As the Kingdom of Sauron occupies nearly half of the land area of the Roland continent, its royal capital is not as large as imagined.
The palace is definitely not "splendid".
However, as an ancient kingdom that has been famous in Roland for hundreds of years, the main building of the palace still leaves traces of history.
Under this castle with the tallest tower reaching eighteen stories is a main palace. There are more than a dozen huge statues on the periphery of the main hall recording the great achievements of the legendary great men in the kingdom's history. Around those exquisitely carved figures, there are also stone carvings of birds and animals. There are also stone tablets below, with dense writing on them telling the glorious history. It's nothing more than a certain monarch conquering a certain piece of land in a certain year and month. Or in a certain month of a certain year, a certain monarch defeated the army of a certain country, etc.
The hall was spotless and everything around was extremely silent. The exquisite murals on the walls are lifelike, and there are reliefs like the sky on the ceiling overhead. Although those floating cloud reliefs are not real, they are inlaid with some strange gems, and they still look gorgeous and colorful. Unlike ordinary royal palaces, there are no tightly guarded guards patrolling around here.
Like the previous monarchs of the Kingdom of Sauron, this generation of King Sauron still believes in this creed: Only invisible strength is the most feared!
Instead of making three steps, one post, two steps and one sentry, that is just the behavior of the nouveau riche. The meat in the buns is not in the pleats!
King Sauron of this generation is just thirty-five years old. He looks much older than his actual age! During his five years on the throne, there was not a day when this ambitious king did not do his best for his country. The greatest potential danger to the royal power is undoubtedly the ubiquitous temple in Roland Continent!
"The authority of God is above all else..." A sneer appeared at the corner of the king's mouth, and he whispered to himself: "Why should God be so high? Since I rule this country, then everything must be run according to my will. conduct!"
The wrinkles at the corners of the king's eyes gradually widened. He turned around and looked at his most trusted minister, the kingdom's elderly right minister.
The right minister served as his teacher when he was still the crown prince. For this teacher. When the king shows his favor, he often shows a little more respect, at least on the surface, he shows full respect.
Look at the Prime Minister. The king showed a smile: "Right Minister, is there any movement in the temple? Is there no news from the people we sent?" He is a smart monarch who knows how to treat his most capable assistant with a gentle attitude. .
The skin on the old right minister's face was wrinkled like dried orange peel, and he looked like he was dying. For this ugly-faced old man, the kingdom has always been filled with awe. But the king only has trust in his eyes at the moment!
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. Captain Biya has already led the fleet to greet us. The people in the temple must not be so easy to succeed! In the current situation, we must have the advantage! The temple does not dare to rashly turn against us in public, they Even if there is action, it must be done secretly. We can take advantage of this.”
The king seemed to be playing with the ring on his finger carelessly, and said slowly: "Then, where is the black veil? What is the attitude of that woman?"
The right minister showed a wise look in his eyes and whispered: "That woman has rarely been seen since she came back from the south last time. She may have lost most of the trust of the temple before the war. In fact, I have been observing in secret . The temple may have long wanted to transfer her back, but since she is a public saint after all, she is a black-veiled saint sent by the temple, so she is probably waiting for an excuse."
The king smiled: "Then, do we need to provide an excuse to the temple? This black veil is very powerful, do we need to be concerned?"
The old right minister lowered his head. He seemed to be hiding the gaze in his eyes: "No. I think that a saint who is different from the temple will be more beneficial to us! If the temple sends a completely loyal saint, then it will bring us some trouble."
The king nodded, obviously very satisfied with the old right minister's answer, and then he spoke again: "So where is the temple? What on earth is that old magician thinking? Five paladins came out of the temple in ten days! I even I wonder if he is up to something! Are the Paladins worthless now? I couldn’t find two or three top masters all over the continent, but so many of them suddenly appeared. Could it be that they grew from the ground?"
The king's tone was a little angry and a little impatient. The more paladins there are in the temple, the greater the power and threat of the temple will naturally be.
The right minister bowed down and whispered: "The strength of the Paladin is beyond doubt. I have secretly sent people to investigate. Each of the five people newly awarded the title of 'Paladin' has very outstanding strength. Background It’s also very clean, and nothing strange can be found—but I think their background is suspiciously clean!”
The king's eyes lit up: "You mean...where do these paladins come from?"
The old right minister closed his mouth, stretched out a finger, and pointed in the direction of the north.
The king looked at the gestures of the old right minister with a thoughtful expression on his face: "Is it the Frankish Kingdom? Although the Frankish Kingdom is known as the 'birthplace of knights', they have not produced another paladin in the past hundred years."
The right minister shook his head and still pointed to the north.
The king frowned: "The difficulty is that the Teutonic Kingdom secretly supports the temple? Well, the current Fielding Paladin is a Teutonic. I heard that the Teutonic Kingdom has produced several outstanding warriors, but these people will not be able to do it overnight. They have all become holy knights! Are their powers given by God?"
The right prime minister still shook his head and pointed his finger towards the north.
The king finally changed his color: "Teacher, what do you mean...are those creatures?"
The right minister nodded and sighed: "This is probably the only reasonable explanation! Even in the Bright Continent, it is impossible for so many Sword Saint warriors to appear at once. Similarly, so many Sword Saint warriors will not appear out of thin air in the Roland Continent. The only possibility is the powerful race in the north!"
The king sneered: "That old magician in the temple actually dared to collude with the Dragon Clan in order to become the Pope. Aren't the Dragon Clan heretics? Do the Dragon Clan dare to step out of their territory?"
The right minister smiled slightly and whispered: "Your Majesty, do you still remember what I said when I taught you?"
The king lowered his head and thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Remember!" He closed his eyes. Slowly said: "When everything involves the highest interests, even enemies of life and death can quickly resolve grudges. There are no eternal enemies and no permanent friends. Religion is just a deceptive cover. The brighter the place. , the hidden corners become darker!" At this point, the king opened his eyes again and glanced at the old right minister. He said softly: "So, in order to seize the highest interests, that old magician has already taken action at all costs! He even tore off the hypocritical mask of their religion, right?"
The right minister did not speak, but bowed.
The king slowly walked to the edge of the hall, and gently touched the exquisite murals and reliefs on the wall with his palms. His fingers touched the cold reliefs with gentle movements. Like a lover's touch. Then a proud expression appeared on the king's face: "This is the wealth left by my ancestors, and I will never hand over the kingdom to those magicians!" He sighed, glanced at the old right minister, and smiled. Said: "Okay, you go back. Wait until the messenger from the Bright Empire has news. Then tell me."
The right person closed his sleeves and bowed to leave.
He slowly took a few steps back, then turned and left. When the old man walked out of the palace hall. The cold air that came in front of him shocked him. He involuntarily straightened his stooped body, and the old look on his face was instantly wiped away. A glimmer of light flashed in his cloudy eyes: "Our man King, it’s getting harder and harder to control..."
He suddenly felt as if there was a gaze coming from behind him. When he looked back, he saw no one in the corner. But was that thorn in the back feeling just now an illusion
The old right minister bent down again and left the palace with staggering steps - it's better to be careful here.
It seemed that the king was the only one left in the hall. He suddenly sighed and smiled: "Master Sith, what do you think?"
In the corner of the originally empty hall, a man in black robe suddenly appeared. Under the black robe, a figure appeared. The cold eyes seemed to be devoid of any emotion.
"Your Majesty, you ask me such a question, how do you want me to answer it?" His face gradually appeared from the darkness in the corner. It was a face that looked like it had been cut by a knife, with a cold expression and a cold tone.
If anyone else were here at this moment, they would be surprised to see this face! Because this face is undoubtedly one of the most famous faces in the entire Roland continent! As the chief mage of the Roland Continent Magician Association, the Great Mage Sith Master is undoubtedly one of the most famous figures in Roland Continent!
What's even more surprising is that this leading figure in the Magicians Association will actually appear in Sauron's Palace! Because the Magician Association has always been the most loyal ally of the temple!
The king waved his hand with a look of dissatisfaction on his face: "Master Sith, do you still have to wear your cold mask when facing me even if you are facing your allies? I know that the right minister is secretly cooperating with you. There are also contacts with the temple. But I am not surprised! Just as this old guy taught me: there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends in the face of interests! For example, he has contacts with the temple, and now you are standing here again. On my side." At the end of the sentence, the king showed a deep smile and looked at the top magician in Roland Continent with deep meaning.
A strange look flashed across Sith's stern face: "But don't forget, we are only temporary allies, and all cooperation with the Kingdom of Sauron is with reservations! Do you just trust me so much?"
The king smiled softly, cleverly changed the subject, and suddenly asked: "That special envoy of the Empire of Light, is your information accurate? Did he really kill the trusted paladin of the temple by himself?"
Sith shook his head: "To be precise, I don't know much. What I know is that the temple sent that Amosius who I hate to intercept, but no one came back! That's all!"
The king chuckled. He smiled as if he was very happy and sighed softly: "It seems that our new ally in the southern continent has sent us an amazing guy."
As if he deliberately did not want the king in front of him to be too proud, a sarcastic look suddenly flashed through Sith's cold eyes: "This news. Not only do we know it, but your right minister should also have received the news last night. ,But… "
The king shook his head. The interface said: "But he didn't tell me, because the news came from the temple, and he was afraid that I would doubt the origin of his news. Master Sith, is this the purpose of telling me this?"
Sith gave the king a cold look and closed his mouth.
The king slowly sat down and said seriously: "No matter how the situation changes, I will always believe in one truth: use!" There was a bit of pride on his serious face: "You can use any situation! The premise is. As long as you The method is clever enough!”
Sith looked at the ordinary human sitting in front of him. Although he was a king, from the perspective of a magician, he was just an ordinary human. He did not have the power of a knight or the power of a magician. of magic. Even now, as long as the Sith throws a random magic at him, he can kill this guy.
But his confidence gave Sith a strange feeling: the Magic Association was cooperating with the Kingdom of Sauron. I don’t want to be annexed by the temple! However, if you cooperate with the guy in front of you, will you be swallowed up by this guy in the future
Under the night, in a tall gray building about a hundred miles away from the capital of King Sauron, five horses rushed from the outer hall into the inner hall. for they bear the staffs of the high clergy of the temple. So the guards didn't stop them.
When they rode straight up the steps, two divine servants finally blocked the way.
Looking at the closed door behind the two servants of God, the five people got off their horses. They were wearing black robes that tightly wrapped their bodies inside, and the huge cloaks on their heads covered their entire faces. The leader said in a hoarse voice: "We came from the temple to see you, sir!"
The two divine servants looked at each other, and one of them had a troubled expression on his face: "My lord is practicing behind closed doors, I'm afraid..."
The leader snorted coldly: "How dare you disobey the order of the chief elder of the temple?" He slowly put down the cloak covering his head, revealing a face full of anger. The two servants of the gods clearly saw that under his neck, a piece of armor shining with metallic light was revealed!
This man seemed to want to say something else, when a strong hand behind him patted his shoulder gently. The man immediately lowered his head and took a step back.
An unusually tall figure came up from behind, and his voice was very deep: "You can go ahead and report it to me, you will not be punished!"
Before the two servants of the gods spoke, four young knights ran out of the corridors on both sides of the hall. Each of them was wearing silver armor and a black cloak that was the symbol of the "Holy Knights". The leading young knight's face was as cold as frost: "Who dares to disturb the master's practice! You have a destiny, just tell me if you have anything to do!"
The young knight had already put his hand on the hilt of the sword under his waist.
Some are even thinking: Temple, another temple! Did someone from the temple punish you? No matter what, don't let the adults get any harm!
The tall man with a deep voice sighed, slowly raised his hands, and lifted off the black cloak covering his head, revealing a square face. His dense beard made his face appear extremely resolute and resolute. As he untied the belt around his waist and took off his robe, what was revealed was the golden armor symbolizing the "Paladin"!
The young knight who blocked them finally changed his color: "Lord Augustine!"
Facing the most famous and senior Paladin in Roland Continent, these young people lowered their proud heads as if they were seeing the idols they dreamed of, and the hands that were originally pressed on the hilts of their swords immediately dropped.
No one dared to be unreasonable in front of the Holy Knight, and when facing Lord Augustine, in addition to being in awe, what these young people respected more was his noble personality.
Augustine's tone was very gentle: "Okay, I'm here in secret. Don't make it known. Now take me to see you adults!"
Although he tried his best to maintain a gentle tone, the paladin couldn't help showing a somewhat eager expression on his face.
The four young men who blocked him hesitated for a moment and whispered: "Sir Augustine, before you went in, you said that even if the chief elder comes, he will not be there!"
Augustine frowned: "That's too willful! Is it okay to disobey the temple's wishes just for that little discord?"
He suddenly took two steps forward. The four young knights seemed to hesitate, but still stopped in front of him. However, they did not dare to touch the swords at their waists anymore, and blocked him in front of the not wide steps with their bodies.
Augustine raised his brows slightly and whispered: "In the name of the leader of the Holy Knights, I order you to get out of the way and don't force me to attack you!"
The young men were still hesitating, but Augustine suddenly smiled: "It seems that you really respect your lord, and you even dare to disobey my order for your lord's sake."
His palm had slowly been raised, and then it was placed on the shoulder of a young knight in front of him. A soft force passed over, and the young man's body softened and he was pushed aside.
At this moment, the closed black door above the steps opened silently. A slender figure wrapped in a black robe slowly walked out.
The long black satin-like hair was flying in the dark night, and the corners of the black gauze clothes were flying. That face looked as holy and beautiful as a goddess under the night sky, and her eyes were like cold stars in the sky, looking indifferently at the paladin under the steps.
Augustine let go of his hand and smiled: "Muse, long time no see."
There was some warmth in Heisha's eyes, but her tone remained calm: "Augustin, they sent you again this time. But even if it's you, I won't compromise!"
Augustine sighed: "I guessed you would say something like this, but I'm not here to force you to make a decision this time. I brought the latest order from the temple! This is a decision jointly made by several elders, not only That’s what the adult meant. I don’t think you will object again this time.”
Heisha lowered her eyelids as if she was thinking. Then she raised her head and took a deep look at Augustine: "Master Paladin, please come in."