With a large forest, Deminister is located in the north of Lorendan, and from there to the west is the Naga Mountains across the continent. The high mountains that were originally like a canopy of sky on the Alazea Plain appear much lower here. For trade and communication, people built a long and narrow passage along the mountain a long time ago, and now, the death knights also plan to pass through this place.
The ruler of Minister has no intention of stopping it at all—the undead and liches are daunting undead creatures, but as the spokesperson of the living goddess, the pace of the Ice Crown Knights cannot be stopped by ordinary people.
Besides, it doesn't make sense to do so.
Without any disturbance, in the third week after the Flame Dragon's attack, in February 2008 of the Ishutoli calendar—the death knights finally arrived at the forest of mist where the elven kingdom was located.
In legend, this vast forest is hailed as the pearl on the continent of Lorentan. In Roland's unlost knowledge, this land should be as elegant and beautiful as the elves living here.
But at this moment, the scene in front of the Goddess Messenger was completely different from the memory.
Although the title of "Forest of Mist" is quite poetic, it will make people feel creepy when the whole forest is really wrapped in thick fog that cannot be seen through. The surging icy breath flows among the tall trees, like an undercurrent in the deepest part of the sea; the branches and leaves of the dome are spread out wantonly, covering everything in darkness.
"It's obviously far away from Blainas..." Alsace looked at the tall century-old trees in front of him vigilantly, and the warrior's sensitivity to unknown hostility forced him to rein in his horse, "Or did Melukidik set up an ambush?" ?”
"It's different from the breath of the flame master." Shi Fan shook his head.
"In any case, it is unwise to continue marching at such a high speed." Richard observed carefully for a while, and then nodded to his colleagues, "let's honestly adopt a field formation."
The other party just shrugged silently, and then ordered the entire army to enter a state of combat readiness without any objection. The death knights then connected into a network support array in the form of small groups, walking carefully through the forest. The trespasser was still worried about his breath, but when he went deep into the forest, he realized that there was no need to restrain himself—the mist flowing among the trees was colder than the breath of the undead.
"It seems that the drowsy elves must be having nightmares." The head of the knights joked softly, and then pulled out the Jingwang sword "Yunyao" from his waist.
The sunlight sifted through the gaps in the branches and leaves that covered the sky, casting a cold light on the surface of the weapon, weaving together with the towering trees that remained silent, weaving a strange scenery, as if you were really in a dream.
But the battle-hardened death knights are not deterred by such sights, and their attention is always focused on the real and visible enemy. Although the forest terrain limited the Nightmare's running speed, the Legion's movement speed was still surprisingly fast. The black mount walked briskly, and it would not even pick up a fallen leaf or break a dead branch wherever it passed, and even the densest branches and leaves could not stop the shadow of the undead.
As time passed, the sound of gurgling water finally sounded in the silent environment, like an invisible long line, touching everyone's heart. The sporadic sound grew louder and louder, and finally became a deafening roar.
The largest branch of the Nilu River, the Ganges, is just around the corner.
The army surging like a tide suddenly held the mounts in unison for an instant, and stopped abruptly. The death knights stared wide-eyed, staring at the other side with disbelief.
It is not the rushing river that stops the dead, because no matter how rough the waves are, it cannot submerge the ankles of the goddess knight; it is not the beauty of the elf kingdom that attracts the attention of the dead, because no matter how peaceful the fresh green is, it cannot distract the attention of powerful warriors .
What attracted the death knights were those metal statue-like existences that appeared from the other side—centaur knights holding double-headed swords, rhinoceros knights like moving fortresses, and huge arthropods dancing with tentacles.
All of them are casted like silver.
apostle.
"Luvis's apostles~!" Richard's icy blue eyes froze in an instant, "They must be the remnants of the War of Dawn~! The Lich has been searching for several years but has not been able to find it. Why does it appear in the Blainas?"
"It seems that it is not a coincidence that Melukidick chose this place as the meeting place." Alsace looked at the quiet apostle and replied coldly, "Although I don't know the reason, but I think I don't have time to study it. It's a trivial matter. What do you say?"
Before Alsace could finish his sentence, the two sides who were at odds with each other had already raised their sharp knives at the same time. Their movements were so consistent that they were like symmetrical mirror images. Across the wide water surface and the hazy rain and fog, the deceased with cold pupils and the mercury-like apostle faced each other wordlessly.
The next moment, the array of apostles shook suddenly, the silver knight surged towards the army of undead, while the death knights waved their halberds to meet them without hesitation. In this way, the black and silver tides converged into gray waves on the roaring azure blue river, colliding together with an unstoppable force.
Although they had only confronted each other once in the Battle of Dawn, both the Apostle of Luvis and the Knight of Ishutori were very aware of the strength of the enemy in front of them, so from the beginning of the battle, they used all their strength to launch an attack ——For the combatants who can get rid of the shackles of gravity, there is no difference between the confrontation on the water surface and the plain confrontation—all they need to do is to charge again and again, tearing up the opponent's array, and beheading the isolated enemy.
"These apostles feel very strange." Shifan stared at the silver light flowing on the water, "What are they?"
"No one knows." Richard replied succinctly. "After the search failed, we thought that the apostles had disappeared with the end of the Luvis era, but now it seems that this speculation is completely wrong."
"In short, now is not the time to gossip. They are the most dangerous enemies. Although there are not many remaining, they must be dealt with with all their strength." The commander of the undead army said, focusing on the battlefield again.
The number of apostles is about 600, which is far smaller than that of the Ice Crown Knights. Therefore, the liches have no intention of attacking directly, but build a simple magic circle on the shore for long-distance support, so as to reduce the death rate. a goal.
"I'll help too." The fifteen-year-old prayer volunteered to step forward, deciding to steer the rushing river.
But before the prayer technique took effect, an arrow pierced through the strong wind and shot directly between her eyebrows. The girl felt a flash of coldness in front of her eyes, and then she was thrown to the ground by Roland. When she came back to her senses, her left cheek was burning with pain.
"Blood?" Shi Fan touched it with his hand, then froze.
"There is a sniper." Roland drew out his big sword and protected the black-haired girl behind him.
But even after inheriting the combat experience of the Dark Eagle, the young man still couldn't find the enemy hidden in the dark. It was as if the arrow had shot out of nothing. The blond swordsman searched desperately, but the second arrow shot out from the woods and hit the wall just under Shifan, splashing bright sparks.
How can this be? When did the enemy go around behind the lines? Roland felt a little unbelievable. Just as he was thinking hard, he felt the girl fall softly on his back.
"Shifan?" The guardian of the end turned around.
The girl didn't answer, her face was pale.
There is poison on the arrow~! Roland suddenly woke up.
"Richard..."
"Too careless~! It is completely different from the different apostles in the past. Could it be that guy is an evolutionary form derived by himself?" Before the other party called out his name, the Lich had already run over. Richard bent down with a serious expression, tapped the scratch on the girl's cheek with his finger, and said a spell.
A blue flame flashed from the lich's slender fingertips.
"Although it is a very powerful toxin, its ingredients are not complicated," the tone of the undead seemed relieved, "I will detoxify her right now."
As soon as Richard finished speaking, the third arrow accurately hit the Lich's defense, not only easily piercing through the magic barrier, but also nailed into the chest of the commander of the undead army.
For the undead, this is not a fatal injury, but for the poisoned Shifan, any second of delay is not allowed. Now that the prayer enchantment has disappeared, and the lich's magic cannot be completely defended, before the death knights return to defense, if they want to avoid being a living target, the only way is—
"I'm going to deal with that apostle. Shifan, please." Roland whispered, and rushed to the forest where the arrow flew.
It wasn't until he was facing a strong enemy alone that the blond young man realized that his grasp of Yun Yao was only superficial - he had to concentrate all his attention just to block the oncoming sharp arrows, and he had no time to judge where the shooter was. Location.
If this continues, it will only be a matter of time before they are shot through. However, when Dark Eagle, who lost his memory, rushed into the forest, the light in front of him suddenly twisted. Then, the mysterious enemy emerged from the empty air and walked towards him quietly.
The apostle holding an exquisite longbow is also in the shape of a centaur, but unlike the centaur knight wielding a double-headed sword, the body of this centaur archer has no edges and corners, and the smooth curves that make up the outline are so beautiful that it is almost It is like a work of art carefully crafted by elf craftsmen.
The most important point is that the apostle's body is carved out of flawless transparent material, so it has the ability to refract light and become invisible.
But, why give up the advantage and show up in front of yourself? provocative? Or an ambush
Roland didn't have time to distinguish carefully, because the Crystal Apostle had already raised that deadly longbow again.
There was a light sound from the taut bowstring, and the swordsman immediately rolled out on the ground, using the tree trunk as a shield, and kept moving rapidly in the forest. Branches of silver arrows passed by within a few minutes of the young man, but they could not slow down his progress at all. Unfortunately, as the distance shortened, the time for the swordsman to evade also shortened. When Roland rushed to less than five meters from the apostle, a sharp arrow finally hit the target and pierced through him mercilessly. left arm.
Although he held back the pain, his steps were lost at once. Roland could only watch helplessly as the ruthless archer drew his bow and arrow in front of him again, this time aiming at the head.
Obviously, it is only one step away from cutting it~! The loser thought through gritted teeth.
There was no time for fear or regret, the apostle's arrow had already been shot. The sharp edge cut a silver-gray light trail in the air, and in the next moment... it brushed against Roland's hair, and nailed it into the big tree behind him with a loud sound, and the arrow tail trembled.
Missed~!
This unexpected result caused the opposing sides to be stunned for a moment, and then, Frost Lament's cold aura slashed a shining semicircle in the darkness.
Regardless of the severe pain in his left arm, Roland put all his strength on the great sword and released a beautiful vertical cut. The apostle's transparent body immediately gushed out a stream of bright red blood, filling the surrounding mist with the smell of death.
it's over. The young man panted heavily, and forced Shuang Wai back behind his back.
However, he missed the shot... Roland gave the fallen apostle a strange look, then hurried out of the forest to where Shifan was.
When the guardian of the end returned to the Ganges, the person he was most worried about was sitting calmly by the river bank, and he didn't look like he was poisoned at all.
"How do you feel?" The swordsman breathed a sigh of relief, and then asked.
"It's nothing, I was careless for a while, and I was hit by that kind of third-rate trick." The black-haired girl rolled her eyes at the young man, but looked at the bleeding arm, "Roland is the one, after suffering such an injury, don't treat him like that." Run around as if nothing happened." She said, holding the other's hand without any explanation, and began to treat him.
The battle of the death knights has also come to an end—although the old enemy that appeared without warning is puzzling, but this battle almost wiped out all the apostles, and the loss of the Ice Crown Knights was minimal—for Alsace, a good result That means everything is fine, and it would be a waste of time to investigate further.
There's nothing left to stop Nightmare's iron heels, and Brainas is just around the corner.
But one wave after another, when the death knights crossed the Ganges River and stepped into the territory of the elf kingdom, a thin layer of light suddenly appeared on their gray hair and bright silver armor. At the same time, Roland and Falohide showed pained expressions.
It was as if he had fallen into a vat full of viscous honey, and Roland felt his stomach convulsively. The unknown force from the outside is filling the whole body through the skin, making the brain too hot to think, making the scene in front of him blood red, and making breathing heavy and oppressive.
Not only that, but this force also tried to squeeze something out of his body.
Calm down~! The blond youth told himself over and over again, focusing on the tips of his fingers. After a while, Roland finally broke free from the shackles that wrapped his body in pain.
"Shifan? Faro?" Although his breathing was not smooth and his movements were slow, he could at least speak rationally.
"It's a very strange barrier... You must resist it with all your strength..." The black-haired girl's voice came from a distance, which made the young man feel a little more at ease.
"Don't worry, I'll take protective measures for you right away." Accompanied by the words like silver bells, Faluoshidai and Roland's whole bodies also glowed with a faint radiance like a death knight. Soon, the young man felt that the power that was squeezing his body and soul was quickly nirvana, and even the part that had penetrated into his body was completely removed.
"Is this really the real world? When I entered the forest, I felt that the breath was very strange. I met Luvis's apostle just now, and now the two of them..." The Lich stared at Roland for a while, and then hesitated. He exchanged glances with Arthas.
This kind of exaggerated trap is not in line with the style of the king of elements.
"I don't know the specifics, but it seems to be some kind of absorption circle for extracting power." Shifan stared at the flowing light on the armor of the deceased, "But, it doesn't matter, because you all have Ishutori's protection .And I will take care of Roland and Falohide."
"What about you?" Roland noticed that there was no enchantment on Shifan's body.
"I didn't feel any abnormality from the beginning..." The girl shook her head, "Maybe it's because the blood of God is flowing in my body?"
An enchantment that only works on mortals and undead? The young man speculated like this, and suddenly an ominous premonition arose in his heart. The premonition settled on Roland's chest like mud, and he couldn't get rid of it no matter what.
... I always feel like I forgot something.
But what exactly
If the human city is a neat chessboard, and the dwarves' mines are intricate cobwebs, then the streets of elves are delicate and beautiful ribbons. Tall poplar trees can be seen everywhere in Blainas, and together with the bricks and stones, they have become a part of the city. Slender towers stand in the woods and gardens, stretching their arms towards the sky. These buildings look as fragile as pot art, but the marble made of white jade makes them strong enough to resist various natural disasters.
Like the elves who have lived in this forest for generations, King Brainas also exudes an aura of beauty, mystery and immortality.
The main force of the undead stopped at a place where they could look at the towers. There was only one brigade with a total of sixty high-level death knights following Shifan to the agreed place—if the opponent was the legendary master of flames, the advantage in numbers would not only be irrelevant. It is meaningless, and it will also bring a huge burden to the prayer person himself.
What's more, this is not the end of the road. The Ice Crown Knights must retain enough combat power to defeat the traitors they must face in the future.
As the guardian of the Goddess' End, one must remain vigilant anytime, anywhere, even when facing legendary enemies.
"It's too quiet." Alsace complained in a low voice, "Even if everyone is sleeping, there should be snoring, right?"
The city of elves was not shrouded in unpredictable fog, but the invisible aura flowing around was heavier and colder than before. Not only that, besides the pressure of the mysterious barrier, another inexplicable force also made the death knight extremely irritable.
"Brainas has become a meeting point...the meeting point of the spiritual world and the present world." Shifan's tone was tinged with anxiety, "Although it has not reached the level of the Moon Capital, but for Melukidik It's very favorable fighting conditions, he can exist in this field for a long time without thinking about the boundaries."
"Does that mean we have to confront the Flame Dragon head-on? In this way, the chances of winning are even smaller than expected." The death knight with red pupils analyzed this way, his expression eager to try, "But we can get the opportunity to fight the Flame Lord head-on. Chance can also be regarded as some kind of luck.”
"You have to be able to fight well." The other party frowned.
This person is much rougher than Roland. The black-haired girl evaluated secretly in her heart, and subconsciously glanced at the young man beside her.
Roland, who was unaware of this, suddenly stopped and looked straight at the lush garden opposite.
"What's wrong?" Richard stepped forward and asked. Then, the figures of the elves were reflected in the lich's ice-blue pupils—but they were not "sleeping" elves.
Under the large swaths of wanton dark red shadows, there are fragmented corpses lying everywhere. Even in the eyes of death knights who have gone through countless battles, this is enough to be called a massacre—from adult elves to children, everyone's eyes are tightly closed, everyone's expression is full of fear and pain, and everyone's body is full of blood. Both had at least three or four horribly deep wounds.
At the gate of the garden lay the corpse of half a male elf. His lower body was gone. His unconscious struggle before dying made him crawl outside the village. The dark red blood behind him marked the last road he had traveled. However, his eyes were also tightly closed, showing no sign of opening.
Apparently, when the brutal enemy slew in Blainas, the victim remained bound to a nightmare from which he could not wake until death.
"These elves have been dead for a long time." Alsace half-kneeled on the ground, carefully inspecting the dead at his feet, "Although the corpse did not rot for some strange reason, I can be sure that the death happened in five or six years forward."
"And this one?" Richard asked, pointing to his feet.
An elf's throat was completely torn open by the tyrannical force, revealing faintly white bones, and a large puddle of dark red coagulated blood spread from his body—this poor guy died less than a day ago.
This time, Alsace couldn't help frowning.
The death knights went deeper into the city step by step, and more corpses appeared in front of them, followed by more mysteries—most residents of Blainas had been dead for seven or eight years, and among these corpses occasionally There was also an elf who had just died, and the dark red blood stains covered the originally clean street layer by layer, which made people feel extremely weird.
No one knows what happened in this city, not even the wise lich.
The exquisite streets gradually opened up, mixed with magnificent elements. As the road continued to widen, the central institution of the Elven Kingdom—the Temple of the Stars also came into the death knight's sight. This huge oval-shaped palace is the place where the king discusses state affairs with the Blainas Council. Surrounded by four golden towers, it looks graceful and luxurious.
"Melugidek's breath fluctuates." Shifan subconsciously grabbed Roland's clothes.
Using the most magnificent building in the royal capital as the battlefield is indeed in line with Yanlong's style. Perhaps at this moment, that cynical and powerful existence is sitting on the throne of the elf king with his legs crossed, waiting for his arrival
Oluha, wait for me.
The Dark Eagle, who had lost his memory, took a deep breath, drew out the huge weapon he was carrying, and was the first to step up the long steps in front of the temple.
But when he walked into the main hall with all his attention, the pupils of the color of water shrank in an instant.
There was indeed a person sitting on the throne of the Palace of Stars, but it wasn't Melikidike.
Then, the sound of brisk footsteps sounded from behind the death knight, echoing in the empty hall.
"Hmph, we finally met, little Roland. How about it, do you miss me?" Yan Long stood still on the opposite side of the hall, with a cruel smile on his lips.
Knowing that the mortal enemy was behind him, Roland's eyes were still fixed on the throne, unable to move away even a single bit.
"Melugidick, did you do this?" Alsace asked coldly.
Needless to say, the death knights formed a defensive formation in an instant, and the edge of the long sword was aimed at Yanlong fearlessly. At the same time, Shifan also clenched the gemstone scepter in his hand, and the rhythmic prayer enchantment covered Ishutori's protection, and the dark gold and light blue rays of light complemented each other.
"Last time, I dared to ignore the sexy and powerful Mr. Walter Walter, slapped his ass and escaped directly to the present world, which made it very difficult for me." Yan Long licked his lips, glanced at the girl behind the undead, "Hmph, but Lycecil's education really failed. It seems that you don't know anything about what happened here."
"It's useless, this enchantment is not under your control." Shi Fan looked directly at the other party cautiously.
"Of course, if you're under my control, what's the big show?" The flame master's answer was unexpected, "Speaking of which, you should meet the long-lost apostle on the way, right?"
Yan Long showed a malicious smile.
"Then, let the sexy and knowledgeable Lord Walter Walter teach you a lesson, the name is "The Origin of the Apostles"~!"
"The old lady Luvis also spent her life in order to keep her seat. Human beings are quite fragile existences. Even if they are blessed with the holy light, they still seem powerless. They are useless in the high-intensity battle of the dawn battle. So her only The way is to summon the apostles to work hard for themselves in this world."
"But no matter what you create, you need materials. The condensation of elemental power can only produce puppets, and the world itself is difficult to intervene. Only the power of life can create truly powerful weapons. To put it bluntly, Luvis needs souls as raw materials.
"The connection between the body and soul of humans and demihumans is extremely stable, like a hard walnut; the undead is just the opposite, the connection between the body and soul is almost zero, and it is a piece of soft tofu; the elf is a medium The existence between the two is considered as a zongzi."
Yanlong appreciated the analogy for a while, and then laughed loudly: "It stands to reason that if Luvis is hungry, she should eat tofu first, but tofu is in Yixiutoli's hands, so she can't eat it at all, and it's too troublesome to eat walnuts." , so I had to peel the zongzi in the end.”
Richard suddenly saw the enchantment surrounding him.
"Therefore, the goddess imprinted runes on the trees in the Misty Forest, connecting the entire forest together to form a huge magic circle, to strip the souls of the Brainas elves. Everything is as you can see, their bodies have fallen into eternity sleep, and the soul is condensed into a powerful weapon—the apostle."
"According to specific calculations, at least ten souls are needed to create an apostle. In other words, every time a death knight kills an apostle, it is equivalent to killing ten elves. What's more interesting is that although the magic circle The creator has been killed by your boss, but the magic circle itself continues to operate without any interference."
The understatement of the conclusion made the obsessed deceased uncontrollably shaken - this is not an alarmist slander, every word of Yanlong can be confirmed from what he saw just now.
The long-dead elves were victims of the War of Dawn, and those corpses whose blood had just congealed were obviously the result of yesterday's battle.
It turned out that the terrible tragedies all over the city were actually caused by himself
"This...isn't true..." Roland said to himself, moving his stiff legs.
"It's true. When you were fighting and killing, I watched the whole process from here." Melukidick looked at the back of the young man with great interest, "But the soul of the prayer man is indeed more powerful Ah, the weight of just one person is enough to form an apostle, and they are quite beautiful."
"You should have seen it too, right? That archer who can refract light and is as beautiful as crystal."
Roland didn't answer, he didn't even hear Yan Long's question knowingly, the young man just stared blankly at the throne in front of him, motionless like a stone statue.
Oluha was sitting in front of her.
The entire throne was dyed red, and a huge knife wound ran from the girl's slender shoulders to her waist, almost tearing her apart. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, it would be hard to believe that there would be so much blood in such a fragile body. Like all fellow elves caught in a nightmare, Oluha's eyes were also tightly shut.
However, there was a smile on her face.
Because the arrow missed.
that's enough. The elf girl's expression seemed to say so.
"It's so pitiful. Oluha is such a good girl. Even if her soul is about to be stripped, she will never beg for mercy. The only thing left behind is 'I'm sorry'." Melukidik took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped her Wiping the corners of his eyes, "Who are you talking about? It's tear-jerking."
"It's a pity, I just let her go just to frighten her. Who is so ruthless that he would kill Oluha?" Yan Long asked quietly.
It was like throwing a lighted torch into boiling oil, and the temperature in the entire hall dropped to freezing point in an instant, but everyone could feel the flame that was about to erupt in the cold current.
The Dark Eagle, who had lost his memory, finally turned to face the enemy, and the scorching flames burned wantonly in his eyes. The icy Frost Lament made a crisp sound, and the magic characters on the surface of the sword lit up one after another.
In the end, just like the prophecy in the dream, I still failed to protect important people. As a result, even with Ishutori's protection, he still fell into the same path.
The icy cold gushes out from Shuangwai's mouth, like fresh blood gushing from a wound.
hate it. A voice sounded in Dark Eagle's heart.
The next moment, Roland shot at the Flame Master together with the big sword in his hand. The black figure passed Shifan's side in the gap, shuttled through the array of undead, the bright arc of light cut a huge circle in midair, and slashed towards Yanlong's head.
Anger, hatred, sadness, will all be liberated at this moment.
However, Melodyk's iron fist easily knocked Frost back from the front. Not only that, the huge impact also made Roland fly off the ground, and the young man hit the wall of the hall like a kite with a broken string and finally fell limply beside the throne.
"Roland~!" Shifan called his companion's name blankly.
"It's still too tender." Yan Long's face was contorted due to excessive excitement.
Accompanied by the jokes, the outline of the red-haired man twisted completely, and a pair of majestic wings of flame unfolded from his gradually melting body. The blade-like wings completely tore apart the gorgeous Star Temple, dispelled all the hazy mist, and lit the gray sky.