Section 47 Raising troops

When it got dark, a large crowd gathered at the lord's mansion. Half of them were rebel leaders, and the other half were officials under the "former" lord Kasek. Including the original sheriffs, tax collectors, and treasurers in the city. After he took over the city, these people hid in their homes at first. Luckily, Neil is very familiar with the various people in the city. So I found them one by one. Occupying a city, if not intending to raze it to the ground, then these people are indispensable. Although the Grave Guards he awakened were ideal warriors, they were just puppets, and they had no real rational or complex thinking skills. Most of the rebel members were illiterate farmers or hunters. There are too few people like Neil, and Neil's responsibility, that is, intelligence, is too important for him to take on the role of running the city.

Although Kasek was a poor count, and Meno was a small town, the lord's mansion was large enough to hold such a meeting.

Ashrufath, when he was in St. Jean, had captured (of course, it would be more appropriate to use the word "reconquest") a number of cities. In that war, however, it was never a problem to achieve effective rule over the newly captured cities. The Cassilos welcomed (of course) the arrival of their own army, and local squires, merchants, elders, and the like came to their service. Ensure that both armies can effectively rule the city. And after he invaded the Paro mainland, he didn't think about ruling at all, and directly destroyed everything with sword and fire. So this time, he can only listen to Carrie and Neil in this regard. However, the latter was still very afraid of him at this time, and did not dare to give opinions at will.

These officials were trembling at the moment, and they were sincerely afraid to observe words and feelings. It must be noted that even by the standards of human warfare, the casualties caused by this change of hands were very small. This is partly because it is indeed a small city, and the residents retreat to their homes as soon as they see that the situation is not right. The other half is because the undead legions are completely under the control of the vampires, so there is no looting and carnage that is inevitable in normal warfare.

After defeating the remaining garrisons in the city, their operation to take over the city was no longer difficult. At this moment, the lord is dead, and all the surviving soldiers who did not have time to escape surrender to the vampires.

Ashrufat stood in the middle of the room, and in front of him was a long table improvised from several square tables. He was still wearing his armor, heavy black energy churning across the blood-red armor. This was actually intentional, as Carrie repeatedly insisted that Ashrufat should deter the group in the first place, lest they have two minds. Give them a strong impression and avoid the wavering and repetition of these people. Otherwise, they will betray at a critical moment, and it is likely that they will directly take the ruling power of the city from him.

The reprimands for the old officials soon ended. After Ashorufat's intentional or unintentional intimidation as a vampire, the group all made the right choice, swearing allegiance to him and being willing to serve the undead lord. He could take control of the city through them for the time being, and keep the city running on a daily basis.

Late in the night, Ashrufat (actually Carrie) drafted a proclamation. The proclamation was simple, declaring one's identity and appointing oneself as the Grand Duke of Sivania, the sole ruler of the land. Ashrufat had not thought it necessary to make such an announcement, but Carrie insisted that it was indispensable.

Finally, all the bits and pieces were taken care of for the time being. Everyone else had left, and now, only Ashrufat himself was left in the room.

He sat down, feeling scared for some reason. Today, I am fortunate that except for a few people such as Neil who know the truth about Lu Dao, everyone else does not know that the "Baron Pinod" mentioned by Neil before is a complete lie. They thought it was a ploy by Ashrufat to disguise his true identity. As a result, the leaders of these rebels believed that they had always been vampires, and they easily accepted the existence of Ashruphat and the Grave Guards, and were willing to fight for him. Not only that, but they were a little excited to win the city of Meno in one fell swoop today, and the victory of taking out Kasek. A day ago, they had been hiding in the mountains, hidden in an ancient mausoleum-turned-camp of rebels, but now they were the masters of the city.

But Ashrufat himself can't lie to himself. This victory was short-lived. When he looked around at the moment, he found that the situation was far from as good as he had expected. In West Sylvania, there are at least three other powerful forces. Via, Istria and the excavation site all have their own troops. In addition to the lord's private army, Istria also has an army of the Ryan royal family stationed. The excavation site is even stronger, with a total garrison of no less than 5,000 men, and a Holy Knight as the backbone.

The main reason why he won such an easy victory today was that he was unprepared. Kasek failed to exploit the strengths of his army, and the artillery and muskets of his army did not get a chance to play at all—and even his army did not get a chance to use their combat effectiveness. If the environment is changed, and the two sides go all out to fight it out when they are prepared, the victory may still belong to Ashrufat, but the battle will definitely not be so easy and fast.

But there will be no chance of such a raid. After all, Meno was the place where the rebels had the deepest mass base, and there were enough spies and supporters in the city to be able to take control of the city gates in a short period of time. And Viah, Istria, and the excavation site, this trick can't be used. Unlike Kasek, who was so poor that he couldn't even pay his soldiers' salaries, Istria and the defenders of the excavation site all had magicians, and there must have been more than one on the other side of the excavation site. As long as he is a qualified magician, he can feel the fluctuations of dark magic energy, so as to detect the movements of the undead army.

Ashrufat sighed, the situation in front of him was not optimistic. Especially in terms of military strength, he has awakened about five or six hundred grave guards, and two or three hundred skeleton horses, but this is also his limit. Although the Dark Arts can revive the dead Ancient Warrior as an undead and use it for him, all the activities of the undead require the consumption of Dark Arts energy. It is the dark magic that replaces the long-lost flesh of these corpses and acts as a connection. If the dark magic energy that sustains an undead creature is depleted, it will revert to its original form and become a pile of dry bones that will not move. So a dark magic user can't control the undead infinitely.

Of course, perhaps a handful of these undead creatures awakened by dark magic will gain the ability to draw dark magic from their surroundings, just like his nightmare pony. But this is a special case that cannot be repeated, and even Carrie doesn't know why a nightmare pony can get this ability.

"Master, are you worried about the battle?" asked Carrie in her mind.

"Well, there are not enough troops. Ashrufat replied. Neil had already reported to him the details of the rebels—all of them numbered only a thousand men, and they were poorly equipped and trained, and could not fight the regular army head-on. If there is a real battle, then the only thing that Ashrufat can rely on is this undead army. "Carrie, with this kind of appearance, it is impossible to complete the plan to conquer West Vania. ”

In terms of strength comparison, it is not only "impossible to conquer", but even self-preservation is a problem.

"You have to recruit more men. Carrie suggested. "In the short term, though, I suggest you use the power of the Dimension Stone. ”

Ashrufat pulled out the two dark green stones that glowed from his bosom. Today from Cade, he found a second piece. I don't know where Cade got these stones.

"Isn't this something for poisoning?"

"Poisoning is overkill. Carrie replied in her head. "These stones are essentially formed by the condensation of black magic energy. Under the right conditions, they can also be reverted to dark magic energy. Although it is only a disposable, if you want to say that you want to form a large army temporarily, it should be enough. ”

"Assemble an army?" Ashrufat asked rhetorically, confused. In a place like Sylvania, it might be possible to assemble an army of corpses, but it would take him months to travel all over Sylvania and through all the ancient tombs. However, in this way, the dark magic energy of the first awakened corpse demon may have been exhausted. In other words, everything was in vain.

"No, master, I have a plan...... Carrie whispered what she had planned.

Carrie...... What do I think about it...... Seems like you've already figured everything out?" Ashruphat asked after listening to Carrie's plan.

"Ah, that's a complete misunderstanding. I'm just designing different plans according to the changes in the situation. But to be honest, master, after you got the Dimension Stone, I calculated this operation, and at the end I thought it was almost 100% successful. Now is the time to execute this plan, because you really need a real army. ”

......

It was late at night.

He returned to the excavation site, standing in the graveyard where he and Eric had first met. Perhaps because he no longer suppressed his black magic, at this moment, he could clearly feel the commotion of the dead around him, which was the most oblivious thoughts left by the dead, and the people who were unwilling to die were chattering about their resentment.

This time it was very easy to enter the excavation site. Carrie has the ability to cast a spell (which is usually extremely reluctant to do so, preferring to keep the opportunity to cast a spell just in case). With the help of Carrie's magic, Ashrufat summoned a charcoal-black, disembodied bipedal wyvern and easily brought himself here.

If there were a local magician, they would have felt the magic, but it was too late.

"Master, it's time to go. Carrie urged in her head.

Ashrufat took the dimension stone in his hand and held it high. With bursts of black magic fluctuations, the dimensional stone in his hand began to dissolve, turning into pure black magic energy. With each fluctuation, his perception could rise to a new level. He could smell the sour smell of dirt and blood from the small parts of his clothes, and he could distinguish the smell of each piece. He could detect the faintest fluctuations of air in his hair and on his skin. Even the imperceptible, the winds of magic that flowed in the air, had now manifested every tiny flow of itself within the realm of his sense.

He didn't know how much force he had manipulated. The flames of the sun scorched the marrow of his brain, and the cold of all winters since ancient times was compressed into his heart.

"Master, it's already your physical limit!" Carrie warned loudly in her mind.

Ashruphat poured all the dark magic energy gathered around him into the withered sword inserted in the ground, channeling it into the land.

"I want to be calm, and I want to return to the arms of darkness forever. If you want revenge, join my army!"