The Shalorian king, who was the first to receive the news of the Faustian army's mobilization, forced his weak and old body to personally ascend the tower of Audis despite the objections of the ministers.
"So this is the army that defeated our Shalorian army." The old king stretched out his skinny right arm and pointed at the Faustian army outside the city.
At this time, the Faustian army was still in the process of mobilizing, but the orderly, calm, and glorious Faustian army formed a sharp contrast with the anxious Shalorian soldiers in the city and on the city walls.
It was no wonder that the Shalorian king sighed. At least half of the Faustian army outside the city were veterans who had participated in several battles. Many of them were like Locke, veterans who had been in the army for several years. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they had been through hundreds of battles.
As for the Shalorian garrison in the city, except for the 20,000 soldiers who were the original garrison soldiers and those brought back by Felippe when he retreated, the rest were newly recruited recruits.
It was already very good for this group of refugees, farmers, and civilian recruits to be able to perform simple thrusts. How could they be expected to have a calm mind and willpower?
In addition to the king, the Shalorian nobles also climbed up the tower. This was the south gate of Audis, which was also the gate with the highest defense. Most of Audis's imperial guards were stationed here.
The heavily armoured imperial guards gave many nobles a sense of security. In fact, since the Shalorian king ascended the throne, he had invested a large sum of money in the imperial guards every year. This had once puzzled many Shalorian nobles and caused them to oppose it.
But now it seemed that the king really had foresight. The reason why the Lion Legion could besiege the city of Audis two months ago and could not take it down for a long time was because of this well-equipped imperial guard.
Shalor didn't specialize in ores. Instead, they relied on food, crystal cores, and magic items for export.
The vast plains of Bideslane and the surrounding hills made the environment suitable for growing wheat and terraced fields. Every year, half of Shalor's food was used for self-sufficiency and storage, while the other half was sold to neighboring countries. This was also the main reason why Faustian attacked Shalor five years ago.
Whether it was Faustian in the west, Ligia Union in the south, or Karaman in the northeast, none of them were big producers. Sometimes, when Shalor's crops were harvested well, the shrewd nobles and merchants would even sell the food to the suzerain in the northwest, Aomar, in exchange for more precious items.
Other than that, he also had the Morphey Forest, the treasure vault. Compared to Faustian, Shalor's land area was a quarter smaller. The reason for this was the huge Morphey Forest, which occupied an entire province of Shalor.
Nominally, Morphey Forest was also part of Shalor's territory. However, it was a place where humans and major monsters roamed freely. Shalor had yet to reach the centre of Morphey Forest. It was said that this was a forest with ranked magical beasts.
Advanced magical beasts were equivalent to official Knights and official Mages in terms of human levels. Under normal circumstances, ranked magical beasts would be stronger than humans of the same level because, in addition to their strong bodies, they also had good magical abilities.
However, it was precisely because of such a magic treasure vault that Shalor had attracted casters from many surrounding places to live here. Every year, the crystal cores, blood, bones and other items produced by Morphey Forest attracted those little-known casters to gather here and go crazy over them.
Nowadays, most of Shalor's imperial guards were heavily armoured warriors. These Shalorian warriors, who wore strong armour and held giant spears, were not good at fighting in the wild or attacking cities. What they were good at was defending a city.
On the wall, there were nearly two hundred imperial guards standing next to the Shalorian king. The sturdiness of their armor had been evaluated by professionals to be able to withstand the rolling stones of a catapult. Ordinary arrows might not even be able to break through their defenses if they were shot from below the city walls.
It was precisely because of this confidence that the Shalorian king and the nobles had the courage to walk up the wall at the critical moment when Faustian was about to attack the city.
"Where is Grandmaster Kareda now?" the king asked the steward next to him, who was the king's absolute confidant.
"Grandmaster Kareda and Grandmaster Maris are rushing to make the magic crystal cannons," replied the steward.
"Call the grandmaster over. Shalor needs him now. His apprentice, Grandmaster Maris, will be enough," said the king calmly.
The steward showed a surprised look at first, but when he saw the king's serious expression, he bowed and left to invite Grandmaster Kareda.
Kareda was a name that had no prestige among the Shalorian people. Many Shalorians had never even heard of this name, but among the high-ranking nobles, it was a well-known name.
Why could Shalor be at the forefront of the surrounding countries in terms of magical power? In addition to having Morphey Forest as a treasure vault, at least half of the reason was that there was a caster named Kareda who had settled in Shalor.
The Faustian army outside the city was mobilizing faster and faster, and the formation was getting more and more orderly. Many generals standing on the wall of Audis could predict when the Faustian army was about to attack.
At this moment, a gray-robed bald old man with only a few strands of silvery white hair walked towards the city wall with an indifferent gaze. He held a black staff that was even taller than him.
At this moment, whether it was the Shalorian king or the other nobles led by Felippe, they all turned around and greeted him. "Grandmaster!"
Grandmaster Kareda did not respond to the greetings of the king and the nobles. He slowly walked up the wall of Audis. His pace was slow, but everyone on the wall felt a heavy feeling in their hearts.
Although Grandmaster Kareda did not exude any dangerous aura, or even any energy fluctuations, and was completely like an ordinary old man, it was this aura that made everyone in a high position not dare to underestimate him.
When he finally reached the wall, Grandmaster Kareda narrowed his eyes, and there was a hint of coldness in his indifferent eyes. "Is this the Faustian army?" the old man finally spoke. The words that came out of the mouth of an old man were like the muffled sound of a great bell, causing many ordinary soldiers standing on the city wall to waver as they listened to him.
"Myst and Brunley died at the hands of this group of soldiers?" Grandmaster Kareda continued. In addition to the awe-inspiring illusion, there was also a sense of desolation and sadness in his voice.
Grandmaster Kareda was a legendary Magister of Shalor. Why did the ordinary people of Shalor forget the name of this master? It was because he was actually 400 years old. When this legendary Magister first emerged in Shalor, it had only been a few years since Shalor was founded.
At 400 years old, he had already broken through the upper limit of human life. Ordinary Lehrlings simply could not reach this lifespan.
Indeed, Magister Kareda was the first person in Shalor's history to break through the shackles of life and advance to become an official Magister.
This old man advanced to a peak-level Lehrling at the age of 89. Originally, a Magister who advanced at this age had no hope of reaching a higher realm.
However, this legendary Magister resolutely left his motherland, the Kingdom of Shalor, to study abroad at the age of 90. Since then, there had been no news of him in Shalor and the surrounding countries.
Everyone thought that this legendary Magister had either reached the end of his life or had fallen somewhere else.
But no one expected that two hundred years later, Grandmaster Kareda would once again return to Shalor as an official Magister. Since then, he had settled in Shalor for more than 100 years.
It was also because of this more than 100 years of protection that Shalor's national strength suddenly soared, especially in terms of magic power.
In these more than 100 years, Grandmaster Kareda had accepted dozens of Lehrlings. Among them, there were three who had the highest achievements.
They were Myst, who had the title of Flaming Hands, Brunley, who had the Bite of Winter, and Maris, the Yellow and White Warlock.
Unfortunately, both Myst and Marquis Campbell had died in Ellis City, while Brunei had died in Gordon Highlands two years ago. Now, Kareda's only proud disciple was Maris, who was not good at fighting but was keen on alchemy.
"Master! We, Shalor, will definitely make these Faustians pay the price! " The nobles were suppressed by the Magister's imposing manner and did not dare to move. Finally, the Shalorian king stood up and said in an unusually firm voice.
Although the Shalorian king was not a talented monarch, he had been conscientious during his reign. In the face of the Faustian invasion, he had fought back with a tough stance, which left a good impression on Kareda.
The old man did not express anything about the king's words and just nodded slightly. Standing at the peak of strength, secular power could no longer restrain the transcendent.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the existence of a Magister was mysterious and unfathomable. With the limited imagination and experience of mortals, they had no idea how powerful a Magister and a Ritter were.
There were only two such powerhouses in Shalor. One was Kareda, and the other was the late god of war, Margrave Clark.
More and more Faustian troops gathered outside the city, and the encirclement of Audis became tighter and tighter. The sharp-eyed soldiers could even see that large engineering equipment such as catapults had begun to be loaded in the Faustian army outside the city. The battle was about to start.
Kareda stared at the Faustian army outside the city with a gloomy face. A storm began to gather at the top of Shalor's walls. If one looked closely, they would find that the eye of the storm was directly above Kareda.
This spectacle not only surprised the Shalorian nobles on the tower, but even the Faustian army outside the city became slightly restless. Although many of the Faustian soldiers had seen mysterious magic before, this level of change in the weather was really frightening.
The warhorses neighed strangely. They kept shaking their heads and stomping their hooves, showing their uneasiness. Marquis De Sandro, the commander of the Falcon Cavalry Division, kicked his beloved horse to calm it down.
Marmen, who was beside him, looked solemnly at the storm not far away. He turned his head and said to De Sandro, "That guy may be making a move! This time, it's up to you. "
De Sandro did not say anything. He just calmly mounted his horse and drew his longsword. As if he was not affected by the surrounding atmosphere and environment, even the horse under his crotch quietened down.