I will be crowned king

[Then first, please lie on the bed, relax as much as possible, don't think too much or have any worries. 】

Don't think too much and don't have any worries, it's not easy... Looking at the words appearing on the letter, Ansen raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but thought to himself.

This time, the content on the letter did not disappear like last time, but condensed on the letter - it seemed to be another evidence that the other party was in a hurry and could not handle it properly.

Anson lay flat on the bed, and after confirming again and again that the revolver behind his waist was loaded with bullets and could be pulled out at any time, he looked at the second line of the letter:

[Next, destroy this letter. Remember, be sure not to let anyone find it. 】

[Finally, please count to twenty silently in your mind, and then open your eyes. 】

Destroy... Anson looked around at his small tent, which couldn't be smaller. There wasn't even a brazier for heating. Lighting a fire rashly might attract the attention of others.

So, it seems there is only one way...

After hesitating for a few seconds, Anson stuffed the letter into his mouth while suppressing his inner discomfort, closed his eyes, and began to count down.

…Three, two, one.

Anson remained motionless, quietly feeling his surroundings.

Nothing changes.

There was no chaotic touch, no sharp pain piercing the skull, no low whisper... nothing.

Anson, who was a little confused inside, slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing that caught his eye was a candle, a candle floating in mid-air burning with a purple-red flame, with plasma constantly overflowing from the wick.

Um? !

In a stunned moment, Anson immediately realized that he was sitting on a dark armchair with a simple shape and no armrests.

All around, there is lightless darkness.

Underfoot is the cold stone floor;

Through the strange purple-red light, you can still faintly see the carvings on the stone slab; the blood overflowing from the wick is continuously dripping into the carvings whose shapes cannot be seen clearly.

"Dear parishioners, welcome."

A gentle voice came from in front of him, causing Anson, whose eyes kept turning, to focus on the front.

Across the candlelight, Anson looked at the figure that suddenly appeared from the darkness - a dark blue dress, a tall and thin figure, most of his face was covered under a bowler hat and reflective monocle, and only the dense eyes could be seen. Light brown beard and prominent aquiline nose.

To describe it, it's like a thin top hat with a monocle.

The other person was sitting on a chair similar to his own, with his overly slender left leg casually draped over his right leg so that his folded hands could be placed on the knee.

Anson, who had no time to think too much, quickly calmed down, his face still retaining the original surprise and panic: "Uh, please..."

"Before I begin, dear parishioner, let me first of all apologize to you."

He gently raised his right hand wearing a white glove to interrupt Anson, then pressed the brim of his hat and nodded slightly:

"I know very well that you must be full of confusion about all this now, but please believe that all this is a last resort - time is running out, and you must understand many things as soon as possible, otherwise it will lead to irreparable consequences. .”

The other party's words were gentle and sincere, with a power that made people involuntarily believe and listen.

Anson nodded nervously, pretending that he really believed it:

"So... was there an accident?"

"You are able to react so quickly. My dear parishioner, you are indeed very smart. You are indeed a person who can reverse the situation in desperate situations."

The other party praised without reservation, and then changed the subject:

"But this is not an accident, but some circumstances are completely beyond our expectations."

Isn't that just an accident...

Anson, who was complaining in his heart, waited for the other party to follow up with panic eyes.

Judging from the memories and diaries of "former Anson", I should not have had such direct contact with the "Old God Sect" before. Basically, the communication was through letters, and many of them were even purely one-sided. , did not get any reply from the other party.

The biggest advantage of this is that you don't have to worry about being betrayed. The disadvantage is that you are also in the dark; you have to keep testing during negotiations with the other party to get more valuable information.

"Is it related to the old god's 'grand plan'?"

"That's right, dear parishioner, you are surprising me more and more." The gentle voice chuckled:

"Before we officially begin, dear Brother Anson Bach, to facilitate our subsequent communication, you can call me 'Black Mage'."

"I'm sorry that I can't tell you my real name right away. I will explain why I have to do this later; please believe that as your guide, I am absolutely sincere to you."

Anson smiled "fearfully" and said that he didn't care about these details.

Hmm... Weird negotiation methods, various "historical truths", not daring to reveal real names, especially "sincere" and caring for the new peripheral members...

The Old God Sect in front of us is basically the most standard template for all underground evil organizations that "die in the face of light".

If it were "former Anson", he would probably have been ecstatic about the strange and inexplicable atmosphere around him, the mysterious "black-haired wizard" and what he was going to say next, right?

Blood continued to drip from the purple candlelight, and the heavy dark red flowed through the carvings on the stone slabs under their feet, gradually converging into the shape of some kind of symbol.

"Then, first of all, today's first and most important item." The man in the top hat who called himself "Black Mage" changed the subject, and his gentle and considerate tone became solemn and serious:

"Dear church member, in our many conversations in the past, you have known the meaning of the existence of the 'Old God Sect', the truth concealed by the hypocritical Church of Order, the 'grand plan' of the millennium revival, and the praise of the three old gods. ode to."

Anson nodded matter-of-factly, trying his best to show the expression of a conspiracy theory enthusiast who believes in "historical truth":

"Only darkness can reveal light, only blood can achieve eternal life, and only destruction can achieve greatness."

"Exactly." Black Mage nodded, and his gentle words sounded like chanting scripture:

"The three lines of hymn correspond to the three old gods, and also correspond to the 'original runes' that symbolize the beginning of everything; the blasphemous Church of Order does not understand its connotation, and openly uses the runes modified by them as symbols. How ridiculous .”

"Tampering with history, distorting the truth, replacing the faith that has protected this world for thousands of years with the so-called 'order', and even in order to consolidate their rule, they had to persecute us believers of the old gods, hum..."

The corner of the black mage's mouth curved in a cold arc: "When the world order completely collapses, the blasphemous rebels will usher in the final judgment!"

"Dear church members, true believers like you and me will then regain the glory that belonged to us thousands of years ago."

After the words fell, Ansen, who was opposite the candlelight, leaned forward and looked at him impatiently:

"So...respecting the Black Mage, how can I become a true believer of the old god?"

"Good question." A happy smile appeared on Black Mage's face:

"However, the great Three Old Gods do not need and do not want their believers to only know how to beg for salvation. That is what cowardly and incompetent people do. True believers should know how to become strong and become enough. The one who saves the world!”

The right hand wearing a white glove stretched out three fingers to Anson through the candlelight:

"The great three old gods have prepared three paths for their followers; the supreme truth is hidden in our hymns."

Only darkness can reveal light, only blood can achieve immortality, and only destruction can achieve greatness.

Anson's eyes widened in shock.

"Of course, you can only choose one of the three paths." Black Mage put away two fingers:

"Once you choose one of the paths, it means that you will be favored by one of the three old gods, and you will no longer be able to choose the other two."

"Therefore, dear parishioners, this is a path of no return and you must be cautious."

The stunned Ansen remained silent and restless under the gaze of the black mage.

This silence lasted for a long time, and it wasn't until the candle in front of him was burned to three-quarters that Anson finally had the courage to raise his slightly trembling eyes:

"Your Excellency, Black Mage, can you tell me in detail the differences between these three paths?"

"sure."

The black mage who responded softly pushed up his monocle, tilted his head to the left and showed a strange smile:

"If you long for the truth and a world where you will never be deceived and where everyone is honest with you, Mutt, the King of Dark Magic, will give you the key to the door of truth;"

"Or maybe you hate your weak self, hate this weakness, this short and hopeless lifespan, and want to surpass the limits of a human being; the master of blood magic, symbolizing the extraordinary Pluto, will generously provide it to him a chance for believers;”

"Or...you hate this world, this world that is full of injustice and constantly restricts you, making you miserable; you are eager for change, rebirth, and restoring everything to how it should be; Ayton, the great controller of destiny, Ask His followers to destroy all evil in the name of magic."

After the words fell, the polite black mage quietly waited for the answer.

Anson, who maintained an expression of shock and curiosity, began to think rapidly in his heart.

In the silent darkness, the candle dripping with blood has been half burned out.

Although he didn't know what the reason was, the other party was in such a hurry to develop himself, a "peripheral member", into a real "one of his own". Anson probably speculated that something might have happened to Thunder Castle Fortress.

Apart from that, he didn't know what value he had to the "Old God Sect".

Black magic, blood magic, curse magic.

Well, that means being a voyeur, not being a human being, and having a chuunibyou...choose one of the three.

And immediately.

Anson hesitated.

His current situation requires strength very urgently, at least enough to be able to fight against a talented person like Louis Bernard who has mastered the power of blood.

The scene of the young knight chopping bullets with his knife on the battlefield left an indelible memory for Anson.

According to this standard, blood magic seems to be the most suitable for him - in the words of the black mage, it is a chance to become a different person.

As for whether it's human body modification or tentacle growth or something else, well, I still have to ask...

Of course, if the requirements are lowered, just to ensure that oneself will not be assassinated "again", black magic seems to sound good; according to the other party's description, this kind of magic also has the property of "spying on others", which is very suitable for helping oneself. This kind of "traveler" who lacks common sense avoids joining gangs at critical moments.

And if the guess is correct, the other party's self-proclaimed "Black Mage" seems to indicate that the member of the Old God Sect in front of him also chose the path of black magic; making the same choice as the other party may also increase each other's goodwill.

After all, we are about to embark on the path of no return for the underground evil organization. It is always good to have more friends.

As for curse magic...it is completely impossible to tell from the other party's description what this kind of "magic" is.

But just when Anson made up his mind and was about to speak, the words stopped on his lips.

No, something is wrong.

Why...why did the other party explain it to me in such a vague way?

Since you are ready to let yourself choose, why not simply inform yourself of the pros and cons of the three types of magic, as well as the specific abilities you can obtain?

Or is this not a "choice" but some kind of confirmation?

After two negotiations, Anson can basically believe that the original "former Anson" was just a peripheral person developed unintentionally by the other party and had no chance to access too many core secrets.

But now the situation has changed. The other party is in urgent need of making things develop as originally planned, so they have to use their own strength to turn a peripheral member into "one of their own" in just a few days and entrust him with important tasks...

Under such a premise, what kind of person is "Anson Bach" in the Black Mage's mind?

Or to put it another way, what kind of tool does the other party need?

A guy who is obsessed with spying on others and always worried about being deceived; or is he a madman who longs for power and is willing to do anything for it?

Probably neither.

Taking a deep breath, Anson said in a very excited tone:

"Dear Black Mage, I hope to master the power of curse magic!"

The smile on the black mage's face was a little deeper.

A chuunibyou who is dissatisfied with the world in front of him and longs to be a "hero" is what the other party needs and feels reassured about.

“Very good decision.”

Under the round hat, the black mage's monocle shone with a strange light: "Congratulations, dear fellow Anson Bach, from this moment on, you will officially become a member of the 'Old God Sect'!"

"As a believer who follows Ayton, the master of destiny, you will be qualified to master the power of magic; of course, this is not simple and requires the preparation of some very special rituals."

"Luckily, I happen to know a thing or two."