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The gentle morning light seeped through the treetops, casting a dappled pattern of light and shadow on the grassland.

Awoken by the clear chirping of birds, Lawrence rose from the ground.

After getting up, he looked around until he saw the slender figure wrapped in a mage’s robe not far away, and finally felt relieved.

Lawrence walked over and quietly greeted, “Good morning, Father.”

Mr. Ji didn’t respond, engrossed in whatever he was recording.

Feeling slightly awkward, but daring not to interrupt too much, Lawrence retreated quietly, preparing to hunt for breakfast.

The morning air was especially refreshing amidst the forest, with dewdrops lingering on the leaves.

Lawrence spotted traces of a few wild rabbits and promptly followed.

But not far into his pursuit, he saw a flock of startled birds fluttering out of the woods.

Someone’s coming!

Lawrence immediately turned and ran back.

Seeing Mr. Ji’s figure once again, he yelled out, “Father! Someone’s coming! It’s probably the Uman Clan’s soldiers!”

Mr. Ji seemed not to hear the call behind him, continuing to write and draw on the sheepskin scroll.

Running to Mr. Ji’s side, Lawrence warned him again but to no avail.

At a loss, Lawrence panicked even more when the surrounding bushes rustled, and soon, fully armed soldiers surrounded them.

Lawrence gripped his sword, scanning his surroundings nervously while Mr. Ji remained engrossed in his writing, indifferent to the external events.

Although the soldiers formed a formation, they didn’t move forward.

As Lawrence puzzled over this, he saw a knight step out of the crowd.

The knight dismounted and took off his helmet, revealing an expressionless face—

It was Count Uman!

Lawrence’s heart thumped; something was wrong.

The appearance of Count Uman meant that the army was nearby, signaling that escape was unlikely.

Even if Mr. Ji was a powerful sixth-order mage, he could hardly escape from an army of thousands.

As Lawrence’s gaze fell into despair, Count Uman slowly approached them.

Finally, Mr. Ji finished writing, calmly packed up the sheepskin scroll, and stood up.

At that moment, Count Uman also reached them.

Lawrence’s sword-wielding hands began to tremble uncontrollably. He intended to greet Count Uman but didn’t know how to address him.

Count Uman didn’t even bother to glance at his former “son”; instead, he addressed Mr. Ji, “Is this how the St. Sean family treats its allies?”

Pointing to his left eye, Mr. Ji responded impassively, “Killing a holy knight comes with a price. Fallen Eagle City is your price, and I have also paid mine.”

Count Uman sneered derisively, “A left eye for a city, Mr. Ji, do you think this is fair?”

“Indeed, it’s not fair.” Mr. Ji calmly replied, “If you want further compensation, you may say so.”

“Compensation?” Mockery painted Count Uman’s face, “The last fool who promised me empty cheques is dead. Don’t forget, you’re not the lord of the North Territory, so don’t think about compensating me with what you don’t have!”

Upon hearing “fool”, Mr. Ji’s eyes flickered briefly. It seemed he understood the fate of his sister Penny. But he made no other gestures and simply asked, “Then, what do you want from what I have now?”

Count Uman’s eyes filled with murderous rage. He growled, “I want you to pay for the lives of the three hundred thousand citizens of Fallen Eagle City. Do you agree?”

Mr. Ji shook his head indifferently, “Killing me now won’t help the Uman Clan’s situation. In fact, it would cut off your last hope.”

Count Uman didn’t argue this time. Apparently, he agreed with Mr. Ji’s perspective.

He needed Mr. Ji alive.

But the rage in Count Uman’s eyes grew, almost burning uncontrollably.

Lawrence, like a quail, shrunk between the two towering figures, trying his best to downplay his presence. However, it was in vain as he heard his name—

“Very well, let your son Lawrence atone for the Fallen Eagle City! ”

“Okay.”

Without a moment of hesitation, Mr. Ji agreed with Count Uman’s demand.

As if the intention to kill wasn’t targeted at his own son, but a pet dog he had casually adopted.

“What?” Lawrence stood still on spot, seemingly unable to believe that his fate was decided so simply.

Unable to control his trembling, he croaked, “Fa- Father?”

Unfortunately, his natural father, Mr. Ji, didn’t bother with him at all.

His so-called father, Count Uman, had already stepped forward and grabbed hold of his hair.

“Father!” Lawrence pleaded to Count Uman with imploring eyes.

At this point, he didn’t care who, out of the two men before him, was supposed to be addressed as his father, as long as one of them could save him, he would call that person father.

He was even okay with calling both of them father…

Swish-

A silver light flashed and Lawrence’s head was severed.

The jet of fresh blood instantaneously spattered all over Mr. Ji.

Count Uman deliberately held Lawrence’s head up in front of Mr. Ji, his voice cold, “This is just the interest.”

Mr. Ji expressionlessly stared straight at Lawrence’s head, making no movement at all.

It seemed that Count Uman had finally vented his anger. Holding the blood-dripping head, he made his exit.

Only when the surrounding soldiers had all scattered did Mr. Ji take out the sheepskin scroll from within his clothes to continue his sketching and writing.

Lawrence’s headless body was left collapsed at his feet, with his freely flowing blood soon staining a large swath of grassland red.

The surrounding air suddenly froze, dropping the temperature by more than ten degrees without any warning. It was as if winter had wrapped the earth in its cold embrace once again.

“Aren’t you even going to collect your son’s body?” The White-robed mage Cusius suddenly appeared beside Mr. Ji, jokingly commenting.

Mr. Ji raised his head, but without answering the question just asked, he looked at his friend’s full head of white hair and the chilling aura surrounding him that he just could not control and frowned, “What happened to you?”

Cusius sighed, and a touch of fear flashed in his eyes, “Ran into Ernest. *cough* *cough* Why on earth would that old man want to stand against us? Can’t he see that what we’ve discovered can lead the Mage Council to truly rise to power?”

Mr. Ji scoffed coldly, “Nothing more than fearing a threat to his own position.”

“Heh heh, short-sighted old fool! ” After cursing, Cusius raised another question, “But how did he learn about our plan? And to appear in Fallen Eagle City at precisely this moment?”

“It must have been Emperor Reinhardt who informed Ernest.”

“Emperor Reinhardt? But why would he…” Cusius spoke halfway and stopped.

Because he had guessed why Emperor Reinhardt did this.

Clearly, Emperor Reinhardt had suspicions about Mr. Ji, worrying that he would use this Forbidden Spell to threaten him. Now that the feasibility of the Forbidden Spell was confirmed and the Spell Scroll obtained, Mr. Ji would be better off dead.

“In that case, the assassinations targeting us have just begun.” Cusius wore a somber expression.

But Mr. Ji shook his head: “No, Reinhardt would only suggest Ernest, or even Prince Lexie, to act against us. He wouldn’t send someone to kill us personally.”

“You just trust him so much? Or did he offer you something?”

But Mr. Ji didn’t answer Cusius’s question, instead focusing on the sheepskin scroll in front of him.

Seeing this, Cusius knew the other party didn’t want to talk, so he scratched his head helplessly and changed the topic, “What about Count Uman? Are you going to let him insult you like this?”

Mr. Ji’s hand, which was holding the pen, paused, and said softly, “Two skulls of the descendants of the St. Sean family are enough to win him the trust of the St. Hilde family.”

Cusius thought for a while, seemingly understanding Mr. Ji’s intentions, and said, “You destroyed Fallen Eagle City, and he killed your sister and your son, well, that would indeed make the St. Hilde family believe that you two have broken up.

But under such circumstances, can you still trust this man?

Would Count Uman continue to trust you?”

Mr. Ji shook his head: “Trust is too extravagant a word. I just think that Count Uman will make the choice that’s most beneficial to himself. And that choice will also be helpful to me.

So, I allowed him to take the heads of Penny and Lawrence.”

“What do you mean?” Clearly, Cusius was unable to follow Mr. Ji’s train of thought.

“After the death of Duke St. Hilde, the ones with the highest probability of inheriting the title of Duke are Vera and Joyce. Count Uman cannot support Vera, because he has grievances with Viscount Angler.

So, he will inevitably stand on Joyce’s side.

A primary target of mine going forward is also the Angler family.

So, no matter how much Count Uman hates me, he will naturally be my ally.”

At this point, a look of regret appeared on Mr. Ji’s face: “Originally, I had a better arrangement for Count Uman, but now, due to the reckless actions of two fools…It can only be this way.”

Cusius laughed, suddenly playfully said, “By the way, Vera used to be my student back in Yevir. Do you want me to help you out?”

Mr. Ji paused, and after giving Cusius a serious look for quite a while, making him uncomfortable, finally nodded.

“Fine, you can give it a try. But, I should warn you, Viscount Angler is not easy to deal with.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”