Pirate Kingship

Except for Byron and Therese, two [Night Demons] who each had their own little plans, they vaguely noticed that this "Holy Lake Coronation Ceremony" seemed a bit unusual.

The other real princes and their guards were unaware of it and still devoted themselves wholeheartedly to this ceremony that determined the fate of themselves and the entire country.

Atahualpa was no exception.

With a wave of his hand:

"Let's go, this time with the help of two His Majesty, the [Sun Crown] must belong to me!"

After easily getting rid of the nine third-level [Lava Giants], he realized that the 70% brothers who accepted his bribes would not be an obstacle to him.

He immediately excitedly lit up the sun badge and led Byron and Violet to the second level.

With his confidence greatly increased, he boldly vowed to reach the finish line first.

As for the other teams that are still competing with the first level, once any prince is killed, the sun badge cannot be activated and can only stay in place until the ceremony is over.

Therefore, protecting your own prince is always the top priority. The elimination of the prince means the elimination of the entire team.

When the time came to the evening of the first day, the three of them entered the third level together.

After being informed by the Noble Council, the number of princes who still have the energy to move forward in the entire "King Trial" has dropped to one-half.

Among them were two kills they contributed again.

And there were no surprises. The "blood of political opponents" injected into the [Scarlet Holy Grail] was still only one-third of what was expected.

But Byron is not in a hurry. He has the crown of the Holy Golden Empire and a solid foundation.

Even if the harvest is only one-third of the original, I am confident that as long as I can send away any one of the four princes, I can brew a cup of [Eternal Blood] on the spot.

However, the three people who had just passed the second level all looked a little embarrassed.

In particular, Atahualpa twisted his dripping clothes and breathed a deep sigh of relief:

“My luck was just average this time. The two levels in a row were secret realms that have not been recorded in history books.

The water attribute [Cyclops] and the ocean beasts they control are really unfriendly to us Sun God descendants.

Fortunately, Her Majesty the Queen is here, otherwise I would be in a terrible situation. "

The trials that gave the founder of the country, the first generation direct descendant of [Sun God] Inti, a headache, are also dangerous to the descendants of today.

It was just that half of the princes were defeated in the first two trials, and the casualty rate was really shocking.

If one could blame them for being careless and poor in the first "Test of the Lake Monster Gibalo", the second "Trial of the Cyclops" had no skills and relied solely on strength.

At least four Cyclops of the same level and the beasts they cultivated must be hacked to death in order to collect the Sun Badge, which is evenly divided into four parts.

Thanks to Violet, a [Witch] who dared to fight in the water, in their team, they were able to catch up with the first echelon again while completing the trial, saving the time they had been delayed by the succubus attendants twice in a row. time.

"The third level: the trial of the Lightless Fortress."

The high priest who presided over the ceremony routinely informed everyone of the name of this trial, but it was limited to one name.

This is another unpopular secret place that has never been encountered before.

After Byron walked out of the stone door, he immediately sent two ravens to start investigating the third level of the secret realm.

It was soon discovered that this island was much smaller than the previous two levels. The main body was a lonely ancient boulder fortress. The place where they appeared was in the corner of the east wall of the fortress.

There are no dangers found nearby for the time being. The only strange thing is that there are lush vegetation outside the rock city wall, but there is no grass growing inside the city, not even a fallen leaf or a bug.

Both Byron and Violet are very adaptable to naval battles, and have monster-like physiques. They are still very energetic, even if they don't sleep for several days, they will be fine.

In the past, it was common for a young couple to stay up all night when they got excited about eating marrow.

On the other hand, Atahualpa was flooded with sea water several times in the second level, which was a bit drained. Byron turned to ask for his opinion:

"How about we fix it here first?"

The latter thought about it and didn't show off:

"Alright, although the trial is to randomly select 3-5 islands from the 52 trial islands, no one in the trial knows whether it is three, four or five.

Just like the founder of the country, His Majesty Manco Capac, never knew how many difficulties and obstacles awaited them ahead, and how long it would take to find the fortification site mentioned in the oracle.

We passed two levels in a row, and there were several bloody battles. It is still necessary to repair it. "

At this time, Byron also used the eyes of the raven to see other people in the first echelon.

The other three governors are there, and there are an additional seven or eight third-level teams with good luck and strength.

Realizing that his group had indeed caught up with several other fourth-level [Children of the Sun], as well as the first echelon of the succubus Tris, they did not light a fire to expose themselves.

Instead, he opened the "Border Mystery Lock" to hide his presence, took out the canned beef and rum prepared in glass jars and distributed them to Violet and Atahualpa.

It had been less than a month since they left the Bantayan Islands.

The supplies brought out from the base camp are still fresh, and they are all made by [Blood Red Whiskey] Alfred, a third-level gourmet. The conditions are much better than those of ordinary ocean-going sailors.

The more this time comes, the more Byron looks forward to getting the [Heaven on Earth] as a portable logistics base.

Atahuallpa ate the carefully cooked canned beef, and did not forget to marvel at another powerful holy relic [the first overseas development order] that Byron took out:

"Your Majesty, although there is not as much gold as me in your golden empire, there are many powerful holy relics.

The great [Sun God] Inti taught us to give civilization to the years, rather than giving years to civilization.

Let us, the descendants of the gods like the sun, pursue more meaning in life in the limited time to promote the progress of Quechua civilization, rather than let meaningless life survive in the long time.

I believe that only a country bathed in the light of civilization can produce many [holy relics] while influencing the progress of mankind.

This can be seen from weapons and food. Whether it is guns, this kind of canned food, or rum brewed from sugarcane, it shows that the northern civilization is strong.

If there is a chance in the future, I must take Sister Aya to your territory to take a look."

He did not realize that the target of the development of [the first overseas development order] was precisely them, the indigenous people.

He also misunderstood that the so-called "civilization" of the Old World was not the same as he imagined.

It was just because of the continuous wars between the countries that the social structure was far more mature than the slave-based Sun Empire.

Byron remembered that the captain of the guard had once said something similar about wanting to study in a northern country.

Obviously, as they learned more about the outside world, they became more and more aware that the Sun Empire would soon face the first wave of impact from the colonists.

Including military, cultural, economic, infectious diseases and other aspects.

"Guns, germs and steel" are the unavoidable themes in colonial wars in any world.

Rather than waiting for the colonists' cannons to forcibly blow open the country's gates, it is better to take the initiative to understand in advance.

As an ally, Byron was also happy to see the upper class of the Sun Empire show an open and enterprising political atmosphere, and not to learn from the old witch who brought endless painful history to the Chinese people in the previous life.

Of course, the premise of everything is that Atahualpa can become the final winner, or at least survive to the end.

While Byron was helping the "weak" Queen Violet to open the can lid, he nodded to Atahualpa:

"If you can successfully ascend the throne, our Holy Golden Empire and the Sun Empire will be brotherly countries. Of course, I welcome you and Princess Aya.

I believe that Princess Aya will be able to get along well with my sister and my queens."

Atahuallpa's expression became closer, and he blinked at him, as if they were all the same.

"Marry a sister as queen, I understand!"

But he didn't know that Byron only dared to say a word about the queens because he was wearing the vest of [Lord of Heaven].

If he dares to go out in public after returning to the old continent in the future, there will inevitably be a storm like the collapse of the sky and the earth.

The degree of death is definitely not inferior to the coronation ceremony of the princes today.

The church will probably be the first to jump out and give him a righteous iron fist.

The three of them just took a break after dinner.

The sun in the sky gradually fell into the lake, and some of the chaotic buildings in the whole fortress were casting long shadows under the sunset.

It was like the claws of countless demons dancing, swallowing up all the trial participants bit by bit.

Byron and his party were at the foot of the east wall, and saw the light around him gradually disappear, while the shadows continued to expand.

I don’t know if it was an illusion, but Byron felt that the shadows here were too dark.

When crawling on the ground, it seemed like a pool of thick ink slowly flowing on the ground.

Seeing the shadow cast by a tall tower opposite arrived first, slowly touching a glass jar with some soup left at their feet.

Rustling

Byron, who had already noticed something strange, noticed that something seemed to wriggle in the shadow, and the soup in the jar disappeared instantly.

The glass jar also fell to the ground inexplicably.

Then the meat scraps that fell on the ground and the few pieces of water plants they brought from the previous level all disappeared suddenly with a strange rustling sound.

They finally saw clearly that there were countless sharp teeth hidden in the shadows.

Any organic matter covered by the shadows would be eaten up instantly. No wonder there was no grass or even a bug in the fortress. It turned out that everything was eaten up.

Bang!

Violet fired a large-caliber whale oil bullet at it, but it had no effect, just like hitting an ordinary shadow.

At the same time, the log got a glimpse of the details of this strange shadow.

"[Secret Realm·Lightless Fortress]:

In a sacrificial accident long ago, an old god beyond the standard was communicated, and the whole city was polluted by his power.

All the hungry residents were trapped in the desolate mirror city in the shadow, and became darkness itself in a long time, craving for everything edible in the material world.

It is absolutely safe during the day, beware of the coming of night!

Only by bathing in the light can you be free from attack. As long as the light flickers once, you will be eaten up by the darkness with countless sharp teeth!

Hold on until the sun rises again, and automatically get a sun badge to go to the next level."

At the same time, the shadows from the mirror city also began to attack the "border maze" that enveloped them in waves.

Obviously, no borders or barriers that blocked them were allowed to exist in this fortress.

Byron could only immediately cancel the mystery lock and control several fire element crystals, a specialty of the Ring of Fire Mountains, to form a shadowless lamp layout.

A bright light source without even a shadow was cast above the heads of the three people.

Only then did I have time to explain the secret killing rules here to Violet and Atahualpa, but I did not forget to say this at the end:

“We don’t have the power to fight an entire city of shadows, we can only use the power of light sources to resist them.

The first priority tonight is to keep the lights on. "

"good."

Violet agreed crisply, with lightning flashing on her fingertips, and used alchemy and the materials prepared in the traveler's bag to make several shadowless lamps as backup.

Atahualpa scratched his head when he heard Byron's words.

"I don't think it's that troublesome."

With that said, he began to transform into the element of fire, and his whole body began to glow, instantly turning into a bright human-shaped light source.

The brighter light and more complete shadowlessness than the shadowless lamp can make the surrounding darkness retreat instantly.

"Is this level so easy?"

Byron was suddenly stunned and found that he had made an empiricist mistake as a human being.

In addition to shadowless lamps, the best way to eliminate shadows is to become a light source yourself, ensuring that no shadow can touch you.

This secret realm [Lightless Fortress] is indeed a place of death for ordinary humans. If they are not careful, their bodies will be wiped out.

But for those [Lava Giants] and [Children of the Sun] that have been burning blazingly, as long as they don't take the initiative to extinguish them, there is absolutely no danger at all.

After receiving Atahualpa's prompt, Byron and Violet also activated the Night Demon's transformation technique, imitating the "fluorescent squid" and turning their skin into light-emitting organs.

Transformed into two light beings, they were also immune to the damage of shadows.

However, this also brings about another extremely serious problem.

When the three of them looked up at the originally dark city, they found that it was not just them, there were also light spots exposed like torches.

Even at the very edge of the city, you can see the fire on the other side at a glance.

Obviously, those who have made it this far are the "leftovers" who are excellent enough in all aspects, and they have all thought of simple ways to avoid the gnawing shadows.

But as all the light-blocking methods like the "Border Mystery Lock" have been broken, everyone is invisible in the eyes of others.

It was like a group of gun-toting hunters traveling in the dark in a dark forest, and all of a sudden they were forced to turn on high-power lights.

To fight or not to fight?

This is not a problem at all!

"ah--!"

The moment thirty or forty light sources lit up one after another, a shrill scream suddenly pierced the night sky.

The two ravens could clearly see that the first one to take action was the team that focused on the second prince [Playboy].

The fly lady [Totem God, Poisonous Plague Messenger], who was regarded as the second prince's mother-in-law, rose into the sky.

Holding an obsidian ritual knife that exuded a strong and ominous light, he slashed the nearest third-level prince to them at lightning speed, and then quickly retreated.

It was supposed to be a very ordinary skin wound, but to the elemental creatures, it was as lethal as losing two hairs.

But after the prince screamed, it seemed as if someone had cut off half of his life with a knife.

The whole person is aging rapidly, with wrinkles, age spots, and loose teeth appearing on the skin. In the blink of an eye, he has transformed from a young man in his thirties or forties into a gray-haired old man.

The bright light on my body also changed from the sun at eight or nine o'clock in the morning to the setting sun.

This obsidian dagger is the [Holy Relic: Thief of Time] given to the second prince by the succubus Tris!

If a person's theoretical maximum lifespan without disease or disaster can reach one hundred years, if he is twenty years old now, it stands to reason that he can live another eighty years.

Cutting off half of it with this obsidian knife does not mean that you will live forty years less in the future.

But it is equivalent to living an extra forty years now and turning into a sixty-year-old man on the spot.

The fourth level can live to 150 years old, but the third level is only about the same as ordinary people. One cut is enough to be fatal.

Because this thing steals not only life span, but also affects physical fitness, health, and thinking in all aspects, turning one into an old, weak, sick, and disabled person, and his combat effectiveness is also greatly reduced.

This is the true meaning of [Thief of Time]!

On the other hand, the fly girl [Poisonous Plague Messenger] who had gained his lifespan was radiant and looked much younger.

If it weren't for the side effect of being hunted by [Weird Time Hunter], this dagger would be equivalent to an alternative elixir of life, enough to drive the kings of the Old Continent crazy.

"Hahaha, this baby is really useful, I will follow my grandfather's [Dark Sun of Death] and eliminate all competitors.

This time the coronation ceremony will end early at the third level!

Especially my good big brother, if I were to chop you with a knife, you would probably be dead on the spot, hahaha."

The second prince believed that he was superior in strength and had the help of powerful holy relics. He did not intend to let go of the excellent location of Wuguang Fortress and was ready to seal the victory in advance.

There is not only one person who thinks the same as him.

While they were taking action, screams began to erupt throughout the fortress.

At this moment, apart from the second prince, the other person showing great power was not the oldest and most powerful prince [Earthquake Light], but the third prince [Hero's Blood].

Or rather one of his guards, he ripped off his black robe, revealing a face with white skin.

Byron saw clearly the black double-headed eagle emblem worn by the opponent, and his pupils suddenly shrank:

"Emperor of the Holy Silver Empire? Habsburg Dynasty?"

Violet, who shared her senses, was also shaken.

"I thought it was the Castilians or the Remites, but I didn't expect them to be the ones supporting the third prince?"

The current emperor of the Holy Silver Empire, the Habsburg Dynasty, is also the only holder of the [Crown] among many church countries—Frederick III.

The core territory of the family is the city of Vinaya where Violet once studied at the Vinaya Art Academy. How could she not be familiar with this family?

The Habsburg family is one of the most powerful royal families in the Silver Continent and has the widest ruling domain.

This family has won the position of emperor of the Holy Silver Empire since 1438 of the Silver Age. It has not been taken away by the other six electors so far, and it is very likely that it will continue to rule.

What he relies on is not force, but his lower body.

You can learn about a family's behavior from its motto.

The Lancaster family motto is: "I am the pioneer."

The Habsburg family's family motto is: "Let the countries on the continent go to war, and we will happily get married."

He was also jokingly called by the nobles of various mainland countries: "Ruling the world with the lower body."

Others can get things by shedding blood without sweating, but they can get things by getting married without shedding blood.

"In the past, the main interests of this family were in the mainland, and the presence of overseas colonies was not strong. This time, they actually sent people to the southern continent in person, taking advantage of the change of throne of the Sun Empire to take decisive action?

What do they want from here? "

Before Byron and Violet could figure it out, the Habsburg pulled out an old steel dagger and stabbed the nearest third-level prince as well.

The wound was not big and it did not hit any vital points, but the prince lost blood rapidly and fell to the ground in the blink of an eye without making a sound.

When Byron and Violet saw the dagger, it was more like being stung severely. They subconsciously took a step back with a look of fear on their faces.

They don't know the [Thief of Time] in the hands of the natives, but they all know this dagger:

"No! That's the dagger of Cassius, the regicide!"

In 44 BC of the Silver Age, Gaius Julius, the famous human leader of the Age of Gods, became the lifelong dictator of the ancient Silver Republic.

At the same time, 60 senators who opposed the imperial system conspired to assassinate him.

On March 15 of that year, when Gaius Julius walked into the Senate, the conspirators surrounded him, took out many daggers hidden in his toga, and stabbed him together23 knife.

Killing the 55-year-old would-be emperor on the spot also changed a period of history forever.

Many historians believe that if the would-be emperor successfully ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor at that time.

The power of the emperor's [Crown] may not be inferior to the [Pope's Triple Crown], and there will be nothing to do with the Church in the future.

"There are 23 daggers in the Regicide's hands, all stained with the blood of Gaius Julius.

It is said that if you collect 23 of them, you will have the power to kill the only holder of the [Crown] head-on. You can even kill the [King Title] and princes under the emperor.

Even if they only get a small cut on their finger by these daggers, they will bleed until they die unless the entire hand is chopped off.

If he was stabbed in the torso, he would definitely die.

Because the organizer of the murder was named Cassius, these 23 daggers were also called "Cassius's Daggers". "

The extraordinary person from the Habsburg family raised the [Dagger of Cassius] in his hand and laughed wildly:

"Hahaha, today I want to kill a little prince!"

Byron didn't know whether it was logical for the indigenous princes to "use the sword of the previous dynasty to cut down the officials of this dynasty" or "use the sword of the old world to cut down the indigenous princes".

But I knew it was absolutely logical to kill him and Violet, princes and princesses from the Old World!

I don’t dare to confront such special attack weapons of princes and princesses:

"The wind is tight, retreat!"

Rumble.

But at this moment, there was a huge earthquake under everyone's feet, and a circle of illusory stone walls rose from around the fortress and gradually compressed towards the center of the city.

But it was the Habsburg who activated the second treasure in his hand, a civilizational wonder and a barrier-type holy relic [The Great Arena of All Beasts Crying Blood]!