Chapter 366 - 351: Courage and "Determination

Chapter 366: Chapter 351: Courage and "Determination

Anno spoke, and his voice seemed to have lost some of its usual roughness.

It had gained a hint of a low rasp and a strange, magnetic quality, as if the very structure of his vocal cords had subtly changed.

This minute change didn’t capture Lucius’s full attention. Right now, he only cared about the solution that could save him from his desperate plight.

"A solution! Tell me your solution!"

He practically roared the demand.

Anno set down his teacup, his fingertips tapping gently on the tabletop as the scene he had witnessed in the High Tower not long ago surfaced in his mind.

Those so-called Wizards were busying themselves with a complex ritual, attempting to jointly cast what they considered their trump card: the Maze Technique.

Recalling the scene, the true master deep within his consciousness let out a derisive snort.

’What a pathetic, broken era. A mere Eight Ring Spell, yet it requires a convoluted ritual and multiple people just to barely cast it.’

’The Maze Technique is, in theory, remarkably effective against a Knight like Morne, who relies purely on brute force and Fighting Spirit. If cast by a truly powerful Caster, it would be enough to banish the King into a Space-Time labyrinth. It could even be combined with the Teleportation Technique to exile him permanently. But these half-baked Wizards...’

A flicker of undisguised contempt passed through Anno’s eyes.

’Relying on a shortcut ritual, the Magic’s stability and precision are greatly diminished. It’s uncertain if they can even land a successful hit. And even if they do, with Morne’s Power, breaking free from a maze of this level is likely just a matter of time. However...’

Thinking of the little strings he had just pulled, the corners of the Duke of the East’s mouth curled upward uncontrollably.

It formed a twisted smile, full of a malice and glee that no human could possibly produce.

’This clumsy attempt provides me with the perfect opportunity...’

’If Morne dies, the entire Kingdom will surely fall into an unprecedented power vacuum. What wondrous Chaos and despair will unfold upon this fertile land...’

With that thought, it turned its gaze back to the frantic Lucius and spoke in that now-raspy and bewitching voice.

"Your Highness, there is a way, of course. It just requires you... to show a little courage and determination."

The inhuman smile on Anno’s face deepened.

"Courage... determination..."

Lucius subconsciously repeated the two words, his brow furrowed. A sudden burst of anger flared within him at Anno’s deliberate mysteriousness.

This was a matter of life and death; what need was there for such empty words?

However, Anno ignored the rage blooming on his face, merely gazing at him with those now-unfathomably deep eyes and tossing out a seemingly unrelated question in a level tone.

"Your Highness, the blood of King Morne flows within your veins, does it not?"

Stunned by the abrupt question, Lucius nodded almost instinctively.

"Of course! I am his eldest son!"

His words carried a hint of humiliation, as if his bloodline had been questioned, mixed with an air of stating the obvious.

"Your Highness has not yet answered me. Do you... have enough courage and... determination?"

Enraged by the repeated questioning, Lucius’s suppressed Fear instantly transformed into a volatile impulse. He roared back with hardly a thought.

"Courage? Determination? At a time like this, you’re still asking me that? Of course I do!"

Anno regarded Lucius’s loss of composure with an almost joyful appreciation.

This was exactly what it needed: the reckless abandon of someone pushed to the brink.

"Excellent."

Anno’s voice grew deeper still, its strange, magnetic quality seeming to carry a rhythm that wormed its way into Lucius’s mind.

"Then, Your Highness, one last question... To achieve your goal, to utterly destroy King Morne and end his reign, are you willing... to pay any price?"

"Any price?"

Lucius repeated the two words, his bloodshot eyes locked on Anno as if trying to confirm the meaning behind them. But his desperation to grasp at his last hope overrode all doubt.

"Of course! As long as I can kill him, as long as I can take the throne, I will pay any price! Any!"

He practically shrieked the last word, and it raised a faint echo in the vast hall.

The moment the words left his lips, the light in the hall seemed to dim imperceptibly for an instant, as if an unseen Shadow was silently spreading.

The dancing Flame in the fireplace flickered strangely, its color seeming to take on an indescribable, ghostly green hue, but it returned to normal so quickly one might have thought it an illusion.

The inhuman smile on Anno’s face widened.

He said nothing, only slowly raising his right hand and extending his index finger.

Beneath the skin of his fingertip, extremely fine, black, vein-like markings seemed to flash for a moment before vanishing.

He touched nothing, simply using his fingertip to trace an invisible path with excruciating slowness through the air between them.

An extremely faint scent, like rust mixed with ancient parchment, spread through the air.

But if one tried to sniff it out, it seemed to be nothing more than the smell of old dust.

Lucius didn’t see what was happening, nor did he even notice these subtle phenomena.

But in the instant Anno’s finger traced its path, he felt a sudden, inexplicable palpitation, as if something cold and heavy had silently coiled itself around his soul.

An indescribable feeling of being bound flashed through him and was gone, making him shudder involuntarily.

He chalked it up to excessive tension and Fear.

"Excellent."

Anno said the word again, but this time, the meaning contained within his voice was completely different. It was no longer a question or a confirmation, but a...

Declaration.

The declaration of a contract fulfilled.

He slowly rose to his feet. The Shadow behind him seemed to stretch and twist, no longer completely obeying the Law of light.

"Then, Your Highness, rest assured. Everything... has been arranged."

The corner of Anno’s mouth curved into an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible arc.

Just as Lucius was growing more confused and agitated by this nonsensical conversation, he suddenly felt a strange chill in his left chest. It wasn’t a biting cold, but rather a...

Hollow, empty chill, as if something had been lost.

He instinctively looked down.

In the next second, his pupils contracted to pinpricks.

On the left side of his chest, beneath his lavish tunic, a fist-sized hole had appeared silently and without warning.

There were no marks of a blade; the edges of the flesh were impossibly smooth, as if they had been instantly annihilated by some incomprehensible Power.

Most bizarrely, not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound. It only revealed a clear view of the emptiness within.

The heart that should have been beating powerfully there was gone.

His life force was rapidly draining away through the hole. Lucius could clearly feel the core that sustained his very existence departing from him.

Ultimate Fear and bewilderment instantly overwhelmed him. He snapped his head up, staring in disbelief at Anno, who was just a few feet away.

He saw Anno’s right hand—the same one that had been holding a teacup so elegantly and harmlessly just moments ago—now held open peacefully.

And in his palm, a living heart was slowly, stubbornly beating.

With every contraction and expansion, it pulsed with a faint halo of light and vigorous life.

That heart was unmistakably the very one that was now missing from his chest.

The scene before him was beyond anything Lucius could comprehend.

He even forgot to scream.

He could only stare fixedly at his own heart, still beating in his enemy’s hand. A discordant gurgling sound escaped his throat as the strength was completely drained from his body, and he slowly crumpled backward.

Anno looked down, gazing at the organ in his palm that sustained life and bloodline as if admiring a perfect work of art.

On his now much more delicate-featured face, a bizarre smile appeared—a mixture of satisfaction and cruelty.

The candlelight in the Throne Hall flickered, casting the scene in a light that made it resemble the darkest of blasphemous rituals.

And the heart, detached from its body yet still beating, seemed to signal that a horror far beyond mortal imagination had only just begun.