"Even the holy capital cannot overshadow the beauty of Alazea." This is a saying that people often say.
As the well-known place of God's presence and the center of the Luvis Alliance, every building in the holy capital is carefully designed by excellent architects. The level of detail in the entire city is no less than that of hollowed-out jade carvings. But even so, the natural beauty of the Great Plains still fascinates the inhabitants of the Union.
Alazea is known for its fertile land and warm sunshine. The winding coastline brings abundant precipitation and humid and warm sea breeze to this land. Plains and hills make up most of its geographical environment, and the only special place is the huge mountains spanning the entire north-south direction of the entire Lorendan continent—the Naga Mountains, which are famous for their coldness and steepness that are not commensurate with the local area.
The mountains with their sharp peaks protruding into the clouds became the natural barrier of the Alaziasi Plain to stop the enemy, and the only gap was the Nilu River flowing from east to west. The source of the Nilu River is far inland, and it does not hesitate to cross the vast Alazea Plain to irrigate the people on both sides. Therefore, this river is also called the Mother River by the Alazea people.
Wendell, an important border city of Alazea, is located near the mouth of the Nilu River.
Since taking power, the lord of the city has never felt that he would be invaded by the enemy. Indeed, who would dare to attack the city of the second largest country in the Luvis Alliance? But when the wounded scouts broke into the lord's mansion in the middle of the night, he didn't even have time to complain.
The enemy has breached the city gate.
Ice magic tore through the thick wooden city gate from the inside with devastating force. After the fragile city wall defense collapsed, the death knights rushed in in the dark and icy night. The black tide lightly ran over the guard's body, and then quickly rushed to the vital parts of the city without any hesitation. When the city defense team finally organized a counterattack, they had been completely divided.
The death knights who acted as the pathbreakers held five-meter-long lances in their hands. The jagged steel lances increased their weight dramatically, but to the undead who never tire, this weight was nothing at all. Relying on the huge inertia, the sharp tip penetrated one flesh and blood body after another. The corpse with big holes in the chest and back was hung on the jet-black lance like this, leaving traces of a strong fishy smell on the slate. And the distorted and painful expression of the deceased made the intruder even more terrifying.
The weapon in his hand trembled violently.
The fourth... The death knight glanced at the lance in his hand, the flesh hanging on it hadn't stopped twitching and screaming.
Then there was a crisp sound of something breaking, and the lance with four people hanging on it finally couldn't bear the huge moment anymore, and broke with a snap. He threw it away at will, and pulled out the giant sword on his back. The friction between the blade and the metal ring produced a crisp sound, and the ice chips poured down from the awakened broad blade, thus covering the ominous night with a strange atmosphere.
Several knights stood in front of the sword bearer. The death knight's goal was the lord's castle, and he didn't want to waste time here, but before the horse jumped onto the roof, the moonlight reflected the badges engraved on the knights' breastplates—these young people in front of them all belonged to Knights of the Rose of Elazea. The undead immediately sneered, and he changed his plan to detour.
The three knights carefully observed the enemy in front of them. They let their mounts move forward slowly, and carefully kept a good distance from their companions. These youths had no experience in fighting undead, but judging from their flawless posture and blood-stained armor, it would be an extremely tough battle.
"Who are you?" the leading human captain finally asked.
"I'm not interested in telling the dying person's name." The death knight replied coldly.
The face of the high-ranking knight was flushed red from the insult, and he immediately assumed an attacking posture, and the two people beside him also tightened their reins.
"Since you're not interested in answering, let's talk with swords and charge~!" He shouted, urging his mount to dismount. The three of them immediately rushed over with their spears held flat. This is a standard knight stab, with a narrow attack surface, but it has a strong penetrating power, which is very suitable for use on the street.
The death knight also moved accordingly, and the black man and horse broke free from the shackles of stillness in an instant, and launched a counterattack with extremely smooth movements. The three knight spears were like long silver snakes, attacking his head from different angles, however, the precise attack of the great sword cut off all the silver light at the same time.
The blue lighted weapon was very heavy, but in the hands of the death knight, it was too fast to see the trajectory. When the two confronting sides passed by, the undead swung his sword twice again, and the light of the sword swept across both sides. The head of the knight. In the next moment, the two frozen heads flew into the air with their bloody tails, and then fell heavily to the ground, making the sound of bone shattering.
The last survivor looked at the lance with its tip cut off in his hand, then at the two corpses sitting crookedly beside him, and finally fixed his eyes on the two heads. The young face gradually contorted with fear.
"Am I right?" The death knight asked the other party expressionlessly.
"Devil~! You must be a devil~!" The knight yelled incoherently. He dropped half of the weapon in his hand, tightened the reins suddenly, and fled in the opposite direction, completely ignoring the exposed backside.
After just a few seconds, the escapee also became an immobile corpse, falling headlong from his mount. On the back of his heart, the black arrow feathers were still trembling slightly.
"Really, so much time wasted." The death knight put away his longbow and galloped forward. Nightmare crushed the young head with its iron hooves, then leaped onto the roof of the residential house, and disappeared in a short time. In the darkness.
When the first defense of the inner city collapsed, Wendell's defenders had just gotten rid of the chaos caused by the enemy's attack, and began to gather troops and regroup. But it's too late. Individual combat power is a relatively important part in street fighting, and the combat power of death knights is far higher than that of ordinary fighters, let alone 2,500 high-level death knights. Under the ruthless and precise light of the sword, the human soldiers had no room to fight back and could only be slaughtered.
The overflowing blood quickly stained the streets everywhere.
"What's the situation?" Wendell's lord anxiously asked the mage beside him, and circled back and forth in the room. Since the start of the battle, only one scout has delivered the battle report.
Are they all dead? The lord shuddered at the thought.
"It's bad." The mage just shook his head.
"Could it be that this castle can't even be defended? How is it possible..." The lord was still holding on to the last ray of hope, but the shouting from outside the window interrupted the self-talking inquiry, and at the same time made the lord's heart sink. to the bottom. "Damn it, where have all those mages gone?"
"Most of them were killed, and the rest used the transfer phalanx, but I don't know where they retreated."
"Those cowards all ran away at the critical moment, thanks to their usual arrogance~!" The lord showed despair in his eyes, "When I find you, all of you will be punished~!"
"My lord, now is not the time to discuss this..." the mage on the side kindly reminded.
"Then, do you know who these intruders are? Unexpectedly, even our Alazea army can't resist~! By the way, is there a way to negotiate with them?"
"Negotiation is completely impracticable, my lord. Those guys are the most terrifying warriors among the undead—death knights, and they don't seem to intend to keep alive." When the mage uttered this word, he lowered his voice, as if afraid being heard by others. As soon as he recalled the street fighting scene just now, cold sweat broke out on his back.
At that time, dozens of charging death knights jumped over the horse-repelling array set up by the soldiers. The forward position just set up was breached in an instant. If I hadn't activated the transfer phalanx in time, I'm afraid I would have to lie with those corpses with horrific expressions now.
"In short, judging from the current battle situation, the possibility of counterattack has been lost. I will immediately use the transfer phalanx to take you out of this city~!" The mage who came back to his senses judged.
"However, if we just abandon the city like this, maybe the capital will be dissatisfied..." The lord hesitated.
"There is no other way, the king's punishment is better than losing his life here, and we must also bring the news of the undead army's surprise attack out of the city." The mage said and forcibly grabbed the lord's hand. "I will start the transfer phalanx now, let's go to Desac, the city closest to Wendell."
The mage began to sing a wonderful and melodious language, and one hand skillfully formed a complicated seal. A pentagram protruded from under his feet, and a strange force stirred in the room, but he would never have the chance to complete this magic...
The powerful shock wave carried the aura of death, and instantly shattered the whole mahogany door into pieces. The undercurrent didn't stop at all because of this, and immediately hit the mage with a whistling roar.
The moment it hit, the dark barrier exploded, and countless undead spewed out of it, scrambling for the mage who was torn into pieces. Blood splattered, brains and pieces of flesh with broken bones splattered in all directions, dyeing half of the room a blinding scarlet. The unfinished magic words were flying in all directions, and finally melted into the frozen blood.
The bloodied lord had already lost the ability to think, his body twitched, and then he fell down on the carpet with a thud. The smell of blood immediately attracted the undead to swarm up, but before the lord was killed, the death knight in the cloak shot to disperse the hungry ghosts.
The lord struggled to get up, but he hadn't regained control of his body, and the sword edge with a strong smell of blood was already pointed in front of him. The cold air emitted through the blade made his teeth tremble involuntarily.
"Don't talk nonsense or beg for mercy here, or I will cut off your head, understand?" said the death knight with a sword.
"Yes, yes, yes." After holding back for a long time, the lord finally regained his language skills.
The other party nodded indifferently: "Tell me your name."
"I, I am the lord here. My name is Cam, Cam Lasavis." The lord tried hard to keep his words from being affected by the cold, but obviously failed.
"It's really useless, but this way, I can save some effort." The death knight's expression was disgusted, and then he put down his sword, "Don't be afraid, you will survive. Just do as I say you can live."
"What do you want me to do?" Cam's pupils were full of fear and confusion. The undead are enemies that this veteran in the political field has never touched. What's worse, his life is in his hands at this moment. in the hands of an impenetrable enemy.
"It's very simple, as long as you bring a message to Wendam." He bent down and approached the lord with a cold smile on his lips.
But the lord was obviously frightened by the other party's actions, because what gushed out of those water-colored pupils was a cold silver flame. Cam didn't dare to think about what would happen if he was set on fire by the flame, but facing the big sword, he couldn't take any evasive actions.
"When you get to Dharamla, go and say to Wendam, 'Roland Strife has returned, and he has brought greetings from the blood sacrifice.'" The knight's twisted smile gradually faded, "Don't forget, Otherwise, I will definitely let you die a miserable death."
The lord chicken nodded vigorously like a pecking rice.
"Give him a horse, and send him out of Wendell City." Roland waved his hand, and the two silent death knights immediately dragged the paralyzed lord out of the room.
"Richard, what's the situation outside?" Roland put the giant sword behind his back.
"Everything is under control, but I still have to say that the scene just now was really exciting, as if it was a declaration of war between the thieves' guild." The answerer who entered the room had refreshing short hair, ice blue Against the gray background, his dark pupils looked strangely enchanting and strange, while his slender mouth had a cynical smile. The mage's black robes bear no markings—suggesting he's a lich, and his lack of staff and amulets is an obvious display of his magical powers.
"If it hadn't been planned in advance, I would have chopped off his head immediately." Roland replied gloomyly, "Besides, I didn't come up with such a stupid way of threatening."
Regarding the expected counterattack, Richard just shrugged: "The effect is very good, isn't it? The knights alone cannot intercept the messengers using the transfer phalanx, so the only way to let the opponent follow our direction After all, the disadvantage of the undead in terms of numbers has been a headache from the very beginning, and you are not unaware of this."
"The situation will turn around soon, as long as our speed is fast enough, I guarantee it." Roland's eyes fell on the wall, where the king's flag of Alazea was hanging - a cross guarded by flying horses on both sides. The two long halberds were held, but the golden pattern was stained with plasma and human flesh, and turned into a huge meatloaf.
"Soon, the owner of this flag will pay for his cruelty and stupidity, and so will the enemies who stand in front of me." The death knight subconsciously clenched his fists.
"I hope you can look at the problem from a long-term perspective. The war will last for a long time. The current blitzkrieg is only a foundation for the undead to advance, but it is still far from victory." Richard shrugged.
"I will coordinate these." The other party sighed, and then changed the subject, "Alsace has completely occupied the city, right? What about the civilians?"
"Of course they are all hiding at home," the Lich smiled slightly. "Who would dare to act on the streets where the undead are patrolling? But, it's not okay to just let it go."
"I'll go and negotiate with the surviving highest officials immediately, and they will definitely cooperate." The tone of the death knight cannot be questioned.
"Of course, humans are very intelligent creatures. Besides, my lord, the second step of the landing operation has been successfully launched." Richard said, motioning Roland to watch from the window.
Outside the city, a towering majestic frame has already risen from the ground, and the emerald-colored transparent shell is looming under the night sky. The magic words are condensed into dazzling wheel prints along the precise and huge flow of power, which surround the illusory outline layer by layer, and each rotation drives waves of waves, and the matter is born under that force. Pull out the surface, disintegrate and reorganize, and finally pour into the original empty outline to form a real entity.
"Even before the defensive zone is fully established, you have already started to act?" Roland frowned, feeling that such a thing did not match the other party's cautious style.
"In fact, the Liches have already started to build the magic tower when the death knights attacked the city." Richard explained, "This is a war, we must race against time, even for the undead, time is precious. "
"That is to say, do you sometimes entrust everything to fate?" Roland's tone was tinged with malicious sarcasm.
"Ah, my old friend," Richard responded with a knowing smile, "We are insignificant creatures who are not qualified to discuss fate. It would be better to complain a few times after getting the results. The most trouble-free way, if you are still not reconciled, you have to find some compensation at the cost of your life."
"It's a pity that the compensation is not much better." The death knight's eyes blurred, "It's just... that's the only choice, and it's the last thing an undead like me can do, so you must do your best to complete it." As he spoke, he subconsciously pressed his left hand on his chest, and the familiar and gentle breath immediately spread down the palm to the depths of his heart, causing uncontrollable cold fire and memories to overflow his pupils together.
The city defense officer is the highest surviving official of Wendell. Although he had always longed to be promoted before, now he wished to be an honest commoner so that he could hide in the most inconspicuous corner of the slums on the edge of the city.
Now, a high-level death knight was standing firmly opposite him. The presence of this guy caused the temperature of the entire room to drop by nearly ten degrees, and the high-grade cashmere carpet under his feet was reduced to a rag. Not only that, the undead's flaming pupils and huge weapons are daunting, but the other party seems to have no interest in hearing his opinion-even though it is a "negotiation".
"This city is now under the control of the undead. If we wish, Wendell will be turned into ruins within a cup of tea." Roland looked around at the several Alazea officials in front of him.
"So, what do you guys want?"
The death knight waved his hand: "We don't have any desire for human beings, and gold coins are not very useful in times of war. You just need to swear surrender to the undead and destroy all the Luvis churches here. If Anyone who is afraid of being punished by the goddess, I suggest that he first go and see what is left of the mage in the lord's office."
"It is worth congratulating," Richard on the side showed a joking smile, "All the taxes that the city needs to pay have been exempted, and only need to pay a certain amount of strategic materials every month."
"In addition, any attempt to contact a non-dead jurisdiction is prohibited. We will also imprison all priests and monks of Luvis, and the priests will be executed on the spot, and those who hide will be dealt with together. You can refer to here for details," Wu said. Yao added, handing over a manual, the city defense officer hesitated for a long time, and finally accepted it cautiously.
"If you do this, you will gain hope, otherwise you will die. Before the sun sets, the decision of this negotiation must be implemented in the whole city. Let's start working quickly, everyone." After finishing speaking, the death knight strode out.
"They will try their best to appease the people. With the sweet-talking deception that politicians are good at, coupled with the extraordinary adaptability of human beings, I believe that they will get used to walking on streets with undead in just a month or two. In short, the casualties It has been reduced to the minimum." Walking out of the lord's castle, Richard summed it up succinctly.
"In this way, Ishutoli will probably feel at ease." Roland maintained his usual cold tone, but when he said the name "Ishutoli", there was an inexplicable and subtle feeling gentle.
"The army will withdraw from the city in the near future. Except for the strategic materials, the rest will be managed by humans freely, but..." the signature smile appeared on Lich's face again, "It is necessary to leave some souvenirs for them before leaving. Lest these forgetful fellows think anything stupid."
Even though the doors and windows were tightly closed last night, the screams of the soldiers and knights during the battle were still burned deep into their hearts without any scruples, and I am afraid they will never forget it in this life. It wasn't until noon the next day that the restless citizens of Wendell finally dared to open the doors of their houses after the herald loudly publicized the results of the negotiations. On the streets of the city, there are thick bloodstains everywhere, and occasionally severed limbs and heads remain in some neglected corners.
The death knights were scattered all over the city, not so much as a suppressive patrol or search, but as a show of strength. Under the influence of the cold breath, the fountain quickly condensed into ice sculptures, and a thin layer of ice formed on the stone road. Frost. The undead not only cast a haze on Wendell, who just ushered in the early spring, but also filled people's eyes with fear and unknown.
The tavern was full of people, but none of them ordered food. All the people stared blankly at each other. The death knight on the street and the huge tower standing outside the city made people's hearts ache. There is no peace at all, and no one knows what the future will turn into.
On the castle, Alazea's royal flag has long been torn away. In its place was another flag with a black base and a bright blue pattern. The four corners of the flag are embroidered with the sun, moon, stars and snowflakes, while in the center is a topless crown of ice crystals. Symbolizes the crown of victory with infinite power in the center of the sky.
That is the symbol of the knights belonging to Ishutori—Ice Crown Knights.