Inside the Rock Fortress City, inside the Mage Tower, which controls the focus of mana, the fierce but short battle is over.

Once filled with magical brilliance, the ornate and bright Arcane Hall was in shambles, the explosion of magical energy and the explosions created by the attackers left shocking damage everywhere, the walls were full of craters, the ground was torn apart by the explosion, the steel brackets used to hold the rune stones were also melted by the heat, turning into a pile of twisted metal skeletons that collapsed on the ground, and at the entrance to the hall, the two arcane stone statues that had been used to defend the hall had turned into lifeless obsidian shards, scattered on the ground, and in the center of the hall, In that large circular circle, only faintly recognizable humanoid scorch marks and armor fragments remained.

Sir Maryland, who rushed to the scene as quickly as possible, stood at the entrance of the hall in a daze, watching the tragic situation in the hall and not saying a word for a long time.

“…… The battle broke out in the tower, and there were no signs of battle outside the tower or at the nearby outposts," the mage advisor said next to Lord Maryland as he recounted the clues gathered so far, "The attackers fought in a strange way that had never been seen before - it was a dense explosion in a short period of time, there were traces of heat and explosions everywhere, and the guards seemed to be killed without even reacting - and we found this next to the remains of an obsidian golem. ”

Sir Maryland looked at what the mage advisor had handed him: it was a twisted and broken blade or blade, the remnants of the runes and the alloy parts embedded in it could be seen on the side, and it could not be the product of the interior of the Rock Fortress or any standard sword in Ansu, either in terms of casting accuracy or design style.

There was only a blade, and the grip of it was missing.

“…… Equipment for the Cecil! A southern knight who came with him exclaimed in surprise the moment he saw the broken blade, and then said very quickly, "General, this is a transcendent weapon, its magic blade can emit extremely high heat, and it can instantly cut through the armor of soldiers wearing light armor, and one of my servants was killed by this weapon......"

Listening to the words of this southern knight, Sir Maryland suddenly remembered another incident that had just happened: Viscount Carol fell to his death under the terrace...... There were no signs of a struggle on the terrace, so it could only be judged that the Viscount had fallen on his own.

The banquet had been last night, and Viscount Carol had not appeared since last night, and everyone thought that the always worried Viscount had gone back to rest early......

The attack took place inside the Mage Tower, where everyone was unsuspecting and then killed by a surprise attack on the hall, with no signs of battle outside......

The Cecilians were in the city, and had been in the city for a long time, even ...... Hidden among the guardians of the Mage's Tower, or have gained the trust of the guardians.

The one responsible for guarding the Mage Tower and the inner walls is the army of the southern nobles, to be exact, it is Penny Ropeney?? Baroness Gülen......

A deep palpitation gripped Sir Maryland's heart, and along with it was the constant sound of commotion and faint explosions coming from the distant city walls.

This war...... Is this a war?

"There are ghosts in the city...... Where is Lady Penny?! ”

The knight of the guard immediately replied, "The lady has not been on the city wall since this morning—and neither has the team of guards she brought. ”

Sir Maryland immediately ordered in a loud voice: "Go to ...... at once"

Before he could finish his sentence, an unsettling whistling sound suddenly came from the upper level of the mage tower, and the whistling sound was mixed with the sound of something shattering, and the other knights and soldiers present immediately looked up subconsciously, but Sir Maryland and the mage advisor turned pale at the same time: they thought of the possible cause of the whistling sound.

It's not the Mage Tower's problem, it's the thing connected to the Mage Tower - the magic barrier of the Rock Fortress.

The magic barrier connects the walls of the fortress and every mage tower in the city, and when the barrier continues to weaken, the first thing that reacts is the magic crystals on the top of these towers.

He immediately led the people and rushed out of the tower.

The inside of the majestic rock fortress was echoing one after another, and along with the whistling sound, there was a low roar that was becoming more and more obvious, it was the sound of the constantly shaking city shield, the sound of the air inside the shield resonating with the shaking of the city wall, the layer of magic barrier that glowed was now full of ripples, a miserable white pattern that spread from the top of the wall to the high altitude of the fortress, when Sir Maryland rushed out of the mage tower, Those ripples have covered almost two-thirds of the sky.

The high-ranking knight had never faced such a desperate situation in his life, but he calmed down at this moment, he stared at the magic barrier that was disintegrating little by little, pressed one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, and asked the mage advisor beside him in a deep voice: "Master, how long can the shield last?" ”

"Twenty minutes, or less," the mage advisor replied, "I'll lead the living battle mages up the walls and recharge the shield with our own mana—maybe three or five more minutes." ”

"Don't waste mana, it's useless to use manpower against that kind of weapon," Jazz interrupted the mage advisor, "let the battle mages recharge their batteries and prepare to fight in the city." ”

Then he turned his head to look at his most trusted subordinate, the knight of the Guard, who had followed him for many years.

This Knight of the Guard is probably one of the most capable men in the Rock Fortress besides him.

The city shield can last for twenty minutes, and after the shield is broken, there is also the southern city wall, and the metal poured southern wall can last at least a few dozen minutes in the face of the Cecil's "sky fire explosion", even if the Cecil people let the "sky fire" fall over the city wall, it will only destroy the surface facilities in the second wall, and the main runes of the magic focus and magic barrier are buried underground.

He still has something to do before the walls also fall completely.

"Defend the city," Sir said to his knight of the guard, "and, find Penny??" Glenn and her missing guards, most likely betrayed by them, must be dealt with before they can cause more damage. ”

The knight of the guard's eyes widened: "General, what are you going to do?" ”

"I swore in the name of my family to defend the Rock Fortress to the death, and now it is time for me to keep my vow," Lord Maryland pressed the hilt of his sword, every word clear and powerful, "If I succeed, the Cecil attacks may stop, and if I fail, your allegiance will end—you go out with the surviving men through the northern gate to the royal capital, and pass on the whole story of the fall of the Rock Fortress to Wales...... Prince. ”

"General! I'm going out with you! The knight of the guard immediately said, "I have sworn that I will always follow you on the battlefield, and running away from battle is not what a knight should do, let alone a nobleman!" ”

"The War of the Aristocracy is over!" Sir Maryland stared at the Guards Knight's face before slowing down, "...... The War of the Nobility is over. ”

……

The knights, still courageous, stepped forward, and a knight order, led by the commander of the fortress, began to rush to the gate of the southern wall, and Lord Maryland, riding on his trusted warhorse, watched the gate draw closer and closer in front of him.

The magic barrier outside the city wall has shown a critical state of collapse, large areas of chaotic ripples are swimming around, and even some areas have appeared magic holes, and in those places where the barrier is broken, the uncontrolled mana turbulence jumps on the city wall like lightning, and there is chaos everywhere it passes.

Hordes of southern knights and nobles fled from the walls, and some southern nobles were mixed in with them.

A moment ago, they were shouting and shouting on the city walls, triumphant.

Looking at these unbearable fellows, a thought suddenly popped into Sir Maryland's mind:

Why did he take these guys in the first place?

The nobility of this country...... When did you become this kind of guy?

Tempted to ignore them, Sir Maryland couldn't help but stop, and he grabbed the reins in front of a group of panicked southern knights, and shouted: "Ladies and gentlemen—if you still have a little bit of the honor of being a nobleman and a knight, at least go and maintain order in the city!" The Rock Fortress hasn't fallen yet!! ”

Then, no matter how many people heard him, he turned his horse's head and ran forward.

The city hides sabotage forces infiltrated by the enemy, who could inflict even greater losses at any time.

With the loss of the Commander, order in the fortress may descend into even greater chaos.

The supreme commander of the fortress should not have left the fortress easily in such a situation.

All this is well known to Lord Maryland.

But someone had to stop those two ships, the two terrible weapons they were carrying.

Ordinary soldiers and slightly weaker knights go out to die, and only he, a high-ranking knight, attacks under the cover of the knights, I am afraid that there is a little hope - this is the value and usefulness of strong personal combat power.

The gates opened, and a pungent smell of burnt paste came over my face.

It was the distinctive smell of high-intensity arcane energy stirring in the air, breaking down certain substances in the air.

The knights looked up, shocked and terrified, at the two beams directly above them.

From this position and angle, they were even more terrifying—pure arcane light was pouring down on the crumbling magical barrier like two rivers of light, and like a majestic aurora crushing the city little by little.

The Rock Fortress, which had been standing on this land for a century and had been built by the Second Dynasty of Ansu with countless manpower and material resources, and was condensing the highest magical skills of the royal family at that time, was coming to an end under the impact of the arcane torrent.

The fortress was built to defend against the Cecil, but the Cecil family has never fought back once in the past century.

Many people didn't realize this until now - this was just the Cecil family's first attack since the Rock Fortress was established.

"Don't look up, look ahead!" Sir Maryland raised his sword aloft and pointed at the River Whitewater, "Don't stop!" ”

The knights pulled down their masks and began to slowly accelerate with Lord Maryland's horses.

Most of them would not make it to the attack alive, and in fact even if they made it to the Whitewater, most of them would not be useful: the two ships were in the middle of the river, and the knights, who were kings of the land, were helpless against the ships floating in the middle of the water.

But as a high-ranking knight, Sir Maryland can—there are countless ways for high-ranking transcendents to ignore the little "terrain trouble" of the Whitewater, and as long as they are close enough, a high-ranking knight is enough to stop the magic devices on those two ships.

The Knights began the charge.

.。 m.