The collapse of the altar was so loud that almost at the same moment when it happened, everyone in the valley could hear the roar that was almost like a landslide.
Kaihos, who had completed the task, just arrived at the altar to join the crowd, and before he could speak, he felt the ground shaking, and the horses under him kept neighing.
He tightened the reins, took control of the mount, and turned his head to look in the direction of the loud noise.
In the center of the valley, the large piece of flat land in the middle surrounded by the surrounding stone houses suddenly cracked a large gap, and it quickly collapsed around it.
The flame fence that was originally lit in the black ditch around the altar was broken in an instant.
And the altar surrounded by flame fences collapsed into the gap.
The aftershocks were still there, and the broken rubble on the edge of the collapsed altar was rustling into the huge gap, and the bluestone slabs on the edge were still cracking outwards.
But in such a dangerous situation, the knights on the edge of the altar rushed over one by one regardless of the danger, climbed down from the edge of the break, and at the same time nervously shouted something to the bottom.
what happened
Kaihos was puzzled for a moment, and the next second, his heart was shocked immediately.
Could it be—
He turned his horse sharply and galloped to the edge of the crumbling altar.
There were broken stones in front, and it was impossible to ride in. Kaihos got off his horse and ran over quickly.
At this time, a middle-aged knight hurried towards him.
As soon as he saw this person, Kaihos felt even more nervous.
The person who came was a knight commander among the elite knights brought out from the palace, and he should have stayed by Garlan's side.
"Where is Your Majesty?"
Holding a faint hope, Kaijos asked eagerly.
"Your Majesty was on the altar just now, and he couldn't leave when the altar collapsed."
The altar collapsed unexpectedly, almost in an instant, making it too late for people to respond and rescue.
The knight commander leaned over and knelt in front of Kaijos, his eyes full of annoyance and deep self-blame.
He clenched his fists.
As soon as he thought that he had not fulfilled his duty to protect His Majesty, he wanted to apologize to himself - but now, he must retain a useful body to find His Majesty!
Kaihos's mind was buzzing, and it was blank in an instant.
"Where is Lord Heimos?!"
His eyes swept across the pit in front of him that had collapsed into a mess and had been completely covered by countless rubble, he gritted his teeth and asked.
He has always been by His Majesty's side, how could His Majesty encounter such danger—
"Master Heimos also fell down together."
The knight commander answered in a hoarse voice.
Cayhoes, who was stunned for a moment, then immediately came back to his senses, took a deep breath.
"Immediately issue an emergency summons, call everyone to come here immediately, and clear the passage as quickly as possible."
A monstrous anger surged in Kaijos' eyes.
He stood on the collapsed gravel, his whole person looked murderous.
"Also, pass my order, except for a few useful guys, all the cult believers here will solve it directly on the spot."
The knight of the scorching sun said, with a cold tone and a sullen look on his face, which made people shudder.
…
…
pat.
pat, pat.
Small rubble rolled down from the rubble, making a small crashing sound.
It's just that this place is too quiet, so this subtle sound is also very clear.
The body with almost half of its body buried in the rubble has been lying on the ground for a long time and has been motionless until the small stone rolled down and made a slight movement before it was awakened.
The dusty eyelashes moved slightly, and then slowly lifted.
The color of pure gold shines through.
After Garlan blinked several times in confusion, he gradually came to his senses and sat up with his hands up.
Fortunately, although half of his body was buried, it was all small gravel and mud, so he was not crushed by heavy stones.
His hair was dusty and gray, and in this dark environment, the original bright golden luster was almost invisible.
The clothes on his body also became tattered in the process of falling down. As soon as he sat up, he felt a lot of pain in his body.
Looking down, he saw a lot of scars on his arms, legs, and body. Although they were only shallow scratches and bruises, they were not serious, but there were constant tingling sensations.
Looking away from the pile of rubble beside him, Garlan stood up on his hands while looking around.
He raised his head and looked up, where he could see nothing.
He could only roughly judge that he fell from the gravel slabs of these altars, and the place where he is now seems to be a small stone house, with stone doors on both sides in front of the side, leading to different direction.
Although it is old, according to the architectural pattern of this stone house, this place should be a partial house in the corner of a palace.
In other words... is this a palace hidden underground
As Garlan got up, the dust from his body and hair rustled down, causing him to sneeze several times.
The light in the ground was really dim, and he couldn't see his face either. He didn't know that his face was gray and black at the moment. Embarrassed.
After confirming that Heimos was not here, Garlan reached out and touched his waist.
When he touched the icy hilt that was firmly hanging on his belt, he felt a little calmer in his heart.
The weapon is still there.
Thinking like this, he thought for a while, cut off a hair of himself, and threw it away in front of the two stone gates. Finally, he chose a stone gate with a faint breeze blowing, and walked in.
Behind the stone gate is a stone corridor. Once inside, the light becomes dim, and you can only vaguely see the situation a few meters in front of you.
The entire promenade was empty, and he was walking here alone, only hearing the sound of his own footsteps echoing in the stone promenade.
Being alone in such a cramped and claustrophobic place made Garlan uncomfortable.
We need to find Heimos quickly.
he thinks.
Although this promenade is quite old and outdated, the stone slabs under his feet are still flat, so Garlan accelerated his pace.
He and Heimos fell from above together, and somehow, in different places.
In this situation, it would be better for him to reunite with Heimos as soon as possible.
Moreover, falling from such a high place, he was lucky, but he was a little worried and didn't know if Heimos was injured.
The stone corridor is very long. He has been walking for a long time, but he still does not see the end. Moreover, the corridor has several turning points, and there are forks in the middle. From this, it can be judged that this underground stone hall should be extremely large as a whole.
Every time, Garlan chooses the path that can feel a little breeze and continues to move forward, thinking as he walks, not knowing how many years this huge stone hall has existed underground.
I don't know how long I walked like this, and suddenly a voice came from the front, it seemed to be from the upper side.
The taste of walking alone in silence is really uncomfortable. The dark stone corridor seems to be endless, giving people the illusion that they will wander here forever and never return to the world.
Hearing the sound at this moment, Garlan felt relieved and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
He hurried forward, and there was another fork in front of him, one up and one down two stone steps extending out.
Garlan naturally ran up without hesitation, ran to the end of the stone steps, and when he looked up, there was a wooden door above his head with a lock on it.
It's just that it's been too long, and most of the wooden doors are decayed, and there are gaps between the wooden boards.
He drew his sword and slashed hard, and the wooden door was split open.
The accumulated dust and sawdust rustled off his head, and he was covered with a layer of gray dust.
Garlan was choked and coughed a few times, then quickly climbed up from the wooden door above his head that was split open by him.
Climbing out to take a look, he came to a spacious side hall.
Unlike the dilapidated corridors and stone houses that are full of dust below, this place is much cleaner and tidy. There are burning oil lamps hanging on the walls, and it is obvious that people have been moving here.
Garlan vaguely guessed that what he had just dropped was the bottom layer of this huge stone hall, because he had been walking up the corridor, and now he was at the middle layer of the stone hall.
Just as he was looking around, the sound he heard in the underground stone corridor sounded again, not far ahead.
He trotted forward.
Rounding the corner of the stone wall, Garlan saw the source of the noise at a glance.
I saw a thin child being pressed to the ground by a man in a short black cyan robe.
The noise Garlan heard just now was the movement caused by the little boy's escape.
The child's slender limbs were waving and struggling desperately. Even if he knew it was futile, he desperately punched and kicked the man who was holding him down. His movements were so crazy that he looked like he was caught by a hunter and was desperate and desperate. A struggling young beast.
Although that little strength couldn't hurt himself at all, the man was very impatient with the little boy's struggle, so he simply slapped him.
with a snap.
The man's slap was extremely hard, and the child's head was buzzing with this slap, his eyes were all white, and he lay on the ground and didn't move.
The believer of All Things Sect snorted coldly and picked up the child with one hand,
At this time, another cultist also chased after him. Seeing this scene, he felt relieved.
"To escape when we are short of manpower, this little bastard is good enough."
He complained as he walked towards his companion.
The above ordered them to evacuate urgently. He took the kid out of the prison, and when he was transferred with him, the cunning kid seized the opportunity to escape without paying attention.
The man carrying the child said coldly, "If you know that there are not enough people, be careful. It's messy. We have to retreat quickly."
As he spoke, he handed the child in his hand to his companion.
The child who was being carried raised his eyes with difficulty, and saw the man walking towards him reaching out and about to grab his hand.
There was bitter hatred on his face, staring at the other party with a dark look in his eyes.
Seeing that he was like a cargo to be handed over to the other party.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in front of his eyes.
The silver-white sword tip pierced through the chest of the man who had reached out and was about to grab him.
The cold light of the sharp sword tip reflected in the child's eyes, as if to dispel the darkness in his eyes.
The child opened his eyes wide, watching the strong man who was unable to resist despite all his might, and fell straight down without even having a chance to struggle.
As the man fell to the side, a boy with a face covered in dust appeared in front of him.
The blood-stained blade in the boy's hand reflected a little gleam in the boy's eyes.
The bright sword tip reflected in the child's enlarged dark blue pupils, from far to near.
over his ear.
He could even feel the chill as the sharp blade brushed against his cheek.
A sword stabbed.
He heard the sound of the iron blade sinking into the flesh from behind him, and a cry before death.
…
…
In the dark ruins of the flowing water pavilion, Heimos stood in place.
After pressing his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, he did not move.
But his breathing has gradually slowed down, rhythmically, breathing in and out, his shoulders, arms, and even the muscles of his body have been slowly contracting, tightening, and bulging slightly without a trace.
The invisible sense of oppression spread from his body little by little, with a certain shocking force.
It was the gesture of the beast that was about to fight.
He can burst out terrifying lethality in the next second anytime, anywhere.
Facing the unknown enemy, Heimos has raised his awareness and vigilance to the extreme, and he has accumulated all his strength.
He stood there blankly, his eyes lowered slightly, looking calm.
"All things religion?"
he asked coldly.
There was silence for a long time, except for the sound of his rhythmic breathing and the sound of running water splashing, there was no other sound.
The other party seems to have left.
But Heimos did not relax at all, and still glanced around sharply.
Because he could clearly feel that someone was watching him in the darkness, and the cold breath faintly seeped out from the falling water and wrapped around him.
"… I see."
After a long time, the hoarse and strange voice finally sounded again.
"You... have the breath of my god..."
"I see… "
"The one chosen by my god... After a long period of time, under the guidance of the great mother goddess of all things, you have once again returned to the front of the gods..."
"God guides your return."
With a swoosh, a ray of light flashed across the darkness.
The speed of the sword was so fast that the falling water broke for a split second.
Heimos, who was standing indifferently and calmly, raised his head, and the golden red eyes that showed through his jet-black hair were filled with deep anger.
There was even a ferocious look on his face.
It was like a monster that had been cut off from the chains that restrained it and returned to its original nature and suddenly became violent.
Raising his hand, he swung the sword that slashed at the flowing water just now, and smashed all the water droplets that rolled on the blade.
Heimos sullenly walked up the stone steps without saying a word.
Then, without looking back, he walked into the dark cave in the attic that led to nowhere.
As he entered the cave, the faint light of the ruins he had left behind shone on him.
At the back of his waist, his clothes were torn when he fell.
From the brown skin exposed in the torn clothes, a faint mark the size of a thumb that had almost faded over time could be vaguely seen.
The light red circle, in which the rune of the water of life and the rune symbolizing destruction and war are interlaced, in a reversed shape.
- A rune symbolizing the religion of all things.