The Earl of Saron is located at the northernmost point of the Cangshi Kingdom. Although the Frost Guards nominally recognize themselves as subjects of the kingdom, the northerners' terrifying unity and control over Dragon Back Mountain make it difficult for the royal family to feel at ease. Therefore, in Saron

When the earldom was first established, the first earl’s task was to contain the power of the Frost Guards in the north. The establishment of the entire earldom was prepared to transform it into a barrier against the northerners when necessary. He was the first to bear the brunt of this.

It's the capital of the earldom, Valley City.

The location of Valley City is just like its name. It is on the bank of Dragon Blood Stream, the largest waterway in the entire earldom. At the same time, due to the influence of the remaining veins of Longji Mountain, the terrain of the entire earldom is dominated by mountains and rugged hills.

Lord, the location of Valley City also happens to be at the mouth of the lowland gorge, which is the easiest to pass. In this way, as long as Valley City is occupied, the entire northbound road to the south can be cut off. But this also requires Valley City to face during the war.

Attacks from the surrounding highlands and threats from waterways. Therefore, the city was not defined as a commercial or agricultural city when it was founded, but as a complete military fortress.

Count Saron's castle is like a nail, firmly embedded in the road leading to the south. Its towering outer city walls are no worse than the main cities of other duchies. The only shortcoming is the small geographical space.

This limits the size of the city, making it difficult to develop into a large city. But for a military fortress, the larger the size, the more difficult it is to mobilize supplies and troops. Just riding across the city requires one or two people.

In terms of defense alone, the small city may not be as powerful as Valley City.

Although the northerners have proven over time that they have no ambition to compete for southern land, and the successive counts of the Saron family have been getting along well with the Legion in recent decades, the city maintenance costs of Valley City are not ambiguous at all. Therefore,

It is almost an impossible task even for the famous Blood Lion to enter the Valley City with a team of forty riders without the permission of the people in the city.

Leon has been circling Valley City for a day. During this period, no matter how he and his men shouted or shot arrows with letters on the city wall, there was no response from Valley City. Not even Leon was there.

No living person was seen on the city wall. Although Leon did not know that all the Saron family had died of the plague, and even the only remaining daughter, Gloria, mutated into a monster due to the illness, the knight commander relied on his own

Through experience, we can also conclude that the situation in the city is very bad. The farmhouses and villages along the way are in a miserable state, the burned houses, and dilapidated fields all show that the situation in the earldom is worse than imagined. What is even more terrifying is that

Leon did not find any corpses of residents along the way, or in other words, he did not see corpses with flesh. Wherever the knights went, they could only see scattered white bones, and the black spots on the bones even made Leon dare not let go.

His men went to collect these bones. This reminded him of the monster rumors spread among the refugees received in Zhuoliu Town.

Those terrifying and blood-eating monsters came with the plague. They never appeared during the day, only at night. They attacked livestock, poultry and even lone humans. As the plague progressed, those monsters became more unscrupulous, and they would

Attacking families living in remote areas, even thick wooden doors and solid walls cannot stop their hungry claws.

At first, Leon only thought it was the refugees who had seen beasts infected by the plague. There was precedent for this. Many plagues would make infected creatures become violent, especially in beasts. But then

As he led the team into the epidemic area, he felt that it was impossible for those beasts alone to cause such huge damage. Lyon even found a completely collapsed house in a town. The damage to that house was so unnatural, as if,

It was as if something had hollowed out the entire foundation of the house. The knight commander realized that there might be something beyond ordinary people's imagination wandering around in the epidemic area.

In this world, although magic and curses are not common, they do not really exist. Not to mention the Twilight Moon Theocracy, which has a belief that outsiders think is terrifying. I only saw it during the mission in Lyon.

There are at least half a dozen of various magical creatures and spellcasters. And every encounter with these existences will put Leon's team into a situation of near death. The Knight Commander deeply knows how dangerous and dangerous those things in the shadow of the world are.

Terrifying. So he asked his knights to be vigilant at all times. This was a prerequisite to save their lives when facing those unknown entities.

"Sir, may I ask where we will camp tonight?" A knight came to Lyon and asked.

The Knight Commander looked up at the setting sun. He remembered the rumors about those refugees - they only appeared at night. He thought for a moment and said.

"Camp at the Dragon Blood Stream tonight, double the number of people keeping watch. Don't be stingy with torches."

If it were normal times, the knight would definitely ask Lyon if it was necessary to be so careful. However, the strange silence in the earldom made him feel that the knight captain's decision was correct. He even doubted whether he could really survive in such an environment.

sleep.

"By the way, sir, I heard that Hammer has also sent a search team." This is not a secret. The king ordered the troops of the Kingdom Knights and Grand Duke of Hammer to enter the earldom from two directions to explore. In this way, the two teams also

Can take care of each other.

"Yes, it's just that they entered the earl territory from the west and the distance to Valley City is longer than ours. I think if they don't encounter any problems, they will probably join us tomorrow." Leon nodded, knowing

The presence of friendly forces can boost the morale of the soldiers.

"Then will their leader be the rumored Captain Heather?" the young knight asked excitedly.

Leon can understand his excitement. In the army, no matter what kind of army it is, women are rare animals. Not to mention Heather, a female knight known as the Hammer Rose. Even Leon himself is thinking about his relationship with Heather.

When I reminisce about the time we acted together, I feel a surge in my heart.

"I don't know, maybe it is, maybe it's not. We will know soon, right?" the knight commander chuckled and said.

The young knight was not disappointed after getting this ambiguous answer from Moreau, but left happily. Perhaps he should apply to His Majesty to place a few female knights in the knights? Leon looked at the knights cheering softly in the distance.

I thought of it and then gave up on this somewhat ridiculous idea.

The sun gradually loses its brilliance in the shadow of Dragon's Back Mountain. The knights have set up camp by the Dragon Blood Stream. The raised bonfires dispel the coldness of the night. They also serve as guides for predators in the darkness.

Beacon. Leon felt that this night might not be peaceful. He gently wiped the sword that had been with him for many years and said to the herald.
Chapter completed!