Women only affect my ability to spread the fire

Russell said politely, "I'm glad you're still Mr. Brochard."

"Yes, I'm very happy too, Mr. Russell." Mr. Brochard said with a smile, and he seemed to be in a very good mood.

"I would also like to thank the remarkable pioneer, Mr. Renatus Catisius. If I hadn't heard his name, I probably wouldn't have been able to find myself again from my trance."

"René isn't my name; it belongs to the demon that occupied this castle. As you can see, I'm a mage capable of posing a significant threat to demons. The cunning demon, unable to control me, forcibly separated a strand of its soul, entwining it with mine and disrupting my sanity."

Russell didn't expect Brochard to tell him such a thing so honestly. He was surprised and looked at Brochard intently.

"But don't worry. I've completely suppressed it now. This demon underestimates a wizard. It's only a matter of time before I completely reduce its soul to ashes."

Brochard said confidently.

"Then, next, I would like to extend my most sincere invitation to you, Mr. Russell. Let us unlock the mechanism together, travel to the deepest part of this castle, destroy the demon in one fell swoop, lift the curse, and then leave this island completely!"

Before Russell could speak, Francine spoke up, sarcastically taunting Brochard: "Hmph, you rude, scheming old fellow! If you want to leave, I won't try to stop you! And it doesn't matter if you leave now!"

Francine then changed the subject and said softly to Russell, "I'm also looking forward to your help in taking back my father's castle, Mr. Russell."

Francine's eyes were full of longing and admiration, like a young girl looking at her lover.

"Ha, you're such a rude little girl! Well, for Renatus Catisius's sake, I'm in a good mood and don't bother to argue with you!" Brochard snorted, then turned to Russell and extended his hand. "Mr. Russell, I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

"Okay, let's cooperate—" Russell was about to reach out his hand, then as if he suddenly thought of something, he retracted his hand.

Russell blinked. "By the way, Mr. Brochard, the last time we shook hands and announced our partnership, you took off your goat-head mask. To show your sincerity, shouldn't you take it off this time as well?"

Without waiting for Mr. Brochard to reply, Russell turned to Francine.

Russell smiled at Francine in the painting. "Is that so, Miss Francine?"

Francine smiled. "You're absolutely right, Mr. Russell. I'd love to see Mr. Brochard in person, too!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Russell, Miss Francine, but now is not the right time. I still need this sheep's head mask to hide the devil's prying eyes."

Mr. Brochard did not get angry, but shook his head and began to explain.

"You may know that the goat's head is a symbol of the devil. I wear this mask, and the cunning devil, the master of this castle, will be deceived by my magic. Therefore, it is not yet time to take off this mask—"

Mr. Brochard was interrupted in the middle of his explanation.

089 Renatus

It was none other than Russell's sword that interrupted Mr. Brochard's explanation.

The sword was so unexpected and just right that it cut the sheep-head mask on Brochar's face in half.

The sheep-head mask, which was split in two, left Brochar's cheek without any reluctance.

It couldn't wait to run towards the earth, crashing into the ground and shattering into pieces, splashing countless white residues.

"What are you doing? Bastard!" the old voice cursed.

However, this curse did not come from Brochard's mouth, but from the "Francine" in the painting.

Now there is no trace of Francine in the painting who is gentle and graceful. Her expression is ferocious and she stares at Russell with eyes full of resentment.

Russell, as if oblivious to Francine's unusual behavior in the painting, began to explain himself. "Sorry, since this goat's head symbolizes the devil, I simply can't trust someone who's 'recovering himself' while wearing a goat's head mask. God knows which part of himself he's finding."

Russell believed that most of the details told by Brochard and Francine in the painting were true. At least Russell could not find any flaws. After all, a truly brilliant lie would only have one or two false sentences.

What really made Russell suspicious was that Broschard and Francine seemed to be centered around Russell and completely dependent on him.

I haven't shown you any of my methods to fight against demons, so why would you rely on me? Unless you don't expect me to fight against demons at all.

Russell was not fooled by Francine's nice words.

If "Francine" was a beauty, Russell might have fallen into the sweet trap, but, but, now Francine is just a talking two-dimensional paper man, Russell is not so easily fooled.

Russell then turned to Brochard, who was in a daze, his eyes changing. "Isn't that right, Monsieur Brochard? Or should I call you Monsieur René now?"

"Hahahaha! Well said! I never thought I would regain consciousness with the help of such an outstanding young man!" Mr. René laughed heartily. "Just call me Renatus. I'm Renatus Catisius."

Renatus Catisius' voice was exactly the same as the deep, middle-aged man's voice when he entered the castle.

Hearing this voice, Russell finally confirmed that Renatus was the real owner of the castle.

What? You're one of my fathers-in-law? It seems like there's no connection between you two as father and daughter... This isn't what we agreed on!

Although Russell had various speculations about Mr. René's identity, he was still shocked when he actually revealed his identity.

"I thought you were Monsieur René."

"Hahaha, Mr. Russell, I see that you are also from Occitania. Why, you haven't learned Vitols? Renatus in Vitols is the same as René in Occitania." Renatus explained with a laugh.

Who would understand these messed up jargons of yours? Are you trying to bully time travelers?

Russell complained a lot in his heart, but he still kept a humble smile on his face - the man in front of him was not only his father-in-law, but also a great magician who annihilated an entire army of demons.

"But it's not your fault. I'm originally from Occitania. Unfortunately, the Occitania Church strictly prohibits the study of magic, so I ran to Vitolos and joined the Catisius family." Renatus continued to explain calmly.

"Later, in order to fight against the demons, I reinforced the Storm Ward, trapped an entire demon army with it, and then almost wiped them out with magic."

"The reason I said almost is because this demon general Brochar was too difficult to deal with. I destroyed his body, but I couldn't completely destroy his soul."

Oh, father-in-law, why didn’t you tell me earlier? I’m an expert in dealing with souls.

Russell stretched out his hand, ready to show his skills to his father-in-law.

Having said that, Renatus laughed and turned to the painting: "Long time no see, Brochard, oh no, our souls are entangled together, we see each other almost every day, in fact, there is a part of my soul in this painting too!"

Well, your souls are entangled, and that's not something I can interfere with... I'm not capable of such delicate work.

Russell withdrew his hand in shame, and he couldn't help but feel fortunate that he didn't rush to touch the painting.

Killing the soul of the demon Brochard would be good, but if he accidentally kills his father-in-law as well, Russell won't know how to face Rosaline.

I saved you, but accidentally killed your father. You won't be angry with me, right? This excuse won't work anyway, right?

Renatus paid no attention to Russell's subtle gesture of reaching out and then retracting his hand towards the painting of Brochar. He continued, "I had no way of suppressing the demon general Brochar's enormous soul with my own soul, but since I'm a gifted magician, I quickly came up with a good idea."

"I used magic to tear Brochar's soul into three. Two of the most evil souls were suppressed by my split soul, while the largest one came from the less evil souls it devoured. I used that soul as raw material and used magic steel to create Francine in the image of Rosalyn's mother."

Renatus babbled on.

"I don't remember you talking so much nonsense, Renatus. Since you have won, why don't you take action quickly? Or are you reluctant to die?" Brochard in the painting taunted viciously.

As if worried that Renatus might be provoked into a complete tantrum, Brochard began to persuade him again, "For all these years, we haven't given each other any time to think calmly. I can't find a way out, and you can't think of a spell that can kill me and save yourself. Why don't you merge your soul with mine and let us work together?"

"You have not much longer to live, Renatus. If we become one, you will have a long life."

Looking at Renatus's expression, Russell realized that the life of this genius magician Renatus was about to come to an end.

"Take back your delusion. When I tore my soul apart, I was no longer prepared to live. I was mentally prepared to fail. But now it seems that at least this is not the worst outcome. I woke up before I died completely. I can take you to hell with me, and that's enough." Renatus glanced at Brochard in the oil painting with disdain.

Then the great magician looked at Russell again with a half-smile, but this time his attitude was not so friendly: "Come to think of it, Rosaline is my daughter, right? Huh? Brat? Why are you so close to her?"

"Ah, yes, yes." Russell was extremely embarrassed.

He kidnapped someone else's daughter and then met the old man on the way. The most important thing is that the old man is a very good fighter, so Russell felt restricted everywhere.

"Rosaline sailed the Bluebonnet out to sea to look for you. Isn't that a coincidence? Rosaline has always wanted to see you. I, I'll go find Rosaline and bring her to see you right away."

Russell wanted to slip away and get away with it.

"No, don't go looking for Rosalyn." Renatus waved his hand, "Russell, let's have a good chat."

Russell originally just wanted to ease the awkwardness. This maze-like mechanical castle was Renatus's home, and Russell didn't know the way.

So Russell stood up immediately: "Yes, please go ahead."

"As for me, I haven't fulfilled my responsibilities as a husband and father to Rosalyn and her daughter... I don't have the dignity to face Rosalyn as a father. And, as you heard, I'm going to kill Brochard and die with him. I don't want to make Rosalyn suffer the pain of losing her father again after we meet."

Russell continued to persuade, "At least Rosalyn has been looking for you for so long, you should let her see you."

Renatus waved his hand again. "No, that's not necessary. Just take good care of Rosalyn for me. You don't have to worry. I haven't fulfilled my fatherly duties, so I have no right to comment on my daughter's choice. Rosalyn chose you, and I won't interfere. If it's convenient, you can also take good care of Francine for me."

"Yes, I will take good care of them for you." Russell promised.

"Is this a man's promise?" asked Renatus.

Uh, don’t you know that a man’s promise is not a good word?

However, Russell had no intention of carrying forward the bad jokes of his previous life in the other world, so he nodded solemnly: "Yes, this is a man's promise."

"Hahahaha! Okay, okay! Your promise is enough." Renatus laughed heartily towards the sky.

After laughing, Renatus turned to look at Brochard in the painting and asked sternly, "Are you ready to die, my 'old friend'?"

The author says:

Author's Note: Thanks to Kirajojo for urging me to update.

Thanks for the tips and coins without nickname

090 Meeting

Brochar sneered disdainfully, "Renatus, you are still as confused as you were many years ago. Do you really think you can destroy me?"

"We'll know if it works if we try it!" Renatus was unmoved. He had already cast the spell.

The light of Renatus' spell spread to the painting, and Brochard's expression in the painting became ferocious.

The originally warm-toned oil painting has been unconsciously stained with dark colors, and the originally beautiful woman has revealed her true face again, turning into a hideous demon.

Brochar roared, "Madman! What a madman! You're going to try even if it means risking your own life! Think about yourself, think about your daughter. Is it worth it for you to risk your life like this?"

"I want to create a world without demons like you for my daughter and the daughters of countless people." Renatus said with a low laugh.

Although Renatus' tone was relaxed, his few remaining black hairs had begun to turn white one by one. His gray hair had turned snow-white, his forehead was covered with wrinkles, and he suddenly looked old.

Renatus was burning his soul and his life at the same time.

However, a gray mist suddenly spread over the frame of the painting, blocking the light in Renatus's hand.

"Do you think I was unprepared? Do you think I brought my legion to this storm-surrounded island without the source of wisdom? You can't imagine that I have hidden it in my soul!" Brochar's expression was distorted, but his words were full of pleasure.

Renatus is now visibly weak and has become very old.

Looking at the old Renatus who looked like he could be blown apart by a gust of wind, Brochar laughed loudly and said, "As the most outstanding soul master of our clan, my soul methods are beyond the comprehension of a mere human mage like you!"

"You are so stupid, Renatus! If you hadn't chosen to burn your soul, how could I have taken out this last little stone to crush you? Hahahaha, die in regret! I will still be the one laughing last, Renatus!"

Brochard laughed wildly.

Until a sword energy filled with fire flashed across, dispersing the mist that had just spread and hitting the picture frame.

Although the painting seemed to be fine after being hit by the sword energy, Brochard's laughter stopped abruptly.

As the mist disappeared, the light in Renatus's hand continued to move forward, covering the entire frame.

Renatus no longer had the strength to turn around and look at Russell. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes flashing with approval and pleasure, and he unwaveringly activated the spell in his hand.

Brochar screamed, "Ugh! Ahhhhhhh! Bastard! What did you do! What did you do?"

Russell had already sheathed his sword. He stared intently at the increasingly distorted painting and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Brochard, but I'm a professional when it comes to dealing with the so-called source of wisdom that you demons talk about."

Despite this, Russell gave up the idea of ​​solving the problem of Brochard once and for all.

Because Renatus was also seriously injured. From the blood he spit out, it was known that Russell's sword also caused him serious injuries.

Now Russell is completely convinced that the soul of one of his father-in-law is entangled with the demon general Brochar.

Therefore, Russell was somewhat cautious.

The paint on the frame became increasingly chaotic, and now it had turned into a vortex. However, that vortex seemed to have a magical power, as if it could suck a person's soul into it.

"Ahhhhhhhhh! Don't think you have won! Don't underestimate the soul master!" Broshar roared as he felt his soul being erased.

Brochar felt his soul was weaker than ever before, and his heart was filled with panic that he had never felt before. He had already tried his best to struggle, and he had to grit his teeth and use his last resort.

As Brochard finished speaking, with a bang, the door protected by numerous mechanisms opened from the inside, and a mechanical doll flew out. Her fingers suddenly became sharp and strangled Renatus' neck fiercely.

Russell swung his sword and protected Renatus behind him, blocking the fierce attack, but the attack still interrupted Renatus' spell.

"Francine?" Renatus said in an old voice.

"Rosaline?" Russell looked at the woman who was running breathlessly behind the mechanical doll. He saw Rosaline and Margaret.

Russell also heard Rosalyn shouting, "Don't run around, wait for me, Francine."

"My Lord?" Margaret supported the breathless Rosaline and took the initiative to greet Russell.

Russell shook his head and pointed his sword at the painting. "Let's deal with the enemy first. We'll talk about the whole story later."