The only convenience in this world is that magic stones can serve as stable energy output devices and are easy to mine.
Xiao Xun stood on it, looking down at the scenery before him. He took a deep breath, feeling his mood improve considerably.
However, the high mountains not far from the plain in front of him felt extremely awkward no matter how he looked at them.
The autumn wind blew, bringing a hint of chill, and the sky gradually darkened.
Xiao Xun returned to the main camp and sat before the sand table, contemplating how to fight this war.
If they could hold their ground, they could win. If they couldn't even hold their ground, it would be better to give up early.
At this moment, a messenger walked in, saluted Xiao Xun, and said, "Duke, two of the scouts sent out have returned."
Xiao Xun stood up, "Have them come in quickly."
Both scouts were injured, but their spirits were high, and their faces were radiant.
Xiao Xun walked up to the two of them, "What's the situation ahead?"
One of the scouts said, "Reporting to Your Grace, according to reliable intelligence, the King of Midia intends to surrender to the Scourge Legion. However, after another country, Custu, surrendered to the Scourge Legion, the consequence was the annihilation of their entire royal family. Therefore, the King of Midia has sent an envoy to seek an alliance with us, Saint Roman, to jointly resist the Scourge Legion."
The other scout said, "Your Grace, I saw the soldiers and legion commander of the Scourge Legion in Custu. Please take a look." With that, he took out a memory gem from his懷, cast a spell, and played back the memory.
Xiao Xun saw the full picture of the Scourge Legion from the holographic projection that emerged from the gem. They were not the zombies, skeleton soldiers, or ghouls he had imagined. They looked like humans, but they wore masks similar to gas masks from that world, and their exposed skin was all silver-gray, as if they had a skin disease. As for the legion commander, he also wore a mask, but this mask exposed the left eye of the legion commander separately.
The weapons in their hands did not seem to be weapons of this era, but they also did not seem to be weapons of the future.
Everyone held something resembling a gun in their hands, but these guns did not require reloading bullets. They were connected by a tube to a backpack behind them. The backpack was made of steel and had a small exhaust pipe from which steam was emerging.
Overall, they looked like water guns that children played with, but their power was unknown.
Xiao Xun looked at the image in the memory gem with surprise, "This is the legendary Scourge Legion?"
The scout nodded, "That's right."
Xiao Xun breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the chair, "I was worried for several days, but now it's settled. I'll crush them."
The scouts did not understand why Xiao Xun was smiling such a mysteriously confident smile, but they had heard of Xiao Xun's reputation and battle methods, so they did not say much.
The first scout reassured Xiao Xun, "What about the alliance with Midia?"
Xiao Xun thought for a moment, feeling that he could not bring the war into his own country. It would be best to fight in another country, thus minimizing his losses. "Has their envoy arrived yet?"
The scout pointed outside, "He has been waiting outside for Your Grace's summons."
Xiao Xun waved his hand, "Then let him come in!"
The scout hurried out to call the envoy. Xiao Xun was full of confidence, thinking that this so-called Scourge Legion was just a bunch of clowns. He had not considered how the Zhiyue Kingdom had lost.
Soon, the envoy from Midia bowed ninety degrees and slowly walked up to Xiao Xun, "Envoy of Midia, greetings to the great Duke of Saint Roman."
Xiao Xun nodded, "I heard your king wishes to form an alliance with us?"
The envoy had not lifted his head since entering. "That's right. Our king said that the Scourge Legion is wicked and deserves to be punished by everyone. Saint Roman is on the side of justice, so we are willing to fight the Scourge Legion with Your Grace."
Xiao Xun's lips curled slightly, "You are a small country. With or without you, we can still fight the Scourge Legion..." As he spoke, he stood up and looked at the envoy, "I wonder, what reason can you give me to agree to an alliance with you?"
The envoy suddenly stood up, revealing a sinister and eerie smiling face. Blue light suddenly appeared in his hand, and a huge beam of lightning shot directly at Xiao Xun.
"Is this reason good enough?"
The Twelve Apostles were all outside. They did not expect anyone to be so audacious as to attempt assassination.
Xiao Xun's hands flashed white light, absorbing all the lightning into his hands. "With just this much ability, you want to assassinate me? Don't you guys collect intelligence before attempting assassinations?"
The envoy of Midia was stunned. He did not expect Xiao Xun to absorb all his lightning magic. No, to be precise, he devoured it, because besides the white light, electricity was also circling and flashing around Xiao Xun's hands.
The information he had received was that this newly appointed Duke did not know magic at all.
Before the other party could react from his shock, Xiao Xun counterattacked with the lightning with the force of thunder. The envoy was hit and flew out like a falling icicle.
When he flew outside the house, Aries instinctively reached out to intercept him. Unexpectedly, he was also connected by a huge electrical current and thrown against the wall.
Xiao Xun looked at his hands, surprised, "This lightning magic is more powerful than ordinary elemental magic!"
The remaining Apostles rushed into the room where Xiao Xun was. Seeing that Xiao Xun was fine, they stood on both sides with their heads bowed.
Xiao Xun walked out slowly, asking as he walked, "Is that person dead?"
Aries was kneeling on the ground, clearly not lightly injured. Xiao Xun walked up to him and asked in a very concerned tone, "Are you alright?"
Aries waved his hand, indicating he was unharmed. However, the mask on his face had been knocked off, revealing Aries's true face, which was that of a very handsome man.
Xiao Xun bent down, picked up the mask, and handed it back to Aries. Aries took it with both hands, unsure how to express his feelings, which could be described as awe and trepidation.
Xiao Xun walked up to the envoy from the small country who had been blown away by the lightning. He bent down and patted his face, which surprisingly produced two sparks of electricity.
He checked the envoy's breathing; he was clearly not breathing anymore.
Xiao Xun knelt on the ground and looked back at the Twelve Apostles, "Make a cross, tie him to a war chariot, and attack Midia tomorrow morning."
The Twelve Apostles bowed their heads. Taurus asked, "Please clarify, Your Excellency, what is a cross?"
Xiao Xun drew a cross in the air, picked up two small trees, nailed them together, one horizontal and one vertical, and then tied the person to it. This is called a cross. Taurus and Leo went to prepare.
Upon hearing that Xiao Xun had been assassinated, the three Grand Marshals and twelve Marshals all rushed to Xiao Xun's room.
Xiao Xun explained his plan to the highest military officers of the Phoenix Army. The Grand Marshals exchanged glances, and all of them asked Xiao Xun to abandon this idea.
Xiao Xun patted the sand table, "They tried to assassinate me, and I'm just going to seek an explanation. What's wrong with that?"
One of the Grand Marshals said, "To seek an explanation, sending an envoy is enough. If the army is mobilized, other countries will interpret it as an invasion."
Xiao Xun waved his cloak, "I summoned you here to inform you, not to let you define this matter. You only need to make strategic deployments; you don't need to oppose me."
The fifteen people all lowered their heads in silence. Xiao Xun patted the shoulder of the Grand Marshal who had objected to him. The other party trembled, thinking Xiao Xun was going to kill him, and sweat poured down his face.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Xun simply said, "Since you have doubts about this matter, your legion will stay behind to guard the homeland. This time, these two will go!"
The Grand Marshal immediately saluted and said, "Yes."