I will be crowned king

Accompanied by the familiar war cry, Lisa Bach, wearing a military coat and three-cornered hat, bit into a licorice stick, tore through layers of wind and snow, and appeared in front of the eyes of two stunned officers.

But the situation no longer allowed them to be surprised any longer... Just as the chief police officer appeared, another heavy rain fell from the sky: thousands of objects that smelled of seawater, mixed with frozen waves, fell on the pier. nearby.

Under the pitch-black night, Alexey, who had just come back to his senses, squinted his eyes desperately. It took him a long time to see the true identity of these "raindrops".

worm.

There is a worm with the size of a head, a baby's face, eight pairs of hands, and a scream.

"boom--!"

Before the horrified infantry leader could take a breath, the monster that was looking at him was shattered into pieces in front of his eyes; yellow and green pus spurted out from the boneless limbs, turning into torn pieces of flesh.

"Don't stand there stupidly!"

The chief sergeant screamed a reminder, and the steam gun in his arms made an almost continuous scream; the compressed air pushed the lead bullets, causing the blue-green "plasma" to dance in the wind in the darkness.

The technological crystallization from the Church of Order shows its most terrifying aspect: before activating the compressed steam in the air bottle, its rate of fire only depends on how often your finger pulls the trigger.

Lisa absolutely loves this.

"Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang...!!!!"

Flesh and blood were flying in the darkness, but the number of worms was far beyond imagination, and they not only fell from the sky, but also crawled out of the swollen seawater in a steady stream, rushing towards the port dominated by the blizzard.

"call--"

Alexei finally came to his senses and raised his sword again, and the long and narrow blade dyed pure white by the ice and snow instantly ignited fire. Dots of sparks flew into the air along with the dancing blades.

When the flying snow fell from the sky, dazzling fire broke out instantly; the worms crawling crazily towards the shore turned into balls of fire, reflecting countless twisted figures like waves of sand.

"Norton, why are you still standing there? Let's go!"

The commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, who had just been scolded by the chief sergeant, confidently shouted to his colleagues who were also stunned behind him: "Assemble the troops first, and then report to the commander-in-chief - this trouble cannot be solved by ourselves! "

Even with the cover of the crazy Lisa, the number of monsters has far exceeded the upper limit that three people can deal with alone, not to mention that there is a ghost ship with a main gun on the opposite side, which already requires heavy firepower to deal with. Trouble.

But Norton Crosell seemed to be frightened. He was silent for a while, then his face turned pale and he pursed his lips tightly: "No!"

"……What?!"

The incomprehensible answer made Alexey stumble and almost got a worm on his face.

"The information I have is too little, so I can't explain it to you clearly, but...but I'm afraid we can't go back!" Norton was panting slightly, with cold sweat covering his forehead:

"Don't you feel that there is something...off about the darkness around you?"

Something's wrong?

Looking at the expressions of his colleagues that were mixed with fatigue and panic, Alexey stopped and finally noticed something disturbing.

He slowly raised the long knife burning with flames in his hand. Although he was only a few steps away, the firelight did not leave any shadow on Norton's face.

The surrounding worms that were ignited by themselves and turned into fireballs were extinguished as quickly as possible; even if they were not, the burning speed was far faster than usual.

Nervous, he originally thought this was just because the weather was too cold, the air in the port was too humid, and there was a lack of environment for the flames to continue burning, but now it seems...

It seems that they have more than one enemy.

……………………

"He is everywhere and tolerates nothing. Every shadow under the sun is his kingdom. Every darkness is his incarnation. All places that the sun cannot touch are under his control."

"No one knows what He looks like, but anyone who looks directly into His eyes will be deprived of their soul and become a walking zombie with only instinct left. They lose consciousness, but at the same time they cannot die. They direct a little bit of decay and eventually turn into dust."

"And the deprived soul will continue to curse everyone who sets foot on this land, trying to drag them into the same miserable situation as themselves until they dissipate."

"When the light is swallowed up and darkness falls, the guy who tries to look back behind him is most likely to become the target of his hunting."

"He...is the Shadow Demon."

Sir Carno's cold voice echoed in the dry air for a long time.

The uneasy trio gathered tightly around the fireplace, staring intently at the blazing fire inside, daring not to slack off at all.

In the brightly lit lounge, the kerosene lamps in various corners of the room flickered on and off, and the large chandelier in the center seemed to have turned into a bonfire in the cold wind. Only a very weak flame remained, using up its last strength to leave a trace of light. .

And outside the window separated by a wall, the whole world has been completely swallowed up by night; nothing can be seen or heard, like a terrifying barrier, blocking all light.

"Can't look back? Assuming this story is true, it means that if you look back, the probability of seeing the 'Shadow Demon' will be greatly increased...right?"

William Gottfried's words suddenly sounded, together with the sound of his heavy footsteps, the sound of writing and breathing heavily, which made him look extremely busy:

"Shadow, that is to say, his power contains some kind of substance that can swallow light... It is omnipresent. If it is true, then there are already factors in it that distort the laws of nature..."

"Looking back will greatly increase the probability of seeing him... Well, this is a very subjective action, involving the spiritual effects of consciousness and hypnosis, and it has a strong flavor of black magic..."

"If my conclusion is correct, He seems to have highly bound his existence to some kind of 'rules'. This style seems to be quite popular in the New World, and is very suitable for a specialized research topic... …”

"Your Excellency William!"

Ian, the former leader of the Knights, finally couldn't control his mood and interrupted the other party's soliloquy: "I know this may be a little against the rules. After all, we promised you to...believe in science."

"But even if it's just an explanation, can you tell us what you are doing?"

"Ah, of course."

William stopped his busy steps and seemed quite happy in his nonchalant tone: "The process is a bit complicated, so I won't explain the principle and will simply explain it."

"In short, I am trying to communicate with him...that is, the Shadow Demon."

"What did you say?!"

The stunned Wild Hunt Knight blurted out, and Carno, who was expressionless at the side, directly raised his hand and grabbed his head that almost turned away.

"Communication...I have told you once, I am a runeologist, and runes are a science used for communication." William explained calmly, with a hint of undisguised disdain in his tone:

"This is a way of communication. With the help of runes, we can communicate with many things very effectively; and communication can help us eliminate misunderstandings, understand the other party's purpose and intention, and find the key to solving problems... This is science, I am a the scientist."

"If we want to stop the Shadow Demon, or we don't want to become the living dead and be deprived of our souls, then we must establish effective communication with the Shadow Demon."

"Is it possible?" Carno asked calmly, while increasing his pressure on the Wild Hunt Knight.

"Yes, but you need to try as much as possible, and of course you have to wait for His response - communication is not a one-way thing." William shrugged:

"According to His breath, I have already sent a message. All I have to do is wait and prepare the next message."

"So what message are you sending Him?"

"Oh, just simple words, I told Him to stay away from here."

"What?!"

"Your question is really puzzling. I really don't know which sentence I didn't express clearly enough?" William showed an unhappy expression again:

"This is just a simple message to keep the Shadow Demon away. It does not have any excessive meaning."

"You actually told Him we were here?!"

"Yes, I also specially conveyed the coordinate information very clearly." William snorted coldly:

"Look around us, do you think we don't know He is here - oh, sorry, I forgot you don't dare."

"you……?!"

"shut up!"

Ian forcibly interrupted the angry Wild Hunt Knight. He didn't even glance at his companions. His sharp eyes were fixed on the bonfire in front of him:

"His Excellency Wilhelm Gottfried."

"Um?"

"I'm not questioning your ideas, I just want to know one thing: Assuming your plan succeeds, what are the chances that we can survive successfully?"

As soon as the words fell, Derek, who was still angry and uneasy just now, and Carno, who was stopping him, stopped moving at the same time, and all their attention shifted behind them.

The restless air suddenly became bitingly cold.

"Thirty percent...thirty percent."

For some reason, William Gottfried's expression became much more serious: "Assuming everything goes well and there are no obstacles in the communication channels, the probability that all of us will survive tonight safely is only 30%."

"The success rate is at least twice as high as all the experiments I have conducted."

The three of Ian looked at each other, not knowing whether to be happy or desperate.

……………………

"Bang-!!!! Bang-!!!! Bang-!!!!"

The dazzling fire jumped up on the pale white shore. As soon as hundreds of worms approached the shore, they were torn apart under the "treat" of August's grenade. Their shrill and sharp screams were superimposed on each other, playing an enchanting music. An ensemble that makes the soul tremble.

But compared with their number, this is far from enough.

Almost as soon as the explosion was extinguished, the worms that followed had already filled the blasted hole, trampling on the ashes left by their companions in a steady stream, and continued to flow towards the coast.

This time Lisa was not in a hurry to fire. After a few rounds, the Sheriff had begun to master the rhythm and the characteristics of the enemy... This worm was actually very fragile, so fragile that it would slowly die in the snowstorm without them even needing to take action.

But before they die, they will complete their "molt": they will spit out a worm that is one size smaller than the original one from their mouth, and then quickly grow to a size similar to the original, or even stronger, possessing or lacking some of the characteristics of the previous one.

Either the skin is stronger, or it is more cold-resistant, or it has a few fewer tentacles, or it is more... heat-resistant.

This kind of monster can complete the entire process of evolution and evolution in just a few minutes.

Therefore, the best solution is to kill them at the moment they have just "transformed", or to burn a large number of them to death first. The monsters that will transform in the next round will have increased heat resistance but lack the ability to withstand cold, and will be directly frozen by the snowstorm. die.

The roaring lead bullets kept roaring, and the petite figure of the Grand Sheriff seemed to be an insurmountable barrier, blocking thousands of monsters from the shore.

"This can't go on like this!"

After blasting the approaching worm with one shot, Norton shouted urgently: "We have to find a way to send a signal to the troops and let them take the initiative to move closer here."

"Damn it, do you think I don't want to?!" Alexey, who was wielding a flaming sword, looked quite irritated:

"It's useless! Grenades, flares, explosions...all the ways to create light and sound have been used several times, but it's useless!"

"That power should have blocked the transmission of light and sound. No matter how much noise we make, they can't receive the signal!"

"No, it's just because the noise you made isn't big enough."

The sudden sound of words caused the two people to stop arguing for an instant, and at the same time looked back behind them.

The elf girl with a mocking smile stood between the two of them at some point.

Ignoring the surprised expressions of the two people, she slowly raised her arms to both sides, palms upward, gradually raising them horizontally from side to side, keeping them at the same height as her shoulders very naturally, and then...

boom--

The dazzling golden red lights up the entire night.

Feeling the dazzling light behind them, the two people who looked back at the same time opened their mouths in unison.

A fireball... a fireball that was so huge that it was impossible to describe its diameter or volume, tore through the leaden dark clouds and the blizzard in the sky, appeared out of thin air above everyone's heads without warning, and lit up the entire night.

Under the endless night, it was as dazzling as the sun at noon!

"I remember that in addition to light, you also need a loud enough noise...right?"

The elf girl's words sounded loudly.

"Uh...uh yes."

Norton was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized something: "Wait! Are you, are you going to..."

But it was still a step too late.

With a smile like a blooming flower, Freya Moses Field pointed down sharply with her raised right hand.

In an instant, the sun fell from the sky!