"You'll do better than I am, my stupid son......" Looking deeply at the door, the old earl struggled to get up, walked to the cupboard and poured himself a glass of red wine, and scolded in a low voice, "I actually opened the red wine that has been stored for more than ten years, bastard!" As he spoke, he took the red wine back to the sofa and sat down, sniffed the wine deeply, took a sip, and muttered, "I can finally take a good rest, but it's a pity that it's been a little long, hehehe......"

The old earl's hearty laughter filled the room, but this time it didn't seem to sound like the spirit of the past, and then the laughter gradually stopped...... Outside the door, Yvonne, no, Yvonne Ogier, leaned against the door with his eyes closed and his arms folded, as if listening to his father's laughter with a little regret and a little sadness.

"Argus ......" Yvonne, who seemed cynical, showed a little coldness in his eyes, with a little banter, a little sneer, and said lightly, "Now I will play with you!"

"Lord Yvonne!" a soft call from his side caught Yvonne's attention.

Glancing in the direction where the voice was coming from, Yvonne chuckled and said, "Yo, old Black...... You can't go in now, or you'll be kicked out by the angry old man!"

"Yes...... Reluctantly," said Old Blake with a reluctant smile, "you're still so energetic......"

"Of course, that annoying old man, Rory is verbose all day, I wish he had left soon!"

"Huh...... You're still being dishonest, Lord Yvonne!" said old Blake, who bowed to Yvonne and said respectfully, "The old master has commanded that when you come out, everything will ...... I'll leave it all to you!"

"Tsk! what an irresponsible entrustment!" Yvonne shrugged helplessly, and then, the smile on his face suddenly retracted, and said solemnly, "Blake, don't leak my matter to Galik for the time being, in the name of my father, block all checkpoints in Galik, and from today onwards, the army will be stationed in all cities, and the border areas will be on first-level alert...... Argus Bart Cranfield, the most vicious wanted man in Galik and the Empire, you put his portrait on any corner of Galik, and you call Ikarbold Weiss, the head of the local Magical Guild branch...... Forget it, I'll go for myself! You go and declare to the outside world that the condition of Avery Ogier, Lord of Garric, has improved after being treated by the Imperial Archmagician Gretel Keynes and the twelve cardinals of the Holy See, and will improve in a few days...... Especially the army, the Galik army cannot withstand two blows at the same time!"

"Yes, Lord Yvonne...... No, it's His Royal Highness, but I'm afraid this kind of lie won't last long......"

"Either - don't worry, in two days I'll have my 'father' intact in front of the people and the army, this couldn't be easier for magic, Galik is the barrier to the northeast of the empire, and it must not be messed with...... Go for it!"

"Yes!"

A few days later, just as the Galiks in Alicock were worried about the events that had taken place, they suddenly learned that the venerable old lord had been restored to health under the joint efforts of Archmagician Gretel Keynes and the twelve cardinals of Salonia.

It was a bit incredible, but with the credibility of the Great Mage, the Gariks happily accepted it.

Of course, some of them were still more or less skeptical about the matter, but then, when the old lord made his rounds of the barracks as usual, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief, after all, the old lord had ruled Galik for decades, and his prestige, his reputation, could not be replaced by others, including the tribe of barbarians.

The Galiks all cheered, not including, of course, some of those who had other ideas, such as Argus.

"Yo! It's the first time I've heard of someone who has survived Kars's arrow......" Wearing a black cloak, standing at the entrance of an alley in Alicock, Argus looked at Lelagin beside him playfully, and said, "As a party, Kars, how do you feel?"

"Impossible!" Lelagin said with his arms folded against the wall, "no one will survive if I am hit by my arrow!"

"It's dead!" Poole whispered, smiling faintly, "just to stabilize the people of Garik!"

"That's right," said Argus, smiling slightly, with a little deep meaning, "it is indeed a good idea to use magic to blind the eyes of the ignorant people, when they see the Earl alive before their eyes...... Ignorant of them, they wouldn't have thought that it was just a trick made of magic - what a shame, how did it take to make Galik confused......"

"Do you need me to kill another person?" said Lelagin lightly.

"No, since they chose to deal with it this way, no matter how many times you kill, Avery Ogier will still be 'alive', but I was surprised by one thing...... Even if magic was used to get others to impersonate the old Earl in order to deceive the people, it was impossible to do it without any omissions - even the people around the Earl...... Well, has someone taken the Earl's place? and a trustworthy ...... Hmm, does the earl have a son?"

"I've only heard of a grandson...... "Poole's words paused and he thought about it, "by the way, I remember that Avery Ogier had a son named Yvonne Ogier who lived in Sasson, and the relationship between the two seemed to be very stiff......

"What's the relationship, that's for others to see, between father and son, no matter how stiff the quarrel is, you can't get rid of the same blood flowing on your body, right?" Glancing in the direction of the Earl's Castle, Argus sneered and said, "But what a surprise to me, that guy is too calm, isn't he? 'You can get out of Galik, bastard!' Haha, interesting!"

"That's true," Poole said with a wry smile, sighing slightly, "Thanks to him, we can't get any help in Galik, food, water, don't even think about it, unless we use force......"

"So it's a cold fellow, and the lord doesn't seem to care much about the lives of the civilians compared to the earl - he's calculated that we have to hide our whereabouts, right? Those two annoying old fellows are still in the magic branch of Garik! No way, you have to leave!" he said, glancing at Connell, seeing that he was staring at him fiercely, and asked suspiciously, "Let?"

"Don't call me by name!" to Argus's surprise, Connell slammed a punch into Argus's face, sending the unsuspecting Argus into the wall.

"You bastard, is that the Earl the human you said you killed?" Connell looked at Argus angrily.

The Earl had a good impression of Connell, and because of Lavia's connection, it was enough for Connell to be angry, after all, he had a good impression of the little girl.

"What are you doing?Connell?!" Poole subconsciously pointed his wand at Conil.

"Oh, do you know the old earl?" Argus, who was stuck in the wall, slowly stood up, touched his cheek, then licked the blood from the corner of his mouth with his tongue, shrugged and said, "That's a shame, if you had told me earlier......"

"Humph!" Glaring at Argus, Connell said viciously, "I swear I'll give you a hard lesson when I live up to my expectations, Argus!"

"I'm glad you remember your wishes...... Oh, no, no, I'm not provoking!" Glancing at the bustling streets of Alicock, Argus said lightly, "It seems that we were careless, and he took the lead-even if we spread the news of the earl's death again, it would only be regarded as a curse by the ignorant people, tsk!Why can't it go as smoothly as the other two regions?" he paused, and said with a sneer, "But even so, how can the matter of military pay be solved?" Hey, the Thranders have done us a great favor, and why don't you burn the last of the grain in the nearby granary?"

Looking at Argus coldly, Connell said solemnly, "Don't go too far, Argus!"

"Okay, okay," Argus shrugged and said lightly, as if in surrender, "plus the punch you punched me earlier, and I would have made amends to you...... The people of Garrick need to thank you, Jean!"

"Humph!"

"Alright, then let's leave-even if the crisis is temporarily avoided, but chaos will not be avoided--when the food runs out, will Garric be able to maintain such a peaceful situation? The Replacement Lord? haha!" he said, turning around, pulling on his cloak, wrapping his whole body in it, and taunting, "The seeds of chaos have been sown, all that remains is to wait for a suitable time, and the time is almost there!"

As he spoke, the necromancer Poole seemed to sense something, took out a magic communication stone from his arms, frowned, and said, "Argus, it's a message from Hanpa!"

"Sure enough......" said Argus, smiling and whispering, "the time is ripe! I reckon there is a good show to watch, called the ugliness of the struggle for power among the nobles...... Divide that pie of power as much as you want, and all you end up with is eternal darkness, stupid fellows!"

"Tsk, crazy guy!" Glancing at Argus, Connell pouted.

However, just a few miles before Argus and his party left Alicock, they were blocked by a group of people waiting here early...... "Oops," and looking at the other side with a wry smile, Argus said jokingly, "Yo, the honorable archmagician, and old Andrew, are you here to see us off......?"

"See you off?" Father Andrew snorted coldly, with a little anger, and said in a deep voice, "I know that you want to leave secretly, how can there be such a good thing?"

"Argus," looked at Argus with an extremely serious expression, and the old dean said in a deep voice, "I can't say anything this time to let you go! As the guy who caused chaos in the Empire, no matter what the cost, you must stay!"

"Ahh

"What do you mean?" said the old dean with a frown.

"What do you mean...... a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, Argus squinted at the old dean, and whispered a joke, "Is that good?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, as the head of Heliriox, you have relieved yourself of your responsibilities for the sake of me, aren't you afraid that some restless fellows will do something unpleasant while you are away......?

"You ......" looked at Argus in shock, and the old dean had a faint sense of foreboding, and all the ominous omens that had appeared in his mind in the past seemed to come out at once.

"You seem surprised, esteemed archmage," said Argus, grinning, raising his hand and jokingly, "that old castle is nothing to be destroyed, right? You've always thought I'm just a man, right? Tsk, it's a pity that I seem to have some reliable allies, but they've always been eager to take revenge on you dark magicians?

Holding back the anger in his heart, the old dean gritted his teeth and said, "You guy......"

"Hey, that's a horrified expression," said Argus, shrugging his shoulders, with a nonchalant expression and pretending to regret, "Originally, I really planned to kill you on that occasion, but unfortunately...... As the most famous archmage in the Empire, and of course, Father Andrew, you have surprised me once again, but even if I can't kill you, my purpose has been achieved...... Honorable Great Magician, it's hard to imagine that you still have the leisure to stay here, if I were you, I would definitely go back immediately, that old castle, maybe...... It's just in time - he's before he turns to scorched earth!"

Argus ......

"Of course," said Argus, whose right hand condensed a thick darkness with a hint of coldness in his eyes, "for now, I can't let you leave like this! I have no mercy on those who are hostile to me...... Looks like our situation has changed!" Argus said in a vicious tone, "old fellows!"

As he spoke, a sudden burst of dark power like a storm surged out of his body, and his companions Poole, Conneill, Lelagin, and Simonley launched a fierce attack on the old dean and Father Andrew.

On the contrary, after hearing Argus's words, the old dean's mind could not calm down again.

Helily Oaks...... Could it really be that Reochs would really be destroyed as he had met?...... the glory of the previous dark magicians, "Argus!" The old dean was already surprisingly angry, only to see him raise his wand and recite a spell, and immediately, the whole sky gradually appeared a strange red, and the fierce flames seemed to melt even the space itself, and a huge hazy figure could be faintly seen from the boundless firelight.

The snow evaporated in an instant, and the ground beneath his feet gradually heaved with the shock, and finally formed a huge volcano, and in the scorching crater, the bright red hot magma was about to emerge, and the sudden and powerful pressure could not help but shock even Argus, who was as strong as Argus.

Lava Purgatory: Wrath of Hephaestus

Stunned by what he saw, Argus smiled wryly.

"Hey, forbidden spells—not really?"

(To be continued)