Chương 109: The Earl is determined to win

"Of course it's true!"

Faced with Richard's veiled questioning, Dunk raised his voice: "Please don't doubt a knight's resolve! Just tell me, how do you need my help?"

"I'm sorry, I don't doubt your character, I just asked out of caution."

Richard feigned apology and continued, "As for help, it's actually quite simple. Those people are a group of cultists. Besides kidnapping the girl, they also inscribed two magic circles nearby to curse my companion—I need you and me to join forces to destroy both magic circles simultaneously—and then go rescue the girl—" He used his expertise as a poet to fabricate a story about a cult causing trouble, which made Deng Ke nod repeatedly.

Just then, a bugle call suddenly sounded from the hunting grounds not far away.

Upon hearing this sound, the surrounding crowd became excited and surged towards the besieged city.

Dunk's attendant also stared wide-eyed, exclaiming, "Gods above, the tournament has started ahead of schedule?"

He then asked Richard, "Sir, do you need our help right now?"

Richard, remembering Elsa's distress, nodded and replied, "Time is of the essence; we must act immediately!"

"Then... then this might cause a conflict!" The attendant, somewhat at a loss, turned to Dunk and said, "Dunk, you don't have time for anything else. You need to quickly put on your armor and go to the tournament!"

Deng Ke remained silent for a moment.

The attendant continued, "You've prepared for this event for so long, even sold your possessions, you can't miss it! I know you want to save those two girls, but... but you don't have time! And those girls have been taken into the castle, who knows—" —Who knows, he might have some connection with His Highness the Prince or Viscount Cole; this is not something a wandering knight should get involved in!

The servant didn't say the second half of the sentence aloud, but his eyes conveyed the same meaning.

Richard, standing nearby, frowned but remained silent.

He knew that there was no point in saying anything now; everything depended on the choice of the burly man in front of him.

Fortunately, Dunk did not disappoint the poet.

"I understand what you mean."

He smiled and patted the attendant on the shoulder: "Missing a game is indeed a pity, but missing the opportunity to save someone is more heartbreaking than missing a hundred games!"

The former only loses fame and fortune, while the latter would make me ashamed to call myself a knight again!

"So I've made up my mind, I'm going to save them!"

"As for what this has to do with the important figures in the castle—in my opinion, that's completely unimportant! Mere intrigue and scheming cannot supersede conscience!"

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and looked directly into Richard's eyes.

He was clearly prepared.

The attendant sighed softly and silently followed behind Dunke.

Richard then drew his lute and longsword, nodded to Dunk, and said, "Thank you, you are a true knight! Now, let's get to work!"

At this moment, outside the oil painting.

Witnessing their ancestor's decision, Marek and his sons looked at each other, their expressions becoming even more complicated.

the other side.

Inside the castle depicted in the oil painting.

Count Vespera, the vampire, nodded approvingly as his men brought in two more fragments of Elsa's soul.

"You may leave now. Leave the rest to me."

He personally escorted the two "Elsa"s into a sealed room on the west side of the castle.

This is the very place where he cast his curse.

Inside, the entire wall was covered in blasphemous incantations written in blood. In the center sat a treasure box containing the half of a flute given to him by the Duke, used to drive the curse at maximum efficiency and also subtly supporting the entire painted world.

In the corner of the room stood a dozen or so Elsas, bound by chains, each with their eyes closed, drowsy and like puppets.

They are all fragments of souls bound by a curse, like the mouths of goldfish caught on a fishhook.

At that moment, Vespera herded the two new Elsas into a corner, making them stand with the previous Elsas.

He looked at his work with satisfaction.

At this rate, the girl's entire soul will be in his hands before sunrise.

And then, the disgusting bloodline of the Ash Duke will cease to exist!

That's really—wait, isn't it?

Just as he was feeling smug, he suddenly heard a few noises.

I bent down and listened carefully, and found that it was Elsa and the others talking, one sentence after another.

"Stay away from me!"

"We can't let this continue—"

"I need to wake up! Wake up quickly! Everyone is waiting for me!"

Vespera raised one eyebrow.

Oh.

Meaningless nonsense, meaningless struggle.

He didn't pay much attention, and after checking the incantation on the wall one last time, he left the room and closed the door tightly.

Turning around, he saw a richly dressed, imposing blond young man walking towards him.

Vespera recognized him as the prince of the Kingdom of Roland in the background of the painting, and immediately smiled and bowed: "Greetings, Your Highness~" The prince smiled and nodded in return: "Hello, remarkable alchemist! The potion you gave me before was extremely useful; I feel full of energy now—so, do you have any more?"

What a greedy fellow, just like that foolish king in history.

However, it's fortunate that you're greedy and foolish enough that I was able to easily establish a partnership with you and utilize your castle and subordinates.

Vespera smiled and replied, "Of course, Your Highness. I will send someone to deliver it to your room shortly."

"That's great!" The prince snapped his fingers and turned to leave.

Vespera watched the prince's retreating figure, a mocking thought rising in her mind once more: Typical human beings, willing to disregard everything for a little bit of superficial benefit.

Such a race deserves only to be our food!

Haha, I wonder if that princess of the empire, standing outside the painting, can see what I'm doing here.

I wish I could see it~ They couldn't do anything, they couldn't even get in, they could only watch helplessly as I toyed with their ancestors and extinguished the bloodline of the Ash Duke!

This feeling is absolutely wonderful!

Thinking of this, Vespera's lips couldn't help but curl upwards, and upwards again, until the entire lower half of his face turned into a deep V-shape, looking both insane and terrifying.

at the same time.

Richard and Dunk made a plan and went their separate ways.

The former arrived at the original granary.

Looking at the two guards at the door, he first took out his lute and began to play a requiem.

This piece of music not only soothes the souls of the living, but also has the effect of making undead creatures feel lethargic!

Vampires are the quintessential undead creatures!

And so, as the notes danced, the vampires guarding them quickly grew drowsy— >