Probably not wanting to stay longer for a moment, Richie left the Valley of the Dragon that night. With the survivors of the Knights of the Silver Moon, with the bones of the Knights of the Silvermoon, but also with the relics of their own father. Of course, with him left a huge army of the undead.

Not a single ounce of the Holy Light's power remained in the Valley of the Dragons—except for the Covenant.

Even, to some extent, the covenant can be said to have ceased to exist, because the text of the covenant has disappeared with Gray's disappearance. Along with the text of the Covenant, there was a fledgling trust between the golden dragon and the undead.

It may be hard to believe that such an alliance exists in this world, but it does. Although both sides acknowledge the existence of the Covenant, can you say that the current Undead and the Golden Dragon are allies in the true sense of the word? In a way, it may be more unreliable than the original Covenant between the Golden Dragon and the Black Dragon.

After Richie's departure, the Valley of the Dragon fell into a deathly silence. Every dragon was silent, including the elders, but also every other member, the most ordinary of its members.

Richie's grief at the loss of his father is something that everyone can feel. The wrath of the White Bone Holy Light Holy See can also be felt by everyone. So what about the helplessness of the golden dragons?

The homes they had lived in for tens of thousands of years and had been seriously run had been destroyed, and they didn't even know who to vent their anger on. After all, it was they who unlocked the magic array and let the cold invade the Valley of the Dragon. Not only that, but they were also charged with betrayal. Even if Richie has stated that he will not pursue it, anyone can see the resentment in Richie's tone.

This kind of resentment is unlikely to disappear in a short period of time. And the golden dragon will always be burdened with a strong sense of guilt and be in an extremely disadvantageous position in the alliance. There's not even a turning back.

Mountains, rivers, plants, animals, everything was frozen, just like the mood of the Golden Dragon clan at this moment.

Each golden dragon remained silent in its lair, silent. The valley was so quiet that only the whirring sound of the wind remained.

......

"Next, shall we immediately start a crusade against the Black Dragon Clan?"

"Of course, we have to avenge our father. That's what we have to do. ”

"No, I think you misunderstood what I meant, the point of my question is not whether to crusade against the black dragon, but whether to 'immediately'. ”

"'Is it immediate'?"

"Yes, that's what I asked. In the next week, or within half a month. ”

Rich was directly confused by this question. It's not a question of whether he wants to or not, but he doesn't know how far he has come to prepare for war. There are some things that only Gray, the Lich King, knows. Maybe the black cat also knew, but at this moment, neither of them was there.

"Some of the nobles of the Gustav Empire have chosen to surrender. They are willing to work with us. In their position, they are not willing to lose what they have. From our standpoint, it is to reduce unnecessary casualties. ”

"It's a good idea. ”

"But what about the sins they committed before they cooperated with us? Do we punish them? ”

"Shouldn't there be punishment? Reward and punishment should not be deducted from each other, this is the rule set by my father. Surrendering to us does not mean that we will erase all the mistakes they have made. ”

"But we need to come up with a plan that will be acceptable to them. If the punishment is too severe, they may cancel the original plan to surrender. If the penalty is too light, it is against our principles. ”

Okay, another thing that only Gray can handle. There are too many details to consider in a surrender, and many of them are known only to Gray.

"Maybe we can...... Tell them more about it?"

"Tell me about it?"

Several of the lichs standing in front of him looked at each other in surprise, and Richie stood still, not knowing how to react for a moment.

"Won't they want to talk?"

"No, they do, and they have already talked. ”

"With my father?"

"Yes. But we don't know what the tacit agreement between them is. ”

The list of questions is too numerous to count. Richie felt like he was going crazy.

Gray's day-to-day work is countless times more complicated than Ridge first thought. It's a staggering amount of things. Unfortunately, Richie had not been exposed at all before.

Unlike most groups that struggle for power at such times, the lichs have little to say about Richie taking Gray's place. Anyway, it was difficult for them to convince each other, and it was an impossible task to choose any other one of the lichs to take Gray's place, otherwise the Lich Council would not have been without a leader in the first place. Moreover, for them, there is essentially no difference between Gray's age and Richie's. A few years old and a hundred years old, it seems to them all the same.

Having Richie succeed Gray seemed to be the only option.

However, agreeing that Richie's position on Gray's temporary basis before Gray's life and death are clear, and whether they will fully support them, are completely two different things. That kind of unsupport, sometimes unintentionally.

"I don't think if it were the Lich King, he would never think like you. ”

Arguably, this is the sentence that Richie fears the most.

For the lichs, Gray is the protagonist of the story, a saint whose faith has been tested and who has a great reputation among the lichs. His decision, even if the lichs don't agree, will reluctantly accept it. What is the final word for him can be carried out by all the lichs. Sometimes he can even reprimand erring lichs - in fact, he may be the only one who can reprimand erring lichs.

As for Richie, that's another matter.

There is no doubt that the lich loves this young man very much. However, this is perhaps the worst part.

Leaving the Valley of the Dragon, Richie did not return to Salted Fish Harbor as originally planned, but went to Mangis City, which was located on the front line.

It was a small city-state on the plains. There, Benedict had gathered a large Confederate army to cooperate with Gray's Northern Expedition, and had piled up a large amount of supplies for half a year. It can be said that it was the bridgehead of the Northern Expedition.

The reason why he chose this place is because Richie can't wait to avenge his father.

"If I must tell my mother the news, I hope to bring back the head of the Black Dragon Great Elder with me. ”

This was Richie's idea. However, he soon discovers that he is wrong, and he is very wrong.

When the Undead Legion arrived in Mangis, Richie continued to use his father's Silver Moon Banner to block the news and temporarily refuse to meet with any Human Lords.

Immediately after that, something happened.

"War should be started immediately, since they have attacked us, then why don't we attack them? Attack the top of the dragon! We have enough strength! Let our anger burn them completely!"

"But we're not quite ready. Whether it's the takeover of the Gustav Empire, or the knowledge of the Top of the Dragon, we are not ready. It is not good for us to start a war rashly. ”

"Is it bad for us or bad for humans? We've never prepared for any war with dragons before! I think we can ignore them at all, after all, they can't control the situation of the war!"

"What else are you going to prepare? We've been preparing for a full year! If we had started a war a year ago, this wouldn't have happened!"

"This goes against the Lich King's original idea. ”

"I'm sorry, there may be something wrong with what I'm going to say next, but I'm going to say it anyway. The Lich King has set too many limits on himself, and those restrictions have led to the results he is today. We have given up the right to crusade against the Golden Dragon in order to uphold his last wish, and now we want to give up the right to crusade against the Black Dragon?"

"Are you saying the Lich King is doing something wrong?"

"It's not once or twice that the Lich King has admitted his mistakes, and he hasn't said he's necessarily right. Are you trying to say that he was wrong to admit his mistakes?"

"Uncles and aunts, I think ......"

Richie tried to interject, however, the lichs quickly poured cold water on him.

"Little Richie, we'll take care of this. Your decision in the Valley of the Dragons is very right, and we will leave it to us next!

"I don't think there's any point in you arguing like this, now we just need to decide whether to start a war immediately, and how to start a war. ”

"I feel that we should start a war immediately, directly attack the top of the dragon, kill the black dragon elder, and put an end to this. ”

"I also think that war should be started immediately, but I don't think it's worth it to sneak up on the top of the dragon, we don't know much about it, so we can't talk about sneak attacks. It should be advanced step by step along the Gustavian Empire. ”

"I don't think there should be a war right away, we still have a lot of things to deal with, and starting a war right away would make everything more chaotic. I can even imagine what would happen. ”

"I think I can sneak up on the top of the dragon. Although we didn't know it, the black dragon didn't expect us to move so fast, and we had the advantage. ”

"Why do you think you can't think of anything they can think of?"

"You mean I'm stupid?"

"No, I didn't mean that. Of course, that's what it means. Quack quack. ”

"Duel like a knight!"

Sitting in the commander's seat, Richie felt his scalp go numb.

Yes, they quarreled, and Richie was left out of the discussion. No matter what direction the discussion is, they can quarrel and develop into a martial fight at every turn.

If Brutus hadn't intervened in time to stop it, the first military council presided over by Qi here would most likely end in a split in the White Bone Holy Light Holy See.

Of course, in the end, there was no resolution, and we broke up unhappily.

......

After the meeting, Richie, who had turned into a zombie, sat alone in the empty hall, looking at the moonlight that shone obliquely outside the door.

Delia and Sarina quietly appeared beside him.

"Every one of them is my uncle and aunt, and every one of them loves me, and every opinion they put forward is also for my good and to better avenge my father. But ......," Richie said blankly, "I can only make one decision." I can only choose one opinion and then try to convince others. The truth is that I can't convince anyone. I had no prestige in their eyes, no merit, and I was still a child. Immediately launching a crusade against the Black Dragon is simply an impossible task...... It's just too bad, very bad. As far as I know, the Holy See of Bone Light was formerly known as the Lich Council. That institution has been around for tens of thousands of years, but no lich has ever been able to unify the opinions of all the other lichs. They've always been a mess. Father, by virtue of his prestige, reluctantly united them. And now, I feel like they're in a mess again. Humans are the same, and if I announce what happened to my father, what will happen? Will humanity also disperse?"

Without feeling any of the excitement of avenging his father, Richie felt only unprecedented pressure when he presided over a military meeting for the first time.

Probably, this is the real reason why Black Dragon chose to assassinate Gray. This alliance is much more fragile than anyone thinks. It is a miracle to be born, and it is even more necessary to be able to sustain it.

"They're all lichs, and they're very different from humans, and even from all other races. I know my father was like that when he first came to the ground. Later he changed. But the uncles and aunts have not changed, and even because they are strong enough, they don't have much hope of changing. If my father might be able to persuade them here, I'......"

The organization that was born out of one book is as unreliable as Gray's understanding of chivalry when he first appeared on the ground.

"What should I do?" Lowering his head, Richie covered his face and asked softly, "Things are countless times trickier than I thought." If I can't even unify their opinions, how can I continue on my father's path?"

"Maybe you need a little time to learn how to handle these things?"

"But what I'm missing most now is time. ”

There was no doubt that neither Sarina nor Delia could answer this question.

The whole hall was silent.

After a long silence, Richie let go of his hands and whispered, "Help me prepare a sharp knife and a bucket big enough." And some metals. ”

"Knives and buckets, and ...... Metal?"

"Yes. ”

Delia and Sarina hesitated, but finally nodded.

......

The night breeze blew softly, and the shadows of the trees swayed gently in the silvery moonlight.

On his first night in Mungis, Richie used a knife to cut off the flesh and blood from his body bit by bit, until only the skeleton remained. Then, like Gray when he first appeared in the surface world, he used magic and a pile of metal to tinker with the skeleton.

At the same time, on top of his head, a pull ring identical to Gray was attached.