A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

Garlan was in a trance for a moment, when suddenly, a drop of cold water dripped from the tip of his wet hair onto the tip of his nose.

With a click, he woke up with a jerk.

He looked intently and found that the black-robed priest was still walking down the stone steps unhurriedly.

Even, the other party didn't seem to speak at all.

The people around him were just watching the black-robed priest vigilantly, including Heymos who was beside him, and they didn't make any response.

It's like...they didn't hear what the black robe priest said at all.

From the beginning to the end, he was the only one who heard the other party's words.

Frowning slightly, he clenched the sword in his hand, and Garlan was about to walk towards the black-robed priest.

He felt that there was no need to waste time, so he simply dealt with this priest directly, and then burned the altar here, and everything was over.

But at this moment, he suddenly smelled a faint fragrance.

When the fragrance lingered around him, it seemed to drive away the bloody smell that had stained him just now.

He was in a trance for a moment, his body suddenly became unstable, he swayed, and he could not help but kneel on the ground on one knee.

Strange... the body doesn't listen.

The aroma was light at first, but it became more and more intense at the end.

Garlan's heart tightened, and he turned around quickly, and was shocked to find that all the knights behind him and Xia had fallen to the ground at some point.

Everyone except him has fallen into a coma.

Hey.

pat.

There was a light knocking sound from above, and Garlan turned his head and looked up.

The priest of the All Things Sect walked down the stone steps step by step, and the bottom of the scepter in his hand knocked on the stone slab, making a light knocking sound.

Although the sound was not loud, it was especially clear in the silent front hall at this moment.

He knelt on the ground on one knee, only to feel the fragrance wafting through his nostrils.

That feeling was as if the priest was walking step by step, and the fragrance would hit him one after another.

From the very light at the beginning to the extremely strong at the back, all the strong smell of blood in the apse separated by a thin layer of veil was driven back.

The entire front hall was enveloped by this strange fragrance, which surrounded him, as if it was seeping into his body little by little, making his consciousness gradually become trance.

The whole body seems to be immersed in soft cotton wool, soft and warm, and the body is extremely comfortable.

The mind gradually empties out.

Think nothing, do nothing.

The whole person became relaxed and lazy because of this.

The bright light in his sight dimmed little by little, and the warm breath as if bathed in the sun surged up, enveloping his whole body...

The long sword in his hand fell to the ground with a snap.

The forehead hair scattered in front of his eyes, casting a deep shadow, covering his sight. Garlan, who was kneeling on the ground, couldn't hold on any longer, and bent over and fell to the ground.

The long golden hair spread out on the stone floor, and the boy fell into a deep dream.

…………

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

"Sia."

Drowsy, he heard a gentle voice calling his name.

The person who called him hugged him with soft hands.

The courtyard bathed in sunshine was very quiet. He closed his eyes and snuggled into that warm embrace nostalgicly.

"Xia, you have to grow up quickly."

The girl hugging him looked at him softly, and said with a light smile, "You are the prince of Kanal, you must become strong quickly and protect Kanal well."

I will.

Miss Wang.

I'm going to grow up, I'm going to be strong, I'm going to protect you, I'm going to protect Kanal.

The child answered in his heart.

But in an instant, the peaceful courtyard shattered like a bubble.

Boundless flames of war ignited on the originally prosperous land.

He stood blankly in the snow-white palace, listening to the sound of the heavy iron hooves resounding on the land of Kanal.

He saw countless corpses with broken arms falling in the city where the war was spreading, the flames burned the city, and the blood stained the ground.

He saw the tall tower, the snow-white tower was extremely bright under the sun.

The whistling north wind brought a bloody smell from afar, lifted the long skirt of the girl standing on the top of the tower, and covered her face with her long golden hair flying up.

"Sister Wang, don't leave me behind."

The little child begged and stretched out his hand to the figure.

catch her.

he thinks.

Hold on to her, he wants to go with her to father and brother, he doesn't want to be left alone.

However, just when his hand was about to grab the corner of the opponent's clothes.

The girl jumped up.

His long golden hair spread out in the bright sky, and his desperately stretched out hand caught nothing.

With a bang, the girl's body hit the ground heavily.

The moment he landed, the shattered flesh and blood splashed out, covering his head and face——

The little child stood there blankly, staring blankly at the lump of flesh and blood on the ground that could no longer see its original appearance.

……

"She left you."

A deep voice suddenly rang in his stunned ears.

"no……"

He subconsciously wanted to refute.

"She left you alone in this world, she escaped, but let you face the cruel future alone."

"It's not like this!"

He yelled, hoarse.

But his vigorous rebuttal seemed more like trying to cover up his inner wavering.

"It's not like this...she is protecting me...to keep me alive, so she—"

"She is free, and all the pain is on your body."

"no……"

The little child shook his head, tears welling from his eyes.

He didn't want to admit it.

But that's what happened.

That voice dug out the darkest place in his heart, his deep-seated resentment.

He didn't know when it would start, but he couldn't help thinking about it vaguely in his heart.

Abandoned by his relatives, he was forced to struggle alone in the world and endure all the suffering.

Why is he?

he thinks.

Why did he have to endure those tortures?

"Prince of Kanal."

The deep voice continued to sound in front of him.

He stood where he was, raised his tear-stained face, and stared blankly ahead.

On the high altar, a priest in black and blue robes stood on the stone steps, standing calmly.

He looked down at him in a condescending manner.

It's like a god looking down on the tiny beings, cruel and ruthless.

"Kanal's demise has long been preordained," he said.

"Is it already... doomed..."

If everything is already doomed.

So what are his struggles so far?

The child stood there blankly, his gaze gradually becoming silent.

"That is its fate, and it is also yours."

...the head of the father raised high by the flagpole...

...Brother Wang who was pierced through the chest by a silver gun and fell unwillingly...

Under the snow-white tower, the shattered Sister Wang...

...to be displaced...in the end, he was betrayed and surrounded by countless Gastadians...

Also, the cruelty he suffered...

That scene seemed to be staged before his eyes again.

That is fate.

Someone told him so.

Kanal's fate, his fate, everyone's fate was sealed.

The soft and low voice of the black-robed priest echoed in his ears.

"Fate never changes."

Therefore, all his struggles were in vain.

His so-called persistence is nothing but joy and a joke in the eyes of the gods.

The child stood dazed.

The lights around him were extremely bright, but he couldn't see a glimmer of light in his eyes, and all thoughts were extinguished, leaving only darkness.

...He tried to resist fate in vain, that's why he was punished like this...

In a trance, he seemed to have returned to the past.

On that tall white tower, he stood, with the wind whistling past him.

His sister Wang was by his side, holding his hand and showing him a gentle smile.

Then, take a leap.

Sister Wang took his hand and led him to jump down from the tower.

It's destiny.

irresistible.

He is doomed, along with his family, and his kingdom, to perish.

…………

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

A bright light illuminated the whole nave and also the face of Heymos.

Staring fixedly at the robed priest on the high platform, there was an undisguised killing intent in his eyes.

Clenching the sharp sword in his hand, he took big steps and walked straight forward.

Taking three steps in parallel, he quickly climbed up the stone steps and rushed to the robed priest.

Cut down with a sword without hesitation.

The blade easily split the robe priest's body, cutting him into two pieces.

Blood spattered Heymos' face and fell into his eyes.

The scorching heat stabbed his eyes with a dull pain, making him close them subconsciously.

When he opened his eyes again, the originally bright environment suddenly became dark.

Everything in front of my eyes has changed.

His people stood on the ground, and the bloody moonlight fell around.

At his feet, countless corpses lay in this open-air altar bathed in blood-red moonlight.

The dagger in his hand was dripping with blood.

He is still very young.

A young child stood in the center of the altar, and the carved black and blue stone slabs stretched out infinitely around him, and thousands of dead corpses stretched out infinitely in all directions around him, with no end in sight.

He stood alone among the mountains of corpses and the sea of ​​blood, blankly looking at everything in front of him, looking at his blood-stained hands.

He killed so many people.

His hands were stained with the blood of so many people.

After a daze, a priest in a black robe suddenly appeared in front of him.

"You are the one chosen by the God of All Things, come, offer your life and soul."

The low voice was extremely deceptive.

He held out his hand to him.

"Come... to become one with the great god."

He took a step forward.

When the corner of the black-robed priest's mouth raised a smile, he stabbed the dagger in his hand into the opponent's body expressionlessly——

Suddenly the world spun, and the scene in front of him collapsed.

In the blink of an eye, he was already in the palace.

Suddenly hearing a clang, he raised his head subconsciously, and saw a sharp arrow hitting the fire plate on the pillar heavily.

The copper basin tumbled from the sky, caught off guard, and the burning coals fell on his body.

With a bang, the flame ignited violently, and the tongue of flame quickly burned half of his body along with the jet black liquid covering his body.

The raging fire was burning, engulfing him whole.

The red flames burned his skin, his flesh and blood, and almost dried up his bone marrow——

He was insanely in pain, but he could only watch helplessly as his body was burned to pieces.

He saw his appearance in the mirror, which was neither human nor ghost.

He sat on the huge and cold throne with this half of his body that he thought was too ugly to be human, looking down at the trembling crowd who knelt down to him.

He is alive, but it is as if he is dead.

……

"That is your fate."

The familiar hoarse voice sounded in his ears again, which made Heymos wake up suddenly.

He didn't know when he knelt on the ground with one knee, grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands, and supported his body with the long sword.

He was panting violently, sweat dripping down his forehead.

The severe pain in his body when he was burned alive by the flames, and the heart-pounding pain of living with a mutilated body seemed to still remain in his body.

But his eyes are still sharp, no amount of pain can shake him a bit.

Heymos raised his eyes, looking coldly at the direction of the sound.

"From the beginning, you have been chosen by my God."

Under his feet, the upper half of his body was right in front of his eyes.

The black-robed priest whose body was broken was still alive strangely.

Most of the other party's face was still hidden under the pitch-black hood, and he could only see the other party's lips constantly opening and closing, talking to him constantly.

"To become one with the great god, to dedicate body and soul to my god, to dedicate everything, to let the great god of all things descend into the world—that is your destiny."

The other party sighed ramblingly.

"You can't escape, you have the brand that God gave you on your body..."

The sharp sword stabbed down sharply, piercing through the head that was still talking.

Heymos pierced the opponent's head with a sword expressionlessly.

"I don't care how you pretend to be a ghost, if I can't kill you once, I will kill you the second, third, and countless times until I kill you completely."

He stood up and drew his sword.

Then he stomped the still talking head heavily to pieces.

But the moment he crushed that head with one foot, the scene in front of him suddenly changed again.

The stone palace disappeared before his eyes, and the surroundings suddenly turned into a fighting battlefield.

He heard the familiar sound of hooves trampling the ground, galloping across the ground.

In the dark of night, flames burn in the city, illuminating the night sky.

Countless sharp arrows flew in the flames like rain.

Houses were set on fire, and people were crying and fleeing in all directions.

The Aaron Landis cavalry in black and red armor and the Jastad cavalry in white armor fought fiercely in the dark night, and the sound of the clash of weapons echoed in the night sky.

They were surrounded by the Gastadians and blocked in a square in the city. One by one, the Aaron Landis cavalry were beheaded by the Gastadian cavalry under their horses.

Heymos saw Garlan on the battlefield. The boy was guarded by many Aaron Landis cavalry, fighting hard together with everyone.

The armor on the boy's body, as well as the golden hair, have been splashed with blood.

The moment Heymos saw Garlan, suddenly, he felt his hand move by itself.

He raised a strong bow in front of him.

Bow and arrow.

The direction of the arrow pointed straight to where the blond boy was in the night.

A huge sense of panic surged out of his body, and he tried his best to drop the strong bow in his hand, but at this moment, his body completely violated his will.

It was as if an invisible powerful force controlled him, making him raise an arrow towards Garlan in the distance.

stop!

He desperately wanted to stop all this, but no matter how hard he struggled, his hands steadily opened the bow, and the arrow pointed forward.

His hand pulled the bowstring to the limit that it was about to burst.

The sharp arrow pointed at Garlan's back on the battlefield.

stop--!

No one could hear the roar in his heart.

humming sound.

The arrow pierced through the air.

A long arc was drawn across the night sky, and then, it pierced fiercely through the back of Garlan's heart.

The boy fell off his horse and fell to the ground.

His golden hair sank into the mud, and blood poured out from his chest, staining the ground red.

The pupils dilated suddenly, Heymos stood there sluggishly, his hands and feet were cold.

The noise of the battlefield seemed to be far away from him at this moment, and the whole world fell into dead silence.

It seemed that the moment the boy closed his eyes, his heart froze.

He killed Garlan.

with his own hands...

"That's fate. You and him are twins of fate."

A hoarse voice whispered in his ear, surrounding him.

"When you live, he will die at your hands."

"impossible……"

"He will die because of you."

"Do not……"

"You know it's true, you can feel it, it's the truth."

"…shut up………"

"Among you, there is always someone who will die because of each other."

"shut up!"

The voice echoed in his ears, proclaiming the cruelest prophecies.

"You will never be able to coexist in this world!"

It's destiny.

…………

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

When conscious, he felt that someone was pinching his jaw, the force was so great that he almost thought his jaw was crushed like this.

The cold liquid poured down his throat and flowed into his body, and the poison ignited clusters of flames in his body.

The internal organs of the body seemed to be burning with flames, and it was almost painful.

His wildly waving hands grabbed the skirt of the person in front of him forcefully.

Opening his eyes, he gasped for breath.

He saw those golden-red eyes, familiar yet unfamiliar.

The man who forcibly poured the venom into his mouth stared at him, his eyes were like the vertical pupils of a poisonous snake, cold and cruel.

...Heymos...

The severe pain made his body tremble with pain, he opened his mouth with difficulty, but the throat corroded by the venom could not make a sound.

Suddenly, it went dark, and then lighted up again in the blink of an eye.

Everything around has changed.

The cold rain hit his face, his eyes and mouth were open, but he couldn't breathe.

The throat was tightly strangled.

His feet were empty, hanging in the air, and the pain of suffocation caused tears to ooze from the corners of his eyes.

Below him is the sky.

The man stood on the edge of the high attic platform, with one hand choking his throat vigorously and lifting him high into the air.

Then, the hand loosened.

He fell from a height.

Instinctively, he stretched out his hand, wanting to ask for help from the person who killed him in front of him.

For some reason, he always felt that this person should grab his hand and hug him tightly.

But the man just stood there, looking down at him coldly.

His hands didn't grab anything after all.

He fell heavily from a high cliff.

The moment he landed, he was surrounded by flames, and he was in a sea of ​​flames. The flames were boundless, like a prison that imprisoned him.

He was lying on the ground, and the heat wave rolled, wave after wave.

The smoky, burning dust made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He lay alone and helpless in the sea of ​​flames, and the dust in his throat gradually blurred his consciousness.

In his blurred vision, he saw a familiar figure standing outside the sea of ​​flames.

He saw the man staring straight at him with vicious and violent eyes, like quenched poison, full of resentment and killing intent.

At this moment, suddenly, the torrential rain poured down.

The sea of ​​flames dissipated in an instant.

He saw a man with blood-red eyes striding towards him, and his fierce aura almost enveloped the whole world.

He opened his eyes and watched the man raise the sharp sword in his hand and stab it fiercely into his chest.

The piercing pain swept through the whole body from the chest, the pain was so painful that people almost went crazy——

……

"Are you willing?"

The boy lay quietly on the ground, his blond hair was soaked by the pattering rain.

Rainwater mixed with blood flowed down from under him.

The sharp sword piercing his chest nailed his whole body to the ground.

As he was about to die, he looked blankly at the rainy sky.

"Being killed again and again, forced to go through all this... Are you willing?"

Of course not reconciled.

I had to leave the hometown where I grew up and come to such a strange place.

Alone.

No matter how hard he struggled, he was killed again and again.

Why did he have to bear all this?

"This is destiny. It was doomed from the very beginning, and no one can change it."

No.

The gods let him come here just to change his fate.

He dies again and again and comes back, just to change everything.

"Do you really think so?"

The voice let out a low laugh.

"Didn't you ever think that bringing you here to experience death after death is the original destiny?"

... the original fate?

wrong.

He changed the fate of many people, he saved the lives of many people.

"Nothing has changed. Your so-called change and salvation are the established trajectory."

The voice around his ears carried a deep sense of mockery.

"You can't change the established trajectory—just like the king of the lion, fate wants him to die there, so you can't save him."

"You can't save someone who is doomed."

The pupils of the boy who was lying quietly on the ground contracted violently.

【I've saved countless people, but only... I can't save the person I want to save the most. 】

Excessive blood loss made his lips extremely pale. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but his lips trembled slightly, but he couldn't say anything after all.

He lay on the ground, staring blankly at the sky.

The long black and blue pendulum passed before his eyes, and the black-robed priest appeared before his eyes at some point.

He stood beside him, looking down at him.

"The son of the gods?" the black-robed priest said with a light smile, "No, you are just a pawn in the hands of the gods, a puppet tied by the thread of fate, and every move you make can only follow the established trajectory."

He's just... a pawn in the hands of the gods?

"It's destiny."

If everything is preordained, then what is the point of him coming to this world and enduring the pain of dying again and again...

The heart-piercing pain came in bursts, making people feel unbearable, and blood flowed under his body.

He seemed to be able to feel the life passing away from his body little by little.

His body gradually became cold, his consciousness became blurred little by little, and he sank into a bottomless abyss...

…………

A gust of wind suddenly whizzed by, blowing the open window and making a soft bang.

The boy who had been sleeping quietly on the desk all this time woke up suddenly.

The lights were on in the room, and the lamp tubes emitted soft and bright light, illuminating the room as if it were daytime.

He was stunned to find that he was lying on the desk, the half-written test paper was unfolded in front of him, and he was still holding a pen in his hand.

Strange...how could he be here?

No.

No, he was already here.

Why did he have the illusion that he shouldn't be here?

Sleepy?

His head was dizzy and painful, the boy put down his pen, raised his hand and rubbed his temple.

Probably in the recent period, I was too tired to stay up until midnight every night to cope with the exam.

He thought with a wry smile.

Unexpectedly, halfway through brushing the questions, he fell asleep directly on the desk.

He yawned and stretched his limbs that were a little stiff from sleeping. He got up and went to the living room, opened the refrigerator, and took out a bottle of cold soda.

He raised his head and drank a few sips, the refreshing stimulation made his mind clearer.

Holding a water bottle, the young man stood in front of the refrigerator with his head tilted, his eyes were full of doubts.

Speaking of which, when he fell asleep just now, he seemed to have had a very long dream.

Not only is it long, but it is also very strange.

But I can't remember the specific content... I just vaguely remember that his experience in the dream was not very good.

He seems to have been killed by someone, and more than once.

Moreover, in the dream, he seems to have lost someone who is very important to him... Even if he can't remember who that person is, as long as he thinks about it, he will feel a faint feeling of worry in his heart, which makes his chest tight It's hard.

The boy shook his head vigorously, trying to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling.

forget about it.

Why think about uncomfortable things.

Since it's a nightmare, forget it.

He rubbed his head vigorously again, and couldn't help complaining.

Staying up late to take exams is miserable enough, why is it so miserable even to have a dream?

After pouring down a bottle of soda to drive away the drowsiness that haunted him, he casually glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall as he walked quickly back to his room.

But maybe it was because the lights in the living room were not turned on, and the clock was hidden in the darkness, so he couldn't see the time with a casual glance.

He didn't care about it either, and sat back at the desk, picked up the pen and buried himself in the half-finished test paper again, completely forgetting that strange dream.

……

forget it.

It was just a dream, a nightmare that made you miserable.