A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

The secret passage buried by piled rubble was shaking violently. Time and time again, rubbles kept rolling down. There were fewer and fewer stones blocking the door, and the wooden door of the secret passage was It was also shaking more and more violently.

Finally, there was a bang, rubble flew away, and a big hole was smashed into the wooden door.

Two more blows, and the secret passageway was completely knocked open.

A slender figure jumped out of the dark passage, and the knights under his command filed out behind him.

When he raised his head, his golden-red pupils shrank violently at this moment.

The heart deep in his chest beat suddenly.

In the pitch-black night sky, the burning red flame not far away reflected half of the night sky red, and also reflected the eyes of Heymos who lost his sight in an instant.

Dark sky.

Red flames roiling like fire snakes.

There were speckled blood stains along the way.

The huge stone temple burned by flames.

Also, the figure of the young man swallowed by the flames deep in the hall...

At this moment, he seemed to be back in that terrible nightmare.

…………

Shangcheng District.

Keyhos led his personal guards in pursuit, chased out of the secret passage, and blocked the fleeing pirates in the house at the last moment.

After looking around, he recognized it. This was the big businessman's house where he and His Highness had stayed for one night.

Unexpectedly, in order to collude with the consul, this man actually dug a secret tunnel underground, leading directly to the consul.

When the former Tozes naval commander Taka saw the One-Eyed Knight for the first time, he excitedly asked for help. Then he was kicked hard by the sneering One-Eyed Knight and broke one of his ribs.

So, he became honest.

At this moment, he was slumped on the ground, his face was ashen, and he was lying down to answer Caihos's questions.

"The pirate leader... Basha took the prince another way. It was he who diverted us just in case, to distract the pursuers."

He said weakly,

"The other exit is next to the abandoned temple in the lower city..."

The other road, then the road that Prince Heimos chased?

After thinking for a moment, Kayhos turned his head and looked at someone beside him.

He asked: "Where is the abandoned temple in Lower City?"

"It's the Shamash Temple before Tozes City."

replied the mature slave who followed him.

"A long time ago, there was a Shamash Temple in Tozes City. I heard the old man say it when I was very young. Later, due to a tsunami, half of the temple collapsed. Later, it was abandoned."

"Maybe everyone thinks that the ruins are unlucky, and the temple ruins are in the corner of Tozes City, which is relatively remote, so few people go there."

Just as Kehos was listening to the strong man slave speak, one of his personal guards who was responsible for guarding the outside suddenly walked into the house quickly, with a look of anxiety on his face.

"Your Excellency Caijos, something happened, please come out and take a look immediately!"

Kejos immediately walked out of the room.

As soon as he stood in the courtyard, he frowned.

Standing in the courtyard of this high-rise house, he could vaguely see a fire burning in a corner of the lower city.

"grown ups--"

When the mature slave who followed him saw the fire, his expression suddenly changed, and his tone of voice became nervous.

"That location is the abandoned temple!"

"!!"

Caijos was shocked.

He looked up and saw only that one spot of fire burning the sky under the dark night sky.

It burned the night sky red and made him feel uneasy to the extreme.

…………

……………………

The abandoned temple was crackling in the fire, and the rotten wood and tattered fabrics that had been piled up for an unknown period of time ignited instantly, helping the fire wave to sweep through the entire hall.

Before long, the abandoned temple was a sea of ​​flames.

Because the oil was only poured on the edge of the ruined palace, Basha had no choice but to go out and light a fire.

At this moment, he was slowly walking back in the abandoned temple surrounded by fire.

There were bloodstains on the road he walked, and then the bloodstains he left were swallowed up by the flames that followed.

He walked back to where he had left the prince.

Flames ignited from all directions, dancing wildly in the night sky.

The heat wave hit, causing the broken curtain hanging on the stone pillar to fly violently in the air.

In the fiery heat and scorching red, only the blond boy lay quietly on the stone ground.

The long flowing gold hair shines brighter and brighter in the firelight.

The firelight reflected the slightly red face. He was sleeping peacefully. His red lips and white teeth, and his delicate eyebrows were like works of art created by heaven and earth. People couldn't bear to touch them just by looking at him.

I'm afraid that if I touch it, I'll get a stain on it.

Basha staggered back and sat down in front of the boy, crossing his legs and looking at the boy intently.

His face was gloomy, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking as he stared at Garlan.

"...It's so beautiful."

After looking at it for a while, he said to himself.

His pupils were already dilated, which was a sign that he was about to die.

At this moment, his consciousness was a little blurry and he was no longer in control. Even the ferocious aura in his eyes that had not changed for thousands of years slowly dissipated.

In fact, just kill the little prince directly at the entrance of the secret passage.

But for some unknown reason at that time, he was holding the scimitar but could not make a move.

What a shame.

He stared at the boy and thought.

Just a little bit, just a little bit, this beautiful little prince was his.

Basha turned his head and looked at the red flames burning in all directions.

He will be buried in the sea of ​​fire and burned to ashes.

fine.

he thinks.

As a member of the pirates, he did not want to be like the dead pirates in the past, whose bodies were tied up with ropes and hung on the city wall after death, exposed to wind and rain until the bodies rotted into bones.

He has always been a ruthless person.

Be ruthless to others and be ruthless to yourself.

He would rather burn himself to ashes than let his body fall into the hands of those who hate him to the core.

Moreover, it would be nice to have someone to burn to ashes with him, right?

Thinking like this, Basha once again set his sights on Garlan.

The boy was still asleep, breathing rapidly, and the fine sweat from his thin skin wetted the blond hair on his cheeks.

He looked at the young man with a dazed look in his eyes and muttered to himself.

"It's really strange...I can't even bring myself to kill anyone..."

With such a slender neck and such a fragile throat, even when he was on the verge of death, he could break it by just stretching out his hand and exerting force.

But the strange thing is that he just couldn't do it.

Because when he looked at this young man, he had a very subtle feeling.

"Isn't this considered a sacrifice of love, Your Highness?"

The blood at the corner of his mouth was still flowing, and Basha laughed. The laughter was weird and revealed deep malice.

He looked at Garlan with cold eyes, stretched out his hand, and pinched Garlan's hot cheek.

"You must be unwilling to die for an ugly pirate like me, right?"

Basha's mood at this moment was very unwilling and complicated.

His great cause and his ambitions for the future were all destroyed by this young man.

It has to be said that he has a deep hatred for Garlan.

However, that hatred is also mixed with many indescribable subtle and complex emotions.

He hated Garlan for ruining his affairs.

However, Garlan turned the tide and defended the city of Tozes which was destined to fall.

While he hated him for his bad deeds, he couldn't help but admire him in his heart.

Basha suddenly remembered that day, the day when Garlan first appeared on the city wall.

When he first saw the figure of the blond boy appearing on the city wall, he suddenly felt his heart skip a beat, and an indescribable feeling of panic and throbbing came out.

Because at that time, he suddenly felt that something seemed to have been changed abruptly.

He seemed to have lost a lot at that moment, even he didn't know what he had lost.

As a pirate, he never believed in fate.

But at that moment, there was an indescribable throbbing in his heart, which made him flustered.

He couldn't tell why, but he just felt that way, and it felt ridiculous to him.

The appearance of this young man changed his destiny.

The encounter between the two of them at this moment abruptly cut off his future.

So ridiculous.

Yet so real.

………………

At this moment, Basha was sitting cross-legged in front of Garlan. His pupils were slowly dilating. He leaned over and slowly stroked the young man's hot face.

But the look he looked at Garlan was ferocious, with a sneer on his face.

"But, no matter how unwilling you are, you can only die with me."

"Even if we die, our ashes will be mixed together by the fire. No one can tell them apart."

He stared at Garlan, his eyes evil and strange.

"When the time comes, no matter how much your subordinates hate me, they can't separate me from you."

"Haha, maybe my ashes can follow you into the royal tomb and enjoy the sacrifices of Aaron Landis and the royal family in the future, haha... Hmm!!"

The pirate's laughter suddenly stopped in an instant.

His mouth was open, his lips covered with blood were trembling, but he couldn't make a sound.

His pupils trembled and dilated to the limit.

A sharp dagger sank into his chest.

The boy who had been lying quietly on the ground as if in a coma suddenly turned over and sat up.

At this moment when Basha was defenseless, a sword pierced his heart.

Basha stiffened and fell.

With his last glance, before he fell into the boundless darkness, he only had time to see the young man's golden eyes that were as sharp as sword light looking at him.

...so bright...so dazzling, just like the sun...

The last thought flashed through his mind, and Basha fell sideways to the ground, his face twisted and extremely ferocious, and blood spurted out from his open mouth.

He lay on the ground with his eyes wide open, and the firelight reflected his unwilling and hateful face.

This pirate, who was supposed to be galloping across the sea in the future, was so famous that his subordinates were so powerful that they could even confront a country. At the same time, he committed crimes of burning, killing, looting, and committing numerous murders, making countless people tremble with fear when they heard his name. He took his last breath.

…………

Next to the dead pirate, Garlan was breathing heavily.

His slightly flushed face reflected the red firelight, thin beads of sweat oozing out from his thin skin, and the wet blond hair stuck to his cheeks.

He sat there panting for a long time. The action of stabbing the dagger into the pirate's chest had almost exhausted his last strength.

When he was released from the sack by the pirates, he had a vague consciousness, but he was only vaguely aware of what was happening around him.

He had a severe fever, his consciousness was hazy, his limbs were limp, his whole body was weak, and his body was not under his control at all.

We can only let this pirate carry him in and leave him here.

Then the pirates left, and fire broke out all around.

The heat wave hit him and made him wake up a little, and his weak body seemed to have regained some strength.

Then, he continued to pretend to be unconscious, and when the pirate came back to approach him, he seized the opportunity and stabbed the dagger into the pirate's heart.

Garlan panted for a long time, and finally felt that he had regained some strength.

Heat waves hit one after another, and the surrounding fires burned more fiercely.

The smoke produced by the fire made him cough violently. He covered his mouth and nose, and the sweat on his forehead became even worse.

You can't wait to die here.

He thought, gritted his teeth, managed to prop himself up and stood up unsteadily.

Looking around, there was a sea of ​​fire all around.

He stood breathing rapidly, then staggered toward the direction that had not been burned by the fire.

Behind him, the flames spread to the pirate's body bit by bit, burning it bit by bit.

…………

In the sea of ​​fire, it was impossible to tell the difference between north, south, east and west.

His eyes were full of red color.

Gallan gasped violently, and he felt that his consciousness was getting blurry.

Not only was the heat wave outside, he felt like there was a fire burning in his body, burning his internal organs, burning his flesh and blood, and making the blood in his body boil.

It was like burning his whole body to ashes.

He staggered along the way, and he didn't know how long or how far he had walked.

There is a sea of ​​fire all around, with no end in sight and no way out.

His little strength was being exhausted little by little, and his vision was getting hazy little by little.

In fact, he couldn't hold on any longer.

Just the breath in his chest and a little desire to live managed to support him to continue walking forward in the sea of ​​​​fire.

As he staggered forward, he stumbled and fell to the ground while he was half-conscious.

Garlan was lying on the ground panting rapidly, his face was horribly crimson whether it was reflected by the fire or burned.

On the contrary, his lips were pale and cracked with several bloody holes.

He was panting, trying to hold on to the ground, trying to stand up.

His arms on the ground were shaking. He finally managed to hold himself up a little, but then fell down again.

This time he fell, and there was no sound for a while.

In the sea of ​​red fire, the young man lay on the stone ground in a state of embarrassment, with his long golden hair scattered all over the ground.

He closed his eyes and breathed for a while.

Then he put his hands on the ground again.

However, this time he did not try to stand up again, but only propped up his upper body and sat up.

Garlan sat on the stone ground and raised his head.

The firelight reflected in his golden pupils.

There was a sea of ​​fire all around, and he could see nothing except the burning flames and the dark night sky above his head.

…That’s it.

The young man knelt quietly on the ground in the sea of ​​fire.

The red flames jumped around him, slowly spreading towards him.

This time, he will die in the fire again.

He sat there, slightly confused.

Everything in front of me is slowly dimming.

This time, death means real death.

There is no chance to do it again.

Garlan looked stunned, raising his head slightly, and the mist enveloped his eyes little by little.

Water traces slowly seeped out from the corners of his eyes.

...he is going to die...

He opened his eyes, but couldn't control the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

He clenched his hands, but couldn't control the trembling of his fingertips.

His body was shaking with extreme fear and some unspeakable sadness.

It's like coming to this world for the first time.

He will die in fire.

...no matter how much he wants to live...

The flames were burning, and there were constant sounds of things falling all around, either gravel or burning rotten wood.

This palace, which has stood on the earth for too long and has been decaying for too long, is shattering and crumbling.

A tilted column was surrounded by flames. The flames surrounded and burned it. Finally, the tilted column could no longer withstand the burning of the fire.

There was a crunching sound, and a crack opened at its root.

The crack was rapidly opening and spreading.

The next second, it shook a few times in the flames and broke completely from the root.

The sound of cracking made Garlan subconsciously raise his eyes.

His pupils suddenly dilated at this moment.

The huge column surrounded by red flames crashed down towards him.

It was too late for him to escape.

...He no longer had the strength to avoid it.

The young man sat on the ground and raised his head.

The huge cylinder surrounded by flames was reflected in the golden pupils.

From far to near in his eyes——

In the flames.

In the sea of ​​fire.

Suddenly a pair of hands stretched out from the ground.

The brown hands sank into the red flames without any hesitation.

It pressed it against the column that was burned hot by the fire, and forced it to stay in the air.

There was a faint chirp sound, like the sound of a hot iron scalding meat.

A burning smell instantly filled the air.

The corners of the visitor's eyes were twitching almost like a convulsion, and his thin lips were tightened like a knife blade, but his hands stretched into the flames still firmly supported the collapsed pillar of fire.

With a strong force, he pushed the collapsed fire pillar aside.

He stood there, breathing heavily, his hands outstretched in front of him trembling.

Not to mention his arms burned by the flames, his burned palms that were supported on the red-hot columns had almost all the skin peeled off, and the injuries looked extremely horrific.

Heimos took a deep breath to control the trembling of his hands caused by the severe pain.

He turned around.

He leaned over and knelt down in front of Garlan.

"Don't be afraid."

He stretched out his hand and wiped away the tear from the corner of Garlan's eye with his burned fingertips.

The flames burned around him, reddening his cheeks.

The look he looked at Garlan was gentler than anything else.

He said, "I'm here."

He coaxed softly to the boy who was crying in the sea of ​​fire that he had finally found.

Everything in the world, ruins, sea of ​​fire, heart-wrenching pain.

Nothing could compare to the drop of tears falling from the golden eyes of the young man looking at him right now.

…………

Rushing to the ruins in a hurry, Caihos just stood in front of the burning temple. When he raised his eyes, he saw a scene that shocked him to the point of standing still.

Under the dark night, the temple was engulfed in flames and burning.

The roof of the palace collapsed, the stone walls burst, and rubble fell.

In the midst of the boiling flames, someone stepped out of the sea of ​​fire.

The red firelight reflected the figure of Heimos coming out of the flames from behind.

His hands were covered with shocking burn marks.

But those burned hands held the boy in his arms firmly against his chest forcefully and carefully.

Garlan lay quietly in Heimos's arms, eyes closed.

Although his face was still flushed with redness from the heat, his brows were relaxed and stretched at the moment.

His head rested obediently on Heimos's chest, and all his long golden hair was scattered in Heimos' arms.

His fingers gently grasped the clothes on Heymos' chest.

His cheek was pressed against Heimos's chest, and the rhythmic heartbeat coming from there made him feel more at ease and calm than anything else at this moment.

The author has something to say: Ah... I finally finished this plot before the National Day.

Breathe a long sigh of relief.

Friends, it’s the end of the month, so nutrient solutions and stuff... (Rub your hands and look at everyone’s crazy hints)

——

In order to bring the little prince and Heimos together, I really tried my best, worked hard, and took great pains.

Look at all my hard work

As a result, you have to send me crazy blades, which makes me feel aggrieved.

...Well, everyone should think that Hermos's butt smells really good (laughs)

——

Also, I’m going on a trip during the National Day, so friends, we’ll see you after the National Day~~

Love you~~