Chapter 120 Shadow Guard Assassin
The green poisonous fire rose from the copper basin, flickering and torturing the souls of the three elf mages.
Hajhorna, Hand of the High King, was in the secret chamber at the top of his tower, circling them like a wild cat looking for food.
This tower is located among the dark and steep peaks in the Scimitar Peak Mountains in the Eno Oak Desert, in the southernmost part, and is located on the floating city of Sultansa.
"Have mercy, Arcanist, we do not know the answer you seek!" groaned one of the souls.
"Please," begged the other, "don't torment us any more."
"Very good," Hajhorna hissed.
He had just returned from the trial hall in the City of Ghosts, so he was still wearing office clothes: a starched pleated floor-length robe, and a long trousers with a pair of scales embroidered in gold thread on the left chest. Sleeve black shirt.
A gold belt was tied around the waist, and a mask hung from it - a smooth, round ivory product with openings for the eyes and nostrils, and a slit for the mouth. .
Its color matched well with Hajhorna's gray-white hair that tapered off from the sides of her convex forehead.
The mask's expression was as poised as his own, and his beardless cheeks were still smooth—unsuffering from the fine lines of age or trouble.
"Because of your incompetence, this is your reward." Hajhorna threw a small amount of black powder into the brazier.
The sparks sparkled, red as gems, and immediately crackled around the pale shadow, causing them to scream in pain.
The magic flame then shot toward the ceiling, then extinguished, turning into a plume of acrid smoke.
For a moment, a cruel smile appeared on Hajhorna's face, but it was fleeting.
There was still no solution to the mystery in his mind.
He took out two small items from a golden box on the table.
They are jewels, shaped like teardrops and as clear as winter ice.
Such a gem is called: Tears of the King.
According to legend, they are the tears of ancient kings who were turned into stone statues by magic.
Another legend says that if you look closely at the center of the Tears of the King, you will see an image of the thing that the ancient king loved most in his life.
And the legend is undoubtedly true.
At this moment, he could also see images flickering in the gems: thin gold pages written in strange silver magical writing, and golden scrolls bound with gem-set covers.
In a trance, he discovered that this complete set of golden scrolls transformed into the form of golden beech wood.
What he glimpsed was the collection of books by Vlad the Visionary, the lord of the Elven Kingdom of Myth Drannor.
When the Desert of Ainook was still a fertile forest and plain, the territory ruled by this Elf King included Cormanthor, Vale, Sambia and Cormyr, a dense and fertile forest.
But centuries before the Cormyrs crossed the Sunset Mountains and entered this region, his kingdom had long since reduced to dust and ruins.
The former created a series of glorious cities along the river: Myth Drannor, like sparkling gems on a necklace.
Although Hajhorna stared at the two gems for a long time, he still did not find what he was looking for, which was Vlad's most beloved set of scrolls: the Nese Scrolls.
The once great Netheril Empire found 100 golden scrolls in the ruins of Arivandar. There are two sets of Netherese scrolls, each containing fifty scrolls.
One of the complete sets of golden scrolls was stolen by the elves of Cormanthor.
And he inadvertently discovered traces of this set of Nese scrolls in the two Tears of Kings.
“Ryze!” shouted the arcanist of Netheril. “Ryze!”
The sound of claws scraping rapidly against the stone floor came from behind him.
"Master?" A hoarse voice said timidly.
Hearing this, Hajhorna turned around and saw a short, deformed creature limping into the secret room on its two gnarled and crooked legs.
It blinked its red bulb eyes and sucked its warty snout.
"Come here, Ryze." Hajhorna said in his cold voice: "divide a fortune for me. If you dare to lie to me, I guarantee that you will lose more than just a tail this time. ."
He handed the King's Tears to the kobold, "Look clearly, there is a set of golden scrolls here, and I need its whereabouts."
"Yes, Master. "The kobold approached the table in a flattering manner, with a regretful expression on its face and a pair of bulbous eyes looking at the ground.
As it walked around, it exuded bursts of stench, and its scaly body wore a dirty, tattered brown linen garment, styled like a short robe, that seemed to be falling apart at any time due to decay.
This creature was once a human being, a prophet to be precise. His skill was so great that he only served the emperor.
But Hajhorna wanted him to serve only himself, so he sent someone to murder him.
Then, through dark magic, he stuffed his soul into this new, disgusting form, binding it magically to do its bidding.
"Please forgive me, distinguished master." The kobold looked at it carefully for a long time and stammered:
"I can do divination for you, but the problem is that if the item is too precious, it will affect the results of star divination, or even completely prevent the divination from happening. Um, well. And if the item is under magic protection, I can give it a try, but..."
"To make a long story short, Master." Hajhorna said coldly.
"I need time. I also need to prepare the materials needed to cast the spell. If the arrangement of the stars is ideal enough, then um, uh. Distinguished Master, what you proposed is a difficult task. I need time."
"Master." Hajhorna said with unexpected politeness and a gentle tone: "Everything you need is at your disposal, including time, as long as the reason is sufficient."
" I will try my best," the kobold declared, "but I'm afraid I can only determine the approximate location. I mean the area or range."
"Sorry, what did you say?" Hajhorna smiled.
"Astrology" the kobold broke out in a cold sweat. He stammered, "At long distances, astrology can only provide a very rough positioning, and the error will be quite large. I I really don’t know if I can.”
“You can do it, master.”
The arcanist of Netheril said slowly, with a fierce light in his black eyes. I have great confidence in your ability. When it comes to errors, the smaller your error, the more tolerant I will be to you."
The kobold trembled.
"I must know the whereabouts of the golden scrolls." Hajhorna murmured: "If the preparation for divination takes too long, you can help me predict my future with this set of scrolls first."
< br>"This is simple, respected master."
The kobold nodded quickly, then clumsily opened a small ivory box, took out a pair of exquisite playing cards wrapped in black silk, and began to shuffle the cards.
"You must draw three cards," it suggested in its deep voice to the arcanist of Netheril, and Hajhorna immediately did so. Ryze used his incomplete hand to turn over the first card.
"A golden scroll"
"This heralds the core of your quest. It means great wealth, but some of it has disappeared."
"Needless to say," ha Jahona hummed, understanding shining in his deep black eyes.
The kobold obeyed and revealed the second card.
"A giant dragon, upside down"
"This heralds your allies."
Ryze said as he moved his hand to the last card: "And this heralds the enemies who will oppose you in your quest.
< br>After speaking, he turned over the cards
"An arcanist, also head and feet"
"What do they mean?" Hajhorna asked eagerly.
Ryze's pointed ears twisted in confusion, "I'm not sure, Master. Somehow, a dragon that's not a dragon will help you get that set of golden scrolls. But there's an arcanist who's not an arcanist. It will cause trouble.”
“An arcanist who is not an arcanist?” Hajhorna said sarcastically, “In other words, it doesn’t sound like he is a half-hearted arcanist? Too worried."
"But, Master,"
the kobold insisted, twitching its nose anxiously, "what these cards foretell will have an impact on the outcome. Powerful force. You must"
"Shut up!"
Hajhorna snapped, then slapped the kobold to the ground.
The latter screamed in pain, but he turned a deaf ear to it.
“What I have to do now is to find the hiding place of the Golden Scroll.” The arcanist of Netheril added softly with excitement, “Then, I will rule the Shade Empire in the future.”< br>
"If you need anything, I will send it to you right away." Hajhorna narrowed his eyes and looked at the kobold, "I won't keep you, master, start studying the stars immediately."
"Oh oh oh may the great shadow be forever" the kobold praised excitedly.
"I know, I know, get out of here." Haji Horner waved his hand impatiently.
The kobold shrunk, then bowed deeply, and ran out crawling.
“An arcanist who is not an arcanist?”
As the kobolds left, Hajhorna looked at the image of Tears of Kings again and repeated thoughtfully With.
I don’t know how long it took.
He suddenly sensed that someone was already standing in front of his tower, waiting for a long time.
He immediately put away the Tears of the King, waved his hand, the portal was opened, and a silent black shadow floated out like a ghost.
"Miss Crisana, I am very sorry." Hajhorna looked at the black shadow and said in a sad tone, "Your sister, Miss Natasha, died in the desert just last night. At the wedding banquet in Kou Town."
"I understand. If there is nothing else, I will resign, Hand of the High King, His Excellency Hajhorna." The shadow called Crysanna, The voice was so calm that there was no fluctuation.
“Aren’t you curious at all?” Hajhorna was stunned and said doubtfully.
"At least my curiosity is not being exploited." Crysania said coldly, "Everyone is mortal. I had expected her death, but it was just brought forward."
< br>"This is really a sad story." Hajhorna sighed softly.
"In that case, I'll get straight to the point." He thought for a moment and stopped Krishanna who was about to leave. "I need your father, Prince Desud, to help me win the battle. The Kingdom of Mir."
After speaking, he looked at the woman shrouded in shadow.
"Go on, what can we get?" Crysania replied expressionlessly.
"As long as Prince Desud helps me win the ownership of the Kingdom of Cormyr and the city of Sacros, I will vote for your father." Hajhorna replied with a smile.
The city of Sacros, like the city of Sultanza, was a floating city during the Netheril Empire.
But the former had already sunk into the Sea of Fallen Stars during the destruction of the empire.
Thankfully, when they discovered this floating city, they learned that the overall architecture of this sunken city of Sacross was quite intact.
Now, the High King has sent a group of spellcasters to carry out salvage and repair work.
The Myser energy core used to drive the floating city is almost completed.
As for the ownership of this floating city, the real owner has not been determined from beginning to end.
"I will inform my father." Krisana was silent for a moment, seeming to have made a decision. She looked up at Hajhorna, "Tell me your next plan."< br>
“The people from Mokou Town wiped out one of our elite troops.”
Hajhorna looked serious and said coldly, “I was killed by the Duchess of Arabe City and San Linta will keep a close eye on you, and you can only go there in person to teach them a lesson, so that the people in Mokou Town understand who is the real ruler of the Ainook Desert."
"The list," Crysania said shortly.
“This is the list you need to clear, let’s start with the half-elf wizard named Brian.”
Hajhorna handed Crysanna a sheepskin Scroll, smiled and said: "I look forward to good news from you, the Shadow Guard Assassin of the Tanshur family."
In fact, he got this list from the Sanlin Pagoda Society.
In order to confirm the authenticity of the incident, he personally went to the shadow plane and learned the details from the mouth of Feiyi Yeying who participated in the battle.
Therefore, he believed that they must start with the half-elf wizard who ruined their plan.
"The piercing wind is the cry of the Shadow Blade!"
Crisana turned into a shadow and disappeared without a trace.
(End of this chapter)