What is evolution? It's not perfect, it's often accompanied by violence, it's a battle between what already exists and what hasn't yet existed. Pen~Fun~Ge www.biquge.info We don't know whether evolution means taking control of the lives of those who have not yet evolved, whether we have become their "gods", and the so-called "morality" has lost its meaning. The question of good versus evil is reduced to a choice - to live or perish.

- Erigus Pierre (Third Age, 1204-1288), "Gods and Evolution"

The forest was so dense that it could not be lighted, and the trees that were hundreds or even thousands of years old were so tall that one could not see the top below, perhaps because the branches and foliage were too luxuriant, because the intertwined tree network was like a huge curtain, covering the sky, the sun, and the view.

Between the towering trees, there is a path that has been overgrown with weeds and left untended due to years of inaccessibility. This forest must be full of all kinds of strange beasts, and although they can't see their true faces, the howls and long chirps that sound from time to time are enough to make people fearful.

The forest that people have given the name "Death" may have had her own name, but it has long been impossible to verify, and for the people who live on this land now, she no longer has a real name, but in recent decades she has been nicknamed "The Forest of Death". If the forest was conscious, perhaps she would have protested against her nickname, why did she represent "death"? Shouldn't the forest embody vitality? Perhaps the only pedestrian in the forest who was walking on the winding path could give her the answer.

The pedestrian was dressed in a robe, with long blond hair scattered behind his back, carrying a rag wrap on his back, and in his right hand he held a staff with a wooden handle, the tip of which shone from time to time. He walked through the endless forest, and seemed to be very familiar with the place. He did not hesitate to take the right path when he came across a fork in the road, and after countless forks in the road, he came to a cavern, a cave that had never been visited by anyone else, and the lush natural curtain and complex forest topography gave the cave perfect cover, and no one would notice its presence if they could not get to it. No, maybe even if you are lucky enough to crack the countless forks in the road and come to the cave, ordinary people will not be able to see it because of the invisible barrier.

The mage raised his hand and with a flick of it, the invisible force that seemed to keep outsiders from approaching vanished. He stepped into the cave, his face seemed absent-minded, full of worries.

He is Bennison Storm, Vassilian's current Archbishop of the Kingdom.

Bennison thought about Joshua's words, "I now know why we live in such a remote corner away from town, why this forest is called the 'Forest of Death,' why we are ostracized and alienated by people, why I don't have a single friend...... "Is Joshua really a friend?

In fact, Bennison himself knew people's prejudices about them, and the reason why he never mentioned it to Joshua was because he didn't want him to be pessimistic about his mission since he was a child, thinking that through his years of teaching and teaching, he would be able to become interested in spells and have a good impression of the archbishop's mission, so that he would not be too resistant to it, but who knew that it would backfire, and it would make him even more disgusted. The power of the Church of Light is still extremely large, and if the ecclesiastical people are allowed to monopolize the royal power, it is likely that the situation of the church controlling the country more than a hundred years ago will be repeated. If they were provoked too much to cause the Church of Light to stage a coup d'état, the situation in the country would become even more dangerous. In any case, the responsibility and mission of the position of Archbishop of the Kingdom is great, to reconcile the interests and contradictions between the Church of Light and the royal family, and to stabilize the situation of the country. Perhaps people's discrimination against magic is no longer a relic of history, but the people of the Church of Light must have been fanning the flames in order to contain our actions...... The current King Targarion V does not trust the church of our kingdom as much as the previous king, after all, it is because the previous king considered that the young **** at the time, in order to balance the power of the kingdom, so that he could save a lot of thought after succeeding him, he gathered together those of us who seemed to be heretics at the time and established an organization of "Kingdom Church". And now, as the power and power of the Kingdom Church grows, the king is afraid that it will endanger his rule, so he will use us to contain the Church of Light, and at the same time, use the Church of Light to contain us...... The people who were sent to Miller this time and had to pay attention to the Church of Light, it is not ruled out that they will take the opportunity to do something, but now I can only leave these to them, I can only hope that the research can get results as soon as possible. Bennison thought so, and before he knew it, he had reached the end of the cave.

He stopped in front of a stone wall and began to chant some kind of incantation, when a circular circle appeared at his feet, and the circle emitted a strong light that illuminated the entire cave. Suddenly, there was a "bang", and there seemed to be an explosion in the light, but there was no fire or smoke, only a more intense light, which made people unable to open their eyes, and everything around them turned into a white expanse. The light shot out of the cave, and the birds and beasts of the forest fled in all directions.

At the same time, on the far north side of the sea, in the distant land of Miller, a certain cave in the forest below Miller's castle also shot out a bright light, and when the bright light disappeared, a figure came out of this cave, he was wrapped in rags, holding a staff with a wooden handle, and his hair was scattered before, and nothing changed. He was none other than Archbishop Vasilian Bennison Storm, who had just walked into the cave at the end of the Forest of Death.

In an instant, he was in another country thousands of miles away!

Just as the people of Vasilian fear the Forest of Death, the people of Miller have the same attitude towards their mysterious forest, which is said to contain many creatures that the archmage has studied and experimented with, and the forest is so large that no one wants to risk their lives to break into it. Bennison had not been to Miller before, and it was unknown why he was able to emerge from Miller's cave and why he was so familiar with the way out of the forest, but he walked out of the forest in a few moments, and came to the bottom of the ten thousand steps leading to Miller's castle.

Bennison had climbed the steps at a speed that was beyond the limits of ordinary people, and he seemed to be running up at a great speed on flat ground, completely ignoring the slope of the mountain, and in a short time he was in front of the castle.

In Miller Castle, Bennison was hospitably entertained by King Miller, and there were few soldiers or guards in the main hall, and some were just specimens of various giant beasts lined up on both sides of the main hall. King Nissac Gicos of Mill rose from his throne in Black Rock - a rarity for the warriors of Miller who had been guarding the castle for many years, and who had the impression that the king of China often sat on his throne even when he slept on weekdays, and stood up to greet a visitor for the first time - and walked down the steps, warmly shook Bennison's hand, who had just bowed, and said with a smile: "Oh, Mr. Storm, I have come to look forward to you!" Although I am surprised that you should have arrived just after receiving our letter for help, it is not a difficult task for a big man like you!hahahaha!" King Miller has a black beard and thick eyebrows, and although he is smiling at this time, you can still see the fierceness in his eyes, he must be a more intimidating king on weekdays. He looked to be no more than forty years old, and it is said that fifteen years earlier he had become the king of Mill before he was thirty years old.

"Your Majesty, it's an honor to contribute to the magical cause of the allies!" Bennison bowed again and asked, "I mentioned the 'Holy Stone' in the letter, where is it now, and when can I start researching it?"

"Ah, it seems that you are very meticulous about your work!Sald, take Mr. Storm to the tower!" I saw an old man with gray hair and magnificent robes come out of the side door of the main hall, one of his eyes was covered by an eye patch, his white beard covered most of his face, and his erect figure did not seem to match his age. The king introduced Bennison: "This is the chief archmage of our country, Salde, although it is completely incomparable to your ability, but for our country, it is equivalent to the existence of the archbishop of your kingdom in Vasilian, this 'holy stone' was first discovered and studied by the archmage, please advise me a lot!"

Bennison nodded to Salde: "Please lead the way." ”

"Mr. Storm, please come along!"

Bennison followed Salder to the tower to the west of the castle, which was also Salder's laboratory. The laboratory is extraordinarily large, and many of Salder's collections are displayed in the hall. Bennison could see many of the unseen beasts fixed motionless to their stone pedestals, and the glow from outside the castle poured down on the beasts through the stone windows on all sides, pouring down on the ground, making people feel eerily peaceful. Bennison looked around and didn't see any of the "holy stones" Miller was talking about, and just as he was about to ask Salde, he suddenly felt a chill behind his back, and the hairs on his whole body seemed to stand on end, and the pores of his whole body seemed to expand. When he looked back, he saw an object covered in a black cloth, and he could feel some kind of energy emanating from under the black cloth.

"Could this be the ...... down there," Bennison looked at Salder.

"Yes, this is the treasure found in our country, the 'Holy Stone'!" said Salde, lifting the black cloth, and in an instant the whole room was covered in blue-purple light. There was also a spherical object under the black cloth, which seemed to be a container, and those blue-purple lights kept leaking out of the cracks in the sphere. Then, the sphere container began to disintegrate automatically, and the enveloping shell dissipated piece by piece, and the object in the middle was finally revealed—it was an angular black ore-like substance, and the stone continued to glow and emit bursts of blue-purple energy, which continued to spread out in waves.

"Not good!" Salde immediately recited the incantation, regrouping the container, wrapping the stone again, and then covering the black cloth again, and said, "The energy it emits is too strong, so I made this container that limits its energy, but it is still not enough to suppress its powerful energy, and it must be covered with an energy-absorbing cloth to stabilize it, otherwise the castle will collapse at any time!"

"Oh, this energy is so powerful?" Bennison was intrigued by the unknown force, and a glint of excitement could be seen in his eyes.

"I found this stone in the northern forest a month ago, when the ground was dented into a huge crater, and I don't know if it fell from the sky and smashed it open, or if it was already on the ground. I started my research as soon as I got the holy stone, but our technical conditions and strength are not enough, and there is still no result in the research for many days, so I ask you for help. ”

"This stone ......" Bennison frowned, as if thinking about something, he paced back and forth, sometimes caressing his chin, sometimes shaking his head slightly, he paused, stopped and said, "Mr. Salde, please stand a little farther away, I will do an experiment." ”

Bennison muttered some incantation, and pointed his hand at the stone again, and the black cloth was withdrawn, and the stone no longer emitted strong wave energy, but shimmered with blue-purple light irregularly. The stone slowly rose into the air following Bennison's gesture and floated in front of Bennison's eyes.

"It's ......," Salde's eyes lit up.

"I'm just holding back its energy for the time being, and now I'm going to test my reasoning. Bennison said, and his right hand struck a beam of lightning at the stone, but the flash disappeared the moment it touched the surface of the stone. Bennison then used his staff to shoot flames at the stone, which seemed to be absorbed by it, but did not affect it in any way.

"And so it was!" said Bennison.

"Your Excellency, do you know something?" said Salder looked at Bennison with a hungry expression, as if he couldn't wait for the answer. Bennison saw a greedy look in his eyes for a moment, and Salder realized his gaffe and immediately restrained himself.

"This stone, if I'm not mistaken, is not what the world should be!"

"What does that mean?"

"In other words, this thing is a legendary thing in the Sanctuary, and the flowers, grasses, and trees of the Sanctuary have absorbed the energy of the gods over time, so that they have great power, and even a stone!"

"Sanctuary, gods, I thought it was just a legend......

"Legends always have their origins, and sometimes they may not be unreliable, and this stone proves it! If my reasoning is correct, the spell I use next will not absorb it but bounce it away!" Bennison recited the incantation, his palms slowly gathering a huge amount of energy, flashing white light, reflecting the room, reflecting on Bennison's frowning brow, on Salder's face in surprise.

"Forbidden God's Punishment !!" Bennison struck the white light at the stone with both hands, and the stone also reacted in an instant, and the previously suppressed energy spread again, and the intense blue-purple light completely overshadowed the white light of Bennison's spell, and the wave energy emitted by the stone instantly dispersed Bennison's spell. The wave energy was still spreading, and the ground of the castle began to shake, and Bennison saw that the situation was not good, and immediately covered the stone with a black cloth to restore its tranquility.

"It seems that this thing is really unusual, and it is really prescient for His Majesty to enshrine it as a 'supreme treasure'! Please help us to study the origin of this energy, so as to improve the strength and magic level of our country!" Salde bent slightly, showing his respect and admiration, and smiled at Bennison.

"No problem, this divine thing has aroused my interest, even if you don't ask me, I want to study it, so please take care of it in the future!"

So, Bennison stayed in Miller like this, studying and experimenting with the sacred stone day and night, but he didn't realize that he had made a big mistake, and he was going farther and farther on a road of no return with no end.

The legend of the gods has always had an inexplicable attraction for people, and this is no exception for Bennison. After learning that the stone, which Miller worshipped as the "Holy Stone", was a legendary object of the Holy Spirit, his curiosity was piqued, and his interest in the study of spells was greatly exploited. But what the gods have left behind in history is just one legend after another, and there is nothing to refer to and compare with, so Bennison's research has also been stuck in trouble and stagnant for a long time.

It's been half a year.

In the past six months, Bennison has been experimenting with the sacred stone day after day, recording all kinds of data, but there is still no progress. Faced with his record of failure, which was full of crosses, he began to become angry and restless, and his anger often burned in his heart, but he could not vent it. Whenever he calmed down, he began to feel strange about his previous gaffe, he was obviously not such an easily angry person, and he couldn't even remember the reason for his anger afterwards.

Although Bennison was "helping" Miller to study the sacred stone, he was basically the only one doing it in the past six months. Miller's other mages had no experience in this kind of research and had no way to interfere with it, while Archmage Salder was often assigned various tasks by the king, and was absent for a long time, and each time he returned only to inquire about the progress of his research.

Perhaps because of the daily grind of research, several of Bennison's blonde hair had turned white, but his obsession with research made him unaware of the changes in his body. He also did not realize that he had begun to lose himself, not only the direction of his research, but also himself, his purpose and concern, responsibility and mission.

What he wouldn't know was that it was just the beginning.

Somehow, Bennison has recently found that his memory is not as good as it used to be, and while he can still remember the complex stats and spells, he often forgets what he did before. For example, he often walks somewhere by accident and then forgets how he came to be. At this time, he had not yet connected all these strange phenomena to the stone, he just thought that he was getting old - until the **** almost killed King Miller.

That day, Bennison walked to the bottom of the steps of the main hall in a daze and in a trance, and when he realized it, he could not remember how or why he had come to the main hall. He also brought the sacred stone with him, but he didn't remember why. When King Miller saw Bennison suddenly visit with the Holy Stone, he thought that he had made some breakthrough, and he couldn't hold back the joy in his heart.

"Mr. Storm, you have worked hard day and night in the past few months!" King Miller smiled, "After so many days of research, have you achieved any results?" We are eager to use the power of the Holy Stone for our country, so we hope that Mr. will understand!"

"Holy Stone?" Bennison's expression was blank, as if unconscious, "Oh, yes, yes, Holy Stone, it's Holy Stone...... Ah, it's ...... progress" At this point, Bennison's mind felt like someone was talking, and all he heard was an intermittent "Kill him...... Hurry up...... Kill ......"

"Kill, kill whom?" said Bennison to himself.

King Miller was puzzled by Bennison's unusual behavior and asked, "Is Your Excellency unwell? Your hair has turned gray for the study of the Holy Stone these days, so please pay attention to your body!"

Bennison unconsciously took out his staff, and used it to shoot an electric light at the ballcube containing the holy stone, and the king thought that Bennison was going to demonstrate something, and became interested, and became serious for a rare time. He sat up straight and watched Bennison's every move with wide eyes, as if waiting for some miracle to appear.

"Kill him, and the country will be yours...... Kill him......" A voice sounded in Bennison's head again, and this time he didn't doubt it any longer, he put away the staff in his hand, and as if driven by the sound, he slowly approached the steps, slowly towards the throne, towards King Jikos of Mill...... Bennison unconsciously gathered a purple ball of light in his palm, his eyes rolled, he acted like a ghoul, and there was only one thought in his mind at the moment - kill the king!

Bennison was getting closer and closer to the king, and he had already begun to walk up the steps, and the guards around the king were about to step forward to stop him, but he felt as if his body was frozen, unable to speak or move. King Miller also seemed to sense that something was wrong with the atmosphere and stood up, just as Archmage Salder entered the main hall.

"Oh, Mr. Bennison, you're here! I'll just say why I didn't see you back in the lab!" Salde appeared just in time, smiling as he strode forward, "Let's go, go back and continue the experiment, I think it's going to be a success!" Salde said and slapped Bennison on the shoulder, and thanks to this beat, he woke Bennison from his illusion and made him stop.

"Ah, how am I ...... By the way, experiment, you're right, I'll have to go back and continue my research!Your Majesty, I'm sorry, but it won't be long before we can figure out the nature of this energy!" Bennison bent down the steps, remembering his voice and his own actions in his head, and Bennison broke out in a cold sweat at the thought that he had almost killed the king.

After returning to the tower, Bennison became suspicious of the stone for the first time, realizing that his recent anomalies had been produced after studying the sacred stone.

"Could it be that my emotional outburst, memory loss, and the idea of assassinating the king were all caused by this stone?, and why would a Spirit creature do such a thing to me?" Bennison paced back and forth, rubbing his chin with his right hand - this was his usual state of thinking, "If all these changes of mine are caused by this stone, the common denominator that comes from combining these effects is ...... [Control Mind]!" Bennison slapped his head and finally came to an inference.

But this inference led him to further questions: "If the control of thoughts is a force of this stone, then who is it who has instilled these thoughts into my head? Is it the Holy Spirit who owns this stone? No, they must not have the leisure and no reason to do so...... Could it be that this stone has a self-will?......"

At this moment, Archmage Salde walked in.

"Mr. Bennison, why don't you take the holy stone to the main hall without taking protective measures, if that energy explodes again, the main hall will collapse!" Salde shook his head and said, "By the way, how is the research of the holy stone, I am always entangled in the next day, and I have less time to participate in the research, please forgive me!" Salde smiled at Bennison.

"Although I said that to Your Majesty in the main hall, there is still a distance to really get results, and please don't worry about the Haikou that you will boast about in the next time!" Bennison hugged his fists. He didn't tell Salder or anyone else about the inferences he had made about the Sacred Stone's abilities, and he had a guess in his mind at the moment, but because there was too little information, he just kept an eye on it.

Before I knew it, another half a year had passed, and in the obsession and confusion of the sacred stone, Bennison had been in Miller for a year. His hair had all turned white, and he had not yet known if it was the power of the Holy Stone, but the inexplicable memory loss and terrifying thoughts had not reappeared. A month ago, he finally came to the conclusion that he could separate some of the energy emitted by the holy stone, so he has been studying it for a month.

One evening, when Salde was away from the castle on a mission, a dazzling blue light erupted from the tower.

He finally succeeded!

Through the combined action of several potions and spells, Bennison successfully refined the energy of the sacred stone into a potion, which was dark blue, making people shudder just by looking at it, as if they had fallen into the deep blue abyss, as if they were about to be swallowed by the blue. After Bennison succeeded, he did not report to the king immediately, but sneaked out of the castle with a small bottle of potion and came to a ruin in the woods outside the castle.

Bennison catches a hare in the woods, drops a few drops of potion into the hare's mouth, and waits for a reaction. One minute, two minutes, three minutes...... Three minutes passed, and Bennison felt incredibly long. "It stands to reason that you should be able to react in less than ten minutes. Bennison thought to himself. Ten minutes passed, and nothing appeared on the hare.

"Doesn't it seem to work?" Bennison muttered to himself, "Ever since I deduced that this stone can 'control the mind,' I have guessed that this thing's power should be much more than that, and I thought that today's reaction should have succeeded in separating some of the energy of the stone, but why didn't there be any reaction? Could it be that the test subject was chosen wrong? Shouldn't I ......try it with a larger animal?"

Bennison was thinking about it when the hare's body suddenly changed dramatically—its body began to swell and grow, its mouth grew fangs, its fur and eyes turned blue, and it kept growling, and no one who saw the giant beast in front of Bennison at this time would never associate it with a docile rabbit.

"Is this!?" Bennison was startled, but he immediately calmed down so as not to miss any new changes.

When the change had stabilized, the hare suddenly pounced on a passing goat, and easily tore off the goat's flesh with its fangs, which had not been there a few minutes ago, and the goat was screaming, but its voice was drowned out by the hare's roar and bite, and in a short time it was gnawed alive to a skeleton.

After the hare finished eating the goat, his fierce blue eyes glared at Bennison, who immediately opened a barrier around him, only to see the hare constantly crashing towards the invisible barrier of formlessness and colorlessness, making a loud noise. Bennison looked at the rabbit that had turned into a monster from within the barrier, and a chill ran through his heart. He began to try to calm himself down again from this series of changes, and to analyze what was really going on.

He watched as the rabbit outside the barrier opened its mouth, and the new fangs still had the blood of the previous goat, and the blood and its saliva flowed down the corners of its torn mouth, and the hair on its whole body stood up and became very hard, almost like a hedgehog, of course, the hedgehog did not have the size of two people. No matter how you look at it, this rabbit is no longer a rabbit, it is like a new species.

"A new species?" Bennison thought as he thought with his head down, trying to ignore the disturbing crash, "the rabbit now exhibits completely different traits and habits than before, and its physical signs have changed in every way, becoming more powerful. This can only be assumed that it has evolved in a certain direction in a short period of time, such as fangs to be able to bite the flesh of animals, strong limbs to be able to move faster, and hard fur to be able to protect itself...... So is this stone's other ability to [control evolution]?!"

Bennison seemed to be intimidated by the fact when he proposed this idea, and he stared blankly at the evolved rabbit that was still hitting the barrier, and sat down on the ground, as if what he believed in had been destroyed in an instant.

"Mastering Evolution...... This ability ...... This thing...... Why would a Holy Spirit bring down a thing with such power to the earth?" "This creature shouldn't exist in this world!" Bennison said coldly, and after saying that, he hurried towards the castle, he wanted to unravel the truth of all this, and he could not delay for a moment.

However, he didn't know that all of his actions just now had been seen by Salde, who had just returned from an outing.

After returning to the castle, Bennison looked through various materials and his own data, and thought to himself: the ability to control evolution is terrifying, and just using it on a rabbit can reach such a level, if someone with bad intentions uses it...... Wouldn't it be so disrespectful to the Holy Spirit and a great blasphemy against the principles of nature! Why would the Holy Spirit use such a thing that can be used to play God...... Wait!......

"Ahh

"I have always believed that this thing is a thing of the Holy Spirit, and I take it for granted that the Holy Spirit will not do anything harmful to the world, but I have ignored a special existence of the Holy Spirit - the King of the Underworld! I should not have studied this thing in the first place, and the ghost knows what the Immortal King wants to do, and this data cannot be used by anyone, and must be destroyed immediately!" said Bennison and used a spell to ignite a raging fire, burning all his research results and materials. But then the flame was suddenly frozen.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Storm?" Salder rushed in with a squad of soldiers, ordering two soldiers to clasp Bennison's arms and prevent him from accessing the materials Salder had rescued and the container containing the magic stone that was still glowing blue.

"I'm doing harm to the world! this thing's power is too evil to let it harm the world!" Bennison yelled at Salde.

What I saw was that you didn't report it immediately after the experiment was successful, but immediately destroyed the data in a vain attempt to enjoy the power of this holy stone for yourself!"

"You...... Don't you ......" Bennison stared at Salder as he clenched his fists, and if he hadn't been caught by the soldiers, he would have seemed to be punching Salder in the face at any moment.

"Stop quibbling! Bennison Storm, I have arrested you for breaking the treaty of alliance and trying to steal the treasure of our country, the 'Holy Stone', what do you have to say to your majesty!

In the main hall, King Jikos of Miller was sitting precariously at the moment, changing from the kind image of the hippie smiling face in the past, as if he had already expected everything, as if he had been waiting for a long time. And the atmosphere in the main hall was also extremely tense, and at this moment there were guards and mages standing on both sides of what should have been empty on weekdays, as if everyone in Miller Castle had flocked here, waiting to see a good show, or the king had deliberately ordered it to deter Bennison.

"Mr. Storm, why didn't you report to me after the results of your research? Didn't we ask you Vasilian for help in three chapters? You won't forget the contents of the alliance treaty?" King Miller stood up, walked down the steps, and came to Bennison, who was kneeling on the ground by several soldiers, his eyes were fierce and seemed to breathe fire, and the attitude of Bennison was completely different from when he first met him a year ago.

"Your Majesty, that thing is not a 'holy stone' at all, but a 'magic stone' with terrifying power, which will bring disaster to the world!

"That's enough! Don't make excuses for me! You better hurry up! Your goal is to bring the power of the Holy Stone back to you Vasilian, and destroy all the research data, so that the power of the Holy Stone can only be used by you! So that you Vasilian can dominate the world, and then annex our country by the way, just like you did when you annexed RedCross decades ago!, right?" said the King viciously, not giving Bennison a chance to breathe.

"Your Majesty, I ......"

"Needless to say, come on, put him in prison, and wait for him to be released!" the king ordered the soldiers to take Bennison down, "Also, archmage, you stay!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

On his way to prison, Bennison began to sort through all the information he knew.

The power of the magic stone is not only that, there must be even more terrifying abilities that I have not yet discovered. Now that I think about it, their descriptions of how to get this stone are always vague and ambiguous, and some extraterrestrial meteorite or ground collapse or the like is just an excuse, they must have been studying this thing for a long time, and asking me for help is nothing more than for me to help them research new abilities, but I am afraid that the ability to control the mind is "he" is making trouble. If they catch me here, there will be no chance to fight back, so I have to find a way to escape back to the cave and return to China first to think of countermeasures.

As they reached the corridor outside the castle, Bennison seized the distraction of the escort soldiers, chanted a spell in his mind, and exploded a puff of smoke before jumping out of the castle and into the forest as they panicked.

"What's going on?!ahem...... What do you think of the prisoner!" The soldier at the head covered his mouth and nose with one hand, and drove away the thick smoke with the other, "You go to report to Your Majesty, and the others will follow me to chase down the prisoner!"

"Yes!"

In the main hall, the king seemed to have just finished talking to the archmage about something, and the muscles on his face could be seen twitching with joy, and after a moment he could not restrain himself from laughing.

"Hahahaha! Okay, I'll leave it to you!" the king smiled at Salde.

At this time, a soldier hurriedly broke in, "Report...... Report to Your Majesty, prisoner...... The prisoner ...... "I don't know whether he ran too fast and couldn't breathe, or whether he stuttered for fear of the king's condemnation."

"What's wrong with the prisoner?" the king suddenly became serious.

"The prisoner jumped into the forest after blowing up a puff of smoke......"

"What?!! you useless things, what do I want you for, I can't even look at a prisoner!" said the king.

"Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, the prisoner has obviously had his weapons confiscated, his hands locked, and the archmage has added a seal to suppress mana, so it stands to reason that he will not be able to use a spell...... But ......"

"Then what are you doing here in a daze?!

"Tell Your Majesty, the captain has already led people to chase him, but the forest is too big, and the prisoner jumped directly into the forest, we are afraid it will be difficult for us to keep up with his speed......"

"Archmage, you see how this is good, if he escapes back to Vasilian......"

"Your Majesty, don't worry, he forcibly broke through my seal and used a spell, now he must be exhausted, basically unable to use mana anymore, his current actions will be much slower than ordinary people, as long as we block all exits and send more people to search, we will definitely be able to capture him again!"

"Hear me, don't go quickly!" cried the king to the soldier.

In the deep forest, an old man with silver hair held on to the trunk of a tree and took a difficult step forward. He was limp and could not even stand on his feet, and from time to time he stopped to gasp for breath, and sweat poured from his forehead, flowing into his eyes and blurring his vision. If not, who would have thought that he was only in his forties?

"It seems that it took me so much energy to break Sard's seal that I couldn't even land myself smoothly......" Bennison rubbed his broken right leg, which was still some distance from the cave where he came, and he had to use one last spell, so he had to limp through the pain in order to return to Vassilian.

After some time, the cave was finally in sight, and I thought I would be able to go back soon, but Miller's pursuers still chased after me. Bennison saw that in the dark night in the forest, countless red eyes seemed to be opened, which were torches in the hands of the pursuers, and the sound came from all directions, they had formed an encirclement, and they were gradually closing towards him.

Bennison had thought that he would be fine if he could rush into the cave before they found out, but with a leg injury, he couldn't make it to sneak around, hide his whereabouts, and speed himself up. He was eventually discovered. Miller's soldiers watched him enter a cave, but they did not dare to follow him rashly because of their scruples about him, so they had to let the soldiers at the head shout: "Bennison Storm, you have no way to escape, give up resistance, we can let you live for the time being!"

Bennison didn't answer, he was glad they hadn't chased him in right away, and gave him time to prepare, he opened a magic circle in the cave and recited the last spell he could. A moment later, a bright light burst out, and Miller's soldiers rushed in, but there was nothing in the cave - he was gone.

A few hours later, in the main hall of Miller's Castle, the captain of the palace guard knelt in front of the steps, awaiting the punishment he was about to face, thinking that perhaps his fate had been sealed from the moment he was chosen into this birdcage, and he had sworn to give his life for the kingdom, but it was not for his failure to be executed...... It's too embarrassing to die like this, so I just hope that I can save my life. He slowly raised his head with a wince, glancing at the king, who saw all his anger written on his face, as if he was about to eat himself at any moment. He thought to himself that everything was over, and he was afraid that he would inevitably die, and he blamed himself for being such a prisoner. Fortunately, Archmage Salde began to intercede for him at this time, persuading His Majesty to let him live.

"Your Majesty, you don't need to be angry with them, Bennison's ability is not something they can deal with, he can disappear in an instant, he must have mastered some secret technique of escape, I don't know the relevant information, even if I kill these soldiers, it will be in vain. ”

"Archmage, didn't you say you would be able to capture him again?"

"It seems that there are still variables beyond my control!" said Salde thoughtfully, "Your Majesty, he will be back, don't worry!"

"Why is that? I am afraid that he has succeeded in returning to Vassilian at this moment, is it that he is leading Vasilian's army to declare war on us?" asked the king.

"No, he will 'certainly' return, and I promise that he will come back alone, and will not affect our 'plans', and you will wait for his 'great coming' again, Your Majesty!" said Salder with an evil air that made the king unintelligible but confident in his words.

Vasilian, Forest of Death.

It was already night, and the forest was so silent that only the slightest sound of the wind could be heard. Bennison held his heavy body, which no longer seemed to belong to him, slowly through the grass, through the darkness, through the endless forest path.

"It's almost home!" Bennison reminded himself, to provide the motivation to keep going so he could keep going. He looked up at the night sky through the gaps in the thick foliage, and couldn't remember how long it had been since he had seen the starry sky of his hometown so brightly.

It's been a year.

When I left, I was still thinking that I would end my research for the sake of the kingdom and Joshua, but after I started researching, I lost control, left all my responsibilities and missions behind, and almost fell into that unfathomable quagmire, letting that thing pull me deeper and deeper. Yes, and the only relative he has left, the only concern he has now, the excellent child who cries out all day to be an ordinary person-Joshua!

Bennison began to feel guilty for his addiction and madness, and began to feel ashamed of his failure to fulfill his responsibilities as a father.

Am I doing something wrong?

It was I who was too obsessed with the unknown energy to ignore its dangers and make a big mistake, it was I who was too conceited and proud to be used by Miller, and it was I who imposed my own subjective desires on Joshua that caused him so much pain...... I'm a failure! I was also instilled with a lot of magical knowledge by my father from a young age, and was taught to dedicate knowledge, power, and even life to the Targarion dynasty for the rest of my life. I've gone all the way, and the spells have reached the pinnacle of the kingdom, but ...... But I can't even protect my wife...... I know that Joshua has endured too much pain, too much discrimination and indifference, but I still insist again and again, maybe it is better to break the so-called family tradition and let him be an ordinary person? Miller's request for help from our country from the beginning was a conspiracy, and this is only the beginning, and it will definitely be bad for my country and the world in the future.

Bennison thought of this, and suddenly an afterimage flashed in his mind, as if he suddenly remembered something-I should have reported it to His Majesty in time after learning of their plot, so that the kingdom could be fully prepared to deal with the threat that might come on, but now I fled from Miller in a hurry, leaving no evidence to prove my claim, and if the kingdom and Miller contacted each other, they would definitely insist that it was my fabrication. In addition, there is still the problem of the "Church of Light" in the country, and they will definitely use my baseless remarks as another powerful weapon against the Kingdom Church, and if the king completely loses trust in us, not only may I be placed under house arrest by His Majesty, but Joshua may also be implicated, after all, he is also a heretic in this country that does not believe in magic...... That's the last thing I want to see. Looks like I'm going to have to end it all on my own?

Bennison staggered forward as he thought, and after a long time, he finally walked out of the forest, finally saw the cabin at the edge of the forest, and was finally able to go home. Joshua ...... Joshua ...... "Bennison's vision became more and more blurred, his body became weaker and weaker, and he was clearly in front of him, but he could no longer move forward, and finally collapsed under the steps in front of the house. In the last seconds before he lost consciousness, he saw Joshua's figure, which was no longer as thin and weak as he remembered, no longer the boyish boy - you have grown up, Joshua.

"About ...... Repair...... Ya ...... "Bennison fainted.

The next morning, Bennison woke up from his bed, and he noticed that his injured leg had been healed by Joshua's healing spell - it seemed that the boy had not put down the practice of the spell despite his complaint. The corners of Bennison's mouth twitched and he smiled wryly, and he saw his proud son lying on the edge of the bed, and it seemed that he had not slept well all night to take care of himself. That child has been able to take care of himself, and now he is so strong, sensible, and determined, that he is not at all the rebellious child who always loves to quarrel in his memory - no, maybe he does not have the qualifications to say that he is "rebellious", he has never fulfilled his responsibilities as a father, but just blindly imposes his own ideas on him, isn't his "rebellion" forced out by himself?

Seeing Joshua realize that he had woken up, Bennison spoke his inner words: "Joshua, I'm not a good father. ”

"Why do you say that? What has happened to you over the year? Why are you like this?" Joshua was not as polite as Bennison remembered, but the polite words made Bennison feel very strange to his son.

It seems that I got along with him too little before and didn't ask him about his life and psychology, which led to the current sense of alienation. He has been complaining that he wants to be an ordinary person, maybe he should be kept away from the conflicts of power and interests in the kingdom, let go of the heavy burden of our family, and choose a path that suits him is what a father should do, right?

So Bennison paused and said, "Joshua, if you don't want to be an archbishop, then be an ordinary person!"

"How......" Joshua stopped talking, but Bennison ignored it. He got up and took out the chest where he had stored his staff, robes, and some notes potions, and pulled out an old staff, the one he had used before he became the archbishop of the kingdom, and a few dusty potions that he hadn't touched in years, and which he wanted to use to put an end to the mistakes he had made.

"Father, where are you going?" asked Joshua.

"Joshua, do you remember what I said to you about duty and mission?"

"Remember, but ......"

"Now it's time to take on my responsibilities and complete my mission. Bennison walked out the door.

"Father, wait!" Joshua was about to get up and chase him back, but Bennison noticed his son's intentions, he recited a spell in his mouth, and waved his hand in Joshua's eyes, and Joshua lost consciousness and fell backwards. "I can't put my loved ones in any danger anymore. Bennison said in his heart.

"Take care of yourself, as I have always believed in you. Looking at Joshua who passed out on the bed, Bennison said the last words of his life to his son, although he did not know his final fate at this time, but he also knew that this act was auspicious and difficult to return safely, he looked at the child he loved deeply, thinking about his wife who had not been able to protect well, and the secret of the child's life...... There is no time for all this to be explained slowly. He turned and ran into the forest.

Bennison returned to the mysterious cave that connected the two continents, and although he did not waver in his mind to make a break with Miller alone, he still could not rest assured of the son he had left behind. If he never returns, Joshua will never have the opportunity to know his identity and mission, let alone Miller's plots...... Although he had decided to let him choose his own path in the future, if he had chosen his own rough and difficult road of dissatisfaction, it would be necessary for him to understand the whole picture of the incident. As a result, Bennison spelled down all the facts, inferences and speculations about Miller's conspiracy, his hopes for the child's future and what he wanted to say in the end but didn't have a chance to say more, as well as the secrets about Joshua's life and the crystal, and set it so that only Joshua could unlock the secrets and see them. "If I make it back alive, then I'll be able to tell you all about it myself...... If I fail, and you still choose this path, then you will see this sooner or later......" Bennison sighed lightly, and then cast another spell, accompanied by a bright light, and once again set foot on Miller's territory alone.

When Bennison arrived at Miller, the sky was still faintly bright, the air was filled with white mist, and the full moon hanging in mid-air was reluctant to set in the valley. Bennison knew that he could not afford to delay for a moment, that there was no need to hide his whereabouts any longer, and he recited a spell, spreading a golden barrier around him, and strode in the direction of the castle. He seemed to be lifted up by a gust of wind, and his whole person seemed to be floating in mid-air, and his speed was very human.

He quickly rushed out of the forest, his flamboyance attracting the attention of the patrolling soldiers, who saw only a flash of golden light, and were blown away by the fierce wind, and could not even see what it was. Later, it was said that there was a monster in this forest that emitted a golden light and could cause hurricanes.

Bennison was near the castle in a short time, when the sky, which had been still clear, suddenly became black clouds, and the sky that was about to brighten darkened again. Bennison stopped his progress at this vision, and he noticed that the dark clouds were now forming a whirlpool around the tower to the west of the castle, and the clouds were constantly swirling around the whirlpool, making it seem as if the sky had cracked a gap, and on the other side of the crack was hell.

"It's ......" Before Bennison could think about it, he saw a bolt of lightning struck the tower, and then, with a roar of thunder, a blue light exploded from the top of the tower and spread in all directions. - They succeeded so quickly!

I thought that even if they got my research data, it would take a certain amount of time to completely separate the energy, after all, I didn't write down all the steps and methods in detail, but they deciphered my data so quickly, how far has their plan around this stone progressed? When did their research on this magic stone begin...... Thinking so in his mind, Bennison quickened his pace and ran towards the main hall, and the few mages and guards he encountered on the way were easily solved by Bennison's spell before they even had a chance to resist.

In the main hall, King Miller had just drunk a bowl full of blue potions from Salde when Bennison broke into the main hall.

"As the archmage said, Bennison Storm, you're coming back alone to die!hahahaha!" Gicos laughed, throwing the silver bowl behind him, his eyes glinting with ecstasy.

"What?!as he said...... Could it be ......" Bennison's mind was struck like lightning, and a terrible truth came to the surface - "So I was used, damn it!"

"You alone can help us! Your time of death is up, and Vasilyan will be next!" Gicos moved the joints of his body, ready to show his skills.

"Don't you understand, that stone's ability is too terrifying, it will destroy this world! This ability of [mastering evolution] should not exist in this earthly world at all!"

"Human beings have been worshipping the Holy Spirit for thousands of years, why should they let the power to control all things be used only by them? The Holy Spirit has been playing with the world for so long, and it is time for me to have a good time! Why not 'control evolution'? From now on, I will be in charge of the evolution and extinction of all things in the world, and I will be their god, and you inferior creatures will only be at my disposal! Destroy the world? What does it matter to destroy the world! Peace will stop the evolution of human beings, and human beings who have not evolved will die sooner or later, so if I, the new god who has evolved to another level, make this extinction come to fruition early, won't these wastes and maggots ascend to bliss as soon as possible?"

"You ...... If you play with the principles of nature like this, you will definitely go to hell!"

"Hell? Hell has long been filled by those sinners in the world for thousands of years, only heaven still has my seat, not to mention that I have now reached the realm of God, who has the right to judge me as a god?"

"Damn! this has come to this, for the sake of this world, I must wipe you out with the stone!" Bennison seemed to be surrounded by a gust of wind, his right hand clenched on his staff, his left hand on his chest, ready to gather energy to attack.

"Your Majesty be careful!" Salder suddenly rushed forward and struck a tongue of fire with both hands, while Bennison also struck an arc of lightning. The spells of the two collided, blue and yellow met in mid-air, and the two forces were fighting, and the spell junction was constantly flashing, accompanied by an intermittent popping sound.

The two of them remained in a stalemate, the focus of the spell collision constantly wandering between the two, as if just pushing that focus on the other could achieve victory and break the connection. Both of them had terrible expressions, and Sarde's forehead began to permeate sweat, whether it was too much effort or the heat of the flames in his hands, and Bennison clenched the electric staff in his left hand, and pressed his right hand against his left arm to stabilize the force, the hem of his robe fluttering behind him, and the wind that blew the robe seemed to emanate from his body.

"Bennison, your every move has always been expected by us, this time you come back alone to die, you will feel that it is your own will, in fact, this is all our arrangement, and you still don't give up resistance?" Salde shouted.

"It may be under your control to come alone, but it is my own will to kill you here, and I will not stop!" Bennison concentrated his mind and pressed the focus of the spell collision to Thalder's side, the pillar of light that vibrated like a grumpy child, squirming and retreating, unwilling to take sides.

"What...... This ......" Salde watched the pillar of light press towards him, and before he could concentrate his strength to fight back, there was a powerful explosion - the colliding spells exploded in front of Salde's eyes, and the flames were wrapped in a layer of electric light, and the two forces seemed to merge into one. Salde was blown away by the explosion and collapsed under the steps outside the main hall, apparently fainting.

"Archmage!" King Miller, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, was startled, and didn't seem to have reacted to how everything happened, "Damn, it looks like I have to go on it myself!"

"Let me show you the true power of the Holy Stone!Drink!!" Jikos let out a loud cry, and the muscles of his whole body began to expand, tearing through his clothes, like a hare that had been captured by Bennison for experiments, his skin gradually turned blue-black, with the sound of flesh and bones squirming and expanding, his hands turned into two sharp claws like dragon claws, his facial features and face began to distort, his nose was sunken into two holes, his ears were elongated horizontally, fangs grew in his mouth, and his eyes seemed to be unable to see the pupils, leaving only the whites of his eyes that had become blood-red.

If this is human evolution, it is really an ugly evolutionary direction.

The transformed King Miller roared with every breath, and every step he took made the entire castle tremble. He didn't go berserk and out of control like the hare at the time of the experiment, perhaps because he didn't have that kind of effect on humans, or maybe because his heart was evil and cruel enough, and in any case, a conscious king was more dangerous than losing his mind.

"Is this the kind of 'evolution' you want? Bennison said coldly.

"Then you can use your body to comprehend this new power that has evolved!" said Jikos and instantly attacked, his claws slammed forward, and the energy emitted formed a claw wind to strike Bennison, who used a spell to create a shield to resist the attack, but his robe was torn apart by the attack that leaked from the side.

Bennison took a few steps back, keeping a certain distance from King Miller, and then struck him with a bolt of lightning with his left hand. The lightning struck Gicos in the chest in an instant, but it was as useless as if it had hit a solid rock, and slowly dissipated.

"You're trying to kill me, Bennison!" shouted Gicos, his blood-red eyes staring at him, "Is that all you can do?" Since he had just acquired this power, Gicos was not very skilled in using it and did not know how to use any moves, but the claw wind that he struck indiscriminately was enough to make Bennison unbearable.

"I've got to do it fast. Bennison thought to himself, "It will be even more difficult to deal with if he gets used to this power!" Bennison took out a few bottles of potion from his arms and threw them at Gikos, the vials arced in the air, and Bennison suddenly shot a fireball at the vial, which shattered instantly, and the potion spilled on Gikos.

Jikos glared, a gust of wind dodged, and in less than half a second, he appeared in front of Bennison, clenched his claws and slammed into Bennison's abdomen, Bennison subconsciously opened the barrier, but the powerful blow still knocked him away, he struck out an invisible force behind him in mid-air, regained his balance and stood in the distance, but the potion that had been thrown earlier was all sprinkled on the ground.

"Looks like you have to use a restricted-level spell...... Bennison recited the spell, raised the staff in his right hand, the staff began to emit heat, became distorted, and made Bennison's head sweat, "Divine Fire, Ember !!" With Bennison's voice, the staff released a wide range of flames, reflecting the entire hall red, but the flames were much darker. The flame seemed to have life, and it was about to consume everything.

"Drink!" Bennison swept his staff out, and the flames quickly formed a wall of fire that encircled Gicos. "Ahem......" Bennison suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, his whole body went limp, and he fell to one knee on the ground, supported by his staff. "I can't support a restricted-level spell now...... It seems that the stone has had a great impact on me in the past year, and it is also my madness that has made me suffer the consequences. ”

The wall of fire that surrounded Gikos was closing and converging towards the center, and it was reasonable that no one would survive the continuous burning of such a level of flames, but at this moment suddenly there was a "boom" from the wall of fire - a large hole appeared in the wall of fire that should not be solid, and King Mireux rushed out of the hole, and his body was only a few pieces of skin that were burned red.

For me, who has evolved to another level, all your attacks are in vain. Gicos slowly approached Bennison, who was kneeling on the ground panting, his face darkened by the flames that continued to burn behind him, "Now, let me fulfill my mission as a new god, and make you the first person who will be blessed with my baptism!"

Bennison was still on his knees with his staff, watching the claws get closer and closer to him, but he didn't have the slightest intention of dodging, perhaps because he was no longer able to dodge. Is he just going to wait for death to come?" Seeing that Bennison had given up his resistance, Gicos laughed and stabbed out his claws, but then he felt a tingling pain in his body, and the claws slowly retracted into the palms of the previous normal people, and the muscles of his whole body slowly returned to normal - his strength was gone.

"What's going on?!! my power...... How can it be...... I've evolved to a whole new level...... What the hell did you damn thing to me!!" Gicos said angrily.

"Take a good look inside the wall of fire. Bennison stood up with his staff.

Gicos looked back into the wall of fire and saw that some kind of mist was spreading, and because of the color of the flames, it was impossible to distinguish the original color of the fog.

"Could that be the ...... just now?"

"That's right! That's the potion I just threw to restrain your power. I deliberately asked you to avoid potions in order to create a gap in your attention. So that I can enclose you and the potion with a wall of fire, and evaporate the potion to form a vapor that you can inhale and thus seal your power. ”

"Damn it...... Which of you should go to the tower and get me the medicine!"

"Enlightenment...... Your Majesty, Master Søren has ...... I have already gone to ...... beforehand I'm going to get my medicine......" replied one of the soldiers with a wincing face.

"A bunch of useless stuff! Why didn't you give me a little more in the first place!"

According to ...... It is said to be the Ann ...... of the archmage Arrange ......" The soldier looked at Salde, who was still fainting outside the main hall.

"Archmage, how did he ......?"

"It's useless, that secret medicine has sealed your power, and the power you have for a short time won't be used for you for a long time!" Bennison's whole body began to emit a huge amount of energy, forming a violent wind, blowing chaos in the hall, "It's time to end this." With that, his staff floated into the air in front of him, and the wooden handle of the staff shattered instantly, leaving only the crystal at the tip of the staff floating in front of Bennison's eyes.

"Your Majesty, here's the medicine!!" A young mage hurried in with a large bowl of potions.

Bennison clenched his hands into fists in front of his chest, bowed his head and chanted a long series of incantations, and gradually white mist began to emit from his palms, and the mist slowly seeped out of his hands and lingered around Bennison's body, and the temperature in the entire hall plummeted a lot, and many soldiers who were completely unable to intervene around began to tremble, but they did not dare to approach any of the two warring sides.

"Farewell, Joshua ......"

"Quick! give me the medicine!" Gicos snatched the potion and drank it down.

"Howling !!" Bennison gathered all his energy to strike his final blow, and in an instant, everything seemed to stand still, everything in the castle hall began to slowly freeze, every pillar, every stone bench, every piece of masonry, the entire hall seemed to become a palace of crystals. Frozen time, frozen the castle, frozen the surprise on the faces of the soldiers, froze King Miller with the large bowl and the last drop of potion that flowed from the bowl.

"Finally ......," Bennison didn't finish his sentence, and saw Gicos break through the ice and gain strength again. He gasped and glared at Bennison viciously.

In the next moment, Bennison noticed a hand piercing his chest from behind—it was Archmage Salder, who was supposed to pass out of the main hall and was smiling evilly.

"I see...... But someday someone will inherit my ......will," Bennison said, and his whole body began to freeze, eventually forming a sculpture of ice like everyone else in the hall. And King Miller's body changed again—his strength was gone again.

Salde pulled his hand out of the ice sculpture, and with a thud, Bennison shattered, and he rained down on the snow-white ground, staining the hall red. Blood flowed silently in the snow-white palace, and everywhere it passed, it was like a red lotus blooming.