The Amber Sword

The Somir crystal, also known in the game as the original Somir ore, was initially discovered as a magical crystalline ore, and later another characteristic of this crystal, crystallization, was gradually discovered. Somir crystals have the ability to gradually crystallize the organisms that come close to them, but the crystallized organisms do not lose their lives, but are transformed into a life form made up of crystals - semi-crystalline organisms. Because this capability is not only effective for animals, but also for plants, large areas of crystalline forests are often found around Somir crystals, and in fact it is one of the causes of crystalline forests.

However, the Somir crystal is a slow and gradual process for the assimilation effect of organisms, which usually takes several years or more to complete. According to Tulaman, soldiers of the three empires entered the final battlefield only two or three days later and were affected by crystallization, which, while sounding like the Somir crystal Brando has heard of, is obviously much stronger, perhaps a more powerful variant of one magic, or something else altogether.

But either way, the crystallization process should be an irreversible one, so he would only have such a headache when faced with the crystallization disease of Elaine, the queen of the deer. In fact, in the record of the game, there are few examples of healing crystallization disease, most of which still benefit from the fountain of life or miracle magic, a near-miraculous ability. On the battlefield of the final battle, it is obviously impossible to have so many miracles at the same time, countless soldiers on the battlefield, and there are a large number of nobles, not only at the grass-roots level, but even at the upper levels of nobility, to whom every country committed jihad. If these people were killed on the battlefield, it would be an untenable event for any country at that time, and from the tone of Tulaman, it is clear that the people affected were the overwhelming majority when the crystallization disease spread.

Speaking of which, it has to be mentioned that the attitude of the Vaughn aristocrats towards war in those years, before the Second Jihad, the aristocrats generally regarded their participation in war as an honor, not because they still had the same courage as their forefathers to plunge into barbarism. On the contrary, in the heart of civilization, after the first generation of pioneering knights gradually faded out of view of the world, their descendants became more and more obsessed with entertainment, long ago losing the style of their forefathers. During the war of the saints, the aristocrats of mankind could easily go to justice for a word and a promise, but today, a thousand years later, such behaviour is regarded as something only a fool would do.

Nobles are not afraid of war because war is not a matter of life or death for them, especially for an empire like Cruz, where upper nobles rarely have a record of losing their lives in war - unless they are hit by a runaway arrow because of too much bad luck, or soil and water die of disease, and even if captured, receive decent treatment - because hostages represent a great ransom for their enemies. To this day, the vast majority of nobles still remember that era, when war was considered to be a war of knighthood and kindness, classical and romantic.

And of course, this privilege is just for nobility, for soldiers from the lower quarters, the intent of the war has never changed in a thousand years, and it's the same breath of death doped with cold metal and blood ——

Thus, if hundreds of nobles were killed in a war, for any country of that era, what kind of nightmare, even the royal family, could be torn apart by the angry families of the deceased. Knowing what energy was often behind those deaths, Brando, for example, remembered very clearly. At that time, on the side of the Temple of Fire, there were three dukes in the battle of the Cruz Empire. The Lords below were bigger and smaller, and everyone had an intricate network of relationships behind them, which could be said to encompass the entire noble lineage of the Empire.

If they die on the battlefield, they will most likely have to go with an imperial princess, and the situation on St. Osor's and Fernzan's sides is almost as good as it might have been, and there is absolutely no way to hide it if it had happened, either way. Thinking about it, Brando suddenly had a bright light in his mind, realizing for whom his grandfather was carrying the black pot, but the thought just flashed by and he shook his head again.

This black pot could not be carried at all by his grandfather, even if he was the commander of the coalition forces in the Temple of Fire, and he knew that the imperial side had not yet reached an unacceptable level, despite the loss of many nobles in the war in Arkash, at least the Princess, the three Dukes and several important figures had returned home intact.

Does Crystalliasis know how to distinguish between high and low pride, and does nobility have some kind of immune effect on Crystalliasis? This nonsense is obviously worthless, and there is only one possibility that manpower could have saved the coalition forces of the three empires at the final juncture, which explains why after that, the three temples were bannered and the Second Jihad was stamped with a halt.

There was a strong hunch in Brando's heart about that candidate, and more than once that tall shadow appeared in his mind: under Prague's bloody residual sun, the stag forest was stained with a coppery soft color, the river flowing with broken gold was soaked in shallow beaches, the silent old man stood still, and if he looked thoughtfully at his sword practicing grandson - Brando now remembers, under his grandfather's broad shoulders and between his tight lips, he had been guarding an unknown secret, about the low whisper behind the secret, surrounding the old man for the rest of his life, as that eventual moment approached into dust and hiding in the grave.

And at this moment, the secret is finally coming to light.

Faced with his questionable gaze, Tulaman certainly stopped selling the Guan, bringing everything that happened at the time to light:

Crystalliasis seemed to spread overnight among the three coalitions, and countless people were infected. Although crystallization was not as serious at first, all infected people became restless by the magic of the Somir crystal, gathered together to attack each other, or attacked the normal people who tried to separate them. As more and more people joined them, events in the Alka region gradually became unmanageable, and some fled out of fear, not less than the nobility who commanded the army, while the number of the remaining normal people gradually decreased to a point where it was almost impossible to maintain their own security.

In the circumstances, discussing solving the problem was already a joke, and the only thing left to do, besides waiting for death, was to gamble with loneliness, and the arriving Buga wizards offered that perhaps they could smash the Somir crystal in the temple, or throw it into some space turbulence by magic, so that while it might not be possible to change what was happening now, at least it could prevent things from continuing to deteriorate.

After several discussions, this proposal was endorsed by the vast majority of the remaining people, but the question is, who is going to do it?

On the ruins of the last war, countless crystallized infected soldiers roam in the mist, just passing through them to reach the temple is a difficult thing to ascend, not to mention the dangers of that mysterious temple, which cannot be foreseen at all. It can be said that to carry out this task is to die, and not everyone can, because it is obviously not enough to carry out the impossible task with just a few men, who need an army, which needs a commander. Ironically, in order to compete for the legacy of the so-called 'Minors', no one in the three empires was willing to become human, and the vast majority of noblemen, including the commanders of the Imperial Coalition Army, entered the fog in the first place, fearing falling behind, at a time when none of these noble commanders came back out of the fog.

And the rest of the coalition who were qualified to command the army either fled, or died and did not want to go into the fog, and finally the Bukas found that only one person perfectly met their expectations - Darus, who was under house arrest by the Silver Queen, who, in terms of seniority, would have been the commander of the coalition on the side of the Temple of Fire, with absolute prestige. On the other hand, because of his disagreement with Constance, he escaped from the start and was not infected by crystallization.

All that remains is his own will.

But as Brando predicted, after learning the full story, his grandfather took over the command without saying another word. It seemed strange to others, but at that moment Brando understood his grandfather, not only because of his glory as a soldier, but also because of the fog and the woman he loved so much.

As he grew older, he had to succumb to time and destiny, and his tall body gradually became rickety. In his silent mind, he hid another kind of luxury and warm blood. Unfortunately, he had never seen his grandfather in that era. In Brando's memory, a distinct memory belonging to that old man seemed to fade away gradually, thus coinciding with another image.

In that image, Brando saw the flags of the clouds, the knights of the tsunami, and the man who stood before the tidal army, the marshal of the temple of fire, and his immortal ambition.

It was an age that belonged both to Eluin and to Anson and his two chief ministers, one in front of him and the other in his memory forever.

The Eruin of that era is much more glorious than it is today.

Brando gradually silenced, as his grandfather did, and he heard Tulaman speak of his grandfather's success, which was like a hero born in classical mythology, often in the most unlikely circumstances, saving the sky. The Krutz, the Faynesians and the Wind Elves finally set aside their stereotypes at the most critical junctures and joined together, as they did a thousand years ago, under the command of a human being; they crossed the misty final battlefield, killing a bloody path from under the siege of a semi-crystalline creature, overcoming a state of illusion, as if the ancients who had paved the way out of blood and thorns on foot in the dark ages, only by their indomitable will, and arrived in that temple.

“Your grandfather broke the fast crystal, and the giant crystal column split in two, and after collapsing, he lost his magic, not only because the crystallization disease stopped spreading, but even the human and elf soldiers who had been crystallized gradually returned to normal," said Tulaman slowly, "that crystal is still in the museum of Frank, and Aram erected a stone tablet for it to commemorate the heroes of the time, only that few people knew its history. ”

“Why a stone tablet without words?” Brando asked quietly.

Sword Saint Darus, his grandfather who saved the three empires, could be said to owe him a debt of gratitude from Cruz, Fine Zan and even the countless nobles of the wind elves, but he was given an unfair trial. Brando's heart was already a cold killing machine, and if he was told who planned all this behind him, he would surely call them to regret everything they had done.

Because the Cadilloso family has descendants, because Darius' grandson's name is Brando.

Unexpectedly, Turaman shook his head and said a little heavily: “I know what you're thinking, little guy, but it's not what you think, it's your grandfather who took the initiative to stand trial. ”

Brando's stuck.

“Why?” He couldn't help but say.

“Because if he does not stand trial, Princess Silver will die. ”

……

Garden of Roses -

Ta Ta, before and after the two boots with gold silk roses on their toes stepped on the pedal next to the door, followed by a wave of dark black skirt, Empire Queen Constance gracefully walked off the carriage with the care and support of the woman, the two women hurried forward to lift a long skirt for her, Her Majesty glanced calmly, her eyebrows showing that there was no peace in the heart of the supreme ruler of the vast realm.

“Your Majesty. ”

Two platoons of waitresses bowed down.

Constance turned a blind eye to them, walking through them, through the corridor, and her cold face seemed to breed an angry storm. Bang! The golden walnut wood door of the sleeping palace should be pushed open, the waiter's hand stretched out stiff in the middle of the sky and looked at the queen with amazement, but the latter had coldly opened her mouth:

“You go down. ”

The waiters dared not disobey her orders, and several noble ladies looked at each other in alarm, then bowed down and quickly calmed down in the room.

“She refused again?” It took a while for the sofa to hear the gentle voice of the dragon, as if the lady was there, asking in a constant and open tone. But Constance didn't have to look back, and she knew that Cedric's priceless golden camel couch was empty at the moment.

“She'll agree, that little hillbilly girl, I'm running out of time for her," Constance replied coldly, "and I'll let her know that I'm not just a gentle talker. ”

“It's nature, the anger of the king, the bloodshed, so you're ready to knife the mountain people? ”

“No, quite the contrary,” the Silver Queen sneered, “I intend to marry her to the self-righteous guy, the ‘Prince of the Mountains', who has begged me more than once to marry an imperial princess to him anyway, since they are one of us, I think she will be satisfied. ”

Speaking of the Mountain Prince, Constance's tone of disdain was irresistible. In fact, it was an insulting disdain. After all, the hillbilly from the mountains was always so self-righteous. In fact, no orthodox imperial nobleman would join them. The ridiculous thing was that the other party took this identity seriously, so the title of Mountain Prince came into being.

Generally speaking, Constance, as the leader of the Empire and the supreme of the throne, seldom speaks so lightly, and she is clearly in extreme anger at the moment.

Dragon Queen looked at her with some surprise from the void: “This is the little guy's woman, he's the man's grandson, isn't he? You really don't talk about the situation at all. ”

“This is the woman's grandson.” Constance corrected her coldly.

“So this is the jealousy between human women?” The dragon queen's voice became a little curious.

The Silver Queen has always been unanswered to this question, and she stood silently at her desk with no waves of peace in her eyes.

“What are you thinking, my lord? ”

“I was thinking, if I wasn't so naive at the time, maybe it would be something else now, Gwendolyn. ”

“But you had a choice, Your Majesty. ”

“I…” Constance's voice hesitated: "Because I didn't want to deceive myself. ”

……

The fleet is awaiting sail--

Brando slowly stepped onto the deck and looked back: on the cross bridge, the silver folk were entering the portal, Tulaman walked at the end, as if he felt something in his heart, he turned around and raised his head slightly. Two silver grey eyes in the shadow under the silver silk cap with a silver patterned pattern glistened, between thin lips, if there was no place for a mysterious smile.

He took a deep breath and suddenly pressed his hand gently over the side of the boat engraved with Vitamin relief.

As for the previous conversation, it seemed as if the moment had resurfaced in front of him ——

“I don't understand.” Brando stared closely at the old man in front of him, and his cold eyes looked like they were going to see each other through.

“It's simple, as I said before, on the battlefield of the final battle, in that temple, that strange crystal was initially sealed. But the man who sealed it was not the four sages, but the dragon of darkness, Odin, who first touched the seal was the queen you knew. ”

“When the seal was unveiled, the mystery was revealed, and the secrets of the last war of the Saints were revealed to all at once. Because I was with your grandfather at the time, I didn't know exactly what they saw, but I only knew one thing. ”

“That's about the mystery, it's about the covenant between the four wise men and Odin the Dragon of Darkness...”

“So it can be inferred that the legend of a millennium of myths may be true.” The voice of the elderly is a little harsh: "You know, the order of the human world, the legitimacy of the four empires, is based on the righteousness of the battle of the saints, but there has in fact been a saying throughout the millennium that what the four sages did in the battle of the saints may not be so sacred and just. ”

“In other words, the Dragon of Darkness is a tyrant in this story, but the Four Wise Men are only usurpers. ”

Tullaman raised his head and closed his eyes and looked at Brando: "Do you know what that means? ”

Brando hasn't answered. He's actually heard of a legend like this, but it's in The Sword of Amber.

There are countless legends of all kinds, and there is a saying that with every bard, there will be one more version of the story, so no one will ever go into it. But he also understood what it would mean if it were true.

In the history of the alternation of the human dynasty, competition for the throne and conspiracy to usurp the throne are not uncommon.

But the holy battle of the saints was founded on the covenant between the people of silver and the peoples of the continent, the cornerstone of which was to put an end to the dark rule of the Minors and to realize that prophecy - the age of the so-called mortals. This covenant, which is described in the poem of heaven as a sacred covenant, is also called a sacred oath, and since it is sacred, it must be founded first and foremost on justice.

And this is the foundation of the legitimacy of the age of mortals.

If all this is just a lie.

Then not only will the status of the four sages be called into question, but, more importantly, it will strike hard at the current world order, and the legitimacy of the four temples will be extinct. Once the prophecy is fulfilled, the world will inevitably end up in endless strife and war, because no one can interpret morality and justice anymore, and all that remains is an ambitious stage.

Brando is not cold and chestnuts.