Heart of the Castle

Chapter 667
The map hall is located on the top floor of the 50-meter-high tower at the top of the main building of Green Castle. It is a spacious tower-like building with a wide view. There are huge open windows erected on the four walls. The surrounding torches fluttered like red banners.And it's surprisingly cold here, even in early summer, the nights are still bone-chilling, and the only good thing is the good ventilation.

During the occupation of the refugee army, it was originally used as a watchtower and bow and arrow tower, and there were hundreds of refugees and robbers with simple bows and arrows stationed there.The army of the King of Conquerors had suffered a lot under this tower. Even the refined steel plate armor could not withstand the heavy arrows tied with iron cones thrown down from a height of 50 meters. A hundred elite soldiers died here. Also includes two high-ranking knights.In the end, the King of Conquerors personally mobilized more than a dozen trebuchets to throw boulders together, smashing the tower from the middle, and smashing all the guards on it into meat paste, and then he avenged his dead subordinates.

Since the manpower and material resources needed to restore this high tower are really not a small amount, in the following decades, the successive Lords of the Green Castle did not carry out this work, including Levi Ston.It wasn't until after the fall of the king's capital that the army of demons pointed directly at the northern border, and the undefended Dirk City was not suitable for continuing to be the county town of the northern border county, so Green Castle was used as a temporary county town for large-scale renovations. It was also successfully rebuilt with the assistance of many giant earth elementals.

However, after it was completed, Li Wei did not want to use it for its original purpose.Dozens of Eyes fly day and night in the sky of Greencastle, most of them have a pair of black wings, while others have the characteristics of both birds of prey and beasts of prey.Enemies who can escape these sharp sights may not be found by a mere watchtower.As for the bow and arrow tower, it is an outrageous joke. If the demon army really came to the Green Castle, then I am afraid that this conspicuous tower will be broken under the first round of continuous fireball bombardment, causing all the guards on it to step up. Following in the footsteps of those fools from years ago.

In the end, this high tower was used as the lighthouse of the Griffin Sky Knights. A huge crystal ball was placed on the top floor. The patrolling griffin troops and the big crow scouts provide directions and become one of the many breathtaking wonders of Green Castle.

At the same time, due to the wide field of view and no barriers around, it is extremely convenient to keep secrets. This high tower is also regarded as the place where the senior management of the Griffin Knights held a secret meeting. The crystal ball was enchanted by Mr. Dish himself, and the entire Topographical images of Arthur's Kingdom and surrounding areas, hence the name Hall of Maps.

Li Wei climbed up the tower along the narrow spiral stone ladder. The guards were heavily guarded along the way. There was a resting platform every ten meters up the tower. Two alchemy swordsmen in thick blue and white coats stood motionless. On the left and right sides of the platform, there are two-handed giant swords that are flickering with cold light in their hands.Seeing Li Wei coming, these swordsmen just bowed their heads silently, and then continued to stand in place without squinting.

When the Griffin Lord strode into the map hall, the important officials of the kingdom had already gathered here.The three important ministers from the royal capital and Lord Cedric, the Earl of the White Wolf, were all paralyzed on the bed because they drank too much, so they were not present.To Li Wei's surprise, although he didn't remember to tell the eunuch Grun Worm to inform the eunuch, just as he stepped into the room, the steward, who was full of rose fragrance, came up to him with an unsettling expression on his face. A sincere smile of disgust.

"Oh, Your Excellency the Regent..." The eunuch had just begun to speak when he was interrupted by another trembling voice. "Benevolent Father God!" A round, short and fat figure jumped over, and then hugged Li Wei's thigh, "Master Li Wei, Babrupa finally lived to see you!"

Li Wei looked down and couldn't help being startled by the figure in front of him.Before getting acquainted with the Griffon Lord, Babrupa made a living by selling false information, forged documents and sacred relics—or to put it plainly—fraud. The bumpy and displaced life also carved a deep imprint of wind and frost on his body.Now Babrupa looked particularly haggard and embarrassed, as if he had been beaten up because of the fraud, his face was bruised and purple, and a blood-stained linen bandage was wrapped on his forehead.

"What happened, Babrupa?" Li Wei asked in surprise, and at the same time raised his hand to cast a healing spell on him.However, what made the griffin lord a little dumbfounded was that the soft white light flashed on Babrupa's body, but the bruises on his face did not heal in the slightest.

Castle Heart's healing technique is not a panacea, and there are indeed many injuries that it cannot heal.However, since the principle of this healing technique is to replenish physical strength fundamentally, even people who are on the verge of death due to the outbreak of battle qi or poisonous infection will recover some spirits, and some non-fatal traumas can even be recovered. Heal instantly.So there could be only one reason why the injury on Babrupa's body didn't improve at all, including the bruises and scars on his forehead, all of which were caused by skillful makeup.

Babrupa smiled awkwardly and scratched his hair with his hands. This action caused the blood-stained bandage on his head to fall off, revealing the smooth and unscarred skin inside.Many eyes glanced at him coldly, causing more sweat to drip from his forehead, even dripping down his cheeks.

"Oh, pious Mr. Babrupa, the bandage that wrapped your wound has fallen off." The palace steward pointed at the other party with a pretentious gesture. "It's so strange, why can't you see even a trace of a scar under the bandage?"

"This... this is a miracle bestowed by God the Father!" Babrupa suddenly stretched his neck and shouted.The sharp voice frightened Chief Bamilian, who couldn't help but leaned back, and then his eyes widened in surprise. "Father God will never forget his devout believers, and he will not hesitate to grant great power to treat them. Of course, this miracle was achieved through Master Li Wei, who is deeply favored by Father God. All the glory belongs to him."

The steward of the palace was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly realized that when he was about to refute, Li Weiston made a stop gesture to him, and then walked quickly to the table where the crystal ball was placed. "We will have plenty of time to discuss matters related to belief in the future." He said in a tone that ended the debate, "Mr. Babrupa, you have rushed all the way back from the two eastern counties in such a hurry, what information do you have to report in person?"

"Yeah, what exactly is the information?" Director Bamilyan said insincerely, "Mr. Babrupa, as the intelligence chief of the second eastern county, if there is a lack of information due to your unauthorized return, I am worried. It is difficult for you to explain to His Excellency the Regent."

"Of course it is very important information, Master Li Wei, it is very important, even related to the life and death of the kingdom." Babrupa ignored the eunuch's provocation, but sighed heavily, and then came to the table, "Everyone My lord, on the morning when I left Great Serre County, Tomad Jansen, the acting head of the Death Knights, led his troops back from the free city of Tatarchuk, bringing back thousands of elite mercenaries and more than ten thousand freed slaves .”

"That's impossible!" Earl Ansair objected fiercely, "The mercenary capital has its own rules, and it is absolutely impossible to choose a position before the situation in the kingdom is clear, let alone be so easily destroyed by Lord Eyes. "

"That's right, Earl Ansair is right. The strength of the mercenary capital is extraordinary. Even if it can't compare with the entire Arthur Kingdom, it may be difficult to destroy it with the strength of the two eastern counties alone." Bamilian said. The steward agreed and said, "Mr. Babrupa, you must have given up your duties and wanted to seek the protection of the high walls of the Green Castle after hearing some pretentious rumors, right?"

"God of War Barud, this information has been verified by me in many ways, and it is absolutely correct." Babrupa shook his head, then pointed to a very inconspicuous man standing beside him, " This is Sharp-eyed Rooney, he saw with his own eyes that the once-prominent mercenary capital has been turned into ruins, and all the residents were either killed or forced to move to the territory of the second eastern county."

Sharp-eyed Rooney took half a step forward, then respectfully bowed deeply to the royal officials in the room, with his head lowered to the part below his belt. "Masters of the nobles, I did see that Tatarchuk was destroyed by the flames of war with my own eyes. This is the proof." He said in a voice that was as distinctive as his own appearance, and at the same time took out a black object from his arms , which seemed to be a fragment of some kind of metal object, was held in both hands and sent to Levi Ston.

Sir Rodriguez got up abruptly, took the piece of metal before Levi could make a move, and then narrowed his eyes slightly, "This is the badge of the Tiger Rose Mercenary Group." He said himself in an unmistakable tone. Judgment, "and it belongs to the piece on the gate of their station."

"Tiger Rose mercenary regiment, isn't that the fourth largest mercenary regiment in Tatarchuk?" Sir Grace, the sniper archer, was taken aback and stood up to take a closer look. "It's really... Gods, this thing is a symbol of the honor of the mercenary group, and now it's broken!"

"And no one even picked up the wreckage." Sir Rodriguez went on to say, "This can only show one thing, that is, this mercenary group has been completely defeated and destroyed, and there is no rebuilding." possible."

"So, the mercenary capital was indeed attacked by the Lord of the Eyes and the Knights of Death." Earl Ansair crossed his fingers in front of him, still with an unbelievable expression on his face, "But I still can't believe that Tatar Chuuk would be so easily destroyed by the flames of war, this free city has more than a dozen large mercenary regiments, the combined strength is not inferior to any human kingdom."

"The combined strength." Babrupa repeated with an emphatic tone, "This lady... I mean, miss." He was distracted by the angry gaze cast by Earl Ansair, and hurriedly changed his words , the result turned out to be even more fierce. "There is no army that is less disciplined than the mercenary regiment. If you don't count the kind of force that forcibly kneads a dozen mercenary regiments together, you only need a sufficient number of heavy cavalry to charge once, and these rabble will fight Lost like a mountain."

"The prestige of Tatarchuk's city lord, mercenary king, and swordsmith Wakhan is enough to make those mercenaries obey their orders with awe. Even if they can't achieve the steel-like discipline of regular troops, they can at least rely on Tatarchuk. The fortifications will resist for a period of time, even if the opponent is the Death Knights." Sir Grace frowned and said, "Babrupa, my thoughts are similar to Lord Ansair's, and I can't believe that Tatarchuk will be so fast fell at the hand of the Lord of the Eyes."

"About that Lord Wakhan, I have collected a few pieces of hearsay information." Babrupa took out a crumpled note from his arms, and said while reading, "Someone said that the army of the Knights of Death On the night before the attack, Lord Wakhan was assassinated in his own bedroom; some say that it was not an assassination at all, but that Death himself took his life with a scythe; Poisoned wine, but no matter what the truth of the rumors is, on the day when the Death Knights attacked, the figure of Lord Wahan, the swordsmith, never appeared."

"Come on, are you kidding me!" Sir Grace couldn't help but blurted out, "Master Wakhan is known as a swordsmith, although he only has the level of fighting spirit at the beginning of Tianhua, but his strength is not inferior to that of ordinary sword-wielding earls, what kind of assassin Can you kill him?"

"If it were me, the success rate of just one person is about half, and with two helpers of the same level, it can be foolproof." A dry and hoarse voice sounded from the shadow at Li Wei's feet, and then Aransket appeared in a mithril chain mail.

"Has the incident in the Holy White Stone Castle happened again?" Earl Ansair showed a pensive expression, "However, even the Earl with a sword was able to assassinate silently, this kind of result is too unacceptable..."

"I didn't say it was silent just now." Babrupa clucked his tongue and said, "Although the swordsman Wahhan suffered many heavy injuries, he still fought endlessly, but he still didn't persist until the guards arrived. , died due to excessive blood loss. However, those assassins were not unscathed. The blood stains left in the room were not owned by Lord Wahan alone. arm."

"Where is that thing?" Sir Rodriguez asked in a deep voice.

There was an awkward smile on Babrupa's face, "Praise the benevolent Alara," he said, "You think highly of me, by the time I get the news, it's too late, even the message I haven't seen what the arm looks like. But I have heard that the skin of the assassin's arm is a glossy black of ebony, and some people believe that these assassins are all from the desert. Kingdoms, such as those Abrahams not long ago, didn’t they look swarthy?”

"The desert country is indeed rich in assassins." Bamilian, the court chief, agreed softly, "Back then, among the blood daggers of the Thieves Guild, there was a great knight commander from the desert country. The sharp boulders blowing from the long yellow sand. I thought he was a man to be made, but unfortunately, he actually harbored evil intentions and tried to assassinate the head of the northern county. No matter the victory or defeat, he would be able to separate An Siai and me The relationship between the Er family."

"I remember him, he seems to be called Wen Nasharp." Levi nodded and said, "But I doubt whether there are any terrifying assassins in the desert country who can reach the top level of Alan Skett."

"In any case, Lord Wakhan, the swordsmith, was either killed or seriously injured and unable to fight. Without this core of prestige and personal strength, the free city of Tatarchuk failed to withstand several attacks by the Death Knights. Kaesong surrendered, the elite of the mercenary regiment was incorporated, while ordinary soldiers and residents became prisoners of war." Babrupa continued to describe the situation at that time, "After the entire city was looted, it was burned again, and the fire continued to burn. For three days and three nights, until Sharp-Eyed Rooney and the others went to investigate, there were still several embers still burning."

"The combat effectiveness of those mercenaries is really bad." Earl Ansair thumped the table with his fist, with a regretful expression on his face, "Their number is at least twice that of the Death Knights, and they also occupy the fortifications. Advantages, they are still playing like this, don't they even have a little bit of honor as fighters?"

"Mercenaries will only work for their own pockets, and honor is not worth defending to them." Babrupa shrugged and said, "Of course there are exceptions, especially those who are attached to power. Excuses, refusing to admit defeat directly. Including Tiger Rose and Xiaoyue Silver Wolf, the heads of four large mercenary regiments challenged Lord Gnat Eyes to a duel, but two of them surrendered after being defeated, and the other two He was killed on the spot."

"Such a result is not surprising." Earl Ansair snorted, "Lord Thomas Jansen did not go to the Knights Guild to promote his rank, but his strength has at least reached the level of the Duke of Swords, otherwise There is no way you can win a one-on-one duel with me... oh, sword dancer-sama."

Li Wei's expression seemed a little tense. He pondered for a few minutes, then raised his head, waved his hand to open the light curtain map of the crystal ball, and positioned the center part near the second eastern county. "Tatarchuk was destroyed, and the two eastern counties have no worries. But now the Principality of Machiko and the Principality of Spykhov have fallen into the hands of the desert country Abraham. Firmeyer, you must reach a peace agreement with those dark-skinned desert dwellers..."

Speaking to himself, the Griffin Lord suddenly stood up and ordered loudly, "Sir Rodriguez, please inform the Queen of the Crow, Siegfried, and ask her to assign a large crow scout troop, and do a good job." In preparation for the long flight, we must know what the Great Imam Usama of Abraham is doing!"

(End of this chapter)