I will be crowned king

"Snapped!"

An extremely crisp finger snap sounded at the same time as the words fell; billowing smoke swept from the exit to the entire prison like a tide, swallowing up every corner at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Is this...a mist pipe? !

Joseph's mind immediately retrieved the information he had already mastered... This was Anson Bach's usual routine, first releasing a large amount of smoke, and then launching [Smoke Entertainment Home], using endless changes to start a war of attrition with his opponents.

Seeing the stunned look on Fabian's face, we can basically conclude that the enemy that just appeared is Anson Bach, the commander-in-chief of the Storm Legion.

But wasn't he supposed to be still in the shooting army camp at this time? Why did he suddenly rush back to the headquarters... coincidence, or was it arranged in advance to wait for an opportunity to silence him? !

Joseph, who was thinking hard, dodged backwards decisively, quickly retracted the "thread" that restrained Fabian, and replaced it with a "circle" that spread around to increase the casting range.

This is the way the black mage fights, either one-on-one with "line" control, or releasing a "circle" to read minds or cast spells over a large area, relying on mental power that is completely superior to mortals to destroy the will of others and dig out the deepest parts of the opponent's heart. Secrets everywhere, creating illusions that are fake and real.

Therefore, the battle with the black mage is a mental and spiritual battle between the two; whether they can take the upper hand, whether they can withstand the mental pressure exerted by the other party, whether they can penetrate the other party's thoughts, and lead the enemy step by step into the trap they have set. will become the key to winning or losing the battle.

Joseph, who was desperately trying to control his emotions, retreated quickly, but the smoke surged faster than he imagined. It filled the entire prison before he could hide in a safe area.

To lock on to two targets at the same time, he had to always pay attention to whether the surrounding smoke turned into something strange, which greatly distracted him.

Fortunately, the information from the Faithless Knights emphatically mentioned that Anson Bach is an extremely cautious person. He usually does not engage in close combat too quickly in front of unfamiliar opponents. He uses various magic and shooting to move from a distance. Pulling is his style.

This way, he would have enough time to find a way to deal with his troublesome nephew first.

Joseph looked back suddenly, his pupils instantly turning red.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Fabian, who took advantage of the smoke to hide behind an iron fence on one side, immediately realized that he was exposed and decisively pulled the trigger, aiming the gun at "Uncle Joseph's" head.

Three shots were fired in succession, three shots missed the target... The lead bullets flying out of the muzzle seemed to have a mind of their own, each time just grazing the edge of the fast-moving afterimage, and the distance of a few centimeters seemed like the end of the world.

Before he could pull the trigger for the fourth time, Joseph grabbed Fabian's collar.

"Boom!"

Fabian, unable to resist, was lifted up like a rag bag and hit hard against the iron fence behind him. His spine and ribs made a crisp whine at the same time, and the gun in his left hand flew out.

Fabian, who was holding back the pain, looked up at Joseph's complicated expression, and the corners of his bloody mouth rose with mockery.

The next second, he aimed the revolver in his right hand at his temple.

Joseph's pupils shrank suddenly, and countless negative emotions poured into the Grenadier Captain's mind from his eyeballs.

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…!!!”

Fabian, who was only half a step away from shooting himself, wailed miserably, as if thousands of ants were biting his brain, and the revolver fell to the ground from his trembling right hand.

"Fabian, you just never learn your lesson..."

Joseph cursed and threw his screaming nephew to the ground with a look of helplessness.

The moment he let go, a scalding heat suddenly hit him from behind.

"clang!"

Accompanied by the sound of metal colliding, a flash of fire split the cell's iron bars in two, stopping only ten centimeters away from his neck.

Joseph looked stunned and stared at the flash of fire. What made him unbelievable was not that the other party almost turned him into burning meat...but the owner of the fire.

"Hide beautifully, you are worthy of being a black mage!"

Slightly slovenly military uniform, handsome three-dimensional facial features, a strong figure, and a saber burning with blazing fire - Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Dukasky, the leader of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, gave his own evaluation to the enemy :

"So don't let it happen again!"

The Fire Knight with the "Mist Pipe" in the corner of his mouth attacked again, and his steps brought the burning sword forward.

"clang!"

The sound of shattering metal sounded again, and the flames grazing the edges of his body cut off the surrounding iron fences one by one like butter; even if he could barely avoid it, Joseph could still feel the stinging heat.

Realizing that he had been fooled, he could no longer care about much. Being caught off guard by Alexey, he had no time to care about the outside world and was forced to focus all his energy on what was in front of him.

Once the rhythm is disrupted, it is easy to be contained, which is also one of the weaknesses of black magic. After all, close combat or even head-on confrontation is not the strong point of black mages. Hiding in the shadows and pulling cobwebs in the dark is what they are best at. .

However, although Alexei's attack is tricky and sharp, Joseph has released the "circle" in advance, so that when people around him see his figure, there will be a lag or advance of one to three seconds... This is also the Fabian gun. The reason why the gun missed the target.

But he soon realized his fatal mistake - the Fire Knight's fighting methods were more than what he saw.

call--

Joseph, who was dodging, looked at the ignited sleeve in shock. The flame seemed to have a life of its own, and actually "climbed" from his sleeve to the back of his hand!

"No, no, you don't really mean that my flame has to touch you, do you?"

The corner of Alexei's mouth rose crazily: "The power of the Fire Knight's bloodline is not as simple and useless as you imagined!"

"Come on, come on, feel the warmth of life!"

The commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, who was holding a pipe and brandishing a flaming sword, was like a roaring steam train, running straight towards Joseph, who was running desperately.

Feeling the increasingly stinging heat on the back of his hand, Joseph's expression was almost distorted as he tried his best to hold it back, and he silently muttered certain words at the corners of his bluff mouth.

Chaotic and crazy murmurs rang in Alexei's ears. The commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, who had been so powerful just now, suddenly felt that his mind was in a trance, and his body felt as if he had fallen into a quagmire and became extremely sluggish.

"Damn! You..."

The power of the rapidly surging bloodline allowed him to maintain a trace of sanity, but it was only a trace, and it might not even be a good thing... He had the illusion that someone had pried open the Tianling Cap and poured lead directly into his brain.

"clang!"

The blade of the knife hit the cell door on one side. While cutting through the iron fence, Alexey, who was suffering from a headache, accidentally let go of the handle of the knife. He staggered and almost fell to the ground; what was originally on the back of Joseph's hand was The blazing fire above also dissipated in an instant.

But even facing the unarmed commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, Joseph did not dare to move forward and decisively turned his head towards the gate to escape.

Considering that the outside must have been defended by Clovis soldiers, this time he was much more cautious than at the beginning. He did not rush out of the door directly, but instead expanded the coverage of the "circle".

On the one hand, it is to determine the enemy's position and plan an escape route; on the other hand, it is to prepare to release large-scale hallucinations.

By this time, the effect of the "Mist Pipe" had stopped, and the smoke that filled the entire prison gradually began to dissipate.

Alexey staggered to regain his balance and stood up again. He didn't pick up the saber stuck on the cell door and threw himself forward.

Anyway, the headquarters prison space is so big, that guy (Joseph) has nowhere to hide.

Rushing straight towards the looming figure in the smoke, Alexei ignited a cluster of flames on each of the five fingers of his right hand, pressed the wall beside him with a "pop!" and swung forward.

The rough palm left a dark claw mark on the cement wall, and the five flames turned into meteors trailing flames, sticking to the wall, ceiling and walls on both sides, and attacking the figure from five directions at the same time.

"boom--!"

The meteor exploded in the smoke and flashed by fire, but the figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Um...that's bad!"

Alexey exclaimed and turned to look behind him.

As expected...Joseph, who had already fled towards the door, appeared at the end of the prison without any warning. He held up the unconscious Fabian by his collar and picked up the revolver that fell on the ground with his right hand.

"A small suggestion, Lieutenant Colonel Alexei, don't act rashly." Joseph's eyes were scarlet, with a slight gasp in his voice: "Otherwise, I cannot guarantee that your colleague will still be alive to see the sun tomorrow."

While speaking, he did not forget to put the muzzle of his gun to Fabian's throat...the meaning is self-evident.

Alexei frowned, and his temples, which were already in unbearable pain, were twitching.

After only a second of hesitation, he took a deep breath and shook off the fire in his right hand.

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief.

Obviously, Alexei should not have seen the scene where Fabian pointed a gun at his own head, or he did not dare to bet on whether he could make up his mind to kill his nephew.

It's not like I haven't thought about it at all, but it's nice not to take that step...

"So what do you want?"

Looking at Joseph, who had seized the Grenadier Captain as a hostage and a shield, Alexei said angrily: "If you are going to ask me to open the door for you, just save it - there are the Fifth Corps and people outside, and I don't have them." Give them authority to give orders.”

"I don't dare to expect so much." Joseph nodded politely:

"As long as you leave prison, I promise not to harm a single hair of your colleague."

"Really, that's it?" Alexey looked surprised:

"You really don't need me to do anything else?"

"If it's not too much trouble, you can take a message to Brigadier General Anson Bach for me."

Holding Fabian's collar tightly, Joseph narrowed his eyes slightly: "Tell him that I am just forced by life and have absolutely no intention to be an enemy of him - the Cressy family's foundation in the new world is not so easy to be defeated. If you are touched, it is best not to fight against them.”

Joseph said these words sincerely, although he did not expect the other party to believe them.

But Alexei seemed to really listen, and nodded seriously:

"I agree."

"oh?"

Joseph was surprised.

"Really, in fact, I think so too - instead of continuing to fight with you endlessly, it's better to work together." Alexei's expression became more and more serious, and he said more and more seriously: "You know, just... A win-win or something.”

"But unfortunately, our brigadier general...his, he is a very paranoid person, and he can't turn around what he believes in. He usually respects the suggestions of subordinates like me, but he doesn't take them seriously in his heart. .”

"So instead of letting me deliver the message, how about you talk directly to the Commander-in-Chief himself?"

The moment he said the last sentence, Alexei was like an actor in a scene of laughter, and the corners of his pretentiously tight mouth began to rise crazily.

Joseph was shocked.

At this moment, a translucent paintbrush wrapped in smoke suddenly appeared in the field of vision, and drew a perfect circle on top of the unconscious Fabian's head.

A mutilated image of a head that seemed to have been ravaged by madness was gently lifted up by the translucent "paintbrush".

He turned his head suddenly and found that Anson Bach was standing in the cell next to him, wearing a monocle and looking at him playfully, and "waving" his hands in the air like a band conductor.

Without any hesitation, Joseph decisively dropped Fabian in his hand and dodged to the side as quickly as possible.

But unfortunately, it was still half a step away, and the fluttering afterimage accurately penetrated into his body with the movement of the brush.

Countless crazy murmurs, distorted memories, and indescribable images poured into Joseph's mind - the black magic he had originally cast on Fabian was now returned to him intact.

This is Anson's new application of the spell "Wound Canvas" after his deep understanding of it: Since physical pain can be transferred through the canvas, why can't mental torture be transferred?

Obviously, absolutely.

"Uhhhhhhh...!!!"

Joseph fell to the ground and let out a heart-rending howl, his body constantly twitching and struggling - especially because he was a black mage himself, and his understanding of his own magic deepened his fear, and the fear further Increased power.

At the same time, Fabian, who had the pain "taken away", quickly regained consciousness, stood up in a daze, and looked at Alexei who raised his hands in confusion, and Joseph who fell to the ground and screamed... Anson Bach appeared at some point.

"Commander-in-Chief, I..."

"We'll talk about your business later."

He raised his hand to stop the grenadier commander who was gasping softly. Anson, who suppressed his smile, stared at Joseph, who was almost unconscious, and said without looking back: "Alexei!"

"exist!"

The commander of the Second Infantry Regiment stood straight on the spot, and saluted with his left hand behind his back and his right hand beating his chest.

"Three things." Anson, who had his back turned to him, raised his right hand:

"First, let the military medical chief come over to inspect the scene and take into custody our deputy commander of the shooting force; second, tell the people outside to lift the alert and tell them... nothing happened!"

"yes!"

Alexei nodded vigorously and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something: "What about the third one?"

The expressionless Anson turned his head and shook his raised right hand:

"Give me the pipe back!"