or 3g chapter ninety-nine

In the early morning, when a round of red sun rose from the top of the Broken Sky Mountain Range, the Dragon's Tooth Fortress on the northern border of the Solan Empire ushered in a rare good weather. Free Fiction Network

Located between the province of Pruxing in the northwest and the Duchy of Farrington in the northeast, the Dragon's Tooth Fortress is slightly northerly, the northernmost part of the Saint Soran Empire. On the map of the empire, this fortress and the Hukou fortress, which are fifty kilometers apart, are like two huge fangs, tightly guarding the most important choke point of the northern border of the empire. Defending against the vast empire of the North.

In the military defense system of Saint-Soran, the Dragon's Tooth Fortress and the Tiger's Mouth Fortress are even above the border city of Longmén to the west. For more than 100 years since the founding of the country, it has enjoyed the highest priority for military deployment, and has given priority to ensuring the supply of troops and military supplies.

This was set by Grand Duke Solan. It was here that he led the Solan Army in an extremely tragic battle with the Pompeii-Curia coalition. If it weren't for the Dragon's Tooth Fortress and the Tiger's Mouth Fortress that finally blocked the enemy's southward movement, I'm afraid there would be no Saint Soran Empire in this world.

A hundred years is a long time, but it's not enough to forget the memory. Therefore, even after the invasion of Saint-Solan by Philae, the army here was not cut in the slightest. Especially after the Holy See issued the order of the Third Crusade, the appearance of a large number of Pompeian troops only exacerbated the tension here.

The army of the Crusade was not the regular army of the Pompeii Empire. Among them were pious noble knights, there were sì subordinate knights, hu servants, slaves, and recruited sī soldiers, and there were free knights of liu làng. There are mercenaries with a knife edge, and there are many speculators, criminals and thugs who want to make a fortune on the infidels in the land of únlàn.

"Go and destroy the infidels, and God will forgive you for a single sin. ”

"Go and exterminate the infidels. God bestows their possessions on His most faithful servants. ”

"Go and destroy the infidels, and God will engrave the untold glory on the most heroic knightly coat of arms, and shine forever. ”

The Holy Voice of the Holy See. Let countless people embark on the journey of the Eastern Crusade. Whether it's because of faith or because of greed, the result is the same. From Bōertan to Sèli, from Alaminia to Is, the road to the land of únlàn is full of people who participated in the crusade with the cross flag and the cross emblem.

Although the traditional route of the Crusade did not pass through St. Solan, the large army posed a great threat to the St. Soran border. Especially in this sensitive period, a Pompeian cavalry in the crusade of the Crusades. For Saint-Soran, it may be a deadly knife.

Saint Soran and the Pompeii Empire were never friends.

You must know that the existence of the land of únlàn is the masterpiece of the Grand Duke of Solan back then. In a way, the land of Saint-Solan and únlàn have an almost blood relationship.

Saint-Soran is fine, at least the commoners and nobles here are not pagans. There are churches here, and there are churches in Solan, one of the three major popes of the Holy See, who governs thousands of faithful and churches in every region of Solan. Even the Solan royal family. He also maintained a respectful posture towards the Holy See on the surface.

But the land of únlàn is different. There are no churches, no laws of Pompeii and castles of lords. Some are just city-states ruled by infidels, bandits, madmen, thugs from all over the continent. Crooks, thieves, dark wizards and fallen knights, as well as uncivilized orcs, barbarians, and other races.

Any saint who tries to spread the sound of the Divine Voice, or a conqueror with a brave heart, who dares to set foot in the land of únlàn, will only end up being beaten into a dead dog. This point, in the two earlier Crusades and earlier battles, has been confirmed by countless unlucky people themselves.

But despite this, the Holy See and the Pompeii Empire never gave up their attempts to conquer the land of únlàn, and they always maintained strong military pressure on the land of únlàn, always eyeing the borders of the land of Saint-Solan and únlàn. For the people of Saint-Soran, there is always a feeling that the spearhead is directed at them. ...,

Xia Heng looked into the distance.

As the most respected battalion commander in the infantry of the Dragon's Tooth Legion, he led his guards and battalion officers up to the city wall at eight o'clock in the morning as usual to begin the day's patrol.

The Dragon's Tooth Fortress is built against the back of the mountain, with a total of four walls, which rise in a spiral shape. The whole looks like a huge conch embedded in the cliff. The first layer of the wall is fifty meters high, the second layer is twenty-five meters high, and the third and fourth floors are twenty meters high.

The drop of more than 100 meters was enough for Xia Heng, who was standing at the highest point, to clearly see any moving figure on the plains within the border line of the Northern Pompeii Empire.

The morning sun shines on the plains, casting a golden veil on all things. The plains of the north are not the same as those of the south. The land here is barren and the climate is colder. The plains in the south still have some aquatic plants, and in front of Xia Heng's eyes, there are only rocks, dust and sand and low camel thorns, red willows and sand jujubes.

In the God-given land, such a place is called the Gobi. Except for adventurers, miners, and monsters, very few people live. But in the Land of Redemption, this is already the land that many lords dream of. At least there are some improved crops that can be grown here to feed people. Unlike other places, it's a forbidden area for life.

As far as Xia Heng knew, the Gobi in front of him belonged to more than twenty Pompeii lords. Over the past hundred years, these lords have fought countless wars over land. Its tragic process makes people dare not believe that this is an internal war of the imperial aristocracy.

And as a bystander, everyone in the Dragon's Tooth Fortress knew that the lords of Pompeii were willing to pay far more than they would have fought each other if they had the opportunity to get their hands on the lands south of Saint-Soran.

A long procession marched in the distance. Kick up a cloud of dust like an earth dragon.

"How many batches are there today?" Xia Heng asked.

"My lord, plus the group that passed in the early morning, this is the third Eastern Expeditionary Army that has passed through our fortress today. A guard squad leader reported.

Xia Heng nodded, looking at the team far away from the national border with wary eyes. Although he knew that at this moment, countless Solan falcons were watching everyone who passed by in the vast area in front of the fortress. But he still didn't relax at all.

The crusaders marched toward the place where the sun had risen, and the sun shone on their dusty faces and cast long shadows in the yellow sand that rose behind them.

The number of this army was not large. There were less than five hundred people. Like the rest of the Crusade, they were supposed to be cobbled together by many people they didn't know. They did not have a uniform and the Holy See cross flag they held in their hands was also five ā eight mén. The material is different.

There is an embroiderer jīng beautiful, a cross flag raised by a neatly dressed sì from a knight. That's the nobility in the ranks. They are usually the core of a team. Walk in the middle of the line.

Closer to the ranks of the nobles were knights who were stronger and trusted by them. These knights may be the owner of a small manor, or the second son of a family without inheritance, or a ruined nobleman who has lost his territory. The only reason they appeared here was to gain wealth and glory through the Guò Crusade.

Although they are relatively down-and-out, they do not have many retinues and too good equipment. However, with an orthodox education, they are obviously more likely to be trusted than the rest of the team. It's also easier to fit in. The workmanship of their flags is not beautiful, but it is not too bad either.

The rest of the flags are a bit miscellaneous. Some were painted with crosses on linen, while others were simply strips of cloth torn from clothes tied to sticks. And the people holding these flags are also five ā eight mén, there are mercenaries, there are knights and swordsmen, and there are also civilians who drag their families with their mouths. ...,

Xia Heng was not surprised by this. On the walls of the Dragon's Tooth Fortress, he had seen stranger teams than this. I've long been used to it.

The reason for the existence of those ragtag flags is that on this road to the land of únlàn, people have only two identities. Crusades. or the enemies of the Crusaders. No matter how tattered the flag was, they held it up if they wanted not to be attacked by the Crusaders.

Civilians in cloth clothes appeared in the ranks. Even with NV people and children, it's not something to be surprised about.

You know, on this continent, there are too many people who are struggling to die every day. Even in the best of years, they can barely eat. And a natural disaster is enough to make many civilians take risks and join the team to the east to fight for a future.

It's still hundreds of kilometers away from the land of únlàn. Xia Heng didn't know how many people would eventually arrive in the land of únlàn and join the war. But he can be sure that definitely not all of them.

Some of the party would fall ill and die before they arrived, some would sink to the bottom of the sea in the great làng of the Black Sè Sea, some would retreat at the first sight of the siege, and still others would die in the internal battles of the Crusaders.

The land of únlàn is heaven and hell!

There was a shout, footsteps and the sound of eagles whistling from behind him. Xia Heng looked back. In the center of the castle, several restless griffins were pulled out of the breeding house by the soldiers. Heavily armed griffin knights stepped forward to calm their mounts, while soldiers hurriedly saddled the behemoths, attaching stabilizers and armor to key parts.

"What is this for? Is there any hostility?"

Xia Heng asked the person next to him a little strangely. As a mid-level officer in the battalion, it was impossible for him not to know if there was an enemy situation. Moreover, he was keenly aware that the griffin was wearing a riding ornament embroidered with the St. Solan emblem, but on its four claws, there were no jīng steel claws used for fighting.

"My lord, it's the northwest. Someone was sent over there. A third-class tiger lieutenant reminded.

As soon as he heard this, the faces of Xia Heng and the officers around him suddenly sank.

The northwest in the mouth of the tiger captain is not just a direction in the minds of all the officers and soldiers of the Dragon's Tooth Fortress. This word refers to a Duchy of Lanris, although it has never fought against the Dragon's Tooth Fortress, but generations of soldiers stationed in the fortress have defended its opponent for a full hundred years.

The Duchy of Lanrith is located fifty kilometers northwest of the Dragon's Tooth Fortress, separated by only a few small territories. Although this duchy belonged to the Pompeii Empire like other noble realms, neither the Solans in the south of the border nor the Pompeii in the north saw it that way.

Just as no one ever really saw the Duchy of Farrington as part of Saint Solan, no one ever thought that the royal family of Pompeii ruled the Duchy of Lanrith.

The principality and the family that rules there. They are the most unique beings on this continent, and their power is so terrifying that the Dragon's Tooth Fortress is even more worried and guarded against them than it is against the Pompeii Empire.

This time. The stronghold uses the Empire's most prized and scarce griffin knights, because today an empty demon ship will enter the airspace of the Saint Solan Empire from the Duchy of Lanris. It will travel through the entire empire to the southern province of Lulian. And the role of the griffin knight. One is to guard with respect and welcome, and the other is to ensure that this empty demon ship does not pass over the Dragon's Tooth Fortress.

It's ridiculous to say. The passengers on this empty demon ship, which made the emperor feel like a great enemy, are said to be just a second-level steward of the Principality of Lanris. What's even more ridiculous is that he went south because they wanted to teach a young knight cadet in place of Saint Solan. ...,

Regarding the incident that happened in the south, perhaps no one in the fortress knew better than Xia Heng.

He is a member of the Xia family in Beihai. Xia Li is his own nephew.

The Xia family is not a wealthy family, but in the imperial side, the Xia family is definitely a family that cannot be ignored. It's just Xia Heng's generation. There are more than 30 children of the Xia family who serve as middle-level officers in the military. Five were senior officers. And in their previous generation, the three tigers of the Xia family, including Xia Heng's father, were all imperial generals.

Xia Li is the eldest son and grandson of the Xia family and the leader of the third generation.

Because of his outstanding talent and the heir of the family, Xia Li has been concerned by the elders of the family since he was a child. Xia Heng, in particular, has great expectations for this talented nephew. He himself was only forty years old and unmarried. completely regarded Xia Li as his own son.

Xia Li is indeed very competitive. Before the age of nineteen, he had already broken through to the brave knight, and the future was bright. Unexpectedly, just a few days ago, Xia Li was actually beaten. And it was at the castle ball of the Grand Duke of Loulian. In front of all the nobles of Lulian, they were beaten to the point of being defenseless.

The day after the ball, Xia Li returned to the border city of Beihai Town.

After learning what happened, the Xia family did not send someone to Lulian to find the person who beat him to settle the account, but Xia Li's father, Xia Song, beat him up with his own hands, and then under the order of his grandfather, that is, Xia Cang, the head of the Xia family, he was locked in the tower of the Xia family's castle and thought about it.

No one was surprised by this, whether it was Xia Heng or the rest of the Xia family, even Xia Li himself.

The Xia family does not prohibit their own children from fighting. I don't care if I win or lose. Xia Li's fault was that he forgot that he was in Jiangmén, and the children of the Xia family were soldiers and not anyone's thugs. Even Prince Anthony, who has an excellent relationship with the Xia family, can't do it. The Xia family will definitely not participate in the political struggle of the empire!

A group of noble children joined forces to bully a commoner boy, and they deserved to be beaten! What's more, they were also heroes in the battle of Medin City. Xia Li, whether in terms of strength or other aspects, makes people blush compared to the other party. That's why he was beaten and punished.

After Xia Heng learned about this, he wrote a letter to his nephew in a rather stern tone. And then just forget about it. After the start of the Crusade, the Dragon's Tooth Fortress was heavily burdened with defenses, and he did not have the strength to take care of anything else. In his opinion, it was just a farce between a few children.

But what he didn't expect was that with Scarlett's return to the imperial capital, things became more and more out of control. Not only did there be a crisis of infighting within the royal family, but it also led to the Golden Dragon family.

When he heard that the imperial capital was surging and the result of the final balance of various forces was that the royal family swallowed his anger and defaulted to the fact that this time the Lanris family would be the protector of Scarlett to trouble the young man named Roy, the entire Dragon's Tooth Fortress was in an uproar, and Xia Heng couldn't help but drop the cup at that time.

When, it's the turn of the Solans to teach the Lanrith a lesson?!

They have defended the Lanrees in Dragon's Tooth Fortress for hundreds of years, and have always regarded the duchy as a lifelong enemy. But this time, the Lanrith people actually swaggered through the defense line they were stationed and went to the southernmost part of the empire to show off their might, which made everyone feel deeply insulted.

Xia Heng couldn't wait to go back to the border city of the town and beat Xia Li again with his own hands.

"It's coming. ”

With the voice of the guard beside him, Xia Heng turned his head to look, only to see that in the distant sky, an empty demon ship with sails hanging high was slowly flying towards this side under the illumination of the sun.

The hull of the Empty Demon Ship is made of rare Fengxing wood, and the hull is fusiform and carved with dense magic patterns. The bow, keel, and stern are all cast of magic gold, and the short wings on both sides are a combination of magic silver and magic crystals. The whole ship, in the sun, has a fantastic feel. ...,

Xia Heng snorted coldly.

Although the empty demon ship looks beautiful, it is not good militarily.

The boats fly at an altitude of only 1,000 meters, and many of the slightly higher peaks cannot be crossed, so they have to be traversed by fixed channels through the gorges. Moreover, because of the need to reduce the weight as much as possible, each empty demon ship has a huge body, but it can't carry many people and goods, let alone armor for combat weapons.

Coupled with the rarity of the materials needed for its construction, and the high cost of operation and maintenance, once it is shot down, the loss is unimaginable.

If it weren't for the permission before, give this empty demon ship a hundred guts, and dare not appear in the line of sight of the Dragon's Tooth Fortress. All it takes is two griffon knights to keep it here forever.

The empty demon ship slowly moved towards this side.

And with two eagle roars and a huge flapping of wings, a whirlwind broke out in the fortress, and the two griffons soared into the air and flew towards the Sky Demon Ship. A moment later, the other two followed suit and flew into the sky.

At the same time, four small black dots had already appeared in the eastern sky. It was the griffin knights of the Tiger Mouth Fortress who had arrived. Dragon's Tooth Fortress and Tiger's Mouth Fortress only had a total of twenty griffon knights, and this time, eight of them were dispatched. It can be seen that the wariness of the Lanrithians is being warned.

Fly towards the empty demon ship of the Dragon's Tooth Fortress and slow down. It seems to know what the consequences will be if you fly towards the Dragon's Tooth Fortress again.

You know, from the moment they appeared, they were greeted not only by griffin knights, but also by demonic cannons that had already lifted their méng cloth, armor-piercing crossbows, and fortress soldiers who rushed up the city walls like ants. There are at least a thousand bows and arrows and more than ten magicians, locking them down.

A few minutes later, the Sky Demon Ship, escorted by the Solland Griffin Knight, slowly changed course, lowered its altitude, and flew through the canyon between the Dragon's Tooth Fortress and the Tiger's Mouth Fortress.

Xia Heng stood on the city wall, staring at the Lanris on the deck of the empty demon ship.

Among them, the leader was a middle-aged man wearing a blue sè breasted robe with a raff collar. Behind him was a young knight with a tǐng figure. The two men, escorted by a group of knights, stood at the bow of the ship, staring straight ahead. He didn't even glance at the griffin knight beside him and the dragon's tooth fortress not far away.

"Count Schilling of the Pompeii Empire, Knight of Glory, member of the Imperial Court of the Duke of Lanris, second-class butler. A subordinate in charge of intelligence revealed the identity of the middle-aged man.

On the city wall, there was silence for a while.

Everyone knows that the power of the Golden Dragon Family is terrifying, but they didn't expect that a second-level butler would have the power of a knight of glory and the identity of an earl. What kind of strength and identity are the first-level housekeepers and big housekeepers?

After a long time, Xia Heng said lightly: "What a big show!"

He turned around and walked down the wall. When the information of the young man who beat his nephew came to his mind, the corners of his mouth hooked up a sneer: "I hope they don't run into a bloody head in the south!"

(To be continued)