"Ed, the sky seems to be on fire."
"Well, I saw it."
Fang Plover gently blocked it, covering his messy hair like withered grass with his hands, and blinked his eyes gently, and the dark eyes were reflecting the golden-red firelight that shot straight into the sky, and the rolling dark clouds there were like A huge column of smoke spread out in all directions.
The thick clouds above the head hung low and passed over the airship, as if you could reach out and touch it.
Luo Hao's hand pressed against the side of the ship was squeaking and shaking with the ship's planks below. The back of his hand seemed to be covered with a layer of fire ash, which was gray, but it was actually just sand. The fat man raised his hand to grab it, but he only caught the sparks floating in the wind. He opened his palm again, and there were only a few embers left in his palm, which disappeared in the wind in an instant.
Luo Hao raised his head, looked at the golden-red light in the sky, and asked, "What is that?"
Fang Plover shook his head gently.
From this direction, only the dark red light could be seen between the clouds. Perhaps it was the firelight refracted on the ground, but neither of them paid much attention to it.
At this moment, the cabin door was pushed open again, and the former president of the Southern Alliance came up with a longbow on his back, standing between the two of them, pressing his collar with one hand, and watching this scene silently.
And Ye Hua suddenly turned around and asked: "I heard that you have thought of a way."
Fang Plover nodded slightly.
"So, what are you going to do?"
Fang Plover turned around and looked at the Ranger King.
In the hearts of the free selectors of the Southern Territory, the other party is the former president of the alliance, the ten kings, the top selector, and even the leader with their sustenance and belief. He has organized more than one battle. Now this is a dangerous scene in his own eyes, but maybe it is nothing at all in the eyes of the other party.
Although in his heart, the Seven Seas Troupe will definitely become the best adventure group in the future, which is the promise he made to Miss Scarpet. But that hasn't happened yet. How can he, an unknown little guy, command one of the Ten Kings, a top selector?
He thought for a moment and then said: "...I may have to face off against the Sand Bandits later. Great Master Ye Hua, you——"
Ye Hua smiled and interrupted: "I'm very good at this, so Ed, you just need to tell me where to go and who to kill, that's enough."
Fang Yu looked at the other party in surprise.
But Ye Hua seemed to know what he was thinking, and patted his arm gently, then looked away and looked into the distance. "Ed, everyone has something to hope for. I don't know if one day you will be able to achieve what I hope for. But this does not mean that you must do something, nor does it mean, To whom do you have any responsibilities—"
"...Because, you will eventually walk on your own road, a road that no one has ever walked...and a road that all of us have walked..."
Ye Hua smiled lightly and looked at him. "And your only responsibility is to your identity as a chosen one. Do you understand this?"
Fang Yu nodded slightly. Protecting his own conscience is the same as protecting his own conscience as a human being - with greater power comes greater responsibility. This is the consensus of the forerunners.
It was such a long time ago, and mankind had already established such a consensus. Power and responsibility are always divided at both ends of the scale, and the value of the "Stargate Declaration" may be to protect the glory of human civilization.
When the two worlds first came into contact, they were not destined to return to the wilderness from the beginning, to return to the long history of predatory nature and leading beasts and cannibals.
Because when it moves forward, it will never return to its barbaric origins.
And never—
"So this is your promise to me," Ye Hua asked softly, "right?"
Fang Yu was startled.
But for a moment, he nodded silently again, this time more seriously.
"...You may not succeed. There are only a few of my fellow travelers in the past...the genius of some of them is actually not inferior to you and me..." Ye Hua always had an indifferent smile. , but there was a more or less lonely look in that smile, "But in you, I more or less see some shadows of my former self..."
"Actually, I guess Odin is the same. Although they are in the Grand Guild, it does not mean that everyone agrees with that concept." At this point, he changed the subject: "That day Odin sent you from the capital Take Lun away, I should have taught you a lot after that, right...?"
Fang Yu nodded silently.
A hint of amusement flashed in Ye Hua's eyes: "Although I don't know what Odin taught you, he certainly can't teach you how to become a qualified leader. After all, only KUN and the others are better than me in this aspect. It's a pity. That person isn’t here either—and besides, he doesn’t really agree with our philosophy.”
He paused for a moment: "So, let me let you get used to how to give orders."
Fang Plover listened and opened his mouth slightly.
He does not resist the concept of the Free Chosen, because the Free Chosen are more or less the successors of the forerunners and still maintain the original intention, but there is always some resistance to that statement.
Do the Free Chosen really need a flag?
Is he really qualified to hold this banner?
In other words, is anyone really qualified to hold this flag?
But he suddenly realized that the real flag was actually just in everyone's heart.
Because as long as they hold such a concept, they will gather under this banner. Ye Hua, or anyone else, does not actually need to be designated, nor is he qualified to be designated - but with greater power comes greater responsibility. The bigger it gets, the more likely one day someone will reach this point. Just like the former president of the Southern League at this moment.
It was at this time that Luo Hao, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, said, "I found the place."
Fang Plover immediately looked in that direction. The hesitation in his heart had long gone, and he just said decisively:
"Landing in a quarter of an hour."
"Get Miss Afifah ready to disembark, Parker. You will be responsible for taking care of this place and keeping in touch with us."
"Mr. Alfond, Pasha, you should also prepare."
The halfling jumped up, glanced at the burning royal city, and nodded silently.
…
Rupert's voice was a little hoarse: "Sir Aipal, please lead people to block the gap in the west. We must not let the sand bandits capture the tower."
Facing the serious face of the eldest princess, the knight with a smoky face nodded silently and led the people in that direction. Rupert looked at the backs of everyone leaving, the hand holding the sword trembling slightly.
The people sent out at this moment are actually just making one last attempt. The sand bandits have already broken through all the key points, and it is only a matter of time before they can fully break through the defense line.
She glanced back behind her. Aleph had previously brought out all the remaining guards in the Kashan Palace and said they were coming to support them. To be honest, she didn't quite agree with this approach. It is not safe to leave your body to those people in the palace at this moment. Among the so-called princes and ministers, there is only one Seishel who is trustworthy.
But at this time, the princess no longer cares about so much. What's more, a crown prince, the future king of Istania, personally came to the front line to fight side by side with everyone, and also brought a lot of support. This more or less stimulated morale, and allowed the originally precarious defense line to be restored. He held on for a while longer.
It's just that this effect has been quite weak until now.
There are two lines of defense in the inner city of Questac. The first line of defense is in disrepair and is poorly armed, and it fell into the hands of the sand bandits early on. The second line of defense consisted of a total of twelve towers, and it lasted for a while. The two sides repeatedly fought around the three most critical towers until the seven surrounding secondary towers fell one by one. Two of them fell into the hands of the king of sand thieves one after another.
The remaining one now became the center of the battlefield. She asked a group of knights to recapture the gap in the west just to delay the collapse of the tower. Once this tower falls, the last line of defense in the inner city will soon be lost, and what they will face will only be a steady influx of enemies.
Those enemies are not even worthy of being called humans, they are just a group of humanoid beasts.
But Princess Rupert was not sure whether the manpower sent out would be effective. She looked ahead silently. The news coming back from the last tower had been cut off ten minutes ago. She even had an uneasy premonition in her heart. If the sand thieves had broken through the defense line, where should Questak go?
But the uneasiness in the eldest princess's heart is reflected in Tianlan's eyes at this moment——
The little girl was struggling to drag the paladin's body down from the top of the city. When she turned back to look for the lost sword, she returned to the top of the city and was suddenly stunned by that place.
The direction Tianlan was looking at blankly was the last fortress on the battlefield that was originally called the 'Maji Tower'.
There, you could still see the flags belonging to the Andromeda Knights and the Royal Palace Guards, but now, there is only a black mass of sand bandits, crossing the front line that originally belonged to the eldest princess-it was densely packed like countless ants. An overwhelming crowd rushed towards the inner city.
Where are the people from Her Highness the Princess?
Looking at this scene, Tian Lan suddenly felt dizzy, and a terrible thought suddenly came to her mind.
The inner city was lost.
And behind that, there was only the undefended Kashan Palace.
With a bang, the sword in her hand fell on the city head. The last hope left in her heart was suddenly extinguished like a spark.
The belief she has always believed in is that at every critical moment, Brother Ed will surely descend from the sky to solve all troubles. Just like everything they experienced in Doriffin, Fenris Island and later, at every critical moment, they can always turn the situation around and turn danger into safety.
But now, even if Brother Ed comes back, what will happen?
She knew in her heart that everyone's only hope was that the inner city had not been lost. Only then would they have a chance to reverse the situation by waiting for the captain to return. But now it was too late. The sand bandits had already broken through the last line of defense. It was impossible for the Sand King to lead his army back before noon.
The only remaining opportunity to block the Sand Pirates' attack was lost at this moment.
Tian Lan just wanted to cry at this moment. Of course she didn't blame others for coming back too late, because everything was just because of her own incompetence. Miss Aitila, the big cat man and brother Ed are not here, Xiang Xiang and Luo Yu are not here, and Jita is not here, there is nothing she can do.
I can't even help everyone buy time to reverse everything.
Miss Sylvide and Brother Ed's cousin were just support staff in the Seven Seas Brigade, but she was a real combat member, but nothing could be done at the end of the day.
On the contrary, I, who had always been complacent about the so-called 'butler' title, seemed a little ridiculous at the moment. She knew very well that without herself, Miss Attila could still take care of everything in an orderly manner.
Everyone just accommodated her.
Tianlan watched blankly as the sand pirates in the distance passed through the tower and rushed in this direction along the city wall.
But at this moment, she didn't feel a trace of fear in her heart, nor did she have any thoughts of turning around and running away. Instead, she silently and gritted her teeth picked up the paladin's sword from the ground.
The respectable knight and Her Royal Highness the Princess all died here to protect her.
Now, it's her turn to protect others. Even though she is weak, if she doesn't have the courage to try, how can she be called a member of the Seven Seas Troupe?
Do I have to choose to escape every time I face such a situation in the future?
What about the moment when there is no escape?
Tian Lan thought about all this silently, and clenched the sword in his hand.
But what she didn't notice was that there was a flash of light on the clouds behind her.
…
The airship has not yet completely entered Questac's airspace, but everything that is happening in the city has basically caught everyone's eyes.
Fang Plover looked expressionlessly at everything that was happening below, as well as the sand pirates who were crossing the tower in the distance. From this height, there were just countless black spots.
"The inner city has been lost."
Luo Hao said: "But fortunately, we arrived in time, they have just broken through the defense line."
Fang Plover nodded. The sand pirates broke through the defense line, but before the attack could disperse, their original plan could still work. It's just that when he looked down from this height, it was difficult to see the colors belonging to the princess's side on the battlefield. The palace guards were retreating. Occasionally, he could see the flag of the Marlan Knights, but in an instant they were submerged in the black sea. middle.
He pursed his lips and could not see where the Princess was, nor could he find the rest of the Seven Seas Brigade. There was a faint worry in his heart. Although everyone could choose to be resurrected in the temple while the starlight was still there, what if the temple fell into the hands of the sand thieves?
And in such a battle, no one can guarantee that just a few chances of resurrection will guarantee his own safety.
There is not much time left for them.
His eyes couldn't help but fall on the tower.
"The sand pirates must get past this tower." Luo Hao also said at this time: "It is the most ideal place to attack this place, but there is a new problem at the moment - there are too many sand pirates. Even if our plan succeeds ...I'm afraid there's no way to completely stop them. Of course, if the inner city hadn't been lost, the situation would naturally be different, but right now..."
Fang Yu understood what he meant. If the inner city had not been lost, they would successfully throw dozens of kilograms of explosive crystals in the direction of the opponent's main attack, which would definitely disrupt the opponent's offensive. But it is definitely unrealistic to expect to use these exploding crystals to kill all the sand pirates. For example, the inner city has been destroyed, and even if the sand pirates are temporarily hindered, they will definitely not give up their easy prey.
There is only one possibility at the moment that can reverse the situation.
That is, they happened to blow up Mahazar, the king of sand pirates.
But on the vast battlefield below, who knows where the Sand Bandit King is?
"We can only make this choice," Fang Plover looked at the tower and replied: "Whether Mahazar is there or not, we can only target this place."
"Then I hope that the gods believed by the Istanians, Andromeda and Ms. Marlan, can give us good luck." Luo Hao shrugged.
"What if you have bad luck?" At this time, the box behind the two people asked.
"Then there will only be a bloody battle."
Fang Plover replied quietly.
He then turned back and looked at the elementalists in the team beside the mast.
"Is it okay?"
Luo Yu seemed a little silent, nodded slightly, and then replied: "Leave the number to me, but I will disembark later, and the previous battle will be left to you."
Fang Yu nodded slightly and looked at Ye Hua beside him.
There, Ye Hua took off his long bow, patted the hang glider backpack behind him, and smiled slightly, indicating that he was ready.
Fang Plover stopped talking nonsense and walked to the side of the ship, grabbing the side with one hand. Everyone followed and put their hands on the side of the ship one by one. Fang Yu looked around, and then said in a low voice: "Everyone, I'm counting to three, two, and one, everyone is getting ready to leave the ship."
"three……"
"two……"
"one."
At this time, Luo Yu gently pressed down the crystal in his hand.
The bow of the boat immediately pointed downward. At that moment, the silver sail opened, and the aerospace ship seemed to jump down from the clouds, while the magic furnace, which was running rapidly, was releasing all the wind element ether stored in it -
In the night sky, the surging etheric magic power was like a golden wing pulled out from the clouds. The long golden track is like a golden line slowly extending forward under the sky, and a few flashes of silver light are scattered and split from under the golden line.
It's just that the people fighting each other on the ground didn't seem to notice this scene happening.
…
