CHAPTER 62 - DON’T THEY WANT HIM DEAD?Julian was suspicious of how hundreds of the Lycans had chased him here, and slowly he knew he would never survive. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He squinted his eyes, thinking of another strategy.
It was then that he saw his older brother Heinrich and the Imperial Crown Prince, Ezekiel, appear on their horses. Instantly, he had another idea. If he couldn't survive this place, he would at least carve his name in history.
At the same time, Heinrich never expected things to end like this.
He did plan the war. It was he who persuaded Julian to kill the Alpha of the Amaryllis clan and take his daughter, Miriam, hostage. He was also the one who devised an almost foolproof plan to secretly send the Lycans to the Euclase Continent to make a surprise attack.
He had made the plan as detailed as possible. using the dark forest that separated the coast of the West Continent from the Western Fortress of the Euclase Empire as a hiding place and assembling the Lycan warriors they manipulated.
He had even explained to his younger brother that his main target was to kill the Old Duke, the Alpha leader of every Lycan on the Euclase Continent, the hero who stopped the war one hundred and fifty years ago.
Heinrich believed his brother could do it. He was the one who knew best what his brother's obsession with killing and slaughtering monsters was.
He had obviously asked his brother to make a fatal surprise attack for the Old Duke who would arrive to stop the Amaryllis clan's attack–because he knew that the Old Duke would rush into the battlefield the moment he found out that Lycans were involved.
Because if they succeeded in killing the Old Duke with this strategy, he would be able to persuade the other kingdoms of the Western Continent to unite and attack the Euclase Continent!
Heinrich would become a warlord, and the throne would fall into his hands easily!
But Heath Goldlane–
Heath Goldlane was a variable he didn't take into account. The young man turned out to be no ordinary noble. Why would the third-best knight on the Euclase Continent go on an expedition in the remote forbidden dark forest opposite the Western Fortress?!
Heinrich had just learned of the fact that Heath Goldlane and his sister had only been rulers of the west for a year. They were suddenly assigned after their whole life living in the capital. What the hell was that?!
And now that he had failed to kill the Old Duke—and had caused the birth of a new Alpha on the Euclase Continent, Heath Goldlane, he couldn't convince anyone in the West Continent to attack this place.
Moreover, now that he had managed to become the Crown Prince after his younger brother's failure, he still had to worry about losing everything.
If he couldn't bring his brother home safely, he wouldn't be king.
So, he was buying time. He made every offer he could to the Old Duke and Heath Goldlane to let his brother go now. Only when he succeeded in becoming king and got rid of his father and his father's illegitimate sons could he give Julian to them to kill, if necessary.
Once he became king, he could use his powers to achieve even greater heights.
Of course, everything that had happened up until now had messed things up a lot worse than before. His brother escaped from captivity and was cornered by hundreds of Lycans along with their two Alphas. Even if Heinrich knelt down and begged, he wouldn't be able to bring his brother home alive now.
And his father would really kill him when he found out about it.
So Heinrich got off his horse and shouted with all his might. "Stop all this, Julian!"
Julian turned to his brother. "What can you do?!" Julian snorted. "You know there's nothing you can do but let me die or leave me here rotting in those monster's dungeons! Just accept it, you can never become king!"
Julian's shout made Heinrich even angrier.
The one-armed mage smirked, seeing his brother unable to say anything and drowned in anger at his words. This was the first time he had managed to make his brother make such an expression. Heh, things like this could still give him satisfaction, even at the end of his life.
"After what I did for you…" Heinrich trembled in anger.
"You never cared! Don't act as if you care about me, Heinrich!" Julian raised one hand and compressed the fire tornado spell in his hand into a human head-sized fireball that was even hotter than the previous tornado.
Heinrich widened his eyes. It was the finishing spell that Julian used to kill the Alpha of the Amaryllis clan. Did his brother mean to kill him?
Julian created a new magic circle. And suddenly, in the night sky, there appeared arrows of fire that fell raining down on the area. Just as everyone and the Lycans were panicking to avoid the rain of fire arrows, Julian threw the fireball in his hand.
[Inferna]
WHOOSH!
Unlike what Heinrich thought, it was true that the fireball shot towards him, but not at him. Beside him, stood Ezekiel, the Crown Prince of the Euclase Empire–
This was the idea that Julian had in his head when he saw Heinrich's and Ezekiel's arrival. To restore his honour, restore his great name and write him down in history, he would be the key figure who started the war.
By killing the Crown Prince of Euclase.
Drap drap drap!
GRRRAAAWWR!
Heath hit Ezekiel's body with his head, ignoring the rain of fiery arrows that burned his entire body. The Old Duke also did the same to save Heinrich, while the other Lycans tried to save the guards of the two crown princes by biting and dragging their collars.
All the wolves, giants and the normals alike, leaped far and nimbly to avoid where the fireball met the ground.
BOOM!
A gigantic dome made of fire formed, spinning like a half-sphere tornado in the middle of the fir-tree hill.
Julian clicked his tongue seeing his attack fail, but now the ordinary Lycans were moving away, setting up another formation protecting the two crown princes and their guards, while Old Duke and Heath advanced back into the battlefield.
Once again, Julian felt strange. All of these wolves seemed to have prepared to face every move he was about to make.
Suddenly, Old Duke and Heath howled in unison.
AWOOOOOO!
The sound waves they created vibrate the air. Even kilometres away, to the end of the northern city, everyone could hear that terrible sound. Both the Lycans and the two crown princes were all pushed back by their howling strength.
Never in history had two Alphas who were not being blood-related, and led different packs of Lycans working together against the same person.
Julian covered one ear with the only hand he had, which resulted in his other ear bleeding from the sound waves.
But Julian had not given up. Slowly, his body floated and in the midst of the sound wave's attack, he created a new magic circle. Dozens of fire spears formed in the empty air, each aiming at the Old Duke and Heath. Cornered, Old Duke and Heath had to stop their howls to dodge the fire spears' attacks.
The two of them didn't just dodge. They charged at Julian together, trying to catch him, while Julian used fire spells on both legs and maneuvred through the air, propelling his body with small explosions under the soles of his feet.
Of course, Julian couldn't last long. He fought two Alphas at once, and it was clear that his efforts were in vain as he had given everything he had just for the last attack and to survive until now.
However, strangely, the two Alphas fighting him didn't look serious. They would rather dodge than give him a fatal counterattack. Ezekiel and Heinrich also realized this.
Ezekiel, who felt his ribs crack after being hit by Heath to save him from the attack just now felt that this fight should have been over long ago. Meanwhile, Heinrich, who had a dislocated shoulder, was confused himself watching the monsters trying their best not to hurt Julian.
Why? Didn't they want Julian dead?