The smile on the Demon King's face visibly froze.

"Lanmuir," the dim eyes turned gloomy, "do you know what you're talking about?" ”

"Yes, I know." Lanmuir said calmly.

Of course, he knew that what he was saying was almost crazy, but Lanmuir was not bluffing - since the demons were now stationed outside the city, they either failed to attack the city, or they were afraid of the reinforcements that were about to arrive, and they took the initiative to withdraw after breaking the city.

Either way, the Holy Monarch knew very well that the numerical inferiority of the demon race determined that it was impossible for them to fight for a long time in the hinterland of the human kingdom, and they would have to retreat into the abyss in a few days.

Of course, even so, it still sounds outrageous to exchange the lives of nearly a thousand captives with the surrender and dignity of a vanquished.

It doesn't matter, the starting price always has to be a little higher, Lanmuir thought calmly.

He waited for the Demon King to sneer and devalue him to the point that he was worse than mud - as every bargaining buyer does for the first time.

But Twilight just stared at him gloomily, and didn't start bargaining.

Lanmuir was stared at so much that his back was hairy, but he didn't show his timidity. The strange silence lasted for a long time, and the Demon King finally said in a low voice, "Tell me how far you can go. ”

Rammuir: "I obey all your commands, provided that I do not betray my country or the basic conscience taught in the Hadith." ”

Dim: "What if I want you to call me king from now on, wearing a slave chain, and crawling on my knees forever in front of the demons?" ”

"If I cut out your tongue and gouge out your eyes, and then I cut you naked; Naked in front of thousands of demons, declaring that this is my trophy? ”

Lanmuir: "If I belong to you, that's your right." ”

"If I give you to my people, I want you to become a for the demons to vent their anger. goods, to spend the rest of your life in the trampling of life is worse than death? ”

Lanmuir: "Choosing to relinquish this right is, of course, your right. ”

"Ha, yes! When the time comes, they will tell you to lick their feet, drink their urine, and feed you muddy water and maggots. Every day, more than a dozen demons will come to the round. Rape you, and then call them to raise the hound wheel. Rape you. They're beating you for fun, and they're asking you to bark like a dog and beg for mercy – are you sure you really know what you're handing over!? ”

Ranmuir still says, "I'm sure I know what I'm doing." ”

Dim Yao stood up suddenly, and his eyes seemed to be about to burn: "Okay, very good, you sold yourself cheaply like this!" The abyss is not a place where humans can endure, Holy Monarch, I wait for you to regret it! ”

Lan Muir was stunned, he first wondered what the demon king suddenly lost his temper, and suddenly reacted that he had the intention of agreeing.

- Oh my God, is there no such thing as bargaining in the abyss? That's it, a fixed price?

The Holy Monarch was shocked, and at the same time hurriedly blurted out: "My God witnesses, I will never regret it!" ”

……

So, what is the value of the submission and dignity of the human holy king?

It's hard to say this kind of ethereal thing.

It's just that when the Demon King and the Holy Monarch complete this deal, which even sounds a little nonsense, the hearts of both parties are filled with a dream-like sense of unreality.

- Yes, at that time, they were convinced that they used the most chicken ribs

The most worthless thing is exchanged for the most priceless treasure in the world.

Perhaps it was the surprise of the Demon King's leniency, and Ranmuir asked if he could allow himself to say his final goodbyes to the royal city.

Twilight agreed. At least until Lanmuir actually became a slave, he didn't mind giving the enemy enough respect.

With so many Terran captives still under the pressure of the demon army, he believed that Lanmuir would not dare to play any tricks, so he generously gave the Holy Monarch three days to return to heal and recuperate, say goodbye to his relatives and people, and return with his personal belongings.

In retrospect many years later, it really didn't look like the treatment of a captive. It's like a princess who was forced to kiss after losing the fight.

The road back to the city is neither long nor short. But Ranmuir was badly wounded and walked slowly.

When he came to the royal city, he couldn't help but be stunned.

The huge and majestic city had been branded with the marks of war, and the walls were full of scratches left by the demon's scale claws, as well as mutilated corners.

What's even more strange is that there is an eerie burn at the stake outside the city gate, and more than a dozen long, charred black objects are hanging on the city tower, swaying in the wind.

Lanmuir didn't recognize what it was at first, but when he got closer, he was shocked to see that it was a charred corpse.

…… The heavens of the royal city have changed.

On that day, after the demons retreated from the outer city, the soldiers and the citizens hugged each other and wept, thanking the Mother God for her protection.

Without the teachings of the temple and no longer following rigid dogmas, they clasped their weapons tightly with their folded pairs, and miraculous victories still favored the city.

All witnessed this miracle, not the "refuge" promised by the Prophet and the Son of God

, but a miracle created by their own hands......

Prince Aiden removed his sweaty armor and shouted orders for the guards to be removed from the stake.

"Tie it up!"

The clergy, led by the Prophet Elders, had been sealed with mana and put on the linen robes that only criminals wear.

The guards tied a straw mat to them with oil-soaked hemp rope and burned the sinners at the stake despite their frantic struggles.

Aiden shouted again, "Ignition." ”

The Prophet twisted and writhed, rubbing desperately under the restraints of hemp rope and straw mats, like a fat fish pressed against a chopping board.

"Prince Aiden! Are you crazy, are you all possessed by demons!? He roared, "I am a prophet of a hundred years, a prophet under the protection of Mother God—"

The guards who had received education from the temple since they were young turned a little blue: "Your Royal Highness, your Royal Highness, you really want to ......"

Aiden raised his hands before the stake:

"If my actions offend Mother God, let God's punishment be upon me!"

The young man's lips were pursed tightly, and although he didn't say anything more, the courage and anger contained in those brown eyes turned into a force that was enough to shock people's hearts.

"Burn!" There was a loud shout from the crowd.

"Burn!" "Burn!"

In the midst of the cascading sounds, Aiden pushed away the guards, lit the torches himself, and walked to the stake step by step.

"No, stop, stop, bunch of fools!! Mother Divine will not let you go!! You can't, you can't—no—"

"I can." Aiden said hatefully. His eyes were red, and he leaned over the prophet's ear, "Remember, I lit this fire for my brother." ”

As he spoke, the young man dropped his torch. It touched the straw, bark, and oil stars that had piled up under the torture rack, and it immediately burst into flames.

The flames quickly climbed upward, enveloping the Prophet's toes, then the calves and thighs, then the waist, chest, and skull......

"Ahh No! Save me! Save me! Ahh

The old man howled and screamed in the flames, and the sound of wood cracking was heard between the torture racks.

"I am—the prophet—ahhhh

The prophet's terrible screams first turned into swearing, dirtier than the foul language coming out of the mouth of any street thug.

br />

Then it became a begging for mercy, and it was lower than the most timid wreck.

The flames make the ugly unconcealed.

The citizens of the city stared wide-eyed and witnessed all this in silence. The burning at the stake of a criminal was even more solemn than the corporate prayer service.

As time passed, the voice weakened, but the smell of burnt human flesh became strong in the wind.

Finally, the old man stopped making any noise.

The flames burned out, the smoke cleared, and only a charred corpse remained on the torture rack, heralding the end of an era of ignorance.

"Good!!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, "Good, good!" Well burned! ”

"Burn the crooks, burn down the Brett Temple that uses the Mother God!!"

The temple of Brett fell from a great height, and it fell into the dirtiest mud to accept the fate of being trampled by ten thousand.

In the days that followed, the clergy, who were in cahoots with the Prophet Elders, oppressed the Golden Sun Knights who had bullied and exploited the commoners in the name of the Divine Mother...... They were all burned at the stake by angry people.

Ranmuir was not able to witness all this.

But he soon received it in a different way. When the Holy Monarch entered the city gates, some civilians quickly recognized him and shouted.

Immediately afterward, thousands of people gathered in a very short time, and before Ranmuir could react, he was slapped on the back by something similar to a stick—

"Uh-huh......!"

Lanmuir was now seriously wounded, brittle inside and out like cracked porcelain.

He was so painful that his eyes suddenly went black, and he could no longer stand, and he staggered and fell into the street, and blood immediately poured out of the "cracks" on his body.

The people were stunned for a moment, and many people were frightened. The man wielding the stick shuddered, "I, no, I- didn't make an effort—"

But there were still indignant people who pushed away the few helpless guys from behind, pointed at the defeated monarch, and counted his crimes.

"The temple has been deceiving the people, hasn't it!?"

Lanmuir confessed to the evil deeds of the Temple of Brett for falsifying miracles over the years.

In the blink of an eye, everyone on this dilapidated street was insulting the despicability of the Holy Monarch.

Someone left in tears. Moments later, he returned, throwing a bucket of dirty water on Ranmuir's face.

"Phew!" The man cried out in grief, "What a god, you are a liar!" ”

"Your Majesty, we used to love you so much! You can ......"

Someone else asked sharply: "Say, how did the temple teach you to deceive people with those hypocritical tricks!?" ”

Ranmuir had just closed his eyes and was scolded, but he was stunned, his pale face raised, and he was dizzy from the sunlight and the figure.

The voice was a little higher: "In those years, the patients you treated when you gave were also fake, right!?" ”

"I ......"

Ranmuir was blinded, the overly young Saint had never faced such a situation, and for a moment he did not know whether to argue or not.

He sat on the dirty street, pressing the still bleeding wound, and looked a little pitiful and confused.

The people pointed at him again:

"It must be fake, lie to us to be grateful to Dade, so that we can support him as a saint!"

"Prince Aiden is the prince who has been raised by the old saint since he was a child, how can Ranmuir coerce his father to establish an heir if he does not use the name of the Son of God to gain prestige?"

"I heard that the demons with broken horns are very weak, but he can't even beat the demon king with broken horns!"

"Of course, the liar has no deception skills, and his true colors will be revealed!"

More absurd charges were placed on Ranmuir's head one by one, and there were even contradictory logics. After being stunned for a while, the Holy Monarch probably saw his situation clearly, so he lowered his eyes and decided to listen to the verdict in silence.

There were also some townspeople who began to feel that it was not a good taste, but the moderates always found it difficult to hold the radicals and had to leave silently.

The invective kept escalating, and suddenly there was a shout that was particularly loud:

"Ranmuir. Brett has committed treason! He colluded with the demons, he was a traitor! ”

=========

The Holy Monarch knelt in front of the temple.

The temple of Brett had been burned to the ground.

Ranmuir was ordered to kneel here to repent and to discuss whether the Holy Monarch had committed treason.

"Is there any?" "How could it not be!" "If not, how can he come back safely from the hands of the Demon King?"

Lanmuir was still wearing the snow-silver robe he had worn when he went into battle, but it was covered in blood and stains.

His long dark blonde hair was messily obscuring his delicate face, and his eyebrows were lowered, and he was reciting the confession word by word.

Someone stepped forward and asked the Holy Monarch condescendingly, "You yourself said that you betrayed the country and your people, have you?" ”

Lanmuir was silent for a moment, his voice hoarse: "No. ”

The man asked, "What else do you want to say about this royal city?" ”

Lanmuir closed his eyes tiredly: "...... I'm sorry. ”

Then the man turned around, like a victorious hero, and excitedly raised his arms and shouted: "Listen, he confesses!" ”

In the distance, others looked panicked.

An old man had a sad face and shook his head again and again: "If you want me to say, Your Majesty made a mistake, but those people are really ......."

"Who told the Holy Monarch to pretend to be so noble on weekdays? Now that it has been exposed, it is considered self-inflicted to suffer a little more. ”

"Oh, okay, let's go and report it to Prince Aiden, I'm going to die if I kneel down like this." ……”

Unfortunately, the guards' briefing did not reach the prince in time.

Aiden was so tired. When the demons attacked the city, he put on armor and fought in person. After the demons left the city, he punished the prophet and elder and other priests, and showed the evidence collected by Lan Muir one by one.

Finally, after the situation stabilized a little, he couldn't stay up anymore and returned to the palace to sleep in the dark.

Aiden slept for two whole days, and when he woke up, he felt hungry, and the maid hurriedly served his meal.

The prince rubbed his aching thighs as he chewed his bread.

After confirming that the demons had not gone and returned, he breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but think of his brother who had not been heard from again.

For some reason, in the days of the war, although the demons advertised that their king had captured the Holy Monarch, they neither hung the Holy Monarch's head on the flag to show off their might, nor did they press the Holy Monarch's people to the front of the battle to show the public.

Aiden couldn't help but have a glimmer of hope, maybe his brother had managed to escape?

Until the evening, the old queen came in a hurry and said with tears in her eyes: "Aiden! My child, they say your brother is treasonous, what the hell is this......"

Aiden stood up abruptly and slammed his chair over!

"Who's shit!" He even lost the etiquette of the royal family, and trembled with anger, "Brother doesn't even want his life to protect the city-"

The old queen of saints interrupted eagerly: "But I just heard that Lanmuel is now kneeling in the outer city, kneeling in front of the temple of Brett to repent!" ”！