Chapter 378 No Choice
Shieldwind Fortress.
Justus and Titus were of course taken away by Rimusk.
In fact, Rimusk originally did not intend to care about Titus, but he knew that if he intended to draw a clear line with Kairos and his son and become a "loyal minister" to Emperor Marius and Justus, he would need a witness.
So he had Titus rescued as well.
"...My family is in Miss Alina's hands. I have to use you to get my family back. Lord Justus, this is the whole thing. I don't intend to hide the fact that I have deceived you, but you also know that it is just that we have different positions. But now, Kairos and Antonius have gone crazy. They just want to make the empire go against the entire continent..."
Rimusk drove away all the guards and explained to Justus everything he thought on the top floor of the inner castle.
"…Rimusk, you still think that Kairos and his son are after the status of the Shadow Legion? No!"
Titus next to him interrupted angrily: "They are for the Noldor elves! Antonius now relies on sucking blood to survive! He needs a lot of Noldor elves' blood to save his life! They want the Noldor elves to declare a full-scale war on the empire..."
Rimusk was stunned: "How do you know?"
"Antonius tortured me all night long, that's what he said... and you know, he is no longer a human being, he has completely turned into a monster now!"
Titus pointed at the bloody whip wounds on his body and said with gritted teeth.
"That's true..." Justus sighed, "In the final analysis, it's all the fault of the Snake Cult..."
"Alas... no matter what their motive is, I don't want to get involved anymore. Lord Justus, Miss Alina will come to pick you up soon. I swear I will take my family to Siyuan City to surrender to His Majesty Marius. But I hope you can testify for me that I really have nothing to do with the Snake Cult... Titus can also prove that we were all coerced by Antonius."
Rimusk really wanted to get out of this vortex.
Just as he was talking about this, a guard came to report: "Lord Rimusk, there are several knights outside who claim to be from the 'Imperial Intelligence Department' and are requesting to enter the Shieldwind Fortress."
"It looks like Miss Alina is here..."
Rimusk followed the guards downstairs and headed to the city gate to greet them.
Justus and Titus were the only ones left in the attic room.
Titus looked at Justus, then at Rimusk's back, and suddenly asked, "Lord Justus, if... I want to marry Miss Alina, will you agree?"
Justus was stunned.
Then, he smiled bitterly, shook his head, and sighed: "Titus, don't do anything stupid... You can try to marry other noble ladies, I can help you to plead for you..."
Titus also smiled bitterly and sighed: "Lord Justus, I don't want to do this either, but I have no other way out... No one will treat me as their own..."
He pulled out a small knife from his waist.
…
Of course, those who entered the Shieldwind Fortress as members of the 'Imperial Intelligence Agency' were Leon, Alina and others.
They came to exchange hostages.
But after entering the room on the top floor of the inner fortress of Shieldwind Fortress, Rimusk was dumbfounded...
"Where are the people? Are you kidding us?"
Looking at the empty hall, Leon drew his sword and swung it at Rimusk's neck.
"No... I was here just now, just a few minutes ago... Titus! Titus you bastard!"
Rimusk looked around a few times, then rushed to the window and yelled.
The view from the top floor of the castle is very good. Looking out the window, you can just see the back of Titus driving a truck away, and Justus is also in the truck.
This guy ran away from the back door of Shieldwind Fortress!
"Someone! Go and bring that bastard Titus back! No matter if he's dead or alive!"
Rimusk jumped and roared.
"Can you catch up with him? He's already so far away, and he's holding a hostage... Rimusk, since you've made a mistake, this deal is no longer valid..."
Leon and Alina also saw Titus driving away outside, but they were not too anxious. Instead, they approached Rimusk together.
"Ms. Alina, I swear I'm not playing tricks, it's really...Alas!"
Rimusk sat down against the wall, holding his head in annoyance.
"Get up...How many troops did you bring back?"
Li Ang stepped forward and kicked Rimusk.
"Nearly a thousand people...Except for the shadow infantrymen originally under Levius, the rest are all new recruits..."
Rimusk stood up with his head shrunk. He thought Leon was going to hit him, so he answered quickly.
It seems that those shadow infantrymen were redeemed by their families and followed Rimusk again.
"Let your troops take control of Shieldwind Fortress. Since you failed to protect Lord Justus, you must protect Shieldwind Fortress... Block all Bacchus troops retreating here from White Hart Fort! Otherwise, you will never see your family again... Alina, let's go!"
Leon stared into Rimusk's eyes and stated his request, then looked out the window and took Alina downstairs.
Titus was no longer visible outside the window.
Titus ran very fast. Judging from the direction, he should be running west.
But Leon and Alina were not in a hurry.
Because many Scorpio Assassins were watching the back door - a few days ago, a knight escaped from the back door of Walwyn Castle, and the Scorpio Assassins did not catch up with him. Although there was no need to chase him at that time, Ramon felt that this kind of thing should not happen again.
So this time, Ramon himself was watching at the back door, and Wendy was there too.
Titus had just driven his carriage a few miles west when he was surrounded by Ramon and his men.
Taking hostages is a tricky thing for most people, but for Ramon, an unprofessional kidnapper like Titus is really easy to deal with.
The Scorpio Flying Knife is not just for killing people. Ramon demonstrated how to deal with a kidnapper who took hostages at an auction...
When Leon rushed to Ramon, Titus had already been controlled - just like Ikram, he had one eye shot out by Ramon with a throwing knife, and a Noldor arrow was nailed to his right hand, with his palm nailed to the carriage.
"Lord Justus, you have been kidnapped too many times..."
Leon was completely relieved when he saw Justus was safe and sound.
"It seems that I should find some experts to protect me... But I can't command the Noldor elves like you..."
Justus shook his head and laughed at himself.
"Father...what is going on? Is Kairos the mastermind? Why did he start the war? Is it just to prevent reform and let the Shadow Legion regain power?"
Alina took Justus's arm and asked him about the whole thing.
"This matter... Hey, Leon, and that Noldor girl, you should be mentally prepared... What Kairos wants to trigger is not a war between White Hart Castle and the Empire, but a war between the Noldor elves and humans... As for preventing the reform, that is just a side effect."
Justus told Leon and Wendy the whole story.
A few years ago, when a cure for the Red Death had just been discovered, Anson had had to return to Cullenburgh to spread the word about horsepox.
By then, Antonius' vital signs had recovered, but he had remained unconscious and was basically in a vegetative state. Anson could not take Antonius away - he could not withstand the tossing and turning at that time, and the bumpy journey would be fatal.
The poison he was infected with was too complicated and he was extremely weak, requiring long-term recuperation, so Anson asked the Knights of the Glorious Cross in Boshi City to take over this special patient.
Later, when Anson was the governor of Karenluk Castle, he often communicated with the Knights of the Radiant Cross and tried to treat Antonius. He had already found some ways and Antonius showed signs of recovery.
But unexpectedly, Leon was struck by lightning and disappeared. The Bacchus Empire quickly took back Karen Deer Castle, and Anson had to return to Changhe Town with his people.
Since then, Sarleon has been embroiled in a long war, and Antonius's treatment has been delayed again.
After Kairos followed Aziz Dahaka to Desha, he disappeared for a long time.
It was not until half a year ago that Kailos returned to Siyuan City - he came back by boat.
Soon after Kairos returned to Siyuan City, Justus received news that Emperor Marius was seriously ill.
So Justus prepared to return to Siyuan City to visit His Majesty the Emperor, but he was kidnapped by Antonius as soon as he left Boshi City.
Antonius forced Justus to replace most of the grassroots commanders of the Imperial First Legion with his men - but the new replacements were not just any random people, most of them were qualified Imperial soldiers or former centurions of the Shadow Legion.
These people lost their power and were transferred two years ago. Now it seems that they have been transferred back to the First Legion of the Empire, so they are not noticeable at all.
Afterwards, Kairos summoned the Shadow Legion in Imperial Port and led the army northward as the Imperial Marshal, bringing all the lords who had once belonged to the Shadow Legion under his command.
When he arrived at the City of Knowledge, Kairos also met Justus.
At that time, Justus knew that Kairos was different now than before...
"Kairos and his son Antonius were both cursed... or poisoned. They now look like snakes. Especially Antonius. He doesn't look like a human anymore..."
Justus gestured to indicate the position of his eyes. "During the time when Kairos disappeared, he went to the continent of Amara. He found a prescription from the temple of the Snake Cult, and then made a magic potion in Siyuan City. That medicine did save his son, but it also turned Antonius into a snake-like monster... Moreover, since Antonius was rescued, he began to live by drinking blood. Kairos said that only the blood of elves can keep his son alive!"
"What kind of drug is so scary? Can it turn people into vampires?"
Leon frowned. He vaguely felt that this might be the aftereffect of Kavala creating those Az Dahakas.
"I don't know... Let's call it 'Siyuan City Magic Potion' for now. His Majesty Marius's condition worsened because of that magic potion. Kairos said he took some of the emperor's blood to make the medicine..."
Justus replied.
"The Blood of the Emperor? Just by looking at the naming method, one can guess that this must be a conspiracy deliberately made by the Snake Cult to kill Bacchus or the Emperor of the Ashborn... How could Kairos fall for such a trick?"
Leon sighed: "There should be elf blood in the prescription, right? So he wants to kidnap the entire empire to be my enemy, and force the Noldor elves to be enemies of humans..."
"That's right... He said that the formula is made up of blood and tears. The blood of the emperor, the blood of the elves, the blood of the brave, the blood of the wise, and the tears of the dragon..."
Justus counted on his fingers.
"Ah, this is the cult's routine. In the name of curse, they make the victim kill those who will pose a threat to the cult in order to remove the curse... The blood of the brave and the blood of the wise, whose blood did he use?"
Leon asked, shaking his head.
"He took a bowl of blood from me before. He also said that Agasson's blood is the blood of the brave..."
Justus looked at Leon: "But I think he must be wrong... Agathon is indeed a brave man, but I am probably not a wise man."
"You are called a think tank, and there is nothing wrong with saying that you are a wise man...but Kairos is just an idiot! I have to kill him, his whole family is idiots, such idiots should not live in this world!"
Li Ang sighed somewhat depressedly: "Fortunately, nothing happened to you. If you were killed by them in White Hart Castle...then the Bacchus Empire would really have to fight to the death with the Noldor elves..."
"Oh no...Leon...look, look at the sky!"
Wendy suddenly screamed, "What... is that?!"
The sky in the northeast darkened, and the billowing smoke reflected the flickering red light, covering the entire sky...
That's fire.
It was an unprecedented fire...
"They set the Noldor Forest on fire? Bastards..."
Li Ang's eyes widened, and he murmured, "I have no choice now... I must destroy the Bacchus Empire together with the Noldor elves... Governor, you can't return home... I'm sorry."
…
Early June of the 358th year of the Pandrite calendar.
In early summer, the weather is dry.
The fire in the Noldor Forest has spread for dozens of miles. In this era without excavators and fast felling equipment, human power is unable to stop such forest fires.
Wendatil did not pursue the retreating Bacchus. She was busy putting out the fire and organizing her people to move to White Deer Castle.
If they stayed in the forest, they would either be burned to death or suffocated to death. A large number of Noldor elves were forced to migrate to White Hart Castle - perhaps the only good news was that no accidents occurred during the migration.
And Leon was in Shieldwind Fort, trying to use the enemy's troops to stop the enemy - the Bacchus army that retreated from White Deer Fort returned to the foot of Shieldwind Fort.
This is how things always happen in this world, people don't get to choose for themselves.
The ultimate goal of Kairos and his son in starting the war was to conquer and raise some Noldor elves like livestock. They needed the blood of the Noldor to survive, and in their opinion, they had no choice.
Titus had previously tried to kidnap Justus in order to save his life. He had offended both Marius and Antonius, and no one would help him as an outsider. He wanted to kidnap Justus and take him to Firdsvain or D'Shar. Otherwise, he would either end up in prison or in the arena, and he felt that he had no choice.
An unextinguishable forest fire broke out in the habitat of the Noldor elves. The elves who lost their homes had to seek revenge and carve out a place for themselves in the human world. They had no choice.
Leon is an ally of the Noldor, and the Noldor elves have been helping Leon. If he loses the Noldor elves, Leon will lose his greatest asset. He must stand with the Noldor. Moreover, Kairos and his son are planning to take his blood...
Although Leon and Justus both knew that this was caused by Kairos and his son, for more people, this was a war between countries and tribes. When such a war occurred, no one would care about the names of the one or two people who caused it.
Leon had no choice but to declare war on Bacchus.
