One of the most dangerous and fierce battles in human history is over, but the end of the "war" itself is still a long and careful process.

In the forward command post of Winterwolf Castle, Gawain sat at a long table with Philip, Maryland, Thordrin and Amber, the magic net terminal on the table shimmered, the topographic map of the entire Winter Hold area was projected into the air above the table, and many holographic projections showed the situation of various troops in the area, as well as images from Cecil City.

"In the past few hours, we have three troops passing by the Typhonians, although there is no conflict at the moment, but considering the poor communication between some of the front-line soldiers and the rear, some of the Typhon troops have also been scattered, and many small groups of troops are out of control, I propose to withdraw the soldiers who entered the eastern side of the ribbon plain to the middle of the plain," Philip said, "The Guardian Knights and Mages of the Typhon have begun to resume operations, and many areas are gradually locked down, There is no longer any need for the search force to continue operating in the area controlled by Winterhold. ”

"Hey-" Amber on the side couldn't help but sigh, "After fighting with the God of War, I had the illusion that everything was settled in this war...... I almost forgot that this was actually our 'battleground' with the Typhonians......"

"It's not just you who have this delusion, we all feel it this way more or less, after all...... That's the God of War, we've just fought the God head-on," Maryland smiled wryly and spread her hands, "And I'm sure Typhon's side is even more chaotic than we are - hopefully they can get their chain of command back to normal as soon as possible, there are too many scattered small forces on the battlefield right now, all of them are crystal bombs that can detonate at any moment." ”

Maryland is talking about the complex situation that Typhon and Cecil's frontline forces are now facing: the battle is over, but the embers of this "war" have not yet been safely extinguished. Although the top brass on both sides knew the real situation, reached a certain tacit understanding, and had issued a temporary ceasefire order, it took a little time for the overly chaotic post-war situation for the orders of both sides to take effect - during this time, a large number of combat units that had lost contact with the rear were still waiting for orders in this scorched earth, and the search forces of each side were operating in this already broken defensive line, looking for their own lost troops or battlefield resources, which in a sense was more tense than the war itself.

"Philip is right," Gawain broke the silence, "what's the reply from Winterhold?" ”

"We've established a temporary line of communication with Typhon," Thordrling said, getting up, "With the War Citizen on the edge of the war zone as a temporary magic web hub, and some of the working Iron Ambassadors entering Typhon's control area as 'messengers', we can finally deliver messages to Winterhold." The Typhons were also willing to withdraw some of their troops to their posts, designating a portion of the war zone crossing as a 'buffer zone' where only medical and search and rescue forces from both sides would be allowed to enter. However, they wanted us to withdraw one after the other, at least let the mechanized units of the 1st and 2nd regiments withdraw first. ”

"Huh?" Amber immediately subconsciously muttered, "Why do you want us to go back first......"

"Because our two tank regiments have already driven to the camp at the foot of the Typhon - straight in," Maryland said, looking a little embarrassed, "and the final stage is too chaotic...... Luckily, there hasn't been a fight yet. ”

Amber: "...... Ahh......h

"We can withdraw from the cordon of the Winterhold fortress group - this is a reasonable request of the other side," Gawain opened his mouth to break the awkward atmosphere on the field, "The ground forces are shrinking, but the several long-range artillery positions set up in the middle of the plain should be temporarily retained - Rosetta may be a trustworthy monarch, but this chaotic battlefield is not very safe now, and we need to retain the ability to provide cover for the search and rescue forces entering the war zone." ”

"Understood, I'll make arrangements," Philip nodded, and then asked, "What about the troops entering the military buffer zone, ......?"

"Medical and search and rescue forces...... Gao Wen thought for a moment and casually made arrangements, "Let the two warbands of the Iron Holy Power and the Scarlet Holy Light enter, they are more experienced in dealing with battlefield search and rescue missions." ”

This arrangement was very reasonable, but Maryland on the side couldn't help but show a somewhat embarrassed look, he thought of the "Holy Warhammer-II" heavy tank and the large burner used to clean up the battlefield that those priests and nuns loved, and said with some hesitation: "Your Majesty, is it possible that these two warbands will cause misunderstandings?" Their style ......"

"They're the best fit—and honestly, aren't all the pastors on our side that style?" Gawain certainly knew what Maryland was talking about, but he had long since adapted to this, and he didn't even have the interest to complain, "Communicate with Winterhold and send them the standard insignia of the Holy Light Warband, which will help their frontline troops to identify it." To put it straight - although those men drove tanks, armed with heavy artillery, and used war hammers and heavy burners, they were indeed ...... of the medical forces"

Listening to Gawain's instructions, Maryland nodded seriously: "Yes, I understand." ”

The details of the aftermath were properly discussed, the relevant directives were issued one by one, and although the entire border theater was still in chaos, the most basic order had been gradually restored, and both Cecil and Typhon knew exactly what to do at this time. Combat units began to cautiously withdraw from sensitive areas, communications were re-established at the grassroots level, units lost in the battle were successfully recovered, and some began to return to the nearest higher camp on their own, and while many of the most basic soldiers still did not know what tomorrow would bring, at least everyone knew that they had survived today – a precious life.

After the impromptu meeting, Gawain left the bustling command hall and, after informing the others of his whereabouts, took Amber to a clearing in the atrium of the castle - a rare place in the castle when the entire Winterwolf Castle was tense and busy from top to bottom.

Several heavily armed magical infantry guarded the place, and a young lady with black hair and black dress was standing quietly in the clearing, she seemed to have been waiting here for a long time, but until Gawain appeared, she did not have the slightest impatient look on her face.

Gawain came up to the dark-haired lady: "Lady Diana, I'm sorry to keep you waiting a little longer, the meeting was a little longer than I expected. ”

"You don't need to apologize," the black-haired Typhon squire bowed slightly, "I can imagine how chaotic the situation will be after the battle, and I don't mind waiting a little longer to make those who managed to survive safer." ”

Gawain glanced at the other party up and down, he always felt that this "Typhon's maid" who called herself Diana exuded a familiar and special temperament, but he couldn't tell what it was for a while, so he had to say casually: "...... Obviously, you can't be an ordinary maid, and ordinary maids don't have your opinion. ”

"I take this as your compliment," Diana said scrutinously, then looked up and glanced in the direction of Wintercastle, "So, my mission is complete, can I leave here?" ”

"Of course," Gawain nodded, "you are not our captive, and the door here is always open - greet your master on my behalf, and tell him by the way, that I look forward to speaking with him in a more formal setting." ”

"I will," Diana took a small step back, then bowed slightly, lifting the hems of her skirts with flawless etiquette, "then, let me leave......

As she spoke, her figure gradually faded in the air, and Gawain was ready to see the other party leave, but at this moment, a gentle female voice suddenly came from the direction of the corridor not far away, interrupting Diana's departure: "Wait a minute - turn around." ”

Gawain was surprised to see Veronica, holding a platinum scepter, standing under the corridor at the edge of the courtyard, while Diana, who was just about to leave next to him, instantly disabled the shadow spell effect, and the latter's face, which seemed to never change much expression, showed obvious consternation, and looked at the "Holy Princess" under the corridor in amazement.

Veronica walked over quickly, with a rare serious expression on her face, and Gawain was surprised by this: "What's the problem?" ”

"Who is this?" Veronica frowned slightly as she looked at the black-haired maid who seemed to freeze in place, and although her tone was still gentle, her attitude was obviously very serious.

Amber on the side immediately said, "Her name is Diana, and she is from Wintercastle - you should have received the news, she is the 'messenger' sent by Rosetta Augustus." ”

Diana ...... A messenger sent by Typhon? Veronica muttered with a strange expression, couldn't help but look Diana up and down, and then suddenly said quickly, "Self-test, execute sequence 335, output the conclusion to the language module." ”

As her words fell, the "maid" from Typhon suddenly stiffened visibly, followed by an indiscrete buzzing sound and the rubbing of what seemed to be some kind of metal device, and after a few seconds, a glimmer of light appeared in the depths of her eyes, and she quickly replied, "Self-test, perform Sequence 335...... Errors, the core of the mind is misplaced, the original logic base has been reset ......"

With another strange sound from her body, the black-haired maid seemed to suddenly wake up from some kind of trance, her body shook and stared at Veronica's eyes: "Who are you?" ”

"The core of the mind is detached from the ironman network...... The original logic base has also been overwritten...... Don't even recognize my magic pattern features? Veronica was surprised to a moment's surprise, "Do you remember who you are?" ”

Instead of answering her question, Diana repeated, "Who are you?" ”

“…… I'm the Captain of the Iron Man Corps, Ophelia Norton," Veronica said slowly, staring at the other man, "Recognize it again, can you recognize it?" ”

Then she quickly called out a string of numbers, as if it were some kind of password.

Diana seemed to be greatly touched, and even her body shook obviously, and I don't know if it was an illusion, Gawain even felt that the air around the other party was slightly hot, as if the lady was generating an amazing amount of heat - then she stabilized a little and looked into Veronica's eyes: "Password...... Pass...... But I don't understand...... I can't recognize, my recognition function ...... It broke down hundreds of years ago, and there are no facilities to provide repairs in this era......"

"Fault...... This makes sense, but how did you end up in the human world? Veronica frowned and stared into Diana's eyes, "How many years have you been in the human world?" ”

Gawain listened in confusion, and at this point he finally vaguely guessed something—it was knowledge found from the memories of the original owner of this body, but the corresponding conclusion was a little too surprising: "Wait a minute, Veronica, I listen to what you are talking about...... You mean this lady Diana is a member of the Iron Man Corps? She's a ......."

"The Iron Man Soldier seems to be a lateer model, but the core of the mind seems to have undergone some kind of change and is out of the control of the original logic base," Veronica explained without waiting for Gawain to finish, "I've never seen anything like this...... But I'm not an expert in ironman technology myself. ”

Amber had been confused since just now, and it wasn't until this time that she figured out what was going on, and her eyes widened suddenly, and she looked at the tall black-haired lady incredulously: "Iron Man!?" It is...... Gawain, the kind of 'iron man' you mentioned to us, Gondor? ”

Not only did things turn out beyond the expectations of Gawain and others, but even Diana herself, who was the center, seemed a little stunned, but the "Iron Soldier" regained her composure in a very short time - or restarted her mind, she regained that graceful and calm posture, and nodded to Amber: "Sorry, the change of circumstances was unexpected for me. That's right, I'm what you call the 'Iron Man' from the days of Gondor—that's what my creator told me. ”

"It doesn't look like a normal human...... Amber sighed, "When I first heard the name 'Iron Man', I thought it would be one of those mechanical dolls covered in steel, like the steel golems or mechanical figures made by mages...... I didn't expect it to be pretty. ”

Diana nodded calmly, "Thank you for the compliments – although the outward compliments don't matter to me. ”

"Hey, you're welcome, we're all from the time of Gondor," Amber rolled her eyes, not knowing what she thought, and grinned as she stretched out her hand to the other party, "Hello, I'm an artificial human from the Gondor Empire—we're barely 'compatriots'?" ”

Diana didn't respond to Amber's outstretched hand, she just looked at the short half-elf, tilting her head with an undisguised look of confusion on her face.

Then she withdrew her gaze and looked at Veronica, "Your password is correct, I can temporarily log you in as Ophelia Norton, but I have left the Iron Man Corps and no longer accept your orders." ”

This answer was obviously completely unexpected by Veronica, who suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly: "Broke away from the Iron Man Corps?" How did you do that? ”