Heine once again wandered in the vestibule of the peeling city of Adela.
Yes, again, not for the first time.
The reason why Heine was the first to discover the "corpse" of Kanono Hishiri was not because he got up early as he said, but because he did not sleep at all.
On the night of Kanono Hishiri's "death", he started his own investigation and gained a lot. Kanono Hishiri's death provided him with new clues and directions for his investigation, right here, in this seemingly ordinary vestibule.
There was a forest there, a forest at night filled with the rustling sound of leaves that sounded like a witch's laughter.
"... It seems that this path is the right one."
He muttered to himself, stepping on the pile of fallen leaves. He came to a stone tablet, near which there were traces of dragging.
Heine thought for a moment, then began to push the stone tablet.
I could feel the flow of air between the pedestal and the ground, and soon, the stairs leading to the underground gradually appeared from the gap.
There are tunnels, deep tunnels that you can't see the bottom of at a glance. Although European castles often have secret passages, it is rare to dig such a deep tunnel.
Heine thought for a few seconds and finally made up his mind.
Heine walked down the stairs slowly. His footsteps were light, but they made a loud sound when they landed on the ground, which made him feel a little uneasy.
He knew that he was a little impatient, and that it was not appropriate to investigate alone. Kanono Hishiri was already dead, and no matter how conceited he was, he would not dare to say that he was better than the administrator sent by the Law and Politics Department.
The right thing to do should be to make allies like Luvia and act together. Unfortunately, although he also established an ally during the day, this ally is now protecting his sister, who is more important than his life.
The reason he came here and took the risk was all for his sister, Rosalind, whom he loved more than anyone else.
Recalling her profile.
I recalled how cute she looked, looking up at me like a bird.
Recalling her attachment to him, the young knight glanced at his legs unconsciously.
To be precise, it's not the legs, but the "magic mark" on the legs.
Initially, Heine had no intention of inheriting the Magic Seal. The bright and open-minded character of the young man was incompatible with the dark side that magic inevitably possessed, so he knocked on the door of the Holy Church half out of interest and half to avoid it. The Istari family, which had lost its heir, naturally turned its attention to its second child, Rosalind.
Tragedy happened.
Rosalind's body had an abnormal reaction to the magic mark.
It is not the rejection caused by under-adaptation, but over-adaptation.
Rosalind transplanted all the magic imprints in just one year, and there didn't seem to be any rejection reaction.
But this was only on the surface; in reality, almost all of his vitality had been taken away by the magic seal.
By the time the family realized something was wrong, and by the time Heine got rid of the obstruction of the Holy Church and returned to the Istari family for re-transplantation, it was too late.
—The magic seal that was once transplanted to Rosalind has undergone a qualitative change.
Although Rosalind's body has recovered to a certain extent, it is now Heine's turn to slowly absorb her vitality. As she receives more vigorous vitality from Heine, the magic mark begins to invade her body from her legs and becomes extremely complex, making it impossible to remove it. According to the diagnosis of her old friend, the witch doctor, she can only hold out for a few more years.
Heine didn't care about his own life or death, as long as he died, he would be completely freed from the magic seal. Although it was a pity to die halfway, there were too many such examples in the history of magic.
There was only one thing he couldn't tolerate, no matter what - he didn't want Rosalind to see his death, and didn't want her to know that he died because of her.
Therefore, the secret method of Grivin Ashburn is needed, the secret method that can freely adjust the imprint.
He resolutely put away his anxiety and thought as he moved forward to protect his sister.
Has Kanano Hishiri also been here
Was he killed for this reason
How was she killed and how did she appear on the Angel Sword
After walking a distance, Heine felt an unusual magical power.
"Is this the core of the workshop?"
All magicians can confirm that the entire "Stripping City" is a workshop, but no matter what kind of workshop it is, there will be a center, which is the source of everything and the place most likely to hide secrets.
"dash;—(Flow it)!"
The young man whispered, and a purple light bloomed from his body, which was a sign that the "Living Stone", the treasure of the Istari family, was activated.
The more magic is activated inside the body, the stronger it becomes. This is the original principle of Istari, and the "Living Stone" is the product of this principle applied to the extreme. It merges with the owner's body and can transform itself with just a short spell.
The purple light on the body surface is the magic alloy transformed by the combination of the body surface and alchemy, and the little brilliance is emitted, including the face and the clothes on the body. Heine's suit is also woven by Istari's alchemy, which can be integrated with the "living stone" and has the effect of stabilizing its shape.
At this moment, Heine was like a heavily armored knight who had traveled from ancient times, wearing heavy armor and holding a lance.
The hardness of the armor is not inferior to sapphire, and the lance is comparable to diamond. If it is attacked together with the mechanical horse of the Istari family, the young man is confident that he can penetrate the composite armor of the chariot.
This spear and armor are his destiny. Heine Istari, who once repelled all the assassins of the Holy Church, is in his armed form. When a knight enters this state, he is able to fight against lower-level Heroic Spirits head-on.
The footsteps changed, becoming heavy and solemn, hitting the wall and then returning to merge with the new footsteps, making the air in the passage become increasingly dull and chaotic.
However, no matter how chaotic the environment became, Heine remained calm. Soon, he used his magically enhanced vision to capture a shadow that was darker than the darkness.
A beast shrouded in darkness, whose true appearance cannot be seen.
"We meet again."
Heine smiled at Shadow, lowered his center of gravity, and raised his gun.
On the night of Kanono Hishiri's death, he encountered the beast and the two had a brief fight. In the end, Heine won a small victory, and the beast escaped. He chased it to the courtyard and found Kanono Hishiri's body.
The knight did not underestimate the opponent because of a small victory. Although it was called a beast, it was not clear what level of intelligence it actually possessed, and it was not known whether there was someone behind it controlling it, or whether the manipulator was lurking nearby.
Carefully shorten the distance. Even if your armor is strong enough, don't easily withstand the enemy's attack. Make full use of the range difference between your claws and guns.
Right now, the gun pierced the air, and the shadow rushed at the same time.
The tactic was accomplished as expected. There was no scratch on his armor, and he felt a deep penetration from the end of his lance.
However, it was Heine who suffered the loss—the tip of the spear that was pulled out, which was as precious as diamond, was missing a piece. The sharp claws of the shadow beast were not aimed at Heine, but at the spear that the young man was wielding.
After succeeding, the shadow continued to linger in the darkness, as if mocking Heine's weakness. Next time it will be your armor.
"You were tricked?"
Heine was thankful for his caution, as the beast showed far more power than he had initially expected.
He raised his wrist and regained his stance. The refined metal was slightly shorter than before, forming a gun blade again.
But this was meaningless to the beast, as its lance and armor could not stop its sharp claws, and Heine's physical ability was far inferior to its own.
The beast leaped to its feet, ricocheting back and forth through the narrow passage like a pinball.
At first Heine could still count the number of ricochets, but as the beast's speed increased, it even broke the three hundred yard mark, which was beyond the limits of human dynamic vision, even with magical enhancements.
At the moment when Heine was exhausted and exposed, the beast launched an attack. From the blind spot where Heine could not see, its sharp claws, which were more terrifying than the lance, easily penetrated into Heine's armor. Just like the last time when Heine's lance easily penetrated into the beast's body, the outcome was also surprisingly similar - the attacking party suffered a loss.
The sharp claws embedded in the armor were restrained by the soft and powerless armor.
"I got you." the young man whispered.
His armor is not just hardened.
On the contrary, it is also possible to soften in order to capture the opponent. From the moment the beast cut off the spear tip, Heine changed the characteristics of the armor. Then he carefully transformed the armor into a lock to further restrain the beast.
"Please let me see your true face this time."
The knight turned slowly and raised his gun.
The beast opened its mouth and roared.
"AHH~~~~~~~~"
It was called a roar, but in fact it was more like a song, a sad song, as if it was crying.
But it was the tragic song that blew Heine's body away. Not only that, the moment he heard the sound, the magic seal that had been tamed in Heine's body suddenly stopped working, and the uncontrolled magic power ran wildly in his body, messing up his magic circuits.
The more magic is activated in the body, the stronger it becomes, and therefore the more violent the riot it causes. Heine didn't even have time to scream before his consciousness fell into chaos.
In the last moment before he fell into coma, he vaguely heard someone calling his name.
"Mr. Heine—"