Knight and Wand

Chapter 380: Realm Action
The alliance flag with sword-wielding griffins fluttered in the morning breeze on the broken city wall. The light of dawn sprinkled on the devastated Shannan territory. The war had just ended, and the ancient city of Kantardar was still filled with the stench of burning corpses and the smell of decay. The former glory was now only a few remnants left under the erosion of the undead disaster.

A cavalry of several hundred men followed the ruined road into the ancient city where a large army was stationed, passing through the high-walled avenue covered with dead vines.

The soldiers of the Crusade along the way made way for the blue sea eagle flag. When they saw the wizards following the blue-robed knights at the back of the team, they were instinctively curious. When they heard the clear eagle cry from the sky, the soldiers of the Crusade looked up and saw that another totem beast engraved on their flag had joined the army. The soldiers who had just experienced a fierce battle were all excited and talked constantly.

The team stopped in front of the inner city fortress. Agatha stepped forward to open the carriage. Ines, dressed in military uniform, stepped out of the carriage. Finally leaving the long and bumpy carriage, she breathed a sigh of relief without caring about her manners.

She led the guilty sorcerers who were "exiled" by her brother's compromise without stopping, sailed south to Wind's Rest Port, and immediately crossed most of Kantadar. After nearly a month of rapid travel, she finally arrived at the front line of the Crusade. Such a long journey was really a torture for her.

The greetings from His Highness made Ines turn her attention back to the present and return the greetings to the people who came to greet her.

Not far away, a white giant beast descended rapidly and landed with a loud bang.

At some point, a deathclaw poked its head out from the fortress tower and cried out to its fellow creature that was carrying the human.

Then, a griffin with green feathers and a sun wheel headdress flew onto the city wall from the other side and chirped rhythmically as if to greet its new fellow.

The pale griffin that landed in front of the fortress looked slightly larger and older. The armored white griffin bent down and waited for the burly lord with the saddle on its back to jump off. Then it raised its eagle head and cried out in response to the two young griffins on the tower wall.

The clear eagle cries of the three-headed griffins came one after another, like a verbal conversation.

However, the generals of the Crusades present were not interested in the communication between the behemoths at this moment, but looked at the griffin knight.

The middle-aged noble was wearing heavy armor and a hooded robe. He was holding a long-handled battle axe with a hollow handle, inlaid with gems, and carved with runes.

Several warlocks nearby dismounted and followed him to the front of the Crusade Army.

"This is Earl of North, the ruler of North County and one of the three chiefs of the Northern Warlock Society." Princess Ines introduced to everyone.

"Nice to meet you, everyone from the Holy War Alliance." The gray-haired old earl greeted in a loud voice.

Baron Ivan, Azerien and others warmly greeted the warlocks who came from afar and arranged for dozens of travel-tired northerners to settle down.

They wanted to discuss the situation after Princess Ines rested for a night, but the girl declined. The princess only took a short rest and then summoned the generals of the Crusade to the fortress hall for a meeting.

Ines sat on the upper throne, and Baron Ivan sat on the second seat.

The whereabouts of the commander-in-chief Leon is currently unknown. Princess Ines, the grand commander-in-chief, is the supreme leader of the Jihad Alliance.

This was not only due to the division of power based on contributions to the Undead War at the beginning of the Alliance's creation, but more importantly, nearly half of the Alliance's theoretically available total military strength was Ines's army. She was also the lord with the largest territory and the largest population among the Alliance members.

"Your Highness, is His Majesty Eric willing to send troops to support the South?" Azerien asked.

Ines shook her head: "Don't count on my brother, but I am trying to gain the support of the Stag Family. But I need to find out the cause of General Trosa's death first. Baron Kailan has gone to the Royal City of Avim to investigate." After that, her green eyes dimmed slightly. The king supporter was one of the few people she respected, and he was also her teacher in commanding the army.

"What you said in the letter is very vague. How did Count Trosa meet with death?" Ines continued to ask the lords of Avalon.

Corvis, who was standing beside Azerien, answered, "It is basically certain that it was not the vampire as rumored. Someone else murdered the Earl of the Stag."

"Why are you so sure?" Ines asked with a puzzled look in her mind.

Corvis looked at Baron David opposite him and saw him nod. Then he explained to Princess Ines again about the investigation that he and his lord had done when they sneaked into the military camp that night, as well as the alliance between the alliance and Count Elliver, who had turned into a vampire, which had not yet been made public.

"Even though there is only Lord Elliver's guarantee, the vampires have no reason to murder Count Trosa, either logically or for profit," Azerien concluded.

After patiently listening to Leon's experience before his disappearance a few months ago, Ines clenched the fan in her hand lightly, feeling a little surprised at Count Elliver's condition.

But then, all kinds of leaps of speculation flashed through her mind from Trosa's death.

Without any emotional inclination, and only from the perspective of logic and feasibility, the Atias people assassinated my father, and important figures in the former kingdom were killed one after another, so the suspicion of the Mage Empire was obvious.

But my brother's abnormal behavior made King Kaso of Kantadar disappear. Earl Trosa was transferred away from the capital. My brother left Baron Cailan behind and went north with him. Then he remembered his fierce reaction to the northern sorcerer.
Ines closed her eyes and fell into thought.

Is my brother's attempt to dismantle the northern society really an attempt to punish me for my father's death?

If Leon hadn't stopped the palace from causing chaos that night, the entire royal family would probably only have...
Ines opened her eyes, and the look in them became colder and colder.

She had no evidence to prove her assumptions, but in fact, she was not a judge and did not need evidence.

Only the last few unresolved doubts and contradictions still linger in Ines's mind.

What exactly did Brother Wang experience in Dongjiang? What was his purpose?
He was the legitimate first heir to the throne. He had no reason to collude with the Attias to murder his father and Ricoto, nor did he have any reason to kill Trosa.

General Trosa is a staunch supporter of the royal family and is his confidant who can be used to stabilize the court and power after he ascends the throne.

It really doesn't make sense to eradicate the forces loyal to oneself so frantically.

unless.

Whether it was his father, Ricodo, or even himself and his brothers and sisters, including Count Trosa, they were all threats in his eyes.

General Trosa had no defense against the assassination, which shows that the kingmaker had no conflict with his brother that could have split the two of them during his lifetime.

Then under what circumstances would so many people threaten Brother Wang?
After an incredible journey through time and space, Ines's thinking is no longer limited to common sense and reason.

Thinking of the kingdom's great enemy, the Mage Empire on the other side of the continent, all the information she had personally learned from the mages under Corvis in another destiny came to her mind.

Ines came to two simple and direct conclusions.

Otherwise, the prince's mind has been manipulated by the wizards of Atias.

Or maybe the one sitting on the throne now is not his brother at all.
Suppressing the turmoil in her heart, Ines calmly continued to ask the soldiers about the situation in the southern part of the continent.

"Not long ago, the Holy Sun Church and Prince Carl of the Feru Kingdom responded to our alliance, but they were unable to send troops to support the alliance on the battlefield. In the east of the Feru Kingdom, the invasion of the undead has never stopped. The coalition forces of the three kingdoms of Serian, Feru, and Malaken are resisting the attack of the undead under Karazik. Prince Carl even called on us to go to Feru to help his country resist the invasion."

Baron Ivan stood up and pointed out three battle lines marked on the map for Ines, namely, the front battlefield where Blood Baron Shaleman attacked the Ghoul Lord Aviut, the battlefield where the Holy War Alliance fought against Shannan Territory, and the territory of the Feru Kingdom. Ines stared at the map, but her eyes swept over the alliance lords present.

It doesn't take much thought to know that Prince Carl's proposal is unlikely to be accepted by a considerable number of alliance lords.

The Kantardar army, which accounts for at least two-fifths of the alliance, would not be willing to bypass the Feru Mountains and cross the territory of Serian to fight in the Feru Kingdom. Even without mentioning the risks of fighting in a foreign land, she estimated that the Feru Kingdom would not be able to offer enough benefits for the Kantardar lords to fight for it.

For most members of the alliance, going south to the mountains and the southern territories would give them large tracts of visible fertile land, which was a legitimate way to recover lost territory.

And what can we gain by traveling thousands of miles to help the Feru people resist the invasion?
Neither Serian nor Feru Kingdom would have any extra territory or wealth to share with them.
While listening to the battle reports and analyzing the enemy and our own strength, Ines looked at the location of the Feru war zone. From a global perspective, she knew that it would be a good idea to attack from there rather than from Shannan Territory.

The current route of marching southward until the three parties meet up is too slow. It is unwise for the Blood Baron, the Crusade Army, and the Feru battlefield to fight each other.

Considering the scale of the frontal battlefield, she thought that the best strategy was to join forces with the coalition forces of Serrian, Feru and Malaken.

But Ines did not express her opinion immediately. Unless she could get the support of the Farolis family and the external aid of the Bucks family, it would be far from enough for only a few jihadists willing to go on a cross-border expedition to the Feru battlefield.

After the meeting, Ines summoned her knights and ordered them to go to Avim City immediately to deliver a secret letter to Baron Kailan. The letter was naturally full of accusations against her "brother".

There was no need for much provocation. Baron Cailan, who had been kept in the dark, was already extremely angry when he learned of Trosa's death in the North.

Ines then left the people of Avalon who were preparing to leave.

"Still no news about Leon's whereabouts?" Ines no longer concealed her worry.

She didn't think in her heart that Leon would meet with an accident so easily, but she couldn't control the worry in her heart with reason.

Corvis frowned, and tried to speak in the simplest terms possible based on what he had learned from his research. He just didn't know if the other party could understand these concepts. "If my Lord and Lady Olivia had not been abducted by the undead, I'm afraid they are not in the Western Continent right now. To be more precise, they may have been forced to fall into another world, a different dimension that is merging with our world."

However, faced with this concept that was beyond ordinary people's understanding, Ines was calmer than he expected.

The time travel she had experienced a few months ago had made it difficult for Ines to be surprised by any new things in the world.

"I have brought with me seven warlock masters, including Earl North, Harvey, and Hilgard, as well as more than sixty apprentices. They will not only help the Crusades in battle, but if you have any magical difficulties, you can always seek their assistance." Ines instructed.

Corvis nodded. The entire alliance was mobilized. At the moment, including himself, there were only three spellcasters, two apprentices, and one who had not even started. The arrival of this large number of unexpected reinforcements did relieve a lot of pressure. At least it allowed him to leave the front battlefield and devote himself to the exploration of Soul Bell magic.

"Your Highness, how did you convince the warlocks to go south to support the Alliance's war?" Azerien was a little confused. You know, there were many frictions between Avalon and the Northern Society, and in the past only the king could mobilize a mage group of this size.

Ines shook her head. "It wasn't me who convinced them. The Warlock Society was almost forcibly disbanded by my brother. Fortunately, I contacted the West Family and the Buck Family before that and opposed his harsh punishment. This gave some of the Warlocks a chance to be exiled here and redeem themselves."

The girl narrowed her eyes as she spoke. She finally had some idea of ​​why her brother would take such an extreme action.

The other party dismantled the warlock association not just to punish the warlocks for their treasonous behavior. If her speculation was correct, she doubted whether Vizmara and other traitors who had been tortured and executed were really dead now. You know, except for Mette and the rebels who were killed on the scene, the other rebels were controlled by Eric at the beginning.
Suppressing the doubts in her mind, she knew what was important and now was not the time to deal with Orland's domestic issues.

In any case, if the consequences of the so-called plane intersection are really as serious as Corvis predicted, then the disputes in the secular kingdoms will be nothing compared to the unimaginable disaster.

The undead disaster alone has caused the death of tens of millions of lives in the kingdoms of the Western Continent. If there is another demonic disaster...
"Are the envoys from the Holy Sun Church and the Feru Kingdom still in the army?" Ines asked.

Azerien nodded: "The commander of the church's crusades left a griffin knight to contact us, and the envoy of Prince Carl of the Feru Kingdom is still behind."

"Please arrange a meeting for me. I want to talk to them."

"Wait." Ines asked again: "Can we contact the army of vampire undead?"

"Your Highness, do you mean Lord Elliver?"

"No, I mean the blood leader called Charleman."

Clenion.

Inside a stone mountain that cannot be found by any detector.

The ancient and mottled magic pattern altar, after being covered in dust for thousands of years, suddenly burst into light that illuminated the entire cave in the mountain.

More than a dozen figures flashed out of the void. The sudden appearance of matter squeezed the airflow at the location, and the wind blew away the dust.

The choking smoke and dust caused the soldiers of Klenion's Order to cough violently. Some of them even reacted violently by kneeling down and vomiting continuously. It was unknown whether it was caused by the stimulation of the change in time and space or the injuries on their bodies.

I saw a golden celestial ball floating in the air slowly falling down, and the light dimmed. With the clicking sound of the axis, the void compass that seemed to have almost run out of energy fell into Leon's hands.

The light went out, and along with it, the white flame halo behind Leon's head also disappeared.

The moment he escaped from the powerful spiritual space, he felt the heavy pressure coming again, but when he looked around at the surrounding environment, Leon felt a lot more at ease.

If nothing unexpected happens, they should have returned to the Klenion plane smoothly.

"Colonel Sasha, let's go, leave here first and find a way to contact the cult as soon as possible." Leon ordered with a sidelong glance.

"Yes, my lord."

Holding the peculiarly shaped long sword, Sasha responded quickly, and then called on the warriors behind her who were helping Miss Olivia carry various "trophies" to keep up and find a way to leave the cave.

Leon gave the heavy celestial compass to Olivia to help hold, and took out a few Neti cards from his waist bag.

Before leaving the spirit world, fearing that there might be some unexpected changes in the transmission process, he turned the remaining Crusade Knights and Canis back into cards in front of the people of Kleinian. Now that they were on this journey of life and death together, to be honest, he didn't want to keep any reservations about these people.

Flipping over the other four Neti cards, Leon found the one with floating blood demon tentacles on the card, and frowned in disgust.

Even though the blood demon tried to coerce him into helping him escape, he still had information he needed to know, so he could only hold his nose and resist the urge to eliminate the other party's power.

He really cared about what the Blood Demon had said before, what Valarie was awakening, and the existence who called himself "Klenion" who called for help in his dream.
Even if what I get is a lie with a trap, it doesn't matter. It is better than investigating aimlessly in Klenian alone like a headless fly.

(End of this chapter)