A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

"Trust me, jump off—"

Novi knelt on the edge of the dirt cliff, looking down at Garlan who opened his hand to him.

His hands are clenched tightly.

The dark blue eyes were flickering, obviously struggling hard.

Can't trust that guy.

No one can believe it.

...the people he could trust are no longer in this world...

He also has a blood feud.

He must live, and he must live by whatever means.

From such a high place, he would probably die if he jumped off.

And if, as the man said, he would catch him, the other party's arm would definitely suffer a lot of damage, and might even break a bone.

So, in case the person below is just lying to him...or, if he regrets halfway...

That's right, I can't believe it.

In this world, no one can trust you except yourself.

Novi's fingertips almost dug deep into the ground. He took a deep breath and forced himself to look away from Garlan below.

Either way.

Originally, the matter had nothing to do with this person, it was me who made him suffer.

So it doesn't matter if this person can escape, I won't feel guilty.

As for myself, I simply followed the idea just now, directly invested in the teaching of all things, and used the power of the teaching of all things to avenge myself.

The child thought, stood up, turned and walked the way he came.

At the end of the long road, in the stone gate, several believers of Wanwu Sect in black and blue robes appeared from it.

Seeing the boy standing alone in front of the broken circuit, they looked surprised and rushed towards him impatiently.

Novi stood expressionlessly at the end of the broken road, watching the cultists approaching him.

Soon, he will be one of them.

Even doing the same thing as them, killing countless innocent children as sacrifices...

No matter how indifferent his face was, the child's clenched knuckles were extremely white.

Do you really want to be one of these monsters in human skin?

Do you want to kill innocent children with your own hands and shed their blood like these people?

Is he really... going to become the person he once hated the most?

In one thought, it is hell.

The child looked blankly at his hands.

He had only just remembered the warmth of his sister's hand... the same as the man's hand...

[Come on, follow me. 】

【Run forward, don't look back. 】

【Believe me! 】

……

The important prey was right in front of him, and the child who had nowhere to go seemed to have given up on running away, and stood there blankly, motionless.

The child lowered his head and bit his lower lip. His fluffy and messy forehead hair was scattered in front of his eyes, blocking most of his face, making it difficult for people to see the expression on his face.

The believers of the All Things Cult don't care what their prey is thinking at the moment, after all, the order they received is only to catch this alive.

The one who rushed to the front was only a few steps away from the boy.

Less than 100 meters away.

Just a few more seconds.

It will be here soon, he stretches out his hand, and grabs the child who is close at hand——

However, at this moment, the child who had been standing still quietly turned around suddenly.

The child rushed to the broken road ahead.

Even though there was a high cliff in front of him, he used all his strength to rush forward fiercely.

Then, take a leap.

The outstretched hand of the All Things Cult believer at the front grabbed nothing.

He opened his eyes wide, but he could only watch the thin figure fall before his eyes.

……

One thought of hell.

One thought of heaven.

A weightless body falls from a height.

The wind whistled in the ears, and there was a terrible humming.

The wind that brushed against his cheeks cut his skin like a knife.

The heart almost stopped beating and jumped out of his mouth.

He opened his eyes with difficulty, but was surprised to see that the boy waiting at the bottom of the cliff had retreated some distance away from the place where he fell.

The bottom of his heart suddenly became terrified.

Are you going to die?

he thinks.

Did he believe it wrong?So is he going to die here?

At this moment, the boy standing not far away suddenly moved.

Garlan rushed towards the place where Novi fell.

Just before Novi was about to fall to the ground, Garlan jumped forward.

He didn't reach out to pick up Novi directly, but reached out to grab Novi's hand and collar, and tugged hard in the air.

Looking from the side, it seemed that Garlan slammed forward, sending Novi who had fallen vertically sideways.

Novi felt his body being pulled by a strong force, and his whole body rolled in the air.

He was pulled, turned, and hugged by Garlan.

The two drew an arc in the air and fell obliquely to the ground.

The huge momentum and inertia made them unable to hold back their momentum, and the two of them rolled on the ground more than a dozen times without stopping.

In the end, there was a plop, and it just rolled and fell into the underground river not far away, splashing large swaths of water.

Novi was dizzy and dizzy from the tumbling just now, and suddenly fell into the water, and he, who couldn't swim, was frightened and struggled desperately.

Just after he choked several times in panic, someone pulled him up from the bottom of the water, who was about to sink.

As soon as he surfaced, he didn't care about other things, subconsciously hugged the person who picked him up tightly, and then coughed violently, until the corners of his eyes turned red.

Fortunately, his whole body is dripping wet now, and his face is so wet that people can't tell whether the drops of water seeping from the corners of his red eyes are dripping from his forehead hair, or...

He thought, it must be just the physiological tears he coughed up, without any other meaning.

Thinking of this, he suppressed the soreness from the tip of his nose and continued to cough desperately.

While coughing, he grasped the person beside him tightly.

After a while, he regained his breath and slowly opened his eyes.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the young man in front of him.

The young man was originally covered in dust, and his face was stained gray and black by dust and blood stains, so that he could barely see his original appearance.

But at this moment, the originally gray long hair was soaked in the water, revealing the original golden luster, even in the dark underground, it seemed to be shining.

Most of the face was washed clean, revealing the true face of the boy.

The child's dark blue pupils shrank violently for a moment.

At this moment, he seemed to have returned to the past.

A long time ago, in that bright garden, when his important people were still by his side, his royal father smiled and unfolded the picture scroll of a beautiful blond boy in front of him and his sister.

"...Garlan...the Crown Prince?"

He stared blankly at the same face as in the portrait, and yelled out the name as if dreaming.

Carrying the already sluggish boy, Garlan smiled at him, and then led him to swim towards the river.

They rolled down the underground river under inertia, rushing a little far away from the shore.

Trying to swim to the river, Garlan just stretched out his hand, and before he had time to grab the rocks by the river, he suddenly heard a creak, and an arm wearing a black and red gauntlet stretched out in front of his eyes and grabbed his hand .

At the same time, a familiar voice sounded.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Your Majesty."

The blond knight knelt on one knee by the river and firmly held his majesty's hand.

He held onto it tightly, and his one-eyed gaze was fixed on Garlan, as if he was afraid that if he let go or blinked, the other party would disappear in front of his eyes.

He looked at Garlan without blinking, and said with a smile, "I'm glad to see with my own eyes that you are safe and sound."

Accompanied by Keyhos' words, the little black mouse squatting obediently at his feet squeaked twice unwillingly, as if asking for credit.

After all, even if the gravel was removed to open the way to the underground palace, and there was no little black mouse sniffing the way to guide them, it would be impossible for Kaihos and his party to find Gal in this vast underground palace that looked like a maze so quickly. orchid.

In addition to Kaihos, dozens of elite knights who followed him down to look for him also knelt down and knelt behind.

The faces of the knights either showed a look of relief or joy.

"Fortunately, it's not too late, a little earlier than I thought."

Gallan smiled.

He knew Keyhors would find him soon, so even if he didn't know the way out, he wasn't too nervous.

He trusted his guardian knight.

It has always been like this.

"Kaihos, didn't you find Heymos on the way here?"

After scanning around the crowd, Garlan asked without finding the familiar figure.

Keyhos shook his head.

"No trace of Lord Heymos was found."

"Uh... It seems that when I come out in the future, the sachet you gave me must also be given to Heymos."

"It's me who didn't think well."

Kehoes replied.

He also didn't expect Heymos to be separated from Garlan.

After all, whenever he went out, Heymos always followed Garlan closely, never leaving him.

"Ah, yes, go on."

Garlan finally remembered that he still had a child in his arms, and both of them were still submerged in the water.

He pushed the child ashore.

Keyhors reached out and grabbed it with his other hand, and with a gentle lift, he lifted the child out of the water and put it aside.

Then, he lifted Garlan up from the underground river with both hands.

The child didn't seem to have recovered, staring blankly at Garlan.

"Did you save this child?"

"This is..."

Standing by the river, Garlan twisted his wet hair casually.

He looked at Kaihos and asked, "Before you sent a messenger to say that you rescued the prince of West Asia."

When Garlan said these words, he glanced to the side, and he clearly saw that the expression of the little boy who was originally dull suddenly changed.

"I'm sorry, but the cultist tricked me with a double. The prince I rescued was fake."

"I have sent a party of knights to accompany Canal's knights on their quest," said Kyjos.

As for whether he found it, he didn't know.

After all, Garlan was in danger at that time, so he didn't have the heart to take care of the prince of West Asia.

"keep the change."

Garlan said, then lowered his head and smiled at the 'Novi' who pursed his lips.

"Right, Prince West Asia?"

He didn't think much about it at first, thinking that the child was just a sacrifice to escape in the chaos, but then he gradually felt something was wrong.

The behavior of this little boy is not like an ordinary child in any way.

Although he looked very thin and his eyes were a bit fierce, his gestures seemed to have been taught good etiquette—it was not intentional, but he had become used to it naturally.

And... it's just an ordinary sacrifice, believers of All Things Cult will not be so crazy.

Still later, those words that 'Novi' said made him affirm his guess.

When Garlan said that, the child's pupils trembled, and Xia raised her head, looking at the boy in front of her with complicated eyes.

The one he had been looking forward to day and night.

He had imagined countless times the moment when he and the Dauphin would meet.

How to talk to the other party, how to show weakness, and how to impress the other party to help yourself.

He has already simulated countless times in the bottom of his heart.

But he never expected that he would meet with the former crown prince of Aaron Landis and the current king of Aaron Landis in such an incredible way.

Kaihos was taken aback when Garlan said that, and then turned to look at Sia.

"...Prince West Asia?"

He said, staring at West Asia with a questioning look.

After a moment of silence, Shia nodded.

"Yes."

he admitted.

"I am the Prince of West Asia of Kanal."

He bent down and knelt in front of Garlan.

"Thank you for saving me from the All Things Cult, King Garlan, I have been looking forward to meeting you, I..."

He opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a while.

There was a bit of bewilderment in Sia's eyes.

Some kind of inexplicable emotion filled his chest, which swelled so badly that his heart ached.

Obviously have a belly full of words, but don't know what to say.

In a trance, he remembered that day again.

In the garden bathed in bright sunshine, the portrait unfolded, the father and king holding the portrait, and the sister Wang who was stroking her head as if to comfort her...

He closed his eyes and clenched his hands.

Miss Wang.

This must be your guide.

You have been guarding me in the kingdom of heaven, and you led me to this person.

You've always been by my side... haven't you?

"I……"

"Whether it's thank you or something else, there will be a long time for you to say it in the future."

Garland said,

"Now I have to find someone, so don't waste time, it's time to go, keep up."

Find someone?

Xi Ya was stunned for a moment, and when she looked up, she saw that Garlan had already left. Regardless of the complicated thoughts in her heart, she quickly got up and chased after him.

He followed Garlan step by step, remembering the conversation between Garlan and Kaihos he had just heard, and asked in a low voice: "Are you going to find that... Your Excellency Heymos?" ?"

Heymos.

Of course he knew this man.

This is the black knight that I admired very much in the past.

Before Garlan could answer, Kaihos suddenly spoke.

"Somewhat something is wrong."

He frowned and looked at the underground river beside him, with a serious look in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, I smell blood."

Kehoes said,

"From the upper reaches of this underground river."

"…………"

Garlan stopped in his tracks.

"His Majesty?"

"Does it smell like blood..."

After a moment of silence, Garlan spoke.

"Follow this underground river and go upstream."

"But……"

"It's more possible to find special places to meet than to search aimlessly."

Garlan said, "If you can feel Kaihos, then Heymos should also be able to feel the abnormality there, and he will most likely go there as well."

In order to find him, Heymos will definitely not let go of any unusual or dangerous places.

"and……"

"and?"

"……nothing."

Garlan looked towards the upper reaches of the underground river.

He obviously didn't have as keen a sense of smell as Kayhos, but he seemed to feel it too, the vaguely rotten and bloody smell permeated the air.

The same breath as in his dream brought some kind of ominous omen.

Like in that direction, something terrible is about to happen...

…………

Garlan and his party walked upstream along the narrow underground river. They were moving very fast, and Xia, who was a little slow, was carried by a knight.

The place they have been walking should be the deeper underground of this stone palace, it is pitch black, and there are almost no traces of artificial carving.

Fortunately, Kaihos brought people down to find Garlan with a torch, so that he could move forward in the dark underground cave.

It didn't take long, not only Keyhors, but more and more people also smelled blood.

The higher you go, the stronger the bloody smell.

As they continued to move forward, everyone found that the water in the underground river had faintly changed color.

And the higher you go, the darker the color.

By the end, it was clearly visible in the faint light of the torches that the water in the underground river had turned red.

At this time, Garlan and his party had already reached the source of this underground river.

In this vast underground grotto like a sky, underground rivers flow out from the cracks in the mountain-like stone wall in front.

Surrounded by black rocks, jagged rocks.

This area is full of Yin Qi, exuding a strange cold air that can penetrate into the bones, and the bugs and spiders that can be seen everywhere in the ground have disappeared, as if the living things here cannot survive, and there is no vitality.

Even the moss that was still all over the stone walls and crevices just now disappeared here.

Along the way, the dark underground cave suddenly had light.

Everyone saw that there were finally artificial traces ahead.

Dozens of rough stone steps appeared in front, and the short stone pillars with braziers burning at the top stood on both sides of the stone steps, illuminating a faint fire in this vast underground grotto.

On the rough stone steps, a huge stone gate stood in front of everyone.

This stone gate is more than ten meters high and looks very majestic.

People standing under this door can only look up, and they look extremely small.

The pitch-black stone exudes a gloomy atmosphere, and the black and blue copper pattern is wrapped on the stone door, reflecting the firelight, exuding the unique cold luster of metal, which looks like a bronze door.

Bronze is wrapped in jet-black forehead stone, which is hollowed out, showing complex patterns on the edge of the stone gate.

In the middle of the stone gate, a huge rune is drawn in a winding bronze pattern.

There was silence, no one spoke.

The faint light of the fire reflected the stone gate, and in the gap below the stone gate, streams of bright red liquid flowed out from under the stone gate like a trickle, flowed over the flat black cyan stone slab in front of the stone gate, and then, along the rough The stone steps flow down.

Like a waterfall of blood.

The strong smell of blood was overwhelming, and the blood that flowed down from the stone steps flowed into the underground river like this, dyeing the water in it bloody.

The scene in front of them made everyone look dignified.

They have already vaguely guessed that behind this huge stone gate, the cultists of the Myriad Things Sect are probably doing terrible things.

The boy's voice sounded in the darkness, breaking the heavy silence at this moment.

"Enter."

Garland said, take the lead and step forward.

Stepping on the rough stone steps dripping with blood, the soles of his boots were instantly stained with blood.

When stepping on the bleeding stone steps to the bluestone plaza above, everyone froze.

The knights looked at the front in disbelief, each of them froze in place as if petrified.

Someone is walking towards them.

Walk towards them from under the majestic and huge stone door inlaid with bronze.

The man stopped in front of the stone gate, like the guardian of that stone gate.

The jet-black boots stepped on the blood gurgling from the ground of the stone gate, splashing bright red blood beads around.

The silver-white long sword was pointed at the ground, and the faint flame reflected the familiar handsome face.

He stepped on the flowing blood and walked towards the crowd.

Beneath the pitch-black hair, the blood-red pupils reflected Garlan and everyone on the opposite side, churning with naked killing intent.