The roar of the iridescent cannon and the magic cannon finally subsided, and the jitter caused by the power ridge in high load mode quickly subsided as the load decreased, and the sound of machinery running normally and vehicles crushing the track in the armor-covered compartment of the Iron Throne - Earthly Monty Python replaced the previous sound of cannon fire.

Maryland left the command seat and made his way to the window on the side of the carriage, looking through the reinforced crystal glass window in the direction of the distant plains, the smoke and fire still rising on the horizon, and the earth scorched by the rainbow rays glowing red at the end of the sight.

A moment later, the roar of another train came from behind, and the Iron Scepter, which had been slowing down to create a shooting window, slowly accelerated, gradually following the earthly Monty Python moving ahead, and before the two cars met, rhythmic lights flashed on their respective bodies to report each other's safety.

"Aerial reconnaissance has not detected large-scale enemy activity, and on-board sensors have not detected anomalous mana fluctuations," a technician reported loudly behind the communications station, "and the escort train requested to speed up the process ahead. ”

"Permission," Maryland nodded, "to remind the lads and girls in that car to keep their eyes peeled and watch out for the Typhonians' sabotage of the railroad - they've learned to plant arcane neutralizers and passively triggered bombs next to the railroad line." ”

"Yes, General!"

Maryland nodded, looking back out the window to the east, and in the sky diagonally above, he saw two small black dots flashing through the clouds, with a faint halo of magic trailing behind them.

It was the air company that escorted the earthly Monty Python - the Dragoon Reconnaissance Squadron. This air force provided protection for the frontline railroad, as well as reconnaissance of enemy movements in the outskirts of Winterhold and bombing some of the Typhon strongholds, while the main responsibility of the air formation was to protect the armored trains from the aerial attacks of the Typhonians when the Iron Throne was on a sortie.

This was the response of Cecil's side after a Typhon air formation had recently raided an armored train and nearly caused massive damage.

In Maryland's view, the air force of the Typhonians is not strong, although the number of old-fashioned combat griffons and flying mages is huge, but in terms of combat ability, it is a whole level behind the dragoon fighters, and the real tricky thing should be the air defense of Typhon after the Winter Fortress - the powerful Typhon Empire has built a large number of mage towers in the border area, in the era of new warfare, those towers are powerless against the swarm advancing chariots and the amazing range of cannons, but their long-range lightning and beam arrays are relatively vulnerable. The dragoon troops, which had been in army for a relatively short time, posed a great threat.

During a rash bombing campaign, several dragoon fighters were shot down by the lightning and lasers that covered the sky.

This made Maryland, which has always had the upper hand since the beginning of the war, have to carefully evaluate the war capabilities of the Typhonians several times, and summed up some experience - air superiority can indeed determine the direction of a war, but it should not be underestimated because of this the threat posed by ground anti-aircraft fire to air forces, in actual combat, backward weapons can still pose a huge threat, especially when the enemy knows how to learn and adapt.

A communicator rang not far away.

Maryland came to the communicator, and after activating it, the image of a dragoon warrior appeared above the projection crystal, who was in the cockpit, and the clouds outside the cabin and the dragon wing drive extending from the edge could be faintly seen in the background.

"Safe in the area, sir," the dragoon warrior in the communicator reported the reconnaissance, "and the clouds have also gathered, and it seems that another snowfall is coming. ”

Maryland subconsciously glanced out the window, he could only see a limited amount of sky from his position, and in the direction of the Typhonian's control zone, he could indeed see an iron-gray cloud converging - the dragoons in the sky were obviously able to see more detail. He retracted his gaze and nodded to the soldier in the communicator: "Bad weather may affect the flight, you should pay attention to safety." ”

……

The machine made of steel and crystal soared in the sky, the howling cold wind swept backwards along the tangent of the shield and the edge of the dragon wing drive, and the subtle water vapor and dust in the air flow were disturbed by the force field released by the anti-gravity ring, forming a wonderful "ring" around the aircraft, and under the protection of the shield, steel, and crystal, the pilot in the cockpit had just finished communication.

"It's been snowing so often in the north this winter," he said to the mechanic and bombardier sitting behind him. ”

"It reminds me of when I was in control of the griffon," replied my comrade sitting in the back seat, "and the griffon riders who were able to take off and return in the snow were recognized warriors – not only the courage and skill to brave the snow, but also the patience and experience to appease the griffons when they returned." ”

"Yes, my father used to have this skill - he was the most outstanding griffin knight in Solandor at that time, and he was rewarded for successfully riding a griffin in a snowstorm to deliver the lord's letter to a manor outside the city. Unfortunately, before I could master his flying skills, the age of the griffin was over......"

"Ah, your father is a great griffin knight...... But I'm more curious about what an important letter it was, and it had to be delivered in the middle of a blizzard......"

"Ha, it was a damn love letter, from the lord to his mistress—my father was so angry that he knew what he was going to give, but he had to obey orders, but when he saw the mistress's mistress in the manor, he was in a better mood......"

The comrades sitting in the back row were stunned for a moment, then reacted and couldn't help laughing, so the flying machine made of steel was filled with happy air.

The pilot couldn't help but laugh, and at the same time paid attention to the data on the dashboard while paying attention to the scene outside the cockpit, he saw that the iron-gray cloud in the distance was thicker and closer than just now, and the surface of the cloud was tumbling and surging, as if a storm was brewing inside, such a scene made him can't help but clench his hands clenched on the joystick, frowned and said, "Damn...... Looks like the clouds are coming towards us......"

"Do clouds gather and move so fast?" The mechanic was a little confused, "The anemometer shows that the wind speed outside is not that high......"

"The sky is unpredictable, so let's be vigilant," the pilot muttered, his eyes drawn to the tumbling clouds, and in a trance, he seemed to see thousands of troops moving in the clouds, but when he looked at them again, he couldn't see anything...... Did you just see that? I always think this cloud is a little weird......"

"I didn't see anything?" The mechanic looked out of the side viewing window in confusion, "Are you blinded by the reflection from the clouds?" ”

The pilot frowned, and after experiencing the catastrophe in the Holy Spirit Plains, he quickly made a decision: "...... Anyway, first of all, this war is very evil, and seeing nothing can be regarded as an illusion - maybe the experts in the rear can analyze something. ”

The mechanic agreed, and the pilot turned on the communications in the corner of the control seat again, and while their attention was drawn to the clouds outside the cockpit, in a corner that neither of them noticed, several runes in the cockpit's mental protection system spontaneously lit up - the light was faint, almost indistinguishable to the naked eye, but pulsating slowly like breathing.

……

Cremont Dart stood on a high hill, looking down at the smoke and flames that were still rising not far away, at the wreckage and flags scattered among the black dirt and white snow, and did not say a word for a long time.

It wasn't until a few minutes later, when a gust of wind howled and rolled up loose snow particles on the hill, that the Typhon nobleman whispered to the mage attendant beside him, "That's the destruction caused by the Cecil's weapons?" ”

"Yes, my lord," replied the mage squire, bowing his head, "the Cecil have known it as the 'Rainbow', a high-purity, high-strength, long-lasting arcane focused ray with incredible power and range. This technology was not yet mature at this time last year, and the Cecil had to mount it on a fixed position or on a ship due to heat dissipation issues, but this year they have installed it on their mobile fortress......"

"Mobile Fortress......" Count Claymont narrowed his eyes, high above his head, a mage's eye was facing the direction of the Winter Wolf Castle's defensive line, in the center of the mage's indifferent and detached "pupil", reflecting the railroad and pillbox on the distant horizon, as well as the armored train moving south, "I can see, indeed an incredible creation. ”

"yes, incredible...... That incredible thing has already caused us several heavy casualties, and even directly destroyed several of our fortresses - fast-moving, terrifyingly powerful, and highly defended, and surrounded by a host of other war machines to protect it, a steel fortress armed to the teeth, running fast on wheels, and we can't do anything about it," sighed the mage's squire, "Count Parin Dongcastle organized an air raid, and we almost succeeded, but we failed due to lack of preparation, The Cecils immediately learned their lesson and began to defend themselves against our air raids with the kind of machines that flew in the air. ”

Clemmont manipulated the Mage's Eye, scourking the distant sky to find the small black dots flying through the clouds.

"It's okay...... We're here to solve this problem," he said in a deep voice, looking up at the north-western sky with his naked eye—in his sight, massive clouds were rapidly forming and moving in the direction of the Winterwolf Castle defenses, "Is there a miracle of war...... Ask the priests when the 'miracles' they speak of will take full shape. ”

"I asked earlier, and the priest who presided over the ceremony said that everything was going well, and that the gods responded very positively to this prayer - they advised you to leave in twenty minutes."

Cremont nodded slightly, "Very well - inform the mage group and the griffin knights to prepare in ten minutes." ”

……

In a large assembly hall near the hill where Cremont stood, the sacred ritual had come to an end.

A priest of the god of war wearing a priest's robe stood in the circular hall of the assembly hall, leading nearly a hundred priests to pray for the last chapter, the low and solemn prayer echoed in the hall, even masking the howling of the cold wind outside, and in the center of the entire hall, on a platform slightly higher than the surrounding ground, the flames of the huge brazier were burning, and a layer of iron ash was gradually shining in the constantly beating flames.

The Priest of the God of War walked one last lap around the flames, stopping at an extremely precise place and time, and he turned to face the flames, turning his back to the priests who were bowing their heads in prayer, and his face could not help but show joy and fanaticism.

He could feel that his Lord had cast a concerned gaze into the world.

It was a time of turmoil, a dark and oppressive time, and the situation seemed to have deteriorated to the extreme, and in Aldenan, in much of the hinterland of the Empire, public gatherings and prayers of the gods of war had been rudely banned, and the faithful and priests tried to resist but were unable to confront the Augustans, who had firmly held military power, leaving many of the priests disheartened, and some even punished for turning their backs on the gods.

But here again, the priest felt hope.

The tyrannical emperor had not yet had the courage to turn his back on the gods completely, and he knew who had sheltered Typhon for hundreds of years, and here, in this place closest to the front lines of war, the priests could still pray, perform such large-scale sacred ceremonies, and communicate with the gods...... What could be more gratifying and encouraging?

The northern front line is cold and miserable, of course, not as comfortable as the warm churches in the rear, but for the pious priests, as long as they can get closer to the gods, it is the most comfortable place.

This battlefield is the closest place to the gods, and every pious god of war can feel this here: as the war continues, as order is re-established, they are feeling the breath of the gods more and more clearly on the front line of Winterwolf-Wintercastle, and there is no doubt that this entire area has become a sacred place—just like the "sacred realm" mentioned in the scriptures, this battlefield closest to the truth of the gods has become the closest place to the kingdom of God in the present world.

A smile appeared on the face of the priest of the god of war, and he looked at the brazier in front of him, with a smile in the six eyes and three clefts on his face, and in the blazing flames he saw his beloved Pope, Malm Dunit, standing there, smiling gently and lovingly at the praying priests in the assembly hall.

The prayers around had finally reached the final end, the invisible bridge had been built, and the connection between the gods and the mortal world had never been stronger in the assembly hall.

Without hesitation, the priest took out the iron dagger and cut a deep wound in the palm of his hand, and before the wound squirmed to heal, he sprinkled the blood into the brazier.

The raging flame rose sharply, and the iron gray color in the flame spread rapidly, and in the next second, the flames in the entire brazier were dyed with this color of steel, and a majestic and majestic aura descended on the assembly hall.

"O Lord! Please do a miracle! ”