Star Forge Titan

"Don't give up, old friend, don't you want to see your daughter wearing a wedding dress?" Ashram patted his shoulder and whispered.

"Of course I do. I want to see my grandson's birth, I want to see the day when Ostolfo wears aristocratic formal attire normally, and I want to see Antonia's smile again." Gustav looked at the bright moon outside the window with a far-reaching gaze, as if looking through the distant sky to some place farther than the sky.

"But unless I kill the source of the curse at the wound, my wound will never heal."

"Isn't this why Annie returned to the Fire Realm Defense Line? Hold on! Only by holding on will there be hope!" Ashram said seriously.

"It's too difficult. Every moment I feel like my soul is being torn apart by the curse. Even if the power of the Crown of Time can reverse this, it can also slow down the deterioration of the wound. But..." Gustav showed a painful expression.

Only in front of Ashram, with whom he grew up, would he reveal his vulnerable side, which a demon king should never show.

"I can't hold on any longer." The seriously injured demon king lowered his head and whispered in an almost inaudible voice.

“…” Ashram clenched his fists, his tall figure trembling slightly.

He was extremely angry at this moment. He was angry at why he couldn't break through the fourth level, angry at why he couldn't kill that damn demon, and angry at those traitors who had caused trouble for his dying friend, his brother, and a great king who was dying but always had his people in mind!

"Don't say such things... Don't say such things!" Ashram suppressed his pain and let out a low growl that could not be heard outside. It even sounded like begging.

The Dark Knight Ashram Belia, who could tear monsters apart alive, bite rebels like a wolf, and do all kinds of bloody and cruel things in secret to maintain the royal rule, was now half-kneeling and pounding the ground hard.

"I understand." Holding his friend's trembling shoulders, Gustav sighed softly.

Closing his eyes, the Demon King saw a complex dark golden crown with three obediences appearing above his head. Inside the crown, gears cast in light meshed with each other, and the pointer ticked backwards.

The Crown of Time, the most powerful treasure of the Gusmith royal family, is a powerful creation that far exceeds "mortal things", transcends "legends", surpasses "ancient times", and reaches the "immortal" level.

It has only one power, and that is the limited control over time.

Gustav temporarily closed the Crown of Time's restriction on his own time, and instantly spat out a mouthful of blood. Wisps of dirty blood with a black mist oozed out from the scar in the center of his chest near his heart.

He quickly drank the potion in the golden cup, then activated the power of the Crown of Time again to confine himself in time.

"Honestly, don't you consider using the Crown of Time to completely stop your own time? Simply slowing it down will only make the injury worse." Looking at his lord who was spitting blood, Ashram couldn't help but say again.

“…” Gustav didn’t say anything but just shook his head, then gritted his teeth and forced himself to endure the severe pain.

After a long while, when he had adjusted to the severe pain again, he let out a long sigh and spoke softly.

"They are too young."

"I understand." Ashram said no more. Just as Gustav knew himself, he also knew his friend very well. He knew that this gentle-looking guy would not easily change his decision once he made it.

"Let the kids relax for a while longer. We old guys can still hold on." Gustav forced a smile, and then his expression quickly turned grim.

"Has there been any response from Gaius?"

"As expected, he's just using that excuse to shirk responsibility." Ashram reported with a dark face.

"If it weren't for the old monster lying in the great mausoleum of the School of Undead that hadn't moved for a hundred years, I really wanted to rush in and see what the hell they were doing." The rising magic power caused the Black Knight to emit an unintentional deterrent.

"Before we are sure that he is completely destroyed, we cannot use force to force them to surrender." Gustav shook his head.

"Let's wait a little longer, until those jumping clowns show up one by one, and then..." Even though the seriously injured and sick Gustav was sitting on the sickbed, he still exuded an incomparable powerful aura.

One can't help but realize that this is, after all, a powerful demon king who once made all the mystical nobles in all of Elrond bow down to him.

"Let us guillotine them all at once."

Meanwhile, things weren't as peaceful at night in Evanmore as they seemed.

"Sorry, don't blame me, I was just following orders." Pulling out the blood-stained dagger, Khayon, dressed as a stalker, walked backwards out of the room following the bloody footprints left by his other pair of shoes.

Inside the house, a cold corpse stared at the ceiling with wide-open eyes, an expression of disbelief in his eyes.

This is a young sheriff from the reformist faction. Although he does not have strong personal ability, he is serious about his work, friendly to others, has good relations with many members of the reformist faction, and is quite popular in the area he is responsible for. He is very likely to become a candidate for the next tribune.

As a result, for some unknown reason, he appeared alone in a remote area of ​​the lower city and died inexplicably from a dagger.

It is easy to imagine how violently the reformists would react when they learned of this news. Faced with their extreme reaction, the conservatives, who had nothing to do with it, naturally would not allow the other side to doubt them.

The conflict between the two sides is very likely to escalate rapidly in a short period of time.

After disposing of various evidences and leaving the crime scene, Ka Yang took off his mask and revealed a tired expression.

The familiar environment around him made him inexplicably irritated, and the dilapidated courtyard in the distance triggered the only bright fragment in his memory.

"Come to think of it, those two guys should be safe now, right?" As soon as he finished speaking, Ka Yang couldn't help but be stunned, and then laughed at himself.

"Huh, what's it to me?"

Turning his head to look at the gradually bustling downtown area in the distance, he sneered again.

"I didn't expect the first target would be one of our own, but..."

"Next it's the conservative side's turn."

Chapter 38: Death of Caesar

"beat him!"

"Kick his ass!"

"Whip him with your tail!"

"Kick it!"

Roars and cheers came one after another, and my ears were filled with all kinds of noisy sounds.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? Did I just say this a while ago?

Complicated thoughts were swirling in Alvin's mind, as if he had not traveled through time, but was going out on a date with a female friend to watch a game for the first time after leaving home.

Unlike towns that have retained their original appearance, although there are no technological creations, the fantasy life inside the capital, Avonmore, which relies on spells and magic to create a life that is as advanced as modern civilization.

To give the simplest example, the city's underground drainage system has very complex but efficiently operated pipes. In addition to effectively completing the basic functions of water supply and sewage pipes, it can also ensure that there will be no urban flooding during the continuous rainy season.

This is something that no individual city has been able to do in the 21st century.

Now, he was in this large arena used to host the Blood Bowl rugby match, which was also a very magnificent building.

This magnificent building was named the Elrond Arena. It was located in the new city area on the outskirts of the capital, Avonmore. Tens of thousands of construction workers and dozens of low-level mages were mobilized in multiple construction phases, and even high-level mages participated in the entire design and construction process.

The arena covers an area of ​​approximately 20,000 square meters, with a long axis of over 180 meters and a short axis of approximately 156 meters. It has an overall circular structure with an outer circumference of approximately 530 meters. The highest point of the wall is 57 meters, and it can accommodate nearly 90,000 spectators.

The main competition area is located in the center of the arena, with a long axis of 86 meters and a short axis of 55 meters. The foundation is a huge rock shaped by magic, which is very solid. It is covered with soil and soft grass.

The main stadium was surrounded by tiered stands. The main stands, with approximately 60 rows in four directions, were divided into five sections. The bottom row was the VIP area for the royal family and upper nobility, the second tier was for ordinary nobles, the third section was for the wealthy, the fourth section was for ordinary freemen, and the last section was open free of charge to the poor. The poorer the seat, the higher the seating, and the last tier was almost entirely standing room only.

Large pieces of soft cloth canopies are suspended above the seats around the arena to provide shade. These canopies are not flat but tilted towards the middle to allow for ventilation. They are usually controlled by staff standing between the top colonnades like sailors controlling sails.

Initially, this was not a competition field open to the public, but was used by the Blood Order to conduct actual combat tests of various military-modified creatures and new spells and mysteries.

At the same time, it also served as a platform for reporting and presenting to the nobles and officials who oversaw this task. Initially, this place was only open to a select number of nobles, but over time, it gradually became a form of entertainment among young nobles, who were also willing to pay a certain amount of money for it.

Seeing this, a wizard from the Blood Order, who were troubled by funding issues, came up with a brilliant idea.

Since it has to be shown to outsiders anyway, why only let the nobles see it?

Wouldn't it be better to open it to the public and collect some admission fees to fill the funding gap?

Is there any difference between the gold pounds in the hands of nobles and the gold pounds in the hands of wealthy merchants and free people?

It smells just as good!

So, on the basis of the original protective outer wall, the original main stand was built.

Although it can only accommodate a few thousand people, it still brings a lot of extra funds to the Blood Order.

The prototype of the Elrond Arena was roughly completed before it was banned by the then-reigning Demon King on the grounds of preventing the leakage of military technology. Even in its prototype form, the arena could accommodate 15,000 spectators to watch beast fighting competitions at the same time.

Although it was forbidden, the Blood Order, having tasted the sweetness of it, was unwilling to easily give up such a large source of additional funding. Therefore, the brightest minds of Elrond began to think about issues other than research, which was quite rare.

A few days later, when the son of the monastery's president accidentally hit his old father on the head with a six-kilogram lead-filled rugby ball, it triggered a series of chain accidental defense spells, and he was sent to the intensive care unit of the healing hospital by his own father on the spot.

New ways to make extra money have also emerged.

Since we can’t fight animals, then we can fight people, oh no, fight balls!

Thus, the former Blood Amphitheater was expanded and transformed into the Elrond Arena.

A large number of very popular competitive events are held here to release the various pressures accumulated by people in their daily lives. Even the poorest people can go to the free standing area on the top floor to watch the game.

Right now, Elrond's most popular Blood Bowl rugby tournament is being held here.

The teams currently competing are the Centaur Hurricane and the Minotaur Labyrinth, two dark horses that emerged from the bottom division of this tournament.

The former was invested and established by the Freight Chamber of Commerce, and the latter was invested and established by the Agricultural Products Chamber of Commerce. There are no high-level demons in the team, so it can be said that it is a completely civilian team.

In the arena, Minotaur warriors wearing full body plate armor lined up in a row, panting heavily. The brass-plated armor looked as dazzling as gold under the sunlight.

They were all strong self-employed farmers who accepted the new universal secret ritual invented by the reformists. Although they also used bulls as the main ritual material, the conversion efficiency of the new ritual far exceeded that of the previous cheap universal ritual.

Every bit of the bull's blood, flesh, and biological characteristics are perfectly absorbed by the recipient, allowing them to shoulder 105KG of super-heavy full-body plate armor, which is three times the weight of ordinary plate armor.

The pair of golden horns on the top of the head, coated with a layer of alloy, can directly penetrate 2 to 4 mm thick metal plate armor during a high-speed charge!

Under the rule that offensive magic cannot be used, many noble teams with the participation of high-level demons were defeated because of the unstoppable momentum of their collective charge.

That's why they underestimated their opponents and ended up being at a disadvantage. Then they were completely defeated by the Maze Team with their hard training and fearless playing style.

Another team, the Centauri Hurricane, has a similar but not identical playing style to the Maze team.

They all underwent centaur transformation, except that the main material was replaced with retired Evanmore six-legged cold-blooded horses.

Using the same universal spell ritual optimized by the reformists, the blood and flesh essence and biological characteristics of the six-legged cold-blooded horses allowed them to transform into centaurs who were more than two meters tall.

Although it is not as tall as a real six-legged cold-blooded horse, it has greatly increased flexibility while maintaining strength and endurance.

Although the Centaur Hurricane Team was also wearing full-body metal armor, they did not choose super-heavy armor that would reach their own endurance limit. Instead, they chose the tilted vests developed by the reformist mages, which could reduce weight while ensuring basic defense.

In addition to group charges, the tactic that this team is best at is continuous long-distance passes that require extremely high tacit understanding.

After relying on group charges to withstand the first wave of attacks, they will split into multiple cavalry teams that are truly integrated with horses and men. They will rely on continuous passing to divide the opponent's combat power, and then use their own speed advantage to continuously mobilize the opponent to consume their physical strength, and finally break through and score touchdowns in one fell swoop!

The silver-armored Centaur players also lined up in neat rows, kicking the ground with their horseshoe-studded hooves, and waving their neat white horsetails behind them, making a sharp sound like a whip breaking through the air.

The referee, with his twisted legs, walked to the center of the court. The captains of both teams stepped forward simultaneously to flip a coin to claim the ball. Jordan, the towering captain of the Maze team, glared at Madrid, the silver-armored captain of the Hurricane team, standing before him.

"We're going to win," Jordan said briefly and forcefully, slamming his breastplate.

"Just wait and see, we will make you run to death." Madrid also knocked on the breastplate and said fiercely.

"Ha, come on! Let me show you the Bulls' endurance!" Jordan laughed.

The referee then tossed a coin, and the Hurricanes were awarded the first serve.

The captains of both teams returned to their teams, and the referee used magic to launch the heavy football high into the air. Then, it landed on the circular landing point in the middle with a whistling sound of wind, and the referee himself retreated from the field at high speed like a rabbit being chased by a hound.

"It seems a little different." Alvin was a little surprised.

"Is there something wrong?" Afrediya asked in confusion.

Although she prefers to stay in the library and read quietly rather than play football, she is still infected by the warm atmosphere around her when she actually arrives at the stadium. She perks up and looks at the collision and competition of the jingling bangs (yes, that's right) on the field.

"Well, it's just not the same as the football I remember."

Although Alvin had not watched much football in the past, he still found that the rules of Elrond football were very different from the American football he remembered. It could even be said that they were two sports with similar names but completely different essences.

In other words, Elrond football is closer to the early days of rugby, when the rules were not yet fully developed, the kind of early rugby where nineteen people died in a single year. (Real historical data, note 2)

"What's the difference?" Afrediya asked curiously. She was very interested in Ivan's past, and when he brought it up, she shifted all her attention from the game to him.

"My impression of rugby is not this, um, how should I describe it? Not this direct." Looking at the player who was knocked ten meters away with his armor, Alvin couldn't help but gasp with an expression as if he had a toothache.

Just looking at it makes me feel painful...

"Isn't rugby such a straightforward sport?" Afrediya tilted her head in confusion.

Now, the two were sitting next to each other in the royal box closest to the court.

However, although it is a box, for the sake of ventilation and to prevent the view from being blocked, it is actually just an auditorium with an independent awning, and other audiences in the surrounding seats can still see what the people inside are doing.

A young man suddenly appeared beside the eldest princess without any warning and behaved intimately with her.

No matter how you look at it, he has a mocking face...

However, the reality was that, although the VIP areas surrounding the area belonging to other upper-class nobles were all packed, they only exchanged a few words with their eyes or whispers, and no one actually jumped out to say something that would make people pretend to be cool and get slapped in the face.

Well, this is not routine, but it is very aristocratic.

As upper-class demons who had received aristocratic education, no one would take the initiative to be the first to stand out, not to mention that the current competition was very exciting.

Although they are both civilian teams that cannot use magic, the Maze Team and the Hurricane Team relied on their daring and fighting spirit to make the game feel like it was on a battlefield.

Blood splattered everywhere, dented plate armor, and a six-kilogram lead-filled rugby ball that was used as a meteor hammer to smash into the opponent's face!