Water Mage in the Flame Realm-Chapter 329 - 317: Corpse Puppet

One could see the silent figures on the ice pillars, not saying much, but the positioning of all the commerce association leaders faintly revealed a formation of encirclement. The target of this encirclement was the projection avatars of the three Earth Fire Scholars from the king's court.

"Madness, this is pure madness..." Gus Scholar muttered absentmindedly for a couple of times, then ignored those figures around the king's court, refocusing his gaze on President Beiru within the court, "You're out of your mind to do this! Aren't you afraid of leaving your rear unguarded?"

Andrew shivered upon hearing this, realizing this indeed was a problem! President Beiru led the commerce association leaders in an all-out assault on the king's court, meaning at this moment, the rear, Warm Hearth City and the Shield of Flowing Fire, were completely unprotected.

President Beiru smiled calmly and said, "The biggest revelation I had during the fire war was confirming one thing: you three old fellows can't leave the Scholar's Fortress for long, so how could you possibly ambush our base?"

Gus Scholar's expression slightly changed.

President Beiru then retracted his smile and said indifferently, "I would personally suggest you three think about how to escape! Destroying projection avatars might not kill your bodies, but it would wound them severely, right?"

As President Beiru's words fell, the commerce association leaders on the ice pillars around the king's court raised their hands in unison as if practiced countless times, casting a Warm Fire Magic or a crimson combat technique toward the king's court.

The original scene was the three Earth Fire Scholars descending to kill Andrew, the successor of the Water God.

Now it was President Beiru leading the group to counter-encircle the projection avatars of the three Earth Fire Scholars!

As the targeted individual, Andrew found this scene utterly unbelievable.

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and focused his attention.

He saw the magic and combat techniques coming from all directions, not directly targeting the three of Gus, but flying first towards President Beiru.

President Beiru raised a hand, the motion so simple it didn't even resemble a magic casting.

Yet, with his motion, the magic and combat techniques flowed into his palm like rivers into the sea, then instantly merged together, forming a flame palm the size of an ordinary hand, aiming towards the three Earth Fire Scholars.

Compared to the previous overwhelming giant flame palm, this small palm imprint was completely inconspicuous.

But the faces of the three Earth Fire Scholars immediately turned extremely solemn.

Gu Xing and Gu Du stood on the left and right behind Gus, simultaneously placing their hands on his shoulders.

Gus raised his hand, responding palm to palm across the air.

A similar fire-formed palm imprint flew into the air.

The difference was that the palm sent out by the three of Gus was an unsettling black-red color.

This was the "Molten Rock Fire" cultivated to the extreme!

The two fire palm imprints, each the size of a human palm, were about to collide in mid-air.

Neither palm emitted a terrifying aura, but at this moment, the air of the entire king's court suddenly became extremely oppressive. More than one person instinctively showed fear, as if the moment the two flame palms truly touched would result in an indescribable explosion.

"Stay behind me," Madam Yi Lian solemnly instructed as she stepped forward to shield Barbara, Andrew, Havier, and Sabye.

On the throne, Catherine raised her hand to protect the Frost Knights present.

In the next moment, the two flame palms collided.

No loud noise erupted; in fact, there was no sound at all.

Yet Andrew felt his soul violently quake uncontrollably at that moment!

Then came the sound of cracking.

The ice pillars around the king's court, which appeared capable of existing eternally for countless years, began to show densely packed cobweb-like cracks.

Other than Elder Falk, the commerce association leaders on the ice pillars all changed their expressions simultaneously. The less powerful ones even knelt half-way, bleeding from their nose and mouth.

"Damn it, is this the power of the Earth Fire Scholars?"

This thought crossed more than one person's mind, "Even the aftershocks are hard for us to withstand; what about President..."

As expected, within the king's court, in the Eternal Frost Hall, President Beiru's previously stout figure visibly wobbled. In the fire war, he needed no helpers and could fight all three on his own, but after the war ended, it seemed he was no longer a match for the three Earth Fire Scholars!

"So, the Warm Fire Order's consumption issue truly has a significant impact?" Although Andrew couldn't partake in such a high-level confrontation, his heart also raced.

Then he saw President Beiru's body wobble several times, and blood silently seeped from the corner of his lips.

Clearly injured, but he instead revealed a slight smile.

On the opposite side, the three Earth Fire Scholars showed astonished expressions.

The others likely couldn't see it, but the three of Gus felt it clearly: That palm of Beiru's just now seemed to harness the strength of everyone and boasted power exceeding his peak performance during the fire war.

But...

In the instant when it clashed with the Molten Rock Fire magic palm imprint of the three of Gus, it seemed... Beiru withdrew some strength!

In a master duel, even the slightest deviation cannot occur.

It's impossible for President Beiru to withdraw a force without reason, unless that withdrawn force has some other important purpose.

"Right!" Gus suddenly thought, "That Beiru, no matter how powerful, couldn't have foreseen the three of us descending on the Royal Court. In other words, his secret gathering of manpower and choosing this moment to strike in the Royal Court has another purpose, rather than merely coming to rescue that kid Andrew."

Thinking of this, Gus instinctively glanced at Andrew and then was taken aback.

Andrew's gaze had, at some point, shifted towards one side.

"Water Spirit Sensing" had always enveloped the entire scene because Andrew truly had no idea when the female assassin might suddenly appear, but instead of capturing the female assassin's figure, Andrew was the first to capture: the change on the throne.

The king's body, so robust like a giant, still appeared to sit steadily on the high throne.

But at this moment, the king sensed something, unexpectedly looked down, and saw—

His robust chest silently collapsed!

A handprint slowly emerged on his chest.

It was precisely the force that President Beiru quietly withdrew in the instant of clash with the three Earth Fire Scholars.

President Beiru, during his full engagement with the three Earth Fire Scholars, actually split a force to deal with the king! Or rather, the full clash was merely a facade; President Beiru leading the crowd to the Royal Court initially targeted... the king!

The appearance of heavily striking at Gus and the others was actually a mere illusion.

It was a feint!

"You... Beiru, you..." Gus stared dumbfoundedly at President Beiru, "From the beginning, your target wasn't us three?" As he said this, he suddenly erupted in anger, as if he had been greatly insulted, "Facing us three, even though it's only our projection duplicates, the power is equivalent to our true presences, and you dare use such a feint when clashing with us? Are you seeking death? You injured yourself in the east while striking west to kill a dead man, so how will you fight us next—"

Before he finished speaking, there was another "puff".

A fire stab formed by flames pierced Gus's body from behind and then protruded from the front of his chest.

Lady Yi Lian's voice eerily sounded behind the three Earth Fire Scholars whose expressions had turned wildly: "—How will you fight the three of you next? My husband never planned to fight with you at all, wait for your real selves to come next time, today... the three of you can leave."

As she spoke, Gus and the others' bodies noticeably became ethereal, flickering unstably.

Lady Yi Lian had somehow circled behind the three Earth Fire Scholars, and Andrew hadn't clearly seen, only knew that the seemingly insignificant fire stab should have an effect countering the projection duplicates, harm to Gus wasn't definite.

But it can interrupt the summoning technique of Gus and the others and let their projection duplicates dissipate on the spot.

"—Meaning, after saving me, President Beiru feigned attack on the three Earth Fire Scholars, actually striking east to distract from the west and ambushed the king. And the one truly dealing with the projection duplicates of Gus and the others is Lady Yi Lian?!"

Andrew's mind raced, quickly figuring out his side's tactical arrangement, yet upon realizing it, he became more confused, "Why? Such a grandiose entrance with the initial purpose to kill the king? Even if the king has sided with the Magic Guild, isn't it unnecessary to make such a big fuss and take such risks?"

After being saved, Andrew's restless heart had calmed down.

Especially since President Beiru and his wife didn't show any surprise, bewilderment or confusion towards his identity as "Water God's descendant," which highly likely means they'd already known his identity, not only does this not cause unease, but instead makes Andrew feel more reassured.

However, seeing the projection duplicates of the three Earth Fire Scholars slowly dissipating, the king's body on the throne slowly slumping, Andrew again could not understand what exactly was going on.

"So, Beiru you... knew even earlier—that the king is already a dead man, this matter." Gus fixed his gaze on Beiru with determination, asking. His body at this point had become ethereal to just a shadow. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

President Beiru nodded slightly.

Gus was silent for a moment, then smiled instead: "Then I understand. Fine, today's battle is won by you. As your wife said, the next encounter will be with our real selves present. Next time, we won't lose."

Saying this, Gus turned again to look at Andrew, "You too, kid, you can live a bit longer, but you will still ultimately die—"

He couldn't finish speaking before disappearing along with the shadows of Gus and Ancient Poison who had dissipated earlier.

They disappeared cleanly, as if they hadn't come at all.

The arrival of the three Earth Fire Scholars was sudden, and they left quickly too.

At least for the short term, there's no need to worry about their targeting and assassination.

But frankly, Andrew now can't even care about the psychological pressure of being targeted by the three Earth Fire Scholars.

At this moment, Andrew's head was filled with Gus's words, "The king is a dead man? What does that mean? What does 'the king is a dead man' mean? Isn't he a War God level top expert? How could he be a dead man?!"

With his heart full of doubts, Andrew saw the eyes of the king on the throne already devoid of vitality.

This War God level strong man just...lost all signs of life.

Beside the king, Catherine, as the king's wife, slightly tilted her head, quietly watching the king's death, just silently watched for a while, and then lightly sighed, stood up and asked, "So, father and mother, when exactly did you know about this matter?

—That the king was actually killed by me long ago and has been merely a 'corpse puppet' showing his former strength when needed... this matter."