With a letter stamped with the seal of the Emperor himself and the Imperial Cabinet, the footsteps of loyal Imperial knights and messengers stretched to every road, castle, village, and country, and the entire empire was stirred up by a simple single line.

The Emperor is dead——!

No more superfluous explanations, no more conspiracy theories, no more troubadours singing... From the streets of the town to every village, the weeping messengers shouted in the town square, and then everyone followed suit.

The whole country shook.

To be sure, Eckhart II didn't win much popularity—the Twelfth-century Sakran Empire was neither the most peaceful, nor the most prosperous, nor much honorable, the taxes were not easy, and the legends that were talked about by the bards were few and far between.

But it was such an emperor who, while he was alive, everyone believed that the empire was growing stronger;

It was such an emperor who was invaded by monsters in the Broken Boundary Mountain, the living dead appeared in Ebolden, and the centaurs invaded... Even when demons were rife in the empire, he still had a way of convincing everyone that he lived in a strong and peaceful country.

Therefore, when the news of his death came, the whole empire, from the commoners to the aristocracy, felt a trance of the collapse of the sky, and there was indignation and unquenchable anger.

Our Emperor His Majesty did not die peacefully on the couch with the light of the Holy Cross, nor did he fight the enemy to the death in glory on the battlefield;

Instead, in his own dormitory, he was killed by a group of insidious and despicable villains, in the dishonorable way of assassination.

What a shame this is——?!

There are very few people in the empire who know anything about the Azorean elves, and even the vast majority of nobles have confused the elves of the Lothair Forest (they don't even know about the ancient wood forest) with the elves of the overseas Azorean kingdom, clamoring to "go west to conquer Lothair", and even received a response from many knights and troops.

And when the anger is gone, fear ensues.

After all, to the empire up and down... Especially for the nobles, the contradiction between Crown Prince Connad and His Royal Highness Brandon is already a well-known secret, and now His Royal Highness Brandon is also "not what it used to be", not only has three legions, nearly 30,000 troops to support, but also relies on the support of the two principalities of Boe and Byrne.

Once he is unwilling to be occupied by his brother, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Conrad, it is almost inevitable that he will raise an army, and the empire, which has been strong for a generation, will once again be split in two and plunged into terrible war.

Will he take this opportunity?

The entire empire, and especially the nobles of the imperial capital of Golovin, were waiting nervously for His Highness, who always liked to "surprise people", to appear and break the current situation.

But they were disappointed... Ten days had passed since the news spread throughout the Empire, and Brandon de Salion still did not make a sound;

Ten days later, the Empire did not wait for news of Brandon de Salion's rebellion, but instead waited for the "Imperial Declaration" from Loren Turin, Duke of Byrne.

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

Heavy footsteps, the sound of armor clashing, the whispering of movements......

It was quiet enough outside the door, but the black-haired wizard sitting alone in the round table hall still felt distraught.

Why, isn't everything developing in the direction you want?

As he expected, it took half a month for the Heavenly Dome to announce the death of Eckhart II, which caught Crown Prince Conrad off guard;

Although he was unable to find any trace of Root Infinit, Mentor Dalton managed to infiltrate the remnants of the Night's Watch in East Sackland and the Imperial Capital, keeping the initiative firmly in his own hands;

The process of convincing Byrne's thirteen leaders was difficult, but with the help of Charlotte, Count Eckert, and the little priest Weber, the result was satisfactory;

But why, why do you still feel a little nervous?

"Probably, it's because it's going so well, right?"

The black-haired wizard with a dazed expression muttered in a low voice.

"Went well, where did it go well?"

The sound of footsteps was so light that it was almost imperceptible, followed by a cold snort of disdain.

"Edward?"

The black-haired wizard who woke up turned his gaze behind him, focusing on the night watchman who was looking at him coldly, and there was a hint of teasing on the corner of his mouth: "Oh, no... Now it's time for Edward, the 'leader of the Night's Watch'. ”

Edward, who pursed his lips, didn't even bother to pay attention.

In the past ten days, it took him almost a day to recover from the shock that "the emperor is dead, and it is likely that Rut Infinit is also dead", and quickly gathered the night watch organizations in Byrne, Ellemont, and Boe.

Ten days... It took ten days of sleepless work to barely control the intelligence network in the southern and eastern regions of the empire, and to integrate half of the empire's night watch organization under the command of His Highness Brandon.

But that's nothing, the real problem is the whole process of closing... Exceptionally smooth.

Edward, who originally thought that he would encounter many obstacles and even resistance, found that there were no obstacles at all when he actually did it, and even the night watchmen in some areas took the initiative to come to the door and willingly asked himself... And His Royal Highness Brandon allegiance.

When did His Royal Highness, the famous "Disgraced Prince", begin to be so prestigious among the night watchmen?

Or is it... All this was planned by Loren Turin a long time ago, and he had already started infiltrating the night watchmen in these areas?!

Either way, it gave Edward the Night's Watch a chill.

He felt like he was unconsciously walking into a trap that had been set up long ago.

"You may have forgotten, but I invited you when I was at Ebolden. The black-haired wizard, who was not aware of Edward's expression, continued:

"And I am a man who will never break his word, Edward I promised you to replace Root Infinit as the leader of the Night's Watch, for you are not like him, and you are not intended to hurt others......"

"Loren Turin, what exactly do you want to do?!"

Edward interrupted him indifferently, his expression as cold as ever: "What do you want to get, and what are you for? I never believe that you will selflessly sacrifice for His Highness Brandon and for the Empire!"

"But the problem is that I really didn't have any selfish intentions this time. The black-haired wizard said lightly: "If I have to say it, I have only one purpose - to maintain a unified empire that will not be divided by civil war." ”

"Why?!"

"It's simple, because the enemy we're going to face next is so strong that even if we were united, we wouldn't necessarily be able to win;"

"Because even if I don't want to, I can't deny that even if I gather all the forces of Byrne, I may still not be absolutely sure that I will defeat His Royal Highness Crown Prince Conrad de Salion;"

"Because His Majesty Eckhart is dead... I had no choice. Loren's eyes were calm: "Either tie your hands and catch it, or when you still have an advantage, fight for it." ”

"That's all, no other ambitions. ”

Edward's expression was tangled.

Reason told him that Loren Turin was telling the truth, but another voice in his head kept reminding him not to believe this guy's nonsense.

"I am the night watchman of the Empire, and I am loyal to the Empire, and I will never do anything for you, Loren Turin. There was a hint of helplessness in Edward's tone: "I don't know what you want to do, and I'm not interested in knowing, so you don't have to tell me." ”

The calm words were mixed with a hint of pleading.

The black-haired wizard bowed slightly, slightly hooking the corners of his mouth.

"Edward, we are friends - if you really don't want to, then I will never force you to do anything, this is the only absolute promise I can give you. ”

The indifferent Night's Watch didn't reply, just nodded.

Clearly, he remained skeptical of Loren.

"What are you talking about?"

As the sunny Highness Brandon walked into the hall from the side, the indifferent Edward turned away and stood silently in the corner of the hall.

"It's nothing, it's just gossip between friends. The black-haired wizard casually responded, "You know, Edward and I met when we were at Ebolden......

"Alright, let's not talk about that. Brandon waved his hand to show that he was not interested in the topic, and he took a deep breath, his hesitant gaze as if at war between heaven and man, "Regarding that plan you proposed and that 'imperial statement'... I'm still a little uneasy. ”

"Dear Wizard Advisor, I can probably understand what you're thinking, but my beloved Imperial Brother... Can he really jump in willingly, as you think?"

"It's also the best option for him, or... There is no way to do it. Loren shrugged and shook his head very calmly:

"Of course, even so... It's still possible that he won't, but if things do get to that point, the two sides will be in a completely dead-end situation, and the responsibility is on him, not yours. ”

"It's a gamble, a big gamble—a gamble that in the eyes of Conrad de Salion, the safety of the Empire and the Dessaline family is far more important than the life of your royal brother!"

Brandon's expression was very tangled.

"Hmm... I can probably understand what you mean, although I am a little unhappy to be said this......" After thinking for a while, His Royal Highness sighed helplessly: "But it seems that we can only expect this at the moment." ”

The frank expression is as if a terminally ill patient has finally chosen to accept his fate.

However, Loren knew very well that Brandon had no intention of doing so, and even obeying his plan was only one of his options.

If his plan fails, His Royal Highness will not hesitate to choose to rebel, and drag Boe and Byrne into his chariot for a last-ditch fight, even if the empire is plunged into war.

This is Brandon, the disgraced prince of the Empire.

"Alright, don't pretend to be serious here - there's someone waiting for you out there, so let's pretend to show them. Patting Loren on the shoulder and dragging Edward on the side, Brandon hid in the corner of the hall with a nonchalant expression:

"Go ahead, since it's gambling, you have to show the momentum of a big gamble!"

Pulling at the corners of his mouth, Loren turned his gaze to the closed door of the Hall of Round Table.

yes, that's right;

Now that we've come to this point, what are you still afraid of and cautious?

Even if you lose the bet, the big deal is to give it a go.

"Bang ——!!!!"

The heavy door slammed open to the sides, and Loren Turin, who was alone, stepped forward and walked out of the door.

In the bright, somewhat glaring sunlight, the stairs outside the gate and the plaza behind them were filled with people—all knights in armor, carrying swallowtails and family coats of arms, from all sides of the Byrne Thirteen Collar.

Standing on the stairs and looking out, it is simply a sea of flags!

After the sound of the door being slammed open, all eyes turned to the figure who walked out.

The power of thousands of eyes converging on one point is enough to suffocate people!

Feeling this power, Loren kept recalling the speech he had already thought of—the article that Mentor Dalton Candle and Charlotte spent two whole days and two nights crafting.

The article elaborates on Byrne's glorious history, explains the importance of the trip to the empire and to Byrne, and tells the story of the knights who will go north with him, whose actions are just, honorable, and will surely be honored.

All in all, it is to stir up the traditional "knightly faith" of the Byrnes and make them believe that they are the heroes who save the world and save the empire.

After two generations of decline, the Duchy of Byrne will once again be the savior of the Empire.

But... Do you really need to do this?

A long speech, with a bunch of flowery rhetoric, to make these knights who believe in themselves do a gambling-like thing.

Is this necessary?

The black-haired wizard, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly raised his head suddenly, and with a bang, the "Dawn" sword was unsheathed and raised above his head.

"Knights of Byrne, warriors of the Thirteen Lords——!"

"Today ——! the end of the twelve generations of the Empire, the day of the death of the Supreme Emperor......"

"Follow me north!"

"King Qin!"

As his voice fell, he was greeted by the sound of swords unsheathed in the sky one after another, and the hoarse cries of the Byrne knights holding the swallowtail flag.

"For Byrne, for the ——!!!! of the Empire"

"Long live Byrne, long live the Empire——!!!!"

At the end of the twelfth generation, the Duke of Byrne took the lead after issuing the "Imperial Declaration" and went to the imperial capital to support the coronation of Crown Prince Conrad de Salion.

The Empire is shaking!