The cold wind above the sea roared past the shield, and the background of the sky and sea continued to recede in the field of vision. The outline of the land was getting closer and closer, and the communication with the North Port hub became clearer.
Melita obviously sped up.
"Maybe it's just the mithril ring that's broken." Although he was worried about the changes in the situation between Cecil and Typhon, Gawain casually said to the dragon lady, "Tallond's Although the technology is high, it is not to the point where everything is immortal."
"Probably," Melita seemed a little distracted, "Anyway, we have to hurry up...this time is really something big. It's going to happen."
Gawain didn't respond. He just turned his head and looked at the coastline of Beigang from a distance, without saying a word for a long time.
Not far from him, Veronica, who was closing her eyes to rest, suddenly opened her eyes. The "Saint Princess" stood up and looked thoughtfully towards the land. , a trace of confusion appeared on his face.
But her expression did not last long. After a few seconds of looking away, she withdrew her gaze and returned to her usual gentle but inhuman appearance.
......
Deep in the wasteland, trees are growing around the impact crater formed after the explosion of the ancient imperial city.
A blue-white light beam that seemed to penetrate heaven and earth spurted out from the center of the impact crater. The bright light illuminated this dark and dirty land, and in the large "dense forest" that "grew" around the impact crater "In ", a similar stream of blue-white light is constantly jumping and flowing among the branches and vines that are approaching, entwining, and merging with each other. Countless strange-shaped "plants" are entangled like nerve synapses in some giant organism. A huge aggregate spread out for several kilometers with the ancient imperial capital as the center. The stolen energy was like chemical substances and electrical signals transmitted between nerve synapses, flowing over and over again in this huge and entangled system. With.
But suddenly, this tense and busy "flow" stopped abruptly. The light that jumped and flowed rapidly between the plant branches and vines instantly froze, and flickered a few times as if there was poor contact. In just a few seconds, the entire huge "forest" dimmed in patches, turning into a black forest again.
In the center of the forest, in the buffer zone connected to the edge of the ancient explosion crater, large swaths of thick smoke rose up with several violent flashes, and more than a dozen thick vines flew into the air after being blown apart. , retracted into the forest like a quickly retracted elastic rope. "Grand Priest" Bolken, who was controlling these vines, looked at this scene and roared angrily: "Twins! What are you doing?!"
A strong wind blew, and the figures of Fierna and Leerna appeared in front of Borken. Their hands were still wrapped with the afterglow of magic power that had not dissipated. The two elves said in unison: "I'm saving your life, Grand Master. Long.”
On the inner wall of the impact crater not far away, the remaining plant structures that were blown up have been reduced to ashes, and a huge energy pipelineIt is changing from dim to bright again.
The branches of Borken made a rustling sound, and his wrinkled face stood out from the bark: "What happened?"
"Ao Fei The operating efficiency of Leah's matrix is recovering. She has begun to scan and reset various energy channels. My respected Grand Priest——" Leerna said the first half of the sentence, and Fierna immediately continued the second half without any delay. , "It looks like she's back. If we don't plan to start a war with the Iron Man Corps now, then we'd better leave this place immediately."
"What..." Borken was taken aback. , and then an angry look appeared on his face, "Damn it, damn it... Why is it so early... It's almost, the catalytic process is almost..."
His branches were shaking angrily, The entire twisted "Black Forest" was also shaking, and frightening clattering sounds came from all directions, as if the entire forest was roaring, but Borken did not lose his judgment after all. After realizing that his anger was useless, He decisively gave the order to evacuate - each twisted plant began to pull out its roots and spread out the intertwined vines and branches. The entire black forest instantly disintegrated into countless pieces amidst the clattering sound, and began to Evacuate quickly towards the wasteland.
“Be optimistic, Grand Priest,” Leerna looked at Bolken, who was angrily directing the evacuation, with an indifferent expression on her face, “We didn’t even expect to be able to escape from the catheter at the beginning. Extracting so much energy - although the catalysis has not been completely completed, we have completed most of the work, and the subsequent conversion can be carried out slowly. Before that, ensuring safety is the most important thing."
Bo. Erken turned his face and looked at Leerna and Fierna with his pair of tawny eyes embedded in the mottled bark. After a moment, he nodded: "You are right."
The evacuation of the Black Forest is proceeding in an orderly manner. Archimandrite Borken and several major imams left here quickly, but Leerna and Fierna did not follow immediately. The elven twins He just stood quietly on the edge of the impact crater, looking at the sunken crater in the distance like a volcano, as well as the huge crystal cone and blue-white energy beam at the bottom of the crater.
They could feel that the "inhuman soul" deep in the crystal cone was gradually waking up - not yet fully awake, but one eye had already opened.
"Has she discovered us?" Leerna suddenly said as if talking to herself.
"Probably not - the direct detection module of Ophelia's matrix was permanently damaged hundreds of years ago. Now, in addition to the most basic damage warning system, she can only rely on the Iron Man Corps to understand "The situation around the impact crater," Fierna replied as if talking to herself, "We act very cautiously and are always in the blind spot of the Iron Man Corps and the warning system."
"...It's really true. It's sad," Leerna looked at the crystal cone in the distance and said with a hint of ridicule or self-deprecation, "There have been many times.Such a brilliant star among the stars, the most beautiful and wisest pearl of the empire... Now he is just an undead trapped in ruins and tombs unwilling to die. "
"The disobedient is so unwilling to bow his head and die," Fierna said quietly, and then Leerna also spoke. They sighed in unison, "...It's really sad. . ”
A strong wind blew, and withered leaves rolled into the air. After the wind and leaves dispersed, the figures of the Elf Twins had disappeared at the edge of the impact crater.
……
p>The majestic triple spire covers the vast parliament hall. In this splendid room, parliamentarians from the aristocracy, mages, scholars and wealthy merchants are sitting on rows of fan-shaped armchairs. .
The bright light from the magic crystal light shines from the dome and shines on the faces in the parliament hall. Perhaps due to the lighting, the faces of these big shots look brighter than usual. It's even paler inside. Against the backdrop of the black dresses favored by the MPs, these pale faces are like pebbles shaking in the black mud, blind and meaningless.
A tense and oppressive atmosphere hangs over this place. ——Although this place is depressing most of the time, it is more depressing today than ever before.
There is a constant buzz in the hall, which is the low voice of the MPs. There are small groups of people who are familiar with each other discussing some sensational news, but more parliamentarians are paying attention to the most special position at the front of the hall - the seat dedicated to royal representatives. There is now no one, and only two heavily armed people can be seen. The knight and several attendants stood not far behind the seat.
Count Dürer sat in his own seat, turning a luxurious ring with a large gemstone impatiently. The side with the gem turned to the palm of his hand, and he held it hard until he felt a slight sting before letting go, turning the gem over, and then back again - he was doing such a meaningless thing, and all the words that came to his ears were full of love. Pessimism and frustration, or discussions with blind confidence and enthusiasm
The empire and the Cecil people suddenly entered a state of war... It seems that there are traitors lurking among the noble groups at all levels... The Church of the God of War has been infiltrated by blasphemers, and the death of Pope Malm Dunit is full of doubts... It seems that there will be an investigation and purge in the army, or the purge has already begun...
The sky above Aldernan is shrouded Under the clouds, the ignorant people at the bottom do not yet know the truth behind the recent depressive and tense atmosphere in the city. The upper-class nobles and representatives of wealthy citizens have the opportunity to gain access to more and more inside information - but in Count Durer's view , the guys who were chatting nervously around him were no better than the civilians.
At this moment, a voice came from not far away, a few seats away: "Mr. Earl. , did you know that the Protectorate Knights entered the inner city yesterday? ”
Count Durer frowned subconsciously, but before turning his head, he adjusted his expression and followed the sound.Yin looked around and saw a fat, bald man smiling at him. The other party was wearing a tight dress, with a thin gold watch chain hanging from the breast pocket, and a pair of golden glasses hanging from a thin chain. These glasses were worn on the bridge of the other party's nose, or Said to be embedded in the fat on the other person's face.
"Of course, the news has spread among the congressmen." Count Durer nodded to the stout man and said in an approach that was neither far nor close.
"Something big is going to happen, Mr. Earl." The fat man shook his head, and the flesh around his neck shook twice. "The last time the Protectorate Knights entered the inner city, it was very difficult. It happened a few years ago..."
Count Dürer kept a polite smile and chimed in casually, but he was very disapproving in his heart.
Bollberg, a speculative businessman, has only doubled his worth in the past two years by taking advantage of the hot trend of magic industry. In addition to his father who is also a relatively successful businessman, such people have started from his grandfather to the top. There is no longer any family inheritance that can be used, but even such a person can appear under the three spiers of the Parliament...
Count Dürer will not question the emperor's decree, he knows that the Parliament He needs such a special "seat" here, but he still doesn't like speculative businessmen like Bolberg... Money really makes such people inflate too much.
Such a speculative businessman no longer even adds "Your Excellency" when facing a noble like himself, but calls him "Sir" - in the eyes of any upper-class person who respects tradition and values etiquette, This is clearly a breach of good order.
But even with such thoughts in his mind, Count Dürer still maintained proper etiquette. He casually chatted with Bolberg about some innocuous things. Half of the reason for doing this was for the nobles. Necessary politeness, and the other half of the reason is because... the cotton plantations and several factories in Count Dürer's hands still have to do business with Polberg.
Fortunately, this conversation did not last long. Out of the corner of Count Durer's eye, he suddenly saw a golden door at the front of the hall being opened.
The congressmen immediately fell silent, and the buzz in the hall stopped abruptly.
Princess Matilda, wearing a black palace dress, with long black hair hanging straight down her waist, and a dignified and elegant manner, walked out of the door. She turned her head slightly and glanced in the direction of the hall. Then he walked to his seat without looking back.
Some escorts and soldiers also walked in behind the princess.
Many people’s eyes fell on Matilda. They watched the imperial pearl move forward, but Count Durer’s eyes quickly fell on the warriors who appeared with the princess. On the body - after seeing the appearance of those warriors clearly, the eyes of this Typhon noble changed slightly in an instant.
The whole body is covered in jet black armor. The breastplate is inlaid with obsidian crystals used to increase magic power. The helmet has the royal emblem and is worn around the waist.Enchant longswords and amplifying orbs.
Obsidian Custodes!
This is the first time we have seen the Obsidian Imperial Army step into this place since Count Durer became a noble councilor!
He immediately instinctively turned his gaze to the golden door, and saw the Obsidian Forbidden Soldiers entering the hall one after another, quietly replacing the guards who were originally standing guard throughout the hall, and in After the last forbidden soldier entered, he saw a heroic black-haired young man walking in as expected.
Prince Hadiron.
Count Dürer saw the prince who commanded the Obsidian Forbidden Army walking into the hall, and then stopped there as if guarding the door. He glanced at the entire hall, as if counting the number of people. .
The originally quiet parliament hall seemed to be even more dead at this moment, and there seemed to be something else in the silence at this moment.
Count Durer suddenly remembered what the speculator businessman said when he was talking to him just now.
This time... it seems like something big is really going to happen.
The next moment, Matilda sat down in her own seat. She lightly knocked on the table in front of her, and all the eyes in the hall instantly fell on her.
"Members of Parliament," she cleared her throat, looking calmly at the faces in the hall that looked increasingly pale under the lights and black dresses, "Today, we need to discuss a matter related to A major proposal for the future of the empire.
“In accordance with the decree of His Majesty the Emperor, in accordance with our sacred and just laws, and in accordance with the vital interests of all citizens of the empire, taking into account the current state of war that the empire is facing and the emergence of the aristocratic system, Due to the various disturbing changes in the church system, I now propose the following motion on behalf of the Typhon royal family -
"Enable the emperor's supreme adjudication power and temporarily close the Imperial Parliament."