The small victory in the Battle of Richard Plain initially made Lauren and his army rejoice. Everyone thought that it was only a matter of time before they captured Richard Castle. Since the knights could defeat the undead army through frontal combat, then as long as Matthew Bard's undead army was willing to fight the knights in the wild, defeating the undead and recovering Muxilon was only a matter of time.
However, the situation made Lauren miscalculate. After losing the first battle, Maheubad gave up on the decisive battle with Lauren. On the contrary, Musiron's Viper sent many Blood Knights and Black Grail Knights to attack the supply line of the Northern Knight's army from behind. For a time, the supply line established by Lauren suffered a series of attacks. When Lauren sought a decisive battle with Maheubad, Maheubad retreated. When Lauren wanted to attack Richard Castle, Maheubad attacked Lauren's supply line again and sent vampires to corrupt and incite the refugees to riot.
After harassing each other for a few days, both sides were in a predicament. Matthew Bard's attack team suffered heavy losses, and the Empire and Brittany coalition forces were exhausted in such a harassing battle.
Richard Castle had not been taken down for a long time, and the war seemed to have entered a stalemate. Both Lauren and Matthew Bard were seeking a decisive battle that was beneficial to them.
Lauren was very anxious because he was most afraid that Matthew Bard would choose to give up the decisive battle with him and retreat into Muxilon. If he wanted to capture Muxilon, he had to annihilate the main force of the undead army here.
However, Matthew Bard did not give Lauren a chance to fight. His repeated attacks on the supply line not only made Lauren anxious, but also made his previous small victory on Richard Plain meaningless. The Empire's army was indeed brave and good at fighting, and the Brittany knights were not weak, but it was impossible for people to outrun the undead.
But compared to Lauren, Matthew Bard was actually more anxious.
Obviously, Matthew Bard could retreat back to Muxilon, but if he did, he would lose his prestige. His rule in Muxilon was already unstable, and he could not retreat at this critical moment.
However, the Spire Palace had been lost. Mathewbad knew that Laing's army was temporarily exhausted and lacking in numbers. They were currently recuperating and waiting for reinforcements and supplies to be deployed. If he couldn't break through Laing's army here, he would have to face a pincer attack from both sides when Laing caught his breath! According to Mu Xilong's remaining undead army, Matthew Bad no longer had the ability to fight on both sides.
As for attacking Laing's supply line, Matthew Bard had never thought about it. This was because Laing's supply line transported supplies through the forest trails in the Chalon Forest. Laing had sent the Chalon Forest Patrol Battalion and a team of Wood Elf Rangers, the "Emerald Wind", to ensure the safety of the supply line. Vampires were at a great disadvantage when fighting in the forest. The rangers could directly attack outside of their line of sight.
Furthermore, vampires always had an ominous fear of the Chalon Forest. Needless to say, there was no need to mention it.
Since then, both sides had fallen into a stalemate and were looking for their own solutions.
Surprisingly, Matthew Bard began to become more gloomy and silent. He would often shut himself in his tent for the whole day without any movement. Whenever he came out of his tent, all kinds of strange ideas and bold plans would always amaze the other vampires. Because of this, the two armies couldn't really determine the winner.
But even so, the undead army was facing a more difficult situation. Faced with the powerful firepower of the Empire's reinforcements, Richard Castle was almost blown into ruins. Both sides had clashed several times over the remains of the castle.
Unknowingly, March had arrived.
Subspace, Chaos Domain, Tzeentch's Labyrinth.
Tzeentch's Crystal Labyrinth was located on the endless Rainbow Plateau. It seemed to pass through all the Demon Realms. Crystal passageways alternating between different colors turned and intersected in Tzeentch's domain. Through schemes and lies, they infiltrated the secret passageways of other Evil Gods' territories and connected the ever-changing Chaos Realm into one.
There were no demons in the Crystal Labyrinth. The Labyrinth's illusionary passageways were enough to stop intruders who weren't controlled by the strongest imagination. The glittering corridors not only reflected light, but also hope, pain, dreams, and nightmares. The Crystal Labyrinth didn't just reflect, it also distorted and divided the intruders' goals and ambitions, turning them into madness and despair. Under the control of Tzeentch's unconscious schemes, the Crystal Labyrinth constantly moved and reorganized. Every turn, turn, and dead end was a whim of the Master of Fate. Those who were lost in the Labyrinth would be lost forever. Their thoughts were shaken by the repetition of their own failures, and their dreams were shattered.
And now, the great Master of Fate, the Master of Change, the Messenger of Hope, the Master of Deceit, the Supreme Eagle, the Master of Cunning, the Lord of Pristine Treasures (Aurora's name), and the King of Eagles (Noska's name) were all sitting in their Fortress of Despair. One of the Four Gods of Chaos, Tzeentch, was here.
Tzeentch was the most bizarre of the Four Gods of Chaos. His skin was covered with constantly changing faces. These faces looked askance and mocked those who dared to look at them. When Tzeentch spoke, these faces would repeat his words with slightly different intonations. They would also provide a commentary that would raise doubts about the original words to fool the listeners. Tzeentch's wrinkled face came from his unshaped torso, so his head and body were one. Above Tzeentch's burning eyes, two sweeping horns pulsed, and at the end of the spiraling horns, a mysterious flame exploded.
Tzeentch was the Master of Change, the great schemer – the creator of the universe's fate. He had great joy in conspiracies and other political activities. He liked cunning more than strength, and manipulation more than violence. None of Tzeentch's plans were simple, and indeed, they often contradicted themselves. This was because he only craved for eternal deception and conspiracies.
From Tzeentch's point of view, the lives of mortals were always incomparably addicted to conspiracies and were full of variables. They lived their daily lives in a certain way without realizing how many flaws and contradictions there were in their souls. Tzeentch could not help but involve himself in the mortal world. Sometimes, it was as part of the great competition to defeat his brothers, the evil gods. Most of the time, it was to satisfy his own needs to secretly control, tamper with and control. Tzeentch would not disdain to damage his hands in a noisy war, although he preferred to win through cunning and destructive witchcraft rather than brute force.
Now, this evil god was watching the battles in the mortal world with great interest. The fluctuating emotions of the Black Knight Matthew Bard had greatly aroused this evil god's interest. In other words, over the years, the changes in Brittany had allowed this evil god to obtain a large amount of spiritual nourishment. He had gradually recovered from the accident.
Tzeentch liked change, he liked change. Laing's reforms in this country had allowed Tzeentch to obtain a large amount of energy. Tzeentch did not care whether the changes were good or bad. To this evil god, as long as there were changes, Tzeentch could obtain a large amount of subspace energy from the emotions of mortals and use it for himself.
Therefore, when a united country was strong, Tzeentch would always desire to destroy and divide it to obtain a large amount of energy. But what about when a divided country was in internal strife? Instead, Tzeentch would think of ways to guide the powerful mortals to help him unify the country. Perhaps after the country of mortals was unified, it would form a strong resistance against Chaos.
This was because as long as there were changes, Tzeentch could obtain energy.
The best way to fight against Tzeentch was to remain unchanged. By maintaining a state so that Tzeentch could not absorb any energy, Tzeentch would indeed be restricted because of this state. However, if this was done, Tzeentch's old rival, the Father of Decay, would benefit. This was because Nurgle liked things that remained unchanged. Nurgle's country would form a balance between constant decay and rebirth. As long as the mortals remained unchanged, Nurgle would obtain power.
In short, no matter what the mortals did, Tzeentch and Nurgle would always benefit. Just like how the mortals did not stop fighting or recuperating, Phobia and Lust would always benefit. The existence of the Four Gods of Chaos was the opposite of human emotions. As long as there were living beings, Chaos would never disappear.
That was why mortals needed to believe in gods. When mortals kept shouting the name of the god they believed in, their emotional energy would flow more toward the god they believed in. That way, they would be able to avoid feeding the Evil Gods of Chaos too much.
If most of the energy of the revolution and fanaticism led by Laing had flowed towards the Lake Fairy, causing Tzeentch to be unable to eat his fill, then the emotional changes of the Black Knight, Matthew Bard, had opened up a spiritual treasury for Tzeentch. The Lord of All Changes enjoyed the taste of Matthew Bard's infinite despair and rising hope.
He knew that the plan that he had been brewing for many years was about to be implemented.
Everything was Tzeentch's conspiracy. Starting from a thousand years ago, one of the first twelve Knights of the Holy Grail, Landuin, was a victim of Tzeentch's conspiracy. The falling out between Landuin and Schiluff was another successful experiment of Tzeentch's conspiracy. The two first Knights of the Holy Grail finally fell out because of territorial disputes and personal matters. This made Tzeentch very happy. After that, the land of Muxilon began to fall and decay.
Tzeentch hid in the dark and watched all of this with satisfaction. He felt that this land provided him with a huge amount of energy. He manipulated fate. The tragedy of Muxilon was caused by him.
It was the same for the Mad Duke Morovin and the Tower of Dore incident.
Everything was Tzeentch's conspiracy.
Now, it was time for this scheme to bear fruit. While Matthew Bard was unaware, this Dark Knight's mind and body had already been corrupted by Tzeentch. His self-righteous ideas were all bestowed upon him by the Evil God. Tzeentch had unknowingly corrupted Mu Xilong's venomous snake, and it had its own plans.
There was nothing in Chaos that could not be corrupted.
Tzeentch wanted to take back the Duke's Crown of Muxilon and his lance, the Light of the Indestructible Lake. These two holy items had accumulated energy for thousands of years. At the same time, he wanted to take all the holy items of the first twelve Knights of the Holy Grail — the twelve lances given by the Lake Fairy.
"Carlos," the Master of Fate said to the side of his seat.
A Chaos Demon answered softly. Its appearance was abnormally old. Its back was hunched and shriveled. Its originally huge wings had shrunk into short stumps. Its two heads were drooping. When it heard its master's words, it immediately moved forward.
It was the first Chaos Demon under Tzeentch, the Weaver of Fate, Carlos.
"I'll leave it to you this time." Tzeentch's voice was filled with interest and playfulness. "Don't disappoint your master!"
"I'll send the strongest Tzeentch Demon Army — the Eternal Army to you!"
"I understand, master."
Following the Master of Fate's command, the strongest Tzeentch Demon Army slowly moved out of the Crystal Maze. Tens of thousands of Pink Fear Demons, Shriekers that filled the sky, Tzeentch Fire Demons that spat out colorful flames, Tzeentch Spirits that were cunning and changeable, Heralds that were screaming loudly, and dozens of Tzeentch Flaming Chariots that were led by Carlos, the Weaver of Fate, towards the mortal world.
"For the Master of All Changes!"
"For Saint Tzeentch!"
… I'm praising Tzeentch's section break …
At night, in the main tent of the Undead Army's camp.
The Dark Knights, Mu Xilong's Viper, and Matthew Bard were sleeping peacefully here.
Yesterday, Matthew Bard had led a Dark Knight and attempted to attack Lauren's supply line. However, Lauren had learned his lesson after many attacks on his supply line. He led a team of Royal Knights and Empire's musketeers to ambush Matthew Bard and his Dark Knights.
Matthew Bard's body was shot by a musketeer. He was slightly injured and was forced to retreat.
The unfavorable situation on the battlefield made him toss and turn restlessly, unable to sleep. Matthew Bard was extremely anxious when he thought about Mu Xilong's predicament. He reached out and touched the bullet hole on his shoulder. He knew that if this dragged on, he would lose.
He could not lose! He wanted revenge! He wanted to uncover the scheme of the b * tch in the lake!
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! " Matthew Bard roared angrily. He smashed the bed with all his might, smashing a big hole in the sturdy bed. He was thinking carefully about how to break out of this situation.
The letter with Duke Theodoric's seal had already been sent to the Brittany's camp. However, the plan could not be carried out so quickly because the real Duke Theodoric was still being held captive in the Monastery of the Lake in Bastogne. If he wanted to leave the monastery, he would need to apply and gather people to come to the frontlines. If the plan was carried out immediately, it would arouse the suspicion of the other Dukes.
Therefore, Matthew Bard had to hold on for a while. However, he could not hold on any longer. Lauren's attacks were getting fiercer and fiercer, and the other party was eager to fight a decisive battle with him.
What should I do? I can't retreat, I can't fight a decisive battle. I don't have much time left. If I can't defeat Lauren's army quickly, I'll be in a desperate situation when Laing's army in the Steeple Palace takes a breather.
As his thoughts ran wild, Matthew Bard gradually fell asleep.
In his dream, he came to a crystal labyrinth.
In the center of the labyrinth, hidden from those who did not have crazy insight to find it, stood the majestic Impossible Fortress. Pink and blue flames from the core of the fortress twisted and spewed out from the twin spires and towers. These only existed for a heartbeat, then flickered and disappeared, replaced by an even crazier building. The doors, windows, and attractive doorways yawned open like hungry mouths. The next moment, they suddenly closed, blocking all the entrances.
"Where is this?" Matthew Bard asked curiously.
A two-headed bird flew down from the sky and whispered to Matthew Bard, "Mortal, you need my help!"
"Help?"
"Yes, you need me. You need the power of the Lord of All Changes to help you through this difficult time."
"No! I know what you are, and I won't accept your help! "Matthew Bard immediately recognized what the other party was and immediately retorted," Never! "
"No, no, no, young mortal, we just want to propose a deal. We can each take what we need. You can get out of your predicament, and we will get what we want. After this is done, you will still be Duke Muxilon, and we will no longer have any contact with you." The two-headed strange bird whispered bewitchingly.
Matthew Bard wanted to refute, but some part of his mind stopped him from doing so. Thinking of his predicament and the scars on his body, he said, "I won't believe you! Never. "
"But … tell me, what do you want?"
"We can help you … deal with Laing Macado!"
"Then … what is the price?"
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