After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

"Father."

"ha?"

Turning around, he found that Heidi, who had fainted in the tomb before, had woken up at some point and even returned to the royal capital.

At this moment, he was standing in front of him holding a larger battle axe.

Under normal circumstances, George would have burst into a swearing fit.

But at this moment, for some reason, Heidi's eyes, which were extremely cold and filled with murderous intent, exuded an extremely terrifying pressure, and she even overwhelmed him in terms of momentum.

Adding to the strangeness he had just discovered, George shook his head after swallowing his saliva, and asked in a slightly timid voice:

"What happened? Heidi, what happened? Did you do something?!"

"What did I do? I simply freed those people, my people, whom you turned into monsters and exploited for all their worth, from their senseless suffering."

Heidi lowered her head and said this coldly.

"It's no big deal. It's just the royal family's duty and responsibility, just as you taught me... and now, it's your turn."

As she spoke, the short red-haired princess raised her free finger and pointed at the other party.

"Now, it's time to sentence and punish you based on this information. I want you to pay for what you've done! George Art!"

Chapter 121 Outside the City Wall

The situation in the royal capital can always be divided into two parts: internal and external.

Inside, there is a raging blood plague and the royal family's so-called ascension plan that has lasted for 200 years.

Externally, the Duke's alliance was forcing the emperor to abdicate and usurp the throne.

After learning that Aize had broken off the engagement and ran away from Heidi, the three nobles joined forces and, in the name of guarding against demons, mobilized a large army to surround the royal capital, attempting to force the princess to give up her inheritance rights.

The outbreak of the blood plague made them overjoyed. They tried to surround Heidi and the royal family she represented and let them collapse on their own.

At first, everything went smoothly.

Who would have thought that by mistake, he let Heidi out when she asked for help, and actually recruited Aize and others as reinforcements.

Even Aize took advantage of Brian's death to easily split and disintegrate the Duke Alliance, which was not very strong to begin with.

The two Dukes, Bertram and Trenchard, were not that concerned about the fight for the throne. In order to share the resources and territories controlled by Brian, they left the capital one after another after hearing the news.

Only the Duke of Auchinleck, who was determined to win the throne, was still holding on.

A few hours ago, before the late king was resurrected, outside the city, at the station of the Auchinleck noble army—

"The Black Hounds are a bunch of rubbish! They can't even handle such a simple task. What's the point of keeping them?"

In the luxurious tent in the center of the camp, a brown-haired man in his thirties, dressed in gorgeous clothes, was losing his temper at his men.

He raised his hand and pushed all the luxurious silver tableware on the table in front of him to the ground with a crackling sound.

He is the current head of the Auchinleck family, the Duke of Auchinleck himself.

Just now, he learned that the Black Hounds who had sneaked into the Royal Capital's safe zone had not only failed in their assassination attempts and incitement of riots, but had also been completely wiped out.

That's why he was so angry.

"Right now, those two bastards, Bertram and Trenchard, are fighting over Brian's inheritance, and we're not making any progress here. Do you know what this means?

"If we can't seize the capital before they return, their increased strength will combine forces to squeeze me out before they can deal with the royal family. Then, I'll be completely finished! Do you, a bunch of losers, understand?!"

The subordinate whom Auchinleck scolded was a strong man wearing a long black coat.

He was wearing a hat with an unusually large brim, and his facial features were hardly visible.

This person is the commander-in-chief of the Black Hounds.

In response to his master's anger, he replied expressionlessly:

"Your Excellency the Duke, with all due respect, without a direct attack from the main army, it will be difficult to shake the current situation in the capital with just one team of black hounds left in my hands."

The Black Hounds, a secret assassin organization, has a total of four teams under its jurisdiction.

One of the teams was sent to hunt down the fleeing Heidi, but was later eliminated in turn by Aize and Heidi in Tafia. The few survivors basically lost their ability to move.

Two teams were sent into the royal capital at the very beginning of the blood plague outbreak to incite panic and try to undermine the situation in the safe zone from within.

Everything went smoothly at first, but after Aize arrived, he quickly stabilized the situation. They had made a desperate move in the previous operation, but were tricked by Aize and were completely wiped out.

Only the last team is left.

But the situation in the royal capital is already under control, so even if they are sent out, it will most likely be in vain.

Worthless.

"Your Excellency the Duke, with all due respect, this plan has already failed. It's still not too late to leave and fight for Duke Brian's inheritance."

Based on a completely rational perspective, the Black Hound boss made this suggestion without any emotion.

This suggestion, naturally, made Auchinleck extremely angry.

"Leave now!? Are you kidding!? We've already invested so much, if we leave now, won't all our previous efforts be wasted!?"

Excessively high sunk costs will interfere with people's judgment, making them continue to invest like a crazy gambler in an effort to turn the tables.

The result is a dead end.

"My family should have become a royal family in the succession dispute a hundred years ago! I'm just taking back what's mine. Leaving? Leaving now? It's a rare opportunity like this. If I leave now... well..."

In this regard, Auchinleck is much more rational than Brian.

After a temper tantrum, the brain gradually cools down.

With a long sigh, he sat back in his seat, covered his forehead and began to seriously consider the feasibility of this suggestion.

"…Any news from Bertram and Trenchard?"

"The two have held several rounds of meetings regarding Duke Brian's inheritance. It's said the arguments are extremely intense, and there's no conclusion yet."

"So, if I go back now, maybe I can still make it? No, but it's also possible that they've already reached some terms, and then they'll unite to deal with me... Tsk, after all, it's all the fault of that brave Aize! If..."

boom! ! ! ! !

Before he could finish his words, the ground suddenly began to shake violently with a strange roar.

It seems to be an earthquake.

The leader of the black hounds didn't hesitate and immediately rushed up to grab his master, dragging him out of the tent with a confused look on his face.

Fortunately, this only lasted for a moment.

By the time the two men ran to the open space in the military camp, the tremors had already ended. No damage worth mentioning was caused, and the well-trained noble army did not cause any commotion.

This relieved Auchinleck.

After all, things have come to this point, and it's time to run away. He doesn't want any more accidents.

Never thought——

"Your Excellency the Duke, look up at the sky!"

"Um?"

In the distance, in the direction of the royal capital, the black fog formed by the blood plague that enveloped the city suddenly intensified in an instant and spread out like a large and strange dark cloud.

In the blink of an eye, the sky, which had been clear and bright just a moment ago, completely lost its light, and the earth beneath it fell into suffocating darkness.

Now, the soldiers of the noble army could no longer remain calm and almost immediately fell into chaos.

"Calm down, everyone, calm down! Stand still and don't move!"

"Anyone who dares to act without authorization will be killed!"

"Be alert! Stay alert! The enemy may take advantage of the opportunity to attack, so stay alert!"

The officers drew their swords and moved among the chaotic soldiers, waving and shouting in an attempt to maintain order.

As for Auchinleck himself, he raised his head, stared at the strange scene with wide eyes in surprise.

"What's this?"

"Your Excellency, the Duke, it should be the Eternal Night. The Eternal Night has formed!"

The leader of the Black Hounds had been in charge of investigation and intelligence work these days and was relatively familiar with related matters, so he hurried forward to explain.

"It's what I mentioned to you before, the overflow of magic power of the vampires and blood slaves, which led to..."

"I know! The question is, why did Eternal Night suddenly form? Didn't the previous report say that progress had stagnated? What's going on?!"

Auchinleck interrupted the other person unhappily.

The reason for the eternal night is the resurrection of the previous king.

But Auchinleck and others knew nothing about the royal family's secret ascension plan, so the Black Hound boss naturally had no way to answer this question.

I could only remain silent with an embarrassed look on my face.

And the changes are not over yet.

boom! ! !

Another explosive roar, coupled with a classic combination of violent vibrations, almost knocked the already panicked Auchinleck to the ground. Fortunately, his subordinates supported him.

At this point, the Duke, who was already a little depressed, could no longer bear it:

"What's going on? Someone, tell me what's going on!"

"Report!!!"

As if to answer his question, a guard ran over in panic:

"Your Excellency the Duke, something bad has happened. The royal mausoleum... the royal mausoleum has collapsed!"

"What did you say!?"

The Royal Tombs, or mausoleums of the royal family, are located next to where Auchinleck's army was stationed.

This magnificent complex, consisting of both above-ground and underground parts, is located outside the royal capital and is the burial place of all the rulers of the royal family since the founding of the country.

It can be said that it is the second largest symbol of national sovereignty after the royal palace, and it is an object that the nobles must respect even if they want to rebel.

Therefore, even though he was stationed here for many days, Auchinleck did not destroy it.

He even sent people to surround it and strictly prohibited his soldiers from entering to cause trouble or plunder, so as not to give the other two families any handle.

Now, it collapsed inexplicably.

Combined with the sudden expansion of the Eternal Night, the bad premonition in Auchinleck's heart grew exponentially and instantly occupied his entire brain.

His expression also became extremely ugly.

The leader of the Black Hounds stepped forward and said cautiously:

"Your Excellency, could it be that the earthquake just now caused the collapse of the royal mausoleum, so..."

"The royal mausoleum was designed and built to the highest standards. How could it collapse just because of an earthquake? Something must have happened. Let's go and take a look!"

"Yes!"

In his anxiety, he didn't care about the danger.

Auchinleck personally led the remaining black hounds, a team of the Duke's guards, and hundreds of guards present, and rushed to the scene as quickly as possible.

At the scene, the tall ground buildings used for sacrifices in the royal mausoleum have almost completely collapsed.

Several huge cracks stretched across the area belonging to the underground tombs, and a large amount of ominous dark red mist was leaking out from them and slowly spreading to the surroundings.

It also made everyone in the group look at each other in confusion.

"Your Excellency, this mist is the blood plague! It's very dangerous, please retreat!"

"Tsk——"

The accompanying magician issued a warning, and Auchinleck almost subconsciously covered his mouth and nose and took a few steps back surrounded by the guards.

Fortunately, nothing happened for now.

He looked at the Black Hound boss beside him and ordered:

"You, take people into the royal mausoleum immediately and find out what happened!"

"Yes, Your Majesty the Duke!"