Chapter 290: The New Bahadur Khan
The white pole that Sarah mentioned was actually a long wooden pole with a horizontal branch at her feet, painted white. Just now, Sigismund and others were supporting this wooden pole to create the scene of Sarah floating in the air.
Sarah was actually half sitting and half standing on the horizontal branch of the wooden pole. Against the background of the snow, she was completely invisible from a distance.
If viewed from the bottom of the hill, it would appear that Sarah was higher up, but in reality, both she and Sigismund were behind the temple wall.
The reason for doing this was not to keep Sarah 'hanging', but to avoid the avalanche...
Sigismund came from the northern Ravenland, where there were many snowy mountains. He knew very well that loud noises could easily cause avalanches.
But the location of the temple would definitely not be affected by the avalanche - this was obvious, otherwise the temple would have ceased to exist long ago and Sigismund would not have been there to burn it down.
So, it is safe next to the temple.
That horse was not a real horse, but the head and armor of a demon warhorse, which was also supported by wooden poles. Even the posture of it attacking Sarah was made of wooden poles.
The head of the demon horse was the trophy left by Sigismund after he defeated the python knights of the Legion of Terror on the seashore.
Keeping the heads of wild animals as trophies is a habit of many warriors and also a source of bragging rights in the future.
Moreover, the demon warhorse has horns on its head, and looks like a combination of a horse and a cow - this is quite rare, and it can be used to brag about it and at least eight bottles of wine...
At that time, most of the demon horses were killed by Le Ang's orders. After all, they could not be controlled, so they could only remove the horse armor. In any case, they could not leave these terrible mounts to the enemy.
Like those undead knights, the demon warhorse is also an undead - in fact, it will become a dried corpse after the horse armor is removed. If its skull is not damaged, it will not die and its eyes will still glow red.
So the Iron Ring Centurion failed to kill a demon horse with five javelin throws.
In fact, Leon was feeling uneasy when he was destroying these demon horses - if they were not blocked in the sea, if they were allowed to run ashore, these undead creatures wearing full sets of horse armor would be much more difficult to deal with than the giant python knights...
The explosion effect was of course created by a grenade. This thing wasn't very powerful, but it was more than enough to blow a set of horse armor into pieces.
As for the smoke created when Sarah disappeared, it was just the direct ignition of some gunpowder. After all, the process of Sarah jumping down from the wooden pole could not be seen by anyone.
The whole process was to create the impression that 'Eunomia defeated Wata'...
Sarah is a good actor. Although she is better at singing and dancing, she has no problem live-broadcasting a pantomime scene from a distance. Although she was shivering from the cold, there were no accidents during the performance.
Letting devout believers see with their own eyes the gods they have worshipped for generations being killed by another god may have a greater effect than killing them directly...
And most importantly, perhaps in the near future, the Desha people will change their beliefs...
Of course, not yet.
Right now, all the Desha people are busy grieving and crying, and have no time to think about changing the god to worship.
From time to time, you can see devout believers committing suicide or disembowelment on the spot.
Especially those ascetic monks wearing headbands, most of them committed suicide at the foot of the holy mountain.
On the contrary, the few "high monks" in the middle, wearing gold and silver and brocade robes, seemed to be more sober. They looked around in panic and had already started running away. They didn't seem to care about the life or death of the Wata God at all...
Although the Desha herdsmen were numerous and powerful, they had basically no will to fight, so Leon and Agasson's troops did not kill too many people.
Leon's order was to disperse the Desha people and get the horses over. He wanted these Desha people who had 'witnessed' the killing of Wata to pass on the news to more people...
Letting these monks and herdsmen from the holy mountain tell others in person that the holy mountain is gone and the god Wata is gone will definitely be more effective than having outsiders spread the news.
To be honest, it is not easy to disperse these Desha people.
Although they basically had no intention of resisting, their current state was as if their ancestors' graves had been struck by lightning. Most of them were in a daze and didn't know how to dodge when faced with swords and knives.
Fortunately, the warriors of the Fierce Lion Territory still have some chivalry and do not easily kill those who do not resist. Otherwise, it would be much easier to kill them all than to drive them away.
Li Ang's troops pushed, shoved, and used fists and kicks. It took them half a day to gradually disperse them.
After a few hours, the area under the holy mountain was barely cleared.
Most of the D'Shar staggered away, looking back every few steps - all on foot. Their dispirited state clearly made them unfit for riding, so the lord was kind enough to take in their warhorses.
A small number of people planned to escape from the beginning, so they were tied up at the foot of the holy mountain and became prisoners.
In fact, most of those captured were leaders or nobles of small tribes, as well as a few "high-ranking officials" - in fact, Li Ang had no idea how to identify the tribal leaders, and his soldiers consciously captured those who were about to escape first.
It was later discovered that those who were captured for trying to escape were all nobles of Desha, and that the poor herdsmen were indeed more pious.
Of course, there were a very small number of overly pious people who went mad and launched indiscriminate attacks on the spot - and then they became corpses, piled up in a pile at the foot of the holy mountain.
General Agathon also got a large number of horses as he wished, and even the number could be easily counted, which should be close to two thousand, because basically every soldier under his command led two horses.
These warriors of the Bacchus Empire had never raised horses before, and didn't know how to drive a herd of horses, so they could only lead them...
"Count Leon, is this why you asked me to come and get these 'ownerless war horses'?"
Agathon no longer doubted whether Leon was fooling him, because he was certain that Leon was using him to attract firepower!
But... judging from the results, Li Ang did not lie to him - he did get a large number of horses, more than he had imagined.
"Agason, there's no need to say thank you..."
Li Ang looked at his men who were driving horses around, and smiled at Agasson: "After this job, I will go back to Changhe Town. Don't forget the debt you owe me! Otherwise, I will have a good excuse to attack the Bacchus Empire and collect the debt at any time!"
grateful?
Agasson was stunned. I was trapped on the mountain for more than 20 days, killing people so much that half of the holy mountain was soaked in blood. I held back tens of thousands of Desha people and guaranteed your retreat...
So I should thank you?
But Agasson was blocked by the debt. He shook his head and shook Li Ang's hand. He hesitated for a long time and finally said, "Good trick."
It seemed that he didn't know whether he should be happy or sad.
With so many horses, the task given to him by Emperor Marius must have been exceeded;
Having destroyed the faith of the Desha people and dispersed the nomads from Mount Ghazi, Eshkoman’s safety would certainly be better guaranteed.
These are all things to be happy about.
But the debt owed to this guy Li Ang is really hard to repay...
And just as Leon said, if the debt cannot be repaid, Leon can always "lead troops to collect the debt". Agathon really doesn't want to face such an opponent who is good at destroying people's hearts on the battlefield.
However, Agathon has asked around these days, and many scholars of Bacchus, including Justus, said that dragon tears do exist, but they have no idea where to find them!
So the famous imperial general, with a heavy heart, led his troops on the road back to Ashcoman.
At dusk, Leon waited for Emir Xerxes at the foot of Mount Ghazi.
Emile Xerxes was indeed dressed like a 'hero' at this time, with a set of shining golden armor, which looked extremely conspicuous. He also wore a pointed crown helmet on his head, and the saber in his hand was also golden - this thing probably didn't have much killing power and could only be used for posing.
He only brought about a hundred people, but after seeing Leon's flag, Emile Xerxes bravely launched a "charge".
It looked like a valiant, outnumbered raid.
Leon's large army began to retreat when facing Emile Xerxes' charge.
This was originally the result of the agreement between Leon and Emile Xerxes, but in the eyes of outsiders, Leon's troops carried too much spoils of war and were not very suitable for encounters. Facing a surprise attack in the dark, it is understandable that they retreated directly without knowing the number of enemies.
So, the 'captives' who were tied up at the foot of Mount Ghazi, namely the monks and nobles of various tribes, were 'rescued' by Emir Xerxes.
The next day, Emir Xerxes became the real Bahadur Khan as he wished.
Although the ceremony was very simple and not many people participated, it still followed the tradition of Desha. The election meeting was held at the foot of the Holy Mountain, and the "coronation" was performed under the ruins of the temple on the Holy Mountain.
The monks are still trying to rebuild the holy mountain. They claim that the god will not be killed, but just temporarily asleep. As long as the temple is rebuilt, the god Vata will come back and be more powerful...
However, it is hard to say whether the Desha people can believe their words, or whether the rebuilt holy mountain is still the temple of God Wata.
Those tribal leaders and nobles lost their tribes, so they had a new place to go - Toba City.
Emir Xerxes got the Bahad Khanship and the troops he wanted, and he even formed a noble cavalry.
This cavalry was indeed composed entirely of D'Shar nobles, and all of them were equipped with D'Shar plate armor - this was not real plate armor, but riveted armor made of overlapping leather and steel plates. Its protective power was far inferior to that of plate armor, but it was more suitable for the desert environment.
Emile Xerxes has attracted a new group of nobles to help him rule the city of Toba.
Plus with Alina holding him back in Ashcomb, he now does have the capital to compete with Cardin on equal terms.
…
Three days later, in a valley outside the city of Aishkeman, north of Mount Ghazi.
Emile Xerxes found Leon, but at this time, he was only wearing a black robe and leading a team of horsemen, looking like a horse merchant.
He came to settle the balance.
"Emir Khan, where is your golden armor?"
Li Ang asked with a smile.
"That's a gift for you... I put it in a box."
Emir Xerxes pointed to the horse team he had brought with him.
There were hundreds of horses and more than a dozen carriages. In addition to hay and horse feed, the carriages also had some large wooden boxes.
"You have the good qualities , Emir Khan Xerxes, so our transaction is complete..."
Li Ang praised him, but then changed the subject: "There won't be blood on the things in the box, right?"
Emile Xerxes was silent for a moment, then replied expressionlessly: "It's clean. At least, it's clean for you... This was collected from the leaders of various tribes."
After saying that, he shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I'm not being honest and trustworthy, I just know that if I don't pay, you might sell me to Cardin..."
Leon grinned. "You are much smarter than I thought... Emir Khan, I will not make any more deals with Cardin, don't worry. If you need support, you can ask Ramon for help, such as necessities such as weapons and equipment, or combat power such as mercenaries - of course, you have to pay."
"I guess Ramon would say the same thing to Cardin, right?"
Emile Xerxes asked, staring into Leon's eyes.
"Perhaps."
Li Ang replied with a smile: "But you need him, and you also need me..."
"Bacchus is right, you are a devil..."
Emile Xerxes whispered something, then turned and walked away.
"Kadan's army has already set out for Toba City. You'd better hurry back, or else Bridge will probably turn to Kadan again."
Li Ang said lightly behind him.
Emile Xerxes stopped and turned around: "How did you...get the news?"
"Because this is Ashkorman. Emil, maybe you don't know..."
Li Ang took out a small knife and tossed it in his hand: "Ramon sends news to the Scorpio Assassin Brotherhood every day..."
The knife has a scorpion emblem on the blade.
Emile Xerxes showed fear in his eyes. He looked at Leon deeply, then turned and left.
"Master Leon, why did you scare him with the Scorpio Assassin? Are you worried that he might hire an assassin to deal with you?"
After Emile left, Alina walked out of the valley.
"I'm not trying to scare him. Ramon is really helping the Scorpio Assassin get business."
Li Ang put away the knife in his hand: "Besides, now Scorpio assassins also do some mercenary business - if you need, you can hire them to join the army, but the price is indeed more expensive..."
"I don't need to hire them. If an enemy attacks Ashcomb, the Scorpio Assassins will naturally take action to protect their base. Why should I spend that money?"
Alina is obviously not easy to fool. She is not a Desha rebel like Emil, and she is not going to let the arms dealers take advantage of her.
"You are as shrewd as Emperor Marius. I even feel like you are his biological daughter..."
Li Ang looked at Alina, shook his head and smiled.
"No, it's mainly because I'm poor... I really can't afford to hire them."
Alina kept glancing at the horses that Emile Xerxes brought: "You promised before..."
"Okay, okay, okay... I'll leave these horses to you, as we agreed before."
Li Ang sighed: "You are indeed Marius' biological daughter... But Alina, after my troops leave D'Shar, D'Shar will be more chaotic than before, and Ashkoman will definitely face many dangers. I suggest you return home as soon as possible and let Ikram stay here."
Leon's words were indeed well-intentioned. If Cardan failed to capture Toba City, he would definitely target Eshkman.
At the same time, other forces may also take action, such as Sharavan Sheikh and the Inquisition, and even the Three Prophets and the Knights of Dusk.
There will be continuous chaos in Desha, which will be very dangerous indeed.
But Alina hesitated for a while and shook her head: "I... I don't really dare to go back..."
