Free Web NovelLouis felt his limbs heavy and finally collapsed in extreme exhaustion.
But he didn't lose consciousness; his mind was perfectly clear.
Deep within his mind, a wisp of crimson mist surged wildly, like flames burning his soul.
The mist was laced with countless furious roars and drum-like thundering, as if millions of vengeful spirits were screaming together, tearing his will to shreds.
“Again! Why is everything trying to get into my head?!”
Before he could react, a platinum pulse suddenly lit up in his mind.
That was Original Heart!
It radiated a starlight-like glow, the light flowing like a river, enveloping every wisp of blood-vine-like red mist in the darkness.
The two forces clashed continuously within his body, and Louis’s consciousness was pushed into a third-person perspective.
He felt as if he stood on a void battlefield, watching light and blood fight within his own body.
The feeling was extremely bizarre; this was clearly his own body, yet he was like an outsider watching with cold eyes.
He could do nothing but cheer for Original Heart because it looked more like the side of justice.
The crimson mist churned into flowers, angry blooms unfolding in the void, blood vines drooping down like countless tentacles,
trying to tightly entwine and crush the heart.
Original Heart, however, transformed into a vast galaxy, and with each pulse, the platinum light flowed like a river of flames, each tremor incinerating the blood vines to ashes.
The collision of red mist and galaxy was like a world-destroying chess game.
The furious, chaotic, and disordered impact felt as if it would crush his entire body.
Roars thundered in his ears, as if a hundred thousand dead souls were simultaneously shouting: “Rage! Burn! Destroy!!”
The sound shook Louis so much that he almost lost himself; he even felt his heart beating with the red mist, on the verge of losing control.
But soon, Original Heart burst into a dazzling white light.
Like a star exploding in his mind, the crimson mist let out a final roar, then was immediately and completely devoured.
Louis breathed a sigh of relief, having initially feared this red mist would turn him into a monster like Titus.
However, before he could recover, his consciousness was once again swept away by a torrent.
Memories that weren't his suddenly flooded his mind, pulling him into another illusion.
The scene shifted: the sky was burning, and the earth was stained with blood. A black-haired youth, wielding a greatsword, battled a pitch-black giant dragon in the air.
Dragon's breath swept across the world like flames, yet sword light carved scorching white crack in the void.
Beneath their feet, mountains of blood and seas of corpses were spread out.
Countless dragon remains and swathes of human bodies intertwined, like an endless Asura field.
The scene abruptly shifted again.
Eight figures gathered around a reclining corpse, each reaching out to take a part of the remains.
Someone took the head, someone took the bones, someone took the arms, and the last person took the heart.
The final scene suddenly tore apart, transforming into a gray-white snowfield.
A tall youth stood in the ice and snow; it was Titus Frostfire.
His eyes were hollow, and his face was contorted with conflicting struggles.
Before him stood an inverted, ash-thorned vine tree.
Angry flowers bloomed on its branches, blood vines hung low, as if whispering.
“Do you desire power—?”
Titus trembled all over, but finally reached out his hand.
The next moment, blood vines fiercely wrapped around his body, drilling into his flesh!
He let out a heart-wrenching roar.
And the angry flowers bloomed behind him, his eyes from then on completely ignited by crimson madness.
The torrent of memories, like a breached river, surged through Louis’s mind, but left almost nothing behind.
Louis instinctively grasped the three fragments, but their meaning was, for now, beyond his interpretation.
Only an intuition quietly ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ rose: this was not the end, but merely the prologue.
“Hah!”
A sharp gasp suddenly sounded, and Louis’s eyes snapped open. This was not the smoke-filled battlefield; he should be in his room in New Frost Halberd City.
And the moment his consciousness cleared, he noticed the changes in his body.
The magic within him flowed more smoothly and abundantly, as if old bottlenecks had been broken and some unknown channels had been opened.
He could also feel some new abilities he had gained, such as if he were to unleash his full potential in an overdrawn state, he could achieve speed and strength close to a Peak Knight for a short period!
There was also Rage Resonance, that sensation on the battlefield where a single roar from him could ignite the emotions of surrounding soldiers.
Not only that, but his total magic power, conversion efficiency, and casting fluidity had all increased by an entire level.
It was like an old engine had been replaced with a new core.
“...Is this the ability that the Rage-Burning Thorns Garden gave me?”
He muttered, extending his right hand, clenching his fist. His knuckles cracked, and there was a strange feeling of fullness in his muscles.
But there seemed to be no side effects, no feeling of being controlled by anger; his heart was even very calm.
Could it be that the side effects were suppressed by Original Heart?
He frowned, thinking, and slowly sat up.
Just then, footsteps approached from a distance.
“My Lord!” A familiar voice, filled with urgency, called out.
Lambert rushed in, his face etched with worry and exhaustion.
“It’s great! You’re finally awake!” Several other people also followed, some he knew, some he didn’t.
“Lambert—” Louis smiled, his voice hoarse but gentle, “You’re still alive too.”
Lambert paused for a moment, then smiled.
He knelt on one knee, reaching out to support Louis’s arm, fearing he was still too weak to sit steadily.
“Don’t be so nervous, I—how long have I been asleep?” Louis asked softly.
Lambert's expression faltered slightly: “Five full days.”
“Five—days?” Louis’s eyes widened, “You mean I was unconscious for five whole days?”
“Yes.” Lambert looked at him with a complex expression, “All of us thought you were just physically overdrawn. The doctor also said it was just excessive exertion and no external injuries. But—no one could explain why you slept for so long.”
Louis was silent for a few seconds.
It was indeed strange; that memory torrent in his consciousness only lasted a few minutes, and time in the illusion was even more fragmented,
as if only a few instants had passed.
Yet he had slept for five whole days...
“My Lord?” Lambert asked.
“It’s nothing, maybe just too tired.” Louis shook his head, his eyes clearer than ever before.
“The doctor just came again and said that although you have no internal injuries, it’s best to rest for another day.” Lambert’s tone softened slightly, “Also, Lady Emily is on her way and should arrive in about five or six days.”
“She’s coming?” Louis was a little surprised.
“Of course she is.” Lambert nodded, “As soon as the war ended, knowing you were unconscious, Lady Emily immediately rushed here.” Louis was silent for a moment, a mix of emotions in his heart.
He hadn't died, and had even grown stronger.
But only he knew that the red mist had truly entered his mind.
If not for Original Heart, he might have already become a puppet of rage, just like Titus.
“Lambert.” He suddenly asked, “Now—how is the war?”
Lambert slowly nodded: “It’s over. The moment Titus died, the entire battlefield fell silent. All the giants, barbarians, and even magical beasts all collapsed like broken puppets.”
“Now we are just cleaning up the battlefield, burning the remains, dealing with the corpses, and—rescuing those soldiers who went mad but didn’t die.”
“We—won.” Lambert said softly.
“We—won.” Louis repeated softly.
Outside, hurried footsteps approached, and a man in a gray-blue medical robe quickly entered the room.
The doctor said nothing, carefully placing his hand on Louis’s pulse, then leaning closer to his chest to listen to his heartbeat.
A moment later, he took out a dark gold copper stone from a box and gently pressed it against Louis’s forehead.
That was a Battle Qi reaction stone, capable of sensing whether there were uncontrolled Battle Qi fluctuations within a knight’s body.
“...Strange.”
“What’s wrong?” Lambert immediately tensed up.
“No, it’s not bad news.” The doctor quickly waved his hand, “It’s just—your Lord’s pulse and breathing, though weak, are incredibly stable.”
“The Battle Qi flow within his body is smooth, showing no abnormalities. Logically, a physique like yours shouldn't be unconscious for five days.”
“So what do you mean?” Louis asked.
“...I cannot judge.” The doctor lowered his head, “There are no serious injuries, nor is there any Battle Qi imbalance.”
“It’s fine. Since you’ve confirmed I’m alright, you may withdraw.” Louis waved his hand.
“Yes.” The doctor bowed and retreated.
“Lambert.” Louis turned his head, his voice a little tired, “Help me get someone to prepare some hot food, and then—I want to go to the washroom.”
“My Lord, your body—”
“I can still walk.” Louis gritted his teeth and stood up, his steps indeed a bit unsteady, but he managed not to fall, “After sleeping for five days, shouldn’t I wash my face?”
Lambert sighed, silently stepped forward to support him, and led him all the way to the washroom in the inner hall.
“I’ll wait for you outside. Call me if you need anything.” Lambert whispered, then gently closed the door.
When the door closed, Louis leaned against the sink, steadying himself, breathing slightly, and then looked up at the copper mirror in front of him.
His reflection in the mirror showed a pale face, faintly bruised eyes, and lips almost devoid of color, looking like a young noble recovering from an illness.
“...Just this?” He gazed at his reflection, his brow furrowing slightly.
No blood vines clinging, no angry flowers blooming.
His skin had no cracks, his bones hadn't mutated, and even his aura fluctuations were suppressed by Original Heart to be almost imperceptible.
Even he himself was beginning to doubt if those things were merely a dream.
But not being controlled was a good thing, and as for any hidden side effects within his body, he could only deal with them later.
Louis lowered his face into the cold washbasin, the icy water running down his cheeks, as if to wash away five days of sluggishness in one go.
But what he truly cared about was never his face.
“The washroom is certainly not for washing faces.” He muttered softly.
After confirming that Lambert hadn't barged in, he quietly waved his right hand.
The next moment, the air seemed to subtly congeal, and a translucent blue interface quietly appeared in the center of the space, shimmering with flowing light patterns like a water surface.
A pale blue stream of light slowly flowed along the edge of the screen, and then lines of information, as if a flood had burst through a gate, rolled down, quickly occupying the entire screen’s view.
Louis rubbed his still slightly heavy forehead, reading and self-deprecatingly: “Five days offline, and only sixteen updates? Looks like nothing major happened?”
【Daily Intelligence Update Complete.】
【1: Post-war Red Tide Territory situation stable, military and civilian morale good, spring plowing preparations begun under Bradley’s leadership.】
【2: An adult Ice Vein Giant Serpent appeared on the northern edge of the Storm Plateau, ending its hibernation.】
【3: Frost Halberd City post-disaster epidemic risks emerging, food distribution causing civilian unrest.】
【4: Southeast Province grain prices raised again, third wave of panic buying occurring.】
The intelligence scrolled by quickly, and Louis read through each one.
Most of the intelligence wasn't bad news, mostly related to the aftermath of this war.
Some were about the progress of repairing grain supply lines, others about the beginnings of infectious diseases in various places.
There was also a note saying that the nearly collapsed Star Forging Mine Seven, under his command, had finally resumed initial production.
“It seems Bradley is doing well. At least spring plowing has started.” He nodded gently, a slight curve to his lips.
Just as he was about to relax his shoulders, an intelligence item suddenly popped up.
【12: Governor of the Northern Territory, Duke Edmund, severely overdrawn his life essence during the Battle of Bone Gorge, with only 183 days of remaining lifespan.】
The text on the screen seemed to carry a chill, and Louis’s fingers froze mid-air. frёewebnoѵēl.com
He was silent for a full five seconds, his dry lips moving, unsure what to say.
In that battle, Edmund had endured the charge of the Rage-Crowned Giants three times, resisting the contamination of the Divine Court with his physical body.
Even if he possessed the body of a Peak Knight, he was still human after all.
He had considered the cost, but only half a year of life left saddened him, especially since the Duke had helped him so much.
“With old injuries and over sixty years old, he wasn't destined for a long life anyway. To have lasted this long is actually quite extraordinary.”
Louis slowly sat down against the wall: “But once the Duke dies, my Red Tide will have no backing in the Northern Territory.”
Before he could think further, a second, even more shocking piece of intelligence arrived.
【14: Ernst August of the Iron-Blood Empire is missing. Last seen five days ago at the Imperial Capital’s Ancient Dragon Keep.】
【15: The Empire’s First Legion, the Dragon Blood Legion, and the Emperor’s Imperial Guard all disappeared with the Emperor.】
【16: The Imperial Capital is in turmoil; the Regency Council has not yet issued an announcement, and public opinion is being controlled.】
“Wh-what?” Louis’s weak body almost sprang up from the ground.
The Emperor, the First Legion, the Dragon Blood Legion, even the Imperial Guard—all gone?!
“This isn’t going on vacation.” His throat was dry, “This is total evaporation.”
Countless possibilities immediately flooded his mind: internal strife, political upheaval, disaster, magic, or even the awakening of some supernatural calamity...
