Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 38 We are going to war!
The next day, the fallen angel Garland took Luke to find Victor.
The former first apostle of the Abyss Temple is now in a state of decline, with only a handful of Abyss Mages following him.
"King Taotie, it's my honor to meet you." Victor saluted Luke respectfully.
Luke first looked at the underground chamber. The walls were a little damp and had obvious magical reinforcements, so it should have been built not long ago. There were not many furnishings in the chamber, but there was a table in the middle, with a map marked with lines on it.
"You should feel honored. As an apostle of the Abyss who was expelled from the Abyss Temple, you are not qualified to see me." Luke said in an arrogant tone, which was in line with the characters of the five ancient civilizations.
Luke was wearing the uniform of the Western Deserters today, with a dragon-shaped mask on his face, his dragon might overflowing without any concealment.
At this time, Victor had become somewhat accustomed to the contempt of these self-proclaimed advanced civilizations. Anyway, as long as he obtained theocracy, he would repay the humiliation he suffered now double in the future.
Victor said to Luke: "Today, I am here on behalf of Disaster to discuss cooperation with you, King Taotie, on destroying the World Tree."
Luke did not respond to Victor's proposal for cooperation, but said to the person behind him: "Garland, can you please not stand behind me? You have been in hell for too long and have picked up many bad habits of the devil. Although the fallen angels are fallen, they are still angels. If you are not convinced by your defeat yesterday, you can challenge me again openly."
Garland laughed and walked from behind Luke to his side: "I'm sorry, I'm just very curious about you. I really want to know how the dragons created you."
"This is a secret of the Dragon Kingdom."
"Are you a dragon? Or a human?"
"In the eyes of ordinary people, I am a human; in your eyes, I am a dragon; in the eyes of dragons, I am a glutton."
Garland asked again: "Isn't Taotie your name?"
"Yes, Taotie is my name; it is also the name of my new race."
As long as you are not exposed, you can brag as much as you want.
Luke's serious nonsense really frightened Garland. He had seen the strength of "Taotie" and he was no match for it. He thought there was only one such powerful creature, but he didn't expect that "Taotie" was actually a new species created by the dragon.
During these thousand years, the dragons seemed so lazy that they didn't even choose a new king, but they were actually doing such a big thing in secret.
The strength of the Dragon Kingdom needs to be re-evaluated.
When Garland was about to test the number of "Taotie", Victor interrupted their conversation and said, "Lord Garland, can you discuss this topic with the Taotie King after the cooperation negotiation is over?"
Luke said, "Yes, I am here to discuss cooperation. If you, Garland, want to know more about Taotie, I sincerely invite you to visit Dragon Country."
Garland had no choice but to say, "Okay, we'll talk about it sometime."
Finally getting back to the point, Victor said to Luke again: "I heard from Lord Garland that King Taotie is somewhat interested in our plan to destroy the World Tree."
Luke casually glanced at the map on the table, on which were marked the attack plans for the Prairie of the First Men and the Moonlight Court.
"During the ancient war, the World Tree was affected by the war and burned down. This was a mistake recognized by the five ancient civilizations. Now the Moonlight Queen is asking for compensation from the five civilizations on behalf of the newly born World Tree. Sky City and Golden Valley have already responded. Although the Dragon Kingdom responded a little later, we also want to express our reflection on the mistakes we have made.
This time, I led the dragon group to the Moonlight King Court with the Golden Dragon King Tyron to discuss the specific details of compensation.
Destroying the World Tree was not originally in our plan, but if we can destroy it, we can save a lot of trouble in the future."
Luke learned from Garland that Victor didn't know about the World Tree and the artifact, so he didn't reveal much information.
Victor could guess that the angels, the shining golden men, and the dragons were all gathering around the World Tree for more than just compensation. There was a secret that was tacitly protected by five ancient civilizations, and the main reason why the fallen angels wanted to destroy the World Tree was also this secret.
Victor really wanted to know what the secret was, but he also knew that the five ancient civilizations would not tell him.
Anyway, I also have secrets that they don’t know.
Whatever the secret is, everyone needs to destroy the World Tree.
Therefore, Victor did not delve into the reasons. The most important thing was to reach cooperation as soon as possible.
"King Taotie, Zaimie and the current world tree both originated from the previous world tree. In the western territory covered by the previous world tree, Zaimie is like a god. Now a group of western nobles have joined Zaimie's army, and they are making sand figurines somewhere in the desert.
Once the order to attack is given, Zaimie can instantly empower millions of sand figurines. Some of these sand figurines will attack the Ancestral Grassland, forming the first wave of the offensive; the other half will rush to the Sun Oasis..."
Victor pointed at the map and explained his military strength and attack plan to Luke.
After the battle, he concluded: "Our attack is pure destruction. As long as we can attack the World Tree, we can destroy it in this war. The reason why Disaster invited the Fallen Angels to join us is to let them deal with their archenemy, the Angels. Now that the dragons have joined us, the Shining Gold Men can no longer play their role.
The army of sand figurines, the army of abyssal creatures, and the army of the Western Territory nobles formed the second wave of attack, which was enough to defeat the army hastily formed by the ancestors of the grasslands. "
Victor's story was so moving that it seemed as if he was standing on the ruins of the World Tree.
After listening to this, Luke asked Garland, "Does the Fallen Angel think this plan is feasible?"
Garland spread his hands and said, "We came to the western border of the Golden Shield Empire with the intention of directly attacking the World Tree and destroying it in the battle. Now that we have the Disaster Army, the Fallen Angels can suffer less losses.
It would be much easier if the dragons joined in."
Luke turned to Victor and said, "I have no objection to your attack plan. The more summons and low-level creatures that die, the less our losses will be. But I have one request. You cannot harm Count Urd."
Victor has learned from Garland that the reason why Count Urd was protected by the dragon was because Taotie received help from Urd when he was still a human.
"But Earl Urd is the lord of the Sun Oasis. The mysterious item he made can maximize the number of summoned abyssal creatures."
"Abyssal energy should not be taken in too much."
"Why?" Victor demanded.
"It will affect the balance of power in the world," Garland said.
Victor asked again: "You all ended the abyss."
Luke taunted Victor: "You don't think you are the first to discover the abyss."
"Can you tell me more about the Abyss?"
"No!" Luke and Garland said in unison.
Luke and Garland exchanged a glance, then said to Victor, "Don't let the subject deviate. I only protect Earl Urd, and I owe him that."
"Okay, I'll change the plan." Victor said helplessly: "I will re-plan the summoning of the abyss creatures and use this as a backup plan. If our military strength is indeed insufficient, we can summon them appropriately."
"Okay." After killing off a main force of the Disaster Army, Luke said with satisfaction.
Victor asked to confirm: "King Taotie, have you decided to join us?"
"Join us. Since we are sure we can destroy the World Tree, let's solve the problem once and for all."
Victor said happily, "Great! Last night I devised a battle plan for the dragons.
The dragons continued to go to the Moonlight King's Court to discuss compensation with Qingkong. You can agree to any conditions she puts forward, as long as you stop the dragons at the place closest to the World Tree.
When I lead the Disaster Army to launch a full-scale attack on the Moonlight Court, the Moonlight Court's forces will be completely pinned down on the battlefield. At that time, Lord Garland will lead the Fallen Angels to raid the World Tree, and the Angels and the Shining Gold will surely meet and stop them.
If the giant dragons sneak in and launch a surprise attack on the angels and the Shining Gold, they will definitely be caught off guard..."
Garland nodded aside, thinking that this plan was great!
Luke also felt that this move was indeed vicious and a sure-kill move!
"It seems that the World Tree is really going to be extinct in our hands."
Luke, Garland and Victor all laughed out loud.
In the next few days, Victor readjusted the battle plan. The Abyss Creatures were used as backup, and the second wave of attack was composed of Sand Figurines and the Western Territory Noble Army. Then after the first wave of Sand Figurines' tentative attack, it was decided whether to directly attack the Ancestral Grassland or attack Sun City to replenish a batch of Abyss Creatures.
Qingkong arranged his own defense plan in the Moonlight Court based on Victor's attack plan.
Facing the first wave of attacks from the sand figurines, the Moonlight King's army chose to fight and retreat, pretending to be unable to stop them, thus tricking Victor into making a last-ditch effort and launching the second wave of attacks towards the Ancestral Grassland.
At this time, Luke issued the Imperial Prime Minister's Order in Sun City, forcing Victor to divide his troops and counterattack Sun Oasis.
Once the fallen angel is dealt with, Victor will be trapped!
Both sides of the impending war mobilized their troops according to their own battle plans.
Led by the golden dragon King Tyran, the dragons flew towards the Moonlight Court.
Garland and his fallen angels stayed in their residence all day, not going out or causing trouble, preparing to fight the first battle between fallen angels and angels after a thousand years in the best condition.
The Moonlight Royal Court, the Angels, and the Shining Gold received a war notice . Protecting the World Tree is not only their duty, but also closely related to their interests.
Outside the Moon Crater, the Moonlight Knights gathered. Every day, a large number of barbarian warriors who received the Queen's call for conscription gathered from all directions, and the ancient tree people scattered throughout the ancestors' grasslands also pulled out their tree roots and walked step by step towards the Moonlight King's Court.
The warriors under the Moonlight Queen sang fierce battle songs and wrapped red scarves around their necks to distinguish between friend and foe. They also wrapped red scarves around the branches of the Treemen and Ancient Treemen. From the sky, the outer layer of the World Tree looked like a red ribbon.
At night, the barbarians sang songs passed down from their ancestors.
Thousands of years ago, their ancestors were powerless to stop the World Tree from being destroyed by war. Thousands of years later, they will use their lives and swords to defend the World Tree under the leadership of the Moonlight Queen and wash away the humiliation of the past thousand years.
The light emitted by countless burning bonfires and the leaves of the World Tree competes with the stars in the night sky.
One day after another.
Victor discovered that the Moonlight Court was preparing for war ... That's nothing. It would be abnormal if the Moonlight Court didn't notice the signs of a major war.
But the hasty preparations for war were too late, and Taotie had sent news that the dragons had already entered the Moonlight Court and were preparing with the angels and the Shining Gold Men to deal with the attack of the fallen angels.
What worries Victor is that the inspection team of the Empire's Prime Minister Meteorite is still staying in the Crescent Oasis without moving.
This is very abnormal.
The imperial spies lurking in Sun City must have sent the news of the fallen angels to Meteorite. At the same time, the military deployment of some Western nobles has reached a point where it can no longer be concealed.
Victor originally thought that Meteorite would react quickly, or at the very least, put the Empire's Western Frontier Legion into a state of combat readiness, ready to enter the desert lightly at any time.
But the news from Crescent City is that... the Prime Minister of the Empire, Meteorite, does nothing every day except accompanying the Second Prince hunting.
What does he want to do?
Victor couldn't figure it out.
The pressure from the meteorite made Victor dare not wait any longer. He found Zaimie and asked him to launch an attack on the Moonlight Court.
One morning, the sun was rising.
The cool night air has not yet dissipated, and the sand and gravel have rapidly raised the surface temperature under the direct sunlight. The light is refracted to create a wave-like feeling, as if the entire sand dune is shaking.
As the sand dunes were shaking, suddenly a large area of the sand dunes collapsed, and soon huge caves appeared in the desert.
In the crypt, quicksand poured in, and it didn't take long to fill the crypt again.
After a while, the quicksand in the cave surged up, and a human head made of yellow sand emerged from under the quicksand, followed by a sand figurine's body, and then a warhorse made of yellow sand.
The sand figurine warhorse carried the sand figurine knight out of the quicksand. It did not stop, but quickly spread its four hooves and galloped towards the west.
At this time, the quicksand was gathering and surging like a boiling pot, and one after another, the sand terracotta cavalry rushed out from under the quicksand. Countless sand terracotta cavalry gathered into a tide of yellow sand, running over one undulating sand dune after another, and rushing towards the ancient grassland where the world tree and the Moonlight King's Court were located.
At the same time, in the oases scattered throughout the Western Territory, the lords and nobles led their knights out of the castle in gorgeous armor, and then led the gathered territorial troops to embark on a journey to attack the Moonlight Court.
In the sky, the fallen angels spread their black wings and soared. They showed their aura without reservation, announcing to the world the return of the fallen angels.
The drums of war are beating in Sun City.
Putting on the armor that he had not worn for a long time, Earl Urd summoned all his nobles and officers into his castle.
"We're going to war!"
