Kingdom of Eternal Winter, Snow Reflection Castle!
“Lord, Earl… the Graycastle army, they’ve retreated!” When a guard excitedly rushed into the castle hall, announcing the latest news, all the nobles focused their attention on him.
“Are you sure?” Earl Mavin slapped the armrest of his chair and stood up abruptly.
“Absolutely certain, more than one scout has said so,” the guard quickly nodded, “Someone personally saw their camp empty overnight, and they even abandoned a lot of rations!”
“Those guys finally… got lost!” The Earl couldn't help but laugh, his mood suddenly lightening. A month ago, the Graycastle people suddenly appeared in the four harbor cities of Eternal Winter, and expanded extremely quickly. They were uncompromising, neither accepting surrender nor tributes, and almost swept away the population wherever they went. This plague-like barbaric behavior was even more terrifying than the Church—at least the latter could communicate.
And the Graycastle people’s reason was extremely absurd, saying that the Red Moon would bring disaster, and they had to leave as soon as possible before that. What a joke! This land was the legacy left to him by his grandfather's grandfather, and no one could easily take it away, neither the Church nor Graycastle!
“My Lord is wise,” an old and decrepit scholar flattered, “The so-called full moon, waning moon, dark moon, and red moon are just celestial phenomena that appear regularly every period. It’s their business to believe these are ominous omens. As long as Your Lordship occupies this place and does not move, they can do nothing to you.”
“That’s right, the cliffs around Snow Reflection Castle are your greatest asset.”
“If the Graycastle people are willing to negotiate, we can make some concessions.”
“The Church was also aggressive at first, but in the end, didn’t they still appoint you as a local bishop?”
The others echoed.
Earl Mavin’s confidence became even more steady. He glanced at the strange celestial phenomenon hanging high in the sky outside the window, and his initial fear had long disappeared, even replaced by a hint of appreciation. If it weren’t for this anomaly three days ago, the Graycastle people would have pushed their front line to the vicinity of the Eternal Winter Kingdom line in just over a month, and Snow Reflection Castle would inevitably be affected.
Although he heard that those barbarians rarely actively attacked noble cities, as long as they didn't interfere with their actions, they would ignore them, but looting the population on a large scale was tantamount to infringing on the nobles’ property. How could they allow it to happen?
If the other party really swept away the surrounding cities, wouldn’t it be a disaster during the Evil Moon?
Indeed, as his vassals said, the city itself was his greatest asset—it was located directly north of the royal capital, situated on a cliff. The surrounding area was deeply sunken, forming a natural "land island." The widest part of the fissure was several miles, while the narrowest part was tens of feet, passable only by rope bridges. And the area in the center of the fissure was extremely large, enough to accommodate several cities.
It was because his ancestors saw the impregnability of this place that they built the lord's castle on the "island." Facts also proved this point—Snow Reflection Castle had never been captured since its construction. Although the Hermes Church swept across the entire Eternal Winter in a very short time, they were repeatedly frustrated when they tried to attack Snow Reflection Castle, and instead sent envoys to negotiate with him, claiming that as long as he pledged allegiance to the Church, he could continue to rule this place. In the Earl's opinion, this was what normal people did.
It was precisely because of this that he had remained silent, thinking of demanding a good price from the other party.
But the conditions advertised by Wimbledon were simply unacceptable.
Earl Mavin was not worried about the Graycastle people and the devils they spoke of attacking this place. There was no more reliable defense than the towering cliffs. But the city also needed supplies from the surrounding towns. Even if the Snow Reflection Castle’s underground was full of warehouses with supplies, it could last until the enemy gave up. But once the population was all looted, the resources spent could never be recovered.
Fortunately, they were frightened by the Red Moon.
“Mr. Sack, what should I do next?” Mavin looked at the old scholar.
“Hehe, of course, take the initiative to attack.” The latter stroked his long beard.
The Earl’s face stiffened. Defending Snow Reflection Castle and going out to find trouble with the other party were two different things. Without this natural barrier, he wouldn’t dare to confront the King of Graycastle even if he had ten times the courage.
“Don’t be afraid, what I’m talking about is not
the Graycastle people, but those territories they looted—think about it, the scout’s report mentioned that the enemies are numerous and scattered, with a small team having only less than a hundred people. How much can so few people take away?”
Mavin’s eyes lit up, “You mean…”
The old scholar smiled and nodded, “The people who were looted must have left behind a lot of things. We can follow the Graycastle people’s route and search along the way. We should still be able to pick up some scraps.”
Not to mention the food that is extremely inconvenient to transport…
The more Mavin thought about it, the more excited he became. He summoned his chief knight and was about to issue an order when another guard suddenly rushed into the hall, “L-Lord… a devil came, came outside the city…”
“What devil?” The Earl glared at him displeased, “Do you also believe the Graycastle people’s nonsense?”
“P-Pardon… Lord, but it…” The guard’s voice was hoarse, “But it is indeed not human!”
Not… human?
Everyone couldn't help but look at each other.
Mavin’s heart also skipped a beat, but as a lord, he had to appear calm.
“In that case, take me to see it,” Earl suppressed his anxiety, deliberately sterned his face, “I want to see what the guys who live in hell look like.”
……
Despite saying that, when he walked on the city wall, he had already changed into the best quality armor, and the largest God's Punishment Stone. A dozen guards surrounded him, and a thick shield was erected around him as a "shield wall."
But when he saw the other party, Earl Mavin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This time his subordinates were not mistaken. The so-called "devil" was indeed only one person.
Its standing position was neither the narrowest part of the fissure, nor the weakest point of the city wall, but simply standing on a protruding rock pillar, its height was slightly higher than the wall, and a little further forward was the bottomless ice abyss. The patrolling knights had already ordered the squires to set up the crossbows, and the fully drawn crossbow bolts were pointed directly at the target.
After carefully observing for a moment, Mavin discovered that the other party did not seem to be human. Although it also had two hands and two feet, its figure was much taller than the average person, and its skin was cyan, and he could also see raised meridians and blood vessels. And the most obvious difference was the tentacles of varying lengths growing on its cheeks, jaw, and elbows—those disgusting earthworm-like things squirmed slowly, which made people feel chills down their spines.
What puzzled him was that the devil was closing its eyes at the moment, as if it was asleep, and he couldn't feel the aura of threat at all.
Was this monster really attracted by the Red Moon? No… that was just a saying used by the Graycastle people to scare ignorant villagers, the Earl thought. No matter where it came from, it had nothing to do with the rumored doomsday. On the contrary, as long as he ordered his subordinates to pull the lever, this guy would be shot through the heart by crossbow bolts.
Thinking of this, Mavin took a deep breath and shouted loudly, “Listen well, ugly and dirty monster! I am the lord of Snow Reflection Castle, Mavin. Caso! You have invaded my territory. If you want to live, kneeling down and submitting to me is your only choice, otherwise, the icy abyss under your feet will be your burial place!”
He didn't think the other party could understand what he was saying. This righteous speech was more to show the courage and fearlessness of a lord to his subordinates on the city wall than to warn the devil.
Since the Graycastle people believed that this was a demon from hell, if he could scare away or kill one, it would definitely greatly enhance his reputation.
“I don’t have the patience to wait too long, now I’ll give you the last five breaths to make a choice—five, four!”
While saying that, Mavin made a gesture to the knight to prepare to shoot.
“Three…”
The devil suddenly opened its eyes and shouted, “Enough!”
Its voice rolled across the Snow Reflection Castle like thunder, shaking the ice ridges under the wall to fall, and the roar echoed on the top of the mountains. For a moment, Mavin felt as if the earth was shaking and his ears were ringing. He was so shocked that he took two steps back unconsciously and fell to the ground.