November, the month of frost.
On the grassland where the cold wind was whistling, paraquat was everywhere, and heavy snow fell from goose feathers. The winter of this year was particularly difficult for the Torquinian Lions. The failure of the expedition, the endless internal struggle, the leaders of various clan shirk and dispute with each other, the sun rumors in some areas of the South and the West fell into the eternal night. , A large number of cattle and sheep died in the snow disaster, and refugees came from all directions, making the situation worse.
The thick cowhide tent is warm like spring.
A bright flame was burning on the match, making a peeling sound, and sparks occasionally rose up, climbing up the dark bottom of the pot. A lamb rib is boiled in the pot, a thick layer of oily meat is churning with bubbles, and the air is filled with a meaty aroma mixed with the aroma of plant tubers.
Nair's eyes were a little lost.
The way lion people calculate the date is slightly different from other civilizations. Because of the lack of farming culture in the nation, they use the dryness of vegetation to divide the two most important seasons of the year-the vegetation on the grassland is dry and the other is flourishing. It passed.
That seems to have happened not long ago. In the most prosperous season of the year, the people of the tribe were very high-spirited, and it had just passed the coming-of-age ceremony, tied its white mane into a whip, and wanted to be the greatest of the Lion clan. warrior. Just like the ancestors, regain Toquay's long-lost honor.
At that time, everything seemed to be moving in the best direction.
But in a blink of an eye, they lost everything. They lost their childhood playmates, their fathers, and many close people. The lion man who was to quinine had his spine broken, lingering and unable to stand up anymore.
This harsh winter can bring disaster to the clan.
The lion boy was filled with confusion. Toquinine had lost its glory. When can they take it back again
"Nair, Nair." The person next to him reminded in a low voice. Nair only recovered. The tent was bustling with hustle and bustle. The leaders of seven or eight clans surrounded the three human beings, and their green eyes were full of disapproval. kindness.
The atmosphere in the tent was tense, and the human knight pressed his hand on the hilt of the sword with a watchful look. The wizard's hand was under his sleeve, not knowing what he was pinching. Only the human who claimed to be an envoy, half of his face under the hood, looked as usual.
Nair's pale green eyes looked at these people.
"After my father's death, I don't have any extra thoughts now. I just want to lead my people through this difficult winter," the lion boy said, standing up, with the brass tie on the mane on his chest. The collision clinked with each other: "Although the Toquinines have lost their beloved king for a while, this does not mean that we are down. We will not be allied with mankind."
"This winter is very cold," the human girl standing in the middle said, showing a nice half of her face under her hood, smiling slightly: "Tomorrow's winter will be even colder."
"Can I think you are provoking us?" Nair frowned. "But I don't care about a woman, so let's go."
The girl raised her head, and everyone present felt a heartbeat. What people saw was a pair of eyes that shone like stars, wise and far-reaching, as if they were enough to see through people's hearts: "I am the daughter of Duke Tix, you Do you dare to make a bet with me, Your Highness Nair?"
"What bet?" Nair obviously didn't want to be looked down upon by a woman.
"I will convince you that the stakes are the future of Torquinine's Lions."
"Then you lose?"
"I marry you."
The young Lion’s heart jumped heavily. The Lion’s females were slender and slender, and their aesthetics were not much different from that of human beings. But no matter what it said, it couldn't deny the beauty of the young girl in front of her, and she was deeply silent at the first glance with her heart-piercing eyes.
But he still shook his head: "I can't accept it."
The girl didn't care, she glanced at her companion, and the wizard took out an old parchment from under her sleeve. In full view, the wizard carefully spread the parchment and placed it in front of the lion clan leaders.
When they saw this parchment, all the lions changed their faces.
Nair clenched his fists, and suddenly felt a rush of blood rushing to the top of his head, its eyes gushing out of anger, and it looked at the girl. The face that had previously felt innocent and beautiful and heart-wrenching was now vicious and distorted in its eyes.
It was just a crumpled parchment, and it didn't seem to be complete.
The yellow and scorched and cracked paper was densely filled with text, but in the corner of the blank, there was a slightly blackened paw print. The paw print was torn from the middle, like a humiliating mark, twisting and separating the history and honor of the Lion clan.
Under the pressure of the Dark Dragon, when the Earth Temple was the first to withdraw from the Divine Covenant.
In the face of the lion king, Geert, who was extremely angry, tore up the vow that represented the promise of the Toquinines, and threw it in front of his former best friend, and the lion’s The hero, the Lion King of the Torquinians of that era, was ashamed to take away half of his covenant because he was ashamed to face his friends.
Therefore, this eternal shame has stayed in Cruz for nearly a thousand years.
This is also the hatred that Torquinian Lions have cherished for generations. Their ancestors were only forced by the orders of the Earth Temple. The greatest hero in the history of the Lions died of depression shortly after he withdrew from the covenant.
And Neel's family is the heir to that great surname.
"Today, after a thousand years, we all know the truth," the girl quietly replied: "The lion king used his own way to end his guilt, but we can't choose history. For this thousand years, Tokui Ning Ren did bear the accusations that should not be endured."
"My father, just let me return it to you—"
Nair was stunned.
The lion clan leaders were also stunned.
That is the long-lost glory of Toquinine, and it is placed there quietly. It subconsciously wants to reach out and grab it, but it is as difficult as it is close at hand. Regret for a thousand years, because of the failure and the inferiority of the betrayers, the Lions had to live on this barren grassland.
The wish of countless people, day and night, made every lion king want to return to that moment, even if he died immediately, but also to change the fate of Toquinine.
But people cannot choose history.
Confusion, low self-esteem, and self-doubt are the mentality of many Toquinines. The tragedy seems to have been cast from the beginning. A history without heroes, for a nation, is bleak and eternal like a long night.
Because they are all descendants of betrayers.
But the Lion boy finally clenched his fist.
"What do you want?" It asked indifferently. The self-esteem and honor of a nation is not obtained by charity. The first people did something wrong, and later people had to make up for it.
The girl raised her head and looked at such a lion-man monarch, who was only a young man, but she already possessed the majesty of a king.
"This winter is very cold. Many people will die on the grassland." She looked at the heavy snow outside the tent. "Next year's winter may be even colder. The food on the grassland will not support so many people. The only way is to abandon the elderly and kill them. Weak babies, perhaps only one out of ten newborns can grow up in hunger, but how many young and mature toquinine has lost this year, and how long will it take to regain its vitality?"
She turned her head, smiled slightly, and smiled warmly: "His Royal Highness, we only have one request, which is to escort us out of this grassland."
After speaking, she bowed and saluted everyone, then turned to leave.
It’s a little quiet in the tent—
Only the sound of gurgling water splashing.
"Your Highness..." the leaders of the Lion Clan whispered.
They exchanged glances, their green eyes were full of worry and anxiety, but there was something else.
"and many more."
Nair finally summoned the courage to stop the opponent.
"You are going to Anzeruta?"
"Are you allied with the Hazel?"
The girl stopped, turned her back and nodded.
The lion boy seemed to have made up his mind. He turned his head and said to his men: "Take those things out."
There was silence in the tent.
The people brought a box, carefully placed the contents of the box on the short table, and joined it with the shredded parchment-it was the lion man who retrieved it in bits and pieces over the centuries. The torn covenant back then.
These fragments seem to symbolize the obsession of the Toquinines, and they carefully collect it, as if one day they can retrieve their long-lost glory from these fragments.
But at this moment, all of this seems a little trivial.
A crumpled and shattered parchment soon appeared on the short table. It was about one-quarter to one-fifth of its original appearance. The cracked dark red paw prints were distributed crookedly in these areas. Above the debris.
Nair glanced at the girl.
He stepped forward, made a cut in his palm with his paw, and then let his blood drip onto the black and dry paw print. The rose-red blood dripped, and under the bright fire, the old and new blood seemed to gradually merge together at this moment.
"Torquining Lion, fulfill his promise again."
"What we didn't do thousands of years ago, today we will make up for it a thousand times!"
"We are with you—"
"Go to finish this war."
Just like the description on Cangzhi's poem.
…
"Where is that?"
"Ariel."
Bresson watched the stars of fire in the sky, and the black plumes of smoke on the plain rose from the sky. Even though the stars were looming, the sky was getting closer to night, and it was still clearly visible.
Airel is the important town of Corcovado and the second largest city after the royal capital. The scattered fires there prove that there is still fighting in Corcovado and that the White Lions have not completely fallen.
The three of them stood on the mountain path, with a little bit of light reflected in their eyes, watching this scene silently.
The accompanying knights also remained silent. Although everyone was injured, the sight in front of them made them forget the pain.
The kingdom fell into flames, this is their shame.
Everyone clenched their teeth secretly.
"Where is your city?" a somewhat ambiguous voice asked.
It was an old dwarf. He sat proudly on the back of a rock sheep in heavy armor, holding a warhammer in his hand, and muttering with his small eyes pointed in that direction.
Bresson turned his head and looked at each other strangely—he hadn't seen dwarves moving on the surface for many years. Although crossing the north of the Wushan Mountains, there is indeed a little-known path leading to the underground.
This ancient road travels between lofty mountains, through deep valleys and ancient forests, through rocks and weathered giants, and finally reaches the entrance of an ancient passage. Many years ago, the alpine dwarves controlled the entrance of the underground passage and guarded the gateway to the underground world.
They built halls deep in the mountains. These underground halls are intricately connected to each other to form a city of dwarves. When the kingdom of dwarves was most prosperous, they even built a huge empire.
But with the decline of the Silver Clan, after the rune dwarves disappeared together with the Silver Plains, the dwarves no longer had their beauty, and the empire fell apart, leaving countless remains in the depths of the underground darkness.
In the Battle of the Saints, the dwarves of the Chongshan clan betrayed the alliance of humans and elves. Since then, people have rarely seen their presence in the ground world. There are few dwarf adventurers in human society, but they are actually not residents of the dwarf kingdom, but a minority group that grew up in human society.
But these dwarves are obviously different.
The dwarf was sitting on the saddle pad of his goat, the back of the saddle soaring like a hill, and Eruin had no saddles of this kind.
What's more, the other party is well-dressed, wearing gold and silver, and the necklace on his chest is studded with agate and red sapphires. The heavy dwarf armor is carefully crafted like a work of art. Although Bresson didn't know much about precious metals, he could tell at a glance that the material of this armor was by no means simple.
Manrique also stunned his tongue. He turned his head to look at the countess behind him. Dilphary was holding a long box with a pale face, and told them with a mouth: "Mithril—"
Obviously, this dwarf has a long history.
Breson nodded silently in response to the other party's question.
The dwarf stroked the beard on his chest, a large amount of red-brown beard woven with brass ties, like several beams of open flames. The ring is also engraved with interlaced patterns, which are the unique family emblems of the dwarf nobles. Each dwarf clan is different, and their compatriots living on the ground have long forgotten these traditions.
There was obvious disdain on his huge nose: "It's not too big."
Manrique didn't refute, on the one hand, because these dwarves saved their lives, and on the other hand, because of the well-equipped, more than forty dwarven heavy cavalry surrounding the old dwarf.
In fact, since the drastic change of Yan Castle that day, they chose to abandon the floating fleet staying in Yan Castle, and left the earl with the holy sword. Tired of the blockade, after all, the airship could not return to the south without passing through the King’s Port.
The secondary reason is that the target of the airship is too large, which easily attracts the attention of the Sasald.
But even so, they continued to run into walls in Yanbao—it was obvious that Baron Dal did not intend to give up the holy sword Misole easily. After continuously breaking through the blockade of the rebels, the crowd had to diverge northward, and at the suggestion of a white lion knight who was born in Kolos, crossed the foggy mountains to Corcovado.
Although the entire Northern Territory of Eruin is not stable now, as long as it leaves Corcovado, it is easy to rendezvous with the White Lion Legion based in Balta. Both Manrique and Bresson believed that since the battle of Ampersel, the white lion army reorganized by the princess would never be apostate again.
But this is where the journey to break through the misery began. The number of rebels who intercepted them has decreased, but their enemies have become even more terrifying monsters this time-first of all those they have seen in the Earl of Yanbao. Crystal monsters, as well as the terrifying existence called the Noh race by the rebels, caused them heavy losses every time.
After entering the Wushan Mountains, dozens of white lion knights were sacrificed all the way, before they could reach here. If it weren't for these weird dwarves that suddenly appeared today, I'm afraid all of them would have to explain here.
And Manrique hadn't forgotten that those terrifying monsters were under the hammers of these dwarves, one by one, as simple as smashing a watermelon.
"Why are those crystal clusters chasing you?" the dwarf asked again.
Manrique was stunned.
Dilfieri and Brayson looked at each other and asked softly: "Are you talking about those monsters?"
"Yes, crystal clusters," the old dwarf glanced at the countess. "Little girl, you don't understand their horror. I have seen the world crystallized by them with my own eyes. There is no life there."
Dilphary never thought that those monsters were so terrible. She recalled the scene inside the Count of Yanbao, her finger joints were a little white.
Breson saw that her face was not so good, so he took the initiative to retell the whole thing again.
"This is Eruin?" the old dwarf asked suddenly.
Breson was taken aback and nodded.
"Good luck." The old dwarf nodded, then took a closer look at Dilphary, and said: "He said you are the daughter of the Earl of Yanbao, and your name is Dilphary? Is your ancestor Sola, the Fireborne Knight? Son, you are a family of sword-keepers, right?"
He looked at the box that the Earl's daughter was holding tightly: "This is the Holy Sword Missor, don't worry, we will help you take it where it should go."
Dilphary was stunned, her eyes widened subconsciously, and she watched the old dwarf forget to breathe.
There was a tumult of ping-pong on the side, and the human knights drew out their sabers with all their hands and looked at these dwarves vigilantly. Breson and Manrique also stood in front of Dilphary for the first time, Breson drew out his saber, and Manrique took out a gun from his pocket.
"What do you want to do?" the young captain asked nervously.
But the old dwarf didn’t even look at him. He turned his head and told a dwarf knight behind him: “Blow the trumpet, do you see that place?” He pointed to Corcovado, the flames on the plain. Soaring to the sky, "Let's go there, it's called Ariel, I asked before—"
The dwarf cavalry nodded, and immediately lowered the horn from his waist.
But before he lifted the horn with both hands, Dilphary's voice finally came over: "You... who are you?"
The old dwarf put on his helmet and turned around. The urn replied to her angrily: "You can call me Carriffin, or the Griffin King... In the name of the Holy Anvil of Ailin, for the Silver Plains—"
The dwarven heavy cavalry shouted together.
Woo-
The horn rang.