November, the Month of Frost.
Cold winds howled across the grassland. Grass was withered, and snow was falling like goose feathers. This year's winter was particularly difficult for the Lion Men of Toquinin. The failure of the expedition, the endless internal strife, the various clan leaders shirked their responsibilities and argued with each other. Some areas in the South and West were rumored to have fallen into eternal night. Large numbers of cattle and sheep died in the snowstorm, and refugees came from all directions, making the situation even worse.
It was as warm as spring in the thick leather tent.
A bright flame burned on the matchstick, making a crackling sound. Sparks occasionally rose and climbed up the dark bottom of the pot. A lamb rib was cooking in the pot. A thick layer of oil was bubbling on top of the meat. The air was filled with the aroma of meat mixed with the aroma of plant tubers.
Nair's eyes were a little dazed.
The way the lion people counted the years was slightly different from other civilizations. Due to the lack of farming culture, they divided the two most important seasons of the year by the withering and flourishing of the plants on the grassland. One year passed when the plants on the grassland withered and the other flourished.
That seemed to be something that happened not too long ago. It was the season of the year when the vegetation was the most flourishing. The clansmen were in high spirits, and he had just completed his coming of age ceremony. He had tied his pure white mane into a hair whip and wholeheartedly wanted to become the greatest warrior of the lion clan. Just like his ancestors, he wanted to reclaim Toquinin's long-lost honor.
At that time, everything seemed to be going in the best direction.
But in the blink of an eye, they had lost everything. He had lost his childhood playmate, his father, and many other people close to him. The Lion Beastmen of Toquinin, on the other hand, had their spines broken. They could not stand up again.
This harsh winter had brought disaster to the clan.
The Lionman Shaonan was confused. Toquinin had lost its glory. When would they be able to take it back?
"Nair, Nair." The person beside him reminded him in a low voice. Only then did Nair come back to his senses. The tent was bustling with activity. The leaders of seven or eight clans surrounded the three humans, their green eyes filled with evil intentions.
The atmosphere in the tent was tense. The human Knight had his hand on the hilt of his sword, looking alert. The wizard's hand was hidden under his sleeve, holding something. Only the human who claimed to be the envoy had a normal expression on his face under the hood.
Nair glanced at them with his pale green eyes.
"After my father's death, I don't have much to do now. I just want to lead my people through this difficult winter," the young lion-man said. He stood up, the brass rings on his mane clinking against each other. "The Toquinin people may have lost their beloved king for a while, but that doesn't mean we have fallen. We will not ally ourselves with the humans."
"This winter is very cold," the human girl standing in the middle said. Half of her pretty face was exposed under her hood, and she smiled faintly. "Tomorrow's winter will be even colder."
"Can I take it that you're provoking us?" Nair frowned. "But I won't argue with a woman. You can leave."
The young girl raised her head, and everyone felt their hearts skip a beat. Her eyes shone like the stars in the night sky, and they seemed to be able to see through people's hearts. "I am the daughter of Duke Diomedes. Do you dare to make a bet with me, Your Highness Nair?"
"What bet?" Nair clearly did not want to be looked down upon by a woman.
"I will convince you. The bet is the future of the Toquinin lion-men."
"What if you lose?"
"I will marry you."
The young lion-man's heart skipped a beat. Lion-Men's females were slender, and their beauty standards were not that different from humans. But no matter what, he could not deny the beauty of the young girl in front of him. Her eyes were so sharp that they could see through people's hearts. He fell silent at first sight.
But he still shook his head. "I can't accept this."
The young girl did not seem to mind. She glanced at her companion, and the wizard took out an old piece of parchment from under his sleeve. Under everyone's watchful eyes, the wizard carefully unfolded the parchment and placed it in front of the Lionmen leaders.
When they saw the parchment, the expressions of the Lionmen changed.
Nair clenched his fists, and he felt a rush of blood to his head. His eyes blazed with anger as he glared at the young girl. Her face, which he had thought was pure and beautiful, was now twisted and vicious in his eyes.
It was only a crumpled piece of parchment, and it did not seem to be complete.
The yellowed, charred, and cracked paper was densely filled with words, but in the blank corner, there was a somewhat black claw print. The paw print was torn from the middle, like a mark of humiliation, twisting and turning to separate the history and honor of the Lionmen.
Under the pressure of the Darkness Dragon, the Temple of the Earth was the first to withdraw from the Sacred Covenant.
The furious Flame King Gretel tore the oath of the Toquinin people in front of the King of the Lionmen, and threw it in front of his former best friend. The Lionmen's hero, the Lion King of the Toquinin people, was too ashamed to face his best friend, and did not have the face to take away his half of the covenant.
And so, this eternal shame stayed with Cruz for nearly a thousand years.
This was also the hatred that the Lion Beastmen of Toquinin bore for generations. Their former king was forced by the orders of the Temple of Earth. Not long after the greatest hero in the history of the Lion Beastmen withdrew from the covenant, he died of depression.
And Nair's family was the inheritor of that great name.
"Today, a thousand years later, we all know the truth," the young girl replied quietly. "The Lion King used his own way to end his guilt, but we can't change history. For a thousand years, the Toquinin people have suffered undeserved condemnation."
"My father only asked me to return it to you —"
Nair was stunned.
The leaders of the Lionmen were also stunned.
That was the long-lost glory of Toquinin, lying there quietly. He instinctively wanted to reach out and grab it, but it was too difficult. A thousand years of regret, because of failure and the inferiority of the betrayers, the Lionmen were trapped in this barren grassland.
The wish of countless people, night after night, made every Lionman king want to go back to that moment, even if it meant death, to change Toquinin's fate.
But people could not change history.
Confusion, inferiority, and self-doubt. This was the mentality of many Toquinin people. The tragedy seemed to have been cast from the beginning. A history without heroes was as bleak as an eternal night for a people.
Because they were the descendants of the betrayers.
But the young Lionman finally clenched his fists.
"What do you want?" He asked calmly. The pride and honor of a people were not earned by charity. If the ancestors had done wrong, the descendants had to make up for it.
The young girl looked up at the Lionman king. He was only a young boy, but he already had the bearing of a king.
"This winter is very cold. Many people will die on the grasslands." She looked at the heavy snow outside the tent. "Next winter may be even colder. The food on the grasslands can't feed so many people. We have to abandon the elderly and kill the weak babies. Perhaps only one in ten newborns can grow up in hunger. How many young adults did Toquinin lose this year? How long will it take for them to recover?"
She looked back and smiled warmly. "Your Highness Nair, we only have one request, and that is to escort us out of this grassland."
After that, she bowed to the crowd and turned to leave.
It was quiet in the tent.
There was only the sound of water splashing.
"Your Highness …" The leaders of the Lionmen whispered.
They exchanged glances with each other. Their green eyes were filled with worry, anxiety, and something else.
"Wait."
Nair finally mustered up the courage to stop her.
"Are you going to Anzeruta?"
"Are you allied with the Hazel people?"
The young girl stopped and nodded with her back to him.
The young Lionman seemed to have made up his mind. He turned back to his men and said, "Take those things out."
There was silence in the tent.
The servants brought in a box and carefully placed the contents of the box on the short table, connecting it with the torn parchment. It was the torn treaty of alliance that the Lion Beastmen had found over the past hundreds of years.
These fragments seemed to symbolize the obsession of the Toquinin people. They carefully collected it as if one day they could recover their long-lost glory from these fragments.
But at this moment, all of this seemed to be a little trivial.
Soon, a crumpled and broken piece of parchment appeared on the low table. It was about a quarter to a fifth of its original size. The broken dark-red claw print was scattered on the fragments.
Nair glanced at the young girl.
He walked forward and used his claws to cut open a wound on his palm. Then, he let his blood drip onto the black and dried claw mark. The rose red blood dripped down, and in the bright light, the old and new blood seemed to gradually merge at this moment.
"Lionmen of Toquinin, fulfill your promise once more."
"What we failed to do a thousand years ago, we will make up for a thousand times today!"
"We will go with you —"
"To finish this war."
Just as described in the Pale Poem.
… …
"What is that place?"
"Ariel."
Bretton looked at the sparks in the sky. Black smoke rose from the plains. Even though the stars were faintly discernible and the sky was getting dark, they were still clearly visible.
Ariel was an important town in Covardo, second only to the king's city. The sparks of fire there proved that there was still a battle in Covardo. The White Lion Legion had not completely fallen.
The three of them stood on the mountain path, their eyes reflecting the sparks as they silently watched the scene.
The accompanying Knight was also silent. Although they were all injured, the scene in front of them had already made them forget their pain.
The kingdom was in a sea of fire. This was their shame.
Everyone secretly clenched their teeth.
"Is that your city?" A somewhat muffled voice asked.
It was an old dwarf, arrogantly sitting on the back of a heavily armoured mountain goat. He held a warhammer in his hand and squinted his small eyes as he muttered to himself.
Bretton turned around and looked at him strangely. How many years had it been since he had seen the dwarves on the surface? To the north of the Misty Mountain Range, there was indeed a small path that led underground.
This ancient path passed through the mountains, through deep valleys and ancient forests, through rubble and weathered colossi, and finally reached the entrance of an ancient passage. Many years ago, the mountain dwarves had controlled the entrance of the underground passage, guarding the door to the underworld.
They built halls deep in the mountains. These halls were intricately connected and formed the dwarven city. When the dwarven kingdom was at its most prosperous, they had even built a huge empire.
But with the decline of the Argent Clan, the Rune Dwarves and the Argent Plains disappeared. The dwarves' glory was gone, and the empire fell apart, leaving behind countless ruins in the darkness of the underground.
In the War of the Holy Saints, the dwarves of the Chong Mountain tribe betrayed the allied forces of the humans and elves. From then on, they were rarely seen in the surface world. There were a few dwarven adventurers in human society, but they were not actually residents of the dwarven kingdom. They were a minority that grew up in human society.
But these dwarves were obviously different.
The dwarf sat on the saddle cushion of his mountain goat. The saddle was as tall as a small mountain. Erouine did not have such a saddle.
Moreover, the dwarf's clothes were gorgeous. He wore gold and silver, and the necklace in front of his chest was studded with agates, rubies and sapphires. The heavy dwarven armor was like a work of art. Although Bretton did not know much about precious metals, he could tell at a glance that the material of this armor was not simple.
He turned to look at the countess behind him. Dilferi's face was pale as she hugged a long box. She mouthed to the two of them, "Mithril —"
This dwarf's background was obviously not simple.
Bretton nodded silently in response to the dwarf's question.
The dwarf stroked the beard in front of his chest. His large brown beard was woven with brass rings, like a few forked flames. The rings were engraved with intersecting patterns. That was the family emblem of the dwarven nobility. Every dwarven clan was different. Their compatriots living on the surface had long forgotten these traditions.
His huge nose showed obvious disdain, "It's not that big."
Manrique endured and did not retort. On one hand, these dwarves had saved their lives. On the other hand, there were more than forty well-equipped dwarven heavy cavalry around the old dwarf.
In fact, after the upheaval in Yanbao that day, they had chosen to abandon the airship fleet that was stationed in Yanbao, bringing along the Sacred Swords and leaving the count's domain. This was mainly to avoid the blockade of Yanilasu and Beale by the rebel army. After all, the airship could not return to the south without passing through King's Harbor.
The second reason was that the floating fleet was too big of a target and could easily attract the attention of the Saasaldians.
But even so, they had continuously hit a wall in Yanbao. Obviously, Baron Dahl did not intend to give up the Holy Sword Mithor so easily. After breaking through the blockade of the rebels, they had no choice but to change their route to the north. Under the advice of a White Lion Knight from Koloss, they went through the Misty Mountains to Corvado.
Although the entire northern region of Erouine was not stable now, as long as they left Corvado, it would be easy to meet up with the White Lion Legion stationed in Balta. Manrique and Bretton believed that after the battle of Ampere Seale, the White Lion Legion that Her Royal Highness had re-established would not betray them again.
But this was the beginning of a difficult journey. The number of rebels intercepting them had decreased, but their enemies this time had become more terrifying monsters. First of all, they had seen the crystal monsters in Count Yanbao's territory, and then there was the terrifying existence that the rebels called the Noh race. Every time they encountered them, they suffered heavy losses.
After entering the Misty Mountains, they had sacrificed dozens of White Lion Knight along the way to reach here. If it were not for the sudden appearance of these strange dwarves, all of them would have died here.
Manrique did not forget that those terrifying monsters were under the hammers of these dwarves. One hammer strike, one kill. It was as simple as smashing watermelons.
"Why are those crystal clusters chasing you?" the dwarf asked again.
Manrique was stunned.
Dilferi and Bretton looked at each other and asked softly, "Are you talking about those monsters?"
"Yes, crystal clusters." The old dwarf looked at the countess and said, "Little girl, you don't understand how terrifying they are. I have seen them crystallized with my own eyes. There was no life there."
Dilferi had never thought that those monsters would be so terrifying. She recalled the scene in Count Yanbao's territory, and her fingers turned white.
Bretton saw that she did not look too good, so he took the initiative to stand up and retold the whole story.
"This is Erouine?" the old dwarf suddenly asked.
Bretton was stunned and nodded.
"You are in luck." The old dwarf nodded and looked at Dilferi carefully. He said, "He said that you are the daughter of Count Yanbao. You are called Dilferi? Is your ancestor the son of the Flame Family Knight Sola? You are from the Swordkeeper Family, right? "
He looked at the box that the countess was hugging tightly and said, "This is the Sacred Sword Mithor. Don't worry, we will help you bring it to where it should go."
Dilferi was stunned. She opened her eyes wide and looked at the old dwarf. She even forgot to breathe.
At the side, there was a commotion. The human Knight pulled out their swords and looked at the dwarves vigilantly. Bretton and Manrique also stood in front of Dilferi. Bretton pulled out his sword, while Manrique took out a gun from his pocket.
"What do you want?" The young captain asked nervously.
But the old dwarf did not even look at him. He turned his head and ordered a Dwarven Knight behind him, "Blow the horn. Do you see that place?" He pointed in the direction of Corvado, where flames were soaring into the sky. "Let's go there. It's called Ariel. I asked before —"
The Dwarven knight nodded and immediately took the horn from his waist.
But before he could lift the horn with both hands, Dilferi's voice finally reached him. "Who … who are you?"
The old dwarf put on his helmet and turned around. He answered in a low voice, "You can call me Califen, or the Griffin King … In the name of Ayrin's Sacred Anvil, for the Silver Plains —"
The Dwarven heavy cavalry shouted in unison.
Wuuuu —
The horn blew.
… …
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