Cole also walked up the city walls. He was accompanied by Emily, the eldest daughter of Commander Haroff, who became a full-fledged member three years ago and is now twenty-five years old. She has the same black hair and blue eyes as her father, perhaps in the family, and has a better talent for magic than Cole.

The difference is that Harrov is not smiling on weekdays, and his daughter ...... It's a chatterbox that never gets empty.

"There wasn't much meat at all in tonight's stew. I'd rather they sell it for a little more than fill it up with a bunch of leaves—"

"I heard about the generals of the Empire...... The guy named Kylo or something, sneaked away with his men. Coward, I still like him. ”

"Captain, how much did you say the Federation spent to hire those dragons? Can we hire a few too, so we don't have to be afraid of them! ”

Cole looked down the city walls, answering the words one after the other. At night, the West Fran River was dark and dreary, and the moonlight reflected a silver white in it, which reunited with the spread of the water.

Originally, every season, many merchant ships sailed down the river; There are also the occasional cruise ships, most notably the White Rose, which is magically powered and runs at a speed close to that of a normal galloping horse, unaffected by the wind. He still remembers the magic lights that filled the ship's side, and the scene of passengers chatting in pairs on the deck.

It's a pity that there is nothing now.

Emily's crisp voice, accompanied by the night breeze, blew into his ears from the right side, "I always thought that if someone came by from the mail boat, I would wave at him vigorously...... Then throw a flying kiss at him! It's a pity that I missed the ...... every time last year."

There's still a chance, Cole thought. But it dawned on him that something was wrong. There is no monsoon in the southern part of the empire at this time, and even if there is, it will not rise and fall like a wave, and there is a faint roar -

The young knight raised his head, and the light of the silver moon shone into the distance, reflecting several tiny black shadows gliding from the sky.

The shadow quickly widened in his vision, allowing Cole to see the scale-covered body, the broad wings, and even the long, slowly swaying tail. They were hundreds of meters away from the city wall, and the oppression was like a mountain facing the abyss, and he could hardly breathe.

Cole struggled to open his mouth and say the first word that crossed his mind.

"Dragon!" He yelled, grabbing Emily's shoulder hard to bring the knight back to her senses, "Inform the Grand Master immediately!" I'm going to gather the rest of the group—"

The female knight nodded desperately, turned and rushed into the fortress. Cole ran along the city walls as fast as he could in his life. He must quickly assemble the rest of the squadron for a near-winnable battle.

The dragons roared overhead, fear freezing Cole's legs and sending him tumbling to the ground. He struggled to stand up, feeling as if his blood had frozen into ice, his hands and feet completely out of control, and his whole body trembling desperately.

The horrible creatures didn't notice—or didn't bother to pay attention to him. They swept over the fortress, lowered their heads, and rained their deathly breath with a roar over the fortress.

The flames scorched everything they touched, and even melted the dirt into crimson glass; Acid swept across the castle's bluestone outer walls, leaving scars several feet deep; Thunder and lightning leap along the entire atrium, shattering doors and windows and all the creatures hiding behind them; A dazzling flash of light swept over the fortress's clock tower, slicing it in two—the upper half of which slowly slid down twenty meters and shattered into wreckage.

They pull up in height, reassembling the array, slowly drawing a semicircle in the distance.

Cole barely counted, and there were seven 'enemies'—less than a hundredth of the number of people in the fortress. But it's not the numbers that determine the outcome at all. He gasped for breath and drew his sword from behind his back, struggling to stand up straight on the wall.

If you can attract the dragon's attention, maybe ...... The many priests stationed next to the magic cannon would have a chance to fight back, he thought.

"Come on!" He hissed, "Damn dragon, let me be your opponent!" ”

The dragons didn't know if they heard him or not—eighty percent of them didn't. They glided past again, and all sorts of unnamed spells from Cole smashed into the fortress from above. The two cannons were hit by meteorites falling from the sky, and after the roar and flash, only a huge crater more than a man high remained.

But the other two doors finally opened fire.

A faint purple light pierced the sky, one of them piercing the air, the other lucky enough to hit a wing. Cole heard a deafening roar of anger and reluctance, and saw a giant beast break away from the group and land straight down to the wall where he was.

He turned around with all his strength and ran away from the spot. There was a muffled sound and tremor behind him, and he turned his head to see the dragon falling more than a dozen meters away, its body stuck between two battlements, and its head facing him.

The beast opened its mouth, and a faint green flashed through it, turning into a surging light.

Cole slammed to the left, trying to avoid the spit. However, the dark green acid mist still brushed his side, engulfing and eroding his right arm and shoulder, along with the clothes on them, and then completely melting. The light continued forward, sweeping vertically across the walls before finally scattering without a trace.

The heart-rending pain made him scream, and his eyes were dizzy and black. The young knight instinctively looked at the wound, and saw that there was only a shriveled, blackened skeleton that seemed to have been burned—

The wound did not bleed, and the acid melted the flesh into a ball, blocking the broken vessel. That doesn't mean he survived. Sharp pain came from all over his body, robbing him of what strength he had left. Cole didn't know why, but he knew he was dying.

Two columns of knights rushed up the wall from the other side, sword and shield clutched, and charged at the dragon behind him. It was of little use, thought the young knight sadly. Even if you can kill a dragon, the fate of defeat is still doomed. He squirmed his lips slightly, praying to the deity he always followed.

"Please give me ...... Eternal rest, please...... Save us, Mother Mar. ”

The dragons glided for the third time, slowly bowing their heads and opening their fanged mouths—

However, there was something incomparably deep and unusually dazzling, descending on the sky above the fortress. Cole instinctively raised his head and stared at the figure he had never seen before, but was extremely familiar.

She wore a long dress that covered her entire body, and the folds of her skirt flowed slowly, as if made of black mercury. The black hair hung down to the waist, and there was not a trace of reflection under the silver moon. A blue shard pierced into her chest, emitting a soft glow that reflected her bloodless face and arms. Despite being nearly a hundred meters away, Cole could clearly see the look on that face, and the gaze she cast—loving, compassionate, and merciless.

Tears rolled down his eyes, but Cole didn't realize it. He pursed his lips, and for a moment there was only one thought left in his mind—

His mother heard his prayers.

The woman raised her arm, and the dark light instantly engulfed the behemoth on the wall, reducing it to nothing in a matter of seconds. Six breaths fell at the same time, and the purple light curtain flickered, and they completely disappeared into nothingness.

Sensing the threat, the dragons rose in height and spread out in all directions. Cole heard a long, low groan, not in the language he understood, but directly into his mind.

"This is a mortal war, Tiana, what are you going to do! If you remember the original agreement, stop meddling——! ”

The woman shook her head slightly, and replied in the same language—

"To me, that promise doesn't make sense. And if you want to talk about mortal wars, you should not participate in them. She paused for a moment and looked down at her chest, "At least this time, I want to protect ...... Believe in my children. ”

She clasped her hands to her chest, and the dark purple glow extinguished, suppressing the brilliance of the fragment for a moment. The air seemed to freeze, and all the creatures that were still in the square, the walls, and even the sky stopped fighting and focused their eyes on the woman.

The pain in his body lightened, and the feeling of weakness covered Cole's body like a heavy blanket. Time no longer passed, and he was drowsy for an unknown amount of time, until a long groan came from above his head again.

"Okay. If you insist on this, we have nothing to say. The young knight struggled to lift his eyelids, and saw the dragon turn and flap its wings into the distance, "Let me say more—if I were you, I would heal my wounds, Tiana." ”

The dragons left. The woman in black looked at Cole again—maybe everyone, and her body melted into the night, and finally disappeared.