The urgent warning horn sounded suddenly, cutting through the quiet morning air like a sharp sword, echoing among the many battlements and gray-black towers of Tallon Fortress. Knight Deborah, captain of the seventh company of the Tallon Fortress Guards, woke up from his sleep at the desk, jumped up, and reached out to grab his sword and belt. "Gods bless us! Three short blasts in a row, and then a long blast. This horn sound meansunidentified troops appearing behind Tallon Fortress?" Deborah Company Captain murmured to himself as he quickly walked out of the room. He walked out and came to the open corridor leading to the back city wall. In the already slightly cool morning breeze, thin beads of sweat actually appeared on his forehead. Captain Deborah does have reason to be worried. Tallon Fortress has an extremely long history, which can even be traced back hundreds of years before the Griffin Empire was established. This majestic fortress already stood on the south side of the Moon Whispering Plain. Since the main purpose of Tallon Fortress is to prevent the invasion of barbarian orc tribes from the border, the city wall in front of the fortress is extremely tall and strong. There are four walls, each one higher than the other, guarded like a staircase with solid gray-black walls. A tall main castle built from huge rocks. From a distance, it looks like an ugly giant fist reaching into the blue sky. Many people think that the appearance of this fortress is the origin of the title of the Knights of the Steel Fist, but this is not actually the case. When the first head of the Dragonson family was granted the title of nobility, Tallon Fortress was not part of the Griffin Empire. The Griffin Empire did not even exist yet. Instead, it belonged to an empire that had long since been lost in history. A kingdom whose name remains. ?????The successive heads of the Dragonson family have served as the guardian of Tallon Fortress and the leader of the Knights of the Steel Fist, making the management of this place impregnable. For hundreds of years, in order to resist the invasion of barbarian orcs, the outer wall of Tallon Fortress has been repeatedly raised, but the inner wall has always remained unchanged, leaving a huge flaw in the defense system of this fortress. However, this is exactly what the Dragunson family said they had no intention of doing. Tallon Fortress has a dangerous terrain and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If even the city wall facing the hinterland of the Griffin Empire is reinforced to an indestructible level, I am afraid that the Griffin Emperor will no longer be able to let the Dragonson family continue to control this military fortress. Although the Tallon Fortress Guards to which Captain Deborah belongs can be considered a regular army of the Griffin Empire, the quality of its soldiers and weapons and equipment are far inferior to those of the Knights of the Steel Fist, and there are often gaps in numbers. According to the Imperial Code of Conduct, a company of the regular army should consist of one hundred and twenty people, and should be led by four knights. The company captain should be an experienced high-level knight. The Knights of the Steel Fist did meet the requirements of the code, and were even better, but the fortress guards also stationed in Tallon Fortress did not have such good luck. Since most of the military resources were embezzled to strengthen the equipment and training of the Knights of the Steel Fist, Captain Deborah only had three quasi-knights who had not yet mastered the power of fighting spirit, and less than a hundred recruits with low training levels. With this power, it is simply not enough to defend the hundreds of meters long wall inside Tallon Fortress. Captain Deborah, who rushed up the city wall, understood this very well, so when he stepped on the crenel and leaned out to look out, his heart was completely suspended. The troops that appeared outside the inner wall of the fortress were numerous and divided into three orderly groups. They seemed to belong to the three forces. The cavalry formation of a hundred people in the front left was led by a flag whose emblem was a giant fist of steel armor; the team of about 200 people in the front right were all wearing dark blue cloaks of pilgrims. The morning breeze blew, and the silver armor was sometimes hidden under the cloak. Now, the team with the largest number of people is at the rear, and the dozens of baggage wagons escorted between the queues stretch for a hundred meters, like a huge black snake lying across the fortress. Captain Deborah saw the flag belonging to the second branch of the Knights of the Steel Fist at the first sight, which made him breathe a sigh of relief, but the sight that came into view made him frown, and he couldn't help but feel angry. cold. "That symbol isthe dark golden double sword badge! Gods, is it the team led by the chief pilgrim of St. Bablupa Monastery? He chose this time to come to Tallon Fortresswhat does he plan to do?" Captain Deborah didn't expect his muttering to be answered, but almost as soon as he finished speaking, a voice that seemed stiff due to nervousness sounded from behind. "Look, Mr. Company Captain, there is another flag, that black one, it makes people feel cold just by looking at it!" Captain Deborah turned his head angrily and stared fiercely at the young man who spoke indiscriminately. , "Vera, thank you for pointing this out, but I am not blind yet. Of course I can see the black flag." The young man named Vera came from a noble family. Although he was only the second son without inheritance, he still Received considerable etiquette education?. Faced with Captain Deborah's straightforward rebuke, his fair face suddenly turned red. "I I have learned heraldry knowledge from family scholars. Although I cannot identify the family crests of all the nobles in the empire, I can at least see some clues from them." Vera mustered up the courage and spoke as loudly as possible. Doubts in my heart. "But that black flag I have never seen such a complicated, exquisite and unreasonable emblem! If the elves hadn't appeared for hundreds of years, I would have even thought that it was the symbol of the elves!" Captain Deborah was fierce He glared at the young man, suppressed the irritability caused by anxiety in his heart, and then narrowed his eyes to look outside the city. Vera is right. Although Captain Deborah is a rough man who was born as a lower-level soldier, after serving as a middle-level officer in the Tarlon Fortress Guards for more than ten years, he has always seen hundreds of noble badges. The one in front of him The emblem with the black flag is indeed unconventional. The dark background is glittering with stars, just like the dark night. In the middle, there is a black dragon with fangs and claws, roaring with its head raised. There has never been a wealthy Tripod clan in the Griffin Empire who dared to use such an arrogant emblem. Just looking at the open mouth of the black dragon, Captain Deborah couldn't help but have an illusion, as if as the black flag fluttered in the wind, the black dragon also followed the flag. It appeared on the face, and its size became extremely huge, preparing to swallow Tallon Fortress in one bite. "Captain Deborah, what are you doing?" A sharp and harsh voice suddenly sounded, "Why didn't you order your people to go to the city to be on guard, and why didn't you prepare the crossbows? It was those guys with unknown origins who scared your courage. "This voice made Captain Deborah raise his thick eyebrows, and he had to turn his head slowly, "Master Sailian, please take a good look!" He suppressed his anger and replied, "Then This troop carries the banner of the Knights of the Steel Fist. According to regulations, the fortress guards cannot stop and question members of the Knights of the Steel Fist. This is an order personally issued by Lord Dragonson, and everyone must abide by it. " Steel Fist. The flat slate-gray face of the Knights' first-class staff officer, Serien Opp, always showed only two expressions - indifference and ridicule, but Captain Deborah was lucky enough to see the third one today. It was a distorted expression that combined extreme fear and surprise. For a moment, Captain Deborah even thought that this first-class staff officer would just fall off the city wall. Fortunately, the one-meter-high crenellations of the city wall played an effective blocking role. Sai Lian held on to the solid rock with a rough surface and panted for a while. He once again took a deep look at the flag of the Knights of the Steel Fist flying outside the city, as if to rub it. As if entering his eyes, and then muttered in a voice that seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, "God damn it, this is so stupid so stupid!" Then he raised his head, as if he had just seen Captain Deborah standing there Just like next to him, his tone seemed very impatient. "What are you still doing there? Captain Deborah, please allow me to remind you that the number of people in that team is almost equal to that of the two branches of the Knights of the Steel Fist combined. You shouldn't have forgotten that in the recent period, The Knights of the Steel Fist have only sent out one reconnaissance team, and the number cannot exceed a hundred, right? " "Of course, no." Captain Deborah deliberately ignored the contempt in the other party's tone. This is not too difficult, the fortress guard. The officers will inevitably have to deal with the arrogant men of the Knights of the Steel Fist. However, what surprised this old and experienced commander was that the mean-spirited staff member did not continue to spout harsh words soaked in venom this time. Instead, he turned around and walked down the ramp of the city wall. Looking at the back, it even feels like running away. "This is strange." Captain Deborah spat at his feet, "Why does this guy seem so scared?" Then he shook his head to get rid of this trouble, and started to give orders in a rough voice. "Cheer up, boys, don't let people say that without the tin cans of the Knights of the Steel Fist, the guards of Tallon Fortress would not know how to stand on the city wall! No matter where those guys outside come from, Don¡¯t even think about crossing the wall we guard without paying any price!¡± There was a burst of responding shouts from above and below the city, but it was not very enthusiastic. Captain Deborah smiled bitterly and touched his nose. He knew very well that the morale of the fortress guards had always been as bad as their treatment. Even Marquis Dragunson, who was known for his toughness and ruthlessness, could not solve this problem. "I hope the troops in front of me don't have such a strong attack." Captain Deborah found a position that was easier to hide and squatted down. At the same time, he also pulled the young attendant who was still standing behind him into a corner. "For the sake of the gods, don't stand there like an idiot to attract arrows." The old knight lowered his voice and warned, "The gods gave you such a tall height, not to let you perform on the battlefield anytime and anywhere. ¡±Vera is satisfied again.His flushed, fair skin would completely reveal his emotions if he fluctuated slightly. Before he could get rid of this trouble, a particularly powerful horn sounded through the sky, and then a high-pitched, clear, and extremely penetrating voice came from below the city. "In the name of the Lord of Justice, Bablupa, the gates are closed and the suspension bridge is hung high. Is this how the guardians of Tallon Fortress treat reinforcements coming from afar?"