A cliff, a stream, a plain, a meadow...

Thousands of troops had traveled a long distance, and ten days later, on a plain, the troops were repairing in place. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"Your Highness, the scouts we sent out have returned!" said Nadir, beside Artis.

"The enemy numbered more than 5,000 men, including an unknown number of knights, and many men were requisitioned to transport food in the rear. ”

"The leader of the group is the Earl of Arteus of the Duchy of Barlow, and I heard that he is a knight of the earth. ”

Seeing Nadir say this, Artis nodded and gave a look to the person beside him.

Beside him, the man understood, and then a crudely made map appeared in the eyes of everyone.

It is a rudimentary map made of parchment, with a simple indication of the areas around Cecil and the surrounding city-states.

Although it is still a bit rudimentary compared to the maps of the previous life, it is very rare in this era that the regions are clearly distinguished, and not only the general terrain of the surrounding areas is marked, but also the routes and roads between the various city-states are clearly described.

Seeing this, Nadir was surprised: "What is this?"

"A partial map of the vicinity of Cecil, and of the entire Northern Regions. ”

A voice rang out from beside him, and Nadir looked sideways, but it was Carter.

At this time, Carter was wearing an armor that flashed with divine power fluctuations, and looked at the map in front of him with some sighs: "This map was made a few years ago, under the painstaking exploration of many believers and priests. ”

"For this, I don't know how many devout believers have died in the wilderness for several years. ”

In this era when the wilderness is full of all kinds of dangers, it is an extremely dangerous thing to explore outside, not to mention ordinary people, even if the priest is unlucky enough to encounter the encirclement of demonic beasts, he will have to pay a price. Therefore, the cost of exploring such a map is unimaginable.

Seeing this map, Artis couldn't help but sigh slightly, and in the dark, a cause and effect seemed to be getting deeper and deeper.

At this time, Carter stepped forward and looked at the map and slowly explained: "There are several routes from Barlow to Cecil, but according to their routes, the fastest one is chosen. ”

"Judging from the route and the speed of our march, it will be half a month at most before they can get close to where we are now. ”

Hearing this, Artis bowed his head slightly: "Then, choose a suitable place around here as a battlefield." We are waiting for them here. ”

Seeing this, Carter nodded slightly and pointed to a certain location on the map: "In a place half a day's away from us, on the road that the other party must pass, you can choose to set up camp here." ”

On the other side, on a plain, a group of troops that looked a little messy gradually marched, and at the forefront, a tall middle-aged man looked at the strong sunlight in the sky and frowned slightly.

"Aven, go down and tell the lords to rest!" he said, his tone tinged with a sense of steadyness.

Hearing him say this, beside him, a handsome young man went down to give the order.

Soon, as the order spread, in the middle of the ranks, more than a dozen queues stopped one after another, and gradually stopped under the order.

If Artis had been here, he would have found that among the thousands of people, there were actually many armies from different origins, and the scattered luck gathered in a loose way on top of the greatest luck in the center, barely forming a little red military spirit.

This red qi is huge, but it is loose and not completely condensed, so the military qi formed is very weak.

This is because of the complexity of the origin of the army, in this world, the structure of the city-state is very loose, and every time an army is sent out, the royal family at the highest level calls the lords below to join the army. As a result, not only is the quality of the army uneven, but it is often difficult to cohesive.

"Lord Yates, what are you thinking?" a voice sounded.

Artus was stunned: "Have all the orders been delivered?"

"The message has been completed, and now all the lords are leading their soldiers to rest. ”

"Hmm!" Artus nodded slightly, then looked into the distance, not speaking.

"My lord, what's wrong?" beside him, Evan looked at Arte's faintly melancholy face and asked suspiciously.

Seeing him ask like this, Yates sighed helplessly: "Our enemy this time is not easy to deal with!"

"How so?" Evan wondered.

"This time, under the king's call, the lords responded like never before, and even gathered to the point of more than five thousand people. ”

"In addition, with you leading us, even the previously intact Cecil City can attack head-on, not to mention that the opposite side is in the midst of civil strife at this time, and may not be able to gather the strength of his knights in time to fight against us. ”

However, hearing him say this, Yates smiled a little wryly: "The power that determines victory and defeat may not be only knights. ”

Without waiting for the other party to refute, he added, "Evan, have you heard of the sacrifice of the god of nature?"

"The god of nature?" Evan wondered, "It seems to be a god that spread from the north a few years ago." ”

"Their sacrifices are very famous in the principality, and they are said to have the power of the gods and are the best doctors. ”

But when it came to this, he said with some disdain: "But if it is in a frontal battle, although they are not weak, they are no match for any knight, and the number is scarce, so it will not affect anything at all." ”

On the other side, however, Artus shook his head: "You are wrong, what you see is just a corner of the sacrifice." ”

"According to the information I have received from the caravans, in the north, there are several kinds of sacrifices, and what you see is only the lowest level of white-robed sacrifices. ”

"On top of the white-robed sacrifice, there is the red-robed sacrifice, which is equivalent to the great knight, and the yellow-robed sacrifice, which is equivalent to the earth knight, and the highest high priest, who is equivalent to the strong man of the sky knight. ”

And according to the information revealed by the people who came to ask for help this time, in this rebellion in Cecil City, there was a figure of a yellow-robed sacrifice. ”

Hearing this, Ai Wen's face suddenly turned white, and a bad premonition rose in his heart: "Won't it?"

Seeing him like this, Artus smiled instead: "What's the matter? Now I know I'm afraid?"

He stood up and patted Evan on the shoulder: "There's no need to think too much, even with the intervention of the sacrifice, the situation still has an advantage for us." ”

"According to the information we have received, two months ago, the Demon Tide broke out near Cecil, and with the power of Cecil City, no matter what the outcome, it must have suffered heavy losses. Not to mention the fact that there was a civil strife later, and the rebels counterattacked the city of Cecil and besieged the royal palace, and it was impossible to lose nothing in this process. ”

"And since we received the news, we immediately recruited troops to go to Cecil, and it was less than a month before and after, presumably at this time, the other side may not have breached the palace, let alone recruited troops to meet the battle. ”

"So in the face of our five thousand people, even if we have the assistance of sacrifice, we will definitely be defeated, it is nothing more than the difference in time. ”

He smiled and explained to Aven, who was a little dazed in front of him.

However, after listening to his explanation, Evan became even more puzzled: "In that case, why do you still seem so worried, my lord?"

"I'm not worried about Cecil, I'm worried about the present," Artus said.

"Do you really think that these lords responded so quickly to the king's call?" he said with a sneer, looking at the clearly divided army behind him.

"Do you remember five years ago, when the previous king was besieged by demonic beasts in the wilderness, and as a result, there were few lords who responded to the rescue, so that the old king died in the wilderness. ”

"And this time, the reason why these lords responded so enthusiastically was not because of the king's call, but because Cecil rebelled, and there was a situation where there was a profit. ”

"Cecil rebelled, and the rebels besieged the royal palace, and their strength was unprecedentedly weak. The villages and towns in the wilderness are completely undefended. At this time, it is completely easy to loot. ”

He looked at Ai Wen in front of him, and said in a cold tone: "These lords, not so much loyal to the king, are afraid of the ancestral gods, otherwise they must have rebelled." ”

In front of him, Ai Wen bowed his head in silence, and then said, "In that case, why didn't His Royal Highness the King invite the ancestral gods to suppress them?"

"Presumably, as long as the ancestral gods come forward, these lords will not dare to disobey!"

"It's not that simple. Artus shook his head.

"These lords, strictly speaking, are actually descendants of the ancestral gods. And the annual sacrifices are not even less than those of the royal family. ”

"After all, the ancestral god doesn't care who the king is, as long as it's his blood, and the annual sacrifice is held as usual. ”

Speaking of this, Evan didn't speak again, and Artes looked alone in the direction of Cecil City in the distance, and a little thought slowly drifted in his heart.

"Moreover, this time, it may not be as smooth as imagined. Feeling a hunch in his heart, he thought to himself.