December 31, the last day of the year, night.
In the swirling snow, a huge stone platform was erected in the main city square of Moldavia. This blue-grey stone platform was huge, with a depression in the middle and many strange patterns on it, just like an altar. A dozen knights wearing bright armor patrolled back and forth around it, flags with black background and gold rims were erected on both sides, and several torches were burning around the square.
This afternoon, the knights were instructed by their lords, and in accordance with the long-standing tradition, they quickly built this huge stone platform at night, and lit inextinguishable grease torches around it, illuminating the entire square. It's extremely bright.
Around the venue, many citizens wore thick cotton clothes and stood in a circle around the huge stone platform. They gathered together, talking loudly to each other about some interesting things in recent days, and mostly blessing each other and complaining. This year’s harvest and work.
It's almost a new year.
This year's Moldavia is extremely different from previous years. It is not that the old lord died and a young new lord took office, nor is it a bigger black tide than in previous years - the biggest difference is the new lord's powerful strength.
And it is more powerful than anyone imagined.
In mid-October, the old lord died for unknown reasons, and a group of unknown knights surrounded a fat man and captured the main city and entered the lord's palace. They declared a curfew and martial law, and sent many wandering warriors to patrol the streets. The crowd did not allow the dragon caravan to trade freely in the market, and their attitude was extremely fierce.
How could the residents of the North, who had always had good public security, simple folk customs, and were kind and kind, endure such a thing? Just when many people prepared their knives and shovels at home and prepared to show these strangers something powerful, the new lord who many old residents had watched grow up came back.
To be honest, no one knows how the new lord got rid of those dozens of silver knights, because the speed was too fast. There was a loud noise from the city gate until the lord's mansion collapsed, and the interval would not exceed 3 For an hour, many people just had breakfast and were surprised to find that the group of strange knights who had just entered the camp had all been eliminated - along with a golden warrior who didn't know where he came from.
The new lord named Joshua forcefully announced that he would succeed to the position of earl, that is, he would be the new lord of this land. Naturally, no one would object. Who would dislike his leader being too strong? For the simple Northlanders, having enough strength is the most important thing. After all, as long as they are not the kind of idiots they were before, no matter who rules, then why not let the strongest one come
"I heard that if it weren't for Lord Joshua, the Black Forest Fortress would have been breached by the Black Tide."
Among the crowd, a middle-aged man dressed like a hunter stroked his greasy beard and talked to a fisherman next to him. He looked a little emotional: "My son and his family live in the fortress." In the distant Ore Town, if the fortress is lost and monsters invade the territory, I really don’t know what to do.”
"If you don't have an adult, you can only wait to die."
The fisherman shook his head and didn't seem to say much. He glanced at the stone platform and whispered: "I don't know what this year will be..."
"I think it should be a bear beast or a big ice snake. The black tide just broke out recently. Those monsters that don't hibernate are basically dead. There are probably only a few hibernating bears and snakes in the forest that can survive."
Realizing that the people around him were not talking happily, the hunter shrugged and said to himself: "I don't know how many lucky guys can get it."
Not just these two people, everyone was discussing excitedly, but suddenly, the voices in the square naturally lowered and disappeared, until they were silent.
The hunter frowned as he felt an inexplicable sense of oppression. He felt a pressure coming from the distance. When he raised his head, the hunter found that in the distant night sky, there was a red light spot streaking across the snow, leading out a long line of light. The long red light strip, the pressure coming from this light spot was bigger and thicker than the strongest monster he had ever encountered. It was so depressing that it was speechless, but there was no sense of threat inexplicably.
"What… "
Before he could finish his subconscious question, the hunter saw the light point in the distance suddenly speed up and reach the edge of the city as if teleporting, and then it was above the square - a fishy wind blew, and the strong smell of blood poured into everyone present. In the human nasal cavity, a huge black shadow slowly descended along with the red fighting spirit light. This scene immediately brought a large number of citizens who were shocked by the coercion back to their senses.
"Boom boom boom..."
At this time, the sonic boom slowly came from the distance.
After releasing the fighting energy that was surging around him and repelling gravity, the black-haired warrior was suspended in mid-air. He held the silver-haired girl in his right hand, carried the huge headless body of the flying dragon on his back, and held the still-glaring dragon in his left hand. First, the warrior slowly landed under the astonished gaze of everyone in the square.
Seeing this scene, the people below were silent for a while, and then quickly burst into huge exclamations and shouts:
"Oh my god, what is that on Lord Lord's back and hands?!"
"Dragon? It's actually a dragon?"
"Is this year's year-end sacrifice actually using a dragon as a sacrifice?!"
"No, it's just a flying dragon, not a pure dragon, but it's enough!" A well-informed old adventurer quickly identified the original owner of the huge head in the hands of the warrior in mid-air. His expression was astonished: "It's an Ice-toothed Dragon! Oh my God, last year it was just a carapace-spurred pig. Although they are both silver-level, the difference is huge... Can we eat dragon meat this year?"
As Joshua slowly landed, he casually threw the huge dragon body on his back into the hollow of the platform. The frozen meat collided with the stones, making a dull sound, and he stepped on the blue-gray rocks. On the top, the soldier looked down - a dense crowd filled the square, and almost half of the people in the city were here.
The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and Joshua smiled.
There are many customs and festivals on the Disputed Continent. Not to mention things like the Emperor’s birthday and the Founding Day, the New Year’s Day at the beginning of spring, the Star Festival on Midsummer Night and the carnival on Autumn Harvest Day are all very well-known festivals. All humans, even Even the elves and dwarves hold the same celebration on the same day.
And the New Year, of course, is like this.
As a custom that has been passed down for thousands of years, as a lord, Joshua needs to hunt down a high-level monster during the New Year celebrations and share the food with his knights and subjects to show that mankind's heart to conquer nature will never be extinguished, and that with himself Strong enough to protect the people in the territory.
Golden monsters are hard to come by, especially after the Black Tide. Even Joshua can't find any remaining golden monsters, but a high-level silver flying dragon is enough to prove his strength.
Amidst the noise in the square, Joshua said nothing. He stood on the stone platform, raised the dragon head in his hand and showed it to everyone. The flying dragon's dead eyes seemed to frighten everyone, but then there was more news. Big cheers and praises—even such a terrifying monster died in the hands of their lord. Although it was a bit scary, it was unexpectedly a sense of security that allowed people to farm with confidence.
Different from the news coming from afar about repelling the black tide and rushing to the aid of Moldova, ordinary people who have not seen Joshua fight with their own eyes are completely unable to understand the strength of the warrior, so they still have some doubts in their hearts, but now, in this ferocious In front of the dragon's head and body, any doubts had completely disappeared.
"As expected of a strong man who can defeat the Kuroshio twice in a row..."
An adventurer carrying a large shield stood among the citizens. He looked at his calloused hands and sighed in a somewhat vague voice: "Moldavia, Moldova, the two black tides in Northland this year are almost It can be said that they were all repelled by him, and now I can easily capture and kill a high-level silver flying dragon. When will I reach this state... "
Not paying attention to the heated discussion of the crowd, the warrior placed the dragon head in his hand, which was even larger than his body, on the stone platform. To be honest, Joshua was very satisfied with the expression of the flying dragon. After the celebration, he planned to dispose of it and place it as a decoration in the hall of the Lord's Mansion in the future.
After waiting for a while, when the discussion subsided, Joshua took a step forward. He stood on the edge of the top of the stone platform and naturally said loudly to everyone in front of him: "My subjects, the new people. The year is coming to an end. In this middle year, many things have happened, some good and some bad, but the good thing is that everything has a gratifying ending. There is no need to say anything else. Your peaceful life proves all of these."
The warrior smiled and faced all the people in front of him who were looking up to him, and said loudly: "The year-end sacrifices in previous years were not enough for everyone, but this year, I went to the Ice Desert to hunt and kill an Ice-toothed Dragon. Come, I think this time I will be able to let every family get a share of my prey, so I won’t say any more—"
After speaking, he raised his finger, and the red fighting spirit condensed. Joshua waved a few times at the body of the middle-aged Ice-toothed Dragon on Shitai out of thin air. Violent fluctuations suddenly shook the atmosphere, and the invisible air blade instantly killed the tough dragon. Cut the body into several pieces.
"My fellow citizens, the year-end festival has begun!"
Cheers echoed throughout the square.
Amidst the sounds of "Long live" and "Praise to the Lord" that resounded throughout half of the city, Joshua slowly walked down the stone platform. He didn't care about those who, under the auspices of other knights, were praising his name happily. The citizens who received the dragon meat walked towards the central tower next to the city wall.
Firefly also followed the warrior all the way walking on the street.
Entering the tower and stepping onto the spiral staircase, it didn't take long for the two of them to reach the top of the tower. The warrior sat cross-legged on the edge of the city wall, looking at the mountains and plains in the snow in the distance.
His eyes were extremely calm, and he didn't seem to be excited at all by the respect of the people. Joshua just stared at the dark sky and earth at night, not knowing what he was thinking about, while the silver-haired girl was also quiet. Sitting next to him, spending time with his master in a daze.
Time flies by.
Starfall 831, December 31, night, 11:59.
"indeed so."
A leisurely sigh sounded: "It feels great to be praised."
Even this bitter cold land is his territory. His people live here, and as lords, warriors should protect them and then accept praise. This is the so-called noble duty.
Starfall 832, January 1, 0:00.
"Dang-dang-dang-"
The majestic church bells rang and spread throughout the main city.
And the new year is here.
—At the same time, east of the Great Ajax Mountains, in the Moldavian Territory.
"Brandon...are you leaving the day after tomorrow?"
In the main city of Moldova, in the lord's palace, the purple-haired countess hugged her lover and said with some reluctance: "The children still want to play with you for a while."
"I want to too, but Dany, my responsibility prevents me from doing this. It is my responsibility to report and deal with the huge black tide caused by the time and space gate and the black eclipse dragon." The blond swordsman looked helpless, and he touched The female mage turned her back and sighed: "Even if it is for the safety of your territory and this kind of disaster will not happen again, I will rush back to the imperial capital as soon as possible - spending the New Year with you now has been delayed for a long time, you know , although the space-time gate has been broken, it may be reconnected at any time."
"...You are right. I cannot disregard the safety of the entire territory for my own desires."
With the same sigh, Verdani let go of her hand holding Brandon's waist. She took a step back, and then recited a secret word. The female mage took out a small box from the void and told the blond swordsman in front of her: " On the way back, don’t forget to take this with you. This is a thank you gift to the earl... Also don’t forget to give him the processed golden monster materials. He left in a hurry and took nothing with him.”
"Joshua really helped us a lot this time... To be honest, I feel like this little reward is completely insufficient, and I can't let you prepare the return gift alone."
Taking the small box from Verdani's hand, Brandon recalled the long-lost holy words that the warrior recited in front of the gate of time and space. He muttered to himself in a deep voice: "Even if it is for the sake of the Double Blades of Order, To further admit, I should also give you a big gift... Okay, when I return to the imperial capital, I will start preparations immediately."
"I think he would rather have a fight with you than a gift."
After hearing this, the countess covered her mouth and chuckled. She looked at the blond swordsman tenderly, her eyes full of smiles: "But, my swordsman, are you confident that you can defeat him?"
"Although Joshua is indeed very strong, obviously several levels better than me... But if it's just confidence, then of course he has it."
Clenching his fists, Brandon turned his head and looked at the clouds outside the window, his eyes full of confidence: "Anyway, between warriors, you can only know after fighting."
—Far away, the city of three mountains, the capital of the empire.
The light of the twin moons illuminates the entire city, and the white marble city walls reflect the elegant moonlight, making it look extremely sacred.
Nostradamus stood on a star observation tower in the center of the imperial capital. He looked up at the sky with a strange look on his face.
"The weather is nice, but the fluctuation of magic power is not very suitable for teleportation..."
The white-haired old mage muttered, then shook his head: "Forget it, anyway, the matters in the imperial capital have been dealt with. I have plenty of time, and I won't go anywhere if I want to."
If there is an error in the transmission, try another transmission.
Thinking of the so-called emergency method, the white-haired old man immediately took out a scroll. Nostradamus read a few secret words, and then activated it with his spirit. In an instant, the scroll turned into a ball of flame and attached to his hand. On the top, I saw the chief archmage of the empire stretching out his flaming right hand and drawing it in the void, immediately leaving an obvious scratch in the space.
The flame burned blazingly, and then turned into blue light. The scratches slowly expanded and deepened, and a blue door opened silently and appeared in front of the white-haired mage.
Behind this door is a vast plain filled with ice and snow, which is invisible at a glance.
"It seems that the destination is correct, it is indeed the Northland."
Nodding his head and confirming his goal, Nostradamus straightened his mage robe and strode towards the door of time and space.
(End of chapter)