"We've just received news that the Silver Bay Coalition Army was attacked near Kanebel. We've lost contact with them for two days."
Mangrove stood up and looked at the crowd. His expression gradually calmed down as he spoke. His voice was not loud, but it was extremely penetrating. It echoed in the hall for a long time. One person, two people, and even more people stopped talking. Some people did not react for a while, and some were still looking for the source of the voice. However, the hall gradually quieted down. This silence seemed to be contagious. In the end, even Veronica and Duke Ludwig stopped arguing and looked over.
The hall was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
After a while, someone stood up. It was a representative from Silver Bay, probably from Desandro or the Duchy of Sword Poplar. He looked very anxious. "Is the news accurate, my lord?"
Mangrove could understand the man's anxiety, but he only nodded slightly in greeting. "It's news from Silver Bay."
As soon as this was said, the crowd was in an uproar.
"Martha above, how did the Coalition Army get attacked? Who attacked them?"
"If these monsters appear near Kanebel, our escape route is in danger."
"Are you kidding me? They're right here, right in front of us!"
Veronica's beautiful eyebrows were already furrowed. She was very dissatisfied with these incompetent people. She pressed on the table and stood up. Her emerald green eyes were solemn. As soon as she spoke, her majestic voice was like a sharp sword, splitting the noise in the hall into two.
"Enough, stop quarreling!"
The hall quieted down again.
The female army looked straight into everyone's eyes and confirmed, "This is another Dusk Army. It seems that they attacked Anzeruta from the south along the Evergreen Corridor. After the invasion of the Jorgendy Ridge, we lost control of this area. They entered the Wilderness of the Four Realms from here, and from here to here, they attacked Kanebel. "
She pressed on the projection crystal in front of her, and a map of the Wilderness of the Four Realms appeared in the center of the hall. A bright line appeared in the middle of the map under her guidance.
In the eyes of the crowd, that line could be described as a cold dagger piercing into the back of Babel Fortress.
It turned out that they were not facing one legion, but two. This news was like a blow to the head, hitting many people until they couldn't regain their senses for a long time. Some people's faces began to turn pale, and they slumped back to their seats — those were the envoys of the small countries.
However, there were also some people who still harbored some wishful thinking. They stood up and looked at the map and retorted, "Madam Veronica, where are the Highlanders of Anzeruta? There's no way we didn't receive any news beforehand."
"We got wind of it, but we didn't pay much attention to it."
Veronica drew a circle around Anzeruta and pointed at the place. "We've all seen what the Twilight Legion is like. It's unlikely that the highlanders who encounter the Crystal Sea will be able to escape, but not all the clans live in this area. The clans living in the peripheral areas may have heard the news, or noticed that some of the clans with whom they have trade relations are silently disappearing, so they began to flee …"
"In fact, they don't need to know what's threatening Anzeruta, but these traditional tribesmen are generally very sensitive. Otherwise, they wouldn't have survived so many demonic waves. The migration of the clans in the inner circle squeezed the living space of the weaker clans living in the periphery of Anzeruta, causing a chain reaction that evolved into a great migration that swept across the entire Anzeruta. "
"Sir, do you mean that the great migration of the highlanders of Anzeruta may be caused by the Twilight Legion?"
"In fact, what the scouts we sent saw was just the surface of this great migration. They couldn't have gone deep into Anzeruta, and those clans in the periphery couldn't have told them what happened in Anzeruta."
Veronica looked around at the crowd, her body as straight as a sword, and her voice was rhythmic. She advocated to hold on to Babel Fortress, and this sudden news was extremely unfavorable to her, but the female legion commander did not have the slightest personal factor in her analysis.
"We may have made a misjudgment and attributed the reason for this great migration to the disaster caused by the fall of the Black Moon. I think another reason is that the Crystal Cluster deliberately let some of the highland clans go because they besieged a Cruz legion there and did not have the ability to destroy all the highlanders. "
"You mean the Red Legion may be in Anzeruta?" Mangrove suddenly raised his head.
"I can't guarantee it, old vulture, but it's not normal that they have lost contact with us for so long. But if we link the two together, the possibility is the greatest." Veronica looked at her old partner and explained her thoughts. "The resonance tower of the Crystal Cluster has the effect of blocking magic communication. It's not difficult to explain why there is no news of the Red Legion."
"In other words, this is a speculation?"
Mangrove raised his thick eyebrows. The situation could be said to be bad, but as a general who had experienced hundreds of battles, his face was very calm. The general fumbled for a while and took out a pipe from his pocket, then realized that there was no fire. He shook his head and helplessly put it on the table.
"But it's also the most likely speculation. As a soldier, we can't guarantee anything, but at least we have to have the ability to make decisions, right?" Veronica looked at the hesitant envoys and shook her head disdainfully. "Their appearance in Kanebel has sent another signal, and that is, we may not be able to count on the Red Legion. They may have already freed up their hands. The Silver Bay Coalition Army was a surprise to them, but soon it will be our turn."
Everyone looked at her slender fingers and saw another line drawn in the Wilderness of Four Territories, straight to the back of the Alcash area.
Even the sound of breathing had quieted down.
There was a deathly silence in the dark environment.
No one would ask if the Crystal Clusters would have such a strategic vision, because they had clearly revealed their fangs. Even if they were just a bunch of purple beasts without any thoughts, their master had already proven the brilliance of their tactics.
A cold and cunning commander, a tireless and fearless army. For some reason, at this moment, the first thing that came to everyone's mind was the undead of Madara.
Perhaps they were the only ones who could fight against these monsters?
Everyone could not help but have this thought in their minds.
"Let's vote." Mangrove straightened his coat and stood up from his seat. He raised his thick eyebrows and looked at everyone present. "Time is even more pressing. Instead of arguing endlessly, why don't we vote directly? Whether we stay or leave, there is no need to waste any more time."
This voice, which was not loud, reverberated above the empty vault.
Everyone could not help but hold their breath.
Stay or leave?
It seemed that there was only one choice.
But at this moment, the hall fell into a strange silence. Even the most radical person from before did not take the initiative to speak. Duke Ludwig stood silently in the same place, frowning as he pondered his decision. The situation that everyone was facing was so hopeless. The power that wanted to destroy the world was strong enough to make everyone's hearts waver, and they began to doubt the decision that they originally thought was right.
Veronica looked at these people and sighed. These people were already beginning to feel afraid. How could they stay? She could not help but look at Tuman, who was sitting opposite her. This legendary figure rarely expressed his opinion during the entire process of the meeting. This old man was like a silent observer, and he did not say a word about whether people were right or wrong.
She saw the old man raise his head and nod at her with a slight smile.
When people began to raise their hands to vote.
Duke Mehotofen took a last glance at the hall below, then walked back from the balcony and returned to the room. There were only a few people in the room. His daughter was among them, and beside her was his eldest son and the prime minister, Nidevan. Then there was the head of the Corney family, who was related to the royal family. The vice-captain of the Knight Regiment stood at the side with a sour expression. On the other side, the old prime minister, Nidevan, was sitting on a chair, his eyelids drooping as if he had fallen asleep.
Charcoal was burning in the hearth of the fireplace, and the bright flames dyed the narrow room dark red. Everyone's shadows were elongated, making threatening gestures on the mottled walls, like demons and ghosts.
The Duke looked at his daughter and ordered: "Vahina, hand over the ring. Do you know what you are doing?"
Everyone looked at her.
The oppressive atmosphere in the room seemed to be on her alone. Vahina bit her lips, and her heart was filled with fear, but she still shook her head.
"Are you crazy?" Count Mehotofen glared at his sister: "I don't know what's wrong with you, but that's a token of the royal family. You should return it to the prime minister before the Great Cathedral and His Highness the Crown Prince arrive."
But when he remembered that she was his sister, his heart softened: "For the sake of my father and me, Lord Nidevan will not hold it against you."
"Brother," Vahina replied firmly: "If it's the prime minister, he will definitely understand why I'm doing this. Is it really my fault? The ring is not missing, but why hasn't His Highness the Crown Prince ascended the throne? "
"Hmph."
Duke Mehotofen snorted heavily.
He looked at his son with disappointment. Compared to him, this brat did not have the decisiveness of a noble. But when he looked at Vahina, his head hurt even more. This daughter of his had some of the courage he had when he was young, but she was much more daring than him.
More importantly, she was brainless.
He knew who was adding fuel to the fire behind the scenes. That woman was simply a disaster.
Thinking of this, he could not help but look at the old prime minister who had been silent all this time. Not a single person in this family was easy to deal with. He had experienced the iron rule of the Silver Queen's father, the previous Kirrlutz the Great, and his granddaughter's methods were exactly the same as his at that time.
Duke Mehotofen complained that his daughter was not as smart, but when he thought of the fact that the prime minister was facing the same predicament as him and had a son who was not so outstanding, his heart calmed down a lot.
At this time, the head of the Corney family could not help but speak up: "Miss Vahina, no matter what you think, you should at least hand over the ring. You should at least admit that it doesn't belong to you, right?"
"That's not a guess," Vahina wasn't that polite to outsiders and snorted coldly: "That ring doesn't belong to me, but it's hard to say if it belongs to the Kirrlutz Royal Family now."
"Shut up!"
"Vahina, are you crazy?"
The Duke of Mehotofen and the young Count of Mehotofen shouted at the same time. Especially the latter, who was sweating profusely as he looked at the old prime minister, Nidevan. But what made him feel strange was that the head of the Corney family did not refute him immediately, and the old prime minister only frowned slightly.
Then, the old man finally opened his eyes. His turbid eyes seemed to contain two sharp swords, so sharp that no one dared to look directly at them.
"Alright, there's no need to say anything more," he spoke slowly, his voice old but powerful as if it was filled with magic, causing the room to quiet down: "Vahina is not wrong, this mistake is not her fault. The Great Saint and I only had our own considerations, but we did not expect things to turn out this way."
The old man looked at Vahina, as if he was sizing her up. In front of him, the daughter of the Lord of Flowers and Leaves was only a child. In his era, even her father was only a junior, and even the old duke had to be respectful in front of him.
But he was the eagle of the Empire. Tens of millions of Cruz citizens had received protection under his wings, and he did not need to threaten a little girl to maintain his prestige. Moreover, to him, power and status were only decorations. His wisdom was passed down by word of mouth, and his power and authority were deeply ingrained in the hearts of every citizen of the Empire.
Rather than saying that he was the prime minister of the Empire, it was more accurate to say that he established the prestige of the prime minister of the Empire.
"Vahina," Old Nidevan asked: "Do you want to use this ring to change the nobles' decision?"
Vahina did not expect the old man to ask her personally.
She opened her mouth, but her heart was still a little uneasy. The old man was Delfien's grandfather. She and Delfien were best friends, but she had only seen this legendary figure a few times in the banquets of the White Rose Garden.
Every time she saw the arrogant and domineering nobles behave like obedient students in front of the former prime minister of the Empire, she was secretly shocked. Sometimes, people's understanding of authority was imperceptibly ingrained in their hearts.
Even Vahina was not an exception.
She suddenly thought that perhaps Delfien's ambition for power came from her worship of this old man.
Vahina nodded hesitantly in response to the old man's question.
When faced with the unknown, people would always feel uneasy.
Especially when they knew that the unknown had destructive power.
The old man nodded and continued to ask: "Can you tell me why you want them to stay here?"
"This is not my decision, but Mister Brando's."
"Count Tónigel?"
Count Mehotofen and the patriarch of the Corney family were stunned.
Vahina was ready to throw caution to the wind. She knew that stealing the Holy Ring of Fire was a disgraceful act, so she had to stand her ground. If she could not convince the others, not only her, but her entire family would be implicated.
But for some reason, Vahina did not feel too much regret.
After everything was said, she only felt a sense of relief.
There were some things that had to be done.
Because if she did not do it, she would miss the chance to change everything.
Vahina gathered her courage and raised her voice: "I think we all know this. When we faced the Silver Queen, it was not us, but Mister Brando who defeated her and saved the Empire."
"Wait, Miss Vahina," the patriarch of the Corney family said: "The people of Cruz are not ungrateful people, but this does not mean that we have to listen to an outsider. This is not our personal matter, it is related to the future of the Empire and even the world."
Vahina glanced at him.
There was a hint of disdain in her blue eyes: "We know what is right. The Babel Tower is just a symbol, it is not powerful enough to turn the tide of the war. But in fact, everyone in Cruz knows why it is here, and what it symbolizes. "
The vice-captain of the Flame Knight Regiment heard this and opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, he did not say anything and only let out a long sigh.
Vahina continued: "The Babel Tower is really protecting the Saint-ausol behind it, the land of the elves. But its meaning is not only that, because the land behind us is the last line of the Wohnde World of Order, our last hope. But in front of this hope, the people of Cruz hesitated."
"We only remember the enmity and hatred of each other for a thousand years, but we have forgotten that humans and elves were originally close comrades. If we choose to retreat today, perhaps the people of Cruz will survive, but at the same time, we have given up our last hope. One day, we will regret this. "
"We can retreat today, but what about tomorrow? Our future, where is it, living in fear all day long? "
"But even if we stay, what can we get?" Count Mehotofen could not help but ask his sister: "Besides sacrificing in vain, what else can we get?"
"Perhaps it is an opportunity."
"Opportunity, opportunity?" Count Mehotofen was shocked, only to find that the one who answered his question was the old man who represented the supreme power of the Empire.
"A promise from a thousand years ago in exchange for an opportunity to put aside the enmity between the two ancient kingdoms. Do we believe in the Wind Elves? Do we believe that even if the people of Cruz die, the elves will pick up our legacy and continue to move forward? " The old prime minister shook his head: "We do not believe, so the people of Cruz cannot shed blood and sacrifice everything for this land called Saint-ausol."
"But a thousand years ago, we both believed in this."
"If that oath was still there …"
The kings who signed that oath left this world one by one.
But today, their descendants were faced with the same choice.
"Child," the old prime minister suddenly spoke to Faena: "Do you understand the meaning of your decision?"
Faena nodded.
Of course she understood, but this was also a heavy task. The weight of the ring was not only the weight of the Empire. It was also a trust. Delfien's trust in her, Brando's trust in the elves and humans, the people's trust in the ancient oath, and Her Highness Constance's trust in the person she chose.
She believed that the last task she gave before her death would change the fate of this world forever.
At that moment, the meaning of royalty and country had already succumbed to the survival of civilization.
And this was the power of Order.
She stretched out her hand, opening her palm to reveal the beautiful ring. It looked very ordinary, made of pure gold without any decorations, only the emblem of a flame shining brightly under the light of the furnace. It was as if a flame was burning in the eyes of everyone present.
The old prime minister looked at the ring and nodded.
But then he smiled bitterly. The old man knew in his heart who was the one standing in front of him in this game of chess. He had never failed in his life, but in the end, he was stabbed in the back by his own granddaughter.
He really raised a good granddaughter.
He turned his head and said: "Your Excellency the Great Saint, Your Highness the Prince, you heard it. Now, come in."
Faena was shocked when she heard this, and when she saw the two people who came in, her beautiful eyes widened.
… …
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