The moment the palm python got out of the ice, the knight in charge of finding the way immediately drew his sword and slashed at it.
He thought he could cut this thing with a single sword, but those snake-shaped tentacles looked soft, but they were actually as hard as solid steel. After a slash, the tentacles were not damaged at all, but a small curl appeared on the blade where the force was applied.
At the same time, several similar monsters emerged from the snow-covered ice. The leader of the detachment commanded everyone to change into a defensive formation, while observing the movement of the monster, while moving as fast as possible to the shore. Now they don't care about the snow bridge, they just want to go ashore quickly, and everyone understands that even if they can fight monsters, they can't fight against the cracked ice.
Boris had never seen a palm python either, and only saw relevant content in Yriel's notes. He shouted as loud as he could in a hoarse voice, "Don't let them touch you! They'll paralyze you and drag you to the bottom of the river..."
There is even more terrifying content in the notes: they can secrete something that paralyzes people without drowning in water. After being captured by them, you can survive underwater for a while, and they will start tearing your skin, breaking your bones, and digging out your internal organs... all the while, you will remain awake.
Manello beside him couldn't help asking, "Do they eat people?"
"No, they don't eat..."
"Don't eat people, why attack us..."
"Because they are not animals." When Boris said this, his face became paler and paler. "They are tools of execution."
The leader of the detachment approached and moved his steps carefully: "Mage, how long is this thing in total?"
"I don't know," Burris shook his head tremblingly, "It's also the first time I've seen... the real..."
"They don't seem to pounce on it right away?"
Maybe... because they sensed Yriel's breath? Burris thought. Presumably they're a little confused, not sure if this is the time to go wild.
"Then let's go quickly, maybe they..."
Before Burris finished speaking, there was a scream in front of him.
With the sound of thick snow cracking, a horse slipped into the ice crevasse. Originally, the palm pythons were watching cautiously, but now they directly came into contact with the creatures that fell into the water, and they all boiled with excitement. Suddenly, the entire ice surface began to tremble.
The horses began to flee in a panic, and were dragged into the ice cave one by one by the monsters. The knights could only block attacks from all directions, but they couldn't really hurt those monsters. There's nothing Boris can do this time... His ability is not enough to control the palm python, and he doesn't have any attack spells that can come in handy right now.
In the process of fleeing in a hurry, Burris turned his head from time to time and found that Manello had been protecting him.
He was about to say something, but suddenly his face turned pale. He made a horrible discovery.
Some light spots began to appear on the wrists and arms of the palm pythons, and the light spots gradually connected into lines to form a circular emblem. That was Yriel's "Protection" emblem.
When the pattern of the luminous emblem was completely fixed, the palm pythons turned around one after another, not afraid of swords, and continued to move forward... They all meandered towards Burris and Manello.
Burris understood that this was not some protection, but a malevolent curse.
When Yriel was alive, the monster would avoid the person holding the emblem; after Yriel died, the emblem became a death sentence, and the execution tools he left would give priority to killing the person holding the emblem.
Yriel was ready. Once he dies, his apprentices, servants, allies, subjects... can't leave.
The master is executed and the slaves walk happily to freedom? How can there be such a good thing.
Burris yells at Manello to throw away the rings in his fanny pack...but there's such a commotion that Manello doesn't seem to catch what he's saying. When he wanted to ask, a strong impact burst out from under his feet.
A hole was knocked in the ice beneath their feet, and both of them slid along the broken ice into the water.
Manello's sword was out of his hand. He instinctively clung to the ice next to him, and Boris quickly cast an arc shield under his feet. The shield keeps him temporarily from sinking, and also temporarily blocks things that might emerge from below. It's a pity that his shield is too small, and its duration is too short. It can only protect the direction of Burris' feet, but it cannot cover the range where Manero is.
Manello scrambled upwards, trying to reach his sword. A palm python suddenly appeared in front of him, only a stroke away from his face.
At such a close distance, he saw the marks on the monster's tentacles.
He had seen the pattern and remembered the details well.
He doesn't have a good memory. The reason why he can remember it so clearly is because he secretly looked at the ring for a long time... This may be the "family crest" of the young apprentice, so he held the ring in his hand and looked around, recalling whether he had seen this pattern before, I wonder who among my acquaintances has more research on the declining ancient family...
The fingertips of the palm python touched his cheek, as gentle as a girl's caress. Looking at the marks on the tentacle's wrist, Manello finally understood that the pattern on the ring was not a family crest. It's a mage's thing... a necromancer's thing...
Burris screamed.
Manello sank to the dark bottom in front of him, and then his voice stopped abruptly. Another monster wrapped itself gently around his neck.
The icy water flowed all over the body, and the sun was crushed by the ripples above the head. Before losing consciousness, Burris heard the sound of the entire ice surface slowly cracking.
===========================
For a brief moment Burris thought he was lying in the Black Lake.
Everyone goes to that place when they die. The divine domain of Otarot is called the Hall of the Dead, and before reaching there, human souls have to pass through a black lake.
An innocent person walks very fast in the lake, and a person who is more sinful walks more slowly. He may have to walk longer than his previous life, or even hundreds of thousands of years. During this process, the lake water will force the sinner to repent and slowly wash away the filth in his soul. He will spend a long time in loneliness and coldness before finally reaching the place where he is allowed to sleep.
There are also some souls that sink directly to the bottom of the lake. His sins are too heavy and too dirty, and the lake water can't wash him off... I don't know if this is true or not, but Boris always thinks it is false, because this statement is inexplicably funny, It does not match the style of other legends about the Hall of the Dead, and it will make people think of a picture of a black and fat soul thrashing and drowning.
When he was half awake, Boris almost thought that this statement was true. His body was wet and cold, his hands and feet were numb and unconscious, and he couldn't move no matter how hard he struggled... He suspected that he was dead, and his soul sank into the black lake.
Gradually, the cold was driven away by some kind of heat source around him, and the numb fingers were gradually recovering. The trees around were rustling, and the cold night wind brought a smell of vegetation... Boris opened his eyes, the full moon was hanging in the sky, and a small dead leaf fell on his forehead.
He was lying in a glade with his feet facing a small bonfire. At first he thought it was the Templar Knights who rescued him, but if so, where did the Knights go? It is impossible for them to leave the prisoners under escort...
Judging from the surrounding terrain and tree types, he was already south of Jingbing Lake. This area is also very dangerous, but it is much better than the rime forest on the other side of the lake. At least there are no golems and large magical creatures here. With Boris' ability, even if he can't deal with everything he encounters, at least he can hide his whereabouts.
Thinking of this, he noticed that the shackles on his hands had been opened. No, it should not be said to be "opened", it is still locked, but the thick iron chain between the hands is broken, and the break is very twisted and weird, as if it was torn open with bare hands... But how is that possible? ? Neither the knights nor the Frostland barbarians have such strength. Yriel's magical creatures are possible, but they can't save people, let alone light bonfires...
Burris moved his body slowly, getting a little closer to the campfire. This will keep you warm, but not enough to dry your soaked winter clothes. Burris kept massaging his hands, trying to get his fingers back on their feet so he could dry himself with spells.
While resting by the fire, he kept recalling the last scene on the ice... He saw Manello's eyes, eyes full of anger and hatred.
Manello noticed that the emblem on the palm python was exactly the same as the emblem on the ring.
The more Burris thought about it, the more anxious he became. Manello must have misunderstood, he thought I gave him the ring to kill him... wonder what happened to him? Since I can be rescued, he should be the same, he should be with other knights...
After the fingers were a little more comfortable, Boris immediately cast a spell to remove the cold water from his clothes and hair. He didn't do it too thoroughly, and there were still some spots on his body that weren't dry, but he couldn't wait any longer.
He walked around the forest near the campfire, but found no trace of other people. So he cast another spell and found two human signs of life just south of the campfire.
Boris could only find a rough idea, but couldn't locate a precise location, because this forest is a magic experiment field, and residual fluctuations would interfere with detection. Burris thought, maybe this fluctuation hindered not only the search for coordinates, but also the number of life signals... That's why I only found two humans.
He wrapped his cloak tightly, and went quietly into the southward woods. After walking for a long time, he found the body of a horned wolverine, which looked like it had just been killed with a sharp weapon. The horned wolverine is not a magical creature, but an ordinary animal that is somewhat dangerous. The people who killed it obviously did not want to hunt, but killed everything in a panic that looked threatening in the dark.
It must have been done by the Knights of the Temple. Maybe they'll find out after hacking this thing, what? Isn't this black shadow a monster
After driving for a while, Boris vaguely felt that he was walking on the road that others had walked. The Frost Plains people taught him how to track, but he didn't learn it very well, so he can only make a tentative judgment.
Just as he was considering whether to use the detection spell again, something hard and sharp touched the side of his neck.
As he stood in the bushes thinking, two knights approached him quietly.
"Master, put your hands next to your head and kneel down slowly. Don't make a sound until I allow you." It was the voice of the detachment leader.
Burris obediently raised his hands and knelt down, waiting for the other party to ask questions. In fact, he also has a lot of questions he wants to ask, such as: Is it just the two of you here? Where are the others? Is Manello out of danger? Are you the ones lighting the bonfire...
He was a little happy when he heard the human voice, but this happiness was quickly replaced by fear.
The leader of the detachment winked at the knight next to him, and the man quickly took out a belt, tied Burris's hands behind his back again, and folded his wrists together.
"Son, I'm actually willing to trust you," the detachment leader said in a tired voice, "I hope you're just an innocent young man who was enslaved by Yriel instead of collaborating with him... But now it seems that I was wrong, you Pretty dangerous."
"What?" As soon as Boris made a sound, the sword edge approached his neck again.
The knight binding his hands behind him muttered, "Don't think we're fools. You fell into the ice hole and came out unscathed and dry, and Manello... and the others... they all..."
Burris went limp and almost fell to the ground from a kneeling position.
Seeing his terrified appearance, the detachment leader sneered and said, "Scared? Yes, you must think that none of us can escape. Unfortunately, the two of us are still alive."
Boris ignored Jianfeng and eagerly explained: "You think I made the things in the river? No, I don't have that much ability to control them, I..."
"In retrospect, the Frostlands seem to have given you some secret signal," the detachment leader interrupted him, "that woman mentioned the Khiva River. How stupid of me, why didn't I think of it at the time? I'm afraid I underestimated those barbarians. wiser."
"I warned you! I told you that the river is dangerous!" Boris was a little excited, and the knight behind him pressed his shoulder tightly.
His words made the detachment leader even angrier: "Oh, yes, Master Mage. You also proposed to give each of us a magic emblem to protect us? Later, only Manello accepted your gift, and then what? He was the first to be killed."
Burris wanted to argue, but the knight next to him suddenly pulled his hair, forced him to raise his head, and stuffed a thick cloak fragment into his mouth.
The leader of the detachment raised Boris' chin with the tip of his sword, and looked at him coldly: "In order to prevent the mage from acting dangerously again, we have to take precautions."
He ordered the knight behind Burris: "It's the same as in the past... the index finger and middle finger of both hands, the joint in the middle. You do it."