The wind is howling.

Inznir was only half a day's journey from Vavasika, and Henry left the brown horse and supplies there, and Mira and Mira galloped with only light provisions.

The heavy iron hooves of the war horse trampled on the winter dirt and left a deep imprint, and the powerful ups and downs of the horses at full speed almost threw the girl out, and she could not sit as firmly as Henry, so she could only grasp the hard leather of the front of the saddle with all her might.

"Hiss!" because the breath exhaled by the horse after a long run has turned into a white mist, and it is also a loss that this is a strong war horse, otherwise it can be exhausted to death after several hours of galloping.

The trees around him swept through the mountains like lightning, and Henry's horsemanship was as superb as his swordmanship, and he was always able to direct his horses to run the best way and close the distance at great speed.

Rampage and galloping were the best way to describe the two men, and the merchants who were anxiously leaving the Plains of Acasta on the way staggered past them, and words like "from the beach ......", "...... army of 10,000 people", and "heavy ......" were faintly discerned in the words that disappeared in the wind behind them, which made Henry's brow furrow even tighter.

"Knock knock—" After a long run, the horses finally began to show signs of fatigue, and at this time, they rounded the bend again, and the two finally came to the same path that had entered Vavasika.

After a few months, Vavasika had changed dramatically, the rough and narrow road had become wide and straight, and there were still many stumps left in the trees that had been cut down to expand the road, but then the two noticed black smoke in front of them.

"Whew...... Whoosh......" The horse's breath became rather heavy, and Henry slowed down to allow it to rest, and the horse slowly approached the place where the crackling smoke was coming from at a much slower pace.

"......" Mira looked silently at the small village that had been caught in flames, this was the place where they and Bernie had come across Sivalier's elite soldiers as they were advancing, and from the arrows left around, it was clear that Avenella had used this place as a small outpost later.

"Uhh Henry drove the horses on, the dense footprints on the widened path were clearly visible, but the battle seemed to be over.

In the forest on either side, there were many corpses dressed like the natives of Avenella, and when Vavasika finally came into view, the scene was shocking.

The mountain lion flag fluttering a few months ago broke off and fell to the ground, and the gates of Vavasika had been breached. The twisted black iron and charred wood told the story of how badly it had endured, but more than that were the city's defense soldiers who had fallen to the ground.

"Da, da, da. ”

The fire-swept gates and walls were charred black, a dozen wooden barrels of water were thrown haphazardly on the ground, wet but still horribly hot black wood piled on top of the equally charred stone slabs, and some of the corpses of soldiers could be faintly discernible among the piles of charcoal.

The twisted and distorted armour of the heat stretched out from the char, and the fingers whose skin and flesh had been burned looked like dry branches.

The burned and distorted soldiers' mouths and empty eyes seemed to be pouring out the pain they were facing. "Too much ......" The scorching smell irritated Mira's nostrils, the smoke made her burst into tears, countless arrows and damaged armor and weapons littered the ground, but more often than not, blood and severed human limbs.

"Da, da. The horseshoe echoed crisply on the ground, and the weary soldiers looked back at the two men who had come in on horseback, but no one paid any attention to them. Those who survived simply continued to clean the battlefield or find a random spot to sit down and gasp for air.

Dead bodies littered the streets, from sackcloth-clad archers to armoured Arvenella soldiers, especially in this section of the city gate, where at least hundreds of people perished at a glance.

The blood and dirt that flowed on the stony floor soaked the weapons and clothing, and even in such an environment, many of the wounded soldiers leaned against the wall with their heads bowed and their necks bent to rest, and if it weren't for the slight heaving of their chests, you would almost suspect that they would have died.

The horrific situation on the battlefield made it easy for Henry to tell what was going on.

The dead on the road outside, except for the sentries, were all civilians, who judged by their clothing to be merchants who had been doing business since the road was cleared.

The absence of the corpses of the soldiers on the periphery meant that Charles, as the lord of the city, had chosen the right way. Apparently they had seen the attackers early on, so they withdrew all their troops to the fortress, closed the gates, and waited for the attack.

The typical thinking of a city defense commander is the right thing to do in most cases, only this time......

The crumbling gates and the crippled soldiers strewn the streets proved to be a failed fortification, and this led to another problem - the battlefield was too clean.

Yes, even though it was true that there was a river of blood near the gates and in this small area, compared to the various injuries that come and go in a typical siege battle, Vavasika's side really looks too clean.

It's as if the Avennella were fighting a battle with the air.

There was no trace of the enemy troops that should have been lost here, not even the various siege engines, and so on the sages could come up with only one explanation - the army attacking Vavasika was far superior in combat strength to Avenella.

Small groups of elite troops, like a violent wind, swept across the land - a situation that had often occurred in the villages of the west coast centuries ago when the northerners were raging.

The people locked the fenced gates and waited for themselves to be safe, but when the battle-painted warriors of the north appeared, they could only turn into a sea of black smoke and fire in panic, leaving the plundered Stin pirates to leave.

But Vavasika was not a low-defenseed wooden wall, but a solid fortress. And if the attackers were really so strong, why did they only attack such a small amount of ground and choose to retreat?

The person who could give the answer quickly appeared in the eyes of the two, and Charles, the city lord who also looked tired, walked from the other direction in his military uniform, he noticed Henry at first sight, and then the middle-aged man with a goatee let out a long sigh, and his face was a little complicated.

The sage knew why, and that the widening of Vavasika's road had been his proposal, and Charles had adopted it.

If the road hadn't been widened, maybe this time......

The reality is so, there is no if, both of them understand this truth. Henry rolled over and dismounted, and walked towards Charles.

"The world is unpredictable, the world is unpredictable. Charles let out a long sigh again, and the sage noticed that many of the soldiers beside him were carrying the wounded, not even the sentry men, and they had just come in and had driven straight in, and it was evident that the defenders of the entire castle were exhausted.

But such a relaxation of vigilance also proves that the enemy has indeed left, and it must have been for some time. Perhaps by the time they got the news and started rushing here, the real battle would have been over. Henry thought so, silently waiting for Charles's explanation. Mira, on the side, looked left and right, her nervous and worried expression obvious.

"Go find Minna. She obviously couldn't hold it anymore, Henry nodded at her, and the white-haired Lo'an Da Lori immediately spread her steps and ran into the distance.

The smell of burnt and the smell of blood and rusty iron echoed in the air, and the broken weapons reflected the winter sun. Charles let out a third long sigh, then looked left and right, leaning his back against the wall of the stone house beside the road.

Dressed in plate armor, he looked exhausted, and the blood on his hand armor and cuirass still showed that the city lord had also gone down to the battlefield to fight.

"They...... It's too strong. ”

"The attack started yesterday, and we were careless...... Charles rubbed his temples vigorously and said, "When the scouts found out that there were only more than 2,000 people, we didn't pay much attention to it. I immediately sent the news to Ashinier, and then closed the city gates, wanting to have a counter-siege with reinforcements. ”

"With this number alone, I expected to be fine for at least a month or more, but—" He looked at Henry, then held up a finger.

"One night. ”

"It only took them one night to break down our gates. ”

"We were so caught up when the sentry blew the horn and everyone woke up from their dreams, the attackers used some form of hybrid magic, the fire-resistant reinforced gates were easily burned through, and the soldiers trying to extinguish the fire were caught up in it, killing and wounding countless people. Charles stared intently at the still messy entrance to the city gate in the distance, and then continued.

His eyes were out of focus, as if he had returned to the night of last year.

"Those people are so powerful...... The swordsmanship was simple and deadly, and the battle was heroic and fearless, like an army sent by the gods, and for a moment, I almost felt like I was going to die here. Charles said, and Henry frowned, "You've been referring to 'those people', so where the hell are they in the army?"

The sage said this, and Charles looked back at him, then let out a long sigh.

"Your old friend would have a better answer than I have, and go and meet him, for if it weren't for Sir Cleveland's valiant fighting, perhaps I wouldn't be speaking to you here now. The middle-aged city lord said, "It's a pity that he saved my life, but I can't do the same thing." Charles shook his head, then assigned one of his soldiers to lead Henry to the rear of the fortress of Vavasika.

The diagonal upward stone path led to the fort's training grounds, and Henry had just come by to see Mira and Minna.

Wails and moans arose, and the wounded soldiers were placed in the vast square for treatment. Many makeshift bunks and various wooden beds were moved out for them to lie down, and only then did the sage really understand the number of casualties.

In addition to the nearly 1,000 dead and wounded at the entrance to the city gate, there were hundreds of other soldiers of varying severity who had been injured, and not far away many of them whose faces had been covered with white gauze, apparently unable to treat the dead.

Minna seemed to be here to help, and the soldier who had led Henry here turned around and went about his own business. The blonde girl gave Henry a deep look, but did not speak, just shook her head sadly, and then led the sage towards the east side.

It seems to be a resting place for the officers.

"Damn the Sivalier dog!!!Sivalier Dog Mongrel!!" a knight with a broken arm shouted with a loud roar, the hatred was palpable, and more soldiers began to curse, which made Henry furrow further.

He walked to a bed that was larger than the others, and when Minna saw the person lying on the bed, she covered her mouth and turned around, whimpering and striding away.

"......" Mira looked at Henry, and the sage nodded, "Go and stay with her." ”

He said, and walked slowly over to the man covered in white gauze, but the blood still couldn't help but spill out.

"Here you go...... Ahh Bernie smiled stiffly, half of his face covered in cotton, the once stocky man now as weak as an old man. He had lost an arm and a left foot, blood spilling and then drying to a deep dark red, soaking the bed and pillows, dripping onto the ground.

“...... What happened. Henry's tone was a little low, and Bernie's weapons and armor were set aside, and he could clearly see that his two-handed longsword had broken in two.

“...... Attacked...... Phew. Bernie repeated what Charles had said before: "They...... It's too strong. ”

"Goo-uh-" The man with his blonde hair burned red suddenly widened his eyes and gritted his teeth and then convulsed, Henry took a step forward, but after a little inspection, he was also powerless.

"You have very serious internal bleeding...... The damage to the organs is also great. He said this, to be honest, if it were an ordinary person, he would have died of shock, and the reason why he was able to still have sound language skills in such a state can only be said that Bernie's willpower is really strong.

The convulsions just now are the body's natural reaction when there is too much blood loss, and this pain combined with the pain of the wound can make ordinary people cry and want to be relieved, but this middle-aged man who is as brave as a bear just showed a miserable smile, and then said, "You are still the same...... I can say something that I don't understand. ”

He said, and Henry fell silent.

After a while, the sage said softly: "Charles said, you have some opinions about the people who are coming. ”

"Hmm......" Bernie nodded slightly, then sighed, "I never thought about it...... I'm going to end up like this. ”

He said, but then suddenly changed the subject for some reason.

"I heard my daughter say that you are a ...... Sage. Bernie said suddenly, and Henry hesitated for a moment, then nodded, confirming the sentence.

"That explains a lot, my friend. He smiled stiffly again and said, "At first...... When I learned about it, I didn't think much of it. But it wasn't until I learned about His Royal Highness's attitude towards you that I ...... Suddenly...... A legend comes to mind. ”

"The West Valijes from ...... Ahem, ahem, ahem. Bernie coughed loudly, and the blood splattered from his lips contrasted sharply with his pale face, and it took Sir more than a minute to recover, and continued, "Learn from the Lamanites, and we learn from the Sivaliers, so ...... I have also heard and learned a lot about some of their history.

Bernie paused, then changed the subject again: "Those people...... Those who attacked us were not West Waliers. ”

He shook his head slightly, but Henry remained silent.

"Even though they were communicating in the lingua franca and fighting at night, I could tell that...... I am familiar with the soldiers and knights of Sivalier, these people are very different from them. ”

"They are...... Lamanites. Bernie said as he bit down on the word, Henry's expression didn't change much, but his gray-blue eyes deepened because of the word.

The sound of footsteps behind him sounded, and the sage turned his head slightly to look at the afterglow, and Minna and Mira, with red circles in her eyes, returned to this place together.

"Hahahaha......" Bernie smiled, and although the laughter was hoarse, the open-mindedness was as good as ever.

"This reaction, then...... I was right. ”

"What if...... If you're really the one in the legends......" Bernie gritted his teeth, then sat up from the bed with a weak body.

His teeth clenched, his skin tightened, and his muscles flared up, and a lot of blood oozed from the wounds of his body, which had already lost too much blood due to the exertion. Minna, who was behind Henry, pounced with a scream. And the blond man, with an angry face like an angry brown bear, said to Henry word by word.

"If you are, the man of legend!" the words spoke.

"That's it!"

"Please!" he roared with the last of his strength, his voice drawing the attention of everyone around him.

"In the name of the miracle of the eternal night—" Henry's eyes widened, and Bernie confronted him in a voice that bordered on roaring.

"A life-devouring monster!"

"Aurora's ...... Nightmare. ”

"Please. ”

"Save the country!"

The sound echoed under the clear sky of Vavasika, Bernie rolled his eyes and fell behind him, Minna screamed and threw herself on him and shook his body vigorously, but the man who stood up to the sky could no longer wake up.

Henry stood up, his face gloomy, and Mira behind him looked at him.

"Monster...... Nightmare?" The girl whispered the words, but she also knew that this was not a good time to ask.

The winter mountain breeze continued to blow, and only the loud cry of the blonde girl echoed alone.