Chapter 182 Pocket Encounter (1)

Demon King Calendar Year 648.

End of June, morning.

As summer begins, the south side of the World Spine Mountains is constantly rainy. The abundant water vapor gathers into raindrops and falls from the sky, flowing into streams along the gully rocks and hillsides.

A team of about 400 people is riding on the slippery land. They are carrying the flags of the Avarus Demon Kingdom and the emblems of the Earl of Fran. The battle flags that used to be erected high are now listless, just like these people.

Rain seeps in through the gaps in the armor of the cavalrymen. Many people have been soaked, and the blood on the bandages that should have dried up has also blurred again.

This rain not only wears away physical strength, but also seems to wear away everyone's will. They don't know where to go, but just follow Earl Fran at the front of the team blankly. He is the only backbone of these people.

But Earl Fran is also very confused at this time. In addition to knowing that he can't stop, he also doesn't know where to go.

Count Fran and Count Leon are two completely different people. He is a nobleman, but he never bullies others. He believes that the reason why nobles are noble is that they have to bear more obligations, rather than simply being able to exercise more rights.

His territory is located in the upper reaches of the Soerhan River, which flows into the sea along one side of the World Spine Mountains. It is the closest cargo transfer station to the Sailing City.

Although the territory is called Fran Territory, people actually prefer to call it Half Moon Fort, because the fortress is built in a half-moon-shaped col, with towering mountain walls that cannot be climbed on three sides. As long as the city wall is built on the front, it is a natural fortress.

The goods traveling to and from the Sailing City brought a lot of wealth to the Half Moon Fort. Count Fran used most of his wealth on people's livelihood construction. The lives of local civilians are very rich, and Count Fran is also quite loved.

Because the territory is on an important shipping route, there are many troops stationed in the territory to deal with bandits, plus Count Fran's own private soldiers, a total of five or six thousand.

This soldier is definitely the weakest among the many lords of the Avarus Demon Kingdom, but Count Fran's reputation and loyalty can be ranked among the top.

He is an ideal nobleman, polite and never evades or shirks responsibility. He loves the country, is loyal to the royal family, and cares about the civilians. He is a good nobleman with a good reputation.

But this good nobleman does not seem to be very good at fighting.

He is the kind of character in the strategy game whose internal affairs attribute is as high as 70 or 80, but whose military strategy attribute is probably less than 30 or 40.

The news that the capital was captured by the four-nation coalition came. Faced with such an emergency, Count Fran played his superb internal affairs as always.

He immediately organized everyone in the territory to prepare for defense and released a large number of scouts to try to explore intelligence.

The reason why the soldiers were not organized to help immediately was that the feudal nobles were not allowed to leave the territory at will, let alone lead the troops to the capital, which was a tendency to rebellion.

In other words, Count Fran initially thought that the fall of the capital was purely false information released by the enemy, and he did not believe it from the bottom of his heart.

It was just the result, which obviously had nothing to do with whether he believed it or not.

After the four-nation coalition forces broke through the capital, they immediately expanded their forces and marched towards other noble fiefdoms of the Avarus Demon Kingdom. Count Fran was shocked and mentally prepared to die in battle.

Then fate played another joke on him.

One of the four-nation coalition forces, the Subia Demon Kingdom Army, known as the Tiger of the Kingdom, passed by his territory in a strong manner, and turned around to attack Qihang City as if ignoring it, and did not care about Count Fran at all.

This is understandable. Qihang City is the largest fortress city in the North and an important naval port. Once it is captured, it is equivalent to basically paralyzing the maritime power of the Avarus Demon Kingdom, which is equivalent to controlling the North.

On the other hand, Fran Territory has basically no strategic value, and if it is attacked, it will have to face the difficult-to-defend Half Moon Castle, which is not worth the loss. Therefore, the attitude of the four-nation coalition towards Fran Territory is to blockade and ignore it.

The greatest insult is not to point at your nose and scold you, but to treat you as if you don't exist.

Fortunately, the shocked and angry Count Fran did not lose his mind. He calmly judged the enemy's movements through limited intelligence and personally led the cavalry to harass the logistics supply line of the Subia Demon Kingdom Army.

On the one hand, this can help Qihang City relieve pressure, and on the other hand, Count Fran can also re-establish contact with Qihang City.

The second point is very important.

Shortly after the news of the fall of the capital came, Fran Territory's contact with the surrounding territories was almost cut off, and only some gossip came occasionally.

He didn't know whether the surrounding lords were still resisting or had surrendered. This loneliness made him unbearable.

For now, Count Fran has done a good job. The surprise attack on the transportation supply line has indeed caused some troubles to the Subia Demon Kingdom Army.

But you have to understand that the nickname of the Kingdom Tiger is really not a joke.

As usual, he led his troops to harass the supply, and as expected, Count Fran was ambushed.

What's more terrifying is that he and his soldiers are most familiar with the terrain here, but every time they find a way out, they are blocked by the enemy. It feels like he is jumping in the palm of the Kingdom Tiger's hand. No matter where he runs, he will be predicted.

Count Fran has been fleeing for two days and two nights. He only rested for a few hours in the farm he met on the way. The physical strength of both people and horses has almost reached the limit.

What makes him even more chilling is the eyes of the civilians in the farm.

The fear when he saw Count Fran, and the peace of mind when they left, were like a sharp sword piercing Count Fran's heart.

The people have begun to accept the invaders and are afraid that their own army will cause trouble for them.

The mountains and rivers of the country he loves are broken, the king and prince he is loyal to have died in battle, the princess is missing, and even the people have begun to abandon him.

Count Fran hammered his armor hard. He wanted to scream and vent his emotions, but he couldn't do it. The soldiers behind him were still watching. They followed the lord they were loyal to, just like Count Fran was loyal to the royal family.

He couldn't let the soldiers down.

Looking up at the sky, the rain slid down the edge of the helmet and hit his face. He couldn't tell whether it was rain or tears.

Count Fran had tried very hard, and he had exhausted all his talents, but facing the torrent of the times, he was like a fragile baby and had no resistance.

Why?

Why is all this happening?

No one would give him an answer. The answer to this question was like the misty water vapor covering the road ahead, which was unclear and incomprehensible.

He seemed to have a premonition that this area might be the place where he would die.

The heavy rain was still pouring down, not only taking away too much physical strength, but also gradually extinguishing the flame in Count Fran's heart...