Volume 2: Empire Chapter 91: Encirclement
Due to the special status of Sun City in the West, Earl Urd often had to receive visiting lords, nobles and tribal leaders, so he built many independent courtyards in Sun Manor for reception.
Jingting is one of the many large courtyards in Riyue Manor used to entertain visitors. It is luxuriously decorated and only guests of distinguished status will be accommodated there.
As the special envoy of the Duke of Celtic, Erguya and the people he brought lived in the Jingting.
After noon, in the three-story building on the side of Jingting near the artificial lake, Erguya stood behind the window and quietly observed the Central Island Castle through the gap. He could see many soldiers and magicians standing on the castle walls and in the four corner towers.
The halos of light emitted by the detection magic rose and fell.
At this time, a barbarian walked sideways through the door that was a little too narrow for him, and then saluted Erguya with his chest beating: "Sir, the warriors are ready. We are very uncomfortable being stuck in this small place these days and unable to go out. The warriors all want to have a hearty battle.
Let the blood of the Augustin family be used as a tribute to those who died fighting for the Tedega Hills."
Erguya slowly closed the gap in the window, then turned to look at his most trusted subordinates: "The defense of the Central Island Castle has always been very strict, and those who protect Agatha are the most elite soldiers and wizards in the empire. We can have high morale, but we can't have any contempt.
Go back and control our soldiers, don't make any mistakes at this most critical moment. Have a good rest, our victory tonight will be the best gift to the Duke."
The barbarian pounded his chest heavily: "Yes, Lord Erguya! Offer victory to the Duke of Celtic!"
Erguya hammered his chest and asked his men to leave.
The room fell silent, and in one corner, shadows spread out from the wall and gathered into a masked woman. The woman was wearing a long black dress, the mask was bone white, and her eyes were filled with red light.
Erguya stood up straight when he saw the woman coming, and performed the elegant etiquette of the human race: "Ms. Sylvia, you should have heard about the operation tonight."
Sylvia is the sixth apostle of the Abyss Temple. This time she was sent to assist Erguya in conquering the Western Territory. She is the strongest force Erguya can use.
Sylvia floated like smoke. She came to a chair and sat down. The black smoke like silk veil of a dress swayed and covered her. Red eyes projected from the black smoke, and the emotionless voice echoed in the room: "I already know that the blood oath altar has been arranged. When the operation begins, I will work with all the abyss mages to apply blood oath brute force to all barbarian warriors to help you win.
Kill Agatha, and the Falling Star!"
Sylvia spoke the name of Meteorite with great emphasis, with deep hatred in her tone. Two of the three dead Abyss Apostles died in the siege commanded by Meteorite, and Qingkong, who killed the three Abyss Apostles, had an unusually close relationship with Meteorite.
During this hundred years, the seven Abyss Apostles founded the Abyss Temple, worked together to study the Abyss, and formed a bond that went beyond close friendship. But who would have thought that in just less than two years, three Abyss Apostles would have passed away one after another.
It was an unacceptable blow to the Abyss Temple and the remaining Abyss Apostles.
Erguya could feel Sylvia's uncontrollable anger through the violently shaking smoke.
He sat down in the chair next to him and said to Sylvia, "I heard that Morris once sent a message from Saint Lun City that the elf Qingkong knew many secrets of the Abyss Temple, and some of them were even secrets that only you Abyss Apostles could know.
Morris had been operating in Saint Lun City for so long, claiming that he could destroy half of the city when necessary, but he was easily defeated and killed by Qingkong, which seemed to confirm this rumor. "
The smoke shrank, and Sylvia said vigilantly: "What do you mean? Are you suspecting that someone within the Abyss Apostle has betrayed you?"
Erguya said in a threatening tone: “Your Excellency the Duke should not be involved in the affairs of your Abyss Temple, but the traitors among you not only caused heavy losses to the Abyss Temple, but Your Excellency the Duke also suffered great losses.
Tonight's operation is very important. Agatha and Meteor are surrounded. If they can escape from this desperate situation, I will die as a token of my guilt, and I am afraid that you will also be suspected by Apostle Victor."
Before his death, Morris passed on a lot of information from Saint Lun City to Tedega Hills, including his speculation that there was a high-level spy inside the Abyss Temple. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why Qingkong knew the unique secret techniques of the Abyss Temple.
Through analyzing all intelligence related to Qingkong, the Abyss Temple can conclude that there is definitely a traitor among the high-level officials of the Abyss Temple!
There can be no room for any accidents in the siege of Agatha and Meteorite, so Erguya warns Sylvia regardless of the face and relationship of both parties.
Facing Erguya 's distrust, Sylvia did not make a fierce rebuttal. She said: "Qingkong stole the temple's holy book and knew so many secrets of the temple, which has aroused our highest concern. Victor believes that there are indeed traitors inside the temple, and they are systematic and can cooperate to steal the temple's top secrets, but the Abyss Apostle can still be trusted.
We are the apostles closest to the abyss and share a common goal..."
"But Qingkong has the Book of Disaster in her hands. She is the one closest to the abyss." Erguya insisted on his distrust. He warned: "Since the incident with Morris, the Abyss Temple has purged many Abyss Mages, and even seriously affected the combat effectiveness of the Barbarian Legion. I can only hope that you have killed all the traitors, and the Abyss Apostles are really trustworthy.
Tonight, I will not listen to your promises, but to what you do! "
Sylvia replied: "I personally arranged and released the Blood Oath Brute Force Secret Technique. If something went wrong... You don't need to investigate. Victor will not let me go."
After finishing her words, Sylvia turned into a cloud of black smoke and seeped into the wall, completely lacking the momentum and arrogance of the previous Abyss Apostle.
The death of the three Abyss Apostles dealt a heavy blow to the Abyss Temple. It was not only the loss of three of the most important apostles, but also exposed the numerous holes that had long been infiltrated in the Abyss Temple.
Although the remaining four Abyss Apostles still verbally insisted on trusting each other, cracks had appeared in their century-long friendship. Especially after the Abyss Temple had purged "traitors" on a large scale, the more suspicious Abyss Mages were captured, the more suspicious people became.
This has seriously affected the strength of the Abyss Temple, and in turn affected the combat effectiveness of the Barbarian Legion.
Faced with Erguya's suspicion, Sylvia could not make any confident response and could only prove herself with her actions at night.
In the basement of the Quiet Court, barbarian warriors sat cross-legged around a dark blue fire that burned dry bones. They took off their shirts to reveal their well-built muscles, and hummed ancient tunes in deep, rich tones.
The Abyss Mages carried wooden barrels filled with blood and used brushes to draw mystical patterns on the barbarians. They also took out armor made of bones and nailed them to the barbarians one by one. The sharp long bone spurs on the skeleton penetrated the skin and pierced deep into the muscles. Blood flowed out from the puncture points, forming a set of array techniques with the mystical patterns drawn in blood.
On the wall of the basement, in the green firelight, a black shadow like a cloud was flying above. In the cloud, a graceful woman could be vaguely seen dancing inside. The atmosphere in the room became more and more depressing, and even the blue fire in the middle could not help but lower the flames.
The Abyss Mages then took out a helmet made of a beast skull and installed it on the barbarian's head. The Mages hit the helmet with a hammer so that the bone spurs at the bottom of the helmet were embedded in the barbarian's skull.
During the entire process, not a single savage cried out in pain, and even the singing of the songs was not interrupted at all.
The mystic preparation phase was over. The abyss mages put the mystic auxiliary words made of corpse parts in place and then left the basement one after another.
Black fog emerged from the wall and swirled around the barbarian. A dry hand stretched out from the fog, and its sharp fingertips scratched the back of the barbarian's neck.
Blood oath of brute force!
A large amount of blood spurted out from the barbarian's neck, gathering in the air to form a cloak. The bone armor components were pressed deep into the flesh by an invisible force, fusing with the barbarian's bones. The blood pattern turned into a red ribbon, entwining the barbarian's body and the bone armor.
The silk ribbons were tightened, the bone armor closed, and some tendons appeared through the skin, winding and clinging to the fulcrums of the skeleton.
The song stopped at this moment, and a low roar like that of a wild beast came from the bone helmet...
The barbarians and abyss mages of Jingting were preparing for a battle in the evening. In the small buildings and courtyards surrounding the artificial lake, the Western nobles also gathered their most elite forces.
The attendants put armor on the knights, and the knights raised their swords and recited their previous oath of allegiance to the lord.
In the light of the fire, everything looked solemn and austere.
In order to avoid death under the butcher knife of the empire, the great nobles of the Western Territory decided to follow the teachings of their ancestors and use their swords to express their opposition to the Golden Shield Royal Family. After tonight, the eldest princess of the empire will die, and the entire Western Territory will gather a large army and rush to the Crescent Oasis.
Together with the Celtic Duke, he overthrew the treacherous Augustinian family.
"When the power of the Brotherhood of the Blade is getting weaker and weaker, the Celtic Duke and the nobles of the West are the last backbone of the Brotherhood.
This time, Princess Agatha went on a diplomatic mission to the West and brought with her the pseudo-noble representative Meteor. They want to tear open our bodies, suck our flesh and blood, and make us work for a year without being able to eat meat or drink wine.
We are forced to sell our swords, the armor on our bodies, and the land and honor left to us by our ancestors.
If we do not resist today, we will lose the last chance to resist; if we do not support the Celtic Duke today, we will no longer get any support.
Hold high your swords, my brothers!
The friendship of our ancestors is with us!"
"The friendship of our ancestors is with us!"
… …
After nightfall, the entire Riyue Manor was silent, with only the croaking of frogs by the lake and the chirping of insects in the jungle. The full moon hung high in the clear night sky , and the wind blew up the sand that hit the leaves like raindrops.
The castle on the central island was heavily guarded, and the darkness made the halo of the detection magic extremely beautiful. Especially the light from the underwater detection alchemy props, which made the waters around the central island beautiful in circles.
There are no blind spots in such defense. Any attack on the central island castle from any direction will be immediately detected by the guards inside the castle.
But what can we do even if we find out?
Facing the four-sided attack from superior forces, the troops in the castle on the central island had no power to stop them. The key to this battle was to never let Agatha and Meteor escape.
And it would be better if the barbarians from the Tedega Hills killed them.
The nobles of the West Territory quietly observed the castle in the center of the lake from their respective residences, waiting for the time to launch a general attack.
At 2 a.m., the troops participating in the attack on the Central Island Castle came out of their hiding places under the communication of the guards of the Sunny Manor. Now they no longer needed to hide. In the face of absolute power, the people in the castle were lambs to be slaughtered.
The army in different costumes marched to the edge of the artificial lake, and the accompanying magician cast a spell to freeze the lake surface. The soldiers struck their shields or armor and whistled to provoke the guards in the castle.
When the Central Island Castle discovered that a large number of troops were gathering on the lake, a large number of soldiers climbed onto the city walls and set up loud speakers to shout towards the lake.
"This is the palace of Her Royal Highness Agatha, the Princess of the Golden Shield Empire. Any attack on your part will be regarded as a betrayal of the empire. Immediately stop all hostile behavior and disband on the spot. If you have any demands, you can send a representative to accept the summons of Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
"This is the palace of Her Royal Highness Agatha, the Princess of the Golden Shield Empire. Any attack on your part will be regarded as a betrayal of the empire. Immediately stop all hostile behavior and disband on the spot. If you have any demands, you can send a representative to accept the summons of Her Royal Highness the Princess!"
…
The castle's shouting had no effect, but instead attracted a lot of noise and laughter. The magician continued to create ice, and some soldiers fired crossbows at the castle.
The ice spread towards the castle.
However, the defenders in the castle did not respond to the extending ice layer. They neither used magic to destroy the ice layer nor used special means to attack the magician who was making ice on the shore.
Allow the ice to extend to the central island.
At this time, the noise on the shore gradually decreased, and then gradually became quiet. Looking at the ice surface that could be directly charged at to attack the castle, no one stepped on it.
All the nobles in the Western Territory had two common questions at this time.
Why are the defenders in the central castle so calm?
Why are the barbarians in the direction of Jingting so quiet?
In fact, they didn't even create the ice.
On the artificial lake, the ice almost covers the entire surface, and only the lake surface in the direction of Jingting is still covered with waves.
What are the barbarians doing!
We are waiting for you to come first!
Looking in the direction of Jingting, there were torches everywhere, and it was obvious that a large army had gathered there. In the light of the fire, it could be seen that there were a large number of barbarian soldiers in this army, and their armor and identification items showed that they were soldiers from the Sun Oasis.
The nobles in the West were wondering again... Why did Earl Urd give all his soldiers to the barbarians? Was he anxious to show his loyalty to the Celtic Duke?
Just when the nobles of the Western Territory were facing this somewhat strange battlefield and didn't know what to do, Agatha, wearing a suit of armor, climbed up the wall of the central castle.
The loudspeaker carried her voice throughout the Sunny Manor.
"I really overestimated you. We spent so much effort to create the ice, but not a single warrior dared to rush over. It seems that you only have the heart to rebel, but not the courage to rebel.
I am here on a mission to the Western Territory under the order of His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire, just to meet you and discuss the future position of the Western Territory in the Empire. Since you are all here, let's walk over this ice together.
Once Earl Urd and Viscount Meteorite have eliminated the rebels from the Tedegar Hills, we can discuss the issues in the West clearly."
At this moment, Agatha was standing on the city wall, her long golden hair flying in the wind. All the nobles in the West had only one curse in their hearts.
"Uld, you traitor!"
