When Laing and Suria arrived at the meeting hall of Helenhilde, almost all the nobles of Vanford were already present.
Suria's uncle, Count Anthelm, and more than a dozen other nobles were already present. When they saw Laing and Suria, they all greeted them. Laing and his wife responded to them one by one.
After marrying Suria, Laing was finally integrated into the core of the duchy.
Many members of the Champion Knights Brotherhood of Quinnarius were present. There were a few famous legendary knights here.
The most famous ones were undoubtedly "Long Legs" François, Duke of Vanford, and his son-in-law "Devout" Laing, Count of Glamorgan.
Many other legendary knights were also famous in the kingdom and even in the old world.
The Knight of the Holy Grail, Count Cuyleu, Anthelm of Austai.
The Paladin of Atharix, François's cousin, Sir Jerrold.
The Squabbler, Sir Geoffrey of Anglerton, had once single-handedly slain a dragon named Scala.
The Wanderer, Toram, had fought Ghoul King Skotos for two days and one night in the Tainghu Pass.
Sir Lyon of Tula had once killed a powerful vampire baron.
Count Conde Renault had once led a few knights to defeat an entire goblin tribe in one fell swoop.
The Ghoul Slayer, Fastrick, had led an entire pegasus troop, the Swift Pegasus Club, to assist François and Laing's army in this war.
The meeting hall of Helenhilde Castle was filled with talents and generals. Today, these heroes who were praised in the folklore of Brittania, these epic creators who had created countless epic stories, were gathered in one place.
They would face this crisis together.
"Laing, Suria, you're here?" François, Duke of Winford, was looking at the map. Seeing that Laing, Suria, Armand and Bellegar had arrived, François gestured, "Sit down."
"Hey, guys, are you interested in listening to my story?" Seeing so many legendary knights gathered together, Bellegar Ironhammer, the king of the Angrend clan, was thrilled. He thought that if all of them joined the expedition to Eight Peaks Mountain, it would only be a matter of time before he defeated Skarnik and Quake the Headhunter!
"I'll tell you the story later, King Bellegar." Count Antelm, Count Kuyleu, called him King, but he felt awkward no matter how he addressed him. The Dwarf King in front of him didn't even have a fortress. How could he have the nerve to call himself King?
But that wasn't the main point now. "Laing, since you're here, let's talk about the current situation."
"What's the situation?" Laing gestured to Bellegar not to rush to tell the story. Bellegar shrugged and found his own small stool. Bellegar's arrival was within François's expectations. There was a small stool in the meeting hall that was raised and placed near the front.
Everyone began to listen to Antelm's story.
Laing pulled Suria to sit down. He held Suria's little hand, and the female knight put her little hand on his big hand to show that she was fine. The couple smiled at each other and began to listen.
"Two days ago, Forcade, Duke of Montfort, sent people to the whole of Brittany for help. A huge army of the dead came out of the Blackstone Stronghold in the Grey Mountains. Their target was the castle of Montfort at the Axe Bite Pass." A huge map of Brittany hung on the wall. Antelm pointed to the castle of Montfort at the Axe Bite Pass and said, "At first, Duke Forcade thought that the enemy came out to test the strength of his duchy. Forcade himself was a veteran of many battles. He was not careless. Instead, he gathered an army of three thousand led by two hundred knights and ordered them to retreat immediately if the battle was not going well."
"On the plains near the town of Soden in the upper reaches of the Grismori River, this army encountered the army of the dead. After a battle, they were immediately surrounded by the army of the dead. Less than a hundred knights and two hundred peasants were able to retreat."
"Duke Forcade, who knew the seriousness of the situation, immediately ordered all the serfs and nobles on the path of the army of the dead to immediately take refuge in the castle of Montfort. Duke Forcade himself led the duchy's knights to temporarily repel the vanguard of the army of the dead in the town of Psy. According to the report of the scouts, the number of the army of the dead was shocking. The initial estimate was more than fifty thousand. Duke Forcade knew that his army was not enough to fight against the army of the dead, so he asked the king and all the other dukes for help!"
"So far, has the king replied?" François frowned. Duke Winford took the initiative to ask first.
"Regent Lauren received the request for help. His response was to ask Duke Forcade to hold on for the time being. Currently, the whole kingdom is in the autumn harvest. For the time being, there is no ability to immediately organize an army of knights. He asked the dukes in the north to gather their army together. Before facing the threat of the army of the dead, the army must be assembled and reorganized. Any sporadic support will only add more members to the army of the dead," Antelm said.
"Correct judgment." Laing, who was sitting next to the round table, nodded. Lauren's approach might be unreasonable, but it was undoubtedly correct.
"Duke Berchemund of the Bastogne Duchy has just received the request for help. He and his duchy will need time to gather their army. We all know that the situation in Bastogne is special," Antelm continued. "So, at least until the end of the autumn harvest."
Most of the knights in the Bastogne Duchy were Grail Knights. This caused the entire duchy to be immersed in the glory of the past. The lives of the people were still passable, and the nobles were less corrupt. However, at the same time, the entire duchy's internal affairs were relatively weak. Berchemund himself was the same. He always appointed officials to manage the duchy while he stayed in Bastogne Castle with the knights of the Brotherhood of Red Dragon Knights and fought all kinds of strong enemies all day long.
Under such circumstances, it would definitely take a lot of time for Bastogne to organize an army.
"There's no need to consider Carcassonne. Its border is too long. It's already good enough that Duke Hubbard's army can defend the border …" Laing continued to think. "Similarly, there's no need to consider Berean."
"Then only Palawon and Bordero are left … Will the Sea God Knights support us?" Jerrold also raised his own question.
"Don't place your hopes on others, Jerrold. We can only rely on ourselves." François interrupted Jerrold's question. The duke was still frowning. "Can you be sure that the other party is the necromancer Heinrich Kaimler and his army?"
"I can be sure."
Whispers could be heard in the conference hall. Heinrich Kemmler had returned. He had brought him and his Ancient Grave Army back.
"Then what should we do now? Should we temporarily stop the autumn harvest and immediately support Montfort?" Sir Geoffrey of Anglerton asked.
"If we don't care about the autumn harvest and gather an army now, it will be a huge loss to the territory."
"But if we don't support Montfort as soon as possible, it might fall. This is not allowed. We must not let the Brittany land that the Lady bestowed upon us be desecrated by the undead."
"Montfort is a famous city in the Old World. It won't fall so easily! We must be well prepared. "
There was an argument in the conference hall. The nobles were arguing about whether they should send troops during the autumn harvest. After all, the autumn harvest was their own benefit. Montfort was a famous city in the Old World. Many knights believed that the army of the undead would not be able to break through Montfort so easily.
Furthermore, the knights and nobles of Winford all understood that they had to end the battle as soon as possible when fighting the undead army. Every dead knight and soldier would become a new undead. Adding fuel to the fire was not a good idea.
Laing also frowned. What should they do?
"Forcade's request for help was really straightforward. With his pride, he would not have asked for help so quickly," Antares continued. "But the destruction of Axebite Pass at the beginning of the year caused a huge economic blow to the duchy of Montfort. So, Forcade immediately asked for help from the entire country. He also asked for help from the Empire. So far, the Empire has not responded."
"Let's reorganize and gather the army first. When the autumn harvest is over, we will immediately send troops!" In the end, François made the final decision.
…
Brittany, in the mountains of the duchy of Montfort.
A huge undead army that stretched as far as the eye could see was marching along the mountain path. Tens of thousands of zombies and skeleton warriors filled the entire mountain path. Black bats and ghouls covered the gloomy mountain sky. In the middle of the army, Kemmler's two most elite graveyard guard legions, tomb ghouls, and tomb ghouls were advancing slowly. He himself held a staff and did not ride a horse.
Leading two undead knight legions and a team of blood knights, Matthew Bard followed beside Kemmler. This Black Knight of Mu Xilon was wearing a black cursed armor and followed behind Kemmler. He was the main provider of cavalry in this war.
"Montfort is now a crowded meat barrel. Most of the refugees have already retreated into the castle under Forcade's protection," Matthew Bard said to Kemmler. Matthew Bard said to Kemmler, "Your slow advance gave Forcade enough time to prepare."
"Are you doubting my decision?" Kemmler raised his head. His tattered and frayed wizard hat lifted slightly.
"No, my mission is to assist you. This is the condition of our alliance," Matthew Bard said disapprovingly.
"Hmph! Then do as I command. "Kemmler lowered his head again.
Kemmler and his graveyard army were not prepared to attack Laing and François's allied army first. However, attacking during the autumn harvest would make the Brittany panic. They had already launched the attack for three days, and there were no signs of troops gathering anywhere.
However, Kemmler's march was not very smooth at first. There were very few farmlands in the duchy of Montfort. Most of the serfs relied on herding and mining for a living. Without the autumn harvest mission, the serfs' first reaction upon seeing the undead army was to turn and run.
At this moment, Kemmler ordered them not to pursue. On the contrary, other than slaughtering a few villages at the beginning, he ordered the army to slow down their advance. This gave Duke Montecard time to bring the refugees into the castle and improve the castle's defenses.
Matthew Bard was quite puzzled by Kemmler's order. Since they wanted to attack during the autumn harvest in the Brittany, why did they slow down their march now? Since they wanted to use massacres to create a large number of corpses to replenish the army, why did Kemmler let Duke Forcade cover a large number of refugees as they retreated?
Wasn't this contradictory?
Did this great necromancer really lose his mind after having half his head chopped off by François?
"Alright, go ahead and court death, Kemmler." A sinister smile appeared on Matthew Bard's face hidden under his helmet. "Once you're dead, I'll be able to take over all of your forces."
Go ahead and do it!
The undead army continued to advance. On the rugged mountain path, Kemmler secretly sized up Matthew Bard and laughed coldly in his heart.
He's not persuading me. This kid wants me to lose so that he can take over all my forces.
If he's persuading me not to do this, then he's the one who wants me to win.
Just like Matthew Bard, Kemmler had his own plans.
Montfort Castle was incomparably sturdy, and the undead weren't good at sieges. His army didn't have any siege weapons, so it was impossible for them to take over the castle quickly.
This was why he had Duke Forcade lead the refugees to retreat. There were so many refugees, so how many mouths to feed? How much food was stored in the castle? How long could the castle last if there was a lack of food?
What he needed to do was to surround the castle and attack the reinforcements. The Montfort Duchy would definitely ask for help from the kingdom. He only needed to wait for the Knight King's reinforcements and annihilate them!
At the same time … Kemmler recalled the battle of La Messenelle Abbey more than twenty years ago. He recalled how François had charged in front of him on horseback and almost beheaded him with the Unicorn Sword amidst the anger of the Lake God. The great necromancer's hand tightened around his skull staff.
François, I'll repay you a hundredfold for everything you've done to me!
A week later, Brittany, Montfort Castle.
Montfort Castle could be said to be a model of Brittany castle. It was located in the middle of the canyon of the Axe Bite Pass and displayed the best example of fortification to the world. The castle was divided by five layers of sturdy walls. The towering stone walls started from the western end and ended at the eastern mountain pass. The castle collected coins from all who passed through and formed a prosperous trading city in the castle.
It was said that Montfort was a fortress of the dwarves in ancient times. Later, it was abandoned because of the decline of the dwarves' power. The current Montfort Castle was built by the Breton tribe across the Grey Mountains on the ruins of the dwarves' fortress to fight against the Green Tribe.
The main castle of the castle was located to the north of the mountain pass. It was a huge fortress more than twenty meters tall. The five-story stone castle was filled with obsolete cannons and fixed giant trebuchets imported from the Empire. Each floor was divided into two independent fortifications. The lower three floors were parallel to the cliff, while the top two floors were towering watchtowers.
Every wall was filled with Brittany defenders. There were more than ten thousand of them, but even behind such sturdy and tall fortifications, their hearts were still surrounded by fear.
Now, the entire castle was drowned by the sea of undead.
Duke Falcade stood on the watchtower and looked at the endless army of undead. His face was grim. "My lady above, this will be the toughest test Montfort Castle has faced in decades. May you grant me victory."
"There is no peace or surrender in the face of the undead, people of the Duchy of Montfort! We can only fight to the death! "
"United, under the faith of the lady, we can only fight. May the lady bless us!"
"May the lady bless us!" The loud response from the castle echoed in the valley.
As if in response to Duke Falcade's words, a twisted and hateful horn sounded from the undead army.
The war had begun.
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