Chapter 1658 "Pyromaniac" And "The Wicker Man"

For personal reasons, Baron Laval has never publicly acknowledged the sacrifices and contributions made by the Asa people in repelling the invaders.

Governor Nichols, a veteran in the political arena, is not as "shaft" as Baron Laval. He has to accept the credit for the aborigines, and he has to make more efforts to befriend the Asa people. After all, he has to rely on others to help him fight the war!

Not long after the Battle of Lake Aosta ended, Sir Custis paid an ill visit to Stone Pillar Town under the entrustment of Governor Nichols. The tribe's position of actively participating in the war remains unwavering.

The "Midgard Tribune" sent a team of reporters to accompany the lord on his visit to Stone Pillar Town, and published the news of Sir Custis's meeting with Elder Zigmund on the front page, creating public opinion and advocating the colonists and aborigines Live in harmony, like a family.

Under the deliberate guidance of the news and public opinion, at least on the bright side, the conflict between the colonists and the aborigines tends to ease. It seems that time has gone back to the time when the colonists first set foot on the east coast of the New World and celebrated "Thanksgiving" with the aborigines. "The honeymoon period.

At the same time that Sir Custis was engaged in diplomatic activities, Baron Laval was not idle.

Joan learned from Arnold that his elder brother urgently recruited 2,000 militiamen from various villages and towns in the colony during the truce, through forced apportionment and other rough methods, and personally led the team to practice.

Most of the militiamen from the countryside have the bad habit of being free and undisciplined, and they desert and desert at every turn, and their military discipline cannot be compared with that of regular troops.

Baron Laval didn't believe in this evil. After more than a month of strict training by him, the militiamen from all over the country had undergone a complete transformation, from a piece of loose sand to a qualified soldier with strict military discipline.

Such a change, even those political opponents who used the "demon scandal" to attack Baron Laval have to admit that if you don't count Dantridge Custis, who has long since retired from active service and is suffering from illness, Benedict Laval Val is undoubtedly the number one outstanding general in active service in the Midgard colony today.

In addition to training the militia, Baron Laval also recruited a quasi-legendary spellcaster named Elson through the leader of the "Black Ax Mercenary Group" "Snake Hand" Sharman.

Elson and Sharman also came from the "Conquest Order", and both were disciples of the mysterious Pope of the order. The man was also nicknamed "Pyromaniac" Elson.

So far, "Pyromaniac" Elson has not shown his face in public in the barracks, but Joan has heard some rumors about him through "Nine-Headed Troll" Scala and the Walsong brothers and sisters.

Elson was Joan's hometown. He was born in a small colonial town on the edge of the Yalf forest. His father was an immigrant from the old world, and his mother was an aborigine of the Asa tribe.

Elson has shown extraordinary talent for perception since he was a child. He was influenced by his mother at the age of twelve and joined a local druid society.

With his outstanding talent, Elson soon became an official druid. At the age of eighteen, he was promoted to a level 6 druid and became a well-known genius in the local area.

That is, in the winter of this year, the climate in Alfheim was particularly dry, and there was no snow for two whole months. I don't know whether it is due to natural reasons or human negligence, a fire suddenly ignited in the forest, and the north wind assisted the fire to spread towards Elson's hometown town.

Elson's Druid society originally planned to cast spells to control the weather and rain to extinguish fires.

However, in the severe cold and dry winter, there was no way to call for a heavy rain. The strong wind that was drawn after casting the spell was mixed with sparse snowflakes, which not only failed to extinguish the fire, but further fueled the fire.

The druids had no choice but to rush to various villages and towns threatened by the forest fire separately, cast spells to suppress the spread of the fire, and help local residents buy time to evacuate.

Elson is responsible for rescuing his hometown town. It's a pity that he came a step late, the town was already surrounded by raging flames, and most residents including his parents failed to escape the flames.

Bereavement drove the young druid nearly mad, and he rushed to the fire, casting desperate spells to extinguish the flames, trying to get home and wrestle his parents' bones from the relentless flames.

However, he exhausted his magic power and physical strength, and after all, he was unable to resist the fire that seemed to be punished by God. He was also seriously injured, struggled to climb out of the flames, and managed to save his life.

The fire completely changed Elson's life and changed his view of the world.

Through the scorching appearance of the flames, he sees an absolute cruelty that brings death and destruction to all living beings and everything equally.

Elson suddenly realized that the natural harmony he admired before was so fragile and powerless in front of the mighty power displayed by the flames, and it was not worth his nostalgia at all.

Elson, who was severely burned by the fire, awakened another self that he thought was more real, and became obsessed with arson ever since. He gained great pleasure in this criminal process, and at the same time caused him to lose the favor of nature. , lost the ability to cast spells.

After all, the fire could not be contained in the paper. Not long after, Elson's criminal act of deliberately setting fire to the forest was revealed, and he was expelled from the Druid society to which he belonged.

Elson, who was exiled, was soon inspired by a mysterious will to join the "Conquer Order", changing his job from "former druid" to "blighter" who is more in line with his brutal nature.

Since then, Elson has become more unscrupulous, setting fire to forests and even villages for fun on a whim, and burning innocent passers-by alive to satisfy his perverted interests is commonplace.

As a "Blighter", the more Elson set fire to the forest crazily, the more powerful his mana became. In less than ten years, he was promoted to level 8 Blighter, and his spellcasting ability far exceeded that of the druid society. When he practiced, he became the top high priest of the "Conquering Order", and at the same time earned himself the reputation of "Pyromaniac".

Over the years, Elson set fire to many Asa villages, and the Volsungers were very dissatisfied with Baron Laval's recruitment of this perverted maniac. From the perspective of avoiding internal conflicts in the army, "Pyromaniac" Elson is indeed not suitable for public appearances in the barracks.

Joan also heard from Haakon and Sluder that Elson had personally created an accomplice who was better at arson than himself, that is, the "wicker man" mentioned by Scala.

This monster is a huge humanoid construct made of wicker by Elson, and the hollow chest was transformed into a magic furnace by Elson.

It is said that this stove has a magical function, which can quickly convert the animals and plants loaded into the furnace into coke, and the heat generated by the burning of the coke provides the "wicker man" with the energy needed for action.