The fog parted the surface of the sea, and a protruding protrusion gradually appeared in front of them. A ray of light pierced through the fog and shone on the side of the Bisca. The sailors on the deck recognized it as a navigation light and hurriedly raised the sails. The first mate gave a signal to the helmsman to turn the rudder while waiting for the pilot ship to approach. Captain Daylin stood behind the third mast with a pipe in his mouth, wearing a wet trench coat. He squinted his eyes and took a look. He turned around and gave a look to a sailor beside him. The sailor hurriedly ran down the deck and went straight to the third level of the cabin.
Gray Harbor was just ahead.
When Viscount Bernie received the news, he immediately informed Babarn and Boymer. In fact, the two had already deduced this information from the sailors running up and down the aisles. At the moment, fist-sized rats were scurrying around the aisles of the cabin, but no one had the time to care about these annoying uninvited guests. Several cabin doors were open, and the wind from the deck poured in like a waterfall down the stairs. The smell of the sea assaulted their nostrils, and the cabin below was a mess.
Viscount Bernie led Babarn and Boymer forward against the sailors who were rushing out. The three of them did not say a word, and their faces were dark as if they were carved from the same mold. The three of them walked until they came to a wooden door locked by iron chains at the bottom of the cabin. Viscount Bernie turned around and exchanged a look with his two imperial colleagues. He took out the key from his coat, and the key on the iron ring rattled. He grabbed the lock and opened it with a click. After the iron chain lost its restraint, it fell into the puddles of water on the aisles like a dead snake. But the three of them did not even look at it and pushed the door open.
Behind the door was an idle warehouse. Many empty barrels and wooden boxes were piled up outside, but at the innermost part, there was a whole piece of golden crystal covered by a curtain. Viscount Bernie looked at the black curtain that was already submerged in water and asked, "Is everything ready?" Babarn and Boymer nodded in unison.
The fleet had to cross the Long Horn Strait and enter the Silver Bay controlled by the Temple of the Earth. Although the naval strength of the Temple of the Earth was almost negligible in front of the Empire, Viscount Bernie did not dare to take this risk. He chose a more reliable land route, which was to disembark from Gray Harbor and cross the Blackblade Fortress to return to the Empire. This journey would take about a week, and after returning to the Empire, it would take another month to reach Rushta. However, the risk was much lower than the sea. Currently, the northern part of Erouine was still controlled by the traditional noble forces of the kingdom, and the empire still had a lot of influence in these areas. Thinking of this, Viscount Bernie couldn't help but sigh at the bad influence brought about by the Battle of Ampere Seale. If it weren't for the mistake of the Cecil family, the empire wouldn't have completely lost control of the southern part of Erouine. What lay in front of him now was the last checkpoint of the Royal Family of Erouine in the north, the home port of the first royal fleet, Gray Harbor. The harbor officer had been bribed, but how to transport such a large piece of crystal off the ship without attracting attention was a troublesome problem.
The best way would be to break the crystal and get the person and gun out of it. However, he tried once with his own sword a few days ago. The magic sword bounced off the surface of the crystal and broke into three pieces before it even touched the surface. He spent thousands of Cruz gold coins to buy the silver grade sword from a small noble. He also used some tricks, but he didn't expect it to die before it could be used. He didn't have time to feel heartache. Although the hardness of the crystal was beyond his expectations, he still had hope. Boymer had already told him that Babarn had his family's heirloom, the Silver Dragon's Throat. That Fantasy grade weapon might be able to break the surface of the crystal. He looked for Babarn, who was a little hesitant at first. It seemed like he was worried about hurting the woman inside, but Viscount Bernie was a little disdainful. If they could successfully complete this mission, when they returned to the empire, what could they not have in terms of status and women? Why did he have to be obsessed with a mountain woman?
Fortunately, Babarn didn't seem too inflexible. After some persuasion, he finally nodded and agreed. At this time, he turned to look at Babarn. Babarn didn't seem to hesitate. He took out the silver crossbow and began to load it, then raised it and pointed at the crystal covered by the curtain. Viscount Bernie nodded with some appreciation, thinking that this was a man who did things without hesitation. Compared to him, Boymer was much worse. He was too timid. Thinking of this, he looked at the latter. At this time, Boymer seemed to wake up from a dream and hurried up to lift the curtain. Viscount Bernie saw this scene and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. This guy had already put himself in the position of the weakest of the three. In the future, even if he did contribute, he would not be the first. In fact, he and Babarn should have had the same opportunity. This was how character determined fate.
Babarn raised the crossbow and pulled the trigger with a bang. A silver light shot towards the smooth surface of the crystal. Before anyone could react, the silver light suddenly reversed at a speed a thousand times faster and pierced through Babarn's right arm holding the crossbow, shattering the bones of his right hand. Then, the silver light drilled into Babarn's chest like a fish and came out from his back. With a bang, it nailed itself to the wooden planks behind the cabin, the blood-stained tail feathers were still buzzing and shaking.
Babarn's jaw dropped, his light blue eyes showing the light of despair and unwillingness. He stared at the girl sleeping like a princess in the crystal, and then, with that expression, he fell backward like a piece of wood. With a splash, he fell into the water, and then the water in the cabin was dyed a layer of light red. It all happened so suddenly that Boymer was almost stunned. Viscount Bernie's face was gloomy. He raised his head and looked at the crystal. There was not even a trace of a flaw on the surface of the crystal. "What are you doing? Help Sir Babarn out!" He gritted his teeth and reprimanded. "Help … help where?" Boymer's face was pale. He wanted to say that Babarn was obviously dead!
Viscount Bernie looked at him with disappointment and said in a low voice, "Sir Babarn died for his country. Do you want his body to be soaked in the water like this?"
Only then did Boymer realize what was going on. He hurriedly grabbed Babarn's shoulders and dragged him out of the water, dragging him into the cabin. "Don't, stop!" Viscount Bernie saw that Boymer wanted to take Babarn's body back to the lower cabin and stopped him. He wanted to stab the idiot to death. "Don't take him back. Take his body to the first class cabin. Are you a stupid pig?" At this time, a sailor passed by Babarn's body and Boymer. He looked at the two strangely, then came to Viscount Bernie's side and asked in a low voice, "Viscount, the port has sent someone to tell us to stop outside the chain and prepare for inspection."
"Tell them that this is the diplomatic fleet of the Kirrlutz Empire, and they won't accept inspection from other countries. Also, tell them to prepare a doctor or a priest. Tell them that some of our people died fighting against the pirates, and we need to arrange a dignified funeral. We can't leave the warriors of the Kirrlutz Empire on foreign soil. Go, tell them that." Viscount Bernie replied calmly.
The sailor was a little surprised. "Fighting the pirates?" But he looked at Boymer and Babarn and suddenly understood. He quickly nodded and ran out.
"Wait," Viscount Bernie called the sailor at the stairs. "Go prepare a chest."
"A chest, Viscount, how big do you want it?" The sailor stood barefoot in the rushing water on the stairs and turned back to ask. "Very big, used to store horses." "We don't have that kind of chest on the ship, Viscount. We can only ask the port to prepare it." "Then tell them that we have captured a gift for Her Majesty and ask them to help prepare it." "Will that do, Viscount?" "That will do. Go." Viscount Bernie nodded. He waited until the sailor ran up to the deck before he turned back to look at the giant crystal one last time. A thought flashed through his mind.
"Could it be that only a divine artifact can open this thing?"
… …
It had been two days since Flora left without saying goodbye. During that time, Princess Magadal had woken up once. Brando was waiting in New Valhalla for the arrival of the young men of the Folded Sword Knights and the eldest son of King Cruz. But it seemed that Veronica had a lot of things to take care of. She and Mangrove had yet to depart from Port Gris. The reports from the north and south were piled up on his desk in the great hall of the Valhalla Tree. Most of these reports were on the surface. Brando looked at a few of them. They were nothing more than the movements of the northern nobles. Some of them mentioned that Count Randner had completed his mobilization work. Someone had witnessed an army leaving Magadan and heading south. The long-prepared war in the south was imminent.
The allied forces of Anthony and Viero were heading south. As for the direction of their march, it was still a secret. Brando looked up at the map of Erouine hanging on the wall. His gaze swept across the Mallowell area. Judging from the time, the army should have already entered the area. Count Randner and Bloodstaff were still ignorant of their future and fate. They did not understand what was waiting for them in front of them. The war was only waiting for an opportunity, and that opportunity was the day when Tónigel's army would depart. But Brando was also waiting for the arrival of a critical moment. Before that moment, he would not act rashly.
Other news mentioned the unusual movements of the undead in the direction of Bucce. These were all within Brando's expectations. In fact, the information that was sent to him was even less than what he knew. Tónigel's intelligence system was built on the first batch of adventurers from Tónigel and a group of people from the Red Bronze Dragon Mercenaries. These people had gone through several selections. After the war with Tónigel, the remaining elites were mostly loyal and reliable to him. However, their abilities were still slightly weaker. Among them, the ones in Ampere Seale were the most outstanding, and the ones in the north were slightly weaker. As for the news from Madara and Cruz, it was purely groundless.
However, Erouine's civil war was no longer the most difficult enemy in front of him. On the contrary, the shadow of the undead in the south was getting stronger day by day. That was Erouine's greatest enemy. The Cruz Empire in the north was also getting restless. Brando began to feel that his intelligence network was getting weaker and weaker. First of all, he still needed talents. Not only did they have to be loyal and reliable, but they also had to have outstanding abilities. Amandina, The Shire, Freya, and even the Roman were not talents in this area. But Brando suddenly thought of someone — Sue. Her performance in Ampere Seale was impressive. She was calm and composed, and her mind was unusually clear. She was also not easily swayed by emotions. Such a person was simply a natural talent in intelligence. Although Brando did not have any talent in this area, it did not stop him from discovering talents.
"Maybe I should find time to ask her to come over from The Shire." As he thought about it, he placed the documents he had read page by page at the bottom. After reading more than ten pages, he frowned again.
This day, there was still no news of Scarlet.
The mountain girl seemed to have really disappeared from this world. Ever since he saw her for the last time that day in the Spiral Hall, there had been no news of her. Even in the civilized areas around the Deadly Frost Forest, no one had seen a girl with similar characteristics. Brando suddenly felt a little annoyed. He put down the information heavily. It had been half a month. In the early days, he could still comfort himself that nothing would happen to Scarlet. But now, such an excuse was getting weaker and weaker. Sometimes, Brando even wondered if Scarlet had decided to leave him. Or could it be that she had temporarily lost her memory due to the intense shock from the explosion? Not only were these hypotheses ridiculous, but they also could not explain the fact that no one had seen Scarlet after that.
Could it be that Milos' myth was really lying to them? But this did not seem to be necessary for a god.
He stood up from his seat and then sat down again. His fingers tapped on the table again and again. For a moment, he almost wanted to go back to the Deadly Frost Forest himself, but he also knew that it was futile. He had a faint premonition that Scarlet might not be in the Deadly Frost Forest anymore. She might have left even earlier. But as for why no one had seen her, Brando still had some doubts.
He could only ask Lantonilan to help him expand the search area. In fact, Duke Kanonon was already a little puzzled as to why he was so obsessed with a maid, but Brendel did not care about it.
At this time, someone finally opened the door. Brando looked up and saw Ko Hua in a white dress. She had long white hair and light silver eyes. She was the younger sister of the two sisters, the kind-hearted Ko Hua. Behind her was the impatient elder sister. Dark Ko Hua glanced at him with her blood-red eyes. Her eyes were full of provocation. In fact, Brando had no doubt that if she had the chance, she would pounce on him directly and bite him with her sharp canine teeth. That kind of hatred was undisguised. His gaze passed over the sisters and finally fell on Maynild. Senior, no, Miss Knight had been able to walk a few days ago. Now she was helping him with some things in Valhalla that could be considered as rehabilitation training. Her injuries healed very quickly, which made Brando suspect that this lady seemed to have some special abilities.
Maynild also glanced at him, her indifferent eyes saying: I've called her here for you.
Brando nodded to her to show his gratitude.
Then he looked at the Ko Hua sisters.
"Count, we meet again today," the kind-hearted Ko Hua replied with a smile. This quiet girl was always so polite.
And her elder sister ended the greeting with a light snort.
Brando did not mind. He asked the Ko Hua sisters to come today to determine their relationship with Valhalla and his territory. In the final battle of the Holy Cathedral of the Hibernator, Dark Ko Hua ultimately abandoned Milos' Divine Spark and chose to preserve her own soul imprint. She did not choose to die with the body and divine fire of the giant god. Her current state should be a product between a heroic spirit and some kind of law existence. But this state was not something unacceptable to her, because it was one of the ways in which the Twilight Seed appeared in this world.
But the problem was that no matter which way Dark Ko Hua and Kind-Hearted Ko Hua existed in the world, in fact, they had already changed the history that Brando was familiar with. Échis' eldest daughter survived, so it was hard to say whether her other daughters' endings would be the same as in history, and whether her own ending would be the same as in the game. Brando faintly felt that he had touched another line in the world of Wohnde. The change in the history and fate of the Cruz Empire was the beginning. So even though the trip to the Deadly Frost Forest had come to an end, he still could not decide how to deal with the sisters.
He looked at the twin sisters and temporarily put the annoyance in his heart to the back of his mind. He asked, "Miss Ko Hua, have you gotten used to living in my territory during this time?"
"Count's territory is peaceful. The people live and work in peace and are far away from disputes. I like it very much. Also, the scenery in Valhalla is beautiful. I am very honored to be able to live in this legendary stronghold. There is nothing I am dissatisfied with. "Kind-Hearted Ko Hua smiled and replied sincerely. Dark Ko Hua looked at her sister. She was very disappointed with her sister's weak personality. She pouted and said, "Hmph. Anyway, I said that I am not happy living here, but you still won't let me go. Hypocrite, annoying person."
"You are right, Miss Ko Hua. Do you still remember what I told you before? I am taking a big risk by not killing you. You should understand that you are a part of Dusk. Your existence is a kind of hostility to the civilized world. But you are kind-hearted. I don't want to kill an innocent person because of a possibility. That is not in line with my ideals. But as a responsible person, I hope that you will not leave the range of my protection, okay? "Brando asked.
Kind-Hearted Ko Hua nodded. "I completely understand, Count."
Brando looked at the girl whose mind was as pure as a clear lake. He couldn't help but be startled. Was this really the eldest daughter of the legendary Échis? This kind of purity and kindness was enough to make most humans feel ashamed of themselves. Even he couldn't help but restrain his own suspicions. However, this was a matter of great importance. Brando naturally wouldn't change his mind because of a moment of emotion. He calmed down and looked at Dark Ko Hua.
Dark Ko Hua was slightly taller than her sister. Brando thought that this might be a reflection of her strong personality in her soul. She looked at Brando with contempt with her blood-red eyes. "Is this why Count invited us here? What a superfluous move. My sister and I are now weak and powerless girls. Count, you could have put us under house arrest here with one order. Not to mention that, even if you wanted to unleash your beastly nature at this moment, we wouldn't be able to resist, so there's really no need to hypocritically ask for our consent here."
Brando was almost angered to death by this girl. What did she mean by weak and powerless girls? Kind-Hearted Ko Hua's strength had been recovering day by day after leaving the Holy Cathedral of the Hibernator. Now she was almost at the peak of Elemental Activation. And she had suffered heavy losses because of stealing Milos' divinity. He was afraid that she wouldn't be able to recover in a short period of time. This was purely her own fault. But now it seemed that this young lady had pushed all the blame onto him. He couldn't help but squint at the latter and replied lightly, "I'm afraid you've made a mistake. What you said just now was to your sister. As for you, Miss Ko Hua, as a war criminal and captive, naturally you can't enjoy the same high standard of treatment as your sister."
Dark Ko Hua frowned slightly and asked with some concern, "What do you mean?"
"You took my things, so naturally you can only do things for me to pay off the debt." Brando replied.
Ko Hua's eyes widened. Her beautiful blood-red eyes stared at him in surprise. "When did I take your things?"
Brando shook his head. Looking at this girl, he couldn't help but think of everything that had happened back then.
…
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