Just as the unprecedented scale of the Avalon Expeditionary Force was assembled and about to set off, Lieutenant General Erwin, who was in charge of the Seventh Panzer Army of the [Empress Legion], received a rather unique temporary mission.

In order to fulfill this order, which came directly from the Spider Queen, he had to temporarily leave the Dawning at his feet and head to the left flank of the expeditionary fleet: there was also a large fleet stationed there, and a flagship that was almost as well-known as the Glory Queen-class warships of the Second Legion throughout the Far Eastern Frontier.

【Sword of Caliban】

This title is too representative: anyone knows who the owner of this battleship will be.

The small ship carrying Vice Admiral Erwin passed through the dark shadow of the capital ship, like a ferret dodging from the snort of a giant beast, through the specially thickened glass, the mortal general could faintly see those flashing giant ships, they all shone with cold or majestic light, like a group of knights who had just retired from the battlefield, exuding the blood of war all over their bodies, but had to be reunited in the queen's vanity court because of a grand ceremony, and the form was still serious, But there are some inexplicable constraints.

In the center of these invincible Iron Knights, the Goddess of Dawn, which symbolizes the Spider Empress herself, is the never-ending sun in the prosperous court, and the tallest peak among the thousands of mountains, standing proudly, overlooking the surrounding minions who are towering but still slightly inferior to it, their tenacity and indomitable will only make the Queen of Glory more dazzling.

And just as in a large enough mountain range, in addition to the highest peak, there will be several silver medalists who compete with each other, in the Avalon Expeditionary Force, in addition to the ship of the gene prototype himself, there are several towering mountains second only to the rise: the [Sword of Caliban] is one of them, and it also has a lot of warships gathered around it, docked far away on the side of the entire Grand Fleet, like the prince of the war.

And this vassal was Erwin's destination this time, and he knew that the man he was looking for was one of the few people who stood at the pinnacle of power in the entire Far Eastern Frontier, the leader of the sixty-second expeditionary fleet: Luther, among them.

……

Seeing Luthor was easier than he had previously thought, and Luthor's attitude towards someone like Erwyn, who had a friendship, was tactful: after confirming that the visitor was his friend, the seemingly old-fashioned Caliban knight quickly used his petty privilege to remove all red tape and welcome Erwin directly into his command room.

"Let me guess, Erwin."

After putting down two drinks, the old knight smiled easily at his friend, and with a wave of his hand, the servants standing beside him withdrew in silence.

"You're here by order?"

Luthor's precise guess made Erwin's brow twitch unnaturally, and he looked at the old knight's muscular stature and hard muscles, and the beard that was gradually thickening and shiny, and kept a polite smile and asked a rhetorical question.

"Can't it be because of friendship?"

The Calibans were amused.

"Erwin, my friend, though we haven't seen each other for a long time, that doesn't mean I'll forget your merits, you're so serious and reliable, and no personal matter can get you out of your post when such a great war is approaching: unless it's an order."

“……”

Erwin didn't reply, he looked down and took a sip of his drink, affirming the old knight's words with a gentle smile, and at the same time, he felt a deep touch in his heart: this was the way to get along with Luther, and the Caliban always seemed to be able to reach consensus with others, even impossible resonance, as if he had been born to master it.

At the same time, Luthor was actually looking at Erwin: although they didn't see each other very often, the Caliban's friendship with Erwin had come to be one of his greatest gains in the Far East, and he was happy to maintain it like wiping a sword that was extremely sharp but probably never needed.

In Luthor's eyes, Erwin is like a wonderful book, seemingly fragile, but contains endless deep opportunities: contrary to most people's imagination, as the brightest new star of the Avalonian Legion and the model of all the soldiers of the Far Eastern Frontier, Lieutenant General Erwyn is not a very strong man, on the contrary, he is thin, fair-faced, and has slender limbs, and looks like a teacher of literature rather than a general who commands a large army.

But it was such a seemingly [weak] figure, as if he had squeezed into the top echelons of power in the Far Eastern frontier, and the proposal to nominate him as general was drawn up by Genogen himself, and the position of commander-in-chief of the Empress Legion, which had been pending until Erwin made another contribution.

In fact, before that, there were not voices like "Let Luthor take command of the Empress Legion", but the Calibans knew that this would only be nonsense: not to mention that his identity was fundamentally only a guest general, and only how long he could stay in the Far Eastern Frontier......

Maybe not much.

……

Ten years, ten years like a dream.

Long enough.

……

Although at the beginning, Luthor still had some fantasies, but with the news that the Lord of Avalon had mobilized all his forces and was ready to respond to the call of the First Legion, along with the dark angels around him who had been silent for ten years, they finally had some rare joy, and the admirable calmness returned to Luthor's mind.

The Caliban knew that sooner or later he would be confronted with an inquiry: he had expected that it would be the Queen of Avalon who would summon him and listen to him herself, but the reality was that Erwyn, who had come on purpose and had friendship with him, was also a mortal.

"Why did she let you come?"

Speaking of this, Luthor couldn't help but furrow his brows, he really felt some kind of doubt: Originally, with the departure of the Avalon Expeditionary Force, the envoys of the Dark Angel Legion like Luthor should have set off with the army and returned to the First Legion.

In the eyes of the Caliban, Morgan deliberately halted his expedition and mobilized his fleet into the expeditionary force for this purpose: he had anticipated, and had even figured out, what kind of answer he would need to make in the face of Morgan's inquiry.

But now, instead of summoning him personally, the Lord of the Second Legion had sent Erwin, an envoy who was not even official: Luthor could not grasp the intentions of this, and he even remembered that when he was in Caliban, the various knights were still independent, and the shadows of intrigue and calculation were also pervading the dark side of the Hall of Glory.

……

Luthor had some bad thoughts.

Luckily, before these bad thoughts could ferment further, Erwin interrupted Luthor's pondering with a smile and a wave of his hand, and he put down his drink and looked into the somewhat blank eyes of the Caliban.

"Don't think so much, Luther."

"We all know that both your deeds in Avalon and your deep friendship with Lord Primordial determine that she will listen to your answers and respect your opinions, which means that if you really want to stay in the Far East for the time being, Master Morgan will help you with this."

"The reason why she did not formally summon you, but sent me first, is because she respects your personal will and understands your difficulties: I am not her heir, nor is I her confidant, so my visit does not represent her authority and commitment, that is, even if you make a decision in front of me, it is perfectly fine to regret it later."

"After all, it's just a private conversation between friends, not a knight's answer to the lord's question, is it? You don't need to take on such a heavy responsibility, and you don't need to make a promise so quickly, the original body knows the entanglement in your heart, and she still can't bear it. ”

“……”

There was a hint of stagnation on the countenance of the old knight of Caliban, obvious enough to be perceptible to Erwin, and the inexplicable, slight distortion that followed, as if the fragile pottery was shaking under the roasting of the fire of his heart, and involuntarily cracked the most obvious marks.

Luthor pursed his lips, his two rows of teeth biting through his closed lips, unwilling to reveal the slightest sound in his throat, while his pupils drifted unconsciously to the other side, so that no one could see the flickering in them.

"Respect to her for me, my friend, that's the only thing I can do."

"I will, Luther."

Erwin nodded, patiently waiting for the Caliban's recovery, but not continuing to greet him: the mortal general was like that, he cared more about his responsibilities than meaningless communication.

Luckily, Luthor quickly regained his composure, his gaze retracted, and he looked at his friend without running away, and Erwin did not continue to knock on the side, he looked directly into Luther's eyes, word by word.

"Answer my question, then, Lord Luther."

"Mistress Morgan wants to know: if you are willing to leave these careers in Avalon and return to Caliban: whatever decision you make, your will respect your will, if you want to stay, she will fight for you, and if you want to leave, the statue of Luthor will be erected in every world you reclaim."

"The decision is yours, Luther."

"Mistress Morgan awaits your answer."

——————

"So, what was his reply?"

When the story told by the Spider Queen was abruptly interrupted, Virgo, who was listening and recording on the side, suddenly had a feeling of empty chatter: it was like turning to the climax of a story, only to find that it was the last chapter, and the update time was still a whole year ago.

[An unexpected, reasonable answer, an old knight, an old father, or even an old man would rightfully confide in the answer: From this point of view, although my operation has brought Luthor's body back to youth, his will has not changed. 】

Morgan slowly answered the question of the Stellar Handmaiden, and as she spoke, she also recalled the words that Erwin had relayed, which made her mood playful.

She remembers it vividly.

——————

“……”

"Please thank on my behalf, Master Morgan, my friend, I am really grateful to her, or rather to her, I know how precious she has given me, and I believe that if I continue to fight for her, she will live up to my dedication and loyalty: she is such a person, she is a wise king by nature."

"Like an emperor."

"But...... Please tell her as well. ”

“……”

“……”

An unimaginably long sigh slowly poured out of Luther's throat, and in that moment he seemed to sigh for ten years of glory and all the beautiful desires that were close at hand.

"Please tell her."

——————

"I'm a Caliban, after all."

"After all, I've watched him grow up."

"Avalon is good, this beautiful land is just like Lord Morgan, and deserves any of the most sincere compliments, but, if it really makes me follow the answer from the heart."

"I want to go back to Caliban."

"After all......"

"I still can't rest assured of him."

——————

"Here they are."

Feeling the familiar fluctuations in the Mandeville point in front of the ship, the Lord of the Dark Angels, who had been staring at the divination instrument closely, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart.

His blood relatives arrived just in time, and her fleet, which had crossed half the galaxy, came to him on the appointed day: even faster than the return of some fleets of Dark Angels scattered too far away, and the heart of the King of Caliban was touched slightly.

The lion didn't talk any more nonsense, he spent a minute urging the daily operation of the fleet, and then he was ready to take the equally excited Coswayne beside him and strode towards the tarmac.

Hundreds of the best knights and Astarte warriors were already lined up there, with a terrifying majesty enough to allow a galaxy to fall without a fight, and the High Respect the First Legion had for its guests: but even so, Johnson felt that it was too hasty, that he should have welcomed his blood relatives in his castle of glory, not on the dilapidated deck of the Glory Queen-class battleship that had endured a full decade of fierce battles.

But he knew that the realities of wartime did not allow for his willfulness, and Morgan was definitely not one to care about these scenes: Johnson was confident in his blood relatives, and he was confident that he could estimate Morgan's unknown with the most optimistic attitude, and that he would not be wrong.

Thinking of this, the Lord of the First Legion, who had just finished putting on his clothes, couldn't help but hook the corners of his lips, and it was at this time that he received a long-distance communication request: it was from the [Dawning Goddess].

Five seconds later, the familiar appearance of the Spider Empress appeared in front of Johnson, dressed in an intricately carved silver armor with a dark cloak and glossy armguards, and several Daybreaker warriors could be faintly seen in the phantom behind her.

[Long time no see, Johnson.] 】

“…… Oh, yes. ”

At that moment, the words of the two genetic primitives were only superficial, because when their eyes were separated by a long distance and intersected with the void again, they had already completed all the communication they needed through their own observations and each other's gaze.

And the words are already a bit cumbersome.

But despite this, there was still a smile that came from the heart on the face of the Spider Queen: when Morgan really saw Johnson's figure, she even had a hallucination, thinking that the gloomy figure on the surface actually symbolized some beauty and glory in her memories.

Is this an illusion?

Inside, the Spider Queen muttered softly, but on the surface, her mood did brighten up because of this, and she even decided to take the initiative to start the next topic.

[As we agreed: Johnson, my brother, I have come, I have come to answer your call, and I have brought with me all the strength I can be proud of. 】

The Spider Queen's cold words came from behind the psionic veil, causing the King of Caliban to squeeze out a smile as best he could, and the lion looked his blood relatives up and down, his pupils rarely seeing only the lowest levels of wariness and hostility, and he seemed to pause before he deliberated in response to the words of the Lord of Avalon.

"I never thought you'd break our agreement, Morgan, among all the brothers, you, like me, are one of the few people who can truly value loyalty and promise."

"You've brought all your strength: that's good, and while the Dark Angel Legion wasn't used to working with anyone else, I thought maybe we could revisit the old friendship between the two legions in Terra, and your expedition was the key to restoring that friendship."

[Watching and helping each other? 】

"I'll try to do that without violating my duties."

Morgan laughed, and she began to doubt the illusion in her mind: for the beauty she saw in Johnson less and less like a false, misguided illusion of memory.

She even took the initiative to mention the content of responsibility.

[Then, tell me, Johnson, what tasks my legion will be responsible for, so I can prepare in advance: before leaving, I will tell you my military strength, and you should have a general plan.] 】

Johnson shrugged.

"I had a very well-developed military plan, Morgan, but that letter of yours forced me to overturn them and start all over again with a new plan."

At this point, the King of Caliban seemed to hesitate, and his hesitation caused both Coswayne and Morgan to frown at the same time: they knew too well what this hesitation meant, and it meant some instinctive obstruction on Johnson's part.

In other words, even Johnson felt that there would be something wrong with what he said next.

But he said it anyway.

"After all, I thought you would bring a whole army, and while it is impossible to have the power of the Dark Angels, it will not be too bad: but now it seems that you have only brought one...... Tough troops, but wings as cover, presumably enough. ”

【……】

“……”

【……】

“……”

"What's wrong?"

[No, nothing.] 】

Looking at the Spider Queen's instantly stiff face, and then at Johnson's dazedness, behind the King of Caliban, Coswayne, who originally wanted to remind him, could only be silent, covering his face and being silent.

Morgan, on the other hand, just blinked his eyes and realized a truth.

……

Okay.

It was her negligence, it was she who was deceived by momentary hallucinations.

This is Johnson.

That's it, her brother.

……

to taste.

(End of chapter)