Under the dome shrouded in white clouds, a small black dot shuttled between the mountains of the Yunling Kingdom, slowly approaching the direction of the cloud peak.

The sheer size of the castle and the dazzling white walls and towers of the ensemble make her breathtakingly oppressive from beginning to end, and the upper and lower streamlines resemble a cylindrical cone-shaped shape, giving this castle "floating" in the air a majestic and elegant beauty at the same time.

From a distance, it looks like an "inverted cone" cornerstone that lifts it from the earth, and above it is a small castle fortress connected to it - walls, towers, main forts, streets, houses...... Exquisite, all of them.

A castle that hangs alone in the sky, a city that soars above the clouds.

Fort Horn... That's the name of the city in the sky.

In fact, at the beginning of her birth, she had more than one name - for example, the little wizard originally named her "St. Zichen, First Quarter Moon, Dawn and White Swan Castle".

And a megalomaniac, after almost laughing and being almost literally beaten up by the little wizard who was annoyed, still insisted on calling it "Isaac City".

The dwarves who were in charge of all the construction wanted to call her "New Silver Helmet Mountain", and a certain royal side branch, the eldest lady who always wore black-rimmed glasses, felt that the name "Howling Dragon City" was more imposing;

The Countess of Crimson Castle, who never spoke, thought that the floating city should be given some Byrne characteristics, such as "Banner Castle" or "Knight's Castle", and the Counts of the Round Table Council submitted their opinions to the public.

The 2,000 knights gathered at the Red Blood Fortress agreed that only names like "Holy Sword City" or "Holy Grail City" could be considered "Byrne's Identity".

As for the opinion of a certain black-haired wizard, it became completely irrelevant - the name he gave "Laputa" was rejected by everyone from the beginning.

There is no way, in this world, the only one who can really understand the meaning of this name is a blonde boy who is also "full of bad taste".

In the end, all parties can only choose the most "compromise" solution... Since everyone doesn't like each other's names, you can only choose one name that everyone doesn't like.

So "Fort Horn", an old antique that seemed to have been moved out of ten generations ago, became the name of the Duchy of Byrne, and the Sakran Empire may even be the name of the first floating city in the world.

After three years of design, R&D, construction... With the help of the construction techniques of the Dwarves of Silverhelm Mountain and the support of Byrne's Wizarding Society, and then aid from Ebolden.

Even later, even the Imperial Capital Wizarding Academy and Crucible Town in Golovin, led by the Royal Wizard Advisor Master Albert, the best alchemists in the entire empire also devoted themselves to this vigorous "big project".

Advanced rune technology from Eberden, alchemy technology from the two "military academies" of the imperial capital of Golovin and Forge Town, mechanical technology unique to the dwarves from Silverhelm Mountain... Under the premise that Byrne spared no effort and did his best, it took only two and a half years to complete this "feat" that many people would not have completed at all.

In Dalton Kand's almost caustic parlance, the "nature" of wizards who live in seclusion, selfishness, and have no collective consciousness has not been so united in the past thirty years, and there will be no second time in the next thirty years.

And such a sky fortress that gathers the entire Duchy of Byrne, and even half of the empire, the first stop of the visit is neither a territory of the Duchy of Byrne or its allies, nor is it used to demonstrate to the empire, but the cloud peak of the Yunling Kingdom is selected.

"We seem to be late. ”

Standing at the top of the white tower, the black-haired wizard squinted at the battlefield in the distance, and his tone was filled with a hint of regret.

"Nonsense, isn't this clear?"

Isaac, who was standing behind him, snorted coldly, not giving his friend and duke any face: "This is not a dragon, nor is it something that can fly with wings;

It's a floating city, and when she was designed to do so, no one expected her to be an unmanned horse-drawn carriage or a high-speed spaceship or anything like that!"

"In fact, considering her own pitiful mobility that is slightly inferior to that of a turtle, and we don't know anything about the wind direction, wind speed, and climate change in the Yunling Kingdom, it's already a great miracle that she hasn't turned her head down and turned into a large corn with her head down!"

Although it was unceremonious sarcasm and sarcasm, a certain "genius plus megalomaniac" still had a proud expression on his face, excitedly looking at the alchemists who were busy behind him.

"Of course, for the sake of our friends, I will magnanimously forgive you for your little opinion, Brother Loren—after all, this is a masterpiece of my creativity, my theory, and my design, and only my knowledge of her can penetrate into the soul;

Because of this, it is normal and reasonable for outsiders to have some misunderstandings and unrealistic fantasies. ”

Looking at Isaac's excited expression, Loren had nothing more to say than shrug.

"What do you mean by your creativity, your theory and your design, which is clearly the result of all of us?!"

The busy little wizard in the back row strode over, his voice very unhappy - even if he had long been clear about the nature of this megalomaniac, when he heard such words, his long golden hair would still instinctively blow up.

"Besides, Floating City has been my idea from the beginning, from the design drawings to the first blueprints are all drawn by me - you halfway guy can only be regarded as assistance at best!"

"Assist... Without my 'help', your St. Zichen... Damn, the name is too long... I don't know if I can fly!"

"You, you, you, you... You say it again?!"

"Again, it doesn't change how stupid your stupid 'big toy' idea is, and its performance is even so bad that it needs to be powered by the nine-pointed star chalice - with such an artifact, the bricks can fly into the sky, okay?"

"Not to mention the name of the Rausch ghost you gave - Saint Zichen ...... Well, I know you were born in the ignorant and superstitious countryside of Lothair, but I didn't expect you to have such a strong religious inclination to this day... Ah——! my head!"

"Stop me, or your face will be next!"

Looking at the annoyed Al in and Isaac fleeing in all directions, the black-haired wizard sighed "tacitly", and then cautiously walked down the parapet wall of the tower so as not to affect himself.

Under the city walls, a gray-eyed boy who had expected this situation had been waiting on the stairs for a long time.

His short dark blue hair was scattered, and he was dressed like all the witchers, except for a gray armor one size smaller, the sword of Ellemont hung from his waist on the left side, and the dragon knight's spear was behind his right shoulder—the only thing that was "maverick" was a gray scarf around his neck.

"How's the preparation?" Although it was a question, the dark-haired wizard's tone was quite affirmative: "There will be a quarter of an hour at most." ”

"It doesn't take a quarter of an hour, it's all the time. Lu Sien slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of mature eyes that did not match his immature face:

"The situation has been roughly understood-the rebels are besieging the city, the royal army is defending the city, there are still a large number of corrosive demons nearby, coupled with the strong void reaction from the direction of the palace of the kings, the real culprit behind this civil war may not be able to wait, and is ready to take matters into his own hands. ”

"I'm ready... It can't escape. The gray-eyed boy's tone was calm, and his eyes focused on the battlefield that was about to arrive in the distance.

The dark-haired wizard glanced meaningfully at him, looking him up and down.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just a little surprised. Loren chuckled and withdrew his gaze: "You from three years ago... It won't be so calm before the start of the big war - no, it's too tactful to say that, it should be anytime, anywhere, and ready to be heroic!"

"Well, yes......" Scratching his head, Lusen smiled embarrassedly:

"People always change, and Isaac and Ain have changed a lot, including you—they're not the same as they were three years ago. ”

"It's probably just me, because I've been leaving you for the past three years, so it seems obvious, right?"

Looking at the black-haired wizard who was slightly more mature and more calm than he was three years ago, the gray-eyed boy said with some emotion.

Before you know it, three years have passed......

It was a snowy morning, but it was like yesterday.

"Yes, now we are the wings of the sky that are famous and resounding through half the empire - we are no longer the hot-blooded young man who is easy to boil and wants to die to prove himself. ”

The black-haired wizard, who raised his eyebrows and deliberately pretended not to understand, showed a somewhat sly expression: "The only thing that will always remain the same may be your size." ”

"......" Lusen.

"Alas... Having said that, I remember the last time I saw the Grand Duke of Elleman, he didn't seem to have changed much from three years ago. Little by little, the black-haired wizard's smile became undisguised:

"Could it be that the proverb 'the little man of Ellemont' is true?, how tall is your father, the former Duke of Ellemont?"

"Uh...... Father... I remember him being half a head taller than my brother now... Probably?"

Lusen, who was full of black lines, had no idea of continuing this conversation.

"Anyway... Who's the witcher in charge of the Cloud Peak monitoring mission?"

Sensing his friend's embarrassment, Loren wasted no time in changing the subject.

"Carl Colin, the Night's Watchman's eyeliner for us, and the head of the third recruit, Martin Nilton. ”

"Originally, I felt that when it came to the Yunling Civil War, it was necessary for the empire to understand the seriousness of the problem a little, and in addition, allowing talented recruits to get in touch with actual combat as soon as possible under the cover of veterans could also improve their strength and experience. ”

Staring at the burning palace of the kings in the distance without squinting, Lu Sien frowned slightly: "But so far, we have not received any information from them. ”

"Are you okay?"

"Probably not - according to the original plan, there were still four days left in the deadline of the mission, and the Cloud Peak Siege had broken out early, and they had no chance to sneak into the city again. The gray-eyed boy shook his head, and guessed with some concern:

"I guess I'm still ambushing somewhere outside the city, waiting for orders, right?"

Is it outside the city... Loren nodded thoughtfully.

Before coming, Mentor Dalton had mentioned this recruit once - he was even more talented than himself in terms of spells and ancient runes, and it was no surprise that within twenty years, he would become a top spell master who was proficient in battle spells and advanced alchemy.

And Carl Colin is both the eyeliner of Ruth Infinit and the most elite veteran of the Witcher Legion;

Such a combination of "one old and one young", even in the Wings of the Sky, belongs to the strongest squad of the "top combat power configuration", there should be no more problems, right?

"Lord Loren, may I ask a question?"

The gray-eyed boy asked abruptly.

Loren was stunned for a moment.

"Why... Do you have to insist on taking the 'Horn Fort' to the top of the clouds?" Lusen's expression was very confused: "Although she looks like a fortress, she actually has no combat ability, and even as a vehicle to command the battle, she should be in the rear, not directly over the battlefield. ”

"What's more, according to Isaac, Hornfort isn't really a 'floating city' at best, it's just an experimental sample, and we won't even have time to escape if anything happens. ”

"Such a sky fortress that has no combat power, cannot pose any real threat, cannot be repaired once destroyed, and cannot even ensure absolute security... What is the significance of ending this civil war in the Yunling Kingdom?"

"This... There are two main reasons. ”

"Two reasons?"

"First of all... Although the existence of Hornfort is no secret, this is still the first time she has shown herself in this world - the unknown existence is the greatest fear. Loren explained, "And I want to use this fear to end the civil war in the Yunling Kingdom once and for all!"

"In any case, the importance of the Yunling Kingdom to Byrne and the Empire is self-evident - the most important ore source, the only Mithril source, with a large number of fortresses and abundant soldiers... Such neighbors, no matter how unharmonious their relations with us, cannot allow them to stand in the enemy's camp. ”

"Hmm......" The gray-eyed boy nodded as if he didn't understand, his expression was still confused, if there was anything in common between his current self and three years ago, it was that he still couldn't keep up with Loren's brain circuit:

"It's just one, and what about the other?"

"The other one. Loren shrugged and looked playfully at the peak of the clouds below:

"I just think after all this time, I need to make a slightly more dramatic appearance and tell the guys who almost forgot about me ......"

"I'm back again. ”