"When we received the order, we didn't know what we were going to be up against.

As the son of a landowner born and raised in Sackland, I was instilled by my father, a herald in the Legion, that 'we are noble pure-blood Empires' and that 'allegiance to the royal family of de Salion is a natural honor', and I was under no pressure when I went with His Highness Brandon to quell the rebellion.

The old Banner Commander told the boys of the regiment a great deal about why they were fighting the Sakrins, and even their own villagers, and the great things were greater than the other, but it seemed to me that he had only to say one word.

The Sacklands are synonymous with loyalty, and the disloyal are not Sacklands.

Still, it's a pleasure to be able to stop fighting with your fellow citizens, not to mention that we're not going to go to the Broken Mountain Fortress, full of heroic legends, to save His Majesty the Emperor from besieged by the enemy—what could be more exciting than such an "act of loyalty"?

Some.

Time blurred my memory—all I remember was that we marched in a proud, orderly queue in the scorching sun when the violent tremors came, but the next second, we were a panicked herd of deer and headless flies.

The elder commander of the banner shouted with all his might, snatched the trumpet from the herald's hand and blew the rallying cry vigorously, but to no avail, for every frightened soldier covered his ears for the first time;

Excited, I was ready to rush forward to help him maintain order, but the next second of timidity made me give up the idea - a dozen desperate fleeing soldiers pushed a wagon full of luggage and ran over the flag commander.

I didn't even dare to collect the body of the flag commander who had helped me, because I was just as panicked and desperate as every soldier was to find my luggage.

In retrospect, I vaguely remember that the tremors did not last long, but by evening the regimental commander had lightly wounded and fled, and the dead and wounded men had reached one-fifth.

This is a shame for the Sakrins! An army has not yet engaged the enemy, and it has already suffered a fifth casualties... Holy Cross, let my father know about this, he will definitely scold me and beat me up.

But almost everyone who went through the turmoil breathed a sigh of relief—and no one would be surprised by the fact that a third of the casualties were there.

After the commotion, the commander made the decision to set off immediately, a wise decision, because it first gave the soldiers who were still in a panic a task so that they would not have to think about it.

Secondly, because of the commotion of the day, our progress has been much slower, and if we do not hurry, I am afraid that it will be much more at night.

But maybe it's because of the "vibration" during the day that I have a vague bad feeling - perhaps, we can't catch up with the battle of Broken Mountain.

I don't want to hide it, because it's true.

By the time we finally arrived at the Broken Mountain Fortress, it was... There is no Boundary Mountain "fortress" left.

What we saw was a mountain of rubble, a ravine, a mountain of mountains – we thought we were on the wrong path, but we realized it was true.

Broken Mountain... It's gone.

Joey Andrew, Flag Officer of the 3rd Banner Regiment of the Legion, recorded at Broken Mountain Fortress......"

.............................................

Gently lowering the letterhead in his hand, the black-haired wizard raised his gaze to Edward, the night watchman with a slightly complicated expression, though he himself was not much better.

"Edward, this is ......"

"The intelligence from about three days ago. Before Loren could finish speaking, the Night's Watch coldly replied, "Thank you to your friend Isaac Grantham that an earthquake destroyed the Broken Mountain Fortress. ”

"What's more, he seriously underestimated the strength of the Broken Mountain, although he destroyed the fortress but failed to cause a landslide, the northern part of the empire is now wide open, and there is not even a stronghold to defend, of course, because of his miscalculation, we were not blocked from the mountains, frozen to death and starved to death on the ice field. ”

"Two-thirds of the Azorean elves were buried alive under the rubble, and the remaining elven warriors were desperately rushing south;

"I'm afraid that for a long time, these elven warriors will become the scourge of the Empire, thanks to Isaac Grantham. ”

"I would like to thank the Countess Charlotte de Salion, who, upon hearing of the march of Her Highness Brandon's army to the north, immediately purchased a large quantity of grain from the landlords of Sackland, and ensured our supplies. ”

"The army going north is now stationed outside the ruins, and has gathered as much passage and open space as possible to camp in waiting for His Highness Brandon and your army to arrive. ”

As the words fell, Edward pursed the corners of his lips with a "I told you everything I needed to tell you" expression.

The black-haired wizard sighed helplessly: "You know that this is not what I want to ask. ”

"Your Majesty Connard de Salion, the thirteenth Emperor of the Empire died at the Fortress of Broken Mountains... If that's what you want to know......" Edward said coldly:

"You'll never have to worry about threats from His Majesty Conrad, and as for the eldest princess of Fetronai... I don't think she's a match for you and your Highness, and I don't even think she's in the mood to fight you. ”

"Rutt Infinit, Eckhart, Conod... There is no one in the Empire who can threaten you, Lord of Byrne. Edward was unabashedly cynical.

Loren stopped talking, silently staring at him.

There was a brief, cold silence in the room.

"He's not ready. ”

A minute later, Edward, the Night's Watchman, spoke slowly, "He pretended to be normal, but I could tell that he might have hated his brother, but he hadn't thought about it so quickly... to become the new Supreme Emperor. ”

"Imperial... The Fourteenth Supreme Emperor. ”

Loren nodded slightly, and the void reaction from Edward's body told him that there was a faint "sympathy" in his emotions.

This is actually a very strange feeling - although he can get the same information from Edward's words and expressions, the response of the Void Force can complete the "information processing" faster than the visual and auditory senses, and send the answer to his consciousness, as if he has a completely different and more efficient set of senses.

This does not bode well.

"To the people of this world, spirit and matter are like water and earth, they cannot be mixed together, and any wizard, a mortal - even Logan in a hat or Roland the 'Black Duke' - must make a choice the moment they open the second valve......"

"It's the side that retains more of the 'material', as a life that grasps the fundamental laws of the world, but has a very limited lifespan that can be killed, or ......"

"Sublimating one's consciousness, turning oneself into a kind of void 'being', rejected by the material world, can only add some influence to this world or 'fall' into a body that relies on the power of the void;

"But... Dear Loren, none of these limitations exist for you, and your spirit and matter are pure and one, both good and bad. ”

"The good thing is that you don't need to make a choice so quickly, and maybe you won't even need to make a choice for the next two hundred to three hundred years, and the bad thing is that every time you use the power of the Void, you can feel the 'hostility' of this world. ”

"Because you are no longer just a beast wielding infinite power, but a being who transcends it and has a higher level of 'wisdom'. ”

"Your words, your will, and even the electric light of your thoughts are 'given' meaning by your own existence"

"The power you use is no longer something you 'borrow', but the power itself comes from yourself - the world will feel the threat you have to it, and will do everything in its power to reject you and your power. ”

Sandwiched between the void and the material world, it belongs neither to the left nor to the right, and between the evil gods and the human race, it does not belong to either the former or the latter......

It is no longer about "what to be", but "being yourself".

It sounds like a very difficult path, but luckily I don't have to make any choices right now, and Brandon ......

"What do you need me to do?"

Loren looked up and looked at Edward quietly.

"It's simple, keep your promise. The Night's Watch said indifferently, "You promised Byrne that he would give his full support to His Highness Brandon de Salion, and His Highness has helped you more than once. ”

"So it's time for Byrne to fulfill his promise - no matter what, do what you can to make Brandon de Salion the fourteenth Emperor of the Empire!"

"But he is already the Prince of East Sackland, the Crown Prince of the Empire, and now that Conod is dead, shouldn't Brandon be a natural successor?"

"That's true in theory, but we all know it's not. Edward's tone became a bit like that of Ruth Infinit:

"Under the circumstances, His Highness's appointment as Prince of East Sackland was just a helpless move by His Majesty Connad in the face of the situation and the persecution of Byrne's forces - at least that's what the Imperial nobles thought, so it is difficult to say whether they would be willing to recognize His Highness's identity. ”

"What's more... Now there is the eldest princess in the imperial capital, Her Royal Highness Fitronay, and Golovin and West Saqland are under siege by the Azorean elves, and it is difficult to say that the nobles of the empire who have learned of the death of His Majesty Conod will do so, if they are so bold as to bypass Her Highness and directly elect the eldest princess......"

That would be troublesome.

Looking at Edward's slightly nervous expression, Loren could understand what he meant.

The current situation seems to be in Brandon's favor - the rightful heir, with an army and a territory, and the capital under siege, as long as he leads the troops out of the siege, and even needs to drive the Azorean elves out, he can get the frightened little heart nobles to obediently present the crown.

But actually... This is a bit of a naïve idea.

First of all, the imperial capital of Golovin must not fall - it is not only a city, but also represents the imperial power of the Desarion family and the empire, once the capital falls, in a sense, it means that the empire has fallen, and the principalities no longer have the obligation to be loyal to the empire, and they can choose what to do at their own discretion.

The nobles of the imperial capital knew this even better than Brandon, so threatening such a thing as "the fall of the capital" was actually more akin to dying together.

No matter how much Brandon hated the nobles who hated him so much, he couldn't joke with the fate of the entire De Salion family, let alone let the crown that had been passed down for thirteen generations be lost in his hands, and let the empire return to the Old Kingdom.

What he wants is to go down in history, not to be remembered for thousands of years.

After 14 generations, the empire has developed a very complete set of "etiquette norms" for "imperial succession" - to put it more bluntly, it is a way that can be accepted and recognized by everyone.

These included the election of the Holy Cross, the duke and the imperial nobles in attendance, and the unanimous approval from within the royal family, the core of which was to involve as many people as possible to accept the result;

The approval of the Holy Cross can win the loyalty of the lower people, the approval of the imperial nobility can provide him with an efficient (rigid) and unobstructed (corrupt) ruling machine to achieve his ideas and goals, and finally the allegiance of the dukes will will provide him with more taxes, troops and supplies, so that his will is no longer limited to the kingdom of Sakran.

The support of all parties is indispensable to Brandon, otherwise the significance of this coronation ceremony may not be much better than a game of self-amusement.

So on the other hand, as long as one party is not involved, then Brandon's coronation lacks "legitimacy" and his crown is incomplete.

Therefore, in terms of the "popularity" of this highness in the empire, it is really unknown how many people he can win to watch the ceremony, even if it is coercion, inducement, and coercion.

"What's your plan?"

The black-haired wizard set his eyes on Edward, though he didn't have to do that now.

"In the hands of the elven leader who attacked the fortress of Broken Mountain, there is the Iron Crown, which symbolizes the imperial power of the Empire - although I don't know why this thing is in his hands instead of the Eagle King, this Arcana itself weighs more than a thousand gold. The night watchman said coldly:

"Moreover, the remains of His Majesty Conrad himself... Only condolences ... There is a ring and a sword on it, and the three treasures are present together, so that the coronation ceremony can be held. ”

"And now, the Broken Mountain Fortress Legion and the Sakran Native Legion are both in the Broken Mountain Fortress, plus Byrne and Boe, the most powerful army in the Empire, all of them are on His Highness Brandon's side. ”

"As long as there is the support of these soldiers, and the imperial nobles have not yet received news, His Highness does not need to care about the thoughts of the nobles of Golovin and the Holy Cross Church, and he will be crowned emperor!"