A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

The child only felt that the hand holding him was loosened, his body was heavy, and he had fallen to the ground.

He turned around and stared at the man with dilated pupils who fell to the ground without breath.

The look in the child's eyes was still sinister, watching someone being killed in front of him did not show the slightest fear, but revealed a touch of pleasure.

Garlan stepped forward and pulled out the long sword stuck in the chest of the believer of the All Things Cult. Blood gushed out and quickly stained the bluestone floor red.

He flicked the bright red blood on the tip of the sword, then turned his head, and saw the child staring intently at his sword and the dead body on the ground.

Garlan was taken aback.

Because he saw a smile on the lips of the child staring at the dead body.

The child's face seemed to be smiling, but his eyes were full of coldness without any smile, and he could even see the deep viciousness in the other's eyes.

It was as if there was a monster called hatred lurking deep in the child's thin body, growing and growing little by little.

Unable to explain why, his heart moved.

At this moment, the life of Heymos in the previous lives that he had seen in his dream suddenly appeared in his mind.

The young man who was burnt half of his body and was in deep pain had such eyes.

how similar...

Garlan exhaled lightly.

Only those who have seen too much death with their own eyes will be unwavering in the face of dead bodies...

Indeed, this child should have been captured as a sacrifice. I am afraid that he has witnessed the cruel scene of many children bleeding to death as sacrifices.

That's why we are so numb and indifferent in the face of death.

Thinking of this, he bent down and squatted in front of the little boy.

As he leaned over, the little boy took a quick step back.

The child exuded resistance all over his body, even when facing his savior, not only did he not feel grateful and dependent, but instead he was full of vigilance, staring at Garlan defensively.

It's like a wolf cub who has been seriously injured by a human being and has become extremely suspicious since then and never trusts anyone again.

Garlan thought for a while, but didn't say anything to appease the other party.

No matter what he said now, it would only arouse the other party's suspicion even more.

So, he just said one thing.

"Come with me, I want to go out, I can take you out by the way."

Can't believe it.

No one can believe it.

The gloomy-eyed little boy glanced at the dirty-looking guy in front of him, his eyes flickering.

Maybe this person was deliberately sent by the Myriad Things Sect to deceive me, in order to gain my trust and gain my own...

Thinking this way, the little boy became more defensive.

Yes, everyone can believe it.

However, this might not be an opportunity.

If the other party wants to use this to gain their trust.

Well, he could also use this person to get himself out of here.

When he was on the ground, he found another opportunity, pretended to trust the other party, and then ran away secretly when he let down his guard against him.

Thinking of this, he nodded slightly, expressing his agreement.

Seeing him nodding, Garlan took out a dagger from the dead body and threw it to him.

The little boy subconsciously caught it, but he seemed a little flustered.

Holding the short sword, he was slightly lost in thought.

Because he hadn't touched the sword for a long time.

Obviously more than a year ago, he was still practicing swords with his little friend every day, and wanted to become stronger, so that he could protect... protect...

Gripping the cold hilt of the sword tightly, and grasping this weapon that belonged to him, the boy's heart inexplicably became a little more stable.

He raised his head and saw that the dusty young man was already walking forward, so he hugged the dagger tightly in his arms, trotted a few steps, and followed.

"what's your name?"

the boy asked casually.

"..."

"There must be a title, otherwise I can't call you when something happens."

"... Novi."

"Novi."

Garlan called this unknown name, and he had already seen several cult believers appear from the corner in front of the corridor, rushing towards them.

"Either hide, or protect yourself."

The boy looked ahead sharply and said, "Remember, if you get caught, I can't possibly compromise for you."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Novi to reply, Garlan had already clenched his long sword and greeted the cultists.

Novi looked at Garlan's back, and felt a little astonished at what Garlan said just now.

This person...was a little different from what he had imagined.

There was no false consolation, no phony, all-encompassing claims that he would protect him no matter what.

However, this man's words made him feel more at ease than those nice words.

Even the so-called blood relatives and subordinates who swear loyalty will be betrayed because of their own selfish desires.

In order to protect a stranger who only met once, and put himself in danger... there must be something ulterior motives!

But this person made it very clear that he would only protect himself on the premise of not bringing him any danger.

It sounds like some heartless words, but the other party said it frankly.

Instead, it convinced Novy a little bit.

At least, it doesn't sound like a lie.

He carefully shrunk his body in the shadow of an inconspicuous corner, concealing his existence, while holding the short sword tightly to his chest, vigilantly observing all the movements around him.

After confirming that there was no danger, he set his sights on that person again.

The light in the stone corridor was dim, and the oil lamps on the walls were not enough to illuminate the area.

However, the light refracted by the firelight on the blade was inexplicably astonishingly bright.

Novi opened his eyes and watched as the young man beheaded and killed several Wanwu Cult believers who were chasing him one by one.

The boy's body was not strong, even a little slender, but he was as agile as a cheetah, much stronger than Novy imagined.

Novi looked at the young man who quickly killed all the pursuers, but he was not injured at all, and there was a little light in his gloomy eyes.

If he can be this strong...

If he can also become as powerful as this man...

No one can be trusted.

Only the strength you have is your greatest reliance.

He wants to escape.

He's going to be as strong as this man.

One day, he will let everyone see him and be terrified of him.

One day, he will let all those who betrayed and humiliated him die in pain at his hands!

For this day, even if he is dying, no matter what he endures, he must live——

The child's eyes grew darker.

The bottomless abyss slowly gushed out from his eyes, and the invisible monster nourished by hatred grew in his heart little by little, becoming ferocious and terrifying.

At this moment, a hand suddenly stretched out in front of his eyes, startling him, and he suddenly raised the dagger that was tightly held in both hands.

Looking up again, he was shocked to find that it was the boy who was reaching out to him.

The boy smiled at him and said, "Come on, let's go."

It was obviously covered with dust, so black and dusty that it was almost impossible to see the face, but this smile would not make people feel annoying.

Novi looked at the hand stretched out in front of his eyes, hesitated for a moment, and slowly grasped it.

The boy didn't seem to care about his hesitant attitude. He held his hand and walked forward quickly. He seemed to be looking for something in a hurry, so he walked so fast that he had to trot to keep up .

Novi glanced lightly at the other party holding his hand.

It's been a long time since someone held my hand like this... since that day.

Obviously only a short year.

However, since he was very young, he has been gently holding him, teaching him how to walk, and leading him forward. The touch of the girl's soft hand seems to have been a long time ago, and he is almost about to forget it...

Novi looked up and looked at the back of the young man in front of him.

Perhaps, he thought, this man could actually bring him to the surface and get him out.

Just thinking about it, he saw the young man who was walking fast in front of him suddenly stop.

"Why stop?"

Looking around and seeing no enemies, he couldn't help asking.

"I don't know the way."

Standing in the huge stone corridor, looking at the hall in front of which there are passages in several directions, Garlan rubbed his temples and said slightly distressed.

"This place is too big."

Novi: "..."

"Where should I go?...Well, let's go according to the feeling."

Novi: "..."

Can this guy who seems so unreliable at all really get him out?

Novi felt as if he had been fooled.

…………

........................

The dark corridor was empty.

Someone was walking in the stone corridor at a very fast pace. The dimly lit stone corridor was winding and endless, and only the sound of one person's footsteps echoed in it.

Although Heymos walked quickly, his expression was not good.

At this moment, his eyes were indescribably gloomy, and there was a faint hostility struggling in the depths of his eyes, which seemed to be torn out at any moment.

Obviously he was not injured, but he looked like he was enduring some great pain, and there was even faint sweat oozing from his forehead.

He almost forgot the past...

The memory that had been buried deep in his mind, refused to recall, and forced himself to forget, was forcibly evoked by that hoarse and weird voice at this moment.

And... I don't know if it's his illusion.

Since entering the stone corridor, there has been a very faint fragrance lingering around.

But if you hold your breath and smell it carefully, you can only smell the damp smell with a bit of decay under the ground, and you can't smell any fragrance at all.

But when you continue to walk forward, you can vaguely feel a little fragrance...

Has your sanity started to blur?

Heymos pressed his sweaty forehead and couldn't help thinking this way.

No.

Be quick.

... Get out of here quickly... Find Garlan quickly...

When silently chanting this name, the hostility deep in Heymos's eyes subsided a little, and his eyes became clearer.

Taking a deep breath, he quickened his pace again, relying on his own feeling, and ran upwards in the winding stone corridor.

After running for a while again, he finally saw the end.

At the end of the stone steps extending upwards, a stone gate stands there.

Perhaps because of staying in the claustrophobic environment for too long, Heymos felt that his consciousness seemed a little fuzzy.

Ruoyuuowu's fragrance floated around him again...

He shook his head to wake himself up.

He didn't realize that there was so much sweat oozing from his forehead that he pressed a strand of wet hair against his cheek.

His breathing was also much faster and heavier than usual.

With a dazed mind, Heymos stepped up, almost unable to think, but relying on instinct to destroy everything that blocked him.

Pulling out his sword, he split the stone door in front of him heavily.

The cracked stone door fell down with a clatter, and he stepped into the door with one step.

The originally dark vision suddenly became bright, and the crimson fire flickered in front of his eyes, as if burning his head, causing him a headache.

At this moment, the fragrance that was faintly present suddenly became intense, surrounding him.

When he inhaled this fragrance, his body gradually became weak.

With a clang, the long sword in his hand fell to the bluestone floor with a crisp crash.

At this moment, his hands and feet became heavy and stiff like stones, and Heymos knelt on the ground powerlessly.

He was gasping for breath, and his blurred vision vaguely saw the carvings on the bluestone slab under his feet.

...a familiar rune pattern used for sacrifice...

The flames flickered all around, and he suddenly understood.

He thought that he was choosing the way forward based on his feelings, but it was not the case. There seemed to be an invisible force in the dark, like a fragrance that came and went, guiding him without a trace and luring him here.

He knelt on the ground, everything in his sight was shaking, and even the light of the fire dimmed a little.

painful.

But not physical pain.

That was something more unbearable than physical pain.

That piece of memory that he tried so hard to forget, seemed to be pulled out of his mind by an invisible force at this moment, and played back in front of his eyes again and again.

……

On the huge altar, bluestone slabs are spread in the center.

There are mysterious lines carved on it, extending one after another on the black and blue stone slab.

The dark night sky, a crescent moon.

But the moonlight was as blood-red as blood, inexplicably giving people a creepy feeling.

The lines engraved on the black cyan slate are all blood red. They are not smeared with paint, but blood flows from the disc in the middle along the surrounding lines like a thin stream, filling the lines on the altar slate. blood.

The strong breath of blood spread here.

The bodies of a dozen children were strewn about on the edge of the altar.

Their empty eyes stared at the blood-red meniscus in the sky, and their blood-drained bodies showed an abnormal paleness.

The lines on the black and blue altar stone slabs are already filled with their blood.

There is only a little left, as long as there is a little more blood, the blood can flow all over the lines on the edge of the altar.

Heavy panting sounds hurriedly sounded in the altar, and someone slumped on the ground.

However, that was not the last child who was about to be sacrificed.

A believer of the All Things Sect in a black and blue robe sat slumped on the ground, his eyes widened in horror, as if there was a devil standing in front of him, his face was distorted by fear, and he looked like a ghost.

His fingers dug hard into the ground, his pale lips trembled, and he let out a sob that was almost forced from his throat.

His pupils, magnified to the limit that a living person can reach due to fear, trembled and reflected the scene in front of him.

The young boy stood in the middle of the altar. With a wave of his hand, the dagger in his hand pierced through the eyes of a man under his feet, piercing his head completely.

The spattered blood stained half of his cheek and dyed his jet-black hair red.

The boy's eyes were dauntingly ruthless, revealing his ferocity.

Beside him are dozens of corpses scattered all over the place—all of them were killed by him.

The man sitting paralyzed on the ground saw with his own eyes that the eyes of this young child who was supposed to be the last sacrifice were about to have his throat cut open, his eyes burst into red light like blood.

He went mad in an instant.

Then, the child, who went berserk, killed everyone present.

Yes, everyone, he too will be killed soon.

The still warm blood flowed out from under the corpses beside the boy, soaking the boy's brown bare feet in it.

The boy who killed another person turned his head and his eyes fell on him.

The man gasped for breath.

Can't tell why.

His hands were shaking, his body was shaking.

Obviously the other party was just a young child, but that gaze made people tremble, making him tremble uncontrollably.

The boy's blood-stained feet stepped on the ground, and the blood-red footprints, like the god of death from hell, walked towards him step by step.

Like a frog stared at by a poisonous snake, he sat paralyzed on the ground, unable to move.

He opened his eyes wide, staring at the boy.

Maybe it was the extreme fear, or maybe it was the scene of his companions dying tragically at the boy's hands that stimulated his mental breakdown, so he suddenly giggled.

"You can't escape..."

He spoke in a hoarse voice.

His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the boy who was walking towards him covered in blood.

He giggled, his laugh was weird, and his face was twisted badly.

"...you have been branded and become a sacrifice to the Mother Goddess of all things..."

The skin on the boy's back was branded with a branding iron, soaked in paint, and painted into bright red runes.

A rune that symbolizes the Cult of All Things.

"Hehe, you can't escape...you can't escape..."

"Your hands are stained with so much blood...that's our blood, it has seeped into your body and merged with you...forever..."

"You will become one with us..."

The blood on that body reflected the moonlight, as if covering the young child with a layer of terrifying blood.

The dagger in his hand pierced the heart of the man who kept talking.

"You can never escape..."

The believers of Wanwu Sect who fell in a pool of blood smiled sinisterly, their eyes were like the eyes of dead fish, staring at each other intently.

"Even if you fail this time...but one day...one day...the great god will guide you back to the imperial court..."

There was blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, but he kept on talking.

He let out a final high-pitched cry before dying.

"You are the chosen sacrifice...you are destined to dedicate all your flesh and soul to the great God of All Things!"

The last word fell, and the believer stopped breathing.

He stared straight at the boy with eyes so wide that they were almost cracked, strange and terrifying.

The boy fell to his knees.

Just now he had killed everyone in a frenzy and looked like a devil in the eyes of others. At this moment, his thin shoulders were shaking uncontrollably.

His breathing was rapid and heavy, as if he was about to be out of breath.

Clang, the dagger fell to the ground.

The boy knelt on the ground, looking at his hands, trembling hands, hands stained with blood.

Slowly closing his eyes, he clenched his hands that were stained red.

The blood-red moonlight fell on the desperate face of the boy kneeling on the ground.

…………

........................

That painful... childhood memory that he didn't want to recall eroded his mind, as if the pain of the young child at that time was once again imprinted on his body at this moment.

Heymos knelt on the ground, his forehead was dripping with cold sweat.

There seemed to be a huge black hole in his body expanding little by little, trying to swallow him up.

He tried his best to keep himself awake, but he couldn't match the fragrance that surrounded him and made his thoughts gradually trance.

His whole body seemed to be falling into darkness little by little...

At the last moment, he reached forward unconsciously.

It's like asking someone for help.

...Garlan.