As the most influential and widest coverage area in the entire Amn region, it is generally regarded by the people as the most honest and impartial law enforcement agency.
Although the Knights of the Burning Heart are very small in number, with less than 150 official members, and the rest are basically trainee knights or retainers, they have extremely high execution and efficiency.
As long as they discover something that may pose a huge threat to the people, they can gather a dozen paladins and thirty trainee members in a short time, and then cooperate with a small number of priests to launch a conquest against it.
In order to fulfill their oath to protect the weak and eliminate evil, many paladins spend 90% of their time in highly stressful work and battles throughout the year, often without a chance to visit home for several months.
Children, wife or husband.
In modern society, the nine-nine-six and the zero-seven are simply weak compared to their terrifying work intensity and attendant dangers.
After all, modern people can at least return to their residences after get off work, have a hot meal, and then lie on a soft bed and have a comfortable sleep.
But these paladins often camp in forests where wild beasts and monsters are frequent. If they are not lucky enough, they may have to risk death at any time by entering ruins and ancient dungeons for a short rest.
It is precisely because of the selfless dedication and dedication of these people that Ascaltra and its surrounding areas have been able to successfully survive one huge crisis after another, and continue to this day in a world filled with terrifying monsters and supernatural forces. p>
You can get a glimpse of this from the stone tablets in the hall of the Knights that are engraved with the names of heroes and victims.
From the moment they took the oath to join, many paladins were mentally prepared for their names to be engraved on the stone tablet at any time.
In fact, so far, not even one official member of the Order has survived to retire and die of natural causes.
Basically, they either died heroically in battle or their faith was shaken during the long-term mission, and eventually they went down the path of darkness and depravity.
After Zuo Si came to Ascatla, he immediately had a comprehensive understanding of the Knights of the Burning Heart.
Therefore, after taking power, he not only did not suppress or weaken the power of this paladin group, but also increased the allocation of funds and entrusted it with important responsibilities, giving the other party the authority to review and arrest the bureaucracy.
Even in many cases, the Knights often stand on the opposite side of politics.
Because the Knights of the Burning Heart are an important force in maintaining order, alleviating social conflicts, improving the overall moral level and even curbing corruption.
The most important thing is that their words and deeds are consistent, and they will never engage in any collusion or political conspiracy in private.
Although Zuo Si and these paladins have some differences in values and camp tendencies, the two sides can still maintain a close cooperative relationship in the general direction.
In particular, the authorization to examine and arrest officials was obviously impossible to obtain during the rule of the Six-member Council.
Because during the rule of the Six-person Council, Amn followed a typical combination of politics and business, and once developed in the direction of capitalization.
Anyone who knows something about the integration of politics and business and capitalization will understand that money and power trading and corruption are inevitable and must exist in this system.
After all, both business and capital need to gain political influence to ensure their personal and property safety and to protect further monopoly expansion.
If power cannot be bought with money, then capital will not be able to gain a sense of security, and may even be targeted by the bureaucracy that holds power, and eventually become a fat pig to be slaughtered.
Therefore, when the Six-person Council came to power, the Knights of the Burning Heart had no law enforcement power at all when it came to nobles and wealthy businessmen. Instead, they had to report it to the court or even the parliament for processing.
Not to mention the nobles, they don't even have a good way to deal with the Shadow Thieves, a criminal organization on the surface.
But now, the Knights of the Burning Heart not only have the power to investigate and arrest officials, but they can also arrest and judge those criminal shadow thieves without mercy.
This is undoubtedly a huge progress in judicial justice.
Not only has it greatly improved the social security environment, but it has also made it impossible for wealthy and powerful people to escape legal sanctions after committing crimes.
Moreover, with the promulgation of the Religious Management Law, the originally hostile churches in the city were constantly fighting each other, which often led to bloody conflicts and assassinations.
Those evil believers and priests who like to cause trouble no longer dare to easily carry out assassinations and instigate riots under the threat of this set of laws, otherwise they may be expelled or even encircled and suppressed by the army.
No god would be willing to give up this excellent missionary location that is increasingly becoming the largest city in Faerûn and may attract hundreds of thousands or even millions of people in the future.
Therefore, even though they knew that Emperor Zuo Si was an out-and-out tyrant, the Knights still recognized the legitimacy of his rule and felt that he was an excellent monarch and a politician with a long-term vision.
Although Grand Captain Witherland had just been reprimanded in person, he did not stop working passively because of it.
Quite the opposite!
After learning that there was an ancient evil lich hidden in the sewers of Askatra, he immediately summoned twelve experienced formal members with his old friend Sir Kedon, and at the same time sent a message to the temple of Tyr, the god of justice.
Asking for help.
After the latter obtained the specific information, he immediately sent four high-level priests without saying a word.
In this way, in less than an hour and a half, the expedition team was formed.
Different from the relatively loose and chaotic rule of the Six-person Council, the West Coast Empire pursues the ultimate order, so even the smelly sewers that no one usually goes to have complete maps.
The original part of the old city was discovered by the Masked Mage Guild through detecting magic and enchantments, while the new city drew the drawings directly before construction and then built them according to them.
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Therefore, the expedition team did not need to grope their way through the dark sewers like before. They went directly to the municipal department to get a backup copy of the map of the temple area, and easily found the location of the sarcophagus.
Looking at the eerie decorations and furnishings around him, as well as the spiral staircase leading deeper underground, a middle-aged paladin couldn't help but complain: "Damn it! I have lived in this city for almost forty years.
This is the first time I know that there are so many unknown places hidden in the sewers. Where do you think those stairs lead?"
"I don't know. Maybe after we resolve the crisis here, we can consider going down and taking a look."
Sir Kaidong smiled bitterly and shook his head.
He had always thought that the number of caves, ruins and tombs around Luskan in the North was outrageous enough.
But now it seems that the sewers in my hometown of Ascatra are no less generous.
"Don't talk about those useless things. Let's detect the coffin first."
Witherland turned around and glanced at the priest behind him.
The latter understood it and immediately raised the holy symbol in his hand and began to sing hymns in praise of the gods.
After a while, a golden light shot out from the holy symbol and shone directly on the lid of the sarcophagus.
Before anyone else had time to react, a thick fog exuding a black and cold atmosphere spewed out, instantly covering everything within a dozen meters around it.
The priest's face suddenly changed, and he immediately shouted: "It's the lich! He was alerted by the magic! Everyone is ready to fight!"
Instantly!
The paladins and other priests who were on guard one second began to perform various enhancement and protective magic spells the next second.
Especially the holy warriors with a high enough level have added the famous [Holy Sword Technique] to the weapons in their hands.
This is a four-ring magic that only paladins can master.
Although the level is not high, it can allow their weapons to instantly gain an enchantment level of 5, and cause extremely high additional damage to creatures of the evil camp.
In other words, as long as it is blessed with [Holy Sword Technique], even an ordinary steel weapon with a blank slate can instantly gain the lethality of a legendary or even divine weapon.
Moreover, weapons blessed by this spell will emit golden light and look extremely cool.
As for those who are not level enough and have not yet obtained the fourth-level divine spell position, they can only make do with the first-level [Blessed Weapon].
While everyone was preparing nervously, in the dark and cold fog, an undead man whose whole body had rotted and withered to the point where only a skeleton was left slowly pushed open the lid and crawled out of the sarcophagus. p>
He had obviously been sleeping for at least hundreds of years. After discovering the group of paladins and priests from the good camp in front of him, he immediately frowned and asked in a very ancient and jerky language: "Why do you want to disturb my sleep? Do you want to disturb my sleep?"
Is it to seize the golden skeleton and release Kangas?"
But unfortunately, no one present can understand this language that has been lost for a long time, not even the high-ranking priests.
On the contrary, Sancho, who was hiding under the spiral staircase and secretly observing the situation, had learned some ancient languages and understood what the lich was saying. He immediately lowered his voice and translated for his teammates behind him without looking back.
"What did this Kangas do? That he was sealed by two other lichs?"
Imoen asked with wide eyes and curiosity.
The boy shrugged his shoulders and replied: "Well... I don't know exactly what he did. The teacher didn't explain it clearly.
According to the results of the prophecy magic detection, it seems that a very ancient organization of spellcasters is involved.
Maybe it's revenge, maybe it's internal fighting, but no matter what, it doesn't stop us from defeating him.
Another thing that is basically certain is that this guy must be extremely evil and dangerous."
"You're right. It doesn't matter what Kangas did. What matters is that the master wants him to die."
When saying these words, Succubus Loli's eyes flashed with a red light, and the tail behind her butt kept shaking slightly from side to side.
Since there were no outsiders present, she had already removed the disguise of transformation magic, revealing her true face that had been transformed by divine power, divinity, demonic frost-forged dragon blood, and purgatory power.
Imoen quickly shook his head and corrected: "No, no, no, you didn't understand what I meant. I'm not saying that this demi-lich shouldn't die, I'm just simply interested in the story behind it. Don't you all like interesting stories?
?"
"Haha, when you kill these lichs and get their phylacteries, you can have them tell you what happened that year."
After saying that, Viconia whispered into the pink-haired girl's ear like a mischievous voice.
Her action instantly made Imoen shudder. He rubbed his ears desperately and quickly took two steps to the side in fear.
Perhaps due to the son of God's innate keen perception, Imon always felt that there was something wrong with the way the moon elf priest looked at him this year, and he often made sudden and overly intimate movements.
Just when the four-person team was ready to launch a surprise attack at any time, the two sides who had been tensely confronting each other for a long time finally started fighting because of the language barrier.
The first one to take action was the Lich.
Because he felt that these guys in front of him were too rude and didn't reply to him for a long time, so he unceremoniously started with an eight-ring enchantment spell [Law: Shock].
I saw a huge mysterious symbol suddenly appear out of thin air, and then exploded with a bang.
All the paladins and priests present who were not high enough in level and whose vitality was not strong enough were instantly struck by the invisible magic power, and their whole people fell into a state of sluggishness, unable to move, and unable to think.
The only thing they could do was to stand motionless, with the holes magnified to the extreme without exception.
"Stop him quickly! Don't let him chant any spells!"
Sir Kaidong roared and rushed forward first, wielding the golden sword with both hands to interrupt the opponent's spellcasting.
But the Lich had obviously been prepared for it, and instantly triggered the [Any Door] through the [Accidental Technique], teleporting directly to an unknown place on the spot.
While others were trying to locate themselves through the sound of chanting spells, the Lich had already completed the fourth level of [Advanced Invisibility], and also released phantom sound magic to confuse everyone's hearing.
Obviously, just from this smooth spellcasting, it is not difficult to tell that he has very rich combat experience and is not the kind of academic mage who stays in a tower or a secret base all day long to do research.
Under normal circumstances, when encountering a legendary spellcaster of this level, the paladin basically has no good solution.
But there are not only paladins present, there are also two high-level priests who are not affected by [Law: Shock].
One of them did not dare to hesitate at all and quickly released the eight-ring magic [Perception Position], while the other priest completed the anti-magic force field, which was also an eight-ring magic, at an extremely fast speed.
The former immediately locked the lich's position the moment the spell took effect, pointed at the dark corner not far away and shouted: "He's right there!"
"Leave it to me!"
The latter picked up the mace and rushed forward with a vigorous stride.
Due to the effect of the anti-magic force field, when he got close to the lich, the [Advanced Invisibility Technique] on the opponent's body immediately became ineffective. He was hit hard, and cracks like spider webs appeared on the hard skull. Obviously, if the anti-magic field had not also eliminated the strengthening and buffing spells blessed by the priest, it is estimated that this would have knocked half of the Lich out.
But it doesn’t matter.
After all, he can still fight hand-to-hand without the blessing of divine power, but a lich is basically useless if he can't cast spells.
Although the lich can also create significant negative energy damage and paralysis effects through touch, fools all know that the lich's touch radius is the length of its arm, which is much shorter than that of a person holding a weapon.
You may have to be hit several times before you even touch the other person.
Similarly, as the priest rushed forward, several paladins who could still move quickly followed up to surround the lich from all directions.
Seeing victory in sight, the members of the expedition team showed undisguised joy.
For them, being able to take down an extremely powerful Lich without any casualties is definitely a rare honor in their career.
But at the last moment, the lich suddenly opened his mouth and spit out a syllable.
The next second...
Boom!
The sarcophagus exploded without warning, and countless broken stone slabs and sharp stones flew in all directions.
Four or five paladins and priests who were too shocked to dodge were almost beaten to death or maimed on the spot.
Some had their entire heads forcibly smashed open, and their brains and eyeballs were mixed together and flowed all over the floor. Others died after sharp rocks were inserted into their eyes and their throats were slit.
Especially the priest, who had no protection at all in the anti-magic force field, was stabbed into his calf from behind by a sharp stone pillar that flew out sideways. He knelt on the ground and lost the ability to move on the spot.
All in all, the scene looked extremely bloody and violent.
The rest of the people were also more or less injured.
This sudden change not only caused disbelief to the members of the expedition team who were expected to win, but Sancho, who was hiding in the dark, was secretly glad that he did not rush up to confront him rashly.
With magic explosions and traps of this scale, he and Imoen would probably die immediately without any suspense given their small bodies.
When all the enemies were frightened by the damage caused by the sudden explosion of the sarcophagus, the Lich did not hesitate to stretch out his skeletal hand and pinch the priest's neck, releasing negative energy to kill him.
Instantly!
The antimagic field that contained his spellcasting disappeared.
"Not good!"
Sir Kaidong, who witnessed the death of his high-ranking priest, suddenly changed his expression. He endured the pain caused by his body being hit and pierced by stones, and he picked up his sword and wanted to rush forward to interrupt the chanting spell. p>
Unfortunately, it was too late.
Just when the two-handed giant sword with dazzling golden light in his hand was about to hit the opponent's bones, the Lich completed the nine-ring magic [Stop Time].
In an instant, the colorful world around us turned into gray and white.
The Lich used two points of light in his eyes to inspect the locations of the enemies around him, then walked to one of the points calmly and started chanting a spell.
When the spell is completed, an energy bursts out of the body instantly, forming a ring visible to the naked eye in the air.
However, due to the effect of time stopping, this magic ring did not continue to spread outwards, but only stayed in the state of being newly activated.
【Mordencan's Great Disintegration】!
The Lich obviously intends to use this "Big Bankruptcy Technique" that scares countless people, to directly eliminate the remaining strengthening and protective magic on the paladins and priests, as well as the dangerous weapons and equipment in their hands.
After completing a nine-level spell, he obviously still had some time left, so he quickly released another nine-level spell [Rainbow Rainstorm].
At the moment when the spell takes effect, time stops and ends.
First, the energy ring formed by the great disintegration spread instantly, directly stripping away the enhancement and protective magic of the surrounding paladins and priests who were still able to move.
The magic equipment in the hands and bodies of some people also completely lost their effect.
The most typical example is that when Sir Kaidong's sword hit the Lich, it made a crisp sound like metal and then bounced away on the spot, leaving not even a white mark.
Obviously, without the [Holy Sword Skill] and the enchantment level of magic weapons, he would not be able to pose even the slightest threat to the powerful undead spellcaster in front of him.
What's even worse is that when [Rainbow Rainstorm] takes effect, the entire surrounding large area will be shrouded in the effect of rainbow light spells.
You must know that different magic effects will be produced based on the color itself, which is already quite scary for a team without a mage.
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However, [Rainbow Rainstorm] is different from other rainbow-type spells that are fixed after taking effect. It will also continuously change its color and affected area.
This means that even if you stand still, you may be shrouded in constantly changing rainbow lights of various colors, which will subsequently produce a series of effects such as damage with different energy attributes, immobilization, blindness, petrification, etc.<
/p>
The Lich, on the other hand, can easily swim in this rainbow light by virtue of its immunity characteristics of undead creatures and some energy damage protection spells, and even use short-distance teleportation to widen the distance and manipulate the crusade team at its fingertips.
Up.
Not only can he throw fireballs, lightning, magic missiles, death clouds, negative energy rays and other damaging magic from a long distance, but he can also use grease magic, spider web magic, black tentacles, immobilization and other movement-limiting magic to make opponents move.
No.
Anyway, you can play however you want, without giving you the slightest chance to get close to you.
There is no doubt that this ancient legendary lich vividly demonstrates how high-level spellcasters should cast spells and fight when facing enemies who restrain themselves.
Although those high-level priests all possess powerful magical arts such as [Sunfire Explosion] and [Destruction Weapon] that can instantly destroy undead creatures, the Paladin's [Holy Sword Technique] can also cause astonishing damage.
But he relies on the flexibility and changeability of arcane magic, so that the other party cannot take advantage of his own advantages and can only be led by the nose.
Wait until the time is right to reverse the disadvantage by detonating the sarcophagus, and finally win the victory with the sufficient casting time obtained by [Time Stop].
It can be said that the entire battle process is linked to each other, bringing the mage's unique precision calculation and prediction to the extreme.
Hiding under the stairs and watching this wonderful play from beginning to end, Sancho and Imoen only felt that their eyes were opened. It turns out that arcane magic can be played like this.
As more and more members of the expedition team fell into coma, shock and suspended animation due to serious injuries, Sancho realized that it was his turn to take action.
I saw him first exchanging glances with the other three teammates, and then immediately used the super magic skill - Silent Spell, to bless himself with several protective spells, and then used a highly effective three-ring spell [Advanced Strike against the Undead]
】Kicked off the raid.
Since the Lich was busy finishing up the dying team, he didn't expect that there would be another wave of enemies hidden under the spiral staircase behind.
As a result, he was hit by positive energy on the spot, and half of his body was shattered with a bang.
You must know that although the level of [Advanced Combat Undead] is only three levels, the damage effect will continue to increase as the casting level increases (each casting level causes 1D8 damage).
Moreover, Sancho also used a metamagic skill - spell maximum effectiveness, which means that the spell will automatically reach the theoretical damage limit.
With his current spellcasting level, as long as the undead creature has no magic resistance, blessing, absorption, or rebound magic, even the legendary lich will lose half of its life in an instant.
"Get on the magic missile! Don't give him any chance to concentrate on casting spells!"
Sancho succeeded in the sneak attack and shouted at the girl behind him without looking back.
"Understood!"
Imoen had already cooperated with this "little brother" more than once in previous adventures, and was already familiar with it, and completed the release of a magic missile with fast movements.
In the blink of an eye, several glowing force field missiles were shot out from the fingertips, hitting the Lich, destroying his attempt to add protective spells to himself.
Obviously, since the enemies he faced just now were all paladins and priests, the Lich did not give himself any protective magic such as shielding, spell absorption and rebound, so he suffered a big loss at the moment of the confrontation. p>
Just when he was about to give some color to the two little ones in front of him, he suddenly found that he couldn't make a sound when he opened his mouth, let alone chant a spell.
Just tenths of a second later, Viconia left the protection of the invisibility magic, jumped out of the darkness, swung 4's skull-crushing mace, and struck a critical blow.
The Lich's skull shattered on the spot, and half of it flew out.
But what is incredible is that such a violent beating did not make even the slightest sound from beginning to end.
Second-ring magic [Silence]?
The lich, who has extremely rich combat experience, understood what happened in an instant.
This insidious and cunning priest first blessed himself with the [Silence Technique], then approached him under the cover of the [Invisibility Technique] released by his teammates, and finally jumped out to launch a surprise attack.
Since [Silence] can target people and affect a six-meter radius around them, its effect can naturally move with the movement of people.
After figuring out the cause and effect, the Lich immediately used the super-magic skill and instant spell to directly create the five-ring [Protective Palm] in the Bigby series, and pushed it out more than ten meters away to keep the silence area away from him.<
/p>
Just when he was about to turn around and continue to deal with Sancho and Imo, the succubus Loli, who had been hiding for a long time, finally launched a fatal sneak attack that had been brewing for a long time.
Martial skills - increased abilities!
Martial Arts - Water Acceleration!
Martial Arts——Blast Break!
Martial Arts——Instant Reflection!
Martial Arts——Four-light Continuous Slash!
The Lich, who was busy thinking about how to carry out the next spell duel, did not expect that there were two mages and a priest at the scene, but the most deadly attack was left to a melee combatant.
In addition, the speed of Succubus Loli was so fast that it only took 0.01 seconds to complete the sprint, leaving no even a tiny bit of reaction time.
Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!
Along with several rays of cold light produced by the high-speed swing of the decapitating sword flashed in the air, the Lich's body suddenly shattered with a bang without warning, turning into bone fragments of different sizes and flying everywhere.
But even so, this legendary lich is still not dead, and the eye sockets of the half-broken skull that fell to the ground are still flashing with eerie red dots.
But just a second later, Atona relied on her martial arts skills—instant reflexes to recover her sprint and slashes, which caused an imbalance in her center of gravity. She raised her foot and stepped on it without hesitation.
Katcha!
The broken skull cracked on the spot, and the Lich was declared temporarily dead.
"Well done!"
Sancho excitedly extended his thumb towards Succubus Loli.
But the latter obviously didn't want to talk to him and just rolled his eyes to express his disdain.
As the combat force in this four-person team, Atona often conducts actual combat training with opponents of the same level as Flame Dragon Knight Davian and Nature God Attendant Nimedona, and her vision has long been higher than others.
No matter how many levels, I don’t think there is anything worthwhile to be happy about defeating a lich after using so many machinations and tricks.
However, Sancho obviously didn't care about Succubus Loli's reaction. He happily ran to the exploding coffin and found part of Kangas' golden skeleton under a stone slab.
Although the power of the previous explosion was so shocking, this skeleton was protected by powerful magical power without even a scratch.
"Wow! It's...really made of gold? So much gold should be worth a lot of money, right?"
Imoen came closer and stared at the golden skeleton with gleaming eyes.
The embarrassment of having no money when she escaped from the Tower of Dulag turned her into a money addict. Now that she suddenly sees so much gold, she will inevitably have some greedy thoughts.
You must know that if all the bones in an adult's body were replaced with gold, the weight of the gold would be as high as more than 200 kilograms.
The weight of a standard gold coin is usually between nine and ten grams, of which gold may only account for 70% to 60% of the total weight.
This shows how valuable this golden skeleton of Kangers is.
Even if it is just sold as precious metals, it is still a huge wealth that can make countless people jealous.
Sancho didn't even have enough strength to pick it up from the ground, so he could only respond with a wry smile: "It's more than valuable.
If we complete the task assigned by the teacher, we can buy many high-level magic items and equipment just by selling this thing.
Don't just stand there stupidly, come and help me put the golden skeleton into the dimensional bag."
"Hehe! No problem!"
When Edmond heard that he could make a fortune, he suddenly became very excited.
The two of them used all their strength to move the golden skeleton into a large dimensional bag.
After finishing all this, the girl sat down on the ground, glanced at the dead or dying paladins and priests, and asked breathlessly: "What should they do? Are they still here and don't care?"
Sancho obviously hesitated for a moment and quickly replied: "They have done us a big favor anyway, let's give them a little treatment.
Viconia, cast a healing spell on each of the priests and paladins who are still alive.
As for the dead, after the injured wake up, they will naturally bring their bodies back for resurrection."
As a dark elf and a priest of the evil camp, Viconia undoubtedly has trouble dealing with these paladins and priests of good gods.
But due to the influence of Zuo Si's lawful evil, she was no longer as cynical as before, and after complaining a few words, she still chose to treat the injured.
Finally, before the expedition team woke up, Sancho led the team on the road back to the Mage Tower, intending to study the golden skeleton first.
As soon as they left along the sewer, Zuo Si himself appeared out of thin air at the messy battle scene. He carefully dug out a gem emitting dark blue light from the inside of a sarcophagus, and sighed slightly: "Oh - it's still too much."
He is young and lacks experience.
They didn't even search the sarcophagus fragments carefully, and missed the lich's phylactery.
As a lich who has been sleeping for hundreds of years to take care of sealed items, how could he place the phylactery too far away from him?
I will reluctantly wipe your butt a little bit.
Otherwise, when this lich is resurrected, he will definitely take revenge at all costs."
You don't need to ask to know that Zuo Si has always witnessed the previous battle, but he did not interfere in any way.
But when he saw that his disciple had missed the Lich's life box that was so close to Chi Chi, he couldn't help himself and ran over to clean up the mess.
In the next few minutes, he also resurrected the paladins and priests who were killed by the lich one by one on the ground.
Witherland, the grand leader of the Knights of the Burning Heart, didn't even realize that he was being used by a boy. He thought it was the emperor himself who came to deal with the terrible evil lich and saved everyone in the crusade. He immediately bent down to express his gratitude.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Zuo Si didn't bother to explain anything to these stubborn guys, so he just made some casual remarks and got over.
……
At the same time, as three giant military airships and dragon knights passed through more and more towns and villages in the sky and were seen by countless people, this blockbuster news was quickly hidden by other forces and spies in the empire.
and intelligence personnel through magic.
In just one or two hours, various city-states in the North that have close cooperative relations with the Harpers Alliance, as well as neighboring countries such as Tumis and Cormyr, have received the exact news.
The red-robed mages who have been paying attention to the trends of the West Coast Empire immediately held a chief meeting chaired by Sazastan.
No one would be naive enough to think that these terrifying war machines and the legions of dragon knights flying in the sky left Ascaltra and headed east just to show off their force.
In addition, some of the masterminds behind the scenes knew exactly what they had done, so the independent city-states and countries along the coast of Falling Star Sea suddenly fell into an extremely tense state.
The tyrant of the Moon Sea, Fuzor Chambery, who had just returned to Zhentil Castle, was keenly aware of this opportunity and launched a war of conquest against the lands surrounding the Moon Sea without stopping.
The reason is very simple!
Under the terrifying force of the West Coast Empire and Emperor Zuo Si, no force dared to give up the defense of the mainland and send troops to interfere with his military operations at this time.
Even if those in power wanted to, the local people would not agree.
Tumis, which borders the empire on land to the east, responded almost immediately. While urgently forming and mobilizing troops for defense, it also sent envoys to ask what was going on.
Similarly, the Kingdom of Cormyr, which was only separated from the Empire by the Bay of Dragon Lake, was also taken aback.
Fortunately, Cormier is a member of the Trade Alliance, so he quickly found out the truth through intelligence channels.
At this moment, King Yasan IV was sitting on the throne, looking at the message sent by the royal chief mage, with a wry smile on his face: "Install artillery on the airship as an air battleship, and then equip it with dragon knights.
Convoy and combat?
This is truly a wild imagination and creativity.
What a big deal!
It is estimated that only Soth can do this in Faerûn.
The red-robed mages of Ser and the rulers of the Mulhorand Empire have finally hit the wall this time.
It is foreseeable that they will pay a heavy price for their overestimating provocation.
It would be great if we in Cormyr could also have an airship for military use.
This way, I don’t have to chase those monsters that are running around causing destruction.”
"So...the purpose of the West Coast Empire this time is to punish Sel and Mulhorand for creating rumors and instigating rebellion in their own territory?" Princess Tenarasta asked softly.
Assan IV nodded slightly: "Yes, at least this is the reason used externally.
And it’s not just a blockade.
They are also preparing to send notices to all city-states, ship owners, pirates and even dragons in the entire Starfall Sea.
During the blockade, anyone can legally plunder the ships of the above two countries, and then take the loot to the imperial port on the Dragon Coast for sale.
I have to say that being an enemy of Soth is indeed a terrible thing.
Because he passed this decree and directly attracted a large number of originally neutral forces to his side, and together they robbed the two countries of Sayre and Mulhorand.
Just watch, a good show is about to take place in the Falling Star Sea."
Tainarasta thought for a moment, and immediately sighed with deep approval: "Yes, it is indeed scary.
I have read about the young emperor's experiences after coming to Faerûn.
It was found that he rarely faced the enemy alone.
Instead, he will always recruit a large number of allies to act with him.
Even if he already firmly holds an overwhelming advantage, there will be no exception."
Assan IV touched the beard on his chin and said in an uncertain tone: "Maybe this is the difference in the natural way of thinking between warriors and mages.
In my opinion, South is often too cautious and can even be described as timid.
But fortunately, we are now an out-and-out ally with him.
Maybe we will become closer to you because of your sister Yalusel in the future."
"Speaking of this matter, I haven't had time to ask yet.
Are you sure Yalusel really fell in love with him?
You know, I have never seen her show off to any man since I was a child.
Those suitors who were beaten until their noses were bruised and swollen are the best examples.
To be honest, I can't imagine what she would be like in love.
Will she still wear armor or men's clothes all day long because she dislikes the trouble and has difficulty moving?"
Tainarasta's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Have you seen Yalusel?
?Approach a man wearing makeup, a beautiful skirt and high heels?
Have you ever seen her blushing, nervous and shy?
I saw it all the last time I went to the coronation.
There is no doubt that she has found a man who makes her heart beat and is willing to give everything.
And I have to admit that Soos does have some unique and unique charm.
Especially when he explains a certain point of view, he is always so clear-cut and logical, making people involuntarily feel a sense of identity.
So I think it might not be a bad thing for Yalusel to stay in a foreign country.
At least we can avoid all kinds of conspiracies and secret arrows in the Kingdom of Cormyr."
Assan IV did not hide anything and told all the changes that had happened to his little daughter.
Tainarasta's mouth opened wide in shock. It took several minutes to digest the information. She couldn't help but exclaimed: "Unbelievable! I thought the person who could conquer Yalusel in the future would be someone over two meters tall.
He is a strong man with strong muscles all over his body and can defeat her in a battle."
"Pfft hahaha!
It's surprising, isn't it?
My jaw almost dropped at that time.
Okay, let’s stop talking about her.
Now tell me how much available funds there are in the treasury.
This time I must send troops to kill all those damn monsters without leaving a single one behind!"
As the last word blurted out, this legendary king exuded a terrifying aura.
"Excluding the cost of appeasing the people and helping them survive the winter, and counting the loans from the Trade Alliance, we now have almost 600,000 gold coins that can be used at any time."
Tainarasta quickly gave an exact number.
It has to be said that the low-interest loans from the Trade Alliance have greatly alleviated the urgent needs of the Kingdom of Cormyr.
Otherwise, just relocating those civilians who suffered unreasonable disasters would be enough to give Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess a headache.
"Very good! With this money, I can recruit troops boldly and confidently."
A look of satisfaction appeared on Assan IV's face.
He did not realize at all that the turmoil within the Kingdom of Cormyr was not just as simple as the invasion of monsters, but that there were two masterminds behind the scenes who were doing things secretly...