Cthulhu Gonfalon

Sometime earlier, inside the manor of the Maple Leaf Village.

Crick was wearing a fake smile. He pretended to be calm, chatting with the suitors to buy time.

The suitors were noisy. Most of them wanted Miss Anna to come out and meet with everyone. There was no courtesy in their words. In their view, Crick Keane was already a dead tiger, so they didn’t need to be afraid of him. Keane Hill was a dish on the menu. They were holding knives and forks in their hands, just waiting for the feast.

Crick tried to hold back the anger in his heart so that he would not sneer. He tried to steer clear of certain topics when chatting with them. If he couldn’t stall them off anymore, he would cough violently until blood came out of his mouth.

Of course, those people would not be polite to him even if he coughed up blood. However, he coughed so violently that he couldn’t talk, so they could do nothing about that.

Connor had been watching the scene with a cold face. In this mess, he finally spoke up.

“I know that you are dying, but before you die, you must do the business first!”

He pushed a few nearby suitors and their followers aside casually. They couldn’t stand steadily. A thin suitor even fell down, knocking down a table next to him and falling heavily to the ground.

“Ouch!”

“Jack! Are you okay, Jack?”

“Watch out! You blind fool.”

“How unreasonable!”

“Shush! He is Connor, the Beast!”

“What?! That wolf?”

For a time, everyone was in an uproar. However, Connor didn’t care. He swaggered towards Crick.

If there were some people who were upright and brave here, they might step forward and speak out from a sense of justice. However, at this moment, people who had gathered here were poor in character. Most of them recognized Connor’s identity, so they weren’t willing to conflict with this fierce villain. A few didn’t recognize Connor’s identity, but they also saw the strength Connor had shown, so they weren’t willing to speak up for that unlucky guy.

In fact, at this moment, many people were secretly pleased because of that guy’s misfortune.

Connor went directly in front of Crick. People along his way separated, making way for him. The scene was solemn.

This tall man, who was of werewolf descent, was looking down on Crick, who was sitting in a wheelchair. Connor’s eyes were full of disdain, and his body revealed more coercion.

“Do not play dead! Make your sister come here and give her to me, then you can die in whatever ways you want,” he said coldly.

Crick didn’t answer. He even didn’t look at him. He just looked at the people attending the wine party calmly.

In the eyes of those people, he couldn’t see goodwill and friendship. He couldn’t see care for Anna, and he couldn’t see any respect for the Keane family.

On the contrary, he could see greed, viciousness, contempt, impatience and all kinds of ugly desires.

Maybe the men here haven’t committed capital crimes, but at least for me, all of them… should be killed!

He couldn’t help but smile when he thought about that.

“Is this is what you want, or what everyone here wants?” Crick asked. After the smile, he still didn’t look at Connor but asked everyone in the hall.

Connor frowned, feeling that he was underestimated by this dying, sick man. He couldn’t help but reach his arm out to grab Crick. He wanted to pick Crick up from the wheelchair and punch him.

Just then, Drucker spoke up.

“Connor Griffon, you think too highly of yourself!”

Connor immediately loosened his grip. He turned back and stared at Drucker in disgust.

“Fat pig! Who allows you to talk to me in this tone!”

With a careless smile on his face, Drucker didn’t become angry because of the insulting name. He still stood there, not even interested in moving forward.

His eyes were full of disdain, as if Connor Griffon, who was now angry, wasn’t a famous master. In his eyes, Connor wasn’t the Beast of Griffon, but a small dog who was barking at him from the roadside.

This contemptuous attitude made Connor extremely angry, so he rushed toward Drucker, screaming at the same time, “I want to twist your fat head off!”

Before Connor’s voice died away, Drucker raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

At the same time, his followers around him took out heavy crossbows whose height was the same as half a person’s height. Each crossbow was full of arrows, and the arrows were poisonous, which could be used to kill huge demon beasts such as ground dragons.

Without any hesitation, they fired together at Connor.

The rushing winds of arrows whistled. Before the winds whistled, the fast-moving arrows had crossed the short distance between them and had flown into the face of Connor.

Connor hadn’t thought that Drucker would start attacking directly and they intended to kill him. Under the circumstance, he couldn’t dodge at all, so he could only try his best to raise his airflow. While trying to block the arrows with his airflow, he tried to jump into the air. He wanted to jump to the side of Drucker and launch a violent counterattack.

However, everything was in vain.

All of Drucker’s subordinates were good at using heavy crossbows, each of whom had the strength to participate in shooting competitions and won the prizes. In this sudden surprise attack at a close distance, Connor had no defense, so Drucker’s subordinates wouldn’t miss the target. With the whistles of flying arrows, Connor was already shot by a dozen arrows, and the poison infiltrated into his organs. Connor had originally been roaring and jumping in the air, but now his body had lost its vitality. He fell down in front of Drucker.

Until then, Connor’s subordinates realized what had happened. They screamed with horror and then rushed over, trying to protect their master.

However, it was too late.

After the successful shots, Drucker’s subordinates immediately dropped the heavy crossbows; then they pulled out their weapons to attack Connor’s followers.

Drucker slowly walked up to Connor, who was unable to resist. He stepped on Connor’s head and pulled a sharp knife out from his boot.

He didn’t mean to waste time, so he just cut straight down. The magic knife enchanted with a high-level sharp spell was amazingly sharp. It was easy to cut Conner’s neck open. His black blood sprayed out, splashing all over the ground.

At this moment, the people around had already escaped, so the blood didn’t splash on them. Otherwise, if they were splashed by his poisonous blood, they might be poisoned and die as well.

After the first cut, Drucker didn’t stop. The second cut, the third cut, then the fourth… It was only a moment later, and Connor’s head was separated from his body. He was completely dead.

Probably, this fierce and violent guy, who had been violent for decades, never imagined that he would die like this. Someone cut his head off so easily, just like killing chickens and slaughtering sheep.

Connor’s followers were scared of that scene, but no one dared to escape, so they had to attack madly, trying to break through the blockade of Drucker’s subordinates to kill Drucker.

The Grand Duke of Griffon was extremely strict, and he used the military law to manage those followers. Those people hadn’t protected Connor well, and Connor had died in front of them. They had committed an irreparable capital crime. At this moment, they had to kill Drucker and avenge Connor. Otherwise, they would have to die in this battle, so that they wouldn’t involve their families.

At this point, they had no choice.

For a time, swords were crossing, flesh and blood was splashing, and the scene was extremely fierce. The suitors and their followers were scared, but they were too afraid to leave. Therefore, they could only hide in the corner of the hall, away from the battlefield. Some had retreated to the gate so that they could escape immediately if the situation got worse.

Drucker’s obese face showed a peaceful smile. He didn’t take it to heart that he had just killed the prince of the Duchy of Griffon. He walked to Crick with a smile.

“Hello, Lord Baron Keane,” he said with a bow. “I am sorry I allowed that uncultivated bastard to disturb you.”

Crick smiled and nodded.

“No, I want to thank you,” Crick said. “As you can see, I have completely lost my fighting ability. You have killed him for me. I have vented my anger, so I want to thank you.”

Drucker’s fat eyes narrowed because he hadn’t expected Crick to have such a reaction. He said, laughing, “So, Lord Crick, do you think that I am a suitable husband for Miss Anna?”

Crick did not answer. He just smiled at Drucker.

“I admit that my appearance is a bit ugly, but it is just because I’m too fat,” Drucker said with a smile. “In the culture of our Dhaka Commercial Association, we’re proud of being fat. Being fat represents wealth. After all, only rich people can eat good food and become fat. I have been living there for a long time. But you don’t need to worry. As long as you give me a few months, with the power of magic, I can lose weight fast. At that time, I will be quite handsome.”

Crick nodded, smiling. He said, “I totally believe that.”

“So, you see, appearance is not a problem. As for my strength, you must have already known that others can’t compete with me,” Drucker said with confidence. “If I get married to Miss Anna, it’ll be impossible for the aristocrats around to get their hands on Keane Hill, even including the Grand Duke of Thunder!”

Crick smiled again, and he didn’t answer that.

“As for the feelings, I admit that I have no feelings for Miss Anna. But is it important for people at our level? Marriage is for the mutual benefit, and you are not an innocent boy who believes in feelings, right?”

Crick nodded again. He said, “You make a lot of sense, but we can’t completely exclude others. So, I will call Anna out to meet you guys. How’s that?”

Certainly, Drucker wouldn’t object, so Crick asked his wife to leave with the servants. Anna was waiting in the back room, so he asked them to help her to change clothes, dress up, and then come to meet the guests.

However, Amyveile, who had always followed his words, violated his orders this time. She waved her hand to order the servants to do those things, and she still held the wheelchair, refusing to leave.

Crick looked up at her, frowning.

She smiled softly. When Crick had just woken up, sick in bed, she had looked after him with the same soft smile.

Then he understood.

He sighed secretly. Without saying a word, he patted the back of her hand and smiled at her.

“Sorry, my wife is a little worried about me… So, you just wait for a little longer, please. I’m afraid that it will be a bit slow when only the servants do the work,” he said with a smile.

At the moment, people were fighting in the hall, so the suitors weren’t free to care about that! Although a few people were worried when they saw that the servants had left, they were relieved when they that saw the Keane couple had stayed here. However, after a while, Miss Anna didn’t appear, and the servants didn’t return, either.

“What’s wrong?” Crick frowned, pulling out a pocket watch with difficulty. He looked at the time, then he asked, “Why do they spend such a long time?”

“Women always take some time in dressing up,” Drucker said with a smile. He felt the victory was in his grip, so he was in a good mood now.

“It shouldn’t take such a long time! Is she playing games?” Crick shook his head. He looked at the pocket watch again with a dissatisfied expression.

“Don’t worry. Let’s drink,” Drucker said, smiling. He walked to the table where the wine was placed; then he poured two glasses of wine. He returned to Crick with a glass in each hand and handed one to Crick. “Although this is a bit sad to say, I don’t think you mind drinking now.”

Crick made a bitter smile. He asked his wife to take the glass of wine, and then coughed for a while. After that, he looked down at the pocket watch again.

“How can she be so slow!” he muttered with dissatisfaction. “Did something unexpected happened?”

“Do you need me to send a few people to check?” Drucker asked. “From my side… it should be possible to pick two or three people out.”

Crick said, shaking his head, “Let’s wait. Anyway, I will wait once more.”

Hearing those words, Drucker thought that Crick completely surrendered and admitted defeat, so he couldn’t help but smile more blissfully.

At this moment, the ground under their feet suddenly burst. In a flash, an unthinkable violent explosion swallowed the entire hall.

The prepared Crick and Amyveile and the unprepared Drucker and the other suitors and followers had no time to react to that violent explosion.

In the next moment, a loud noise shook the world. The shock wave along with the noise of the violent explosion destroyed the entire manor. The aftermath waves continued for a long time, and Maple Leaf Village almost became a ruin.

The ground vibrated violently just like an earthquake. This vibration spread in all directions, so people could even feel it hundreds of miles away.

At this time, the servants who were originally in the manor and the villagers in Maple Leaf Village were away from the village under the leadership of Knight Charles and the soldiers. They were hiding in a forest.

Many of them were shaken down to the ground, and more of them were stunned, staring at the huge flames rising from the manor. They couldn’t speak.

Charles stared at the flame quietly and burst into tears.

Among the people present, he was the only one who knew what had happened there.

“If we could be more powerful… our lord wouldn’t have needed to …”

…

Hearing the explosion and feeling the vibration, Romon’s smile disappeared. He sighed deeply.

“What happened?” the people attending the party asked in a panic.

“Nothing.” Romon waved his hands, asking everyone to calm down. “I can tell from the sound that it is far from us. No matter what happens, it won’t affect us. Don’t worry.”

In order to prevent Anna from revealing her nervousness and worry, Crick hadn’t told her about his plans. He even hadn’t told Rena who accompanied Anna to participate in the party.

Therefore, in the hall of the party, Romon was the only one who really understood the meaning of the loud noise.

…

At this time, next to the small portal of the temple of Void Mask, Mage Damwade looked back in the direction of the explosion for the last time. He sighed deeply and then walked into the portal without turning his head, traveling to the Void Mask Land.

If nothing else happened, he would spend the rest of his life there.

…

Archbishop Miramon was a little shocked. Although he had had some understandings of Crick’s plan, he hadn’t expected that the method of Crick would be so fierce. This was shocking!

“Even if two legendary strongmen had a fight to the death, the scene would be fierce just like this…” he couldn’t help but mutter. “The power of Mr. Crick’s last move is really beyond imagination!”

…

In the study room of the Baron House, Housekeeper Layton was sitting in the dark corner, crying loudly. This old man had always paid attention to his appearance. Now, his tears had wet his white beard, but he totally ignored that and kept crying.

“Young master! Young Master Crick! Why did you pass away, too! Master! You asked me to take care of the young masters, but I was useless. I didn’t take good care of the three young masters! None of them!”

…

Knight Howard James was leading his two sons and all the riders in the territory to guard the main road to Keane City. Suddenly, he turned back, looking in the direction of the fire and the loud explosion. His body had always been strong, but now his hands trembled, and he gradually became unable to hold the reins.

“Why… I’m such a useless old thing. Why didn’t I die instead?”

…

Ryder was patrolling with the soldiers in the city. Suddenly, he stopped and turned back to look in the direction of the explosion.

His old friend next to him, Priest Morton, the Fire Hammer, was stunned. He asked in confusion, “What happened?”

Ryder was silent. Then he answered, sighing deeply, “A great man has passed away.”

Morton frowned, and then he understood what Ryder meant. He looked a little surprised, but he said nothing, just sighing for a long time.

…

The information officer, Rafael, was standing on the observation tower at the top of the castle. He was also looking in the direction of the explosion. Usually, he never drank alcohol. However, he poured a glass of wine today and drank with Warden Shadow, who rarely left his prison.

“What happened there?” Shadow asked.

Rafael sighed and whispered something to him.

Shadow’s face was full of horror. He suddenly stood up in shock, then finally sat back down again.

“Fess doesn’t know that, right?” he asked.

“No. In the entire territory, no more than ten people know,” Rafael whispered.

“If our lord is gone, what will happen to the territory?” Shadow asked with concern.

“There will always be a way!” Rafael said seriously. “There will always be a way!”

Looking at the old warden who was over 50 years old, Rafael’s eyes were bright for the first time in his life.

…

The sanctuary of the God’s Kingdom was covered with soft white light. In the sanctuary, Crick and Sui Xiong met.

Of course, what Crick met was Sui Xiong’s human appearance, exactly the same appearance as when he had been a person on earth.

Without words, the communication of their souls allowed them to understand each other. Originally, they were the souls of one body, so they were conveying their true feelings and thoughts in a way that no one could understand.

“Is my life meaningful?” Crick asked.

“Your life is equal to my life,” Sui Xiong replied. “You are neither a puppet nor an experimental product. You are ‘Sui Xiong,’ just on another path with a different life.”

“I don’t think I did it well enough. I should have been able to do better,” Crick said.

“No, you have done a good job, even better than me,” Sui Xiong replied. “This short life makes you passionate. Although I’m a god, the light that you exude makes me feel ashamed.”

“Amyveile, what about her?” Crick asked.

“If you want, I can resurrect her. But I don’t think that she will like that,” Sui Xiong said.

“You are right, that’s too cruel for her!” Crick sighed deeply. “Can you help me eliminate her memories, change her appearance, and let her live peacefully and happily ever after?”

“Does that make sense?” Sui Xiong asked.

“It may not make sense to her, but it makes a lot of sense to me,” Crick said with a bitter smile. “That’s the only thing I can do for her.”

“If you want, actually, you can live in my God’s Kingdom together, and no one will know your identity,” Sui Xiong proposed.

“No, that’s not the ending for me.” Crick smiled and shook his head. “You are taking the path of a god. I am taking the path of a mortal. Let me walk this road to the end and leave you.”

“I’m very sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. If you can open up the world a little bit in the right direction, then everything will be worthwhile! It would be the same if you were me, right?”

“I don’t think I would be as noble as you are,” Sui Xiong said with a blush.

“Hah hah, you are me. In similar situations, you would make the same choices that I have made,” Crick said, smiling. “I don’t have much time. In short, I’ll leave everything to you.”

“Your wish is my wish,” Sui Xiong replied. “Don’t worry. Amyveile, Anna, Keane Hill, and your friends… I will take care of them. Or to say, you are still the one who takes care of them, just with a different appearance.”

Crick smiled, and his soul gradually disappeared, turning into countless light spots. However, the biggest light spot didn’t disappear. When Sui Xiong showed his real body, the spot fell to the forehead of the giant jellyfish and turned into countless messages.

At the end of these messages, there was a relieved chuckle.

“I have no regrets in my life!”