Azure Scepter

Page 149

The Duke slowly rose to his feet and then uttered his first words since the start of the wedding banquet: "What a show!"

At this point, he suddenly turned to look at Count Cohen, who had been quietly drinking.

“A one-armed dwarf can’t defeat a powerful paladin, but my son can.” His gaze slowly swept over the others. “Don’t you agree, Cohen?”

Edith was stunned. She never imagined the Duke of the South could be so insane—insulting his only son would bring him no benefit whatsoever. Moreover, as far as she knew, Earl Cohen held far more power at the scene than the Duke himself. If Cohen had ulterior motives, the Duke's current actions were essentially tantamount to suicide.

Cohen was silent for a moment, then stood up, a smile on his face: "It is my duty as a knight to eliminate the enemy for the Duke."

The answer was quite appropriate, and even Trier, who had been keeping a low profile, couldn't help but nod in approval.

However...

“Then remove your mechanical arm and prove it to me.” The Duke laughed contemptuously, his dry laugh like that of a rotting crow, and a cold glint in his dark eyes. “Go and fight our valiant Sir Crusoe.”

In an instant, people began to whisper among themselves, looking worriedly at the Duke and his only remaining son.

Crisis is the best way to centralize power—Duke Cohen effectively fulfilled the duke's duties and powers during the Southern Duke's coma, and in the face of the Blood Plague crisis, Duke Cohen demonstrated exceptional military and administrative skills. He firmly resisted the most ferocious undead horde in the early stages, and coupled with his status as a legendary warrior, he enjoyed considerable prestige in his territories outside of Eraf.

The knights loyal to Earl Cohen below the platform had begun preparing for action, and through repeated secret whispers, they had made their arrangements.

At this moment, the actors on the stage were stunned. The elf, the dwarf, and the human actor stood there helplessly, and the younger human actor even wet his pants.

Trier did not take any action. He observed the Duke's performance with great interest. After all, he still did not know the purpose of the Duke's actions, so from a cautious point of view, it was not advisable to make any rash moves. He only needed to keep the scene relatively under control.

“Father, please let them go down,” Cohen pleaded.

"Aren't you moving? Are you deaf too?" The Duke narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice.

At this very moment——

"Enough!" A furious shout suddenly rang out, and the Duke's withered body trembled slightly at the sound of the shout.

People looked up at the platform in surprise, only to discover that the one who had been angrily rebuking the Duke was an elf in a formal dress.

“Your Grace,” Futia said in a deep voice, suppressing her anger, “it is not good to insult your son, and it is even more shameful to bully the performers who serve you. What you are doing is neither honorable nor worthy of respect.”

The Duke sneered, his expression growing increasingly contemptuous; he utterly disdained to answer the elf's question.

Because the Duke's behavior was so sudden and outrageous, most people didn't have time to react. However, after a few minutes of fermentation and brewing, some astute people quickly seized the opportunity—the merchant representative who had gossiped about the bride's appearance before the banquet immediately spoke up in support of the Duke: "Foolish long-eared man, the Duke's noble words are the law, and it's none of your business to speak here!"

“That’s none of your business, you merchant, spouting nonsense. Now, shut up.” Count Cohen’s personal knight suddenly stood up, his eyes wide with anger.

As soon as the knights spoke, Count Cohen's followers, who had already basically coordinated their efforts, immediately took action. In an instant, the situation was on the verge of spiraling out of control. What had just been a normal wedding had now become a battlefield on the verge of erupting, and everyone's eyes were on Cohen.

"Please stop arguing...stop arguing..." the bride repeated helplessly, but no one paid any attention to her.

"Calm down! Everyone, calm down!" Edith stood beside her best friend, drew her holy sword, and activated her Courage Aura. "Put down your knives!"

Trier took the opportunity to unleash a "serenity of ecstasy".

Courage and inspiration can only exacerbate chaos, but "ecstatic tranquility" is different.

A holy, warm white light flashed, and under the influence of magic, the people who were just moments before filled with rage and ready to fight all instantly entered a state of tranquility akin to that of a sage.

Peaceful, stable, prosperous...

The withered duke glared at Princess Edith with considerable apprehension, his ring-adorned hands gripping the scepter tightly.

“This is none of your business, let’s go.” Cohen glanced at the actors, then said in a deep voice.

The actors were immediately relieved and scrambled away from the scene.

Count Cohen took a deep breath and then snapped, "Don't get agitated. Yes, put down your weapons."

After saying that, he looked deeply at his father, then suddenly reached out and grabbed his left arm.

"Snap!" With a chilling sound, he forcefully severed his left arm, which had long since become one with his own flesh and blood! Blood gushed from his already deformed and twisted veins. Only then did Trier realize that Uncle Cohen hadn't even been born with a shoulder blade...

Blood flowed slowly, and the one-armed Cohen walked silently toward the stage in the Crystal Garden. The colorless crystal reflected the blood, and the entire garden was now a bewitching red, as if from hell.

The Duke chuckled coldly, then nodded slightly before turning to look at Fythia.

Before he could speak, Princess Edith immediately stepped forward and shielded her close friend behind her: "This farce is too absurd. Let's stop here, Your Grace."

"A farce? This is no farce." The Duke sneered again, staring coldly at Fythia. "Now that we've run out of actors, how about we ask you to play an elf?"

“No!” Futia refused resolutely, waving her hands excitedly, “Absolutely not!”

However, the next moment, Futia's movements seemed to possess some kind of magic. As Futia forcefully waved her hand downwards, the Duke's arrogant face suddenly froze.

Before he finished speaking, his already sparse, withered muscles suddenly twitched, and a pungent smell of blood gushed out from every pore of his skin. The flesh beneath his skin suddenly writhed and rippled like flowing mercury.

“Father?” the one-armed Earl Cohen asked in surprise.

The Duke did not respond. He clutched his chest in great pain, and the next moment, he suddenly pointed a finger at Fythia.

"How dare you, witch?" he roared furiously, his pupils slowly dilating.

"Clap."

The next instant, his eyeballs popped out of their sockets and fell to the ground, and then—

"Bang!" In a fraction of a second, the Duke's withered body suddenly twitched and shriveled into a ball of flesh, then burst open, splattering blood and flesh everywhere!

The Duke actually exploded!?

Trillen was stunned; he was dumbfounded.

PS: I will try updating every morning at 8:10.

Chapter 289 The Wedding Turns into a Shock (Part 3)

In an instant, the entire banquet hall seemed to have been put to a halt, falling into an eerie silence.

The next instant, a piercing scream and a roar of fear erupted, mixed with the bride's soft sobs and the distant sounds of vomiting. The air was thick with the smell of flesh and blood, and the blood and flesh scattered everywhere after the Duke's explosion made the entire wedding scene extremely horrifying.

Due to the Duke's dying accusations, amidst the chaos, several loyal guards immediately surrounded the Duke, drew their weapons, and pointed them directly at the stunned Feudia.

"Surrender, witch!" the head of the guards roared. He leveled the tip of his halberd and stepped forward slowly, while the other guards quickly surrounded him in an arc.

However, the next moment, the head of the guards stopped moving. An indescribable sense of fear suddenly exploded in his mind. In an instant, he felt his hands and feet turn ice cold, and all his courage and strength vanished.

Countless goosebumps, like poisonous vines, rose from his body. Instinctively, he took a step back, then another. To his astonishment, he found that his comrades beside him were doing the same. He even noticed that the previously noisy crowd in the distance had fallen silent out of fear.

—The invisible Trier immediately activated "Aura of Fear".

At this moment, even the midday light seemed to dim, and the shadows surrounding Trier's illusion became as deep and dark as an abyss. A bone-chilling cold and fear slowly spread with the shadows, seizing everyone's hearts. For a moment, everyone, from the Crystal Garden to the road outside, couldn't help but look at Trier.

Trier, maneuvering the Phantom, said in a deep voice, "Put down your weapons!"

Although the guards were all exceptionally skilled and resolute warriors, Trier's words at that moment seemed to possess an irresistible magic. The captain of the guard contorted his face as he tried to grasp his weapon, but his mind, filled with shrill screams, was simply incapable of making that decision.

"Clang—" He threw down his weapon, and then all the guards hurriedly threw down their weapons as if they were holding explosives about to be lit, not weapons.

"A legendary mage?!" At the entrance to the Crystal Garden, the guard responsible for checking equipment swallowed hard. "That guard protecting the elf is actually a legendary mage?! Radiance, who exactly is that elf?"

"What guard? Didn't you hear the messenger's announcement? That's Eraf's savior, Trier!" the knight in charge of checking the equipment snapped. "Thank goodness you didn't spout nonsense while checking the equipment, or we'd both be in real trouble this time!"

"I was just doing my duty..." the guard retorted softly.

Although the situation remained chaotic, fear had brought a preliminary sense of order back to the people. Trier glanced at the crowd, then turned to look at Noy and Edith, who were rushing towards the Duke's remains.

At this moment, Noy, as a legendary priest, directly cast a series of divine spells on the Duke's mangled flesh—"Mass Healing", "Law: Healing", "Higher Restoration", and "Heal Fatal Wounds".

A holy light suddenly burst forth, even briefly suppressing the supernatural shadows cast by the aura of fear. Under the influence of the divine magic, the splattering blood and flesh began to writhe, then slowly coalesced into a deformed mass of flesh that was beginning to resemble a human...

—This is the power of a legendary priest!

Edith drew her holy sword, its tip pointing directly at the mass of flesh formed from the Duke's mangled remains. She closed her eyes, and then the tip of the sword shone brightly—Holy Healing!

The flesh began to wriggle at an instant, but... the flesh, which was beginning to take on a human shape, could not transform into one.

Trier, who was still invisible, looked at the lump of flesh with surprise.

Although there are no resurrection spells in the game "Azure Scepter", the healing abilities of legendary priests and legendary paladins are enough to achieve miraculous effects - a person who has been dead for less than three minutes can be completely healed back to life.

But now, it's clear that Neu and Edith's rescue efforts have failed.

Trier shook his head, but the next moment, a suppressed cry of pain suddenly came from the end of the long table. He couldn't help but turn his head to look.

"boom!"

A blinding flash of metallic light disappeared in an instant, followed by a burst of blood!

The famous bard, the halfling "Emerald Tongue," had somehow crept up to the vicinity of the long table. At this moment, she was not carrying a gilded harp, but instead holding a dagger. She moved with incredible speed, almost flashing out of the shadows!

The moment she appeared, she flicked her wrist, and the dagger in her hand, gleaming with a scarlet glow, pierced directly into the shoulder of the spy chief, Nordman. The halfling didn't stop moving; she suddenly pushed off the ground and dragged Nordman to the side, causing him to fall to the ground.

Without even glancing at Nordman, her fingers flew across the page, and the magic dagger returned to her left hand in an extremely flashy manner. The next moment, she leaped onto the long table and charged straight at Trier like an arrow shot towards the sun!

There are assassins too!

Fythia grabbed a baguette from the table, slung it behind her back like a sword, took a quick aim, and then suddenly pushed off the ground and twisted her waist, smashing it down on the charging assassin.

The halfling assassin didn't take it seriously at first, but when she heard the ear-piercing sonic boom, her pupils suddenly contracted!

"boom!"

In the nick of time, she lunged forward and rolled under the table, but less than half a second later, the sonic boom, hot as magma, blasted the long table into burning fragments!

"Is this the power of an elf?!" The halfling was shocked. Although the covering above her head turned into a wave of flames, she reacted quickly, dashing forward and leaping over the sea of ​​fire. Then, she plunged her dagger straight into Trier's back.

"This mission is too easy," she thought.

The target of the spell was completely unaware of the approaching danger behind her, standing there dumbfounded like a sitting duck. She could almost hear the beautiful sound of metal cutting through flesh and screams mingling together—

"Bang!" The sharp sound of metal clashing shattered her illusion.

The one-armed Earl Cohen reacted quickly, suddenly standing in front of "Emerald Tongue" and using his other mechanical arm to block the dagger!

"Trier, there's an assassin! Get out of the way!" Cohen roared.

But it was too late.

The halfling assassin smiled, then extended his right hand and snapped his fingers at Trier—

"Snapped!"

In an instant, seven tongues of fire burst forth from her fingertips, then engulfed Trier like fire dragons.

A burst of flames erupted, and a wave of scorching heat accompanied the exploding embers. Amidst the acrid black smoke, Trier was instantly blasted into a cloud of ashes.

It is the Hellfire Ray with the ultimate power of the Ascending Ring. The halfling "Emerald Tongue" is a near-legendary sorcerer!

"There are assassins too!" Only then did the guards realize.

"Emerald Tongue" smiled, then threw down the dagger, leaped off the ground, spun around, and disappeared into the shadows. But the next moment, her nimble and graceful movements, like those of a dancer, suddenly froze.

The chill seeped into her bones, and a needle-like pain instantly swept through all her nerves. At that moment, every cell from her hairline to her toes screamed and groaned in agony!

She can no longer control her body!

Even more bizarrely, her five senses began to dull and become numb, and even her consciousness itself began to become rigid and intermittent...

"How could this be?!" she thought in horror.

In the midst of the chaos and haze, from the shadows that should have sheltered her, a cold, stern face suddenly emerged. She was startled and instinctively tried to look away, but at that moment, the terrifying face became clearer and clearer—Trill!

Trier's face was cold, and his dark eyes were fixed on her as if scrutinizing a dead person.

The one that was just blasted apart by the Hellfire was just an illusion; the real Trier has been hiding all along!

"Emerald Tongue" was dumbfounded.

Why would someone create an illusion to attend their grandfather's wedding? Why can he cast spells while wearing heavy armor? And what kind of spell am I under?!

Fear seeped into her thoughts like the deepest darkness, and under this supernatural dread, her vision narrowed ever more...

With a blank expression, Trier stretched out her left hand, and the next moment, the halfling's body floated up uncontrollably, as if an invisible rope was pulling on her neck!

The halfling struggled to focus her will and moved her eyes with difficulty, trying to find a way out of the predicament. However, after a moment, she discovered something extremely terrifying—her field of vision was slowly rising and had even surpassed her eye level!

She saw her own hair!

—Terre has captured her soul!

In an instant, an indescribable terror shattered her reason.

As we all know, no one can interfere with the fate of immortality, but now...

Trier pulled upwards with both hands, and the halfling's body collapsed to the ground, his thighs still twitching from time to time due to conditioned reflexes; while the halfling's soul was bound by thread after thread woven from the winds of death, the ends of which he held tightly in his hands.

At this moment, the halfling's soul looked terrified, and her beautiful eyes were filled with pleading.

Theoretically, Trier cannot interfere with the destination of immortal essence, but since he gained divinity, everything has changed. With the help of the necromancy spell "Bane of Enslavement," Trier directly grasped the other's soul!

From the moment he saw that unknown shadowy figure that morning, Trier had felt incredibly stifled and oppressed. And this stifling and oppressive feeling, under the Duke's frenzied actions, directly transformed into kindling burning with malice—now, this assassin had run into the line of fire.