Towering city walls, built from ancient megaliths, were covered in mottled traces of time, as if telling tales of millennia and secrets.
Two dragon-man iron statues, each over a dozen 'ren' (a Chinese unit of length) tall, stood on either side of the city gate. Their eyes were inlaid with glittering magic gems, as if they might awaken at any moment.
It was said that these were the work of a legendary alchemist, and once activated, these two fast iron men would transform into ancient warriors to slay enemies.
The city gate itself was forged from heavy black iron, inlaid with intricate magic arrays, emitting a faint blue light.
A huge flag hung above it, embroidered with the city's emblem—a griffin with its head held high, looking down upon everything. Its silk-like feathers danced in the wind, as if ready to take flight at any moment.
At the city gate, dust flew, and the sounds of horses' hooves, wheels, and footsteps intermingled into a chaotic din.
Farmers pushed wooden carts laden with grain, their faces full of the marks of wind and frost. Their rough hands tightly gripped the handles, as if afraid that if they loosened their grip, the grain on the cart would be snatched away.
Caravans slowly drove past, the wheels grinding over the stone-paved road, making dull sounds. The carts were piled high with goods from afar: silks, spices, gems, and those unknown, exotic items, exuding an alluring aura. Merchants sat in front of the carts, their faces plastered with false smiles.
Knights in armor rode tall warhorses, their hands holding lances, their eyes like torches. Mercenaries eyed who might hire them.
Occasionally, one could see orcs, elves, dwarves, and bards, traveling together or hurrying along alone, adding a bit of vitality to the heart of this Deber city.
The guards at the city gate wore silver armor and held long halberds, their eyes lazily scanning everyone entering and exiting.
"Wow, as expected of the royal capital, there are even orcs here. It's ten times more lively than Bai Liu City." Mai Sha was dazzled just by looking at the various humanoid races.
Elves, dwarves, gnome merchants, and even the figures of orcs and panda people could be seen.
"In fact, since our King established the Myriad Garden to collect the wonders of various races a dozen years ago, he has introduced a policy regarding 'Accepting Kind and Wise Races'."
The Lord was staring at a half-elf physician wearing a red mage robe.
Clearly, her facial features were only so-so individually, ranking near the bottom among the women he knew, but when combined, they were very "seductive," especially those prominent breasts, which were about to burst through the buttons of her loose mage robe. Every step she took made people truly understand what "surging waves" meant.
Adding to that the beauty mark at the corner of her eye, she had a feeling of being both pure and alluring, like a kitten, scratching at one's heart.
The Lord discovered that not only was he looking, but the silver-armored guards were also peeking sideways. Even the old man Fugin was looking again and again, and finally, he seemed to realize that this was a bit morally corrupt, and he kept muttering, "This is really corrupting the atmosphere, it's indecent."
The broad-minded elven physician seemed to have noticed these fiery gazes, hot enough to boil milk, and hurriedly covered her chest, hiding her face and diving into the crowd with her companions.
Causing everyone to sigh with regret.
"Brother-in-law, and then what?" Mil, who had been waiting for the next part, noticed that the Lord hadn't spoken for a long time and looked over in confusion.
"And then?" The Lord inconspicuously and regretfully withdrew his gaze, and said with a serious face: "Then now the entire Deber has great tolerance for other races who are inclined towards the good alignment. Things like dwarven blacksmiths, elven rangers, and orcish fighters are simply everywhere."
"Like that elven physician just now, she formed a small team with her companions, usually taking on some tasks to earn bounties."
"Such as clearing out goblins and magical beasts, or searching for some magical materials."
Such groups often call themselves adventurers. The team generally consists of a physician, plus a warrior, a swordsman, and an archer. Stronger teams will be equipped with a mediocre magic apprentice.
When Li Wei first came to this world, he did this kind of work, but after discovering that he could single-handedly defeat those goblins and magical beasts, he chose to work alone.
Afterwards, he didn't know how, but he embarked on the path of being a lord, never to return.
Otherwise, he would at least be able to leave behind the beautiful name of "Elegant Crimson Waist Cutter" among the adventurers.
Elegant is to prove that his appearance is excellent, and waist cutter represents his famous move.
"Your Excellency, let's enter the city first. I saw the Prince's team in front just now. If we speed up a bit, we should be able to meet them at the city gate." Skye next to him interrupted the Lord's reverie.
"Okay." Li Wei had no objections.
He also wanted to meet this Prince and see if he was reliable.
But just at this moment, another team was entering the city at the same time. A burly man, at least six 'ren' tall, completely wrapped in an iron helmet, walked in the front, holding a huge white flag.
On it, using exquisite embroidery techniques, was depicted a naked man holding golden scales in his left hand and a silver scepter in his right—this was the human form of the God of Alchemy, Lex Prima.
The scales represent the balance of all things, and the scepter represents absolute authority. It is said that this god is the embodiment of the laws of alchemy, in charge of the cosmic truth of "as above, so below."
Regardless of whether the other party has mastered this truth, the alchemical attainments of the Holy Sith Empire in recent years have indeed been ahead of the seven countries.
It is even said that they have created giant Olefin elephant warriors, dozens of 'ren' tall.
This is also the reason why the other party would take the initiative to create friction on the border, including but not limited to stealing cattle, occupying land, and stealing water.
These people from the Holy Sith Empire came to Gonda under the guise of discussing the evil event of demons, but the real reason could be talked about by even the drunkards in Gonda's taverns for a day and a night.
Regardless of what banner the other party is flying, it must be at odds with Deber.
The grievances between the two sides have been accumulating for a long time, and it is impossible to let go of them just by saying so. It is better to expect a nun to become a prostitute, and a prostitute to become a nun.
Therefore, when they saw another team carrying the banner of Deber nobles wanting to enter the city, these advance troops of the Holy Sith Empire directly squeezed up, trying to take the lead in entering the city, after all, there is nothing more important than suppressing the Deber people.
Although the barbarians always seem to have a silly smile on their faces, feeling that they must be exceptionally easy to get along with, the arrogance in their hearts is only lower than the sun of Highcliff Fortress.
Relying on their burly bodies, they pushed aside pedestrians and squeezed past. The two sides collided, and neither was willing to give way, and they confronted each other at the city gate.
Logically speaking, this is the royal city, right under the eyes of the king at the pinnacle of power, this kind of thing is undoubtedly an extremely bad event, and this kind of armed conflict is absolutely not allowed.
No matter how much hatred there is, they will maintain a certain degree of restraint.
But unfortunately, both sides have no reverence for this so-called king at all. The Holy Sith Empire was already thinking about how to fight with Deber, so how could they care about the king, and as for the barbarians of Highcliff Fortress to revere the king? It would be better to let them lay down their butcher knives and become great De monks on the spot.
Most importantly, both sides are dignitaries, who are used to being tyrannical in their own territory.
When encountering this kind of thing that is shorter than a dwarf, they will naturally argue over it, and even fight to the point of bloodshed.
Originally, only a dozen people in the vanguard confronted each other, but as the conflict intensified, hundreds of people gathered at the city gate in an instant.
Those farmers, caravans, and adventurers were so frightened that they hurriedly left, for fear of becoming the target of these dignitaries' anger, and having nowhere to reason.
After all, those shiny knives have no eyes.
Both sides are guard regiments representing the faces of their own adults. The number may not be large, but they must be elites selected from the best.
And as everyone knows, the more elite they are, the more arrogant they are, which is difficult for ordinary people to match. They don't even bother to raise their eyes in the face of the enemy's knives. This is the result of extreme confidence in the weapons and martial arts in their hands.
They watched the barbarians coldly, their hands quietly pressing on the hilt of their swords. The barbarians crossed their arms and sneered, their eyes sizing up the necks and heads of these dwarves, calculating that their iron fist could make them explode like watermelons.
The atmosphere was very tense. This scene was like a house full of wildfires. Even a little bit of hot light could completely ignite it, and they would not stop until they overturned the dome.
The officers of the vanguard of the two sides tried their best to restrain their subordinates while maintaining their own sanity, because the real decision-makers had not yet come forward.
For this kind of thing, no matter which side's boss takes the lead in making peace and concessions, it undoubtedly represents lowering their head, and this also means that it will hit the morale of their subordinates and damage their arrogance.
So this kind of cold treatment is the most appropriate way. They only need to wait for a third party to intervene to resolve it peacefully.
"Boss, should we go?" Zart was already itching to try.
Although they were outnumbered, apart from the few brainless swordsmen that Skye brought, the real combat power was only about thirty warriors from the Highcliff Fortress team.
But among them, apart from the Centaur clan warriors and the gnoll scouts, there were fifteen orc berserkers!
As the团长 (commander) of the orc warrior brigade, no one knew better than him how fierce these guys were when they went berserk.
He was an old fritter who had been following the Lord from the beginning. He could tell the level of the opponent at a glance.
If they really fought, only those few lumps wrapped in iron in the front would take a little effort, but that's all. It is estimated that the berserk orc warriors could cut them in half in at most two strokes. At that time, coupled with taking the initiative, with the ferocity of the berserkers, it would be easy to break through and rush into the city first.
"Go your ass, we need to be low-key now." Li Wei rolled his eyes: "Do you know that your boss is now in the limelight? If you make this kind of thing again, aren't you deliberately handing over a handle for others to grab?"
Although that's what he said, he didn't intend to restrain the barbarians.
Gonda, as the royal capital, has a team of silver-armored halberd guards stationed at the city gate, but I don't know if they feel that there are not enough people, or if their level is not high enough, they all ran back into the city, probably to ask for reinforcements.
After all, both sides are big shots that they can't afford to offend. If there is a mistake, they may be blamed.
And Li Wei is waiting, waiting for them to invite someone of sufficient level to solve this matter.
At that time, everyone will be on his side, and only the Holy Sith Empire is an enemy country, and they will definitely help him solve this matter.
"Don't care about this group of Deber barbarians, let's rush in first." I don't know if the other party also thought of this, someone in the Holy Sith Empire suddenly shouted, and the originally deadlocked team immediately began to push.
Unfortunately, the tall barbarians in front were like a thick city wall, standing still no matter how the wind and rain blew.
"Don't do it! Don't do it!"
A team of silver-armored knights engraved with silver moon stars came from a distance, surrounded by a middle-aged noble with a worried face. I don't know if it was because he was too hasty, he didn't know when he lost a shoe.
At the same time, a team was parked in a street, always paying attention to the situation at the city gate. The leader was a middle-aged man sitting in a carriage, with a mustache and wearing a gorgeous dress.
He was holding his hands to his mouth, magic power surged, forming a thin circular channel invisible to the naked eye directly to the sky above the city gate and then spreading into a trumpet shape.
"Your Highness, do we want to help Lord Li Wei?" A nobleman next to the carriage asked.
But……
"What are you still doing? Is there such a thing as bullying people? Bullying our Deber people on our ground, roll up your sleeves and fuck them!"
A voice that sounded very similar to Li Wei's exploded out of thin air. The noble was stunned, Li Wei at the city gate was stunned, and everyone was stunned.
"Boss, I've been waiting for your words." Zart laughed three times, and immediately shouted: "Everyone, do it for me, the boss said to fuck them over first! Put your eyes on those iron lumps first!"
The scene was already chaotic, and no one could see whether their lord had spoken, but the effect was absolutely immediate. The barbarians had long been unable to restrain themselves, and they all swung their huge fists at each other.
The two groups of people collided, fists, scabbards, and sticks all greeted each other, and a scream of misery immediately rang out.
Li Wei was so angry that he almost fainted, and kicked the fool's ass: "Which eye saw me talking?"
"The voice just now was exactly the same as yours." Zart touched his butt with a look of grievance.
"The adults' mouth didn't move just now, someone must be framing us." Layton said with a serious face.
"What to do?" Zart finally realized that he had done something stupid, with a blank and helpless face.
"What to do? Of course, fuck them over first!" The Lord rolled up his sleeves and rushed towards the huge iron man holding the flag: "Pay attention not to cause casualties."
Now is not the time to argue about right and wrong, but the key moment related to victory or defeat. If he really loses, the old face of his Highcliff Fortress Lord will have nowhere to rest.
As the Lord joined the battlefield, like a tiger breaking into a flock of sheep, the already precarious balance of victory quickly tilted at an unimaginable speed.
"It's over, it's all over..."
The middle-aged noble in the distance looked at the chaotic scene in front of him, his legs softened, and he collapsed to the ground, squeezing out a few tears, and burst into tears.
