289: Chapter 283 God said, Zhang Mu deserves to die

Zhang Mu calmly turned around and performed a knight's salute: "Your Highness, you have mistaken me for someone else. I am Eji, the Lord of Gur City.

I am currently searching for the remains of Andre's corpse."

Avril seemed to have fully received the inheritance. Her pupils had returned to ice blue, and her long, ice-blue hair, which reached her waist, was draped over her back. With her exquisite features and cold temperament, the woman who had walked out of the Ice and Snow had returned.

Mistaken? Does she think her senior sister is a fool?

She intentionally remained silent, merely staring at "Eji" as he stood in the pit with a slight hunch, wanting to see how long he could keep up the act.

Avril had fantasized about and dreamt countless times of the scene where Zhang Mu appeared safely before her. She thought she would undoubtedly rush toward him without hesitation.

Then, she would listen to the hardships he had suffered, how he had escaped death, and how he had become the Lord of Gur City.

It must have been very difficult, right?

Yet, when Zhang Mu actually arrived before her, she realized that none of that mattered.

As long as he was still alive, that was enough.

Let him maintain that saluting posture for a little longer; consider it punishment for deceiving me.

But... he was right there, just a few steps away, and he had even saved me, just like in my dreams. I really want to laugh out loud.

However, for the sake of the "punishment," she could only endure it, struggling to keep the corners of her mouth from curling up.

But seeing that her junior brother was alive and well, she was truly happy...

As the thought arose, she nearly lost control and hurriedly pinched her thigh to keep herself in check.

Avril was struggling so hard to hold it in.

On his side, Zhang Mu kept his head lowered, his gaze fixed on the snow on the ground.

Strange, she is so certain. Where did I reveal a flaw?

Is it possible to perceive the outside world while receiving an inheritance?

That shouldn't be the case. I haven't deactivated my Transformation Technique. Or, did my senior sister guess that I used a Transformation Technique?

No, that's not right. When Senior Sister was chased by the Wolf King in the forest north of Kas Town, she accidentally lost her Storage Pouch, so the magic book I gave her was naturally lost too.

She couldn't possibly know that I know the Transformation Technique.

Then what exactly... Huh, why isn't she speaking?

Zhang Mu was puzzled, wanting to look up to check the situation, but he felt that such an act of "offending royalty" did not fit the persona of "Eji."

After pondering for a while, he found a suitable excuse.

He straightened up and said: "Your Highness, the situation in the royal capital is not yet stable. Jarvis and the two Grand Dukes are still locked in battle, and the Second Prince's whereabouts are unknown; he may be in danger.

Should we go to support them?"

Avril narrowed her eyes slightly, trying hard to make her gaze look fierce.

However, she was not truly angry, so her expression inevitably failed to match, and instead of being intimidating, her demeanor felt a bit guilty and lacking in confidence.

Seeing her squinting and making faces without knowing what she was up to, Zhang Mu curled his lip, jumped out of the footprint pit, and walked past Avril toward the main entrance of the Magic Tower.

"Your Highness, time is tight; we cannot continue to..."

"Zhang Mu!" Although Avril was shouting, her tone was aggrieved.

His footsteps paused for a moment, and he slowly turned around: "Your Highness..."

Zhang Mu intended to hint subtly that now was not the time for them to acknowledge each other, but he was interrupted by a figure suddenly crashing into his arms, radiating a chill.

"I know what you are worried about." Avril pressed her cheek against his chest. "But if the price of living is separation, I refuse.

Junior Brother... what about you..."

She seemed to be asking, as if pouring out her heart.

Zhang Mu lowered his head, looking at the quiet, ice-blue hair before him, and couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.

When did I become so timid?

If she isn't afraid, why should I be?

With such cowardice, how could I hope to protect her?

Zhang Mu felt the fog in his heart being pushed away by a large hand, instantly becoming clear and transparent.

He deactivated the Transformation Technique, and the illusion of "Eji" faded away.

Avril, with her eyes closed and head buried in his chest, did not witness this scene; she only felt a weight pressing down on the top of her head.

It was a hand.

"Senior Sister, long time no see."

The familiar voice drifted into her ears, and Avril's hands, which were gripping his sleeves, slowly tightened, her eyes becoming uncontrollably moist.

"Just like in the dream."

"What dream?" Zhang Mu asked curiously, his other hand wrapping around her shoulder.

Avril didn't say; she lifted her head, pulled him to the edge of the footprint pit, and sat down side by side, her dangling legs swinging back and forth like a little girl.

"This is the royal capital," she said.

"Hmm, I've been here for a month."

"The royal capital is very big. There are some places you must have never been to. Shall I introduce them to you?

Your Senior Sister has walked through every corner of the royal capital in the past few days!"

"Okay."

Zhang Mu nodded with a smile, and Avril immediately began to talk incessantly.

"There is a pastry shop at the end of the West Street. The clerk responsible for cooking has excellent culinary skills, and business is extremely hot. I have to queue every time I go. I'll take you there later.

The clothing store at the street corner is the same; many people ask them to customize clothes! And also, there are many accessory shops on the South Street. Most of them sell expensive items, but some sell exquisite and affordable handmade hair accessories. I bought one last time..."

Zhang Mu was listening with a doting face when he saw her suddenly stop talking. He asked strangely: "What did you buy?"

Avril guiltily turned her face to the other side and said nothing.

What's wrong with this?

Looking at the waterfall of ice-blue hair cascading down, Zhang Mu was dumbfounded. Did I say something to offend her?

"What exactly did you buy?" Clearly, Zhang Mu, who had focused on making money for over twenty years and had never even dated a girlfriend, was extremely lacking in relationship experience.

"It... it's just..." Avril's crystal-clear earlobes quietly climbed with a touch of redness, and she stammered for a long time without saying a complete sentence.

Fortunately, Zhang Mu was not too stupid, so he took the initiative to change the subject: "Where else is worth visiting in the royal capital?"

"A lot, for example, the East Street..."

Avril started talking excitedly again. Feeling that verbal description was not enough, she used her hands to gesture to assist in the explanation, and Zhang Mu chimed in from time to time.

The cheerful atmosphere diluted the slight shyness from just now, and they sat huddled together on the edge of the pit, snowflakes falling on their shoulders.

Outside the Magic Tower.

A group of city lords were scattered around the Magic Tower.

Their faces showed no sign of relaxation, their gazes sweeping across the void, alert for enemies who might be hiding nearby, waiting for an opportunity to break into the tower.

Although the Saint-level enemy previously had been taken out by a sneak attack from the suddenly appearing old man, the sounds of buildings collapsing over at the church had never ceased.

No matter who won between the two Grand Dukes and Jarvis, the result was the same for them—they would be used as sacrifices.

The movements of the three fighting were intense, but no one held any illusions that one side would die and the other would be seriously injured, and then the latter would flee the royal capital, leaving them safe.

The recovery speed of a Saint-level is very fast. The winner among the three, supplemented by potions, wouldn't even need to stay on the spot to heal and could immediately rush over.

Therefore, their only lifeline at this moment was "Eji," who had rushed into the tower, to successfully destroy the Core of the Blood Sacrifice Array.

To this end, the city lords had to block all enemies who attempted to interfere with "Eji."

Danielson looked back at the completely solidified Magic Tower and said with some concern: "I don't know how City Lord Aiji is progressing..."

"According to the news revealed by that person," his companion secretly pointed to the black-robed old man hovering in the air not far away, "there are five people inside: the Third Highness, Andre, the King, and two Saint-level figures hidden by the royal family."

The solemnity on Danielson's face deepened: "City Lord Aiji... is in great danger."

"Who says he isn't?" the companion said painfully. "He could have stayed far away from the crisis, but for the sake of us unrelated people, he unhesitatingly took the key and rushed into the Magic Tower."

The two looked at the high tower that reached into the clouds at the same time.

"City Lord Aiji is probably hiding in some dark corner right now, abandoning the nobility of a High-tier Professional, and grinding forward regardless of the filth and stench of the sewer..."

The companion imagined a scene of arduous infiltration, becoming more and more sorrowful as he spoke, completely ignoring the question of where a sewer would be in a Magic Tower.

Danielson couldn't watch it anymore and waved his hand in disgust: "Has that habit of yours from so many years still not been cured? What are you fantasizing about again?"

"Uh, nothing." The companion sobered up and felt a bit embarrassed, hurriedly changing the topic. "You say, between Blova and the others and Jarvis, who has a better chance of winning?"

"Logically speaking, it should be Jarvis."

"He has the blessing magic from the statue of god, and he is not at a disadvantage in a one-on-two. He can also use the True Word Spell, and he could solve a Grand Duke as soon as the battle starts."

"But they have been fighting for almost an hour. I estimate the church has already been demolished into ruins."

"That's why I said—logically."

"Can you explain in detail?" The companion didn't seem to worry about being sacrificed at all, his energy entirely focused on curiosity.

"Hmm..." Danielson thought for a moment. "There is only one possibility for both sides to be deadlocked for an hour."

"What?"

"The True Word Spell is ineffective against the Grand Dukes, or Jarvis is unable to use the True Word Spell."

Although the companion liked to be edgy and often imagined some heart-pounding scenes, Danielson's guess still surprised him quite a bit.

"How could the Bishop be unable to use the True Word Spell?"

"Then it means the True Word Spell is not working."

"..." The companion was silent for a while. "The explanation that the True Word Spell cannot be used is more credible."

Danielson sighed: "No matter what the truth is, we have not yet escaped the threat."

"Whatever, dying sooner or later is still death. If we don't die in the royal capital today, when our lifespan runs out, we will still die in some unknown dark corner. We just need to do our best."

Danielson couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Since you are so detached, why don't I send you there right now?"

"I think there is a difference, actually."

"Then why are you talking nonsense."

"Hehe, just livening up the atmosphere..."

The slight tremor of the earth suddenly disappeared, and the rumbling from the church was no longer heard. The two and the other city lords were immediately stern.

Their battle was over.

Sure enough, more than ten seconds later, two black dots rapidly enlarging appeared on the horizon, and the outline of the figures could be seen in a moment.

The Grand Dukes won.

The tight hearts of the crowd relaxed.

Although both were to deal with Saint-levels, compared to Jarvis, the former was better.

After all, behind Jarvis was the Church. They were indeed forced to resist, but everyone knew that the Church didn't care who was right or wrong.

Or rather, does anyone on the Saul Continent care about right or wrong?

The city lords looked grim. The mages mobilized their magic to raise shields of various colors, and the knights also drew their weapons, forming a formation in front of the mages.

The old man could hold off one Grand Duke, and the remaining one...

Danielson gripped his staff tightly. City Lord Aiji, hurry up.

"We need to support the Third Highness, everyone get out of the way!" Flying close, Blova shouted.

Everyone was stunned. Did we hear it wrong?

The Third Highness and the Second Prince are allied, right? Blova and Pestoya are the King's people; how could they help the Third Highness?

Could it be that they were both defeated by Jarvis and were just tricking us to save time?

What a clumsy trick, do they take us for idiots!

The city lords were angry.

As Saint-levels, you two are indeed very strong; either one could crush us, but that is no reason to insult our intelligence!

Anger was ignited, and the knights charged at the two galloping figures without fear of death.

The mages, without caring about their bodies that had already over-released magic, desperately stirred their magic and threw out their strongest killing moves.

For a time, countless sword blades and spears came slashing. Blova swung his long sword in confusion. What are they doing? Didn't they hear what I said?

Pestoya was also filled with confusion. While raising a Magic Shield to block the magic that filled her vision, she reminded: "The life force absorbed by the Blood Sacrifice Array is enough; we are here to close it!"

"To think such an absurd excuse could be said, do you really take me for a fool?!" The companion was so angry that he raised his staff above his head, draining the last bit of magic in his body. "Wind!"

Both sides seemed to have some misunderstandings.

However, the city lords could not be blamed; they had seen the video shot by Zhang Mu, and the actions of the two Grand Dukes basically confirmed it.

They felt that the other party was lying to them, and it was reasonable to make a wrong inference.

However, they guessed one thing right: Blova and Pestoya were indeed severely injured.

You must know that they didn't have gentle temperaments. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't break through the city lords' defense in their heavily injured state, they wouldn't have bothered to explain, but would have killed their way through.

As for whether the city lords were innocent, Blova didn't care.

After fighting for a while, the city lords noticed that the Grand Dukes were in a wane state and their attacks were weak, so they became even more convinced of their previous guess.

The two were just injured, so they were trying to trick them into letting them into the tower.

Dream on!

No matter how Blova argued, everyone no longer gave them a shred of trust and attacked frantically.

The two were anxious.

Because the True Word Spell blessed by Servant had suddenly failed, and they were hit by light-attribute magic, causing their injuries to heal slowly.

Fortunately, Jarvis didn't know; otherwise, the ones running away would probably be them.

Although they had luckily won, a sharp drop in strength was unavoidable.

At this moment, they really had no way to deal with a bunch of stubborn city lords.

"Everyone, please stop."

As both sides were fighting until they were bleeding, someone suddenly interrupted them from behind.

Everyone turned back and saw in astonishment that the towering Magic Tower had shrunk to be extremely tiny, easily held in the palm of the Third Highness.

Looking at the strange young man beside the Third Highness, Danielson stepped forward in confusion: "Who are you? A secret Saint-level of the royal family?"

"Hehe." Zhang Mu smiled. "You called me Eji before; now, you can call me Zhang Mu."

They understood. Eji was a fake name, and this young man was the real person.

But... who is Zhang Mu?

Someone wanted to ask, but the luminous figure floating in the azure sky spoke first.

"God said, Zhang Mu must die!"