Wizard Immortal

Chapter 608 Coercion

Inside the room, sitting at her desk, Ashley was deep in thought, her mind troubled.

Before the battle for the Southern Fortress began, Prince Gruul was a good choice, but after the Southern Fortress fell and the Carlo region was occupied by Duke Serena, the prince's prestige declined significantly.

The Carlo region is Prince Gruul's stronghold and also the territory of his maternal clan.

The fall of the southern fortress not only meant the collapse of the relationships Prince Gruul had cultivated over many years, but also caused heavy losses to the lords of Caro who had supported him. They were at a disadvantage in the competition with the northern lords, and their chances of inheriting the throne were much lower than before.

Choosing to side with Prince Gruul at this time, even if it's just to give the impression of such an attitude, is not a wise choice.

However, Prince Gruul was not easy to deal with in front of him.

A direct refusal would mean a complete breakdown in relations.

After all, the other party was a kingdom, not only the lord himself, but also Lord Carlo behind him, possessing considerable power, which was not something a viscount like him could afford to offend.

Moreover, the other party is currently accompanied by a Silver Knight.

Viscount Ashley was fully aware of his situation. The two bronze knights and the silver knight were not his subordinates, but merely sent by a prince to assist him, and would only stay for a short time before leaving.

By then, without the protection of these knights, that single Silver Knight would probably be enough to take his life.

Thinking about this, he became increasingly conflicted, until a series of hurried footsteps sounded again in the room in front of him.

"What! Lord Chris has been killed!!"

Ashley abruptly stood up, staring at his subordinate who had come to report, his face filled with disbelief: "What on earth happened?!"

"Not only Lord Chris, but those two gentlemen were also killed, their bodies laid out together!" The old butler, who came to report, looked terrified, seemingly in disbelief at what had happened: "Their bodies are still in the room, their heads all severed!"

"Damn it!!" Upon hearing the news, Ashley's mind was first filled with anger, followed by fear after he realized what was happening.

After this incident, he knew in his heart that it was time to make a decision.

Originally, he might have had the option of pleasing both sides, but now he has no other choice.

"To kill two Bronze Knights and one Silver Knight in such a short time, without them making a sound, is something that only one person in the entire castle could possibly do..."

He took a deep breath, and in that instant, the image of someone flashed through his mind.

Outside the door, a series of crisp footsteps slowly sounded.

Aishili looked up, and her eyes twitched slightly.

Outside the door, Gruul, dressed in a long blue robe with a long sword at his waist, was walking toward Ashley with a smile on his face.

Beside him stood a young knight named Yasuo, his tall figure swaying gently in the wind. The smell of blood on his body hadn't been washed away, and there were still traces of blood on his clothes, clearly telling him that this knight had just gone through a bloody battle.

As Adir and Gruul entered, Ashiri's face grew increasingly grim, and in that instant, he became certain of his thoughts.

"Viscount Ashley, have you thought through the request I made during the day?"

Looking at Ashley before him, Gruul's face was full of smiles, as if he had found a lot of gold coins: "We don't need many, just a few dozen will be enough."

"Your Highness Gruul is too kind." Ashley's face was grim, but at this point, he forced a smile, stared intently at him, and tried to speak in a gentle tone: "It is merely an honor to send someone to escort Your Highness to the capital."

"With Your Highness's status, a few dozen people are not enough. I am willing to send two hundred knights to escort Your Highness all the way to Tam City," he said, though his heart was gloomy, his face was still full of smiles.

In a short period of time, he had figured out the cause and effect, as well as the various possibilities now.

There was no doubt that the deaths of the three knights in his castle left him with no other choice.

He couldn't explain himself to the people behind those three knights.

Without witnesses, the people behind the three knights wouldn't believe his explanation; they would only think he had sided with Gruul and then conspired with Gruul to kill the three knights.

Even if the other party believed him, the families behind those three knights would not choose to let him go.

Two bronze knights and one silver knight—behind each of these knights must be their own family and power to have nurtured them.

Now, these knights trained by these families are dead, dead in Viscount Ashley's castle. Even if His Highness knows he is innocent, he still has to give an explanation to the families behind those three knights and make him a scapegoat.

So at this point, he had no other choice.

"Then I thank Viscount Asiri for his generosity."

Standing before him, listening to Viscount Ashiri's words, Gruul smiled, seemingly quite satisfied with Viscount Ashiri's final statement.

"Then, as a gift, I'll give you these items."

He smiled, revealing a set of neat teeth, then stepped forward himself, placed the three wooden boxes down, and turned to leave with Adir beside him.

Adir glanced at Viscount Ashiri beside him, shook his head inwardly, and then followed Gruul away.

After they left, Viscount Ashley, his hands trembling, looked at the three wooden boxes placed before him, smelled the faint scent of blood emanating from them, took a deep breath, and then slowly stepped forward to open the three wooden boxes.

A strong, pungent smell of blood suddenly rose up, instantly assaulting Viscount Ashley's nose and mouth, making his face look extremely pale.

Before him lay three wooden boxes, each containing a fresh human head.

Blood trickled down the man's head, his face contorted in a grimace of disbelief, frozen in time, as if he couldn't believe he had died.

After staring at the three heads for a while, Viscount Ashley finally calmed down. He gently closed the three wooden boxes, let out a soft sigh, and slumped into the wooden chair as if all his strength had left him.

Outside the door, Gruul and his companion walked along the road on their way back to their room.

"Yasuo, this time, it's all thanks to your idea."

Walking on the narrow road, Gruul still felt a lingering fear as he recalled the scene when he had killed the three knights.

After meeting with Viscount Ashiri and formally proposing that he be escorted back to the capital, Gruul was caught in a dilemma, somewhat worried that Viscount Ashiri would not yield.

After all, compared to the one who gave the order, he had very few bargaining chips to offer at the moment, and the mere following of a Silver Knight didn't mean much.

With the fall of the Carlo region, the southern lords who had originally supported him suffered heavy losses, indicating a significant weakening of his support base.

Seeing this situation, even those lords who originally supported him would probably have reservations.

Viscount Ashley was one such example.

As Gruul's father-in-law in some respects, Viscount Ashiri initially supported Gruul. However, after the fall of the southern fortress and Gruul's defeat, his attitude immediately became ambiguous, and a group of knights from other factions gathered around him to attack him.

In this situation, how easy is it to get the other person back into his arms?

Adir was well aware of his feelings and concerns, but he was also somewhat impatient.

For Adir, this level of confrontation was rather boring, so he simply came up with an idea.

By killing the knights sent by the other princes and framing Viscount Ashley, there is a high chance of forcing them to submit.

Strictly speaking, this plan isn't very safe, but for the time being, it's the only option.

Grull immediately agreed to Adir's plan and personally drew his sword, preparing to sneak into the three knights' room that very night to assassinate them.

Unexpectedly, the other party shared the same idea, and the three of them gathered together, turning a premeditated assassination into a violent killing.

In a fierce battle, Adir once again demonstrated his value, killing the three knights single-handedly without making a sound.

Thinking back to the previous battle, Gruul shook his head, and his gaze toward Adir became even more fervent.

"With such a powerful knight by our side, what is there to be afraid of unless the Golden Knight himself arrives?"

A smile appeared on his face; for the first time since he had fled, he felt a sense of security.

"However... it's still not safe..."

In an instant, other thoughts surfaced in his mind: "Yasuo will follow me only because I can give him opportunities and a future, but my older brother can do the same..."

"To ensure his loyal service, more is needed..."

For people like Gruul, they don't believe in so-called family ties and friendships from the bottom of their hearts.

Yasuo's second sister is indeed his wife, but in Gruul's eyes, she may not hold much weight.

In terms of relationship, Ashley was his father-in-law, but after Ashley's defeat, Ashley turned to other princes and tried to imprison him.

Baron Doru is Yasuo's father, but when Baron Doru suffered many defeats and was in danger many times, why didn't Yasuo step forward to help his father fight?

This shows that this genius knight may not care much about his father and family, and his hope of using this to bind them is slim.

"Instead of that, it would be better to..."

As if remembering something, Gruul's smile returned.

There will be another chapter later, so please wait a bit!

(End of this chapter)