"I understand." Duke Weber said, "Chairman Xiao, I understand the determination of everyone here. If this is true, then I would feel honored to join you."
"Are you willing to take this path? Even at the cost of fighting against the gods?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Yes, I do. And not only me, but our entire family will join this battle and stand on your side." Duke Weber looked at Franco and Gram. The two were still in shock, but seeing the look their father gave them, they nodded hesitantly.
Duke Weber added: "Chairman Xiao, to be honest, I feel a little excited and under great pressure. Gods are not something we can talk about easily, let alone fight against them.
However, after listening to what Saint Liu Yisheng said, we feel that our previous thinking actually put all the initiative in the hands of the other party. Once the gods want to deprive us of our power, we can only accept it helplessly. This is not the path that humans should take. The reason why the world is like this is because we can use magic. If one day we lose the power to use magic, then our empire and our civilization will collapse. Rather than living in such a world, it is better to fight to the death. "
"This is the consensus that all powerful humans should have." Xiao Chen said, "You will gradually learn more. I will temporarily arrange advisory positions for the three of you in the army so that you can exert your strength and participate in the next war. At the same time, the Intelligence Department will also bring your families back from the empire according to your request. When all the wars are over, we will have a unified resettlement process to place those who joined us in this war in various cities."
"Chairman Xiao Chen, don't worry about these things now. I do have a strategic suggestion I want to make." Duke Weber said, asking Franco to take out a map from his storage ring. "The empire failed very suddenly today. The news that Emperor Alfred died in this valley should not have been reported back to the empire yet. So, this is an opportunity for us."
Duke Weber spread the map on the ground, found the location of the canyon stronghold, and then pointed to a certain location to the north and said: "Twelve or thirteen kilometers north of here is the important town of Holy Sword City in the south of the empire. This is a very old and solid fortress. In history, when the southern kingdom controlled the Black Wood Pass, the northern kingdom relied on Holy Sword City to prevent the enemy from attacking the hinterland of the country from the north. Conversely, if the southern kingdom controls this city, it will be a new 'Black Wood Pass'. If we build a defense with Holy Sword City as the core, we can protect a large area of land including this canyon. If we want to attack, there is a large plain to the north of Holy Sword City. As long as we have sufficient troops, we can take down the fiefs of several nobles around us at any time."
"This is indeed a strategic point." Wang Jiyuan agreed. "To be honest, our most radical plan before was to break through the southern camp first in the offensive and defensive battle with the empire, and then take over Holy Sword City. In this way, one-tenth of the empire's territory will be cut off by us. Holy Sword City will also become the bridgehead for our next attack. But what do you mean?"
"Launch a raid and take this city this morning," Weber said.
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At about six o'clock in the morning, Duke Weber and his two sons, surrounded by a group of soldiers, arrived outside the Holy Sword City. From their appearance, they were a group of defeated soldiers, most of them were incompletely armored and in tattered clothes. Franco and Gram did not even wipe the blood off their bodies, and they led their soldiers here directly. However, among this group of ragged and haggard people, there was a group of people wearing robes. Although their robes were also a little tattered, they did not have the dejected air of defeated soldiers.
Xiao Chen pulled up his hood and looked out over the city. It was a fortress with tall walls. Although the height of the walls was less than half of that of Heimuguan, it was much higher than that of an ordinary city. Around him were several mages including Luo Ling, Liu Yisheng, Lorenzo, and Glade, as well as warriors including Moret and Evelyn.
Although this team is small in number, its strength is amazing.
Now the atmosphere in Holy Sword City does not seem to be too tense. The city gate below is open. It is the time when farmers from the surrounding areas bring their vegetables to the city to sell. Some transport teams from the rear have just arrived at the city gate.
Weber came to Xiao Chen and said, "It is said that thousands of years ago, the northern empire was far inferior to the southern empire in terms of national strength, but there was a northern swordsman stationed in this city, preventing the southerners from making any progress. His sword energy traversed the heavens and the earth, and he could destroy an army with one strike. He spent a full hundred years blocking the southern empire's progress. During this hundred years, the emperors of the northern empire governed the country carefully, and finally made the power of the north surpass that of the south. The swordsman was defeated by the saint from the south in the last decisive battle, but at this time, the north had accumulated an army that could overwhelm the south, and finally captured the Black Wood Pass to avenge the swordsman.
The Sword Saint's body was reduced to ashes in the battle, leaving only the holy sword that had accompanied him for a hundred years. So the emperor buried the holy sword in this city, and later they called this city the Holy Sword City. "
Xiao Chen said: "Not a bad story."
"It seems that Duan didn't take Gandas to escape here, otherwise the people in this city would have been prepared long ago. This is the better scenario we expected." Duke Weber said.
Luo Ling said: "But this is the nearest city with a teleportation array."
Weber said, "Maybe Duan thought it was not safe here, so he bypassed this city. After all, his griffin bloodline is good at flying, so he should be able to fly directly to the cities in the east."
Xiao Chen asked, "What kind of person is Viscount Anderson, the lord of this city?"
"He is just a dandy who went to the frontline to gild himself. Although he inherited the holy bloodline of Hydra, his strength is only at a high level. Because there is a large camp ahead, Holy Sword City is just a transit point for supplies. There are no masters in this city.
Anderson himself is good at calculating accounts, but he has no experience in fighting. People like him should be easy to control. "
"In that case, let's get started." Xiao Chen said. (To be continued)