I will be crowned king

The spiral staircase leading to the main hall was narrow and dark; Anson felt like he was in danger of losing his footing and falling every time he stepped down.

But for him at this moment, this kind of "risk" that he can actually feel is extremely practical.

Anson, who was clutching the already loaded Leopold rifle tightly with both hands and desperately suppressing his fear, felt a slight burning pain in his heart.

And as he got closer to the main hall on the ground floor, the burning sensation became clearer and stronger.

That feeling... it was like my own instinct was warning me, preventing me from going deeper.

There is nothing to worry about. Since the "Black Mage" can safely hand over this task to a newcomer, it proves that the matter itself is not difficult, but the impact will be very bad once exposed.

What I have to deal with is only an Old God sect that colludes with the church, the commander of the player's empire garrison, Kroger Bernard; considering that the other party will definitely try to keep it secret, there will not be more than ten people below at best; even if they can't be defeated , it’s always too late to escape...

Constantly comforting himself, Anson took a deep breath and landed his right foot on the last floor of the spiral staircase.

In front of you is the last door leading to the main hall.

Anson, who was holding his breath, hid behind the wall and slowly pushed the door open with the butt of his gun.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

The moment he stepped into the main hall, an indescribable scream struck his mind.

The tense nerves made Ansen startled, and his slightly trembling pupils suddenly shrank.

What came into view was an indescribable scarlet color.

"Oh, are you finally willing to come out?"

The low and extremely hoarse voice made Anson freeze up as he took a step forward.

A figure that looked exactly like Louis Bernard was standing at the end of the dimly lit Zhu Ting, pulling out his sword from the side of the corpse's neck.

The corpse, which was still twitching and spraying dark red liquid, was casually thrown among the bones by the figure.

The main hall was dead silent and empty.

There is nothing...except for the smashed, mutilated, disemboweled, hanging from the ceiling, and the bodies that are pooled on the wall, still twitching slightly with blood spurting out from the torn muscles; except for the corpses painted with blood. In addition to the sticky, strong-smelling, bubble-filled strange liquid covering the floor and walls...

Well, nothing.

Feeling the increasingly rapid heartbeat and burning pain, Anson almost didn't know what he was relying on to stay sane at this moment!

His excessively clear consciousness allowed him to observe his surroundings despite being frightened.

Painted all over the main hall were soldiers from the empire, some wearing Clovis uniforms, and some wearing black robes, whose identities were completely impossible to determine... The only thing they had in common was that they were all dead.

Every complete or incomplete face soaked in blood plasma, cold and stiff, with fear and despair solidified in the protruding, lifeless eyes.

"You're late, of course... you can also say you're just in time."

The moment the other party spoke, Anson, who felt the sticky floor, stopped stiffly.

Although it was his back in front of him, he felt that he was being watched by the other person.

"Under this dilapidated old castle, there is a very significant corpse of a blood mage from hundreds of years ago."

A voice like a sharp sword echoed in Anson's ears:

"Every blood mage spends his entire life pursuing the pursuit of transcending this fragile mortal body; becoming powerful, agile in mind, immune to disease, and even no longer human."

"And some of them firmly believe that blood contains unimaginable power, and for this reason they have spent generations or even dozens of generations pursuing the path to eternal life."

"And this corpse... and even the former owner of this castle is one of them."

"There is no doubt that he failed, but it still made the small group of blood mages who discovered this document very happy. They thought that as long as they got this body, they could continue their research based on the records in the document... Haha."

"So they took advantage of the war between the Empire and Clovis to let a group of people sneak in here before the war broke out. With the help of the Empire's people, they cooperated internally and externally to capture Thunder Castle and got what they wanted."

"The price is to help the empire end this war."

"But now they're all dead, and the Clovis are about to retake the castle."

Kroger Bernard, who was telling the story, was holding the extremely ferocious blood-stained sword with one hand, as if he was telling a story that had nothing to do with him.

Anson suppressed the fear in his heart and looked at his back with a stiff expression:

"Why?"

"Why? Because..." Kroger suddenly raised his head slightly after a pause, as if he was thinking:

"That's what's best for us."

He said "we".

Well, it should refer to me and him...

…Bar?

With his throat twitching, Anson raised the muzzle of the rifle in his hand slightly.

"Of course, you are the more important reason." Kroger suddenly changed the subject and his head twitched unnaturally:

"For Kroger Bernard...me..., Louis Bernard, my lovely brother, is irreplaceable!"

"So when I mistakenly thought that he was sacrificed, I decided not to deal with it anymore, and actually joined forces with those guys who lured me into becoming a blood mage in order to use me; blood sacrifices again and again awakened the corpse that should have rotted long ago."

"A corpse that can continuously gain strength from blood and continue to multiply."

"Pfft!"

The sharp edge of the tearing sword fell again, and the sound of blood pumping like the blood being squeezed and convulsed after the flesh was torn, echoed in Anson's ears over and over again.

"But...Louis...my dear brother, is still alive."

"So I changed my mind."

"For the great surname Bernard, Kroger Bernard, who once represented a bright future but was used and controlled by the Old Gods, has become a burden; the longer time goes by, the more time he has as a blood mage. The easier it is for your identity to be exposed."

Anson, who was holding the trigger of his rifle tightly, stared at the opponent's back and stretched his right hand towards the grenade behind his back.

There is only one left.

"For Kroger Bernard...me, the surname Bernard means everything; compared with this great and ancient surname, all personal honors, disgrace and even life and death are insignificant."

"In order for Bernard's glory not to be tarnished, in order to cover up certain mistakes, and in order for this war to end as soon as possible; Kroger Bernard will become the hero... and victim of this war."

In a low moan that echoed in the abyss, Kroger Bernard slowly turned around and cast his crazy blood-red eyes:

"And I...will usher in eternal life!"

Um? !

Anson's nerves were tense, and his mind went blank for an instant!

On the body that seemed to be soaked in blood, the viscous liquid all over the body seemed to be countless "living things", squirming slowly and disorderly on Kroger's body, from his neck, chest and every exposed part of his body. Skin, burrowing into his body.

The slightly trembling pupils slowly moved up, and the place that originally belonged to the face was divided into two - the left side still looked like Louis' handsome face, while the right side had completely turned into a skeleton that had long since rotted, with only a thin layer of rotting flesh left.

"Excuse me……"

With a somewhat uncontrollable expression, Anson, who gripped the grenade tightly, "smiled" and said, "Are you Kroger Bernard now? Or..."

"... Or the blood mage who has been dead for hundreds of years?"

A smile appeared on Kroger's face, and the squirming viscous liquid spilled from the rotten right corner of his mouth: "Oh... you should really listen to me carefully, Anson Bach."

"I said this is what's best for 'us'."

Dragging the tearing sword that was attached to countless flesh and blood, as if it had come to life, Kroger stared at Anson with his blood-red eyes, and walked towards Anson.

"I also said you came too late."

"Krog Bernard has swallowed the body of the blood mage and gained the power of infinitely increased flesh and blood; but the flesh and blood of these scum alone is far from enough to bring me back to life."

"Coincidentally, Anson Bach, you... seem to be a gifted person with the power of blood?"

After hearing this reply, Anson's pupils shrank again.

"Kroger" walked slowly, with a creepy grin on his rotten right face:

"So...you came just in time."