CH 149 Storm And Thunder

At the end of June 1433, the midsummer.

The weather had become very hot. The sun shone on the city of Metzl, and every tower seemed to be gilded with iron. On the streets, in such a hot weather, there were many cavalry in full armor, and the castle seemed to have suddenly changed from a graceful lady to a chilling Valkyrie.

In this tense atmosphere, the city was full of soldiers.

The King stood on the tallest tower of the royal palace, overlooking the city at the heart of the empire from a height.

The "Wartime Emergency Act of Legrand" was passed half a month ago. The nobles finally had to give up their original ideas and give in to the King before the waves of anger from the civilians. The parliament had given the King the highest power in an unprecedented manner, and the whole country would be driven into war.

On the first day the bill was passed, the King issued the first order:

Within the Legrand Empire, all men over the age of 16 and under the age of 60 were to prepare their weapons and rush to the designated conscription point according to the arrangements of the county lords.

The whole country was at war.

"Aren't you going to prepare for your wedding?" The King was looking in the direction of the Abyss Strait, and did not look back while speaking to General Johan behind him.

"I'll go later, the time hasn't come yet."

General Johan replied.

After he led the Iron Rose Cavalry to Putton City, he hurriedly handed the Iron Rose Cavalry to the Queen Mother Eleanor, and immediately set off to return to the city of Metzl. His marriage was settled half a month ago, and the bride was the daughter of the King of Ingres State, a red-haired beauty.

This marriage meant that the alliance between the Legrand royal family and the western states had become closer. With the Holy Legion approaching, the King of the Ingres State still married his daughter to General Johan, which was equivalent to tying himself to Legrand's warship.

In the words that King Ingres asked someone to send, he had already bet on Legrand twice, and this time he would still place his bet on Legrand.

Of course, for King Ingres, the best marriage candidate in his mind was King Legrand, Pureland. However, compared to the status of both parties, no matter whether it was Legrand's nobles or commoners, they would not agree to let an Ingresian be the queen of Legrand.

Therefore, King Ingres set his sights on General Johan, who was also unmarried.

For Ingres State, this marriage was a big gamble. As for Legrand, the choice of Ingres State undoubtedly helped them reduce the pressure on their backs.

Through the efforts of generations of Legrand kings since Mad King Henry, the many small states formed by the split of the Legrand Empire have been continuously recovered and weakened. During the period of William III, there were only the last thirty-six states in Legrand, seven of which were in the north. Because they were the farthest from the Legrand royal family, these seven states rebelled most often and had the strongest military strength. However, after the rebellion in the Northern Lands was put down, the three most powerful of the seven northern kingdoms had been split up and completely merged into Legrand's territory. The west was the place with the largest number of Legrand states, but except for Ingres state, most of the other countries were small in size, and their economy was highly dependent on the central and eastern Legrand. Other than the nominal status as a vassal state of the royal family still existing, they were not much different from any other county in Legrand.

There were only two states in the southwest that have the strength and were likely to rebel.

At this time, the royal family of Ingres and the royal family of Legrand were married in alliance. In the coming war, as Legrand's most reliable ally, once any state in the west or southwest rebelled, it would be met with the State of Ingres first.

"The Gulundi's reply has arrived." General Johan said, "They agree to form an alliance with us."

"How is the recovery of the urban defense construction in the central lands?"

The King asked.

During the recent rebellion, all the towers and walls of the cities captured by the rebels along the way were destroyed. The people of the Holy Court seemed to have already prepared for their operation failing soon, so before failing, they tried their best to strive for the greatest result.

Destroying a city's towers, walls, and bunkers was equivalent to pulling out the teeth of the city's armed forces.

Be it towers or city walls, they could all be rebuilt. But patching them also took manpower and money.

"Your military designers have also joined in the reconstruction. They destroyed it in a hurry, some foundations are not completely destroyed, and the speed of reconstruction is faster than expected. The eastern cities that have the most concentrated efforts of the reconstruction are generally almost done. But the central lands will not be fully repaired until at least the end of July."

"They won't give us that long."

The King shook his head, and he stared in the direction of the Holy Empire's palace.

"Theolde is not like our nobles. His army is almost assembled and may launch an attack at any time."

"The Holy Legion of the North, the Holy Legion of the Sea, the Holy Legion of the Border, the Holy Legion of the Holy Land..." General Johan read out one name after another in a low voice, "They really can't wait to serve as lackeys of the Holy Court."

"Our enemy is the Holy Court," said the King. "It is the Holy Empire, the Alliance of the Lowlands, the Alliance of Small Countries along the Abyss Strait, and the Alliance of the city-states in the Hopeless Inland Sea... All countries that believe in the Holy Lord are picking up their swords and weapons, joining the Holy Legion, participating In the war against Legrand. What reason do they have for not joining the Holy Legion? Theolde offered enough attractive conditions. In their eyes, Legrand is now a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Everyone wants to share a bite of this delicious offering.”

The weather in midsummer changed quickly.

The sky was still clear just now, but while speaking, a wind suddenly picked up on the ground, and dark clouds piled up layer by layer. Thick clouds piled up, and the light and shadow of lightning in the clouds could be clearly seen standing on the tower. Torrential rain could fall at any time.

The attendant came up to remind General Johan that it was time to go down and prepare for the wedding.

Even though this was a wedding for the sake of the alliance, and the procedures were streamlined to the point where it couldn't be more streamlined, out of respect for the allies, there were still many things that had to be handled by General Johan himself.

After General Johan went downstairs, heavy rain fell.

The wind blew the rain and washed the ground vigorously, and the whole world was shrouded in heavy rain curtains in an instant. Soldiers and pedestrians on the street hurriedly sought shelter from the rain.

Click.

There was a crisp sound.

A black umbrella was opened in front of the King, blocking the rain that was blown by the wind and was about to hit the tower. The black umbrella was lifted up slowly. After it was lifted, it opened like an invisible barrier, so the wind blew the rain but it could no longer fall into the tower.

Holding the umbrella handle in a pale, bony hand, the Devil stood beside the King.

"The legion of angels will descend to hell." The Devil said, "It's going to storm, Your Majesty."

"It may storm at any time."

The King said.

Seen from the tower, the pouring rain washed over every eaves and every long street, as if the water of the whole world gathered above their heads, and then the sky was torn apart by invisible hands, allowing the water to fall just like that, with a majestic momentum that drowned everything. In the face of such a mighty power of nature, human beings appear extremely small.

The castle was submerged in water.

Neither the King nor the Devil spoke again.

Side by side, they watched the endless rain flood the world.

………………

Koszoya.

The order of martial law was spread to Koszoya Port as early as the fall of Herrid City. The Citizens' Self-Defense Forces organized because of the Black Death gathered again during this time. Except for the two Dragon Wing Battleships that had to go to hell for repairs and restoration because they were damaged in the battle with the angels, other merchant ships that participated in the raid on the Lowland Alliance were moored here.

It could also be called heavy defense.

Taylor, the current mayor of Koszoya, climbed up the observation tower, looking in the direction of the sea horizon as he had often done during this period of time.

Other city officials felt that there was no need to go to the trouble these days, because it was the end of June.

The end of June was the time when storms were most frequent near Koszoya Bay. The ocean currents became very strong at this time, and the monsoon on the sea often created huge waves tens of meters high. The chambers of commerce reduced sailing during this period, and even the royal navy had to berth into the harbor. Unless it was someone who was familiar with the weather in the sea area, no one would dare to risk his life to make light of it at this time.

But Taylor saw with his own eyes how Koszoya's Five Port Alliance came to naught overnight. He felt that since he was the mayor appointed by the King, he should scrupulously implement His Majesty's orders.

Just now, there was a heavy rain in broad daylight in Koszoya, and the top floor of the observation tower was very windy, making everyone feel terribly cold in summer.

Mayor Taylor looked out the window while thinking about the old affairs of the Five Port Alliance.

The waves of the torrentially rainy sea were undulating, and the ships of the chambera of commerce were moored quietly in the harbor. With the help of the binoculars made by the witches, he could see some things floating on the sea. Seeing those things, the mayor felt a headache. That was when they spent a lot of effort to pull up a line of defense to block the ships at sea.

But now, a storm tore them up every which way.

The mayor noted down the places where the sea fence needed to be rearranged, and then turned his sight away for a casual sweep.

With this sweep, he suddenly froze.

In the distance, some sails seemed to appear on the horizon.

Whose chamber of commerce's ship was so lucky not to be smashed into pieces in this kind of storm?

The mayor thought, holding the binoculars, trying to take a closer look at the marks on the sail. Soon, one sail after another appeared in his eyes, and his expression changed suddenly. On the white sail, there was a golden cross.

"Blow the horn! Blow the horn!"

The mayor held the binoculars in one hand and waved vigorously with the other, shouting loudly at the soldiers on the observation tower.

The desolate sound of tbe horn was blown forcefully, and the sound echoed mournfully over the entire bay. In the sound of the horn, the soldiers who were hiding from the rain and looking rather lazy woke up in unison. They jumped on the city wall and looked at the sea in the distance together.

On the observation tower, the mayor's hand trembled, and the binoculars fell from over the tower.

There was no need for binoculars anymore.

Countless sails were raised on the sea, and the frontmost warship braved the wind and waves. Giant crossbows were hoisted on those warships, the ropes twisted. The next moment, spear-like arrows came towards Koszoya Harbor trailing flames in their wake.

Like an unreal rain of fire.

It ignited the sky and the sea.