Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

"Maybe it's someone who, despite carrying a painful past, fights for the happiness of others."

So Charles calmly answered the old man:

"I'm not a brave man, and I'm probably not a hero yet."

"But Uncle Elvis saved me, so..."

“I want to save more people.”

[To be continued]

-

75. Tilin Agreement

Lacey couldn't help it.

As she dropped her little pearls, she mentally blamed Charles for being so handsome, which made her... couldn't help but get her blood boiling.

So, she took a step forward without hesitation and stood beside Charles.

Just as Ciel raised the holy sword, she wiped away her tears, took out her wand, and pointed it at the old man standing in front of Ciel.

Charles seemed not to have expected that she would fight alongside him so decisively, so he subconsciously turned his head to look at her.

Then, she glared back.

"Look at this, Bull Demon!" She gritted her teeth and cursed Charles fiercely, "How could you not tell me such an important thing! Wait until we get back and see how I'll deal with you!"

Charles was stunned for a moment, but did not refute her. Instead, he smiled and nodded at her with great relief:

"it is good."

This left Lacie with nothing to say, so she quickly turned her head away, not wanting Charles to see her blushing face.

Because she also...she also didn't tell Charles her true identity.

So she muttered softly, "Now we're even," then took a deep breath and her expression became serious.

So what if it’s a fake?

So what if he's a fake hero?

At least in her eyes, Charles is a true hero, and she will not allow anyone to slander Charles!

If someone wants to slander Ciel and call him a false hero, then she...

She showed the dignity that a co-founder of the White Tower and the Witch of Dawn and Dusk should have. She looked at the old man coldly and confronted him head-on:

"If Ciel, who saved Lentiheim and assisted our White Tower in resolving the Diesel crisis, is a false hero, then what are you guys who came late and did nothing?"

"You were not here when Lentiheim was in trouble, and you didn't come when Diesel was in crisis. Now that the situation has stabilized, you are here. So I want to ask, you are such despicable and cowardly people, what right do you have to question the hero Ciel?"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, and her voice became colder:

"——You are worthy of denying Ciel?"

However, the harsh words did not bother the old man at all. It seemed that there was only Charles and the holy sword in his eyes.

So he did not respond to the witch. He just opened his cold and hard right hand, and slowly reached out to Charles amid the sound of slight steam.

The witch was the first to react.

She activated the flaming spell that had been stored in her wand and had been prepared long ago. In the minds of the mages, the flaming spell that could penetrate armor and kill the driver was the most effective way to deal with those tin cans.

Just like some shellfish that the Ceylonese people like to eat, they don’t even need to use cooking utensils to cook them after picking them from the reef, because the two shells that originally protected their soft flesh are the best cooking utensils.

Just use the Incineration spell on those steam armors and all will be well.

The mages all think so.

Lacey is no exception.

But plans can never keep up with changes.

The mages had arrogantly prejudged the steam armored forces that Victoria had assembled, and as a matter of course, they would pay the price for their arrogance.

The magic power that constitutes the Blazing Flame Spell was "erased". From the root, it was just like the sword of the brave man cutting off the limited wishing machine. The invisible and intangible force field repelled all magic power, and the mighty Blazing Flame Spell naturally disappeared into thin air.

In the end, only a cluster of flames and a few sparks remained.

The dark red machine paid no attention to the flames, allowing them to hit the armor and quickly go out.

However, its mechanical arm continued to move forward without slowing down, and it continued to reach straight towards Charles.

Lacey was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously exclaimed:

"Is this... a forbidden spell?"

Charles was also briefly surprised, but his combat experience was obviously much richer than that of the witch, so he reacted instantly. He put one hand around Lacie's waist and pulled her behind him, and with the other hand, he tightly grasped the holy sword and rushed towards the hand of the dark red machine from bottom to top.

"Zheng——"

As the teeth-grinding sound of collision and friction was heard, Charles opened the mechanical arm of the dark red machine and quickly switched to holding the sword with his backhand. At the same time, he used the recoil force to wedge the holy sword into the ground, and using it as a fulcrum, he suddenly jumped up and kicked the only weakness of the dark red machine, the head that was still made of flesh and blood instead of steel.

But his attack was ineffective.

The flexibility of the dark red machine was far beyond his imagination.

The old man dodged his kick by just turning his head slightly. Then, with a sharp sound of steam bursting out, the core of the steam armor pumped out terrifying power, providing power through the pipes throughout the body.

"Click——"

The gears spun rapidly, and high-pressure steam that was unimaginable to ordinary people accumulated in the nozzles that were deliberately retained on the armored arms and the standard holy sword.

Then, like a stretched bow, after the energy is stored, the locking mechanisms hidden under the armor open one by one, releasing all the stored power at once.

——The archer released the bowstring.

After a brief pause with great power, the dark red machine swung the standard holy sword driven by steam in its hand.

Just like playing baseball, with the sound of breaking wind and roaring steam, the standard holy sword hit Charles.

Charles only had time to protect Lacie behind him and raise the holy sword to block in front of him, and the standard holy sword suddenly appeared in front of him.

"boom."

Under that tremendous force, Charles and Lacie behind him were blown away like kites with broken strings.

In the air, Charles tried his best to control his body, turned around and hugged Lacie, holding her tightly in his arms, while Lacie gritted her teeth, endured the pain of Charles's collision with her, clenched her wand, and planned to use a spell to make them both "stop" first.

But before she could silently recite the spell instructions, she felt a soft and light net spread out behind her and Charles.

But the web was also made of magic—magic that Laciel found very familiar.

"It's Lao Deng!"

Lacier reacted quickly, raised her head, and reminded Charles quietly:

"Quickly turn off the forbidden spell!"

Ciel nodded, uttered a low "hmm", turned off the forbidden spell, and allowed the net to catch them.

The impact force exerted on them by the dark red machine was well cushioned by the net, and they were able to return to the ground safely.

Then, faint ripples suddenly appeared in the air beside them, and several mages wearing the standard robes of the White Tower walked out from the ripples.

Leading the group was the silver-haired Lord of the White Tower, Willidon, who held a magic wand.

She first looked at Lacie with great concern, then breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Lacie was safe and sound, and then turned her gaze to Charles' face who was hugging Lacie tightly.

Lao Deng's expression became interesting.

But she didn't say anything to Charles. Instead, surrounded by a group of mages, she slowly walked to the front of the steam armored troops.

She seemed to know the driver of the dark red machine, but obviously, she had no intention of catching up with her old friend whom she had not seen for many years.

On the contrary, Lao Deng frowned and asked bluntly:

"Donald? Why aren't you dead yet, old man?"

The driver named Donald stared at her expressionlessly and shook his head:

"You are not dead yet, so I certainly won't let the god of death take my life so easily."

"But I think it's not far away," Old Deng's eyes wandered over the armor wrapped around Donald's body, "Why do you have to make yourself look like a ghost?"

Donald actually smiled when he heard this - it was really unbelievable that this man as cold and hard as steel could also smile.

Although his smile was not friendly at all, it only made people feel uncomfortable, as if they were being stared at by some bloodthirsty beast.

"What else could it be?" He controlled the steam armor, raised the mechanical claw, opened and closed his five fingers, "Of course... to be able to compete with you mages."

Lao Deng didn't understand what he was talking about, but at this time, Laceel had already rushed to Lao Deng's side and informed him of the crucial information:

"Those steam armors are suspected to be equipped with forbidden spells or silencing spells!"

This news made Old Deng serious. She stared at Donald and asked:

"Is what Lacier said true? Are your steam armors really equipped with forbidden spells or silencing spells?"

The two spells represent two completely different possibilities——

The former represents Victoria stealing the power of heroes of all generations, and the latter... Lao Deng almost didn't want to imagine what price Victoria's scholars and craftsmen paid in order to install the silence spell on the steam armor.

And a considerable part of that price was probably paid by the wizards who were proficient in the spell of silence.

Human experiments, research involving various taboo areas, as well as blood, death, and attempts that violate ethics and morality...

Long ago, before the White Tower was built, such horrific tragedies often occurred in the Mage Towers that stood tall across the Pan-Continent—

This is also one of the important reasons that prompted her to establish the White Tower and try to reform the world.

And now, after the White Tower was built, there are still people, even an entire country, who want to reverse history and secretly pick up those forbidden technologies that have been swept into the trash can...

In any case, Lao Deng could not tolerate such behavior.

Therefore, she solemnly declared to Donald:

"If you, Victoria, really try to get your hands on the Silence Spell through forbidden experiments and try to install it on the steam armor. Then, as the current Lord of the White Tower, I have to warn you——"

"You have violated the 'Tilin Agreement' originally drafted by the academic community, and according to the content of the agreement, you will be sanctioned by all mages..."

When she got to this point, Donald suddenly interrupted her.

"The Tilin Agreement? The verbal agreement reached by your mages with knives and forks at the dining table?"

As he spoke, he slowly raised the heavy standard holy sword in his hand and pointed the tip of the sword at Lao Deng:

"But you forgot, Viliden, that it was only you mages who signed your names on the tablecloth, not us Victoria. In the eyes of you self-proclaimed noble mages, we Victoria are just food, and food has no right to bargain."

Donald asked expressionlessly:

"So, why should we, the food, care about the opinions of you mages?"

[To be continued]

-

76. All Witches

Lao Deng knew better than anyone that the conflict between mortals and mages had become so acute that it could not be reconciled.

The White Tower has no power to control those mages who are too arrogant. Even after the "Tilin Agreement" came into effect, there are still some stubborn elements who claim that mages are born noble. They even try to prove that mages are a new kind of human being who transcends ordinary people.

They consider mortals to be nothing more than their pets, servants to serve them, and consumables for their experiments.

In fact, before the White Tower Alliance was established, they not only thought so, but also put it into action.

At that time, tens of thousands of people died every year from various forbidden experiments, and this was just the data obtained after rough statistics on the surface. As for the real data...

Before the formation of the White Tower, few wizards cared about the lives of mortals.

Just as humans do not care how many ants they accidentally step on in their lifetime, to many wizards in the old days, mortals are just talking and thinking ants.

In such a cruel situation, most mortals chose to submit and surrender. Only a small number of mortals rose up in resistance and established their own country with the help of some mages who had compassion for them, the predecessor of the White Tower Alliance.

And that was the embryonic form of the Victorian Empire.

Therefore, no matter what, the White Tower Alliance has done a great favor to the mortal country of Victoria. But now, the leader of the steam armored troops from Victoria is so rude to Lao Deng, which can be called an ungrateful and white-eyed wolf.