With a slight sigh, the owner of this voice, Nostradamus, walked into the lounge.
The robe on his body was flowing with a layer of slightly blue light. As this blue light swept across, the frost in the hall evaporated out of thin air, and the tables, chairs and books that flew away were all restored to their original positions. After restoring the entire hall, White The old mage turned his head, stared at Joshua and said: "Long time no see, Joshua, I haven't seen you for a while, I didn't attend the celebration, and no one answered my calls to you, where have you been during this time?" "
There was a hint of complaint in Nostradamus's words. It was he who recommended Joshua to participate in the celebration. The old mage originally wanted to take this opportunity to introduce the warrior to some of his old friends, but in the end, when the celebration lasted For half a week, he couldn't find the Joshuas at all. Neither prophecy nor astrological guidance worked, let alone magical communication. The warrior seemed to have disappeared from the world.
"It's hard to explain, Master Nostradamus. You may not believe it, but I went against a group of stones."
Joshua spread his hands, stood up, and shrugged helplessly. What he said was indeed the truth. Whether it was the Stone Demon or the World-Destroying Star, they were all just a group of stones in the final analysis. Thinking of this, the warrior couldn't help but sigh with sincerity: " They are really difficult to deal with."
"Okay, some special stone elements are indeed a bit difficult to deal with, but Dimoore... why are you here?"
After blinking, Nostradamus misunderstood that Joshua had gone to the earth elemental world, but he didn't care about it. After all, the celebration was over. The old mage turned his head and looked at the second prince who was frowning and looking a little ugly. He sighed and said, "I know, you must have made the first move, right?"
"Grandmaster… "
Demoore responded in a low voice. He didn't look as confident as he did before - not because he lost to Joshua, but because...
"Don't explain, little Dimore, I know the character of your Diamond family."
Nostradamus said angrily and amusingly. He seemed to be really not surprised by this: "You are just like your father. When the mood comes, you will discuss it without hesitation. One is in his study, and the other is in The Royal Library... If there hadn't been too much movement for me to notice, the library would have been demolished."
"No, we will control the intensity..."
"Do you mean that your grasp is as strong as before?"
…
Looking at Dimol in front of him who was scolded and repeatedly lowered his head to admit his mistake, Joshua raised the corners of his mouth slightly. The Archmage was His Majesty Israel's teacher, and they even fought together on the battlefield. In terms of seniority, everyone in the current royal family has You must behave like a student in front of him.
Demol has always appeared as a majestic and formidable emperor in later generations. To a certain extent, in order to resist the invasion of the abyss, what he did was no different from that of a tyrant. Now I see him in front of Nostradamus. It is indeed a rare situation to feel defeated and unable to reply even if you can only bow your head and be scolded.
After almost reprimanding Dimol, the Archmage turned to look at Joshua. He originally wanted to say something, but in the end he just sighed and said with emotion: "When I first saw you, you were Sparring with Brandon...Joshua, do you like fighting that much?"
"It doesn't hurt to fight every day. It's so fun."
Holding the shoulders of Ying and Lin on the left and right sides, Joshua answered seriously, but then he quickly shook his head: "However, this is not a battle, it is barely a competition, which is the level of play... I believe you are too It can be seen that it is indeed the case.”
After hearing Joshua's words, Nostradamus frowned and observed. There was light flashing in his eyes, as if some detection spell had been solidified. After a few seconds, the old mage's pupils opened wide, with light blue light waves flowing inside. , he murmured in shock: "You actually broke through the limit and reached the unmeasurable realm!"
In his eyes, Joshua's whole body was exchanging energy with the magic in the atmosphere all the time, just like a towering tree, constantly absorbing power that was beneficial to him and expelling energy that was useless to him. , the blood is rushing like the Yangtze River, making a rumbling sound.
If that was all, it could only mean that the other party's physical quality was strong, and the breathing method had penetrated deep into the bone marrow instinct. But the slow, but not attenuated, almost endless increase in physical strength was what shocked Nostradamus the most.
"The ultimate intention of power!?"
Incredible!
Shocked by how quickly Joshua broke through and reached the same level as himself in such a short period of time, the old mage also quickly figured out a series of plots - for example, the two weeks when Joshua was missing, maybe it was I just felt that my breakthrough was imminent, so I simply went into seclusion and closed off all communication with the outside world.
It’s no wonder that no one attended the celebration and no one called. This is indeed normal. No one wants to be disturbed by others when they are making a breakthrough. No matter how big the celebration is, it is not as important as stepping into the sacred road... However, against the stone , could it be that he really broke through to the earth elemental realm
"If you have time, of course you can congratulate me, and I will happily accept it."
Shaking his head and stopping the old mage's congratulations, Joshua's calm expression turned serious: "But now, it's time to talk about business... I came from the North specially, you won't think that I just want to see you, Show your strength, right?"
"Of course not... It just so happens that there is no one here, so it doesn't hurt to talk here."
On the side, Demoore, who had been scolded for a long time, was still immersed in Joshua's extreme shock. When he heard this, he subconsciously narrowed his eyes and was about to turn around and leave, but Nostradamus raised his hand. Stopped him, shook his head, and said in a relaxed tone: "Stay, you are the heir to this country, you should know something."
oh? Joshua watched the actions of the two with interest, and he was thinking: (So it was determined at this time?)
So why did Israel suddenly die without leaving any will? If you really don't plan to make the eldest prince your heir, then you should be laying the groundwork for Dimol now.
Joshua vaguely guessed a possibility, but now was not the time to think about it. He looked at the serious old mage, and then told him about the plague on the cultists in St. Laurent Church.
Nostradamus's expression was extremely serious. Although Demoore was listening, his face always had an expression of disbelief. In contrast, the old mage showed complete trust. After listening, he solemnly said: "So, do you have any samples of this plague? If you have a sample, we can go to the Royal Mage Association to conduct an experiment now."
"Of course not. I don't want to carry that kind of dangerous thing with me. Otherwise, when I walk into the palace, I will probably be surrounded by hundreds of guards... But if you want to see, you can go to the dungeon of St. Laurent Church. I will take care of it thoroughly." Sealed underground... Well, it seems that I accidentally locked it up with a dozen cultists, and it is probably multiplying in large numbers now, so it probably won't destroy itself so early."
After listening to Joshua's words, Nostradamus didn't care about the life or death of the cultists. He just wanted to go immediately to see what the plague was like. But just when he was about to set off, the old mage suddenly remembered At one thing, he nodded, as if he remembered something he had forgotten before: "Yes, I must inform Israel first. Regardless of whether the plague is real or not, it is indeed time to clean up the cultists on a large scale."
You don’t even have a sample, so do you still believe Joshua
This was the first time that Demol saw that a person could have such great integrity. With just a few empty words, Nostradamus, who had always been particular about evidence, believed him.
You know, this is related to the plague, a major event that affects an empire and even the entire world!
But even the second prince himself had to admit that even he would not believe that a person like Joshua would lie. The warrior was right, fists are more reliable than words. How could a person with that kind of power? Disdain to say false words
As everyone left the Black Swan Palace and walked towards the center of the hall, Nostradamus kept asking for details about the plague. He knew the identity of Joshua and the power of the Azure Orb. The soldiers said so. , then this must be the conspiracy of the evil god. According to the way the Far South Kingdom is currently being tormented by dragon disasters and dragon disease, no one will be careless at this moment. Even if it is an accident or coincidence, they must be vigilant.
"The Northern Empire is huge and occupies the entire northern part of the continent. Although it seems to be unified under the leadership of His Majesty the Emperor, each territory has great autonomy."
In the corridor of the palace, Nostradamus walked hurriedly. He shook his head, sighed, and seemed to be a little exhausted: "The great nobles in various places have special laws in their own territories. If the central royal family is not strong enough, they will not People will obey you and listen to you, let alone dwarves, winter elves, goblins, dwarfs and other races... What I mean is, if the plague breaks out in some noble territories or other races, and they conceal it If we don’t report it, we won’t be able to discover it immediately.”
"Then we must strangle everything at the source, or let those lords know the danger, otherwise there will be no way to stop the plague from spreading."
Joshua and Nostradamus walked at the same pace. Behind him, Ying and Lin had to run all the way to keep up: "Even my territory, such a marginal place, has cultists infiltrating it. I think it is the same in other territories." , even more serious.”
—No, this is the only thing I must say. You must be a special case! Your reputation has already spread among the cultists!
Shaking his head slightly, Nostradamus thought secretly in his heart, but he did not say it out loud. He just responded: "His Majesty Israel is discussing with several envoys in the main hall. I will go directly to see him. If the envoys are all It would be better to be there and the news must get out as soon as possible.”
"What a coincidence."
Joshua touched his chin and said thoughtfully: "People from the four major human gathering areas and even the church happen to be in the Imperial Capital recently, which makes it a lot more convenient."
Among the four major human gathering areas on the Mycroft continent, the Northern Empire is the most special. It is the only large-scale unified regime. Although it is not united as one, under the leadership of a powerful emperor, it can still gather the strength of the whole country. It has been engaged in a war with the orcs in the northwest plains for many years. However, due to the constraints of the orcs, the Northern Empire rarely communicates with the outside world. The war between the two prevents both sides from expanding outward. The empire has no time to open up the Black Forest, and the orcs have no time either. Invasion and spread outward.
In fact, in other words, it is precisely because of the existence of orcs that humans will gather into a unified country to fight against this enemy.
The terrain of the northern gathering area is special, with vast plains and hills in the center, and rolling mountains on the southern and northern borders, connecting the central Black Forest and the Far North Icefield. To the west is the Tartarus Plateau where the orcs live, and further back. It is the sea, and the same is true in the east, leading directly to the endless ocean.
The western gathering area is one of the oldest origins of human extraordinary abilities. There are countless kingdoms here, ruled by families with long bloodlines. Most of their rulers have innate and special powers. In other words, here They are kingdoms ruled by warlocks.
The western gathering area is relatively peaceful, and the racial policy is also extremely broad. Except for demons, any race, even the undead, can be seen here. Moreover, the struggles between many kingdoms are basically limited to the intrigues of high-level warlock families, but due to the strength of their rule, For reasons that are not enough, the Western Gathering Area is also the area where cults and demon sacrifices are most prosperous. Several large-scale human sacrifice events in history have occurred in the Western Gathering Area. This area is mountainous, and the kingdoms are divided by natural rivers and mountains. This is also The reason why wars rarely happen is that the logistical pressure of wars across mountain ranges is too great.
The western mountainous area is connected to the central Black Forest to the east, and the other three sides are surrounded by the sea. Legend has it that the Landis Strait, where ancient dragons live, is on its northern coast.
There are almost no continuous mountains in the eastern plain, only a few isolated peaks and some hills. It is composed of patches of grassland divided by rivers and forests. This is the last place discovered by humans to be suitable for survival. To get here, you must cross the sea. Or maybe it's through a long stretch of black forest.
In the beginning, a few mages were the first to live here. Powerful spellcasters had no problem passing through the Black Forest. They settled here and brought some ordinary people to serve them. In this way, the earliest gathering place was born. , and then as time went by, the number of people increased, and coupled with a wave of immigrants from other places, many city-states and kingdoms headed by mages appeared on the eastern plains.
Here, the kingdom is just a tool used by various spellcasting forces to rule. Two large mage organizations, Guantian White Tower and Qiyao Council, rule nearly 70% of the kingdoms and city-states here. The battles between mages will basically not be involved. to the civilians, but there are still frequent wars between various city-states and kingdoms, plus the wars between the coastal areas and the mermaid tribe in the East China Sea, the humans on the plains are still brave and good at fighting, the hussars of the Principality of Frant and the sea dragons of Coastal City Knights have always been famous throughout the continent.
However, the Eastern Plains is also a place with the strictest racial policies. Except for large races such as dwarves and elves, alien races other than humans will be discriminated against, but constructed lifeforms are not included in this. As long as they are created by mages and have normal intelligence, they can obtain human rights. All rights available.
The Far South Gathering Area is also a very special place, not just because of its mountainous and jungle terrain, but because of its cultural atmosphere.
If the Northern Empire recognizes dwarves, halflings, gnomes, goblins and other creatures as imperial citizens, and many western kingdoms believe that as long as the law is followed, race does not matter, this policy can be considered generous and benevolent, then there is no such thing in the Far Southern Kingdom. The word alien. In the Far South Kingdom, which was founded by elves, humans and goblins from the beginning, there are giant insects, tree people, deer people and other alien races living. They all have the right to vote and participate in politics. In the deep mountains near the Eternal Lake, even There are hundreds of lawful dragons living there. These behemoths spend most of their time sleeping, but some like to act in the human world. Some dragons even take the form of humans and become the lords of a place.
Perhaps because of this unfettered environment, the Far Southern Kingdom has the strongest artistic atmosphere. Many well-known musicians, writers, bards and explorers are from the Far South. They are willing to explore and take risks. The discovery of this island is all thanks to these people who like to do everything. The druids in the far south even mastered a method of converting the black forest into an ordinary jungle, but the speed is too slow and has no practical value.
Joshua vaguely remembered that, except for the Far South Kingdom, which was currently being invaded by the mad dragon, the Warlock Kingdom in the western mountains was the most severely affected by the plague in his previous life. The eastern plains and the empire were both fine. One was because of strict management, and the other was because distance and weather.
In the previous life, leukemia broke out in the winter at the beginning of the year, and its large-scale spread happened in the summer of the same year. And when it spread to the Northern Empire, winter started early there. By the time winter was over, countermeasures were almost ready. .
However, even so, the death toll on the southern border of the empire alone is tens of thousands. These are just statistics. The actual death toll must be more. Although Joshua is not a good person, he can save tens of thousands of people with just one sentence. Why not? What's more, the behavior of the cultists now has obviously changed from the previous life, and it cannot be said that the plague will only break out in the far south.
Under the leadership of Nostradamus, everyone has arrived at the central hall of the Morlay Palace. There are countless guards patrolling back and forth, and many other people are waiting quietly on the side of the corridor. It can be seen that these are Attendants of great nobles or missions, or ordinary people who are not qualified to enter the hall.
But now, the meeting seemed to be over. The door of the hall opened, and groups of people with different costumes and faces came out together. Their faces were not very good-looking, and most of them looked worried and angry. The only one The first person with a better-looking face is a tall, strong, silver-haired middle-aged man wearing a white robe. Although he frowns and has a sad look on his face, it can be seen that he is just born like this. In fact, his expression even has a trace of smile.
This man was very powerful, and the power of holy light rippled in his body like a sea. Joshua could sense that the other man had the ultimate strength, and he also had the ultimate strength. Looking at this outfit, he had nothing The question is about the leader of the Knights of the Holy Mountain [Freedom Hammer] in the Far Sea, Robzek.
When this powerful paladin passed by Joshua and his party, he let out a light sigh, and then he turned to look at Joshua.
Joshua naturally turned to look at him, and the two looked at each other.
"Have you met that boy from Loranda recently? No, judging from this aura, you seem to be together often."
This middle-aged man with silver hair and black eyes seemed to be in a good mood. He said cheerfully: "Tell him, stop being awkward. There are always sacrifices in fighting. Don't give up all your friends just because you lose one. The temple will always be his." Home—we won’t blame him, let him come back as soon as possible.”
It seemed like he was an acquaintance of Loranda.
After meeting this paladin, Joshua suddenly realized why the blindfolded woman he saw before gave him a familiar feeling. It turned out to be because the woman, like the Robzek in front of him, belonged to Loranda. Familiar friends, they all have the familiar holy light mixed with a hint of blood, and they seem to often fight together.
"I will tell him, but it's a pity that he didn't come to the imperial capital with me this time, otherwise you would have been able to see him."
"Don't be in a hurry..." The supreme knight narrowed his eyes and looked at Joshua. Then he shook his head, turned around, and left, sighing: "Today's young people are better than A monster, hey, I’m so old.”
He clearly saw Joshua's strength - although this was because the warrior did not hide it deliberately, but anyway, a Jiyi-level powerhouse who was less than thirty years old was really shocking.
Nostradamus looked at this scene, his expression unchanged. He had already known the identity of the paladin in the warrior territory, so he was not surprised by the other party's actions. The old mage waited until the other party walked away, then turned to Qiao Xiuya and Dimol whispered, "I'll go in first and inform His Majesty the Emperor."
"When the time comes, you may need to come in and say it yourself."
5800 words... The update is a little late, but there is no interruption.
My recent writing has been a bit dull, but the transitional chapters can only slowly advance the plot... Ah, anyway, I'm used to losing my subscription at the beginning of each volume...
(End of chapter)