The moonlight slanted and fell at an odd angle on the mahogany desk in the King’s chamber, or more precisely, on a bronze mirror that stood on top of the desk.

The Devil wiped the mirror slowly with a black silk cloth, and the King watched his movements with slight interest. The King was no stranger to dark creatures, and even angels he had witnessed with his own eyes, but what the Devil would show the King tonight was closer to people’s fantasy of dark creatures in this era——the kind involving wizards, crystal balls, illusions, and dreams.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

It started when the King received a letter from General Johan.

When learning of the debate of truth held by the Holy Court, the King couldn’t help but sneer and said, this was simply a farce covered in black cloth. What do they plan to use to discuss the truth? Did they plan to use the logic of a woman falling into the water and sinking to make their point?

“Would you like to see for yourself how this farce begins?” The Devil asked graciously.

The graciousness in his words also carried the most obvious malice of wanting to make trouble. The King glanced at him, thought about it, and agreed happily. As soon as he nodded, the Devil laughed. He and His Majesty had a good understanding in making trouble for the Holy Court.

Not counting other things, sometimes, the Devil and the King do work hand in hand and cooperate happily.

“Your Majesty, well, it is almost time.”

The Devil put down the silk he used to wipe the mirror, and he curved the corners of his mouth slightly.

“Allow me to have a drop of your blood.”

The King’s pirate godfather, Charles, once advised the King that when dealing with hell creatures, it was best not to easily agree to their requests, and of course it was best not to give them anything that could be used to conclude a contract…..Hell’s bad reputation for so many years was not a lie.

However, now the King directly extended his hand.

The smile on the Devil’s lips widened a bit, and he touched the King’s hand wearing the rose ring, and the King, not even noticing the pain, saw as the other took a drop of blood and dropped it on the surface of the bronze mirror.

“Let me perform a trick for you,” said the Devil briskly, and he put his hand over the King’s eyes.

The King only felt that his vision suddenly went dark, and then it seemed that there was a cold river flowing in front of his eyes. Then, he heard the Devil say “alright”, and moved his hand away.

The King opened his eyes and saw white, the silvery moonlight had gathered on the desk like a river and was flowing into the bronze mirror. And the dim yellow copper mirror surface became as smooth as mercury, and then blurred outlines of buildings appeared on the mirror surface. After a while, the picture became clear, and the King saw the Holy Court’s “Hall of Truth”.

It seemed that the Holy See intended to elevate this debate to a similar status to the famous “Blessed Sacrament Debate”, held at the “Art Capital” Weber University in Will.

The Devil explained softly to the King that Weber University did not have a hall that could accommodate enough audiences, so Duke Georgeson, who was in charge of this debate, vacated his private banquet hall.

At the head table in the banquet hall, the Pope’s special envoy held the holy book in one hand and held the balance in the other, sitting solemnly and dignifiedly, symbolizing his status as an arbiter and “justice”. On the left and right sides of the cathedral hall, scholars from the secular world and scholars from the school of classics stood together on both sides, which symbolized that there was only truth in this debate, regardless of status. On the surface alone, this was indeed an unprecedented debate on the truth. Enthusiastic scholars attacked and refuted each other, and made generous statements——if it weren’t for the fact that in the script all “heresy” talk was defeated while the theological priests triumphed with the holy book in their hands.

“Excellent,” said the King. “After the Holy Empire is destroyed, the priests will not have nowhere to go——the best actors in Metzl will have to bow down before them.”

It was true that the Holy Court had polemicists who were well-known on both sides of the Abyss Strait, but most of them were experts in theology and law. In terms of astronomy, mathematics and medicine, their talents were not enough. But in the current debate, the clergymen were all knowledgeable and erudite whereas their opponents repeatedly asked stupid questions, which was extremely inconsistent with their reputation in the scholarly field.

The Devil laughed approvingly at the King’s acrid comment.

——With the skull of the hell skeletons as a betting chip, those eloquent theologians might not even have memorized the entire holy book. He could imagine that for today’s performance, some people must have suffered a lot when reciting their lines.

The theory of heart blood circulation was refuted by the theory of aura, and the question of air composition was criticized as absurd…..The atmosphere in the Hall of Truth was hot, and it would soon be the turn of the “heliocentric theory”. The Devil smiled and alerted the King, “It’s coming.”

The King sat up a little bit, watching what was happening in the bronze mirror intently.

………………

The capital of art, the Great Hall of Debate of Truth.

Bishop Martin was wearing a black robe. He was the main force of the Holy Court in this debate, and he was also one of the few orators who actually possessed some real knowledge. He was a tall man, looking more like a tragedian than a theologian. He was a cunning and formidable opponent to his former opponents, for his speeches were often as much sophistry as it was credible. Today, he had cleverly misquoted his opponent’s words time and time again, adding meanings to them that were not there before, thus jumping the debate from science to the trap of paradox in an unobtrusive way.

This was also not something they could help. Although the Holy Court had made perfect preparations, in front of the audience, they still had to do their best to show an overwhelming posture to refute everything.

Whenever scholars from other seminaries could not justify themselves, Bishop Martin would immediately summarize his views and understanding in a powerful voice, so as not to let them leak too many lies in front of the audience.

As the debate drew to a close, Bishop Martin’s opponent——if someone who secretly colluded with them could be counted as an opponent——was the last one left.

“Gentlemen, just as the “Almagest” emphasizes.” Bishop Martin concluded his debate and challenged his opponent with a confident gesture, “The eternal and sacred sky is the domain of the Holy Lord, and His Kingdom is established in that far away country. Because of this, the heavenly bodies are still, and the earth on which we stand is the center of the stars, and we are beloved children of the Lord. Shall we consider ourselves His outcasts?”

Martin looked at his opponent, waiting for his answer.

He was a medium height Weber University professor, Professor Bieber.

Bishop Martin had a good idea of what Bieber would say next. Bieber would cite some data to prove the correctness of the heliocentric theory. And he would pinpoint arithmetical and measurement errors in those data, thereby declaring Professor Bieber’s conclusions invalid. Of all the scholars, Bishop Martin was the least worried about this Professor Bieber.

Because, unlike other scholars, this Professor Bieber himself was a villain who was corrupt and accepted bribes. As early as a few years ago, he eagerly defected to the Holy Court, and he was one of their own.

Professor Bieber stood up, bowed to everyone, and then glanced at Bishop Martin.

While Bishop Martin was waiting for him to speak, he took out some papers: “Dear gentlemen, I have little knowledge about whether the celestial bodies are stationary and whether the heliocentric theory is absurd. There is something I would like to show you…..the letter these esteemed men, Mr. Bishop Martin, Father Peter, Mr. Duke Georgeson, wrote to me.”

In the VIP audience, Duke Georgeson’s face changed suddenly, and the smile on the complacent Mr. Martin’s face suddenly froze.

Before the others could react, Professor Bieber had already stepped forward, holding up the letters in his hand:

“Gentlemen! Ladies! A heartbreaking thing has happened! What you have seen today is nothing but an elaborate rehearsal. Three days ago, my wife and son were under surveillance by the Inquisition. It is not the truth that has been justly demonstrated to you all, but a well-arranged deception. I am afraid that all the gentlemen here are as burdened by their wives and children as I am, and it is difficult to speak out…..”

“He’s talking nonsense!”

Duke Georgeson stood up with a “squeak” of his chair and pointed at Professor Bieber in the hall.

“How dare this greedy villain tell such a lie to insult me! Quick! Take him away!”

The hall was full of people, and when some other scholars were speaking, there were always people monitoring their words and deeds, but no one expected that Professor Bieber, who was one of them, would betray them at the last moment.

“He’s been possessed by a demon.” Bishop Martin glanced at Professor Bieber waving the rebuttal they had strung together in advance, and immediately said loudly.

The audience was in an uproar, and a group of heavily armed guards pushed through the crowd and rushed into the hall.

“The truth cannot be profaned. In order to prove everything I said today, I am willing to die to prove that what I said is true!”

Professor Bieber shouted, and before the guards caught him, he slammed head first into the stone pillar next to him.

Blood splattered, and the picture seemed to freeze at this moment.

………………

“How was it? Your Majesty.” The Devil looked at the King with a smile, “Are you satisfied with the fun I have carefully prepared?”

“How did you do it?”

The King was a little surprised. Judging from the shocked expressions of Duke Georgeson and Bishop Martin at the end, Professor Bieber should be on their side.

“Because this Professor Bieber is also an out-and-out villain, I made a small deal with him.” The Devil spread his hands, “And his only eldest son is actually the product of his beautiful wife and a bishop’s foolishness. He has no love for his wife and child——he would like nothing more than to pull them to die with him.”

“What kind of transaction could make people take the initiative to die on their own?”

“Oh, this,” replied the Devil. “He’s a half-baked wizard who secretly studies black magic——but a mishap with the sorcery left him with numbered days and he wants a place in hell. So I satisfied this small wish. It’s a fair deal.”

The King glanced at the Devil, and had full doubts about the “fairness” in his words.

The Devil shrugged. He promised to give that Mr. Wizard some power, but he didn’t say that he wouldn’t take it back after giving it? Wasn’t it normal for a departed soul to be torn apart by the lords of hell soon after gaining some authority?

“You’re shameless enough.” The King sighed, whether it was Bishop Martin, Bieber, or the Devil, their actions were all shameless. “What a pity, it’s just a farce.”

Both he and the Devil knew that the last scene could only be regarded as a minor trouble for the Holy Court——they could make up for it after the fact, such as finding out the flaws of Professor Bieber, destroying his image, and then claiming that the other party was the victim of demonic seduction——well, that was not exactly untrue. In a situation in which the Holy Court had awakened faith with miracles, this debate would only end in a complete victory for the Holy Court.

However, the seeds of doubt were always slowly planted.

“The bishops and gentlemen of the Holy Court didn’t pick up on your actions?”

The King asked pointedly.

He noticed that the speed and power of the Devil’s actions in the world had been greatly improved compared to before. Or putting it in another way, the King suspected that even within the Holy Empire, there were some dark creatures driven by the Devil. Otherwise, how did he manage to find some fun for the Holy Court so quickly?

Although the Devil regarded himself as a loyal knight in front of the King, whoever really only treated him as an ordinary servant would have to pay a high price in the end.

The King’s concerns quickly shifted to other things: “Do wizards exist in this world? Are there many of them?”

Ever since he knew the existence of Miss Witch among the Walway Pirates, the King made a note of “witches, wizards and sorcerers” in his heart. It was a pity that what happened afterwards, whether it was the Black Death or the rebellion in the Northland, the founding of the Holy Empire came too quickly and urgently, so that he was unable to free his hands for a long time to do other things.

The Devil undid the trick on the mirror, and it became an ordinary bronze mirror again. Hearing the King’s words, the Devil immediately understood what he wanted to do. After thinking about it, the Devil suddenly smiled: “The number of wizards is much less than before, but…..I think, Your Majesty, they are the easiest power you can get help from.”

“Malleus Maleficarum.”

The King said.

Obviously, after the Holy Court promulgated this prey code, he had the same idea as the Devil.

“Yes. But it’s more than that.” The Devil tilted his head slightly, as if sensing something, then looked down at the King, “Your Majesty, I think we can give a surprise to the lords who will attend the banquet.”

Just when the King was thinking about the meaning of his words, a crow landed in front of the King. The Devil looked at him with a smile, obviously waiting for him to read the letter before saying what kind of surprise they could prepare for the lords who were about to attend the banquet.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

The crow delivering the letter was much larger than usual.

The King recognized it.

It was the pet of the witch Griselda on the ghost ship.

The King remembered that he had promised the lady witch to fulfill a request——when she was done with the preparations, he would help her bring the sacrificed Walway pirates back to the ghost ship.

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The experiment field was filled with the smell of gunpowder, and the members of the gunpowder research institute and the military design institute who deeply dislike each other were gathered together on one side. Mr. Raul, whose coat was already wrinkled, was sweating all over his face, staring anxiously at the middle of the field, holding a flag in his hand:

“Group A! Good! Three, two, one!”

He waved the flag.

Boom——

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

There was an explosion that was many times quieter than the sound of a cannon firing, and a birch target standing on the square shattered.

“Yes! Yes! It’s a success!”

Mr. Raul let out a loud shout, and couldn’t help waving his arm vigorously. Everyone cheered and turned their heads to look with joy at the King who was accompanied by the Devil.

“Your Majesty! We succeeded!”

“Yes, you succeeded.”

The King replied, looking at the center of the test field, with his fingertips touching. In order to show respect to the King, Raul and the others specially moved a clean desk and chair and arranged them in a safe place outside the experimental area.

Right now, Legrand’s First Military Heavy Industry Department united to demonstrate to the King the results of their “super-fire military artillery” plan.

The King finally knew what his mad scientists had been up to——

In the very center of the experimental area, a skeleton was half-kneeling, and on the shoulders of the skeleton was a cylindrical iron pipe nearly two meters high. The iron pipe looked like a scaled down version of the cannon, or it was an enlarged hand cannon. The shot that knocked down the birch target just now was done by this skeleton.

This was the “super-fire military artillery” plan jointly completed by Raul and the Rogers brothers.

This group of lunatics ran wildly on the road of “explosions equates truth”, which was simply insane.

Not only did they try their best to create a giant cannon that could blow up a castle, they didn’t even let it go on the ordinary frontal battlefield either. In the words of the Rogers brothers, “Gunpowder weapons should be used in all aspects on the battlefield. It should be emphasized that whether it is in naval warfare or on land, it should never be used only as a siege weapon, nor should it be sitting on the back bench for most of the war.”

This statement full of “explosions equates truth” was for once recognized by the military designers.

Originally, the King only asked them to improve the cannons, but they temporarily put aside their grievances and thought up how to let gunpowder weapons usurp the dominance of heavy cavalry on the battlefield.

Finally, they set their sights on an overlooked item.

As early as the late 14th century, iron pipe firearms using gunpowder appeared in the Hopeless Inner Sea area, which were called “fire sticks” or “hand cannons”. Before the outbreak of the Black Death, this novelty had already been introduced to Legrand by ships between the Abyss Strait and the Inner Sea.

But the hand cannons at this time were the same as the artillery before them. Although military strategists know of this kind of thing, they were still not used significantly on the battlefield. They were far less powerful on the battlefield than longbows and crossbows, and it was even considered a shame to die under hand cannons at this time.

——Everyone knew that hand cannons were useless except to frighten the enemy, and if they were hit they were either unlucky or a coward.

Mr. Raul believed that hand cannons were an important direction for the use of gunpowder. He specifically consulted the oath knights who were in charge of the order of the industrial base, why hand cannons were not popular on the frontal battlefield.

At the beginning, the oath knights were a little dissatisfied with the King’s emphasis on the cannon, but this dissatisfaction soon disappeared in the daily “rumbling” explosions of the Rogers brothers and Mr. Raul. In fact, when Mr. Raul, who could be considered to look like a weak scholar, came to ask, the oath knight couldn’t help but take a step back subconsciously, and had some inexplicable fear of Mr. Military Designer, who was clearly someone he could knock down with one punch.

Finally, an oath knight who had seen mercenaries use hand cannons gave the answer:

The hand cannon and the short wooden sheath used to support it were usually more than one meter long. The gun body was too heavy and the recoil was too strong. It was difficult for ordinary soldiers to use in mobile warfare, and the accuracy of the hand cannon was really poor. It simply didn’t do anything other than create chaos. There were some merits in using them while hidden within the castle defenses when defending the city, but in this way, the slow-loading hand cannon was not as fast and powerful as the longbow when defending the city.

To solve these problems, gunpowder research and military design joined forces for the first time.

The Rogers brothers came up with the idea of the fuse based on their previous experience learning from fireworks craftsmen, and the military designers thought about combining matchlocks with hand cannons. Although the progress of matchlocks and hand cannons was slow, this group of guys did not give up and wholeheartedly wanted to make hand cannons work on the frontal battlefield.

Finally, they turned their attention to…

Well…..

The skeletons.

“And that’s it.” Mr. Raul explained thoroughly, “We made an enlarged version of the hand cannon——it can be regarded as a reduced version of the cannon. Before the matchlock device is solved, the difference between the two is not big. The skeleton gentlemen have great strength and can easily carry heavy hand cannons, and the recoil does not affect them too much. In addition, an important drawback of hand cannons is that they need to ignite the gunpowder in the medicine chamber with a red-hot iron block, the shooter must complete the action of grasping the gun barrel and igniting the fire at the same time when firing, which is not only slow, but also difficult to accurately aim. But!”

Mr. Raul’s voice rose.

He pulled over Mr. Skeleton who had come down from the experiment field, and patted his shoulder blades excitedly.

“But! Your Majesty! Our Mr. Skeletons are different!” Mr. Raul continued, “Our Mr. Skeletons aim not by eyes, but by the feeling of their soul fire! The Mr. Skeletons can temporarily disassemble their bones–—yes! They can bite the ignition rod with their own teeth, and then aim and shoot at the same time! Even their fingers are extraordinarily flexible, not afraid of high temperatures, and can even complete this series of actions with precision!”

The skeleton shooter who had his shoulder blades patted clacked the upper and lower rows of teeth at the King, showing a shy smile.

The King looked at his newly baked musketeer in silence, and saw that the skull was covered in black smoke because of the experiment just now, half white and half black.

“Then…..” The King looked at the skeleton smiling happily at him, and carefully considered his words, “What about when the matchlock device is improved?”

The happily smiling skeleton stopped smiling, and the skull fell off in sadness.

Mr. Raul inexplicably felt an intangible condemnation of his conscience——as if he was an unscrupulous client in a brothel——he waved his hands and quickly dispelled the messy associations: “Ahem! In fact! We have a new idea, and our Mr. Skeletons play an important role in this plan.”

“We believe that there are two development paths for hand-held guns: first, completely get rid of the influence of the prototype of the cannon, reduce the size, improve accuracy and portability, and make it be suitable for ordinary soldiers to operate. Second, maximize the size, but for human soldiers, only ones with strong chest muscles can use it, but this is not a problem for our Mr. Skeletons. This is the future development goal of the super-fire military artillery.”

Hearing his words, the skull on the ground jumped cheerfully.

Obviously, these skeletons were more willing to serve their Majesty the King on the battlefield than digging mines and building houses.

The Devil sighed, unwilling to look at this scene.

——So stupid! These skeletons were so stupid!!

The King glanced at Mr. Raul, and then at the skeleton who was obviously very happy: “So, it’s time for me to make a new batch of badges——for my skeleton musketeers?”

The Skeleton Musketeer joyfully tossed his own skull into the sky. Not far away, the skeletons carrying ore glanced over enviously.

“Fine…..” The Devil compromised, “I will select a batch of suitable skeletons for you.”

The King let out a small laugh.

Fine.

The Devil thought, let hell throw away its dignity to please the King.

Just when Mr. Raul wanted to continue explaining to the King, a messenger crow flew down from the sky, and it gently placed a letter on the King’s desk.

The King opened the letter.

That rare lighthearted smile faded, and his expression became serious.

“The Hall of Truth?”

He said to himself.

………………

The capital of the arts, Will City.

The sun was shining brightly, and a group of white doves symbolizing peace and happiness were fluttering upwards at the sound of the church bells. The winter was over and the weather was getting warmer. But Matthias felt a chill in his bones as he sat at the table by the window.

“Father, you have to think clearly!”

His daughter who was about to get married cried and persuaded him with red eyes.

“Tomorrow, you just say, the heliocentric theory is wrong and that’s enough. Can it be that our family’s lives are not as important as your numbers that no one even cares about?!”

“But the math doesn’t lie…..”

Matthias, who was not good at words, wanted to explain to his daughter.

Tomorrow, in the “art capital” of Will City, there would be a debate on some of the ideas put forward by the heretics. This was a large debate hosted by the Holy See, and many well-known scholars were invited. The Holy Empire specially arranged this performance in order to show its broad mind, to declare openly that God’s words were the truth.

The Emperor of the Holy Empire declared: God is just and benevolent, and He is willing to give the heretics a chance to teach them the right way with the truth. At the meeting, the Holy Court will allow all scholars to put forward their own views and answer them one by one. God will forgive the world with His wisdom.

Matthias was one of the invited astronomers.

After accepting the invitation, Matthias was quite proud at first, until a few days ago, when a bishop came to the door, suggesting that if he opposed the heliocentric theory in the debate, then his wife and daughter would get the jewelry they wanted, and he would also become a clerk of the Holy Court.

“To hell with mathematics.” Matthias’s wife threw his manuscripts into the fireplace coldly, looked at him, and said word by word, “Do you know the “Malleus Maleficarum” that was just published? The inquisitors have already questioned Bella and I.”

Matthias was speechless and leaned back in the chair wearily.

“I…..I see.”

He whispered.

His wife and daughter left, leaving the door ajar.

Matthias stared blankly at the manuscripts burning rapidly in the fireplace.

It was getting dark, and evening came.

Matthias’s daughter went upstairs to call her father for dinner. She knocked on the door several times, but got no response.

She pushed open the door and froze.

The room was quiet, no candles were lit, and the fire in the fireplace had already been extinguished. Her father’s hands were hanging by the chair, stiff and pale. There was a strong smell of blood in the room.

With a scream, the soon-to-be-married girl rushed downstairs.

The evening sun hung down in the western sky, and the rays of light were like blood.

The sun shone quietly on the earth.

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who chased the setting sun in his childhood. Over and over again, he thought that one day he would be able to chase the sunset. Later, when the boy grew up, he began to calculate the angles of the sun, the moon and the stars over and over again. He thought, if he couldn’t go to the place where the sun sets, he would calculate the angles of the sun and the stars.

He wanted to reach out and touch the sun.

Eyes could be deceiving, legends could be deceiving, but numbers could not be deceiving. The boy who grew up calculated those complicated and huge degrees countless times. In the end, all he had to do was stretch out his hand, and he could pluck the sun down.

But, says the Holy Court, God their Father was everywhere, the stars circled the earth, and the sky was the domain of angels and the Holy Spirit.

Under the tears of his wife and daughter, the boy who grew up, gave in.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Year 1 of the Holy Empire, February 2.

The Debate of Truth opened in Will, the “city of art”. Before this unprecedented debate, no one cared that a silent astronomer chose to sleep forever in the long night. He left a final doubt behind:

Where would the flower of technology be born?

Would the truth become muddy together with slander and crime?

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People always say that when the Devil tempts people to fall, he always creates visions of all kinds of unimaginable luxury.

But there was actually one thing wrong with this statement. While the Devil could indeed do this, it depended on whether he was willing to do it. And clearly, he was very happy to create a luxurious and romantic atmosphere for the King. That day, after the wind song ceased, the revived bloodkin servants came in one after another wearing court attire. They wore pure white gloves and held silver plates containing gifts from the castle to the King.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Jewelry, diamonds, gold goblets, precious swords…..Hell could the mortal world’s most ingratiating nobles by a thousand miles in the matter of pleasing their monarch.

The lifeless castle took on a new look after that day.

“I always feel that you are trying so hard to make me stay here forever. Is that so? Mr. Devil.”

The King walked unhurriedly along the slightly quiet corridor. The aesthetics of the bloodkin could be summarized with the word “luxury”, and the clothes they prepared for the King also reflected this.

“Is it inappropriate for your loyal servants to offer you their loyalty and respect? Your Majesty.”

The Devil cunningly avoided the crucial point in the King’s question.

“How many of them will come?”

The King wore black boots, and the rose gold decorative chains on the boots would collide crisply while walking, and when the brilliant candlelight fell on them, they gleamed along with the precious stones.

The chaotic hell actually had its own rules. The rule here was “authority”, and the lords fight each other in order to compete for the authority of a wider range of rule. The authorities corresponding to the original sins mentioned in the holy book were the most powerful, which made the King feel that hell was actually a reflection of the so-called “Kingdom of God”.

The powers now in the King’s hands were “greed and ill-gotten wealth” and “pride and uncertain judgment”.

How the former came about, the King was clear on. But when the latter was obtained by the Devil, the Devil did not say, and the King did not ask.

“Two-thirds, there are always some stubborn fellows.”

The Devil knew this well, and his smile contained a trace of coldness.

“But it’s all right, Your Majesty. They will pay for their transgression.”

“Who is the most troublesome?”

“The guy who has authority over wrath.” The Devil replied, and when he mentioned this lord, a haze passed over his brows and eyes. “Of course, it will definitely not come to this banquet.”

The King and the Devil walked side by side through the rose garden of the castle while talking.

A departed soul of a lady who was in charge of trimming branches in the rose garden caught a glimpse of their figures inadvertently, and felt that there was a strange tacit understanding between the two when they walked together. It was a strange thing that when the proud monarch and the notorious Devil interacted, they were obviously testing each other but they also seemed as comfortable as old friends.

The Devil suddenly turned his head and glanced at the departed soul lady.

Of course, there was an unparalleled tacit understanding between him and the King, and that tacit understanding came from their oath.

The oath was made a long time ago, when both were ambitious, and the world was like packs of wolves tearing at each other. The King said, I will bestow you the authority, we will destroy the present world. Then he put his hand on the shoulder of the lonely Devil, releasing the violence hidden in his heart that wanted to destroy everything in his path. So, the Devil pulled out his imprisoned knife, and went on a warpath from the sky to the earth for that oath. The King stood behind him, and watched with him the mountain of corpses piling and the sea of blood flowing slowly by.

“Your Majesty.”

The Devil called to the King.

The King answered.

“It will be a good show, I promise.”

The Devil smiled, and he naturally opened the black umbrella for the King.

The King glanced at him: “It had better be.”

Side by side they descended the winding bone steps that led to the bottom where the Nightmare carriage stood.

Now that he had come to hell, the King intended to take this opportunity to personally inspect Legrand’s First Military Heavy Industry Department.

During this period of time, the King had received many requests from Legrand’s First Military Heavy Industry Department, and the most came from the two chemist brothers and the head of the military design department.

Somehow, the military design department and the Gunpowder Research Institute offended each other. After Mr. Raul, the head of the military design department, asked him to announce that the guillotine was superior to the fire rack and was rejected, he came up with a new idea after a few days. With the Rogers brothers he actually jointly requested the King to approve a “super-fire military artillery” experimental plan. During this period, both sides reported their progress to the King with high spirits, and the results were remarkable.

There seemed to be no problem on the surface, but when a group of lunatics tell you:

Your Majesty, our plan is progressing very smoothly, we can complete all our experiments within x days, please rest assured!

Would that really reassure people?

Who knew how a lunatic’s plan would go?

………………

In the wilderness in front of Peak of a Thousand Knives, there were many blast furnaces, gray smoke curling up, and the sound of tinkling iron and rumbling explosions mixed together, which created a particularly industrialized atmosphere.

When the King arrived, the army of skeletons working all over the mountains and fields stopped their movements and happily took off their skulls, and in the manner of the noble ladies waving their handkerchiefs, waved the skulls in their hands to pay respect to the King. This was the highest etiquette among skeletons, but…..the human workers who also witnessed this scene couldn’t help but roll their eyes.

The skeletons really didn’t have a good idea of how terrifying their act of goodwill was.

The King waved to the skeletons without changing expression, and accepted the respect and greetings.

The skeletons who received the King’s response were even happier, and felt that their King was simply the most amiable human being in the world!

“Idiots…..”

Looking at this scene, the Devil felt deeply ashamed——these skeletons have simply lowered the average IQ level of the entire hell.

However, the King was a little happy, because he got an excellent answer sheet——Legrand’s First Military Heavy Industry Department performed much better than he imagined.

With the continuous support of raw materials, the gunpowder research institute had determined the best military gunpowder ratio at present, and workers were already conducting large-scale production experiments.

However, one ironic thing was that the smooth progress of the mass production experiment of gunpowder was inseparable from the military design department…..

After being ridiculed by the Rogers brothers, Mr. Raul of the military design department led the department researchers who were as angry as himself, and began to study how to make the gun bore withstand more gunpowder. This group of people frantically did various experiments——and if they didn’t still possess a trace of reason, they would’ve even used gold to cast cannons to test the durability.

In the end, they settled on bronze, and adopted the method of integral forging, which solved the problem of the forged iron cannon and the iron bars easily exploding when too much gunpowder was used or when the gunpowder was too strong.

It was not that no one had considered forging cannons from bronze before. But in the mortal kingdoms, the price of bronze forged iron cannons was too high, and no royal family could afford to support a firepower army using bronze forged cannons. But right now, the designers of Legrand’s First Military Heavy Industry Department enjoyed a condition that all military designers would be jealous of——they could use various materials at will to forge weapons.

When he saw the list of research materials consumed by the military research department during this period, the King deeply realized one thing: supporting a well-equipped army was directly equivalent to burning money.

During this period of time alone, the materials consumed by the military designers’ experiments were almost equivalent to the annual income of the traditional royal family under the restrictions of the feudal knight system.

No wonder the initial development of gunpowder was so slow.

After solving the problem of the bearing capacity of the gun bore, Mr. Raul began to increase the amount of gunpowder in the shell without blinking. Gunpowder charges in shells of this period were rarely low. They gradually increased the gunpowder charge from 15 percent to 100 percent of the weight of the shell case.

Once, when the Rogers brothers were experimenting with a new ratio, Mr. Raul came to the door politely and told them with a bright smile: “We have solved the problem of the bearing capacity of the gun bore, but now the gunpowder you produce is not enough for us to load the shells. We have solved the design problem of the barrel, but unfortunately you can’t provide the amount of gunpowder we need.”

Mr. Raul’s right-hand man unceremoniously served back Malley’s original words:

“It turns out that your ability is to just produce some powerful gunpowder that cannot be mass-produced.”

“It’s good to use for setting off fireworks, but what the military industry needs is mass production!”

Mr. Raul, who won this round, walked away proudly, and the Rogers brothers were so angry that they temporarily stopped experimenting with new gunpowder and turned to thinking about how to solve the problem of complex gunpowder production processes.

“So…..this is the solution?”

The King stood in the gunpowder production factory with a complex expression, looking at the translucent floating thing in front of his eyes.

“The departed souls have excellent refrigeration properties.” Bran stood in front of the King happily and explained, “The condensation effect of the departed soul in different ages is different. The earlier the departed soul was born, the stronger the condensation effect…..”

The Rogers brothers couldn’t think of a way to make too many changes to the gunpowder manufacturing machinery for a while, and they were laughed at by the military designers every day, such that their hair almost fell out with stress. Finally, when they saw the amazing efficiency of the skeleton lizards and blacksmiths working together, they turned their attention to the idle departed souls in the River of the Departed.

Today’s sulfur refining factories generally use the technology of heating the sulfur first, and then waiting for it to solidify before removing impurities. Then heat the sulfur with impurities removed to make it into sulfur vapor, then cool and solidify to obtain the raw material of gunpowder.

In the whole process, it took a long time to wait for the sulfur to solidify.

The Rogers brothers politely approached the departed souls and expressed their hope for their help——when they made their request, the crow Mela hovered over their heads. The departed souls were silent for a moment, glanced at the skeletons, and finally climbed up from the long river of undead resignedly.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

The Devil looked at the departed soul of a lady in court attire who rose from the sulfur vat holding her head, and sighed weakly again.

“In order not to cool down too much and let the sulfur be directly frozen into powder, we specially investigated the year they were born…..”

Bran babbled.

The King listened, and suddenly felt that the “super-fire military artillery” might not be taking the usual path either.

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Everyone feared hell, where all sins finally come together.

In the long and winding River of the Departed in hell, the souls that crowd there have all committed unforgivable crimes. They came here not to wait for salvation but to eventually fall into the bottomless abyss.

This was the dark side of the world.

The translucent departed soul sat on a jagged rock, and he wore ancient and complicated attire. He was a court dramatist from many years ago. Now he was sitting on the strangely shaped rock, singing a very old story with his hoarse and deep voice in the howling wind. A story about contracts, blood and bones.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

In the description of the story, the true face of this world was countless fragmented authorities, and different races walked the earth, going all out to ascend to the supreme throne. Different races have different powers, but only humans alone did not. It was as if human beings were children abandoned by heaven and earth, born as grass and trees that were left to be trampled. The endless war, the endless death. In that era, someone wanted to seize the highest throne in the world, and use power and majesty to shatter all chaos.

In that absurd story, a King with nothing made a pact with a lonely Devil.

Their contract was destined to change the world from the moment it was born.

In the singing, the howling wind collided with the Peak of a Thousand Knives and dispersed into whimpers. The skeletons crawled on the ground, the smoke from the ironmaking blast furnace mingled, meteors fell, and the dragon skeleton raised its head…..

It was like, the world was falling apart because of the story in that song.

………………………

The Castle of Dragon Bones.

The crow Mela perched on the slender rose branch, looming at the throne of bones in the middle of the palace.

It was a throne made of shrunken bones of different hell creatures, gathered together, and then piled up with the most exquisite craftsmanship. The throne made of thousands of bones itself represented a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. That throne had been vacant for many, many years, but now it once again had its master.

The King sat on the throne of bones.

He no longer wore the crown that was used in the Pope’s coronation. The gold and gems twisted and changed shape silently, and finally turned into a crown of thorns, dotted with dark red gems. The crown of thorns encircled his temples, his silver hair hung down to his shoulders, and lace embroidered with silver threads decorated his collar and cuffs.

He opened his eyes.

The coldest, darkest, and most gorgeous palace in the world was reflected in the King’s ice-blue pupils.

The slender white bone pillars rose straight up, supporting the staggered vault ribs, and those curved long beams were built with the ribs of genuine legendary creatures. Countless flying buttresses were lined up on the side of the palace, like thousands of winged beasts flapping their wings in mid flight. The window lattices inside the castle were beautifully curved, forming thousands of patterns, and roses were everywhere. Starting from the rib frame like the open branches of trees, the roses traveled upward to the slender and luxurious fan-shaped vault, while the branches and leaves hung down around the bones.

Deep, deep down in memory there seemed to be a string that had been gently touched.

A kind of indescribable familiarity, like the wheel of time turning slowly, and more than a thousand years have passed by, but when the old friend returned after more than a thousand years, everything remained the same as before.

“Welcome back, my dear Majesty.”

The Devil stepped forward on a dark red carpet in a black suit with silver hems, a blooming rose pinned to his collar. This “soul merchant” from hell was tall and thin, pale and handsome, and as polite as a butler who had been guarding the mansion for his master for many years.

——Welcome back to the throne, welcome back to tear this world apart with me.

When he bent down in a bow, his voice held unprecedented joy.

“What is this place?”

The King asked.

“The Castle of Dragon Bones, your palace.”

The Devil answered.

The crow Mela was so excited that it almost wanted to cry, it imagined too many times the scene of the throne finally seating its owner. But when the time finally arrived, it didn’t dare to pounce forward and prostrate itself before the King. Because the Devil stood before the King’s throne, their gaze meeting in midair. The King’s face was expressionless, and the Devil’s face wore a smiling mask.

The air was tense.

The Devil seemed unaware.

“How rude.” He said briskly, “Your arrival is such an important day, everyone should congratulate you…..But please forgive them, after all, it takes a lot of time to come from the various territories.”

The “them” in the mouth of the Devil were the targets of the King and the Devil——the lords of hell.

 “So——”

The smile widened on the Devil’s face, and he extended his inviting hand to the King with grace.

“Would you like to attend a little ball? This is the castle’s invitation to you.”

When the Devil’s voice fell, all the rose vines coiled around the castle shook their leaves gently, and the rustling sound was as gentle as those beautiful departed souls whispering softly. Tiny specks of snow-like lights fell from the dome, and the empty palace shone a diamond-like brilliance.

The wind passed between the slender pillars and beams, and the slender eaves of the flying buttresses like winged beasts unfolding their wings. It turned out that the eaves were made of countless delicate bat wing bones. When they unfolded again, the thin wing bones flapped gently in the wind like a conductor’s baton. The wind was cut by the thin wing bones, making a strange sound, like thousands of slender hands plucking at the same time wind as their musical strings. The melody was extremely beautiful, forming a symphony that had never been seen before.

The Devil was right, it was indeed a welcome ball.

It was the castle that had been silent for many years that hosted this ball.

Over the heads of the Devil and the King, the exquisite stained glass windows opened one after another, and a pale light slanted down from above their heads. And there stood the Devil in a beam of light, in his black formal suit, reaching out to the King.

Gulu, gulu.

A skull rolled in, and the crow Mela spread its wings and landed in front of the skull. It found two drumsticks from nowhere, held them with its wings, and beat a drumbeat on the skull that accompanied the melody of the wind.

“There’s always dancing at a ball, Sire.”

The Devil invites.

The symphony played with the wind as the strings were poignant but also had an unprecedented magnificence, as if heaven and the earth were singing softly. The King felt a tinge of joy and anticipation——the joy and anticipation of the castle itself. Like Mela playing the drum, the castle looked forward to the King accepting their welcome.

He reached out his hand.

The Devil took the King’s hand with the rose ring, pulled him up, and led him off the throne. The moment the King accepted the Devil’s invitation, the melody of the wind suddenly became passionate, like waltz music at a ball. The Devil took the King in his arms and whirled him around in the middle of the empty palace.

The King attended quite a few balls. As Legrand’s monarch, he had received the most complete etiquette training, including dancing.

But the dance the Devil led him in was not any dance step seen at a human banquet.

The melody of the wind was magnificent, and the Devil held the King’s hand with the rose ring the whole time, and the King felt the ring gradually becoming hot. The rose vines wrapped around the white bones bloomed one after another, and following the roses blooming along with the elegant melodies, petals were blown down by the wind continuously, and were carried to all directions of the castle.

In the dead rooms of the castle, wherever the rose petals fell, silver coffins suddenly opened.

Out of the coffins came maids and servants dressed in gorgeous attire.

With their pale, delicate faces and dark red eyes, they began to tidy up the castle and let it become splendid again.

On the darkest side of the world, the Devil embraced his King, dancing to a melody of bones and wind. And at the moment the castle woke up, a cold light fell from the crack in the dark red sky of hell.

It was not the color of blood, it was not the orange of sulfur, but a cold and pale light like snow.

The singing departed souls of poets stopped, the kneeling skeletons raised their heads, the dead corpses hanging on the Peak of a Thousand Knives turned slowly, and the restless lords of the abyss fell silent. After so many years, other colors finally appeared in this dark world under the dark red sky.

A slice of pale moon rose slowly from the gap, slender and curved, inlaid in the sky like a sickle white.

Hell suddenly fell silent.

“Welcome back.”

The Devil whispered, a smile on his lips.

……………………

The scene of the meteor falling left a deep shadow on Terge, and by the time the moon rose in the sky of hell, it had a hunch that something bad had happened.

It struggled to understand from the other lords what the rising of the pale moon meant.

It was a pity that the lords who were similar in strength didn’t know much about it, and the lords who knew were much stronger than it, so it dare not ask.

The only consolation was that apart from the dragon’s roar that day, there was no other movement in that Blackstone Castle.

It probably wasn’t a big deal.

Terge comforted itself in this way.

Just when it was thinking this way, a black butterfly flew slowly into its lair. When it saw the black butterfly, Terge became vigilant almost subconsciously——all hell creatures knew that the black butterfly was the representative of the soul merchant.

Oh, hell! It didn’t do anything to provoke that lunatic, did it?

In front of Terge, the black butterfly shattered and turned into a black invitation card, fluttering down from midair.

Terge looked at the invitation card as if he was facing an enemy, and he only picked it up and held it in front of his eyes after confirming that there was no danger. It was a very delicate invitation card, and the gorgeous style of the invitation card was very reminiscent of the bloodkin who had disappeared from hell for many years. And on the invitation card, a piece of rose petal was used as the seal.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

“What’s this?”

Terge asked suspiciously.

At the same time, all the lords of hell received exactly the same invitation.

The content of the invitation was about a banquet, which would be held in a few days.

The location of the banquet——

Blackstone Castle.

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Hell, an abyss.

Terge was a lord of hell.

It hid in one of the abysses of hell, hiding its power in rocky beaches and black mists. At some point, it was able to release its incarnation into the human world through the cracks on the night of Saint Val, where the boundary between hell and the human world was blurred, devouring the lost in the wilderness.

But in hell, Terge was just an inconspicuous one among many lords.

What was hell?

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Here was the place where all sins gather, the palace of evil. All creatures living in hell had blood and violence written into their flesh and bones from the moment they were born. In fact, bloody battles were fought in hell all the time.

Because hell was dead a long time ago, the dark red bloody curtain in the sky was the blood of hell.

When hell was not dead, there were endless undying dark forces, these forces were the source of many creatures in hell. But when Hell died, it became dry and barren, and even the creatures of Hell found it difficult and harsh to live in. There was always a fierce wind blowing in the wilderness that could grind the soul away little by little, and a murky odor that even they didn’t want to ingest contained within the dark red sulfurous fire rain.

Those powerful demons that crawled out of the Wall of Insects could still be relatively free, but ordinary dead creatures, such as skeletons, could only dismantle themselves and spread themselves on the rocks, using slumber to resist the erosion of extinction.

The only better places were some gaps that could communicate with the mortal world——from those gaps, the evil thoughts of the mortal world could continue to pour in.

It was precisely because of this that the lords of hell were always fighting, killing, and taking over places. It could be said that this was the most primitive battlefield.

Terge was a Lord of Hell who had occupied a gap.

It successfully killed the lord next door with a tricky scheme three days ago, and expanded its territory a little. When spreading his lair, Terge looked greedily at the direction of his east, and its countless compound eyes were full of longing.

In the chaotic hell, the ownership of territories was changing almost all the time.

Except for one place——

The City of Blackstone.

There was the territory guarded by the lunatic who called himself a “soul merchant”.

The Wall of Hundred Insects, the River of the Departed, the Peak of Thousand Knives, and the Royal City were all there. It could be said that it was the best place in the whole hell! There was the best sulfur lake, it was the closest to the gate of hell, and the Peak of Thousand Knives could block some fierce winds.

Most importantly, there was the “Blackstone Castle”.

All hell lords coveted that castle, instinctively eager to occupy it, the highest authority in hell.

It was not that there were no lords who tried to snatch it for themselves.

In fact, the moment all the lords of hell gazed upon it, they would feel endless greed——all evil creatures wanted to occupy a higher and more terrifying authority, and that castle was the highest authority and most splendid palace in the entire hell. But for more than a thousand years, no other lord had been able to successfully step in there.

All the lords who tried to claim it failed.

Even in Hell, there had been so many battles over that castle that the scalps of all creatures tingled, and tremors rose from the depths of their souls.

Most of the higher creatures in hell possess special abilities, and their inheritance was engraved in memory, which they have possessed since birth. The older the race, the richer the memories.

Terge had seen some gruesome scenes in his inherited memory, which were the battles that broke out around the “Blackstone Castle”.

——A swarm of black butterflies soared into the sky, drowning the tide-like army of bones. The terrible ancient lords who joined forces and the black-clothed Devil who claimed to be just a “soul merchant” fought in mid-air, and both sides used everything at their disposal. The final result of the battle was that the allied lords retreated, and the Devil in black stood on the tower of the castle, slowly wiping his sword.

It was just a pity that there were too few memories passed down, and it didn’t know what had happened in hell a long time ago.

Only the oldest lords know about “Blackstone Castle” and everything it stood for. But even for them, that seemed to be a taboo that could not be mentioned.

For so long, all the hell lords yearned for the castle made of black stone and serpent bones, it was engraved in their nature, but there was always a veil over the past it represented.

Taboo, mystery, danger.

After peeking at the palace like a vicious dog salivating at bones, Terge while drooling prepared to return to his lair. However, just when it turned its countless compound eyes, a mutation happened.

A crack was suddenly torn open in the dark red sky of hell, and a blood-colored meteor fell from the crack, crashing towards the royal city.

The moment the meteor fell, the wind in the wilderness suddenly became violent, and the sound was as sharp as the wail of a banshee. The air vibrated, and the sulfur boiled, as if monstrous swelling water suddenly surged from a calm lake.

At the moment when the meteor was about to fall on the castle, on the Blackstone Castle, the serpent bones winding and entrenched on the mountain suddenly rose high, and all the pale and slender spurs were gathered in an instant, the serpent bones shifting in a strange and weird way. And at the moment when the meteor fell, the giant serpent’s skull fully opened, and it let out a deafening roar towards the sky.

The roar was majestic and terrifying.

That was, a dragon’s roar!

When he heard the dragon’s roar, Terge suddenly understood one thing——the thing that was entrenched on Blackstone Castle was not a serpent’s skeleton, but the bones of a dragon that had been mistaken for a giant serpent because of its enormous size and length!

That was the long neck and head of a dragon!

A flock of black butterflies soared into the sky in macabre dance, flooding that area, and the dragon’s roar from the white bones echoed for a long time, the sound echoing the ancient times.

The whole hell was clamoring.

All the ancient beings woke up from their long sleep, and they roared in disbelief. All the sound waves gathered together, the ground shattered in countless places, and lava splashed, anger, fear…..all strong and complicated emotions erupted in an instant.

The black butterflies dispersed, and the King opened his eyes in the castle built on the skeleton of a dragon.

The moment he opened his eyes——

The Millennium Kingdom was brazenly opened.

………………

1433, spring.

“The Holy Lord forgave the sins of the world in this year, and we should repent with shame that we questioned God.” The last court chronicler of the Bressi Kingdom used this sentence as the ending words of the dynasty record. After finishing writing, he bowed submissively to the silver cross in the room.

After the mighty miracle descended, the Black Death that instilled fear in the people disappeared.

At the moment when the angels appeared in the clouds, people’s doubts about the Holy Court in recent years were blown away like dust on a diamond. The prestige of the Holy Court had reached an unprecedented peak. On the east side of the Abyss Strait, people flocked frantically to the embrace of God, knelt down in front of the priests, and kissed the backs of their feet.

After the miracle, the Pope walked out of the Acellia Cathedral to the cheers of all the people who greeted him.

King Charles knelt at the Pope’s feet, took off his crown, and offered it to the Pope on both hands. The moment the secular crown overlapped with the divine crown, the Kingdom of God, was born.

The Kingdom of Bressi was history, replaced by:

“The Holy Empire”.

On the first day of the establishment of the Holy Empire, the Pope announced that the divine calendar would be implemented from now on, and 1433 would be changed to the first sacred year. Silver crosses hung from all government offices.

The Pope, or the Emperor of the Holy Empire, the first thing he did after his coronation was to cleanse the heresy.

……………………

Holy Empire, Pete Town.

In a hotel, a handsome poet with a sad face dipped in ink to write a letter.

“Dear Annie:

Forgive me for calling you “Annie”, you know my current situation. I must be careful, I must not leave any traces for them to find you. As long as there is even a ten thousandth of danger, I would not bring them to you——you know, I am willing to give up my life for you.

I don’t know if I’m crazy or if the world is crazy.

Alby, my friend, had been put to death——for heresy! ! !

God! Alby, he was so kind, he could recite the holy book backwards, how could he be a heretic! They burned him just because he protested when that stupid and greedy priest Tom became the country lord of Collin.

…..Floggers are also considered heretics, but they are just devout believers who do nothing but chant and flog themselves——is it a sin to refuse luxury? I don’t know why.

Can you believe it? I have seen many people who are extremely fanatical, but their fanaticism terrifies me.

…..I believe in the Holy Lord, I believe in the Holy Lord, but are they really right? My dear lady, please be careful, anyone who behaves a little out of the ordinary may be considered a witch and a heretic these days.

I watched heresies increase day by day, and witches seem to be everywhere, but I dare not say anything.

I think they’re close to finding me.

…..

What more can I say?

Will I be able to write tender love poems for you again? Will I still be able to touch your eyebrows?

What should the nightingale sing for now?”

Just when he was about to write his name, the door of the room was smashed open.

The poet was startled at first, then subconsciously grabbed a pile of manuscripts on the table and tucked the unfinished letter into his clothes. When he had just finished all this, the knights of the Inquisition dragged him out.

The fire rack was erected in the square of the town, and the inquisitors were dressed in black robes that symbolized the sacred majesty. They held the holy book in their hands, and devout believers had already surrounded them.

The poet was not alone in being judged together.

There were also old merchants, young virgins, blind old women who make a living from massaging people…..

The first to be judged was the poet.

The inquisitor held up a scroll with transcribed verses: “We hurt the weak who are innocently despised/We turned out to be servile executioners/We want are utterly foolish, a tribute to bull-headed stupidity/We kissed dumb fools and express infinite worship/We bless the glimmer of corruption…..How dare you write such blasphemous and sinful words?”

“I have not blasphemed the Lord.” The poet tried to defend himself, but his voice was drowned in the angry reprimands of the crowd.

The crowd shouted loudly:

“Burn this heretic!”

“Sinner! Go to hell!”

“Burn him!”

……

The stone hit his face, blood flowed down, and the poet lowered his head in despair.

The interrogation continued.

“You have been accused of dealing with the devil. You wandered around at night because you were guided by evil spirits, didn’t you?” The priest asked the terrified little girl.

The little girl choked: “I don’t, I don’t know.”

“She lies! The red mark on her face is a contract with hell!” The accuser in the crowd shouted.

The poet turned his head and saw that the little girl had a red birthmark on her face.

“You lack repentance!”

The inquisitor shouted angrily.

The little girl burst into tears.

The poet looked around——the potbellied priest with a gorgeous jeweled ring was sitting in the mayor’s place, and everyone knew he was just a greedy fool; the young girl sobbing fearfully…..Fury swept over him and suddenly he broke free from the knight holding him, and stood up:

“She is innocent!”

The crowd booed.

How could one heretic justify another witch?

Small stones came from all directions, and the poet was the first to be dragged to the stake, and the papers of poems in his arms were scattered all over the place in the struggle.

“She is innocent!”

“She’s not a witch!”

“That accuser just wants a reward!”

……

He was still yelling.

The person who reported the little witch was full of anger: “He’s crazy! He’s a lunatic!”

The priest delivered his sentence:

“David and Sibylah testify;

The world will melt in fire,

That day is the day of God’s wrath,

When judgment comes in the future,

Everything will be cross-examined and strictly settled

How I shall tremble!”

The knight threw the flaming torch on the young poet. A piece of poem draft flew up, and the poet saw his own words. At the moment when the fire rose, he let out a mournful wail.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

He wailed, because the scarlet fire and pain distorted his face, but he still repeated to everyone:

“She’s not a witch! We’re not sinners!”

“You are the ones who are sinners! You are the ones who are wrong!”

Under his wailing, the people trampled over his poems, no one paid attention to what was written on them, but cursed angrily:

“He’s crazy!”

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Some things were changing at a frightening pace.

The winter was over, but the situation was not getting better.

Dyde was a small castle in Bressi. Its owner Rob was standing on the tower of the castle. The castle’s flag was replaced with a white one emblazoned with the golden cross a week ago. At the beginning of the “War of God’s Admonishment”, Rob simply and neatly changed the tulip flag hanging from the castle.

Although war was cruel, the plague did not stop because of the war.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

The Black Death, which broke out last winter, had continued, and even a small town like Dyde was shrouded in its shadow. The reason why the Great Lord’s Alliance Army was so vulnerable to the Templar Knights was also inseparable from the Black Death.

There were dead people everywhere, and brave knights were no different from the elderly, women and children in the face of the plague.

In just a few months, a small castle owner like Rob could only watch helplessly as the number of people on his territory decreased day by day, and the spring plowing had reached the point where he didn’t even have enough people to work in the wheat fields. One by one the villages emptied out…and this was happening everywhere in the country of Bressi.

This was because the Bressians had sinned.

Their monarch broke his oath to the Holy Lord, so the Holy Lord sent down divine punishment to punish them.

——This was what the priests said.

Many people believed it. In the “War of God’s Admonishment”, many people who were afraid of the Black Death spontaneously joined the army of the Knights Templar against the Alliance of Lords. Some castles even had their drawbridge lowered by the defenders in the castle.

After the “War of God’s Admonishment”, the priests had completely entered the political machinery of this country.

This was unprecedented, and whether it turned out to be right or wrong depended on today.

Today was the “Forgiveness Day”, the Holy Court declared that the repentance of the Bressians would be forgiven by the Holy Lord, and today would be the day when God forgave the world. The Holy Lord would send down unprecedented miracles to expel the Black Death that hung over the people’s heads.

Rob could admit to himself, although he was a believer, he might not be so devout. However, today he still could not help but to become nervous.

In the church of Dyde Castle, all the priests solemnly lowered their heads and stood in front of the icon. The sunlight falling from the dome was more dazzling than usual. When the first bell struck, the choir began to sing the chapters of the holy book in unison, and everyone raised their hands to draw the cross on their chests.

From the insignificant small castle of Dyde to the bustling port cities, and to the Cathedral of Acellia in the capital of Bressi.

All were waiting.

The believers knelt on the ground outside the church. Too many bodies that died of the Black Death were still yet to be buried in the public cemetery outside the city. The crows circled and the sky was bright. They could not save themselves, so they could only pray to God to save them.

Bressi’s new king, Charles, also knelt outside the church, wearing his crown and bowing his head.

The bell sounded.

There was only one huge bronze bell in the Cathedral of Acellia, but the loud ringing seemed to have collided with the air, and the sound overlapped together, gradually as if the bells of all the churches from all over the country gathered here. People trembled in the sound of the splendid ringing, feeling like a leaf on the raging sea.

Hymns sounded at this time.

The singing of the choir floated from the magnificent cathedral, spiraling upward.

The priests who held the key to the “Door of the Kingdom of God” chanted in unison, they were the apostles of God. This was why the Pope didn’t pay attention to the insignificant voices in Legrand. People would see with their own eyes that the Holy Court, the priests, were indeed the servants of God, and that they indeed possess the power to communicate with the Lord.

They were the intermediary between God and man, the shepherds of all living beings.

In the secret room of the church, caskets containing holy relics were placed beside the Blessed Ones. The brilliance of the relics burst out from the caskets and gathered on the Blessed Ones.

The hymns merged into the sound of the ringing bell, and the people couldn’t help but prostrate further on the ground, reciting the chapters of the holy book together. The sun in the sky was becoming more and more dazzling, the wind was rolling high in the sky, and the thick clouds gathered together, but the color of the clouds was bright white, as if something was brewing.

The hymns echoed between heaven and earth, layer upon layer.

It was as if an angel was responding to the mortal singing from above the clouds.

The Pope with a tall crown suddenly opened his eyes in the Cathedral of Acellia. His wrinkled hand raised the heavy scepter high: “O, Holy Lord! Please have mercy on your believers who are submerged in sin. Please forgive our sins of ignorance and arrogance! O, Holy Lord! We entrust your authority to you, please descend to your land and establish your kingdom!”

The old man with graying hair seemed to possess the power to shake the whole world at that moment.

Priests followed with loud supplications, then followed by the believers.

The voices gathered like thunder, rising upwards.

In the secret room, all the Blessed Ones opened their eyes at the same moment, and their eyes were all as transparent as a mirror, indifferent and emotionless.

The believers rejoiced, they saw a brilliant light burst from the clouds in the sky, the Lord had heard the voices of his believers, and finally sent down His angels to forgive their sins. This was an incomparably great miracle, the seraphim appeared in the clouds, looking down with pity on the mortal beings crawling on the earth.

They were so noble, so holy, and so powerful.

Even the most arrogant heretics, the craziest heretics, after witnessing such a miracle, would kneel down and surrender to the embrace of God.

People suddenly burst into tears.

In Bressi, where the Black Death was ravaging, the Lord forgave their sins and finally sent His angels to save His followers.

Angels flapped their wings, and sunlight leaked through the clouds.

It was as if a white transparent flame was burning close to the ground, and everyone felt as if they were submerged in a hot spring, comfortable and warm, as warm as if their forehead was gently stroked by the Virgin Mary. In this warmth, it seemed that many invisible things were being burned away. The crows that originally pecked at the carrion flapped their wings, and the black clouds of hell were expelled from the world.

The pained and dying patients saw the angel’s light enveloping them, and then they felt the pain disappear in an instant. Those who recovered their health walked out of the house and knelt down to worship the visages of the angels in the sky.

“Holy, holy! King of Kings! Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven!”

The Pope shouted.

“Holy, holy! King of Kings! Lord of the Kingdom of Heaven!”

Everyone shouted in unison.

The Pope’s robes began billowing and made 

loud flapping noises. He held his scepter aloft. As the benevolent father of the believers, his eyes were as cold and as deep as the sea.

Who dared to fight against such a force?

Who could stand against such power?!

Before God, before the extraordinary, all mortals were ants!

……………………

On this day, on the west side of the Abyss Strait.

On the ghost ship “Jenny”, the witch was wearing thick spectacles, and Hawkins sat on the mast; in Metzl Castle, Dean Anil kneeled down in St. Wyth Cathedral, and General Johan had his hand on the hilt of his sword. The astrologers looked afraid and anxious, and the Queen Mother Eleanor stood in front of the tombstone of William III; near the royal city, General Sheehan led the Iron Rose Cavalry in the direction of Bomari Castle…..

And there were more people who didn’t know what happened, subconsciously looking at the eastern sky.

They only felt a kind of trembling power, which made people subconsciously want to prostrate to the ground.

“So that’s a divine miracle.”

The King stood on the highest tower of the Rose Palace, and the high-altitude air currents snapped at his robes. The black stone tower he was in had stood in Rose Castle for many years. The walls of the tower were thick and cold. Even though the winter had passed, it still carried a daunting chill. As if this was the fangs of the dragon.

After more than a thousand years, the power of God descended to the world on such an unprecedented scale for the first time. The King and the Devil stood on the top of the tower and watched. Across the Abyss Strait, they stood opposite that terrifying, overwhelming force.

“As expected of the Holy Court that has been accumulating power for more than a thousand years.”

The Devil stood behind the King.

This remark should have been a sigh of amazement, but the tone of the Devil’s voice was more like a nonchalant gambler, smiling casually and frivolously in front of his enemies. To a certain extent, the King and the Devil shared a similarity——they were both madmen who when facing God, not only did not bow down, but drew their swords.

“And you?”

The Devil asked the King with a smile.

“The Holy Court has begun, will you begin as well?”

The King turned his head to look at him: “Don’t you already know what we actually want to do? Why are you still so excited?”

“Don’t misunderstand Hell, Your Majesty.” Not only did the Devil not restrain himself, he laughed even more happily, “What is Hell? There is no order, no morality, all chaos and evil gathers there. Hell has never been a good place, do you really think real denizens of Hell would hold love for it and unite as a family?”

“No.”

“The demons in hell have always had desires in their hearts, and the rules there are that there are no rules.”

The Devil took the rose tucked into his breast pocket and handed it to the King. Even by human standards, the Devil was exceptionally handsome. It was just that his complexion was too pale and his aura too wicked, his handsome looks were like a sharp knife that one knew was poisoned at first glance. Beneath the elegance laid the quality of madness.

“If you’re powerful enough, your rules are Hell’s rules.”

He smiled.

The King looked at him for a while, then accepted the rose that he handed over.

The Devil hummed an old ditty with joy.

He climbed out of the deepest part of the Wall of Insects, which was the truest portrayal of hell. In hell, there was only massacre and the winner was king. All human morality and principles were insignificant in hell. And he accepted only one hell.

A short-lived hell that operated according to the King’s will.

“Let us begin, Your Majesty.”

The Devil said.

The King turned and walked towards the stone table in the middle of the tower, where the gift given to him by the Devil was placed on top–—the box that was said to be the key to the Millennium Kingdom. The moment the King turned around, the Devil held a black umbrella in his hand, while the King held a dark red rose in his hand.

They stood opposite each other, like the two parties of an ancient contract.

The Devil looked in Bressi’s direction and hummed an ancient ditty softly.

An ambition.

In the legendary age long ago, at first the Rose family just didn’t want to live like ants, so they killed the evil dragon. But later, the Rose family discovered that even after the dragon died, there was still more extraordinary power to make mortals become puppets and slaves.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

They wanted equality, but the dragon didn’t give it to them, the gods didn’t give it to them, and no one in the sky or on the earth would give it to them.

So, then they birthed an ambition.

An ambition only a madman could have:

If nobody would give them equality, then they didn’t need to be given equality. They would make it so that mortals would be the masters of all extraordinary powers!

They would have the voice of mortals echo in the long river of history and never die!

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