As he watched Xiao Yi being taken out of the dungeon by that group of swordsmen, and when only he was left in this empty place, Klauvis's eyes suddenly moistened.

  This is weakness. The absolute symbol of weakness. If it were in the past, Klaus would have been furious with his own reaction. In his mind, he had always been the strongest, most perfect and most successful incarnation, as majestic as the god standing at the top of the world, looking down on all living beings like grass. Any indulgence, tenderness, smile, or tears were signs of weakness and characteristics of waste in his eyes. He not only rejected them but also extremely hated them, just like a poet who could not stand rotting corpses, feces, and maggots wriggling on top.

  But now he feels nothing, even a bit relieved. Apart from the crazy outburst on the edge of madness in prison, this is at least the first time he has cried under normal circumstances in his own memory.

  A month ago, he was the captain of the Knights Templar, a disciple of the Empire's First Swordsman, the first knight of the Imperial Capital, and the deputy of the powerful Duke Mlarak, who could even be said to be his successor. But suddenly, he became nothing. He is not even comparable to the lowest commoners, but just a prisoner, not even considered a person, but only a tool used to coerce others.

  From the pinnacle of glory and power, he fell to hell, and was even kicked down by his own idolized Duke as trash. He completely collapsed, almost going mad. But here, all he faced were cold walls and steel bars, and a pure little Yi who treated him like a lunatic, with no one coming to reason with him. After countless futile outbursts and painful madness, he finally accepted reality and sobered up.

  And the woman who was nominally his wife, although also being held captive here as a hostage, was calm and composed. She was preparing carefully, as if she were attending a rare celebration. He only then realized why he had always disliked her: in front of her genuine strength, he was just a coward wrapped in self-importance. And he actually admired her and liked her, but was afraid to show himself unworthy in front of her, afraid to discover that he was worthless. That's why he disliked her so much and avoided her.

  Watching her walk calmly and seemingly expectantly towards the execution ground, Klauvius felt a sour taste in his heart. He didn't believe there were fools who would still come even though they knew it was a dead end, but he also knew that the Duke never did anything without being sure of it.

  After she had been gone for a good while, commotion finally came from above the dungeon. From the shouts and running of the soldiers, Clavius could tell that the idiot who had come to die had finally arrived. Had he come to die for his emotions? What an irredeemable fool.

  The commotion didn't last long. Before long, the excited voices of the Imperial Guardsmen came from the air vent, talking about how evil and poisonous the fugitive's death magic was, how wise and powerful the Duke was, and how he flew up and cut down the two who were about to escape with one sword. The fugitive has now been taken to the Duke's mansion for interrogation by the Duke himself.

  Klauvius knew what the Duke's interrogation meant, it was just to squeeze out all the remaining usable value from this dying man. What kind of love is worth stealing into the law court for? Even if a thousand people went, would it be great? Would it be earth-shattering? In the end, wouldn't they still get caught by His Excellency the Duke, drained of their last bit of usefulness, and then discarded like trash?

  Rubbish. Klaus smiled wryly. He felt a little envious in his heart now. Fools would go and die voluntarily, and before they died, they could still show off their foolishness heroically in front of millions of people. But he was now only waiting to die in this dungeon.

  A harsh metallic scraping sound suddenly echoed through the dungeon. The door of the dungeon opened, then another equally unpleasant closing sound followed.

  Klaus was a bit surprised, the Duke should be busy now and shouldn't have time to deal with himself. And he is now a special prisoner who cannot be approached by anyone except for the Duke's personal order. The footsteps that came in were only three people. Unconsciously, the voices of the soldiers outside also completely quieted down. There were only these three footsteps echoing in the dungeon.

  The footsteps of three people sounded in front of Klauvitz's cell, and by the faint light of the fire, it could be seen that they were two priests in white robes and a captain of the guard. They closed the door when they came in, clearly not intending to take anyone out.

  "Are you here to see me off?" Klaus asked lightly, sitting on the ground. Secretly executing prisoners wasn't anything new, especially for someone like him who knew too much. As for death, he now felt somewhat indifferent about it. He didn't know if he had become numb or completely accepted reality.

  "Yes." The pastor chuckled lightly. His casual tone was somewhat out of place in the somber, dimly lit cell and the task he had come to perform.

  Klauss smiled wryly. Apparently, the duke had become too lazy to even lift a hand himself. He opened his mouth and asked: "May I ask one last question?"

  "You can ask as many questions as you want." The pastor flashed a mirthless smile.

  "How is my father?"

  "You'd better ask him yourself." The pastor still had that strange expression, and in the firelight he looked like a deliberately made-up ghost face. He took out a scroll and threw it to Klaus.

  Klauvis was taken aback, if it were a magic that would blow him to smithereens or a bottle of poison, he would have been mentally prepared, but it was a scroll. He picked up the scroll and recognized from the faint magical fluctuations on its surface that it was a teleportation scroll. The style of the scroll was also very exquisite, with two small skulls carved at both ends, emitting a faint glow and unique magical fluctuations. Klauvis furrowed his brow and asked: "Is this a teleportation scroll?"

  "Of course."

  Was it to send him somewhere and then secretly kill him? Or was this just a low-quality scroll that would send people to some unknown place to die... But such a thing, more boring than farting with his pants down, would never be done by the Duke. Klavius thought hard but still didn't understand, he asked: "This is... a scroll that sends you where?"

  "Of course it's Dejavu Valley." The pastor replied calmly.

  "Dejavu..." Klause murmured, repeating it to himself, and then he reflexively jumped up, his voice slightly trembling. "Are you people from the Necromancer's Guild?" Although at this point, 'death' was no longer something he feared. But the three words 'Dejavu' gave him a shock that went far beyond just 'death'.

  "Hurry up. Your father should be waiting for you there. It was he who asked us to come and rescue you." Another pastor replied.

  "Did my father send you to rescue me? Is he waiting for me in Deya Valley?" Klavius repeated the two phrases laboriously, like a child just learning to speak, trying to grasp the meaning behind them. What kind of trickery was this? But why deceive a man who is about to die? Could it be true? But Father... and the Death Spirit Association?

  "Alright, exchange your clothes with this person." The pastor-like necromancer walked to the front of the cage, muttering a few words under his breath, and tapped on the precision steel lock. After a strange buzzing sound, he reached out again and turned the lock, which opened.

  It was specially made to prevent the most dangerous prisoners, and even a devouring demon couldn't open it by force. There was a faint smell of metal melting in the air, the lock's exterior was undamaged, but inside it must have been completely destroyed. Being able to control magic within such a small range to produce such a large effect, compared to the top magicians in the Magic Academy and the magical level behind this trick-like effect, it was simply rustic.

  The man dressed as a guardsman walked into the cell. It was only then that Claudius noticed the man's expression was dull, and his movements stiff, like a large wooden puppet on strings. Claudius exchanged all of his clothes with the man, following the instructions of the necromancer. As he did this, his normally clear and agile mind felt muddled and numb, and he even wondered if he was dreaming.

  I thought I was already numb to any news, any unexpected turn of events. But just as I resigned myself to my fate, someone came to rescue me. However, it wasn't an angel who saved me, but rather the legendary Hell's Envoy. And it was all because of Father... Everything that had happened had already exceeded his comprehension, like he had suddenly jumped into a fabricated story.

  The clothes had just been changed. A necromancer made a gesture. The Praetorian Guard wearing the clothes of Clavius suddenly bent down, lowered his head, and with an action that seemed to imitate a cow's, he rushed towards the wall of the dungeon and smashed his skull like an egg. A bit of brain and blood splashed onto Clavius' face.

  "Be off with you! Have you not lingered here long enough?" The lich urged Klaervis.

  Picking up the teleportation scroll, Klaus hesitated for a moment before tearing it open. A purple magical glow illuminated the entire dungeon.

  "Can't help but admit, that Ham kid's got a good head on his shoulders. It's as if everything is going according to his plan. Rescuing this kid at this time will indeed save us a lot of trouble." The Death Spirit Master muttered to himself as he gazed at the empty cell after Klauses left. "We can also take it easy and wait for good news in this place."

  "It's also quite interesting to occasionally play the role of a thief, but wearing this thing for too long is bad for the skin. That silver mask is much more comfortable and elegant." Another death mage reached up and pulled down a mask from his face, revealing that elegant and dignified face. It was Archbishop Adra.

  Another necromancer pulled down his mask, revealing a plump and well-groomed middle-aged man. He rubbed his face with those pale and delicate hands, sighed and said: "Indeed it's quite interesting. I haven't been this tense in a long time, it reminds me of the thrill of adventure many years ago. This time, Ham really was right, changing our previous strategy and adventuring here will indeed bring us many surprises."

  "It's really full of surprises." Bishop Adra smiled and nodded. "Firstly, we met our former deputy guild leader, Mr. Sandro, safe and sound. Inham was right, if he wasn't dead, he would definitely be present at the trial. And the best way to disguise oneself is to dress up as a priest. Although wearing a mask, magic will never deceive. Throughout the entire square, only this priest didn't use white magic, but the detoxification effect was surprisingly the best. Hehe."

  "The biggest surprise is that we finally got the little brat." The middle-aged man smiled and nodded. "Ingram was right, he really came. Did you see it just now? That kid used Sandro's undead technique. It's quite well done."

  "What a pity that the corpse poison was used in vain, I can feel that the toxin in the corpse seems to have been caused by a very powerful magic, right?"

  "Haha, yes. But that toxin is really too unartistic, wasting so much magic. It's like a clumsy chef, spending a lot of effort and countless precious ingredients, but only managing to cook up a big pot of messy scraps. Half the people in the square didn't even die from it. If anyone from our guild had done this, no one on the entire square would have survived." The middle-aged man shook his head and sighed. "This kid seems to be somewhat decent at necromancy, probably thanks to the World Tree's Leaf."

  "But this kid's brain is still quite useful, almost really letting him rescue the person. Unfortunately, it was a pity that he failed at the last moment." Adra frowned, filled with regret and sighed, as if he himself had failed. "What a pity..."

  "Yes... What a pity..." The middle-aged man also sighed. "If they had persisted a bit longer back then, it would have been better."

  "Do you know? If it weren't for the respected Sandru being present, I would have flashed over and turned that troublesome duke into a roasted pig."

  "Heh heh, that way those two can leave the capital smoothly... We don't need to keep waiting here either. Follow them from behind and kill or capture whoever we need to, then interrogate them to find out what happened to our beloved World Tree Leaf. And I'm really curious, how many of our Stone Golems can a single two-legged flying dragon take on?"

  "Don't worry, there will be opportunities to experiment slowly later. For now, let's just wait quietly for news here. The respected Sandro is actually mixed with the leader of the Holy Knights, I believe the news we are waiting for must be good, hehe..."

  Not long after that, the dungeon door was opened again. A man dressed as a pastor walked in and closed the door.

  "I seem to smell good news, Mr. Nimbas," Adra said with a smile.

  The death spirit mage known as Nimbas walked down a few steps, gave a bitter smile and said: "There is good news."

  "Is there still bad news?" Adela was taken aback.

  "Let me tell you the good news first," Nimbas sighed. "The Duke took that little guy to a separate interrogation, and then I saw our former proxy chairman Sandru and the leader of the Holy Knights waiting at the gate of the Duke's mansion. They withdrew all the guards from the Duke's mansion. I knew there would be a show."

  "What kind of good show is this?"

  "Unfortunately, I couldn't see the real show behind the scenes and could only guess from the performance outside. Not long after, Sandru and the captain rushed in. Then not long after that, news came out that the Duke had been killed. The murderer was that kid, who broke free from his restraints and killed the Duke. Then the kid escaped, with Sandru and the captain chasing after him. As for the result, they naturally lost him."

  "Haha, indeed it's good news. They've lost the chase, now it's our turn." Adela clapped her hands. "Alright, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

  "Didn't you hear my bad news?" Nimbas smiled wryly without moving.

  "What bad news?" Adela frowned along with the middle-aged man.

  "The bad news is we can only go back, we can't chase after that kid." Nimbas said weakly.

  "Why?" The two necromancers were stunned. Three necromancers simultaneously reached out to grab a person, this wasn't killing a chicken with an ox knife, it was simply killing an insect. Since Sandru had already separated from the target, they could have acted freely.

  A middle-aged man suddenly discovered a problem. After Nimbas walked into the dungeon, she stood on the stairs and neither came down nor went up. The middle-aged man asked: "Why are you standing there without moving?"

  "Because I didn't dare move." Nimbas smiled wryly at this answer. "There was a dagger pressed against the back of my neck."

  A dark golden skull mask floated out from behind Nimbas. It had to be looked at very hard to see that it was actually a person's shadow merged with the darkness of the dungeon. The figure's hand grasped a jet-black dagger, placed on Nimbas' neck.

  After the astonishment, the middle-aged man immediately bowed his head and saluted, his voice full of surprise and a little excitement. "I didn't expect to see you here, beautiful Egreinail. Your elegance and skill are still as beautiful and unmatched as when I first saw you all those years ago..."

  "It's done. You seem to be the same as ever, Napolino. Still so talkative." The dark golden skull mask nodded slightly and floated down a few steps, leaving Nimbas. Nimbas let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her neck with her hand, but still didn't move her feet.

  "I don't know what brings you here?" the middle-aged man asked with great respect.

  "I heard that Sandru is dead, so I came to take a look. As it turned out, I accidentally ran into a scouting owl and casually followed the magical aura to search around, who knew I actually found him."

  "But the respectable Mr. Sandru is still so spirited. We see that he seems to have joined a magic academy, you can go investigate..."

  "I saw him." Dark Golden Skull nodded. "It's you, I heard from Nimbas. You came with three people just to catch that little guy? Hmph, when did the noble Death Spirit Association also like those mountain bandits and strong robbers who liked to rely on numbers?"

  "Alas, this is also an unavoidable matter. This kid knows the whereabouts of the World Tree's leaves. You also know that we must get our hands on it..."

  "What then? I heard you were going to kill him. Because he is the one Alcibiades said who has concentrated power in his hands. Have you forgotten the rules of assembly established by Alcibiades?"

  The middle-aged man Napolino wiped the sweat and looked at Nimbas standing above. Nimbas made a helpless gesture.

  "I heard you've even locked up that Vydinna girl. Although I never liked her either, she's still a member of the guild after all. And yet you're resorting to infighting in the sacred Deya Valley." The voice drifting from beneath the dark golden skull was not loud, but it was icy cold and pierced straight into one's bones. "The noble Death Spirit Guild has become a den of thieves under your hands, a filthy place of scheming and backstabbing for power and fame. People like you don't deserve to stay in Deya Valley."

  "This is a decision made by all the members of the guild after thorough discussion. Honorable former deputy guild leader." His voice was soft and gentle, his words brief but precisely conveying what he wanted to express.

  The dark golden eyes under the skull flashed towards Adela's face. Adela still had that elegant and measured smile.

  After a while, the glow under the skull mask turned back to dimness, and then he sighed again. "Right. I'm not a member of the guild anymore. It seems that I can't interfere with your affairs." Noborino and Nimbasa had just breathed a sigh of relief when the voice said: "I won't care in the future, but today you must take me back."

  Three necromancers exchanged a glance. Today was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity; otherwise, it would be difficult to find this kid if he hid again later on.

  "Bring out all your teleportation scrolls and unfold them." The voice was not loud, but the faint majesty and momentum were not to be ignored.

  Adler smiled even more brightly, seeming a bit embarrassed, and said: "Respected Ms. Egreinard, although you are our former proxy chairman, but you also can't..." Just as he was smiling most brightly and warmly, his hand suddenly stretched out, and a white light instantly filled the entire cell.

  "Paralysis". The most effective attacking auxiliary magic in White Magic. Although it cannot cause direct damage, it can make the life force inside the body completely disorder and lose control under the influence of White Magic, causing the opponent to be unable to move. In the hands of a magician like Adela at this level, as long as the opponent is still flesh and blood, even if it's just a giant monster, it will be paralyzed for a good while.

  But it was Adela herself who froze after using this magic, not the figure wearing a dark golden mask.

  The black dagger was placed on Adela's neck, with the two sharp spikes extending from it like a devil's claws. Adela could feel the hairs around her neck falling off like leaves in an icy wind.

  "The greatest advantage of young people is that they are always full of fighting spirit and ambition, daring to challenge authority. This is the reason for progress." The dark skull floated behind Adela again. There was no sign of wind or movement, as if it had been there all along. "But the biggest disadvantage is that they don't know their limits. This is a reason to die easily."

  "Hmm. You should know that there are three of us." The smile on Adela's face disappeared. A white magical glow was already shining from her body.

  "I can see that your white magic is quite good, and at your age it's already impressive." The voice floating out from under the dark golden skull was neither fast nor slow. "However, as long as you're stabbed by this Nick dagger even once, I guarantee that even if all the priests of the entire Magic Academy come together, they can only watch as you turn into a mummy alive."

  "Spare your hands. Young people really don't understand...". Norpolino and Nimbasa also showed no signs of lending a hand, just standing by the side and talking. They were not young people, nor impulsive, and they were very clear about who they were facing and what kind of situation it was now. The three magicians could have annihilated the entire army of the capital, but in such a narrow room against a top-notch killer, it was almost like three rabbits.

  "I'm also a member of the guild, are you going to kill me?" Adela said, though she had stopped smiling, she didn't seem tense.

  "If you had used attack magic just now, you would already be a withered corpse. I haven't killed anyone in many years, and I hope you won't force me to today." The dagger left Adra's neck, the commanding tone in his voice grew heavier. "I'll say it again, take out your teleportation scrolls and open them."

  Napoleon let out a sigh, turned around and walked to the front of Claudius's cell, glanced at it, muttered a few curses, and cast several spells on the three stone walls. A loud rumbling sound was heard. The cell was filled with huge stones that had collapsed, and the corpse inside was also crushed underneath.

  Outside, the sound of soldiers' clamor rose. The soldiers who had been put to sleep by hypnosis woke up and rushed in this direction.

  Napoleon and Nimbasa took out the teleportation scrolls, Adela hesitated for a moment, and also had to follow the two companions to take out the teleportation scrolls.

  When the door was opened, the soldiers who rushed in only saw an empty dungeon and a collapsed prison cell.

  In the headquarters of the Holy Knights.

  Just as Captain Roland was about to send someone to the dungeon to release Klaus, he received news that the dungeon had collapsed due to its age and water seepage, killing all the prisoners inside.

  Colonel Roland was furious. He knew that his disciple still had many secrets of the duke on him, and he had been waiting to solve the duke before going to release him for a thorough inquiry. But this way, many unknown things would forever fall into darkness.

  Besides the shock, there is also heartache. He had cultivated his disciples for many years. But since things have already happened, it's pointless to feel heartbroken. Moreover, this will be a very busy period from now on, and all energy must be focused on this aspect.

  Fortunately, he also saw a more capable and talented person. Colonel Roland decided to take him as his apprentice.

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