Chapter 204 Undercurrent
The hazy mist shrouded Mokou Town, intertwined with the morning light, driven by the breeze, reluctant to leave, revealing the towering wizard tower.
The obsidian tower is bathed in the gorgeous glow, as if inlaid with a layer of bright gold, standing tall and dazzling in the sky.
"Is this Mokou Town?" a slightly deep young male voice sounded.
Two figures in black cloaks appeared among the crowd entering the town.
From the dust on their weathered boots and thick black woolen cloaks, it was clear that they came from the deserts of Enook.
"Teacher, the Mokou Town I left a year ago."
The voice just sounded again, and under the caress of the breeze, you can vaguely see them under their black cloaks. The dull black armor, and the weathered face in the hood.
He took a careful look at the crowd entering the town in an orderly manner, and murmured: "It's not the same as I imagined."
In a daze, he recalled that he was The experience in the Mokou Town Arena was the most unforgettable and painful experience in his life.
He was once the most powerful gladiator in the "Blood Drinking" Arena in Mokou Town, and the only gladiator to complete a hundred challenges and win the title of "Bloody Slayer".
After revisiting his old place, he found that everything in Mokou Town now seemed in order.
Along the way, everyone lived under strict order and strict laws, and he could feel that the people here were whether they were civilians working in the fields, businessmen, or even goblins cleaning the roads. , we all live better than other places, and the smiles on our faces are sincere.
The most important thing is that he also saw a tall tower standing on the top of the mountain.
It goes without saying what a wizard tower symbolizes. It is a big deal even in the Dark Area, because it represents the high-level force possessed by a lord and the means to intimidate others.
Recalling that the ruler of Mokou Town was a mage lord, he was immediately relieved.
“It is indeed different from what we imagined.”
The older man’s vicissitudes of life hidden in the hood glanced around and said slowly: “Let’s go, Mo Lan, don’t forget the purpose of our coming here.”
He followed his teacher and entered Mokou Town with the orderly crowd and caravan.
The bustling streets of Mokou Town and everything in his impression have long since disappeared, replaced by the beauty of order.
"Teacher, when we entered the town, I sensed a guard keeping his eyes on me until I disappeared." The young man named Moran said to his teacher.
"Ignore these strange looks, Moran, this is their duty."
Molan's teacher said in a deep voice, "This is a town full of order. As long as we don't break the law, there is absolutely no danger."
As the two disappeared, there were vague figures in the dark corners of the town, watching the two men entering the town.
One of them took out a portrait, observed it carefully for a moment, and smiled, "It's true, these two people are the people Lord Puranda wants us to pay attention to."
"What should we do now?"
He asked again, "Should we continue to follow? There have been a lot of people of all kinds coming to Mokou Town recently. There were four drunken knife fights yesterday. Commander Luo personally chopped off the heads of more than 20 people at the execution ground."
"In Mokou Town, everyone must respect the lord and follow the laws set by the lord." The other one was shrouded in shadow. The person said, "The order we received is to confirm whether these people have really come to Mokou Town and then report it to their superiors. That's all."
The door of the 'Salamander' pub was opened. Most people subconsciously looked up and saw two shadowy figures wrapped in cloaks, covered in dust, and ignored them.
Only a palm-sized salamander lying on the fireplace suddenly burst into flames from its scales. It neighed and disappeared into the shadows at an extremely fast speed.
The two of them walked in together. The space inside the house was much larger than it looked from the outside, and it was connected to the adjacent huts on the left and right. There were more than a dozen huts connected in a row.
The room was not full at this time. Some guests stared at the two cloaked guests with bored, hostile or curious eyes, while the rest gathered on the temporary stage at the far end to watch. A bard with flying fingers performed, and the audience cheered.
Molan followed his teacher into a private room deep in the tavern, sat opposite each other, and remained silent.
"Hey, you guys are really punctual." A soft and cunning voice came from outside the door.
Molan saw that the visitor was wearing a green and gold striped satin top, with a black silk shawl pinned by a jade-carved rose on his shoulders. The front of the clothes was stained with wine stains. Judging from the color, it was dark red wine. A strand of light blond hair hung down, covering one eye.
Vaguely, he felt an extremely uncomfortable aura on the other person's body.
“It’s you!”
Molan frowned when he saw his teacher, “Polyvik? As far as I know, you were not imprisoned in the Bronze Fortress by Zariel. I have to stay in prison for a while..."
I heard my teacher mention the name of the fallen angel Zariel, the ruler of Avernus, the first level of Baator Hell, and the chief commander of the bloody battle in the abyss. , Moran looked at the uninvited guest in front of him in disbelief.
As a paladin, his intuition told him that the opponent was definitely a high-level devil from Baator Hell.
"...Three hundred years? You meant to say three hundred years."
Polyvik shrugged, "My Lord said that the world has a history of 50,000 years. Asmodeus, the Lord of Nine Hells But Else said 500,000 years. All in all, what does three hundred years mean?"
As he spoke, he sat down on the chair unceremoniously and said, "Please give me a glass of Sousal's golden wine. You know, I had bad luck at Gnoll Roulette and spent my last gold coin on dinner, so I just ordered some braised beef amphire with smoked sausage and dwarf yellow mustard. . There is no way, people have to eat. "
You are not a human, you are a devil, Moran thought, the devil never goes hungry.
"What's wrong?" Poliwick looked at the older man.
"Shouldn't the son of a noble be more generous? Astorio, I know that you, a group of paladins known as 'conquerors', have already established a foothold in the desert. It's so difficult to buy me a drink to celebrate." "
"I only invite friends to drink." Astorio responded with a cold smile, "And I am not the son of a nobleman. I said that my mother is just a commoner."
"Your mother is a monkey from the Chult jungle." Polivik's hazel eyes flashed with drunkenness and malice.
"Huh, as long as there is a hole between the legs, Dambreth's pirates will come in anyway. Oh, don't be angry, your skin may be like a hazelnut shell, but at least you can take a bath, unlike Some wild goblin like a pigherd."
Molan clenched his fists, sizing up the distance between the two, thinking about whether he could smash his foul mouth with one punch.
At least half the teeth could be knocked out, he thought.
Just when he was about to put his thoughts into action, he suddenly recalled what the teacher told him before leaving. In the end, reason defeated his impulse, and he reluctantly unclenched his fist.
Obviously, he can't do it yet, but that doesn't mean he won't do it in the future.
Astorio put away his smile, "You have to apologize."
"Really?" Poliwick said, "How can I apologize when my throat is so dry?"< br>
"Every word you say brings shame to your master." Astorio told him, "and brings shame to your identity."
"Really?" Poliwick told him. Tsukuru said in surprise: "Then please quickly buy me a drink, maybe you can cover up my shame."
"Drink? Let me pull out your tongue first!" Moran stood up from the chair. Get up, he said coldly.
"Haha, then how can I tell you about the 'Judge of Justice'?" Poliwick shrugged again, leaned back in the chair, and said with a smile.
Hearing the high-level devil from Baator Hell mention the 'Judge of Justice', Moran was silent. He sat back in his chair and finally understood why his teacher chose to fight with the devil. trade.
‘Judge of Justice’ is the sword of Tyr, the former God of Justice.
In the Year of Three Bloodsheds, a misunderstanding between Tyr, the god of justice, and Heim, the god of guardianship, led to a break between the two gods.
The strictness of his own ideals forced Tyr, the god of justice, to challenge Heim, and Heim was also forced by his own ideals to accept the challenge.
The two gods fought, and before the gods could wake up, Tyr killed Helm.
Although no one can confirm the final result, the gods still feel that the death of Helm is the black hand of Cyric, the god of murder.
That's exactly what happened.
The next year, Cyric, with the help and instigation of Shar, successfully assassinated the goddess of magic Mystra, triggering a shocking 'arcana catastrophe'!
Although many good gods, headed by the God of Justice, successfully imprisoned Cyric, the instigator of this incident, in the Supreme Throne of the Pantheon, and sentenced him to be imprisoned for at least a thousand years, the guardian god Heim Death has always been hard for Tire to let go of.
In the end, the God of Justice chose to pass on his divine power to his subordinate god, Thom, the god of loyalty and truth, one of the three gods of justice.
After Tyr committed suicide, his sword ‘The Just Judge’ disappeared.
And the three most famous, most powerful, and largest paladin organizations under his command.
The Knights of the Sword of Mercy, representing goodness, surrendered to Lathander, Lord of the Dawn, and the Knights of the Hammer of Law, representing order, were accepted by Torm, the god of truth and loyalty.
Among the two major paladin organizations, there is also a Knights of the Severe Jaw, which represents judgment and sanctions, and is superior to the two major knights.
Because the paladins recruited into the Knights of the Severe Jaw are the most elite paladins selected from the Sword of Mercy and the Hammer of Law.
It is said that in order to join the Knights of the Severe Jaw, a paladin must first be nominated by a member of the order, and his nomination must be supported by a senior priest of Tyr.
If both requirements are met, he must stay overnight in one of the sanctuaries of the Temple of Tyr.
When Tyr, the god of justice, deems a paladin worthy of acceptance, he will give him an illusion of his own warhammer.
If the vision does not appear, the paladin will be considered too inexperienced rather than considered a failure, and may be nominated again after a period of time.
If Tyr sends a vision of a sword, the paladin will know that he has failed in some way with Tyr, intentionally or unintentionally, and must immediately complete a task alone.
Only if the task is completed will Tyr forgive him, and the paladin will be accepted into the Knights of the Harsh Jaw.
Before the death of the God of Justice, the paladins of the Harsh Jaws chose the oath of judgment or punishment.
But with the fall of Tyr, they did not choose to seek refuge with other good gods. Instead, they changed their oath to an oath of conquest and traveled around the world.
It is rumored that as long as you find the artifact 'Judge of Justice', you can find a way to resurrect Tyr, the god of justice.
This is also the mission of every paladin who joins the Knights of the Severe Jaw.
"I don't want to waste time with you here." Astorio said lightly.
Looking at his teacher's calm face, Moran knew that the former leader of the 'Stern Jaw' Knights had reached the edge of anger.
“Of course, I don’t want to waste time either.” Polywick’s eyes shrank in fear, and he finally gave in.
“After all, our master once ruled Avernus. His will is absolute and his words are law. Although the fallen angel Zariel is the prince of the devil, this is not always the case. Our The master once held this title and will take it again."
"A ousted archduke will only hide in the volcano and sulk, eager to regain his throne." Astorio said calmly. The answer was, "The devil has never been kind and charitable."
"There is no need to trouble you."
The high-level devil said, "You only need to follow the agreement you signed with my Lord. And I, the devil who was often stepped on by you, am sorry to say that I am the spokesperson of the material world."
"I need to know the news about the 'Judge of Justice' in advance." Astorio frowned and asked with cold eyes.
Molan on the side also pricked up his ears and listened quietly.
If he hadn't met the lord of Mokou Town in an oasis a few days ago, he wouldn't even have the chance to know these secrets.
Until now, it was hard for him to believe how the mage lord of Mokou Town signed a contract with the former Duke of Hell to become his magic pet.
The most important thing is that with Bayer's ability, he can't forcefully terminate the master-servant contract.
"Although Tyr, the God of Justice, has long since fallen."
The high-level devil put away his playful expression and said seriously, "But there is a relatively famous temple that is still accepting people. Believers, this temple is not in the world of Toril, but on the planet Bra, known as the 'Pirate Paradise'. The 'Judge of Justice' is sealed in this temple."
Astorio. Hearing this, he fell into deep thought.
Molan on the side also widened his eyes in shock, feeling a little incredible.
The moon in the world of Toril is called: Selun, the goddess of the moon. Accompanying the moon are hundreds of small celestial bodies (planets) called the Tears of Selun.
Let them find the location of the Bra star among hundreds of asteroids in the deserted universe, and then find the Temple of Tyr. The difficulty is unimaginable.
"As the spokesperson of the material world, when you stay in Mokou Town, I am afraid it is not as simple as monitoring this mage lord."
Astorio was silent for a long time and said: " According to the contract we signed, the Knights of the 'Harsh Jaw' are willing to listen to your instructions and help your master regain Avernus, and you must also assist us in going to Bra Star to retrieve the 'Judge of Justice'."< br>
"Refreshing!"
The high-level devil smiled, "Astorio, do you know what I admired most about you when we were in Avernus? I just like the tone of your voice. The efficiency of killing the abyss demons is just as neat."
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Astorio said coldly, "Tell me the purpose of your meeting with me this time."
"I will stay in Mokou Town for a while in the future. There is no way, my little master's ability to cause trouble is as good as that of you holy warriors who participated in the bloody battle of the abyss. I I’m really worried that one day he will provoke all the demon lords in the Abyss.”
After the high-level devil finished teasing a certain mage lord, he looked serious and said seriously: "I need you to go to the Hell Gate Castle in the High Forest in person and help me get something back."
… .........
Silver Moon City, a mage tower in the Supreme Palace.
‘Thunder Controller’ Tern Hornblade, the Supreme Mage of Silvermoon City and the leader of the Mage Guard, looked at the parchment scroll in his hand with a pair of shining eyes and frowned.
“The seal of Hell Gate Castle was actually loose.” After a long time, Master Tern muttered to himself.
Hellgate Keep is located at the northernmost point of the High Forest.
In the Erlan era of the Elf Empire, the city of Cape Ask was the capital of the Moon Elves, which was the former name of Hellgate Castle.
After the fall of the Netheril Empire, human refugees occupied it. Later, the Baatezu demons from the Hell of Baator blended into the Cape Asker City and secretly controlled the rulers and civilians.
When a group of mages realized the seriousness of the problem and knew that they were unable to defeat the devil, they used some powerful summoning ritual to summon the abyss demon from the bottomless abyss to destroy the devil.
The warring monsters tore the elven city apart, and the victorious Abyss Demons turned the city into the terrifying Hellgate Fortress, becoming the most notorious area of the High Forest.
At the end of the 14th century, the years of gold and darkness.
After the elven army in the High Forest weakened the power of the Abyss Demons, members from the Harper Alliance used powerful magic to destroy Hell Gate Castle and kill most of the Abyss Demons.
A great treant leader from the Grandfather Tree casts natural magic to seal off the area and prevent the remaining demons from causing more damage.
Now, after several expeditions by adventurers who bypassed the tree leader or exchanged conditions for a pass, the smoky pit once known as the 'Gate of Hell' seems to have calmed down. Come down.
However, what troubles Master Tern is that in less than 200 years, the demons of Hell Gate Castle and the cracks that can lead directly to the bottomless abyss have reappeared, jeopardizing the safety of the Northland.
"What is the specific situation?" Master Tern looked at a half-elf monk sitting on the chair and asked: "Friend Lesen Owu, do you know which demon lord broke the seal?"
Lesen'o is a scout of the Harper Alliance, and he naturally believes in the news he delivers.
“In the year of gold and darkness, Ms. Alustriel also invited the Storm Lady of Shadow Valley to seal Hellgate Castle with the tree leader.”
Half-elf Monk When mentioning Alustriel, he looked at Master Tern playfully and said with a smile: "The moment the seal was loosened, Ms. Storm immediately sensed this situation and notified me to come and report to you."
The Storm Lady lives in the Valley of Shadows in the Vale and is the leader of the Harpers, Mage Tern thought.
This lady was able to sense the situation here from across the Eno Oak Desert. It was obvious that she had left some back-up when sealing it.
He looked at the half-elf monk, "You haven't answered my question yet, which demon lord did it?"
"If what I expected is correct, it should be Graz'zt, Lord of Darkness."
Lesen'o said, "I heard that the conspiracy that Lord Darkness spun in the gray dwarf's royal city of Aldus was discovered and destroyed by an adventurer. He also took away a very important item from this demon lord. Obviously, I speculate that the Lord of Darkness took advantage of the fact that most demon lords were focusing on the Dark Region and did the opposite, voluntarily giving up the interests of the Dark Region and dispatched. His own demon army went to occupy the abyss crack leading to Hell Gate Castle."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, this adventurer is actually Brian, the Mokou Town who abducted your Silver Moon City Lord. Lord." He looked at Master Tern's serious face and teased.
"Brian?" Master Tern frowned.
He had a chance encounter with this mage lord, so naturally he had a general understanding of him.
The most important thing is that he can’t even understand it.
Because ever since the other party brought their city lord to the Temple of Beauty of the Goddess of Love, the scandal between Brian and Ms. Moon Murmur spread throughout Silver Moon City.
Even the most ardent admirer of Lady Moon Whisperer, Mesema Elasemei, the commander of the Silver Knights, has not been able to get out of the shadows.
Originally, this lord who was forcibly airborne by the Silver Moon Dragon Queen was not very popular, but now there are rumors of such a close relationship with a small lord of the Kingdom of Cormyr. It can be imagined.
He doesn't like to express any opinions on matters between men and women.
After seeing Ms. Alustriel’s ridiculous love story, as the last successor, he had long been used to it and had given up completely.
After all, women will only affect the efficiency of his research on magic.
At the beginning, in order to fulfill Ms. Alustriel’s last wish, he suddenly set aside half of his time to study magic and manage Silvermoon City for hundreds of years.
"This is really a trouble-making master, and he is just as good as you Harper scouts." Master Tern felt a little pain in his head. He said slightly depressed, "It's better now. He brought it on himself." The Dark Lord has caused our Silver Federation to suffer unreasonable disasters.”
“Laisen Owuyou”
Recalling the matter about the mage lord of Mokou Town, his expression changed. He moved and looked at the half-elf monk, "What do you think of this mage lord named Brian?"
His friend had a pleasant cooperation with Brian, and also brought him to His name was recorded in the little notebook he valued most.
So, Master Tern is very curious about what kind of person the other party is in his eyes.
"How do you see it?" Lesson said playfully: "How else can you see it? With your eyes, of course."
"I shouldn't ask you." Master Tern looked at his friend angrily. , I feel quite depressed, even at this time, I still have to make fun of myself.
"Since he has been mentioned, let me tell you one more thing." The half-elf monk thought for a moment, as if he was weighing whether he should say these words.
After a moment, he looked quite solemn and said: "This lord of Mokou Town is actually a descendant of the Netherese people. The Storm Lady of Shadow Valley told me personally that Brian refused to become a goddess once. An opportunity for the elect. "
Mage Tern touched the beard's hand and froze in mid-air. His eyes widened and he looked at the calm-looking half-elf monk in disbelief.
"Netherese people, these people's arrogance is engraved in their bones, so it's normal to refuse." He regained his composure and said in a sour tone.
"Okay, I won't talk nonsense to you."
The half-elf monk stood up and prepared to leave, "Although Ms. Moon Murmur is not here, I have already passed on the message. I have to inform the leader of the tree people of Grandfather Tree, so I won’t chat with you anymore.”
It’s you who has been chatting and talking nonsense, so why are you blaming me again, Tern. The mage thought gloomily.
After he sent his friends away, he remembered that the young ancestor of the Silver Moon Dragon Queen wanted to summon him, so he hurried to the Silver Throne.
Entering the hall, he saw from a distance the little girl dressed as the Silver Moon Dragon Queen in a princess dress, sitting very upright with her white legs crossed, and a mirror placed in front of her.
Yinyi in adult human form stood beside her, with a gentle smile on his lips, and carefully helped her comb her hair into a beautiful ponytail.
“It’s done.”
Yinyi tied her long hair with a pink hair tie, picked up the mirror and put it in front of Silver Moon Dragon, looked at it, and said with a smile : "It's very beautiful. Our Dragon Queen looks like a little princess that everyone loves."
A sweet smile appeared on the corner of the little girl's mouth, and she looked in front of the mirror. She stroked the hair tie lovingly, then pouted and said dissatisfiedly, "I don't want to be like a princess, because I will be taken away by the dragon."
"Puch!"
Yin Yi was amused by her and laughed out loud. He held her young face and kissed her hard.
Mage Tern felt ashamed. It was really hard to imagine how this shameless and shameless silver dragon could be so mean to such a little girl.
Although her true identity is an ancient golden dragon, she still looks like a seven or eight-year-old child.
At the same time, he felt that he was even more uncomfortable than the pain of being hit by a law order.
He couldn't bear these multiple critical blows, so he couldn't help but cough slightly to divert the attention of the two dragons who were showing off their affection.
He has never had a good impression of this silver dragon. If he hadn't intervened and won Alustriel's heart first, he wouldn't have been her last lover.
“Grandpa Jiaoren, are you feeling uncomfortable in your throat?” The Silver Moon Dragon Queen suddenly flashed her big round eyes and said curiously.
Being called grandpa by a giant dragon that was a fraction bigger than him, Master Tern's face twitched, and he walked up to him and said, "Dragon Queen, what do you want from me?"
< br>He suddenly missed the time when Ms. Yue Zhiyu managed Silver Moon City.
Although this beautiful female elf always has an indifferent expression, her words are concise and easy to understand, and the six spiritual crystal servants are also very efficient, giving him a lot of free time, and occasionally he has the opportunity to participate in the Love Goddess's meetings. The banquet helped him soothe his tired soul.
Especially those young and enthusiastic little priests...
While thinking about it, Master Tern inexplicably felt the faint feeling of overwork in his old waist, which was gradually bent by the years. Soreness.
He blushed and quickly calmed down to cover up his sudden loss of concentration.
After all, no matter how good the little priest is, it is not the main reason, but that he does not have to watch the two giant dragons showing off their affection in various ways in front of him every day.
"You have heard about what happened in Mokou Town two days ago, right?" Xiao Longhou sat up straight on the throne and shook her two white calves exposed in the princess's skirt.
"I've heard about it." Master Tern looked away helplessly and lowered his head in response.
Originally, the wizard lord of Mokou Town building a wizard tower was not something worthy of attention, but among the participants, in addition to the assistants from the earth elemental god, there was also the city lord of their Silver Moon City. The nature was different, and naturally it quickly caught his attention.
And Mokou Town represents the Kingdom of Cormyr. The lord of Silver Moon City appears in Mokou Town and has such a close relationship with the mage lord. One can imagine what this means. .
“I think this is a good opportunity.” Xiao Longhou touched her pigtails and said seriously:
"Shadow City dispatched the Shade Princes and set their sights on the Northland, Cormyr, Valley, Sembia and Cormanthor around the Eno Oak Desert. Then why can't our forces unite together to kill the Shade?" City. "
Mage Tern has long known that their Dragon Queen may seem weird and like a little kid, but in fact she is smarter than anyone else.
Otherwise, we will not be able to rule the Northland stably for dozens of centuries.
“But, Dragon Queen, you must be clear that the Silver Federation faces more enemies than the City of Shadows.” Master Tern said calmly, “The demon elves of the Supreme Forest, the abyss demons of Hell Gate Castle, The orcs at the Spine of the World and many other forces are all affecting the whole body. You must think carefully about it."
"I know better than anyone else," the little dragon queen said, "I have asked Lesson. Go and do this for me.”
"Okay, I will consider this matter seriously when Ms. Moon's Whisper comes back." Master Tern bowed slightly to the Little Dragon Queen and said with a respectful expression.
"Then it's decided." Xiao Longque glanced meaningfully at Yinyi beside her, which scared the latter's eyes and she said to Master Tern:
"If you have time, please help me sort out the detailed information about Myrcella Raul, the female lord of Arabe City, and send it over."
Mage Tern naturally caught Silver Wing's expression. He snickered secretly. This lecherous silver dragon was probably plotting against the female lord again, causing a fire in his backyard.
Deserved it! He thought gloatingly.
"I will carry it out seriously, Dragon Queen." Master Tern bowed slightly, turned and left.
…………
(End of this chapter)