Chapter 29, Prelude to Crisis
In the dark night, a figure wearing a cloak and a hood seemed to be gliding through the fortress city. Advance through Lantier's cemetery.
Although this figure was carrying a huge bag, he was still surprisingly agile. He avoided the magic lights and guards of the cemetery with great agility. Like a wandering ghost, he continued to advance into the inaccessible deepest part of the cemetery.
Finally, in front of the temple in the center of the cemetery, she finally stopped and slowly revealed her face from under the hood.
This is a young woman who is about twenty years old and in her prime. She has dazzling blond hair, beautiful and straight facial features, and a cute and childish look like a feline. But just like the seemingly cute cats, there are hidden dangers, and the ferocious nature of carnivorous animals can be revealed at any time.
In addition, although she was wearing a dark cloak with a hood, her shoulders and waist were exposed boldly, regardless of the fact that the spring evening breeze was still cold.
"...It's finally here."
The woman murmured in a joking tone, reached out to lift up her short blond hair, then pushed open the stone door with the bag and entered the temple.
The interior of the temple in the darkness was empty. There was nothing on the stone platform where the corpses and sacrifices were originally placed. Only the strong scent of incense lingered. The overly sweet smell stimulated the woman's nasal cavity and made her feel slightly unhappy. He frowned, then hummed a song pretending to be relaxed.
"...hem hum - hey -"
While humming, the woman found an inconspicuous and small statue from under the pedestal, and then pressed it hard.
As the statue moved downward, there was a "click" of mechanical bite. After a while, various rattling sounds continued, and the stone platform originally located in the center of the temple was slowly moved away, revealing a deep staircase leading to the ground under the stone platform.
"...I'm coming in——"
As if visiting a neighbor's house, the blond woman shouted down with a smile and walked in calmly. We turned a corner in the middle and came to a wide underground square, or a giant cave, a place suitable for a villain to use as a secret base.
As for this giant cave, you can really feel the evil atmosphere at a glance - there are tapestries with weird patterns on the walls, and several red candles made of blood are burning in the niches, giving off a faint light. , and the smell of burnt blood. The flickering candlelight cast countless shadows, and the air was filled with the special corpse odor unique to low-level undead creatures. No matter how much spices were burned, it could not cover it up.
As for the several young men who came up from the cave, they were all wearing black robes and had gloomy faces, looking like "this is definitely not a good person."
However, the blonde woman turned a blind eye to this eerie atmosphere. Instead, she put down her big bag and said hello with a smile:
"...Hello──I'm here to see little Kaji here, is he here──?"
Such a frivolous and familiar tone made the men in black robes feel at a loss, until a guy who looked like a leader stood up and ordered: "Okay, you all go down, you are your own people!" These black-robed men are like this. They dispersed with great amnesty.
The leader is a very thin man. His eyes were severely sunken, and his face looked so bad that he didn't look like a living person, which fit the description of being lifeless. The top of the head was bald without even a single hair. Not only that, even his eyebrows, eyelashes and other body hair were gone. It felt like he didn't have even a hair on his body.
Obviously, this appearance makes it impossible to tell how old he is, but judging from the lack of wrinkles on his skin, he shouldn't be old yet.
This man was wearing a luxurious dark red robe, with a necklace made of small animal skulls around his neck. A pair of hands that were so thin that they were just skin and bones, with dirty yellow nails holding a black staff. It seems more appropriate to say that it looks more like an undead creature than a human being.
"...Hello - little Kaji."
The woman's careless and flirtatious greeting made the bald necromancer frown - his appearance as a villain was exposed!
"...Can you please stop calling me that? It will damage Chiranon's reputation. Just call me Khajiit."
——Both the blonde woman and the necromancer entrenched here are members of a famous evil secret organization "Zhilanon".
According to public statements, "Zhilanon" is a powerful evil secret organization with a large number of battle-experienced magic casters. The members of this organization are all guys who are keen on making bloody sacrifices to evil gods, devils, and demons to satisfy their crazy desires. If necessary, they will even sacrifice an entire city as a sacrifice without hesitation. He has personally caused several horrific and bloody tragedies.
Because of the above-mentioned crazy behavior, this organization is regarded as an enemy by all civilized countries on the surface, and has been jointly attacked by various countries all year round. And in order to prevent their heretical beliefs from spreading, every crusade was to kill all relevant personnel without leaving any survivors, which was extremely cruel.
But the strange thing is that, just like al-Qaeda and a series of other various terrorist organizations that cannot be defeated on earth, the "Zhilanong" organization in this fantasy world does not seem to be suppressed by the iron fist of various countries. It will soon decline, but it will become stronger when it encounters setbacks...
As for why it has been suppressed repeatedly, looking at the "defected agents" from various countries in the "Zhilanong" organization may reveal a little bit of the truth.
"...Really?" The blond woman whistled disapprovingly, causing the leader of the necromancer to frown even deeper.
"...Then what? Why did you come here? You know I am injecting power into the [Orb of Death] here. If you plan to come here to cause trouble, I will not be polite to you." The leader of the necromancer He narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the wand in his hand.
——As a senior cadre in the same organization, he knew how powerful the woman in front of him was, and he also understood how crazy she was.
To put it simply, she is a big bomb that can explode at any time. She is extremely crazy and indulges in the alternative hobby of killing, never caring about the serious consequences. If possible, the leader of the Necromancer really doesn't want to have anything to do with this guy at this critical moment.
But now that the other party has come to visit, he has to bite the bullet and find a way to deal with it.
"...I hate it - little Kaji. I brought this thing here for you -" The blonde woman showed a charming smile and fumbled with her hands under the cloak, making a clicking sound. Finally, I found what I was looking for and happily stretched out my hand.
It was a gorgeous crown, not a hard and bulky gold crown, but a soft ornament that could be rolled into a ball and used as a female ornament
Countless exquisite gemstones of various colors are dotted on slender metal threads that look like spider silk, like a spider web stained with water droplets. The workmanship is quite exquisite. In the center of the crown, where it should be worn on the forehead, there is a huge gem that looks like black crystal.
"...This is...Oh my god!" Khajit, the leader of the necromancers, couldn't help but be stunned. Although he had only seen it from a distance, he would never admit it wrong - "...the symbol of the Witch Princess, the [Wise Man's Crown]! Isn't this one of the most precious secret treasures of the Slian Theocracy!"
"...That's right - I saw a cute girl wearing such a strange tiara and thought it was too ugly, so I took it off - the result surprised me! The other person immediately went crazy - really It’s just shit——”
The blonde woman couldn't stop laughing as she spoke. Khajiit, the leader of the necromancers, rolled his eyes when he heard this. If the Wise Man's Crown is taken away, what will happen to the person who originally wore it, the so-called "Miko Princess"? The blond woman in front of her is a former member of the "Black Scripture" special forces of the Silian Theocracy. , of course it is impossible not to know. Because, one of the daily tasks of the "Dark Scripture" is to execute the next "Miko Princess" with a knife, and send the previous "Miko Princess" who went crazy immediately after the [Wise Man's Crown] was taken off. God's side.
"...But there's nothing we can do about it. If you don't do this, you can't take it off - it's the fault of the person who made this crown, it's the guy who's wrong -"
——Indeed, there is no safe way to remove the crown of wisdom. The function of this crown is to turn a living girl into a human prop for releasing ultra-high-level magic by sealing off the wearer's self-awareness. The problem is, even if every miko princess is destined to die from the moment she puts on the [Wise Man’s Crown], it’s not like just any girl can serve as such a living sacrifice.
Therefore, after a moment of surprise and shock, the expression on the face of the leader of the necromancer turned into contempt, "...Huh, what you want to rob even if you betray the Silian Theocracy turns out to be such a waste. Do you have any brains? Is it wrong? Instead of doing this, why not grab the artifacts left by the six gods?”
"... Calling him a waste would be too much -" the blond woman pretended to puff up her cheeks, while the mage continued to laugh unceremoniously:
"...Isn't it right to call it a waste? Although the [Wise Man's Crown] is powerful, the probability of a woman wearing this item being born naturally is only one in a million based on the population. Except for the Slian Theocracy, Who else can find someone qualified to wear it? ”
——Among the countries, only the Silian Theocracy has established a household registration system for all people. You can search according to the map to find the qualified person to wear this item, or the living sacrifice that has been sacrificed for this item. No matter how powerful other forces are, they cannot do such a thing as finding a needle in a haystack.
"...That's why I came to you for help! Khajiit Dale Badantir, who is also a member of the Twelve Cadres, are you willing to help me?"
"...Oh, have you finally revealed your true intentions? The clone of Queen's Tears! Don't call me Dale, I don't use that Christian name anymore."
Khajiit, the leader of the necromancer, frowned slightly in disgust, as if he didn't want to hear his original name being mentioned.
"...Then you don't want to call me 'the clone of Queen's Tears'? Call me Clementine." The blond woman curled her lips.
"...Okay, Clementine, what do you want me to help you with?" Khajiit sighed in distress, "...Let me tell you first, I can't help you screen millions of people one by one. Women, find the qualified ones - even His Majesty the King cannot do such an exaggerated thing!"
"...Don't go to such trouble, Khajiit! Isn't there a very famous person with natural powers in this city? That little guy named Nfirea Barreare, who is born with the ability to use any magic item The lucky guy..."
The blond woman named Clementine replied in an understatement, "...as long as we catch that guy, we can let him wear this [Wise Man's Crown] instead of the qualified Miko Princess, and then become a Miko Princess." A super powerful living magic weapon..."
"...I see, that guy in the legend! Well, I've seen what he's capable of with my own eyes, maybe he can really do it! Speaking of which, the kingdom is really slow to not control such a celebrity!" Khajit, the leader of the necromancer, nodded as if he suddenly understood, "...but...if we only need to kidnap a human from the city, wouldn't it be more than enough for you alone? Why do you need to come to me?"
"...Well, you are right - in fact, they have already arrested this little guy Nfirea!"
Clementine raised her leg and kicked the large sack beside her, and an unconscious young man covered in blood rolled out of it. Then she pulled out a dagger from her waist and licked it with her tongue seductively. "...But, I'm not particularly good at this kind of magic! Besides, since I got this thing, there are still people following me to cause trouble! What a group of troublesome guys!"
"...I see...In order to get rid of the pursuing troops of the Slian Theocracy, you want me to create a big chaos in this city, help you cover up your traces, and then escape in the chaos?" Khajiit, the leader of the Necromancer, asked. He nodded casually, "...but why should I help you?"
"...Hehe, of course I won't let you work in vain, little Kaji! If I am willing to use the [Wise Man's Crown] to help you perform the sacrificial ceremony, what do you think? It's a good deal, right?" Clementine grinned mischievously He smiled softly and purred as cutely as a kitten, but it was full of murderous intent.
"...Well, the deal is established! In other words, this is really great, Clementine. Hahaha! Why didn't I think of that just now?"
Khajiit, the leader of the necromancer, narrowed his eyes and showed an extremely evil smile: "...If you are willing to use the [Wise Man's Crown] to help me, you can carry out the 'Death Ritual' in advance! No problem, I will do my best Help you! Maybe after success, you won’t have to hide anymore!”
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When the evil organization "Zhilanong" has brought destruction and death, the ordinary people in this city are still unaware.
The next day, the fortress city. As usual, the people of Lantel spent what was probably the last peaceful day in their lives.
In the afternoon of that day, the dragonman Sebas, the steward of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, also brought more than 200 hired adventurers, as well as a small number of war refugees who were planning to move to Karn Village with him, and pulled a dozen The truck just purchased food, tents and tools and embarked on the journey back to Kahn Village.
Because they started too late and there were so many people, they walked slowly, so when the group set up camp in the evening, they still hadn't gone very far. If they turned back, they could still see the horizon. At the end, you can see the fortress city. The tall walls of Lantier.
The aroma of broth wafted from the pot, and the camp was full of noises of joking. Everything seemed so peaceful... However, Tabby was entering the [automatic eating mode], nibbling on small dried fish to reduce his hunger. Elvis Presley knew that a drastic change was imminent.
Because the game player panel displayed in front of him has fully revealed everything that is happening:
[A person with natural abilities who can use any magic item, Nfirea, heir to a famous family of pharmacists. Bareare was captured in advance by Clementine, a defected female agent from the Silian Theocracy, and was put on the [Crown of the Wise], transformed into a magic prop, and received 1,000 reward points. 】
[The evil organization "Zhilanong" launched the undead craze in advance and received 1,000 reward points]
[The current total points are 50,000 reward points, and the conditions for single-person separation have been met. Are you asking if you want to allow a certain participant to return to the real world? 】
"...It's finally about to begin, meow! This evil organization in a fantasy world is really moving very fast!"
Facing the setting sun slowly setting on the horizon, a certain kitten whispered, "...I hope you don't disappoint us, meow! As for little brother Nfirea, I can only say sorry, after all, you will have Such a disaster, and we have no obligation to eliminate it for you... And the citizens of the fortress city, even if according to the original plot, you will be ruled by the undead next spring, so now you should just adapt in advance..."
He said to himself sincerely, "... Anyway, please pray for yourselves tonight..." - Then, that night, in the dead of night, the fortress city. An unusual commotion suddenly occurred in Lantier's cemetery...