I will be crowned king

Royal Court of Yser, west city gate, woods on the outskirts.

One fifteen in the morning.

Under the starry sky dyed red by the cannon fire, Anson and Louis stood by a bonfire, looking at the burning Royal Court of Yser.

The speechless elf girl turned her back to the two of them and hid in the woods wearing an iris cloak.

At the last second when Anson was about to be overtaken by Chanis, Freya, who had awakened her talent for curse magic, blasted the entire tunnel to pieces, burying the inquisitor alive in the dark underground.

With the strength of the elf girl, of course she could blow up the bastard who shot her six times - two of which were in the face - into cokes and then bury her alive. It might even be easier to do so. .

But at the last moment, she held back.

In addition, in order to cover up the traces left by the battle and the activities of spellcasters, they also carefully "cooperated" with the Judgment Knights' indiscriminate bombing, destroying all the city areas along the underground passages.

So a guy who almost became a cooked food can now stand on the outskirts, looking at the city in flames and the rising fireworks, enjoying the beauty of life.

"So...are you really the Old God sect?" Louis turned his head and asked in an unbelievable tone.

Even though he had seen it with his own eyes, he still couldn't believe that Anson, who was already a spell caster, had not lost the power of his blood and was still a gifted person with the power of the "Holy Grail Knight".

"That's right." Anson smiled bitterly. At this point, he had nothing to hide: "Very early...probably before Thunder Castle."

"Forced?" The young knight frowned slightly, as if he still didn't want to believe it.

"Not entirely." Anson shrugged lightly: "To a certain extent... I should consider it voluntary."

"Why?!"

"Because of need." Anson looked at the shocked Louis calmly:

"We only had thirty days at that time... If we couldn't capture Thunder Castle within thirty days, the entire expeditionary force would be doomed."

"The Empire's army... you are very powerful. If it weren't for the heavy rain that night, we would have had no chance of winning with a frontal attack alone. In order to defeat you, I need as many trump cards as possible - even if it may not work in the end."

"For this reason?" Louis' eyes were full of shock:

"Just for a dispensable trump card, you are willing to give up your identity as a gifted person and become...a...a...one..."

The young knight suddenly thought of something and was suddenly shaken, and his excited tone became stammering.

The elf girl hiding in the woods turned her head at some point and stared at Louis' back with resentful eyes.

Looking at Louis, who was blushing with embarrassment and looking a bit remorseful in his eyes, the corners of Anson's mouth turned up involuntarily; before he could laugh out loud, a biting coldness hit him from behind without any warning!

So he immediately straightened his body and said to Louis in a deep voice with a magnetic military accent:

"Exactly."

“For me, survival is always the first priority, followed by whether I can successfully complete my mission, and then, while succeeding, whether I can reduce casualties and losses as much as possible, and try to avoid unnecessary battles and casualties. , achieve the goal with the minimum cost.”

"As for the old god sect and the power of blood, or things like 'whether to be a human being', they were not within my consideration from the beginning - even if it can only increase the success rate by one percent, even if it is not used in the end I will do this without hesitation."

"Because I know very well that even if I convert to the Old Gods, become a spellcaster, come into contact with the Old Gods organization, or even be forced to participate in their so-called 'big plan', it will not change that I am a devout believer in the Circle of Order. This objective fact."

Anson said seriously, and even drew a symbol of the Circle of Order in front of him very piously.

Louis nodded slightly and looked at him with a very strange expression.

"that……"

"Oh, what's wrong?"

Anson raised his eyebrows.

"It's nothing, it's just..." Louis paused and whispered as if he was a little embarrassed:

"It's just that your movements just now... seemed to be reversed."

Anson Bach: "...reverse?"

"It's the other way around." Louis nodded and said with absolute certainty:

"What you just drew was the original ring...the symbol of the three old gods."

The two people looked at each other without saying a word, and their expressions seemed to be slightly embarrassed.

The elf girl in the woods snorted softly and turned her eyes to the airship floating slowly in the sky.

"...Forget it, this is not the point."

After a full minute, Anson was the first to break the silence: "Every action is just a form, what matters is the piety in my heart - even if I am forced to become a spell caster, it cannot stop my belief in the Ring of Order! "

It sounds like it is true, but...but didn't you just say it was voluntary?

Resisting the urge to ask questions, Louis, with a reddish complexion, nodded slightly in agreement.

Although he couldn't accept this from the bottom of his heart.

As the inheritor of the bloodline power of the "Sea Knight" and the second-in-line heir of the Principality of Adlan—now the first—Louis Bernard has been taught that the power of bloodline is the How sacred, and how important the identity of a gifted person and a knight is.

The world he lives in is what it is now precisely because generations of noble knights have stood up and defended all this hard-won stability with blood and honor.

The seven knights and the three evil gods a thousand years ago, the emperor and the church a hundred years ago...the knights protected the world, led the world, and maintained the inheritance with their blood, saving the entire world from disaster and pain.

Without knights, the faith will be lost; the people will lose their leaders and fall into the abyss of hell where the three old gods ruled thousands of years ago...

This is the "world of order" in the eyes of Louis Bernard, a world led by knights, protected by knights, and inherited by knights.

Although his experiences as he grew up made this extremely simple "world view" a little more complicated, especially when he discovered that many knights with the power of blood could not lead by example, and some civilians who had no hope of becoming gifted people instead had A more noble character.

Strength and blood cannot bring about a lofty and impeccable moral standard.

But this little change cannot reverse his "inherent thinking" - the power of blood. It is not only a strength, but also inheritance and responsibility. It is the most fundamental symbol that distinguishes ordinary from extraordinary, leaders from followers.

Therefore, Anson's pragmatic thinking of "as long as it works, anything will work" completely shocked him.

What shocked him even more was that deep down in his heart, he seemed to have a vague feeling... maybe he was right.

If the power of blood is justice and magic is evil, then Freya...and even the entire Ysel elves should be completely slaughtered. Only humans are worthy of ruling the world - because the power of blood is unique to humans.

Even further, if the gifted person is a noble being and the spell caster is an unforgivable sinner, how can a person like Anson Bach, who possesses both powers at the same time, determine his identity?

Of course, on a certain level, Anson Bach's bottomless, shockingly bad practices and flexible moral concepts fit the image of the Old Gods in his mind.

"It's time for you to go."

Just when Louis was caught in a spiral of conflict, Anson suddenly interrupted: "You must leave before the battle is over, otherwise if the Judgment Knights discover something, it will be too late."

As a symbol of ending the uprising of the Old Gods in Yser Elf, the Judgment Knights will never turn a blind eye to Freya Moses Field, the titular leader of the Thirteen Councils.

Once they become aware of the problem, Anson has no doubt that they will blow up the royal court that has been reduced to rubble again in order to find a hair of Freya.

"Are you sure?" Louis frowned slightly: "If I disappear, will they cause trouble for you?"

"Trouble? Don't worry, the Judgment Knights will not find an heir to the principality at this time..."

"I'm not talking about the Knights of Judgment?"

"Huh? Then you mean..."

"Clovis people...your superiors." Louis said with some difficulty.

As the heir of Adlan, Louis Bernard is very aware of his "price"; if a prisoner of his level disappears mysteriously, it will have an impact on Anson's career...

"This is not something you should worry about." Anson interrupted softly and patted Louis on the shoulder:

"Let's go. If you don't leave, it will be too late."

He was quite confident about this matter - the Knights of Judgment had broken their promise first, and compared with the burning of the Royal Court of Yser and the annihilation of the Thirteenth Council, a small "missing hostage" was very important to the Privy Council. There is no problem with the Army at all.

The Church of Order decided to break the promise made after the Second Order Council in the 47th year of the Saints Calendar and forcefully interfere in the internal affairs of various countries. This is the real big problem.

"Remember, go directly to Antler Fortress, don't stop at any time after getting the carriage, enter Clovis directly, leave the country in North Port or other directions that are less likely to attract attention, and return to Edland."

"Thank you, Anson."

His voice was so soft that the two of them couldn't hear him clearly if they weren't so close.

"You're welcome, we are friends; more importantly, because I promised you." Anson shrugged and smiled nonchalantly:

"A devout believer in the Circle of Order should keep his word, don't you think?"

Louis nodded slightly, his mood so complicated that he shouldn't even know how to answer him.

The elf girl in the woods slowly stood up and silently nestled behind the young knight, her scarlet eyes still staring at the bastard who shot her six times.

"You are a good person." Freya said seriously:

"But if we meet again next time, I will definitely kill you."

"Then pray that we never have to meet again." Anson chuckled and waved to her.

Under the gaze of the young knight, the elf girl reluctantly waved to him.

The next second, Anson turned around, turned his back to the knight and the elf girl, and walked towards the Storm Division camp not far away.

Just as he was about to leave, a shout suddenly came from behind him.

"Anson!"

Looking at his leaving back, Louis suddenly raised his head hesitantly, his expression extremely heavy:

"That day... the first person who rushed into the inner castle hall in Thunder Castle that day was you, right?!"

Anson didn't look back when he was called out, he just stopped.

But Louis, who had not released the power of his bloodline, still keenly noticed that his heartbeat was speeding up and the muscles on one side of his cheek were obviously unnatural.

Louis' heart suddenly sank, and the courage he had finally found began to hesitate again.

But he still mustered up the courage - not only because he wanted to know the truth of the matter, but also because this might be the last time the two of them would meet.

If you don't ask, you'll never get the chance.

"That day... that night at Thunder Castle..." Louis' voice trembled slightly, but he still held back and said:

"What on earth happened?!"

Anson paused slightly.

After a few seconds, Anson slowly turned his head and looked into the eyes of Louis, who was so nervous that his pupils were trembling.

"That night, we took advantage of the emperor... taking advantage of Kroger Bernard and his army being unprepared, and taking advantage of the heavy rain to abandon the assault on the city wall." Anson said solemnly:

"It took fifteen minutes to conquer the city gate and thirty minutes to storm the city wall. One hour after the battle started, all the large forts were occupied or destroyed. You who were holding on to the fortress were attacked by follow-up troops and entered the inner fortress due to a shortage of ammunition."

"The first person to rush in was me; the one guarding there was Kroger Bernard."

The elf girl slowly raised her head, and she could feel the knight beside her shaking slightly.

"Then...then when you rush in, Grogg...my brother...he..." Louis' breathing suddenly began to quicken:

"Was he still..."

"yes!"

Before he could finish speaking, Anson directly intercepted and said: "Your brother...Sir Grog Bernard, is a true knight!"

"I admit that without the power of curse magic, I would never be his opponent with just the power of blood and swordsmanship - of course, even with the power of curse magic, I am still no match for him."

"He lost because he and his army had run out of ammunition and food on the day the war started. Even if we didn't attack, he wouldn't have been able to hold on for more than four days, and I was not the only one who rushed in at that time."

"But he almost won - even though he was at an extreme disadvantage, he almost came back countless times and fought to the last moment; even if he lost consciousness, even if his heart stopped beating... he still did not let go of the sword in his hand. "

"Krog Bernard...he is a knight, more deserving of it than anyone else!"

"No matter what other people think, as his opponent, at least I think so!"

Louis was slightly startled.

As soon as the words fell, Anson immediately turned around and walked towards the Storm Division camp, not looking at him again.