The funeral of Mikhail, the governor of Thessaloniki, was presided over by Alexios, and when the tall stone monument was erected, devout Christians fell to their knees and prayed for the dedicated hero.

Emperor Alexios said in a heavy tone facing all the people of Thessaloniki with a solemn expression and some sadness.

"It is a pity for the Romans that the empire has lost a loyal official, and that Salonika has lost its beloved son, and that we are here today to bury Mikhail, the son of the great Roman people, and may God bless his soul in heaven!"

Archbishop Peter also said: "God loves the world, and Mikhail's contribution to the empire means that he will be favored by God in heaven!" ”

The citizens of Thessaloniki shed tears of grief, Mikhail's burial site was filled with earth, and the grand funeral came to an end in the middle of the day.

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"Shishman, I appoint you the commander of the Fourth Legion of the Empire, and give the Fourth Legion, the Defender of Thessaloniki, and you can promote some of the soldiers who have defended the city of Thessaloniki to join the Legion.

Lazar, you have fought your way to the Empire in the most perilous hour of Rome, and I have appointed you as Shishman's aide-de-camp, and I hope that you will continue to play a role in fighting for the rise of the Empire. ”

Two warriors fell to their knees, they had been depressed from the poor of the lower classes, the ladder of promotion was narrow, and they had been ostracized by the orthodox Greeks, and today the emperor's generous promotion reward gave them the heart to die.

"We will definitely give all our allegiance to Your Majesty and fight for the Empire!" Both Shishman and Lazar shouted loudly, their mood unat ease.

Alexios, who is high on the throne, is also quite satisfied with his maturing imperial mind, but it is urgent to march into Lalisha, and he still needs to reorganize his armament and lead the cavalry to attack quickly.

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It had been raining for two days, and Alexios led the light cavalry of the guards and the Second Legion on the muddy road, intending to reach Lalisha quickly, but due to bad weather, the speed of the army inevitably slowed down.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to propose to temporarily stop the advance, the weather was originally hot, and the soldiers carried most of the light suits in order to increase their speed, but now the sudden rainstorm has been falling for two days in a row, and our soldiers are marching in the rain!

Your Majesty, I must remind you that most of my second legion came from nomadic tribes of Turkic origin, and such a forced march could not be compared with the guards and pro-army! ”

Khayyam's armor was drenched in the rain, and he opened his mouth wide before he could say a few words, he had already swallowed several mouthfuls of rainwater, and it was difficult to cover the raindrops with his hands in order to communicate with the emperor normally.

"My general, we may be only one step away from victory now, Lalisha is not far from us, we can reach it by marching for another day, and we must not give up easily!"

Alexios shouted in the rain, his hoarse voice telling orders that had torn Khayyam, and he didn't know what the emperor was thinking, of course, the sooner he entered Lalisha, the better.

Marching early can strike at the rebels that have not yet taken shape, and perhaps the presence of the Emperor's banner at the head of the city can crumble the morale of the rebels.

But the Second Legion was indeed irritable, they were not professional soldiers who had been fully integrated into the imperial system like the guards and pro-army, but Turks who were attracted by money to join the imperial army, and there was no concept of loyalty to the monarch at all.

Of course, such a difficult environment was not something they could bear, and the reason why Khayyam came here was because some of their relatives and friends of the same clan were instigated to come.

These Turkic mercenaries even threatened that if the emperor still insisted on advancing, they would leave the emperor and return to Anatolia, so how dare Khayyam tell the emperor at will!

"Your Majesty, please take a look at the guards and the second legion, the guards are strictly trained and can be adhered to, but the soldiers of the second legion can no longer withstand such a march, Your Majesty, look back!"

The rain-soaked face of Khayyam made Alexios feel a little unclear, and the voices echoing in his ears were far away and sometimes near.

Everything in front of him was so unreal, he looked up at the sky to find something, and soon his cheeks were wet with rain, his eyes couldn't be opened, and suddenly his brain was swollen and painful and he couldn't feel it.

"Your Majesty!" It was the last voice Alexios heard at that moment, and everything was left in darkness and silence.

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Alexios wanted to open his eyes, but there was a hazy feeling in front of him, and he couldn't see the things around him clearly, but the voice in his ears still gave him some impressions, who was it?

"How is His Majesty the Emperor's health?" It seemed to be Khayyam's voice, and the red armor of the warrior in front of him was fiery red in the reflection of the candlelight.

"Your Majesty's body should have suffered from the wind chill during the rapid march in the rain, coupled with the illness caused by irritability and anger, it is recommended to recuperate for a period of time."

A black-robed figure also appeared in front of Alexios' eyes, the shadow was always so blurry, his body was heavy, and finally he fell into darkness again.

In the dim world, Alexios floated in the air, the black water below rippling a little ripple, and he felt cold from the bottom of his heart, curling up his naked body in a ball, until he finally wrapped his head.

Alexios' body seemed to warm up with a little bright starlight from the sky, he stretched his body, white feathers fell from above, he looked up curiously, the beautiful Seraphs were flying from heaven, and the scepter of light shone in her hand.

"Come here! Come here! The angel's call caused Alexios to pounce into her arms in confusion.

The holy angel passed the scepter into Alexios' hand, and in an instant, red-hot energy came from the hand of the saint, surging all over Alexios's body, making him want to moan comfortably.

"Go ahead! Go ahead! ”

Alexios snapped his eyes open, white curtains appearing in front of him, and his weak arms could not be lifted without responding to his call.

But after waking up from the dream, the emperor felt that he could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion, and his mouth was wide open, but only a faint voice came out.

"Someone!"

The curtain was lifted, and it was Khayyam who walked in, and he half-knelt down, leaned over the emperor and listened: "Your Majesty, I am here." ”

"Send out scouts to guard in the direction of Lalisha, and give me a pillow to help me up."

Alexios leaned against the soft white pillow and felt a lot better, but in the world where he slept in the past, would those rebellious rebellious thieves take the initiative to attack, if Alexei had such guts, then the imperial army would be dangerous!

"Your Majesty, we have been camping here for the time you have been asleep lately, and there has been no enemy attack, and the rain has become lighter!

The soldiers are tired of running back and forth to fight in various frontiers of the empire, and they really need to take a break, so please take a break for a while in order to take care of your health. ”

Khayyam's words made the emperor also silent, he really didn't take into account the limit of the soldiers' endurance, but unfortunately time is running out, the enemies of the empire are all over the world, and they can't rest for a moment, it's really annoying!

"Stand down, let's camp here for a while!"

In view of the fact that his fifteen-year-old body is indeed not comparable to that of an adult, it is better to recuperate after suffering from the wind and cold, and he is afraid that dragging his sick body to the battlefield will fulfill Alexei's ambition at that time.

It was late at night, and the camp was quiet.

It's just a day to come.