Blood tax

Chapter 288 Neck, or War
Second Age August 1444, 9.

Lu Er, in fine armor, held a lance and raised it high to Feng Jun and his friends in the stands.As one of the best hussars in the second year, he is also very good with the spear, and has been in the vanguard many times in battle.

As long as he wins this game, he can advance to the top 8.Passionate music and cheers poured in like a tidal wave.

All the teachers and students of Homeworth slapped the guardrail and stomped their feet on the stands.They gathered in the arena, cheering hysterically for the incoming knights.Today is the biennial Homemonwatts Championships.Everyone has stopped reading since yesterday, and played games, parties and games together all night long.After a whole day of preliminaries on the 29th, the Homonwarts intramural competition and celebration on September 9 ushered in a climax.

Among them, the most exciting competitions arose in ancient times, no matter nobles or commoners, extraordinary or mortals were crazy about it.This is--

Immediately start the spear competition!

The best knights and quasi-knights of the four grades took turns to charge, stabbing with all their strength with hollow applewood spears amidst screams and cheers.This year was particularly special. Prince Commodus, who had just graduated, participated in the final round of the competition as the champion of the previous year, and persuaded the school to allow the apprentice knight to compete.

L.S. Er felt his power surging.

Praise the prince!As long as I can play, how can those little cavaliers who get titles by virtue of their surnames and bloodlines be my opponents...

There seems to be nothing in the world that can resist his swift assault.He turned around and said to the silver-haired girl who was supervising by the track:
"Kulara, can you feel it? My lance will pierce the sky, and I assure you, the laurel crown will hang on the tip of my spear for you."

The bright and charming Kulala tilted her head at him with crooked eyebrows: "Okay, okay, if you can win, um, no, if you can last until the third round of this round, I agree to date you."

Laughed loudly, 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 fluttered in the stands. Lsall felt the watch of the Storm God, and the wind signaled victory and honor.

"Who is it?" he exclaimed, "tell me the name of that poor wretch!"

Kulala flipped through the roster and couldn't help raising her eyebrows.Just as she was about to speak, the enthusiastic voices that enveloped the audience hid like a nightingale disturbed by a wild beast.

"LS, good luck to you..."

Everyone looked towards the exit on the other side of the arena.The palpitating sound reverberated in the dark and deep passage, which was particularly breathtaking in the sudden silence.

"Huh, huh—"

This is a helmet, and it is also a cage. The gentle breath 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 is like a big hand covered with black armor, dripping blood, passing through the desperate cry, strangling the throat across the void.

"Huh, huh—"

The fearless Lull wriggled his parched throat, doubt and confusion creeping down his spine like melting ice water.He wanted to turn his head to ask the line referee, but he couldn't even turn his head.

"Kulala, I'm competing with humans, right?"

The girl ran away early.

The knight from the darkness pulls the reins.He rode a majestic black horse, and the scarlet blood light swirled and flickered like a comet.He held up his lance, kicked the horse's ribs, and one person and one cavalry spewed out from the shadows.

"The competition begins!"

Storm above, what the hell is that!

Following an order, LS Er subconsciously raised his gun and charged.The heavy hooves of the horse knocked on the ground, and in a blink of an eye he crossed the half-court, raised his lance before reaching the enemy, and then charged and thrust 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 crimson moon soaked in blood.

The cruelty and fear seemed to have turned into reality, and he raised his gun to hit Lser head-on.

"Oh!"

The lance shattered in the air, and the powerful impact bent the shield on L.S. Er's left shoulder, and it hit his helmet with a loud noise.The sky full of wood chips flew high, and fell down amidst exclamations.

"Oh--!"

A white light flashed in front of LS Er, he raised his head and lost consciousness.His body fell out of control, hung on the stirrup of the frightened horse, and dragged him all the way.Miss Feng Jun, who was cheering for him in the stands, passed out directly.

The rider on the black horse turned back to the waiting room.The voice of victory sounded from behind:

"Victor Griffith!"

……

The golden crown given by Brunaf was taken away by Galadia in Yalan. After testing and re-refining, the power in it was redistributed and adjusted.When it was returned to the hand again, it had become Griffith's 19th birthday gift and a special sealed item - the dominance helmet.

This is a finely crafted helmet, strong and smooth, with elf-style delicacy and elegance in the finely crafted workmanship, showing a rare dark golden color.The helmet's sturdy shell has a shock-absorbing lining beneath it, and it's topped with a single spike, adorned with jet-black feathers.The visor can be placed on the front of the helmet, and the brim of the hat is slightly outward, which protects the ears and the back of the neck while preventing rain from dripping into the collar and shading the sun.

The ear caps on both sides of the helmet have built-in high-quality echo crystals, dust crystal grooves and psionic amplifying magic pattern networks, which can provide more stable and clear communication capabilities on the battlefield.

After Griffith put on the helmet, his face and eyes were covered with shadows, giving people an eerie feeling.At the same time, he will also be exposed to the remnants of the golden crown that once affected the old chief of the Firestone tribe.

As a sealed item, the Golden Crown has been destroyed, some useful properties have been purified, and some parts with stronger negative effects remain.Ms. Aviana Silver personally presided over the renovation work, kneading more rare materials.Wearing this helmet can specifically strengthen the extraordinary characteristics of the holder.

When he touched the helmet for the first time, Griffith gained some special occult knowledge.Ruler has the extraordinary characteristics of the path of monarchy, and the directivity strengthens the unique ability of the holder and will derive new abilities as the holder grows.Existing capabilities include:

Features: strong imprisonment (exclusive to the lawbreaker path).The holder of the Spellbreaker Path disrupts or destroys nearby magical formations, or traumatizes the caster's mind, will, and spirit. type will be more fragile.After the enhancement of control, this special effect has a stronger priority, which can resist the anti-magic measures of high-level transcendental.

Trait: Fear (exclusive to the lawbreaker path).Enemies attacked by the owner have a higher probability of falling into short-term terror and suffering a certain degree of sanity trauma.The cooldown on the same target is 48 hours.

Features: tactical control.Domination can help the holder strengthen the battlefield perception, form a small-to-medium-scale battlefield map projected on the consciousness, and quickly lock the most threatening units in the densely populated large groups of enemies, and even identify their extraordinary characteristics.

Negative Effect: The helmet appears to be alive.It was wounded, hiding like a beast to lick its wounds.

……

Griffith took off his helmet, and a strange feeling and breath went with him.

He had just dismounted when a nimble figure flashed out from the stable:

"Miss Solan fainted from fright, this competition is too bloody!"

Griffith shook his head, still reminiscing about the stab just now, and said after a while: "Huh? Is it the lord of LS? That little girl jumped the most when she saw Lana being shot down."

There was another burst of cheers on the field, and waves of sound rushed into the lounge, buzzing in my ears.

"Look," Griffith gestured, "Melee Beyonders won't be killed that easily. Everyone likes this match from the bottom of their hearts, and they wish it could be more bloody and brutal."

Galadia looked at the broken short gun and the wood chips that fell on the saddle, and helped Griffith loosen the belt, remove the breastplate, check for cracks and clean up the wood chips stuck in it: "Can you compare Is it? You only practice horse spear competition a few times a year~ Some paladins practice when they have nothing to do, and Prince Commodus has graduated and came to compete, it must be very cruel."

"I'm very strong," the quasi-knight disapproved, "Look, even LS is not my all-in-one enemy, hehe, these hussars always think that us Lancers are no big deal."

"See if you can say that when you are about to be knocked to the ground," the girl scolded him in a low voice, "I'll wait for you on the sidelines, if you get hurt, there's time to rescue you."

Griffith suddenly raised his head and imagined for a while: "That's not bad, if I am injured and hospitalized, I want to eat canned yellow peaches."

"Look at your success!"

At this time, Nona ran in, glanced at Miss Elf who was helping to check the armor, and said quickly: "Griffith, the quarterfinals are confirmed, let's take a look at the battle table!"

She turned and ran out after handing in a form, leaving the quiet room for the two of them.

"Do you think everyone knows?" Galadia looked at the closed door and asked softly in his ear.

I don't know...Griffith thought for a while: "Should we make an announcement?"

"Ah, no, there will be a lot of diplomatic issues, right?" The girl thought for a while, "We will be inquired about wherever we go, and it is uncomfortable to go out for a meal."

That's right!

After checking the armor, Griffith picked up the fine breastplate again and patted it, feeling reassured.He nodded, ready to leave the preparation room and go to the sidelines.

"Wait a minute!"

The girl hurriedly took his arm and walked towards the door with him: "Don't hurt your face, I don't want to dance with others at the ball."

"No problem!" Griffith replied, "And you can't hurt your hands, legs, or waist. In short, you can't hurt anywhere."

"It's okay to hurt your waist, so you don't have the heart to look at other girls."

"Is this related?"

"Why don't you try later."

The girl escorted him to the gate, and the roaring and tsunami of jubilation in the arena urged the knights on stage like a snare drum.

Griffith's mood became more and more excited: "You go to the stage quickly, and I will send it to you when I win the laurels. The most beautiful person in Homeworthy, huh."

Galadia shook her head lightly, smiled and pushed Griffith who was about to go out, and closed the half-open door: "Happy birthday, Griffith, I wish you will be 0- 3 eliminated."

"Hey, why, it's embarrassing..."

"Yes," Galadia stood on tiptoe and sent herself to Griffith's mouth, "Be eliminated earlier, come with me earlier, woo—"

……

The knights who had passed the qualifying round put on their splendid armors, stepped on their steeds, and held lances in their hands, paying homage to the gods, kings, and Senate.

Griffith stepped into the saddle and took a hollow applewood spear.

His lance seemed to have been truly blessed by the princess, and it was invincible wherever he went.

After overcoming opponents one by one, he was finally able to face the prince directly.He raised his gun in the direction of Galadia in salute, as if he had been waiting for this moment in his entire life, the overwhelming pride almost gushed out from all his limbs!

Prince Commodus is very heroic, and his mount is extremely powerful.When he appeared on the opposite side of the field, Griffith cheered excitedly.

Although you are a prince, I have no reason to be polite.What a perfect way to celebrate my birthday with today's win!

Three loud bugles sounded.This was the signal to start, and Griffith pulled down his helmet, ready to charge.

At this moment, a cavalryman quickly ran into the arena.He came 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. After thinking for a while, the headmaster gave an order—the championship was terminated.

The prince took his bodyguards and left the arena like a gust of wind, leaving the excited audience chatting.

In the evening, good friends gathered to celebrate Griffith's birthday.Detailed reports and a Senate Proclamation were sent to each nobleman.

According to reports, in the early days, the army of the clan alliance crossed the mountains and jungles, and attacked the northern border towns and villages of the Odessa region in units of squadrons and brigades from several directions.The local area counterattacked under the command of the lord.There was a short pause after the summer attacks.

Bayeran and the tribe blamed each other for the large-scale cross-border attacks.The clan alliance asked Bayeran to retreat all garrisons, outposts and settlements on the border for forty miles, and began to send additional troops to the important transportation hub connecting Odessa and 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 factors such as the complex mountainous terrain, rivers, poor roads and supplies on the border.

But one area is different.

After an ancient big river and lake dried up, several tributaries, swamps, and river valleys stretching for more than ten miles from east to west and hundreds of miles from north to south were left behind.The north and south exits of the river valley are controlled by humans and clan alliances respectively, and they have built their own huge fortresses.

There are good roads and a large number of warehouses. As long as the river valley area is broken through, the armies of both sides can freely attack the nearby plains.

The exit of the valley is not the only one. There are more than a dozen mountain passes and passes in the hundreds of miles of mountains, which are excellent paths for smugglers, spies and small groups of troops to sneak through.This narrow area is like a throat, because it is full of swamps and rivers and is called "the neck".

The Neck Valley was never completely controlled by either side because of its vital terrain, which was always contested territory.The Bayeran side marched northward from the valley exit of Teutoburg in the south, and after years of fighting occupied a large piece of territory to form a huge salient. 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 will be flattened.

In response to the request of the clan alliance, Bayeran also immediately responded, asking the other party to withdraw the orc troops that attacked various border towns through the Neck, and hand over their Lumu Fortress located in the north of the river valley.

Griffith picked up the Senate announcement he had just received, and at a glance saw a few big bold characters written on it:

"Neck, or war."

　Take a day off tomorrow, yes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)