The talisman in Victoria's hand shimmered with a faint pale golden sheen, a very special surface texture between metal and some kind of crystal, and when the shimmer shimmered from above, a thin and changing halo appeared on its surface—no natural or man-made material familiar to man would have such a strange texture, and Gawain was really familiar with them.

This is the material of the Eternal Slab, the material of the fragments of the wreckage around the body of the giant deer Ammon, and the ancient alloy left behind by the fleet of suspected high-ranking civilizations!!

But the talisman in Victoria's hand was very different from the "shards" that took on their original form: it had obvious traces of human reprocessing, it had runes used by humans on its surface, and it also carried the coat of arms of the Wilder family!

As far as Gawain knows, in the past few hundred years, human beings have not found any means to process the "Eternal Stone Slab", let alone smelting and reforging, and they can't even knock a piece down - even in the Gondor Empire in the Starfire Age, Carmel and his colleagues were only able to barely cut the wreckage around the giant deer Ammon with the help of advanced Gondor equipment!!

So, how did this talisman in Victoria's hand come to be?!

“…… This amulet is a Modil from 600 years ago?? "Victoria didn't expect Gawain to care so much about his family amulet, but he replied frankly in surprise, "The name of the amulet is 'Cold Calamity'. As you mentioned, it's made of a lot like the Eternal Slate, but it's not made from the Eternal Slate...... Concrete Modir?? Where Archduke Wilde obtained these materials, and where he completed the casting of the amulet, remains a mystery...... All I know is that it has something to do with an expedition out to sea. ”

Gawain's heart moved the moment he heard the words "going to sea for exploration", and he couldn't help but ask: "Go to sea for exploration?" ”

"Yes," Victoria nodded, "there are family records, Modir??" Duke Wilder is an adventure-loving, powerful and legendary mage who has traveled throughout the Northern Continent in his early years, and in his later years, after passing on the title to his heir, he even went to challenge the Endless Sea - no one knows where he went, and the family records only record that he returned with the 'Chill Calamity' amulet, which he forged somewhere far from the mainland......"

A mysterious voyage, an untold adventure, and the Endless Sea without the Church of the Storm and the Sea Guide......

Although there is no clear evidence, Gawain instantly thought of the memory he had lost after inheriting this body, and thought of Gawain?? Cecil's once mysterious voyage.

Gawain 700 years ago?? Cecil, the founding duke of Ansu, also made a sudden and inexplicable voyage to sea, and no one knows what happened to him, except that Gawain had entered the realm of the Sirens and brought back some mysterious crystals from a place known as the "Eternal Dark Sea", and those crystals helped Gawain reconnect with the satellites in orbit;

Modir 600 years ago?? Grand Duke Wild, from a similar experience, brought back the Charm of the Scourge - a talisman that could theoretically be made by contemporary human technology, forged from some ancient alloy.

Gawain had always been very concerned about the blank in his inherited memory, instinctively feeling that it was hiding a huge secret, but he had never found a clue to this, so the matter was once put on the back burner of his mind, but today, he felt that he had finally found a clue to this - although Modil?? Wilder and Gawain?? Cecil was separated by a hundred years, but there was obviously a certain connection between the similar voyage experience and the mysterious "harvest", which made him can't help but ask: "Is there really no superfluous record about this matter?" ”

Victoria coughed lightly, as if the weakness from the cold had not faded, and after a short thought, she shook her head, "No." Mordir was one of the lesser-documented patriarchs of the Wilde family, and he was a keen traveler, but he did not have much of a career as a duke, and the more orthodox family records would not record much of his adventures. It is said that there is a book written by Modir?? Wilde's own travelogue recorded many of his adventures and was the equivalent of his diary, but it was lost a long time ago......"

"......I see," Gawain sighed in disappointment, but still had to accept the fact.

Victoria hesitated for a moment, then took the initiative to say, "If you are very concerned about this matter, I can look for it again in the library of Winterhold when I get back, maybe there are some side materials." ”

"Yes," Gawain nodded, then looked at the busy soldiers, "but first we need to solve this disaster......

The command node of the Crystal Cluster Legion in Red Maple City was destroyed, and the entire Red Maple region, as well as the Crystal Cluster army in the area of Boulder City, Rich Woodland, and the Sloped Forest River Valley, were paralyzed, and the disaster set off by the Death of All Things Society suffered an unprecedented huge blow, but the end of the Red Maple Battle did not mean that Gawain could breathe a sigh of relief.

This army of crystal clusters is extremely large, and there is more than one command center for this monster created by the Death of All Things, those who go to attack St. Sunil, those located in the eastern area of the giant wood crossing, and those crystal clusters scattered in the wilderness of the Holy Spirit Plains have different command nodes, and if they lose a red maple, the remaining giants will still be active.

Far away, the main forces of Red Maple have established positions and begun to clear out the Crystal Cluster Infected who are constantly pouring in from all directions, in a state of chaos and weakness, due to the destruction of the Red Maple node, the infected throughout the region will be guided by the last psychic command to rush into the web of fire intertwined with burners and railguns, and according to experience, this process will last at least a day or so.

The river fleet, which had completed its artillery support mission, was repaired for the first time in a long time - they had to repair the damaged magic wings.

"We've been attacked with a real threat," Byron explained the reason for the brief interruption of the previous bombardment and the damage to the magic wings, on the Magic Web communication terminal, "and the group of crystalline monsters sank themselves to the bottom of the water, only to suddenly rise to the surface after the fleet opened fire, trying to gouge through the bottom of our ship. ”

Gawain didn't know that those powerful warships almost had problems, and when he heard Byron's report, he was shocked, and hurriedly asked: "And then?" ”

"Fortunately, there were steel plates at the bottom of the battleship, and there were water compartments, and the first wave of attacks by those monsters didn't work, after which I ordered the ships to break the mechanical structure of half of the magic wings, and submerge the waste energy release grille in the water, creating a wide range of arcane explosions in the water - this successfully killed the monsters, but at the cost of losing half of the magic wings, and the small ships were damaged to varying degrees in the arcane explosions, and one modified gunboat was so badly damaged that it had lost all power...... This part of the loss is my responsibility. ”

Even the old churros knight did not shirk the slightest hint of responsibility for the damage caused by the attack on the fleet, but Gawain directly interrupted the other party: "You are not responsible for this incident, you responded very well, and avoided greater losses - and this also allowed us to accumulate valuable experience." You compile a detailed picture of the battle process and the operation of the ship's various systems at that time, and pass it on to the Magic Energy Technology Research Institute and the shipyard for them to refer to the subsequent transformation plan. ”

"Yes."

The communication hung up, and Gawain couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

We must not be blinded by the success of the war - even in such a smooth military operation, there is such a major lesson lurking, and if this lesson is not learned, the next time it appears may be fatal!

Those Crystal Cluster Giants had found an effective way to fight even though they had been crushed and beaten, and Gawain had been focusing on the confrontation on land and above the water, ignoring the possibility that the enemy might attack the battleship from underwater!

This is not to say that he does not have the concept of underwater confrontation, but he did not think about this aspect at all, he did not expect that in the context of this era, when facing a group of infected monsters, he would encounter the challenge of underwater confrontation!

It's like a modern-day soldier in full gear going to fight a primitive man with a wooden stick - the soldier doesn't think he needs extra cover and an insulated hazmat suit, but the primitive man swings the stick and summons a ball of lightning......

If it weren't for the fact that the Crystal Giants were only flesh and blood, and if the enemy had weapons and equipment similar to Cecil's, or even half an age behind, then those enemies who attacked the ships from under the water might have been able to sink the ships of the river fleet.

At this time, Victoria's voice suddenly came from the side, interrupting Gawain's thoughts: "Did something happen?" ”

The Duke of the North had simply eaten some food just now, and after a short rest and meditation, her state had recovered a lot at this moment, and when she saw Gawain's serious expression, she thought that something was wrong at the front line.

At the same time, she also noticed the small magic net terminal in front of Gawain - she had seen a larger, fixed machine fixed on the ground in Cecil City, and now she saw a small machine that could be easily transferred, and her eyes couldn't help but have a hint of admiration and yearning.

If the Kingdom Army had such a thing at that time, maybe the situation would not have deteriorated so badly...... At the very least, she'll have time to gather all the uninfected troops without the majority of the troops far away from Boulder being transformed into Crystal Giants when they are left alone......

But she was only thinking about it - she knew that Gawain had never minded promoting these advanced things, as long as the price was right, but the nobles of the kingdom would not necessarily accept these things that might undermine their authority, especially the mage families who controlled the teleportation towers everywhere, and the nobles of the plains who domesticated griffins, and they would probably go to great lengths to thwart this technology.

"It's nothing, it's a small problem," Gawain noticed Victoria's gaze, he could guess what the other party was thinking, but he didn't break it, "We'll fix it here for a day, and then continue to advance north - the Crystal Cluster Legion may have already begun to attack the royal capital at this point, and I hope Saint Sunil can hold out until we arrive." ”

"It's important that they know that reinforcements are there," Victoria said immediately, "and I...... The nobles who knew the royal capital very well, and if there was no news of reinforcements, they would probably not be able to hold out for even three days - even if they had the strongest fortress in the entire Ansu. ”

“…… My opinion of the nobility of the royal capital is very much in line with yours. ”

……

In the dark and deep abyss, the crimson magma tumbled and undulated at the bottom of the cliffs, and the priests of the dead of all things, dressed in black or dark green priests' robes, gathered around the massive body of the false god's body, watching every breath of the man-made god.

The huge deer-like body was now close to full maturity, a layer of majestic divine light shrouded the surface of his huge and graceful body, and all kinds of mysterious runes and sacred marks were constantly floating on the white and dirty fur, he seemed to be ready for the coming world, but the last chain was still bound to the body of this artificial god—

The chains wrapped around his neck, hooked between his antlers, the runes flickering on the chains, and the powerful seals and suppressive forces restrained the man-made gods' impulses to awaken.

Opposite the body of the false god, on a high platform floating in mid-air, two figures were watching the body of the giant deer from a distance.

One of them was a half-human, half-tree female priest, while the other was a man in a plain black robe with a face hidden in the shadow of his hood.

"Grand Imam, Heaton is dead." Bertilla?? Augustus turned his head slightly and said to the man beside him.

The Grand Imam nodded slightly, and the voice coming from under the hood was hoarse and suppressed: "I feel the ......"

"We have lost an important pillar on the plain of the Holy Spirit," Bertila continued, "and the Cecils will certainly continue to advance northward, and the offensive and destructive and military prowess they have displayed is astounding. ”

After a brief silence, the Grand Imam sighed softly, "It's okay...... Cecil is stronger than I expected, and if we don't have a good way, maybe they can be the same...... One more way, one more card in the mortal's hand. ”

“…… If you say something like this, it will definitely cause uneasiness. ”

"Perhaps, but before I leave this world, I would rather say something as a 'human' than a demigod, half-human Grand Imam," the Grand Imam said in a hoarse voice, and then turned his head slightly, his face still hidden under the hood, a pale hand poking out of his burqa, holding a large heavy book, "This book is in your custody." ”

"The Ultimate Book......" Bertila glanced at the book with a complicated look, "All the answers are hidden in the pages......

"But there may be answers beyond the pages, such as the Extraterritorial Wanderer," the Grand Imam whispered as he watched Bertila take the book, "Prepare for the ceremony, Red Maple has been destroyed, and we don't have much time." ”

The floating platform slowly descended towards the magma lake below, connecting with the large floating island where the priests were, and after seeing the Grand Imam walking down from the platform, the priests of all the dead on the scene fell silent.

Hundreds of years of planning had finally come to this point, and at this indescribable moment, all the stirring slogans and words seemed pale and weak, no one cheered or applauded, and these priests who had fallen into the dark side only retreated respectfully, bent down slightly, and watched the great imam in plain black robes step by step into the air, step by step towards the body of the artificial god.

The final ritual of disobedience.

The greatest disobedience, the greatest denial and confrontation man has ever made against God.

Bertila looked up and watched as the Grand Imam walked to the forehead of the holy deer, the black-robed figure spreading his hands and a hoarse voice echoing throughout the flesh and blood.

"God, open your eyes and get ready for your humanity!!"

Then the holy stag opened its eyes.