"Frankly, I don't know if my choice was right or wrong."
Captain Saran was facing the sea, biting his pipe, and staring at the horizon in the distance, his right shoulder was empty.
On the "Raven", the pirates were making preparations before setting sail, hoisting the sails and lifting the anchor, because the number of pirates was nearly three-quarters less than when they first came to Elmia, and the speed was much slower.
Gulian, with profound facial features and green eyes, stood beside him.
He was unpainted, but still dressed in a gold sunbird ornament, with a wooden carved smiling clown sitting on his shoulders. The clown opened and closed his jaw, but made no sound.
Saran exhaled smoke on the boat, and moved his gaze to the other side of the harbor. There was also a warship moored there—not Root's, but Roland's. The new Roland navy stationed in Elmia arrived much earlier than they expected. It seems that shortly after the Roots arrived in Elmia, Roland's navy also set off.
They came to take over the job of the Raven Pirates.
"It is said that the special governor is called Andut," Captain Saran said. "Although he is not a great nobleman, he made military achievements in the Battle of Senglei, and later participated in the decisive battle at sea. A civilian is so important, even now Haven't sold her soul to the devil for her yet, probably close. Congrats buddy, you're in big trouble."
"You've not been in too much trouble," said Gurion.
"I always feel like you're scolding me."
Captain Saran muttered, his mood was not as good as it appeared on the surface.
The Achaean incident two months ago not only took away Saran's right arm and three-quarters of the crew, but also completely shattered the subtle containment of the Elmian Empire, the Roland Empire, and the Root Empire. After the defeat of the Roots, the Duke of Monsi attempted to surrender, but neither Gurion nor Saran wanted to let any of the Roots leave Ermia.
They originally wanted to block the news as much as possible to buy more time for Elmia.
For this reason, Gurion ordered to search and imprison all the Lute people in Elmia. As a result, a lord quietly released a group of Lute merchants. Before Gurion tracked down, the lord died "accidentally" while hunting.
Then it was the clerk who read the Queen's order to recall the Raven Pirates. The clerk also presented a letter from the queen to Gurion. In the letter, the queen "inquired" about the trading privileges of the Roland people in Ermia in a calm tone, as if she didn't know what happened, and expressed her willingness to Provide Gurion with some fire aid.
At that moment, Captain Saran really felt a bit of chill.
He finally understood why people said that "monarchs have long arms".
——The Queen's gaze swept across the vast sea, and landed on the New World with precision, controlling the situation with her ruthless wrist.
I really want to set it on fire.
Captain Saran stared at the Roland navy warship flying the flag of cross and rose. In the past, whoever had an enmity with the raven would be sent to hell.
"The end point is Rose Strait?" Gurion said, looking at the broken Raven flag, "Or Qiandao Bay?"
"Do I look that stupid?"
Captain Saran drew his pipe and threw it overboard.
The gentle-looking clerk came over from the deck and politely reminded him that it was time to set sail. Captain Saran glanced at Gurian, stretched out his remaining left hand, lifted the puppet and clown on his shoulder, and put it on his shoulder.
Gurion was slightly taken aback.
Without looking back, Captain Saran took a step forward and jumped onto the board of the boat.
"There will be a period later, Mr. Saran."
said the clerk.
The Raven banner, whose corner was scorched by the artillery, unfurled in the sea breeze, and the pirate group left the harbor.
Gurion watched the corsair until the masts disappeared on the horizon.
"Governor Andut wants to see you."
The clerk waited patiently aside and did not speak until this moment.
Gurion's eyes fell on the young clerk, who wore a perpetual masked smile.
"A subject who is proficient in ciphers, legal texts, intelligence collection, and data collation... and who is not afraid of life and death," Gurion said in a low voice, "I really want to envy that monarch, what did she give you, is it worth it? "
"Opportunity, and justice."
The clerk bowed.
"I am the second son."
……………
When the news that Captain Saran and others entered Qiandao Bay reached Prince Arthur, he was outside the holy city of Rona, the heart of the Papal Kingdom.
"A crow without wings and a sunbird that is said to be immortal are actually quite interesting," Prince Arthur touched his fingertips, "but I don't want them to ruin the morning fog and flying fish in Qiandao Bay..." Then he regretted "So, let Mr. Crows have a good rest at the bottom of the sea."
The servant in black bowed and took the order to leave.
Prince Arthur was still in deep thought, his blue eyes were like a shrinking sea.
"Let me think about it... Elmia, my dear brother..." He pressed his fingertips to his chin, "The day of reunion is not far away, what should I prepare as a gift for reunion?"
The candlelight made a slight "pop", and the flame jumped upwards.
Prince Arthur's attention was drawn, and after a casual glance, he suddenly had an idea.
When Musa, the chief general of Siul's army, received the "invitation" from Prince Arthur, he probably couldn't have been in a better mood than swallowing a dozen dead rats.
Almost as soon as he saw the shadow of the attendant in black, a chill ran up General Musa's spine.
If possible, give him another chance to choose. He will never choose to cooperate with a lunatic like Prince Arthur. As the war continued, prairie cavalry galloped past with roaring firearms. Castle towers collapsed wherever they went. Soldiers ransacked churches. The plunder was unprecedentedly abundant, and the reputation of General Musa became more and more majestic. , Even the maharaja who was not at ease with him at the beginning sent people to commend him one after another.
Logically speaking, General Musa should feel ecstatic to achieve such a great result, even if he is worried about Prince Arthur.
In reality, however, he was terrified.
Feel the fear viscerally.
It was not his credit that the victory came easily, but the Prince Arthur who was more beautiful than a woman. No one knows how he did it, his attendants in black seem to be everywhere, and they carry the prince's order to haunt the cities they pass, so... the gates of the city will always open at a certain moment without knowing it. They open.
Known for their valor and plunder, the knights of Ule had but one thing left to do:
massacre.
Everything changes from here.
General Musa noticed that his soldiers were getting more and more excited and ferocious. Even judging by the standards of the Xiul warriors, they are all too bloodthirsty and terrifying, and their breaths are filled with gunpowder smoke and sulfur. It seems that there are only two things left in the world: deprivation of life and plunder of wealth. Sometimes, when General Musa walked through the barracks, he thought he was passing a herd of irrational beasts.
At first, General Moussa was able to try to restrain them.
But the eerie atmosphere is like an invisible, colorless, and odorless toxin, which slowly erodes people's nerves, and by the time it is noticed, it has penetrated deep into the bone marrow. The soldiers became more irritable every day, and there were more and more fights in the barracks, and the severity became more and more severe. Now only by bathing in fresh blood can they calm down a bit, but this is tantamount to quenching thirst with poison.
Soon, they inadvertently looked at Musa, making him realize that if he stopped, he would be torn to pieces one day by these men who had degenerated into beasts.
Musa flinched, terrified.
He watched helplessly as his army slipped out of control and quietly changed masters.
Strange and terrifying things also happened in the cities they conquered.
Sensing the turn of events, General Musa finally began to focus on things other than victory, and was horrified to discover that every castle they succeeded in capturing contained dead bodies long before they entered the gates.
Sometimes priests kill nobles, sometimes nobles kill priests, and sometimes priests fight priests, nobles fight nobles.
General Musa was horrified.
There is a cage in everyone's heart, where the beast named "desire" is imprisoned. Now there is a devil coming out of hell, he holds the key to open the cage in his hand, he makes monks and nobles tear off their hypocritical masks, and turns Uller's soldiers into strange beasts.
Prince Arthur is the devil in human skin.
He holds the key to all cages.
After realizing this, the unprecedented fear and trembling overwhelmed General Musa, causing him to almost fall off his horse, almost desperate to flee.
It was at that time that Prince Arthur, whose hair was as brilliant as gold, turned his head and looked at him with a smile.
"I heard the second living creature say, 'Come!' and another horse came out, a red one. Power was given to the rider to take peace from the earth and cause men to kill each other, and another horse Give him the broadsword.[1]" He was stiff all over, watching Prince Arthur gallop to his side unhurriedly, and read a passage in a very phonological tone.
"This is a passage in our scriptures. It says that when the end comes, God will send the powerful knight on the red horse to bring war to mankind." Prince Arthur explained patiently, and then asked as he looked at the galloping army. , "Don't you think it looks like it?"
Losing his ability to speak, Musa realized with horror that to Prince Arthur mortals were just toys in his hands.
If he is crowned, the crown must be named "Sin".
... ... ...
Even though he was deeply aware of Prince Arthur's lunatic nature, General Musa still couldn't guess what he would want to do.
Prince Arthur was on the top of Yonobia Hill when he was found.
The place where they stationed their troops was located on the east side of the holy city. Standing on the top of a hill outside the city at sunset, they could have a panoramic view of most of the holy city.
Prince Arthur set up an oil easel here.
When General Musa arrived, he was daubing. His blond hair has grown a bit, and he tied it back casually, which makes him look even more beautiful. Coupled with the clean white shirt and black trousers with delicate lace, it seems that he is just a wealthy and dignified man who loves painting. frail college students.
"Your Highness."
General Musa bowed his head deeply, and his attitude was not so much respect as fear.
"What can I do for you?"
Arthur seemed to be in a good mood, and his tone was particularly friendly, "We've wasted too much time on the siege, and it's not a good thing to consume the enthusiasm of the boys."
General Moussa glanced up at him subconsciously, and caught a glimpse of him dipping a bright red color, making a stroke on the canvas. A chill passed by, and General Musa immediately looked away.
"You mean...?" he asked tentatively.
"I think," said Prince Arthur cheerfully, "that it is time for us to attack."
Musa was taken aback. Although they used the conquest of the Holy City as a slogan, its symbolic significance was greater than its practical significance—in other words, Siul had no intention of actually attacking the Holy City from the beginning.
Ever since the Holy City suffered the shame and humiliation of being plundered, no matter how incompetent the Popes of all ages are, they have regarded strengthening the military defense of the Holy City as a must-do homework. Moreover, although Arthur's presence made them almost invincible along the way, it also took a lot of time. The war started in late spring, and now it was approaching winter, and the most suitable season for fighting had passed. They just hoped to put pressure on the church in the city through the siege, forcing them to pay the ransom and make concessions.
"Their reinforcements should be arriving soon."
General Moussa made a more straightforward case.
"No," Prince Arthur spread the dark red on the canvas, "there will be no reinforcements."
Musa didn't understand why he was so sure, but he knew that this lunatic was not discussing, but ordering. He opened his mouth, but didn't have the courage to continue to refute, and silently prepared to attack the city.
Prince Arthur puts the last touch on the canvas and looks up.
The order to siege Musa was just random, and he came here purely to watch the sunset.
His choice of place and time was perfect.
The sky at dusk was magnificent and bloody, a mysterious purple spread from east to west, followed by a section of scarlet that darkened, getting deeper and deeper, and finally turned into black and merged with the horizon. In the middle, the slowly setting sun was orange-red, and the light radiated to the surroundings, igniting the large clouds upwards, and sinking the holy city of believers in the world in the sea of blood.
The church sits in the center of the city, casting long shadows over the square and the low houses.
Like a saint about to fall forward in a sea of blood.
—Same as Arthur's painting.
"The only value of a rotten thing is beauty when it burns."