Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1716 1688. Execution?

Chang'an's expansion is slow and steady, almost ruthless.

Those who cannot outrun it will be swallowed up. Just having their lower body pulled in is enough to make people so tired and in so much pain that they cannot even make a sound.

Even though everyone in the command post was still relatively far away and could observe from a distance, and with the warlock beside them, who could open the portal if things really worked, they were all relatively calm.

But the wizard from Aedirn was already a little scared at this time.

Plague be upon him! He did not give up his duty an hour ago when the rumbling sound of horse hooves was almost approaching the command post!
This can almost be praised as "strong will" among the generally pampered warlocks.

Relying on brute force alone to fight such a seemingly powerful curse?

Any warlock who has studied curse theories or cases would not go crazy like this.

It is precisely because he understands and knows more that he knows how terrifying this thing is! How scary it is!

Harperad's eyes darted around subconsciously in panic.

But I saw that most of the other people had resolute expressions.

After all, Triss is Merigold the Fearless, and Foltest, John Natalis, and Vernon Roche were not brought up to be scared.

"According to the most pessimistic assumption," the sheriff, who was the commander of the battle an hour ago, repeated Lan En's words with a cold face.

"This ghost thing can't be killed, and the more you kill it, the shorter the interval between its resurrection. Even if Duke Lann is holding it back inside, it can only slow down its expansion speed."

John Natalis's shaved head turned for the first time and looked at the warlocks.

"Dear ladies and gentlemen, this is not a battlefield, at least not the battlefield I am familiar with. I have no idea what to do here, so I can only ask for help from you who control the magic."

"Dealing with this kind of curse is a very apt description. With the information we have now, what should we do? What can we do?"

Even an old veteran like Natalis now finds it difficult to speak when talking about this ever-dark area.

The two sorceresses were now focused on maintaining communications, including with the scattered Embers Knights who had rushed outside the Nilfgaard camp, and with Lan in the Ever-Dark Realm.

Only the wizard Harperad is a little free now.

It was a cold day, and he wiped the cold sweat from his cheeks with his sleeve.

"At the moment," his eyes became more and more erratic, "it seems that we have two paths."

The eyes of the sheriff and the king almost lit up when they looked at his face!

"First, cough." He swallowed subconsciously, "We must be cautious when approaching the curse, find out the cause and process of this powerful curse, and understand its composition, so that we can remove it. This is also the correct method."

"But it's also the slowest method!" Foltest shouted immediately afterward, "and the most unlikely method! This thing will take more than five hours! Even at the speed after being suppressed by Lan, it will take at most ten hours! It will cover Vizima!"

"Only ten hours! After we normally finish a battle, it takes days to hunt down deserters, gather up scattered troops, and even to clear the spoils!"

"It's just a mess of what's left of a battlefield. What can we find in a few hours?!"

"Those aren't just deserters. They're something carefully hidden by the Nilfgaardian black dog! This kind of thing should be investigated by spies! And they should be investigated monthly!"

Time, the most important thing now is time!
A radius expansion speed of two meters per second may not sound scary, but it never stops and expands in a roughly circular area!
Previously, Natalis and Foltest had repeatedly said that they were only calculating based on the distance from Vizima.

But by the time the Everdark Realm actually expands to Vizima, how much of Temeria’s territory will it have encompassed before that moment arrives?
The area covered is big enough to fit a mountain!
A mountain that is clearly visible on the map!
"The second way."

“Harperad!” Triss, who was concentrating on casting a spell, suddenly shouted. Her voice was loud at first, but then she suppressed it and calmed down, “You have to think about it carefully.”

The sorceress's tone contained both reminder and admonition.

Foltest glanced at Triss, but then looked sternly at Harperad, whose lips were trembling and whose sweat was even more profuse.

"Speak," the king said firmly. "Speak, wizard."

"The second way." The wizard's lips twisted and moved like a worm. "Your Majesty, Mr. Sheriff. The source of the curse may be the three or four thousand people held captive in the Nilfgaardian military camp."

"If we can handle them, maybe..."

John Natalis was sure that the first word that this guy thought of was definitely "execution", not some bullshit "dealing with".

"Executing prisoners of war?" Vernon Roche was horrified and extremely serious. "Those are not even prisoners of war! We are their rescuers! That's three or four thousand people!"

Yes, this is an era where the moral shackles and bottom lines that people believed in were increasingly broken and despised. The era of swords and axes.

But even in this era, to execute prisoners after the battle was over? To execute a group of victims?
"This is not honorable." Natalis said with difficulty, "Not only is it the honor of a knight or a noble, it is even the basic honor of being a human being."

He had originally used a telescope to stare at the dark area, out of the commander's instinct to improve his understanding of the enemy. But now he did not turn around, more like he was avoiding something. It was probably for the same reason as his, that Harperad was hesitant to speak.

The population of Vengerberg, the capital of Aedirn, is only over 6,000!

Alzu was the most notorious wizard. His move [Alzu's Double Cross] could only summon a lewd demon to crush half of Maribo!

But even so, Arzu's notoriety will never be washed away by time, not even diluted, for hundreds of years!
As a result, as the creator of the demon hunter mutation, his reputation also largely implicated the demon hunter community. Until now.

"But now, times have changed." Foltest's expression was as if he was about to bite his teeth off, but he remained cold and hard. "Times have changed. The Nilfgaardians have already massacred Cintra and Vengerberg. They didn't change their expressions, did they?!"

"But please forgive me for being blunt, we are not Nilfgaardians, and we do not call ourselves 'black dogs', Your Majesty!"

"My land and the enemy's human livestock, it's an easy choice!"

"But it is precisely because they are human-shaped livestock and weak that they cannot be killed indiscriminately!" Natalis said in a sad voice, "If the weak are killed indiscriminately and executed in large numbers."

Foltest knew very well that this order was difficult to give and difficult to execute.

Who dares to admit that they received this order? Who dares to admit that they carried it out?
Credibility and reputation are an intangible but precious asset for human beings living in human society.

Only when Foltest clearly stepped forward and issued an order as king, which was equivalent to stating that he would "take full responsibility", would some soldiers and officers obey his orders.

Otherwise, no one would dare to touch this pile of shit!
Caring for and being tolerant of the weak are the foundation of society.

Everyone will become old one day, and when people are children, everyone is weak and powerless.

Without help for the weak, the social contract cannot be achieved at its root.

Even a slave-owning empire like Nilfgaard had to maintain an inheritance system to ensure a good death and upbringing, didn't it?

Foltest and Natalis may not have such a systematic perspective to see the so-called "society" so thoroughly.

However, based on some simple empiricism, they also know that the so-called "false reputation and honor" are by no means beautiful feathers that nobles or scholars use to show off, but are things that have great practicality in social practice.

So whether we look at it from the inertia of previous life concepts, moral standards, or practicality.

If this decision really has to be made, it will be extremely painful for them.

But at this time, Foltest only asked Harperard a question.

"Just because one of the three or four thousand people died accidentally, this damn thing has now burst out with such power! And now you say that killing them all can solve the problem?"

"I've heard that many curses are cast by people who died unjustly, and they are very powerful. Are you sure your words will work, rather than making it more violent?"

John Natalis still didn't look back, but the monocular made a noise in his hand.

This is equivalent to Foltest's statement. He directly asked about the consequences, so of course he was going to prepare to do it.

"Or, there may be a momentary outbreak." The wizard who made the suggestion wiped his sweat and said, "But it shouldn't be worse. If we can find the source of this curse, it will be relatively, relatively easy to deal with."

"If it's only a moment, even if you get sucked in, most people won't die."

Foltest took a deep breath. Vernon Roche beside him opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but was blocked by the king before he could open his mouth.

"Only I can give this order, Roche. You are not qualified."

Only the king can give orders to others to do something and bear the sin himself.

Foltest nodded to Triss without saying anything else. The sorceress had overheard the entire conversation between him and the wizard and should have known the orders.

The magic conveyed the message, but Foltest's lips did not loosen at all, and he still looked as if he was about to break his teeth.

He suffered from inner moral torment and the fear of future death in terms of social reputation.

At this moment, even Foltest couldn't help but want to pray to the merciful Meliteli.

Pray that He will bless the souls of those human-shaped animals, and pray that He will forgive your own soul.

But soon, the sorceress's eyes widened.

"Has it been conveyed?" the king said tiredly, "Then obey my orders and prepare to act."

".No, Your Majesty." Triss's eyes flashed with magic and mixed emotions. "The Knights of Embers declare that they will not follow your orders."

(End of this chapter)