Xia slowly stood up and looked down at the densely packed crowd around him.
The solemn imperial power was revealed in those red-gold pupils.
Obviously, at this moment, Xia Yana's figure in the windbreaker was very thin, but in the eyes of the cultists, he seemed to be sitting on a high throne, with thousands of troops following behind him.
Circles of light golden ripples spread out from under his feet.
Invisible and intangible, a pure red-gold color emerged at the border, silently spreading in all directions with Char standing as the center.
Be it elemental fluctuations, energy, or slashing...
All the attack skills dissipated silently the moment they touched the red-gold area, without causing any ripples.
The eyes of the leader of the Dusk Cult reflected an incredible light.
He suddenly looked up, his mouth twitched slightly, and was about to say something to Xia.
...
...
But the next moment.
boom--
The cult leader's body suddenly collapsed and he fell to the ground.
The leader's dry hands were pressing hard on the ground, and all the joints in his body were trembling, making crackling sounds.
It wasn't the owner of the golden eye who was so majestic that his aura alone made him prostrate himself in worship.
As a leader, his belief in dusk is much stronger than that of ordinary cultists and is not easily shaken.
But he had to crawl.
The hard ground beneath him made a cracking sound and continued to break apart.
It was as if some enormous force was exerted on the leader's body, forcing him to bow down in worship.
If he didn't crawl down, the cult leader's spine would be broken.
And his condition is already the best among everyone around him.
Many of the followers who were less powerful had been crushed to the ground and lost consciousness.
Blood mist exploded from their bodies. Under the unimaginable gravity that was dozens of times greater than normal, the bones supporting the human torso were broken, and the capillaries throughout the body were also shattered and deformed.
No matter whether it is the beastmaster or the summoned pet, there are no exceptions in the scarlet-gold royal domain.
Field skills?
However, in order to maintain such a large area and suppress so many high-level life forms at the same time, his mental energy consumption must be considerable.
It is even possible that opening this area has consumed all of his energy, making it difficult for him to launch a strong attack.
We are numerous and powerful, so even if he takes this opportunity to kill some of us, as long as we delay until this area collapses, we will have the opportunity to counterattack.
For the Lord's resurrection, any sacrifice is worth it.
Such a thought just flashed through the cult leader's mind.
The next moment.
In the ears of the cult leader, there rang a voice that sounded as powerful as metal, yet seemed to come from the ancient times.
The meaning of that word is——
"die".
A thousandth of a second later.
The order was given to all life forms covered by the royal domain, except Char himself and Sylvia in his arms.
thump--
thump--
The sound of heavy objects falling to the ground rang out one after another.
The entire block returned to a deathly silence, with only the crackling sound of flames burning the house remaining.
Char's red-gold eyes slowly faded and returned to their original indifferent darkness.
He didn't say much and walked forward in silence.
Char's figure passed through one lifeless body after another, and then stopped in front of the cult leader.
He squatted down and searched the other person's body for a while.
Then, he took out a dim yellow crystal.
"Is it this thing that caused those ownerless pets in the wild to lose their wisdom and rationality, and degenerate into bloodthirsty and violent beasts of disaster?"
Char looked at the hexagonal crystal.
Under the reflection of the firelight from the surrounding town, the crystal reflected a dim luster, looking strange and mysterious.
You can tell it's worth the money just by looking at it.
"If we sell it to the Church of Dawn or the Shadow Council, I estimate the minimum price will be 30,000 to 40,000 Rhine Gold Coins."
Xia chuckled and exerted slight force on his fingers.
Click.
The dim yellow crystal made a crisp sound and cracks appeared on it.
Then, it completely shattered.
And along with the shattering of this dim crystal.
In the ruins of the town in the distance, the steps of those huge disaster beasts suddenly stopped.
The dusk halo that originally shrouded their eyes disappeared, and they returned to their original clarity, but with a hint of helplessness.
However, at this moment, after Shaaya destroyed the source of the disaster beasts' rampage, he no longer paid attention to anything in the city.
At this moment, he has more important things to do.
Char's pace didn't seem fast, but the scenery around him was changing rapidly.
Soon, the surrounding low-rise buildings disappeared.
Instead, there is a huge, silent, dark and deep mansion.
The Grand Duke's Mansion occupies the most central location in the capital of Cang Ting. It exists independently, surrounded by a small river, and is not connected to the external residential area.
So at this moment, the raging fire in the outer city area has not yet invaded the interior of the Grand Duke's mansion.
And those huge dusk beasts seemed to have sensed some kind of crisis, or received some kind of instructions, and consciously avoided this place.
Because of this, this quiet mansion and the burning city ruins outside present two completely opposite scenes.
There is only a gap of a river, but it seems to be separated into two worlds.
…
Char's footsteps echoed in the empty and silent Grand Duke's mansion.
On weekdays, even at night, the mansion is brightly lit.
As a family of a grand duke, they would certainly not be short of money for the energy storage crystals used for the magic lamp.
But at this moment, the interior of the Grand Duke's residence was dark and silent.
It was as if there was some kind of dark and deep abyss lurking within it.
Char paused in a room deep inside.
Through the heavy door, Xia smelled a faint smell of blood.
Xia stretched out his hand and knocked lightly three times on the heavy iron door. After a slight pause, he knocked twice again.
"Come in."
Norton's voice came from inside the door.
Xia pushed the door open and walked in.
Without the cover of the metal door, the originally faint smell of blood suddenly became strong and pungent.
Norton's old figure appeared in the shadows, but he was no longer as hunched over as he usually appeared to his family members.
The thing called ambition was nourishing his whole body, making Norton's body, which had been eroded by time, become straight and gradually return to his youthful appearance.
He was playing with a blood-stained dagger in his hand.
In the shadows behind Norton, a dark figure was staring at Char who pushed the door open with murderous eyes.
It was not until Norton waved his hand that the murderous look in his eyes disappeared, and the aura that was locked on Char also dissipated.
This old Biden is not simple!
Is this to get rid of all the elders within the family who opposed his ambitions, as well as those powerful members of the Twilight Cult who sneaked into the Grand Duke's mansion in an attempt to unlock the underground seal?
Xia secretly complained a few words in his heart.
Among the elders of the Brunstadt family, quite a few are fourth-ring beastmasters.
The powerful cultist who was sent to infiltrate the mansion should be of the same level.
Unexpectedly, they all collapsed so quietly, without even making any noise.
But it is also true that if Norton did not have such hidden strength as a backing, how could he dare to conceive of such a shocking ambition.
If Norton's plan to usurp the power of God was really successful -
It's not just the human camp on the side of order, even the Lost Kingdom and the Abyss will not tolerate him.
How could a cult that regards evil gods as supreme beings allow a mortal to peek into their supreme authority and throne?
Norton glanced at Char, who had no expression on his face and was unharmed.
Then, he lowered his eyes to look at the girl sleeping peacefully in Char's arms, and nodded with satisfaction.
"You did better than I thought."
"After I ascend to the highest throne."
"Perhaps you can not only become the emperor of the secular kingdom of God, but you can even go one step further--"
"Become the Vice-Prince of Heaven, the Right Hand of God."
Good guy——
Are we opening champagne at halftime?
But it was true. He had dealt with all the strong men from the Brunstadt family and the cultists, and the rest were Norton's own people.
Norton's mentality right now is probably: "How can I lose when I already have a dragon on my face?"
Xia complained in his mind once again, but his outward appearance still did not reveal the slightest flaw.
His face trembled slightly along with the cake of "Vice-King of Heaven" and "Right Hand of God", and he spoke in a voice that was full of suppressed desire:
"Lord Norton, I never expected so much."
"As long as I can follow Lord Norton, I will be satisfied."
"Don't do that in front of me."
Norton's words became a little gentler and he patted Char's shoulder.
"So-called human beings are beasts driven by desire."
"It's just that on weekdays, due to various external restrictions, we use meaningless rules such as morality, interests, and shame to bind ourselves."
"However, it is precisely the existence of desire and ambition that drives civilization forward and develops."
“There’s nothing wrong with pursuing power, embracing authority, desiring beauty, and harboring the ambition to reach higher places.”
Norton stared with his indifferent eyes at the dagger in his hand, which was stained with the blood of countless people.
"Among the elders of the family, there are also some who are very powerful, and some whose talents and strategies are not inferior to mine."
"But now they are all dead, and I am still alive."
"This is the price those foolish people pay for trusting in the illusory and unreliable human nature."
He looked at Char and spoke word by word.
"Remember, my child."
"If you lose your humanity, you lose a lot." "If you lose your animality, you lose everything!"
"In order to become the Lord of the Kingdom of God and my right-hand man in the future, this is the principle you must learn."
Are you also Wade?
Do you really think you know everything? A medieval old man is actually teaching me about the world.
Xia Ya kept a calm expression and bowed slightly: "Sir, I am grateful for your advice."
"very good."
Norton nodded with satisfaction.
He had just completed such a shocking and grand plan, so naturally he needed to find someone to publicize his satisfaction and satisfy his desire to express himself.
But Norton's smile quickly disappeared again.
He pushed open the metal door in front of him and walked towards the secret passage deeper into the mansion.
And Char followed silently.
Norton walked leisurely in the secret passage, one in front and one behind, and from time to time they passed by a gate with a mysterious warning array.
However, every time Norton would take out something that looked like a token from his arms and remove the scarlet warning array.
They went down all the way, passing through one sealed door after another made of heavy bronze and fine iron, and Norton changed the tokens and tokens in his hand seven or eight times in succession.
Norton stopped only when, according to Char's spiritual perception, they were already more than thirty meters below the ground.
What comes into view is a dark and gloomy square.
An extremely magnificent and huge magic formation that is dozens of meters long and wide, outlined by light golden divine patterns, occupies the entire surface of the square.
As soon as he entered, Xia Ya sensed a kind of indescribable majesty, which was flickering under the mysterious sealing formation of the square.
Here lies the biggest secret of the Brunstadt family.
Deep underground in the mansion, there is a statue sealed—
The living half of an ancient god.
"This is where the dusk is sealed."
Norton straightened his back, and a burning light flashed in his old eyes.
“He is such a great being, representing the supreme divine realm above legends, which has never been touched by anyone since the beginning of recorded history.”
"However, faced with such an opportunity, both the legendary warriors who came to help and the family heads chose to seal it as if they were escaping..."
"And all of this is simply because they are worried that the loss of control caused by studying the gods may affect innocent civilians around them."
"How cowardly, how ridiculous!"
"If the lives of millions of lowly people can be exchanged for the coronation of a king, then it is worth it."
"In this world where the strong prey on the weak, the only way to climb to the top is to extract nutrients from the lower classes by any means necessary!"
“History is written by the victors. When you become the only winner in the world, everyone will regard you as a saint, no matter how many people’s bones you have stepped on along the way!”
Norton took a deep breath, and his old face returned to tranquility: "Let's start."
"yes."
Xia nodded and walked slowly to a corner of the formation.
Then, he gently placed the girl in his arms on the center of the formation outlined by light golden divine patterns.
Xia lightly retreated from the range of the sealing formation.
Norton did not hesitate and stepped into another center of the sealing formation.
The next moment he stopped.
One after another, dim divine lights emerged from under his feet.
This is a seal set by a legendary beastmaster and several title-level beastmasters.
Theoretically speaking, unless a powerful legendary figure comes, there is no possibility of being broken by external forces.
However, as the saying goes, it is easy to stop external enemies but difficult to guard against internal enemies.
Having spent more than ten years secretly planning and laying out the layout, as the acting head of the family, Norton has already mastered every barrier and every detail of this sealing formation.
So at this moment, after finding Sylvia's only key, Dusk broke the seal.
It was not as the cultists imagined, that they would use an absolutely powerful external force to break through the seal and let the glory of dusk return to the world.
Under the steps carefully designed by Norton, the dusty divine power only seeped out at an extremely slow rate -
Then, after being purified, it flowed into Norton's body little by little.
A dim halo gradually rose around Norton, but his eyes remained clear.
Under Norton's control, these twilight powers did not brutally brainwash the cultists and pets and turn them into lunatics who only knew how to praise the twilight, but instead gently transformed his body.
The energy around him was also rising steadily in the constant ups and downs.
A look of ecstasy appeared on Norton's old face.
The plan that he had been planning for more than ten years had not gone wrong.
He truly embarked on a path to godhood.
Although what was sealed underground was not a complete god, but only half of the Ancient God of Dusk.
Moreover, because it had been sealed for such a long time, the magnificent divine power had dissipated a lot over time and was less than one-tenth of what it was when God first descended.
Even if he absorbed all the divine power sealed underground in the capital of Cang Ting, Norton could only reach the legendary level.
However, it is different from ordinary legends.
This is indeed the real, incomplete authority of God.
In time, as long as I gather the power of faith over a long period of time, I can fill the gap in the incomplete authority.
Then he could surpass the legend and truly reach the realm of the gods.
…
The familiar fluctuation of power slowly awakened Sylvia from her deep sleep.
She opened her eyes from the cold ground and looked around.
The madly surging dusk power that she was so familiar with was all around her - and Norton, who had an ecstatic look on his face, his eyes tightly closed, accepting the transformation of the dusk power.
Sylvia understood everything instantly.
Elder Norton...
Is he the one who caused this betrayal?
To be honest, Sylvia had a pretty good impression of Elder Norton in the past.
Because Norton was one of the very few family elders who would not show hatred towards her, and would even ask her about her recent situation out of concern.
But now it seems——
It's all fake.
That's just a chess player pretending to be prudent with his own chess pieces.
The life of "Sylvia" seems like a drama that has already been arranged by someone.
All her joy, sorrow, the light in her despair, her longings and hopes... were actually all lies carefully designed by others.
The girl longing for light ran clumsily in the darkness, waving her arms in an attempt to catch that tiny ray of light.
The people who planned this drama just stood behind the scenes, watching and criticizing the actors' clumsy performances on the stage.
Sylvia lay quietly on the cold ground, feeling the power of the bronze cross in her body, and her own vitality slipping away bit by bit.
Until Norton usurps all the power of Twilight.
In other words, it is the time of one's own death.
Yes, in their eyes, I am just a key.
The only possibility for a key that has lost its usefulness is that it has been broken in the keyhole.
Sylvia tilted her head slightly and looked at the black-haired boy standing silently beside her with empty eyes.
Brother Xia.
Sylvia spoke silently in her heart.
Although she had suffered such betrayal, when facing Char at this moment, what flashed through Sylvia's mind was still that familiar name.
There is no reason, maybe it's just because I'm used to it.
For some reason, at the last moment of his life.
Facing Char, Silvia did not have much resentment or hatred in her heart.
Compared to those tribesmen who regarded him as a tiger or a wolf from the very beginning and even found it dirty to chat with him for a few words.
Brother Xia, at least he was willing to come to her side and accompany her when she was acting.
It also allowed Sylvia to appreciate the scenery of the bright world before her death.
Although it was only a moment of light, she was already satisfied enough.
Sylvia's vitality is slipping away at an ever-increasing rate.
On the other side, the dim divine power turned into flames, lingering around Norton's body and burning fiercely.
At this moment, Norton devoted himself to the promotion process.
Norton had a hunch.
He only needs to take this final step to complete his transformation.
From human to demigod.
This is an unprecedented feat. Perhaps someone in the Western Continent has accomplished something similar in the past, but there has never been a clear and definite record of it.
Even if a legendary beastmaster was present, he would probably keep his eyes fixed on Norton at this moment, for fear of missing the moment when Norton crossed the boundary between man and god.
But Sylvia ignored what Norton was doing.
She just looked silently at the familiar yet unfamiliar person beside her.
In the last moments of her life, Silvia wanted to imprint Char's image in the deepest part of her soul.
but.
The next moment.
Sylvia's eyes suddenly widened.
She saw the young man with black hair and black eyes, who had been standing in the distance with his face lowered, and had never even looked at her before.
At this moment, he suddenly raised his head.
In Xia Yana's empty hand.
A silver-white gun appeared out of thin air.
The streamlined barrel of the gun was pointed straight at Norton, who was looking fanatical in the distance.
After a gap of one ten-thousandth of a breath.
Slender fingers pulled the trigger.
Snap——
Fiery flames burst out from the muzzle of the gun.
It illuminated Sylvia's empty and lifeless eyes.
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