From the Esoteric Cult Family to the Kingdom of God

Everyone was exhausted after cleaning up the mess. Transporting the huge bear body and three corpses also required a cart. Lucius ordered two guards to go back first and then call a few more people. The rest stayed in the jungle for the time being, and finally camped overnight.

For some reason, deep down in his heart, Byrne still longed to see that beautiful elf again.

He sat up again in the middle of the night, feeling a little sleepy but still unable to fall asleep.

"Byrne."

A deep voice sounded from nearby, and Byrne found that his father Lucius was keeping vigil, with his hands folded across his chest, staring at him with a tired expression.

Lucius has been thinking about it since that battle. The selfish thoughts that suddenly appeared at that time were hidden deep in his heart, and he always felt sorry for them.

Byrne is his only son by blood.

But would I really be willing to die for him?

He kept saying that loved ones connected by blood were the most important, but the selfishness and despicability deep in his heart would still come up at critical moments. Lucius shook his head.

Byrne was keenly aware that something was wrong with his father, but he couldn't tell the specific reason.

"Father, what's wrong with you?" he asked.

Lucius looked at Byrne calmly, and suddenly realized that he had grown up and was even more handsome than his young self, like a truly noble nobleman.

As for myself, I have no choice but to show some signs of aging.

Aging, a word that Lucius had never thought of before, suddenly jumped into his mind and couldn't get rid of it.

He spoke very slowly: "There are some things from the past that I want to tell you, things from the past that I have never told you."

"Okay, okay."

Byrne got up and felt a little excited. In fact, he never knew much about his father's past.

After he was born, Byrne grew up under the sole care of his mother. Her mother was the daughter of a famous painter and was very talented in painting. However, that family did not believe that women could become painters, so her mother was never able to study painting systematically.

She had always pinned her hope of becoming a painter on Byrne, but in the second year of Byrne's painting studies, the horrific plague struck, and half of the people in the city died in this terrible plague that lasted for several months. In the terrible plague.

He came after my mother died.

The man who claimed to be his father was rarely mentioned by his mother, but there was always admiration in his tone.

Byrne, who survived the plague but was weak and sick, followed Lucius in confusion. During the aimless and long journey, he kept observing strange and familiar men.

He may seem lazy, but he is actually brave and resourceful. He can respond to any unexpected situation tactfully. His eyes and words are full of confidence and charm that can lead others to move forward.

His father may not be a great hero in poetry anthologies, but Byrne really admires him, and is increasingly learning to subconsciously learn from this dangerous man with narrowed eyes and a smile.

The campfire crackled in the night, and the two came to the edge of the camp.

The forty-year-old man with a resolute face sat on a stone and looked into the dark night. He was silent for a long time, as if he was staring deep into his heart, and finally said slowly:

"I had forgotten your mother's name a long time ago. In fact, I didn't remember it not long after I left there. After all, I only got along with her for a month."

What?

Byrne looked stunned!

"Our mercenary group once stayed in the city where you were a child for a month. I met your mother there by chance. Perhaps it was because the dangerous temperament in me was fatal to comfortable people. She quickly Just fall in love.”

Byrne lowered his head, and Lucius continued speaking expressionlessly.

"I grew up in a well-known mercenary group. Those old mercenaries are like my family. I never thought about leaving the mercenary group, but I wanted to die there."

He had never thought about leaving the mercenary group, so why would he come back to find himself and his mother? The keen Byrne couldn't help but feel confused in his heart.

Inexplicably, Byrne hoped that his father would stop talking.

Lucius's voice gradually became deeper.

"I used to like gambling very much, and I liked cheating even more. I often used cheating methods to win money, until one time I met a very rich guy."

It was an old man with yellow eyes wearing a black robe, his eyes were as creepy as snake eyes.

"He sneered and stared at me at the gambling table, as if he could see through my cheating methods, but in fact he lost to me again and again. At the beginning, I was very proud and happy."

"But as I won more and more money, I had never won so much money before, so I subconsciously felt scared."

"So I made an excuse to leave the casino. After returning to the mercenary group, I never went there again. After a few days, I completely forgot about the incident."

As he talked, Lucius gradually fell into memories.

At that time, he subconsciously felt the uneasy aura of the old man in black robe, and hurriedly found an excuse to leave the casino. Nothing happened in the first few days after returning to the mercenary group. Their team marched in the wild as usual, and everything seemed like As normal as usual.

Until one morning, as soon as he got up early, he suddenly felt a terrible malice coming from the tent.

It was the smell of death that I had never seen before in my life, making my body tense unconsciously!

Lucius was extremely vigilant and cautiously came to the outside of the tent.

His muscles tensed instantly, and he was extremely frightened to witness the strange scene of everyone around him being petrified. Everyone in the mercenary group turned into lifelike stone sculptures with blank expressions!

The old man in black robe is finally here!

He just recognized the other person's eyes at the first sight. Although the true form of the "old man in black robe" was actually a black dragon nearly a hundred meters long, the yellow snake eyes had not changed at all!

It said: "Let's bet again. You just need to beat me. Even if you win completely, I will let everyone go."

It sneered: "Either your own internal organs, or those from the mercenary group, you can choose your chips."

Lucius was extremely frightened by the powerful and terrifying dragon power, his heartbeat began to speed up, sweat poured down from his forehead, and his palms were wet, as if something was stuck in his throat, preventing him from breathing smoothly.

He had to make a choice, but when he saw the black dragon's cold, mocking eyes, his heart instantly felt like it was falling into an ice cellar, and he subconsciously knew that it was almost impossible to win the bet.

But I don’t want to die at all! No matter what, I don't want to die!

Lucius had great difficulty and kept trembling as he spoke out the deepest words in his heart.

"They, they use them as bargaining chips."

The moment he said it, he actually felt a sense of relief and relief.

But Lucius still subconsciously thought that since he had almost never met an opponent when betting with others in his life, he might not necessarily lose completely. He must win the next bet as much as possible.

It burst out laughing!

"good!"

The gambling game that followed lasted for a day and a night, involving all kinds of unprecedented gameplay. Even though Lucius tried his best and even tried to cheat, he was always unable to win even one game. Most of the gambling games were even done by ordinary people. The force simply couldn't get it done, and the final result was almost one-sided.

And for some reason, the jet-black dragon always had excellent luck. Even if Lucius got the upper hand by luck, he would always be overturned by the opponent in the end.

Fear, powerlessness, despair, madness, and negative emotions as deep as the sea flooded into his mind. Lucius trembled, kneeling on the ground and listening to the sound of the sculpture constantly breaking.

As the sculptures transformed by the people in the mercenary group were broken one by one, he finally learned a terrible thing.

"You've run out of chips, bug. Goodbye... no, never again."

The pitch-black dragon's voice was extremely cold and emotionless, and it didn't even bother to mock anymore. Then it soared away with great pride, leaving Lucius alone and collapsed on the ground, crying loudly.

Lucius, who was at the edge of the camp, gradually came out of his memories and continued speaking calmly.

"At that time, I fell into complete despair. Almost everything was taken away suddenly. I was confused for I don't know how long."

The giant dragon is an extremely rare and powerful existence among mysterious creatures. What his father said was completely unbelievable. Byrne was dumbfounded when he heard this.

A certain emotion gradually fluctuated in Lucius's eyes, and his breathing became increasingly rapid.

"I haven't gambled for many years since then. If I really want to say it, I am afraid that the only move to take the initiative to find the Lost Lord can be considered a gamble, and it is also the most important gamble."

His eyes were full of resentment and malice, and his voice when he gritted his teeth was so hoarse that it was almost hysterical, which was horrifying:

"As an ordinary person, it is impossible for me to win. Many of the bets played by that old black lizard must be completed with enough extraordinary power. One day! One day, when I become strong enough, I will find it again!"

"I will definitely win it! Then kill it! Skin it off with my own hands!"

Byrne stared at his father who was sitting next to him with a ferocious expression and completely lost his lazy temperament. It was almost like he was someone he had never really known before.

He opened his mouth, and finally asked with great difficulty:

"If the people in the mercenary group are not dead, will you come back to us?"

"Of course I..."

Lucius looked stunned for a moment and wanted to answer "Of course I will", but in the end he couldn't say the complete sentence for some reason. It was extremely rare for him to be temporarily at a loss when communicating with others.

Byrne already understood, so he stood up and walked to the other side of the camp calmly and silently.

He didn't continue to struggle, he just realized an objective thing.

Mother is not important in father's heart at all, and her own existence is just an emotional substitute for him.

A few years ago, Byrne might have collapsed, found it completely unacceptable, and even cried. But as an adult, he just felt a lingering discomfort from the deepest part of his heart.

Lucius moved on his toes slightly, trying to stand up and comfort Byrne with his usual verbal skills.

In the end, he failed to stand up, but looked quietly at the jungle outside the camp fire with deep eyes.

That dark jungle that is completely dark without any light seems to swallow up all hope. Almost any rationality and gentleness will be killed by the crazy coldness of the night. People around the campfire are like members of the Fisher family. They must never step into that quiet place at will. Good night.