To the west of Olympia, on the north bank of the Nordin River, a huge circular building with a history of more than 1,000 years stands quietly.

Reflected in the soft waves of the Notting River is a magnificent arena that spans more than 25,000 square metres and rises to a height of 100 metres, with ancient granite walls inscribed with medieval poems and inscriptions, which speak silently of its glorious history.

The bronze gate bears the name of the arena: Jupiter.

This is the name of the great founding emperor of the Holy Empire, and it is not difficult to see the status of this arena in the Holy Empire.

The Imperial Martial Arts Tournament, which is held every five years, is also held here.

In order to prevent such a grand event, the whole empire mobilized forces from all sides, and this year the scale was unprecedented, to the point that all observers inside and outside the empire were dumbfounded.

Outside the arena, there were more than 500 Golden Iris Knights stationed, and this world-shattering knight order was actually transferred to act as the security team of the arena, only to see hundreds of high-ranking knights in brilliant magic armor with solemn faces, neatly surrounding the arena, even if they stood on the other side of the river, they could feel the power of the sky.

In the sky above the arena, more than a dozen griffons belonging to the city defense army flew around the arena, and the knights sitting on the griffins watched the arena day and night with vigilant eyes, as if they were watching a military fortress that could not be missed.

Looking at this formation, anyone with a discerning eye knows how much His Majesty the Emperor attaches great importance to this martial arts conference.

The Golden Iris Knights and the Griffin Brigade are rarely dispatched, and the Magic Guild is also busy at the moment, the scale of this martial arts conference is unprecedentedly huge, just arranging a large defensive magic array is a big project, and it is undoubtedly a difficult problem for mages who are not very proficient in architecture.

After several lengthy meetings, the Magic Guild had to make a decision to pull down and ask for help from the Alchemy Altar.

However, the alchemy altar didn't buy it very much, especially the president Andrew, who was obsessed with alchemy experiments, ignored the blue face of the negotiator of the Magic Guild several times, and caused earth-shattering explosions as if no one was around, once he was dissuaded, he would scold the people unreasonably, who would dare to provoke such a character?

After several fruitless negotiations, the head of the Magic Guild had to come forward in person, and after several lengthy bargains behind the scenes, Andrew finally reluctantly agreed to lend a hand.

But his appetite is also amazing, in addition to asking the Magic Guild and the Imperial Treasury to pay a huge amount of gold coins, he also forced the Magic Guild to sign a contract to provide two hundred magicians for free every year to engage in research for the alchemy altar, and finally patted his ass and left satisfied, leaving the honorable Magic Guild Elder alone to gnash his teeth alone.

This incident once again proved the unique status and resources of the Alchemy Altar in the mainland, even the mysterious and powerful mages in the eyes of the world had to bow their arrogant heads in front of the Alchemy Altar.

No matter how strong the magic is, you can't stand the amount of money that people have!

In countless open or dark confrontations, under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes inside and outside the empire, this martial arts conference destined to shine in the annals of history finally kicked off.

The 20th day of the seventh month of the year 996 in the sacred calendar is a day that will be remembered by the entire empire and the continent in the future.

As soon as the morning light dawned, the south bank of the Notting River was crowded with hundreds of carriages, and countless citizens crowded near the long bridge of the Notting River, vying to witness the arrival of the contestants, and countless girls in the imperial capital held flowers and looked at the entrance of the arch of the long bridge with expectant eyes.

Needless to say, the nobles had absolute priority in this regard, so the carriages with the badges of nobility quickly passed through the long bridge, but most of the ordinary citizens did not have the opportunity to step into the Colosseum of Jupiter, so they came here just to get a chance to see the knights up close.

The carriage exclusive to the Palatine Academy stopped at the entrance of the long bridge, and several young men wearing Palatine uniforms and athlete badges stepped out of the carriage, among them were Gawain, Metternich, and Galahad, and the crowd burst into loud cheers when they saw them.

Gawain watched these simple-clad people dance wildly, a look of disgust flashed on his face, in his eyes, these humble and unruly pariahs were not even qualified to step into the arena for half a step, and their cheers did not make that Gawain feel the slightest joy, only made him feel noisy.

"Why hasn't that guy Roland come with him yet?" Gawain looked back at Metternich and said sarcastically, "Surely this guy is the first time in his life that he has seen this kind of scene and sneaks away in fright? ”

"Our President has always been very punctual, and now there are three hours before the opening time, so there is no hurry. Metternich shook his head, "Roland Austen isn't the kind of knight who can have stage fright, maybe he's picking up the weapons he can use in the alchemy altar right now." ”

Gao Wengang wanted to say something mocking, "Is there any sword in the alchemy altar that a civilian like him can afford?", but thinking that in the past three years, Roland had always used the most ordinary long sword in the duel with him, but he still beat him to the point that he couldn't raise his head, and his face suddenly became extremely ugly, and he didn't say a word.

A few minutes later, several more runners arrived, crossed the long bridge amid the louder cheers of the crowd, and marched to the Rose Avenue that led to the arena gate, escorted by soldiers.

As the minutes passed, the sun gradually rose into the sky, the scorching sun scorched the earth, the onlookers gradually dispersed, and the south bank of the Notting River suddenly became deserted.

A carriage decorated with the insignia of the church quietly came near the long bridge.

Roland Austin stepped down from the carriage, bowed respectfully to the carriage gate, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for accompanying you. ”

"Go, child, the light is above, and may the Holy Light shine upon you always. A majestic voice sounded from the carriage, "The rewards of this martial arts tournament are crucial to your future, don't forget your mission." ”

"Won't let you down. Roland made a cross on his chest.

Watching Roland walk away calmly in his vision, the man in the carriage lowered the curtains with satisfaction, gently brushed the dust off his luxurious red archbishop's robes, and began to play carelessly with the golden cross he wore on his body.

Another priest sitting in the carriage spoke: "Your Excellency Meron, Roland's affairs have been arranged, what should we do next?"

"What's the hurry, what we want to do, Drakes will arrange everything for us, we just need to be in charge of watching the show. ”

Now the cardinal archbishop of the southern diocese of the Church of Light, a member of the Council of Cardinals, Meron said lazily. "Don't underestimate our Grand Inquisitor, that old guy is much more calculating than me, if it weren't for him, how could Innocent have a chance to overpower my teacher? ”

"It's a pity that Lord Elvis lost his hand in Springwater, otherwise, why would we owe Drax a favor. "That high priest is a henchman of Meron's faction, and he is not shy about talking at this moment.

Meron shook his head, "There are as many chess pieces as Elvis wants, and Drex's attitude is the most important, without his help, it will be difficult for us to clean up that old thing in Richelieu in the future." ”

"I heard that Bishop Cicero has assigned Diana a personal priest, do you want to pay attention?" the archpriest suggested.

Meron waved his hand impatiently, "The Lord tells us that details are the devil, and it is good to be cautious, but paying too much attention to everything will greatly distract our precious energy, and this is just the usual method used by Augustine Theological Seminary to cultivate apprentices, so that the priest from the seminary can follow the big men in the church to study, so as to pave the way for the future, such little people have only followed Diana for more than a year, and the people in the church are soft-spoken and cannot make any waves." ”

Roland crossed the long bridge over the Notting River and came to the world-famous Avenue of Roses, where countless delicate flowers bloomed on both sides of the flat road, merging into two beautiful dark red rivers.

On the Avenue of Roses, Roland sees another person: the Morning Star.

Constantine also noticed the fellow knight, and before he entered the game, Joey told him that this was probably the toughest guy to deal with in the entire tournament.

"Hello. Roland showed no hostility in the face of this strange opponent in a silver mask, and an impeccable smile appeared on his face, and he reached out to Constantine.

Constantine hesitated, but finally reached out.

Two slender and slender hands were held together.

Many historians of later generations have speculated many times that the scene on the day of the first meeting between these two figures, who would later stand at the top of the mainland, was it-for-tat? Or was it sympathy?

At the moment, neither of them felt this way, they calmly held each other's hands, and then let go.

"You're not an Olympian?" Roland asked with a smile as he walked down the Avenue of Roses. "Or is there a custom of wearing masks somewhere in the Empire?"

Constantine lifted the mask, "The canon says: The world is bathed in light, like a fish in water without knowing it, and the existence of darkness can make me perceive the preciousness of light and stay awake." ”

Roland said softly, "The words are very good, but it takes a lot of willpower to be in the dark and not get lost, because when you stare into the abyss, the abyss is also staring at you." ”

Hearing this, Constantine's mind suddenly came up with what he had seen with his own eyes when he was a child, the fiery red earth, the gray sky, and the sulfur-filled otherworld, "Divine Codex, Chaos Chronicle, Chapter 10, Section 9. ”

Roland raised his eyebrows slightly, "You know a lot about the gods?"

"I understand a little. Constantine shrugged his shoulders, naturally not saying that he had memorized these passages in the two years of Augustinian seminary.