Your war hammer is too fake

"What about the Ancestral Council?" the girl asked.

"...the returning ancestors managed to convince the other ancient elders," the long-bearded elder answered honestly, "the bottomless stone steps have been in the hands of the greenskins for too long. We have never been so close to recovering our homeland and fulfilling the long-cherished wish of our ancestors. We will not occupy the precious manpower of the Reforgers forever, ma'am. As long as the Fortress is recovered and survives the most dangerous period before the city's fortifications are rebuilt, the ancestors can continue to do what they should do, and leave the rest to us."

"What about Bafeng Mountain?" An Jiyue asked suddenly, "Didn't the ancestors of the Angrande clan try to lobby the Ancestral Council?"

"My lady, it's not that you are unwilling to help our compatriots. Everyone knows the importance of the Eight Peaks Mountain, but it is no longer the most important thing now." At this point, the long-bearded venerable considered his words, "Many people, both mortals and ancestors who have returned to the world, have pointed out Belegar Ironhammer's offense against you and asked him to apologize to you and use gold to compensate for your losses. But Belegar has never done so, and he even refuses to admit his mistakes."

"I seem to have stressed this many times," the girl said, "I never thought I was offended."

"Tolerance is indulgence, lady. Everyone is very dissatisfied with Belegar's refusal to admit his mistakes. Even a Recaster from the Angrand clan finds it difficult to speak for his descendants in the Ancestral Council," the long-bearded venerable said, glancing at the eternal armor on the governor's body, and said very seriously, "If you publicly accuse Belegar of offending you and demand justice, based on ancient traditions and the laws established by the ancestral gods, the King of Eight Peaks will either take the butcher's oath or be exiled by the High King. There will be no third result."

An Jiyue suddenly felt a severe headache, but the long-bearded venerable continued to speak.

"I heard that King Rune (Note 1) tried to plead for his descendants, but it only led to more criticism. Some people say that the Angrand clan owed too much debt to recover their homeland and has long been unable to pay gold as compensation. If a king is so poor that he can't even pay compensation, what can we expect from him?"

The girl didn't know at this time that due to extreme dissatisfaction with Belegar's refusal to admit his mistakes and apologize, some creditors of the Angrand clan were ready to collect the debts that had already or had long been due. The reason why this matter did not cause any disturbance was that after Thorgrim found out that something was wrong, he used his own money to pay off all the debts owed by the Angrand clan, and then transferred all the debts to himself. Now, Belegar only had one creditor left.

The Angrand clan owed Eternal Peak so much money that it could be said that unless they recaptured Eight Peaks Mountain and opened the vaults sealed by the ancient Rune Blacksmiths, they would not be able to repay the debt due to the lack of income.

"I don't want to discuss anything related to Belegar anymore. I feel irritated just hearing the word 'Angronde'," the girl said with a frown. "Let me summarize. You know the potential risks of this expedition, but you are sure that this is the best opportunity in thousands of years, right?"

"We don't want to hinder the great cause of the Mountain Kingdom to recover other lands belonging to the dwarves, my lady," the long-bearded elder nodded vigorously, "We will not take up too many military resources. We will take care of our own. We know very well how difficult this is, but no matter what difficulties and obstacles, we will not shake the dwarves' determination to take back their homeland."

"I still say the same thing. Can't you wait a few more years? With just another three to five years, many things will be very different," An Jiyue thought. For example, the Hammer-class frigates should be ready by now. "Neither the dwarves described in the books nor the dwarves I have seen in real life are a race that lacks the necessary patience."

"The strength of the Council of Ancestors will inevitably become increasingly strained as more lands are recovered. Madam, at least for now, the ancestors can still gather enough warriors in a short period of time to help our incompetent descendants," the long-bearded venerable said solemnly, "As for the Eternal Peak, we cannot and should not demand too much from His Majesty Thorgrim."

The Eternal Peak has a population of 90,000, which sounds like a lot, but it is also a big business, and it needs troops everywhere. When the Recaster army fought north and south, and worked with the descendants to recover the lost fortresses and other strongholds one by one, the Eternal Peak army has been helping out everywhere, and they have participated in all the important military operations of the Mountain Kingdom in the past two years.

"Well, it seems that I can't convince you to give up," An Jiyue said, changing the subject, "But I do have a suggestion..." The Jiedushi briefly introduced the Black Fortress and her plan to bring in Plateau Fort to deal with the Azog Legion.

"...Considering the current status of each fortress, especially those that have been recently recaptured, I believe that this task of clearing out the fallen is more suitable for clans that can mobilize enough warriors and have no homes to defend for the time being. The army of Plateau Castle has already set out, but for well-known reasons, they cannot send too many warriors, so they need some helpers, some helpers who will never tolerate betrayal of the ancestor gods."

An Jiyue paused for a moment to let the audience fully digest the news she brought: "Gaoyuanbao will share this honor with its compatriots who fought side by side. Now, tell me, does anyone want to sign up?"

……

Note 1: The king when Mount Babong fell, and the direct ancestor of Belegar.

The author says:

Author's words: Reply to reader "zzz17746":

There is a very small probability of going north to hit the Pingshan defense line, a small probability of going south to attack the Death Land, and a high probability of running to Bafeng Mountain.

Chapter 410: Command

Badlands, northern edge of the Swamp of Madness.

With the ground shaking and heavy footsteps, the huge war sphinx led a skeleton chariot and stopped 20 meters away from the infantry phalanx. The tomb guards of Khemri stood in place with long-handled sickle-shaped swords and large shields, staring at the newcomers with their empty eye sockets emitting light blue magic light.

As soon as the Sphinx stood firm, a soft ladder was thrown down from the war sedan on the back of the construct, and then a tall mummy wearing bronze scale armor and a lion helmet, shining golden in the scorching sun, climbed down nimbly. When the mummy looked at the Immortal Emperor's direct guards, the tomb guards suddenly separated to the left and right, leaving a straight path.

Setra's charioteer, Nekaf, the most famous herald of the ancient tombs in all of Nehekhara, walked out of the square and headed straight for Atum. When the herald was less than three meters away from the priest king and Susayb, who was standing behind the king, had his hand on the hilt of his sword, Nekaf stopped and bowed.

"Before the host of Khemri!" the herald shouted, "Tell me what you are here for, Lion of the Unbreakable!"

"I need to discuss military affairs with Khemrikha. I have a way to break the current deadlock," Atum said, raising his hand to stop Susayb who wanted to go over and teach Nekaf a lesson. "But now it seems that not all of Settra's men agree with some of his decisions. If you insist on stopping me with such a rude attitude, I assure you in the name of the gods that death is not the end of life. Even the undead can die again!"

"If Lord Ka-Sabai thinks that my behavior is not in accordance with etiquette and offends the dignity of the Bronze City, I am willing to accept punishment afterwards," said Nekaf, holding a gilded skull flail, "but as the champion of my lord, I have my duties to fulfill."

"In any case, loyalty should not be blamed," Atum nodded, "Go and inform him."

The herald saluted the priest king again, then turned and left. A moment later, Nekaf returned with a reply from Setra himself: the Immortal Emperor accepted the unscheduled meeting.

The internal atmosphere of the Tomb Raiders is quite strange. Although the two sides have formed a temporary alliance and agreed to help each other and jointly capture the floating city, the atmosphere between the two sides is not related to the word "allies" no matter how you look at it - Atum is not Settra's subordinate, and after the alliance is reached, it cannot be said that they are enemies. Settra cannot treat Atum as a subordinate, but if he interacts with him as an equal, it will bring more problems. After all, Settra obviously has a higher status and greater power than Atum.

What's more troublesome is that only a part of the army brought by Settra came from Khemri. The rest covered all the major city-states of Nehekhara except Ka-Sabai. The leaders were all priest kings from different eras, and except for Settra, no one was willing to submit to each other.

We are all Priest Kings, so why should Atum enjoy special treatment just because he did not submit to Settra? The Immortal Emperor ruled the cities with his army, prestige, and political skills, not with institutional coercive power. The civilization level of the Nehekhara people did not support their centralized power like that of Cathay. In fact, let alone centralized power, they even had trouble with the confederation system... In short, Settra was not the Lord of the Codex, and his power was not unlimited. He could not ignore the little thoughts of his subordinates.

Khemrikhala had to show everyone his unquestionable absolute authority, but at the same time he couldn't be too tough and ruin his relationship with the Bronze City. After all, Atum was obviously not someone who could be overwhelmed by force.

Nekaf's obstruction was obviously instructed by Settra himself. Settra couldn't let the other Tomb Kings think that he was too soft in treating Atum; at the same time, Settra couldn't let Atum think that he lacked sincerity in this temporary alliance and didn't attach enough importance to him as a temporary ally, so Nekaf just stopped him for a while and then let him go.

Those who play politics are really fussy, Atum thought. The skeleton chariots of Horus and Suseb were left outside. The priest king and his personal champion were led by the champion of another priest king through the dense ranks of the tomb guards with long spears like a forest, and came to the chariots of the gods carrying the ancient kings.

"Atum," Settra nodded to the newcomer, "I know what you are here for. What are you going to do?"

"We are still fighting, so I will try to be brief," Atum, who was already a little impatient, went straight to the point. "For this battle only, I request that the command of all troops except the Tomb Guards and Constructs be handed over to me for unified dispatch. After the battle is over, I will immediately hand over the command."

As he spoke, Atum glanced at the Tomb Kings standing behind Settra's chariot. These priest kings were either on foot or in chariots, and of course some were riding war sphinxes like Atum. They came from different eras in different city-states, with different positions, demands, personalities, and even genders.

"...I don't think highly of their army anyway." The Lion of Infinity added.

Before the kings could get angry at the arrogant words, Settra spoke first, "Do you know what you are saying, Atum? These warriors do not owe their allegiance to you, and no one has the right to command them without their king's permission, not even me."

"Then we'll just have to continue to waste time here with the greenskins and watch them drive away the floating city," Atum shrugged. "I can command the entire army to tear apart the greenskins' formation within an hour without using any constructs. If anyone here thinks they can do it, please step forward now."

The scene fell into silence. Many of the Tomb Kings present had experienced the siege of Ka-Sabai. This battle left indelible memories for all those who witnessed it. Many people are still impressed by the outrageous construct army of the Bronze City and Atum's flawless command art.

The nickname "Lion without Cracks" is not for nothing, although Atum prefers to be called "Big Bones".

"Except for my guards, all the armies of Khemri can be handed over to you for command, including the constructs." Settra seemed to be silent for a moment. "As for the armies of other city-states, their commanders will decide whether to hand over the command."

As soon as the Immortal Emperor finished speaking, a female voice spoke.

"Lybaras is willing to hand over the command," said the Warrior Queen Khalida, nodding slightly at Atum. "Long time no see, Atum."

"Long time no see, Khalida," Atum looked at the female monarch in front of him, who was also an old friend who had fought together under Alcadizaar in his false memory. "This should be the first time we have met since that asshole Nagash slaughtered the entire Nehekhara."

"I was there at the siege of Ka-Sabai," the Warrior Queen said, speaking candidly of the time she almost came to blows with her old friend. "But before I could get through the Canyon of Coffins, Lybaras was attacked, and I had to rush back with my army. By the time I had driven back the dark elf pirates and recovered all the treasure that had been stolen, the siege was over."

Hearing this, Atum first looked at Khalida, then turned his gaze to Setra: "Old man, you don't blame her for this?"

"Did Khalida do something wrong?" Settra asked.

"Yeah... If I hadn't sworn to the gods that I would be loyal to Alcadizaar forever, I would have wanted to serve you," Atum said sincerely. "Well, those of you who haven't asked for anything yet don't have to say anything. Khemri, Lybaras, and my army are enough. Get ready to enjoy your victory, old man."

Atum then bowed to Setra and Khalida in turn, thanking them for their trust and support. He then turned around and walked away with an arrogant step, not caring about his relatives.

Chapter 411 Gilles' Invitation

Not surprisingly, the Dragon Ridge clans could not refuse Lady Youyue's invitation. For the Sons of the Stone, the suggestion of clearing out those corrupt cousins ​​was not an option from the beginning. After a brief discussion behind closed doors, the clan leaders and the long-bearded venerable assured the Jiedushi that they would mobilize no less than 1500 warriors to participate in this operation. As for how to send this army to Jingning, the necessary help from the Aurora allies was needed.

"A thousand warriors are enough," the girl thought, after all, these bad short-haired guys are worth points, and the points are not low. "The news I got here is that Gaoyuan Fort will send out 6,000 warriors, so you don't need to bring the short-bearded guys out to make up the numbers."

The dwarves thought it made sense and accepted An Jiyue's opinion. After all, the long-bearded venerables themselves did not trust those young people who were only in their teens.

According to the plan made by the Lords of the Holy Scripture, the 6,000 Plateau Fort troops will be transported to Jingning through the roots, and the troops sent by the Dragon Ridge Mountain Dwarves will take the transport ships and transport boats of the Aurora people across the World Edge Mountains and join the Plateau Fort Dwarves in Chengze Prefecture. Recently, the Shuofang Army has increased its reconnaissance efforts in the area west of the Black Fortress to ensure that when the Azog Legion returns, it can find its whereabouts as soon as possible, and then guide the dwarf army to set up an ambush on the road it must pass, and strive to annihilate it in one battle.

After dealing with the Dragon Ridge Dwarves, An Jiyue returned to Xuanshui. When the girl was still in the Zhendan Dynasty and had not yet returned, the news that the Heavenly Court was going to take the lead in establishing the North Vast Ocean Treaty Organization spread throughout the Old World under the promotion of Xiao Yiyue. It was said that even the Arabs who were far away in the south and did not belong to the Old World had heard about it.

In addition to the Lord of the Holy Scripture, the Mountain Kingdom, Tyrell, and Kislev all received invitations. Xiao Yiyue wrote to Thorgrim the Grudgebearer, Bogio the Besieger, and Boris Bokaha in the name of the Heavenly Court, inviting them to join the upcoming NATO. As for the Empire, the Lords of the Holy Scripture discussed it many times in the chat group, and finally decided to send them an invitation. Of course, since the internal problems of the Empire are too complicated and acute, An Jiyue will take over and handle this personally.

Of all the civilized countries in the Old World, only Bretonnia and Estalia did not receive an invitation. The latter did not receive an invitation because they were too scattered, not even nominally unified like the neighboring Tyrell, and did not have a person like Boggio who could represent the entire region, so they could only be excluded from the initial members of NATO; Bretonnia did not receive an invitation for an even more difficult reason.

On the one hand, the Lord of the Holy Scripture and other forces that knew the "truth" about the Lady of the Lake, such as Karl Franz and Thorgrin, would not allow Li Biao, a defeatist strategist addicted to backstabbing allies, to infiltrate the military alliance formed to fight Chaos and prevent the End of Time; on the other hand, while An Jiyue was busy running around in the Cathay Dynasty, the chaos in Bretonnia not only did not ease, but instead intensified. It can be said that the Knight Kingdom is only one step away from a civil war. As for the reason...

"Golonni is very likely to have learned of the existence of the Inner Circle," Feng Xizhao said in her signature cold voice. "According to the investigation results of West Territory, because the process of infiltrating Quinalis was too smooth, these amateur spies in the Inner Circle inevitably got a little carried away. In order to complete the task faster, they shortened the inspection period for new members and omitted some inspection steps, which led to people with unsteady positions sneaking in, and then something went wrong."

"How serious is the situation?" An Jiyue asked with his arms folded across his chest, without raising his head.

"The Colonni Hundred Households have heard some bad news. King Lao En intends to raise an army to attack the Inner Ring, but the people of Ba are in a panic. Many noble families are unwilling to obey the king's orders and refuse to pay taxes or conscript men," said the nine-tailed fox, with the snow-white fox ears on its head trembling. "Lord Ai thinks that things have come to this point, and punishing the Inner Ring will not help, so it is better to just go with the flow."

The Jiedushi had actually learned about this through the chat group a long time ago, but he was not clear about the specific details. Although the chat group was convenient, the Lords of the Holy Scriptures were generally very busy and could not be online all the time.

Retracting her gaze from the spread-out map, the girl glanced at Bing Ruomei, who was sitting beside her in a serious manner. As part of the mutual trust with the Heavenly Court, the Bing family's eldest lady was invited to attend today's internal work meeting. "That is to say, Lao En tried to suppress the rebellion by force, but the people's hearts were almost dispersed, resulting in the inability to organize the anti-rebellion army, right?" said the silver-haired, red-eyed girl, "Except for those who have been absorbed into the inner circle, has anyone clearly chosen a side?"

"Most of the princes of Babon are still waiting and watching. For now, only some small families have come to seek refuge," said Miss Spirit Fox as she opened a folder and pulled out a letter covered with wax. "But there is something strange. There is a powerful prince in Babon, Bohemond, Duke of Bastogne, who sent his confidant to deliver a letter to the inner circle, and asked the latter to pass it on to the commander-in-chief."

"'Beast Butcher' Bohemond? The direct descendant of Gilles?" An Jiyue took the letter from the fox with a strange look on her face and opened it: "Why would he write to me? If he wants to write a letter, he should write to Evelyn... huh?"

Facing the curious gazes of Feng Xizhao and Bing Ruomei, the girl said in a deep voice: "Gilles wants to see me."

"How could a barbarian like Babang, who doesn't know yin and yang and doesn't keep peace, actually make his ancestors appear and give guidance to his descendants?" Bing Ruomei said in amazement, "I really underestimated these lowly people from the West."

"Just say this to me, but don't say it in front of them. Although there aren't many people in the Old World who can speak the official language of the court, there are still some," An Jiyue glanced at Xiugenqing, "Gillers... He took a blow from my [Soul Scythe], but he can still hold on until now. But it's better this way. The current strength of the inner ring is still too weak, um..."

After a moment's silence, the Jiedushi looked at the Nine-tailed Fox and said, "I will personally deal with Gilles's affairs. If Lawn has learned about the Inner Ring and what the Inner Ring is doing, then civil war is really inevitable. There are still many diehard supporters of Li Biao, and only war can wipe out these conservatives. I will leave soon, and Xuanshui will be left to you to look after it."

"Yes." Feng Xizhao nodded.

The exposure of the inner ring was a matter of time. An Jiyue was quite surprised that it had not been exposed until now. After all, the Parawong were not even third-rate agents. Now that the statues of the lake god were generally showing signs of mutation and Li Biao no longer responded to any prayers, it was not necessarily a bad thing for the inner ring to come out of the shadows and appear in the open.

Although it only controls the two principalities of Paraon and Quinaris, the explosive "truth" preached by the Inner Circle will inevitably tear apart the entire Bretonnian society, causing the remaining principalities to fall into serious internal conflicts and be unable to form a joint force.

In this situation, Gilles did not appear in Cologne, did not disclose his identity to stabilize people's hearts, but instead asked his descendants to write a letter to An Jiyue. The meaning revealed in this is quite intriguing. From the standpoint of the Jiedushi, if he could win over the founder of Bretonnia and let him endorse the Knight Princess as the founding monarch, although the civil war would still have to be fought, the situation would definitely change from a difficult and repeated tug-of-war to a one-sided and unstoppable situation.

Once even the Green Knight defected, the only ones who would persist in resisting would be the true fanatics of Li-Bitch. Such people would be a hidden danger if they were still alive, so it would be better to send them all to see Mor.

An Jiyue's original plan was to go to Altdorf and Middenheim to deal with the Empire's affairs after dealing with the Dragon Ridge Dwarves. But now it seems that she may have to go to Bastogne first to meet Gilles. Considering that Gilles had been hit by her [Dolzer's Soul Scythe] without any mercy, he should be almost exhausted after holding on until now. The girl must leave immediately, otherwise if she goes too late, the Green Knight will really be gone.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid you'll have to stay at my house for a few more days." After explaining everything to Feng Xizhao, An Jiyue gave Bing Ruomei an apologetic look, "If you need anything, just tell my housekeeper. You're welcome."

Xiuyan Qing saluted the Jiedushi with his arms crossed: "Thank you, Duke."

"I'm leaving first," An Jiyue walked out of the room, and Jin Zhifan followed closely, "Goodbye."

Chapter 412: There is a reason for everything

Somewhere in the northern part of the Badlands, in the expeditionary camp.

Another day of hard marching ended, and Gustav Winkler dragged his tired body back to his tent. When it was getting close to evening, the two commanders of the expeditionary force decided to stop and set up camp. As the only and largest sponsor of the Bretonnian expeditionary force, Gustav was invited by Sir Rodrik to attend today's meeting as usual.

The content of the meeting was unremarkable: more than a dozen old farmers tried to escape today, but were caught and executed in public, with their heads chopped off and impaled on spears as a warning to other potential deserters. Sir Rodrik expressed his concerns to the knights. There were no prophets and saints who were the spokespersons of the Lake God in the expeditionary army. Without the comfort of these religious figures who enjoyed high prestige among the people of Bretonnia, the old farmers who had served beyond their term of service in a place so far away from their hometown could no longer hold on.

If the peasants in Bretonnia were not ignorant enough to know nothing about "certain" things, and had no concept of this, the Bretonnian Expeditionary Force would have made big news long ago. Even so, the increasingly serious desertion problem still worried Sir Rodrick. After all, the old farmers were not professional soldiers at all. They only appeared in the army out of feudal obligations, and the expeditionary force had been away from Bretonnia for three years.

The knights could rely on their devout faith in the lake god to overcome their homesickness. The glorious mission of retrieving the holy relics was enough to allow them to ignore their obligation to serve for only 40 days a year, and the medieval military system that allowed them to no longer obey the feudal lord's call after the deadline. But what did the old peasants have? The noble knights, who had no worries about food and clothing, could pursue their ideals without any burden, but the peasants, who were born with their backs bent by heavy taxes, had to do their best just to survive.

Gustav, who had been living at the bottom of society for a long time, sympathized with the hardships and difficulties of the peasants, but he had neither the ability nor the willingness to help them. Obviously, after three years away from home, the old peasants who lacked comfort had reached their spiritual limit, and the knight did not care about the pressure these low-class people were under.

At the meeting that just ended, when Gustav asked what to do if the peasants rioted, he was greeted by Sir Roderick's complicated eyes and the knights' laughter. A familiar knight told him that if the serfs dared to disobey their lords and abandon their inherent duty as peasants to serve the nobles, then they, as knights, would no longer protect these serfs and severely punish their rebellious behavior.

This answer not only failed to reassure Gustav, but made the former explorer even more uneasy. As a Holy Grail Knight, the embodiment of chivalry and a role model for all knights, Sir Rodrick obviously had a different view from his colleagues. However, Bretonnia had its own national conditions, and there were some things that even the Holy Grail Knights could not do.

In addition, although there was no evidence, Gustav always felt that there was something fishy going on in the expedition: if there was no hope of returning home, it would be understandable that the old farmers were planning a rebellion out of despair. The problem was that the floating city was about to land, and recently, as long as the expedition looked up, those with good eyesight could see the unnatural gray mass hanging in the sky, with the solemn and noble castle looming in the center of the mass.

The Bretonnians were only one step away from the goal they had been pursuing for three years, so why did this happen at this time? Desertion itself was not uncommon, and even modern armies could not completely eliminate desertion, let alone these Bretonnians. The problem was that they had already seen hope, so why did more deserters appear?

Gustav secretly did some statistics and found a strange phenomenon: all the abnormal phenomena started after the Yankees' night attack on the expeditionary army. Since then, the number of deserters in the Bretonnian expeditionary army has suddenly increased. Not only has the frequency become higher, but the size of the deserters has also gradually increased from one or two people at the beginning to a small group of more than ten people recently. Especially today, there was even a squire of a certain kingdom knight among the deserters.

The former explorer didn't know whether Sir Rodrik noticed the suspiciousness here, but his position didn't allow him to remind these arrogant knights. To be precise, if this Bretonnian expeditionary force was destroyed, it would be more in line with the interests of his lord, the beautiful and powerful female elector.

Untying the T-buckle belt around his waist and hanging it on the rack, Gustav couldn't help but sigh. Just as he was about to pour himself a glass of wine to moisten his throat, the former explorer noticed from the corner of his eye that the shadow in the corner of the tent seemed to be moving.

"Don't be nervous, Gustav," a shadowy wizard wearing a hooded gray cloak and holding a dead wood-like staff appeared out of nowhere from the corner, "It's me."

"...Damn it! For Sigma's sake, could you not be so scary every time you appear? <Marienburg swear>, it's night now!" Gustav cursed in a low voice: "Tell me, what's the matter?"

This was not the first time Gustav had met him. As early as when he had just set out from Marienburg - before the second anti-intervention campaign even took place - he had met this shadow mage who was elusive and never went through the main entrance during a secret meeting with Lady Melinda. During his investigation of the legacy of Fozrek, it was this shadow mage who called himself "Ian" who was responsible for contacting him and conveying Lady Melinda's latest orders to him.

"Listen carefully. The following is a direct order from the Elector himself," Ian said without leaving any suspense. His profession did not allow him to do so. "The Lord requires you to retreat immediately. The means of transportation are ready. Just follow me."

"Are you sure you're not drunk?" Gustav poured himself a half glass of wine while glaring at the shadow mage in front of him. "Retreat? Damn it! I'm almost on the floating city. You want me to retreat at this time?"

"That's the order. For our business, 'orders' are non-negotiable," Ian shrugged and watched Gustav drink the dark red liquid in the oak wine glass. "Your mission has been accomplished. The Lord's allies are on their way. They don't know your true identity, and they won't try to identify it."

"Finished? I haven't even had a chance to step on the floor of that damn city with my new riding boots, and you call it a mission accomplished?" Gustav poured himself another half glass of wine, raised his head and drank it up angrily: "That's the craftsmanship of the elves. A pair of boots can be equivalent to my income for two years!"

"So," Ian asked calmly, "are you going to disobey orders?"

"I..." Gustav choked, "Okay, you bastard who doesn't understand the benefits of wine, I... um? What's that sound?"

"Riot," the shadow mage said in his usual calm tone, "Before you took over the city, this kind of thing should have been commonplace for the citizens of Marienburg."

"Boss!" A bald Tyrell mercenary rushed in after pushing open the curtain of the tent. "Myrmidia, those Bretonnian peasants are rioting! They are setting fire and rushing towards us. You must leave here immediately!"

Hearing this, Gustav subconsciously turned his head and glanced at his side. Unsurprisingly, Ian was no longer there. Before the bald mercenary rushed in, the shadow mage quietly retreated back into the shadows.

"Send two men to the stables!" Gustav said calmly as he re-tied the belt he had just taken off. "If, I mean if the situation is out of control, I don't want to run back to the beach on my own two feet!"

"Brother Joey has gone over there," the experienced mercenary captain said immediately, "but I think we must prepare for the worst... Big Eyes said that the stable seemed to be the first to catch fire."

"Damn smart!" Gustav couldn't help but curse. Bretonnia is famous for its brave and warlike knights, but without a warhorse, the knight's fighting power will be more than halved. The former explorer immediately realized that this riot was not an outbreak of extreme repression, but a carefully planned conspiracy.

When Gustav, who was fully armed, led the bald man who was the captain of the mercenaries out of the tent, the camp was ablaze and the wailing was ear-piercing. The rioting peasants held torches and set fire everywhere, while rushing madly to the area where the knights lived. Some old peasants who were loyal to the knights fought hastily, but were easily dispersed by the rebels who had several times more troops than themselves.

Fortunately, with the time bought by these people, some of the knights who had not yet laid down put on their armor again and joined the battle. They brandished their swords and slashed at the rebels. The shields with family emblems swayed in the firelight and smoke, and the simple weapons in the hands of the rebels could hardly threaten the knights' fine armor. Seeing this, some rebels holding spears and even pitchforks attracted the knights' attention in front, while others took the opportunity to go around behind the knights and rushed forward to knock down these masters who were arrogant in the past.

Once a knight fell to the ground, he basically had no chance to get up again. The rebels held down the struggling knights and stabbed them with daggers or other sharp objects under their armpits, in the observation slots on their helmets, and in the joints of their armor plates, again and again, until the knights, who were pinned down by the crowd, could not move. The old peasants with ferocious faces continued to stab them.