Heart of the Castle

Chapter 675 Royal Court Barrier, Sealand Barrier

It can be seen that Sir Robin has done a good job of building the bridge.The stone bridge that originally ran through both sides of the Xilan River had been in disrepair for a long time, and the bridge body and guardrails were mottled and cracked everywhere. It was already difficult to bear the weight of the carriages full of goods, let alone allow a large group of people to pass quickly.When he evacuated Viscount Lane's castle last year, Levi left a rather bad impression of the creaking and trembling dilapidated stone bridge.But now across the banks of the Sealand River is a huge and extraordinary arch bridge, all made of white stone, wide enough for four carriages or ten fully armed knights to walk side by side.The surface of the stone bridge has been carefully polished, and under the afterglow of the setting sun, there is actually a little bit of golden light shining, which dilutes the fierce and murderous look of this stone bridge as an important military fortress defending the Xilan River.

The water of the Xilan River is clear and transparent, and due to the wide surface of the river, the flow of the river is relatively slow. When the weather is fine, you can even clearly see the sediment and large and small pebbles on the bottom of the river.In order to stop the enemies trying to cross the Xilan River when necessary, when building this stone bridge, the drawings provided by the red-robed old scholar Sujiad were used. Five guards like giants were built on the entire bridge deck. The river tower, more than ten meters high, is built of the same solid white stone as the bridge body.An open platform is built on the top of the tower, on which ballistas and catapults are installed, and is protected by low walls full of crenellations, crenels and killing holes. Each Weihe tower has two thick iron gates, which can be lowered at any time. , Divide the entire stone bridge into several sections.

If the enemy is too strong and even the Weihe towers are hard to resist, the originally extremely strong bridge deck can suddenly collapse and fall off under the action of the mechanism, turning the five Weihe towers into isolated islands in the Xilan River.For all enemies who want to swim forcibly, these five high towers that can throw boulders and shoot arrows are extremely threatening, and they are simply nails that must be pulled out.However, it is not easy to conquer a tower that is more than ten meters above the water surface. Siege towers, ladders, and crash cars are simply inaccessible. Even if you want to launch a strong attack at any cost, you must find a foothold on the water surface. .

According to Li Wei's own thinking, this bridge did not need to be built into such a strong fortress, because when the defense methods of this bridge are needed, it may also mean that the natural danger of the Dusk Forest in Northern Border County has been broken through, including Yuan County. Including Chengdeke, Sicily and North Aura, all the territories south of the Sealand River were lost. If the situation reached this point, I am afraid that the complete failure of the new King Arthur's court would not be far away.

However, the important ministers of the Kingdom and the lords of the northern border all thought that such a strong barrier should be added on the Sealand River. In the end, even Mr. Dish agreed, and the young Griffin Lord did not continue to insist on his own opinion, but only signed the document. When I wrote down my name, there was still a bit of bitterness and reluctance in my heart.

When Li Wei walked onto the bridge called "the barrier of the Xilan River" by many people, the slight reluctance was replaced by a sudden feeling of emotion.Looking up from the bottom of Wei River Tower, the tower looks more magnificent, like a giant guard standing proudly in the water in white armor; the green oak flag of the Sherwood family flutters on the top of each tower, and the one in the middle The tallest and most majestic tower top turned into a blue and white griffin flag. The golden griffin proudly spread its wings in the strong wind, overlooking the many villages on both sides of the Xilan River majestically. People are excited.

A burst of cheers came from above, and thousands of warriors and knights stood behind the crenellation of the parapet at the top of the tower, waving their arms and shouting "Long live the Griffin Lord" and "Long live the Kingdom of Arthur".Li Wei found at least half of the familiar faces on the nearest Riverside Tower. Not all of these people belonged to the Sherwood family, because apart from Cedric, Earl of the White Wolf, no family in Northern County could afford to support them. Thousands of elite soldiers, so under the reason of "need to strengthen the defense of the Sealand River Barrier", King Arthur's court allocated some manpower from the Ashes Knights, Ice Wall Defenders and Griffin Knights to Robinson. Lord Wood commanded.

Since there was no warning signal, the iron gates below the five Weihe towers are now lifted high, allowing pedestrians and business travelers to pass through.However, as it was getting late, except for Li Wei and his party, there were no pedestrians passing by on the bridge, only dozens of guards holding spears stood on both sides.When passing under the first Weihe Tower, Li Wei looked up at the iron gate on his head, secretly evaluating the weight and defensive capabilities of the gate.

Li Wei had seen Master Sugad's design drawings, but the data on the drawings were pale and difficult to connect with reality.The iron gate in front of you is as thick as [-] centimeters. It is connected by two thick iron chains through a winch and suspended under the wide arch of Weihe Tower. Dozens of thick spikes are arranged at the bottom of the gate. Half a meter long, the tip that is as sharp as a spear tip glows with an iron-blue luminescence, and it is obviously made of high-quality stainless steel.When he saw this, Li Wei's eyes flickered coldly, and his forward pace also stopped.

"Sir Robin, what is the defensive capability of these iron gates? Have you tested them?"

Hearing the question raised by the Griffin Lord, Sir Robin hurriedly took two steps and came to Levi, "Your Excellency the Regent, the Sherwood family does not have such a large financial resources to build these iron gates, but a joint venture of more than ten families. Work hard. You should really come to see the scene. At that time, more than 40 blacksmiths and their assistants gathered here. More than a dozen iron furnaces were lined up on the north bank of the Sealand River. The fires were not extinguished day and night, and they were busy for more than a month Two months ago, when the first iron gate had just been installed, Master Sujiad built a crash car on the spot for testing. As a result, after more than ten violent impacts, the log hammer of the crash car cracked and the car body almost fell apart. The shelf is broken, but the iron gate is intact, leaving only a few innocuous dents."

"It seems that conventional siege methods are difficult to work, so what about the ability to protect against magic or fighting spirit?" Li Wei pondered for a while, and continued to speak.

"The Sherwood family doesn't have a decent inheritance of battle qi. There are only two knights who barely possess the power of the seeds of battle qi, and there is not even one magician advisor." Sir Robin smiled a little embarrassedly, "But the test It also included two high-ranking knights from other families and a magister who was born in the king's capital. Whether it was the battle ax with the fighting spirit or the explosive fireball, the damage to the iron gate was minimal, and it was even worse than a car crash."

"I'm not talking about high-ranking knights..." Li Wei shook his head at an almost undetectable angle, "Sir Rodriguez, if you come, how sure are you?"

"One sword, and then they will reinstall this thing." Sir Rodriguez replied in a tone that could not hear any ups and downs.

Li Wei was stunned at first, and then suddenly thought of something, "Is it using the power of catastrophe fighting spirit?" After getting the nod of approval from the black-armored knight, he asked again, "Then what about the power of the earl with a sword?"

Sir Rodriguez raised his head and looked at the iron gate silently. A few seconds later, with a clang, the star iron giant sword slid out of its sheath, and then the fighting spirit as dark as the vast night fell on the blade. burn up. "Put it down and try it."

"My merciful Father God..." Sir Robin wailed almost immediately, it was obvious that he really wanted to stand in front of Sir Rodriguez, but he was too frightened by the indifferent eyes of the black armored knight to approach him , had no choice but to hold Levi's arm. "Your Excellency the Regent, please, this, this cannot be done. No matter how strong these iron gates are, they are still mortal objects that have not been strengthened by magic. I believe Lord Rodriguez will be able to chop them into pieces. The question is whether it is one strike or several strikes."

"There is still a big difference between one sword and several swords." Levi turned his head and examined Sir Robin's expression, "Sir Robin, you seem very reluctant to let Sir Rodriguez experiment?"

"Of course not, ah, Your Excellency the Regent, I mean...if you insist..." Sir Robin swallowed pitifully to make his next words smoother, "Please learn from me, although When these iron gates were built, King Arthur ordered many northern lords to jointly fund them, but if there is any damage, we need the Sherwood family to repair it ourselves."

Levi didn't answer right away, but continued to stare at Sir Robin until a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, "Alright then, Sir Robin, but I hope you won't regret it."

"No, no." Sir Robin forced a smile, "Your Excellency the Regent, please come with me. The drinks have been chilled and the meals have been served on the table. As long as you arrive, the banquet can begin immediately. "

The reception banquet prepared by the Sherwood family to welcome Levi was small in scale, and it was completely in the simple and practical style of the northern border. Only Levi Stone, Sir Rodriguez and Iron Fist Knight Dragoonson attended the banquet. There were three of them, and the host had only Sir Robin and two knights from the Sherwood family.

"This will never be a banquet where the guests and the host enjoy themselves." Li Wei told himself silently when he entered the table.His prophecy proved to be true, the atmosphere of the banquet was very dull, Iron Fist Knight Dragonson just ate the leg of lamb, Sir Rodriguez didn't eat anything, just sipped the blood red iced wine; The two knights of the Wood family are standard countrymen. They obviously have never seen the world, let alone know any banquet etiquette. As long as Li Weigang raises his glass, these two guys will stand up and bow together in trepidation, and successfully let the lion The vulture lord ruined his already low spirits.

Sir Robin kept talking and laughing with a face full of despair, trying to restore some joyful atmosphere, but obviously he was not good at this, the jokes he said were so stale that they seemed to smell of the tomb, which could only make people look stiff That's all.

The news of the rescue of the embarrassing atmosphere came on the heels of the wolf pie.The servants of the Sherwood family first brought up the huge golden pie, and then cut the crispy skin with a knife. The heat rushed out along with the smell of fat, and Dragunson couldn't help it from the leg of lamb. look up. "This thing smells good," he announced aloud, handing out his plate.

Li Wei's eyes were not on the pie at all, but he noticed the tall and thin man who followed the servant into the room, with a simple gray half cape, a strange standing posture, and sharp and indifferent black eyes. "He is a good archer." Li Wei thought, although there was no similarity in appearance and clothes, this person always reminded him of Sir Grace holding a silver fir longbow.

The thin and tall man had a hesitant expression, and Li Wei waved away the servant who asked him if he wanted pies, and then said, "Sir Robin, can you introduce this gentleman to me?"

Sir Robin hurriedly stood up, "It is an honor to serve you, Your Excellency the Regent, this is Sergeant Major Kuroro, the archery instructor of the Sherwood family, and the captain of the guard of the third guard tower of the Sealand River Fortress. Then he turned his head, "Hey, Major Sergeant Kuroro, didn't I just say that there is nothing urgent, so don't bother us?"

"Lord Robin, I think this matter should be urgent enough." The thin and tall man answered, his voice was as cold as Levi imagined, "5 minutes ago, the priest of the Earth Altar found me , saying that they have received a message about the battle situation in the royal capital Fermeyer..."

Sergeant Major Kuroro hadn't finished speaking when Li Wei suddenly stood up, "Thank you for the hospitality, Sir Robin, but the banquet must end here." Although his tone remained polite, the meaning in his words was completely intolerable Rejected, "The news about the battle situation in the capital is very important, we can't delay even a minute, we need to go to the earth altar here immediately."

"Of course, Your Excellency the Regent, I will go with you." Sir Robin nodded without hesitation.

Although the Weihe Tower is an independent tower in terms of shape, but in terms of scale, these towers far exceed ordinary sentry towers or guard towers.In particular, the third guard river tower in the center is the largest. This tall tower stands in the center of the Xilan River, at a height of more than 20 meters from the water surface. The tower can accommodate [-] guard soldiers. As for the ordnance Storehouses, granaries and other facilities are also available, and it can be called a castle from any angle.

Like other castles belonging to the northern lords, the Temple of the Earth also set up an altar here, but the priest who presides over the altar is not a hermit from the heart of the castle, nor is it the senior priests brought by the vice archbishop of Beria. It was a young priest from a collateral line of the Sherwood family.The original belief of the Sherwood family was an ancient forest guardian god. Although this young man named Peter Sherwood only converted to believe in the god of the earth last year, but because of his extraordinarily devout beliefs, he has already received a letter from Vice President Beria. With the affirmation of the bishop, he even obtained the qualification of a senior priest.

Li Wei climbed up the narrow ladder of Weihe Tower, the sharp night wind tore his cloak like an invisible claw, and the torch in his hand was blown endlessly.The twilight sky can be seen through the narrow strip window on the outside of the high ladder. The red moon hangs obliquely on the window like a weeping scar, while the silver moon disappears without a trace like the black moon sisters hiding in the sky.

According to the saying spread in the northern border, this kind of celestial phenomenon is called the night of the blood moon, which means that wars are everywhere, the flames of war are hard to extinguish, and the disaster of blood and light is imminent, but which party's blood is it?Li Wei already had an ominous answer in his mind.

"This is completely a country bumpkin's superstition. It's not an omen. Every year there is a day when the red moon hangs alone in the sky." The Griffon Lord warned himself softly, but the anxiety in his heart continued unabated.

The front view suddenly opened up, and several clergymen wearing the plain khaki robes of the Earth Temple stood on the top of the stone steps, half of them holding torches.The head clergyman was young, with a thin face that belonged to the Sherwood family, but his eyes were much gentler, and had the calm taste unique to devout believers of the god of the earth.

"Your Excellency Leviston, the Favored of the Gods, the humble servant of the God of the Earth welcomes you." The young senior priest bowed his head respectfully, folded his hands, and pressed on the position of his heart.

"Praise the God of the Earth." Li Wei replied simply, although the pastor seemed to have the desire to chat with the favored one.But Li Wei is not in that mood now, "Pastor Peter, please take us to the altar immediately."

"Of order, Your Excellency God's Favored One." Pastor Peter bowed with a smile, then turned and walked ahead to lead the way.

According to the teachings of the Temple of the Earth, the altar is usually placed in a place where it can directly touch the ground, but it is obviously not possible on the Weihe Tower, which is more than ten meters above the river surface, so the altar can only be placed in a small temple that is not spacious , the surrounding walls are inlaid with various religious murals and patterns with topaz and obsidian.When Li Wei stepped into the temple, he felt a gentle and heavy force passing over his body, but then it disappeared without any discomfort.However, the feeling of Sir Robin who was behind him was completely different. The invisible power of the earth oppressed his whole body like sticky mud, making it difficult for him to move. If Sir Rodriguez hadn't followed closely When he came in, the dark grudge squeezed out all the divine power of the earth around him, and the poor Patriarch Sherwood almost suffocated because of it.

Since the transmission of a large section of video data has just been completed, the earth altar is surrounded by earthy yellow light, flickering on and off, which is also the reason why scattered earth power is everywhere in the temple.

Although Li Wei is not the priest of the God of the Earth, he has the highest level of authority over these earth altars produced in the heart of the castle.Before Pastor Peter stepped forward, the young griffin lord raised his right hand, and all the runes on the altar immediately lit up, and then the khaki-yellow light flickered several times in a row, and the wide light curtain that filled the entire temple instantly appeared in front of everyone. expand
(End of this chapter)