A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

"Answer me! Stoker—"

The blond knight's roar echoed in the dark night.

However, the person he questioned did not answer. Instead, he looked wary when he saw him, and there was a bit of confusion hidden in the wariness.

"you are still alive?"

Stork asked.

He has an insider in the Tastar mission, so he knows about the prince of Aaron Landis and Kehos in this mission.

The only one among these people who could make him feel afraid was the knight who he once regarded as a good friend.

Therefore, tonight, his lieutenants took the initiative to ask for the night watch and killed the other Tasda people who were on the night watch. Then, after letting the Vasili horse thief quietly break into the camp and set fire to it, they directly fired the crossbow | arrows at the camp. Cayhorse's tent.

No matter how powerful a knight is, he will be shot to death by a crossbow|arrow in his sleep.

He thought Kehos was dead. After all, when he entered the camp, there was no movement in the tent where Kehos slept, and there was blood seeping out of it.

Kehos sneered.

"never mind."

He said, suddenly raising his hand and throwing the silver gun at Stoker.

The sharp silver gun roared towards Stoker like lightning.

Stoker suddenly raised the pitch-black iron gun in his hand, blocking the silver gun that was trying to penetrate his throat.

The violent impact caused the iron gun in his hand to vibrate and buzz.

The blocked silver spear fell to the ground with a bang, and on the opposite side, the one-eyed knight riding on the horse had drawn the sword at his waist, and the snow-white blade reflected the blazing flames behind him.

He stared at Stoker, and the fire seemed to ignite the deepest part of his eyes.

Although his marksmanship is also good, what he is most good at and accustomed to is the sword he carries with him.

When fighting an evenly matched opponent, a single oversight can lead to a complete defeat.

Therefore, if you want to fight hard, you must use your most skilled weapon.

Stoker and Keyhos looked at each other. Unlike the cat-and-mouse play with Garlan, and the arrogance with Opada, he looked at Keyhos with full vigilance. Paying full attention to Kehos's every move.

He clenched the iron gun in his hand, and you could clearly see that the muscles on his upper arm had bulged slightly and were tense to the extreme.

Caihos' aura was already suppressing him, and the aura pouring out of him was also catching up.

The two are evenly matched in courage, and neither can overpower the other.

The blond knight moved the sword in his hand.

The brown-haired Tusda man swung his jet-black iron spear.

Almost at the same moment, the two men spurred their horses at the same time and sprinted forward like an arrow from a string.

With a loud bang, the two knights collided heavily, like two ferocious wild bears roaring and slamming into each other. The terrifying force seemed to shake the earth.

The sword and iron spear separated, then collided together again.

What goes around comes around.

Time after time, visible sparks exploded when the iron blade hit each other, constantly splashing into the dark night, showing how intense the battle between the two was.

"Opada!"

Hearing someone calling his name, Opada turned his head and saw his still-living companions running towards him in a hurry.

Several Aaron Landis knights who were subordinates of Caihos also came with them while resisting the attack of the horse thieves.

"How do you..."

"Your Excellency Caijos brought us here to kill him."

Said the slightly older head of the mission, who was protected by Tasda soldiers.

Just as they were trying to fight their way over to join Opada, the blond knight suddenly appeared, taking several of his subordinate cavalry to help them resist the horse thieves, and then led them to break a bloody path and rush here.

He looked at the Tasda man who was fighting Caihos with a solemn expression.

"…Stoke."

He whispered the name, looking at Stoker with a complicated and sad look in his eyes.

He is a descendant of the Tasda royal family, and he also knows what happened back then.

"He finally refused to repent of his sins...I don't know what he did wrong."

he said, letting out a low sigh.

The leader sighed with complicated emotions, but the other Tasda warriors were very straightforward, looking at this guy who colluded with outsiders to massacre their compatriots with hostility or hatred.

Back then, Stoker was fanatically admired by countless Tastars, and even though he had disappeared for many years, he still had many admirers. And what he has done now has completely shattered these people's admiration for him.

traitor.

That's the only thing they call Stoke now.

The sound of fierce clashing of weapons echoed in the air again.

Two horses passed each other, and the two tall bodies separated again in the dark night.

Cayjos turned his horse's head, turned around and wanted to charge forward.

But when his eyes changed, he stopped where he was.

Because opposite him, behind Stoker, dozens of Tastars stood behind Stoker, with their bows and crossbows pointed at him, as well as Garlan beside him.

"That's it."

Stock said.

"Kayhos, I don't have time to continue struggling with you."

At the same time, in addition to his men, the horse thieves also gathered around.

Kayhos clenched the sword in his hand and remained silent. He just turned his horse slightly to block Garlan's figure.

At this moment, there were less than sixty of his subordinates together with the surviving Tasda people.

But the camp was surrounded by nearly a thousand horse thieves, and the crossbows in the hands of Stoke's people were pointed at them.

No matter how you look at it, their side has no chance of winning.

But no one surrendered, neither the Aaronlanders nor the Tastars.

Even if they die in battle to the last man, the Tasda people will never surrender to the betrayers.

All Tastars swear by this.

“This is the starting point for Tastar to thrive.”

Stoker stood on the ground on horseback, the firelight reflected his face red and illuminated his gray pupils, making his pupils seem to burn with bright light.

His eyes were extremely firm and decisive.

An old voice answered Stoker's words.

"No."

The head of the mission with deep wrinkles on his forehead looked at the ambitious young man. He sighed and answered with his experienced voice.

"Stoke, what you brought to Tastar is not glory, but destruction."

"I won't be as cowardly as you."

Stoker answered.

"Tastar needs strong leaders, leaders who can lead it to crush the entire continent under its feet."

He looked down at the old man with pride.

"You are old, King Tasda, or my father, you are all old and have lost the power to move forward."

"When you are old, you should leave everything to me."

"War, expansion, and strength, this is the path that the great Tasda should take. Only I can lead Tasda to a prosperous future——"

"wrong!"

Opada, who was guarding the old man, interrupted his brother.

He looked at Stoke and shook his head.

"No, it shouldn't be like this, you did it wrong."

He said, "Maybe I'm not as smart as you, brother...but I know that if you do this, brother, Tasda will fall into an endless war."

"War is Tastar's glory."

"No, Tastar people are not afraid of war and death, but that doesn't mean we don't care about death!"

Opada retorted firmly.

"Brother, ambition and greed have blinded your eyes and mind. Now I finally know why my father would say that..."

"He said, brother, you shouldn't have been born in Tastar. You have such ambitions, but Tastar doesn't have that kind of power, and you will drag Tastar into hell because of your ambition-"

"enough!"

Stoker's gray pupils were filled with anger.

But he soon calmed down and sighed softly.

"Opada, it seems you still can't understand me after all."

Yes, he knows.

What he is going to do, many people will not understand.

But he doesn't care.

Because after he does it, he will become a great being remembered and praised by everyone in history.

No longer paying attention to his compatriots, Stoker turned his eyes to the other side.

His eyes passed over the blond Prince Aaron Landis, and then fell on Kehos.

"This is the master you chose?"

he said, shaking his head.

"Kayhos, your vision is far behind compared to your strength."

"Although I think races other than Tasda people are rubbish, I admire you very much. I asked you to help me at first, but you refused. Now, you have chosen such a weak and incompetent prince as your own The loyal monarch has allowed himself to end up in this situation."

He said, "Kayhos, I will give you another chance now. If you swear allegiance to me now, I will forgive you and give you the right to follow me again."

"You should not continue to waste your talents and life on this weak prince who will die soon."

Kayhos opened his mouth, but before he could answer, a voice came from behind him.

"That's enough."

That was the boy's voice.

"I didn't say anything, and you just kept talking. Do you really think I don't exist?"

Garlan said angrily.

"Speaking ill of others in front of others, is this your etiquette?"

Stoker looked down at Garlan and did not answer. There was a trace of contempt in his eyes.

Only the strong are qualified to talk to him, and this boy, whom he regards as a mouse that he can play with at will, is too weak to enter his eyes.

"You seduced my guardian knight in front of me, the heir of Tastar who was exiled by his own father. Don't talk so grandly."

Garlan walked out from behind Kaihos and stood in front of everyone.

Opposite him were dozens of bows and crossbows aimed at him, but he seemed not to see them at all, and there was no trace of fear on his face.

"Let me sum it up for you. What you are doing now is using the lives of your brothers and compatriots to exchange for the opportunity to return to the decision-making level of Tasda. It has nothing to do with the prosperity of Tasda... Relationships are purely for your personal gain."

"To put it simply, you are climbing up on your brother's bones——"

The young man smiled.

"See, easy to understand, isn't it?"

The young man's words hit the nail on the head, easily peeling off Stoker's colorful exterior and exposing the bloody reality hidden within.

Those sharp words made Stoker's expression change instantly, and he looked at Garlan with an increasingly unkind look.

"You have sharp teeth and a sharp mouth. You only have this one useless redeeming feature."

"Don't underestimate the power of words... No, I mean, don't underestimate the power of language. You know, sometimes, the so-called 'language' can be as powerful as an army of ten thousand people."

Stoker sneered.

"I don't have time to continue listening to your nonsense."

Then, he glanced at Kehos with a look of regret.

"Kayhos, my former friend, because of your wrong choice, it seems that you can only stop here."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and at his signal, the horse thieves approached.

"etc."

Garlan raised his hand and made a waiting gesture.

"Are you a Sivali bandit?"

"Um?"

The leader of the horse thieves showed a ferocious smile and approached on horseback.

"What? My lovely Prince, do you want to beg me for mercy?"

He looked at Garlan with regret in his eyes and shook his head.

"It's a pity that people's money is used to eliminate |people|'s disasters. Our victim has promised not to leave anyone alive, otherwise..."

"Yes, no one will be left alive. For your client, the murder of his brother is a great stain. So, do you think that after we are dealt with, the remaining people who know about this can continue Live peacefully?"

"……What's the meaning?"

"You know about the murder of his compatriots, do you really think he will let you live afterward?"

"shut up!"

Stoker suddenly interrupted Gallan's words.

He turned to the leader of the horse thieves and said, "Don't believe his words. Once you deal with them, you will get the property I promised right away. And we have less than a hundred people here, and you have thousands of people. What do you think I can do to you?" ?”

"Oh, by the way, Stoker, do you really think a box of gold and silver is enough to silence them?"

Garlan turned to Stoker.

"You know, these guys are gangsters and greedy guys. If they take advantage of you and ask for money from you every once in a while, will you give it to them?"

Stoker's face froze for a moment.

He wasn't worried about this issue at all.

Because from the beginning of formulating this plan, he had no intention of letting the Sivali gangsters who helped him survive for a long time.

"Fart, our Sivali bandits are also reputable! They are not that kind of people!"

The leader of the horse thieves who looked at Stoke with suspicion immediately raised his neck and retorted loudly, but the look on his face showed a hint of guilt.

How could this little doll prince reveal his innermost thoughts?

Chief Sivali muttered in his heart.

Gallan clapped his hands, turned his gaze back from Stoker, and smiled at the leader of Sivali.

"If you took advantage of him and demanded property from him one after another, would you try your best to kill the person who blackmailed you?"

"…………"

The expression on Chief Sivali's face, which was mostly covered by his beard, also changed.

Will.

He thought to himself, but still retorted unconvinced.

"We took the belongings and left, running far away. This is the territory of Aaron Landis. Does he still dare to come in with the Tastar army?"

"So have you forgotten? If we die here now, Tasda will definitely lead his troops into Aaron Landis for revenge, and your victim may be one of the commanders. When the time comes, he will lead the army slightly He took a detour and killed you gangsters, who can say he was wrong?"

The leader of the horse thieves became more and more frightened as he listened.

He couldn't help but said: "You——"

"enough!"

Stoker, whose face became increasingly ugly, once again interrupted Gallan.

"What on earth do you want to do?"

The leader of the horse thieves also shouted.

"That's right, boy, what do you mean by saying so much?"

"Can't you see? I think I did it very obviously."

Garlan looked a little surprised by the two men's simultaneous inquiries.

Then he answered the two of them very honestly and with a smile.

"I'm stirring up trouble."

Stoker: "…………"

The horse thief leader: “………………”

puff.

In this tense atmosphere, the blond knight next to him let out an inappropriate laugh.

Stoker was choked by the calm and natural look on the young man's face, and he didn't know how to reply like this.

He began to feel something bad, vaguely, the atmosphere here was actually controlled by this weak person whom he despised.

He frowned and calmed down quickly.

Can't waste any more time here.

He glanced at the horse thief leader beside him, who was also secretly glancing at him with suspicion in his eyes.

Although Garlan admitted that he was just sowing discord, what the young man said was so reasonable that people couldn't help but believe it.

Obviously, the horse thief has begun to be suspicious of him, and he may not be as obedient as he was at the beginning.

Huh, he originally didn't want to do it himself and get his hands stained with the blood of his compatriots, but now he has no other choice.

Stoker raised his hand and made a gesture with his fingers.

Take action and kill the enemy.

He used gestures to issue such an order to Tastar's subordinates who were holding crossbows behind him.

His raised hand fell from the air, pointing in the direction of Garlan and the others.

Crossbow | The string of the bow is tightened, and the sharp arrow is ready to go.

The moment Stoker's finger came down, thousands of arrows were fired, piercing through everything.

Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound.

It was a humming sound coming from the wind.

That inexplicable and strong dangerous aura, like a hurricane, struck fiercely behind Stoke——

Before the hand pointing forward could fall, Stork turned around sharply.

The iron gun in his hand was raised high.

Keng!

The sharp arrow that pounced on Stoke's back vest with a swift force like a hungry wolf hit the black iron gun barrel, making a crisp impact sound.

A long eagle call sounded in the night sky that was red with flames.

Stork's pupils suddenly dilated at this moment after he blocked the arrow.

In the red firelight and under the bright moonlight, he saw a young man holding a strong bow riding a horse and standing on a hill not far away.

The moonlight danced in the young man's dark hair, and the night wind whistled, causing the cloak behind his shoulders to fly in the dark night.

A flag like burning flames rose on the hillside.

In just a moment, countless black-armored knights appeared under the banner of the red lion.

Aaron Landis's most powerful iron-blooded cavalry army stood silently on the hills and in the desert.

They rode quietly on the ground without making a sound.

But they just stood there, and the terrifying aura emanating from them had already deeply suppressed everyone's breathing.

Why?

This Guardsman should obviously be on the way to the Northland, why is it here now? !

Looking at the scene in front of him, Stoker couldn't suppress his rapid breathing.

He didn't understand why things were like this.

Suddenly, something flashed through my mind. He turned his head sharply and looked at the soft boy who looked harmless.

Unlike those Tasda people who looked surprised and surprised, the young man looked calm.

Could it be...

Stoker watched Garlan's pupils shrink violently.

Could it be that all this is the prince of Aaron Landis——

An eagle's call sounded again in the night sky, especially loud on the silent land.

The black eagle hovering in the sky spread its wings and descended from the sky.

Garlan stretched out his hand.

The firelight illuminated the young prince's fair cheeks and his bright golden eyes.

The black hawk that Garlan sent to deliver a message to Heimos not long ago landed lightly on Garlan's forearm and gave him a pleasant but short chirp.

The author has something to say: Kayhos abandoned the spear, replaced it with a sword, and forcibly rejected the lucky e.