When Bellegar Ironhammer's Angrund's Hammer smashed into the head of the Skaven warlord Oseid Abyss, the Skaven warlord whose armor was full of dents couldn't withstand the heavy blow and died on the spot.
Now, the Dimensional Gate had collapsed in front of everyone, turning into ruins. The Skaven Ratmen army that didn't manage to escape in time had already perished underground. The sounds of explosions and collapses drowned out the voices of the crowd.
"Maybe we can find something from this book." A white book was hung on the waist of the Skaven warlord. Bellegar reached out and took the book. Then, the king of the Angran clan raised his hammer and smashed it on Oseid's head again.
The rat's skull, which had already been smashed, was smashed into a pulp.
"Okay, this way, it's guaranteed to be completely dead." Bellegar nodded and said to Laing and Helberg with the attitude of an experienced person, "When facing a strong enemy, you have to learn how to deal the final blow, human friends."
"I've always been the one to kill." Laing looked at the collapsed portal and felt a little uncomfortable. The power of the Skaven Ratmen was obvious to all. He dared to say that if it wasn't for his ability to deal with the Pit Abomination, this army might have suffered a great loss.
And this was only a small clan of the Skaven Ratmen.
"This way, we can truly eliminate the threat of the Skaven Ratmen. I mean in the near future." Bellegar nodded. "We should retreat. The dwarves can resist the power of the dimensional stone for a long time, but the humans can't. My engineers will use explosives to blow this place up."
Laing let out a long breath. He was indeed tired of the Ratmen.
Suria patted Laing's hand and smiled gently to make her husband feel better.
During the battle with the Skaven Ratmen, they could hear endless murmurs of annoyance. The stench of countless corpses and the screams of "yeses yes" could be heard. Not only Laing, but almost all the human soldiers were relieved after hearing Bellegar's instructions. The physical pain was only secondary. The mental pain was the real reason for their discomfort.
This was the corruption of the Skaven.
Laing himself didn't eat rotten food, but that didn't mean he didn't feel uncomfortable and tired.
Suria was the only one who didn't feel the slightest irritation. The golden double-headed eagle wedding ring on her left ring finger continued to exude a warm power, protecting the Countess.
When the group of people retreated from the underground, it was already three hours later. On the snow-covered ruins of Helmgat, Emperor Karl-franz had already sent people to prepare hot water and food. A large group of combat priests were praying and bathing the soldiers who had returned from battle with holy water.
After a short break, Count Laing Macado of Glamorgan, Countess Suria, Emperor Karl-franz of the Empire, Marshal Ricke Kurt Helberg, Flag Bearer Ludwig Schwarzhammer, and King of Eight Peaks Bellegar Ironhammer gathered for another meeting.
This time they were going to discuss how to deal with Helmgath.
Laing, who had taken a bath and changed into an Earl's suit, opened the curtain. At this time, everyone was already seated.
The Emperor's golden tent had all the necessities. The long table in the large tent was filled with fine wine and food specially provided by the royal family. The bright silver candlesticks were emitting light. Bellegar was eating and drinking to his heart's content. He especially liked the Emperor's ale and a lot of meat.
"Good evening, Laing. You don't mind if I call you that, right?" The Emperor didn't have much of an appetite. His face clearly showed that he had something on his mind. When he saw Laing come in, the Emperor squeezed out a smile and gestured for Laing to sit down.
Unlike Brittany, the Empire's seats were arranged. Laing and his wife were asked to sit in the second and third seats on the right.
"Good evening, Emperor Franz." Laing and Suria sat down in order.
"Thank you, Earl Laing, Countess Suria. You have saved Helmgath. You are Helmgath's heroes." The Emperor was the first to speak. He formally expressed his gratitude. "I would like to reward you, but I don't know what you need."
"Destroying evil is my duty. I don't want to ask for a bloody reward when the whole city is in ruins, Your Majesty." Laing and Suria looked at each other and shook their heads. "This is not something a lady's knight should have."
"Here, I have a box here." Emperor Karl-Franz gestured for Rick to bring up a golden iron cross skull ornament. "Inside is part of the wealth that Earl Laing Hart has accumulated over the years. The value of the things inside should be no less than a thousand gold marks. I'll give it to you as a symbol of our friendship and a reward for your help in this incident."
Laing hesitated. The Emperor continued, "Please don't refuse. I know that your two female courtiers were injured because of this. I don't know much about magic, but I know that wizards need a long time to recover after being injured."
Ryan was left speechless by his words.
Now that the Earl had a large family and business, he could no longer act on his own whims. He had to consider the interests of his entire faction. He couldn't harm Theresa and Veronica's interests just because he didn't want to. Theresa was seriously injured, and Veronica would need to rest for a month or two to recover her magic power. Leon couldn't let them get hurt for nothing, right?
Laing accepted the treasure box. The heavy box was filled with gold, silver, and jewels. The sound of coins clinking against each other could be heard.
"Due to the persistence of you and the people of Helmgard, the Skaven Rat Men did not take away enough spoils of war. Other than food, most of the lost spoils have been recovered by the army in the Skaven Rat Men's camp. The loss is smaller than I estimated." Seeing Laing accept the box, the Emperor nodded and continued, "Rebuilding is a huge effort, but humans will not give in in the face of difficulties. The Empire is ready to rebuild Helmgard."
"What about the refugees? What's the plan? "Laing asked in a low voice.
"Master Ernst has already brought people to solve the problem of distribution. As long as they are willing to stay and rebuild Helmgard, they will be able to get a small piece of land and property rights. If they do not want to stay in this sad place, we will arrange for them to live elsewhere," the Emperor continued. "For now, the trade route to Axebite Pass will be cut off for a while."
"If the Brittany needs help, just let me know." Laing knew that the Emperor was negotiating with him.
Karl-franz looked at Laing.
In the past few years, it was not an exaggeration to say that Laing was the most powerful noble in the south of Brittany. Although he was only an Earl, a whole chain of interests and groups was gradually forming with him as the head. Laing had the full support of the Lake Fairy behind him. Even the King was very wary of him.
If Laing was the Kurfürst of the Empire, Karl-franz would definitely suppress and exclude Laing. As the Emperor of the Empire, he would not allow anyone to challenge his position.
This was not a matter of IQ or morality. This was a matter of ass.
But Laing was different. This guy was a great noble in Brittany. Not only would he not be a threat to the Empire, but he would also be a powerful ally in this dark age. The Empire was surrounded by enemies. The Emperor knew that if a Holy Grail Knight like Laing, who was determined to eliminate threats in his territory, who had a deep relationship with the Empire and who had a good view of the big picture, and who was the Chosen Champion, could rule the Kingdom of the Knight King, it would be good news for the Empire.
"Very well. Let's put Helmgard aside for now. Our dwarf friend, King Belegar's men have already deciphered the diary of the Skaven Rat Man Warlord Oseid." After hearing Laing's answer, the Emperor cleverly changed the topic.
Whether it was Leon or Emperor Karl, both of them were smart people. Some things were easy to understand, and there was no need to continue.
"That white book? Is it a diary? "Laing complained." My goodness, the Skaven Rat Men actually wrote diaries? "
"This clan of Skaven Ratmen is called the Festering Clan. They were the ones who attacked Helmgard under the orders of the clan leader …" Belega began to explain what he had read in the diary.
After the last meeting of the Skaven Rat Men's Council of Thirteen, the Horned Rat Men's main forces were preparing to attack Ruthia and Helmgard at the same time. They were preparing to attack the Empire's Helmgard and spread corruption and disease to the Empire and Brittany at the same time.
The Festering Clan was the Rat Men's clan responsible for this goal. They had secretly occupied the deep mines of Montfort and the underground mines of Helmgard. Their original plan was to slowly infiltrate and spread the plague.
However, the clan leader of the Festering Clan was obviously unwilling to accept this. He was very dissatisfied with the strategy of the Horned Rat Men's Council of Thirteen to attack Ruthia.
This group of traitors decided that they would do it themselves and destroy Helmgard directly. The Horned Rat Men would definitely notice their great deeds and give them their blessings!
This was the reason for the current calamity. Helmgard had been destroyed in an instant.
That wasn't all that was recorded in the diary. Bellegar's subordinates learned from the diary that the Skaven Warlord Oseid Abyss, under the advice of his subordinates, launched an attack before the army was ready and the dimensional gate was unstable in order to prevent other Ratmen from snatching the credit and spoils of war. Gray Prophet Sparte didn't want to be outdone and launched an attack right after.
In other words, this clan was not fully prepared at all. They launched an attack for the sake of the spoils and contributions, and even brought the Rat Mother to the frontlines.
As expected, the nature of traitors is to fan the flames, Laing thought. He should think of a way to inform Brother Fulgen of this news.
"Even so, a victory is a victory. We defeated the Rat Men's attack and destroyed the dimensional gate. At least for the time being, the Skaven Rat Men will not appear in the Empire or Brittany," Belegar said in a low voice. Belega said in a low voice, "I said, the rest of the matter has nothing to do with us. I should return with Leon."
"King Belegar, you don't plan to continue exploring the Empire?" Emperor Karl-franz had wanted to invite Belegar to Brunswick as a guest.
"There's no need for that." Belegar shook his head. During this period of time, he had explored many villages in the Empire and Brittany along the Grey Mountains. The King of Eight Peaks Mountain was stubborn and liked to keep up appearances, but that did not mean he was an idiot.
Belegar could not find what he wanted from the Empire. In terms of infantry and long-range cannons, Belegar looked down on the strength of the Empire's army. These infantry were too weak and would be defeated by a wave of attacks from the Green Dwarfs. In terms of long-range cannons, how could the Empire compare to the Dwarfs? Most of the Empire's cannons were defective products that the Dwarfs helped to make. Perhaps the Brunswick Military Factory or Nur Military Factory had some special war machines, but the Empire would not be willing to lend them.
The only thing that Belegar thought was acceptable was the Empire's knights and the Emperor's personal guards. However, the Empire's knights were undoubtedly not as strong as the Brittany's knights, and the Emperor's personal guards were even more unlikely to be deployed.
After the chaos caused by the plague, Belegar did not have the mood to continue his exploration. He wanted to quickly return to Breezy Castle and gather his people for a meeting to discuss how to borrow more knights from the Brittany to reclaim Eight Peaks Mountain.
Oh, and this Grail knight in front of me, I must bring him along. I'll leave the Pit Abomination to him, Belegar thought as he looked at Laing.
"I don't plan to stay any longer. I'll continue to return to the territory tomorrow morning," Laing said to the Emperor. "I've been out for a long time."
"Then I won't keep you guys any longer," Karl-franz nodded.
After Laing and his wife and Belegar left, the Emperor sat in the golden tent and thought for a long time. He relaxed and leaned back on the chair, holding the warhammer Gail Maraz in his hand. This divine weapon that had been built since the Empire was established two thousand years ago was still filled with unparalleled power.
"You saw it with your own eyes?" After a long time, the Emperor asked Marshal Rick who was behind him.
"He is indeed very strong." Marshal Rick's cold face was faintly discernible in the light of the fire, only his two long strands of beard trembling. "His strength is clearly above Ludwig's. In the future, if he doesn't become a powerful arm of the Empire, then he will become a great enemy of the Empire!"
"He is a Grail knight," the Emperor repeated.
"That's right. Fortunately, he is a Grail knight," Helberg also repeated.
The golden tent was very quiet. The Emperor, the flag bearer, and Marshal Rick were all thinking.
"His actions are based on the will of the Lady of the Lake," Flag Bearer Ludwig said.
"But he is too strong. For a Grail knight, his battle strength is already at the top of the Grail knights. By the way, Ludwig, how does Laing's strength compare to that of Duke Vanford's François?" Marshal Rick thought about Laing's performance along the way.
"About the same … or slightly weaker. I have seen François in action. He once broke through an entire undead army alone and killed his way in. In the end, he severely injured the Grand Necromancer Heinrich Kaimler," Ludwig said in a rough voice. Ludwig said in a rough voice, "Based on the current situation, Leon might not be as strong as Francois, but the difference isn't that great."
"This father-son-in-law pair is really terrifying. No wonder François married his daughter to Laing." The Emperor chuckled a few times, his face full of helplessness. "Why, why don't our Empire have so many powerful Grand Knights? Brittany has more than three hundred Grail knights. How can we fight against them? "
"But we have steel, artillery, and faith." Marshal Rick shook his head. "Your Majesty, please don't say that. Your people have never succumbed to the darkness."
"I am thinking of a way to drag Laing into our battle line." The Emperor changed the topic. "We have a common enemy with the Brittany. Chaos, green skin, and undead."
"It is difficult, but not impossible." Ludwig said this and did not say anything else.
"This method will have to fall on Emmanuelle."
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