Erica listened to Hex's story about the previous two days with an unprecedented complex mood, but after listening to it, she remained silent for nearly ten minutes without saying anything, even though Hex took the trouble to ask questions.

She didn't even respond.

It's not that Erica doesn't want to answer anything, it's that she simply doesn't know how to answer Hex's various weird questions. After all, she never thought that Hex, as a god, would actually behave on such questions.

So... how should I put it, Erica felt that Hex was more human than her, and he was still in the "teenage girl" mode that she had seen on TV.

"Anyway...Desmo just slapped you away. Didn't you say anything else? It doesn't seem like she is really angry with you..." Erica casually made a lot of excuses to end the room.

Things that she didn't want to know were prevaricated. Anyway, in her opinion, even if the relationship between the two goddesses was bad, how bad could it be? The thousands of years of friendship between the two would never be ruined because of an unexpected incident.

This led to disagreements and a breakup, at least Erica definitely did not believe this outcome.

Hex had no intention of messing around with this. After confirming that Erica was not "perfunctory" this time, he no longer continued to "torture" her with this problem. After successfully getting rid of a troublesome matter,

Erica could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but before she was about to light up her fifth cigarette, Hex suddenly took out a seemingly gorgeous scroll out of thin air and handed it to Ai

Rika.

"What is this?" Erica asked after taking the scroll.

"Your mission this time." Hex replied casually.

Although Hex still looked very casual, Erica noticed that Hex's temperament and expression had completely changed at this moment. It seemed that the "older girl" who had been thinking about her a few minutes ago had disappeared.

Now, the Hex in front of me is the familiar goddess who is cold on the outside and hot on the inside, but also a little mysterious.

However, this change was not unacceptable. Erica quickly adapted to Hex's sudden change and opened the parchment scroll without any emblem sealing wax. The words inside did not appear as Erica had imagined.

The completely incomprehensible words about gods are in very standard modern English, and are accompanied by line drawings that are no less effective than photos.

Erica didn't know who the handsome young man on the screen was, but after reading the text description next to it, she was so shocked that she almost dropped her lit cigarette on her lap.

"Can't you kill Aledo Solis and then help the Principality of Michael win this battle?" Erica pointed at the scroll and asked Hex: "Please tell me this is a joke!"

"Unfortunately, this is not a joke." Hex took a look at the result scroll and said: "I remember at the beginning, the master wrote on it that as long as you get home safely, the mission will be completed, and he also prepared many 'expensive

'The prize. But later, Master Hui was very dissatisfied with the master...so she forcibly changed the mission goal."

"Okay, I agree with the behavior of the Goddess of Misfortune. Indeed, Severna's 'free mission' is really meaningless." Erica pointed to the portrait on the scroll in confusion and asked: "But... we can't kill this one.

What happened to the little prince?"

"Master Huo gave some explanations about this. In short, she mentioned that the fate of this mortal is somewhat important, so he cannot die at this time, at least not in your hands." Hex replied affirmatively.

"Destiny?" Erica suddenly thought of the fatalistic topic that often appears in myths and legends for some reason.

"Yes, destiny..." Hex leaned slightly, and then said in a short voice: "The goddess of misfortune has the authority to observe the tree of destiny. I think she should have seen something from there, but what she said

The result will definitely not be bad.”

Erica thought about it for a moment, then scratched the back of her head with a headache and said, "Okay, I'll take over this task. I won't kill the little prince... but at least you can let me beat him up."

fist?"

"Of course you can." Hex said with a smile.

At the same time, under the fortress of Maria in the north, Aledo's artillery fired a rumble of artillery that resounded through the sky again in the early morning after resting all night. In terms of the density and intensity of the firepower, today's artillery

The early shelling far exceeded yesterday's formation, and this time almost all the heavy artillery was aimed at the section of the city wall that almost collapsed yesterday. On the position not far outside that section of the city wall, both sides

All the infantrymen were already fighting together before dawn.

The real siege of Fortress Maria has officially begun, and the leaders of both sides know that this morning's battle will be the most intense offensive and defensive battle, because for Aledo, the outcome of this battle will be

directly determines the final direction of this battle.

He had already learned about the sneak attack on the supply point in the rear last night, which resulted in the burning of many ammunition, but although he was furious, he did not dare to vent this emotion in public. After trying every means to calm down, Alai

Duo then began to concentrate on directing today's battle.

In Aledo's view at this moment, if he wins, he can still capture Castello Maria as planned. He does not even need to laboriously capture the nearby urban area of ​​​​Da Caron, he only needs to occupy the fortress to reach it.

Strategic goal. Then he can use this as a stronghold to cut off the main road of the Kasan Canyon to block the follow-up threat from the Principality, and use the many underground forces that have been contacted previously to block other entrances to the Bar Plain, completely blocking the Principality's army from entering the Bar.

The possibility of the plains. But if he loses, he will have no choice but to follow Brighton and retreat to the western part of the Bar Plains. He may even be forced to abandon the entire Bar Plains or even shrink to the Salanka Pass to defend the enemy.

Now Aledo has looked away. He did underestimate the Principality of Michael before, or in other words underestimated the world, so as the battle became more and more intense, he himself did not have too much confidence in this war.

So much hope. The many mysterious powers in this world cannot be underestimated, but this does not mean that Aledo will become depressed or simply become decadent and silent after encountering signs of failure. At least at the beginning of this war

The fruit of victory, the Salanka Pass, must be defended, because only with this can he continue to gain the greatest support from the Nosk family. As for the fertile Bar Plains and Mary Castle, perhaps there is indeed something hidden here.

There are many advantages, but it seems that it is difficult for me to easily occupy this feng shui treasure land with my current situation.

Failure is not terrible, and the saying "Failure is the mother of success" is not an excuse to shirk responsibility. In fact, all the Nosk nobles who participated in the war, including Brighton, were facing this increasingly severe war situation.

At that time, everyone acted much more relaxed than Aledo and his new army. Because for them, capturing the Salanca Pass was a victory, and anything after that was just a gain beyond the established goal.

, it is indeed a good thing to get more, but if you can’t get it, it doesn’t matter.

But the problem is that they can view this war this way, but Aledo and his army cannot be exactly the same as the Norsk people. In a larger sense, this war is the foundation ceremony of Aledo's great ideal. Only by winning

Only after this war can he be qualified to realize those lofty hegemonies. But speaking on a smaller scale, this war also involves too many issues of interest distribution. This war is not just about Aledo and Nosk.

In fact, there are still many organizations and forces involved in Aledo's camp in private. However, except for Nosk's interests, Aledo's previously promised benefits to other forces have not been completed.

It is almost impossible to complete successfully.

After all, the magnificent Mary Castle is not just an ordinary fortress city. The knowledge and wealth in the city are not much worse than the capital of any country, especially the knowledge of alchemy, which can definitely make any country

and related forces are eager to covet the wealth. However, due to the protection of many powerful battle groups in the past, no country or underground force dared to openly express their coveting of the alchemy knowledge of the Principality. Although the Principality of Michael was established

The kingdom lasted only a short time, but the deterrent power possessed by the principality was enough to deter many small forces from infiltrating at will.

But this time Aledo led the Duke of Nosk's army to directly attack the castle of Marienplatz, and almost collapsed one of the walls of the fortress under yesterday's strong siege. This kind of battle situation was in the eyes of intelligence personnel from other countries.

It is absolutely an unbelievable situation. For this reason, these spies from various countries who have been lurking in Maria Castle since before the war gathered on several sections of the city wall in Da Caron before the war between the two sides yesterday, and mingled with Maria.

The residents of the fort quietly watched the battle under the fortress in the distance.

In the battle yesterday afternoon, because the fortress side used the fog mask, the people on Da Calon's side did not see the fierce fighting in the fog, but this did not prevent them who were also inside the fog from being able to see it with their own eyes

They saw the horrific sight of how the Eagle Regiment's sharpshooters who attacked the enemy from the inside of the fog were smashed into pulp by the huge stone bullets, and then they also witnessed the successive horrific bombardments that almost cracked a certain wall of the fortress.

The astonishing loud noise. Perhaps in the eyes of spies from other countries, everyone will indeed lament the powerful power of this new weapon, but in the eyes of the residents of Da Calon, the sound of the cannons is simply like the death knell of the collapse of faith.

It is shocking. After all, the legend of Mary Castle is so famous that the indestructible city wall and the fortress that have stood for thousands of years have long become people’s faith that represents safety and hope. But it is a pity that this kind of faith disappeared yesterday evening.

At that time, along with the cracks on the city wall, everything began to loosen in people's hearts.

Panic and uneasiness are naturally the emotions that the residents in the city can hardly suppress at the moment, because everyone knows where the army outside the city comes from, and judging from the various conflicts and frictions since the confrontation between the principality and the kingdom, if it is Maria Fortress

The residents of the city of Da Kalon will not end up well after it falls. Thinking about the news that came back from outside the city not long ago, almost all the military towns located on the Bar Plains were plundered by the invaders.

, most of the residents were killed, and even the empty town was burned to ashes by a fire.

No one wants the consequences of what happened to the military town to fall on Mariaburg. Just as Aledo had worried before, a powerful offensive may not completely destroy the confidence and courage of the soldiers and civilians of Mariaburg.

, but it will also make the restless people share the same hatred with the enemy. Faced with this unfavorable start to the war, many residents living in Da Kalon chose to start fully supporting the fortress garrison without hesitation.

For the defense work, many people took the initiative to come to the gate of Da Calon's garrison and asked to participate in the logistics work. Some chambers of commerce and other forces affiliated to the principality also began to provide free material and manpower support to the garrison.

Even some foreign or stateless neutral forces have begun to tend to provide support to the Principality of Michael for various reasons. Of course, there are also forces that want to try to provide support to Aledo first.

But in the final analysis, these forces can only think about it in their minds at most, and they do not dare to blatantly express their support for Solis. Because everyone knows very well that the Mariaburg city has a long history.

The fortress city had already been named Michael a hundred years ago. This is the foundation of the Michael family. To use a slightly exaggerated example, "Every street in this city and every house is engraved with Mihai."

The metaphor "the emblem of the Haier family" is not funny at all in the eyes of the locals, so no one will take the risk of losing their lives at any time to try this. Unless Aledo's army captures it in an instant next moment

After entering Fortress Maria, maybe there will be many special forces in the city that actively cooperate with Aledoli and outsiders.

This is the same in the eyes of spies from other countries, but they are more concerned about whether the artillery weapons owned by Aledo's army can be obtained than the outcome of this war. Although they do not know much about the role of artillery in field battles

However, the destructive power of heavy artillery on city wall fortifications is absolutely better than that of traditional siege weapons. Although magic is still the mainstream element in the wars of various countries, it is not the same in any country.

Those who can easily use large-scale magic to siege cities tend to use the most junior magicians to mix with the army to support magic attacks in magic battles on the battlefield. During siege battles, everyone

The siege methods chosen were mostly traditional siege equipment combined with the assistance of magic. Although the power was impressive, it was definitely not up to the level of Aledo's 64-pound heavy cannon "Hercules".

Everyone is coveting the huge metal barrels set up on the fort a thousand meters away from the fortress, but everyone has heard that the weapon is called "artillery" and has seen with their own eyes that it can shoot huge stone bullets.

I don’t know. Although spies with a little knowledge of alchemy can probably deduce that it is related to substances such as sulfur or saltpeter, more detailed information can only be deduced through battles on distant battlefields.

They could only watch the fighting on the battlefield and the many new weapons that were constantly being exchanged. Whether it was the residents of the city or the spies from other countries with evil intentions, they were all anxious and scratching their heads. But in Da Kalon's

While people were watching the battle on the battlefield with their own motives, Adrian, who was in the fortress observing the battle of the front group, seemed much calmer than yesterday.

Comparing with yesterday's battle situation, today's battle is obviously more intense and more difficult to defend. A slight negligence will definitely lead to the fall of the fortress and a total defeat for the principality. In addition, the intelligence of the wolf group's night attack last night was returned,

After learning that the night attack was successful, Adrian finally breathed a sigh of relief. He knew very well how hard-won the victory of the wolf group's night attack on the enemy's rear supplies was. At the same time, this information also confirmed that the enemy was indeed as he had speculated yesterday.

Such lack of early preparations and the possibility of bluffing in the offensive. Then before the battle started in the early morning this morning, Caroline of the Wolf Regiment sent back through the raven a picture that was tortured from the mouths of the enemy's soldiers guarding supplies last night.

important information.

"Aledo Solis...he has no support from the Kingdom of Solis. In other words...do you only have this amount of troops in total? Prince Aledo..." Adrian looked at the bloody gun below.

The roaring battlefield sighed, and then returned from the balcony with his hands behind his back to the long table in the conference room and sat down. He stared at the Mariaburg terrain sandbox on the table and played with the long sword in his hand with a knowing smile.

Laughed.

Thinking back to yesterday's panic, Adrian felt a little ashamed, but this seemed to him to be an excusable performance. After all, the enemy was fierce and had new weapons, and he also gave Wolf a blow in the first battle.
To be continued...