Nereus simply looked at Richard and did not refute it, nor did he ask for further explanation.

Just as Richard knew her, she also knew Richard, if it was really not a big deal, how could Richard resolutely withdraw from the Holy Alliance and choose to become a **noble, which is a difficult road second only to the founding of the country.

Now the two empires are fighting for Richard, which gives him a certain buffer time, but when Richard explicitly refuses, or the patience of the two empires runs out, then their attitudes will be diametrically opposed.

And before that, Richard first had to face the Holy Alliance, no empire would tolerate the separation of its own great nobles, and every time the nobles succeeded in history, they must have experienced a major war with the former suzerain.

In the world of the aristocracy, status and power have always been played.

Except for giving Richard a hug, Neres can only repay Richard in her own way, she has to work and fight like a normal Akmund.

On the third day of Riccha's arrival at the Black Rose Castle, Sauron, Goliath, and Elliet, the former triumvirate of Akmund, all came to the Black Rose Castle and held a secret meeting.

Richard recounted in detail what happened that day in the Hall of Mirrors, and then said, "So, there is no way back for me. ”

Goliath and Ellie agreed, while Sauron asked for details, even dating back to before the incident, including several minor meetings between Richard and the Empress.

Sauron pondered for a moment before he said, "I think that Her Majesty Wuding has premeditated, she is targeting us Akmund, and if it weren't for His Highness Neris, there would be other excuses. ”

"Why. Goliath asked unceremoniously, he and Sauron have always had a bad relationship, even after the sun never sets, the two no longer fight each other behind their backs, and only maintain a peace on the face.

Marquis Sauron said, "A super-strong man may be a madman, but he is never a fool. ”

Goliath pondered this sentence repeatedly, and for a moment could not find a reason to refute it.

Richard raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said, " Now is the time to make a decision, I voluntarily withdraw from the Holy Alliance, but you don't have to, if you are willing to stand with me, you are very welcome, but be prepared to lose your territory, we may go through a difficult journey, but we may also go through this turmoil peacefully, no matter what choice you make now, it is not a problem, I will always regard you as a member of the family, but once you have made a choice, it is not something that can be changed lightly, even if you want to change, I am afraid there is no chance. ”

"I'll take your side. Ellie was the first to say.

Goliath hesitated for a moment, showed an even slightly terrifying smile, and said, "With the young man of the Gordon family, there should be more opportunities to fight. ”

Only Sauron remained.

The Marquis said slowly, "I will stay in the Holy Alliance. ”

Richard nodded and said, "Okay, then the territory I have laid down on the northwest border will be handed over to you, and in exchange, I will get all your territory near the Yuanwang Peninsula." "Although Richard controlled the Yuanwang Peninsula, some of the minor lords on the periphery were nominally vassals of Sauron.

"That's no problem. Sauron agreed without hesitation.

Richard's territory on the northwest border is large enough but almost undeveloped, and the territory on the border between the Yuanwang Peninsula and the mainland is a thriving area that has been settled by humans for thousands of years, but what Richard needs now is strategic depth and strategic strongholds.

"Then I will be able to get information from you in the future? Richard asked.

"As before, the only difference is that the price of intelligence will increase. Marquis Sauron smiled and said, "A price with the non-aligned family." ”

"No problem. Richard replied.

Marquis Sauron thought for a while, and then said: "I have another small request, my son, Sua, you have met, Richard, I want to send him to you, he will change his name and identity, from now on, in the Sauron territory, Suya is already dead, my son is quite useful, and he is qualified in leading troops." ”

Richard nodded, "I'll give him fairness and a chance." ”

Sauron smiled, the wrinkles on his face as deep as ravines, and he reached out and held Richard tightly.

"Live in the Holy Alliance, and live better. Richard said.

"I will, and you should return to Faust sooner rather than later. ”

When the matter was agreed, Sauron, Goliath and Ellie Jie left one after another, and each went back to the territory to make arrangements, and there were many things to follow, such as handing over the territory, dividing the jointly developed industries, and pacifying the vassals, all of which needed to be completed in the shortest possible time.

Richard's territory is heavily armed, but the Black Rose Castle is still semi-open, the legendary powerhouses are still adventuring the dragon plane, and their retinue is increasingly traveling to Faro through the teleportation array of the Black Rose Castle.

After a while, Richard knew that this might be the last quiet day, so he calculated the time and decided to leave for the imperial capital of the Millennium Empire, one to participate in the auction, and the other to make sacrifices.

Withdrawing from the Holy Alliance does not mean that Richard has no means of sacrifice, as long as it is not a wartime state, according to the custom, he can pay a certain fee, and sacrifice to a floating island magnate such as Guò Nolan or the Iron and Blood Grand Duke, but Richard is unwilling to return to Faust.

One day in the future, he will come back, but in another way.

Richard didn't bring any followers and followers, so he packed his bags and set out on his own road, and after a series of combinations of griffins and teleportation arrays, Richard finally stood in front of the Jade Sky Lake, the capital of the thousand-year-old empire, two days later.

Emerald Sky Lake was once known as the most beautiful city in Norland, although it is exaggerated, but it is not much different.

Beneath your feet is a velvety grass slab that looks like a watercolor painting that has not yet dried, and there is a strange beauty in the sky when it has just rained, and the gloomy clouds in the sky and the glow that breaks through the dark gray are intertwined.

A huge city stands quietly in the midst of the rich colors and light and shadow.

Huge vines erect high walls, old plants are intertwined and intertwined, it is impossible to see the city wall itself, or these plants themselves are walls, the city gate is a whole red sandstone arch, full of the national flower of the thousand-year-old empire, five-color sunflowers, red, white, yellow, orange, purple, full of vitality.

At this time, Richard was dressed as a dusty wandering mage, wearing a thick adventure cloak, and on his back was a strange and quaint magic box, which was obviously old and worn in many places, but it was engraved with a large number of magic symbols in a conspicuous place, and it was polished shiny, as if he was afraid that others would not know that it was a piece of magic equipment.

All in all, Richard is like a ubiquitous seventh- or eighth-level mage, who has to desperately show off his wealth and strength in order to get a job that can make ends meet.

The Emerald Sky Lake did not have any visible barriers, and it seemed that travelers from all over the world could come and go at will, but when Richard followed the flow of people into the city gate, he felt a warm current surging through his body, which was obviously some kind of detection energy.

Richard instantly analyzed that these energies were very weak, but very ingenious, and could react to negative and chaotic auras from the abyss, the outer realms, etc., and the purpose of this magic should be to identify those evil and chaotic alien races.

When he walked through the city gates, Richard suddenly felt as if he had entered the realm of elves.

His first impression was of trees, hundreds, or even nearly a thousand years old, everywhere, and tree houses were very common here, some of which were carved out directly from the bodies of some dead giant trees.

But if you look closely, you will find that it is different from the elf city, in the green forest of the eternal night tribe, the elves' treehouses are hung on trees, and the villages on the ground are all kinds of wooden houses, and the elves are good at making the trees look like they want, so as to turn them into natural walls or pillars.

But in the Emerald Sky Lake, the magnificent and ornate buildings made of stone are the main ones, but these buildings are either crawling with vines or skillfully blending with the surrounding ancient trees and giant trees, which gives people the illusion.

Another impression of the city on Richard was its magnificence.

Almost all the buildings of the decent point are adorned with elaborate carvings, even the fences of the gardens are cast in the shape of branches of fine iron, and the main body of the city is an emerald green, but there is no lack of other colors, in fact, both bright blue and rose, which can be found here, and it feels like it is not gaudy, but colorful.

Richard walked along the road, and on the road he could see people from all countries and races, and it could be seen that this was a tolerant city, and only tolerance would prosper, even if it was superficially inclusive, it was necessary.

After walking along the road for a while, and then following the road around a square, Richard's eyes suddenly opened up, revealing a vast expanse of turquoise water.

This is an incomparably wide lake, with no end in sight, so big that people will mistakenly think that they are coming to the seaside, which is the origin of the name of the city of Dream Lake, Emerald Sky Lake.

On the east side of the lake, at the end of the city, you can vaguely see the lush forest, which is the Whispering Forest, which is also a famous scenery of the thousand-year-old Empire.

Looking at the surface of the water in front of him, which was like a polished smooth jewel, Richard couldn't help but lose his mind for a moment.

He looked to the left, and in that direction there was a long snow-white bridge that crossed the vast lake, connecting the magnificent palace in the middle of the lake with the city.

Overlooking the middle of the lake, the most conspicuous thing is a huge ancient tree, growing obliquely, the canopy of the tree is like a piece of floating clouds, condensed above the palace, the palace is dominated by white, blue is the main embellishment, and the huge palace group winds all the way up along the tree until it is close to the canopy.

This giant tree was even bigger than many of the living trees Richard had seen in the Green Forest, and probably not much smaller than the World Tree.

The palace complex built on a giant tree in the middle of the lake is the imperial palace of the thousand-year-old empire.