September 30, 1444 in the Second Age.
Lassalle, who was wearing fine armor, held a lance and raised it high to the prince and his friends in the stands. As one of the best hussars in the second grade, he is also very good at marksmanship and has served as the vanguard many times in battles.
As long as he wins this game, he can advance to the top 8. Exciting music and cheers came in waves.
All the teachers and students of Homemonworth slapped the guardrails and stamped their feet in the stands. They gathered in the arena and cheered hysterically for the knights who were about to appear. Today is the biennial Homon Watts Championship. Everyone stopped studying since yesterday and stayed up all night competing, partying and playing games. After a whole day of preliminaries on the 29th, Hometown Watts’ intramural competition and celebration reached its climax on September 30th.
The most exciting of these games arose in ancient times, and attracted nobles and commoners alike, extraordinary men and mortals alike. This is--
Let’s compete in gun skills now!
The best knights and would-be knights in the four grades took turns charging at each other, stabbing with all their strength with their hollow applewood spears amid screams and cheers. This year is particularly special. Prince Commodus, who has just graduated, participated in the final round as the previous champion and persuaded the school to allow trainee knights to compete.
Lasalle felt his strength surge.
Praise the prince! As long as I can play, how can those little knights who get their titles based on their surname and bloodline be my opponents...
It seemed that nothing in the world could resist his lightning attack. He turned around and said to the silver-haired girl who was supervising next to the track:
"Culala, can you feel it? My lance will penetrate the sky, and I promise you, the laurel crown will be hung on the tip of my lance for you."
The bright and charming Kulala tilted her head towards him with crooked eyebrows: "Okay, okay, if you can win, um, no, if you can persist until the third round of this round, I will agree to date you."
Lasalle laughed and waved his fist excitedly: "I feel sorry for the poor guy who challenged me. The top 16 is his limit."
The loud bugle sounded, and the flags of different branches were waved in the stands. Lasalle felt the storm god's gaze upon him, and the fierce wind pointed to victory and honor.
"Who is it?" he shouted. "Tell me the name of that poor fellow!"
Kurala flipped through the roster and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows. Just as she was about to speak, the enthusiastic sound that enveloped the entire place hid like a nightingale disturbed by a beast.
"LaSalle, I wish you good luck..."
Everyone looked towards the exit on the other side of the arena. The dark and deep passage echoed with heart-stopping sounds, which were particularly breathtaking in the sudden silence.
"Hoo, ho—"
This is a helmet and a cage. The gentle breathing gathers into a heavy echo between the visor and the helmet, like the roar of a giant beast stepping on the ground.
The sound of breathing was like a big hand covered in black armor, dripping with blood, passing through the cry of despair, crossing the void and strangling the throat.
"Hoo, ho—"
The fearless Lasalle's dry throat squirmed, and doubts and confusion spread down his spine like melting ice water. He wanted to turn around and ask the linesman, but he couldn't even turn around.
"Kulala, I compete with humans, right?"
The girl had already run aside.
The knight from the darkness pulls the reins. He rides a majestic black horse, and the scarlet blood light spins and shines like a comet. He raised his lance high, kicked the horse's ribs, and one man and one horse spurted out of the shadows.
"The competition begins!"
The storm is above, what the hell is that!
Following the order, Lasalle subconsciously raised his gun and charged. The heavy hoofs of the horse struck the ground, and in the blink of an eye he crossed half the field, raised his lance before meeting the enemy, and then charged forward with a roar.
At this moment, he saw the enemy clearly. It was a rare dark golden helmet, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Between the gaps in the visor, the blade-like gaze was like a red moon soaked in blood.
The coldness and fear seemed to have turned into a physical entity, and he raised his gun and struck Lasalle head-on.
"Bang!"
The lance shattered in the air, and the powerful impact bent Lasalle's left shoulder shield, and the impact made a loud noise on his helmet. Wood chips flew high in the sky and fell down amidst shouts of exclamation.
"oh--!"
A white light flashed in front of Lasalle, and he raised his head and lost consciousness. His body fell out of control and hung on the stirrup of the frightened horse, dragging him all the way. Miss Fengjun, who was cheering for him in the stands, fainted.
The knight of the dark horse returned to the lounge. The voice of victory sounded from behind:
"Victor Griffith!"
…
The golden crown given by Brunave was taken away by Galadia in Arran. After testing and refining, the power in it was redistributed and adjusted. When it came back to his hands again, it had become Griffith's 19th birthday gift and a special sealed item - the Helm of Command.
This is a finely crafted helmet, solid and smooth, with exquisite craftsmanship with elf-style delicacy and elegance, and a rare dark golden color. The helmet's sturdy shell has a shock-absorbing lining underneath and a spike on top, decorated with jet-black feathers. The visor can be placed on the front of the helmet, and the brim is slightly outward. It can protect the ears and back of the neck while preventing raindrops from flowing into the collar and providing shade.
The ear caps on both sides of the helmet are built with high-quality echo crystals, dust crystal grooves and psychic amplification magic pattern networks, which can provide more stable and clear communication capabilities on the battlefield.
After Griffith puts on the helmet, his face and eyes are shrouded in shadow, giving people an eerie feeling. At the same time, he will also come into contact with the residual properties of the golden crown that once influenced the old leader of the Firestone Tribe.
The Golden Crown as a sealed object has been destroyed, some of its useful properties have been purified, and some parts with strong negative effects remain. Ms. Avina Silver personally presided over the renovation work and incorporated more rare materials. Wearing this helmet can strengthen the holder's extraordinary characteristics in a targeted manner.
Griffith gained some special occult knowledge when he touched the helmet for the first time. Dominance possesses the extraordinary characteristics of the path to monarchy. Its directivity strengthens the holder's unique abilities and will derive new abilities as the holder grows. Existing capabilities include:
Characteristics: Forced Confinement (exclusive to the Spellbreaker path). The holder of the Spellbreaker Path disrupts or destroys nearby magical configurations, or traumatizes the caster's mind, will, and spirit. The scope of action is significantly enhanced. The affected spellcaster will face a longer period of being unable to cast spells. Magic The configuration will be more fragile. Through the enhancement of dominance, this special effect has a stronger priority and can counter the anti-magic measures of high-level extraordinary beings.
Traits: Fear (exclusive to the Spellbreaker path). Enemies attacked by the holder have a high probability of falling into short-term panic and suffering a certain degree of mental trauma. The cooldown between effects is 48 hours.
Features: Tactical control. Dominance can help the holder strengthen battlefield perception, form a small and medium-sized battlefield map projected into the consciousness, and in a short period of time, locate the most threatening units in a dense group of enemies, and even identify their extraordinary characteristics.
Negative Effect: Helmet appears to be alive. It was traumatized, hiding and licking its wounds like a wild animal.
…
Griffith took off his helmet, and the strange feeling and aura disappeared with it.
He had just dismounted, and a nimble figure flashed out from the stable:
"Miss Solan was so frightened that she fainted. This competition is too bloody!"
Griffith shook his head, still recalling the thrust just now, and after a while he said: "Huh? The lord of Lasalle? That little girl jumped the most when she saw Lana being beaten down."
There was another burst of cheers on the field, and the sound rushed into the lounge, buzzing in the ears.
"Look," Griffith gestured, "Melee-type Extraordinaries will not be killed so easily. Everyone really likes this game and wishes it could be more bloody and brutal."
Galadia looked at the broken short gun and the pieces of wood that fell on the saddle. She helped Griffith loosen the belt, remove the breastplate, check for cracks and clean up the pieces of wood stuck inside: "What can I do next? Have you? You only practice jousting competitions a few times a year~ Some of their paladins practice when they have nothing to do, and Prince Commodus has graduated and still comes to compete, he must be very cruel."
"I'm very strong," the would-be knight disagreed. "Look, even Lassalle is not my enemy. Hum, they hussars always think that we lancers are no big deal."
"Let's see if you can still say this when you are knocked to the ground later," the girl scolded him in a low voice, "I will wait for you on the sidelines. If you are injured, I can rescue you in time."
Griffith suddenly raised his head and fantasized: "That's not bad. If I am injured and hospitalized, I want to eat canned yellow peaches."
"Look at your potential!"
At this time, Nona ran in, glanced at the elf lady who was helping to drag the armor, and said quickly: "Griffith, the top eight are confirmed, let's take a look at the battle list!"
She handed over a form and ran out, leaving the quiet room to the two of them.
"Do you think everyone knows?" Galadia looked at the closed door, leaned close to his ear and asked softly.
I don’t know… Griffith thought for a while: “Should we make an announcement?”
"Ah, no, there will be a lot of diplomatic problems, right?" The girl thought for a while, "There will be people prying on us wherever we go, and we wouldn't feel comfortable even going out for a meal."
That’s right!
After checking the armor, Griffith picked up the fine breastplate again and patted it, feeling more reassured. He nodded and prepared to leave the preparation room and head to the sidelines.
"Wait a minute!"
The girl hurriedly took his arm and walked to the door with him: "Don't hurt your face. I don't want to dance with anyone else at the dance."
"No problem!" Griffith responded, "And you can't hurt your hands, legs, waist, in short, you can't hurt anywhere."
"It's okay if you hurt your waist. It will make you less interested in looking at other girls."
"Is this relevant?"
"How about you try it later."
The girl walked him to the door, and the tsunami of joy in the arena was like a snare drum urging the knights to take the stage.
Griffith became more and more excited: "Go and watch the stand. I will bring you the crown when I win it. The most beautiful person in Homewood, hmm."
Galadia shook her head gently, smiled and gently pushed Griffith who was about to go out, and closed the half-open door: "Happy birthday, Griffith, I hope you will be 0- 3 eliminated.”
"Hey, why, it's so embarrassing..."
"Yes," Galadia stood on tiptoes and brought herself to Griffith's mouth, "Be eliminated sooner, come and accompany me sooner, ugh——"
…
The knights who passed the preliminaries put on their brilliant armor, mounted their horses, held lances in their hands, and paid tribute to the gods, kings, and senate.
Griffith climbed into the saddle and received a hollow applewood spear.
His lance seemed to have been truly blessed by the princess, and it was everywhere it went.
After provoking each opponent, he could finally face the prince directly. He raised his gun in the direction of Galadia, as if this was the moment he had been waiting for all his life!
Prince Commodus was an extraordinary figure, and his mount was extremely majestic. When he appeared on the opposite side of the field, Griffith was so excited that he cheered.
Although you are a prince, I have no reason to be polite. It’s so fitting that today’s win celebrates my birthday!
Three loud bugles sounded. This was the signal to begin, and Griffith pulled down his visor and prepared to attack.
At this moment, a cavalryman ran into the arena quickly. He went straight to the prince and reported something. The referee who was about to issue the order also stopped.
After a while, the prince put down his lance, and his attendants came to the rostrum. The principal thought for a while and then gave the order-the championship was terminated.
The prince took his guards with him and left the arena like a gust of wind, leaving the audience full of excitement and whispering.
In the evening, good friends gathered to celebrate Griffith's birthday. A detailed report and a Senate announcement were also sent at this time.
According to reports, earlier, the troops of the clan alliance crossed the mountains and jungles and attacked the northern border towns and villages of the Odessa region from several directions in squadrons and brigades. The locals fought back under the command of their lords. There was a brief lull after the summer's attacks, and there seemed to be a scramble for dominance of the army.
Bajran and the tribal side have accused each other of launching large-scale cross-border attacks. The Clan Alliance demanded that Beyelan move back all garrisons, posts, and settlements on the border forty miles, and began to send additional troops to the Neck area connecting Odessa to the Clan Alliance territory.
The border between the two sides is almost a natural border, and it is difficult for the army to deploy due to the complex mountainous terrain, rivers, poor roads and supplies on the border.
But there is one area that is different.
After an ancient river and lake dried up, several tributaries, swamps and river valleys were left that were more than ten miles wide from east to west and hundreds of miles long from north to south. The north and south exits of the river valley are controlled by humans and clan alliances, respectively, and have their own huge fortresses.
There are good roads and a large number of warehouses there. As long as they break through the valley area, the armies of both sides can freely attack the nearby plains.
The exit of the river valley is not just there. There are more than a dozen mountain passes and passes in the hundreds of miles long mountain range, which are excellent paths for smugglers, spies and small groups of armies to sneak across. This long and narrow area is called the "neck" because it is like a throat and is filled with swamps and rivers.
Because of its vital terrain, the Neck Valley has always been contested territory and has not been fully controlled by either side. Beyeland exited the Teutoburg's northward march from the southern valley. After years of fighting, it occupied a large area of territory to form a huge salient. The northern border of Odessa and Duke Meyer's fortress area were located at the center of the salient respectively. Southwest and Southeast directions.
In other words, as long as the Neck is in the hands of the clan alliance, the salient will disappear and the northern defense line can be leveled.
In response to the Clan Alliance's request, Beyeland immediately responded, requiring the other party to withdraw the orc garrisons that had sneak attacked various border towns through the Neck, and hand over their Rum Fortress in the north of the valley.
Griffith picked up the Senate Announcement he had just received, and at a glance he saw several bold letters written on it:
"Neck, or war."
