Edge of the Apocalypse

When he knocked on the door of the Hughton house on Rio Avenue, the old drunkard still jumped into Alan's eyes like he was half drunk.

"Alan? Come in."

Hughton opened the door and let Alan in. On the second day after returning to Fort Ugarte, Ellen paid a visit. Of course, his purpose was to learn about the Magic Cube sequence. It was morning, and although it was getting late, Hughton looked like he had just gotten up. Alan sat in the living room while he ran to freshen himself up. When he entered the hall again, he casually picked up a wine bottle that was placed at the table and poured it into his mouth with a mouthful of liquor.

He spat out another mouthful of strong smell of wine, causing the fragrance of the wine to float in the living room. Ellen frowned and said, "Mr. Hughton, strong liquor hurts your body. Drink less."

Hughton rolled his eyes and sat down on his apparently faded sofa. "What do you know? Without this good thing, I wouldn't be able to live to this point."

"Speaking of which, I heard that you were ambushed a few days ago?"

Alan nodded.

Hughton murmured, "Who is so bold as to think of Beth Cod?" You don't even know, that old lunatic Horn is offering a full bounty to arrest the murderer. The entrustment platform of the hunting group and the black list of the underground assassin organization are all filled with bounty notices from your Beth Cod. "If I were the mastermind behind this, I would probably have to hide somewhere remote on the surface and stay there for ten to eight years, hey."

When Alan took action, he didn't know that Horn would make such a big move. Before this, he saw that Horn had even spoken a few sentences on behalf of Steward Helsing, and thought that he did not care about the attack on the aerodrome. Now, it seemed that it was outrageously wrong.

"Not to mention that, I heard that Old Horn has already arranged for you to study at Dawn Blade?" Hugh changed the subject and said.

"Yes, I have to report to the academy next Monday."

'"Very well, the Magic Cube sequence involves a lot of things. For example, mathematics, space science, origin power system, etc. If you don't have any foundation, it will be very difficult for me to guide you in this field. The Blade of Dawn is the highest level institution in Babylon. It will be much easier for you to study the Magic Cube sequence after soaking in it for a year and a half." Hughton paused for a moment before saying, "I have one more thing I want to entrust to you. Just treat it as your tuition fee."

"What is it?" Alan didn't even think about it and chose to agree.

Hughton patted him on the shoulder and said, "Follow me."

He led Alan to the second floor and up the stairs was a corridor. The two walked to the end of the corridor and stood in front of a door. Hughton knocked on the wood and said, "Vera, it's grandfather."

There was no movement inside the door. Hugh sighed and opened the door.

The door was clearly a girl's room, and everything from furniture to decoration was pink. However, there was a very incongruous scenery in the room, and that was the girl who was painting by the window. Her long black hair, black eyes, and long black dress … The girl's first impression of Alan was that she was as black as ink, giving off a suffocating sense of gravity.

It was as if there was space for her, and even the air became as heavy as lead.

Upon closer inspection, her facial features were extremely beautiful. Her slender eyebrows, straight nose, and tight lips made her look calm and classical. However, her eyes were lifeless.

Alan had seen many charming eyes, like Lucy's vibrant green eyes, and Adele's domineering windows of the soul, all of which had their own characteristics. Without a doubt, this girl's eyes were also very unique. However, what it conveyed was unimaginable despair, emptiness, and desolation. Just being stared at by this pair of eyes for a moment, a weak-willed person would probably not be able to endure the deep and suppressive shouts in these eyes.

How could such a pair of eyes be nurtured by such a painful heart?

The door slowly closed, isolating the black-haired and white-skinned girl from Alan's eyes.

Only when the door was completely closed did Alan seem to know how to breathe. He took a deep breath and asked in surprise, "Who is she?"

"Vera … my granddaughter."

Walking back to the stairs, Hughton's back looked so old at this moment. Back in the living room, he drank a few more mouthfuls of liquor before saying, "Seven years ago, Vera's parents died in the war of the Outer Realms." Since then, Vera has sealed her heart and turned into what you saw just now. She's sensitive and fragile, and I've been taking good care of her. However, even so, the situation did not necessarily improve. Therefore, I intend to let her go to Dawn Blade to study. Although the academy is recruiting family disciples, there are also quotas for self-financed students. I still have some savings that I can use for her study. "

"I hope Vera can go out and get to know more friends. After all, she still has a long way to go, and an old man like me can't stay with her for that long." Hughton looked at the second floor and said, "It's just that she rarely interacts with people. She might feel a lot of discomfort when she just arrived at the academy. I..."

"I will take care of her." Alan nodded.

Hughton laughed and said, "That's what I like about you. It makes sense. There's no need to waste your breath. Vera, then, watch out more for me, but don't stand up for her. Otherwise, she'll never get out of the shadow in her heart."

"I know what to do."

By the time he left Hughton's residence, it was already close to noon. Alan felt something as he walked out of the garden in front of the house and turned to look in the direction of the second floor. Behind the window of the room on the second floor, the black-haired girl stood in front of the window. Alarmed, Alan turned around and hurriedly flashed into the shadows behind the window, like a frightened kitten.

"Vera!" Alan suddenly shouted, "See you at the academy."

Leaving a sunny smile in that direction, Alan left. Only after the magic energy flying car left did the girl walk back to the window. He looked in the direction of the street, then his gaze fluttered and landed on the easel beside the window. On the canvas was a portrait of a man with a huge blade in his hand and his back facing the viewer. He only half turned his head, leaving behind a side face.

Beneath the man's feet was a mountain of corpses, and in front of him was a figure of plenty. The mountains and seas of enemies had strange figures, but they all rushed towards the men without exception. In the distance, the back/scenery was represented by large patches of dense black and red, and an extremely tragic intent arose spontaneously.

The girl's gaze fell on the man's side face. The lines on the side face were somewhat similar to Ellen's!

A week later, when Alan stood in front of the towering arch of Dawn Blade Academy, the youth's heart was once again shocked, as it had been when he first saw Castle Ugarte. The difference was that the castle gave Alan a heavy feeling of immersion in the vicissitudes of time, while the Blade of Dawn gave him a feeling of blood boiling.

Housekeeper Helsing accompanied him through the arch of the academy, and the world in front of him suddenly became clear. Under the dawn light, the first thing Allen saw was a vast green field. The green field was divided into several areas by the main road, the branch road, the fountain, the statue, and so on. Go straight along the main path and you will see a stone sculpture halfway.

The work was actually very monotonous. On the towering platform, there seemed to be some rubble piled up in a chaotic manner. On the left side of the pile of rubble was an old broken blade. The simple and crude composition gave everyone who had just arrived at the academy a tremendous shock. From the rubble and broken blades, the spectators seemed to be able to feel an indescribable sense of desolation and tragedy.

In the middle of the platform, there was a line inscribed: Blood as a blade, faith as a shield. Cut through the night, usher in the dawn, sprinkle the light of hope!

Looking at this line of words, Alan felt as if there was a ball of flame burning in his chest, making him almost want to let out a loud roar. Only then did he feel comfortable. Helsing stood behind him and said, "These are the mottos of the Dawn Blade and the Shield of Hope. The purpose is to remind future generations not to forget the tragic war. The only difference is the theme of the sculpture. The Dawn Blade is a broken blade, and the Shield of Hope is a broken shield. The broken blade and the broken shield represent blood and sacrifice!"

While Steward Helsing was explaining the meaning of the stone sculpture and the words to Alan, a pretty and frivolous girl walked forward. She called herself Julie, a student of the academy, and was in charge of showing Alan around the academy. Julie had long fiery red hair, and her personality was as hot and enthusiastic as her red hair. Her swollen chest and long snow-white legs showed that she was ripe in some way.

Helsing handed Ellen over to Julie and said, "Miss Julie is a self-financed student funded by our family. She will be responsible for showing you around the academy and familiarizing you with the whole academy. If you need any help with your life in the academy, you can ask Miss Julie for help. Then I'll take my leave first. The driver will come to pick you up at the weekend."

"Sorry to trouble you, Mr. Helsing."

After Steward Helsing left, Julie's eyes shone as she looked at Alan. She was a self-financed student funded by Beth Cod. She came from a commoner class, and her ideal was to have a noble young master in the academy. That would completely change her fate. Otherwise, after leaving the academy, the best outcome would be to enter a company under Beth Cod's name and marry a company executive with a big belly.

So when Helsing contacted her and asked her to be in charge of Alan's introductory work, Julie seemed to see the God of Luck waving at her. Even in terms of Allen's identity, he would always claim to be a disciple of the side branch. However, even if Helen was not as noble as her direct bloodline relatives, she should still be an important elite cultivator in the side clans if she needed the help of the Haixin Clan's housekeeper.

In fact, such a person was Julie's ideal marriage partner. After all, for those direct descendants of aristocratic families, it was not her turn to have a commoner like her, so she had already asked some young ladies of your family with similar backgrounds to divide them up.

Moreover, this young master in front of him was younger than him, but he was taller than him. Ignoring the faint childishness in his brows, just looking at his figure was no different from the fourteen or fifteen year old youth. Julie felt that she might even be able to become a special mentor for this young master in some aspects. No matter what, this young master with a head of masculine silver hair was much more pleasing to the eye than Vincent, who was also from Beth Cord!