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Text Chapter 2 To Separate Light from Darkness (4)

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    ***求求***求求***求求***求求***

    August 8, 1666 (mday+129)

    Lenny? Central District 1

    ***求求***求求***求求***求求***

    Rennie*s central division is divided into east, west, north and south.  It has only one shining name and that is District One.  On its only decorative city wall, a battle flag with a large sword flying.

    As soon as Captain Nemen Thoredon saw the flag, he ran to their commander and asked for three companies and a bunch of magic items and supplies for underground operations from his acquaintance General McCash.  The 7th National Division is a temporary reserve force, but these three companies have all participated in underground sewer cleaning operations in the past few weeks and have relatively rich experience.

    He gathered these three companies together with a company that was separated from the third division where Mr. Zart was, and assigned tasks.

    "I hope you can alert the area near the Central Library and the Federal Museum. If something happens to these two places, you can provide support as soon as possible. This area is dotted with abandoned tunnels. Although the possibility is very low, we cannot underestimate the enemy's ability.  Ability. Each company will detach a platoon to disperse the security at various entrances and exits of the library and museum, and explain clearly to the librarians. If there is any abnormality - emphasize again, any abnormality, we will investigate together with the security teams of the two libraries.  "

    It sounds like a very reasonable order.

    "Everyone executes the order. I will personally obtain permission from the top management of the two museums to investigate the defense situation of the rare book library deep underground. If you go to the museum, if you find that the defensive magic has been destroyed, do not take action and inform me."

    After giving the order, Naimen turned and walked into the Central Library.  The former Grand Duke Lenny had dominated the southern part of the empire for hundreds of years, and nobles of all generations built extremely luxurious mansions here.  All the buildings near the central square in the first district of Rennie were once the royal gardens of the Dukes, and the central library is also filled with extravagant reliefs and murals.  The flames of the revolution burned the main building of the Duke's residence to the ground, and the burned-out remains became a square for free citizens, leaving only a few annexes proclaiming the glory of the aristocratic era.

    He raised his head and stared at the elven-style fantasy paintings on the ceiling, waiting for the librarian to send him the key to the cellar and the highest-authority reading pass.

    He was familiar with this building, having spent almost his entire boyhood here.  Here he and Denika read voraciously, studied, studied, studied science and magic, studied history and literature.  Both he and she believe in their talents, both believe that one day they will be able to win a scholarship on their own, and both believe that they can obtain a license from the Mage Association through hard work, become a true Mage of the Association, and work in the Mage Association on their own.  live in this country.

    Based on his ability, he may not have the opportunity to have his own research laboratory or mage tower, nor will he get a certificate of immunity or a seat on the council, but he should be able to get a VIP pass to enter the rare book library

    "This is your VIP pass, Captain."

    Naimen took the key chain and VIP reading pass from the female librarian, and hung the key chain on his armed belt.  The reading card in his hand is inconspicuous black, but it symbolizes the right to enter the rare book library.  Normally, it would take more than twenty years of hard work to obtain this reading certificate, and even Zalt Foran failed to pass the test; however, today Naimen obtained this certificate based only on his military rank.

    He has been here many, many times, but has rarely seen a female librarian.  Lunni City, with a population of only half a million, has mobilized more than ten divisions of troops to fight the war, and all its librarians have also been drafted.  In this day and age, true librarians are people with deep knowledge who have gone through years of study.  Most of them are magicians who struggle to preserve knowledge. It is not easy to deceive these people; but it is not difficult to deceive the girls who temporarily replace them.

    "They are not real librarians after all If I can come in, Denika should be able to too."

    Naimen walked along the spiral staircase to the deepest part of the underground.  Most of the basement floor used to be servants' rooms, but now houses offices for library staff.  The second underground floor was a general storage room, and it still is.  He walked to the third floor underground. In the former Duke's dungeon, the crystallization of civilization of six hundred years is now buried.  Buildings used to guard against prisoners can, of course, also be used to protect property.

    Standing in front of the sealed door, he raised his VIP card and read out the activation words: "As a VIP of the Great Library, I order this door to be opened for me."

    no response.  He felt something was wrong, so he quickly stepped forward and pushed, and the door opened as if it was not protected by magic. The original protective magic had been forcibly dispelled.

    Naimen snapped his fingers and pressed the gun on his waist with his hand: "It seems that this is it. Our ideas seem to be similar.Denika?  "

    He did not rush forward into the depths, but stopped, crossed his fingers across his chest, and began to recite the incantation that would allow his eyes to recognize the presence of magic.  The sixth rare book library, the seventh rare book library, and the eighth rare book library, he discerned the extent to which the defensive magic was destroyed.  Although it was covered up, there were still signs of damage on more than one of the iron gates.  It was obvious that the intruder did not have enough magic to restore all the defensive magic, nor did she need to cover up all the crime scenes.

    "The later rare book library had not been activated during the period of the first party system. At that time, these were just vacant cells. A very accurate judgment. Until the thirteenth rare book library, the defensive magic was destroyed. According to the usual logic, she was the last  Just go as far as the thirteenth library〞〞"

    Naimen stopped in front of the tenth rare library.

    "But if it were me, I would go ahead and destroy the defensive magic of two or three library stacks. So, the correct answer is either ten or eleven."

    He stepped inside.  The bookshelves are filled with rare books, about half of which are various magic books.  Resisting the urge to read, Naimen began to knock on the floor one by one, pull the books on the bookshelf, and press the lighting magic stones around him.

    But this time he miscalculated.  He spent a whole hour knocking on the floors and wall panels of the 10th and 11th library one by one, but found no abnormalities.  He refused to admit defeat and did not even eat lunch. He spent another three hours knocking on all the floors from the sixth to the thirteenth rare book library, but there was no abnormal response.

    "This is impossible. I have knocked on all eight rooms, but there is no response, no secret passage. The echo of all the floors sounds the same as other floors"

    The sound of gunfire outside is getting louder and closer.  He sat down weakly against the wall, wondering what had gone wrong.  Dinica was only two hours ahead of him, so there was no way she would have time to set up a false target here and then move elsewhere.

    "It must be here! But, where is the entrance? How am I worse than her? Is there something I haven't noticed〞〞"

    have.  He suddenly realized that there was a flaw in his reasoning that he had not noticed.

    "Borrow. Earth from large-scale excavations. It's impossible for them to dig tunnels from these narrow collections of rare books, so the actual tunnel borrow is〞〞"

    Naimen quickly ran out of the rare book library and walked into the corridor.  He stomped hard on the corridor floor, and the echo was the same as the floor echo in the rare book library.

    "In order to facilitate the extraction of soil, it was impossible for them to dig the floors under those cells. The excavation started directly from the corridor! Under the corridor was the Imperial gold tunnel! She discovered this when she drove to the thirteenth warehouse  , and I was actually misled by her and wasted four hours here!"

    Naimen quickly ran to the end of the corridor and used magic to blast away the floor tiles.  Below is a slope made of piles of dirt, which stretches down and down, extending deeper than the underground waterway.  Eighty years of soil accumulation and cracking made these tunnels look extremely dangerous, but he noticed that someone had dug up new soil with fresh footprints on it.

    The rancid smell came from the depths. He took out a bottle of free breathing potion and drank it.  The lighting crystal rods are tied to the outside of the arm and the outside of the ankle respectively, so that in case of a sneak attack, on the one hand, the safety of the head can be ensured, and on the other hand, all the light sources will not be lost due to a single attack.  Then he began to think about which way to go.

    Unlike Lenny*s subterranean tunnels, the tunnels dug to uncover the gold are chaotic.  The tunnels are of varying widths, the turns are not at right angles, the excavations are unsupported and cannot be connected to each other.  For Dinica, this is very simple. She only needs to choose a direction and keep digging; but for Naimen who is tracking, he must guess the direction chosen by Dinica before he has a chance to catch up with the six  hour difference.

    The dim light of the lighting rod reflected the uneven tunnel beneath his feet.  He stopped and thought carefully, which path would she choose?

    At this moment, he suddenly felt a gust of wind blowing past him.  This gust of wind disappeared in a flash, and the air in the tunnel immediately returned to its previous solemn state.  If he hadn't stopped, he wouldn't have felt this subtle wind.

    "Is it an illusion?"

    Naimen Solayton waited patiently.  After about ten seconds, another gust of wind passed by him.

    "It's not an illusion. The air in the tunnel is moving. There's only one thing that can make the air movemagic."

    He walked quickly to the next fork in the road, stopped, and waited for the flow of wind to point him in the direction.  He used fluorescent powder to draw arrows marking the direction on the ground to prevent himself from getting lost in the secret passage.

    To the north.  To the north.  east.  To the north.  To the north.  To the northwest.

    The surrounding tunnels are getting wider and wider, and decay can still be seen.The remains of a wooden track.

    To the north.  To the north.  To the northeast.  east.

    The tunnel slopes downward, getting deeper and deeper.

    The wind seems to be getting stronger and stronger.  He hid two lighting rods.

    To the north.  To the north.  To the north.

    The tunnel was lifted up, quickly, and the collapsed slope blocked the way.

    Naimen took out the digging shovel he brought, dug a foothold on the slope, and climbed up the slope.  With the dim light, he found more footholds, and it would definitely take no more than two hours to dig out.

    Then, he found himself in a ridiculously large cave, which looked like the underground camp of the workers during the excavation.  The dim skylight fell from above, and the roar of shelling outside could still be heard, but it was no longer as dense as before.  It was already evening.

    Under the dim light of dusk, a lonely figure stood there.

    Under her feet were the debris of collapsed rocks and soil, which piled up into a mountain of earth.  The top of the earth mountain is flat and has obviously been artificially reinforced.

    Her military boots rhythmically stepped on a magic circle emitting light blue light on the top of the garbage mountain, as if dancing on the magic circle.  Whenever she steps into the magic circle, wind will blow past her, alternately renewing the air in the tunnel.

    She hummed softly while controlling the magic circle.  The song seemed improvised, and the rhythm matched her steps wonderfully.

    "Danika?"

    Nai Men called out to her.

    "You came in the end." Dinika Viren jumped down from the magic circle, "You came so late, Solayton, I thought you would have come earlier. Are you alone?"

    Naimen nodded: "A single person. I'm not here to hunt you down."

    "Do you still have something to say? I thought you had already said everything you wanted to say, Solayton." Denica shrugged, "Tell me, what new reason did you think of to persuade me?"

    "The war will be over soon"

    Before Naimen could continue, Danika added impatiently: "If you are going to suggest that I go back to the orphanage to avoid Crad's bastard's wanted order until the end of the war, just save it. I - absolutely -  求No求I agree! I will never accept this kind of mercy. It is the deserved reward for what I have done! Not to mention that the outcome has not been decided yet, even if the real emperor is completely defeated, I would rather escape to  Go to the New World and be a free mage like Miss Hermont, rather than go back to begging in pain under the wings of that bastard!"

    This series of magical words completely hit Naimen*s entire persuasion plan, and he almost bit off his own tongue.  Just as he knew Danica very, very well, Danika knew him very, very well.  This kind of persuasive words cannot be effective.  He had to do it differently.

    Then he said:

    "Let's elope, Denika."

    It*s like dropping a big stone into a calm pond〞〞

    This is the way of persuasion.

    "Let's elope, Denika. Let's elope. Let's elope. Elope."

    This sentence is like a mantra, echoing in Danica's ears repeatedly.  The hand that was playing with his gun shook, the trigger flashed, and a silver bullet shot out and hit the mountain of ruins.

    Her breathing quickened: "Say it again?"

    Naimen lowered his head and repeated intermittently: "I said let's elope, Denika."

    "The elopement you are talking about is an elopement in which a man and a woman run away together to a distant place because of love, right?"

    "Um."

    "Then don't you think there is something missing before your speech?"

    "Is there something missing? Does the imperial elopement require any special ceremony, Princess von Feigota? I don't seem to have seen any records in this regard"

    Denica put the gun back into her belt, took two angrily steps forward, grabbed the collar of Naimen Solayton's military uniform, and pulled it down hard: "Love, idiot! There's no even expression of love, how could there be an elopement?  !§

    Naimen was confused again: "Expression of love? What kind of"

    His eyes met hers.  Denika's eyes were sharp and sharp - she was waiting anxiously.  There is only one answer.

    "I like you〞〞"

    "That's enough." Dinica stretched out her other hand, grabbed the other half of his collar, pulled it down suddenly, raised her head and kissed him, interrupting him with her tongue.

    Naimen*s arms stiffened.  He reacted awkwardly, waving his arms blindly for almost half a minute.Only then did he mechanically take the person of the opposite sex in front of him into his arms.  Fortunately, the kiss continued.

    That deep kiss was very long, very long, as if it would last until the end of the war.

    All the shelling fell silent, leaving only him and her kissing passionately.

    Of course, this is all the fault of the free breathing magic and potion.  Both he and she can breathe through their skin, and it doesn't matter how long this deep kiss is.  Most people would have been suffocated to death, but magicians could continue the kiss until both parties' minds went blank.

    Neither Denica nor Naimen knew when the kiss ended.  When he and she returned to normal consciousness, Naimen found that the collar of his military uniform had been torn off, and Denika found that she was holding half of an epaulette in her right hand.  She blushed and hurriedly handed the epaulette back to Naimen.

    Naimen took the epaulette, but did not put it on in a hurry, but silently held her hand.

    Dinika*s shoulders shook, but she didn*t pull away.

    He said: "Let's go and leave this city."

    She retorted: "Now? Are you really so free and easy, 'Chapter of Excellence'?"

    "I didn't earn that Medal of Excellence." Naimen touched the large medal on his chest with his other hand, "In the beginning, I was never a true free soldier, and you were not a true imperial noble.  This is not our war. It doesn't matter who wins or loses. Just like you said, we can escape to the New World, be planters, be free mages, and bring civilization to the barbarians and dwarves there. Let's go  ."

    Dinica laughed softly: "Oh, no, I don't want to open a plantation. Picking cotton or something is not what I want to do."

    Naimen raised his head and looked at the top of the cave: "We don't have to go to the New World. We can go to Intre, to Muleyman, and do Eastern trade. We can also go to the distant Eastern Empire to be explorers.  Adventure in a strange land. The world is big, really big.§

    "You have never understood it. What you think is good, good, correct, and correct may not be what others want. You want a peaceful life, but I don't want it. This is our essential difference.  , Soleton.§

    "Where is the peace? Aren't we about to risk an elopement, Denika?"

    "Who said we were about to elope?"

    Nai Mencuo was shocked: "But, that kiss"

    "That's just a confession to you, and a reward for saving my life before. One of the family mottos of the Feigota family is to repay a favor." Princess von Fegota laughed, "  Moreover, I know that you are sincere, but you are not the only one who is sincere. If, I mean if, the person in this situation just now was Anne Seifer, you would also confess the same."

    "I won't." Naimen hurriedly denied.  But he couldn't help but think of Anne's face.

    "You just said that you would leave everything behind and leave here with me. But if you encounter Anne on the road and are besieged by the emperor, do you dare to say that you will not save her?"

    Naimen was speechless for a moment.  He would go, even if his fighting power was meaningless.  He argued weakly: "Anne is a magician no weaker than you. She will not be trapped."

    "That's enough, stop defending. You like me, but you also like her. You know, I was in the orphanage last night." Denika lowered her tone, "Teacher Fran saw it, the nun saw it,  I can see it, and I think Annie can see it too. If you like her, don't deny it. Although I don't know if she really likes you, but at least she doesn't hate you. "

    "Do you hate me?"

    "I like you, but I hate injustice. If I ran away with you here, it would be unfair. I don't want to be that kind of woman."

    Denika slowly turned around and slowly pulled her hand out of his palm.

    "I'll tell you the truth. I like you. You like me too. But, I will not choose to elope with you now. My answer is, 'I'm sorry'. At least, it is 'I'm sorry' now."

    Naimen grabbed her hand back with force: "But the war is about to end! Maybe it will take a long time before we have the chance to meet again! When do you think I will get a different answer?"

    Denika's tone became a little melancholy: "When you know what you want to do, I may choose you. I know that maybe by then you will no longer need my answer But now this answer  It can only be 'I'm sorry'."

    This time, she pulled her hand out firmly and decisively.

    ※I*m not one of those people who cares about security or anything like that.I don*t need a false sense of security or a false escape from a woman who talks about it.  "

    "I'm not escaping."

    "Really? Do you really know what you want, Soleton? What you think is good and good and right and right is just what others have taught you. That's what Lenny wants.  Your life is the life that nuns and teachers want. But do you really know what you want?"

    Naimen*s tone became weaker and weaker: ※I know#§

    "You don't know. You don't really want to take risks. You just said that because I said I wanted to leave here. You can join the Free Army, you can get meritorious service, and after the war is over, you will continue to join  This city. Ninety-nine percent of the people would live like this. But not me."

    Danica raised her head.  Naimen could feel that the magic power in her body was surging.

    "What Danica Lopes can do, Danica Solayton can't do. What Danica Willen von Fegota can do, Danica Solayton can do too."  I can't do it. You are inviting me to become a much more pitiful person than I am now. Please forgive me for refusing Ah, Soleton, I am not belittling you, I just feel that you have not found your goal yet  #§

    The more you apply it, the darker it gets.  Nemen Solayton's face has turned cyan.

    The only thing more terrifying than belittling is the truth.  He didn't even know how to continue talking.

    Fortunately, the shelling resumed at this time.  However, this shelling sounds like it's a bit too close

    Hearing this low roar, Denika*s expression changed: ※It*s still too late to leave here!§

    "What did you say?" Nai Men was shocked, "I leave? No! I will not give up on you!"

    "Do you think I came here to dig a secret tunnel? Do you know why the artillery fire was so intensive yesterday and today? What do you think I am doing by not moving forward here?"

    Naimen is not an idiot.  Hearing this prompt, he immediately understood and his face turned livid.

    "You have someone to help you?!"

    Before he finished speaking, he saw another ruined mountain at the end of the cave shaking slightly.

    "And it's not just a response." Denika shook off the other party's hand and lowered her voice, "Fortification magic! It's less than fifty meters away! Run away, now!"

    Solayton gritted his teeth and ventured to ask: "Is this the real reason?"

    Danica turned her face to the side, not wanting him to see it: "I don't know either. You should leave quickly."

    He didn*t say anything more, turned around and ran away.  He ran all the way around the corner and ran up the exiting slope. He suddenly stopped and began to step on the spot, consciously stepping lighter and lighter.  After that, he tiptoed back and hid in the shadow of the corner.

    He was in no hurry to leave because the trump card in his hand had not been revealed yet.

    Each of the four companies on standby near the library participated in the underground sewer cleaning operation last month.  In such a narrow passage, even if the enemy has dozens of imperial knights and magicians, they may not be opponents of these soldiers who are familiar with sewer combat.

    He tore open the magic scroll he carried with him and released an invisible probing eye to spy on the activities in the hall where Denika was.

    "How many people will Duke Feigota invest in to support her"

    With the final fortification magic, the earthen wall shattered.

    "Princess von Feigota! Thank you for your hard work leading the way!"

    In an instant, in the entire tunnel, the family emblems of the major nobles shone brightly, making the secret passage look like daylight.  The crowd surged through the narrow tunnel and into the hall, then noisily divided into two rows against the wall, making a way for those behind.  Almost everyone is adorned with their family crest and coat of arms.

    "Five ducal familiessixteen marquis familiestwelve dioceseseight association branchesthe Imperial Heroic Medalthe First Class Meritorious Service Medalthe Royal Guards Knight"

    The more he recognized it, the more frightened he became.  He had only counted to one hundred and fifty, and almost all the identifying symbols that could represent the empire appeared.  Who could be qualified to lead such an army?  Who could make such a receiving detachment make way for him?

    "Her nominal father, Duke von Feigota, won't come in person, right?"

    Immediately afterwards, he saw the answer.  Walking through the welcoming queue was a tall, strong, majestic old man.  His armor looked very old, with the coat of arms of the Fegotta family engraved on it.

    Naimen completely held his breath.

    "Gods. That personthat person really iscan only be"

    Denica Veon????Fegota's adoptive father, Duke Loren von Fegota.

    "The Minister of Military Affairs of the Empire"

    What surprised him even more was yet to come.  Old Duke Loren walked through the queue of nearly two hundred people, but stopped at the end of the queue and stepped aside.

    Who asked the Minister of Military Affairs to give way?  So, the lame man following him is〞〞

    "The lame emperor of the Holy Empire, Gustave Hugh Coleman."

    Naimen subconsciously repeated the name and carefully looked at the person who might be the emperor.

    The man was not very old, with deep facial lines and a cold and resolute expression.  The scepter he held in his hand was very long. As he moved forward, it hit the ground again and again, making a rhythmic crackling sound.  For some reason, when he stared at the emperor's figure, he gradually ignored the lame leg.  To this man, lameness seemed to be an unimportant feature.  The impression of the emperor's firm will was far greater than that of his lame leg.

    That is a person who is worthy of the title of "Emperor".

    Emperor Gustav stopped in front of Denica.  He got down on one knee and kissed her hand.

    Through the Exploring Eye, Naimen can hear the emperor's speech.

    His Majesty Gustav said: "On behalf of the Empire, I would like to thank you for your contribution to the Empire, Princess von Feigota."

    He should have thought of it earlier.  How could the emperor be satisfied with filling the city walls with human lives?  Lenny's defenses were so strong and the defenders so numerous!  If the emperor had a steady stream of backup, they could besiege the city without attacking; but now

    "The emperor wants to break this country from the inside. What a ruthless determination, what a terrifying courage!"

    This is the direction of the empire's general attack.  In this ironically named "Imperial Gold Tunnel", for the first time in history, people from the Empire came.

    Everyone knows that the emperor is at the end of his rope.  In the vast sea where the Free Army has mobilized again and again, the Imperial Army, which is running out of food and grass, has no way out.  But here is the emperor's final bet, and the shelling outside is just a cover-up.

    "You can't take the shells with you anyway," someone in the Imperial General Staff must have said this.

    Then, Denika provided them with a way from the inside.

    That*s why the emperor organized such a large-scale siege to distract the Free Army*s defense.  Therefore, they organized such a large-scale bombardment to cover up the sound of the magical progress of the underground fortifications.

    Nearly 100,000 troops are scattered on the third and fourth walls, while in the first and second areas, only more than one militia division is defending.  This is their best prey.

    Although there were only more than 200 attackers in the first batch, with the elite level of these 200 people, they had a chance of winning.  After excluding the detachment sent to Jena, almost all the elite of the siege force are here.

    "This is the real reason why Denika doesn't want to leave: from the beginning, she has no way out. But"

    Naimen doesn*t want to read any more.  He turned around quietly and walked away along the way he had come, erasing anything that looked like a guidepost.  Denika would have kept a copy too; he had found some of them.

    This is a great achievement that is truly worthy of the Medal of Excellence.

    Thinking of this, his legs began to tremble.  Although he was trembling, he ran faster.

    "Lenny's savior", no, "the savior of free nations".

    "It wouldn't be bad to make this title real, right? Yes, that's what I want to do."

    He has four companies.  When necessary, he could mobilize one or two militia divisions.

    "Go outside the library. Set up a formation in the square. I can't risk burning the library, but even in the open space, I still have a chance"

    The pace quickened again.  Using his hands and feet, he struggled to run through tunnels, across slopes, and climb over ruins.  This is no time for a cleanup operation.

    To the south.  southward.  southward.  southward!

    He can kill the emperor on Freedom Square.  He can separate light from darkness, He can end this war.

    On this fateful night.

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