshed as possible and expand the scale of the war" after losing control.
"Relying on the sturdy fortifications of the castle, they could have continued to resist for a while. They could even hope to hold on until reinforcements arrive and get out of trouble," a staff officer said in confusion. "Only the outer city has been breached, and the inner castle is almost intact … Typhon surrendered just like that? General, what do you think about this … "
"Typhon's' Wolf General 'has never surrendered before. Not to mention, this generation's Wolf General seems to be quite hostile to us. To be honest, I don't believe the enemy would surrender so easily." Philip shook his head. "But they have shut down the shield of the castle, and under the premise that our ground forces are gradually taking over the entire Winterwolf Fort, I really can't think of any plan they have to turn the tables … In theory, if they really want to continue to resist, any plan is better than surrendering."
The staff officer asked curiously, "General, you mean …"
Philip looked up and looked in the direction of the magic net terminal. "Have you contacted their supreme commander?"
"Yes, General." The commander on the other side of the communication channel immediately nodded. "I have contacted her, but she said 'to talk to someone of equal status'. I think she wants to talk to you directly."
Philip pondered for a moment before nodding. "I understand. I'll be there soon. You will continue to carry out the takeover and clean-up work. Also, you will set up an advance camp here and be prepared to deal with the Typhon's counterattack or continue to advance eastward. "
"Yes, General!"
…
Andesha was still lying on the bed. In fact, it was extremely difficult for her to move. The buzzing noise in her ears had weakened by a lot. The powerful physique of a high-grade Extraordinaire was quickly repairing the damaged parts of her body. As her hearing gradually recovered, she could hear the bustling noises outside.
The last of his guards were being disarmed. Cecil's men had completely taken over this place.
They were right beside him.
Andesha tried her best to move her eyes. She could see the strange armoured Cecil soldiers standing in various corners of the room, vigilantly 'protecting' this place. The soldiers who were supposed to take care of her were 'invited' to another room after they were disarmed. In theory, she would not be able to see them for a long time.
[It's good that I can't see them.] The young Wolf General could not help but think.
She did not know how to face her subordinates, whether they were corrupted by the God of War or those who were completely conscious. She understood her Winterwolf Knight Regiment and every single one of them. They were definitely prepared to fight to the death. They were even prepared to use their flesh and blood to resist the Cecil's war machines. The castle could have continued to stand, and could have even waited for reinforcements from the rear … But all of that was impossible. Their highest commander chose to surrender after a single bombardment.
The Winterwolf Knight Regiment did not complain when they received the order. This made Andesha feel an indescribable pressure.
As her thoughts drifted away, a sudden pain came from a wound on her body. Andesha's thoughts were interrupted. She could not help but groan softly, and her body moved slightly. But this caused even more pain.
"Try not to move. The new potion is taking effect." An unfamiliar soldier's voice came from the side. There was a hint of nervousness in the cold voice. "Hold on for a while longer. A medical cleric is on his way."
Andesha looked towards the source of the voice and saw a young face. It was a Cecil soldier, or perhaps a low-ranking officer. Both of them were ordinary people who did not emit any magic waves, and her vision was constantly swaying. She could not tell if the person standing in front of her was a soldier or an officer.
[At least Cecil's men did not make things difficult for the surrendered soldiers. That's not bad.]
Just as Andesha was thinking about this, she suddenly heard the sound of military boots coming from the direction of the room. At the same time, she heard the young man's voice. "Oh, the cleric is here."
Medical cleric? A priest?
Andesha curiously opened her eyes and looked towards the direction of the footsteps. She saw a young woman wearing what seemed to be a nun's attire, but there were armor plates, a metal backpack, and runic chains all over her attire. The 'nun' walked towards her with a rather heavy 'battle staff' in her hand. Andesha did not know if it was an illusion, but the staff seemed to be stained with blood.
The 'Nun Cecil' came to Andesha's bedside and placed the heavy staff on the ground. She bent down towards Andesha, and Andesha saw that the 'nun' was wearing some kind of gauntlet with a mechanical structure. No matter how she looked at it, it had nothing to do with praying or healing.
[This is the cleric in charge of healing me? Why does the Cecil's nun look like this?]
Andesha's heart was filled with doubts. Even though it was not the time to care about such details, she could not help but whisper, "Wait a minute, I still …"
"Don't move," the young nun immediately said and pressed down on Andesha's shoulder. "Your left eye is already blind. I don't want to accidentally damage your other eye."
Andesha was silent for a moment, then the corners of her mouth twitched. She felt bitter but also relieved: "… So I really am blind …"
"If you cooperate, perhaps one day it will grow back. After all, Cecil's skills are the best in the world." The nun seemed to be happy, and her tone was filled with confidence.
Andesha listened to the nun's words, but she did not say anything.
…
Ferdinand felt as if he had fallen into a long, strange, gloomy, and oppressive nightmare. In this nightmare, he seemed to have been replaced with another person, doing terrible things in a muddle-headed state. However, in the nightmare, he always felt that he was awake. Some kind of power had distorted his perception of the whole world. What he saw was no longer what he really saw, and what he did was no longer what he really wanted to do. He was like a clown puppet swaying in front of a swaying candle, doing seemingly normal actions with all his might. However, he cast a distorted and strange shadow on the ground that could not be distinguished.
At some point after that, he suddenly woke up. Everything in the nightmare shed its disguise and appeared in front of him dripping with blood. He realized that the things in the nightmare … seemed to have already happened.
Rosetta Augustus looked at Ferdinand, who suddenly sat up in the middle of the magic circle. A hint of a smile seemed to appear on his usually gloomy face. He said, "Ferdinand, you've finally 'woken up'."
Ferdinand panted heavily as if he wanted to use his rapid breathing to clean out all the filth in his body. He finally felt that his heart and mind had stabilized, and only then did he have the energy to observe the situation around him. This was a sealed room that looked very much like a magic laboratory. There were no windows, only a small door. Bright magic crystal lamps illuminated the entire room, and all the nearby walls were engraved with curved runes.
Ferdinand realized that there seemed to be no other furnishings in this room apart from runes. Even the place where he was lying was a circular magic circle that was engraved with runes.
"Your Majesty." The old duke finally recovered. The memories and correct cognition that had been suppressed in his mind were crazily "surging", allowing him to realize the terrible things that had happened a few days ago in just a few seconds. The former Alpha Wolf, who had weathered countless storms, could not help but feel a chill run down his spine. "I might have been contaminated! Previously, I — "
"I know, I know. Ferdinand, it has already happened. You need to further regain your composure." Rosetta Augustus said with a calm expression, "The situation is indeed very bad, but it's not too bad."
Ferdinand took a deep breath and stood up in the magic circle. His voice was urgent as he said, "We and Cecil —"
"We've already entered a state of war. We were the ones who declared war first. Or rather, the God of War declared war on our behalf." Rosetta looked into Ferdinand's eyes and said, "Ferdinand, Malcolm Dunnett has used the power of spiritual interference to deceive and distort your cognition. The explanation that we sent to Cecil has been changed into a declaration of war, but this is not your fault."
In that instant, Ferdinand felt as if his heart had skipped a beat. However, he stopped himself from falling into a state of dizziness. After realizing that this matter was already irreversible, he suddenly seemed to notice the abnormality in this room.
This place seemed to be a magic laboratory. He could see things that looked like runes everywhere. However, after taking a closer look, he realized that those were actually magic runes that he didn't recognize. Those winding patterns were complicated and exquisite, but their style didn't resemble that of any species on land. When he looked at them, Ferdinand felt that his somewhat depressed mood actually quickly calmed down and became clear. The originally muddled thoughts that were still left in him also quickly became extremely clear.
The old duke subconsciously asked, "Your Majesty, this place is —"
"This is still Obsidian Palace. This room is one of Madam Windsor Mappel's laboratories. If you're referring to those runes — they came from the deep sea and were first brought to Cecil by the sirens. Then, they were given to us by Cecil as a gift. I believe you should have seen a few samples of these runes before, but this is indeed the first time you've seen a 'Shielded House' on such a large scale and completely pieced together like this. "
"Runes from the deep sea …" Some relevant information finally popped up in Ferdinand's mind. He remembered that there was indeed such a thing. "Then, these runes are used for —"
"To remove the corruption that you've been subjected to," Rosetta said calmly. "And to ensure that you won't be affected by the will of God again for a period of time in the future. It seems that the effect is very good."
Ferdinand felt his mental state rapidly improving, and realized that the 'effect' that Roland mentioned was indeed very good. However, in the next second, he thought of something else.
"Your Majesty, could it be that you already knew that I —"
"No, I don't have the ability to predict the future," Rosetta waved his hand and interrupted Ferdinand's words. "But I'm sure that the corruption of God will definitely spread to the upper echelons of the Empire. I just didn't expect that the first person to be corrupted and completely undetected in the beginning would be you, a person who has been consciously distancing yourself from the Church since many years ago. From this point of view, I underestimated the ability of the will of God to infiltrate the minds of mortals. However, from another point of view, we've now further confirmed the infiltration and spreading pattern of the 'corruption', as well as the range of people affected. All of this is very meaningful. "
Rosetta spoke very calmly, but Ferdinand quickly understood another meaning from this ruler of the Empire's attitude and words.
This emperor was indeed surprised, but what surprised him was only those 'details'. As for the direction of the entire matter … it seemed that until now, it still hadn't deviated from his judgment.
Did this include this war?
"Your Majesty," Ferdinand said softly after a short few seconds of silence, "what should we do next?"
"War has broken out," Rosetta said as if he was talking to himself. His gaze didn't fall on Ferdinand. "… The Empire should enter a state of emergency."
"Are you going to activate the Emperor's highest authority?"
"More than ten years ago, we tried to change the situation in this country. We did so, and indeed achieved many feats that we didn't even dare to imagine. However, looking back now, there are still many things that we haven't done," Rosetta said calmly. "Some people who shouldn't be alive are still alive, and some things that shouldn't be preserved are still preserved … Don't you think this is very regrettable?"
"It's indeed regrettable," Ferdinand Wendell said. "Looks like we can finish what we didn't do back then. However, there's one more thing, Your Majesty. We're currently in an all-out war with Cecil's people."
"It's that crazy god who's waging war with Cecil." Rosetta looked into Ferdinand's eyes. "A god who's out of control is the common enemy of all humans. This time, we're actually on the same side as Cecil's people."
(End of Chapter)
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