Chapter 15 Chapter Thirteen

It was so quiet all around. Garald walked out of the teleportation corridor cautiously, wondering for a while whether the Songli—the man in a state of ignorance—had made a mistake and sent him to some distant place of peace place.But it wasn't long before Jarod knew he had reached his destination, and that the silence around him was not a peaceful silence. It was the silence of death. The teleportation corridor closed quickly behind Garald. He vaguely noticed that Cardinal Radisovik was covering his eyes with his hands and reciting prayers intermittently in a low voice. Garald also knew that his two guards—Dukesi Secretary, trained in silence discipline since childhood - gasped in shock and anger.Garrod was aware of all this, but it didn't affect him at all.He seemed to be standing alone in this world, as if for the first time in his life, looking at everything around him.

The sun was shining here, which was so different from the rainstorm they had just left, and they had to be surprised.In the blue sky, the sun was scorching hot, releasing its fierce and fiery energy, as if to burn all the evidence of horror it had witnessed.Jarod looked south and could see his storm churning in this direction.By all the rules of war, the weather attack produced by Saraken's Sihana should have provoked Xavier to order his own Sihana to counterattack, resulting in a stunning thunderbolt battle in the air.But that didn't happen.The sun came out and the weather was fine.The reason is obvious.

Sihana of Merilon had died beneath the wargame sandbox, among the sprawled corpses lying on the charred and blackened grass. The war chess sandbox itself has also been destroyed, split in half.This piece is exactly the same as that of Prince Garrod, it is made of a huge marble, and now half of it is inclined to form an angle with the ground, supported by the corpse under it, and the other half is lying flat on the ground .Looking at it, Garald couldn't imagine how hard it would be to smash such a war chess sandbox. Garald looked around cautiously, walked slowly towards the war chess sandbox, knelt down beside it, stroked its smooth surface, and felt the coldness under his fingers.The magic of this war chess sandboard has been lost, like a stone, there are no miniature dragons spewing fire from the board, no miniature giants thumping past, and there are no representations of wizards and witch warlocks on the battlefield full of magic A miniature doll fighting the enemy.At this moment, Malilong's war chess sandboard was empty and lifeless, just like the eyes of the dead bodies under it.

Garald raised his head from the war chess sandbox and looked towards the real battlefield. There were corpses everywhere, the prince could not count the number of dead bodies, and Cardinal Radisovik was walking among them.The storm was approaching, gusts of wind shook his red robe, and the piercing cold wind swept across the battlefield of Glory, taking away the warmth of the sun and returning the place to a chilly atmosphere. "Radisovik, if you're looking for survivors, you're wasting your time." Prince Jarod began to persuade his catalyst saints that there would be no living people there, no...

Prince Jarod watched Radisovik for a while—the time seemed to him to add up suddenly, and he could see and feel how it looked as it slipped away from him. Minutes passed—and then he realized that the Cardinal wasn't searching for the living, he was saying his last prayers to the dead. the dead.Garald stared at the sunlit grass in front of him. The once well-maintained green lawn had been uprooted by some powerful force, and it became black and scorched, as if it had been burned by the sinking sun. burn.Dead bodies are everywhere on the battlefield, with different ways of dying, different lying postures, and different appearances. However, on the faces of each dead body, there is the same frozen expression: fear, terror, horror.

Suddenly, Jarod yelled angrily.It turned out that he was tripped and fell on the grass, and fell in a pool of blood.The Dukes immediately came to him, helped him up, and reminded him to be careful, because there might still be danger here.Jarod pushed their hands away, ignored their words, and ran straight to Radisovik, who was praying for a dead woman in a black robe.He grabbed the cardinal by the arm and pulled him up to his feet. "Look!" cried the prince hoarsely, pointing in a certain direction. "look!" "I know, Your Highness." Radisovik replied softly, the pained expression on his face made him look so much older that Jarod almost couldn't recognize him. "I know," the cardinal repeated.

A colorful carriage of Noble Malilong fell to the ground, its smoldering and blackened fragments scattered on the ground in large swaths.A flock of swallows that pulled the carriage lay nearby, all dead, the birds still bound by golden ropes, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt feathers. Jarod caught a sudden glimpse of a blue silk thread that was fluttering, and, ignoring Radisovik's advice, hurried to the carriage, picked up a smoking piece of wood that might have been a door panel, and Toss it aside.Buried under the planks was a young woman, holding a baby in her broken arm, as if she wanted to protect the baby with her frail body at the last moment of her life.Unfortunately, her efforts were unsuccessful, and the baby in her arms was lying there limply, also dead.

Near the woman was the body of a man lying face down among the wreckage. From the way he was dressed and the splendor of his clothes, Garald could tell that he was the owner of the carriage and a nobleman of Merilon.Hoping to find a chance, Jarod turned him over. "My God!" The prince took a few steps back in fright. Before him was a set of blackened bones, a gaping mouth, and an eyeless black hole.Clothes, skin, flesh, muscles - the entire front of the man's body - were all burned. dizzy.The sun fell from the sky, and the ground pulled away from Jarod's feet.Suddenly, hands gripped him tightly and caught him from above, and he felt himself being pressed to the ground, when Radisovik's voice was heard, brought by the wind, from a very far, far away...

"Zeldara... hurry up and call one." "No!" Jarod yelled hoarsely.He felt as if his throat was swollen and it was difficult to speak. "No, I'm fine. It's...that...poor man! What kind of villain could be—" The Iron Monster. "I... I'm fine!" Jarod jerked his priest's hand away, struggling to sit up.He buried his head between his knees and took a deep breath of the cold air.He reprimanded himself severely, trying to use the painful feeling of being criticized to make himself erase the memory of the horrible phenomenon he saw with his own eyes just now.What kind of ruler is he?He has grown weak when his people desperately need him.The middle-aged man in front of him—a catalyst saint—had more power than himself as a prince of the kingdom.

Jarod shook his head, trying to recover from his confused thoughts. He had to decide what to do now.God!Is there anything he can do?He couldn't help but cast a glance at the nobleman's corpse, and then turned away immediately, even his body was trembling.Soon, he calmed down, gritted his teeth, and forced himself to stare at the terrible scene just now. Just as he hoped, the scene really aroused the anger in his heart, and made his blood that became cold due to fear become cold. warmed up. "Jarrod." Radisovik knelt beside him. "Emperor Xavier is not among the dead, nor are any of his Firelords. I suppose you wanted to find him at first. Do you still want to find him?"

"Yes," Jarod replied.He was very grateful to the catalyst saint, who not only saw his weakness, but also guided him very skillfully. Hearing that his voice was a little hoarse, he swallowed his saliva, trying to moisten his sore throat. "Yes." He repeated more firmly.He put a hand on his forehead and conjured up the image of his war chess sandbox in his mind.After doing it again, he too was able to see a small group of resistance on the enemy side. "Their location...is closer to the east." "Yes, Your Highness, it is near the east." Radisovik said. The Cardinal's gruff manner of speaking made Jarod immediately look up at him, and the Cardinal's gaze was focused on the eastern horizon, where a wisp of smoke was rising above the trees. "Should we still go through the teleportation corridor, Your Highness?" the cardinal asked, offering guidance and advice again. "That could be dangerous..." "There is no doubt about it," Jarod replied, thinking quickly.He is empowered by anger and responsibility.He refused to help, stood up by himself, and began to walk firmly and confidently back to the destroyed war chess sandboard. "The first time we used this teleportation corridor is really a stupid way. We can actually go straight to the middle of this...here." He faltered and gritted his teeth— "Unprepared, undefended, but there's nothing we can do about it—" He paused, forcing himself to think about it calmly and logically. "I think we should—" Garrod started, when one of the Dukes interrupted him with a quick gesture to silence him.Then his companion uttered an incantation, and for a moment, a magical protective device covered the prince and the cardinal, and the two sorcerers in black robes immediately rose into the air, one guarding in front, the other is behind. Surrounded by magical powers, Jarod struggled to hear what was drawing his two keen-hearing wizards.In the end, he felt it more than he heard it—the ground was shaking, as if a heavy object was moving nearby. Iron monster. Like most mortals, Jarod had thought about death.He had discussed death philosophically, contemplating the afterlife with his tutors and cardinals.When he heard of Joram's death, Jarod wondered deep down if he had the courage to step into the shifting clouds.However, until now, death has never approached him, and death has never appeared in front of him with such a terrifying face. He saw the horror on the faces of these dead bodies, and saw the pain on their faces that could not be erased by the peaceful death, a surge of fear surged deep in his heart, which made his stomach convulse and his legs became convulsed. Weak. Garrod heard the cardinal muttering prayers, and admired the man's faith. He used to think he was religious in his faith, but now he finally realized that it was just a matter of moving his mouth.Where is Emin?Jarod didn't know, but he did have serious doubts that He would be here. The shaking on the ground became more and more obvious, and Jarod could hear a "bang".He felt a terrible pain in his stomach, and he thought it might be from being overly frightened.A vision became clearer in his mind - the prince of Saraken vomiting on the field of glory. Jarod could hear the story passed down in folklore and song, and suddenly he laughed so harshly that the Cardinal gave him a worried look. Garrod realized immediately: The Cardinal thought I was mentally ill.He took a shaky breath, feeling the nausea ease and the fears go away, they were no longer intimidating and manipulative.That's courage, then, he teases himself with a bit of bitterness, thinking about how we'll look to others in the end. The "bang bang bang" sound became louder and clearer.The shock caught Jarod's attention, and he gripped Radisovik's arm tightly, pointed with his finger, and let out a breath of genuine, heartfelt relief. A giant top appeared on the edge of the hill, followed by huge shoulders, and then a huge torso covered in animal skin, propelled forward by two thick hind legs. "A giant!" Radisovik muttered under his breath, thanking Emin. Maybe he thanked him too soon.Although it was not the monster they feared, Dukes still placed magical protection around the prince, for giants - gentle though they are usually - were unpredictable in their behavior.Not to mention that this particular monster looked injured and groggy.As he got closer, Jarod realized he was indeed wounded.The giant was protecting his left arm, tears streaming down his filthy face. A wounded giant would be more dangerous, so one of Duke Xis immediately stepped forward and stood between the giant and the prince, while the other exchanged a few words with his companion and turned to face the prince. "Your Highness," Duke Xisi said. "This may be the best means of transportation to get to Emperor Xavier." At first, Garald was too scared and too surprised by this suggestion, so his mind was too confused to make a decision, and he just watched him expressionlessly. This sorcerer in a black robe.However, the sorcerer was waiting for his answer, so Jarod worked hard to bring his numb mind back to normal. He had to admit it seemed like a good idea.The giant - of great strength and sure footed - could transport them to where Xavier fought an unknown foe.Not only would the giant get them there faster, but sitting high on the giant's shoulders would allow them to see ahead of time what was going on ahead.In addition, as long as Dukexis controls the giant, the giant will be a right-hand man when attacked. "Brilliant idea," Garald said finally. "Do what you have to do." And this Duke Xisi has already started to act.The sorcerer—about one-tenth the height of a giant—leaved his companions to protect the prince while he himself took to the sky, toward the mutant.The giant watched him cautiously and suspiciously, but did not resist openly. "It seems that the one who attacked and wounded it was not a sorcerer, for if it were, the giant would either attack the sorcerer as soon as it saw him, or run away in terror," said Jarod aloud. Radisovik replied, "I think your guess is correct, Your Highness. The giant was probably trained by the sorcerers for this battle and still trusts them. It must be someone else— Or something—hurt it!" The wizard spoke soothing words to the giant, as a parent would to a wounded child, offering to heal his wounded arm.The giant's tears flowed more quickly for the attention he received, and he approached the sorcerer gladly, held up his arms for his inspection, and cried incoherently.Garald looked at the red wound on the giant's arm, and wondered again, what power in this world could cause such a heavy injury to a giant. The same power that can split a gigantic stone in two, throw a carriage out of the air, and burn the flesh of a man... Iron monster. Duke Xisi waved his hand, so that a layer of ointment was applied to the giant's arm, which immediately relieved the pain on the giant's body, because he saw a smile on the tearful face of the giant.Duke Xisi conjured another roll of fabric and quickly wrapped the giant's arm with a bandage.It's not so much that it's good for healing as it is because these childish giants love the decoration.When this task was accomplished, the wizard made a sign over the giant's forehead, and flew back to report. "I have installed the transmission on the giant," said Duke Xis, while his companions were removing the magical protection from the prince and the cardinal. "I told the giant that whatever was attacking him must be found. Since the device is at the giant's disposal, I suppose there should be no trouble." "Well done," Jarod replied.He looked to the east and saw that there were more and more smoke columns, bigger and thicker. "We have to act fast." "Yes, my lord." The sorcerer said some more incantations, and magically lifted the prince and the cardinal into the air, and then slowly lowered them to the giant's shoulders. After sitting still, Garald wrinkled his nose, feeling an unpleasant stench from the unwashed body of the giant in animal skins.The giant was also very curious when he saw these riders. He paused for a few minutes before turning his head to look at them closely. His breath smelled worse than his skin.The giant grinned, showing his rotten teeth, and turned in Jarod's direction, making Jarod's stomach queasy and the cardinal covering his nose with the sleeve of his robe. At last Duke Xis snapped an order, pointed with the goad, and the giant began to move awkwardly.The wizard pointed at the smoke to show the way, while he himself flew ahead of the giant, directing his clumsy steps. Despite the gearing, Garrod worried that the giant would refuse to step into the smoke at the thought of having suffered painful burns.The giant, however, probably did not connect the smoke with the fire, for he walked without hesitation, and made a rattling sound, though not understood, very much like the babbling of excited children. While Jarod wasn't paying attention, he suddenly became aware that the giant was trying to tell them what had happened, and he kept pointing at his injured arm - nearly throwing the prince off it at one point .Jarod hurriedly grabbed his seat and grabbed the giant's shaggy and dirty hair with both hands, regretting that no one had tried how to communicate with these oversized humans.For the purpose of war, these people were changed into this way, and they were left to run around in the wild mountains and mountains, and they were not called back until needed.Locked in that gigantic head were the answers to the questions Jarod wanted to know, for he had no doubt that whatever had attacked the giant was what had slaughtered the people of Merilon. They quickly walked through the several miles between the broken war chess sandbox and the smoke. The giant was so excited and excited that Duke Xisi had to sternly order him to slow down, otherwise he would throw off the passengers above. Garald inspected the battlefield of glory from the position above the giant and saw more dead bodies.The anger burned more and more in his chest, and his lips were tightly closed in anger.He also saw more signs of the enemy—a long trail left behind, winding like a snake and sweeping across everything, running through the entire ground and extending to the east.This enemy obviously never stopped. The big tree was uprooted and pushed aside, the small tree was cut in two, the vegetation was also plowed or burned by a fire, and he could only be seen on the two sides of these tracks. corpses of the people. Jarod was in a grove of smoking trees when he saw a flash of light—the glint of metal in the sun.At the risk of falling from the unsteady height on the giant's shoulders, he turned his head and observed that it looked like a human body.If it hadn't looked too strange, the prince would have been sure that it had metal skin on its body. The first thing Jarod wanted to do was stop and investigate, but he had to give up.The Giant -- under the influence of gearing and excitement -- is hard to stop.And, if left alone, there's a good chance he'll run wild.By the time the prince thought of this, the giant had hunched them far past the thing; and when Jarod looked back, there was no sign of the grove, let alone an object in it. "I may soon find out what's going on," he said gravely to himself.Before they knew it, they were approaching the place where the thickest smoke column was.Jarod suddenly heard - louder than the giant mumbling - a low humming mixed with some explosions, like the kind that illusionists make at festivals to scare children. jumping thing.Garrod had cramps again, thirsty throat, and weak knees, but this time his fear was tied to a strange excitement, a curiosity, a wanting to know what lay ahead. A strong desire for something. At this time, Duke Xisi, who was flying in front of the giant, stopped in front of a steep hill, and their forward movements suddenly slowed down.Garald watched them carefully, and saw the two hooded heads turn to look at each other. Although he didn't see the wizard's face, he could feel the suspicion and awe they shared. This is the first time for the two well-trained Duke Xisi. When the giant snorted up the hill, Jarod was so eager to see what they saw, so he bent over and half stood on the giant's shoulders and stared ahead.Jarod and the giant saw the enemy at the same time.The giant roared angrily, and stopped suddenly, making Jarod unsteady, and fell backwards, falling off the giant's shoulders.Fortunately, his magic is strong enough to support himself.He magically levitated himself in the air, hovering just above the woods on top of the hill. Looking down from above, he saw the enemy. Those steel monsters.