The underpass buried by the piled up gravel vibrated violently. One after another, the gravel kept rustling down. There were fewer and fewer stones blocking the entrance, and the wooden door at the underpass was It was also shaking more and more violently.
Finally, with a bang, the gravel splashed out, and a large hole was smashed into the wooden door.
Two more times, the dark passage was completely knocked open.
A slender figure jumped out of the dark passage, and the knights under his command filed out behind him.
As soon as he looked up, his golden-red pupils shrank violently at this moment.
The heart deep in his chest was beating violently.
In the pitch-black night sky, the crimson flames burning not far away reflected half of the night sky, and also caused Heimos to lose his senses in an instant.
Dark sky.
Crimson flames churning like fiery snakes.
The bloodstains that fell along the way.
The huge stone temple that was burned by flames.
Also, the figure of the young man swallowed by the flames in the depths of the hall...
At this moment, he seemed to have returned to that terrifying nightmare.
…
Uptown.
Kaihos pursued with his guards all the way, chased out the secret passage, and blocked the fleeing pirates in the house at the last moment.
After looking around, he recognized it. This was the mansion of the big merchant where he and His Highness had stayed for one night.
Unexpectedly, in order to collude with the consul, this person actually dug a secret passage directly underground, leading directly to the executive government.
When the former Tozes Admiral Taka saw the one-eyed knight for the first time, he cried out to him for help, and was kicked by the sneering one-eyed knight and broke a rib.
So, he was honest.
At this moment, he was paralyzed on the ground, his face was gray, and his expression was embarrassed, and he answered Kaijos's question honestly.
"That pirate leader... Basha took the prince to another path. We were he who led the pursuit away just in case."
He said feebly,
"The other exit is next to the abandoned temple in the lower city..."
Another way, then the one that Prince Heimos chased
After thinking for a moment, Kaihos turned his head and looked at someone beside him.
He asked, "Where is the abandoned temple in the lower city?"
"It's the Shrine of Shamash before Tozes City."
The aged slave who followed him replied.
"A long time ago, there was a Shamash Temple in Tozes City. I heard the old man say when I was very young. Later, because of a tsunami, the temple collapsed for half, and later, it was abandoned."
"Probably everyone thinks the ruins are unlucky, and the ruins of the temple are in the corner of Tozes City, which is relatively remote, so few people go there."
Just as Kaihos was listening to the mature slave speak, one of his personal guards who was in charge of guarding the outside suddenly walked into the house with a worried look on his face.
"Your Excellency Kaihos, something happened, please come out and take a look!"
Cayhors walked out of the room at once.
As soon as he reached the courtyard, he frowned.
Standing in the courtyard of this tall mansion, he could vaguely see a corner of the lower city lit by fire.
"grown ups-"
When the young slave who came out saw the fire in that place, his face suddenly changed, and his tone of voice became tense.
"That location is the abandoned temple!"
"!!"
Kaihos was taken aback.
He looked up and saw that under the dark night sky, only the fire in that place was burning the sky.
It burned the night sky red and made him feel extremely uneasy.
…
…
The abandoned temple was burning in the fire crackling, and the rotten wood and tattered cloth that had been piled up for an unknown period of time ignited at one point, assisting the fire waves to swept across the entire hall.
In a short time, the abandoned temple became a sea of fire.
Because the oil was only spilled on the edge of the ruined temple, Basha could only go out and set fire to it.
At this moment, in the abandoned temple surrounded by fire, he was slowly walking back.
There were bloodstains on the road he walked, and the bloodstains he left were swallowed by the flames that followed.
He walked back to where he had dropped the prince.
Flames ignited from all directions, dancing wildly in the night sky.
The heat wave hit, inciting the broken curtain hanging on the stone pillar to fly violently in the air.
Amidst the fiery heat and the scorching red eyes, only the blond boy lay quietly on the stone ground.
The golden hair grew brighter and brighter in the light of the fire.
The light of the fire reflected on his slightly flushed face, and he fell asleep quietly, with red lips and white teeth, as delicate as a work of art created by heaven and earth, making people reluctant to touch them.
For fear of touching it, I added a smudge to it.
Basha, who staggered back, sat down in front of the boy with his legs crossed, looking at the boy with fixed eyes.
His face was gloomy, and he couldn't tell what he was thinking about staring at Garlan.
"...It's so beautiful."
After watching for a while, he said to himself.
His pupils have been dilated a little, which is a sign of imminent death.
At this moment, his consciousness was already a little blurry, and he didn't obey, and even the fierce aura in his eyes that had been unchanged for thousands of years slowly dissipated.
In fact, it is enough to kill the little prince directly at the entrance of the secret passage.
It's just that at that time, for some unknown reason, he was holding the machete but couldn't make it.
What a pity.
He stared at the boy thinking.
Almost, only a little bit, this beautiful little prince is his.
Basha turned back and looked at the crimson flames burning in all directions.
He will be buried in the sea of fire, burned to ashes by the flames.
pretty good.
he thinks.
As a member of the pirates, he didn't want to be like the dead pirates in the past. After his death, his body was hanged by ropes and hung on the city wall.
He has always been cruel.
Be cruel to others and be cruel to yourself.
He would rather burn himself to ashes with a fire than let his body fall into the hands of those who hated him to the core.
Besides, it's nice to have someone to accompany him to be burned to ashes, isn't it
Thinking so, Basha once again turned his attention to Garland.
The boy was still in a drowsiness, breathing rapidly, and the fine sweat oozing from his thin skin wetted the blond hair on his cheeks.
He looked at the boy, his eyes were a little dazed, and he muttered to himself.
"It's weird... I can't even kill someone..."
With such a slender neck and such a fragile throat, even when he was on the verge of death, he could twist it off with just a stretch of his hand.
But the strange thing is that he just can't make it.
Because when he looked at this young man, he had a very subtle feeling.
"Is this a sacrifice for love, Your Royal Highness?"
The blood from the corners of his mouth was still flowing, and Basha laughed, the laughter was strange, revealing deep malice.
He looked at Garlan with cold eyes, stretched out his hand, and squeezed Garlan's hot cheek.
"You must be very unwilling to sacrifice your love with an ugly pirate like me?"
Basha's mood was very unwilling and complicated at this moment.
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 was also mixed with many subtle and complex emotions that could not be explained.
He hated Gallan for ruining his own business.
However, Garlan turned the tide and forcibly defended the city of Tozes, which was destined to fall.
While he hated his bad things, he couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration in his heart.
Basha suddenly remembered that day, the day Garlan first appeared on the city wall.
When he first saw the figure of the blond boy appearing on the city wall, he felt his heart beat violently.
Because at that time, he suddenly felt that something had been changed abruptly.
He seemed to have lost a lot at that moment, even if he didn't know what he 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 say why, but he just felt that way, and he himself felt absurd.
The appearance of this young man changed his destiny.
The encounter between the two of them at this moment cut off his future abruptly.
so ridiculous.
Yet so real.
…
At this moment, Basha was sitting cross-legged in front of Garlan, his pupils dilated little by little, he leaned over and slowly stroked the young man's hot face.
But he looked at Garlan with a grim look on his face, with a sneer on his face.
"But, even if you are not willing, you can only die with me."
"Even if we die, our ashes will be mixed together by fire, and no one will be able to tell apart a handful of ashes."
He stared at Garlan, his eyes evil and strange.
"At that time, even if your subordinates hate me again, they can't separate me from you."
"Heh, maybe my ashes can accompany you into the royal mausoleum and enjoy the sacrifice of the later royal family of Aaron Landis, huh... uh!!"
The pirate's laughter stopped abruptly in an instant.
He opened his mouth, his bloody lips trembling, but he made no sound.
His pupils trembled, dilated to the limit.
A sharp dagger sank into his chest.
The boy who had been lying quietly on the ground and seemed to be in a coma suddenly rolled over and sat up.
At this moment when Basha was defenseless, a sword pierced his heart.
Basha fell stiffly.
At the last glance, before he was about to fall into the boundless darkness, he only had time to see the young man's golden eyes that were as sharp as sword light.
... so bright... so dazzling, just like the sun...
The last thought flashed through his mind, and Basha fell to the ground sideways, with a twisted face, extremely ferocious, and blood spurted from his open mouth.
He lay on the ground with his eyes wide open, the firelight reflecting on his unwilling and disgusting face.
This pirate, who was supposed to be galloping on the sea in the future, has a great reputation, and his forces are so powerful that he can even face off against a country. He took his last breath.
…
Beside the dead pirate, Garlan gasped violently.
His slightly flushed face reflected the crimson fire, fine sweat seeped from his thin skin, and wet blonde hair stuck to his cheeks.
He sat there gasping for a long time, and the action of stabbing the dagger into the pirate's chest just now had almost exhausted his last strength.
When he was released from the sack by the pirates, he was vaguely conscious, but he was only vaguely aware of what was happening around him.
He burned so badly, his consciousness was muddled, his limbs were weak, his whole body was weak, and his body was not under his control at all.
I can only let this pirate carry him in and leave him here.
Then, the pirates left, and then, fires were lit around.
The heat wave hit him, and with a rush, he suddenly woke up a little, and his weak and weak body seemed to regain some strength.
Then, he continued to pretend to be unconscious, and after the pirate came back to approach him, he seized the opportunity to stab the dagger into the opponent's heart.
Garlan gasped for a while, and finally felt a little strength regained in his body.
The heat wave hit after wave after wave, and the fires around them burned more and more violently.
The smoke from the fire made him cough violently, he covered his mouth and nose, and the sweat on his forehead flowed even more.
Can't wait to die here.
He thought, gritted his teeth, and tried his best to prop up his body and stood up staggeringly.
Looking around, there is a sea of fire all around.
He stood breathing rapidly, and then staggered toward the direction that had not been burned by the fire.
Behind him, the flames spread to the pirate's body little by little, burning it little by little.
…
In the sea of fire, it is impossible to distinguish east, west, north and west.
Eyes are red.
Garlan gasped violently, and he felt that his consciousness had become more and more blurred.
Not only the heat wave outside, he also felt like there was fire burning in his body, burning his internal organs, burning his flesh and blood, and making the blood in his body boil.
As if to burn him to ashes.
He staggered all the way, and he didn't know how long and how far he had walked.
There is a sea of fire all around, no end in sight, no way out.
His strength was exhausted little by little, and his vision was dimmed little by little.
In fact, he couldn't take it any longer.
It's just the breath in his chest, and a little thought of wanting to live, trying his best 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 awake.
Garlan lay on the ground, panting rapidly, his face was terrifyingly crimson whether it was lit by fire or burning.
On the other hand, his lips were the opposite pale, with several bloody openings.
He was panting, trying to push himself to the ground, trying to stand up.
The arm he rested on the ground trembled, and he managed to hold it up a little, and then fell down again.
This time he fell, and there was no sound for a while.
In the crimson sea of fire, the young man was lying on the rocky ground in embarrassment, his long golden hair scattered all over the ground.
He closed his eyes and gasped for a while.
Then, his hand rested on the ground again.
It's just that this time he didn't try to stand up, but only propped up his upper body and sat up.
Garlan sat on the stone floor with his head raised.
Firelight reflected in his golden pupils.
There was a sea of fire all around, except for the burning flames and the dark night sky above his head, he couldn't see anything.
… that's it.
The young man knelt quietly on the ground, in that sea of fire.
Crimson flames jumped around him, slowly spreading towards him.
This time, he will die in the fire again.
He sat there, his consciousness a little blurred.
Everything in front of me slowly dimmed.
This time, if I die, I really die.
There is no chance of coming back.
Garlan looked stunned, raised his head slightly, and the mist covered his eyes a little bit.
Water marks slowly seeped out from the corners of his eyes.
... he's dying...
He opened his eyes, but he couldn't hold back the tears oozing from the corners of his eyes.
He clenched his hands, but he couldn't control the trembling of his fingertips.
His body was shaking with utter terror, and some unspeakable sadness.
It's like coming into this world for the first time.
He will die in the fire.
... no matter how much he wants to live...
The flames were burning, and the sound of things falling all around continued to sound, either rubble or burning dead wood.
This palace that has been standing on the earth for too long and decayed for too long is crumbling and crumbling.
A sloping column was surrounded by flames, and the flames surrounded it, burning, and finally, the sloping column could no longer withstand the burning of the flames.
With a crackling sound, a crack opened at its roots.
The crack was bursting and spreading rapidly.
In the next second, it shook a few times in the flames, ripping apart from its roots.
The cracking sound made Garlan raise his eyes subconsciously.
His pupils suddenly dilated at this moment.
The huge column surrounded by crimson flames crashed down towards him.
It was too late for him to escape.
… He no longer had the strength to dodge.
The boy sat on the ground with his head raised.
The huge cylinder surrounded by flames was reflected in the golden pupils.
In his eyes from far to near—
in flames.
in the sea of fire.
Suddenly, a hand suddenly stretched out from the slanted ground.
The brown hands sank into the crimson flames without the slightest hesitation.
It pressed it against the scorching hot cylinder and propped it up in the air abruptly.
There was a chirp, barely audible, like the sound of a soldering iron scalding meat.
There was a burning smell in the air.
The corner of the visitor's eyes twitched almost like a spasm, and his thin lips were pressed as tightly as the blade of a blade, but the hands he stretched into the flames still firmly supported the collapsed fire column.
With a sudden force, the collapsing pillar of fire was pushed aside by him.
He stood there, panting violently, his hands shaking in front of him.
Not to mention the arms that were burned by the flames, his scalded palms resting on the red-hot column were almost completely peeled off, and the injuries looked extremely terrifying.
Heimos took a deep breath and controlled the trembling of his hands from the severe pain.
He turned around.
He leaned over and knelt down halfway in front of Garlan.
"Don't be afraid."
He reached out and wiped the tear from the corner of Garlan's eyes with his burnt fingertips.
The flames burned all around him, reddening his side cheeks.
He looked at Garlan with a gaze that was gentler than anything else.
He said, "I'm here."
He softly coaxed the boy who was crying in the sea of fire that he had finally found.
All things in the world, ruins and fire, heart-piercing pain.
Nothing compares to the tear that fell from the golden eyes of the young man looking at him at the moment.
…
Rushing to the land of ruins in a hurry, Kaihos just stood in front of the burning temple, and when he looked up, he saw a scene that shocked him to the ground.
Under the dark night, the temple engulfed by flames was burning.
The roof of the temple collapsed, the stone walls cracked, and the rubble fell.
Among the boiling flames, someone came out of the sea of fire.
The crimson flames reflected the figure of Heimos walking out of the flames from behind.
His hands were covered with shocking burn marks.
But the burned hands firmly and carefully held the boy in his arms firmly on his chest.
Garlan quietly nestled in Heimos' arms, eyes closed.
Although the red tide was still burning on his face, but at this moment his eyebrows relaxed and stretched out.
His head leaned obediently on Heimos's chest, and his long golden hair was scattered in Heimos's arms.
His fingers gently grasped the clothes on Heimos' chest.
His cheeks were pressed against Heimos's chest, and the rhythmic heartbeat coming from there made him feel more at ease and calm than anything at this moment.