Riding and Slashing

Chapter 397 Immortal Mortal

In the early morning of August 358, 8 in Pandeli, there was light rain.

I went with His Majesty Leon to meet Emperor Marius of the Bacchus Empire.

His Majesty Li Ang went down in a hurry, and he didn't even bring many guards.

I originally thought that Your Majesty went to the enemy's barracks to meet the enemy's emperor in such a hurry to let the two sides quickly reach an understanding so as to deal with a stronger enemy. I thought this negotiation would be full of cunning games and exchanges, just like Your Majesty has done many times did.

But unexpectedly, this was not a negotiation at all, but just a farewell between friends.

His Majesty Li Ang left in such a hurry, in fact, he was only in a hurry to see his friend who might die at any time for the last time.

It was a haggard, emaciated dying old man, perhaps a drug addict—I smelled strongly of opium from him.

But His Majesty Li Ang said that this junkie (the word is crossed out) Emperor is both his opponent and his friend, and the most powerful enemy of the entire continent...

I don't quite understand His Majesty Leon's definition of 'powerful'.

I have been following His Majesty all the time, and I know how terrible Aziz Dahaka—that is, Kavala is. I always thought that gods and demons like Kavala are the most powerful enemies on the entire continent, but His Majesty Leon Don't think so.

His Majesty told me that Emperor Marius had always been a person who created life for Bacchus, and a destroyer like Kavala couldn't be compared with him at all.

His Majesty said that Emperor Mario was the most powerful emperor in the entire continent for hundreds of years, but he was born at an untimely time.

I don't quite understand why a person who can't even restore his own life is a person who creates life.

I also don't quite understand why the most powerful emperor controls the most powerful country, but fails to unify the mainland...

What exactly does His Majesty Li Ang mean by 'powerful'?
—Excerpt from "New Pendor Battlefield Diary", by Lisadiran Aino.
-
In the early morning, Li Ang took Alina and Lisa Dilan to Salem Village.

Emperor Marius is currently in Salem Village, which is currently the territory of the Bacchus Empire, and Bacchus' military camp is not far to the north of Salem Village.

In other words, Leon passed through Bacchus' barracks, behind the enemy army...

This is of course a very dangerous move, and Li Ang only brought his own Noldor guards.

But Li Ang knew that he would not be in danger.

Because he knew that since Emperor Marius sent Agathon to seek peace, he just didn't want to deepen the hatred with the Noldor elves, and he didn't want the war to continue.

On the contrary, Ajiasong was more nervous—he followed Li Ang with a team of people, not because he was afraid that Li Ang would make some trouble suddenly, but to protect Li Ang's safety...

The Bacchus army is currently full of wounded soldiers. It is estimated that many people think that Li Ang is not pleasing to the eye. If something happens to Li Ang at this time, it will only bring real disasters to both countries in the end.

There are currently few residents in Salem Village. When the Bacchus Empire took back Karen Deer Castle, Anson took away most of the residents in this area.

Most of the houses in the village are empty and look dilapidated.

But Li Ang was brought into a military tent by Ajiasong.

Emperor Marius did not occupy any of the houses, even though most of the houses here were empty-this was obviously the result of years of habit, and his large troops did not enter the village, but camped in the north of the village.

This is probably to try to prevent large-scale troops from entering the place where civilians live, even though there are not many residents in the village.

The military tent of Emperor Marius was large, but without any decoration.

It is basically the same as the military tent that Li Ang usually uses—simple, inconspicuous, but spacious.

Li Ang didn't untie the sword on his body, and no one asked Li Ang to untie the sword. He just entered Emperor Mario's military tent.

After entering the military tent, what Li Ang saw was a skinny old man leaning on the camp bed, wearing the officer's armor of the immortal, holding his champion helmet in his arms.

His small stove was still placed on the table in front of him, and a delicate copper pot was steaming on the stove.

After seeing Li Ang, Emperor Mario smiled, and waved gently to Li Ang like an ordinary old man seeing a familiar junior.

It's like yesterday's war never happened.

"Li Ang... You may have guessed it, I originally planned to die on the battlefield, that is my best destination."

Today's Emperor Marius appears extremely weak, and it seems that yesterday's battle has exhausted his little energy.

"Your Majesty, this is also a battlefield, and you are still wearing the Immortal Armor."

Li Ang stepped forward and sat down in front of Marius as a junior.

In the same way, it seemed that he didn't charge towards Emperor Marius at all yesterday, as if yesterday's battle had nothing to do with the two of them...

Lisa Dilan and Agathon stood on both sides of the entrance of the military tent, one on the left and one on the right.

The few immortals who were originally guards in the military tent also consciously avoided the corner.

Alina looked left and right, shook her head, walked to the table, picked up the kettle and prepared to pour water for the two kings.

"Actually, Justus named the Immortals. I originally planned to name this legion the Mortal Legion... Mortals are mortal. But Justus said that the name has no deterrent effect at all, so he played a trick. A word game...in fact, the imperial guard is the true meaning of the immortal." (Note)
Emperor Marius stroked the crown of the champion's helmet in his arms, and smiled like a retired uncle next door: "I never thought I was immortal, I was just a mortal guard of the empire, a mortal who will eventually die."

Li Ang shook his head lightly: "You shouldn't say such unlucky things..."

"I'm dying, Leon."

Emperor Marius said frankly: "Only the weak will paralyze themselves with auspicious words... I am not a person who is afraid of death, I will gladly accept my fate."

As he said that, he glanced at Alina: "Luciana, don't pour water, there is warm wine on the table... How can you not drink when your friends come?"

He called Alina by her original name.

Alina was about to bring two water glasses, she was stunned when she heard this, and turned to look at Li Ang.

Li Ang also turned his head to take a look, and then he caught a glimpse of a box of black ointment on the table.

He can realize what it is.

Opium is indeed a common drug for doctors in this era, and Anson usually prepares a lot, mainly for cough and pain relief or to relieve those incurable diseases-in simple terms, it is to let People die relatively easily, avoiding torture.

So Li Ang nodded: "Indeed, the wine should be poured."

Arina was silent for a while, poured out the water in the glass, and replaced it with warm red wine in the copper kettle on the stove.

After that, she stood behind Emperor Marius, just like she did in Siyuan City.

"Li Ang... In this world, too many people desire immortality... If you conquer the entire continent in the future, will you try to make yourself immortal?"

Holding the wine glass, Mario added opium to his glass in front of Li Ang, and then continued the previous topic.

"I'm not sure - I haven't conquered the continent yet. Who knows what the future holds?"

Li Ang smiled honestly: "But just like you, no matter what happens in the future, I will gladly accept my fate."

"Hahaha... Shouldn't a young man like you pursue 'controlling one's own destiny' or 'changing one's own destiny'? You actually accept the arrangement of fate like an old man like me?"

Emperor Marius laughed.

"Because I'm not that kind of weak person..."

Li Ang also said with a smile: "What is destiny? What we can change and what we cannot change, what has changed and what will never change, what I can choose and what I can't choose, what I have mastered and what I can't master... this All the results are fate...Of course I have to accept it, because that is the final result after I have tried my best."

"Hahahaha...that's right! Only weak people would clamor all day long to change an unfair fate..."

Emperor Marius raised his head and smiled even more happily: "I want power because I am humble, and I want immortality because I am short-lived... People in the world always think that the so-called resistance to fate is a sign of strength, but in fact it is just desire and dissatisfaction! "

"It seems that you already know about Kavala? That King Pandor has been fighting against fate. What he wants is eternal power and immortality."

Li Ang realized that Emperor Marius probably knew something about Kavala, otherwise he wouldn't have been feeling emotional all the time.

"I do know something. I know that you have something to do with him...I guess you also had something to do with him during the year you disappeared? Can you tell me the story of what you experienced during that year? "

Mario nodded and looked at Li Ang, like an elder who planned to listen to his child's travel experience.

"This has to start with the civil war between the gods of Pendor and the Sindarin elves..."

Li Ang began to tell his experience and things about Kavala and Snake Worship Cult as concisely as possible.

……

"It seems that even if it is sealed in a distant temple, Kavala can still drive the Snake Worship Cult to provoke a war between us. If the Snake Worship Cult is not completely wiped out, this world will never have peace."

After listening to the story in the middle of the morning, Emperor Marius felt a little emotional: "The pursuit of power and immortality is to the extreme, and he wants to be the only god...he is the bravest coward..."

"Your Majesty Marius, I don't quite understand... If Kairos and his son provoked a dispute between elves and humans because they were afraid of death, I can understand that they are cowards. But why is Kavala such a terrible character also a coward? ?”

Lisa Diran asked suddenly.

"Lisa Diran, is that your name? I know you... Your name was written by Kryon on the list of 'contributors to the control of the Red Death', and I personally ordered you to eliminate the murder of nobles The crime of..."

Emperor Marius looked at Lisa Dilan: "You are a brave and fearless assassin... and you are an elf with a long life, so you may not realize it."

"Because he is afraid that life is short, he is afraid of losing power, he is afraid of being abandoned by the gods, he is afraid of being forgotten after completing his mission...he is afraid of everything, so he will pursue to make himself the only god—even if the whole world is plunged Chaos, even if he framed his comrades who supported him as the Supreme King, even if he destroyed everything... Such a person is not a mortal, but he is indeed a coward."

Li Ang explained: "Even though he is sealed now, he still hasn't given up on his pursuit, so he is a brave coward..."

"The fire in the Noldor Forest was set by Kairos and his son. Although they were forced to do nothing, they are indeed cowards, so I hand over their heads to you."

Emperor Marius continued: "But I know that the blood of their father and son is far from enough to quench the anger of the elves. The soldiers of the empire burned the forest. This is a fact, and I can't explain it, so I can only fight this with you." This battle... I originally planned to either die on the battlefield, or repel your attack... because I know that these two results can prevent you from continuing to attack the territory of Bacchus."

Li Ang nodded, that was indeed the case.

Before the forest was burned, Li Ang tried his best to keep the Noldor elves from being impulsive for the time being. If Li Ang didn't fight this battle with Bacchus, all the elves would take revenge on their own, so this battle must be fought.

But if Mario died in battle, and died from Li Ang's charge, then the Bacchus would inevitably resist Li Ang's troops with the same hatred. , of course not against the underdogs.

Of course, if Mario repelled Li Ang's attack yesterday... then there would be nothing more to say.

"However, now that you have won a big victory and the empire has paid a heavy price, you should be able to calmly listen to my explanation... We should not continue to fight, or we will only let the real enemy take advantage of it .I know you want food, I can give you the food from Boshi City."

After Emperor Marius finished speaking, he looked at Li Ang, and then at Lisa Diran: "Do you accept it?"

Li Ang looked at Emperor Marius and smiled: "If you were the one who won the battle yesterday, then you will definitely continue to march and reach Changhe City to negotiate peace with us, right?"

"Of course... if you were me, you would do the same..."

Emperor Marius took it for granted: "No matter what, I have to consider the interests of Bacchus..."

"That's true...then, what happened at Dilingang?"

Li Ang also knew that Emperor Marius was telling the truth, and if he could get food, there was really no need to continue the attack.

The Lion Realm was beaten to pieces before, and what is most needed now is to restore vitality. If it weren't for the burning of the Noldor Forest, Li Ang would have been engaged in real estate in Changhe City and would not have sent troops at all—who wants to fight? Battle?
"The news I got is that the fleet of the Snake Cult appeared near the port of Emperor Lingang, and the family members of Kailos and Antonius, that is, Kailos' wife and other clansmen, also returned to the Emperor with the fleet of the Snake Cult. Lingang..."

Emperor Marius sighed when he said this: "Shortly afterwards, a terrible disaster occurred in Dilingang. A strange man wearing a mask caused the entire army of Emperor Lingang to be wiped out in an instant. It is said that General Ivaylo defected to the enemy. , Emperor Lingang is basically occupied by the Snake Worship Cult. Moreover, they should start marching north."

"Ivaylo, that serf general who raised pigs...will he betray the country and join the enemy? I'm afraid he did it as a last resort in the face of desperation...General Sura is not here, has he already gone to Emperor Lingang? "

Li Ang turned his head to look, but did not see Sura.

"Yes, Sura is not my subordinate, he just helped me a little more as a friend. His mission is to deal with the Snake Worship Cult. The Shadow Wolves have already set off for Emperor Lingang. Phoenix Knight The regiment is also on its way."

Emperor Marius nodded: "If you don't attack the empire anymore, I will take all the troops to Emperor Lingang... As I said, I want to die on the battlefield, that is my proper destination. I am a Mortal mortal, I don't need immortality... but I want to use this dying body to do something really useful."

If Marius died in battle in Emperor Lingang, then the entire Bacchus would resolutely resist the Snake Cult...

Li Ang made up for Mario's unspoken intention in his heart.

This is the immortality of mortals, the immortality of mortals.

"Then, let's retreat separately. Your Majesty, take care..."

Li Ang picked up the wine glass and drank the last glass of wine with his friend.

　Note:

　　Empire immortal;
　　Empire mortal;

　　mortal: mortal, mortal, mortal.

　　Immortal: Eternal, immortal, immortal, immortal.

　　Immortals can actually be translated as 'Longevity Army', and Imperial Vanguard can be translated as 'Death Army'.

　　In fact, the Legion of the Immortals somewhat means 'ordinary mortals are the eternal and immortal guardians of the empire'.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)