“

Bathed in the light of his torches, the officer climbed off his horse. He began to loosen the rope that bound the two bodies with one hand. Then he looked up.

"Yes, you can kill me. Even in the fog, I'm still a good target. But you won't. You're the knights of Solania," the sarcasm in his words was obvious. "Your honor is your life. You will not shoot a man who returns the corpse of your commander empty-handed. He pulled hard, and the headless body fell to the ground. The officer dropped the other body from his horse. He threw the torch on the ground, and it hissed, then went out, and darkness engulfed him.

"There's a show of your over-honoring achievements on the battlefield over there," he shouted. The knights could hear him moving in leather armor as he climbed onto his horse. "I'll give you until tomorrow morning time to consider surrendering. When the sun rises, lower the flag. The Dragoon will forgive you—"

Suddenly, there was the sound of the bowstring tightening and relaxing, the muffled grunt of the arrow inserting into the muscle, and a loud curse came from below. The knights turned their heads and saw a lone figure standing on the wall, bow in hand.

"I'm not a knight," Rolana shouted as she lowered her bow. "I am Lorana Serasa, Princess of Quelinasti. We elves have our own code of honor, and I'm sure you know that I can see you very clearly in the dark. I could kill you right now.

As for now, your hand may not be usable for a long time. In fact, you may not be able to hold a sword for the rest of your life. “

"Take this as an answer to your dragoon," Stone said hoarsely. "We'd rather die than lower our flag!"

"You can't escape death!" said the officer, gritting his teeth. The sound of horses' hooves quickly faded into the darkness.

"Bring the corpse here. Shi Lai ordered.

The knights cautiously opened the door, and some immediately rushed out to take cover, others cautiously carried the bodies in. Then the covering knight retreated, and the gate was immediately closed.

Stone knelt in the snow and watched the headless ride on. He lifted the man's hand and took a ring from his stiff hand. Stone threw his stiff, cold hand back into the snow and lowered his head slightly. "Sir Alfred," he said.

"Sir," said one of the young knights, "the other is Sir Derek. The damn officer was right, he's still alive. ‘”

Stone stood up and walked over to where Drake was lying. Jazz's face was snow-white, his eyes were round, and he exuded an air of fanaticism. Blood covered his lips and his skin was cold.

A young knight helped him and brought a glass of water to his lips, but Drake couldn't drink it.

Stone couldn't help but feel a little sick to his stomach when he saw Drake's hand pressing against his abdomen, blood gushing out, but there was no way to end his torture quickly. Drake grinned eerily and grabbed Stone with his blood-stained hand.

"Victory!" he said hoarsely. "They kept running before us, we chased desperately!glory!glory!I—I'm going to become a knight of heaven!" he coughed and spat out a mouthful of blood, and lay back into the arms of the young knight, who looked at Stone with hope in his eyes.

"Do you think he's right, sir? Maybe that-" He saw Stone look in stern eyes and looked back at Drake sympathetically. "He's crazy, isn't he, sir?"

"He was dying—like a real knight dying heroically," Stone said.

"Victory!" Drake whispered, then tilted his head, stared at the fog, and let out his last breath.

"No, you can't break it," Lolana said.

"But Fei Capital has said-"

"I know what he said," Lolana said impatiently. "It's not good, it's not evil, it's nothing, but it can be everything. This kind of talk," she whispered, "is too much like Fei Capital!"

She and Tess stand in front of Dragon Ball. The Dragon Ball was placed on a pedestal in the center of the room, and the rest of the place was still covered in dust except where Tess wiped it clean. The room was dark, and eerily quiet, in fact, Lorana and Tess didn't even dare to whisper.

Lorana stared at the Dragon Balls, frowning in thought. Tyce looked at Lolana sullenly, afraid to know what she was thinking.

"These dragon balls must have their purpose, Tess!" finally said Lorana.

"These are the creations of great magicians! people like Leslyn don't tolerate failure. As long as we knew—"

"I know how to use it," Tess said intermittently.

"What?" asked Lorana, "you know! Why don't—"

"I don't know I know—so to speak," Tyse stammered.

"I just thought about it. Nongshu—the dwarf—told me he noticed some words floating in the fog inside. He couldn't read it, he said. Because that's some kind of strange language, "Spell of Magic." “

"That's right, that's what I told him—"

"But what's the use of knowing?! Neither of us can read the spell. Unless Leslin—"

"We don't need Reslyn," Tess interjected. "I can't recite mantras, but I can read them. Don't you know? I have these glasses, I know the glasses, Reslyn calls them. They can make me read all kinds of languages – even magic spells. I know this because he warned me that if I dared to peek at his spell book, he would turn me into a cricket and eat it. ”

"Do you think you can read what is written in Dragon Ball?"

"I can try," Tyce judged, "but, Lorana, Stone says there may not be a dragon at all." Why should we risk using Dragon Ball? Fei Capital says that only the most powerful magicians can control it. ”

"Listen to me, Tysokov. Burvolt," Rolana whispered, kneeling beside the Kander, looking him straight in the eye. "As long as they send a dragon, we're dead.

That's why he deliberately wanted to give us time to surrender, and they wanted to use this time to recall the dragons. We've got to take this opportunity!"

A dark path, a bright path.

Tesochov remembered Fei Capital's words and couldn't help but bow his head.

Your loved ones will be sacrificed, but you have the courage.

Tess slowly reached into his bag full of things, pulled out his glasses, and put them on.

Chapter 35 The sun rises and darkness descends

The fog cleared early in the morning. The sky was clear and clear, clear enough for Stone to see the snow-covered grasslands near Mingaburg, where he was born, now under the complete control of the Dragons. The first ray of light shines on the banner on which it is ridden: under the crown there is a kingfisher, clutching a sword decorated with roses. The golden emblem rises in the morning light. Then Stone heard the rude, boastful sound of the trumpet.

At dawn, the dragon legions began to attack the Tower of the King.

The young knights, who numbered just over a hundred people, stood silently in the fortifications, watching the army of locusts rush in.

At first, Stone couldn't understand what the knight said on his deathbed. "They're desperately trying to escape!"

Why did the dragon legion flee? He later realized that the dragon legion had fooled the knights with ancient, simple tactics, taking advantage of their knights' eagerness for quick success. Retreat in front of your enemies...... It doesn't need to be too fast, just make your striker look scared and convince the enemy. Make them look desperate and run away. Then let your enemies rush up and stretch the flanks. Finally, let your army shrink the encirclement and chop them into meat sauce.

It didn't take the corpses that were barely visible in the bright red snow for Stone to confirm his judgment. They lay in the last desperate place to assemble. Judging by the way they died, this last struggle seemed to have no effect. He pondered the question, wondering who would look at his corpse like that after he was killed.

Flint peered out through a gap in the wall. "At least I'll die on dry ground,"

The dwarf muttered.

Stone smiled and stroked his beard. His eyes turned to the East. At the thought of death, he couldn't help but want to see where he was born. A home he didn't know well, a father he didn't remember much, a country that had his family banished. He was preparing to give his life to protect the country. Why? Why didn't he just go back to Paranzas?

All his life he lived by the rules of chivalry and riding. The knight's creed is: est Su larus oth mitllaer – Honor is my life. Now the only thing he believes in is the Chivalric Creed. The knightly regulations no longer make sense. It's already impractical. Stiff and inelastic, the knightly regulations trap the knights in prisons heavier than armor. The Order, in their isolation and struggle to survive, clinged to the rules of the knighthood in despair, unable to see that this was a heavy burden that dragged them to defeat.

Why am I different?, Stone pondered. But he knew the answer to the question, even when he listened to the dwarf's complaints. It's because of dwarves, kanders, mages, half-elves......

They showed me what the world was like to them: elongated eyes, small eyes, even eyes with hourglass pupils. Knights like Drake will divide the world into black and white. Stone could see every bright color, every gray color in the world.

"It's time. He said to Flint. The two of them walked down the lookout just as the enemy's poisoned arrows began to rain down.

As the sun lit up the sky, the screams and shouts, the trumpets, the clash of swords and shields, the dragon army attacked the Tower of the King.

When night fell, the flag was still flying, and the tower was guarded.

But half of the defenders were killed.

The living don't have time to close their eyes during the day, they don't have time to bandage twisted, aching limbs. There is only one thing a living person can do during the day, and that is to try to survive. As night approached, a temporary calm finally came, and the dragon legion retreated to assemble in preparation for tomorrow's offensive.

Stone paced through the fortifications, his whole body aching from fatigue. Whenever he wanted to rest, his tense muscles began to twitch, and his head seemed to be on fire. So he had to start pacing again. Forward and backward, constantly moving forward and backward with carefully calculated steps. He didn't know that the steady footsteps had made the young knight who heard it no longer be swallowed up by the day's fear. The knights were disposing of the corpses of their comrades in the square, fearing that someone else would do it for him tomorrow, and they heard Stone footsteps, and their fear of tomorrow began to slowly subside.

In fact, the echoing footsteps of the knight made everyone's life better, with the exception of the knight himself. Stone was depressed and tormented: defeated, dishonorable, undignified deaths, the horrors of the nightmare of seeing his body being swam to pieces by the horrible monsters camped outside. Will his nightmare come true? He shuddered. Will he retreat because he can't control his fears, and will the knight's creed fail him like the knightly statute?

Trample...... Trample...... Trample......

Stop!, Stone told himself angrily. You're going to be crazy like Drake in no time. The knight broke the pattern of footsteps, turned around, and suddenly found Lolana standing behind him. Four days later, his gloomy thoughts were illuminated by her. As long as there is beauty and peace like her in this world, there is still hope for everything. He smiled at her, and she smiled back—a strained smile—but it lightened the tired, worried lines on his face.

"Rest," he told her. "You look exhausted. ”

"I tried to sleep," she murmured, "but I had nightmares all the time—the hand that appeared in the crystal ball, the giant dragon flying through the hallway. She shook her head, found a shelter from the wind, and sat down weakly.

Stone's eyes turned to Tysokhov, who was lying next to her. The Kanders soon curled up in a ball and went on a date with the Sandman. Stone looked at him with a smile, nothing could bother Tyse. The Kander man did have a vigorous life today, and he will surely remember it forever.

"I've never been to defend the city. Stone heard Tyth say to Flint that the dwarf was about to cut off Earth's head with an axe.

"You know we're all going to die!" Flynn frowned, wiping the blood from his axe.

"You said the same thing when Shaksharos confronted you," Tyce replied.

"And then you said it once in Sobadin, and the one on the ship—"

"We're really going to die this time!" Flint growled. "Or I'll kill myself!"

But they didn't die – at least not today. There's always tomorrow, Stone thought, his eyes falling to the old dwarf leaning against the wall, carving a piece of wood.

Flint looked up. "When will it start?" he asked.

Stone sighed, his eyes turning to the eastern sky. "Dawn," he replied.

"There are still a few hours. ”

The dwarf nodded. "Can we hold it?" his voice sounded natural, his hand gripping the wood firm and firm.

"We've got to hold on," Stone replied. "The messenger will arrive in Paranthas to-night. If they act immediately, it will take another two days to get here. We've got to give them two days—"

"If they act now!" Flint muttered.

"I know......" Stone sighed. "You