The underground palace, the road leading to the deepest layer.
The endless steps seem to lead to the abyss of hell. The ancient and deep black stone walls seem to seal the original malice of this world. Row after row of magic spar lamps are inlaid on both sides of this sloping staircase, but the bright The light from the magic crystal seems to be powerless against the darkness entrenched in this passage. The light from the magic crystal can only illuminate a small area on the walls and steps. Where the light cannot reach, there will always be daunting darkness.
A sound of vines and roots rubbing against each other resounded between the stairs and the corridor, and Bertila walked unhurriedly in this passage leading to the abyss of flesh and blood, and faintly mad ravings echoed in her mind, Her figure moved forward in the powerless brilliance of the magic spar, while the darkness kept closing behind her.
The stairs leading to the deepest part of the palace are divided into several layers. Basically, every time you pass a long slope, there will be a relatively gentle corridor. These relatively gentle corridors seem to provide some kind of buffer for the continuously descending stairs. , can allow people walking on the ramp to rest for a while, and reduce the psychological pressure that is enough to make people crazy—but in fact, Bertila knows very well that the best way to pass this ladder safely is not to stay anywhere.
There are two stone doors in each gentle corridor, and every time you pass through such a "pair" of stone doors, the walker will be affected by a deeper layer, and the crazy ravings and the fear of being swallowed by darkness will become more and more serious. Strong, every minute of staying on this road means one step closer to madness and death.
An extraordinarily heavy and ancient stone door appeared in front of Beltera. The surface of this stone door depicted twisted flesh, plants, and a mysterious starry sky that did not exist in this era: this was the last barrier leading to the "secret chamber".
In front of the stone gate, two tall figures bent slightly, silently saluting Bertila.
Those were two fearsome creatures—although human features still remained on them, they couldn't really be described as "human". They have overgrown, swollen and deformed heads, eyes and ears that have been severely degenerated and turned into sinuous tentacles, and their limbs are thicker than humans, and they are wrapped in layers of bandages to prevent those out of control The flesh and blood are separated from the body - they are the "keepers" of the underground palace.
These guardians cannot speak, see, or hear, and even the way of thinking and perception has mutated into an inhuman state.
Before becoming watchmen, they were the most fanatical and loyal members of the Doom Society. They paid an unimaginable price, and even mutated into this chilling state, in order to be able to guard the deepest part of this underground palace for a long time. The secret of the place—because ordinary human guards can't last long in this passage.
Thinking of the Grand Priest who has been staying in the "chamber" since seven hundred years ago, even Bertila couldn't help but feel a slight shudder. She nodded to the guards, and then walked forward with a serious face. go.
The heavy and ancient stone gate built by someone was automatically opened in front of Bertila, and a small hall with three forks appeared in front of her.
The fork in the middle leads to the real "Abyss of Flesh and Flesh", the left leads to the "Sacrifice Field", and the right is the secret room where the Grand Master lives.
Bertila walked forward, and the moment she stepped through the gate, countless crazy ravings suddenly intensified, echoing in her mind as if trying to swallow people up, the female teacher couldn't help but frowned, and then In the entanglement of crazy ravings, he walked to the secret room of the Grand Priest.
The "keeper" standing in front of the secret room still saluted Bertila silently, and helped open the door of the secret room.
The moment she walked into the secret room, all the crazy babblings disappeared instantly, and the mental pressure of confusion that was always pressing on her body was gone. Bertila heaved a sigh of relief. She knew that this was the power of the great teacher .
The secret room is not big, except for some stone tables, chairs and furniture, there is no redundant decoration. The awe-inspiring Grand Priest is located in the center of the secret room. He is sitting behind the stone desk, flipping through the Looking at a thick and ancient book.
Bertila couldn't help but glanced at the book, a powerful spiritual attraction immediately captured her tightly, but before she was completely controlled by the "Ultimate Book" that could never be read, she forcibly shifted away. He opened his eyes and bowed to the Grand Priest wearing a black robe behind the desk with a blurry face: "The Grand Priest."
The Grand Priest's voice came from under the hood, mixed with a hoarse voice: "I heard that your actions were exposed and you were injured?"
"...Yes," Bertila hesitated for less than a second, but still nodded and confessed, "I was careless."
"It's okay, it's just a trivial matter," the Grand Priest said lightly, as if he really didn't care about this failure, "We won't have to cover up soon, those elves won't cause much trouble. Compared with this, I order you How is the investigation going?"
"The Eternal Sleepers refer to Gawain as an 'extraterrestrial wanderer'. They seem to have obtained some information, and based on this, they judge that Gawain Cecil's resurrection is actually an illusion. They believe that there is a foreign 'evil spirit' or 'The Nameless' took up that shell."
"Wanderers outside the Territory..." the Grand Priest muttered to himself, and then seemingly casually brushed his hand over the "Ultimate Book", and the latter immediately made a buzzing sound, and the pages of the book turned quickly and automatically Get up and stay on a certain page.
The Grand Priest glanced at the page and shook his head slightly: "There is no information about wanderers outside the territory in the Ultimate Book."
Bertila said cautiously: "So... this information is false?"
"It may also be beyond the comprehension of mortals and involve the secrets of the gods," the Grand Priest closed the Ultimate Book and said indifferently, "You know that Gawain Cecil cannot be resurrected."
"Yes," Bertera lowered his head slightly, "Then what will we do with Gawain Cecil?"
The Grand Priest opened the Ultimate Book again, and flicked his hand over the pages. This time, the pages of the Ultimate Book flipped at a crazier speed and amplitude, and stopped on a certain page after a few seconds. .
"The answer to the Ultimate Book has not changed," the Grand Master said indifferently, "No contact, no interference, keep your distance."
"yes."
The Grand Priest nodded slightly, and his deep voice came from under the hood: "Have our arrangements in Ansu and Typhon been activated?"
"At your command, war will come in a false peace."
The Grand Priest was silent for a long time, before letting out a slight sigh: "... This is the price that mortals must pay to break free from their fate."
"There is one thing that is very concerning, Grand Master," Bertila said suddenly, "The recent activities of the Church of the Holy Light are becoming more and more extreme. In the name of fighting heresy, they have begun to suppress other sects in various places and spread Absorb shallow believers and new believers on a large scale, and their size has doubled in a short period of time... "
"Shallow believers... Do you want to rely on numbers..." the Grand Master said to himself, and finally shook his head, "Going to die... If they continue to develop, they will be swallowed by the holy light of their beliefs sooner or later. All your efforts are nothing more than weaving a noose for yourself."
"But if they really succeed, the God of Holy Light may become an existence that cannot be contended with..."
"Other sects will not sit still. The stronger the power of the Holy Light, the stronger the resistance it will have to face," the Grand Priest shook his head slightly. "Anyway, now is not the time for us to intervene."
"yes."
After dozens of minutes, Bertila left the bottom floor of the underground palace, walked through the dark and terrifying deep corridors full of crazy ravings, and left all the auditory hallucinations behind, the female teacher exhaled slightly.
Looking at the brightly lit corridors of the underground palace in front of her, she whispered to herself: "The 'outer-territory wanderer' that even the ultimate book can't give an answer to..."
In Saint-Sunil City, in front of Cecil's mansion at No. 4 Crown Street, there was an endless stream of visitors.
Since the Cecil family fell to the bottom overnight, in a whole century, this is the second time that this mansion has become so lively.
The last time was when Duke Gawain Cecil returned to the capital.
The multiple recruitment messages sent by Santis have indeed had an effect. Even if people still have doubts about the Dark Mountain, many people will take a look at the situation to find out-but most of the people who respond to the recruitment can only Meet and report with the contacts left by Santis in the Artisans Association and Scholars Association. Those who are eligible to come to No. 4 Crown Street must at least be members of the Mage Association with the official extraordinary level, or have a recommendation from a big person Letters will do.
But even with such a "filter", No. 4 Crown Street received dozens of visiting guests during the day.
It makes sense that there are so many responders - when Gao Wen released the recruitment information for the first time in the capital half a year ago, the development of the southern border was just a piece of paper. Apart from a development plan, people could not see any guarantees and prospects. Naturally, there are not many responders, but now, no matter what, half a year has passed, and the pioneering team in the southern border has at least firmly established its foothold. This is equivalent to breaking most of the bad rumors about the Dark Mountains. At this time, the members of the Mage Association took the Duke's order and led the glamorous team to conduct a formal public recruitment in the capital. The situation will naturally be different.
At least, this time, the scholars, mages, and craftsmen in the capital can see some practical guarantees.
Those who have achieved something and are not worried about survival may not be shaken, but among those who are already down and just trying to survive, there will inevitably be those who are tempted.
Among all the people who responded to the recruitment, the largest number were the rune craftsmen and mechanism masters registered in the Craftsman Association, followed by the down-and-out scholars and clerks registered in the Scholars Association. The number of mages was the least, and a considerable part of them just kept Wait and see mentality.
"Witch" Jibri stood in the living room on the first floor of the mansion, receiving the visitors wearing mage robes or short robes with a smile on her face, and quietly observing the subtle changes in everyone's expressions.