I will be crowned king

Dawn, Red Hand Bay.

The billowing smoke covered the entire city, scattering the remaining ashes into the slightly bright sky. The clouds in the sky were covered with golden cloaks, and at the same time, there was an ominous shadow.

Gently reaching out to catch the falling ashes, Rune stood in the ruins and looked back at the sea behind him. The fiery red waves rolled up the milky white waves and washed against the melted ice beach. The turbulent posture was so unstoppable. .

"It looks like it's over."

Looking at the ashes in his hand, Lu En's expression showed a hint of melancholy. It felt like he was saying goodbye to a close friend, and he knew very well that he would never see him again.

"No, this is just the beginning."

Lisa... It should be said that Thalia, who has occupied Lisa's body, carefully avoided the surrounding embers and walked behind Rune: "The false god believers of the Ring of Order will not give up so easily. Their power still possesses Advantages, one failure is not enough to make the outcome a foregone conclusion.”

"If the party trying to use force to coerce fails, the forces that moderate Xu Tu will quietly rise; although they are tit for tat, the difference is only at the level of means, and there is no difference in essence and purpose."

"Of course, even this does not prevent us from taking advantage of the discord between them to achieve our own goals; in the eyes of the masses, they are the stronger ones in large numbers. We... will always just wait passively and let them Just a hunting target.”

"You seem to be more talkative than before." Lu En said lightly:

"You didn't seem to have such a personality in the past."

After hearing this, Talia put her hands behind her back and showed a happy smile, her eyes curved into shallow crescent moons: "What's wrong with being infected by the advantages of your fiancé?"

"Your current reaction is as if it has been eroded by the 'Law of Planning'."

"Ah...doesn't it mean that as a blood mage, I might embark on the path of curse magic? The blood of the apostles of blood magic and curse magic converge... Our child will be extraordinary when he is born, right?"

Lu En said nothing, holding the piece of ashes in his palm, feeling the temperature gradually losing from it.

Thalia, who stopped joking, took a half step forward and bowed slightly with respect:

"Father."

"My dear Thalia, you have chosen a path destined to be difficult." Rune cast his gaze on the crowd in the distance: "Too much involvement in the world will increase the residue of the past in you; when you become an apostle, They will all become your constraints.”

"But this is not necessarily a bad thing; the more difficult the growth process, the more likely it is to trigger evolution; the evolution of thoughts, the reversal of cognition... It is not enough to just know what is right, it must be understood thoroughly, too If it goes well, it will be called a bad thing."

"Too much restraint?" Thalia's eyes suddenly lit up:

"Is this related to August's final loss to you...?"

"maybe."

Lu En did not give an absolute answer: "But among the original apostles, there was no such thing as 'restraint', and no problems would arise due to this."

"But since that day, all the apostles who had no restraints have all experienced abnormalities invariably. They began to be unable to confirm their own existence, and began to become confused due to evolutionary mutations... like a river that has been cut off from its source, but has not yet reached the sea. , lost the foundation of existence.”

"If you think about it carefully, maybe August has realized that this day is coming - he has lost his followers of the true gods and built a lighthouse to guide the direction in the darkness; but it has become his own tomb, a testament to the end of evolution. There are limits, and there will never be a grave for anyone who succeeds again.”

That day... Thalia's expression became slightly solemn.

Until now, she has heard her father talk about "that day" countless times. Boredim, the apostles of the great holy city abandoned it, and the believers of the true God who once opened up a new path left one after another; or rebuilt the past. Colony, or establishing a family in a brand new land, the era of "bloodline" begins...

At that time, today's "Old Continent" was still a brand-new fertile land. A certain race that would later call itself "human" had just mastered the value of metal. The evolvers who had lost their hometown became the beacon that led them to another world. A form ushered in new prosperity.

That day, everyone thought that this situation was only temporary; when the true god believers rebuilt their civilization and accumulated enough resources and new knowledge, they would be able to open the dusty door of Boridim again and get up from the corner where they fell. ,move on.

That day, everyone called this grand vision...

Big plans.

"Why?" The girl couldn't help but ask, "What makes you think August knows about this?"

There was slight movement around them, and there were vague sounds of messy footsteps approaching them.

"despair."

Lu En replied calmly, his eyes still looking at the ashes in his palm. The small warmth had long since dissipated, and there was only a trace of breath left in the final residue, which was weak enough to make people think it was an illusion.

"In my impression, that was the first time I saw August's desperate expression... He stood in the reference room, among the piles of parchment, and said in a tone that I have never heard again..."

"Congratulations, Rune, you were right."

"That was also our last face-to-face communication. When I saw him again...that was when I made up my mind to completely destroy him."

"Our ideas are different, but our directions are similar. According to the basic evolutionary principles of the three major magics, only one apostle with a similar direction can have the opportunity to continue evolving; so I must defeat him or die in his hands. .”

"Probably... at that time, he had no hope of continuing to evolve, so he chose to fulfill me. Just like what he said... I was right."

"For the so-called 'bloodline,' August devoted everything; tree spirits, vampires, ogres... He personally formulated a plan to exterminate these races, integrating their bloodlines into humans in the form of 'mutations' Please wait patiently for the final result.”

"But he failed... Even with the power of mutation, humans, as a race allowed by this world, still cannot get rid of their dependence on the world, and even actively created false gods like the 'Ring of Order' to surrender; thousands of years of expectations, What resulted was greater despair.”

Lu En's voice was trembling slightly: "But now, the shattered hope may have a chance to be rekindled."

He turned around and gently placed his right hand holding the ashes on the head of the confused and eager girl. His emerald green eyes suddenly began to tremble slightly, and the sober Ming Rui was replaced by another kind of purity.

"You, you are..."

Lisa tried hard to recall her impression of the person in front of her, but she couldn't remember it. When she turned around, she realized that she was not at the legion camp outside the city: "Where is this? Where is Anson."

"I don't know about this either." Lu En raised the corner of his mouth and showed a gentle smile: "But it seems that someone is coming over there, you might as well ask them."

"Is there anyone?"

The girl looked in the direction he pointed and immediately saw several soldiers from the Guard Company who were cleaning the battlefield. With a happy face, she immediately turned her head and thanked: "Thank you, what is your name... eh?"

Looking at the empty ruins behind her, the already confused girl tilted her head heavily to one side, her expression seemed to be hallucinating.

…………………………………………

The thick smoke gradually dissipated with the rising sun, revealing a mess of ruins, silently telling the story of the night in the golden morning light.

There was no head-on fight with a powerful enemy, no hand-to-hand combat that was extremely brutal... When the bombardment ended and the sun rose, a dozen Judgment Knights walked into the town one after another and planted the flag of the Ring of Order on the scorched earth that looked like a city gate. , announcing that the battle was over, and God’s Holy War Army had won the final victory.

So the Holy War Army and the Judgment Knights organized a retreat one after another with a tacit understanding, leaving the opportunity to clean up the battlefield completely to the Holy War Army.

Of course, they say they are cleaning the battlefield, but in fact there is nothing to clean at all... The entire town has been bombarded in turn, and the explosions have left nothing behind; not to mention property, it is very difficult to search for corpses from the scorched earth everywhere.

As for weapons and equipment, there is no need to think too much. After all, the Crusaders, as the main force, have never participated in the battle from beginning to end, and regardless of the wreckage of the Heart of Mercy or the destroyed Land Cruiser, they were already ruled by the Knights during the retreat. It was impossible for the regiment to be cleaned up and left to the Free Confederacy.

But having said that, it would be useless even if they stayed. Although the Confederacy could obtain coal, they would never be able to find a factory that could repair such equipment, let alone skilled workers.

Even so, Fabian still refused to give up and mobilized the entire Grenadier Regiment to clean the battlefield to see if there was anything accidentally missed by the opponent; even if it was just a damaged wreckage, he could not give up and had to pick them all up.

Although it was only a short night, the equipment of the Judgment Knights caused a dimensionality reduction blow to Fabian, who once believed that "weapons are not the key to an army, but people are the key"; close your eyes, and you will see all the soldiers in the steam company. Thousands of figures fell to the ground under rifle fire.

That is the future, that is the key to truly controlling the situation and determining the outcome of a battle; Fabian seems to have grasped the pulse of the times, and he is completely unable to extricate himself from the enthusiasm and intoxication for weapons.

Due to his unremitting efforts, the exhausted grenadiers failed in their mission to live up to expectations; but perhaps in order to avoid being held accountable by the disappointed deputy commander, a group of desperately trapped grenadiers finally found something to work with. s things……

Uh, or...people?

………………………………

"You mean, you are actually a Judgment Knight?"

Fabian narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the... woman sitting opposite him.

Although his hair is unkempt, his body is covered with traces of burnt and coagulated plasma, and his tattered clothes look similar to those of some deserters; but as the most promising mid-level officer of the former Guards of Clovis City, with his good posture, Through careful observation of his voice and subconscious movements, he quickly determined a lot of useful information, so much so that he couldn't help but feel frightened.

The subordinates who tried every means to send her here probably just wanted to appease themselves, but they accidentally sent a genuine Judgment Knight to the Storm Legion's camp - and most importantly, the Crusaders on the opposite side didn't seem to notice it yet!

One day…no! Even if it's just a few hours, as long as I can get some information from her mouth, it's unimaginable how valuable it will be!

Without even having time to notify Anson, Fabian immediately began to interrogate her, risking his life's learning and personal dignity.

"Elizabeth Lemon."

Compared to someone who was calm on the surface but extremely excited inside, the girl's reaction was truly as calm as water: "I work in the logistics department of the Judgment Knights, and my position is as an attendant."

"... Attendant?"

"A relatively ancient official rank with a relatively strong personal attachment nature." Elizabeth said lightly: "Use a term you can understand, probably similar to clerk."

"...That's it." Fabian nodded calmly:

"Then Miss Elizabeth, attendant, how did you accidentally encounter our soldiers but did not retreat with the Judgment Knights?"

"Because my position is that of an attendant, the nature of my work requires that I must be loyal to Sir Ferrers, keep all his affairs absolutely confidential, and resolutely obey all orders." Elizabeth subconsciously raised her hand and stroked her neck:

"So I can't go back."

She is still very nervous now, which means that if the Judgment Knights find out that she is not dead, her life may be in danger... Fabian nodded slightly:

"So Miss Elizabeth, do you know where Sir Ferrers is now?"

"Dead." Elizabeth said expressionlessly, "Died at the hands of Anson Bach."

Um? He's dead, who is Sir Philus who sent someone to contact and negotiate with us?

Swallowing hard, Fabian suppressed the shock: "Can I understand that the order given to you by the dead Sir Philus is that... you must live?"

This time Elizabeth did not answer immediately. After a moment of silence, she nodded silently.

Very good, it means that my guess is not completely correct, but it is partly correct... Fabian is getting more and more excited, but he has to hold back:

"Dear Miss Elizabeth, in this case, I and the Free Confederacy can guarantee your personal safety and certain freedom; but this safety does not come without a price, and you need to reveal some valuable information in exchange, for example..."

"I can tell you the next action plan of the Judgment Knights and the headquarters, at least the plan that has been clearly written down." Elizabeth didn't even bother to look up at him again:

"In addition, there are design drawings for the difference machine on the Heart of Mercy, and some design drawings for the new weapons of the Judgment Knights... Are these enough?"

Fabian: "..."

The thing I wanted most and the work I had to complete at the risk of my dignity were both successful at the same time. Why didn't I feel happy at all?