Sword of Dawn

Page 181

Inside the fortress, it's safe!

"Skyfire was stopped by the barrier!" "The barrier stopped them!" "The Cecils can't get in!" "We are safe!!"

The cheers came from the southern population first, and then the other soldiers and knights in the Rock Fortress who were already extremely nervous and anxious also cheered.

The nobles and high-ranking knights in the castle area also cheered.

"Ladies! Gentlemen! We can rest easy," Sir Maryland stood on the high platform of the main hall of the castle, looked at everyone below with a smile on his face, and looked at those with joy on their faces. The southern nobles, as well as those fortress knights who were relieved, "The 'fancy gadgets' of the Cecilians don't seem to be invincible. They can also be intercepted by magic barriers!"

A southern aristocrat stood up, bowed deeply to Sir Maryland with a dramatic gesture, then turned, and said to everyone in some pompous aria: "Friends—we can take the wine from the cellar. Out!"

After trembling in an extremely tense and depressive atmosphere for so long, the nobles seem to need a banquet to calm their mood.

And before the banquet started, the "sky fire" that fell from the sky gradually subsided. It seemed that even the Cecils realized the strength of the Rock Fortress, or their magic devices needed to be cooled down. This situation made the atmosphere in the fortress even more Take it easy.

Sir Maryland and his knights can still control their emotions, while those southern nobles... they seem to be suppressed too hard, too tense, and after finally relaxing, their banquet will almost become one A vengeful orgy.

But Sir Maryland allowed it all with a smile - in his opinion, these poor gentlemen really need to relax, they have been under too much pressure for a while.

The lights in the castle area were brightly lit, and a banquet quickly unfolded.

The celebration of the nobles seems to come too suddenly and too exaggerated, but the nobles are such a group - holding a banquet is not only their entertainment, but also their social, work and even daily life. They know that the soldiers in other parts of the fortress will also watch In their positions, they can confidently and boldly exchange glasses in the banquet hall. Nobles are good at holding banquets, and they are also accustomed to holding banquets for any reason and in any name, let alone the current situation with sufficient reasons.

However, Viscount Carroll couldn't stand the overly intense atmosphere change. After staying in the banquet hall for a while, he felt stuffy, so he left the hall for an excuse, went outside, and found a quiet place on the terrace. place, a breath of fresh night air.

This is the highest terrace in the castle area, where you can clearly see the situation of the magic barrier.

The magic barrier of the Rock Fortress is still active, and a layer of translucent energy shield is covering the outside of the city wall, and it is faintly connected with the magic metal buried inside the city wall: with the help of the ancient and powerful magic power focus inside the fortress, plus The magic energy accumulated on the upper city wall during the day, this barrier can last until the next day, until the sun rises again and recharges the barrier, and even if there is no sun the next day, several large mages in the fortress Towers can also draw power from underground mana foci, keeping the barrier functioning at a lower power.

Looking at the magic barrier in the distance made Viscount Carroll, who was inexplicably agitated, feel a little relieved. He exhaled lightly, and through the translucent light curtain, he cast his gaze to a farther place.

The attack of the Cecilians was over, the process was so short, and the end was so abrupt, which inevitably made Viscount Carroll, who had experienced the bombardment of the Crushed Stone Ridge, feel a little unnatural. Outlined a few runes, and opened the "Mage's Eye" for himself.

His vision instantly projected into the distance, and in his slightly distorted and shaking vision, he saw that the Cecil camp under the night was operating as usual.

The details that the mage's eyes can see are limited, but there is one thing he can be sure of: those Cecil soldiers who are leisurely adjusting the "Skyfire Device" and chatting and laughing around the campfire have absolutely no atmosphere of frustration...

A sound of footsteps sounded behind him, and Viscount Carroll immediately dissipated the magical effect of the mage's eye. At the same time, he heard a slightly cold voice from the Viscount Ropeni Grant from behind: "Viscount Carroll ,What are you doing?"

Carroll turned around and saw the awe-inspiring lady who led everyone out of hell, he couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, but then frowned again: "Vasoness Grant, I don't think the situation is right !"

Luo Peini's thin eyebrows raised slightly: "Is the situation wrong?"

"It's impossible for the Cecils to attack with such little movement... They can bombard the gravel ridge continuously for an hour, so there's no reason why they should be so relaxed when attacking the rock fortress," Viscount Carroll said anxiously to himself "I just saw with the eyes of a mage, their camp is in order, and there is no sign of a setback in their attack..."

"That's right... this is really a disturbing situation," Countess Luo Penny's face became serious, and she rubbed a ring on her finger subconsciously, "...it's too disturbing."

"I'm going to remind Sir Maryland," Viscount Carroll frowned, but just after he finished speaking, he looked at Luo Peini curiously, "But then again... Viscount, why did you leave the banquet hall? You also Did you find anything?"

"I just came back from the city wall," Luo Peini said lightly, "Did you forget that Sir Maryland entrusted us with the task of guarding the second city wall and a part of the mage's tower--it's a pity that almost everyone is in the banquet hall Drinking, I had to come out and do something serious."

"Thank goodness, there are ladies like you who are keeping vigilant," Viscount Carroll admired, and raised his feet to walk towards the castle area. "We are going to Sir Maryland..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

A soft and slightly cold hand held his arm, and a ring on that hand was emitting a faint blue light.

Viscount Carroll felt a cold numbness spread from his arms to his whole body. He turned his head slightly with difficulty, and saw the expressionless face of Roperney Grant. He tried to open his mouth, but couldn't utter a word. little noise.

He heard the still beautiful lady in front of him speak to himself—the latter leaned very close and whispered in his ear: "Mr. Viscount, do you know that when those thugs attacked my husband 11 years ago, When I was in the castle, there was only one loyal sentry standing on the tower, trying to intercept those mobs with crossbow arrows..."

Ropeni Grant moved a little away, and under Carroll's terrified eyes, she pushed his body a little bit.

"The sentry was the same size as you when he fell from the tower. Your knight probably didn't mention this little detail when he went back to report to you..."

Viscount Carroll's body leaned to a dangerous angle on the edge of the terrace. He rolled his eyes stiffly, but apart from turning his eyes, there was no place in his body to move at all—a mage, whose spellcasting ability was first After being blocked, it is almost impossible to break through the shackles of the limbs with muscle strength.

At the last moment, Luo Penny gently pushed Viscount Carroll.

At the last moment, the viscount only heard a vague sentence from the wind: "... That's how the sentry fell."

Chapter 0437 Calibration

The night was dark, and the hazy light spilled from the tall and narrow crystal glass windows of the banquet hall was not enough to completely dispel the darkness on the terrace. Ropeni Grant stood quietly on this empty terrace, looking down at the The place where Viscount Carroll fell.

Behind her, the lights from the banquet hall dimly shone into the night sky through the crystal glass windows, appearing blurred and weak, and even the sound of music coming from the banquet hall seemed so ethereal that it was almost unreal.

"It's really silent..."

The Viscount stood for a moment in the night, and suddenly said softly.

As her words fell, a slightly magnetic voice came from the darkness: "You're taking a risk—it's not good if someone finds out."

Ropeni Glenn was not surprised by this voice, because she already knew the other person's existence. She turned her head and saw a figure coming out of the hiding place in the darkness—a tall figure, a handsome face, and a long hair. Impressively blonde, this is a quintessential silver elf.

The blond-haired Solderin, a high-ranking elf ranger from the Cecil Territory, was leading the team that he sneaked into the city tonight.

Looking at the elf ranger in front of her, Countess Luo Penny's gaze could not help but fall on the strangely shaped black armor made of alloy shields and sturdy leather on the opponent's body. This armor is from the "Iron Ranger". Standard configuration, just tonight, dozens of Iron Rangers have sneaked into the fortress under the cover and support of her and her followers, and have lurked everywhere inside the city wall.

Thinking of what these Iron Rangers were going to do in the city, she felt particularly happy.

"Carol is a rare smart man among those stupid nobles, and he is too cautious and sharp," Luo Peini retracted her gaze, turned her head and quietly looked at the direction where Viscount Carroll fell, "at this critical moment , I don't want this variable to survive."

"Actually, we don't care about this variable," Soldering said, looking at the countess in front of him, "this fortress will face its fate tomorrow, no matter what warnings that Mr. It doesn't matter how the commander of the fortress responds—on the contrary, it's your shot that can easily put yourself in danger."

"It worked out pretty well in the end, didn't it?" Roperney Grant smiled slightly, "and it was quite a pleasure for me personally to push 'Mr. Carroll' off... no Someone discovered it, and even if someone saw the corpse under the castle tomorrow, everyone would only lament the untimely death of Mr. Viscount, who was drunk and stumbled."

Soldering quietly looked into the eyes of the Viscountess, and said slowly after a long time: "I just want to remind you, be careful not to be dazzled by hatred."

"Don't worry, I've been waiting for 11 years, and I won't lose my mind at this time," Ropeni Glenn actually knew why this high-ranking ranger appeared. She shook her head slightly and smiled softly, "And I'm still looking forward to the wonderful world that Duke Gawain promised, so naturally I won't act recklessly."

"That's good," Solderin nodded slightly, his body receded, and gradually disappeared into the dark night, his voice drifted in the night: "Don't forget, a hymn of loyalty. "

This is Cecil's peculiar internal code, or some kind of "slang" used in a certain situation. Although she still doesn't quite understand its deep meaning, Ropeni Grant still faces the empty space with a happy mood. One person's night sky said softly: "A hymn of loyalty..."

……

It seems that just as Sir Maryland expected, the Cecilians gave up their plan to force the attack after they found that their magic device could not quickly break through the fortress. Until the sun rose the next day, those Cecilians still did not attack again. "Fire", the magician on the mage tower confirmed the situation of the enemy camp with the mage's eyes, and reported that the Cecilians just divided up a part of their troops and advanced a short distance to the northwest, and then on a high ground there A new camp has been established, and other than that, there is no sign of any active attack.

In the military hall of the Castle District, Sir Maryland marked the position of the Cecils on the plain on a rough map. He pointed his sword at the enemy's new camp and said to the others: "Here, and Cecil Compared with the first camp of the Er people, it is not much closer to the Rock Fortress, but it is closer to the White Water River. What do you think?"

A southern nobleman stood up and said: "I judge that this was built by the Cecilians for the convenience of getting water. After all, when they entered the plain, they took the 'White Valley Mountain Road', and that exit is too far from the White Water River."

"They don't seem very courageous," Sir Maryland obviously agreed with the nobleman's statement, "It seems that after realizing that their magic device is not working, they began to worry about the trebuchet in the Rock Fortress, and chose to fetch water. We have to be so cautious when making a detour..."

The situation seems to be moving in the direction Sir Maryland expected: the Cecilian's "Skyfire Myth" has failed in front of the fort's powerful magic barrier, and the rumored terrifying army can only honestly fight against the fortress for a long time. battle, and they didn't seem to dare to advance within the range of the catapult on the city wall, which further proved one of his previous conjectures:

Those Cecil soldiers were all in the light of magic props, but they actually lacked courage.

This means that as long as the attack continues to be frustrated, the morale of the Cecilians will definitely drop quickly...

……

On the second highest ground where Cecil Corps was stationed, Philip Knight was supervising the deployment of the new artillery position, and on a transport vehicle behind him, the silhouette of Knight Byron was emerging from the sky over a magic net communicator .

"So, those idiots in the Rock Fortress really won't come out?" The old fritter knight who was born as a mercenary never cared about his demeanor when he spoke, he yelled loudly, "I thought they would at least come out Come out to fight you symbolically before you fire..."

"They're not stupid, they realized the power of the guns during the active attack a few days ago," Philip said casually, then raised his head, looking at the majestic walls of the Rock Fortress in the distance, filled with magical brilliance, "But having said that... the magic barrier of Rock Fortress is indeed a little stronger than I imagined."

Knight Byron was stunned for a moment: "Hey, what you said is different from what you said before. What do you mean by being a little more powerful than you imagined—cannons are really useless against that thing?"

"That's not enough. The power of the magic crystal railgun is always effective, but the strength of the barrier is really high. It completely resisted the shelling last night-although only twelve test shots were fired, But it was already unexpected," Knight Philip said honestly, "I estimate that if I want to use the magic crystal railgun to deal with this kind of barrier, I need to bomb it continuously for at least six hours."

"Hey, what a barrier that can be broken - the nobles in the fortress are probably still celebrating the indestructibility of their barrier at this time," Byron said with deep disdain in his tone, " You don't waste ammo on that barrier - leave it to the Prism Cannon."

Philip frowned: "You just say that, when are you going to arrive?"

"Hurry up, we're on our way. Miss Rebecca has already started to check the magic circuit on this ship, so that I can prepare for the firing," Byron waved his hands in the holographic projection of the communicator, his voice and picture There is some distortion, this is because he is on the warship in the Baishui River, the signal is completely transmitted by the magic network relay towers along the Baishui River, and the coverage of these relay towers just set up is far from enough, even in the In some sections, the signal will be interrupted and lost. "According to Miss Till's speed, we still have more than five hours to arrive..."

"I will launch another bombardment at noon," Philip interrupted Byron, "I think the magic barrier of Rock Fortress is... valuable, and the magicians accompanying the army think so too. I want to test it with artillery as much as possible." Take a look at the strength of that barrier, observe how it works, and if Master Kamel and Miss Jenny crack the secret of this giant shield, it may come in handy in our hands."

Byron looked at the serious Philip knight in surprise: "Since when are you still interested in magic?"

Knight Philip stood up straight, with a serious expression on his face: "I am only interested in the interests of the territory and the people."

"Let me tell you about people like you—if you become a mercenary, you may not be sold to the arena on the first day, and you will feel full of glory when you are sold," Knight Byron revealed. "It's embarrassing to work with such a stunned young man", followed by a strange smile, "But to be honest, there seem to be some people who are traditional knights like you like this-- Margaery Miss Ta is behind you."

After saying this, Byron quickly ended the communication, and Philip turned around after a short period of stupefaction, and saw the female knight Margarita from the Kant area standing behind him, carrying He looked at himself with an expression of admiration.

"In this era, there are not many people like you who still abide by the virtues of chivalry." The female knight said sincerely.

"This is my duty, Miss Margarita," Philip said with a straight face. "Can the large accelerator be fired before noon?"

"You'll hear their guns booming just in time."

……

At noon, when the smoke rose from the inner city of the Rock Fortress, Cecil's army finally started the second round of shelling.

Weird noises, ear-piercing screams, and thunderous explosions once again enveloped the defenders of the Rock Fortress. However, compared with the panic and chaos of the sudden bombing the day before, the bombing this time brought The chaos in the fort was obviously much smaller. After the first moment of instinctive nervousness, the noble soldiers in the fortress found that the powerful magic barrier still shrouded the entire city, and then they felt relieved.

Someone even dared to climb to the outer city wall, shouting and laughing in the direction of the Cecils.

The magic crystal cannonball exploded on the magic barrier outside the city wall, the deadly explosive power was completely blocked, and even the deafening loud noise was weakened a lot due to the interference of the barrier. Watching the excitement from a safe distance, but soon, someone who didn't know who started it, ran to the section of the city wall facing the bombardment, and watched the explosions explode in mid-air from a close distance.

Surprisingly, most of the people who did this were not the knights and soldiers of the Rock Fortress, but those southern nobles and their private soldiers who were frightened by the "explosion of sky fire" and were like bereaved dogs.

They seemed to be using it to show off their courage—or, rather, their fears from a month ago.

Ropeni Glenn stood on a watchtower far away from the city wall, looking indifferently at the southern knights and soldiers who were making ugly appearances on the city wall.

Compared with those coalition soldiers who were completely exhausted and captured by the Cecils in the escape after the war, the psychological trauma left by these noble soldiers who fled to the Rock Fortress early seems not serious enough...

But that's okay, their psychological trauma is coming.

The Viscount raised her head and looked to the southwest of the fortress.

The Whitewater River meanders on the plain, and on the surface of the river reflecting the sky, an abnormal wave is entering her line of sight.

Chapter 0438 Beam

When those southern knights and noble soldiers wantonly vented their accumulated nervousness and fear on the city wall for a month, Sir Maryland did not lose his ability to think in the same way as those southerners - even though he was at the banquet on the first day With a very optimistic and confident attitude, he announced that the magic barrier of the Rock Fortress had successfully broken the "Skyfire Myth" of the Cecils, and spread this confidence to everyone in the fortress, but after the Cecils launched the second During the first bombardment, he immediately called the chief mage advisor in the fortress.

The mage consultant was always aware of the situation of the magic barrier. In front of him, Sir Maryland did not hide the slightest: "Can the barrier really withstand that kind of attack?"

"Currently," the old mage with white beard and hair said cautiously, "if the Cecils really only have this little strength...then the fortress will be able to survive."

Maryland immediately heard the deep meaning in the old mage's words: "What do you mean?"

"The barrier is not as indestructible as it seems, general," the old mage replied, "The Cecilian's 'Skyfire' is more powerful than expected, it is indeed strong enough to shake the shield, if it is not for the magic barrier of the fortress to be self-repairing ability, and if there are intermittent interruptions in the attacks of the Cecils, our barriers will be continuously consumed—until the repair speed cannot keep up with the loss. And there is also a very disturbing situation..."

Sir Maryland's brows were tightly frowned. He looked around and confirmed that there were only his most trusted knight and the mage advisor in front of him in the room, and asked, "Master, please speak directly."

"I used the eyes of a mage to observe the magic formations set up by the Cecils. Only half of the large and small 'Skyfire Devices' are in operation..."

Only half running?

What is Cecil doing?

An unexplained sense of crisis surged into the heart of this high-level knight. He stood up, pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword, and almost immediately ordered to activate the backup mage tower in the inner city, transferring all the stored energy in the magic focus to the On the barrier, but before he could act, there was a sudden knock on the door of the room, and a messenger shouted anxiously from outside the door: "General! Emergency!"

The messenger soldier quickly got permission to enter the room. The soldier had a frightened expression on his face, and immediately said as soon as he entered the door: "General! Someone found the body of Viscount Carroll under the castle terrace! He seems to have lost his footing last night. Falling down the castle!"

"What? Carroll is dead?" Maryland's eyes widened in an instant, "Misstep...fall?!"

The uneasiness in his heart was quickly magnified. This shocking information did not affect his judgment, but made him intuitively realize that the Rock Fortress was in a huge crisis. However, before he could react, No. The letter soldiers arrived.

What the soldier brought was information from outside the fortress: "General! Two ships suddenly appeared on the White Water River! They bear Cecil's mark! And... they look very unusual!"

Sir Maryland came to the city wall at the fastest speed, and at this moment the two large ships that were going upstream along the Whitewater River had reached a place where they could be clearly seen even without the eyes of the mage.

They are indeed unusual - at least at this speed!

Sir Maryland stared intently at that direction—in the southwest of Rock Fortress, in the open area of ​​the plain, on the wide surface of the Whitewater River, an unnatural wave was going upstream. In this wave that violated the laws of nature, two strange-looking ships They were coming at a gallop, their shells were covered with metal cladding, and their decks were equipped with huge weird devices. Their power was obviously not normal waves rather than sails-in fact, they had no sails at all. Where the sails should have been, only pairs of symmetrically distributed white structures like "wings" can be seen. They may be able to face the wind, but they are definitely not things that bring power!

And above the two ships, the Cecil family's flag with the pattern of sword and plow was flying in the wind.

The southern knights and a few nobles on the city wall obviously also saw something on the river in the distance. Their strength was low, and perhaps they were not as clear as Sir Maryland, but they could also tell that it was an unusual ship, so they pointed out curiously. Give pointers and discuss the origins of those two ships.

The next moment, Sir Maryland's eyes widened.

The two ships began to decelerate, and the deceleration process was smooth and abnormal. During this process, the "wing-like structures" on both sides of them were being opened under the action of some kind of mechanism. There are dots of glow on the sky...

what is that?

……

On the deck of the first battleship "Aurora", the soldiers and magicians were busy, and voices of commands and reports were constantly coming from everywhere:

"The magic guide array has been deployed, and the energy is rising steadily!" "The power ridge is normal, and the magic nets of each layer have been connected!" "The mechanical platform in the deck area has been unlocked, and the angle of the main gun seat has been adjusted." "The technicians check the runes in the work area Status, report the situation!"

Gawain stood on the platform in the middle of the warship, watching the "magic arrays" standing on both sides of the ship unfold smoothly under the action of the mechanical linkage, and watching the magic runes of key equipment on the deck being lit up one by one, Listening to the passwords and reports coming from around one after another, the mood gradually became high, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit of emotion that didn't fit the current atmosphere—as expected, this style of painting didn't match the medieval battlefield at all...

Then he looked forward, at the huge weapon installed on the front of the deck.