Low Dimensional Game

By the time he left the headquarters of the City Defense Force, Edward had already reached a cooperation agreement with Hans. They both believed that the goal behind the conspiracy should be the Coronation Ceremony that was taking place in seven days. Through Edward"s encouragement and his own suspicions, Hans had developed a deep belief that Adonis was involved with the incidents.

According to Hans, the entire palace had been tightly sealed by the King"s Guards. Furthermore, when the king"s will and successor had been announced the previous day, neither Hans nor any of the other n.o.bles and royals had been permitted into the palace.

Moreover, Hans felt that the changes in the kingdom were too unnatural. First, there was the sudden death of the king. All the other heirs then gave up their succession rights.

As such, the third prince, Adonis, who had originally been sixth in line of succession, suddenly became the new king. This also caused an uproar among all the n.o.bles.

Then, the entire King Guards swore allegiance to Adonis, so Adonis instantly grasped the most powerful military force within Babus. Hans, who had a background in the King"s Guards, knew this very well. He knew something had gone terribly wrong when he, as a veteran of the King"s Guards, who had close ties with the troops, completely lost contact with them. He knew that this was a clear indicator that their allegiances had dramatically s.h.i.+fted.

This series of abnormal events were linked together to form a bone chilling conspiracy. The entire city of Babus was caught in a shocking crisis. If they did not act and allowed the coronation to go forward as planned, the entire ruling cla.s.s of the Kingdom of Mara would be taken in one fell swoop and the country would be completely finished!

This made Hans" hair stand on end.

Who could do something so devilish?

The purpose of the culprit was obviously not to rule, nor was it a desire for power or revenge. Instead, it was a pure intent to slaughter and kill, to drag the entire kingdom into h.e.l.l!

"Why does he want to do this?" Hans" face was red and his breathing was choppy.

"No clear reason. Perhaps it is based on some strange ideal, or maybe this is just an experiment to explore the meaning of life. There are many possible reasons. Only the mastermind knows the real reason behind his actions. What we need to know is what he has done, and also what we need to do to stop him," Edward replied.

Edward and Hans came up with a strategy at once. Edward would seek out the mastermind behind the conspiracy and verify how his plan. Edward could then mobilize the power of the City Defense Force.

Meanwhile, Hans would spend the next few days checking out the City Defense Force to find out whether there were high cla.s.s ghouls already mixed within their ranks. Hans was sure that some moles were already planted inside his forces and wanted to deal with them as soon as possible.

He would use his men to investigate and block the sewers, according to the original construction plans of the city. The monsters underground must be completely sealed within the underground pa.s.sages. They could not be allowed out.

In addition, Hans had to contact some trustworthy aristocrats to confront this disaster. If, as Edward said, the other party had taken over all 1,000 knights from the King Guards and transformed them into a strengthened undead army, it would be naive to believe that they would be able to face them with only two or three thousand men from the City Guards, most of whom had never experienced wars and usually slacked off in training!

More importantly, they had to notify Cardinal Peter from the Church of Light. Out of all of the local lords, who had long been attached to the Monar family, Hans trusted Cardinal Peter the most. In order to face the power of the devil, depending on the power of the priests of the Church seemed the most reliable course of action. Although Edward did not like the Church, right now, he was willing to accept any support that he could get.

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The city of Babus was stained with a blood red sunset. The wide Nami River was so beautiful that it was intoxicating. The returning s.h.i.+ps carried goods to the melodious chimes of the night bells. A young sailor above the bow waved at his wife, who was holding their child on the pier. He jumped down and they leapt into her arms.

Also on the pier, an old fisherman and his young son lugged a box of fresh fish home in the shadow of the setting sun. s.h.i.+ps came and went from under the bridge, creating an extremely lively scene.

Edward observed the lives of these people until the darkness finally arrived. As he walked home, his expression became more and more somber.

Seven days later, the Coronation Ceremony would take place. Although the people in Babus were still living peaceful lives, Edward had an unusual sense of foreboding. As the feeling of an imminent war persisted, Edward felt weighed down by its pressure.

As he got closer to his home, Edward found a crowd standing in front of the small building. They pointed inside constantly, as if debating something. Members of the City Guard also stood in the yard. The small courtyard seemed lively, but the atmosphere was very strange.

The entrance had been destroyed. When he saw this scene, Edward suddenly realized what had happened, so he hurriedly ran inside.

"What are you doing? No one is allowed to enter! Stop..." one of the the City Guards shouted.

They wanted to block Edward, but then recognized him at once. They knew that this person was an acquaintance of their boss, Tucker, so they parted ways and allowed Edward to rush into the small building.

Edward burst in and suddenly stopped. His footsteps slowed, as if his body had gone completely numb. He seemed to be afraid to go forward and face his fear.

Edward stalled for a long time in the short corridor, before he finally entered the living room. He turned his head slightly and immediately saw a girl lying on the ground, a familiar shy smile on her face.

She looked like a delicate flower, lying there in a pool of blood. Bright red streaks stained her gray skirt.

Her death had been painless. The curse witchcraft had killed her instantly. When she had died, she was still looking forward to Edward"s return, immersed in her shy little crush.

The smile on her face had not changed. A silver dinner plate had clearly been knocked over to the side, with the dinner that she had been preparing for him still on it, long having grown ice cold.

This was the first time Edward had left the tower as a young wizard. He grew up in the tower, so this was the first he had ever seen someone that he cared deeply about die in front of him.

Looking at Hathaway"s brilliant smile, he felt like he was seeing a delicate flower suddenly wither before its time. Edward suddenly felt a pang of nausea. He was completely overwhelmed.

Edward wanted to approach her, yet he was unsteady and instead fell to the ground, losing his footing. He then struggled to stand up again, like a man who had lost his soul. He stumbled to Hathaway"s body and knelt before it.

For more than half a month, Hathaway had been taking care of him. This girl was of low birth, but she was hardworking and kind. After her father"s disappearance, she had supported her two younger brothers. Edward was very fond of her.

Like Hathaway, Edward was also an inexperienced teenager. After all, he was presently chasing Adonis for a friends.h.i.+p and brotherhood that he couldn"t bear to forfeit.

Edward held Hathaway"s face and finally broke down, crying like a child. At this time, Tucker, who had arrived before Edward, patted his shoulder and could only sigh. "My condolences!"

Edward looked down, noticing a line that seemed to have been burnt on the table, then commanded, "Leave now!"

That act was Adonis" final warning to Edward. He had even killed Hathaway to show his utter determination to force Edward leave immediately. He would not even be moved by their old times together.

Edward clung to Hathaway"s body. He didn"t care about the blood. He gently shut Hathaway"s eyes, as he tilted her limp body into his arms.

Edward"s head bowed deeply. His whole body was stiff with tension and the muscles in his jaw trembled. He managed to spit out a single word, "ADONIS!"