Four-Armed Divine Emperor

Al pursed his lips and said nothing.

The power of the elements is gathering and transforming into a fiery state under El's control.

A huge fireball condensed in his hand, and the scorching air waves made the gray horse under Al become restless and try to avoid it.

Fortunately, the psychic energy blocked the mount and prevented it from going crazy and throwing Al off.

The fireball grew bigger and bigger under his dual control, and soon expanded to almost the size of a carriage.

The knights surrounding El dismounted and bent over, both to avoid the heat and to express their awe for the power of the near-god.

The archer finally came to his senses. He dropped the longbow in his hand and jumped off the platform.

The fireball left his hand in an instant and flew towards the city government.

"Take your men and take this place."

El finished casting the spell, gave an order to the stunned noble commander, and then continued talking to Ansuna.

The man came to his senses, punched his left chest hard, and trotted away.

The noble warriors and lords around praised the great power of the sage. The effect that could be achieved by one spell of El could not be achieved even by sacrificing hundreds of lives.

Soon, the resistance in the city hall ended. The appearance of the fireball completely shattered the resistance of the elite Xerxes people.

They know what it is and what it means.

Before Devangel's army launched another attack, the Xerxes in the city government, under the command of the commander, threw their weapons out of the door and walked out in a loose line.

If the rumor in the city before that "the enemy got the help of the wizard and destroyed the city wall with one blow" had made these nobles and generals still hold on to the fluke mentality, thinking "let's fight first, just in case...", then the appearance of El completely confirmed this point.

The Devon Gaels dared to take the initiative to attack because they also had the help of mages!

The Xerxes' reverence for wizards is far deeper than that of the Blaeos, penetrating into every aspect of society and almost becoming a religious "belief."

In this situation, the Brio people might choose to fight to the death, or find a way to break through, but the Xerxes people would not have so many ideas. With the mage blocking the door, and without an equally powerful "holy wizard" on their side, they only have one choice:

surrender!

......

When Al rode his horse to the city gate, the most core group of Xerxes in Muten City had already knelt on both sides of the road to welcome the victor under the supervision of the Devngel warriors.

The soldiers were guarded, and the attendants and servants knelt on the periphery. They were of the lowest status. Only the nobles and bureaucrats of the highest status could kneel directly in the first row on both sides of the road, facing the victor, followed by personal attendants and officers of a certain status.

Al rode the little gray horse through the middle avenue. If it weren't for the corpses that were constantly being cleared out of the government and the smoke in the background, this scene could be seen as a king's tour and his ministers lining the streets to welcome him.

Al casually glanced at the surrendering Xerxes on both sides of the road. Fear and awe were the most common emotions.

He didn't feel any surprise or discomfort at all this, as if it was meant to be this way. However, the scene before him suddenly reminded him of something:

In 1453, the conquerors entered Constantinople.

"Who's the commander here?"

Ansuna instructed an adjutant to step out and ask the captives who were kneeling and surrendering in a harsh voice.

A middle-aged man with the same beard as the envoy stood up. This style of beard was shaped and maintained with beeswax and oil. It was about one finger long and two fingers wide on the chin. It looked quite presentable and had another advantage - a person's general status could be seen from the exquisite style of the beard.

"I am Salem Haji, Captain of the Guards of King Adwin, Commander of the Banner-Giving Legion, and Governor of Muten. I pay my most sincere respects to you, the Sage from the White Tower, the Holy Wizard who controls light and fire."

Salem put one hand on his chest and knelt on one knee again towards Al, who had taken the lead. "Aria."

A greeting used by Zoroastrians to address their respected ancestors, meaning noble fire, it is a unique cultural word.

"The Dwengael will undoubtedly offer you a generous reward in exchange for your intervention in this troubled land—but I swear to Guangyan that no matter what they promise, King Adwin will double it. Please come to Herat and enjoy the highest standard of hospitality."

"Despicable Xerxes barbarian, shut your filthy mouth!"

The adjutant was furious and pulled out his whip to teach the prisoner a lesson, but suddenly he saw Salem looking at him coldly. He was inexplicably shocked, but the whip still fell and hit Salem's face, leaving a bloody mark. However, the prisoner did not say a word, but just looked at the adjutant with cold eyes.

Ansuna scolded her subordinates. She and El had an extraordinary close relationship, so she was naturally not worried about this, but it would be nice to teach Xerxes who wanted to poach her a lesson.

Al ignored the captives' inducements and led his men to the mansion that had been occupied by Sergeant Devon Gale. Salem, who was tied up there and immediately played the role of the captive, saw the backs of the group entering the yard, and a trace of pain appeared in his eyes, but he could do nothing.

On one side, they began to interrogate prisoners and torture them for information, while on the other side, they tied up some prominent Xerxes officers and paraded them around the city of Muten, forcing the remaining soldiers to give up resistance.

Perhaps because the Xerxes had poor military discipline and a history of bloodshed, many residents voluntarily led the Devangelic army or ambushed and killed lone Xerxes. In the process, there was no distinction between soldiers and civilians, and even unarmed civilians were occasionally killed in retaliation.

After learning that the other half of the city had fallen and the nobles and bureaucrats of the city government had surrendered, many soldiers simply abandoned the city, robbed horses and fled outside the city. Ansuna anticipated this and had already arranged for people to block them in the other direction, making sure to keep Xerxes in the Vol Plain as much as possible.

And naturally, Ai'er brought a large army command team to the city hall. This building was originally the residence of the nobles in the Devangel territory. After it was taken away by the Xerxes, a "city official" was established to manage it, and this place was requisitioned as the ruling center.

Ansuna led people to arrest and count the prisoners, while Al was leisurely touring the manor under the protection of an adjutant and a dozen armed attendants. Two attendants among the prisoners were specially sent to lead the way and introduce the situation in the yard to the Mage.

Al had just passed through the hall, and there were some bodies of servants lying on the ground. Two servants went forward to check and found that they were all German Gaels. It was estimated that Xerxes wanted to prevent internal rebellion and kill them to eliminate future troubles.

Suddenly, a female scream was heard from the back of the yard.

Al frowned and immediately took people over to see what was going on.

After passing through three doorways and turning seven or eight rooms, they finally saw a fallen warrior outside an inconspicuous room. One of his hands was still tightly grasping the ankle of a woman in gauze. The latter struggled desperately but couldn't break free. She could only watch as Al, who had come with a group of people, approached.

Al took a quick glance and found that the woman was wearing a colorful veil with a lot of oil paint on her brows. She looked pretty decent, similar to some of the handsome men and beautiful women Al had seen in the group of handsome men and beautiful women who came to greet him from the Devon Gaels.

She just had a somewhat "flamboyant" temperament and a look of fear on her face. Al judged in his heart that she should be a maid or something like that.

The person who fell to the ground was a Devonian Gael. The guards did not dare to be careless. They immediately stepped forward to subdue the woman and check the situation. The person was not dead, but was just knocked unconscious. However, there was another important discovery in that inconspicuous little house.

Two of Xerxes' followers were arranged to enter the house first to avoid an ambush, but they knelt down immediately after entering the room. The warriors who came later had time to see clearly that there was an extremely beautiful woman in the house. She had a high nose and deep eyes, different from the survivors of Astra, her skin was as white as golden, and her thick hair was tied into a whip behind her head, hanging on both sides.

The women also had very delicate makeup, with red lips with gold powder and black eyeliner. The Xerxes liked to use gold paint because it was the common color of fire and light.

"You, your identity! Woman!"

Even a brave and powerful German Gaelic warrior couldn't help but lose his composure when meeting such an exotic beauty. He stuttered a sentence and then used loud emphasis to cover up his embarrassment.

Al took one look and smacked his lips.

She is indeed beautiful, even surpassing the female knight Ansuna in terms of appearance.

"The woman of the Legionary Commander Salem who surrendered to you."

The woman answered the warrior's questions softly, her gentleness forming a stark contrast to the warrior's roughness.

Al glanced at the two servants kneeling on the ground, and the one on the other side who was suspected of attacking the samurai.

"I'll ask you once. You two, stand up and answer her identity at the same time. Three, two, one!"

"lady!"

"princess!"

The two servants' faces were equally ashen. The one who answered the princess collapsed, while the other one was pale but still insisted on standing. Although they gave two different answers, the truth was already obvious.

Al was stunned for a moment, and asked with a puzzled look:

"Are you King Adwin's queen?"

How come this Prince Xerxes is like Darius III who was killed by the Athanasius in another world, bringing his wife to war?

The woman, seeing her prevarication exposed, felt neither embarrassed nor angry. She nodded as a half-answer, then shook her head and said:

"I'm not the queen. My name is Zeina, the king's concubine."

Al nodded.

"You are of a distinguished status and shouldn't be confined to a small room. Please go to the front hall." After saying this, Al turned to look at the woman whose arms were being held by two warriors, one on each side. "Is she your maid?"

Zeina nodded.

"Then you two will be together."

Then he looked at the two servants who gave different answers.

"You are obedient, that's fine, you deserve a reward; you are loyal to your master, that also deserves a reward, but obviously only one of you can survive."

Zeina looked reluctant but didn't know how to start. Al noticed this subtle expression. He now knew all this by himself.

"If I were a captive, I'd obviously value loyalty more, but unfortunately, I like people to be submissive to me."

The warrior standing beside the servant no longer hesitated. He grabbed his neck with one hand, drew the dagger from his waist, and stabbed it into the vest of the loyal servant.

Zeina's body trembled slightly, and the gems and bells on her gorgeous dress jingled.

"Let's go."

Al gave the order, and soon, there was nothing left in the hut except a trail of blood, and the smell of blood slowly fermented along with the fragrance of the woman.

Chapter 11: Conquerors and Conquered

After checking the city government inside and out to prevent any Xerxes from escaping, Al led everyone to find a spacious hall to rest.

Zeina and the maid were also "invited" into the hall.

Soon, Ansuna finished her main work and brought her people back to the city government to meet with Al.

The main brains and commanders of the entire Devon Gale Expeditionary Force gathered here.

In order to prevent assassins from sneaking in, all the servants used by the Xerxes in the city government mansion were not kept. Most of them were locked up with the people they served. Only those who could find multiple local former Devon Gael residents to guarantee their identities were allowed to leave, and the rest had to wait for screening.

Now all the servants and attendants in this power building that has changed owners are temporary local residents.

Celebration banquet.

Ansuna naturally sat next to Al. He recaptured Muten for the Devengaelic people and ate up the Xerxes' garrison legion, which not only avenged them for the last war but also hurt the Xerxes. It was foreseeable that Al's prestige would grow rapidly in the local area.

At the same time, he took the initiative to provoke a war and ignited the fuse, which made Aiel's position more and more important to Devangel. This attack also accidentally captured the princess of Xerxes' western prince Adwin, which was undoubtedly a great humiliation for the warlike warrior. As long as there is a chance, he will definitely start a war at all costs.

For the Devangel family, even if El suddenly raised the price and demanded half of their territory as his fiefdom, decay had wiped out all their ambitions. The old patriarch who only wanted to see the family foundation maintained during his lifetime would probably agree.

El and Ansuna discussed this issue. The reason why the female knight was so ambitious and willing to devote herself to serving and strive for the top was not only because of the old and incompetent head of the family, but also because her two uncles were more incompetent than the other, and had great ambitions but little talent.

One of them liked pedophilia, the other frequented brothels, and even had a scandal of having an illegitimate child with an orc. The noble lords and feudal warriors of the entire family did not think highly of these two people. The failure of the war dealt a serious blow to the prestige and strength of the main family. Although Devingale's status in the Kingdom of Blaeo was not as high as that of the four princes of Xerxes, who were kings of their own regions and only left a capital for the priest king, he was also one of the most outstanding nobles in the country.

Because they were at the forefront of the conflict facing their old enemies in the East, they had long been wealthy due to trade and imbued with martial virtue due to threats from foreign enemies, and were "good at fighting and rich."

As a result, he was recruited by King Adwin of Xerxes and beaten up by the wizard, and his status plummeted. Other forces in the country were watching the joke, such as the ruler of the royal capital of Calvik standing on the top of the mountain, Imperator, the commander-in-chief of all the remnants of Asta... His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Blaeo was not panicked at all, because the magic tower standing high in the royal city of Calvik was the reason why he was not worried that his old enemy would become stronger and annex Devangel and damage the strength of the kingdom.

Before Al came, Devon Gale seemed to be in a happy mood on the surface, but in fact there were undercurrents. People of all sizes who had some capital and vision were thinking about a way out.

If the old patriarch died suddenly, Ansuna's two uncles would start fighting for the family property; or if the Xerxes started a war again, they would attack with the power of mages.

Embroider the banner overnight? Or surrender to the royal family? Or simply establish a separate territory and leave everything to fate? Regardless, the fate of the Devangel family, with so few descendants by this generation and even the branch families lacking capable members, is bound to be no better. Ansuna seeks something better, not simply material things, but a "prosperous civilization" that surpasses the "barbaric land" of the Thurso region in every aspect. However, she also doesn't want to see her native land invaded by her old enemy, her family slaughtered and expelled, and her fleeing in disgrace to the West.

In order to welcome Al, Devengail was able to immediately summon important members of the city, and find many husbands, or even wives and daughters of someone present at the time to fill the numbers, hoping that the mysterious wizard Al would be interested in something in the territory, which would qualify them to speak up and "make connections".

And Al set his eyes on the best treasure in the Devon Gale family.

And everything else.

.........

"Here's to you! Beautiful Princess! Before I met you, I never imagined there could be such a noble and stunning beauty among the Fire Worshipers. I always thought that the women of Xerxes were slaves!"

A drunk young warrior stood up, staggering, and raised his glass towards Zeina, who was sitting in the third seat at the top. He spoke drunken nonsense, causing everyone to laugh.

Al has been silently observing the performance of the enemy princess. Of course, the fact that Zeina is so beautiful is also a reason.

When being humiliated by the conqueror, the woman's long, delicate eyelashes that were specially trimmed trembled. She did not respond and maintained her calmness on the surface, but her fingers curled up and grabbing the hem of her skirt clearly revealed that she was not so calm.

After all, she is now a prisoner, and a noble and beautiful captive... This identity is a double-edged sword. The enemy may treat her well because of it, or they may abuse her more cruelly because of it.

Such as now.

However, Salem, the highest officer of the local Xerxes, who was standing by in shackles, being humiliated by the humiliating taunt of "a loser watching the conqueror drinking and having fun in his own palace", could not stand it. He raised his finger and pointed at the young man who humiliated the princess, scolding him:

"Blaio people, I remember that among the virtues you preach, one is respecting ladies."

"No matter what, you are now facing a queen of high status!"

Salem's defense didn't work. Instead, it angered the drunken young warrior, who was acting somewhat recklessly. He drank the wine in his cup, threw it aside, and looked around the hall, his eyes wide open as he retorted, "Haha! Queen? How many queens do the Xerxes have? We only have one!"

"A lover is a lover, a concubine is a concubine. Our civilizations are different! You bastard, you're setting yourself on fire!"

His provocation caused cheers in the audience, but the legion commander Salem, who could face the whipping calmly, was so angry that his bronze face turned black and red.

"And virtue, yes! About virtue!"

The warrior's body was shaking a little. He suddenly bent down, picked up a pot of wine from the seat next to him and poured it into his mouth. The rough movement splashed the wine everywhere.

"We are different, Xerxes. I've heard that your victors can take everything from the losers: mothers, wives, daughters, sons...even themselves. I think if your king lost to us, to the descendants of Ashtar, we would only take his head or exile him to the wilderness."

"But if he were to be defeated by his own men, he would likely spend his life as a prostitute or eunuch! By the White Tower! May his groin withstand the blazing lances of his master, so that he may one day ride into battle."

This dirty joke made the whole audience burst into laughter, even Al couldn't help laughing at it.