"Upper-tier divine blood?"
Conrad couldn't help but squint his eyes and asked, "How did you get it? As a junior priest, you shouldn't be eligible to handle such high-level items, right?"
"It was just by chance. Luck is important; chaos is the ultimate truth," the dark priest answered.
The young man snorted softly, looked down at Qian's corpse, which was gradually being enveloped by a black and red beam forming a cocoon of light.
"The probability of failure is also quite high," he said.
"The loss would only be a high-quality corpse," the dark priest replied coldly.
"Suit yourself. Now, I'm about to attack. You better stand far away, Bujia and Macaro are not ordinary people. When they fight to the death, I might lose half my life too." Conrad turned around and glanced outside the forest, but despite his words, his right hand with white gloves placed lightly on the hilt of his thin sword.
The dark priest knew the primary and secondary objectives of this operation, so he didn't argue but instead stepped aside. He paused for a moment and then lifted his head to ask, "That group who left, are they really the genuine 'Ecco'?"
"Highly possible." Conrad walked out of the forest without turning back and said, "Anyway, it doesn't matter. No matter what, they can't escape here. If I want them dead, they will die."
The dark priest displayed a silent mocking smile.
In the quiet mountain forest, the stillness was soon broken by a sentence—
"So, did Lord already know he's the eldest son of Duke Lantoniyan?"
"Of course not, Miss Antitina. I only suspected it at first," Brand sighed and answered, "But Miss Yura reminded me. She is a Star Seer, and her other identity is Ecco's fiancée. I met them once at the Black Tower, just didn't recall it immediately."
Of course, the real truth wasn't like that. Brand couldn't possibly have met these two at the Black Tower. But it didn't matter; he thought no one would jump out to expose him. And he didn't completely lie, he did recall the matter upon seeing Yura, because Miss Yura was a well-known figure in history. She was the most famous Star Mage of Erune later on, and her strength was indeed exceptionally strong.
In the history of the Amber Sword, Brand clearly remembered Yura as a 'Chosen One,' and her congenital blindness also indirectly confirmed this. A Chosen One was the beloved of Martha, but mortals, after all, are mortals whose imperfect bodies cannot accommodate such perfect power. When divine power descended, the body would inevitably be damaged.
In the long history of Vaun, only two Chosen Ones had no physical defects—one was the hero of the Flame Nations, one of the Four Saints, King of Flames, Gilte. The other one belonged to this era, currently wielding Madara's cold Mercury Wand, the future Emperor. While other Chosen Ones were mostly famous, they undoubtedly had flaws.
But at this moment, if someone said Yura might become a Martial Arts Master in the future, even awakening elements, reaching a peak strength of Level 150, and once assisting Duke Lune to stand alongside the Valkyrie and Regent Princess's alliance, people would surely laugh it off as a joke.
"Could it be that her Chosen One talent awakened during this battle?" A thought suddenly flashed through Brand's mind.
He was keen to recruit this future top-tier powerhouse, but unfortunately, Yura of this period was deeply in love with Ecco. Though Duke of Lantoni was still leaning towards the Royal Family at this time, their break would soon occur. Brand calculated the date and found he neither had the ability nor time to prevent it.
However, he wasn't too worried. Anyway, Ecco and Yura eventually contributed to Erune's revival and unification during its golden age, though it was a pity these genius-level individuals died young. Yura left behind a daughter in history, and he remembered that after the death of the Regent Princess and Valkyrie, that girl named Erela Lantoniyan Ophelia once led Erune's last Rebellion Army.
But by that time, Brand had already left the frontlines against Madara to join the Church Knights Country Grace.
Antitina listened to Brand's explanation but still looked at him doubtfully: "So, this whole incident superficially suggests a struggle between two mercenary groups, but in reality, it's the continuation of a noble conflict. 'Mane Wolf' Macaro turned out to be Duke Lune's house servant? The entire Gray Wolf Mercenary Group is the personal guard of that young man named Ecco? So what's the Paper Card Mercenary Group aiming for, just assassination?"
"No, most members of the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group probably don't know," Brand replied: "When Duke Anlek controlled the regime, almost all of Duke Lune's family perished in that assassination. You should be aware of that incident."
"Of course, the nobles' blood dyed that month's coup red, how could I not have heard of it..." Antitina's eyes glinted.
"In fact, Duke Lune knew about the assassination early on, hence he sent out his only heir beforehand. Thus during that upheaval, he had planned to use others' deaths to cover his only descendant," Brand replied calmly.
Antitina remained silent after hearing this. The struggle among nobles was always bloody. In a sense, Duke Lune's actions were understandable.
Romantic looked over from a distance but seemed uninterested in the topic.
"So, they must want to use this sole heir to coerce Duke Lune?" After thinking for a while, the noble daughter raised her head and asked. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ noᴠelfire.net
"Sharp observation," Brand praised: "Duke Lune, at least for now, is the Royal Family's most powerful supporter. If someone wants to act, they naturally need to destabilize this 'pillar of the Royal Family' first."
Antitina frowned in concern. Though a chaotic situation was advantageous for them, as citizens of this kingdom, they didn't wish to see the worst happen.
"Within three months," Brand replied.
"Did Macaro know everything from the beginning?" Antitina asked suddenly and realized: "He purposely led the Black Fire Sect believers here, using the mercenary group as bait?"
"Probably," Brand answered.
The girl took a deep breath, thinking of the hundred lives at stake, including veterans who followed their leader for at least ten years According to Brand's words, she understood that only ruthlessness allowed one to survive such brutal struggles, but she couldn't help feeling a chill when faced with reality. She glanced at Brand and thought uncontrollably: Does my Lord think the same way?
But Brand's gaze remained fixed on the valley below, knowing a troublesome matter awaited his resolution.
(PS. Asking for monthly tickets and support. Finally able to request loudly, it's been tough.)(To be continued. For more details on the next part, please visit www.qidian.com, more chapters available, support the author, and read the original!)