Following the interview, Legrand National Television quickly launched a documentary.

The personal documentary of Pureland I.

This documentary had just released its trailer but it attracted everyone’s attention. Generally speaking, a complex national idol like Pureland I should be the number one development target in various film and television industries. But the fact was completely opposite. Although people in the film and television industry were salivating over the terrifying popularity and traffic represented by the name “Pureland I”, they have absolutely no way to take action.

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Whenever this was mentioned, major film and television companies all gnash their teeth with hatred for the humanistic artist “Clark”. 

The most precious existing portrait of Pureland I was painted by Clark. It was precisely because of that portrait that it had become unprecedentedly difficult to make films and TV shows related to Pureland I. That portrait was now preserved in the Rose Palace. The portrait of Pureland I in the painting was worthy of the evaluation of fifteenth-century poets: “You would never find another iron-blooded rose like him.”

A monarch who was born a king had a handsome beauty that could dazzle everyone. The majesty of the King that the painter managed to capture was accumulated through miraculous battle victories and iron-handed orders.

Film and television companies could use image technology to make actors’ faces look infinitely close to those of Pureland I, but no actor could express the same kingly temperament as Pureland I. Even today, in other countries that still retain monarchy, their queens and kings were as clumsy and wrong-footed as a clown wearing a fake crown in front of Pureland I.

There was once a film and television company that overestimated its capabilities and tried to film Pureland I. As a result, as soon as the trailer was released, the official website and official blog were devastated by angry netizens.

——Although I am not a fan of Pureland I, and I don’t really agree with his iron-blooded tactics, at any rate, could you please have some self-awareness? That actor of yours, with a temperament of one who seems to be talking smack to hoodlums, actually dares to play the role of the King of the World who overthrew the Holy Court?

——I suggest you plant more trees on Arbor Day, ok?

——To the extent that you overestimate your capabilities, aren’t you underestimating the power of us fans of Pureland I?

…

Within three days, the film and television company won the honorable title of “The Most Overestimating Company of the Year”. In the end, the plan had to be scrapped in despair, and its reputation plummeted overnight.

Later film and television companies learned this lesson and only dared to play around with the popularity of Pureland I, shooting documentaries related to Pureland I from various angles, such as memoirs of people with relations with Pureland I, etc. The film lasted for nearly two hours, but Pureland I only appeared in other people’s conversations, in passing carriages, and even in a deceitful act of directly pointing the camera at the portrait painted by Clark… Basically they only dared to shoot in a roundabout way rather than directly.

As soon as the audience saw these films, they instantly knew what the film and television companies were planning. While they scolded the film and television companies for being such scammers, they still spent money willingly.

It was like the film and television version of “Waiting for Pureland”.

Film and television company: Bah! Do you really think we don’t know that if we really dare to directly film Pureland I, you will really dare to directly blow us up?

This time, the documentary was directly produced by Legrand National Television, and everyone had greater hopes——maybe some unannounced secrets would be released?

The documentary aired at 8pm

Many people squatted in front of their screens early. Those at home turned on the TV, and those outside turned on their mobile phones.

As soon as eight o’clock arrived, the playback screen went dark.

On the screen, pieces of dark golden petals fell down and quickly formed an iron rose. At the moment when iron rose was completely in full bloom, the title of the film appeared:

“Pureland I: The King’s Tower of Babel”

………………

But this had nothing to do with the King and the Devil. They walked side by side in the city of Metzl.

The Devil opened his black umbrella. The passers-by saw them and subconsciously ignored their appearances. After passing by, they would only vaguely remember that the atmosphere between the two men was very strange. It was not like friends traveling together, instead they had a tacit understanding as if just the two of them made up the whole world.

“A lot has changed here.”

The King said.

They walked along the Soley River that passed through the city of Metzl, their pace unrushed. There were many people like them walking together on the rocky embankment, young women and men in pairs and groups. In the King’s memory, this was originally the theater district of Metzl, and the original Royal Theater stood across the river.

But now, it had become a bustling commercial street. There were many different shops on both sides of the river, retaining the architectural style that was in harmony with the surrounding classical atmosphere. The windows facing the river were designed with exquisite rose motifs, the dark golden window lattice lines slender and transparent.

The Gilded River commercial district.

There were brisk footsteps as a little girl in a fluffy skirt and a boy in a small suit ran past them hand in hand.

The parents of the two shouted loudly from behind with smiles on their faces, reminding them not to bump into others. The children ran to a display window, and the girl pressed her round cheek against the cold glass window.

“Look! So beautiful!”

The girl pointed to the beautiful doll in the window.

The boy obviously liked the armor model on the other side more. He glanced at the armor reluctantly, then turned to ask his mother loudly: “Can I give my share… that share of pocket money to Sister!”

Children as young as five or six still didn’t understand what “expense limit” was, so they chose the simplest description.

The King paused and looked at the children with bright smiles.

Girls who like dolls didn’t have to worry about when they would become “witches” and be burned at the stake. Boys who liked armor just thought it was majestic and impressive. They didn’t have to take off the armor from their dead father or brother on a battlefield full of scorched earth, and then pick up the swords they left behind.

“Brother, you can have my chance to make a birthday wish.”

The girl raised her head, looked at her brother and said.

The boy pretended to be an adult and made a serious expression: “I am the elder brother. When I make money in the future, I won’t have to ask Mom to buy it for you. I will buy it for you!”

“Then let Dad buy it for you now!”

The middle-aged man in a suit laughed and bent down, picking up his children in each hand. The mother smiled and asked the boy why he was willing to give up the armor he liked so much.

The King and the Devil passed by them and heard the boy say loudly “Because Dad said that a knight is still a knight even if he has no armor.”

The amphitheater at the end of the Soley River was still similar to the King’s memory. Many of the people who came to the theater were students from the nearby Legrand First Academy. Wearing black and white school uniforms, they walked out of the theater in twos and threes, discussing in low voices about the literary value of the “Death of the Holy Spirit” that had just been performed.

The Devil and the King followed the flow of these students and took a small path from the bustling Gilded River commercial district to the quiet Legrand First Academy. The First Academy was only separated from the Gilded River by a wall, but the atmosphere was completely different. At the entrance to the college was a bronze stone tablet.

The above was a phrase:

“Welcome to Legrand, the land of the free.”

Below was a line of small print:

Truth will never be buried by fallacy, just as thoughts are birds that never land.

“Wally.”

The King recognized the writing on the stone tablet. That was the handwriting of Earl Wally, A member of the Hanging Swords at that time. This phrase had been passed down to this day and had become the school motto of Legrand First Academy.

Next to a small fountain in the college, several students from the Department of Physics were frowning and discussing the celestial body papers that should be completed next week. On the grass under the shade of the trees, quiet liberal arts students were turning the pages of their books. From time to time, one could see professors with casual demeanors taking a walk and discussing the latest academic achievements… It seemed very quiet here, but the most intense sparks of thought also gestated and flashed here.

Since the 15th century, many outstanding figures have been cultivated here.

The college had a long stone wall on which were carved all the famous figures who graduated from the college from the 15th century to now.

Humanist thinkers, rationalist enlighteners, romantic poets, physicists who discovered electromagnetic induction, and the first inventor to combine steam power with industrial production… As the school motto says, here, everything was encouraged and allowed. There was no authority here, no restraint.

Here, truth was free to be pursued by everyone.

No one would restrain the hands that want to pluck down the sun, and no one would restrain the steps that want to set foot in space.

Humanity finally established its own history, its own country, and its own world.

When the sky gradually darkened, the King and the Devil stood in the cemetery of St. Wyth’s Cathedral. He gently placed flowers in front of the Duke of Buckingham’s grave.

“You seem to be finally relieved?”

The Legrand government had strictly protected this former royal cemetery, making it impossible for ordinary people to enter. The Devil closed his umbrella and accompanied the King to stand in front of the tombstone.

“Because I can also worry.”

The King said, looking at the gravestone of the Duke of Buckingham.

In this world, everyone had worries, fears, and hesitations.

Including him.

He once fought side by side with many people who believed in him. Later, those people fell in front of him one by one and entrusted their hope for this country to him. He had sacrificed many things, many lives, and the old era was crushed into dust under his decision… Such a heavy price was just to let this country embark on a beautiful path.

He knew that he was full of sin, and it didn’t matter whether he was stigmatized or whether he fell into hell.

He deserved it.

He only worried that if he failed, if his changes took a different path in the dredges of time, what would happen to all the people and things that were sacrificed?

So long as he didn’t see with his own eyes the world they all wanted, he couldn’t rest assured.

……………………

On the path outside St. Wyth’s Cathedral, Ashley, a museum worker who had just gotten off work, was sitting on a bench. She stared blankly at the screen of her mobile phone while the melody of “Land of the Dragon” composed by the famous violinist sounded.

The documentary came to an end.

This documentary opened with dark clouds billowing in the sky, and heavy rain pouring down, flooding the city of Metzl in the fifteenth century AD. What followed was quick flashes of the old tavern, people’s whispers and endless curses——”hobby of killing”, “madman”, “despicable”, “treacherous”, “he is ruining this country”.

With such a depressing opening, the documentary unfolded many things in front of the people’s eyes from an almost cold perspective.

——Pureland I, during his reign, a total of eleven important laws were enacted, each of which was personally reviewed by him. There were thousands of regulations, large and small, involving religion, culture, commerce, industry… But none of them were enacted to increase the King’s private income such as with other monarchs in the Middle Ages.

These laws conflicted with the traditional laws of many lords’ courts, autonomous cities, and states at that time. In order to unify the law, many of the coercive measures adopted by Pureland I were criticized by people at the time. However, the empire under unified law quickly broke away from the chaos caused by nearly a thousand years of division, and national integration accelerated. By the seventeenth century AD, Legrand was completely unified.

The eleven laws passed by Pureland I were compiled and organized by later generations, laying the foundation for the subsequent legal system and the spirit of natural equality in law. It became one of the most precious properties left to future generations by Pureland I.

——Pureland I, who formed the Free Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast during his reign, which for the first time integrated road traffic, inland shipping and sea shipping into a unified imperial transportation department. After that, he linked military logistics with the transportation department for the first time and established the world’s first systematic military logistics system. The emergence of the transportation sector at that time strengthened economic ties between various places, but more importantly, it established a rapid response system for the empire.

At the time, people believed that the changes in logistics and transportation were an act of suppression by the royal family in order to strengthen their control over the local area. However, during the reign of Pureland I, apart from the Bloody Reformation and the war with the Ingres State, these systems were not really put into military use.

——Pureland I, who founded the “Legrand First Military and Heavy Industry Department”, “Legrand First Academy of Sciences” and “Legrand Pathological Research Department” during his reign. The first provided direct military support for the end of the castle system era, the second gave birth to the Industrial Revolution for Legrand, and the last made Legrand far ahead of other countries in the biochemical field after entering modern times.

However, at that time, Pureland I was considered willful and disgraceful to the royal family for appointing a “lunatic” from a lowly background as the president of the Academy of Sciences. The establishment of the new college impacted the status of the traditional academies and was strongly opposed by the old universities.

——Pureland I, the bloody changes in the later period of his reign wiped out the backward knight system for his successors. The conscription system that hindered the country’s military strength came to an end with the decline of the old aristocracy, and a new standing army was formed. A standing army controlled by a central government provided strong protection for the empire’s commerce as it competed in the world arena. In the 16th and 17th centuries AD, Legrand’s ships were all over the sea, and pirates did not dare to attack.

The reputation of an oathbreaker followed Pureland I for the rest of his life, hundreds of years after his death.

…

The documentary had come to an end, and in the ending song, all the recorded deeds of Pureland I in the history books were slowly revealed before people’s eyes. People in the 21st century only felt as if they had transcended time and witnessed a monarch’s controversial life… He was crowned, he fought, he reformed, he did everything he could and could not do, and in the end refined the bones that forged Legrand today.

He wanted to build a tower leading to happiness for his people, but everything he did was difficult to understand because his vision was too far ahead of his time, too sober.

In the last sudden pitch, all the colors receded, and a line of dazzling words appeared on the black screen:

“Is he a tyrant?”

Ashley felt an overwhelming sadness overwhelm her.

She simply couldn’t imagine how Pureland I could walk such a long road alone, how could one person bear the fate of so many people?

Who opened up a new path in an era of ideological confusion? Who led the people of Legrand to become strong and prosperous? Who prevented them from falling back into their old decay? In the end, whose tired and stigmatized soul died in silence?

Ashley finally understood why this documentary had such a weird name, “The King’s Tower of Babel.”

The King’s Tower of Babel.

The eternal guardian tower of the lonely and the misunderstood.

What was it that was worth doing all of this?

………………

Night fell.

The King and the Devil stood side by side on the top of the familiar tower of the Rose Palace, looking at the city that had become unfamiliar.

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Metzl in the twenty-first century was completely different from Metzl in the fifteenth century. Medieval cities were shrouded in darkness at night, but cities in the 21st century were cities that never sleep.

Thousands of lights lit up the world.

“It’s like the stars have all fallen to earth.”

The King said.

Free, dazzling, brilliant.

This world was so beautiful, so everything had meaning.

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The reporter did not expect that what would be released today would be a private letter from Pureland I himself regarding the bloody reformation.

In this way, it was not difficult to understand why the museum displayed “The King and His City” and “The Dragon and the Rose” in the colonnade of statues. In history, Pureland I had many titles. The ones that were more commonly mentioned today include “King of the World” and “Lord of Glory”. However, he also had another title that was not honorable——

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“Oathbreaker”.

Oathbreaker, this title was related to the Great Reformation. In September of that year, when the Great Reformation took place, a total of 270 Legrand nobles were executed on the guillotine in the square in front of the Rose Palace. Among them, there were no less than 100 knights who had participated in the battle against the Holy Army and had achieved military exploits.

This event later became known as “Bloody September.”

Bloody September caused a sensation in the entire world of knights at that time.

The Middle Ages were the age of knights. The knight system and code of chivalry were powerful ethical concepts that dominated people’s minds and hearts. They were the crown of the entire social system at that time. It could even be said that at that time all countries belonged to the “kingdom of knights”. There was a sworn relationship between the monarch and the knights. The monarch granted the knights land, and the knights swore allegiance to the monarch. Except for the fact that when the Holy See was not yet destroyed, the Pope could terminate the oath of allegiance between the monarch and the knight with the “Excommunication Order”, it was generally considered unbreakable by default.

However, Pureland I reneged on this oath he had made with the nobles during his coronation ceremony.

He gradually took back military, fiefdom and other powers from the hands of the knight class. From a moral perspective alone, this approach of Pureland I would undoubtedly have been condemned at the time. Because of this, the old nobles headed by local lords united to denounce the King’s “oath-breaking” behavior.

King Pureland I suppressed the riot forcefully, and the conservative knights involved were executed one by one.

Shortly after the completion of the bloody reformation, King Pureland I died of illness, leaving a brand-new empire in the hands of the son of General Johan the Defender. However, public opinion’s criticism of King Pureland I did not end with his death. People believed that this was the biggest stain in the emperor’s life. He shamefully betrayed the knights who were loyal to him and killed the imperial heroes when he should not have.

Some people even believed that the death of Pureland I was a punishment of fate for “breaking his oath”.

However, there were also different voices that believed that Pureland I actually wanted to promote the new economic system reform through relatively gentle means at the beginning. The occurrence of Bloody September was an accident. It was not that Pureland I did not want to reconcile with the conservatives, but the conflict between the two sides was so intense that it got out of hand. Pureland I had no choice but to execute the knights who had followed him——the evidence was that after those knights were executed, Pureland I did not harm their families, and even provided covert protection.

The key point of the two arguments, was Pureland I forced to execute so many knights? Or was it intentional?

——It seemed that as long as this was confirmed, it could be concluded whether Pureland I was a treacherous, cold-blooded monarch.

Now, the answer was before the people’s eyes.

On the yellowed paper was the sharp handwriting of Pureland I, and through the handwriting, the monarch’s calm and ruthless voice seemed to echo in people’s ears:

“…When we completely take back the jurisdiction of the Lord’s Court, they will realize what we want to do.

Get our guns and cannons ready… Everything is expendable, everything is discardable.

The age of the castle is over.”

Bloody Reformation, Bloody September.

All came from the will of Pureland I himself.

………………

In a villa not far from St. Wyth Cathedral.

The King, wearing a classical ruffled shirt, was sitting on a stone chair in the flower pavilion, reading a copy of “The General History of Legrand”. The sunlight shone through the dark green leaves and fell on him in patches. He still looked the same as when he was crowned in St. Wyth Cathedral, as if time had stopped for the King.

“In 1433, the Holy Army of the Sea invaded the southeast of Legrand. In order to ensure the victory of the overall battle, General Sheehan ordered the Iron Rose Cavalry to strategically retreat and guard the Kriya Mountains, remaining behind alone in the city of Bubas to bear the anger of the people.”

The King looked at this paragraph in silence for a long time, and smiled silently.

He turned the page, skipping the period of time he was familiar with, and looked at the history after the eighteenth century.

After the gate of hell could be opened, the King did not return to hell immediately, but stayed in the human world for more than ten years. It was not until Legrand’s transition from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Age was completed that he returned to hell with the Devil. However, as the authority of “royal power” itself, the King could still know what happened to Legrand during the period when Legrand’s royal power was still flourishing.

Until new changes occurred and the social strata changed again, just as the prophecy said, “The earth will turn over like a pottery jar, and those at the bottom will rise to the top”. After the 18th century, a new revolution occurred. Common people demanded to become the masters of the country. The monarchs of many countries were guillotined, and the royal power withdrew from the stage of history.

If according to the original destiny, the moment when the royal power was abandoned by the people, it would be the death of the King.

As the embodiment of the royal authority, the “death” of the King was different from the death of a mortal. All the power he possessed would be stripped away, leaving only his soul that would soon dissipate between heaven and earth. This was why it was said that “the King had nothing but his country.” In the original contract signed between the Devil and the King, the Devil served the King, and the price the King paid was his soul.

During the battle between the King and Theolde, he almost died and disappeared from the world. It was the Devil who arrived in time to activate the contract.

Even so, according to his original destiny, after kingship became a thing of human history, the King would still not end well.

The turning point of fate laid in the original covenant between the Rose family and hell——the Old Covenant of Hell.

Hell symbolized the chaos and fighting in the world, which made it powerful and allowed it to be destroyed. The lords of hell could never muster an army to attack the gods, for once they did fire would rain down from the sky and burn them to the ground. The first demons were destined to fight endlessly because of their inner greed and evil. In order to resolve this situation, hell and the dragon slayers formed an alliance. The two parties signed an old treaty, and the Blackstone Royal City was built on the beach.

And at that time, the one who was pushed to the throne by the demons of hell was the King.

It was precisely because of this Old Covenant of Hell that the King was not only the king of earth, but also the king of hell.

When the kingship of the human world became a thing of the past in the fire of new changes, the kingship of hell still existed, and the King survived as the “King of Hell”.

However, the King in hell had no way of knowing what happened to the human world from then on.

In the eighteenth century, the flames of revolution swept across the land, and class changes were as rapid as the emergence of new technologies. “Democracy” and “equality” replaced monarchy, and monarchs and aristocrats became a thing of the past. The population on the land was growing rapidly, and what pleased the King was that in this wave of reform, Legrand’s royal family took the initiative to hand over power to the people and withdrew from the political stage.

The dragon slayer did not become a dragon.

A dragon slayer would always be a dragon slayer.

“In 1712, the Legrand royal family announced that they would hand over their power to the people, returning it to the people. The first democratic country in history was born.”

A rose petal was blown by the wind and fell on the page of the book.

Just as the King was about to reach out to brush it away, a pale hand reached down from behind and pinched the rose petal up. Immediately afterwards, the Devil’s pale and cold cheek pressed close to the King’s ear. He stood behind the stone chair and leaned over to see what the King was looking at. After seeing “the birth of the first democratic country in history”, the Devil sneered.

“You did a good job teaching them how to kill you.”

There was a hint of complaint in his tone.

In the eighteenth century, the Legrand royal family took the initiative to end its rule over Legrand. The disappearance of the royal power in the human world ultimately had an impact on the King who was in hell. The King slept for nearly a hundred years. 

And as the Devil said, the King himself taught his people how to kill him.

After the bloody reformation, with the King’s power and status at the time, he could have wrapped the reformation in a moral layer, and he could also have guided the direction of public opinion after the reformation was completed. He could have strengthened his control over thought at that time and ingrained the feudal dynasty into people’s minds.

But he didn’t.

He allowed the people to criticize him, and allowed the seed he planted personally that “once the system did not meet the needs of reality, it should be destroyed” to take root and sprout in humanism and rationalism. It finally grew into a towering tree in the 18th century. “A dragon slayer will always be a dragon slayer” became the motto of the Rose family, and the hanging sword was passed down from generation to generation…

He paved a road to death for himself.

Everything could be sacrificed, everything could be discarded.

——In this “everything”, including himself.

The Devil walked around to stand in front of the King and took away the book he was reading.

The King leaned back on the cold bench and raised his head slightly. The Devil’s face was half hidden in the shadows, and his pale and cold face carried a trace of malicious arrogance unique to hell creatures——this was his knight, his contractor, and now he belonged to his knight.

There was nothing wrong with that.

This season, roses were in full bloom.

The dark green leaves and scarlet flowers were as gorgeous as a fantastical dream. Under the mottled shadows, the monarch owned by the devil and his hell knight kissed naturally. The wind stirred the rose bushes, making a whistling sound, and the deep breathing died out between the interlocked figures. In a certain moment, the King’s ice-blue pupils were printed with the image of the black-haired Devil.

“Actually, I have never regretted it.”

He said suddenly.

“No regrets?”

The Devil asked, their foreheads pressed so close they were the only two people left in the world.

“None.”

The destiny he assumed, every decision he made, the ending he wrote for himself… including the original contract, the oath signed by the monarch who lost all his people and the devil who was deprived of his name.

The Devil clasped the King’s hand, and he said no more.

They were born lonely, but after they met, they seemed not so lonely anymore.

History books fell around them, just like the long years they had walked together.

……………………

After the personal letter of Pureland I was displayed, it really caused an uproar.

On the Internet, different views on Pureland I triggered a debate. Was Pureland I’s personal qualities good or bad? What kind of image did he play in history and in the eyes of people at that time? Did Pureland I’s “oath-breaking” behavior need to be criticized?

A series of questions emerged, and almost every moment someone was arguing about this topic.

Against this background, Legrand National TV launched a special program and invited Professor Holland, the dean of the History Department of Legrand First College. He possessed a badge printed with swords and roses, which indicated his identity as a “Member of the Legrand Strategic Observation Bureau”——compared to this long and strange name, there was a simpler title:

The Hanging Sword.

“Before I get to the topic, I want to mention someone first.”

Facing the host, Professor Holland smiled gently and looked at the audience in front of the TV.

“Sheehan Rolandst.”

The host showed a look of understanding.

Sheehan Rolandst, the general of the Iron Rose Cavalry in 1433, the southeast commander in the early stages of the resistance to the Holy Army, and the decision-maker of Bubas’ retreat. For nearly four hundred years after the end of the Holy Army movement, the image of General Sheehan in the people’s minds had always been “a cowardly traitor” and “the sinner who caused the fall of southeastern Legrand.”

It was not until the end of the 18th century, after Legrand had calmed down from the turmoil of the change of regime, that a branch of the Rose family, the Hanging Swords of the History Department of the First College, presided over the political rehabilitation of General Sheehan.

In that political rehabilitation, the Hanging Swords conducted research on the strength comparison between Legrand and the Holy Army at that time, Bubas’s defensive capabilities, the marching speed of the Holy Army of the Sea, etc., and concluded the “humiliating fall” which had always defined the Bubas Retreat——as not a retreat out of General Sheehan’s own cowardice, but a strategic retreat out of the benefit of the entire war situation.

The most important point in the rehabilitation work was:

At that time, although King Pureland I stripped Sheehan Rolandst’s title and position, Sheehan Rolandst was still registered as the first general of the Iron Rose Cavalry in the royal family’s secret files, and it was never erased, nor was there a time indicated of his resignation.

This meant that, at the time, General Sheehan was not guilty, at least in Pureland I’s view.

Many clues combined to point to one fact:

Sheehan Rolandst’s retreat at Bubas was permitted by the King himself, and possibly even ordered by him. The reason why Sheehan Rolandst remained in Bubas was because he wanted to quell public anger with his own death.

What finally confirmed this view was that in the first half of the eighteenth century, after the confidentiality period had passed, the Rose family disclosed relevant military strategic files and relevant records of the then Head of the Households——the King had sent a secret letter to General Sheehan.

“To this day, some people still think that General Sheehan’s choice is difficult to understand.” Professor Holland said eloquently, “Why is this? This is because they are not familiar with this part of history, and they are not familiar with the urban population, organizational capabilities, and military forces’ ability to act at that time… these necessary conditions are all unfamiliar to them. If we look at the choices made at that time from the perspective of the production-level social system of the 21st century, we naturally wonder why the city residents must be abandoned, why not take them away?”

“But to judge people from medieval backgrounds by twenty-first century standards is an injustice in itself.”

“You mean, if you don’t look at the background of the era in which historical figures lived, it’s impossible to evaluate their actions?” the host asked.

“Yes.” Old Professor Holland nodded slightly, “I think it is very important for our descendants to not have the ‘arrogance of latecomers’ when looking back on history. This is the problem with General Sheehan, and the same goes for the issue with Pureland I.”

“After a long period of development, the deep-rooted chivalry system in the Middle Ages had become another tumor that hindered Legrand’s progress after the Holy See. Under the chivalry system, the knight class and the serf class were in opposition. By the fifteenth century, under the feudal serfdom, the lack of free labor had become an obstacle to the development of industry and commerce. The local lords’ courts were full of abuses… So for a monarch who wanted to usher in Legrand’s prosperity, it was destined he would destroy this old system.”

“This was the fundamental reason for the bloody reformation, but Bloody September had other more direct reasons.”

“What we need to understand is that during the Holy Army movement, the reason why the nobles at that time followed Pureland I to fight against the Holy See was that they saw the situation of the old nobles of Bressi under the Holy Empire. They knew that once Legrand was destroyed, their fate would be even worse. After the end of the Holy Army Movement and the establishment of the Legrand State Church, these nobles discovered that the new doctrine supported the development of industry and commerce and prevented them from unlimited exploitation of serfs. They were naturally resistant to these changes and even hoped that the state religion would return to the old teachings. For this reason, they must take other actions.”

“Pureland I’s understanding of the military power of the nobility was very clear. He knew that if he wanted to shake the chivalry system, he must first destroy the military cornerstone on which this system relied. Therefore, he made preparations in advance and used new hot weapons to teach the knights who stuck to cold weapons a far-reaching lesson.”

“Bloody September, on the surface, was a battle of breach of contract, but in fact it was a desperate struggle between the old class and the new system to maintain their privileges.”

…

At the end of the interview, Professor Holland concluded:

“Retreating does not necessarily mean being cowardly. Breaking a promise does not necessarily mean being perfidious.”

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“Limited by the political, economic, ideological and cultural conditions of the special era, people at that time were often unable to comprehensively and objectively evaluate the people and events at that time. Many tragedies resulted from this, and great souls often died bearing stigma. However, the responsibility of historians lies in this——”

“The times misunderstand heroes, but history returns glory.”

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The flow of people moved forward slowly. There were so many people who wanted to see the personal letter of Pureland I that the queue moved very slowly. However, the female reporter from “Dragon Bone Chronicle” was lucky enough to enter before closing time.

After turning off the live broadcast in accordance with regulations, the reporter and others walked inside along the colonnade of statues. After entering the museum, it was like walking into another world. The noise outside was isolated, time stopped here, and the air became thick and majestic. On the left side of the museum was the art gallery. The most important exhibitions during this period were two immortal masterpieces by the humanistic artist Clark.

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

One was “The King and His City” and the other was “The Dragon and the Rose”.

Clark was known as the “enlightenment of humanism”. He was the first oil painter to challenge the traditional Eyck school of painting in the fifteenth century. Anyone who had received basic education knew the story of him and the King. Historically, Clark was almost burned at the stake because he proposed the concept that “painting, as an art that expresses emotions and thoughts, should not be limited to religious themes.” After he fled to Legrand, he wasted more than ten years before finally being appreciated by King Pureland I and appointed as the chief painter of the palace.

Taking “The King and His City” as the dividing point, the paintings of the fifteenth century took two different paths, one was the spiritualist school of painting that mainly promoted theology, and the other was the humanistic school of painting that promoted people and reason.

As for “The Dragon and the Rose”, it was a work completed by Clark in the last ten years of his life.

If “The King and His City” with the Plague of Koszoya as the background opened the first chapter in the history of painting that turned its attention from gods to humans, then “The Dragon and the Rose” was the first painting in the history of the world to focus on nationalism, a great work created with the national spirit as the core.

In the exhibition information display, the museum wrote:

“…In the fifteenth century, the development of productive forces required the emergence of a more powerful government to protect the transformation and development of commerce and handicrafts. In response to such needs, royal power, as a national symbol of that era, began to rise. “The Dragon and the Rose” was that sign of the gradual awakening of the national consciousness of the times——on the west bank of the Abyss Strait, a new country emerged that broke through the traditions since the theocratic era.”

It took Clark ten years to complete this last work. When the last stroke was completed, he fell backward and never woke up. None of his students were surprised. According to his students’ later recollections, during those ten years, Clark only painted and painted, and there was nothing in his eyes except this painting. “It was like what he used to paint was not oil paints, but his life force.”

Everyone who passed by this painting subconsciously held their breath.

Because it was so grand.

Different from the usual oil paintings, “The Dragon and the Rose” was a rare long scroll oil painting. It broke the traditional time limit and depicted not one thing or scene at one point in time. Starting from the right, it depicted in chronological order the beginning, development and final end of the Holy Army movement that changed the destiny of the world in the 15th century.

The first part of the scroll started with the massacre of the city of Koszoya. People were running, resisting, or crying in the ruins. The soldiers of the Self-Defense Forces were forced into a dead end by the heavily armed Holy Army. Behind them was the municipal hall of Koszoya. The fire rolled up like a striking snake, and the royal flag of Legrand flying at the top of the building was ignited by the flames.

Blood flowed out from the city gate of Koszoya, dyeing the land southeast of Legrand in the second part red, signaling the further deterioration of the war.

“War…”

“War.”

…

The reporter heard people’s muffled whispers, and gentlemen stopped in front of this oil painting and bowed their heads in mourning. As the most famous humanistic artist, Clark displayed his superb painting skills here. The despair, anger and sorrow of war were still shockingly displayed in front of people’s eyes after hundreds of years.

The reporter quickly wrote a line in her shorthand notebook:

Fortunately, we live in a peaceful era, and, behind this peace are the numerous bones of the war dead.

The transition between the second and third parts of the painting was the raging Doma River. The east bank of the Doma River was the occupied area caught in the war, and the west bank was the assembled Legrand army, with the royal flag flying like crimson waves. Under the royal flag, the young Pureland I was at the forefront of the army wearing armor.

“A genius military strategist.”

“So young that it’s hard to believe…”

“The Rose family, a famous family of madmen…”

…

People murmured their praise.

It seemed that the Rose family had always been full of geniuses, Mad King Henry, Lion King Charles, William III, Duke of Buckingham, Pureland I… a series of names put together was a glorious military history. A historian once said this after studying the lives of successive kings and dukes of the Rose family:

“Members of the Rose family have never had such a luxury as a carefree childhood.”

“Their surnames destined them to be born with a heavy burden on their shoulders.”

The flames of war in the third part exploded out in the fourth part, with the Holy Army and King Legrand’s army clashing on the ground. Clark intercepted several classic battles from the war and merged them together. Unlike ordinary war paintings that blindly emphasize the bravery of one’s own side, the Knights Templar and Legrand’s army in the painting were all fearsome, and both sides showed heavy losses. When the scroll reached this point, the air seemed to be filled with the cries of war and weapons.

The two kings fight unto death.

The anxious and intense atmosphere turned into an overwhelming and majestic momentum in the last part, with dark clouds like mountains gathering in the sky. The land was stretched into the distance, Legrand’s territory spread out, and the cities were brightly lit, as if they were burning. Over the burning city, the black dragon rose into the sky, spread its wings, and faced thousands of lightning bolts that were about to strike down. The dazzling whiteness of the lightning and the ferocious black ink color formed a strong contrast.

The kingdom of the evil dragon, Legrand.

The mortals who made their homes above the dragon bones were as proud as the flaming rose.

The reporter probably understood why the Royal Museum displayed these two precious paintings together. Because these two paintings could be said to be the epitome of the historical period in which Pureland I lived. The need to remind visitors of the social background of Pureland I in this way meany that the things on display today were likely to be extremely controversial.

Controversial?

Was there not enough controversy surrounding Pureland I?

The reporter was jotting in her shorthand notebook while thinking about this issue.

There had always been a lot of mystery surrounding Pureland I, and evaluations of his many deeds were often extremely divided. He was born a king, and in his early rule he was called a tyrant. At the time, he was vaguely suspected of being another “mad king.” It was not until the “Rose Crisis” that Pureland I finally showed his determination and wisdom as the emperor of the Rose family. However, many of the measures he took during his reign have been criticized for being too iron-handed.

His laws have always been known for their absolute inviolability. A typical example was the city blockade order of Koszoya. During the blockade of the coastline in 1432, it was estimated that nearly a thousand civilians died as a result of the blockade order. In addition, most of the changes he implemented during his reign were implemented with strong tactics, and he was often called a “tyrant”.

Between humanitarianism and practical needs, Pureland I would always choose the latter without hesitation.

To this day, people could still argue for three days and three nights about whether Pureland I was too cruel.

While the reporter wrote down some relevant speculations in her shorthand notebook, the colonnade of statues had already reached its end.

The exhibition hall had arrived.

In a softly lit room, these letters, which were finally made public, were displayed behind sealed glass cabinets. The museum’s display designer knew how to whet people’s appetites. On display in front were letters from some officials and important nobles involved in politics during the same period.

The name of the writer was marked at the end of the yellowed letter, and a brief biography was placed next to it.

“Dear Derrick:

Things have gotten very bad. Pureland is such a bastard that he won’t even remember who helped him win the war! In order to carry out his mercantilist policies, he has already determined to carry out the changes to the end… Parliament’s “Crown Act” gave him too much power, and we are in a very bad situation.

It seems that he is no longer satisfied with conscription and an expanded royal army, and he intends to return military power to the government… Where can we go from here? The glory of the knight, the glory of the knight, he has decided to sweep it all into ruins. He even forgot that he is also a knight…” 

The letter was written by Roger, who had defected to the New King’s Party during the “Rose Crisis”, but during the Legrand North Rebellion the King forgave him and continued to use him in important matters. He also made considerable military exploits in the Holy Army movement.

When the reporter saw the first letter, she immediately understood what was on display today.

The great reforms in the mid-to-late fifteenth century.

Bloody reformation.

This was the last reform that occurred in the late reign of Pureland I, and it was also the most cold and ruthless reform since his reign.

In history, there have been few reformations that were directly described as “bloody”. This reformation occurred in the 20th year after the end of the Holy Army movement. The entire old knight system of Legrand collapsed under the reformation, and the blood of the conservatives stained the palace gate of Metzl red.

It seemed to correspond to an eternal theme in Legrand’s theater culture: “There was no peace for the king.”

When King Pureland I was born, Legrand was in civil strife caused by the death of William III. Later in his reign, Legrand once again rose in riots due to changes. This civil war finally ended with the victory of the reformists represented by the King. During the reformation, the number of nobles who died in Legrand even far exceeded the number of people who died in the Holy Army movement.

Since then, armor, knights, and castles have withdrawn from history, lordship had become a thing of the past, and the military status of the castle had plummeted. The thirty-six states were completely wiped out from the land of Legrand, leaving only a completely unified empire.

After the bloody revolution, Legrand’s mercantilism was implemented and a new class entered the stage of history.

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

Perfidious, cold-blooded and cruel, unscrupulous…these adjectives were added to Pureland I after this reformation.

However, it was precisely because of this reformation that Pureland I became “the last monarch of the Middle Ages and the first monarch of the new century.”

He ushered in a new era of iron and guns.

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In 2022, Metzl, the capital of Legrand.

The weather in September was sunny, and people wore thin coats and walked on King’s Avenue planted full of roses. The Royal Museum stood at the end of the avenue. It was now the largest museum in the world, and even included the Cathedral of St. Wyth inside. The Royal Museum had recently released a number of important medieval documents.

It even contained a personal letter from the greatest monarch Legrand ever had, Pureland I.

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

It was precisely because his letter would be on public display today that there were so many people on King’s Avenue.

“Hello everyone, we have now arrived at King’s Avenue, and in front of us is the entrance to the Royal Museum. As you can see, there are many people near me… Oh my god, it is exactly the same as when the crown of King Pureland I was on display last time.”

The sweet-faced female reporter struggled to move forward among the crowd.

In the live broadcast video, comments flashed across the screen instantly:

[In what year and month can I have the Iron Rose Badge: Ah! I went to that exhibition, but there were too many people! I queued from morning to night, but by the time the museum doors were closed I still didn’t get to see…]

[The medic dog wants to be burned at the stake: The one before me! I saw it hahahahahahaha]

[This dog actually wrote 6,000 words: The medic dog before me, you are now under assassination]

The female reporter glanced at the comments while moving forward, and saw a dense barrage of “The medic dog before me, you are now under assassination”, and even some bosses specifically threw high-energy barrage comment, the content being “I curse the medic dog to never be burned at the stake”, which aroused the anger of other potential medical students.

Seeing the chaotic barrage comments, the female reporter’s smile stiffened, and she began to worry about whether her live broadcast video would be reported for being too bloody.

But this thing… was really hard to describe!

Everyone around the world knew that Legrand’s highest scientific award was in the shape of a burning stake and the highest industrial excellence award was a guillotine. This was a glorious tradition in Legrand, which originated in 1432. King Pureland I erected seven stakes at the original site of the First Academy of Sciences in Legrand, and in 1433 arranged a guillotine for each person in the first batch of heavy industry professionals. During the reign of Pureland I, many heroes emerged in Legrand, and countless geniuses also left their names in history.

Without exception, these geniuses had possessed either a stake or a guillotine.

Later, the stake and the guillotine became Legrand’s highest awards. The burning stake even made it out of the country and into the world, becoming the symbol of the Abyss Alliance’s highest award.

When the imagery of the Abyss Alliance’s highest award was announced, the spokesperson of Legrand, who was the representative, solemnly explained on the podium the design concept of the medal based on the burning stake.

“…We all know that in the dark Middle Ages, the theocracy represented by the cross suppressed free thought, turning truth into fallacies and science into evil. The use of the stake the Holy Court used to burn scientists on as the highest scientific award is to commemorate those who have devoted themselves to the truth, and also to promote the spirit of truth and never give in to any authority…”

The spokesperson spoke vey righteously, but New Era netizens did not give him any face.

——What nonsense are you talking about? I’m just a fan of Emperor Pureland.

——Official rainbow fart!

——Who doesn’t know of Legrand’s number one male idol, the official licking dog works too hard to cover up

——Hahahahahahahahaha the winner in the end is indeed the burning stake! Weep away, Guillotines

——Damn you! The Guillotines protest! Under the official skin is definitely the Burning Stake Party! This is unfair competition

——Haha, it’s quite funny how the Guillotines are unwilling to admit defeat.

…

As everyone knows, there was a pair of sworn enemies in Legrand’s academic world who have been fighting for a thousand years, namely the “Burning Stake Party” and the “Guillotine Party”. Both discriminate against each other and uniformly against everyone who did not possess either.

Seeing that the live broadcast video might be shut down at any time due to bloody violence, the blonde female reporter quickly stopped a passerby for an interview: “Which exhibit do you most want to see after coming to the museum this time?”

The female reporter’s move had an extraordinary effect, and the barrage comments’ attention was quickly diverted.

Because they found that the person who was stopped seemed to have an unusual identity.

King’s Avenue was a rather special place.

During the “Rose Crisis” in 1432, King Pureland himself led the Ingres’ soldiers to launch a surprise attack on the Cathedral of St. Wyth, and had passed through here. Later historians called the incident in which Pureland I beheaded the usurper Duke Grice at St. Wyth Cathedral the “re-coronation” of Pureland I, and this road became the “Coronation Road.”

Later, in the 19th century, when the streets of Metzl were re-planned, a voting resolution was passed, and this historical “Coronation Road” was determined to be named “Pureland I Avenue”, referred to as “King’s Avenue”, to commemorate the greatest monarch in Legrand history.

Out of respect and love for this “last monarch of the Middle Ages and the first monarch of the new century”, no one was allowed to drive through King’s Avenue but could only walk here. Even if the president of the League of Nations came, it would be the same.

In the past, when reporters stopped for interviews, they often encountered some great characters.

This time also seemed to be the case, and in fact, it might even be a little more special.

The man who was stopped by the female reporter was very young, with dark blond hair neatly combed back, very clear gray eyes and handsome features. He wore an expensive and elegant handmade suit, and there were even bodyguards in black suits around him——although the bodyguards were also sweating from being squeezed in the crowd.

And his face quickly shocked the netizens watching the live broadcast video.

Dark blonde hair! Gray eyes! And facial features very similar to the portrait of Ferri III!

——Wasn’t this the young prince from the Bressi royal family, Legrand’s mortal enemy, from the other side of the Abyss Strait?!

The young prince of Bressi, Charlie, who was said to be “most similar to King Ferri III”. He was the most rebellious prince in the Bressi royal family. When he was sixteen years old, he refused to study at the first-class Karl University in Bressi and instead applied to go to Legrand’s First College——which made the Queen of Breast angry enough to almost announce that he would separate from the Bressi royal family.

Prince Charlie was clearly a little surprised to be stopped, but he quickly smiled and replied with a somewhat excited tone: “Of course it is to see the personal letter of King Pureland I. This is the first time that Great Emperor Pureland’s personal letter has been made public…”

In a moment of excitement, he blurted out “Great Emperor Pureland”, which was the respectful name given to Pureland I by fans.

The faces of the bodyguards around Prince Charlie turned dark instantly.

The barrage comments were already laughing themselves silly:

[Eternal Rose: Hahahahaha, will Ferri III really not be mad at you?]

[History makes people go bald: My descendants have actually become fans of my mortal enemy?]

[Don’t ask me to check for plagiarism: The one before me, the relationship between Ferri III and Pureland I is not that bad. Didn’t they form an alliance during the Holy Army movement?]

[When will the notice from the First Academy come to me: Above, you mean the kind of alliance in which the two countries fall out again immediately after recuperation?]

[Descendants of the Dragon Slayer: The heart of a monarch is dirty. There are no eternal allies between great powers, only eternal interests. Tsk tsk.]

…

Prince Charlie realized his gaffe and hurriedly coughed: “I mean… he was really a very outstanding king. There are many monarchs born to be kings, but there is no one as outstanding as him. He personally ignited the darkness of the Middle Ages which had lasted a thousand years. If Pureland I had not successfully resisted the 200,000 Holy Army of the Holy See, then Bressi’s restoration plan…”

Prince Charlie’s self-correction was only getting darker and darker, and the bodyguards on the side could no longer listen. 

Now, they were afraid that the hot search topic “Prince Bressi is a fan of Great Emperor Pureland” had reached the top of the list. If he continued to talk anymore, the Queen would really announce his separation from the royal family again.

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

The bodyguard stepped in and forcibly ended the interview on the grounds that “the exhibition was about to begin.”

The female reporter had no choice but to let go of this walking hot topic creator: “In that case, let’s quickly enter the exhibition hall. I hope that everyone will have better luck today and can successfully see the personal letter of the Great Emperor Pureland.”

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1435. 

Nearly two years have passed since the end of the war, and the damage caused by the war was being erased bit by bit by time. The Port of Koszoya, which had once suffered massacre, had gradually recovered with the support of the royal family in the past two years, and the number of merchant ships entering and exiting the port had begun to increase again.

Part of the port’s recovery was due to new commercial policies, and part of it was related to the Legrand State Church.

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

After the Holy Army movement ended with Legrand’s victory, a church reorganization movement led by Archbishop Anil quickly began. They revised the doctrine and completely swept the papacy out of the spiritual arena under the principles of the “Act of Sovereignty”. At this time in history, the Holy See’s faith was at its lowest point in Legrand. The war almost destroyed all the prestige of the Holy See, making this reform proceed more smoothly than ever before.

Based on the unique role of the church in stabilizing social order and alleviating conflicts, the King promoted the transformation of the Legrand State Church into a social relief institution.

Business was thus liberated from being labeled an act of “sin.”

In addition, the establishment of the Legrand State Church marked the complete abolition of “tithes” and “indulgences” that were burdens on the common people, and the social economy shifted from illusory salvation to real happiness in this world… As such, it provided better conditions for Legrand’s economic recovery.

“Hey-yo!”

The sailors shouted and dropped the anchor.

Bressi’s envoy ship stopped at the port of Koszoya, and the long waiting reception officials came over to lead the former enemy and now ally towards the embassy.

After the war, the border countries’ ambition to take advantage of the opportunity to rise was in vain.

Legrand, Bressi and the Nujin Empire signed a five-year peace agreement, forming the “Three Kingdoms Alliance”. These three nations formed a triangle spanning both sides of the Abyss Strait and became the cornerstone of a stable world order. Otherwise, the blank area of ​​world power caused by the decline of the Holy Court would have caused more turmoil in the future. Relying on the existence of the “Three Kingdoms Alliance”, these issues were controlled within an acceptable range for everyone.

On Bressi’s side, Ferri III was doing his best to rebuild the political institutions that Theolde had broken up. The Nujin Empire decided to build a city on the Gulundi Plain where nomads could settle. And as the home of the war, Legrand was fully engaged in reconstruction work at this time.

If he hadn’t known in advance, it would have been hard for the envoy of the Nujin Empire to believe that the city he arrived at had suffered a devastating massacre two years ago.

The broken walls have been repaired, the scorch marks left by the fire had been cleaned, and people were walking on the street loudly discussing which chamber of commerce and which fleet would return when. The city rebuilt after the war looked different from all the cities the envoy had seen before. The streets were well planned, the houses were neat and equipped with a complex waterway system, and they did not look dirty even on rainy days.

The city was full of life.

However, the envoy still discovered something special.

Bright red roses were planted in front of almost all houses. Traveling ladies also seem to regard this flower as a customary decoration and wear it on their hats.

In the municipal square of Koszoya, there was a statue that had been erected recently.

——The dragon’s majestic skeleton had its wings spread high, rose vines were wrapped around it, and large flowers bloomed on the dragon’s bones.

In front of this statue, there were flowers and a long wall engraved with words.

“What is that?”

The envoy asked.

The city official took him to the long wall, pointed to the names on the wall and said: “These were the victims.”

“It’s unbelievable…I’m sorry, but my meaning is that I can hardly see traces of the suffering this city has endured,” the envoy said.

“Because we all believe that being immersed in sorrow is not a show of respect for the deceased, but a failure to live up to their sacrifice. Only when we as survivors work hard to rebuild happiness will it be a true show of love towards them.” The city official said as he approached the memorial wall and pointed to a name on it, “This was my father.”

The envoy bowed his head in silence.

“Let’s go.”

The city official left the square with the envoy. After a rest, the envoy would make way to Kriya State in a carriage the next day.

At the present, the King was there.

………………

The mountains of Kriya were lush and green.

The King wore hunting clothes and walked with the Devil in the forest. The forests of Kriya were almost as old as the land itself, with towering giant trees, dim light that managed to filter through, and moss growing on stones and rotten wood. The path in the forest was paved with fine gravel, and there was a soft sound of footsteps as one walked up it.

The King looked similar to the Devil walking beside him——his skin was extremely pale, and his scarlet cloak failed to give him a trace of healthy flush, as if cold air was seeping from his bones. The King knew why, and so did the Devil.

In the final war two years ago, the King fell from the sky and almost died like that, disappearing from heaven and earth.

But the Devil had arrived.

The conditions of the contract were met.

From that moment on, the King ceased to belong to this world.

The reason why the Devil failed to get what he wished and immediately took the King back to hell had something to do with Theolde. Theolde sealed the rift between hell and the human world with his Laws. The Devil was able to come to the human world with the help of the ingenious connection between the dragon bone skull of the Blackstone Royal City and the dragon bones on Legrand, as well as with the help of the special circle of magic.

It would be at least seven years before the two resonated enough for him to take the King back to Hell.

The Devil didn’t mind waiting another two years on earth.

In front of a thousand years, two years were as short as a flash.

The King handed a parchment scroll to the Devil.

The Devil looked at the parchment but did not reach out for it.

In the Blackstone Royal City In hell, on that cold moonlit night, the Devil said to the King, please help me get my name back when that day comes. What the Devil asked with a smile, the King promised him.

“When did you get it back?”

The Devil took the parchment but did not open it.

He vaguely knew why in the last battle, the King had the power to save his life, but still fell from the sky and almost died. Once Theolde died, there would be no more gods in heaven and earth. The name that had been seized by the gods reappeared in the world in the turmoil of that moment.

The King caught it and brought it back.

“I won’t forget what I promised.”

The King said.

The Devil laughed softly, black fire ignited from his hand, and the parchment engraved with the name he had lost for many centuries turned into ashes.

He gave up that name.

The King looked at him in confusion.

“The nameless devil and the abandoned monarch, wouldn’t this be more in tune?”

The Devil smiled and stared into the King’s eyes.

Like the gods, his name pointed to the authority he symbolized. And he was the epitome of the deepest and craziest of hell. The reason why he was banished to the end of the world by the gods was precisely because of the chaos and evil he symbolized. The King didn’t know what happened at the beginning of the Age of Gods, but he knew it clearly.

Once he got his name back, he would become like that again… chaotic, violent and crazy.

This was what hell was like.

The Devil thought, but said in a frivolous manner: “You see, we are made for each other.”

The sunlight fell through the gaps in the leaves and landed on the King’s hair.

“After you, there will never be another devil in this world.”

The King said slowly.

The Devil was stunned for a moment before he realized what the King had done.

The King conferred him the identity of “Devil”, and only he would own it from then on. From then on, he was the only Devil in the world. He didn’t have a name, but at the same time he also had one.

“I don’t have the energy to deal with a second Devil who wants nothing more than to see the world in chaos.”

The King said lightly.

He had only one knight who was both Devil and contractor.

The Devil laughed, he reached out and clasped the back of the King’s head, lowered his head to kiss his contractor, his monarch, his soul and his eternal other half. This was not what a knight should do, but a Devil born in hell, even if he acted as a knight, was not at all like any proper knight.

His King always had a way of making him helpless.

In this way, he would not be able to take him away from Legrand now.

How cunning, Your Majesty.

The Devil thought.

“You know, you will be abandoned by the world one day.”

The Devil said, gently biting the King’s earlobe.

“Aren’t you my last knight?”

The King asked rhetorically.

“Yes, I am.”

The Devil let go of him, took a step back, and knelt down on one knee.

Just like before.

The King stared down at him.

What everyone knew was——the wheel of time rotated, rose and fell, and the winner was destined to become the past. Heroes would eventually become stories of old, and the King who was surrounded by thousands of people today would become a new tombstone.

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

The only thing that would not change was the oath made long ago: 

——I am your first knight, and I will be your last knight.

A long time ago, the monarch who had nothing and the devil who was exiled from the world met on the desert beach. They signed a contract.

That contract was eternal, even if the world ended.

The King finally smiled.

He leaned forward to kiss his knight.

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The rise of human rights heralded the decline of divine power.

Theolde held the two-edged holy sword, and his whole person was surrounded by the violent waves of the mercury sea, but his face looked very pale. As a god, his ascension was too short, and the power gained through stealing was inevitably difficult to digest. And as the King said before, he clearly felt that the divine power he had obtained was not so stable.

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

In the ringing of the bronze bell, cracks spread on the remaining five towers of the Kingdom of God, very subtle but densely packed.

Once the towers of the Kingdom of God completely collapsed, the mercury sea that was the embodiment of the Kingdom of God would collapse and disintegrate.

“How long did you prepare?”

Theolde asked, surprised but not nervous. He didn’t know how the King could weaken the authority of divine power at this point in time, but compared with the weakened divine authority, the newly revived royal authority was even weaker. Unless another hundred years pass, the authority of royal power would not be enough to compete with the divine power that had ruled the world for a thousand years.

“A thousand years.”

The King said softly.

His armor was full of cracks, and his scepter was soaked with blood. His kingdom was shattered and destroyed piece by piece by the attacks of falling stars one after another. Pieces of his former citizens turned into dust in the light, and with the destruction of the kingdom, he was quickly becoming fragile.

His condition looked terrible, his silver hair and face were covered with blood.

He had just destroyed the twelve towers of the Kingdom of God that were struck by the seven stars, and the price he paid was having his heart almost by being penetrated by Theolde’s holy sword. Blood was gushing from his left chest and he looked like he was going to die at any moment, uet there was an indifferent smile on his face.

Just as if…

He still had the last trump card in his hand that had been hidden for a long time.

One-third of the sun and one-third of the moon dragged their long dazzling tails and crashed towards the King’s kingdom. The cracked kingdom border was completely shattered in the dazzling light. Theolde squeezed his sword and wanted to completely end his life.

The rumble resounded throughout heaven and earth.

The King spread his arms and let himself fall downwards.

Theolde suddenly stopped in mid-air, not because he didn’t want to pursue the victory, but because the strong wind around them that seemed to be enough to tear apart space stopped him in his path. Huge shadows flew up from the ground, and the strong winds cast a thick black shadow on the dazzling mercury sea.

An ancient, savage, and legendary creature appeared in the sky again.

“Legrand was the burial place of the dragon.”

The King who was supposed to fall down the sky was held up by the strong wind, and his voice seemed to travel through a whole thousand years.

……………………

The heart of Legrand, the capital of the empire, the Rose Palace.

All the pillars of the room, all the vaults, and all the arc beams have changed, turning from cold rock pillars into huge white bones. The heavy, giant drum-like beating of the heart echoed in the ears of everyone in the palace, and the dragon’s breathing turned into a strong rush of air.

Scarlet roses bloomed around the bones.

In that distant legendary era, a family that was as arrogant and fearless as madmen, after slaying the evil dragon, built a palace for mortals in its heart. Now, this palace had awakened, and with it, an even more terrifying trump card that had been hidden by the family of madmen for a thousand years had been awakened.

On the map, Legrand’s shape was like an evil dragon with its wings folded.

This was not a coincidence, but a nation that had been painstakingly created.

The Devil once thought that it was difficult for human beings to reach the ultimate level of alchemy and to unleash the full power of the dragon bones, otherwise, every castle would become a terrifying military machine. However, he was wrong. It was not that human alchemy was difficult to reach the extreme, but it had already reached the extreme.

The alchemist and the dragon slayer joined forces to create the most terrifying alchemical work in the world.

After the dragon slayer killed the dragon, he buried its heart in the heart of the empire and built his capital. The alchemist carried other parts of the dragon’s bones, corresponding them one by one on the map, and buried them in various places across the empire. The skull, which contained the dragon’s cruel and violent nature, was taken to hell and stripped of its connection with the other bones.

They used an entire kingdom as a weapon to temper.

The dragon bones and Legrand merged into one. In a thousand years, human history was built on the dragon bones, and new consciousness was injected into the dragon bones in the alternating days and nights. In the end, a new evil dragon soul was created that surrendered to Legrand.

The soul of the evil dragon slept under the earth until the Rose Palace was activated and the recovery of the evil dragon’s heart awakened it.

In all the cities where the dragon bones were buried, people only felt the ground shaking, like something had broken out of the ground, carrying a strong wind, passing over their heads, and soaring into the sky.

………………

“It’s the kingdom of the evil dragon!”

The King’s voice echoed throughout the world along with the dragon’s roar.

The evil dragon’s soul caught the King when he was about to fall from the sky. The King stood on the back of the dragon that was solidified, his blood-stained silver hair dancing in the wind, and his cold blue eyes filled with pride. The scepter was held in his hand, and the dragon carried him, flapping its wings.

A thousand years ago, humans were the food of the evil dragon and had no place to hide under the dragon’s hunting.

A thousand years later, the evil dragon’s heart revived, the black dragon emerged from the earth, and humans controlled the evil dragon to conquer the world.

This was the god-slaying sword that the Rose family had honed for a thousand years!

The moment it was pulled out, that was the moment the war ended!

The evil dragon brought the strong wind and broke through Theolde’s mercury sea. The falling sun and moon passed through its wings, leaving burning traces but could not stop its terrifyingly fast movements. The King drove the evil dragon and slammed into the five remaining towers of the Kingdom of God that were covered with fine cracks. The towers of the Kingdom of God shattered, collapsed, and was engulfed in blazing flames.

Dragon flames ignited the sky, as if the war on the ground had burned all the way here.

In the flames, the towers of the Kingdom of God were shattered one after another, and the dim stars passed through the dragon’s flames, falling like stones into the sea. At the moment when the last tower of the Kingdom of God was shattered, the King jumped up from the back of the dragon and met Theolde who also arrived with his sword raised.

The scepter collided with the holy sword, and blood splattered high.

The world stood still at this moment.

The King’s bone scepter penetrated Theolde’s heart, and Theolde’s holy sword penetrated the King’s ribs. In the last blow, they all gave up their defense, but in the end it was the King who gained the upper hand. After losing the Kingdom of God, the Pope’s swordsmanship was far inferior to that of the King who had been trained by the most elite knights since childhood.

“How did you do it?”

Theolde asked.

“Because you regard yourself as a god, and I regard myself as a human being.”

The King said as he turned his scepter and crushed the heart of the last god on earth.

The sun, moon and stars disappeared from mid-air, and the mercury sea quickly receded, leaving only the still-burning sea of dragon flames. The evil dragon flapped its wings and was tamed like a war horse, catching the King whose armor was shattered and covered in blood.

Under the sky, the war between the Holy Army and Legrand’s army also came to an end. General Johan beheaded Sisian’s head with one swing of his sword, and the Kriyan archers and the Iron Rose Cavalry trampled over the bones of the Knights Templar. The fire illuminated the broken city wall, and the people of Yoringshire City raised the royal flag high.

A faint blue mist enveloped the earth, signaling the sky was about to become bright.

The tired King sat on the dragon’s back. He did not let the dragon land on the ground but drove it to fly away.

The high-altitude wind flowed past the King’s cheek, and he looked down from the dragon’s back at the country sunk in the misty light. The roaring Doma River, the long and winding coastline, the winding mountains as rugged as ancient snakes, the fortresses hidden in the mountains, the star-like towns scattered across the earth… This was his country.

And he had nothing but his kingdom.

When the first ray of sunlight broke through the clouds, the black dragon’s figure gradually faded, and finally completely disappeared into nothingness. The King fell from the sky to the ground and closed his eyes.

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

“Now, you belong to me.”

Someone whispered in the wind.

A dark red circle of magic appeared in the void, and the Devil walked out of the magic circle, wearing a black suit with a red rose pinned to his lapel.

He opened his arms to catch the fallen King.

The long night had come to an end, and the sun rose from the horizon.

The war was over.

The End.

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