The wind is howling.
Since Znir was only half a day's journey from Wavasika, Henry left the brown war horse and supplies there, and he and Mira ran all the way carrying only light supplies.
The thick iron hooves of the war horse left deep marks on the winter soil. The powerful ups and downs of the horse running at full speed almost threw the girl out. She could not sit as steadily as Henry, so All he could do was hold on to the hard leather on the front of the saddle.
"Neigh!" Because the horse's breath after running for a long time has turned into white mist. Fortunately, this is a sturdy war horse, otherwise it would be exhausted from running wildly for several hours.
The surrounding trees flashed by like lightning and disappeared behind the mountains. Henry's equestrian skills were as superb as his sword skills. He could always direct the horses to run on the best route and quickly close the distance.
Rampage and lightning speed are the best ways to describe the two of them. Businessmen anxious to leave the Ecasta Plain passed by the two of them on the road. In the words that disappeared in the strong wind behind them, you could vaguely distinguish "from the beach..." ..." "An army of ten thousand people..." "Tragic..." and other words - this made Henry's eyebrows frown even tighter.
"Dong dong dong dong dong dong -" After a long run, the war horses finally began to show signs of fatigue. At this time, they rounded the bend again, and the two finally arrived at the place where they entered Wawasika. in that road.
After a few months of seeing each other, Wawasika has undergone tremendous changes. The originally rugged and narrow road has become wide and straight. There are still many tree stumps from the trees that were cut down to expand the road, but then the two of them... Noticed the black smoke ahead.
"Hurrah... huff..." The war horse's breathing became quite heavy. Henry slowed down so that it could take a rest. The horse slowly approached the horse with crackling sounds and billowing smoke at a much slower speed. place.
"..." Mira looked silently at the small village caught in the flames. This was the place where they and Bernie's group encountered the elite soldiers of Sivalier when they were advancing. It could be seen from the arrows left around that Yawen Nei Ra should have used this place as a small outpost later.
"Ugh -" the girl covered her mouth. The stench in the air and the charred figure in the sea of fire told her the final fate of the sentinel here. Henry drove the horses forward, and the dense footprints on the widened road were clearly visible, but the battle seemed to be over.
In the forest on both sides, there were many corpses of people dressed like natives of Avenella lying staggered, and when Wavasika finally came into view, the scene they saw was shocking.
The mountain lion flag that had flown months ago was broken and fell to the ground, and the gates of Wawasica were breached. The twisted black iron and charred wood described the heavy damage it had endured, but more than that were the city defense soldiers who fell to the ground.
"Da da da."
The city gates and walls surrounded by the fire looked charred and black. A dozen wooden barrels filled with water were randomly thrown on the ground. The wet but still astonishingly hot charred wood was piled on top of the same charred stone slabs. Among the piles of charred coals were still Some of the corpses of soldiers could be vaguely distinguished.
Arm armor that had been twisted and deformed by the high temperature protruded from the charcoal, and the fingers whose skin and flesh had been burned off looked like dry branches.
The long mouths and empty eyes of the soldiers who were burned and twisted seemed to be still pouring out the pain they were facing. "It's too much..." The burnt smell irritated Mira's nasal cavity, and the smoke made her unable to help but shed tears. Countless arrows and damaged armor and weapons could be seen everywhere on the ground, but more of them were blood. and human severed limbs.
"Da, da." The horseshoes echoed crisply on the ground. The soldiers with tired faces looked back at the two people riding in, but no one paid them any attention. The people who survived just continued to clean the battlefield, or found a place to sit down and breathe heavily.
Dead bodies were everywhere, whether they were archers in linen clothes or Avenella soldiers in armor. They were everywhere in the streets and alleys. There were especially many in this section of the city gate. At a glance, at least hundreds of people had died here.
The blood and various dirt flowing on the stone floor stained the weapons and clothes. Even in such an environment, many injured soldiers did not care and just leaned against the wall to rest with their heads lowered, their necks tilted and their eyes closed. , if it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of their chests, you would almost suspect that they were also dead.
The horrific conditions on the battlefield made it easy for Henry to determine what was happening.
Except for the sentries, the dead people on the outer road were all civilians. Judging from their clothes, the latter should be businessmen who came here to do business after the road became clear.
There were no corpses of soldiers on the outside, which meant that Charles, as the city lord, chose the right way. Apparently they had seen the attackers early, so they withdrew all their troops into the fort, closed the gates, and prepared for the attack.
The typical thinking of a city defense commander is the correct approach in most cases, but this time...
The broken gates and disabled soldiers filling the streets proved that this was a failed city defense station, and this also brought about another problem-the battlefield was too clean.
Yes, even though there is indeed a river of blood near the city gate and in this small area, compared to the various casualties that come and go in a typical city defense battle, Wavasika's side looks really It's too clean.
It was as if the people of Avenella were fighting a battle with the air.
There was no trace of the enemy troops that should have been lost here, and not even any siege equipment was seen. There is only one explanation that the sages can come up with - the combat power of the army attacking Vawasika far exceeds that of Yavinei. pull.
Small groups of elite soldiers swept across the land like a strong wind - this situation often appeared in the villages on the west coast when the northerners were raging centuries ago.
People locked the gates of the fence and prepared to prepare, thinking that they were safe. However, when these northern warriors with war tattoos on their faces appeared, they could only turn into a sea of black smoke and fire in panic, leaving Si Jing who had finished plundering. The pirates walked away.
But Wavasika is not a wooden wall with low defense, but a solid fortress. And if the attackers were really so powerful, why did they choose to retreat after only attacking such a small area?
The person who could give the answer soon appeared in front of the two men. The city lord Charles, who also looked tired and dressed in military uniform, came from the other direction. He noticed Henry at first sight, and then the goatee-bearded middle-aged man. The young man sighed and looked a little complicated.
The sage knew why all this was happening. It was his idea to widen the road to Wawasika, and Charles adopted it.
If the road hadn't been widened, maybe this time...
The reality is this, there is no if, both of them understand this truth. Henry got off his horse and walked towards Charles.
"Everything is unpredictable, everything is unpredictable." Charles said with a long sigh again. The sage noticed that many soldiers beside him were carrying the wounded, and there were not even people serving as sentry posts. They just came in and walked straight in. , obviously the entire castle's defenders were exhausted.
But such a relaxation of vigilance also proves that the enemy has indeed left, and it should have been for some time. Perhaps the real battle had ended when they received the news and started rushing here. Henry thought this, waiting silently for Charles' explanation. Mira on the side looked around, her nervousness and worry evident.
"Go find Ming Na." She obviously couldn't hold it anymore, Henry nodded to her, and the white-haired Luo An Loli immediately ran away and ran away.
The smell of burning and blood and rust echoed in the air, and the broken weapons reflected the winter sunshine. Charles sighed for the third time, then looked left and right, leaning his back against the wall of the stone house beside the road.
Wearing plate armor, he looked exhausted, and the blood on his hand armor and breastplate showed that the Lord of the City had personally gone to the battlefield to fight.
"They... are too strong."
"The attack started yesterday. We were careless..." Charles rubbed his temples vigorously and said: "When the scouts found that there were only more than 2,000 people on the other side, we didn't take it too seriously. I immediately He released the news to Ashenil, then closed the city gate, hoping to counter-encircle it with reinforcements."
"With this number of people, I originally expected that nothing would happen for at least a month, but -" He looked at Henry, and then raised a finger.
"one night."
"It only took them one night to destroy our city gate."
"When the sentry blew the horn and everyone woke up from their dreams, we were all in such a panic. The attackers used some form of mixed magic. The reinforced door with fireproof treatment was easily burned through, trying to put it out. The soldiers who were in the fire were also involved in the fire, and there were countless casualties." Charles looked at the city gate entrance in the distance that was still in a mess, and then continued.
His eyes lost focus, as if he was back to last night again.
"Those people are so powerful...their swordsmanship is simple and deadly, and they fight bravely and fearlessly. They are like an army sent by God. For a moment, I almost thought I was going to die here." Charles said, and Henry frowned. He raised his eyebrows: "You keep referring to them as 'those people', so where do they belong to the army?"
The sage said this, and Charles looked back at him, and then let out a long sigh.
"On this point, your old friend will have a better answer than me. Go and see him. If it weren't for the heroic fight of Jazz Cleveland, maybe I wouldn't be talking to you here now." The middle-aged man The city lord said: "It's a pity that he saved my life, but I couldn't do the same thing." Charles shook his head, and then assigned one of his soldiers to lead Henry to the rear of the Wawasika fortress.
The stone road sloping upwards leads to the training ground of the fortress. Henry saw Mira and Minna as soon as he came over.
The sounds of wailing and moaning came one after another, and the injured soldiers were placed in this huge square for treatment. Many temporary bunks and various wooden beds were moved out for them to lie on, and only then did the sage truly understand the number of casualties.
In addition to the nearly a thousand dead and injured at the entrance of the city gate, there are also hundreds of other soldiers lying here who have suffered injuries of varying severity. Not far away, many of their faces have been covered with white gauze. It is obvious that they cannot be treated. People who have died.
Minna seemed to be here to help, and the soldier who led Henry here turned around and went about his own business. The blond girl looked at Henry deeply, but did not speak. She just shook her head sadly, and then led the sage towards the east side.
This seems to be a resting place for the officers.
"Damn Silvalier dog!! Shivarier bastard!!" A knight with a broken arm roared loudly, the meaning of hatred was clearly visible, and more soldiers began to curse. , which made Henry frown further.
He walked towards a hospital bed that was larger than other places. When Mingna saw the person lying on the bed, she covered her mouth and turned around, whimpering softly and strode away.
"..." Mira looked at Henry, and the sage nodded: "Go and accompany her."
He said, and then slowly walked towards the man whose body was covered with white gauze, but blood still couldn't help but spill out.
"You're here..." Bernie smiled stiffly. Half of his face was covered with cotton. This once strong man was now as weak as an old man. He lost an arm and a left foot. The blood overflowed and dried into a deep dark red, staining the bed and pillows and dripping on the ground.
"...What happened." Henry's tone was a little low. Bernie's weapons and armor were put aside. He could clearly see that his two-handed long sword had been broken into two pieces.
"...were attacked..." Bernie repeated what Charles said before: "They... are too strong."
"Gu - uh -" The man whose blond hair was burned red suddenly widened his eyes, gritted his teeth, and twitched all over. Henry took a step forward, but after a brief inspection, he could do nothing.
"You have severe internal bleeding... and the damage to your organs is also great." He said this. To be honest, an ordinary person would have died of shock at this level. The reason why he could still have sound language skills in such a state , it can only be said that Bernie’s willpower is really strong.
The convulsion just now is the body's natural reaction when there is excessive blood loss. This pain combined with the pain of the wound can make most people cry for relief, but this middle-aged man who is as brave as a bear just showed a pale smile, and then said: "You're still the same... you can say some words that I can't quite understand."
he said, and Henry responded with silence.
After a long while, the sage said softly: "Charles said that you have some opinions about the incoming people."
"Well..." Bernie nodded slightly, and then sighed: "I never thought... that I would end up like this."
He said, but then he suddenly changed the subject for some unknown reason.
"I heard my daughter say that you are...a sage." Bernie suddenly said this. Henry hesitated for a moment, then nodded and confirmed this sentence.
"This explains a lot, my friend." He showed a stiff smile again and said: "At first... when I learned about this, I didn't think much about it. But later I learned about His Highness the Prince's attitude towards you. , I just...suddenly...remembered a legend."
"The Sivaliya people came from...cough, cough, cough." Bernie coughed loudly, and then the blood splattered on his lips formed a very sharp contrast with his pale face, and It took Jazz more than a minute to reply, and then said: "We learned from the Lamanites, and we learned from the Sivaliyas, so... I have heard some of their history, I’ve learned about it, quite a bit.
Bernie paused for a moment, then changed the subject again: "Those people...those people who attacked us are not Sivaliers."
He shook his head slightly, but Henry remained silent in return.
"Although they all communicated in common language, and the battle took place at night, I can tell... I am familiar with the soldiers and knights of Sivalier, and these people are very different from them."
"They are... the Lamanites." Bernie said, biting the word hard. Henry's expression did not change much, but his gray-blue eyes became darker because of the word.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and the sage turned his head slightly to look out of the corner of his eye. Ming Na and Mira, who had red eyes, returned here together.
"Hahahaha..." A smile appeared on Bernie's face. Although his laughter was hoarse, he was as open-minded as ever.
"This reaction, then... my guess is correct."
"If...if you are really the person in the legend..." Bernie gritted his teeth, and then he sat up straight from the hospital bed with his weak body.
His teeth were clenched and his skin was tight, with veins popping out. His body, which had already lost a lot of blood due to exertion, oozed out a lot of blood from the wounds everywhere. Mingna behind Henry screamed and rushed over. The blond man, who looked like an angry brown bear, said to Henry word by word.
"If you are that legendary person!" Those words were loud and clear.
"Then!"
"Please!" He roared loudly with the last bit of his strength, and his voice attracted the attention of everyone around him.
"In the name of the Miracle of Eternal Night—" Henry's pupils widened, and Bernie entrusted him with a voice that was almost a roar.
"The life-devouring monster!"
"Aurora's... nightmare."
"please."
"Save this country!"
The sound echoed under the clear sky of Wawasika. Bernie rolled his eyes and fell down behind him. Minna cried and rushed forward to shake his body vigorously, but this upright man could no longer wake up.
Henry stood up, his face was gloomy, and Mira behind him looked at him.
"Monster... nightmare?" The girl muttered such words in a low voice, but she also understood that this was not a good time to ask.
The winter mountain wind continued to blow, and only the loud cry of the blond girl echoed alone.
