The crunching of wood-axle wheels and the rustling of footsteps resounded through the road.

It was a group of about 600 people, and in the middle of it was a wagon full of goods, each of which was guarded by a number of lightly armored swordsmen, and on the second level of the procession was a group of ragged refugees, most of them young men in their twenties and thirties, who were shackled one by one, and walked in two columns on both sides of the convoy. Armed with spears and shields, soldiers in steel armor marched to the outskirts of the ranks to prevent the refugees from escaping or the enemy from attacking.

These soldiers were all soldiers of the former "Kingdom of Mithra", now the "Central Empire of Mithra", and the inscription on the shield represented that they belonged to the Northern Army of the Imperial Expeditionary Force, and they were sending this batch of "supplies" to their nearest fortress to the front line, Yacheng.

Strictly speaking, this is also the territory of the Kingdom of Taran.

After the Northern Army completely defeated and defeated Taran's army, a panic began to spread in this country, from merchants to civilians, and the rumors of the Imperial Army's treatment of the defeated in the past were negatively reduced by rumors many times, and even the armies in many places did not even dare to fight when they encountered the enemy, and they retreated for dozens of miles, as if the other party was not a human being like themselves, but a man-eating demon from purgatory...... This retreat, due to the lack of experienced commanders, finally turned into a rout on an unprecedented scale, and the Imperial army marched north, collecting countless scattered prisoners, from the main roads to the fields, from the deserted villages to the forests, such people were everywhere, so that Mephistopheles, the commander of Army Group North, had to divide about half of his forces into small detachments to deal with these people, because he had to consider how many regular troops were mixed in with the refugees, and whether they would unite after his army was clear, suddenly difficult.

Although that resistance would have little effect on the overall situation, he did not have time to turn back to dealing with these flies at that time - according to Mephistopheles's expectations, in a week at most, the other half of his army would be able to cross the Black Forest and appear less than thirty miles from Cintas, the capital of the Kingdom of Taran, which was already in the hinterland of Taran, and there were few cities of a slight size after it—as long as it was captured, the northern battle would be tantamount to a complete victory.

And he can also give that adult a satisfactory explanation.

Mephistopheles had less than 50,000 men at his disposal, but he was absolutely confident that he would capture the rumored "Tortoise Shell Capital" with its three-story façade, as these were no ordinary soldiers he had sent out to collect prisoners of war and refugees...... Rather, it was a terrible warrior who had been blessed by the "darkness", whose strength could no longer be judged by common sense, and who could even be used as one as ten, and Cintas had no savings to stop this army, and wealth and glory were already beckoning to him, as long as he held it lightly...... You can get it all.

"So...... Those of us who don't matter, and who don't have any background, can only be sent to the rear to drink the northwest wind? ”

At the front of the line, a strong knight pouted disdainfully on his horse: "...... By the way, part-time babysitter, well, and it's a free babysitter. ”

His figure is very tall, which can be seen even on a horse, for an ordinary knight, the war horse is actually a little small under his crotch, he is covered in a tight chain mail, most of the muscles of his arms are exposed to the air, and a broad-bladed sword is diagonally inserted behind his back, as the knight's body shakes and rubs against his armor, the sound is crisp and not harsh.

Although the face from the forehead to the temples is obscured by the armor, the ...... The deep eye sockets and the erect bridge of the nose alone made it clear that this was a rather good-looking knight, and if he had taken the time to take care of his greasy, tangled black hair like a bird's nest, it might have provoked many female warriors to chase after him.

"Dai Grayfa!" The other female knight beside him couldn't help but let out a low growl when she heard the child's tone, "Shut your stupid dog's mouth - do you want to send us all to the gallows?" ”

Desirée is not an Imperial soldier, she is not even a Mithraic (note: Mithra at this time only refers to the country and not the Holy Realm, after thousands of years of baptism, there are not many people left who remember that Mithra was once the name of the Holy Realm), she is just an ordinary, wandering ranger, in this battle she was hired as a guide for the Imperial Army, because of the spark of love with the man next to her, she decided to join the army, and return to the Mithraic Central Empire together...... Once a ranger, she naturally can't have the elegance and tactfulness of Miss Qianjin, and she often speaks directly when she thinks of something, just like now, without giving her prospective boyfriend half face.

I said...... Even if my face doesn't matter, why don't you maintain your reserve as a girl? Grefa first glared at several colleagues beside him who were smiling, and as soon as he turned his face, he seemed to change his face, and became very distressed and helpless, he looked at the female warrior in front of him, and wondered how to make it gentle.

Desire's appearance is exactly right...... A long soft golden hair, small green leather armor that only covered the towering chest, hands and feet, large white flowers of skin on the arms, waist, abdomen, and thighs were exposed to the air, a tattered cape, a bowled sunhat, a seemingly delicate but extremely durable short sword—these were all of Desire's outfit, she was beautiful—no makeup, no ornaments on her body that could add femininity, and the years of exposure to the sun had left no marks on her cheeks, which were still white and delicate like a baby, pointed chin, pink lips, and a pair of bright eyes that flickered...... This may not be difficult to explain why, even with such a bad and vulgar character, Desirée is still pursued by many people.

Of course, it is also possible that this "characteristic" of hers makes those men's desire to conquer even stronger.

"A girl's reserve? What's that? Desirée yawned heavily, then put the little finger of his right hand into his right ear, his face full of languidness, "Don't make any mistake, Dai, it's because I'm fed up with those rules and regulations that I'm going to run out to be a ranger - for warriors, what we care about is that we can play a key role in the critical moment, and those graces and politeness will not bring you anything in front of the enemy, on the contrary, they may even stimulate their beastly nature, pounce on you and kill you fiercely." ”

"Speaking of which, the best sellers in the slave market are those pampered ladies~"

"Don't put this analogy on me......" Grefa lamented in his heart after another failed attempt, feeling that he was almost about to give up on this kind of correction.

Perhaps, it would be nice to go on like this? Just like this, she returned to her hometown with Desilei and lived happily together, although her personality was very incompatible with the big city, but she must be very popular in the unrestrained countryside and fields.

However, there is still a deep unwillingness in his heart.

Six years ago, the first appearance of that person declared her strength to the whole country, the Council of Light and Shadow was mostly crippled by brutal force, and the rumored surviving councillors were secretly imprisoned, but no one knows if they are still alive...... She ascended to the throne, Mithra was transformed by her, the power of the democrats collapsed overnight, and the voice of the restoration of the territory was vigorously supported, and Grefa did not agree with the rumors of the meteor that had begun to shoot in the early years, and he did not think that His Majesty was a hysterical tyrant - for as a small man who had been at the bottom from the beginning, he really felt that the country was developing on the good side. The fall of the old powers left a legacy that could be used for the development of the new powers, and the new policy included not only the system of industry and commerce, but also the correction of the relationship between the lords and the peasants, and the reduction of taxes by more than a third compared to the previous one...... In short, after several years of development, Mithra is much better than the original lifeless country in every respect, they have opened up several new veins, obtained several times more iron, coal and more than in previous years, he can not name the minerals, it is precisely because of them and the rest and storage of these years, Mithra has the capital to arm a huge army with a total of nearly 300,000 people, the eastern, northern, and southern expeditionary forces of 100,000 people each, these three major legions not only have their own distinctive elite troops, Even the most basic warriors beside him had far more sophisticated weapons and armor than other countries, and he could practice this from the few encounters he had participated in before - the standard two-handed swords of the regular army of the Taran Kingdom and the two-handed swords of the Imperial army would inevitably be destroyed in less than ten blows, and their light leather armor could be worn as soon as they were stabbed, far from being comparable to the Imperial army that even the grassroots soldiers had a half-body iron armor.

That's why Grefa feels unwilling and regretful.

In his opinion, this time the empire attacked in three directions at the same time, such a huge move, it would definitely not be satisfied with just retaking back the territory that had been swallowed up by the rest of the countries for hundreds of years, the Flame Emperor must have greater ambitions, but there are still a considerable number of things left by those councilors that have not been rewarded, not to mention the huge difference in the strength of the enemy and me, it should be the time for him to grab the rank and reward in a big way......

Why...... It's not good to assign him somewhere, but let him lead this team to Tooth City?

There had suffered a lot of losses in the previous engagement, and when he went, he would probably be directly granted the right to control the fortress, instead of the original general, to guard there, which was naturally great news in the past, because his position at the moment was only a small squadron leader, but in the long run, he could no longer leave Yacheng and lead the soldiers to the front line to make contributions.

"I smell the clammy air." Just as Grefa was secretly sad, Desirée suddenly sniffled and stared at the woods on the far side of the road with wide eyes.

The road they were walking on was flanked by two rows of slender and tall trees, which were very numerous but not dense, and through the trunks of the trees could be seen from time to time the grass or fields under the cliffs, and the blonde horsewoman rode her horse to speed away, and began to gallop forward.

"Desire?" Grefa was confused about her actions, and in order to avoid accidents to his sweetheart, he had to gallop out on his horse, "What are you going to do?" ”

"Not bad news." Desilei turned her head and smiled confidently at him, "If I'm not mistaken, we should be able to reach Tooth City in the evening!" ”

"Why ......"

"Don't keep asking me stupid questions~" Desirée closed her eyes and stepped on the stirrups and stood up half-upright, she tilted her head back, as if feeling something.

"Take your mind at ease...... Concentrate on reading the message in the air. ”

"I'm not good at this kind of work." Gray Fatze came up to her and told a little lie.

His whole mind was on her, and he couldn't risk it...... Lower your vigilance around you. However, even if he didn't pay attention to the air message, Grayfa could feel that the moisture around him seemed to be denser, which generally indicates that there is a water source nearby.

Following Desiray's horse leaping out of the bushes, Grefa felt a sudden light in front of his eyes, as if he had seen a silver glittering mirror in an instant.

The damp vapor penetrated his nostrils through the air, and as far as the eye could see, a large sparkling lake came into view, and Grefa dismounted and walked with Desirée to the shore.

"Here it is...... Lake Muse? ”

"Yes." Desirée took off her hat and let the breeze blow her blonde hair, "As mentioned in the message, Tooth City was built on the basis of Muse Paste. ”

She raised her hand and pointed across the lake, staring out to see a dark building looming in the mist.

"We're coming."

……

New Valhalla.

Palace.

A black-haired girl in a wide white robe walked unhurriedly in the corridor.

The sunlight shines through the glazed windows in the wide corridor, and the girl's shadow is stretched over the beautiful and ugly paintings, then shortened to the soles of her feet, and the previous process is repeated.

Coming to the end of the corridor, the girl crouched down, lifted a corner of the carpet, and from there took out a golden key, and opened the door that had been erected in front of her.

Behind the gate is a winding tunnel, dotted with kerosene lamps, which looks like a heretical cult's hideout.

Putting the key back in its place, the black-haired girl lifted a candle from the windowsill, put it to her lips and blew it gently, and the candle magically burned on its own, and she carried the lamp into the tunnel, and the door closed automatically behind her, as if no one had ever opened it.

After walking down the 123 stairs, a door appeared in front of her that was exactly the same as before, and this time, the girl did not look for any key, but stood on tiptoe with some difficulty, reached out and gently pressed it on the upper right side of the door.

After about seven or eight seconds, the door opened, revealing a hall that looked like a modern science room, with little room for a good foothold, and a mess of strange parts piled up everywhere, and an emaciated figure sat in the center of these things, the soles of his feet covered with densely written calculus paper.

The girl did not rush into the door, but just stood there.

"Mr. Red." She spoke.

"Your Majesty asked me to ask you when the extraction device will be ready."

After nearly ten seconds, the back figure turned his head unconsciously, as if he had just seen a girl, and let out an exclamation: "Hey? Isn't this Nit!? ”

"Yes."

"What are you doing here with me?"

“…… Let me ask you when the installation for draining the lake of the Muse will be completed. Secretly rolling her eyes, Nate Blaise had to repeat the question she had just asked, she lowered her head, and walked around the room, and found that there was no utensils as she expected.

"Sir, it is not reasonable to work like this, you should put aside your work for a while and go get something to eat."

"Okay...... Good...... I know you're doing it for my good, but my research is at a critical juncture, and you just need to wait for me to finish this last stroke...... All right. Putting down the pen and paper in his hand, the figure raised his head, revealing a head of unkempt red curly hair, "What did you just say...... Do you want to use that device? ”

"Yes."

"Okay." The red-haired Red propped his knees and stood up tremblingly, "The thing was just made three days ago, but it's not here...... You know, you can drain a large lake, and that kind of device can't be in such a small place. ”

"I understand." Nette nodded slightly, "I'm just here to confirm the progress of the device, and you can personally present it to His Majesty in the next two days." ”

"So in other words, it's not very anxious?" Red took off his oil-stained white lab coat, lifted the blue sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, and began to clean up the parts and trash at his feet.

"If you have time, could you consider staying and having a cup of tea with me? Little Nit. ”

"Tea?" The girl frowned slightly, revealing an embarrassed expression: "But...... I have other things to report to Your Majesty—"

"It's been a long time since we've seen each other...... Whether it's before you came back six years ago, or after that. Red had cleared an open space large enough for his low table, and somehow took out two teacups and a teapot.

"Rhett ...... first"

"Call me uncle."

"Okay...... Uncle Red. Nitt struggled for a moment, but could not survive the coercion that had taken root in her heart since she was a child, and she tiptoed a few steps to Rhett, and sat down at the low table facing him.

"The communicator I asked you to bring with you before is still easy to use."

"It's fine." Nate lowered her head and asked almost the opposite question before she could reply, "But because of the difference between the time of the Holy Realm and the present world, it is impossible to guarantee instant arrival in the transmission. ”

"How's Fried?"

"Uncle Fried's words...... Although he still did not agree to submit to His Majesty, His Majesty did not seem to have any intention of punishing him. ”

“…… Still the same as before, under house arrest at home. ”

"Don't you wonder why he doesn't agree?" Red lifted the teapot that had been heated by the alchemy device and began pouring tea for himself and Nit.

"I'm sorry." Hearing such a strange question, Nate finally raised her head for the first time and looked directly into the other person's eyes, "What are you...... What do you mean? ”

"Flame Emperor...... Or how important is this country to you? Red put down the teapot and lowered his head, revealing his cloudy-looking eyes behind his sunglasses. It's been a long, long time since I've seen you, but that doesn't mean ...... I can't hear from you. ”

"From what I've heard, you've not been happy in the past few years."

"I'm not unhappy." The girl's brow furrowed deeply, "It's my honor to be able to dedicate a qiē to the revival of this country...... You have no right to assert my joys and sorrows! ”

"Hahaha......" Red laughed dryly, revealing a mouthful of dark yellow teeth, "You don't have to hide anything, little Nit, how can you be happy working with Morinfin?" I've seen her many times and she feels very bad and bad for me, you have to watch out for that woman...... I always felt like she was hiding something from everyone......"

"Uncle." Nate took a deep breath, feeling that her patience was reaching its limit.

"Did you keep me here just to say these things?"

"I can't stand it after only a little time." Red looked at her calmly, his expression couldn't tell whether he was happy or sad, "At the beginning, Fried and I sent you to the academy because we wanted you to learn a lesson from history, not just let you indulge in it and become a slave of that glorious era......"

"Enough!" The black-haired girl stood up from her seat violently, raised her legs and walked to the door in two steps, her chest rising and falling violently, and she didn't dare to look back.

"It's better for my uncle not to say these words today...... Right now...... I...... I can act as if I haven't heard anything. ”

"Answer my last question before you go." Red was holding the teacup with that indifferent look, as if he had expected such a reaction from her.

"Flame Emperor, why are you draining the lake of the Muse?"

"Lake Muse is the largest freshwater lake in the northern part of the Empire, and draining it would greatly affect the ecology there, which is not a wise move for the whole country - what does she want to do?"

“……”

"Okay." After pondering for a long time, Nette turned her head slightly and said, "Anyway, for you, who have borne almost all the alchemy projects in the empire, this is not news that must be concealed. ”

Her voice went from being high and cold to a lot deeper.

"At the bottom of the Lake of Muses, there is a teleportation array leading to the Second Sacred Realm."