The north wind whistled briefly for a few seconds, and then was covered by a rough laugh that was Hephasto laughing, the saber-rattling atmosphere vanished in his unbridled laughter, Hephasto laughed as he curled up his emaciated body on horseback, as if to squeeze all the gas in his chest to his throat, providing the power for his vocal cords to laugh. After laughing tiredly, Hephasto spat the snow in front of him, and looked at Donovan mockingly: "Listening to your accent, it should be another Buckley mercenary who came to Pande." You Buckleys have always had an inexplicable sense of arrogance and superiority in your bones, and the 'high talk' published in Pander could be compiled into a thick book of jokes—but I must admit, Your Excellency Donovan, your sense of humour is even far superior to that of your countrymen. You swear sovereignty over his land in the presence of a Pander lord - if Buckley chooses warriors with a sense of humor, your words are enough to get you elected to the Conqueror's Legion. A cold glimmer of danger swept out of Hephasto's half-squinted eyes, "You must be naïve enough to think that the villagers of Ismolola will willingly bury you with you, right?" He turned to Estheu, "Lord Baranduk, there's no need to listen to this Buckley guy anymore. It should be easy for you to take him down, put an end to this farce as soon as possible, and I'm curious to see how much of his incredible sense of humor is left after becoming a prisoner. ”

Donovan had never heard such sharp and intense sarcasm on the back of his sword's hand, and he wanted to interrupt several times, but the other party seemed to keep a close eye on the shape of his mouth, and was immediately robbed of his mouth when he tried to speak, and even deliberately imitated his thick Barkley accent. Donovan wisely didn't bother with the old fellow, he slowly raised a fist, and the villagers stepped forward en masse out of the wooden fence. The loose phalanx gathered around him, and the broken swords stood between the door panels, and like a chain reaction, the troops who had been waiting not far from Estheu's rear also raised their weapons one after another. The horses were already aware of the change in the atmosphere, and snorted uneasily, their front hooves digging deep furrows in the snow. There was a huge gap in the quality and equipment of the two troops, but the villagers of Ismorola, who were absolutely inferior, showed the same bravery and blood as the regular army, maintaining a tight formation, escorting Donovan as he slowly retreated into the village, while also making rude gestures towards Esher and Hephasto.

A feathered arrow flew crookedly over the wooden fence, originally bound for Estheau, but was deflected by the wind in mid-air, and finally landed at Hephasto. Although it is only a structure of rough splicing of branches and pieces of iron, it still has the lethal power to penetrate the flesh. Hephasto didn't react at all—maybe he did, but when he noticed the movement in his head, the feathered arrow was already in Estheau's hand. Eshua followed the trajectory of the arrow and saw only a young, bewildered face. Donovan was also looking angrily at the villager who hadn't controlled the bowstring. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, this arrow has become a signal of provocation and a spark for detonation. The first to be ignited were the craftsmen Hephasto had brought out of Finbrai, who roared angrily, grabbed their weapons and jumped out of the wagon, and charged forward with the others. Estheu raised his left arm, and the dragon knight and iron guard immediately stopped, followed by Salaman, and Wren immediately reined in his horse, but the craftsman was still galloping. They completely ignored Essho's presence, and the craftsman who rushed to the front even tried to push Eshu aside, only to end up with his head on Essho's back, and was shaken by his own momentum and staggered back a few steps, knocking the other craftsmen to the ground. The charge was aborted.

"I'd like to see it again." Estheu rubbed his shoulders and said to Hephasto.

"This is your territory, and you have the highest right to self-determination in all matters within it, and you can see it for as long as you want." Hephasto shrugged his shoulders indifferently, "But please don't keep me waiting too long, my old bones can't stand the cold, and I'm tired from the long journey." Now I just want to find a stone house and raise a bonfire to roast my hands and feet. He bowed slightly to Estheu, then turned his head and shouted at the craftsman, "What are you doing? You are craftsmen, not some kind of death squad, you don't need to stand on the front line, does the Baron have any orders? The ghosts are roaring and screaming, and we are in the plains, but if you are close to a snowy peak, the only ones who can dig you out of the avalanche are hungry wolves. What are you doing here, get back to the carriage with me! Before leaving, he snatched the arrow from Estheau's hand, which had almost stuck in his head, broke off the arrow, and threw the shaft into the snow.

Donovan watched in surprise as Hephasto pushed the craftsmen back into the ranks, he was ready for the onslaught, but the young nobleman was clearly unwilling to tear his face off immediately. However, Donovan did not take it lightly, the opposing army's troops could press up on the whole line at any time, these people were not the Misty Mountain barbarians who attacked the village before, once the two sides really began to engage in hand-to-hand combat, their own side would only be crushed at the touch of a button. He was still thinking about how to mediate, but he saw the nobleman riding his horse slowly around the village.

What does he want to do? Donovan summoned a few villagers and ordered, "You guys, keep an eye on him, and let the people on the roof take care of their hands!" I don't want to see the second time! ”

Eshu walked around the simple fortifications of the village, and several short bows stood vigilantly behind the wooden fence. Although Esher could easily break through and take down the former instructor of Oldenburg, he didn't want to show off his strength in his own territory. And it stands to reason, if it weren't for Donovan, Ismolola wouldn't know what the situation would be now. Hephaesto underestimated Donovan's influence on the villagers, arriving in the treacherous snowy plain long before Essho's party, establishing his authority as a leader in Ismorola, training the villagers who survived on the edge of the Misty Mountains into a force to be reckoned with. Donovan was surrounded not only by the militia he had trained, but also by his followers. It's easy to capture the lord of Ismorola, but what kind of counterattack will the villagers cause to suppress the savior of Ismorola?

Turning to the north side of the village, the wooden fence was badly damaged, and there was a large blackened stain on the snow not far in front of the fence, which Eshu could recognize at a glance as coagulated blood, and a stiff arm sticking out of the bloodstain. Eshu jumped off his horse and dragged the entire body out of the snowdrift. A large gap appeared in the snow, revealing more corpses underneath, almost all striped, and their armor had been rudely stripped away, so that Eshua could not tell whether the dead were bandits or brutes from the Misty Mountains—though for the North, there was no essential difference between the two. Eshu looked around and found several large crystalline dark red spots, which must have been similar to those beneath his feet. It is no different from an open-air slaughterhouse, only covered by wind and snow, but there are still rare traces of tragedy.