King Richard of Thrace was a man of ambition and perseverance, and although the southern expeditionary army led by the Marquis of Henry suffered a crushing defeat, and even the commander Marquis Henry was killed in battle, he did not give up his intention to invade the Molai Federation.

In his opinion, the key to this failure lies in the fact that there is no top master in the army. As long as there are masters in charge, failure is completely avoidable.

So he proposed the Imperial Expedition - he personally led the troops, so the Ice Sword Saint would naturally follow, and several core powerhouses of Thrace would also go with him. With them in charge of the Chinese army, whether it is the main force of the Molai side or the volunteer army of unknown origin, they do not want to shake the mountain-like formation of the army.

But this idea was opposed by the courtiers, and the death of the Marquis of Henry surprised and frightened everyone - as one of the highest nobles in Thrace, the Marquis of Henry was not only powerful, but also had many treasures to protect him. It is said that a character like him, unless he insists on fighting to the death and not retreating, it will be difficult for him to stay forever even if a legendary powerhouse makes a move. But Norma's Volunteers did just that—the corpse of the Marquis who was later brought back showed that he had endured many difficult battles, which meant that the Volunteers had not only magicians who could seal off space, but also a large number of powerful and fearless masters.

In the face of such an enemy, even with the Ice Sword Saint in charge, the ministers loyal to the king still worry about His Majesty's safety.

Richard, though stubborn and fierce, is not ignorant. He naturally understands that the ministers are doing it for his own good, and he can also understand the ministers' concerns. After thinking about it again, especially after getting the hint from the Ice Sword Saint, he finally gave up the idea of driving the expedition in person, and instead asked if anyone among the great nobles was willing to lead troops to the expedition.

This question was filled with silence.

The death of the Marquis of Henry was shocking. The most terrible thing is that the Norma actually infiltrated Thrace and assassinated his heir, Edward...... In other words, the entire core heir of the Henry family is dead.

In the face of such danger, no nobleman dared to stand out again.

Of course, they know that war can bring great benefits, and of course they know that war is dangerous. But in the past, the dangers of war were borne by soldiers and junior officers, not to mention commanders, even relatively senior officers, who rarely died because of this. They love war because it is not really much danger for them, only the benefits.

But this time it's different!

Even the commander Marquis Henry is dead, and his family heir is hunted down, and no nobleman is willing to bear such a danger.

In the face of the silence of the great nobles, King Richard was of course very unhappy, and he couldn't help but ridicule - the relationship between the king and these great nobles was not very good, and they only checked and balanced each other. If you can find an opportunity to sarcastically mock the other party, no one will miss the opportunity.

In this case, Duke Erlands stepped forward.

"I'll go. In the magic projection, Caterina Elantz put down the sweet tea in her hand, smiled and said, "I'm curious to meet the warriors who can shake the army of 30,000 with just a few hundred people and finally defeat it." ”

"Then I'll leave this matter to you, I'll prepare military rations and supplies or something. ”

"Neither military rations nor supplies are a problem. "I need an edict, an edict of amnesty." ”

"What do you mean?" said Richard, frowning.

"That group of people is really capable, and I want to convince and recruit them. Caterina smiled slightly, "After all, they fought with Thrace, and you gave me a letter of amnesty, so I have the confidence to recruit them." ”

The king was silent for a long time, and finally agreed to her request.

He knew that this would displease the nobles who were loyal to him, but he had no choice.

There are very few commanders who can lead the Thracian army to the south. The marquis were reluctant to come forward, and the king could not personally lead the army, and the only thing left was one of the two dukes. In the case that the Duke of Pituz refused to speak, the only one who could preside over the southern expedition was the Duke of Elanz.

So he could only issue this edict.

After receiving the edict, Caterina happily lit up the elite of the Elantz family, led the king's re-recruited army, and made a menacing sail for Norma.

In the face of the unfavorable Thracian army, the Duke of Norma was naturally frightened - he could never have imagined that only two months after the rout of the 30,000-strong army, the Thracians would come again!

But this time, the Thracians did something completely different.

Before the army came to the Norma Line, they did not launch a storm, but invited the Duke of Norma to meet and negotiate, and during the negotiations, she made a jaw-dropping proposal.

"Let's settle this war by duel. She said to the Duke of Norma, "If you win, I will turn around and leave, and I will bear all the responsibility, and if I win, I will leave you and give up the Norma line." How?"

"Why should I agree to such a ridiculous request?" asked the Duke of Norma, surprised, "war is a serious matter, how can it be such a child's play!"

"For people of our level, war is child's play. Duke Elantz said nonchalantly, "In war, it is we who get the most benefit, so what's wrong with us duel to solve the problem?"

Duke Norma shook his head again and again: "There is no reason in the world to decide the outcome of a war by a duel between the commanders!"

"It's all made by people, and I think it's a good deal. Duke Elanz smiled and said, "If we duel, at most one person will die." If two armies were to fight, thousands of people would surely die -- everyone is the same life, so why should we not die if others die? It is better to die one person than to die thousands of people. ”

"People are not the same!" roared Duke Norma.

"People are the same!" Duke Elantz smiled, but his eyes were cold, "If you don't even have the courage to die, don't stand on the battlefield, bastard!"

Duke Norma was furiously scolded, but he really didn't have the courage to risk his life to fight the other party, even though the other party was just a little girl who was not even twenty years old.

He hesitated and asked, "According to the rules, I can find someone to duel in my place......"

"If you're going to use this rule, then I can find someone to duel for me, too. "As long as you accept the bet, and we both find a master to fight, and the battle is decided." ”

So Duke Norma agreed, and after he returned, he immediately sent people to contact those legendary powerhouses on the mainland who were willing to be hired at their expense.