Three days after the second prince arrived at the Broken Dragon Fortress. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

"The messenger sent to the Rumba barracks has returned. ”

Standing on the walls of the fortress, Commander Sonia Suthret looked at the front of the fortress with a serious face:

Charman replied that he was waiting for His Royal Highness the Prince. ”

"I'm afraid you're going north today. ”

Tails was lying in front of the observation hole in the wall, looking out over the wide, snow-colored plains to the north.

In the field of vision, you can faintly see a continuous wide military camp, erecting an iron fist banner representing the Black Sand Leader Rumba family, and many military camps are hidden out of sight, and smoke rises in the distance.

"With tens of thousands of people waiting for me?" Tails sighed, "I'm so popular. ”

The Flower of the Fortress turned her head and said to Tails: "Charman Rumba is the Archduke of Exeter bordering the stars, and after the assassination of the Exeter Mission, he quickly mobilized the vassals of the Black Sand Lord, and gathered an army of more than 10,000 men in a few days to approach the border. ”

"They've been stationed there for two weeks. At first, it was just a wait-and-see deterrent, but in the last three days, Rumba has begun to send small forces to clear the surrounding arteries, and even looted two villages, fighting our patrols several times...... We had to shrink the range of the sentry cavalry and retreat to the perimeter of the fortress. ”

Tyers felt the biting chill, rubbed his hands and exhaled a warm breath into his palm: "I have come to the fortress, and the nine-pointed star banner of the bright star has been raised...... Why hasn't he withdrawn his troops? There is no excuse to invade the stars. ”

Putile, who was behind Tails, raised his eyebrows: "From the perspective of Chaman Rumba's special life, he is a standard gambler, and one of the characteristics of a gambler is that even if he loses to the last moment, he does not want to look back. ”

"So my presence doesn't make any difference to this gambler?" Tails snorted, "Even if it's a must-lose, he's still going to bet?"

"Not necessarily," replied Putile earnestly.

"What we were most worried about was that the other two Grand Dukes, who also bordered the stars, Trudida of the Rebuilding Tower and Auretheus of Welan, both sent troops. The three Grand Dukes and even more of Exeter's vassals pooled their forces to oppress the Lonely Tower, the Watchtower, and the Cold Castle, which were mutually reinforcing the fortress, and attacked the isolated Broken Dragon Fortress at any cost when they were unable to rush to their aid - Exeter's soldiers, both physically and well-being, were better adapted to the cold winter than our reinforcements from the north. ”

"If they take it, just wait for the coldest of the days to pass," Sonia took over from Putira's words, "and when the spring of next year comes, they will use the fortress as a base and march south, just as they did eleven or two years ago." ”

Putile nodded:

"But with your envoy to the north, now the two Grand Dukes have not appeared...... This shows that we have already completed a small part of our mission: under the coming desperate cold, the Grand Duke of Rumba will not be able to take the fortress before the supplies are exhausted with more than 10,000 men on his own. ”

"He's already lost. ”

Putilai said lightly.

"So, the other half of our mission, the complete elimination of the war between the two countries, will probably be accomplished by me personally walking before King Nunn, right?" Tails shrugged helplessly:

"First I had to pass through the camp of the Grand Duke of Rumba - and there were more than 10,000 strong, energetic northern men waiting for me. ”

Putile shook his head: "Rumba doesn't dare to endanger your safety...... Attacking the fortress and encroaching on the northern realm and murdering the heir against the kingdom of the stars are two different concepts. ”

"Rumba may not dare, but his opponents are probably happy to see such a thing...... We still have to be careful," Sonia smiled heartily, "Alaka will escort you to the gates of the camp in Rumba with his Angry Guards. ”

"Araka?" Tails shook his head, remembering the aggressive, dangerous man, and the disdainful look he had when he looked at him, "Are you sure he's willing to do that?"

"I don't deny that I hate him," Sonia snorted coldly, "but he is indeed the guy who fights the Exeters the most on the battlefield." ”

"And, it was his own insistence - I was going to make Miranda ......"

Tails couldn't help but be stunned.

Insist on escorting me?

He began to think about the man again...... Araka Mu.

It's a familiar name.

I must have heard it somewhere.

At this moment, a black-haired female swordsman slowly walked up to the city wall and bowed slightly to Sonia with an expressionless face: "The team of the mission is ready, please ask Your Highness's people to make the final confirmation." ”

Although the swordswoman called Her Highness, she did not glance in the direction of Tails from beginning to end, nor did she salute him.

"Hmm. Sonia nodded, turning her head to look at Tails and Putilla.

Putilai on the side sighed: "I'll go with you...... Miss Aarend. ”

Tails was stunned again.

Aarend......

The swordswoman, Miranda Arend, nodded stiffly and walked down the wall with Putile.

Still didn't look at Tails.

"Don't mind," Sonia smiled faintly, "Miranda is the only daughter of Duke Arend, her father was imprisoned in the royal capital, and the family was disgraced by this, so it is normal for you to have a grudge against you." ”

"Oh," Tails nodded awkwardly, "I seem to have heard from Wya, there is a particularly famous female terminator in the fortress, and I heard that it is still a 'kind' of the Tower of Ending......"

"It's the 'seed'," Sonia sighed as she looked at Miranda's back, "The Tower of the End preserves a large number of various combat techniques and finishing power inheritances before the end war - among them, swordsmanship is the most, and its inheritors are still constantly developing new swordsmanship, techniques and even finishing powers, cultivating generations of finishing power masters for the human world - and only a few of the most outstanding students can get the title of 'seed', such as Miranda." ”

Tails looked at Sonia and frowned slightly.

The Power of the End.

The transcendent power of human self-awakening.

Another piece of news worth paying attention to.

Does it have anything to do with my kind of fluctuations?

Sonia didn't know what Tails was thinking, and she continued to say helplessly: "But even so, Miranda's situation has been difficult lately. ”

"After Duke Aarend was imprisoned, the North was placed in the custody of some of her father's most trusted vassals, waiting for her to return after the crisis was over...... However, several of Aaronde's cousins and nephews were eyeing the Duke of the North's succession. ”

"Fortunately, Val Arronde is imprisoned, but he is still the Duke of the North—and it is a little consolation that His Majesty did not accuse him of treason, nor deprived him of his title or domain, but merely accused him of murdering foreign dignitaries. ”

Sonia sighed deeply: "It's just that I didn't expect him to do such a thing, you know, in the Broken Dragon Fortress for more than ten years, Val has been our backup. ”

"He's a coward!"

At this moment, a deep but unsettling voice came from afar.

"Compared to his valiant brothers, Val Arend was a complete coward, and he lost the face of his blood brothers...... They desperately guarded the side of His Highness Horace, and did not retreat a single step. I saw the figure of Araka Mu walking slowly from under the city wall, his face full of impatience:

"Twelve years ago, the Duke of Vaal was scared out of his mind by the mongrels of Exeter...... I still believe in Rumba. ”

"The only good thing he did was to slaughter the prince of Exeter. ”

"At least this time, you didn't say that until after Miranda left," Sonia covered her forehead and sighed, "Am I supposed to thank you for taking care of her mood?"

"How is she feeling?" Alaka snorted coldly, "Do I think about this?"

Tails rolled his eyes in his heart: This guy, why does he always look like someone owes him money?

Sonia snorted, "What's the matter with you?"

Alaka gave her a disdainful look.

"I'm here for this little imp," Araka's fierce gaze looked at Tails, making the latter slightly nervous, "Three hundred members of the Fury Guard are ready...... If you do want to go to Exeter to die, at least don't keep me waiting too long. ”

"Looks like you're not quite happy with my journey north, Baron Mu," Tails couldn't help but ask, "Then why are you sending me to the barracks in Rumba?"

Sonia let out a sigh.

Araka looked at Tails steadily, causing the latter to feel a little apprehensive.

"Because I owe Bright Star a favor," after a while, he slowly said, "And your nasty little devil happens to be surnamed Bright Star." ”

With that, Araka turned away without looking back.

"We set off in the afternoon. ”

"Don't grind. ”

Tails and Sonia watched as Araka's figure faded away.

"Don't get me wrong," Sonia said sarcastically to Tails, "that's his peculiar way of saying 'hello' - you know, Araka is shy." ”

Shy?

Tails couldn't help but stick out his tongue.

"Is it the cause of the discord?" Tails asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Sonia looked puzzled.

"Your dispute and discord with Baron Mu don't seem to be a specific grudge. Tails thought and said silently.

"And, what you said about him and my uncle, Prince Horace......" Tails hesitated, but said nevertheless, "as annoying as he looks, Araka doesn't look like a man who would stab him in the back." ”

Sonia was silent for a second.

"That's really angry talk. Sonia smiled bitterly: "Back then, it was Araka who took the remaining troops and bathed in blood all the way to fight out of the siege of Exeter and snatch the body of Prince Horace. ”

"Before the Fortress Peace Treaty, the Starlight Legion went north to join the last remaining remnants of the kingdom, and fought three fierce battles with Exeter in the north, the cliffs, and the center territory without any casualties, and we suffered heavy losses, and the other side also suffered a lot of casualties. And I saw it with my own eyes: the almost insane Araka, his impact and lethality on the battlefield that even Exeter's proudest heavy sword infantry feared...... I think that's why Exeteken sat down to negotiate in the end. ”

Tails was taken aback.

The man with an impatient face turned out to be ......

"As for the idea, that's right," Sonia sighed, "John, your father's uncle, and the principle of the Starlight Legion under his command is to be steady and cautious, try to protect himself, move in flexibly, and wait for an opportunity to attack. ”

But Prince Horace's army was known for its ruthlessness and ruthlessness, and Araka's command was accustomed to fighting tough and bloody battles. Because the casualties were so high, Araka's army always had a large number of recruits, and he was left with only the tough guys who had endured the blood and death......"

Sonia shook her head: "I don't understand why His Majesty wants to put the two of us together - we can't even move forward and backward on the battlefield. ”

"Maybe that's what the king is for. Tails said suddenly.

In Sonia's puzzled eyes, Tails raised his head: "When you defend the fortress for a long time, you need a steady and cautious general, but when the Exeter army is overwhelmed, you need someone who can fight a tough battle on the front." ”

Sonia looked up and glanced at him.

"Maybe. Sonia chuckled: "They are right, you really don't look like an ordinary child, and it is not for nothing that His Majesty chose you to go north." ”

"Ahem......"

Tails scratched his head in embarrassment, trying to find some diversion topic: "By the way, there has been such a brilliant record, why has Alaka not been very famous?"

Sonia was completely stunned.

"Not very famous?" Sonia looked at him with wide eyes, a "how is it possible" expression.

Tails narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"No," Sonia reacted, smiling and shaking her head, "You know him—even if you don't know his real name." ”

Under Tails' ignorant eyes, Sonia raised her head and looked at the Exeter Barracks in the distance, her eyes shining:

"From the beggar to the king, every star knows him. ”

"At least know his nickname. ”

Tails' eyes widened in surprise.

Everybody knows it......

In that moment, he knew who Araka Mu was.

――――――

Under Ramon's "treatment", Jorah's injuries have stabilized, but he obviously can't follow him to the north.

"Yes, we need to replenish the attaché. ”

Putile walked beside Tyers, who was cleaned up, followed by a bandaged Whyya, a splinted arm, and Edda, still depressed from the cold:

"At least there are some benefits...... We've added veterans from the fortress to battle-hardened veterans, not the Bright Star family's private soldiers from the manor, who have been trained in solo combat and protection—"

Tails looked at the thirty awe-inspiring veterans in front of him, armed with weapons ranging from swords and shields, bows and crossbows, spears to axes.

The former Duke of the Starlight Legion's personal guard, Jenard stood resolutely at the forefront, making Tails a little stunned.

Putile continued:

"Thanks to your trial under the gallows, there are quite a few veterans who are willing to join our mission...... Even though many people feel that our journey is dangerous. ”

They walked past the last row of soldiers, and a black-haired young man with two guns happily beckoned to him.

Tails frowned: "Veteran?"

"He insists on coming," Putile said as he looked at the sunny Willow Ken and spread his hands, "but there are only twenty-nine veterans among the volunteers, and the rest are all recruits—if I want to get thirty, at least this recruit who has been kind to you is still a little more reliable." ”

Tails smiled at Willow, "At least they gave him a new pair of blades. ”

Putirai shrugged: There are many broken spears in the storeroom, and it is not difficult to cut out a pair of short ones.

"But the suspicious doctor...... Do you really want to take him with you?" Putile turned his head to look at Ramon, pursed his lips and shook his head, "I thought you had learned the lesson from Duke Iris......"

Ramon cowered in the group, and inadvertently looked up to see Tails' eyes, he was slightly startled, and quickly lowered his head.

"Don't worry, I asked where he came from, and I made a deal with him," Tails looked at Ramon with a complicated look in his eyes, "And he did save Jorah." ”

Blame the doctor.

The kind of power in his hands.

If you guessed it right, it is......

I need to know more.

"If you don't have any doubts, Your Highness," Sonia said from a distance, followed by a cold-looking Miranda, "According to the agreed time, it's time to go." ”

"Araka has already selected three hundred sword and shield soldiers of the Fury Guard. The Flower of the Fortress squatted down and patted Tails on the shoulder, only this time her hand was a little heavier: "I'm sorry, the number can't be more, there are only 3,000 people in the fortress, but Araka chooses all the veterans under his command." ”

She nodded at the lightly armored man in the distance, who was carrying a bow and arrows, obviously impatient, "They will escort you all the way to the border." ”

Tails exhaled a breath of mist and stepped on the snow that belonged to the stars under his feet.

He raised his head and said silently, "Of course." ”

Sonia nodded at him.

The second prince of the stars smiled easily at everyone:

"Let's go. ”

"Follow me to see the land of dragons!"

As a result, the cross double star flag representing the Star Kingdom and the nine-pointed star flag symbolizing the Bright Star Family were erected at the same time.

Wyay stepped onto the Northland's characteristic Northland horse with wide hooves and pulled Tails into the saddle.

"I will take the reins to the death, Your Highness," Wyay said solemnly, "please do not worry about your safety. ”

Tails nodded naturally, "Then I'll leave it to you, Squire Officer." -- He had become accustomed to Wya's attitude of "pushing too hard."

Putile and the few remaining Bright Star privates trained in horseback riding rode the remaining horses.

Rolf was clearly unfit for horsebacking, and Edda shook her head violently at the sight of a horse for some reason.

Araka rode up to Tails, and the sword and shield soldiers behind him followed with awe-inspiring expressions.

"Don't be scared, little ghost," Araka said coldly, "I heard from the people on duty above that Exeter has prepared a welcome ceremony for us. ”

Yes?

Tails was stunned.

Before he could react, he heard Araka shout at the noose of the gate overhead:

"Open the gates!"

With the sound of metal grinding of hinges, the north gate of the Broken Dragon Fortress slowly rose.

Tails took a deep breath, followed by the Star Mission, which was less than forty people, plus an escort guard of more than three hundred, and slowly walked out of the Broken Dragon Fortress and headed north.

They first passed through the five fortresses north of the Broken Dragon Fortress, and the soldiers on them were all wound with their bows and crossbows, and they were ready to fight.

But Tails soon understood what Araka meant by the "welcome ceremony."

On the white snow in front of me, many people suddenly appeared.

Or rather, Exeter's army.

It was six brigades of infantry, lined up in a figure of eight on the left and right, distributed on both sides of the road in front of them.

Putile's pupils shrank: the number of infantry in each brigade was nearly four hundred—that is, more than two thousand Exter's infantry were waiting for them to go north.

The people of the mission unconsciously tensed, and Wya's grip on the reins.

"This is our welcome ceremony?" Tails looked at the Exeter army not far ahead with a bad face, "They really crossed the border......

He turned his head and glanced over the fortress, where Sonya's figure loomed.

"Be ready for battle," said Araka, who was walking ahead, turning back to his soldiers, "Don't let up. ”

"Maybe for the sake of demonstration," Putile frowned, "but you don't have to line up in front of the fortress...... Waiting for us to enter the barracks in Exeter had the same effect. ”

"I have a bad premonition. Tails said with a pale face.

"So you're going to go back, little prince?" Araka said sarcastically, "it's too late to turn back." ”

"What are you kidding," Tails closed his eyes and exhaled, then opened his eyes, "Go ahead." ”

"Don't worry," Putile said in a deep voice, "Rumba will not be stupid enough to kill the prince and heir of the star's envoy on the border between the two countries, in full view of everyone. ”

"As long as we don't do anything provocative, give each other an excuse. ”

They marched slowly until they came into the range of the figure eight.

"They didn't say there would be such a thing......" In the team, Ramon looked nervous and touched a black-haired soldier next to him, "The mission should be fine, right?"

"Huh?" Will Ken was stunned for a moment, then reacted, smiling and patting Ramon on the shoulder, "Don't worry! I've met them...... Exeter's soldiers are all pretty good. ”

"Pretty good?" Ramon was stunned, but Willow's next sentence made his face turn dirty.

"If they were to kill you, their swords would be sharp—they wouldn't be sharpened, you wouldn't suffer. ”

At this moment, the infantry of six brigades slowly moved.

The people of the mission suddenly became nervous!

But fortunately, Exeter's soldiers did not come towards them.

On the left and right sides of the Mission, the two Exeter brigades in front of them advanced slowly, almost passing the Mission, and Tails could even see the beards and yellow teeth of the Northland soldiers.

They are rugged and fierce in appearance, and tall soldiers are often armed with large axes or huge maces.

The Exeters also looked back at the mission of the stars.

"Poof...... Burst...... Poof......"

The sound of heavy footsteps stepping on the snow came sporadically, but the sound of more than 2,000 people in all directions made these dense footsteps quite shocking to the ears.

They walked across the sides of the mission.

Tails looked grimacing.

It was the first time he had faced such an army of thousands of people, and he was a little flustered.

But it's not just him.

Even the sword and shield soldiers of the Angry Fire Guard couldn't help but get nervous.

"Poof...... Burst...... Poof......"

"Steady. Araka said in a deep voice.

Worried, Tails wanted to calm down, so he turned his head and looked at the soldiers of the Northland on either side.

From armor, blades, movements to marching, Exeter's infantry brigade was obviously not as orderly and uniform as the phalanx of the stars, some with axes and chain mail, some with one-handed swords and only breastplates, one with a shield and a spear in the other, and even a sword and shield soldier similar to the sword and shield of the stars, but Tails clearly felt that these infantry were different from the infantry of the stars.

They all have one thing in common: their eyes are not good, their expressions are fierce, they are imposing, and their expressions are full of contempt and disdain.

These infantrymen held the iron fist motif, the banner representing the Lomba family, but from time to time they rubbed, struck, and flicked their blades as if they were demonstrative, as if they were wild beasts ready to go berserk.

"Poof...... Burst...... Poof......"

Not quite right.

Tails told himself secretly.

If so, demonstrations......

"They were light infantry—at least by the standards of the Northlanders. ”

"Exeter's famous two-handed heavy sword infantry and heavy sword axemen, and even the Northland heavy cavalry are not there, not even the light cavalry. Putilai pondered and said slowly:

"If it's those troops in the back, it's too easy to slaughter us...... The words of the light infantry should be just a demonstration. ”

"Then why don't they demonstrate with the other very powerful troops?" Tails frowned and asked aloud, "a group of heavy infantry, stomping beside us with an astonishing noise...... It's better, isn't it?"

Putile frowned as well.

It's really weird......

"Poof...... Burst...... Poof......"

"Don't let up!" Alaka Mu's voice rang out.

"Even if more than 2,000 light infantry swarmed up, it would be enough to chop us to pieces in half an hour. Araka tightened the silver-black metal bow behind his back, turned his head and said coldly to them:

"On the battlefield of thousands of troops, without support and cover, the masters of the Extreme Realm can't last more than half a quarter of an hour. ”

But just the next moment, the situation completely changed.

The six brigades of the Exeters moved slowly, and the two leading ones, after passing them, suddenly turned in unison and joined each other at the orders of the officers.

"Poof...... Burst...... Poof......"

The scattered footsteps of 2,000 people kept coming!

Exter's light infantry, surrounding them, slowly changed from an "eight" to a "mouth" figure.

"They're surrounding us!" Wya's exclaimed angrily, "What does that mean?"

Putile looked at the Exeter in shock.

Tails looked into the distance in disbelief, trying to see ahead.

Impossible.

"Stop!" Alaka roared angrily, stopping the entire mission and convoy: "Stand still!"

Despite their nervousness and apprehension, the three hundred or so soldiers of the stars, especially the veterans, stopped and turned in unison, their swords and shields forming a wall around the prince.

"It's impossible to rush out now," Alaka looked angrily at the Exeters around him, "these bastards ......"

In astonishment and nervousness, the stars stared at the murderous Exter infantry around them.

"What now?" asked Wya, gritting her teeth.

"Do they have someone to communicate with?officer or commander?" Tyers asked nervously, "for the sake of the Rumba, they wouldn't dare kill me......"

But in the next moment, several strange and majestic orders sounded in Exeter's military formation.

Araka and Putile's expressions changed suddenly!

There are also many veterans.

They recognized this Exeter's military order.

In the next second, the Exeter infantry of more than 2,000 people in six brigades raised their blades and roared in unison!

“wooh！wooh！wooh！”

The earth-shattering roar made Tails panic in his heart: "...... them What's wrong?"

The next moment, I saw Exeter's infantry with hideous faces and shook off their steps.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Footsteps louder than they had just marched rang out like thunder.

More than 2,000 infantrymen, with their blades raised, rushed towards Tails' mission from six directions!

"Kill!"

Extter's light infantry roared feverishly and rushed towards them.

Tails stared blankly at everything in front of him.

Didn't you say that Rumba wouldn't dare to endanger my safety?

【Waiting for the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince】

So why......

Why should he...... Kill me?

"Damn," Putira's eyes widened in surprise, and he drew his hand at his waist with a half-sword, "They actually ......"

A louder roar exploded out of thin air, interrupting Putile's words:

"Enemy charge!"

At the center of the procession, Araka Mu, grim-faced, took control of his restless mount, drew a fierce two-handed sword, and roared at the convoy of the stars, his Angry Guard:

"Prepare for battle!" (To be continued.) )