Your turn again, please make your next move.

  Your turn again

  Zhu Gu Li continued, "The Pharaoh and the main force of the Egyptian army are here, it's a chess piece to attract reinforcements. Our battle plan is to eliminate these reinforcements step by step. When the reinforcements are eliminated one after another, the Pharaoh's large army will finally be unable to hold on, and Ramses II will want to escape but it will be too late. We can concentrate all our elite forces to block him, even if we can't capture him alive, we can kill him on his escape route. In short, this person cannot be allowed to return."

  "This is the right way to use troops, and it's also the best outcome. First of all, we should eliminate the An-Ra army, which is a weak and motley crew. But for some reason, I'm still a bit worried. Their commander, Ah-Men-G, is young and inexperienced in leading troops, but his life has been full of strange and wonderful encounters. Who knows what he might do? I've already warned the Nan-Nal army to be on high alert, but I'm still not at ease."

  Prince Yasheng smiled and said, "General Gelei doesn't need to worry too much. That Amun is just a young great warrior. Even if he has the greatest ability, how can he command a motley army to change the entire situation? A single Nanal military unit can stare him to death. We have intercepted several messengers sent by Pharaoh and obtained accurate information that the Anra military unit will have to leave the coastline and advance alone into the desert to die. Haven't we been prepared for this long ago?"

  At this moment, a secret report sent by Cilia arrived, carried by a 6th-level divine magician who drove a flying arrow to rush overnight. Everyone was shocked when they heard the news that the king had been hijacked by A'meng, it was really a bolt from the blue! If only in terms of war, even if A'meng killed the king, the Hati army would still act according to the battle plan formulated earlier and could still win a complete victory. At most, they would just replace a new king after the event. But no one could say such words, nor could they do so.

  Moreover, the fluctuation of the military's morale is immeasurable, and the situation on the battlefield may change in unexpected ways. The top priority must be to rescue the king. After an emergency discussion, several high-ranking officials decided to let Prince Ascher remain with the main army to temporarily take command, while Song Lie personally drove the Flying Arrow, accompanied by Prime Minister, to rush to the King's camp.

  Ge Lie didn't bring any guards, this great magician had a clear view of the situation. The assassins were only two people, relying on the king they held hostage in their hands. Even if there were more people, it would be useless, let alone Ge Lie himself was already one of the top masters in the Hati Kingdom. The opponent must have captured the king to demand negotiations, and those who came should be the heavyweight ministers of the Hati Kingdom who could decide many things on the spot.

  ……

  Mai Dangzo and A'men held the king hostage in the big tent "resting", there was no movement throughout the night. The next morning, the sun shone brightly, the air outside was very fresh, and the birdsong could still be heard in the forest, crisp and pleasant. Just a few years ago, this place was still a desolate Gobi Desert, who would have thought that they would hear birds singing? After the great flood, there had indeed been too many changes.

  Cilia used her detection magic to scan the movements within the large tent, and the king and the two assassins were always there. However, later on, her detection magic encountered another disturbance, as if the other party was also casting a detection spell to detect their surroundings, but did not reject her probing.

  "Two brave warriors, we have brought breakfast for His Majesty the King. You must be hungry too, please open the flap of the great tent." Taking advantage of delivering breakfast, Silvia finally decided to enter the great tent to take a look at the situation, at least to confirm that His Majesty the King was safe and sound.

  "No need for breakfast, we can't be slow in serving the host as guests. We are just preparing to serve His Majesty's meal. If you want to see the king, come on in." A voice came from inside the tent, and the heavy curtain of the front tent rolled up by itself without any wind.

  The procession of food delivery was truly impressive, with Celia holding a staff and a tray floating in front of her, while Aruka and Afy, the two great warriors, each carrying a large plate and following behind her into the front tent. Then everyone's eyes widened as if they had seen something more unbelievable than the king being kidnapped.

  There were three people in the tent, Ah Meng stood by the table and was cooking meat soup with a utensil that he didn't know where it came from. No wonder when the curtain was lifted, a tempting aroma wafted out, and there were several roasted hot pancakes placed beside him. The king sat on the opposite seat of Ah Meng, in front of him was an empty plate and a cup of wine, which was light rose-colored and had a very fragrant aroma, obviously it was a rare good wine.

  Mai Danzuo stood beside the king, holding a sharp short blade as if trimming his nails. The knife tip circled around and pointed at the king's neck, detecting the divine technique sweeping over. A roar came from the short blade, carrying a shocking force that impacted the mind. On the center of the table was placed a divine artifact, with a base made of what seemed to be gold, engraved with strange 'flower' patterns, resembling a lamp. The divine stone at the wick position appeared to be emitting an invisible light.

  This is the Pursuing Lamp, now placed at the center of a divine formation. Looking again at the four corners of the tent, there are actually several Earth Eyes and Wind Dancers arranged in sequence, forming an extremely 'ingenious' divine formation that can detect all kinds of movements inside and outside the big tent at any time. If spiritual power is used to activate it, its detection range can completely cover the entire camp and the sky above.

  What was seen in front of the account was only one corner of this law array, and in fact, A used the space in front of and behind the big account to set up a divine technique array. Twelve large earth pupils and wind charms were used respectively. Not to mention the effect of this law array is so miraculous, just the preciousness of the instruments used is astonishing

  Cirilla still wanted to find a weakness to rescue the king, what she dreaded was the destructive storm in Ah'men'g's hand. But at this moment, seeing this magic array and the short blade in Medanzo's hand, this great wizard had already realized that even without the destructive storm, she would not be able to safely rescue the king from the assassin's hands.

  This divine array is in a state of continuous 'excitation', as long as there is any movement around, the Pursuing Departed Lamp can react immediately. There is another situation that makes people feel slightly surprised, to maintain the operation of this divine array, the required magical power is not very strong, but to monitor the surrounding movements day and night without stopping, it is a kind of continuous consumption, ordinary divine masters may not be able to bear it. Now it seems that Meidanzuo is operating the magic array, it appears that both of them are good at magic and have long-lasting magical power, they don't care about this.

  But compared to another thing in the account, this divine formation is nothing.

  Ah Meng and Mei Dianzuo did not lose their manners, the king sat while they stood, one making breakfast, the other standing guard like a sentinel. But the king was not sitting in the central position, but on the left side of the table where he usually sat to reward his ministers. On the throne in the center, a cat was squatting.

  The cat's stature is of course not as tall as a human, but it can be very meticulous and considerate. It finds things to prop up the chair legs, making the seat and table surface even, so that when the cat crouches on top, it can just reach the things in front of it. In front of it is a bowl of meat soup, several slices of fragrant roasted meat, and next to its paws is an entire bottle of fine wine. This cat is embracing the wine bottle and drinking from it with gusto.

  Ahmen invited the king to have breakfast, and the first dish made was eaten by a cat first, and the cat sat in the middle. The plate in front of the king was empty and placed aside, while Ahmen looked calm and seemed to think it was reasonable. The cat also accepted it calmly.

  Cecilia's face changed color with anger, the floating food tray fell to the table, and she pointed at Ameng with her staff: "How dare you be so rude? Where did this cat come from? You actually dared to let it sit in His Majesty's position?"

  Xue Dingyuan's paws released the wine bottle, looked up at Cilia with a glance, his expression was like a person, calm and collected with a hint of cold smile, then glanced at King Hatti beside him, lowered his head to continue drinking the meat soup, without even making a sound.

  He bowed slightly and explained politely, "This is my cat, named Xue Dingyuan. It slipped in quietly last night after midnight. I hope it didn't disturb your rest. It's used to doing this, isn't it just standing by me? I haven't been disrespectful to Your Majesty, I'm making breakfast with my own hands."

  When Ah Meng first came into contact with Xue Dingxiao, he just thought that this cat was just a big shot. However, as time went on, he felt more and more interesting. In fact, the cat didn't change at all, but the people around it did, making it seem even more incredible. When Ah Meng was just a wandering miner, this cat who could write divine texts was already very impressive, and there was nothing wrong with that.

  But even when Ah'meng became a great warrior and magician, ranking among the strongest on the continent, Xue Dingyuan was still arrogant. When Ah'meng became the commander of the Ejou Empire's legions, even in his massive camp where he commanded thousands of soldiers, Xue Dingyuan remained arrogant. Now that the King of Hati was sitting right next to him, Xue Dingyuan still had an air of superiority about him.

  Cecilia pointed at Ah'meng with her staff, and Medanzo didn't say a word but had already pressed the tip of his knife against King Luciel's ear root. Cecilia took a step back, her face flushed red as she shouted: "Ah'meng, this is an insult, I absolutely cannot accept it! Don't think that just because you're holding the king hostage, you can do whatever you want. Regardless of how this matter is resolved in the end, I have a personal request to make - I will duel with you!"

  Duels are usually the result of nobles and warriors being bored after eating their fill, but unexpectedly this great magician was 'provoked' and also made this request to Ameng. Ameng asked while cooking soup: "How do you want to duel?"

  Circea: "It's a private duel between the two of us, I won't forget the humiliation you brought me today, holding the king hostage right in front of me and even having His Majesty sit with a cat until this war is over. Afterwards, I'll bring my summoned spirit beast and you can bring that cat, let's have a real match. My name is Circea, from the Hattie royal family and also a great divine magician."

  "Ah, Meng," he said, raising his head. "I am Ah Meng, the son of a miner from the town of Du Ke in the Xia Ya city-state. I am currently the commander of the military legion of the Ai Ju Empire. I accept your duel request, but that will have to wait until after the war is over, if we are both still alive. Honorable Silvia, great divine magician, I know you are not satisfied with what happened. I used a trick to abduct the king, and you want to have a fair fight to wash away your shame. I have no reason to refuse. To be honest, I admire you. It's not often that a woman becomes a divine magician, and a great one at that. You are only the second one I've ever seen."

  Yesterday was too dark and the scene was too chaotic, Cilia was still wearing a cloak, Ameng didn't see clearly until now that this great divine spellcaster's appearance is actually very delicate. After taking off her cloak, her facial skin and hands are as white as milk, like snow in the sun, it feels like no matter how much she tans, she won't get dark. A powerful great divine spellcaster, yet has a cute doll-like face, with a slightly pointed chin and a round face, big eyes and long eyelashes, with long hair and bangs that reach her eyebrows.

  When she got angry, her big eyes stared even wider, her pale face turned pink, and her chest was still heaving up and down. She looked fierce but somehow couldn't look intimidating. If someone was deceived by her appearance, they would be in trouble - she was a genuine and powerful sorceress, and Mei Dansuo had already experienced the ferocity of her magic yesterday.

  Cirya put down her staff and replied in a low voice, "Alright, Commander of the 'Amen' garrison, I hope you remember today's agreement, if we're both still alive by the end of this war."

  "The meat soup is ready," said Ah Men, personally serving a large bowl and walking around the table to the other side of the king. With both hands, he respectfully handed it over and said: "Your Majesty, please have your breakfast. For safety's sake, we only used our own food and water, you too." Then he turned to face Silvia and the others and said: "You haven't eaten yet either, just in time, let's bring out the food and eat together."

  A'meng refused to eat the food they brought, nor did he allow the king to eat it, which made Silia and the two great warriors somewhat embarrassed. A'meng himself was not discourteous, standing there serving the king's meal first, then making his own food, with Maidanzo guarding beside him.

  King Rosiel had calmed down by now, and since he was already in A'men's hands, he didn't want to lose his dignity for no reason. He waved his hand and said: "My great divine magician and two great warriors, please sit down and have a meal together."

  The king's words served as a way to save face, and Celia and the two great warriors thanked him and took their seats at the table. The taste of this meal was truly indescribable, and no one could say what they had eaten. After finishing breakfast, the king cleared his throat and asked: "Ah'men'g, I admire your bravery. If you were a warrior of the Hatti kingdom, I would heavily reward your actions. You traveled thousands of miles to come see me from behind enemy lines; now you can say what brought you here."

  "A'men" asked in return: "I have already said that I came for peace. I would like to ask Your Majesty, what kind of purpose do you want to achieve in this war? What is the Hittite kingdom fighting for?"

  Celia inserted a word and replied, "It was the Empire of Egu that started this war first. We are just fighting back in self-defense. The purpose of this war is to defeat the powerful enemy, make them never dare to invade Hatti again, and let the Kingdom of Hatti get rid of its subordinate fate and wash away the humiliation of the past hundred years."

  Lucille nodded and said, "We have received the guidance of the oracle and have already won. 'Amen' to you, holding me hostage is meaningless. Even if you kill me and bury yourself, it cannot change the outcome of the war."

  A'men's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he suddenly asked, "Is it the oracle of Enlil? Does the oracle also say that all Horus temples within the borders of Hatti should be demolished?"

  Lucille replied: "That's right, the construction of temples for the king god Horus in each city-state of Hatti was a symbol of subjugation, and it should be demolished."

  He lowered his head and began to count on his fingers, saying: "First, the Empire of Egypt must guarantee that it will not invade Hatti again; second, from now on, the Kingdom of Hatti will be detached from its vassal status and will no longer pay tribute to Egypt; third, all Horus temples within Hatti's borders will be demolished, and forced beliefs will not be accepted. This... is actually an extension of the second point. If you achieve these goals, can we sit down and talk?"

  Lucille glanced at Medanzo, who was holding a dagger beside her, and said in a stern tone: "If all three goals can be achieved, it means the victory of Hatti. There is no need for soldiers to shed blood again. What can't be discussed? But you took me hostage and asked me to make conditions. Can you, as a legion commander, satisfy these demands of Hatti?"

  "A'men'g replied, 'I didn't come to assassinate, nor do I want to die. It's for the consideration of all people on both sides. If the Empire of Egu agrees to these conditions and we swear an oath in front of our respective gods, then this matter can be resolved. I naturally won't harm Your Majesty.'"

  "Celia sneered: 'Can you just talk nonsense here and make Law Old agree to these conditions?'"

  A'men smiled: "I also understand the situation on the battlefield, does Pharaoh have any other choice? Moreover, the people who can make decisions for both countries are now on the front line. If you want to talk, we can talk at any time. Silia, the great magician, you must have sent someone to inform the front line, right? When the time comes, we will discuss it here and I will send someone to deliver the message to Pharaoh."

  "What if the Egyptians refuse?" Celia asked again.

  "Ah, 'men' g: "If that's the case, I'll let go of His Majesty the King and please ask His Majesty to pardon my offense today, allowing me to return to the An-Ra army and continue fighting on the battlefield. But if Egu agrees to these conditions, then please end this war and sign a peace treaty between the two countries... His Majesty needs someone to think carefully about it, so after you've finished eating, please leave."

  These discussions at breakfast were just a probe, and no decision could be made by the king with a knife to his throat and the few bodyguards around him. Even if the king gave an order in this situation, the front-line troops might not necessarily carry it out.

  There are three meals a day, even if A'meng can't eat, the king can't starve. At noon, Orebain, the commander of the Narnal legion, and Vivian, the high priest, arrived. A'meng still opened the big tent to invite everyone to come in and have lunch with the king, so that they could see the king's safety at any time.

  The scene at noon was no longer so embarrassing, because Xue Dingyuan only eats one meal a day and did not attend the "luncheon", so the king sat in his own position. A'meng personally cooked the meal and invited the king to use it first, even the water for drinking was taken from the spatial artifact. Aurebene is also a great warrior, and Vivian is of course a great wizard, this table does not count A'meng, there are actually three great warriors and two great wizards sitting.

  Aurelien saw the flames spewing from Almend's eyes and grasped the hilt of his sword, shouting: "You're Almend?! How can a noble warrior like yourself resort to such despicable tactics? We should be facing each other bravely on the battlefield, not using such methods to conceal your fear and weakness."

  "Are you saying we're not brave and strong enough? Then, Commander, why don't you go try to intimidate the Pharaoh of Egypt?"

  This sentence stunned Auerbren for half a day, unable to speak. Ahmen waved his hand and said: "The commander of the Narnal Legion, I didn't expect to meet you here, I don't know whether to say congratulations or not? I think our legions have already 'crossed' hands before, and now we are in front of His Majesty the King, sit down and eat well, don't lose your manners."

  The lunch was eaten in silence, with old stories being brought up again. Al'Maren still advised Hagrid and talked to him, letting Eriol answer the three conditions and withdraw his troops, ending this war between the two sides. Orlenebain and Vivian couldn't make any decisions either, as the king hadn't expressed a clear opinion, he couldn't make any decisions in such a situation.

  Vivian also intended to rescue the king when he came, but after studying the situation in the big account, especially after seeing the divine array laid down by Ameng and communicating with Cilia for a long time, he didn't grasp the safety of snatching the king from Ameng's hands, and could only continue to wait.

  It was like waiting for the stars and the moon, at dinner time, Song Lie and Zhu Gu Li finally arrived, the commander-in-chief of the battlefield and the prime minister of the kingdom, this meal was the main course and climax of the day.

  Gao Lie arrived, and immediately requested an audience with the king. After obtaining the king's permission, symbolizing 'sex', he immediately ordered Aurebahn and Vivian to return to the main camp, not to neglect the war in front of them. Gao Lie had already seen through the situation, it was impossible to rescue the king directly from A'meng's hands, even if there was no destructive storm, A'meng would definitely take the king's life before being defeated.

  If you just want to defeat Ameng, Koluo alone can do it, but now that the situation has become more complicated, even if many experts come, it's useless.

  At dinner time, the king sat in the main seat, and Maidanzuo stood beside the king's seat like a loyal guard. The fleeting lamp on the table emitted soft light to illuminate the entire tent, Ahmen sat on the left, Zhuguli and Gelei sat opposite him, and the scene looked as if the king was discussing with a group of ministers all night.

  "I see," said Gao Lian, stroking his beard with a smile. "I admire your actions, but why do you think we must accept your proposal? Child, have you considered another possibility - that you can't escape from here and will be stuck here until the Egyptian army is completely defeated, at which point the Hittite kingdom will still achieve all its goals? Think about your own fate; you can't hold the king hostage forever, nor can you keep yourself trapped here."

  "Ah, I've thought of that possibility," Mo Yan smiled and replied. "I'm just trying my best to make it happen. Honorable great magician, may I ask you to play another game of chess? The board and pieces are already ready."

  The tableware was removed from the table, and Ahmen suddenly took out a military sand table. In the middle of the sand table was an ocean, with Hati and Egypt facing each other across the sea. By going around a bay and crossing the desert, one could reach the border of the other country by land. The northern edge of the desert was exactly where the two sides' main battlefield was located. The pieces on this chessboard were the distribution of troops between the two countries. Ahmen asked Ge Lie to engage in a battle simulation, continuing the unfinished fight on the sand table.