Chapter 287 287. The mage’s background, the disintegrating locusts
Royal Capital of Norland, Mage Association.
President Estner was stunned on the spot after seeing the news coming from Hanjiao Island.
"Ask the king to see him..."
The poor president suddenly felt a splitting headache.
But the next second he saw the "Circle of Knowledge" emblem representing the Town of Stars under the paper.
Okay, that's okay.
The Mage Association in Qunxing Town targets top forces such as the Church of the United Seven Gods, the Palace of Wisdom of the Elven Court, and the Mountain Barrier of the Dwarves.
It is equivalent to the only spokesperson of the Star Council in this world.
Let alone asking the king of a kingdom to meet them, even if the king is asked to serve tea and water, he can only accept it and has to smile with him.
But such an authorization is not easy to obtain, let alone a blank authorization, which means that you must fully cooperate with whatever is written on it.
"How did Croya get it?"
Estner was confused, but he rushed to the palace in person without wasting too much time.
He keenly felt that something might happen, and his heartbeat accelerated.
The royal palace of the Norland Kingdom can only be considered magnificent, but the Baili Palace that entertains foreign guests is quite luxurious, and every part reveals the unique style and sophistication of the nobility.
The entire Baili Palace is made of fish-patterned stone from the dwarves, which is worth one magic crystal per meter. This stone emits a gentle and refreshing light.
There are many paintings by famous elf artists hanging on the walls, and the tables and chairs are decorated to highlight the splendor.
Even the cup is a luxury model decorated with silver rose flowers - a product exported by the elves.
The price of each cup is enough for a civilian family to live a happy life for three years.
Anyway, every time he comes here, Estner will lament that sometimes nobles are quite good at playing. If he gets these fish-patterned stones, he will definitely use them as research materials.
He sat here and waited for a while.
King Norante, who had just reached middle age, strode over quickly, wearing a cape made of bearskin. He was two meters tall.
Although his height looks like a humanoid monster, the king is actually quite tough and handsome, with well-proportioned muscles and a spirit as good as that of a young man. He is the type who can attract a group of ladies and young ladies with his face.
He saw Estner sitting over there and smiled heartily:
"President of the Magic Association, there must be no good news for you coming here. Did the lord of the north, Duke Hanjiao of the kingdom, ask you to come?"
Estner also smiled back: "Mage Croya is the lord of our Mage Association, and the Duke did not ask for the noble gold of the Heraldry Academy."
King Norant shook his head: "But this appointment was issued by the royal family after all. He is the Duke of the North and the Grand Duke of the Kingdom of Norant!"
What the two are arguing about now is actually who is closer to Croya.
Speaking of which, in terms of Kroya's apparent strength as a sixth-level mage, to be honest, it's still a little behind.
But he does have many friends, not only Prince Mifein is willing to be his subordinate, but he also has friendship with the elves and mermaids.
What's more, he has opened so many shops and carried out infrastructure work, all of which are woven into a network of relationships.
If these are taken into account, Croya cannot be regarded as a "sixth-level mage". He is already independent enough, even surpassing the power of the God's Favorite in the Gray Desert.
The title of such a duke means that Cloya is still a member of the Kingdom of Norland, so at least there is a relationship.
Even if it's just a superficial connection, it's important.
The atmosphere seemed to be deadlocked.
But Estner still had the means and confidence, so he waited for a while.
Then he showed a confident expression on his face, took out a piece of paper, stood up, and announced: "King Norante."
"According to the regulations of the Star Town Mage Association, you must rush to Hanjiao Island in the north immediately. Master Croya is waiting for you."
After reading it, he placed the paper in front of the king who had a dull look on his face.
"..."
Order from Star Town.
The king glanced at the piece of paper with disbelief, and finally said dejectedly: "Mr. President, you are forcing me to make a choice!"
In fact, the royal families of various countries are more or less related to the church.
Some countries even invite churches to settle in, which can not only obtain help in mysticism, but also add a layer of luster to their rule.
After all, faith is really a good comfort for the people at the bottom, it can effectively prevent some vicious events from happening, and it is really useful for rulers.
So, really speaking, each kingdom is actually the sphere of influence of the Church of the Seven Gods.
However, now, Estner took out the order from the Star Town Mage Association and asked him to meet a mage - which meant that he was allowed to make a choice.
Should we choose the Church or the Mage Association?
This may be the most difficult decision he has made since taking the throne, bar none.
"Of course I force you to make a choice."
"Can the church give you food? Can the church help you suppress unrest everywhere? Can the church allow you... to sit on the throne so securely?"
At this time, Estner looked sharp: "Your Majesty the King, you have to make a choice now, whether to trust the church or accept the kindness of our mage!"
The king sat there in silence for a long time.
In fact, Miffyin came to see him once in the royal capital when he left. His most proud eldest son, the boy who was once as sacred as an angel, is now surrounded by death and loneliness.
Miffyin simply described the matter to him.
As a king, he was a kingdom established after conquering a country. He had rich experience in governing, far more than Croya thought.
All the crops passed down by the Church of the Mother Earth have withered and died... What a heavy blow this is to a country.
If he hadn't bought the crops produced in the north from the Mage Association, even the royal city would be in chaos now.
It seems that choosing the Mage Association is a better decision, but...
He sighed deeply and said:
"Suffering breeds faith."
"Being entangled with thorns will make your faith purer."
"Chaos is ruled by contract, and order comes to the world."
"President Estner, do you know where I saw these two sentences?"
Although he had questions, he said to himself before Estner could speak: "These are the words engraved on the wall of the Temple of Order in the Kingdom of Saisien."
"It's ridiculous, isn't it? One god is trying to restrict more gods through contracts and bring some order to the already chaotic continent.
So He died, and His country was destroyed by me. ”
King Norante showed an extremely subtle expression, a little sarcastic and a little self-deprecating.
"..."
This time, a little uncomfortable, he turned into President Estner on the side.
Is this what he should be listening to?
Although he was indeed curious about why the Kingdom of Norant was able to overthrow the Kingdom of Sethion, which was protected by the Temple of the God of Order, in just a few years.
But these obviously have a history of cheating. He really doesn't want to know. He is not strong enough. If he knows, he will probably be unlucky.
However, the king was determined to drag Esterna down, and continued: "Cardinal Iona of the Church of the Mother Goddess of the Earth came to help me personally.
Every stage of the establishment of the Norante Kingdom has the shadow of the Church of the Mother Earth. It can be said that they helped me build the kingdom.
So my President, do you still want me to make a decision now, whether to choose the Mage Association or the Church of the Mother Earth? ”
He asked sincerely, but Estner fell into deep thought.
Cardinal Iona, the powerful man in charge of the Tribunal of Thorns, is a legendary saint.
Will Qunxing Town confront him head-on because of such a small country?
If he cannot give a positive answer, the king will definitely reject himself, and things will be even more troublesome by then.
"Of course."
——While both of them were thinking and waiting.
Swaying the body, beautiful blue daffodils suddenly bloomed here, and the magic they exuded quickly blocked out all possible prying eyes.
The figure of Level 6 Archmage Celesti appeared next to her apprentice and patted the latter's head.
Smiled comfortingly:
"The treasure left by Ms. Eliste is what is being used now. She had predicted everything a long time ago, and she specifically chose to break with the Mage Association and leave."
"The Church of the Earth Mother will not allow a legendary level mage to stay here, as this will affect their rule."
"Now, it's time to use it."
The beautiful archmage spread out her palms, holding a small sphere in her white palms. The surface of the sphere had cold and deep magic lines that were unimaginably complex. Blue and silver-white brilliance intertwined and shone.
Its mere appearance makes the surrounding air extremely cold.
King Norante and Estner simultaneously looked at the ball held in the Archmage's palm with shocked eyes.
The former knows that the Mage Association has a particularly powerful trump card; the latter knows a little more, but has never actually seen it.
"This is the crystallization of water magic and fantasy magic."
"At the same time, it also represents the ultimate power of destruction in water magic. It is called the magic of the world-destroying cold disaster."
After Celesti finished speaking, she looked at King Norante: "Now, His Majesty the King, have you made a decision?"
"..."
Having said all that, is there anything else you’re confused about?
Legendary magic!
This small magic ball can destroy an army and turn a vast area into a dead place.
And when it is really compressed and condensed and used on a person, even a legendary cardinal will never be able to resist it.
The king took a deep breath:
"I will head north immediately."
He is not a fool. This is a rare opportunity to escape the control of the church, and he must seize it.
……
The western border of Norland Kingdom.
Compared with the northern border of the kingdom, the western border is slightly better. The terrain environment is mainly large and small mountains, but there are also fertile soil and fields that can be cultivated.
But in front of locusts, no matter whether it is high mountains or low valleys, they are all treated equally. As long as there is food, they will come and gnaw crazily.
When Samuel and Count Kemoye came here, they saw locusts all over the sky, blocking the sky like dark clouds.
Samuel glanced at Count Kemoyer, who nodded.
"The first team of peas." Samir shouted.
Immediately behind him, pea shooters with resin attached appeared in a queue, raising their muzzles high and shooting pea seeds crazily.
"Bang bang bang!"
When each pea hits a locust as big as a rabbit, it will explode violently, and the flames will surround the surrounding locusts as if they are alive, and they will not have time to escape.
The demonic properties of pea dust and resin ensure that they will never go out before they completely incinerate the locusts. Even if the locusts scream in pain and run around, the flames will still burn steadily.
Even when the locusts collide with their companions, the flames will spread directly like a plague, instantly igniting a large area of locusts.
The fragrant resin blocked the unbearable burning smell emitted when the locusts were burned, and the golden firelight flickered in the swarm of locusts flying in the sky.
So gorgeous, yet so terrifying.
"..."
The villagers who barely survived stared blankly at the sky.
They may not have known what it was, but they knew it was what saved them and burned all those damn locusts away.
But before they could show their joyful expressions of surviving the disaster.
The locusts in the sky suddenly gathered, and when they gathered, they vibrated their wings and seemed to resonate with each other.
The wind just appeared on their wings, gathered by the resonance of the locusts, forming a wind wall in mid-air, blocking all the peas launched.
magic!
These locusts really can use magic!
Seeing this, Samir's expression did not change at all, and he waved calmly: "Sonic Magic Flower!"
The queue of peashooters behind him included some inconspicuous magic plants that looked like morning glory, raising their flowers towards the sky.
Ripples invisible to the naked eye came from the magic patterns on the petals of these morning glory, penetrating into the locust swarm.
They were engraved with tuning magic by Croya - this magic not only has the ability to correct, but also has the ability to destroy.
The moment the sound wave was inserted forcefully, it completely disrupted the magic that the locust swarm relied on resonance. The locusts staggered around like they were drunk.
Naturally, there is no ability to stop the pea shooter.
More flame peas immediately rose into the sky.
"Bang bang bang!"
The offensive was much more violent than before.
The magnificent golden light gradually eats away the black locust swarms, as if burning the dark sky, revealing the light of morning.
Seeing this scene, the villagers felt grateful from the bottom of their hearts.
They all came out of their hiding places, tremblingly came to the front of the northern army, and bowed respectfully.
"Thank you, noble lord!"
This was actually a very bold move, because they didn't know who these nobles and magicians were and whether they would take the opportunity to rob them.
But they really didn't dare to hide anymore and had no choice but to come out.
Looking at the trembling villagers, Samir said in a gentle tone: "We are the army from the north. We were sent here by the benevolent Duke Hanjiao."
As he spoke, he waved his hand.
Immediately, several mages with pockets on their bodies came over and took out a bunch of food from their pockets.
That little pocket seems endless, corn, soybeans, rice, flour...
As mages, they could calculate the approximate amount of food needed just by looking at it. The amount of food given was not large, but the carefully prepared food was definitely enough for these villagers to survive this disaster.
The kindness and gifts from Croya can save lives, but they will never let them eat and drink food and fall.
The villagers were completely stunned and didn't dare to move at all - they were afraid that this was the money they needed to buy their lives. This was usually the case with nobles recruiting soldiers. They gave them some food and took away all the young men.
Although food is very important, compared to young adults who can work and are the backbone of the family, there is still a big gap.
They were uneasy.
However, something unexpected happened again——
After putting down the food, Samir waved the team to move on, and the orderly team passed by the villagers.
Until they were completely gone, the villagers stared blankly at the food on the ground and the blue sky that had been cleaned up and seemed to become clearer.
"Do they really don't want anything?"
Someone asked this common question among the big guys.
No one answered.
Maybe they didn't know how to answer, after all, no one had ever encountered such a thing, but they all remembered the name "Duke Hanjiao".
At this moment and in the long years, this kindness from the Duke will be like a light that pierces the dark clouds, making them unforgettable for a long time.
At this time, the army that had left the village and moved on moved forward, cleaning up all the locusts along the way and leaving some food and seeds behind.
Their movements are very fast. Locusts that are difficult for ordinary people to deal with are really like ants that can be crushed to death with a wave of their hands.
Just like that, half a day passed.
They finally met their first nobleman - a count.
The earl hid in his stone castle and didn't plan to come out at first, so he watched the powerful knights and mages advance with cold eyes.
He even ignored the invitation handed over by Count Kermoyer.
It looked like he was going to play dead and deal with it.
Faced with such a stubborn person, Count Kemoyer personally took action and blasted open the gate of the castle with a sun-fire cannon. It took half an hour to capture the fat Earl and all his men.
Then he announced unceremoniously that the cleared area of the earldom was already considered the northern border and was the land of Duke Hanjiao.
Such overbearing behavior certainly aroused the dissatisfaction of a duke.
But before he could condemn Croya's domineering behavior according to noble methods, Samuel led the Colorful Sunflowers to attack his castle.
All those who resisted were killed, and even the Duke was not left behind. He was very cruel.
This is actually completely opposite to the northern border's usually moderate approach.
But such cold methods can make people quickly recognize the reality. Now Croya no longer wants to make excuses with these stupid nobles.
If you don't want to surrender, then just die.
Anyway, if you die, someone will always be able to replace you. With so many people, there will always be some available talents.
When the news spread, the remaining dukes finally knew what their neighbor, who had been rarely out in the north, wanted to do.
He comes to conquer!
How dare he?
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(End of chapter)