The sky was overcast, and the turbulent wind blew from the direction of the plain, carrying the cold air that had not yet completely receded into the city, and in the dim daylight, the Count of Pompeii stood on the terrace of the family castle, and his mood was even more gloomy than the sky.

More and more rumors are circulating between the city and the countryside, and the content of the rumors is particularly disturbing, some say that a terrible plague has broken out in the area of the giant wooden crossing, some say that the kingdom army has suffered a crushing defeat, important cities and strongholds have fallen one after another, all kinds of news are in chaos, and even nobles like the earl have no accurate information from the north - and this is the most disturbing point.

The castle terrace overlooks the city and the vast plains beyond, and the slightly hairy Count of Pompeii, dressed in a warm coat and a cane, looks out into the cold wind. His gaze first swept the hills and woods to the north—not long ago, a strange team from the Rock Fortress passed the edge of his territory and headed north, led by an elven ranger, in strange magical vehicles and carrying strange equipment, who did not specify their mission and destination, but with Gawain? A passage document signed by the Duke of Cecil.

The Count of Pompeii did not dare to stop him.

But judging by the well-trained performance of that team and the direction in which they were heading, it is not difficult for Mr. Earl to guess that their actions may have something to do with the recent changes in the situation in the north.

His gaze moved along the hills and plains, the sparkling Dolgon River coming into his sight, followed by the distant mountains and the hazy rocky fortress between them, the majestic fortress still shrouded in a thick layer of magical shields, and the mountains and walls locked all eyes from the south.

Since the Cecil family returned to control of the South, the land has closed its gates - of course, its physical "gates" are open every once in a while, and even a Rock City is open to visitors, but symbolically, the "gates" of the South have been closed since the end of the Unification War.

The surveillance and control system that the kingdom had spent a hundred years building had been cut down, and now no one knew what the resurrected Founding Duke was brewing in his kingdom, or how the land had changed in the past two years. Another important point for do-gooders is the gates of the Rock Fortress – when will that door be opened, and under what circumstances?

This is probably an even more difficult mystery to solve than the situation in the north at this moment.

Maybe when that door opens, he's the "earl of the field" will come to an end.

Adjacent to the Rock Fortress, where the whole family was within range of the fortress guns, lacking royal support, having lost almost all of his troops in the last Southern War, and now the economic lifeblood of the realm is still firmly controlled by merchants from Cecil, the Count of Pompeii has been in this tormented situation for a long time, and now he is very open.

He was a little distracted by the direction of the Rock Fortress, the otherworldly vision allowed him to see the fortress and the mouth of the Dolgon River faintly even without the help of Eagle Eye, and in this distracted view, he suddenly saw a scene that shook his heart—at first he thought he was mistaken, but soon he was able to clearly confirm what he saw through Eagle Eye.

The main gate of the estuary to the west of the Rock Fort was opened—in the past, only one side gate had been opened for merchant ships, but now the entire mouth of the Dorgon River was open.

Three large ships with "wings" outstretched, no sails and oars, riding the wind and waves, are sailing on the Dolgon River, all the way to the north.

The Count of Pompeii's eyes widened, the magical brilliance of the eagle's eye shone in front of his eyeballs, and he looked over there clearly, and saw a series of small boats following behind the three large ships, and saw the turret at the top of the fortress rising from its concealment, and saw countless soldiers running above the city walls......

The main gate of the Rock Fortress remained closed at the moment, but the Count of Pompeii suddenly realized one thing-

Southside, the door is open.

……

The city of Saint-Sunil, the inner and outer cities are still bustling and lively, the arrival of the recovery festival and a timely rain the other day have made people see the harbingers of a good harvest this year, the city officials have opened the market in advance, the wealthy residents of the royal capital have held many celebrations in various districts, and even the poorer civilians in the outer cities have participated in the festivities - the lively and prosperous scene seems to completely hide the haze that has long hung over the kingdom, the civil war in the plains, the mutation of the wasteland barrier, All of this unsettling stuff is obscured by superficial celebrations.

However, in the depths of the royal city, inside the Silver Castle, the principals of this country could already smell the turbulence in the air.

In the upper area of the castle, in a study covered with dark blue velvet, Wales? Moen was sitting upright behind his desk, Bertwin? Franklin stood next to him, and across from them stood a royal mage wearing a black starry robe and a white beard, and the old magician was reporting the situation with a guilty face: "...... Still unable to contact the Mountain Corps, His Royal Highness the Prince, the Duke, and the magic communication with the giant tree crossing were interrupted, and the communication with the Duchess of Wilde was not answered......"

Wales' face sank, and the Duke of Franklin, who was standing next to him, asked, "The magic message is broken, what about the beacon?" ”

"None of the beacons have been lit, Lord Duke."

After a brief silence, Franklin nodded, "...... Okay, thank you, Master Rotas. ”

The old mage left, and the Duke of the West looked down at Wales sitting in his chair: "We should send another batch of griffon messengers, and another batch of knights from the 'Valley Corridor' - perhaps the usual surge of magic in spring has affected the effect of the teleportation spell." ”

Wales nodded expressionlessly, "Arrange it as you please, Duke of Franklin - I'm a little tired." ”

"Then leave the matter to me," said Barvin? Franklin bowed slightly, touched his chest with his hand, and said with impeccable manners, "Please rest in peace, Your Highness." ”

The Duke of Westside left the room, Wales? Moen sat quietly behind his desk for a moment, his gaze scanning the few documents he had just sent in and that he needed to look at, pausing for a moment before moving to the side until he landed on a stack of papers on his desk.

The crown prince thought for a moment, then reached out and pulled out the information, which he put in front of him to look at carefully.

Some key elements of the profile slipped through his sight:

The activities of the Cultists of the End of Everything...... Dark Ritual...... Several small-scale epidemics in the area of the Jumu crossing......

These materials are not timely, many of them are even from the end of last year, due to the difficulty of the roads in winter, the messenger is not able to pass, and they have not been sent to the Silver Fort until today.

Wales knew that the Duke of Franklin must have had one in his hands, but he must not have had time to look at it - after all, the Duke Regent, who really needs to deal with state affairs, is much busier than the "nominal crown prince", and these "little things" involving cultists and dark sacrifices are not worth ranking first.

In a careful flip through it, Wales? Moen's brow furrowed slowly.

Outside the door of the study, a figure in a holy white robe with a faint holy light floating around her stood for a moment, Veronica's hand was already on the doorknob, but before she could turn the handle, her movements suddenly stopped.

A faint illusory heartbeat came into the ears of the "Holy Princess", she raised her head and glanced in the southeast direction, and a deep solemnity suddenly appeared on her face with an indifferent expression.

"Someone has taken the forbidden path," Veronica whispered, as if to herself, "the situation has changed......"

Without hesitation, she canceled the visit to communicate the feelings of her brother and sister, and turned to leave Wales? In front of the door of Moen's study, a streamer flashed, and her figure directly turned into the purest holy light, disappearing into the corridor of the castle out of thin air.

A moment later, this pure holy light flowed into the Basilica of the Holy Light next to the Silver Castle, and condensed and descended through the Holy Light Cloud on the top of the cathedral, and came to the Pope's Holy Light. In front of the Holy See of Ivan III.

There was no one in the Great Hall of Light, except for the Pope himself, who was sitting upright in the center of the Light, meditating and praying in silence. Ivan III's prayer, the old man, who was already extremely old, slowly opened his eyes, and his cloudy eyes quickly filled with pure light: "Veronica, the most pious child of the Lord—didn't you go to the castle to visit His Royal Highness Wales?" ”

"Your Majesty, I suddenly heard a revelation of the Light," Veronica said softly, with a worried expression, "and the shadows are gathering, and there are people who are challenging God's authority in vain to pollute the land of the Lord. ”

Saint? Ivan III's old face didn't seem to change much, but the cloud of holy light that shrouded the entire Great Hall of Light suddenly surged, and behind the Pope's Holy Seat, the image of light that spread and grew like a tree expanded in an instant, and the "fruit" hanging at the end of countless branches opened its "eyes", as if a powerful being hidden on the other side of the world suddenly cast a shocking glance at the world—Veronica had quietly looked away from her gaze before this, and did not compare with the one behind the Pope. The Tree of Light looked at each other, and after a few moments, the "tree" returned to its original state.

Subsequently, St. ? Ivan III's expression began to change, and his eyes widened slightly: "This is a serious act of blasphemy, where did it happen?" ”

"On the battlefield of the confrontation between the Kingdom Army and the Eastern Border, there is an evil heretical sect that has turned it into a ceremonial ground, and a large number of Holy Cult troops sent there by the Church have been polluted by the forces of darkness."

Speaking of this, Veronica paused slightly, raised her eyelids, and looked at St. Saint? Ivan III: "...... Your Majesty, it's time to prepare to defend the glory of the Lord. ”

In the surging of holy light throughout the Great Light Hall, Saint? Ivan III's gaze flickered slightly, and then he whispered like a dream: "It's time to prepare to defend the glory of the Lord......"

……

Prayers to the gods seem to be becoming less and less effective.

In the wilderness southeast of the plains of the Holy Spirit, Belk? Loren trudged through the dirt and gravel with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

His cloak was tattered, only a few strands of rag remained on the clasps of his shoulders, and his light armor was mottled and cracked, covered with the vicissitudes of the vicissitudes of several battles, the wounds of the previous days had not healed, and were being reminded of their presence with a subtle and sharp tingling, but Belk did not stop, still moving forward in the wilderness.

Because he didn't know where the deadly pollution had spread, and he didn't know how far the monsters could go.

After wading through a stream, Belk stopped, looked up at the sun, took directions, and then pulled out a small God of War charm from his bosom and began to pray briefly to the gods he believed in, for spiritual and physical blessings and restoration.

However, this prayer had little effect.

It seems that the exhaustion and pain accumulated over the past few days have exceeded the limit of the gods' blessings.

Belk sighed, put the little amulet away, and looked around.

There were no people in the area, and in fact he hadn't encountered any human signs for so many days.

It was true that he was deliberately avoiding inhabited places, because he feared that all the places where people were were polluted by the "Crystal Curse", but he had not encountered any merchants or travelers along the way...... This is either pure coincidence or something more terrible.

Belk shook his head, throwing the overly bad associations out of his mind, he knew he still had a long way to go, and he couldn't scare himself out until he reached his destination.

He was going to the south, to the Duchy of Cecil.

The road to the north was already occupied by the Crystal Giants, and the road to the east was similar, the only two directions left to choose were the west and the south, which might not have been polluted, and after some thought, he finally decided to go south.

There was no reason, intuition was the best reason in this terrible situation, and intuition told him that he should go to the southern border and pass the warning message to the southern border, so that the guardians there would know the situation at the giant tree crossing as soon as possible.

Gawain? Duke Cecil had warned the country more than once, and now it was time to repay.

Belk took a breath, aligned his direction, and walked toward the south.