Rivendell strode through the hallway, armed and furious.

The neat and luxurious mansion of the past has completely changed its appearance. The stench of no source could be found in the air, and a thin layer of dust covered the windowsills and the frames of portraits. The walls were stained with dried blood, and scratches were not noticeable when looked closely. The crumpled carpet was wet and sticky from an unknown liquid, making a disgusting clicking sound as the boots stepped on. Rivendell tripped as he walked down the stairs and accidentally pulled a severed finger out of the fold. He frowned at the unfortunate wreckage, kicked it into a corner, went to be with the half-toothed skull, and walked forward.

He was greeted by two hounds, or what had once been hounds, at the door at the end of the hallway. They were two rings larger than they had been alive, all their hair was gone, their bare skin was taut and tight, as if it could tear at any moment, and the aberrant bones protruded from the inside of their bodies, piercing the skin and forming sharp spines. One of them had a human head sewn into its neck, and it was blinking slowly at the baron—and then opening its mouth to make a strange tone mixed with muffled guttural voices. No one could immediately hear what the monster was saying, but it kept repeating the same words until the visitor finally understood the meaning.

"No entry, no entry." The monster barked, "No entry, no entry—"

When Rivendell got close enough, it suddenly stopped talking and stepped back with its companions, as if under a silent scolding. Without stopping, the baron rushed into the room they were guarding.

"Hades!" Before he could cross the threshold, he roared, "What have you done to my army!" ”

Nearly everyone in the room winced at his fury, except for the one who was questioned. The black-robed mage just glanced at him faintly, raised a hand to signal him to wait, and then tilted his head at the subordinate in front of him. It wasn't until the others were gratefully evicted through the other door that he turned to face Rivendell.

"The two men I sent to the granary did not return." Hatis said calmly.

"What happened?" Rivendell's voice squeezing out between his teeth was still tempered by anger, which sounded like a poisonous snake spitting out letters.

"It doesn't matter." Hades waved his hand indifferently, "The important thing is that this means that the plague has not been put into the food distributed to the citizens, but it is impossible to stop the awakening ceremony at the cemetery. Plans have to change. ”

"Say." Rivendell commanded succinctly, not interested in further words.

"Since we can't continue to induce the Silver Hand to slaughter the citizens infected by the plague, we might as well destroy them here. The City Guard is by far the most vulnerable target to corruption. I handed over the pre-improved plague to Statham, and then brought back three necromancers to command the army," Hades gestured to the door where the group had just left, "They will spread the plague in the city, corrupt the citizens, and then work with the cultists of the cemetery to destroy the silver hands left in the city." When the main force of the Order returns, the whole city will welcome them. ”

And what kind of "welcome" it is self-evident.

Hatis glanced at Rivendell's still ugly face and added, "Once you've completed the transformation ritual and gained the power bestowed upon you by His Majesty the Lich King, the command of this army will still be back in your hands. ”

Rivendell snorted heavily. The level of the city guards could not be compared with the elite troops of the alliance like the Silver Hand, and after being transformed into undead, they were even more comparable to the Holy Light attribute, and there was no doubt that they would suffer heavy losses. But at this point, he can't get in the way: "How did you get Statham to agree?" He's been scared to death since his last visit to your lab. ”

"I gave him the antidote."

The baron raised his eyebrows: "You still bother to research the antidote?" ”

"Nope." Hades said coldly, "We don't. ”

Rivendell was once again convinced that he had found a fool to replace the commander of the City Guard. He misses Fein a little. Perhaps he should bring this right-hand man back to life as an undead, and the dead usually don't object.

"Are you sure the undead of the entire city are enough to deal with the Silver Hand here?" He asked in a deep voice. They didn't have a lot of paladins coming because of Fordin's trial, especially Uther and the other high-ranking knights. Each of these men was worth a dozen soldiers, and it would be difficult to eliminate them.

"Lord Kel'thugad has long thought about this. My mages are now preparing for that killer move. Hades nodded to the garden outside the window, "It's expensive, but it's worth it as long as the plan works." ”

Rivendell sighed exasperatedly.

"If the Prince of Arthas hadn't stayed in the monastery in the North Shire, we could have done something more hidden."

"But he's not here. And now, he'd better not be here, or we'll have one more headache. ”

Rivendell had to agree. There are enough paladins in this city. He was about to continue to ask for details about the "killer feature" when he paused suddenly.

"Did you hear that?" Alerted like a hound at a command, he strode to the window as Hatis watched in bewilderment, and pushed it open. A pungent smell of burning poured into the room, but that wasn't the reason for his gloomy complexion.

"—Who's ringing the bell?"

***

"Bell-bell-bell-"

Tyran clutched the twine, which was as thick as his wrist, and pulled it down with all his might. The heavy bell bobbled above his head, making a sound that could be heard throughout the city, ringing in his ears, tickling all over his bones, and completely missing the shouting a few paces away. It wasn't until Renault ran and grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him that he let go and ran to the window with the Mograine brothers.

They had rehearsed it many times before the operation, and they knew every detail by heart. Temporary deafness and a pounding heart did not affect the three boys' escape at all. They climbed out of the window of the bell tower, landed on the roof of the house next to it, and then slid over the street with the help of the ropes they had set up earlier—a hand that Dineen had taught them, of course, and then he was taken by the enraged Albert to serve as a meat pad for the boys' practice—and by the time the angry guards climbed out of the window, Tyran, who was behind the palace, had landed safely on the roof on the other side.

An enraged guard intent on imitating their methods to catch up with the troublemakers. But no sooner had his feet left the roof than he saw the boy on the opposite side put the dagger on the rope, and he was so frightened that he immediately screamed. Tyran waited patiently until he was dragged back to the roof by the others and stood firm, before cutting the rope and turning to chase his companion.

They took advantage of the terraces of several houses as a transit and landed safely into the street, then ran into the alleys according to the predetermined route. It wasn't until they were sure that no one had caught up that the three boys stopped out of breath.

"Hey...... Guys, that's a ...... Whew, that's exciting! Renault shouted happily before he could finish his breathing. Darian, who has always been shy, also has red cheeks and shiny eyes, and looks behind him frequently like an alert little animal, as if he is still worried that someone will find them.

Tyran wasn't as excited as the two of them. He knew more about the affairs of the lord than the Mograine brothers, who had been living on his father's estate. He frowned and said, "Darian, in which direction did the flare rise from?" ”

"In the direction of the city gates, near the barracks." Darien suddenly became nervous, "Is there something wrong?" ”

"Mr. Dinen is in trouble." Tyran affirmed, "The bell — he's rallying the militia." ”

Dineen told them to get ready near the town hall and rush to ring the bell as soon as they saw the signal. But his original plan was to evacuate the crowd. He suddenly changed his mind, which meant that the situation had changed. Maybe it's getting worse.

"What? But he's not a lord! Renault was taken aback, "Besides, is anyone really going to go?" I mean, they should know that means the City Guard hasn't been able to solve the problem. Those militias may be afraid to face this situation. ”

"Then we should go and see if we can help." Darien immediately said that he knew that the only concern of the other two was himself, so he immediately made his attitude resolute, "Mr. Dinen is fighting for the city, and it is not right to stand by and watch when he is in trouble." ”

Renault and Tyran exchanged a look, and the latter nodded, "Let's go." ”

After hearing the bell, many people had already walked out of the house, nervously asking each other what was going on, and it seemed that they had not been able to figure out the situation. This made the boys even more worried. As they moved forward, more and more men and women appeared in the streets, some with swords and spears in their hands, others with pitchforks, axes and other things that could be used as weapons, rushing in the same direction as the boys. The closer they got to the barracks, the more people were around. Even women and children refused to stay at home, but stood on the side of the street and watched the militia rush past the call. Those who knew each other huddled together, sharing their anxieties and speculations, and pledging to look out for each other in case of danger. The pent-up panic in the crowd is like rising water, which can cause a levee to burst at any moment.

"That doesn't look good." Renaud muttered, clutching his sword tightly in the atmosphere around him, "Someone has to do something." ”

He suddenly raised his head, then jumped a little, trying to see the scene ahead of him through the crowd: "Hey, did you hear someone yelling?" ”

They heard more clearly as they got closer. There were indeed people shouting, and more than one voice, but not out of panic.

"Newcomers are lining up here! In a group of fifteen, remember your numbers! ”

"The old man and the child go to the rear! Those who can't fight go to the rear! Let's go now, leave your belongings alone, Ms. Gianna's ice wall won't last long! ”

"Drag all the furniture out and drag it to the middle of the road and put it up! You guys, go find the rope! ”

"Go boil the water, ladies, we'll use it later!"

"Who has explosives? Who has explosives? In the name of the baron's ass, I swear I won't trouble him afterwards! ”

There was no doubt that these jumbled voices were giving orders. The confused crowd was quickly divided, and the situation was still a bit chaotic, but more and more people were involved in each task. The boys couldn't decide for a moment whether they should get involved in the work or continue to go to Dineen.

"Hey! The three of you! ”

A man in the uniform of the city guard spotted them and immediately came over to stop them from advancing: "Go back, it's dangerous ahead. The elderly and children are to be evacuated to the center of the city. ”

"We are warriors!" Unconvinced, Renault raised his sword to show him. The man looked at them, still skeptical. Tyran didn't know if it was appropriate to say Dineh's name now, so he could only look forward with a glimmer of hope. It just so happened that several people ran past carrying a wardrobe, leaving a brief gap for him to catch a familiar face.

Tyran's eyes widened, and he lowered his head and slipped under the arms of the City Guard soldiers who stood in the way. The other party subconsciously turned around, and only scratched an empty hand. Renault took the opportunity to pull his brother around him and run forward. They turned left and right in the crowd and rushed to the front of the barricade in one breath. Compared to the busy crowd behind the barricades, there were only a few people standing here discussing something, and they were all surprised to see three boys suddenly rush out of the crowd.

"Ah," Darion realized why they were all running up to one of them all of a sudden, "It's Uncle Tirio!" How did you end up here? ”

"This, too, my, question." A voice said hard.

The Mograine brothers looked back together and saw Dinen with a gloomy face. He glared at them as if a wolf had made up his mind to give a bite to a cub running away from the nest. They shrunk their necks at the same time, and Renault defended himself with some weakness: "We're here to help." I thought not many people would come. ”

Tirio, who was patting his son on the shoulder, took the time to give them an encouraging smile: "Thank you, boys. ”

Dinen didn't know why he suddenly slumped his shoulders and sighed, as if he had given up on teaching them a lesson. Gianna, who was standing next to him, gave a funny look as she quietly winked at them, trying to share a missed joke. The boys looked confused, both true and false.

"Well, these pairs of eyes will always come in handy." The last man in the uniform of the City Guards spoke, appearing to be the superior of the City Guards who were maintaining order, "Think about the problem we just talked about, maybe we can leave it to them." ”

"You can leave any task you have to us, Your Excellency!" Renault said enthusiastically, "I promise you, we can fight!" ”

"I can't argue with that." Dineen reluctantly agreed.

Although he had been working to keep the boys out of possible conflict, it was only because he really couldn't spare time to watch them in the middle of the battle at the moment, and he didn't really want them to have no other way but to run away in case of danger. He instructed Albert to train the boys in a coordinated combat team, and built his own weapons to protect themselves as much as possible. Although the training time is not long, the boys will not be at a disadvantage when facing three or two enemies.

Tirio listened to his explanation, and after looking at the weapons Tyran had shown, he agreed to the offer. So the man in the city guard uniform—he said his name was Finn Coravin, and that name really sounded familiar—explained to the boys what to do. Dinen fears that the people from the rear may be mixed with spies sent by evil necromancers who will take advantage of the opportunity to wreak havoc in the battle that begins later, so some inconspicuous people will need to find them.

"What are we going to do with people like this?" Renault asked.

"Knock them down." Dineh said coldly.