Wizards and Spells

"Of course I knew you wouldn't let me leave," Richard said. "Because if I left, you would lose the perfect excuse. If I'm not mistaken, you planned to first use the charge of 'Edward betrayed and murdered me' to lay siege to the palace. After killing me, you would then announce that, because of what happened three years ago, I harbored resentment and poisoned our dear father—His Majesty Donas, the former King. That way, you could explain all your actions and become the sole master of the Blue Lion Kingdom."

William's expression stiffened slightly. He looked at Richard as though seeing him for the first time, and a flicker of panic crossed his composed face. "You... how did you..."

"Why do I know? Heh, because you made it too obvious. I knew long ago that His Majesty Donas, the former King, had not fallen ill—he had been poisoned. The poison was in the wine you gave him, wasn't it? It should have been arsenic—realgar, in other words.

However, I think you should execute the apothecary who handled this for you, because he did a terribly sloppy job. The arsenic—realgar, that is—he used was not pure at all.

Generally speaking, realgar consists of arsenic trioxide. It is colorless and tasteless, making it an excellent poison. Given the backward technology of this world, sulfur and sulfides would inevitably be mixed in during extraction, which could blacken silverware, but that was not a major issue. After all, the former King did not like drinking from silver cups. The problem was... the realgar added to the wine was not merely contaminated with sulfur and sulfides. It was also mixed with elemental arsenic.

As a result, while suffering from arsenic trioxide poisoning, His Majesty Donas, the former King, also displayed obvious symptoms of elemental arsenic poisoning: skin pigmentation, Raynaud's phenomenon...

I don't know how careless the apothecary you hired was, but let me give you a friendly warning: if you ever fall ill, make sure you never take his medicine."

"Then why didn't you... stop me? You hated him that much?!" William asked. "Heh, are you, the murderer, pointing fingers at me, a bystander?" Richard asked in return. "I..." William was at a loss for words. "All right, let me explain simply." Richard said, "I knew you killed the King because you were ambitious and could not wait to become the new King. As for why I did not save him, it was because I no longer had any feelings for him. Yes, no feelings. I knew you had orchestrated the massacre three years ago, but the King's handling of it also chilled my heart. It showed me a man's stubbornness, ignorance, arrogance, and refusal to repent.

Have you heard of the concept of one's family of origin? It refers to the family a person is born into and grows up in. If a family of origin has a good atmosphere, with rational and positive parents, it benefits a child's development. But if the atmosphere is bad and the parents have countless flaws, the children will be affected.

That influence lasts a lifetime. For example, overly domineering parents will inevitably produce timid children; children with an excessive need for control will inevitably raise children incapable of independence. And those children often believe it is all their own fault, leading them to develop inferiority complexes.

The most terrifying thing in this world is that parents do not need to pass an exam—regardless of whether they are qualified. So, without any choice in the matter, I became a Prince, and the King became my father. Naturally, that gave me a very high starting point, but it could not change one fact—the King... was not a good father. If I were an ordinary person, perhaps I would gladly accept everything, but... I am not.

Some people believe that parents managing their children like property, and children obeying their parents one hundred percent, is only natural. But I do not think that way. I have independent thought and understanding. So if my family of origin leans toward the good side, I will try to fit in. If it leans toward the bad side, I will choose to break free.

To put it another way, if an infant without awareness meets its so-called parents, no matter whether they are good or bad, the infant can only be controlled by them due to its own limitations. But if an adult with a complete set of values suddenly meets their parents and discovers that they are thugs—paranoid and insane, arrogant and overbearing, prone to violence, and often unreasonable—then that person can choose to avoid them. Do you understand now?"

William did not fully understand Richard's words, but that did not stop his expression from turning ugly. He raised his head to look at Richard, his gaze becoming incomparably serious. "My brother—Richard, you truly are very intelligent. So intelligent that... it is somewhat terrifying. Actually, I had felt some reluctance about killing you. But... what you said today has strengthened my resolve.

I don't care why you are so intelligent, and I don't care why you know so many things, but you must die! If you do not die, I will never sleep peacefully."

Closing his eyes, William took a deep breath, then opened them and said, "Someone like you should never have existed in this world. Your existence is a disaster to everyone around you. Ever since childhood, everyone who has come into contact with you—whether me, Father, maids, or soldiers—has felt a kind of fear, as though you could see through what everyone was thinking.

I know you have been studying things related to Wizards, but before you succeed in your research, I think legendary Wizards may already be just like you. I've changed my mind. I will not say that you poisoned Father. I will say that you became an evil Wizard. And as an evil Wizard, you must die!"

With a swish, William raised his hand high and shouted at the many archers, "Shoot him dead!"

The archers trembled and looked at one another, but no one moved. The man before them was, after all, the kingdom's Second Prince and the future Grand Duke, while they were merely soldiers. Besides, after hearing all that just now...

But William's authority still held sway. Seeing that the archers had not moved, he drew his sword with a clang and said coldly, "I said shoot him dead! Otherwise, you die!"

Swish, swish, swish!

Under William's command, rows of longbows were raised, and arrows were nocked.

"Fire!" "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

At William's roar, arrows flew forth like a swarm of locusts, shooting straight at Richard dozens of meters away. At that distance, let alone robes, even plate armor could not stop them.

Yet Richard showed no panic as he watched the countless arrows descend. His lips moved slightly, and in the next moment, a large mass of air before him surged and solidified.

"Whoosh—"

The arrow shafts vibrated rhythmically as they drew closer and closer to Richard. Then... suddenly, as if they had struck some obstruction and entered an invisible force field, their speed dropped sharply, slowing more and more.

Moments later, once all their force was spent, the arrows came to a halt in midair.

One arrow, two arrows, three arrows...

In the end, nearly a hundred arrows hung motionless half a meter before Richard, while he remained completely unharmed.

Spell · Maximized Wind Shield! The archers' eyes widened, and William slowly opened his mouth as well.

"This... this..."

"Didn't you say I was an evil Wizard, so you wanted to kill me? Well, in a sense, you were right. I am indeed a Wizard, though more precisely, a Wizard Apprentice."

"Shoot him dead! Fire in an arc! Shoot, now!" William roared from the depths of his throat, his voice filled with indescribable terror.

Swish, swish, swish!

Trembling arms raised the longbows even higher. The arrows were nocked with difficulty, then fired upward at a steep angle.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

One arrow after another traced parabolic arcs through the air and fell from above. Some were directly knocked away, while others kept pushing into the invisible barrier before coming to a halt once more—above Richard's head, countless arrows floated in the air.

Silence. Deathly silence.

Autumn rain fell, striking their bodies with a coldness that seeped to the bone, a coldness that made their souls tremble.

Richard waved his hand, and the air around him returned to normal. The arrows suspended in the air fell to the ground with a crackling clatter, breaking the silence and disturbing the autumn rain.

The soldiers began to stir uneasily.

A ball of green flame appeared in Richard's hand, burning quietly in the rain. In the next moment, Richard raised his hand, and the green flame suddenly soared upward, climbing higher and higher. At last, it expanded into a massive fireball a meter in diameter before bursting with a pop, as though sending some kind of signal.

Richard waved his hand again, and a mass of blood-red flame flew out, charging straight at William. Before anyone could react, it struck William in the face, then licked over his hair, eyebrows, and magnificent robes...

Flames surged upward. William let out a terrified scream, fell hard to the ground, and rolled frantically in an attempt to extinguish the fire. The soldiers watched Richard with fearful, shifting eyes, already tempted to throw down their weapons.

Although Richard had not killed anyone or displayed especially overwhelming combat power, who knew how many more terrifying spells were hidden within the body of this Prince?

The unknown was the most terrifying thing of all.

Richard slowly took a step forward, and all the soldiers immediately recoiled in terror like a retreating tide.

Richard smiled. William rolled on the ground, nearly screaming himself hoarse. In the distance... beyond the royal palace, a black Four-Wheeled Carriage was racing toward them.

Its wheels thundered over the bluestone pavement.

Rumble!

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