To the north of the Misty Sea, an unknown glacier coast.

The long roar of the eagle streaked across the misty sea, and the surging waves rolled up and down, rolling up and down the waves mixed with broken ice, and crashing down on the rugged coastline, shattered on the "harbor" made of ice floe, and the shape was no longer visible.

The gloomy sky obscured the sun's brilliance, and the raging waves tore the icebergs floating on the surface of the sea into countless pieces in the biting sea breeze—this was the border of the Empire, the "end of the West" of the Broken Mountain Fortress, and the end of the glacial wasteland.

Greywater Bay.

It is so named not because of the color of its waters – in fact, it may be bluer than the Gem River – but because its skies, whether cloudy or sunny, are as dull as stagnant waters.

A fleet of more than 200 warships was struggling to anchor on the rugged shore of Greywater.

The biting cold froze the sails into ice, and the sea breeze mixed with ice particles "bruised all over the deck" and hull;

Armored in the sea, the elven warriors lined up in a neat line, standing on the shaky "ice floe shore" and dragging the frost-covered iron cables, dragging the battleship behind them closer to the shore.

From time to time, there was the sound of falling into the water or the ice breaking, but there was still a dead silence on the shore, and it was very "tacitly" to ignore those compatriots who were destined to freeze or drown, and do their best to complete the work at hand.

Despite all the difficulties and dangers, the huge fleet gradually completed the work of anchoring the shore, and by the same time, an army of nearly 10,000 elven warriors had landed and assembled in the wilderness on the edge of the coast.

They wore wide-sleeved robes similar to those of ordinary elven warriors, but much thicker, with simple scale armor and leather leggings over leather boots, and long knives in their arms wrapped in warm animal skins, carried behind them with their bags, and spears in one hand on their shoulders.

In this "steel forest", there are also a large number of elven warriors, dragging carts full of supplies from the docked warships - spare weapons, disassembled siege equipment, arrows, food... The expeditionary fleet did not have any livestock on board for all convenience, and all transportation had to be done by themselves.

On the rough shore, an elven warrior standing on a knife monitored the progress of the battleship's mooring, watching his compatriots who remained unhurried and calm among the waves and glaciers, and no matter how the waves roared, he stood still.

Because all the elven warriors were watching him, as long as he was still standing here, the morale of the army would not be low, and he would be able to accomplish all the seemingly impossible with all his strength.

Because he is the Eagle King of the Azorean Elves.

40,000 elites, 200 large warships, but still in danger, even his own flagship almost capsized, and finally arrived at Greywater Bay before the ship sank.

But that's just the beginning.

Because this huge army will also cross the entire Fault Mountain Range, from the north of the mountain all the way to the south, arrive at and break through all the guard towers, strongholds and fortresses of the Sacland Empire along the way, and finally break through the impregnable Boundary Mountain Fortress, wrapped in the cold wind of winter, and invade southward.

It's a big gamble, a big gamble that's ridiculous to the extreme.

Not to mention how the 40,000 troops braved the blizzard to march in the glacial wasteland, the Broken Mountain Fortress is an "imperial gate" that has been poured into the essence of the entire empire and built with a lot of money, even in the invasion of monsters in the past dynasties, it has never fallen once, and there are two fully manned legions stationed in the fortress, and it is difficult to break through it.

Even if it were breached, East Sackland to the south would not be without danger, with countless fortresses and fortresses along the way, while nearby Byrne and Boe would be able to send cavalry support.

The plains of East Sackland are simply the most suitable natural battlefield for cavalry battles!

After all, the Boundary Mountain in the north was originally the empire's largest strategic defense center, and under normal circumstances, attacking the empire from here would be tantamount to suffering an all-out counterattack from the entire empire.

However, the premise of all this is "normal".

But the current empire is definitely not normal!

To her west, Lothair, the most religious of the Holy Cross, was completely pinned, and to the northwest of her, Ebberden, the only outlet to the sea, was occupied, and the ocean-going fleet was completely annihilated, while many forces were held back against a powerful enemy;

In her core territory, the heirs of the empire are doing their best to quell the rebellion due to the new emperor's accession to the throne and internal contradictions, and in her southwest, Arles, which is already relatively estranged, is still not completely home, and has always wandered around the periphery.

Under such circumstances, the only forces that the empire can really mobilize to the north to defend against a strong enemy are half of West Sacland, a Boi who has just experienced the Centaur War and has been severely damaged, plus Byrne, who is still accumulating strength.

The seemingly "very stable" empire is about to engage the enemy on three sides, and neither of the two battlefields that has already confronted the enemy has an advantage or upper hand.

It is clear to the whole empire that the Azorean elves have not launched a general attack so far, which in itself proves that they have not yet committed all their strength, and under such a premise, it is impossible for the empire to put more forces into a strong fortress in the north, and can only hope that the fortress of Broken Mountain can "create another glory" and keep the enemy out of the glacial wasteland.

Therefore, the once impregnable Boundary Mountain Fortress is now in its weakest period in the thirteenth generation!

Of course, the fortress of Broken Mountain is still very strong, and even if the defenders are less than 10,000, it will cost blood to break her - such a fortress that has never fallen, and its meaning and "legend" are enough for even a coward to fight to the death.

It was because of such a big gamble that he, as the Eagle King, had to be the leader of this army—and only he could ensure that the entire army had absolute confidence in victory, if not doubt.

But he also knew that it would be absolutely impossible to break through such a strong fortress by relying only on the elite of 40,000 Azorean elves, not to mention that once the emperor on the opposite side learned the news, he would also not give up the excellent opportunity to reinforce the fortress of Broken Mountain and block or even annihilate himself.

Therefore, the victory of this war requires not only the bravery of the Azorean elven warriors, but also other forces.

That would be enough on the battlefield... The power to turn things around.

"Your Majesty, the army has been assembled;" An elven warrior appeared behind him, kneeling on one knee in the snow, "Just wait for the last batch of supplies to be removed from the battleship, and it can be officially launched." ”

The Eagle King bowed slightly, as if he didn't care much about all this: "How is the fortress in Greywater Bay, is it still there?"

"Having been captured by us, the remnants of the defenders refused to surrender, hiding in warehouses and stockpiling food, and died by self-immolation. The respectful elven warrior replied very calmly, without pride or annoyance:

"I have ordered their bones to be removed from the rubble and buried with the rest of the defenders under the gates of the Greywater Bay Fort. ”

"Good. ”

The Eagle King turned, kneeling in front of him, not only the elven warrior, but also two Imperial rangers, the two of whom had been wrapped around the ropes that had been used to tow the wagon.

The tattered armor, the blood marks on the corners of the mouth and the scars on the body, the redness and swelling of the bruises and frostbite, and the eyes that wanted to let the other party die, almost exposed their reconnaissance and the whole process of being captured after resisting to no avail, it was clear and clear.

"Do you know who I am?"

There was no violence in the calm voice, on the contrary, it was a little gentle, which made the two captured people slightly stunned;

Immediately, one of the two on the left nodded actively.

"That's good. The Eagle King said flatly: "As far as I know, the two of you used a bow that can fire arrows with one hand when you were exposed, and you shot one of my subordinates, seriously injuring one, and slightly injuring three ......."

As he spoke, the faces of the two Rangers resurfaced with nervousness, as well as fear of reprisals.

"But I don't blame you. The Eagle King changed his words:

"For everything you do is out of your duty and your loyalty to the monarch—your iniquity is the iniquity of your monarch, and you cannot be blamed for the strife between two ancient kingdoms. ”

Another sentence made the two of them who were in a cold sweat breathe a sigh of relief again, only to feel that their whole bodies were almost frozen, shivering in the snow.

"Therefore... Please also bring a few words to the Emperor of the Empire for me, as a reward for the protection of your lives. ”

The Eagle King was calm: "I'm in the north, and he's in the south—if he wants to have a fair and just battle with me as Emperor, please take his best army to the Broken Mountain Fortress, where you will be waiting for me." ”

"It won't be long before my army and I will be there, and we will launch a general assault on the Broken Mountain Fortress, and I will take that fortress, and I will cross his territory, and then I will take his capital, his throne, and his empire!"

"Tell him if he wants to keep it all and do the same to me, and take back the Iron Crown that belongs to him... At the Broken Mountain Fortress, I'll do what he wants. ”

As he spoke, the Eagle King slowly squatted down, revealing a faint look in the startled and vigilant eyes of the two rangers... Smile:

"Is that okay?"

The two of them who were stunned just nodded vigorously in a daze, and they couldn't even speak.

In the next second, the Eagle King slammed down on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

"Bang!"

In the moon-like light of the sword, the two rangers only had time to hear the sound of metal shattering.

When they came back to their senses and their eyes widened, they found that they were still alive.

The chains on his body have fallen into the snow beside him, and there is no trace of being broken!

"Let's go back. ”

The Eagle King got up and walked away without looking back.

The elven warriors on the side immediately followed, leaving only the two rangers still dumbfounded, shivering on their knees in the cold wind.

It wasn't until the Eagle King walked away that they were at a loss and fled in a hurry.

"Your Majesty, are you really that confident?"

The elven warrior followed behind the Eagle King, always keeping a distance of one step, less than two steps: "Doing this is equivalent to alerting the southern empire, and their emperor will definitely go north because of this, and kill you at all costs!"

"That's right, the heart of the plan is to alert them and draw the attention of their emperor to the north for a decisive battle with us. "The eagle king's face does not change:

"We cut off the head of one emperor and another - it will cause enough commotion in the camp of our enemies that the nobles who were once loyal to their emperor will be left without a leader. ”

The elven warrior frowned slightly: "But it is also possible to make them more united." ”

"Perhaps, but what next?" the Eagle King retorted, "to prove their unity and loyalty, they will come at us at all costs, and we will only need to defeat them one more time, the Empire... It's going to fall apart!"

"An empire with absolute brains will be our formidable enemy, but a reckless monster with many brains and a fattened monster will only be a beast to be slaughtered under our long sword. ”

"The rest is left to my sons, who consider themselves extraordinary, the Kingdom of the Azores, and will continue in their hands. ”

"You... Are you going to sacrifice yourself?"

The elven warrior's voice trembled slightly.

"I will not sacrifice any elves, including myself. The Eagle King sighed, "Your Excellency, if you still do not believe that we can achieve a final victory, then the only advice I can give you is to leave as soon as possible." ”

Hearing this, the elven warrior lowered his head and asked no more.

The Eagle King, who had stopped, stood in front of the roaring shore, and below him was the army of 40,000 Azorean elves who had been assembled and ready for standby.

The next moment, condescendingly, he raised the long knife in his hand and looked at his compatriots who were also looking at him:

"Sons of the Azores, we are already standing in the northernmost part of the empire's territory, and the south is the gate of this ancient and rich country;"

"Now that we have come to her far north, there is only one place to go—south, south, south, and south, until our long knives plow over every inch of their land, and until our feet tread through every village and town;"

"Until the evil gods they believe in fall, until we win a bright future for the ancient Azorean elves with the long knives in our hands - we will not put away the knives in our hands!"

"And now I invite you, I implore you, I command you to march with me......"

"Conquer Broken Boundary Mountain!"

With a shout that resounded through the sky, the Azorean elven army, which stretched for miles, braved the fierce wind, from the misty coast towards the snow-shrouded glacial wasteland.

On the hillside not far from the army column, the burning Greywater Bay Fortress was like a huge torch, and the flames and smoke rose into the sky, clearly visible among the snow-white mountains.