In the spring of 1176 in the imperial calendar, after confirming the covenant in the form of a document, Leo, who had separated from the Duke of Lancaster and others, finally set foot on the land of the Northern Territory again a year later, and the establishment of the duchy and the development of his own strength were imminent for him......

In the distant imperial capital, Rolf insisted on executing all the nobles who opposed him in the imperial capital, despite the dissuasion of all his cronies, including Saru, and forcibly dissolved the imperial noble council, which was called the rest of the country

At the same time, he enacted harsh laws to reduce the fiefs and rights of the nobles, especially the central nobles, and in the same year changed the imperial conscription system, greatly expanding its military power......

In the midst of the chaos, the Church became the biggest beneficiary, not only was the new emperor crowned by the Pope himself for the first time in the history of the empire, but a large number of nobles had to be baptized and became believers in the Most High God

Among the common people, the prestige of the Church, which had always shown mercy, was even greater, and the priests and clergy, with the acquiescence of Rolf, developed their power unscrupulously, and, of course, those who dared to accuse the Church and make different statements, regardless of their status, the burning at the stake in the Inquisition was their unifying home

At this point, under the double pressure of Rolf and the Church, the empire took on a kind of harmony and unity on the surface under the distortion of gray tones......

**********************

In the small fishing village of Gwen, in the western part of the mainland of Nice, the warming climate has finally brought some warmth to the salty air, and the blue-brown outer walls of the houses stacked haphazardly along the side of the mountains have begun to climb with some green vines

Before dawn in the morning, the fishermen, who had gone out early and returned late to feed their families, yawned and walked out of the house on time......

There are often men who yell a few words at the mother-in-law in the house in front of everyone, and after pretending to be majestic enough, they will gather with everyone in the jokes of other fishermen, talk and laugh and walk to the beach......

"Boundless enemies swarmed, Adrian Josie the Great slowly drew the long sword in his hand, there was even a little contempt on his face, and looked at the ten most loyal and strong knights gathered around him, Josie the Great swung his sword hand fiercely, and behind him, the soldiers all over the mountains ......"

"Bang!"

"Oops!"

The boy who sat barefoot on the rough sand and fell into yy was awakened by the sudden pain in the back of his head, wiped the saliva left at the corner of his mouth, Adrian jumped up quickly, looked at the little friend who had succeeded behind him, covered the back of his head and said depressedly

"Damn, John, you're always like that, my dad said that I'll get stupid when I get too much in the head, and then I won't be able to remember the route and the way home......"

The boy named John blinked, jumped barefoot, put his arm around his friend's shoulders and sat down together, pouted and said nonchalantly

"Everyone knows that if you don't daydream, our little Josie will be the greatest fisherman in the future, but you can only be a fisherman, your father gave you a noble name, Adrian, but that doesn't mean you can become a nobleman!"

Fingers unconsciously drew on the sand, and little Josie muttered

"Uncle Hahn once said that if people don't have dreams, they are no different from salted fish, maybe one day I can really become a big man, and then John and I will definitely make you a big official, and you will eat endless rice and candy every day......"

"Damn, I'm hungry, don't you know I didn't have breakfast, but speaking of Uncle Hahn, it's been so long, and I really miss him, this damn shipwreck, every year someone in the village goes to sea and never comes back!"

John complained a few words, found that his little friend looked at the beach in a daze and ignored it, and was a little dissatisfied at the moment, and was about to give the other party another brain breakdown, but saw little Josie stand up and point ahead, stammering

"That'...... What is that, God, I have never seen such a large ship! ”

Turning his head in surprise, John also brought the same expression, in the pupils of two teenage children, not far above the sea level, several incomparably large ships with pitch black, breaking through the last trace of fog before the early morning, appeared in front of him......

A black flag flutters high on the mast of the ship in the middle, and if you get closer, you can see the terrifying demon image on the flag

In the fully enclosed cabin, an extremely burly strong man wearing a heavy black full-body armor with a height of more than one meter nine asked in an angry voice

"Hahn, is this the place where you talk to the Great Master?"

After the strong man spoke, the warm cabin was instantly filled with an aura of cold death, and even the companion standing beside him took a few steps back, obviously a little afraid of this person

Although the leader also wore a pitch-black visor in the cabin, making it impossible to see his face, Hahn, who was asked, still did not dare to look up, and replied with great humility and deep bending behind him

"Honorable Lord Black Knight, you are right, this is our destination, I have lived in this decaying and dilapidated place for 5 years in disguise, and this is a suitable temporary outpost for us, both in terms of population and isolation......"

"Very good"

Turning around, the Black Knight took a few steps back and forth in the cabin, extremely heavy, and the terrifying weight of the knight's armor that was completely different from the appearance of the knights commonly found on the continent allowed him to leave deep footprints on the teak floor with every step he took

After thinking for a while, the black knight, whose right hand never left the giant sword at his waist, slapped Hahn heavily with his left hand

"You are very good, my master and I will remember your merits, show your bravery and loyalty, maybe it won't be long before I personally promote you to become the new Dark Knight!"

"Thank you...... Thank you, sir, I swear to give everything to the darkness! ”

A fluttering promise made Hahn almost kneel down in excitement, and several other people around him couldn't help but cast jealous eyes on Hahn, knowing how difficult it was to hear a compliment from the mouth of this adult

And his power, even the newcomer who has recently been greatly appreciated by his master, is temporarily incomparable......

"Boom!"

Several huge warships did not evade, and rushed straight onto the beach, and after rubbing for hundreds of meters, Hahn's general stopped in front of the two stunned teenagers

The hatch opened from the inside, and Hahn, dressed in a black burqa over elaborate chain mail, jumped out of the beach first, followed by a steady stream of similarly equipped fighters

Hahn frowned as he looked at the two familiar teenagers in front of him, but quickly pulled out the mace from his waist and walked over with a bloodthirsty grin......

"No, Hahn, Uncle Hahn, why are you dressed like this, and what are you going to do?"

The strange atmosphere made little Josie and John obviously feel abnormal, and they subconsciously retreated and kept asking the silent Hahn, but unfortunately, they would never get the answer from the familiar and stranger in front of them......

……

Looking at the two shattered corpses at his feet, Hahn let out a long breath of cloudy air, "It's time, let me break off this filthy and damp place...... The glory of the master will surely begin here and continue to conquer the entire continent! ”

Behind him, hundreds of black-armored and black-robed soldiers disembarked one after another, and some soldiers continued to pull out black war horses from the last ship...... If anyone with a little common sense is here, they will find that it is definitely not a bandit army, this is clearly a well-disciplined and well-trained army!

At this time, the black knight in the cabin also rode an incomparably tall and vigorous black horse, if you look at the shoulder height alone, it is even more than a unicorn, the black horse's eyes do not have a trace of meekness belonging to the same kind, and the tyrannical look can even make humans feel fearful

The black knight drew the serrated greatsword at his waist, the black sword fluttered fiercely in the sea breeze, and the orders issued under the almost seamless visor were extremely cruel and ruthless

"Disperse, slaughter all the humans within fifty miles of this and the vicinity, and then divide the men to disguise themselves as fishermen here under the guidance of Hahn, and the rest burn the boats, destroy all traces of us, and lurk here waiting for the day when the Lord will land on the continent of Nice!"

(To be continued.) Pen % Fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info)