Just as Brando expected, Earl Jean and his army entered the area one night in advance. They did not see any meteors or flames in the sky, nor did they see the resonance of the Divine Artifact. What he saw was no different from what Brando and Maynild saw last night. There was only a river of stars in the sky and a starry sky in the winter night.
Now, why was the earl left here alone? It was as if the truth had been revealed. Whether it was Earl Alcon, the Moore family, the Walker family, or the Cooper family, the nobles of Cruz who gathered here reacted the moment they saw the Divine Artifact. Compared to the Divine Artifact, what was a mere Earl Erouine? Therefore, they rushed to the north at the first opportunity, hoping to be the first to reach the place where the meteors fell. Even if they could not take the Divine Artifact for themselves, as the discoverer, they would be the first to offer it to the supreme existence of the Empire, or the Holy Cathedral of Fire. Then, they and the families behind them would share this unimaginable glory. It was not impossible for them to rise to the top in one step.
The Knight of the inner court who belonged to the royal family was no exception. As the supervisor of Floating Cloud Hills, it was impossible for them to ignore such a big thing happening in this land. In fact, Rogers was very clear about the importance of the Divine Artifact. Therefore, he brought all the inner court Knight in Hillat Villa to prevent the nobles from doing anything irrational.
But the problem was —
Earl Jean did not see it. He did not know what was happening less than twenty miles away in the area of Valgus and Forest Leaf Avenue. He was scouting the battlefield with his subordinates under the night sky and occupied the advantageous terrain. So, everything that happened after that night could be explained.
Rogers' face was a little ugly. He was sure that the strange scene last night should be clearly visible at least a hundred miles away, not to mention the hilly area close to Forest Leaf Avenue and Valgus.
"Could it be," the female Knight seemed to have realized something, "… This is a trap set by Jorgendy Ridge?"
A large-scale illusion.
That was the first thing that came to Rogers' mind. But when he and Frater looked back at the black-haired young man, the latter shook his head with certainty. "That's the resonance of the divine artifact." The young man answered affirmatively, and then said no more, as if it was none of his business whether you believed it or not.
"Kui, this doesn't make sense." Trevor said, "Well, I know you're the best, but the problem is that you're still young. You have to admit that there are a lot of old guys in this world who are much stronger than you. It's not a big deal to lose to them."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the young man glancing at him indifferently, causing the latter half of his sentence to be stuck in his throat. He could only spread out his hands and say, "Alright, pretend I didn't say anything."
Before Trevor could finish speaking, he heard a soft sneer. "How pitiful. Stupid people who don't know themselves." The internal court Knight's expression changed abruptly. He raised his head and looked in that direction, only to find a short little girl looking at him contemptuously with her chin raised. Trevor was almost angered to death. He wanted to flare up, but then he remembered that as an Imperial Knight, it seemed undignified to scare a little girl. He could only pout and say, "Forget it. I'm not going to argue with an uneducated little girl."
But what he did not expect was that the little girl dared to snort softly and replied with disdain, "Shut up. Brainless people have no right to speak!"
"You …"
"The law of the divine artifact is the superior law, and the law of magic is the inferior law. The superior law can simulate the power of the inferior law, but this process is irreversible. This is also the basic principle of the Tiamat Canon. Otherwise, what's the difference between the resonance of magic and the reaction of the divine artifact? You don't even know this. You're not fit to be a human! " Chiyara shook her head in disappointment. This little lady from House Seifer had a childish voice, but her words were clear and logical, giving people a strange feeling of contrast. But to Trevor, it sounded like slaps to the left and right of his face, making it swell. Even though he did not understand most of it. In the end, the little lady concluded crisply, "Apologize to your companions. Because you've insulted knowledge, if I have any sense of shame, I'll choose to kill myself by slamming my head against that red pine tree over there."
"Do you know why?" She snorted softly. "Because the red pine tree is called the Tree of Fools by the mountain people. This title was prepared for Your Excellency thousands of years later."
Trevor was dumbfounded, but even his companions behind him could not help but snicker. If Erouine's people were to provoke them verbally, they would naturally defend their companions. But the problem was that the one who spoke was just a child. Who would argue with a little girl? The black-haired young man could not help but look at Chiara a few more times. The female Knight patted the tall companion's shoulder sympathetically. "Trevor, back in Ynor, who was the one who said that as long as one passed the swordsmanship class, one could graduate?"
The internal court Knight's face was bitter. He regretted it so much that his intestines were turning green. Of course, what he regretted was not what he said back then, but that he should not have provoked this sharp-tongued little lady.
Brando knew how terrifying this sister of the king's eldest son was. He only found out later that her mentor was Xazian. That guy was an old friend of Tuman's, the master of ancient Erouine linguistics in this era, and an important storyline NPC during the Slate War. He had seen the kind-looking little old man before, but he had never seen Chiyara before. He didn't know how the old man had pampered the genius girl of House Seifer to the point that she had developed the personality of a little witch.
He did not want to provoke Chiara because he knew that the other party was still thinking about his' knowledge of the Bugas'. So he changed the topic. "Mr. Rogers, let me ask you a question. Before the resonance of the divine artifact occurred, did anything unusual happen in Vargas, Linye Avenue, and even Ironwood Town?"
Rogers glanced at Brando and instinctively felt that the other party did not seem to want to mention the meteor fall. But he quickly put this vague premonition behind him and thought carefully. "The resonance of the divine artifact occurred after nine o 'clock. Before that, it was very calm. Most of the nobles did not leave their stations, except for Count Jean who set off from Linye Avenue in advance and went to this place." He looked at Brando's eyes and continued to answer. "In fact, until our spies sent the last message before evening, it should have been relatively normal."
"Did your spies contact you after that? You should be using magic to communicate, right?" Brando knew that these internal Knights were mainly in charge, but they should have a lot of spies outside.
"My Lord, the magic communication in the entire area has been interfered with by someone using magic," Rogers replied.
Brando was slightly stunned, but then he understood. Dimensional Anchor and suppression spells were not rare in Wohnde, and the underground army of Jorgendy Ridge obviously had the ability to cast these spells to cover the entire area. The Nest Lords and the Blind Shamans were very good spellcasters. He wanted to ask more, but he saw that the female Knight wanted to say something but stopped. Then she whispered something to Rogers, and the latter nodded. She then plucked up the courage to answer. "My Lord, there's one more thing."
"Please go ahead."
"Before the resonance of the divine artifact occurred, there was a very long period of time where the entire Vargas region could hear very ear-piercing vibrations. The sound should have come from above the clouds," the female Knight replied.
Brando slapped his forehead. He had never heard this sound before. He thought for a moment and asked, "Does it sound like the sound of a fleet passing through the clouds?"
The officer from Yanilasu raised his head sharply and looked at Brando curiously. The floating ship was still a new weapon in this era, and not many people were familiar with it. However, the female knight shook her head. "That sound sounds more like thunder. It's rumbling."
Brando exchanged glances with Maynild again, and then continued to ask, "You met the cavemen halfway, right? When was that?"
"Early in the morning," Rogers replied with certainty.
Brando pondered for a moment. "Well, let's assume that all of this is a conspiracy of the Jorgendy Ridge people. Mr. Rogers, do you know of any natural entrances to the underground in this area?"
"I know of one near Hemlock Town." The tall Knight replied. "I wanted to explore it once. It's terrifyingly big, but unfortunately, I didn't go very deep."
"Is it very dark inside, Mr. Knight?" A crisp voice asked. The inner court knight looked over and found that it was another little loli asking him a question. He quickly shut his mouth and did not say a word, as if the little lolis from Aouine were all demons with horns on their heads.
The one who spoke to him was naturally the daughter of the Grand Duke of Grinoires, but the little loli did not expect Trevor to quickly put on a straight face when he heard her speak. He even glared at her, scaring the little girl to tears.
"There's also one near Forest Leaf Avenue," Rogers replied.
Brando thought for a moment. It was almost the same as what he remembered. He then looked at Maynild, and the latter nodded. "That means that when you encountered the Subterrane Dwellers, it was less than an hour before Jorgendy Ridge launched their attack." He thought for a moment and replied. Then he turned to Metisha and said, "Bring us our map."
Metisha smiled and nodded.
"The Underdark Dwellers are cunning, especially the Minotaurs and Harpies. They rarely fight unprepared battles, and they must have figured out your deployment before launching a surprise attack. Other than Count Jean, we have not found any other nobles' army, and that's why we have not found any traces of the other nobles' army. That's why we have not found any traces of the other nobles' army, and that's very telling. Your stronghold in Hillat Mountain Manor is no secret. They must have been watching you for a long time. From the underground exit of Leaf Avenue to the farm where you encountered them, according to the speed of the Subterrane Dwellers, it's almost an hour's journey. "
Rogers and the others were Knights of the inner court. Their task was to monitor the movements of the local nobles, not to be in charge of defense, so it was not surprising that they did not understand these things. That was why Brando patiently explained. If the Knight of the Folded Sword Knight Regiment could not even see these things here, then Brando would most likely think that this guy was a liar who deceived the world.
"Then what should we do now, Count?" After listening to Brando's analysis, Rogers seemed to have some confidence in the Count of Erouine, so he asked.
Brando did not answer him directly. Instead, he waited for Metisha to bring the map. Rogers and the others could understand the map, but they were clueless about how to infer the movements of an army. And most of Brando's tactical knowledge was inherited from the original memory of this soul. The militia would teach him some superficial knowledge of the map. In his previous life, he had been the leader of a player's adventurer group and mercenary group, presiding over local defense, so he barely understood some scraps of military knowledge. In addition, in this life, he had commanded several large and small battles, so he could barely judge the intention of Jorgendy Ridge's attack.
But the most professional of all was obviously Maynild. The female Knight was a graduate of the Royal Knight Academy, a standard academic. She glanced at the map and said to Brando, "The nearest place to Floating Cloud Hill is too far away from Rokezi-Broken Sword Mountain Fortress. There are more than two entrances to the underground world from here. If they want to attack the fortress from behind, there is no need for them to enter the surface world from here."
"That is to say, if Jorgendy Ridge has indeed formed an alliance with Toquinin, then the army in front of us is probably not the main force?" Chiyara asked at this time.
"This is a harassment force," Brando replied while looking at the map. "Their goal is to prevent the imperial army from gathering in the hinterland behind the fortress."
His eyes looked across Hemlock Town, Vargas, and Linye Avenue. "To achieve this goal, they must attack the most critical points."
Both his and Maynild's eyes fell on a town at the same time.
Asaph.
North of Anzeruta, between the mountains and the dotted towns, it was undoubtedly the most dazzling star. This city was called the White City of Cruz. Compared with the White City of Fanzin, except that both cities were built with the same white stone walls, another thing in common was that they were important land transportation hubs. Asaph was the southern terminus of the Evergreen Corridor, which was connected to the central region of the empire. To the north was the Flowerleaf Ridge, to the east was the Wilderness of the Four Territories, and to the west was the heartland of the empire — the plains north of Violet Valley. Once this city fell, it meant that the entire southern part of the empire, from Rokezi to Anzeruta, and then to the Wilderness of the Four Territories, would collapse.
Although Rogers and the others did not understand the strategic intentions of the army of Jorgendy Ridge, they still understood the importance of Asaph. Seeing Brando and Maynild's eyes fall on this point on the map, several imperial Knights' faces turned pale. Obviously, they knew what kind of situation the empire would face if the rats from the underground succeeded.
But Brendel was not that nervous. First of all, it had nothing to do with him, and second of all, he knew that the situation was not that bad. The eagle above the Kirrlutz Highlands was an eagle after all, how could it be defeated by a sneak attack? Asaph's geographical location was so important that there were powerful local legions in all four directions, not to mention the imperial navy stationed in the west of Rokezi. If the harassment force of Jorgendy Ridge could take down Asaph, then they would not just be a harassment force, but the main force.
The intention of this force was obviously to attract the attention of these local legions so that they would not have time to rescue Rokezi. If this' rat 'really achieved its goal, even if it only reached the vicinity of Asaph, it would basically announce the end of the empire's line of defense in Anzeruta. Just such a blow was absolutely unacceptable to the empire.
Brando's eyes moved back and fell on the north of Vargas and Linye Avenue.
"Ironwood Town, crossing Vargas and Linye Avenue is not their goal. They should have crossed these places earlier today," Maynild replied.
Brendel nodded in agreement, and the results of the investigation also confirmed this judgment. He stared at the map in silence, but several of the Kirrlutz's knights seemed a little anxious, as if they were one step slower and the empire would fall into an irrecoverable situation in the blink of an eye. Brando seemed to be aware of the obvious anxiety of the knights. He deliberately looked at them. Rogers finally could not help but ask, "Count, I wonder if what you said before is true or false?"
"What?" Brando pretended to be ignorant and asked in return.
Chiyara looked at the conversation between the two with interest.
Rogers licked his lips and then replied, "My lord, you said that there is a more perfect idea. If we can stop these uninvited guests, maybe the situation in the south of the empire will not become as bad as imagined."
Brando seemed to remember this sentence. He nodded and said, "My army is here. If the Jorgendy Ridge's harassment force is a whole legion, then do you think we can defeat them?"
Rogers thought for a moment and shook his head.
"Then if all of us here fight to the death, at the cost of everyone's life, we can delay the Jorgendy Ridge's pace. Do you think we can do that?" Brando asked again.
Rogers showed a hesitant look on his face, then shook his head a little heavily. "Count, although you are an ally of the empire, the empire has no right to ask you to make such a sacrifice."
Brando looked at this guy in surprise, thinking that this guy actually had some Knight's spirit, but he did not know if he was forced to say so. He shook his head and replied, "Then if I tell you that I may have a way to do what I said above, would you believe me?"
Rogers had no hope at all. His only hope now was to break out with the count and then send a message to His Majesty in the shortest time possible. But when he heard Brando's question, he could not help but be stunned for a moment. He looked up in disbelief and asked, "Count, what did you say?"
"Why, is it difficult to understand what I said?" Brando replied with the original sentence.
"No, but —"
Rogers still wanted to say something, but Brando interrupted him. "This is not a question of yes or no. I only have one request, and that is to follow my orders. You also know that it is impossible for us to shake the army of Jorgendy Ridge, so I must get your help. Of course, if you are unwilling to accept the command of an Erouine, then we will choose the first option. "
Rogers and his companions looked at each other, and the internal Knight immediately nodded. "I understand, Count. What do you want us to do?"
Brando glanced at the red pine forest.
"It's very simple. You first go and persuade Count Jean to join us. He has more than a thousand men under him. We can't just let them disband on the spot, right?"
… …
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