Blood tax

Chapter 91 The Precarious Situation

Arendelle entertained Griffith at an annex in Hepu Town, and the servants brought him a clean set of clothes and a very hearty breakfast.However, the worried Griffith was absent-minded.

The teleportation circle of the mage tower was destroyed, and it was difficult for high-level combat power to arrive in a short time.

The garrison mage was killed.Connex is not only the Extraordinary commander who coordinates the search and alert of Tsuruura, but also a wizard who is proficient in occult knowledge and black magic prevention and control.His death suddenly created a gap in the decision-making and intelligence chain.

The Hanami Memorial Ceremony will be held today, and tourists from all over the world will gather at Cangyue Mountain in Hepu Town.

Not only did the previous group of cultists disappear without a trace, but another group of cultists with other signs was discovered during today's siege.

The situation is not good... Griffith gradually recovered from the tension of the battle and the exhaustion of healing, and began to deeply realize that the situation was very critical.

"You have a lot of things on your mind, is the situation so urgent?" Opposite him, Arendelle nodded to the waiters, and someone immediately brought a box.

Inside the casket was a suit of fine mail.This fine armor covers the upper arms, and when combined with the gauntlets, it can form a complete upper body defense.The hem of the mail armor hangs down to the knee, avoiding the worry of being stabbed in the leg when wearing the greaves.

This is a piece of armor that is very suitable for armored cavalry, and it is better than the half-body mail armor that Griffith wears every day.

"This is for you, please don't be polite. If it weren't for your decisive action, the Hepu Mountain Road Race would be dangerous. I like it very much and I have participated in it before," said Alandelle, "There is also a pair of plate armor And the helmet, which needs to be adjusted according to your size, can also be lent to you. But it has to be returned.”

"Thank you for your kindness, I just did my duty, and I can apply for the official transfer of armor," Griffith refused embarrassedly, "Wait a minute, why do you prepare plate armor for me?"

"Today is an important day for the Hanami Festival, so be prepared. I hope you won't need it," Arendelle said in an impeccably elegant tone. "Besides the armor, you may need other things. Please go back to the Headquarters, if you need anything, please come to me as soon as possible."

……

After returning to the temporary headquarters in Neopolis, Griffith saw that everyone was surrounded by an object.

This is a lead box with an ominous atmosphere, a container of 20 centimeters in length, width and height.The lid of the lead box has been opened...

A dead cultist is said to have been found at the scene clutching the lead box with both hands, as if trying to protect it from enemies.

A chill, corruption filled the air, reminding Griffith of the empty black box in the bottom deck of the Equinox, but more terrifying, more sinister.

"This is not a sealed item. The lead box is a common container used to seal dangerous goods," Amber said. "Although there is still a disturbing smell of black magic inside, I am pretty sure this is just a trace of the real sealed item. ."

"Could it be the same thing as the empty box on the vernal colony?" Griffith didn't have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, so he could only listen to Amber's opinion.

"I don't think so. The training of the huntress has allowed me to distinguish between different sealed objects and magical properties. This thick and strange aura is fundamentally different from the previous empty box," Amber shook his head. "This box used to put It has a Sealed Artifact implying disaster, plague and death, probably from a certain civilization in the Southern Continent. Its residual aura is already so powerful that the main body must not be able to handle it. We need reinforcements."

"Reinforcements are on their way," said Lieutenant Skoltz. "Master Winston has issued a debrief. The nearest fleet will arrive in the early hours of tomorrow. They will bring two legion groups and a dozen official Extraordinary. There are currently two city defense battalions stationed here, ranging from 450 to 550 people, a squadron of 9 people from the 120th "Hespena" Regiment was also left when they passed by the island, and several hundred policemen , there are several artillery squadrons in the port."

"Extraordinary, we need Extraordinary," Griffith shook his head and said, "Ordinary soldiers, even legionnaires, are very difficult to deal with unknown sealed items."

The second lieutenant's tone was also a little helpless: "There are many extraordinary people in the fleet, and there are also mages."

"But they don't arrive till tomorrow morning."

At this time, the Finnish sergeant major received a note from the orderly: "Hey, guys, there's news from the Echo Hub. A Transcendent commando team is coming at full speed and will arrive tonight."

How come a commando superman comes as soon as he comes.It's absurd.Isn't that just stuck on a node where our power is weakening?Griffith asked very depressed: "What time?"

"I, I don't know, it didn't say it." Finn flipped the note over and read it twice. "It didn't say it."

Griffith felt extremely anxious: "Why can't the Transcendent be sent earlier? Even if there is only one, Conix will not die in battle. What is the superior hesitating about?"

"I read some documents left by the garrison mage. From the records, he and Winston have been arguing over the selection of superhumans," Amber dug out a document from the documents on the table. "He accused the original plan. The sent High Mage has friendship with Winston, and there will be unjust opinions. If he hadn't been killed, we wouldn't know."

"Where are the Winstonians?"

"He took his squad to fortify the city and the council," said the second lieutenant. "He also took the regiment squadron and a city defense unit. Tsurupo's defense and another unit were left to us."

Only a few hundred city defense troops can't stop the Sealed Artifacts and the secretive cultists.Griffith was almost stunned by a burst of blood.

At this time, an unrecognizable corpse was carried into the headquarters.

Judging from the mage's robe covered in minced meat and brains, his size and equipment, the deceased was the garrison mage Conix.

His skull burst and his teeth, eyeballs and brain pulp were collected together with blood mixed in a paste in a small box.The sergeant-major Finland groaned for a while and ran to the corner to vomit.

"Master Winston said to ask a few officers to confirm, and if there is no problem, we will send Master Connix to resettle." The employees who brought the remains said.

"We... we..." The second lieutenant opened his mouth, but was speechless.

"Confirmation is correct," Griffith grabbed a pen and signed the certificate, waved the employees away, turned and said to the Extraordinary colleagues, "We need to contact the city hall, the cultists are likely to attack the Hanami Festival, we need them Coordinate Winston to participate in the defense."

"It makes sense, um." The second lieutenant nodded. "The opinion of the city hall is very important. We can report to the mayor. However, it is difficult for them to force an official Beyonder, let alone a spell caster."

Griffith said solemnly: "If the city hall can't provide reinforcements and can't coordinate with Winston, we will use this reason to ask them to enforce martial law and stop the memorial service."

"Impossible," the second lieutenant shook his head. "The city hall will try to strengthen inspections for two or three of our kittens, but it will not stop the funeral. This is the signature of the island."

The air in the conference room was suffocating.Scholz's eyebrows were twisted together like two tattered rags, almost dripping water.Amber leaned against the wall silently rubbing her long hair.Finland was still in the corner, turning pale with vomiting.

The team's morale is dying.

I have to cheer up, I have to cheer up myself... Griffith rubbed his forehead, and changed his tone:
"Well, even without Beyonder reinforcements, we still have an infantry brigade, plus the patrol and security police, our situation is not too bad. There are obviously powerful families in Hepu Town, they may There are Beyonders who can cooperate with us."

"What should we do?" Amber cast a questioning look at the apprentice knight.The same goes for the higher rank of second lieutenants and sergeant majors, as if Griffith was not a small second-tier captain, but a garrison knight of the island.

Griffith said sternly:

"First of all we're going to the city hall to fight for it.

"Then, no matter what the result is, concentrate your forces. In addition to the necessary defense, the mobile forces must be concentrated near the Cangyue Memorial in Hepu Town for unified command.

"This time, we will mobilize artillery from the port."

"But the Internal Security Regulations..." Scholz opened his mouth hesitantly.

"It's urgent," Griffith said. "Of course, we have to report this problem to our superiors and ask for their approval. But, whether they agree or not, we need to mobilize the bed crossbow and trebuchet. That cult apostle Adequate firepower has proven to be important."

None of the three Beyonders present objected to Griffith's opinion, but they all had hesitations on their faces.

Griffith thought for a moment, and then added: "If the city hall does not have many reinforcements and cannot stop paying homage, then we will ask them to authorize the formation of the former enemy command, consisting of the second lieutenant, the city defense army chief, the sergeant major, and Amber. We voted together with me, and the second lieutenant had the final say. When we submitted the report, it was signed by the five of us.

"Don't tell them to use artillery, they authorized it anyway."

"Well, if we find out after investigation that we are making a big fuss, the superior will also see that the city hall agreed to the authorization," Finland nodded. "This not only eliminates the suspicion of overstepping our powers, but also enables efficient and transparent decision-making. I agree very much."

"Okay, let's do this," Scholz finally made up his mind, "I and Finland will go to the warehouse to see, there should be some trebuchets to be deployed in the Church of Holy Grace. We have calibrated the shooting table before, and it should be able to use it. ... Griffith and Amber went to town hall to get help."

It was 8 a.m. when Griffith and Amber arrived at Neopolis City Hall.

The guards immediately went to report when they heard about their intentions.Griffith and Amber waited in the meeting room together, drinking some coffee that has become popular recently.

"Will you go back and see Iloti after the things here are done?" Amber asked after drinking a sip of his bitter coffee.

"Well, of course," Griffith stuffed a sandwich into his mouth quickly.

"What do you think the cultists are planning?" Amber handed the coffee over to prevent him from choking on himself. "They definitely didn't smuggle the sealed items here to celebrate the festival."

Griffith frowned, and said slowly: "I can roughly guess something. The characteristics of this sealed item are related to death, disaster and plague, right?"

"Yes, although I can't specify the specific characteristics, it will not go beyond this range." Amber said with great certainty.

"Today, tens of thousands of tourists from all over the world will gather for festivals and fireworks," Griffith said. "Their purpose is likely to be to spread the plague, and then the tourists will bring the plague and disaster. to all over the world.”

(End of this chapter)