What did you do with the dice?

Don't come over here, it's not my fault...isn't it?

Ai Li was in tears. Just as the countless figures surrounding her took out a dagger and were about to stab her, a hand suddenly pulled her down.

The mirror floor shattered into pieces, and her body fell in the darkness. The strong sense of drop made her suddenly wake up. After a violent gasp, she found that the owner of the hand was Phoenix.

Rusalka was sitting next to her, and Phoenix grabbed her collar with both hands and "dragged" her upper body with disheveled hair out of the sleeping bag.

Sani Tieta was sitting not far away, reading a book. Beside him were two elves who were snoring in small sleeping bags. Ever since they had experienced sleeping bags, they had become addicted to this kind of enclosed, safe, small space sleeping method. When they went out into the wild, they had to put on a sleeping bag to get a good sleep. They didn't look like the elves who would rest against a tree and immediately draw their bows to be alert at the slightest sign of trouble.

It was not until Phoenix let go that Ai Li, whose inner clothes were already soaked with sweat and subconsciously supported his body with his hands on the ground, realized that he had just had a nightmare. However, the feelings of fear, grievance, sadness and despair still lingered in his heart, seeming extremely real and unforgettable.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh and tidied her hair, thankful that this was just a nightmare that she had now mostly forgotten. Although she couldn't remember what she had just dreamed about, if reality was so cruel, she would definitely collapse.

"I think this thing on your chest is very strange." Rusalka said to the awake Ai Li, and pointed at the necklace on her chest. "When you were 'twisting, screaming, crawling, squirming, struggling, wailing, and falling apart' in your sleeping bag just now, this thing was flashing."

"Huh?" Ai Li knew Rusalka had seen him having a nightmare, and he didn't know how embarrassing it was. He blushed. "I... I just had a nightmare. Sorry for waking everyone."

Rusalka glanced at the two elves who slept as if they were in body bags and hadn't moved at all all night: Are they awake? Yes.

"Yes, I know, but what I'm saying is, that thing on your chest is flashing like Ultraman's life-threatening light. Something similar to the Death Star shouldn't flash like that. I'd say you should just throw it away. Based on my extensive experience in Cthulhu (Cthulhu online role-playing), something that exudes a strange aura but doesn't seem to have any issues is definitely the team's terrifying whale, the engine that wipes out the entire team. Abandon it!"

After hearing this, Ai Li subconsciously clutched the necklace tightly around her chest, shaking her head like a rattle. "No, no! This is the promise she made to me, and it's the only gift she left me when we parted. How can I throw it away because of a nightmare?"

"Then we can at least remove the magical effect on it."

Ai Li considered it for a moment. Most people tend to compromise. Compared to destroying the necklace, turning it into an ordinary object sounded less unacceptable. So he nodded hesitantly: "If you're worried, it should be okay?"

Seeing Ai Li relax, Rusalka was filled with joy that the patient's condition had improved. She shouted directly to Sanita beside her, "Thank you, Director, the patient's mood is stable now. Hurry and give him the magic medicine!"

However, Sanita didn't come over. Instead, he continued to read with his legs crossed, waving his hands in the direction of this place, as if to say, "It's hopeless, just wait for death." (I've tried it before, it doesn't work. Disintegrate doesn't work on magic items, and neither does Spell Invalidation. It doesn't even work with Greater Purge. I don't know Mordenkainen's Disintegration, which can destroy artifacts. That's a noble spell from the [3R Neverwinter Expansion], not to mention it's a 9th-level spell. Even if I knew it, I wouldn't be able to use it.)

Sanita spread his hands and agreed with Rusalka, "This thing is a legendary item. Ordinary magic can't destroy it. Forget it, but I suggest you try physical means, such as using your invincible Holy Slash."

Rusalka: (No, brother, when did you try it? How come I never knew about it?)

Sanita: (Do you remember the necklace Theresa gave us? I've already researched it and disassembled it. I used the knocking spell to open the door and the ring sleep spell to help her sleep while Rewi was sleeping. Then I tried each spell one by one, but I found that I couldn't disassemble hers using the same method.

You and I have known each other for so long, you don't think I really respect her personal wishes and am happy to have a camera like Teresa installed around her? Anyway, if she finds out the necklace is missing the next day, or even if she finds out that I did it, she will just cry, hate me, and be depressed for a month at most.

With a saintly personality like hers, even if she hates me, if I get hurt and ask her to heal me, she'll still convince herself to heal me. So what does it matter if she hates me? Besides, you're a professional psychotherapist, right? You can just coax her into giving her a prettier one, and it'll even help you improve your favorability. How perfect!)

Rusalka felt a nauseating urge to conjure up the image of her brother sneaking into Rewi's room and performing various magical experiments on the necklace on her chest while she slept. It felt like a fusion of the experimental maniacs in a crime-fighting horror film and the hypnotized nuns in an otherworldly setting: (No, brother, is this appropriate? And do you think the cat will let me go if I do this again?)

Sanita's tone was nonchalant: (It's nothing more than you getting a good beating from Phoenix. What's the big deal? Can Phoenix really beat you to death? It's one thing to appease one person, and it's the same for two. You just sacrificed a little free time and mood points, but for us, this is like defusing a time bomb.)

My brother's speech seems a bit formulaic. He really doesn't regard himself as a human being.

Sanita sighed. "It's a shame I can't do that. The necklace is probably bound to her, so it can't be destroyed. There might be something in Alice City, or perhaps Theresa is already there, causing the necklace to finally begin to function. I've long suspected that the Mirror of Love's ability to "control" the body transcends magic, and actually has further benefits, not just for you to show off. It's a shame, you idiot, you took the furnace but didn't share the information just to show off. Now your skill is on cooldown, so you can't use it to melt the necklace. We'll have to wait a month. What can I say to you?"

Sanitieta's words really controlled Rusalka completely, making him feel that he himself had the problem, and he was too embarrassed to blame his brother for acting on his own initiative.

Forget it, let's try it out and use the Holy Slash. What if it can break the chain?

"Phoenix, tie her up. Don't be afraid. Isn't Master Lu also a good doctor?"

Rusalka immediately ordered Phoenix to tie up Ai Li, who had not yet reacted, with shadow tentacles. Regardless of her crying like a poor little beast being bullied, she took out a dagger from the interlayer, mercilessly stretched out her fingers to pull out the thin chain part of the necklace, and then stabbed it with the dagger and cut it hard.

A dazzling holy light flashed across the blade of the dagger, and the necklace made a sharp clashing sound. However, after the holy light dissipated, the tiny necklace remained intact.

Rusalka definitely didn't believe in evil, so she used the Warlock Ring to transform into the Holy Slash and stabbed it again. The Holy Slash was activated, and [Path of Faith] made Rusalka's Holy Slash have a destructive power of four times the damage to the durability of the item. But even so, there was not even a trace left on the seemingly very thin chain made of unknown metal.

I'm so sorry I couldn't let Master Necklace use his full strength.

Holy Slash, I'm afraid I will never forget an ability like yours in my life.

Rusalka clearly felt that as a template ability that could be mastered at level 2, Holy Slash had its limits no matter how much it was strengthened. At least it wasn't so outrageous that he could use a 3-ring Holy Slash to dismantle a legendary item.

He was unwilling to waste his Paladin ring to try it, as that would require another long rest to recover, so he had no choice but to give up and put away the dagger.

Ai Li was so frightened by Rusalka's actions that she almost cried out. "Aww, why did you destroy it like this? It's so cruel! It's clearly my spiritual support for that friend! Knight of Pearl Tears, please don't destroy it. I'm willing to do anything, please."

Are you willing to do anything?

But the cat's sharp eyes allowed Rusalka to retain the simplicity in his soul and awakened the core idea of ​​the great working people in his heart: there is no free lunch in the world, and getting something for nothing is the most shameful thing.

This Ai Li is capable of everything, but it still cannot be done.

"As much as I want to say, 'I'm doing this for your own good,' forget it. Respect, blessings." Rusalka held up three fingers and broke them off one by one for Ai Li. "Now, I'll give you three choices: one, take it off yourself; two, I'll take it off for you; three, I'll just leave you here and forget about you. You choose."

Ai Li faced Rusalka's power, with no one around to help her. In the end, she chose to give in and weakly resisted with all her might, saying, "Then can I not throw it away?"

"That's fine. I'll ask Sanita to give you a box and you can put it in it."

Rusalka said this, but she trotted over and picked up the greatsword and shield placed next to the campfire, while Phoenix lowered Aerie from the air.

Seeing Rusalka's fully armed posture, Ai Li was afraid that he would do something extraordinary, so he took off the necklace timidly.

Ai Li put the necklace into the attributeless magic isolation box thrown by Sanita, and Ai Li obtained a "box containing a necklace".

I have already drawn my greatsword and shield, ready to fight any descending incarnation of a god, a creature from another world, or even a giant from the Kingdom of Light. Rusalka:?

Huh? So easy? Where's my experience?

"The Knight of Pearl Tears."

After taking off the necklace, Ai Li still looked a little absent-minded, and his voice was as thin as a mosquito's.

Rusalka asked warily, "What for? If you have a nightmare and can't sleep, go find Hydra over there. Phoenix won't lend it to you."

Ai Li's well-prepared emotions were shattered by Rusalka's outrageous remarks. He said with a mixture of laughter and tears, "If, I mean if, I had done something really bad in the past, would you judge me too?"

Rusalka couldn't help laughing after hearing this.

"What the hell are you doing? I, Rusalka, have always been hypocritical. Even Phoenix was so bad, and I... Hey, I was wrong. You are a good, good Filin! Anyway, Arie, you haven't done anything bad since we met. You even saved so many of my subjects and soldiers. We are comrades who have fought in several legendary battles." Rusalka spread her hands and said, "Anyway, the Pearl Tear Territory doesn't need a pair of chopsticks from you. If the people from the past come to trouble you, just hide in Silver City and I will come out and shoot them all. What's the big deal about bullying a priest? Come and fight me if you dare. When I, Rusalka, am on the field, other friendly water creatures will not be destroyed!"

"Thanks......"

Ai Li was still hesitating about to say something, but then he heard Sanita close the book and make the final decision.

"Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep."

He was the most authoritative person here. The campfire crackled and everyone went back to their tents to sleep.

But before going to sleep, Rusalka asked herself one last question: (Sleep with Rewi Alley?)

Sanita: (I agree. Go ahead.)

Good night, Rusalka blew out the torch in the tent contentedly, and chose to take a long rest while holding the cat.

Chapter 260 "Allies"

There is no such thing as an autumn tiger in this world. Instead, there will be a period of sultry heat after the beginning of autumn. In late summer and early autumn, when the weather is sunny and windy, it is a beautiful solar term when the heat gradually subsides and the gentle breeze brings coolness.

The refreshing breeze gently took away the last bit of warmth from their bodies and the dull pressure of the march. No wonder the two elves liked to sit on the roof of the car and chat in the breeze.

But the guards accompanying the carriage were in big trouble. From the next day, the two elves were not satisfied with just chatting in the breeze. They also brought snacks with them and threw sunflower seed shells outside in a very uncivilized manner. From time to time, the guards' helmets could be heard making crisp clanging sounds.

They didn't dare to raise any objections, but after being discovered and taught a lesson by Sunny Tower, the two elves agreed to bring a trash can with them, and when they got off the car at night, they would find a roadside place to bury the melon seed shells in the soil.

The nature of elves is very fickle. They may be so uncultured as to throw away melon seed shells casually, but if you ask them to collect the melon seed shells and throw them away, they think this is something they should do seriously. They will follow the rules of the elves, take the initiative to dig a hole and bury them in the soil and cover them up, and call it nature's return to its roots, and they are nature's agents.

Afterwards, they added a small round table and a milk tea pot on the roof. A day later, they asked Rusalka for a deck of playing cards, and it seemed that they were about to turn the roof into a tea room.

Rusalka was quite envious of their personality of being able to find fun everywhere, so she reached out to attack Phoenix who was concentrating on riding the bird in front of her. As the saying goes, rubbing cats together brings more joy to life, but what she got in return was, of course, continuous attacks from the tail.

After five days of accelerated marching, Rusalka's army encountered the first "army" they had seen since their departure.

They might not be the first armed group they encountered on the road. After all, in the war-torn era, mercenaries and adventurers could be seen everywhere doing "get-rich" business. However, they were the first team that dared to block their marching route, and their number was also very large.

In this regard, Rusalka's evaluation is: very brave, courageous, experience packs delivered to your home, five-star praise and fight after killing.

From the wide perspective provided by the treetops and telescope, not to mention the enemy's fragmented troops and the uneven quality of the soldiers' equipment, Rusalka even saw soldiers wearing half a set of leather armor and holding pitchforks. If she had to give them a professional name, Rusalka decided to call them: "Lightly armored short-gun soldiers."

Furthermore, each of their teams, scattered here and there like a patchwork of plasters, also held a different small flag, which, combined, had more colors than the LGBT flag. It was hard not to wonder how they were commanded during the battle. Rusalka, who had never seen a single battle before, couldn't help but sigh: "Wow, this is the Eight-Nation Alliance."

He really doubted the quality of such troops. He wondered if he only needed to lead a few hundred cavalrymen to charge and defeat them. They had no formation and no equipment. As for high-end military force, it was hard to say. But even Rusalka, who dreamed of finding someone to fight and gain experience, could not expect that there would be any qualified "experience packages" in a team like this.

This is how war is. Any group of scum can call themselves an army and stand in front of their own country. However, Rusalka and Sanita are efficient. The level difference between this group of people is too big, and the experience given is like drizzle. Killing more soldiers is just a white shark, which will only increase the sin of killing and waste the time going to Alice City. This is not good.

Just as Sanitieta was about to send an envoy to ask if they were willing to give way, or to ask Rusalka to bring a few hundred heavy cavalry to help them move their vehicles, a messenger came to report: "Chief of Staff, the other side has sent three envoys to meet you. Do you want to see them?"

It looked like the other side had sent envoys quite early on, but why would one army have three envoys? What did it mean? Did they really intend to outnumber Zhuge Liang?

The premise is that Zhuge Liang does not have a Gundam.

There is no reason or concern to disappear. Even if they are assassins, as Rusalka said in her classic lines: Even if three of them come together, they are no match for me.

"Bring him here to meet me."

Since ancient times, envoys have been the "face" of the army. Only those who are brave and careful can be competent for this job. They must appear fearless in the face of danger and speak neither humbly nor arrogantly, so as not to lose face for their master.

It's impossible to say you're completely fearless. While it's been a tradition since ancient times for warring nations not to execute envoys, if a noble is truly driven to despair and fears the demise of their clan, they might not necessarily follow the rules. People always say that those willing to sacrifice themselves are often noble and kind before their death, because they harbor benevolent hopes for the afterlife. Conversely, can you expect someone without any expectations of their own afterlife to follow any rules or do anything good? They aren't even selfish, because they simply haven't considered how to live a better life.

Because of this, when these messengers saw Rusalka, the "childless madman", their hearts were beating like drums, and they were uneasy. To be honest, if Rusalka was not a recognized paladin who played Holy Light, he really had all the elements of an "invincible man": no relatives, extraordinary martial arts, aggressive, holding heavy troops, thirsting for power, and never satisfied.

Along the way, Rusalka has won so many wars that it can be said that he has made all the right decisions and accomplished feats that others would not dare to do even if they had the courage to do so in several lifetimes.

He could obviously lie down in the Pearl Tears Territory right now and live a comfortable life as a lord, collecting tributes every day, marrying his brother's eight or ten wives, concubines and lovers, having more sons to expand the family, and make the Pearl Tears family, which only has one descendant, prosperous again.

Even the raging flames of war in the central battlefield could not reach his doorstep. In simple terms, he had already suffered all the hardships that he and his descendants would have to endure in this life. He had unified the borders and mastered power and military strength. The rest of his life and even his three generations of descendants could probably enjoy themselves in peace. Why should he work hard for so long?

Besides, he can win even if he doesn't do it. He is now recognized as the "uncrowned marquis". Even after this battle, if the Grand Duke's family loses, Rusalka only needs to rely on his identity as a grand knight, show his loyalty and goodwill to the guardian knight family, and then he can take away the territory and wealth of the Grand Duke with just a few words and become a grand duke.

But the reality is that Lord Pearl Tear refused to do so. He just wanted to lead his army to fight everywhere. He was even not satisfied after helping the Guardian Knight Family capture the Calbes stronghold. Now it seemed that he was ready to send troops to attack Alice City immediately.

It is hard to imagine whether he will go directly north to destroy the Oaks family after conquering Alice City, and then attack the Forest of Elfs, and then attack the El Empire. After defeating the El Empire, there will be no more battles, so how about crossing Estron and jumping into the sea to fight the sea people?

Did the God of War make a mistake in positioning himself when he exerted his power? Why did this orc god choose a human as his messenger?

Everyone hoped that the metaphorical "God of Death" would not come to their door in this life, but he was chasing after the "God of Death". In the eyes of these nobles, if he was not a madman, then what could be called a madman?

Because of this, if anyone wants to say a few fair words in front of him, they must first keep a distance, be courteous, and be polite, and win people over with virtue. If you really can't convince him, just kowtow to him twice, and the matter will be over. Don't be angry.

Fortunately, they were not negotiating with Rusalka as enemies, and their master just needed such a madman who could break the existing situation.

They each introduced the family they belonged to. It seemed like three different forces, but in fact, their final appeal had only one common goal: to request to join Rusalka's team and follow him to Alice City to fight in the "king's defense."

This is strange. If the nobles in the territory of the Great Duke Gode want to go to Alice City, why don’t they follow the army of the Great Duke Gode?

After careful questioning, it was discovered that these were nobles of the loyal faction. In fact, they were all genuine traditional old nobles of Sinidi. They were the biggest beneficiaries of the benefits gained during Mebius's reign and the governance policies of the Guardian Knight Family.

They had no other ideas. The reason they wanted to maintain the royal management system was not because they were so used to having pigtails on their heads that they couldn't cut them off, but because their family happened to be located in the territory of the Guardian Knight family. The kingdom's aristocratic law originally protected their interests, and the "Guardian Knights" themselves were also in the lawful camp. The Great Duke Gode was a believer in the god of law and contract, and it was even more impossible for him to break the rules. So they had been relying on the rules of preferential treatment for the nobles + the rules of the Guardian Knight family prohibiting smuggling, and had created a crushing advantage for the nobles in the territory - without those oil thieves, they could just take the oil tanks.

But all these good days will end after the Gao Dewei family comes to power. Nobles with "bad records" like them will undoubtedly be the first to be used as a sharp knife, a warning to others, and a warning to others when new laws are promoted after the establishment of the "Kingdom of Knights".

Because of this, although they are nobles in the territory of the Great Duke of God, they always have an unwavering patriotism - they love the country of Sneidi, the Mebius family, which uses the "Noble Law".

When Rusalka was "spreading rumors" over there before, they didn't think that Rusalka really had the prince in her hands, but at least Rusalka dared to "pretend to have the prince", so now she has found "a like-minded big shot who wants to maintain the existing system and is very powerful"?

They had been eager to take it up for a long time, but the territory was too far away, and the Guardian Knight Family as a noble was a bit abstract. They did not dare to gamble that these guys who had the rules in their heads would understand the overall situation and not take the initiative to clean up the mess, so they did not dare to communicate with Rusalka.

Now is a godsend opportunity. I heard that Rusalka led an army of 20 to come here and captured the Kalbes Hills, and then immediately raised an army in Alice City to help the eldest prince purge his court. He even happened to pass through their territory. If we don't surrender now, it would be like pleasing both sides. I guess we will have to see each other again in the Kingdom of God next time.

After they finished, Rusalka was bewildered. This... the stinking landlords and old aristocrats whom she hated the most on Earth actually united, under the pretext of shared interests, to attempt to form a coalition with a progressive proletarian thinker like me. Isn't this a bit out of the ordinary? It seems my Red Course teacher has never taught this kind of knowledge before. Stop arguing, let me think about what went wrong.

"If you can supply yourselves and it doesn't affect our formation, it's fine to take you with you."

Sanita doesn't care what kind of teammates they are, as long as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. However, what he said is actually very inconsistent with the concept of the "vassal" system in this world. Generally speaking, local nobles are willing to send troops to help you, and that is a matter of hard work even if there is no credit.

These people can produce something even if they farm at home, so helping you fight is purely a losing business. It is already a manifestation of their love. As their recognized boss, you have the military power they gave up, so it is not too much for you to give them some punishment.

The messenger also looked troubled. They were only the face of their lord, which did not mean they could replace the brain's decision-making function. "Can we go back and convey this?"

"Yes, but our army will not stop because of this. If you don't discuss it before our two armies come into contact, don't blame us for treating you as roadblocks."

The three messengers' faces turned pale and they hurried back to report. The army also continued on its journey according to Sanita's instructions.

Not long after, they saw the army in front making way to both sides in a very chaotic manner, leaving behind a pile of camp garbage that had not been cleaned up in time. Then the three messengers rode back at full speed, saying that there was no problem at all, and that their lord was willing to lead the joint army of nobles under his command to follow the two wings of Rusalka's army, waiting for instructions at any time.

Rusalka couldn't help but sigh, looking back at the past, when she first crossed over, she was still struggling to be willing to hire a mercenary group with an annual fee of 80 gold coins. Now, this little brother bowed down to her with an army that seemed to have a total number of about 10,000 people, and she was in great glory.

Sanitta: (They must have thought we were too arrogant, and probably scolded us profusely.)

Rusalka: (Really? I think those three messengers were quite humble. Before I beat them, the nobles always looked down on me. I thought I had to give this group a try and defeat them before I could accept them as my dogs.)

Sanita raised his fist, then pointed to his mouth and said with a smile: (That's because now we not only have this, but also this. We are completely different now, Brother Xiao. After fighting so many wars, we can finally be called a dominant force.)

This is true. When playing board games, you can only feel the joy of leveling up and becoming stronger, but you will basically never experience the pleasure of becoming a super adventurer and becoming famous all over the world.

Although the soldiers under this group of defected nobles seemed vulnerable, it was quite refreshing to think that so many of them were willing to shout slogans for themselves and brag about the deeds of Lord Pearl Tears.

Look, we are leading these old dregs of class, and they have to work for us in return. Isn't this a kind of naturalization?

Chapter 261: Fierce Battle Outside the Kingdom's Capital Castle (1)