When A Mage Revolts-Chapter 906: Wood's Vengeance
Great purple flags with shapes of bows, arrows and trees drawn on them were raised in a line atop the Crusader Gateway, flapping loudly in the wind.
Elizabeth stood by the side of the gateway and lifted her head to gaze at the vast wilderness in the Kingdom of Helius. She wore a long, plain black gown, with a white flower pinned to her chest. Her thin face was unmoving in the wind, and looked extremely cold and hardened. Behind her, a few soldiers were waiting quietly not far off, their backs as straight as a ruler.
"The garrison in the Town of Crewe have all fled. All you have to do is send your army out, and you'd be able to take the city right now." Suddenly, a figure appeared from the stairways. It walked over slowly, reporting in a calm manner.
That person halted next to those few soldiers as he spoke. After that, he stretched out his hand and tapped the shoulders of the soldiers lightly, giving them a look. Seeing that, the soldiers nodded in understanding before turning around to leave the area at the top of the gateway without another word.
Elizabeth turned around as well.
"I don't know how to thank you..." She spoke slowly. "Miles, without you sneaking in like that, I think, no matter how many soldiers we have, it'd still have been impossible for us to break through the defenses of the Crusader Gateway. The Wood family owe you a debt.
Hearing that, Miles chuckled. He could not deny it.
"I have to do my best in fulfilling the dying wish of the honorable duke, of course. Just take this as me repaying the kindness your family has shown me in the past."
Elizabeth nodded as well, thoughtful. "Yes, indeed. My father's dying wish..."
"I'm afraid that even the honorable duke had not imagined that he'd prepared so many things that would only truly show after he had passed away." Mile gave a soft sigh, and suddenly lowered his head, saying, "Miss Wood, I'm very sorry for the passing of your father. No one could have guessed that things would turn out this way."
Elizabeth came back to her senses. Nevertheless, there was no hint of sadness appearing on her face because of it. Instead, she quickly returned to her calm demeanor.
"Thank you, but... Call me Duchess Elizabeth. I'm no longer the young girl I was before."
Miles raised an eyebrow, as though he was rather startled. Nevertheless, he did not oppose it.
Following Elizabeth's words, the city gates slowly opened up right underneath where the two of them were. Soldiers waving the purple flags dashed out through them, roaring, "We fight for the Wood family" as they charged mightily towards the already abandoned Town of Crewe.
The two of them looked towards the battlefield. It did not take long for the great flag of the Wood family to be raised in the Town of Crewe as well. Thus, they brought their gaze back.
"Are you going to look for him?" Elizabeth turned her head to look at Miles.
"Yes," Miles laughed, saying casually, "if it weren't for him... If it weren't for his Academy, I might have completely turned into a revenant, or perhaps I'd have stayed forever in the world over at the other side of the rift. They'd spent a lot of effort to rescue and wake me up, and now... He seems to have met with a bit of a problem. I can't just stand by and watch."
Hearing that, Elizabeth nodded as well.
She turned her eyes back and continue to gaze at the Town of Crewe... Or perhaps, to look at the even vaster lands of the Kingdom of Helius. Her lips were tightly pursed, with a steady and determined expression on her face. However, in a certain instant, some confusion seemed to flash through her eyes.
"Help me pass a few words to him." No one knew what came to her mind; she suddenly opened her mouth, saying, "The end to the era of the Church is finally being ushered in. I, and my deceased father, are both very grateful to all the effort he has put in to achieve that. Also... pass this to him."
Saying thus, she felt out a ring in her pockets and took it out, turning around to toss it at Miles.
Miles caught it, and gave it a few careful looks with a frown on his face. The ring looked very old, and there were even nicks and scratches on some places. However, the handiwork was extremely extricate and beautiful, and there was even a blurred out name carved into the inner circle of the ring. It would definitely have been very valuable, back in the day.
"This... What should I say to him?" He could not help but raise his head and ask.
"Just take it to him, he will understand." Having spoken until here, Elizabeth lowered her head and thought for a moment. She followed up with a few more words, seemingly mumbling to herself. "It's impossible that he wouldn't understand..."
"En?"
Elizabeth hurriedly looked up and waved her hands. "Whatever it is, just pass the ring to him."
"Alright..."
Miles put the ring away and nodded. He turned around and took a few steps, making his way straight to the side of the gateway. With a leap, he quickly vanished from Elizabeth's sight.
Thus, Elizabeth was finally left alone on top of the gateway. She looked at the flag to her right, and suddenly closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, her eyes had become as cold and hard as they had been before.
News concerning the fall of Crusader Gateway spread as fast as the plague. This time, everyone knew by looking at the family sigil stamped on the military flags that the army which had conquered the gateway was backed by influential and powerful connections. The great nobles of the Kingdom of Helius had not yet been completely extinguished.
No one knew what was going on, but the Wood Army soon released their own declaration. Vengeance. Duke Collin had died a terrible death due to the Church's sudden attack, and his only daughter Elizabeth Wood, a mage who had been in exile outside of the kingdom, had officially declared herself to have succeeded her father's dukedom. She had gathered and raised an army, in order to return to the kingdom and exact revenge upon the Church.
This story sounded so marvelous that it seemed slightly exaggerated, as though someone had arranged for everything to turn out this way a long time ago.
However... No matter what the case was, this was good news to most of the people in the Kingdom of Helius. They were unwilling to watch the Church continue to occupy the Imperial Capital by force. Even more so, they did not wish for the kingdom, which was currently in a state of civil unrest, to be attacked by external hostile forces. A duke of the kingdom leading an army in a rebellion was something that most people had been hoping for.
However, at the same time.
Benjamin's reaction was more of surprise, rather than of eager expectation.
"Crusader Gateway? This is just too sudden. The defenses there are frighteningly strong, even a massive military force would not be able to guarantee success in defeating them there. How is it possible to attack and break through it like this?" He looked at the report that the person in charge of the Black Operation had presented to him, and immediately expressed his doubts.
He still remembered how he had conquered the gateway previously; he did not know how many shady tricks he had had to play, and even then, they had ended up relying on the Church's own careless mistakes to successfully take over that place. How could it be that now... that just about anyone seemed to be able to break through that invincible fortress?
"I'm not clear about it myself, but... they seem to have conquered that place in an insanely short period of time, and their movements have been very discreet. The only possibility is that there has been a rebellion in the midst of the gateway guards, or perhaps... someone had been able to complete an almost unimaginable task and snuck in from the outside.
Benjamin shook his head, massaging his temples gently.
The Wood family...
Benjamin knew that there was a possibility of Elizabeth rushing over to the Kingdom of Helius in a burst of emotion when he had sent news of the death to her. However, he really could not have expected Elizabeth to come with such great fanfare. If he remembered it clearly, she seemed to have built a Mercenary Group in Ferelden, but... the Kingdom of Helius was not currently facing a Mercenary Group. They were facing an army!
Where on earth did she get this army from?
