Looking at the dozen or so people that Dallion brought with him, although they were in good order, their equipment was not as good as the worst equipped escort under Leon.
Obviously, he is not doing well...
It was estimated that Dallion had just left home not long ago. Judging from his appearance, he had the spirit of chivalry, but his thinking was obviously a bit sloppy. I don’t know how his family would let him go out without worrying about it…
To overthrow a kingdom, you don't need chivalry...
"That's right, Lord Leon! Since you are here, you must be remembering the glory of your ancestors as royal knights, right? On behalf of my father, I will welcome you back to the Griffin Knights. Of course, as a Griffin Knight, you should definitely support me in becoming the legitimate ruler of Pendor..."
Commemorate the glory of our ancestors?
The Lord returned the sword, which was indeed a gesture of goodwill to the Griffin Knight. Plus the Griffin emblem - this guy probably thought Leon was the descendant of the Griffin Knight.
But, you haven't even become a decent human being yet, but you use such a childish way to get others to join the Order of the Griffin and support you as king?
The lord sighed and turned away, not wanting to waste time with this guy.
Dallion didn't expect the lord to leave as soon as he said so. He was stunned for a moment and then chased after him.
"Sir Leon, wait! Whether you are willing to support me or not... you should go see my father. He asked me to come out to find you..."
Dallion stopped in front of the lord, his young face full of seriousness and stubbornness.
The Lord stopped and looked at Dallion carefully.
"Who is your father? The King of Pendor?"
There was a hint of sarcasm in the lord's tone.
"No... it's my adoptive father, Sir Pauldemar, the last heir of the Griffin Knights. He lives in the mountains, not far from here. He asked me to try to strengthen my strength in Kwen Village and keep an eye on you. If I see you, I will take you to find him..."
Dallion didn't hear the hint of sarcasm and explained it quite seriously.
It seems that he has great respect for his adoptive father.
Li Ang put away the sneer on his face and said in confusion: "Your adoptive father asked you to keep an eye on me in Kwen Village? You followed me from Kwen Village?"
"I guess so... I met your caravan outside Kwen Village, but you were not in it. Then my men discovered traces of the Sword of Griffin Mercenaries. I thought Milgan had returned to this base, so I hurried back to take a look. I didn't expect it was you... But I was indeed looking for you. My father asked me to go down the mountain to find you after hearing that you helped Kwen Village stop the 'Drunkard Group' a few months ago."
Dallion explained very seriously, it seemed that he was really looking for Leon, and he probably met Eric and his convoy returning to Changhe Town.
The Lord could understand why Dallion's adoptive father asked him to find him in Kwen.
He traded grain with most of the nobles in Kwen, and had spent a long time here not long ago, so it was indeed very likely that he would be found in this village.
Moreover, Kwen was relatively safe, and his lord was Leofric - he also used the griffin emblem, and was kind to those who used the griffin emblem.
At the same time, most of the people in Kwen Village are traditional old-school nobles who are retired. Even if these old nobles meet a guy like Dallion who claims the throne at every turn, they will not take it seriously.
I guess Sir Pauldemar also knows that with Dallion's reckless personality, it is indeed more dangerous to go to other places...
If Dalion hadn't mentioned that his adoptive father was looking for Leon, Leon would have assumed that Dalion was just a reckless person.
Given the Lord's temperament, one should either stay away from him, or use him as a shield, or even as a puppet...
But after knowing that his adoptive father was deliberately looking for him, Li Ang became a little confused.
Dallion's adoptive father should not be looking for the descendants of the Griffin Knight, otherwise why didn't he look for Leofric? Leofric was the lord of Kwen Village before, so close.
And Dallion seems to respect his adoptive father quite a bit...
So, was this rash man who claimed the throne really rash or was it a deliberate arrangement by his adoptive father?
We should really go and meet this Pauldemar, he’s not far away anyway.
Dallion asked his men to wait at the entrance of the ruins, and signaled Leon not to bring anyone else and to follow him alone.
Afterwards, he took Leon through the interior of the ruins into a forest, and then went up the mountain through a path in the forest that was difficult for ordinary people to find - it seemed that this relic was his doorstep, no wonder he said that Milgan stole things from his house.
Dallion's adoptive father lived halfway up the Goddess Mountain.
This is a stone house like a sentry post, built at the real source of Tongtian River. The snow water from the top of Goddess Mountain gathers into a small lake next to the stone house and then flows into Tongtian River.
The stone house is quite simple and there is nothing surprising about it.
But the scenery here is very beautiful.
The stone house is located right on the fog line. Looking down, you can see thick fog filling the mountains and rolling constantly, giving people the illusion of a sea of ​​clouds.
Going up, there is the peak of Goddess Mountain which is frozen all the year round. The melted snow drips and gathers into streams, and the ice and snow sparkle in the sun.
In the middle is a jewel-like small lake, a gurgling stream, and lush grass and trees by the lake.
It's a great place with three views.
"Father, I'm back... I brought back your sword!"
Dallion started yelling from a distance.
An old knight with white hair staggered out of the stone house.
The old man was very old, probably over seventy years old, and was wearing a plain brown robe, looking like a scholar.
The robe was a little worn and the color had become dull, but it was still clean and tidy.
There was a distinct black griffin embroidered on the chest of the robe, with layers of black embroidery, probably having been patched over the years.
"Dalion... you seem to have brought friends back?"
The old man reached out to take the sword that Dallion handed over, but put it aside and looked at Leon first.
"Sir Baldemar, I'm Leon. Dallion said you were looking for me?"
As soon as the lord stepped forward to say hello, he saw the old knight's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost: "Leonardo?"
Well, it seems that he is also an acquaintance of my parents.
"That's my father... Do you know him?"
Leon shook his head. The lord already knew that he looked very much like Leonardo, and it seemed that many people knew his father.
"Who wouldn't know the famous Blood Lion? He was the last Lion Knight... Leon, ha, no wonder he got that name... How come he didn't die at the hands of the Mad King?"
Pauldemar seemed to know a lot, but he didn't know the whole picture.
"Mad King? He lived at least twenty years longer than the Mad King... Sir, you don't have a grudge against my father, do you?"
Leon felt that the old knight's tone seemed to dislike Leonardo.
"Hate? No hatred. But he failed to protect Princess Helen, and I really can't forgive him... He actually had the nerve to marry another wife and have children..."
Sir Pauldemar gnashed his teeth a little, but it was clearly not hatred, but more like regret.
"Wait... Helen?... Are you talking about my mother? Why do you say that my father didn't protect her? He didn't marry another wife..."
The lord really didn't understand. Leonardo was the one who rescued Helen!
"Your... mother? Child, your mother is Princess Helen? Did she escape from the Mad King?"
The old knight widened his eyes, stumbled to Leon, and grabbed Leon's arm.
"Where do you think I came from? Did I jump out from between the rocks?"
The old man had quite a strong grip and it hurt Li Ang a little.
The lord has understood that Sir Pauldemar thought that Helen and Leonardo both died in the palace.
I guess not many people know that Godric secretly let them go - this kind of thing really can't be known to others...
"I always thought she was killed by the Mad King... So... Ha! Hahahaha... Leonardo is indeed worthy of it! He was able to rescue people single-handedly! I have wronged him for so many years... Child, it is great that I can see you before I die!"
Pauldemar loosened his hand and looked Leon up and down, his eyes full of relief.
But soon, Sir Pauldemar seemed to get nervous, looking at Darion and then at Leon.
"Dalion, give me the ring and wait for me outside. Leon, come with me..."
Dallion beside him took off his ring and handed it over, looking confused. He had no idea what was going on...
But Leon probably guessed who Pauldemar was.
This old knight should be the Griffin Knight who once served Helen.
Pauldemar waved his hand and asked Leon to follow him into the stone house and closed the door.
There is an exquisite statue of the goddess of order in the stone house. There is a small window right above the statue. Standing in front of the statue, you can just see the snow-capped peak of the goddess mountain from the window.
The white snow on the top of the mountain reflected the sunlight, which gathered into a beam of light through the small window and shone in front of the statue, making it look somewhat solemn.
Pauldemar asked Leon to stand in the beam of light facing the statue and handed the ring to him.
“Put it on.”
Li Ang had just taken the ring and hadn't put it on his finger when the ring face suddenly emitted a soft light.
Some mysterious runes appeared on the ring face, which originally only had a griffin emblem, but those runes flashed by and it was impossible to see what they were.
After a few seconds, the light faded and the ring face returned to its original appearance of a griffin emblem.
“This ring…”
The lord was startled and almost let go of the ring and dropped it to the ground.
"This is the High King's ring. It was like this when Helen first received it... It only works in the hands of a direct descendant of the Royal House of Pendor. You will know once you put it on."
Pauldemar spoke in a low voice, as if he didn't want Darion outside to hear it.
Leon looked at the ring in amazement. This was the first time he saw a real magic item - this ring should be an enchanted object. Although it only flashed for a moment, there was no doubt that it was magical.
I never thought that a ring could be tested for DNA...
And as Leon put the ring on his little finger, the ring showed its true magic.
It emitted a soft white light again and seemed to come alive!
The griffin on the ring face seemed to have become a living creature, and I could even see it spread its wings and fly out...
Then, a completely different line of inscription was projected onto the flat ring surface.
Yes, it was projected like a projector, but the inscription appeared only in the beam of light that shone into the cabin from the window.
The inscription is in clear Pende language.
'The void can have countless beliefs, but the earth only needs one will, the will of the Supreme King.'
Sir Baldemar showed a relieved smile on his face, he had probably seen this scene.
After a while, the light and shadow gradually disappeared, but there seemed to be some inscriptions still surrounding the ring, looming.
Li Ang was somewhat surprised and tried to print the ring face on the palm of his hand.
There was no seal pad , no ink, and no sealing wax, but a golden emblem was still left on the palm of the hand.
A line of tiny text surrounds the image of a griffin.
The words surrounding the golden griffin were as thin as hair, but extremely clear.
'This is the will of the High King.'
Indeed, this is what the seal of the King of Pendor should look like.
When it was in Dallion's hands, the ring only had a griffin pattern on it.
"Only the direct bloodline of the Pendor royal family can bear the High King's emblem. Others can only bear the mark of a griffin... This is the ring of the late King Kavala."
Pauldemar let out a long sigh and said softly to Leon: "It seems that you are the blood of the previous king... I was wondering why Dallion couldn't get the recognition of the Supreme King..."
"This magic ring... is its function just to declare the legitimate kingship? Just to prevent counterfeiting?"
The lord felt that it seemed a bit extravagant that such a dazzling effect was only used for anti-counterfeiting - he thought it would require traditional methods such as dripping blood, but he didn't expect it to be effective as soon as it was worn, and the technical content was quite high.
"For the powerful former King Kavala, all he needed was a magic item that could be counterfeit-proof..."
Pauldemar shook his head and answered directly. It seemed that he had the same idea as Leon.
That's true. It is said that the former king was once the most powerful warrior and never lost a battle during his lifetime. He probably doesn't need any other functions...
"Leon... With your status, you shouldn't be loyal to your enemy! How can you be loyal to Ulrich! Where is your mother? Where is she?"
As the light on the ring gradually faded, the old knight's smile also gradually faded, and he frowned again, seeming to be quite dissatisfied with Leon's status as a lord, perhaps with a feeling of being disappointed in his friend.
"She and my father were both killed in Buckley. I fled back to Pendle from the killers... I don't even know who killed them."
The Lord spread his hands and said, "I am alone. What else can I do if I don't become a lord? Should I just raise the flag and rebel?"
The old knight was silent.
After a short silence, he took a deep breath and his tone became extremely gentle: "Sorry, Your Highness, I was too anxious."
Your Highness?
This was a direct change of address, which caught Li Ang off guard.
"Sir, you'd better not address me like that... If I'm not mistaken, you asked Dallion to look for nobles who use the griffin emblem in order to find the true bloodline of the Pendor royal family? Then why did you let Dallion claim the throne?"
Li Ang instinctively believed that titles like "Your Highness" represented danger.
The pale-haired old knight turned his head and looked at Leon. There was a gentle light in his eyes, but his expression was also a little complicated.
"It's a long story... I actually misunderstood it for many years..."
Twenty-five years ago, in the 330th year of the Pandrite calendar.
Sir Pauldemar, who was nearly fifty years old at the time, was rushing to the foot of the Goddess Mountain.
He got news of Princess Helen again.
Baldemar is a senior Griffin Knight who has secretly inherited the throne for generations. He is also a sworn knight who protects Princess Helen and has always been with Helen.
But after Helen rescued more than a thousand people from a village infected with the Red Death, the village was massacred by the Mad King, and Helen continued to be attacked. Leonardo rescued her, and then both of them disappeared.
After that, Pauldemar had no news of Helen for several years.
The news now is that Princess Helen will work with Leonardo's Lion Knights to officially rebuild the Griffin Knights in the ancient base at the foot of Goddess Mountain.
More than a hundred years after the banner of the Order of the Griffin disappeared, it was a great joy for Baldemar to be able to officially announce its reconstruction.
Several generations of his family have never forgotten the honor of being a royal knight.
Sir Baldemar has also been trying to rebuild the Order of the Griffin for decades, but has never succeeded.
So, after receiving this news, Pauldemar was very happy.
Of course, this news meant an illegal assembly to the Sarleon Kingdom. In the eyes of the Mad King, it was probably a gathering of rebels - at that time, the Lion Knights were also an illegal knightly order.
But for Baldemar, this means that the sister knights, the Lion Knights and the Griffin Knights, will once again publicly pledge allegiance to the Pendor royal family, and order and loyalty will once again bear witness to each other.
It also means that Princess Helen will raise the golden griffin flag of ancient Pande and lead the two major knightly orders to formally claim the royal power that should belong to her.
In Pauldemar's eyes, this was a major event to restore order.
But when Pauldemar arrived at the base at the foot of the Goddess Mountain, he saw only corpses everywhere .
The Lion Knights guarding here were completely wiped out!
Princess Helen's plan to gather the Griffin Knights and rebuild the Griffin Knights must have been betrayed...
Afterwards, he heard that Princess Helen was captured and taken to the palace of Sarleon City, and that Leonardo rushed into the palace alone.
So Sir Baldemar also rushed to Sarleon. He knew it was like a moth flying into a flame, but he planned to fulfill his oath with his life.
But just outside Sarleon, he saw a knight escorting a woman and a baby in her arms to escape from Sarleon. Someone was chasing them.
He had seen that woman before. She was the girl that Helen rescued from the village plagued by the Red Death. She seemed to be a distant relative of Leonardo.
So he tried his best to kill the pursuers, but the knight and the woman had already been killed.
Later, Ser Baldemar discovered the High King's ring with a griffin face in the baby's cradle.
Sir Pauldemar, who had not seen Helen for several years and did not know the whole story, thought that Leonardo and Helen had both been murdered when he saw the ring.
He thought the baby was the heir to the royal family of Pendor and Helen's child.
Since the bloodline of Pendor has not been cut off, the Griffin Knight's oath to protect the royal family of Pendor must continue.
So Sir Baldemar secretly took the baby away, found a secret place on the Goddess Mountain to raise the child, and named the child Darion.
In order to avoid being discovered, he dug up the river bank next to the ancient settlement, diverted the river water to flush the valley entrance, and artificially created a huge landslide in the valley leading to the settlement, sealing off the entire valley.