Chapter 277 The Prince of Shadows
When the goddess Shar casts the stars in the sky, the people of the world should put on the cloak of night.
Compared to the past, the day was a little colder, and the night was also chilly to the bone.
Inside the Shadow Temple in the floating city of Sacros.
In the almost complete darkness, in the faint firelight of the brazier that was almost suffocating, the first three warriors fearlessly gave their lives to the Lost Lady, but the faith of the fourth warrior was not firm.
In the shrouded shadow, his lungs desperately yearned for air, and his body struggled with it.
The great prince of the City of Ghosts and the high priest of the Lost Lady, Revalan Tanshur, stood beside the cold altar. A bone-piercing shadow energy surged between his slender fingers, tightening his grip. The head of a warrior lying on the altar.
No matter how hard he tried to breathe, shadow energy continued to pour into his body.
"Be brave." Revalan said in a low voice, "We come from the shadows and will eventually return to the shadows. Let go of your body and mind, welcome the blessings of the goddess, and let the power of the shadows fill your body. Whole body, integrated into your soul, the dead will not die, they will rise again, never fall silent, don’t resist anymore.”
However, I don’t know if this warrior is buried in the wave of shadows and cannot hear the sound, or if he has already. Completely abandoning his faith, he kicked and punched wildly.
Four heavily armed dark guards arrived quickly, held down his limbs, and fixed him securely on the altar.
"The Great Goddess Shar." High Priest Revalan pulled out the razor-sharp wheel blade from his belt, held the wheel blade with one hand, and stretched his other hand towards the sky above the temple, using A voice as low as the night prayed: "Let your servant be reborn from the darkness like you, give him the blessing of shadow, give him the power of darkness, give him the power of the dead..."
A stream of blood Splashing, the sharp blade sliced open the warrior's chest, revealing his trembling heart.
It's all over.
As the gurgling blood seeped into the interior of the altar, the shadow energy around the warrior slowly converged into the beating heart.
His limbs no longer moved, and his pale skin was gradually transformed into a color like darkness as the shadows eroded him.
Revalan gave an order, and the four priests guarding him grabbed the limbs of the warrior's corpse and lifted it away from the altar.
The priests gathered around the dead man and began to pray.
A stream of shadow energy symbolizing the vitality of life was injected into the corpse. As the blood-red heart in the chest continued to beat, the wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the darkness, the dead soldier slowly opened his eyes. His light red eyes were blank and full of fear.
Another person reborn in the shadows, the ghost prince Revalan nodded with satisfaction, thinking to himself.
In the floating city of Sultanza, every priest who serves the goddess will fail in the ritual of transforming the ghosts, even the arcane ritual performed by High King Telamant is no exception.
But he, Revalan Tenshul, High Priest of the Lost Lady and leader of the Hall of Shadows, has never failed.
Because he is the 'prophet' of the Lost Lady and the spiritual leader of the City of Shadows. He has traveled through the shadow palace of the goddess and spread the glory there to everyone in the city of Sultanza.
"Get up." Revalan said to the successfully transformed ghost warrior, "You have accepted the blessing of the shadow and returned to us. The dead will not die."
"It will rise again!" The Ghost Warrior stood up and knelt on one knee, "Never be silent..."
Every word he squeezed out of his mouth, there was pain in his eyes.
Is this a kind of preservation of life or a mourning for the deceased? Revalan could not remember clearly for a long time. He only knew that this was the law of the world: everything was for the sake of the Lost Lady.
That’s all.
"From today on, you will belong to the gods." He told the reborn ghost warrior.
Four ghost warriors gathered over, each giving him a punch and a hug as a gift for joining.
Someone put on the dark armor of the Dark Guard for him, and someone else handed him a dark two-handed giant sword.
"From today on, you will belong to the darkness, and the darkness will protect all your secrets and traces, making you fearless." Revalan said to him, "We pray that you will wave the weapons in your hands fiercely , bravely faced the Lost Lady’s old enemy.”
The ceremony ended.
He came to the hall of the Lord's Mansion in Sacros City to receive the envoy from Sembia.
They are the people of Mirabetta, the ruler of the Kingdom of Sambia. They have formed an alliance with the City of Shadows and devoted all their efforts to support the reconstruction of the floating city of Sacross.
In the Kingdom of Sambia, money does not respect national boundaries. As long as businessmen can make money, they don't care who the ruler is. The City of Shadows does not care who pays taxes.
After all, a dead businessman can neither make money nor pay taxes.
"Sir, have you heard?" Revalan had just entered the hall, and a Sambian military adjutant, sweating profusely, squeezed through the people at the table and said breathlessly. :
"The messenger from the other side of the battlefield is back! We won! We won the battle! We won the battle! Today belongs to us, ours! We defeated the enemy. We defeated them to a pulp!"< br>
"Quiet!" Revalan frowned and said coldly, "You made my head almost split with your noise. You defeated the enemy. The battlefield and victory belong to you. It's amazing."
Sambia The messengers fell silent and looked at the Prince of Shadows in surprise.
“Are you unhappy, my lord?” One of the envoys asked tentatively, “After taking down the High Valley Fort in Thunder Peak, we can directly invade the eastern region of the Kingdom of Cormyr.”
"Happy, but I want to celebrate quietly." Revalan said lightly.
The messengers fell silent and looked at each other.
Like a pack of puppies, the Prince of Shadows thought, a bunch of megalomaniacs blinded by victory.
He was not surprised by this victory, because this was a war without any suspense.
Besieging a small border town of Sambia rebels, in addition to Sambia's 5,000 regular troops, there were also 100 ghost mages and 300 ghost warriors to assist.
In such a level of war, they are still overjoyed, shouting, slapping their thighs with their scepters, and celebrating their victory with wine... It's amazing!
He suddenly reached out his hand, gathered the maps and documents on the table, then raised his head and looked around.
"Listen carefully." The Prince of Shadows said with cold words, "I want to issue new instructions."
The envoys of Sambia stood up straight in anticipation.
"Each of you," he said to these envoys, "have heard the speech delivered by your female commander, but I want to point out that these words do not apply to the current situation. You You must also carry out my orders.”
“Give war to the castle and peace to the village. This is what your female commander Mirabetta said to her commanders. You also know this principle. "The Prince of Shadows added:
"You have learned it in military training, but this principle only applies to today. From tomorrow on, you must forget it. From tomorrow on, we must abide by another completely different principle. This principle will also be our war slogan in the future. Convey this slogan and my order to your commander-in-chief: leave no one alive, no plant or tree, we will leave scorched earth behind us, starting from tomorrow , we are going to cross the armistice line with the Kingdom of Cormyr and reduce the entire kingdom to ashes.”
He cleared his throat loudly and continued, "Before the soldiers leave the scorched earth behind, you have to transport everything in this land as much as possible, as long as it is valuable wealth, anything will do, mines and mineral deposits, coins, Valuables, works of art..."
Watching the envoy from Sembia leave, the Prince of Shadows sat alone in the hall, filling himself a glass of wine.
While sipping the wine in his glass, he was thinking about his next plan.
The whole process of conquering the Kingdom of Sambia and allowing the floating city of Sacros to successfully fly in the sky was smoother than he imagined.
But when he thought of Miss Lost's next plan, he couldn't help but frown.
In the goddess's plan, two cities had to be sacrificed: Odulin, the capital of Sembia, and Tifanton, the city of Cormyr.
Recalling the defeat against the Kingdom of Cormyr, Revalan hated Hajhorna, the Hand of the High King, with deep hatred.
At this moment, the dark shadow twisted.
The Ghost Prince's expression changed, and he immediately put down his wine glass and asked into the air, "What news is coming from Susar City."
As soon as he finished speaking, a man wearing dark black armor The young warrior appeared before him. His appearance was as sharp as a sharp knife, and his deep black eyes seemed to always have a coldness in them.
Yada Tanshur, the second prince of the City of Ghosts, is the supreme commander of the Dark Knights and Black Guards in the Lost Temple, and the most effective assistant to the eldest prince Revalan.
“After the High King and Larok entered the Realm of the Demonic Network from the Twisted Tower in Shadow Valley, they have not returned to Sultansar until now.” The second prince Yada reported the situation to him.
Revalan nodded thoughtfully.
In the Lost Lady's plan, the Twisted Tower in Shadow Valley is also a crucial location, because it is the only place that can lead to the Realm of the Weave through the material plane.
As long as they complete the ceremony in Guangze, the High King can join forces with Larok to tear open a scar in Mystra's magic web, and then let the shadow magic web gradually replace it.
“I also have news about Hadjhorna.” Yadah’s words shocked Revalan, and he quickly asked, “Where is he?”
As the person in charge of Cormyr, Hajhorna not only failed to make any progress in his mission, but even the temple he secretly set up in Tiffanyton was uprooted by the city governor, almost ruining the Lost Lady's plan.
This made him have a murderous intention towards the hand of the Supreme King, thinking about how to make him disappear from this world forever like a secret.
“According to the news from Sultanza, Hajhorna has defected.” Yada said, “According to reliable intelligence, he went to the elves’ Cormanthor, and with him, And Severin, the leader of the Dragon Cult.”
Cormanso?
The Prince of Shadows frowned. The various forces in Cormanthor were intertwined. At this critical moment, it was not the time for them to intervene.
"There will be a chance." A sneer appeared at the corner of Revalan's mouth.
Hajhorna defected, and Vatik was killed in the battle to stop Dove Hawkhand and his wife. He felt that everything was moving in the direction of his ideal.
As long as he can complete the repairs of the floating city of Sacros and establish a complete foothold in the Kingdom of Sambia, he will definitely be able to establish a Kingdom of Shadows that is strong enough to resist the Supreme King.
However, the prerequisite for all this is to capture Tiffanytown.
Thinking of this, he asked Yada again, "What's happening in the Misty Valley?"
The Misty Valley not only gathered the two electors of the Magic Goddess, but also the lord of Mokou Town. Arrive here.
Compared to the Chosen Storm and Xinbu of the Goddess of Magic, the one that Revalan feared the most was actually the weakest Brian, the newly enthroned Lord Protector of the Kingdom of Cormyr.
From the moment he took Brian seriously, he had already thoroughly investigated the opponent's details through the Zhentarim's dark intelligence network, the drow's spider web, and the intelligence system of the City of Shadows.
After reading the detailed information about Brian, anyone involved, including himself, found it unbelievable. This is simply a legendary story.
A slave captured by the Twilight Merchant not only successfully escaped from the city ruled by the dark elves, but also experienced the riots of many demon lords in the dark realm.
Finally, he returned to the surface unharmed, and captured Mokou Town as quickly as possible, and with the help of various forces, he defeated Hajihorna, who underestimated the enemy.
It wasn't until Revalan began to take Brian seriously that he discovered that the mage lord of Mokou Town, a descendant of Nese from the Magic Kingdom of Halua, had gradually become the person he was now. The biggest threat.
What frightened him most was that the wizard tower built by Brian actually controlled the magic pulse cannon from the Nether Empire period.
As a high-ranking priest of the Lost Lady and a descendant of the Netherese, Revalan is well aware of the terror of the magic pulse cannon, which is the fundamental reason why he has not dared to attack Mokou Town.
In his plan, only after the floating city of Sacross is repaired, will he start preparing to launch a full-scale attack on the Kingdom of Cormyr.
And this day is not far away for him.
This is also the fundamental reason why he let Sambia's army take the lead in invading Cormyr.
So, in order to prevent any mistakes in his plan, he must know the recent movements of the chosen people of the Goddess of Magic in the Misty Valley area.
He would never allow this group of troublemakers to cause trouble behind his back.
"The main purpose of my coming here is to report to you the news about the Misty Valley." Yada said solemnly.
Seeing the other party's expression, Revalan knew that this group of voters had already begun to take action, which made him secretly guess what role Brian played among this group of voters.
After all, it is still difficult for him to understand how this mage from Halrua instigated the rebellion of Desude who remained neutral.
What role does his youngest brother Brenas play in it? Why has he not heard any news about Brenas so far?
Among Revalan's many brothers, the one he fears the most is Breenas, and he also regards him as one of the obstacles that hinders him from becoming the Lord of Shadows.
But there has been no news about the little prince so far, which makes him hesitate to put his plan against the High King into action.
“After receiving the assistance of the Tifantun army, the defenders of the Misty Valley, led by Mesema, the leader of the Silver Knights, and Azara, the ranger of Melikai, are counterattacking other occupied areas in the valley. "Second Prince Yada said:
"The troops from Scar Valley, Feather Valley and Suizi Valley have already begun to respond to the army in Misty Valley. It is probably only a matter of time before the entire valley falls."
"Didn't the female commander send troops to support?" Revalan frowned and asked.
There are three main routes for him to choose from in occupying the Kingdom of Cormyr, including attacking Tiffanydon from the valley, attacking Thunderstone Castle via Thunder Peak, and the most difficult route, Mokou Town.
In his next plan, he will let Sambia's army attack from the valley and Thunder Peak respectively to attract the attention of the Cormyrs, while he will drive the repaired floating city and descend. Arrive at Mokou Town.
As long as Mokou Town, the bridgehead guarding the Cormyr border, is captured.
Next, when he has a retreat, whether it is Arabey City or Susal, he can do it with ease.
In this case, the entire valley must be in their hands.
After all, there is absolutely no room for error when it comes to Tifanton’s sacrifice.
“After the female commander learned the news, she immediately sent reinforcements.” Yada pulled out a chair and sat next to Revalan, “But their army was defeated by the mad witch Xinbu on her own. "
"The female commander is planning to send her several legendary warriors to deal with Xinbu," Revalan said, "Is that so?"
"That's right." Yada replied, "If we can't solve Xinbu, we won't be able to support the land we occupy."
"The Storm Queen of Aglalon suddenly made such a high profile at this time "I'm afraid it's not as simple as massacring the army." Revalan thought for a moment and said to Yada, "I suspect they have other purposes."
"No matter what their purpose is." Yada frowned and said, "Right now, Xinbu is indeed our most difficult enemy. If we don't deal with it, it will seriously hinder our next plan."
"Of course I know this." The Prince of Shadows calmly filled Yada's and his own wine glasses, handed them to him, and said, "Ever since we dealt with Elminster, I have been on guard against Ah Da. The wizard queen of Golaron is finally useful."
"How do you plan to deal with her?" Yada took the wine glass and asked curiously.
“Do you still remember how the capital of Sembia fell?” Revalan said before Yada could ask, “I will entertain you well together with ‘Black Veil’ Illyriel. This crazy witch."
"That's it, it seems that you have been prepared for a long time." A surprised expression appeared on Yada's sharp face.
"Actually, what I'm most worried about is that this crazy witch comes to Sacros in a rage." Revalan said, "If she really attacks the floating city, our progress in repairing the floating city is likely to be delayed indefinitely."
“Judging from the current situation.” He analyzed to Yada: “They should want Xinbu to attract our attention, and then lurk inside Sacross. After all, this kind of thing , but what the Harpers are best at."
"This is their only chance. This is the most effective and deadly method."
The Ghost Prince said confidently, "Mattik. He and Lamolek have completed the weaving of the Mystery Chain in the Floating City, and their Ghost Tower is now functioning normally. There is not much time left for them to counterattack."
"In fact, I have been waiting all this time. Their arrival." He made the final addition, "Lamolek will also let them experience the power of the magic pulse cannon."
…………
(End of this chapter)