Warhammer

Ai'er still wore the majestic golden mask. He was not tall and rode on a griffin, with feathers even covering his legs and half of his body. But now in Miragliano, or in the whole of Tyrell, no one dared to question Ai'er about his height, appearance, etc.

Those newspapers and writers who had published articles such as "The Masked King particularly likes women...", "The Erotic History of the Golden Palace", and "The Mystery of Margarita's Cave". During the siege, some legionnaires with armor flags engraved with the twin marks of two horizontal and two vertical in the middle, and a blue armband tied on their shoulders would track down these people based on the known information and bring them back alive.

The Sixth Legion has prepared a gift for them—enough for them to be unable to forget everything they encountered when they were alive and to control the trembling of their souls when they arrive in the kingdom of Mor, the father of the goddess and the god of death.

The Aiur Rider, surrounded by his most loyal Immortal guards.

From time to time, he glanced at the surrendered people on both sides, taking in the fear, trembling, sadness and hatred on their faces.

The rich, the clergy, the wealthy class, the common people, the defeated soldiers...

Before the Legion captured Miragliano, the permanent population was over 400,000. Together with the soldiers guarding it, the mobile mercenaries, and the merchants, the total population was close to 500,000.

I don't know how many died in the war...but Al didn't care.

He was stingy with his sympathy for all the enemies who died in the war, except in the form of massacres and deliberate killings.

After all, what does it matter even if the blood and tears of the Tyrells could drown Aiur?

They started the war.

Whether it is the undead or the living, if they want to avenge him for the disaster in this war, Aiel can only lead his legion to continue this war imposed on his country and that they are "forced to fight" until the last avenger or they lay down their arms.

"call......"

The griffin stopped its claws and stayed where it was.

Al looked to the right at the intersection where he was standing, and all he saw was piles of corpses.

Maybe they just threw them all here for convenience.

The most desolate thing was that in front of the pile of corpses there was a large group of people kneeling with their heads down. The men were hugging their wives and children, and the women were holding their children. They lowered their heads and dared not breathe. Al saw a woman whose body was trembling as she covered the swaddling clothes in her arms, and a slight baby cry could be heard from her.

The living are in front, the dead are behind.

This aroused in him a little sympathy for the elderly, the weak, the sick and the innocent civilians.

"Burn the body."

Al said his first words after entering the city.

"Children, women, and elderly people with gray hair should go home. Those who have no place to go and no food to eat should ask the soldiers for it."

Then comes the second sentence.

When he said the first sentence, the people kneeling lowered their heads even more deeply, and some even lay down directly. It was not until he said the second sentence that things got a little better. Despite this, no one dared to take action immediately.

Al saw that the woman holding the baby was still trembling, and seemed not to listen to what he said at all. He did not loosen his hand, so deep magic power surged in front of him, and a strong breath blew towards where he was looking.

Under his observation, the woman was shocked by the strong wind and finally recovered from her fear. She subconsciously loosened her hands that were covering the baby.

"If you smother your child to death with your own hands out of fear of me... you cannot be considered an innocent person killed by me."

He said something as if jokingly, then turned his gaze to the pile of corpses behind the people and muttered:

"That's what I've done with my killing."

The woman felt as if she had been pardoned. She stood up trembling, holding the baby, who was still crying. She bowed to Al, then moved her stiff body and slowly backed away.

So gradually, people who fit the three identities mentioned by Al began to leave. A few who did not fit any of the three categories also tried to sneak away. Those who were lucky were able to escape, while those who were less lucky were killed by arrows shot from all directions and flying beasts swooping down. So no one dared to sneak away.

Al squeezed his legs and abdomen slightly, and the Griffin Queen accelerated forward along the road, spreading her wings excitedly on the road, bringing a gust of strong wind to the oncoming soldiers and civilians.

This city has bowed down before me!

.........

When we arrived at the Black Castle, the prisoners and important figures of the losers were all there.

There were military officers in military uniforms, clergymen holding sacred instruments and images, and nobles in colorful clothes...

And the highlight that made Al feel the most excited.

Under the "care" and supervision of a team of servants and a team of Blood Mother Army vanguards, a tall and plump woman in black was holding the hand of a beautiful girl who looked gorgeously dressed from afar. The two of them held hands and stood in front of the gate to the Black Castle, taking the lead in "greeting" Al's arrival.

The griffin stopped not far in front of the two "beauties".

Al's gaze avoided the lady in black, who should have been his first target according to common sense, and focused on the "beautiful girl" who was led by her, dressed gorgeously and noblely, like an imperial princess or a noble lady. He looked at the other's face carefully, seeing sadness and panic in "her" eyes, as well as anger and humiliation towards the current situation that could not be concealed even if it was suppressed to the extreme!

"Haha..." he grinned.

El held his belly with his left hand and pointed with his right hand at Prince Rodrigo, who was dressed in formal attire and holding hands with his wife.

"Hahahaha!"

The beautiful "girl", the prince who was dressed in a gorgeous outfit, was holding his wife's hand, his whole body trembling with the humiliation of the victor in front of him, and he couldn't tell whether he was more afraid or angry.

“Hahahaha~!!”

He laughed so hard that tears were about to fall. In this cruel battlefield covered with blood and corpses, where the madness of killing and the groans of death still echoed desperately in the broken city, Al's unbridled laughter seemed so harsh.

The scene became even more funny because of his laughter. When the city was full of broken limbs and newly undead spirits, Al's laughter was so satisfying that it added some funny episodes to the climax of the war.

"Haha..."

Al laughed until his stomach hurt and he was tired. He raised his hand to take off the mask and hung it on the saddle. He wiped his eyes, licked his lips, and looked at the prince in women's clothing and his beautiful and mature wife. He said in a playful tone:

"I know that Your Excellency has been eager to come to Margarita to see me."

"But I was impatient, and after waiting for too long, I came here on my own."

“Hahahaha~~O(∩_∩)O hahahaha~!!!”

Before he had finished speaking, he burst into uncontrollable laughter again. The wanton ridicule and mockery lashed the hearts of every Tyrell present. It spun, floated, and jumped in the air. The whole city seemed to be trembling in it, adding a bit of black humor to this bloody tragedy.

Amid Al's laughter, the dignitaries and celebrities, as well as the civil and military officials, who were captured and dragged here like cattle and sheep to be examined by the conquerors, trembled even more violently, but no one was so angry about the humiliation suffered by the prince that they would come forward to fight and get their blood splattered on the spot.

Perhaps it was just like what happened to Estalia back then, most of those who refused to live in failure were already dead.

The young man dressed as a woman, who was not much older than Al, had his hair trembling due to the humiliation that could not be more severe. He was about to say something as a final resistance, but he felt his wife tightening her grip on his hand, squeezing it twice in succession, hinting at the prince.

"I've said this twice. Now that you've decided to compromise, don't do anything to anger the enemy."

It is not known whether Tyrell's sudden behavior was instigated by the enemy, but after the prince was afraid of being tortured and decided to face the "wise king" directly, how to protect themselves became the couple's biggest consideration.

It was Tyrell Field's suggestion to have the prince dress up as a woman and add an element of "a bet between two kings" to the humiliating letter.

This also confirms what the prince said to his wife when he admitted his mistake:

"If that happens... I will do as the letter says, change into women's clothes, and go to greet him in person!"

Chapter 78: The South is Shocked

When the corners of his mouth were almost twitching from laughing, Al waved his hands and pursed his lips.

He seemed to have lost interest and looked around the black castle in front of him.

"Good place."

He complimented.

"It is more magnificent than the Golden Palace, but it is a pity that it is not the residence of an emperor."

These words made Rodrigo, who was feeling ashamed for dressing up as a girl and even began to regret why he did not choose to die decisively, feel moved.

"Is he humiliating me?"

But then he felt that it didn't seem like that, because after Al laughed, he ignored him, and it seemed more like an emotional sigh.

He thought about it in his mind and thought about the rumors about Al. Margarita's "Golden Palace" sounded like a magnificent royal palace with golden and magnificent splendor, but in fact it was just an ordinary mansion, far from luxurious, and even inferior to the houses and buildings of some larger families.

There were even frequent jokes about foreign envoys who wanted to pay a visit to the king, but mistook the Golden Palace for an ordinary office and searched for a long time nearby but couldn't find the "royal palace".

"He uses the magnificent palace for public affairs, but he himself lives in an ordinary house... Does he feel that he cannot be called a true king because he lives in the palace for a long time, isolated from the inside and the outside?" Rodrigo, who had imagined a lot in his mind, did not know that his mentality was softening after the blow, and he began to "identify" with the ability of the winner, because in this way he would not appear weak, but the enemy was too strong.

But Al didn't think much about it.

He said these things just to show off.

So that the beastman can write a paragraph in the history book he will compile in the future:

In the spring of XX, the emperor conquered the city of Mi and went to the inner city. The people surrendered. The emperor saw the magnificent Black Castle where the prince lived and sighed: "How magnificent it is! What a pity that it wastes the people's money. It is not a place for the emperor to live!" He also said that if the prince had used the money for building the city to support the people and prepare the army, and the bricks and stones for the city to strengthen the city defense, I would not be here today...

The surrendered people then bowed down and said: "How many kings in the world have the heart of an emperor? Unparalleled!"

Al was amazed - after posing, he did not even bother to deal with the surrendered Miragliano nobles, but directly ordered the selection of houses outside the city. All the surrendered nobles and officers were temporarily relocated out of the city for resettlement.

But then he changed the subject and said that he was a devout believer in the goddess (the Four Mothers were also goddesses). He had lived in Margherita for a long time in the past and had never traveled abroad. He heard that the Great Temple of Miragliano was very magnificent, so he naturally hoped to visit the Great Temple when he came here today.

He invited everyone present to be his guides and accompany him to pay homage to the great temple.

Naturally, no one in the field had any objection. It was a good thing that the conquerors were willing to show respect and be close to their beliefs.

At least we don't have to worry about another holy war.

When Chaos Beastmen and Skaven appeared one after another, they almost destroyed the entire South. If the Tomb Kings had not won the Battle of Nehekhara, and after driving away the Archangel, they decided to go north to join the war and attack (it was an active attack rather than resistance) Chaos, their first target would have been the Southern Kingdom across the sea. They would have cleared out the Rats and Beastmen there and preserved some of the local vitality, and the South might have changed its race.

When Ai'er came, many people were extremely scared. Although time has passed, when the roar of the hoofed people rang in their ears again, the ancient threat that seemed to be rooted in their blood still made the "civilized people" feel deep fear.

They were afraid that Ai'er would carry out a massacre in Miragliano, so they could not surrender or not surrender. Before confirming that the time to break the city was approaching, Ai'er sent several letters to some large family forces through the Chaos believers in the city. In the tone of the Legion, he blamed Prince Rodrigo for the main purpose of this expedition. In simple terms, it was to sow discord, but the degree of humiliation in the letter was so great that the reason was very justified.

Even if these wealthy families do not want to actively betray the City Prince, they will most likely not report the matter to the Black Castle out of fear of retaliation.

In addition, the legion's speed of breaking into the city was so fast that some people who received the letter had just made up their minds to take action and had not had time to make arrangements before they heard the news that the foreign army had already entered the city. Their speed in rushing to the Black Castle might not be as fast as the legion's.

In fact, it was not only Field and Jon who wanted to take action, but also Benavento and Savini mentioned by Tilly. Most of them just didn't have the chance and ended up like that...

Ai'er rode a griffin and went to the Great Temple under the guidance of the surrendered clergy. The outermost were the guards, then the legion, and those who surrendered were placed at the end. As the road started, he suddenly seemed to remember something, stopped and looked back at the prince and princess who were "surrounded" by the crowd, walking in the middle with their skirts lifted up, their faces blushing.

"You two, please come to the front."

The crowd stopped and watched the reaction of the prince and his wife.

The prince in cross-dressing felt as if countless eyes were cast on him. He didn't know whether to move or not. His posture was already very awkward due to the ill-fitting women's clothing, and now he seemed to have forgotten how to walk.

However, his wife Isabella, even in such a situation, still maintained her composure and demeanor. She held the prince's hand and walked forward slowly with lotus steps, like a noble lady holding her daughter's hand.

She pulled the prince, walked through the ranks of soldiers, and came to the side of the royal guards. She bowed slightly to El who was riding on the Griffin Queen, and then walked into the ranks of clergy.

This was the first time Al had met the couple. Although he didn't know them very well, he could tell they were no ordinary people.

At least this princess was quite unusual, and he was quite interested in her.

As for the cross-dressing prince...very elegant, very elegant.

But the current matter is to issue a notice to reassure the people, pay homage to the great temple, and temporarily appease the people's hearts.

Although this may not have much effect, it is a task that must be done. The fierce attack of the Legion has brought huge losses to Miragliano. Countless houses have been burned and destroyed. The corpses left on the ground after the street fighting have not yet been collected. Although large-scale resistance has been eliminated, there are still small groups of remnants hiding in the inner city, which may come out to attack the personnel of the United Kingdom at any time. It is necessary to suppress and appease at the same time.

Although Miragliano was captured, they still had at least three available forces:

The Eastern Legion has 8,000 people, but they are almost a local garrison. In Al's eyes, they are not a big threat. If the enemy returns to rescue the capital of the Principality, Alia's troops leading the army eastward are enough to destroy them; the several troops in Tobaro have 4,000 to 5,000 people, which are more elite than the Eastern Legion.

When Aiel attacked the city, the enemy should have been on their way back to defend, but seeing that their capital had fallen, they would not rush over to fight to the death. They would either go east to Trantio and join up with the Eastern Army that might be heading south, or retreat west to Tobaro.

Then there is Miragliano's fleet.

Each principality in Tyrell has a fleet, which is normal in this loose union of city-states. And compared to the completely independent armies that only serve and obey the orders of their respective principalities, the Tyrell fleets will at least uniformly hang a "Sword and Shield Lion" flag representing the Tyrell Kingdom, and are nominally collectively called the "Tyrell United Fleet."

It can be regarded as a potential entity that is generally more inclined towards domestic integration.

But they are mainly composed of people from their own principalities, and they obey the orders of their own principalities more often.

For example, this time, Miragliano, as the leader of the alliance, took the lead in launching a war against the United Kingdom and dispatched nearly two-thirds of his principality's fleet. Part of it formed the New World Fleet and began to attack the colonies that originally belonged to the Estalia, part of it carried out blockade and patrol missions in the southern waters, and the last part stayed in the port on standby at any time.

After confirming that the fall of the city was inevitable, the Miragliano fleet stationed at the port chose to flee the port after accepting a large number of refugees and defeated soldiers to avoid being besieged by the enemy. Their target of heading south was Trantio.

There are also some colonial troops, but they are far away across the ocean and are not included.

In general, after this battle, the forces of Miragliano, once the overlord of Tirell, suffered a severe blow, and the capital fell. It is foreseeable that the entire principality will soon be occupied by the enemy, and the remaining troops are barely more than 10,000 people. In its heyday, the city of Miragliano could dispatch a legion of up to 30,000 people, but now there is only one-third left, and the terrain is scattered, making it difficult to unite.

Al had already made many preparations for this. On the one hand, he sent people to appease Tobaro, and said that this war must be a punishment and was inevitable, on the grounds that Tyrell first provoked the war and Rodrigo later sent a letter to humiliate him. Tobaro had previously been anti-war and had always been friendly with Estalia. Al was unwilling (in fact, he was too lazy to fight, as he had nothing to do with a fortress surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on one side) to use force here, saying that as long as the troops of the Principality of Tobaro did not take the initiative to attack him, he would not attack Tobaro.

At the same time, he sent Barbatos and the pony Alia to march quickly to the east, determined to intercept and destroy the Eastern Army before they learned of the fall of the city and chose to march south.

In this way, the enemy will be left with nearly 10,000 less combat-capable soldiers.

And if Tobaro was intimidated by Aiur and chose to sit on the sidelines in the following battle, then he only needed to march south with his army, break through Trantio, and reach the southernmost Duchy of Lusignan, and he could wipe out Tirell and even take care of the pirate duchy of Sartosa.

Having crossed the Rubicon, the only way left was to move forward.

......

In the winter of the year 2693 of the Imperial Calendar, the penultimate month of December is the "Winter Month", also known as the "Month of Yurik the White Wolf".

This war, which took place in the southern country of the Old World, seemed to have its main battlefield in the New World. Therefore, a war that was not paid much attention to in the local area had reached an important turning point.