Viscount Finn, from Nariat, accompanied by several knights in dark basket-colored robes, waited on a high ground near the Acropolis of Bunoan, raised his monocular with a pale face, and observed the wolf-filled northern Acropolis of Ampesel from afar.

At the end of the narrow line of sight in the telescope, a corner of the Acropolis had completely collapsed, some of the broken rocks had completely melted into crystals, and billowing smoke rose from the city into the air. According to his years of experience, the other party should have used fire-based elemental spells to break the city walls and then attack the city, and the more than 100 Hong Kong guards in the acropolis scattered and fled into the countryside almost without resistance.

Viscount Finn didn't say a word, this is the city defense that the officer of the Hong Kong Guard boasted to him that Ampesel of Haikou could not be breached? The walls were in disrepair and less protective than half of those of some northern fortresses, and some of the battlements were visibly covered with moss, and if it weren't for the broken bell-bearing banners that had been thrown underneath the city, he would have thought it was an ancient castle that had been abandoned for many years. Not to mention the fragile fighting power of its soldiers.

Soon, the scout cavalry in front of him returned the horn breath that made him sure of his opinion.

The Princess's army must have passed through the area at 8 p.m., and the news from the Wyvern Knights supported this evidence, but the scouts still found some wounded Harbor Guards, and according to the soldiers who had been to the scene, a small detachment of the princess infiltrated the vicinity of the castle, and the two women were more powerful wizards who broke the walls with fireballs, and then the light cavalry swarmed in, and they "resisted desperately, and then lost the enemy."

But Viscount Finn got more reliable information that described it like this: In fact, it was indeed a small team of the other party who shot it, but it was not a powerful witch, but two female elves, one tall and one short, depending on the age or children, the other party seemed to want to use fireball magic to test the city defense at first, but I didn't expect that the city wall of Bunoan was in disrepair, and there was water in the storm, and it suddenly exploded when it encountered high temperatures, and more than ten Hong Kong guards died at that time, which was also the only battle damage of the Hong Kong Guards in this battle.

Then the light cavalry of the Royal Knight Academy swarmed through the gap, and the Hong Kong Guards immediately disarmed and surrendered, and only a few fled into the wilderness.

"The kingdom is all this kind of waste." Viscount Finn replied indignantly.

However, he was too embarrassed to raise his voice, because the appearance of the Black Blade Legion was not much better. In fact, this was the reason why he was furious, and in the afternoon Baron Valen, who had promised to contain the princess's army, led a whole army of highland infantry to deliver a feast to the enemy, not only did he lose his life, but the most important thing was a whole brigade, and less than three hundred people came back, which made him not know how to explain to Count Vitokin.

And those mountain people who showed off their might and ganged up on weekdays were beaten one by one as if they had seen ghosts, and they couldn't even speak clearly, which made Viscount Finn secretly hate. What's more, 1 Baron Warren's misjudgment indirectly affected his judgment, and the mountain people's nonsense made him miss a good opportunity.Of course, Lord Viscount was embarrassed to say that he was also frightened at that time, thinking that Her Royal Highness the princess was going to turn around and eat his column, and it was not impossible to think that it would be something to come. As a result, he panicked and called back the Wyvern Knight, and the consequences were obvious.

Now that the princess's army slyly turned around and attacked the Acropolis of Bunoan, sweeping away the food reserves inside. What embarrassed him even more was that the other party also set off a fire to light the nearby noble manors.

Those noble lords are now angrily troubled by his immediate boss, Count Vitokin. The local nobles in Eruin's territory are intertwined, and even a big man like Vitokin would not dare to offend him, but the trouble he gave this lord, presumably this lord would not be so generous and disregarding his previous suspicions.

Thankfully, he wasn't in vain, and he put down his bronze telescope and clutched a page of a parchment report in his other hand. This report was the first to be sent by the Wyvern Knight, the title testimony of the Acropolis Chief, who confirmed that the princess did indeed have a Lubis mercenary under her command.

This is in line with the information transmitted from the rear.

Viscount Finn put away the information and took a closer look at the messy Bunoan area before wiping his sleeves and walking down the heights. Accompanied by several knights, he mounted his horse and galloped towards a pine forest not far away.

Count Vitokin was waiting for him.

Vitokin was standing in a glade at the moment, and in front of him were Youxi, Grand Duke Siphah, the old knight of Reald, and the Marquis of Balta, several high-ranking members of the Northern Legion, if they were served here, it was estimated that the collapse of the Northern Coalition near Ampesel was just around the corner.

Unfortunately, the ten Templars in golden-red flame-textured robes and armed with flaming greatswords surrounding the woodland would not have allowed this to happen.

Vitokin looked at the report on paper, curled his pale knuckles and flicked them lightly, the look on his face was neither happy nor sad. In fact, it is not that he deliberately wants to maintain this kind of city, but the loss of a brigade of highland infantry is really not a big deal in his opinion, anyway, it is not his descendant, although his earl fief is the gray mountain territory, but the highlanders have always been unruly and always independent.

It would be better to make those barbarians suffer a little, but the death of Baron Valen, his loyal retainer, made him feel a little painful.

He handed the sheepskin to the others, then looked up at the middle-aged man in a red robe, with silver gothic plate armor revealing from underneath, standing in a clearly more revered position among the men. This man had a unique appearance, a pointed and long face, but two curly beards gave this face a unique majesty, and the sky-blue eyes under a pair of golden thick eyebrows were as bright as a pair of sharp swords.

"Lord Williams, it seems that the White Lions are not wrong in their judgment. The princess did have a hole card in her hand that we didn't expect, in fact, far beyond our expectations. Count Vitokin's face was not in the slightest pretense of respect, and even the look on his face when facing the High Priest of Merros was nothing more than awe at best, but facing this middle-aged man was like a mouse seeing a cat.

This person was none other than the Templar leader of the trip, the Templar Reserve Instructor of the Flame Temple, and the Deputy Head of the Templar Order, Duke of Dorenk (1) of the Cruz Empire, Grand Knight Williams.

If Brando would have recognized this person at a glance here, this person's status in the Cruz Empire is similar to that of Veronica, the goddess of war, and it can be said that he is far above the high priest of Ampesel. However, his own strength is also higher than Veronica's first line, and it is said that in the late stage of the peak law, he is one step away from the extreme realm.

However, this person is a complete great-power chauvinist, and a Cruz nobleman with pure blood, and it is estimated that he has never taken Eruin in his eyes. Although he also knew that the kingdom of Eruin had a special meaning to Cruz unlike those small principalities, he was only here to get rid of some insects, and to welcome back the Flame Blade Odysphes as a matter of course.

Williams nodded haughtily, but did not answer.

"But we have almost investigated that the princess's army is neither her own private soldier nor the power of the royal party. The royal party has indeed parted ways with her, and the power in her hands is likely to come from a young man named Brando. ”

"Brando?" Williams raised his eyebrows: "I didn't hear that there is such a nobleman in your kingdom, could it be someone from the Wind Queen Temple?" ”

"It's a bit of a relationship," Count Vitokin smiled coldly: "This person was about twenty years old, and he first appeared in the ...... of Buch"

Hearing the word Butcher, the deputy head of the Knights Templar raised his head and frowned.

“… Then a gang of outlaws was gathered in Tonicle to stir up trouble, in fact, we had wrongly judged this person to be nothing more than the secret son of Her Royal Highness the Princess, but later found out that he was very wrong. Count Vitokin glanced at Marquis You Xi and hurriedly replied, "I saw Ampesel once and saw this person in the Temple, and he has the strength of the Golden Rank. ”

"Wait, you said this person is only twenty years old, the strength of the golden rank?" "Exactly, when I first met him, he was made a Templar by the Priest of Wood, and my men had a hand with him, and the Lord Priest could prove it." The Marquis continued.

"Okay, I believe you. But since this man is willing to take refuge in the temple, he is also a manufacturable material. Williams replied lightly.

"If that were the case, it would have been fine, but I didn't expect it to be just a plot by him to infiltrate the Temple, and later there was evidence that this person was behind the rebellion of Her Royal Highness the Princess, and organized the heretics to attack and kill the nobles in Ampesel."

"So this person is actually a spy for the One Society or the Shepherd?"

"I'm afraid it's more than that, sir." Marquis You Xi saluted respectfully and said, "The second time I saw him, he was with Count Yanbao. But at the time I suspected that he was the Earl of Swallowburgh. "Oh, the sword-bearer?"

"Exactly, but it turns out I guessed the wrong direction. Later, according to the investigation of our informant in the princess's responsibility, it was found that the origin of this person was very suspicious, not only colluding with the cultists, but also secretly allied with Naga. From the latest information we have just received, it is revealed that the Lubis mercenaries are also his men......"

"And earlier, I am afraid that this is the same person who used the heavenly armament in the city." Marquis You Xi smiled coldly and replied word for word.

The Lubis mercenaries are known to come from White Harbor and the city-state of Lubis, both of which are part of the League of Ten Cities, which is the sphere of influence of the Templar kingdom of Faunzan. And Brando's command has both Lubis mercenaries and heavenly forces, which is a bit sobering.

Williams's face sank suddenly: "Hmph, the Templar's hand is inevitably stretched too long" He glanced at Count Vitokin again, and said with some lessons: "But I think it's just to contain the Templar's hands and feet, it's just an enclave for them, you don't forget who is closer to the Empire." ，…

None of the people in the kingdom answered, only Reald's face sank, and when it came to seniority, he was not inferior to this so-called deputy head of the Templar Order. The two fought side by side during the November War, and their positions were similar, but Williams was lucky enough to be born in a large empire like Cruz, and if the old knight had such a strong financial backing, his achievements would not necessarily be limited to the elements.

What's more, the White Lion Legion he represents is a mortal enemy of the Cruz people by nature. The old man simply snorted, too lazy to look at this guy.

Marquis You Xi didn't expect that Yixi's words would make a fuss on his side first, and hurriedly changed the topic: "Actually, it's not just such an adult, there is more important news here that has been missed." "It's enough" Williams glanced at the man with some disgust: "I know what you want to say but colluding with the Churches, this charge is enough for him to bring about his own destruction, I know you want to ask the Templars to take action, but you want me to take action, I have one condition, that is, I must escort your princess back to the Empire 1" He didn't mention the Cultists, and the deputy head of the Knights Templar was not a fool and had long seen that there was something wrong with this. However, the aristocracy has a more or less dark relationship, and as long as it does not completely stand on the opposite side of the order, then it is tolerable.

Anyway, he knew that these guys were just using each other.

Marquis You Xi was slightly stunned, but he didn't expect the other party to mention this opinion back. To be honest, Princess Griffiin is a member of the royal family after all, and the most they dare to poison and assassinate is true. But to be escorted back to the Empire, there is no place for the faces of the Eruin nobles.

However, the deputy head of the Templars was obviously not reasonable, but replied lightly: "Since the Templars are involved in it, the Templars must need a sinner of sufficient weight to give an account. ”

"But there's plenty of weight on that man." Grand Duke Sifah, who had not spoken, replied suddenly.

"Ding," Williams snorted dissatisfied.

"The previous speeches of the Highland Knights have revealed the identity of the other party. If I'm not mistaken, the young man was probably following the Charles of the Pyros. Therefore, the identity of the young man who has been hiding in the shadows is also clear at a glance, and who still has this influence in the kingdom has his descendants. ”

"Half Dilodulus." As soon as the name was spoken, Williams' face immediately changed. He turned his head and stared coldly at Grand Duke Siphah, as if the other party was not the duke of a country, but his subordinate.

At that moment, Grand Duke Siphach had the illusion that he was being stared at coldly by Brando, and the whole person was like falling into an ice cave.

"You'd better not joke, even if you don't know the severity of this matter, you should understand the bottom line of the temple."

"Not a big man, what we said is true, Marquis You Xi also felt the sudden cold killing intent, and couldn't help but stammer.

"No, it's just your guess." The old knight Reald suddenly frowned and interrupted them, "As Duke Dorenk said, you should know that you must not speak in vain until you have confirmed the seriousness of this matter one hundred percent!" ”

"Old Master Reald, you know best! That guy Begnin said before that the one holding the Lionheart Sword is the descendant of the Earth Knight, and that girl is Freya, Everton, who took the descendant of the Earth Knight back then, you know best, since she appeared, then why couldn't he appear? ”

"A qiē clue points to the truth!" Marquis Youxi shouted hoarsely, "Mr. Laerde, I know your feelings. You should understand what kind of choices are good for the Kingdom! The old knight was slightly stunned, then he could only sigh and shake his head.

Williams' face changed, he stared at the men, and finally nodded: "Very good, preferably true, I can't call the shots on this matter, but I will inform the temple immediately." With that, he closed his eyes slightly. After a while, he opened it again, and his sky-blue eyes were full of murderous intent. "Darus is dead, but he did leave a descendant, but that is not it, but it is better to kill a hundred by mistake than to let one go."

The deputy head of the Templar Order gave a cold look at several people: "You had better be responsible for your words and deeds, you should be responsible for all the souls who died here today, as long as you follow him, you will definitely die." "The temple will never repeat the mistakes of the past to the point of repeating the mistakes of today. I'll take matters into practice, but you'd better keep your mouth shut. ”

Marquis You Xi and the others were cold for a while, and they couldn't say a word. Only Knight Reald seemed to have aged by dozens of years all of a sudden, turning into a dying old man, he shook his head and sighed deeply.

Williams turned around and asked his Templars, "I need men, tell the Priest Sùwood if he has found any trace of Mephistopheles on his side." ”

"Your Excellency," the Templar replied immediately, "there should be news, but it won't be back for a while." These are the exact words of Wood's Priest. ”

"Old slippery head." Williams couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

However, he raised his head, and there was already a determined coldness in his eyes: "Where is the princess?" "They're heading in the direction of the Mar Heights, my lord."

"Want to enter the Anlek Mountains?" "It's not that easy"

Background Notes: (1) Dorenk, Grand Duke, located in the northern part of the Cruz Empire. At the same time, the Duke of Dorenk is also one of the most powerful Grand Dukes in the Cruz Empire who has the right to inherit the throne.