In a trance, as if in a dream.
…
The body is sinking endlessly... falling... as if to fall into the abyss...
Finally, at what point, it stopped falling.
The boy opened his eyes.
The pale golden hair stained with blood was scattered on his slightly brown cheeks, and the golden pupil reflected the endless blue sky.
Ah, the bright sky...
… gigantic stone statues …
Thin strands of water fell on his hot face, and it was cool.
The water sprayed from the fountain splashed down into the pond where the blossoming white lotus flowers were blooming.
He saw the warm and beautiful face of the stone statue of the star goddess Isdar, the water that fell from her hands fell into the fountain, and she looked down at him, full of compassion.
…
The body is heavy, as if all strength has been lost.
With one hand on the stone wall of the fountain pool, he barely stood up.
At this moment, his mind was very chaotic, as if there were countless fragments of memory flying in it, making him unclear where he was and what he was doing.
He saw a long sword thrown under his feet, the sharp blade had been shattered, and even the hilt had several cracks.
He leaned against the fountain basin, turned his head, and saw his face in the clear water.
It was the face of a young, only sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy.
The complexion is slightly brown, the gold ring embedded in amber gemstones is worn on the forehead, and the pale golden hair is scattered in front of the eyes.
He looked at his hand, the tiger's mouth was split open, and blood was slowly oozing out.
There were suddenly noisy footsteps outside, as if many people poured in.
He turned around.
Not far away, the two huge golden arches were intertwined with green olive leaves and intertwined to form an arch.
A tall black figure came from there.
The boy's pupils contracted violently.
A sense of fear surged out of his body uncontrollably.
An extremely dangerous chirping sounded sharply in his head, urging him to flee from the man quickly.
However, his body was exhausted to the extreme, and his hands and feet were too heavy to move.
He could only lean against the fountain basin, barely standing, watching the man walk up to him.
The breeze brushed over the dark brown cheeks of the young man, stirring up the jet-black strands of hair that looked like the darkest night of winter.
When the forehead moved slightly, the shadow of the forehead that fell on the man's eye socket also swayed slightly.
Obviously golden eyes with flame color, at this moment, under the bright sunlight, it seems that even a little shimmer can't get in.
The shadows swaying in the pupils dyed those eyes like an abyss.
He stared at the boy without a trace of temperature, like the cruelest winter, quenched with poison, with a cold aura like a cobra king, that coldness can almost penetrate into the bones.
The man stood there, motionless, just staring at him like that.
The boy leaned against the fountain pool behind him, breathing slightly, and his vision was a little blurry.
He could only vaguely see that a dozen people came in behind the man and surrounded him in a fan shape.
"You have already lost."
Someone was talking to him like that.
He turned his head slightly, and with some blurred vision, he vaguely saw a man in a light blue shirt.
...that's... Heimos' confidant...
"So, please stop struggling so ugly."
The man in blue said in a slightly mocking tone, "Prince Gallan, how about maintaining your dignity as the royal family of Aaron Landis?"
At this time, under this circumstance, perhaps only this person can speak in such a vicious tone as always...
The boy thought so in a trance.
struggle
He really didn't have the strength to struggle anymore.
Just standing with his body like this was his last insistence.
he thinks.
This time, he lost again.
Brown hands reached out to him and took his head.
He could clearly feel the slight tingling of the rough fingers rubbing his cheek, as if reminding him that another death awaited him.
He was powerless to resist.
In the next second, the boy was heavily pressed on the fountain pool, his lower body was still standing, his waist was against the edge of the fountain pool, but his upper body was pushed back, and most of his golden hair sank into the water in the fountain pool at this moment.
The mouth of the white bottle was against his lips, and a hand was pinching his chin, forcibly opening his mouth with a force that almost crushed his chin.
Cold liquid poured into his forced open mouth.
He raised his head, looked at the bright sky, and the pitying gaze of the goddess who looked down on him...
The water droplets that fell from the hand of the goddess statue splashed on his face, cool, like tears falling from the goddess' eyes...
…
The icy liquid poured into his throat, but it was like a cluster of ignited flames, burning violently in his throat.
Wherever it passed, it seemed like a fiery flame was burning.
The hand that held him was released, and he fell heavily to the ground.
The boy's slender body curled up tightly on the ground, and he closed his eyes in pain.
His pale, bloodless lips were open and trembling, but he couldn't make any sound, as if he couldn't breathe.
His hands gripped his chest tightly, and bloodstains were cut out on his own neck and collarbone.
He was shaking with pain.
No one spoke, and at this moment, everyone was silent.
They watched the last moments of the dying young prince in silence.
Even the man who has always been known for his poisonous tongue was silent at this time, just looked at it with a complicated expression.
The master they were loyal to stood in front of them, looking down at the boy who was trembling with pain under his feet, no one could see the look in Heimos' eyes at the moment.
…
Consciousness is disappearing little by little...
Vision is blurry.
That's fine, this way, I won't feel the pain as if countless flames are licking and swallowing the flesh and blood in his body...
...he died at the hands of this man again...
…
pain.
it hurts...
But there is no one to talk to.
Nobody's here anymore... There's nobody around him anymore...
…
In the silent courtyard, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded, as if someone hurried from outside.
Then, when approached, the footsteps stopped abruptly.
The sudden stop of footsteps brought the courtyard back to a deadly silence.
The boy opened his eyes slightly, and under his drooping eyelashes, he saw that familiar figure through the thin slits of his eyes.
His long, slightly curly brown hair was draped over his shoulders, but his tall and burly body was wrapped in a robe. His blurred vision could no longer see the person's face, and he could only vaguely see the person's eyes.
The man looked down at him with a cold, unsympathetic look in his eyes.
He just stood there coldly, looking down at him as he was dying.
… Shemour…
you are right.
[You can't win Heimos.]
I lost again.
you're right.
I can't beat him.
I have been annoyed, I have been very unwilling, why did you betray me, why did you leave me.
…
You just made the right choice.
The trance consciousness finally completely dissipated, and darkness fell in front of him.
The boy lying on the ground closed his eyes and stopped breathing.
The wet blond hair was pressed against his cheek, and the blood oozing from the corner of his lips was still slowly flowing down his pale cheeks.
He is dead.
The throne will go to Heimos.
A strong wind suddenly blew in the sky, and the wind swept across the water, causing deep wrinkles, and the white lotus flower swayed in the wind, as if it was about to fall into the water waves.
There was silence between heaven and earth at this moment.
The wind also blew through the long curly hair of Xie Muer who was standing motionless.
After an unknown amount of time, Heimos turned around and started walking.
He passed Xie Muer who was standing behind him, and then stopped again.
The priest, who had been standing still, finally moved.
He stepped forward, walked over to the dead young prince, leaned over, and fell to one knee.
He stretched out his hand, as if to touch the pale face that was still a little childish.
But his fingers stopped a second before they touched the other's cheek, stagnating in the air, as if there was an invisible diaphragm blocking his hand.
After a long time, the fingertips hovering over the boy's cheek trembled slightly, and finally fell.
The blood oozing from the corners of the boy's eyes, nostrils, and lips stained Xie Muer's fingertips red.
Xie Mu'er knelt on the ground and lowered his head. There was still no expression on his face. His eyes seemed to have lost all their luster, leaving only a dead silence.
"Finally don't hide it anymore, Xie Mu'er."
The man in blue sneered and said.
"You are loyal to His Highness Heimos, but secretly you have been secretly helping Prince Garland, do you really think I don't know? If it weren't for you, this weak prince couldn't last so long, tsk, it cost us so much. long time."
For a long time, this Shemuer surrendered to His Highness Heimos in name, but secretly helped Prince Gallan escape the trap he set up with all his might.
He really doesn't understand, obviously this person bears the name of a traitor on Prince Garlan's side, and is despised by everyone there, what is the reason for doing this.
He even faintly found out that Xie Muer was secretly planning something unfavorable to His Highness Heimos. It's just that this man is too cautious, he can't catch his feet.
This time, it was he who managed to transfer Ximuel away from the royal city with great difficulty, and was able to successfully arrange the killing of Prince Gallan.
At this moment, he was a little proud.
He and Xie Muer grew up together, and he had been secretly competing with them, but he always lost more or less than Xie Muer.
Now, he finally won once.
He sneered: "Ximul, as a priest of Shamash, but you do something that violates the teachings and tramples your oath, what qualifications do you have to serve Shamash—"
Halfway through the conversation, it suddenly stopped.
The blue clothed man's throat seemed to be pinched by an invisible big hand, and his voice suddenly got stuck in his throat.
The sudden weeping choked his words, and he opened his mouth, revealing an unbelievable look in his eyes.
And the others were petrified at this moment, sluggish in place.
The priest on his knees was weeping.
The priest of Shamash, who used to show his indifference, fortitude, and as if he never knew what emotion was, was crying in front of everyone at this moment.
His tidy robe was now stained with dirt and crumpled on the ground.
His originally clean hands hugged the dead boy tightly, and the palms were full of blood and dust.
The wet blonde hair mixed with blood was pressed tightly against his cheek.
Tears fell from his eyes and fell on the boy's pale face.
It seemed that he had abandoned them for more than 20 years... or the emotions that belonged to human beings had been sealed in the depths of his heart for more than 20 years. At this moment, they all burst out.
Torn him to pieces.
Let him lose control at this moment.
He hugged the dead boy tightly in his arms, as if he had lost everything, as if he had completely collapsed and burst into tears.
The man in blue was very stunned and a little caught off guard.
He had known Xie Muer for so many years, and he had never seen this person's complexion change too much.
Who knew that the first time I saw it, it was so out of control.
"Ximuel, you, you are..."
He didn't know what to say for a while, and for the first time in his life, his clever tongue was tied.
"He's already dead, just admit your mistake... um... As long as you admit your mistake, I will help you to intercede and let His Highness Heimos not hold you accountable. As long as you assist His Highness well in the future, I will... "
He was stammering a bit when he suddenly heard a clanging sound.
It was the sound of a blade unsheathed.
He turned his head and saw that his young master had drawn a sharp sword from his waist.
The snow-white blade that came out of the sheath reflected the cold light in the sunlight.
The blue-clothed man was startled, then quickly stepped forward to stop it.
"Wait a minute, Your Highness," he said anxiously, "Xie Mu'er's intelligence and bravery have always been on par with me. It would be a pity to kill him like this. Please give me some time, and I will persuade him to surrender to you... "
"It's useless."
A low voice interrupted the blue-clothed man and pushed him away with one hand.
"You can't persuade him," said Heimos.
Ice-cold golden red eyes stared at Xie Muer's back, even under the bright sunlight, his eyes were always immersed in the rich darkness.
No light, no shadows.
He said, "Since you are loyal to him, accompany him to the land of the dead."
The sharp sword turned around, and a cold light passed through the air.
Heimos didn't even turn around.
He just stood sideways like this, holding the long sword and stabbing back.
The sharp blade penetrated Xie Muer's back.
That drop of crimson blood rolled down from the tip of the sword that had penetrated his chest, staining the pale corners of the boy's eyes in his arms.
Heimos drew his sword and inserted the blood-stained blade into the scabbard.
He strode forward without looking back.
The black cloak flew behind him like the unfolding night.
The man in blue followed his master away, but at the end, he couldn't help but look back.
A wind blew across the courtyard, brushing the brown hair of the priest over his shoulders.
Beneath the stone statue of the goddess Isdar, the dead priest knelt, guarding the prince who seemed to sleep in his arms.
…