Marlene stood in front of the window, staring at the beautiful, shining golden city in front of her. But at this moment, the girl's thoughts drifted to the far south seashore, she still remembered that the sun shone on the clear blue water, with a fishy smell blowing in her face, there was not a trace of clouds in the sky, the huge magic fleet slowly moved to block the sunlight in the sky, in the city now, you can vaguely see a few wisps of light smoke rising in the harbor city, and you can faintly hear the shouting and wailing from afar.

The battle is over.

This farce, which lasted for almost half a year, finally came to an end in late autumn, and when the cold winter breath was about to come, it was like those withered and withered leaves that fell on the ground, and it ended completely. The independence of the reformers seemed like a farce, and now it has finally come to an end. After the president of the Southern Parliament committed suicide by poisoning, the reformists finally collapsed completely, and the reformers who had lost their backbone were completely panicked, not knowing what to do. And civil strife also began to emerge at this time - after the Royal Fleet blockaded the southern harbor, the entire southern region was almost completely paralyzed, and the Southern Council finally felt unprecedented fear and pressure, the old council chief died, but he walked easily, shook his hands and went on the road alone, anyway, it was possible to avoid the fate of being hanged in the Golden City. But the others were not so lucky, the southern harbor was blocked, no ships could enter or leave, and now that the front line was tense and the rear was unstable, those barbarians were almost about to penetrate into the southern hinterland. For a while, the core personnel of the reformers were panicked, and there was no way out, and the appearance of the magic guide fleet also marked the complete failure of their desire for the Council of Light to send someone to help them. So now either they choose to surrender, or they will desperately run to the territory of those barbarians, or cross the border line and enter the Dark Dragon Kingdom.

But for members of the reformists. All three options are a dead end.

They know very well how ruthless Lydia is, and you can't tell that she should be a kind, just and glorious archangel in this regard, in fact, many times people are very correct about Lydia, that is, Lydia does have the "tyrant" factor, she is greedy for enjoyment, and likes grand and lively banquets. Anyone who dared to resist them would have been suppressed with an iron fist and blood, ruthlessly, and even humans would have been able to do so hard, but Lydia had done it.

This is also the reason why these reformers would rather grit their teeth and die than give up, knowing that once they surrender, then the only way waiting for them is to go to the gallows. Of course, Lydia will not come to "kill all the doors" or something like some ancient kings, but she will also not come to "only catch the main culprit, and not prosecute the accomplices". Don't worry, there's something for everyone.

It is precisely because of the understanding of Lydia that the core members of the reformers will not agree to surrender if they are killed.

But the other two options are still a dead end for them.

The barbarian wastelands are places where order has not yet shrouded, and the people there are the same, savage, ferocious, they only recognize strength, and they don't care about anything else. It doesn't matter how high your status or wealth you have in Moon. It's meaningless to them, not to mention that the power of order there is very weak, just like Rod's place of atonement, just because the order of the border near the junction of the dragon soul has begun to become extremely unstable, and even day and night are chaotic. And those places where order has not yet shrouded are even more terrifying, and it is simply impossible for ordinary people to survive in such places.

And the Night Dragon Nation. It's not a good choice.

As we all know, it is the realm of the undead, and the status of the living there is very low, although it is said that among the four demon generals, because of the existence of Garcia, the "master", the status of human beings has improved. But that's only for a part of humanity. In the Night Dragon Country, most of the human identity is either slavery or food for the Bloodline. So even if they cross the border safely, the end will not be much better.

And what makes the reformers even more desperate is that although the relationship between the Night Dragon Kingdom and the Light Dragon Kingdom is very poor, their relationship with the Duchy of Moon is not bad, and if Lydia asks the Night Dragon Kingdom to hand over the people, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not be sent back!

Either to become a corpse, or to be a slave first and then wait to be turned into a corpse, is only the difference between the death penalty and the death penalty, and for the reformers, the difference is not much——— because there is no possibility of appeal at all.

So at the moment they can only drag, and they can drag it for a day.

But they forget one thing, that is, human nature is selfish, they can be drunk for more than one day and don't care about other people's lives, and other people will naturally not care about their own lives and deaths.

Within the reformers, the core members are a minority after all, but the majority of them are not willing to wait for death with them, and they did not dare to be too presumptuous when the old parliament chief was there. But now, the old council chief committed suicide by poisoning, and these people suddenly became tougher, and they even felt that the old council leader's choice to commit suicide meant that all this was completely over, and they had no hope of victory! If you don't choose to surrender now, then there is really only one way to die!

Because of this, in the end, civil strife broke out within the reformers.

"A handful of core elements of stubborn resistance" did not play any role at all in the face of the "vast sea of the people", and not only that, but those who "betrayed their teammates" even advocated the release of the former commander of the Southern Army who had been seized by the reformists, and until this time, the so-called southern independence of the reformists had also come to a complete end.

There is nothing to say about everything that follows, the Southern Legion stationed in Calendor City began to become chaotic after hearing the news of the old leader's suicide, and taking this opportunity, the royal army suddenly bypassed Calendst from behind and cut off the supply line of Calendst again, which also made the Southern Army completely become a turtle in the urn, after three consecutive unsuccessful breakthroughs, the Calensted defenders announced their surrender, and then the royal army raised its flag and went south, The reformers, who had long been exhausted, did not even make a symbolic resistance this time, and simply raised their hands in surrender.

Marlene still remembers what she saw when she walked into the Southern Harbor. She had been to the Southern Seaport before, and at that time, Marlene had the impression that it was a clean, tidy, and beautiful city. Pedestrians on the street are dressed in well-dressed clothes and speak in low voices. Polite, they raised their heads proudly and proudly, as if filled with endless hope for tomorrow and the future. It has to be said that at that time, those southerners were indeed very qualified to despise those northerners who came from the bitter cold land of the north, wore clothes sewn from rough fur, and spoke loudly and roughly.

But this time, she saw a completely different picture.

The streets that used to be clean and tidy have become filthy, full of human and animal corpses, and the smell of corpses comes from the streets and alleys. Even on the shores of that beautiful, blue bay, you can see many corpses swollen with blisters. And those people who used to be well-dressed are now hiding in their own homes in ragged clothes and yellow muscles, secretly watching through the cracks in the door as the royal army enters their city, and those originally neat and beautiful houses are also because no one takes care of them. This, combined with the previous riots, made an otherwise beautiful city look like a beggar's den.

What a tragedy.

Come to think of it. Marlene closed her eyes and swept away the unpleasant scenes in her mind, and if it was Lijie, maybe she would sympathize with the poor people. But Marlene wouldn't, she didn't feel that those people deserved sympathy, it was their choice. And they also paid a price for it, and as for whether this price is a bit high, then it is not within the scope of Marlene's attention.

After that, Lydia also showed a vigorous side, in just two days. She arrested all the core figures of the reformists and put them in a dungeon, awaiting trial and execution. In addition, this time in the face of these rebels, Lydia's punishment can be described as extremely severe, she confiscated the property and wealth of all the reformists, and at the same time beat them back to civilian status, not only that, except for those poor creatures who have been determined to be hanged, others will also be punished to varying degrees, some will offset the merits, the punishment will be lighter, and some will be heavier. Of course, this is only relative.

For the reformers, Lydia's hand was not ruthless enough, because almost all of the people who participated in the rebellion this time were nobles and merchants, and they all owned a lot of property and wealth in the south, otherwise these people would not have had the courage to oppose the royal party.

And Lydia did this, almost emptying the entire southern business and aristocratic circle, which was completely a drain on the reformers, because it also meant that they would no longer have enough energy and strength to compete with the royal party in the future.

If it were a normal day, Lydia's approach would definitely cause a lot of opposition and protests, because Lydia's approach was not just a simple harvest of the foundation of the reformers, so many industries, the Chamber of Commerce was taken care of, and now these are all confiscated by the royal party, which means that those who work for the reformists' industries will also be affected. If it had been a normal time, I am afraid that the protest would have already begun.

But now, after Lydia made this decision, the southerners, who had been arrogant, accepted the arrangement like defeated roosters. They were like the flowers in the greenhouse, and now, when Lydia broke the glass of the greenhouse, leaving these pampered flowers completely exposed to the wind and rain, and after the baptism of the storm, these flowers that were in full bloom finally wilted completely. The harsh reality shattered their romance of war, making it clear to them that war was not just an imaginary glory and cry for freedom, but a path of death and destruction. And they stupidly chose such a path.

"Miss Marlene."

Just as Marlene was distracted, suddenly, a voice came from behind her, which made Marlene quickly gather her thoughts, she turned around, and then saw her personal maid standing behind her, looking at her respectfully.

"It's almost time for the banquet.........

"I've got it, I'm going to change my clothes now."

With that, Marlene glanced out the window at the quiet, peaceful, and serene view of the Golden City, and then she turned around and walked into the room without the slightest hesitation.

Rhodes stepped out of the carriage and stared at the tall and majestic in front of him. The castle, which shone with golden brilliance, couldn't help but whistle.

After waking up Greyhill and Madaras, Rhodes was not able to return to the Land of Atonement immediately, because it was at this time that Seven Lovers told him that an invitation had been sent by the royal family. Invite Rhodes to a grand banquet to be held in the Golden City. Although Rhodes had been busy with the two daggers and had not paid much attention to the battle between the royal party and the reformers, when he learned the news, Rhodes had already determined that the reformers were completely finished. And the truth is exactly as Rhodes expected.

The so-called fighting local tyrants divide the land. Now that the local tyrants have finished fighting, it is naturally time to divide the land. Lydia had hollowed out the foundations of the entire South, where hundreds of nobles and chambers of commerce were located, not to mention the battle. Both the Southern Army and the Sea Fleet are going to be purged and rebuilt on a large scale, and with such a big piece of cake in front of everyone, it is impossible to say that no one is impressed. And Rhodes also knew very well that Lydia held a grand banquet this time, ostensibly to celebrate the victory of the civil war against the reformers, but in fact there was no intention of sharing the cake in it.

Because of this, after leaving the Elven Forest, Rhodes took Anne and Lijie directly to the Golden City. Come to this feast of victory. But this time, there was an uninvited guest by his side.

"This is the Golden City ............"

Corinna stepped out of the carriage. His eyes were slightly rounded, and he looked at the majestic castle in front of him in surprise, and whispered to himself.

Hearing Corinna's words, Rhodes didn't say anything, he just turned his head and looked at Corinna. Then he quickly withdrew his gaze.

Corinna's joining was a complete surprise for Rod, and in fact, when he said goodbye to Her Majesty the Elven Queen, he had no idea that the Elven Queen would ask him to let Corinna go to the Land of Atonement and travel there. Frankly, when Rhodes heard this request from the Elven Queen. He was very surprised.

Of course, Rhodes knew that young elves would travel, and sometimes they would take on some obligations, such as Corinna was the representative of the country of France in the Soragon Mountains before, but now that the Soragon Mountains are gone, Corinna's representative position is naturally gone. But Rhodes didn't expect that the Elven Queen would want to send Corinna to the Land of Atonement!

Of course, on the surface, the reason given by the elf queen was to take a closer look at the residual effects after the death of the demon archduke, but Rhodes knew that this could only be used to coax children, if he really wanted to observe the impact of the demon archduke's death, why didn't he send her over before, and he had to go to the elven forest by himself? Rhodes didn't know what the Elf Queen would make this decision for, but he raised his hands in favor of this decision——— because Rhodes knew very well that it wouldn't be long before the war between the Night Dragon Kingdom and the Light Country would begin, and the Land of Atonement where he was located was definitely one of the front lines. What's more, Rod is very aware of Corinna's natural ability, which is an accurate mobile firepower battery, and if Corinna has help, then it will obviously be easier for him to defend the fortress.

In fact, strictly speaking, it is not a good thing to have Corinna by his side, Rhodes knows very well that his style of acting is incompatible with the culture of the elves, and it would be hellish if Corinna could accept her own approach. But at the moment, he doesn't bother to bother to pay attention to so much, anyway, it will only be a year at most, and the real war is about to begin, as long as you don't go too far before this and make Corinna dissatisfied——— anyway, Rhodes is very good at disguise, and it's not once or twice.

But now, Rod didn't pay attention to Corinna beside him, on the contrary, he turned his head and looked at the golden castle in front of him, but his heart couldn't help but think of a person he hadn't seen for a long time——— Marlene.

Strictly speaking, Marlene is the first woman that Rhodes has had since he came to this world (canaries can't be counted as a matter of course), and they all say that first love is unforgettable, but in fact, the first night is similar. It is naturally impossible for Rhodes to forget Marlene, not to mention that although the other party has not followed him for a long time, he has played no less role in the development of the Starlight Guild than Rhodes, so to speak, if there is no Marlene, I am afraid that the current Starlight Guild will not be able to develop in an orderly manner.

But Rhodes knew very well that Marlene couldn't stay in the Starlight Guild as his deputy forever. She is the only heir of the Shania family, and in this civil war, compared with herself, who has been playing soy sauce except for sneaking into the rear of the enemy, Marlene's performance can be said to be very eye-catching, she not only led her magic guide troops to resist the offensive of the reformers one after another, and even in the later battle to surround Calendor City, Marlene also made considerable contributions when cooperating with the encirclement and preventing the Karenster defenders from breaking through——— of course, This is not to say that Marlene's military talent and tactical literacy are very high, but in the days of operating with Rod, the girl's understanding and mastery of magic has indeed improved by leaps and bounds, and it is because of this that Marlene was able to perform so well in this civil war.

And because of her outstanding performance, now Marlene has removed the hat of "a rare magical genius in a century" and is officially recognized by many people as a "young and powerful mage". It can be said that she has worked hard for so many years and finally turned positive.

On the way to the Golden City, Rhodes also heard a lot of rumors about Marlene, especially this time she did a great job, and there were a lot of rumors surrounding this wonderful girl. Rumor has it that she will join the Court Mage Guard, become Archmage Amond's lieutenant, and possibly even become the head of the next Court Archmage. It is also rumored that she may receive a new realm and have an honorable and noble title.

These Rhodes are well aware that Marlene is also qualified enough to get these, she is different from herself, she comes from a famous family, and she has always been in the spotlight, so it is not surprising to have this kind of natural result now. Because everyone knows that she is the heir of the Shania family, a magical genius that is rare in a century, the foundation is here, as long as Marlene works hard, then she will definitely have results. But he is different, no matter how dazzling his performance is, after all, he suddenly appeared in front of everyone in a short period of time, so the nobles are always a little more wary and suspicious of themselves than Marlene. It's like the title that Lydia gave him before, and it was because of this that he gave Rhodes a lowest-level title of nobility. If Marlene is replaced, I'm afraid that at least he will be an earl who can't run away.

It's just that Rhodes is still a little reluctant.

Maybe Marlene's feelings for her won't change, but who knows what the way to do it? When she leaves the guild, the time for the two sides to see each other will be reduced, distance is the enemy of love, and according to Rod's experience, even Marlene still likes herself. But after that, it is difficult for both parties to meet for various reasons, and that relationship will become dull. Not to mention that there is actually no shortage of women around Rod, and most of the final results are bland parting ways between the two parties, Marlene may find a good person to marry to continue the family, or she may not marry. But either way, it has nothing to do with Rhodes.

The thought of such a very likely future made Rhodes unhappy. It has always been him who robbed women with others, and he has never lost......... Is this the rhythm to lose now?

Rod himself didn't know what kind of mood he was in now, in all fairness, he was happy about Marlene's growth and achievements, but when he thought that Marlene was going to leave Starlight and leave him, the two might see each other rarely in the future, so he was not so happy.

Merely...............

Thinking of this, Rod couldn't help but sigh helplessly, and put this annoying matter behind him.

Don't think about this unhappy future, at least for now, he's about to see Marlene. (To be continued.) )