The stabbing pain in the back of his neck shook Sir Adari from his deep slumber, and he sat up straight, his head bent from his false sleep, and his cervical and lumbar spines seemed to moan at the same time, accompanied by a sharp pain that pierced straight into his brain. But even the pain didn't make him fully awake quickly, and it took a while for him to pant and shake his head, get up from his desk, and walk to the window.

I'm old. Although he still stood as straight as a javelin, making his already tall and burly body even more powerful, Sir Adari still seemed to feel the smell of decay permeating and eroding from those old limbs and joints. Compared to most of his peers, his body was still incredibly strong and healthy, but only he knew that the scars left by his youth had already begun to overwhelm, the stiffness and soreness of his muscles, and the rusty friction between his joints, all reminded him that this body might not have much time to live.

Even now, even his spirit and energy have begun to decline terribly, and in the past, he would never have fallen asleep in a chair without realizing it. But in fact, for an eighty-four-year-old man, this is indeed very normal.

A gust of north wind blew in through the window, as if the hallucinations brought from the dream he had just brought out had not yet dissipated, and he smelled a smell of bloody and rusted weapons. Swinging his head, there was a stabbing pain in his cervical spine, and he didn't even frown, but a vague sense of excitement rose. He clearly remembered that the wound on the back of his neck was cut by a dwarven warrior with an axe, it was a leader warrior, and if the output power of the arcane armor was a little smaller at that time, this axe would have cut off his head directly.

But then he turned around and slammed half of the dwarven warrior's head into his chest with a single punch, leaving only the little head with a little roll of his eyes resting on his shoulder, and the dwarven warrior staggered a few steps with his axe in a daze, before falling like a can. The other surrounding dwarves roared and pounced, but in front of the broadsword in his hand, they were all chopped into pieces. His arcane-modified prosthetic limbs are far stronger than ordinary dwarves even in terms of pure strength, and the pure gold long knife in his hand can also be broken in the face of the dwarves' elemental tempered armor, and even after a few breaks, he can easily take out a brand new one from the support golem, it only takes an hour for the imperial alchemy to forge such a blade, and many of those savage dwarves have to spend their lives refining their weapons and armor.

Blood, screams, killing, glory, life is so full and meaningful. Unfortunately, it was the last battle, and to this day, he never had a chance to activate the arcane armor again, and all that was with him was the growing old injuries and illnesses.

Fortunately, these injuries were also important clues for him to recall those young years, and at this time, the fishy smell mixed with the dream made him feel like he was back in those years. The majestic Imperial Legion, the proud soldiers and battle mages, the honor of battle and the valor of dedication are all memories that have haunted him for decades. Especially in these decades, watching and listening to the Northern Legion slowly decay and rot, emitting all kinds of disgusting smells, this memory is especially precious.

Fortunately, it won't be long before these memories will come back to reality in the last days of his life. He reached out and grabbed a handful of the smell of blood that came out of the wind or dreams, the transformed muscles and bones were still so full and powerful, it was a military product of the last peak of the empire, with a service life of hundreds of years, far more durable and powerful than his life.

The sound of horses' hooves was heard in the distance, and Sir Adari was awakened from his trance, and after decades of military service, he knew that there must be something urgent about this knight to make such a good horse so urgent.

Standing by the window and looking from afar, he could see the anxious knight galloping to the entrance of the fortress, and the soldier at the door was stopping him, and the dress did not seem to be from the inside of the legion.

Soon the soldier let the knight go, much to Ser Adari's surprise. Today, it should be the people under Chief of Staff Morlisto who are guarding, and those guys who have to find a way to scrape a handful of oil and water even when flies fly by, actually let an outsider into the Cold Wind Fortress so simply. Seeing the man dismount and gallop towards here, and quickly see his face, Sir Adari couldn't help but smile in astonishment.

It turned out to be the young man named Gawain who was the Guardian Hand. Hearing that he has become the premier guardian of the West Coast, it is no wonder that those guys do not dare to embarrass him, the holy warriors of the guardian hand are extremely poor, and no one dares to say that they will never need the help of these people. But looking at him galloping in the direction of himself, is he looking for himself?

Gawain, who was galloping, also felt the sight of the old man on the tower, looked up, and saluted the knight from afar, but he didn't stop at his feet. Soon, footsteps sounded outside the door, and then there was a courtesy knock on the door: "Sir." ”

"Come in. Ser Adari smiled and waved his hand, and the door opened with the pull of the mage's hand. "I've seen you a long time ago, young man. Is there something very important about running in such a hurry?"

Gawain stepped in and saluted respectfully to the old man, who was much taller and stronger than him. Although he was in his early forties, he was a young man in the eyes of Sir Adari. When he was just a young sword-learning boy, the old man was already the commander of the gray-haired Northern Legion, leading a group of legionnaires around the world to clear out the monsters that had been scared out of the Sgut Mountains by natural disasters, and fiercely guarding the cities and settlements of the West Coast. And this is a real soldier, and in today's post-imperial era, such people are already a handful.

"Yes. Sir Sir, I have a very important matter to report to you. Gawain slammed the door behind him. Sir Adari is also the most trusted and well-connected high-ranking member of their guardian hand in the Northern Legion. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the identity of the Imperial soldier was too delicate, and the arcane foundation he had laid would have instinctively rejected any faith, the greatest patron saint of the Northland and the West Coast during the Cataclysm, he would have been the leader of the Guardian Hand Church long ago.

"That's right. You know the cult **** that happened recently in Osstar City. A cult that worships vengeance and believes in a non-existent god of vengeance lurks in the slums, and after being discovered by the temple, it suddenly leads a riot among the port workers, and the viscount of Osstar City is assassinated in the riot. Recently, I went with a mage friend from the West to track down the cultists, only to find out that the cultists were most likely hiding in the town of Greyvae, sheltered by some of the Northern Legion, and then ......"

Gawain unreservedly stated all the experiences and his own inferences in detail. For the old man in front of him, all he has is incomparable respect and trust. Ser Adari may be old, but the honor and iron blood of the Imperial soldiers still flow in him. While many of the Northern Legion had become extortion bandits and mercenaries in collusion with noble families, only Sir Adari fought desperately against these corruptions, personally killing two squadron leaders who led troops south to plunder villages, throwing three lobbyists sent by noble families out of their offices and smashing them to death, and never getting involved in any dwarf-related smuggling deals. In his words, these barbarian races were simply slaves of the renegade Empire, and every dwarf had the blood of the Imperial soldiers on their hands, and any grain and ale traded to them was a desecration of the souls of those warriors.

This is a true soldier who puts dignity and principles above all else, and such a person will certainly be respected and trusted.

But at the same time, such people do not get much power and benefits. He refused to be inferior and advantageous, and thus refused to be followed by interest groups, especially without additional income, relying only on a month's salary from Oyorostan that year, and the local nobles' local guard allowance, which was not available at that time, the knight could not even afford a few attendants. Then, when the veterans from the Empire who followed him died, the Sir Kong, with the oldest seniority and highest feats in the Northern Legion, could only fade out of the core of power.

Of course, he is still a high-level person without the slightest bit of water, and even if he doesn't talk much, no one dares to ignore his anger. Nothing like seniority and prestige, but as the only surviving arcane warrior of the Northern Legion in the Imperial Age, no one can take him lightly.

Therefore, in such an emergency, Gawain also sought the help of this old man with great confidence and hope. He believed that this old soldier, who was jealous of evil and hated and valued honor and faith more than life, would definitely give him a satisfactory answer.

When listening to Gawain's narration, the old knight's thick eyebrows were also furrowed, and he could see that the slightest anger and killing intent were brewing in it. After listening to this, he muttered, "I also know that the Legion has long been rotten. But they colluded with the dwarves and the cultists without any guilt, and if they could refuse, or even hesitate a little, I would be a little better....... but that's fine. ”

"Okay?" Gawain couldn't understand the old sir's epilogue.

Sir Adari did not respond or explain, but fell silent with a blank face, as if pondering some difficult question. After a while, he finally nodded, walked towards the door, and said to Gawain, "You come with me." ”

As the headquarters of the Northern Legion, the Coldwind Fortress was built in the glorious Imperial Age, and is naturally very majestic and vast, far more than any city on the West Coast. Buildings made of arcane direct rock changes resemble hills, with cobweb-like roads and bridges intertwined, and the central watchtower towering into the sky, and the Eye of Omniscience, which glows during the Imperial Age, can even monitor the entire West Coast and the Sgut Mountains.

But today, this once-glorious fortress is as dilapidated as the rest of the strongholds. Many of the huge abandoned buildings were covered with dust and weeds, turning into veritable barren rocky mountains, and the continuous earthquakes had already destroyed all the cobweb-like bridges and ropeways, and some roads were blocked by the rubble. The Northern Legion numbered less than a third of its heyday, and many were stationed elsewhere, with only a few soldiers and officers now roaming like a swarm of withered ants, in some part of the once great fortress that was still relatively intact.

Following Sir Adari all the way, Gawain saw such a situation in his eyes. It's been nearly a decade since he last came to Coldwind Fortress, and the empire's magnificent remnants of military fortresses show no signs of recovery, but are becoming more and more dilapidated. And the old knight who led the way in front of him, who was the nominally highest-ranking in the Northern Army, did not even have a personal guard by his side, and his tall and majestic body seemed to be a little rickety and aging.

I walked briskly with the old knight for more than ten minutes before I came to a tall building behind the fortress. The outer walls of the building were unusually tall and thick, with a few tower-like things on them, and there were no windows, which showed that it had been a very important place, but now the two gates were just hidden, and four or five soldiers sat lazily in the doorway around a bonfire.

Seeing Sir Adari, the soldiers quickly stood up and gave him a decent military salute, even if this old knight has no real power, after all, he is still one of the spiritual symbols of the Northern Legion.

"This is the largest equipment depot of the Northern Legion, and it used to be one of the most heavily guarded places in the entire legion. Sir Adari seemed to be introducing Gawain, and as if he were talking to himself, he ordered the soldiers: "Open the door to the B12 warehouse for me." ”

The soldiers looked at each other in a daze, and one of the leaders hesitated for a moment and said, "However, an order signed by the chief of staff is required to open the warehouse..."

"The B12 warehouse is my own gear. Sir Adari repeated the command in a low voice, "I don't need anyone's consent to take out the exclusive equipment, open it." ”

Several soldiers still did not move, but their faces were obviously embarrassed and embarrassed, and the head of the leader was soaked with sweat on his forehead, and he could not say anything when he opened his mouth.

Sir Adari quietly looked at the soldiers guarding the equipment depot, the calm and gloomy on his face seemed to be dripping, and after a while, he said slowly: "The power source of the B-level warehouse can be universal, just take off the power crystals of other warehouses and replace them." ”

The soldier at the head coughed unnaturally, hesitated left and right, opened his mouth again, and still didn't say anything.

"It's okay to write on the usage record that it's my request. The old knight said with a blank face, as if numb. "I can only use it once, and I'll only turn it on this once, consuming a few units of power. ”

"Yes, yes, I'm going to open it for you. Sir, please wait a moment. The leading soldier nodded his head as if he had been amnestied, glanced at the other companions around him, and then all ran into the hidden gate together.

"Even the most basic power crystals have been sold...... "Sir Adari muttered and shook his head, with no sparkle in his eyes, like a dying old man watching his children and grandchildren slowly dying. “... It seems that apart from those that can't be moved, there aren't many things left in this arsenal that can be sold. ”

Gao Wen in the back was also a little speechless, looking at the hesitant appearance of those soldiers, he originally thought that it was the other high-ranking members of the legion who deliberately made things difficult for Sir Adari, who knew that this was the reason. I knew that the Northern Army was rotten, but I didn't expect it to reach such a point that even the most important equipment in the arsenal was sold out.

It didn't take long for a low hum to be heard in the arsenal, followed by the click of a huge, poorly lubricated mechanism, and then the soldiers came out sweating profusely and stood in a row saluting Sir Adari: "Sir, what you need has been opened for you. ”

"You come in with me. The old knight replied with a military salute in a meticulous manner, turned his head sideways to Gawain, and walked in. Gawain followed him into the hidden gate, and two of the soldiers standing by the door tried to stop him, and the others looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders and sitting back down by the campfire.

Behind the gate is a huge space with a width of tens of meters, and the opening of the power crystal also lights up several lighting crystals on the roof and walls, and in the dim light, you can vaguely see all kinds of golem limbs piled up around. These arcane alchemy artifacts were once an important part of the Legion's combat effectiveness, but without the necessary care and maintenance, they would gradually become waste. But Gawain's eyesight is good, and he can tell that these golems have been discarded here after being dismantled, and the various crystals and arcane patterns in the core of the core are relatively valuable, and only some traces of destruction by knives and axes are left. Obviously, before it was completely reduced to scrap, there were people from the Northern Army who came to pick out what could be exchanged for money.

Walking through the golem graveyard-like hall, there were several dusty passages behind it, and after passing through this passage was a thick, round stone door that was much smaller, and the place where it had been locked into each other had been opened, revealing a space like an ordinary room in the back. With such an arrangement, it can be seen that this place is used to place relatively precious equipment. In the center of this room is a strange set of armor placed on a wooden shelf, and next to it are two long wooden boxes.

Ser Adari walked over to the strange armor and stopped, staring at it silently before he said, "This is probably the last time I'll wear this arcane armor in my life." Actually, the charging circle above is quite intact, but my mind and body probably can't bear it... And because it has to communicate with the magic web, each arcane armor must be designed to be bound to the user's spirit, and no one else can use it. So when I die, this armor will probably be dismantled by some guy in the legion, and all the parts that can be sold will be sold like the golems outside, and the rest will be thrown away as garbage...... Even in the Imperial Age, this armor was a cutting-edge piece of equipment that only the best warriors of the legions were qualified to wear...... I'll never forget the first time I put on this armor......"

Gawain didn't know what to say. The Guardian Hand is considered an extremely tolerant sect of the Arcane, but it does not support those mages who want to restore the glory of the Empire and return the Arcane to its peak, and it is the tacit consensus of all churches to destroy these magical items left over from the Imperial Age as much as possible, but as a warrior, he is very sympathetic to the memory of this venerable old man.

And he had a strange feeling, and though Sir Adari had brought him here, and had said a great deal to him along the way, he had not yet spoken what he really had to say.

At this moment, Sir Adari waved his hand, and the set of armor on the wooden frame suddenly bounced off and broke into dozens of parts of different sizes, and then quickly reattached to him and reassembled, and the breath was completely equipped on the old man. This armor does not shroud the vital points of the body like the ordinary full-body steel armor, on the contrary, it not only does not look thick and solid at all, but also quite a few of them are completely exposed from the perspective of protection, and the arcane patterns and inlaid gems on it shimmer with a faint glow, making it look more like a set of somewhat strange craft armor.

But of course Gawain knew that this was not the kind of thing that was useless, this was a military weapon created by the most cutting-edge arcane technology in the imperial era, in fact, although he did not understand the arcane, but as a holy warrior with profound attainments in Shinto, when Sir Adari put on this armor, he also felt a slight vibration from the laws of the world around him.

"Young man, I ask you. Why do you think the Northern Legion is corrupt and degenerate into the way it is?"

Sir Adari spoke suddenly. As if by wearing this armor, his voice was now much more powerful and full of life, and the room vibrated with a slight pain in people's ears.

"Because the empire is gone. Gawain replied. In fact, this issue of the old knight has been thought about and discussed by many people on the West Coast, and in the past few decades, the Northern Legion has slowly fallen into the eyes of people step by step, and there is no secret at all. It is already considered good luck that the military group that has lost its belonging and dominance has not directly degenerated into a warlord on the evil side. Because the Orcs in the Southern Prairie are far more aggressive than the dwarves in the Great Mountain Range, and the geographical location of the Aoro Great Plain is also directly under the radius of the Orc's invasion, the local nobles of the Oroyusta and the Central Great Plains must do their best to meet the needs of the Southern Legion. Relying only on the supplies of the nobility of the West Coast, the soldiers of the Northern Legion certainly had a hard time making a living. It was inevitable to sell the equipment and supplies of the legion and become a mercenary of the nobility.

And the most important thing is that out of the need to protect their own interests, the top management of the legion has no intention of disbanding the legion, and in addition to passing on the position to their children and grandchildren, they also continue to absorb new people from various channels, so that they can continue in the era of natural disasters. Nowadays, many of the officers in the legion are from the nobility of the West Coast, and there are also the children of the nobility of the Auro Plain, and the low-level soldiers come from a variety of ways, including noble private soldiers, homeless people, and even bandits and bandits, so it is naturally more and more unbearable.

"Yes, the Empire is gone. An army that has lost its belonging, its honor and its soul is just a corpse that has lost its life, and beneath its shape it is just a mass of rotten flesh that stinks. Ser Adari turned and looked at Gawain. "So what do you think will be needed to bring this corpse back to life?"

Gawain didn't speak, just quietly looked at the old man who seemed to have regained his vitality and spirit, and sighed after a while, and said: "Although the Church of the Dead is contrary to our concept of the Guardian Hand, and there are occasional conflicts between us, I think there is a very reasonable one in their teachings: the dead have passed away after all, and any forcible redemption because of reluctance is a blasphemy of its existence itself. ”

"The whispers of despair, the self-exculpation of the powerless. I remember that I once advised you, young man, that the so-called gods are only the sustenance of the imagination of the weak. The old sir's voice was sonorous and powerful, and it carried a sinister aura like swords striking each other. "The stencitrant flesh needs iron and fire, and for a corpse that has long since decayed and grown, it is only in the ashes after the flames that it is possible to rebirth the dignity of life. ”

Sir Adari was stunned, and the wooden box on the side suddenly shattered, and several long knives that were two meters long were actually shocked by the force of this stun, and the old sir had already grasped two of them in his hand as soon as he copied them. It looked like at least two hundred pounds of a broadsword in his hand as light as two toothpicks.

There was a soft pop, the sound of the air suddenly being slapped. The old knight with the twin knives suddenly disappeared before Gawain's eyes, and then appeared in the passage behind him, the air that had been expelled, and the dust around him was blown high in the air.

"Promise me, young man. Stay here and don't disturb the flames of rebirth. This is my request to you, and a warning from us about our friendship over the years. Sir Adari's burly and tall figure, and the two broadswords in his hands almost occupied the already small passage, and the old eyes that had been muddy and numb not long ago now flashed with confidence and energy like flames, and looked closely at Gawain's back.