It rained heavily.
Even with an umbrella, Wayne found it difficult to withstand the biting wind and rain.
"No... don't kill me..." Baron Colclough wailed miserably, and it was hard to tell whether it was rain or tears on his face.
But his hands seemed completely out of his control.
Wayne held the umbrella with his left hand, stretched his right hand forward, and closed his eyes.
"Bound by earth!" he muttered silently.
Mud dragons pulled up from the blood-stained ground, tied up Baron Kirkclough's limbs, and hung him up.
"Ahhhh..."
In mid-air, the bearded man's face was full of pain, and his right hand was still twitching, as if he wanted to break free from his body alone.
"You go find the people from the city guard——"
Wayne was just about to ask the coachman standing in front of him to go out to find reinforcements, when the figure suspended in the air by the magic power of the earth suddenly roared loudly.
"Grand Duke Laird has returned! All of you must pay the price! The rule of the Kingdom of Lornes is about to be destroyed!"
In an instant, a huge fire burst out from his body, igniting his body in an instant.
"Hahahahaha——" The man laughed wildly in the firelight.
"this!"
Vern was shocked and wanted to use earth magic to put it out, but found that the flames were produced by Baron Colclough igniting the magic power in his own body. As long as his magic power was not exhausted, the flames would continue to burn his body.
The shrill laughter gradually became hoarse and slowly stopped.
After a while, only a charred figure was left tied, which broke into several pieces and fell from the shackles of the soil.
The courtyard returned to its previous tranquility.
The only sound left was the sound of raindrops hitting the eaves and the umbrellas.
Wayne stared at everything in front of him, silent.
Suddenly there was the sound of intensive horse hooves on the street outside, accompanied by the sound of armors clashing with each other.
"This is it! Violent magic fluctuations were detected in this area just now!"
"Bang——" sound.
The courtyard door was pushed to the ground, and a tall man walked in first.
Seeing the tragic scene in the courtyard, everyone who broke in through the door couldn't help but shrink their pupils.
Seeing these people, Wayne's coachman's expression changed, and he immediately took out the Wenche family's token to reveal his identity.
"This is Master Wayne Winche. Which city guard are you from? We need to contact Duke Winche to handle this matter."
The tall man took the token and inspected it carefully before returning it to the coachman.
"I am the captain of the Second City Guard, Bulwer."
He bowed to Wayne.
"Let's change places." Wayne said to him, "Also, take my classmates with you."
At this time, Bulwer discovered that there was a girl sitting in the mud near the corner, soaked all over.
…
"That's just the way it is."
In front of Duke Elliot and some unknown officials, Wayne recounted what he had encountered.
This is the headquarters of the City Guard, and Elliot rushed over immediately after receiving the report.
"Grand Duke Laird..."
Upon hearing this title, everyone present was silent for a moment.
Wayne looked at Camille who was sitting on the sofa next to him with some worry.
She changed into clean clothes again, holding a cup of hot tea that she hadn't even drank half a sip of, but her hair was still wet.
It seemed that she had been in this state of soullessness ever since she came out of Baron Colclough's mansion.
"Archduke Laird died thirty years ago."
Bulwer, the captain of the Second City Guard, looked serious. "Are those rebels in the southwest region pretending to be evil again?"
Elliot pondered for a while and asked Camille in a gentle tone: "Has your father ever said anything unusual to you?"
Camille's eyes were dull, as if she didn't react at all.
But her hand holding the tea cup began to tremble continuously, becoming more and more uncontrollable.
The water in the cup was sloshing and about to pour out.
Wayne snatched the tea cup from her hand and put it on the table directly in front of her to avoid the tea spilling.
This action seemed to open a certain gate in her emotions, and Camille came back to reality as if she had just woken up from a dream.
Her tears suddenly flowed out.
"I...I don't know either."
She murmured vaguely.
"Nothing happened this morning... everyone is fine... ugh..."
She tried her best to suppress her crying, but the tears couldn't be stopped, so she had to lower her head and cover her eyes with her hands.
Duke Elliot let out a long sigh.
"Forget it, you should rest for a while. Leave the rest to us and we will do our best to investigate the truth."
He turned to the commander-in-chief of the city guard and said, "I will take Wayne back. This girl will be protected by your city guard for now. We will discuss related matters after contacting the church tomorrow."
After roughly arranging some finishing touches, Elliot boarded the carriage with a tired look on his face.
There were only two of them in the car, but there were many guards accompanying them all the way.
"Father, who is Grand Duke Laird?" Wayne asked in a low voice at this time.
Upon hearing this, Duke Elliot stared at the little boy in front of him with his silvery blue pupils.
"He is the subjugated king of the Principality of Millistan."
Wayne asked in confusion: "Did he die in the Battle of Fog and Moon thirty years ago?"
"Yes."
Elliot looked out the car window at the night.
"The Duke of Winchere was still my father at that time. Under the orders of the late King George I, he led the army to conquer the neighboring countries that were originally located in the southwest."
"This war was a joint crusade by all the countries in the continent plus the church against the royal family of the Duke of Milistan, so it only took a month to end the war."
"And Baron Colclough was the general who rebelled and surrendered."
Wayne frowned and thought for a while.
"So is it possible that the remnant forces are seeking revenge? It's just that thirty years have passed, why are you saying something like 'Archduke Laird is back' at this time?"
Generally speaking, thirty years of rule is enough to erase the traces of the destroyed force's existence.
"It's still not certain, because according to the detection, the only things left at the scene are your earth magic power fluctuations and his own spontaneous fire magic power fluctuations." Duke Elliot tapped the edge of the car with his index finger.
"Then, is there any magic that can control the opponent invisibly?"
Vane was deeply impressed by Baron Colclough's crazy behavior at that time. "At that time, his hands seemed not to belong to him, but to have independent consciousness. It could be seen that he was really frightened."
Elliot's tapping movement paused for a moment, then returned to normal.
"Perhaps... the legendary 'Dark Magic' possessed by Archduke Laird can be used."
