The fortress at the end of the forest has always been majestic and cold, and it can be said to be the first fort in Dejia. In addition, the "Black Tide" legion is stationed all year round and does not take a single step, which also makes the air above the fortress always accumulate a dense undead aura, like heavy rain cumulus clouds, which will not disperse for a long time.

In the center of the fortress, there is a special black brick bell tower, which is nine times high, and there is a black iron bell at the top. If it is sounded by special means, it is said that it can be heard for thousands of miles, and the whole country hears it, and it is the highest warning sign on the southwest border of Dejia.

It is said that the only time this black iron bell rang was when Griffinhardt personally commanded the Human Legion in an attempt to conquer Dejia. For nearly a thousand years, the bell tower and bell remained so silent that they are now almost forgotten by the world.

Standing on the top of the bell tower, with the black iron bell on his back, Nelson, the Bone Blade General, looked at the army of the undead slowly in the far Black Forest, and was silent.

It's been many years since I've seen such an army of the Holy Spirit attack the human kingdom. And it is still led by the death preacher himself, which can be said to leave no room for it.

"What the hell are you doing, Bendere? What's going on in that god of yours? ”

Muttering to himself silently, the Bone Blade General shook his head slightly.

In today's Dejia, the name "Ban Deer" is almost unknown, and very few who know it will not or dare not announce it. Because, it belongs to the "Patriarch of Death".

Today's Dejia almost no one knows or remembers the two people who first established the Holy Spirit Temple: first, Ben Deer; One, Nelson.

Throughout, Nelson never believed in death. The original purpose of the Holy Spirit Temple, which he co-founded with Bander, was only a mutual aid and mutual benefit organization for the indigenous souls of Dejia, not a later religious behemoth.

Fundamentally, Nelson did not believe that the spirits of Dejia were fundamentally different from other life on the land. Or rather. Undead life is just a special branch, or a special stage, of thousands of life types. And the world's fear of Deja's ghost is more out of prejudice and irrational hatred.

Of course, due to the nature of undead life, they will be quite aggressive and corrosive to other life races, which is also an important reason why Dejia is disgusted and spurned by the whole university and the land. But when you grow up to the middle and high level, this natural aggression will be controlled by reason, just like a bad wolf has been shackled. The undead can then communicate with other beings normally.

So, from this point of view, Nelson thinks that if the control measures are in place. Dejia's relations with other countries on the mainland can be eased and normalized.

It's a pity that not only the other races on the mainland will not believe this kind of view, but there will also be no responders within the Dejia natives. Except for the bander back then.

That's why the two of them built the Holy Spirit Temple together hundreds of years ago. I hope to unite other like-minded people. It was also a response to the increasing pressure from the necromancers on the natives.

It's a pity. When the "Holy Descent" came one day, the reverse cross of death stood on Mount Naraku, Bander offered his faith, and Nelson chose to leave.

Later, the Patriarch of Death was born, and gradually became the two great dejia alongside the Lord of Amun.

Nelson, on the other hand, came to the "end of the forest" southwest of Dejia and became a bone blade general, guarding the border to this day.

A few hundred years is a long time. Changed too many things; It seems to be very short, because Nelson is still Nelson. Still lonely at the "end of the forest", standing still.

As if sensing the peculiar gaze from the distant fortress, but as if there was nothing, Moriarty looked back for a long time before turning back and continuing to sit firmly in the Nightmare, slowly marching with the army into the depths of the Ember Forest.

After leaving the Alliance headquarters, he transformed into a high-ranking death knight and joined the ranks of the "Cathars" with Gauguin.

Different from the regular lineage of the Church, the cathars are a "militia sequence" formed by the temporary gathering of believers at the call of the Holy Spirit Temple, which is used to supplement the lack of military strength or to be used as "cannon ash".

Of course, as Death Knights, Moriarty and Gauguin could never be reduced to "expendable supplies" like ordinary skeletons or zombies, but were directly recruited into the "regular army" and under the command of the thirteenth level Death Paladin Rigato.

In order to keep a low profile and not be too conspicuous, Gauguin's "Nierasek" was temporarily put away, and both men switched to ordinary undead horses as mounts. But even so, Moriarty and Gauguin were examined by the death evangelists along with the other death knights. Fortunately, the feather of transformation is really powerful, and at the same time, Gauguin also returned to normal arms and deliberately changed the shape of his armor, so he was not recognized by Jacques.

After receiving a wonderful sermon on "The Theology of Death", the undead knights were full of excitement and fighting spirit. Through this almost face-to-face encounter, Moriarty confirmed that the Dead Monarch was indeed in a bad situation.

Although Jahue remained arrogant, dignified, and at ease in front of everyone, some of the details, such as an unconscious frown or a faint irritability in his breath, showed that the Death Preacher was not as in control as he seemed.

"Two thousand skeleton warriors, a thousand zombie legions, a high-profile death priesthood... But with only one company of death knights... The most important ranged attack unit in the siege - the Lich - did not have a single one... One can imagine how hasty and reluctant Jiexiu was to send troops to Dawn Fortress this time, and even the Death Pastoral Capital may not really approve of its actions, so the 'Holy Son' family dares to dismantle the platform so openly..."

Following among the Death Knights, looking at the mighty army of the undead in front of him, Moriarty shook his head secretly.

Without the support of powerful classes such as the Death Knight and the Lich, it is difficult for a low-level infantry to pose a major threat to the Fortress of Dawn, which is well-organized and highly defensive. Unless the Death Preacher has some other hole cards in his back hand, the seemingly massive number of skeletons and zombies will only be slowly consumed in front of the human arrow towers and the fortified city.

"Are you planning to rely on the Extreme Dao powerhouse to break through the defense?"

Moriarty's thoughts turned, and he quickly denied himself.

This is a crusade. Led by the Death Preacher, the specifications can be said to be ridiculously high. In the past, the Holy Spirit Temple attacked the human kingdom, and there had never been a scene led by the Dead Monarch.

But here's the thing. From Jie Xiu down, there are only one undead extreme path in the army: a ghost dragon messenger, a thirteenth-level skeleton sniper, a thirteenth-level zombie leader, and a thirteenth-level necromantic paladin Rigatu who commands the death knight company.

Of the four undead powerhouses, most of them were only level thirteen. Such a lineup is not even as good as the deployment of Hondoa's combat power during the Morrogan Blockade War a few days ago. One can imagine how embarrassed the situation of the death preacher is now, and what kind of devastating blow the descendants under his command have withdrew.

"If you still return in front of the Dawn Fortress this time. Na Jiexiu's position as the second-in-command in the Temple of the Holy Spirit is probably going to be really lost. ”

After pondering for a long time, Moriarty shook his head silently, as if he was quite worried about the "future" of the death preacher.

The Black Forest is densely wooded. The ghost wood is hard and unusually difficult to cut down, so when encountering dense forests, you can only slow down or even detour. In addition, small death storms erupted from time to time, which also caused additional losses to the legions, causing the advance of the army to slow down again and again.

Fortunately. The undead had little to no additional logistical support. Otherwise, it will be difficult to move an inch in the Forest of Embers.

It took more than half a month for a huge army of thousands of people to slowly reach the southwestern edge of the Black Forest, and beyond that was the realm of the human kingdom.

And behind the army, in the depths of the forest, there are still a large number of low-level undead who are gathering intermittently, and they are also going to join this "holy war" against humanity.

"What!?"

Suddenly, he received an urgent report from the rangers and learned that a large number of undead legions had emerged from the Black Forest, and the intelligence officer Helsing's face turned green at once, and he immediately ran to the marquis's office to report.

"Thousands of zombie legions. And a huge number of skeletons that you can't see at a glance? Hesing, you're sure the Rangers aren't dazzled. Or was it the hallucinations that caused Retus to pour too much last night? ”

As the Supreme Commander of the Fortress of Dawn, Iseron has served here for more than twenty years. He has served as the leader of the Sword and Shield Infantry Squadron, the captain of the Knight Brigade, the chief logistics officer of the fortress, the deputy commander of the fortress, and now the commander-in-chief. It can be said that he is really an "old man" who shares the honor and disgrace of Dawn Fortress and is related to his blood.

The Marquis of Iselon was born into the royal family of Erathia, a cousin of the former King Glen Hill, and the uncle of the current Queen Griffin. Therefore, in addition to being the supreme governor of the Dawn Fortress, he also holds the position of the deputy minister of military affairs of the kingdom, and is the backbone of the pure "royal capital faction".

Of course, if it was only a royal dignitary and the queen's uncle, the old marquis would never have been able to stay in Dawn Fortress for more than 20 years. What's more, Iserlohn is also a powerful fifteenth-level Templar pole, enjoying the prestigious reputation of "Thor's Hammer". Even the wind in the Holy Spirit Temple was very jealous of Isellon, and the idle undead powerhouses did not dare to easily oppose him.

"Your Excellency Iserlon, our young men all have falcon-like eyes, and their noses are more sensitive than those of jackals, how can they be mistaken." Joked by the old marquis, Helsing immediately calmed down and loudly cleared his men's reputation.

"Hehe, you still said that you leaked, those cubs all have bear-like bellies, drinking wine is the same as drinking water, no matter what." Seeing that the intelligence officer's face turned red, Iseron laughed again, and then changed his words again: "Didn't the Ranger say how many lichs and death knights there are?" ”

"There are reports, but the numbers are wrong, and I suspect there is some conspiracy among the undead." Nodding, Helsing hesitated.

"How much?"

"The Death Knight is only the size of a company, and the Lich has none. Isn't that counterintuitive, sir, sir? Do the undead think that infantry alone can climb our 'Twin Cities'? The intelligence officer himself shook his head in disbelief.

"It's really different from usual."

Iserlon also frowned, picked up an almost completely blackened pipe in one hand, slowly stuffed it with gold-leaf tobacco from Standwell through a special channel, lit the fire, and smoked "poof".

Moments later, the room was filled with sweet smoke mixed with cocaine and dark chocolate.

"Your Excellency, will the undead plan to besiege the fortress for a long time?" After a moment of silence, the intelligence officer assumed again.

Because the Dawn Fortress is too close to Dejia, and there are inevitably sporadic low-level undead who burrow out of the Ember Forest from time to time, the area around the fortress is not suitable for agriculture, let alone farming. Therefore, all military supplies, food and grass need to be transported from the neighboring Greenland County, and the cost is not small.

"The siege... It's not like the undead haven't done it before. But the reserves in our treasury are enough for two years, and the reinforcements from the royal capital have already arrived for such a long time, so what's the use of a temporary siege? The old marquis shook his head, took another puff on his pipe, and his eyes were shining.

"It could also be... Perhaps—" Helsing opened his mouth, not knowing how to explain such a strange army of the undead.

"Your Excellency! Lord Iserlon! Discover the Death Preacher... Jehew the Death Preacher was found to have appeared outside the Black Forest..."

At that moment, a figure burst in. As soon as he entered the office, he closed the door tightly, and then lowered his voice and exclaimed, his expression almost in a hurry.

"What!?"

The old marquis, who was sitting on the high chair, immediately stood up with a "pout". Because of the haste of the action, he even washed the ebony desk in front of him with gold and gems to pieces, and the papers, pen and ink, and even the beloved pipe set on it were scattered all over the ground, and the owner had no time to care anymore.

"It's true, I happened to find it at the secret post I had set up near the Black Forest, so I rushed back to report it. And I just went to the 'Central Light Array' to check, and sure enough, it showed that there was a level 16 undead powerhouse approaching the fortress. "Scott is one of Iserlon's lieutenants, and a noble son of a royal lord who served here two years ago, and is trusted by the old marquis.

"Death Preachers... Why did it lead an army against Fortress of the Dawn... Could it be that this time the mongrels of the Holy Spirit Temple want to play the real thing..."

After the initial shock, the old marquis regained his composure and composure, motioned to the adjutant and intelligence officer to remain silent for a moment, and paced slowly around the room.

Seeing this, Helsing and Scott also fell silent, just staring firmly at the commander's expression, and the heart that was beating rapidly just now slowly slowed down.

After about five minutes, Iseron stopped and jerked to look at the adjutant: "Scott, record the order." ”

"Yes!"

"1. The Fortress of Dawn immediately entered a state of actual combat, and raised the alert level to the highest; 2. Order Julian, Berlemon, and Inscose to come here to prepare for the military meeting before the battle, and to invite Master Young to attend the meeting; 3. Activate the communication circle to send a message to the royal capital, asking Her Majesty's swordsmanship teacher Xiu Sai to come to the Dawn Fortress to support, the sooner the better..."

"What, inviting the Juggernaut to come here to support!?" When he heard the third order, the adjutant couldn't help but let out a low cry. (To be continued......)