It was as if a cold lightning bolt had slashed silently. The anger and hatred that had boiled in every drop of blood, and nowhere to vent, whistled sharply in his ears, and the horn of revenge, which made him unable to rest for a moment, was all frozen in sudden fear.

That was the deepest fear. It's like standing on a cliff, teetering in the winds that don't know where to go, and further under your feet is an abyss with no light to illuminate, a hell with no hope of redemption.

The fall may also be a complete relief, when he has nothing left......

But he didn't have nothing - he just turned a blind eye.

He curled up in his shell, holding his pain and despair, resentful of the injustice of fate, rejecting every hand he stretched out, like rejecting the silent holding of the rose in the night.

He stubbornly stared at his bloody wounds, crying and cursing, hating that the world hadn't collapsed because of his loss...... But it never occurred to him to look back and see what he still had, and what he still had the opportunity to create, something better.

Vala would never be proud of him now, for him like this.

The right hand slowly fell, and the dagger hung limply to the ground. Ed took a step back and looked at Ante Bofford in a daze, the once aggressive king described as withered, dejected, desperate and crazy, still hateful and disgusting...... It's also sympathetic.

He didn't know what look was on his face, but it obviously stung Ante.

When the king suddenly regained control of his body and roared and swung his sword at him. Ed realized that his spell had failed.

The sword was unexpectedly swift with boundless rage. Unprepared, Ed hurriedly stepped back and instinctively raised his sword. But he knew very well that he couldn't dodge it, and he couldn't stop it.

What grabbed his vest...... At that moment, Ed gave up hope completely.

There is indeed a trap in this room...... Is it?

He looked back in a daze, the sparks of the sword clashing out of the corner of his eye—and then he was thrown aside, and he fell to the screen in the corner.

Ed was stunned for a moment, then quickly got up, his mood indescribably complicated for a while.

He also thought he had managed to avoid everyone......

There was silence behind him. He looked back. Scott and Ante were seen standing face to face, silent and motionless. It was as if someone had been immobilized and silenced at the same time.

The stagnant air was as heavy as if it had died, and in the silence, Ed could clearly hear his own rapid breathing and heartbeat.

“...... Scott ......"

Ante finally opened his mouth and dazedly spat out the names of his former friends.

"Ante. Scott responded coldly.

It's like finally realizing that what is in front of you is not a dream. Ante jerked back. Let out a terrible scream that is nearing death.

Scott frowned, slightly surprised.

Ante's voice pierced his eardrums, almost like some kind of invisible attack, as if he didn't expect him to be alive at all...... That's kind of weird.

He didn't bother to hide his whereabouts since retrieving Lowell's body, and many people were able to tell Ante the news...... But Ante may have a hard time believing it. After all, he had personally watched his body begin to burn.

Revenge wasn't Scott's only purpose in life, but he couldn't deny it, for a long time. He had imagined countless times what it would be like to stand in front of Ante again, and he had a hint of revenge in his fantasies.

In the Pomegranate Room, he had the opportunity to make his fantasy come true. But at that time, looking at the familiar and strange man in front of him, he only had disgust in his heart - just like now.

So small and weak...... It's not worth his hands at all.

Ignoring the still twitching and staccato screaming, the King on the verge of collapse and the crash outside the door, he turned back to Ed.

"Do you still want to kill him?" he asked.

Ed looked at him, then at Ante, and shook his head wakily.

"Let's go, then. He grabbed Ed's arm and whispered, "Let's go home." ”

Teleportation was now nothing more than a matter of thought to him—but after a thought, they stayed where they were.

Scott shook his head and chuckled lowly at Ed's somewhat dazed gaze.

A trap. It doesn't prevent people from entering, it doesn't prevent spellcasting or fighting, but it activates when they try to leave...... The man who set this trap didn't care whether Ante Bofrud was alive or dead, the pathetic king was nothing more than a decoy. And there are not many people who can set this kind of trap, and even he can trap it.

Lydia Bell -- He shouldn't be surprised.

Ante is selfish, suspicious, and greedy, but not so dim and vulnerable. No matter what tricks Lydia had in his head, she had turned him into a pawn that could be discarded at any time.

The sturdy wooden door slammed open, shattering the two massive glass windows at the same time, and the firelight poured in with the torn curtains, overpowering the dimming flames that Ed had created.

"That's really...... A pleasant surprise. Aaron Mancini's pretentious voice came from behind the crowd, "Ed Singall, the false sage, and Scott Christus, the legendary hero—the hero who should have died. ”

Scott didn't even bother to turn his head to look at him. They had met a few times, but he had never taken that hypocritical and slick fat man seriously.

“...... You should be dead......" The King, who was also ignored, muttered in distraction, "You can't be alive...... I watched you burn...... Watch you burn ......"

- But you didn't see the end. You don't even have the courage to see the end.

"Maybe I just want to come back and ask you why the hell did you have to kill me. Scott replied coldly, "I thought we were friends." ”

He considered a way to get out. Even if you can't use teleportation, it's not hard to leave...... But the words he blurted out unexpectedly rekindled his anger.

He really used to think they were friends.

They fought side by side, sharing wine and music together. promised each other that the feud between the families would become another emotional but insignificant prelude to the great legend they created...... Those once blood-boiling lies. Looking back on it now, it still makes a dull pain somewhere in my heart.

He didn't expect Ante to really answer.

"We are...... Friend. The king looked at him in amazement, "I have never had a friend. But the more precious I give, the more I receive...... I was given such a promise, a promise made by God...... If it's not you, it's Moira...... But the gods are dead, the gods are dead......"

He gradually became incoherent. The voice shattered into a hissing sound that I didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

A few soldiers dragged away the king, who no longer had any respect. Scott withdrew his gaze, pity, disdain, and anger crushing to his chest.

He could see the cold light of the flickering weapons outside the window, and the hallway outside the door was probably just as crowded with enemies. Fire is not a magic trick to him. He could still easily turn this place into a sea of fire...... But as he slipped in with Ed, he heard the servants talking, Moira...... And her children were here, and out of sight, his flames couldn't tell who was innocent.

Ed whispered a few incantations. Then he looked at him with some panic.

"I can't ......," he said.

"I know. Scott replied. "It's okay...... Follow me. ”

He also has a sword.

Moira stood straight—against the wall.

She had to do this, and if there was nothing to lean on, she would fall to the ground with a heavy fall, shattered like a statue made of ice and snow.

She failed to make it to Ante's room. The guards stopped her aside, but when the door was slammed open, she could hear every word coming from inside, and they froze her blood little by little.

Agnes was right...... She never really saw it clearly.

A cold sword of disappointment pierced into his heart, and memories slashed across his eyes. Ridiculously. At this moment, all she could think of was all the good he had.

Ante always liked to tell her. He had been obsessed with her since he first met her, but she had no memory of the first time they met. At a banquet, he said...... When she was young, she was absent-minded at all the banquets, and even now it is no different...... But he would tolerate her absent-mindedness, even if she was already a queen. He tolerated her innocence and laziness, tolerated her roughness, and cared for her as if she were the most delicate flower in the world......

The memories were so bright and vague that it was impossible to tell if they were true or not.

But she vividly remembered the first time she met Scott.

At that time, the war had not yet subsided, and the outcome was unknown. Under the protection of her father and brother, she carried her newborn child to see his father, whom he might never see again. She had seen many strange young men in Ante's camp, and she remembered every face vividly—perhaps because she had just walked through a battlefield of fire and blood and couldn't understand why they could still laugh. But that's ...... A smile that made her want to fight them with a sword.

Scott is one of them, blonde and blue-eyed, and laughs like a clear summer sky, without a hint of shadow.

"This is my best friend - my brother. Ante solemnly introduced him to Moira.

Scott smiled at her and hugged Frederick, her little baby. His posture looks extremely skillful.

"He has a very small brother...... It could also be his illegitimate child. Ante mysteriously told her, "They say he's a good diaper changer too." ”

She couldn't help but laugh.

Scott was a paladin, and he shouldn't have had illegitimate children. But at the time, no one seemed to care about that - after all, when you could die tomorrow, a lot of things don't matter so much.

Ante didn't die...... When he was crowned king, Scott was not in the cheering crowd.

He's missing - that's what people say. Vala spent ten years searching non-stop. No one knows...... No one knew that His Majesty had turned his best friend into a blood-colored carpet in front of his throne.

Her Ante ...... How could such a thing happen?

Moira watched blankly as the guards dragged the man she no longer knew from her. There was no shadow of her in his empty eyes...... She couldn't erase his smile from her memory.

The first screams rang in my ears. The clashing of weapons continued, and countless people crowded the doorway in the firelight, armor clashing against each other, and the light jumping on the metal made her dizzy.

"Moira?" Agnes held out her hand, "we'd better leave, a man who has come back from the dead won't be so easy to deal with, though I don't know if he's ever really died...... But I think he's going to have to die again. ”

Even in this situation, her tone remained nonchalant.

- He didn't deserve to die once.

Moira shook her head, pushed away the wall, tried to stand firm, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Stop!".

(To be continued......)