When Rhodes and Venos caught up with the Queen's army, the Kislev coalition and the Griffin Legion had completely encircled the entire city of Erlengrad. The Ice Queen herself was repairing at Wallenmere Fort in preparation for the upcoming siege.

When Rhodes rode into Fort Wallenmere on a tall horse, he was warmly welcomed by the soldiers. Especially the soldiers of the North, in their eyes, Rhodes won glory for the North, proving that the Northerners are no worse than the Southerners, and they are capable of doing everything well. Even if it's such a difficult job as hunting vampires.

However, Rhodes did not expect such a warm welcome because - the tree is very popular. Caterina seems to trust herself for the time being, however, if she is too much in the limelight, she will still attract the attention and alarm of the queen. Rhodes knew that if he wanted to develop under the nose of the Ice Queen, he had to keep a low profile. If he could, he would even like to change his face so that no one would recognize him.

Also in Valenmere Castle, there is also Alves, the little dwarf's mental state is not good, at least Rhodes remembers that when they were separated in Winterscarf, Alves was still in good spirits, but now, Alves in front of him is like a dead fish, with a tired face, an unshaved beard, dark circles crawling up the bags under his eyes, and he looks listless. However, the moment he saw Rod, Alves still showed a rare sense of joy.

"I thought you were going to die in the South. ”

After entering the drawing room at Valenmere Castle, Alves led Rhodes to his room. By and large, now except for his own room, Alves didn't dare to trust anyone's place anymore. Rhodes noticed that his friend had new scars on his face and hands.

"But no, the Bear God Divine Choice will not die so easily. ”

Rod joked.

The room was dimly lit, with only a small window letting in sunlight from outside. From this window you can see the sea, as well as the Old Port. It was a very small port, but this naval battle became the Snow Queen's most important naval base. Alves still remembers how the Northern Coalition had conquered the castle two months earlier. For the siege, they lost at least four hundred soldiers...... In the end, it was only by the spell of the Ice Queen that the sea froze and drove the large army over. And throughout the battle, the young master Dean didn't dare to take a step forward.

"Tell me, what's going on with your scars?"

Rod noticed Alves' unusual demeanor and asked. Like Alves, although Rhodes is returning as a war hero at this moment, there are too many things that make him worry and feel uneasy.

"Battle of Erlengrad. Yes, there is no doubt that I participated in that naval battle. Damn, Dean is a brute, a traitor. My brother Aubrey entrusted him to me on his deathbed to help him manage the Ring, but he wanted to kill me. And with such a bad means. ”

"You mean Dean forced you to get on board and let you lead that team into a naval battle?"

Rhodes asked, lying in his seat. The bleak sunlight shone through the window on his face, reflecting the knife-like face.

"Yes, in the end, I had no choice but to temporarily let an old captain take command of the battle. You know, I don't know anything about naval warfare, not even a layman. You're right, Dean may have been corrupted by the chaos, and his mind has become terrifying and abnormal. It's not the Dean I'm familiar with. Alves said, his words full of bitterness.

"But I grew up watching him......"

He said bitterly.

"The corrosion of chaos is everywhere, Kislev is located in the north of the continent, it is too normal to be corrupted by chaos, you see that the entire Norscar has almost become a land of chaos. It's just that watching his loved ones fall step by step is really chilling. ”

Rod returned with relief. Alves sat on the windowsill and didn't speak, and for a few minutes he just looked out the window quietly, his eyes glazed. First he died his most beloved brother, and then he met a nephew who wanted to kill him. This kind of blow is indeed not something that ordinary people can bear.

"I just don't understand, why did he do this, and what good did it do him to kill his own uncle?"

Alves complained. Rhodes rarely saw him complain, and this was the first time.

"Maybe it's that you don't control him anymore, and when you're gone, he can unleash his nature to his heart's content. Maybe you can transform the Ring Fort into a ** garden, where hundreds of beautiful boys and girls have fun every day. "ok essay network

"No kidding. I'm serious. ”

"I'm serious, too, the Slaanesh believer can't do anything, and he's a lord. With power in your hands, no one will spoil his good deeds as soon as you die. ”

Rod laughed.

"Alright, well, sort of that. ”

Alves shook his hand helplessly, indicating that he didn't want to continue to discuss this matter.

"By the way, did you hear about it when you came back this time?"

Alves shifted the conversation elsewhere.

"What did you hear?"

Rhodes turned his face sideways and asked rhetorically. He did hear that during the time he had been separated from the army, Caterina had won a number of battles.

"Our Tsaress, who is preparing to knight you, has killed the vampires and secured the rear of Kislev. ”

"But she's a vampire herself. ”

"It's just different factions, just like the human world is also fighting every day?"

Alves teased. Power, power, and wealth are always the focus of the world's contention. This is true whether it's humans, elves, dwarves, greenskins, or vampires. So, what about the same kind? When there are no foreign enemies in the empire, the provinces are like independent kingdoms, and there are constant small frictions with each other. The elves even split directly into three camps: high spirits, dark spirits, and wood spirits.

"What kind of knighthood?"

Rod asked with a smile.

"I heard that she is going to make you an earl, and her territory has doubled compared to the original. Roughly including a series of barren mountains and woods around Blackhammer, if true, your territory will be directly bordered by Rings and Heidelberg, and a large area of land in between will become your territory. ”

Alves replied.

"That's the same as nothing. You know, there's no shortage of land in the north, it's people and food. A large area of fertile land around Blackhammer Castle has not been cultivated, let alone those barren mountains and forests, and if I hadn't co-opted those Norscans, no one would have dared to enter the dark forest in the north until now. ”

Rod said with a wry smile.

"Indeed, perhaps our queen is just trying to appease people, after all, you have achieved such a brilliant record, it is difficult to convince the public without rewarding anything. Asking her to dig out of her pocket and reward something real, she was stingy. Perhaps the best thing to do, then, is to knight and reward you with a large piece of useless land. It can be regarded as a military merit. ”

Alves said expressionlessly that these management methods are commonly used, not to mention the queen, even Alves himself knows how to minimize expenditures and deceive the eyes of the people. After all, if it weren't for Blackhammer, the hell knows what kind of place it was.