Guided by the "Midnight Chronicle",
Later, people sang "Silver Carol Collection".
These two lines of characters are engraved on the double-opened stone gates. They are not magical characters, but a kind of ancient script that has been lost.
Lottebald hasn't seen this kind of writing for a long, long time... When was the last time I saw it? At that time, the Ten-Nation Confederation had not yet been established, the Kingdom of Sargo had not yet appeared, and he had not yet been imprisoned in the Swamp of the Dead...
Thanks to the writing on the door, Lotter suddenly remembered the name of the book. A collection of chronicles and carols, iron black on one side, silver mirror inlaid on the other, the two parts of the page separated by a thin strip of mithril...
Suddenly, his mind was confused... It didn't seem that he "felt" the ancient book, but that he knew it or even was quite familiar with it, and he just forgot it, just like he had forgotten many, many things.
He has existed in this world for so many years, he has witnessed too many things, but he can only remember very limited things. The same is true for human beings, who cannot remember everything in their past lives, and the memories of childhood are even more blurred.
Lotterbald forgot a lot. No one can accompany him to strengthen those memories, and no one can remind him not to forget someone or something thousands of years later. He never forced himself to remember anything, because that was of no use at all.
Now he is in the temple guarded by the Black Lake, getting closer and closer to the ancient book... The familiar feeling came to his heart again, and the long-faded memory seemed to be revived...
There was a click, and the door opened—it's not every day that the temple knight and the princess pick the lock together.
Sir Naylor was about to push the door, but Burris stopped him: "Wait. We have to get ready."
"What preparation?"
"There are a lot of undead creatures behind the door."
Ser Naylor put his hand on the hilt of his sword. "That's all right. I'd be more than happy to send them to sleep."
Burris sighed: "The point is not 'undead creatures', but 'a large number'! There are really so many, I can't even count them. If you open the door, you will see the pits and valleys full of undead creatures. You can't see them at a glance." The kind that goes to the edge."
After speaking, he handed the opal pendulum to Estee: "Princess, come and feel it."
As expected, Estee was taken aback: "Why are there so many?" She looked at Naylor, "Are there often incidents of undead attacking people around Black Cliff Fort? Why have I never heard of it from you?"
Naylor replied: "We have not found any threats, and the people of Black Cliff Fort and Harbor City have never reported encountering living corpses..."
"Are they all well-behaved undead creatures that never go out? Never disturb the living?"
"It's really possible," Boris put his hand on the stone door and knocked lightly, "You see, we talked and picked the lock outside, and they supposedly discovered us a long time ago, but they just stayed quietly. Inside, there was no commotion. They didn't seem to care about us."
"Maybe they're trying to sneak up," Naylor said.
"No," Burris said, "anyway, stand back and let me open the door."
"Are you sure?" Naylor looked at the mage who was younger than Estee.
Boris had to say: "You are responsible for protecting the princess. If I can't handle it, you two will come to save me."
His spellcasting degradation symptoms have gradually improved, and he should not be far away from a complete recovery, so he is not worried about the undead, he can handle it.
Naylor drew out his sword, protecting Estee and retreating a distance. Lott also took a few steps back symbolically, and rarely expressed any opinion.
Boris prepared a simple force field shield to prevent the enemy from being impacted at the moment the door was opened, and then pushed open the stone door with the spell of touching objects in the air.
After the stone door was opened, a small light ball slowly floated in, illuminating the things inside the door. This is a spacious hall, which should be the main chapel of the temple. Boris was right. There were really a large number of undead creatures in the temple... They were densely packed, crowded together, even layered on top of each other, flooding the floor and covering the altar. They really couldn't see the edge at a glance.
Even Burris couldn't help but gasped. Although the approximate number of undead can be ascertained, it is quite shocking to see this kind of picture with my own eyes...
They are awake, but less conscious. Boris put away his shield and took a step forward. Several corpses near the door noticed him and squeezed back slightly.
Seeing this, Naylor also followed. The Temple Knight is always used to walking first, and hiding behind will always look a bit unheroic. When he approached, the undead did not retreat as obediently as before. They seemed to be disturbed, and began to struggle one by one. .
Burris held out his arms to keep Naylor behind him, muttering something. What he recited was a very elementary incantation, which could appease the undead, allowing them to temporarily overcome the instinct of fear and anxiety, and enter a state of ignorance and obedience.
The reason why it is called primary is because it can only appease, it cannot manipulate and suppress, let alone deal with dangerous enemies. Interestingly, this spell is also effective on some animals and human babies... I don't know which mage first experimented with babies. Necromancers jokingly call this spell a lullaby.
The lullaby soothed some of the corpses, but it couldn't calm down the whole hall. The corpses woke up one by one, some were dumbfounded, some were restless, and some didn't seem to notice the intruder at all, and just scrambled nervously among the corpses...
Burris went a few steps further. The corpses neither dared to touch him, nor would they make way for him. They flowed in the hall like liquid, rubbing against each other and making various disgusting sounds.
Boris took a cursory look. These corpses came from different ages, and even from different regions. The latest death date may have been dead for decades, and the furthest one can no longer be judged. After detecting the nearby magic fluctuations, Boris was sure that these corpses were not manipulated by anyone, they were all free living corpses... But, if no one manipulated them, why would the dead from different regions and different eras gather together automatically?
Sir Naylor on the side wanted to slash the corpse with his sword several times, but Este stopped him. Estee said that the situation here was not normal, and told him not to act rashly, after all, this matter involved his mother... Naylor had to hang down the blade, but his body remained tense.
Through the crowd of corpses, Naylor saw the symbol on the wall deep in the hall: tearful eyes embedded in a circular pattern representing the moon, surrounded by a fence of thorny thorns... This is the holy emblem of the Black Lake Guard , and it is an unsimplified old-style holy emblem in ancient books.
Lott also walked into the hall and stood beside Burris. The living corpse next to him immediately shrank back, making room for him. The corpses also moved as Burris approached, but they backed off more quickly against Lott.
Neither Naylor nor Estee noticed this small change, but Boris could see it clearly.
Lott pointed to the looming pattern on the opposite wall: "This underground temple is at least hundreds of years... even thousands of years old, right? You can't see the holy emblem from the outside!"
Naylor was a little surprised when he heard it: "You know this too? Which temple did you train in?"
Boris replied for Lott: "He usually likes to engage in religious and anecdotal research, but he himself is an unbeliever."
"So that's how it is," Naylor sighed, "I thought you were a mage trained in the temple, but I don't think you have the same aura..."
Lott continued: "As far as I know, people who believe in the Guardians of the Black Lake should have disappeared long ago, right? The Guardians of the Black Lake have never been to the world, and have not left behind a magical vein. His priests exist only for faith Yes, they have no possibility of obtaining divine magic at all."
"On the surface, they are extinct," Naylor said, "but among the people, all kinds of false god beliefs have not completely disappeared. Those priests spread fallacies and heresies at least, and at worst cheated money to entrap the people. They traveled from country to country, It’s always impossible to catch it.”
Lott tutted his head and shook his head: "I know the priest of the false god. The 'God of Healing Mountain Spring', 'Sacred Beast of the Mountain Forest', 'Lily Goddess of Blessing Marriage'... are all made-up images. But the Black Lake guards are different, He really existed. You treat Priest Heihu as a priest of a false god, which is a bit... "
While talking, he looked back at Naylor: "It suddenly occurred to me that your mother Lisa is probably the priest of Black Lake?"
Naylor subconsciously wanted to say "impossible", but in the end he only moved his mouth and couldn't say it. He also thought of this possibility, but he just didn't want to believe it.
Judging from the known situation, Lisa should undoubtedly be the priest of the false god. It is said that the priests of the Black Lake Guard have been operating in secret. They have no fixed meeting places, nor do they have sacrificial robes or sacred objects that can be displayed publicly. They pass on their beliefs from generation to generation, wander around silently, make a living by talents such as songs and dramas, and persevere in searching for the lost gods. All the traces below: historical materials, relics, ancient temples... as long as it is related to the guards of the Black Lake, it is the goal of the priests to pursue and praise.
Even if Ms. Lisa is the priest of Black Lake, what does she have to do with so many corpses? Burris was thinking with his head down, and his eyes happened to meet the wrist of a mummy.
There was a scar there, not like an accidental injury, but more like a deliberate cut.
He frowned, squatted down and grabbed another corpse. The cloth on the corpse was not completely withered. Boris lifted its clothes and observed from the arm to the ankle... There was a vague imprint on the ribs of the corpse, the outline Very similar to the scar on the wrist of the last mummy.
Burris began rummaging through the bodies. The corpses were able to move and seemed to want to hide from him, but they were too slow to move, and those who tried to crawl away would be caught back.
Naylor watched this scene uncomfortably, and quietly asked the princess: "What is he doing?"
Estee was also a little uncomfortable. She rarely rummages through corpses herself, and when she needs to do so, she usually manipulates golems to do it for her. "He seems to have found something..." Esther muttered, and she glanced casually, just in time to see the shriveled thighs of the mummy at her feet, and there was also a faded and deformed tattoo on the leg.
After a while, Boris stood up, took out a wet towel and wiped his hands: "I see... It's unbelievable, these living corpses are all priests of the Lord of the Black Lake!"
Naylor looked shocked: "So many? Are there so many false god priests?"
Burris said: "On average, it may not be many. These living corpses come from different regions, they are in different ages, they all pursued the god of the dead, and they all successfully found this ancient temple... Then, they all chose to die in into the temple.
"The believers of the Black Lake Guard are all wanderers who have left their homes. After finding the temple, they use the temple as a shelter. When they die of old age or illness, these believers are reunited together across time and space. Look at these traces—" Boris pointed to the arm of the mummy, "The Guardian of the Black Lake is defined as an evil god and a false god, so his priests dare not hold the holy emblem. Therefore, the priests changed a secret method and put the simplified version of the holy emblem Patterns are left on the body. They can be tattoos, they can be brandings or scars...the priests choose different techniques depending on the time they live in."
Estee asked: "Then how are the corpses transformed into undead creatures? It is said that there are only two ways to awaken the dead, one is to use the magic in arcane necromancy, and the other is to rely on the vein of divine art... But black Didn't the lake guards leave no magical spells behind?"
"That means that this statement may be wrong," Boris said. "Obviously, the God of the Dead also left a magical vein... Although it is rare and hard to find, it is quite powerful. These corpses were all awakened by that power , since no one is controlling them, they have no clear consciousness at all."
After finishing speaking, he glanced at Lot beside him. Today's Lott was exceptionally quiet, and he basically didn't talk nonsense except for the necessary conversations, and he was so serious that he didn't get used to it.
He must have felt the power left by the Black Lake guards, and most of that power was in the ancient book he was looking for.
Burris always has a vague feeling: the Lord of Skeletons didn't want the book out of curiosity, nor did he seek the Black Lake just because he wanted power. There is not only concentration and longing in Lotter's abnormal silence today, but also a trace of fear that seems to be absent.
Just thinking about this, Lott finally spoke again: "Should we continue to explore? Standing here in a daze is too wasteful of time."
After all, he walked towards the altar of the main hall.
When Lott took a step, the corpses at his feet would definitely try to move away. As he slowly moved forward, the corpses crowded back and piled up, forming a canyon, leaving a narrow path for him. way.
Boris followed closely behind Lott, and turned around to wink at Estee. Estee knew that Boris didn't do it, but she had to tell Naylor that it was the effect of the necromancer's spell, after all, Naylor didn't know that there was a demigod standing here.
According to the usual structure of the temple, there should be a small door leading to other directions behind the altar. As the group of corpses receded, the mottled and dilapidated altar finally showed its true colors. There was indeed a passage behind the altar, which probably led to the living area of the temple.
The passage was pitch black, only a cluster of orange shimmers glowed in the deepest part. Sir Naylor squeezed to the front, and this time he finally had the opportunity to go first with his sword.
His steps were heavy and his armor clanked. Before everyone took a few steps, the orange light at the end of the passage flickered, as if blocked by a shadow.
The shadow made a dry and strange voice, as if it was laughing or talking, but no one could understand what it said.
Naylor stopped in his tracks and asked loudly who the other party was.
The voice spoke a few more words. Boris carefully distinguished and found that the person was indeed talking. She was smiling and repeated a sentence:
"After reading it, I have no regrets. After reading it, I have no regrets."