Chapter 273 Shi Rui Sutra (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)
As the buzzing sound of the teleportation circle sounded, the figures of Brian and Santila appeared in the silent and empty banquet hall.
"Hey, Brian, you guys are so powerful. Victor knows that Rekni, the fake 'Mother', is no match for you."
Observer Beholder The voice suddenly sounded around the two of them, "Because only Victor is the most perfect creation of the 'Great Mother'."
Brian looked in the direction of the voice, and he saw Victor Te danced with four snake-like eyestalks, stuck out his long tongue, and his grinning face was full of fawning expressions.
It looked like a puppy lying at the door, waiting for its owner to throw a bone to him.
"Hey, you have to know that this demiplane was created by Victor." Seeing that the other party did not reply, the observer beholder said again: "Everything that happened here, Victor knows everything Chu, so Victor sensed that you had killed Rekni, so..."
"No!"
Brian raised his hand to interrupt the beholder's words, He emphasized without expression: "This demiplane is mine. I got it after killing Rekni."
The drow girl beside him also cooperated with his words and moved forward deliberately. Take two steps.
"Uh..." The Observer Beholder was about to retort, but seemed to sense something was wrong, and quickly said with a smile: "Victor knows, Victor knows that this demiplane is yours..."
"This demiplane is originally mine, there is absolutely no need for you to know." Brian interrupted him again and said in a light tone.
"Of course, the demiplane must be yours. What Victor means is..."
Seeing Brian's indifferent look, the Observer Beholder He was so anxious that he circled around the two of them, like an ant on a hot pot, eager to explain to him.
Brian refused to accept his words, and still kept an expressionless look on his face, forcibly stopping his words, "I don't care what you mean, this demiplane belongs to me now. ”
"Of course Victor knows about you." The observer said anxiously.
“Nonsense, this was originally mine!” Brian replied in Victor’s familiar tone.
Santila, who had a straight face on the side, looked at Brian's serious expression and almost couldn't help laughing.
“Fuck!” The beholder, who was on the verge of collapse, finally couldn’t help but uttered a curse word and said excitedly:
“Can I still have a pleasant chat with Victor? Without Victor's help, it would be impossible for you to find the ranger. If you can't find the ranger, you will be trapped in the demiplane forever, just like Victor. Don't you see? I'm thinking of you, but you don't appreciate it at all. It hurts Victor's heart so much. Brian, you are such a shameless person. If Victor hadn't deliberately betrayed you in the Dark Area, How could you get..."
"Okay, shut up!" Brian raised his hand to interrupt the beholder's increasingly enthusiastic words, not intending to tease him any more.
"I can give this demiplane to you and let you manage it." He straightened his expression, looked solemnly at the beholder floating in front of him with a flattering expression, and said:
“However, I have a condition. I need to merge the extradimensional mansion of your former master, the preaching mage, with this demiplane...”
“Wait a minute!”< br>
The beholder stretched out an eyestalk with a blinking eye, interrupted Brian's words, and suddenly flashed the huge one eye in the center of the flesh ball, looking at him with suspicion:
< br>
"Victor understands, Brian, you idiot, you shameless person, you have been plotting against Victor since the beginning of the Underdark. You must have taken a fancy to Victor's talent, look. Victor is the most perfect creation of the Great Mistress, so you want Victor, who is finally free, to be your familiar. Victor tells you that this is absolutely impossible from now on! The demiplane belongs to Victor, and freedom also belongs to Victor..."
As he spoke, the Observer Beholder seemed to feel that something was wrong with the surrounding atmosphere. He glanced at the two of them secretly, He quickly stopped talking, showed a flattering expression, and said with a smile:
"Hehe... Actually, Victor was joking with you just now. Brian, don't worry, as long as you are willing to transfer half of the plane Let Victor manage it instead of letting Victor be your familiar. Victor will listen to you in everything. What do you think?"
"Okay, I promise you, wait here. After finishing the work, I will formulate a cooperation treaty for you." Brian thought for a moment and agreed to the observer's conditions. "In order to test your sincerity in cooperation, please lead the way now."
In fact, the only thing he values in this demiplane is the time flow rate that is five times different from the main material plane.
Owning this demiplane gave him five times more time to learn his magic knowledge and consolidate his strength.
As for the purpose of integrating the different dimensions of the preaching mage, it is only to allow the students of the Magic Academy to take shape as quickly as possible and develop an organization of spellcasters of their own.
The Observer Beholder in front of him can serve as the guardian of the demiplane. He never intended to take this noisy guy as his familiar.
"Okay!" Seeing Brian nod, the Observer Beholder looked excited and quickly acted as a perfect guide to find the location of Ranger Azara.
Led by Victor, they walked through the corridors of the manor and came to a resting door.
"Rachni is very cunning." Victor explained to the two the purpose of bringing them here, "But he still can't escape Victor's eyes. After all, Victor is the most perfect creation of the 'Great Mother' , Viktor is an observer, and nothing that happens in the demiplane can escape Viktor's eyes."
"Victor saw Rekni seal Azara with his own eyes. In an extra-dimensional space," the observer said while knocking open the door of the lounge, "If you want to find the location of the extra-dimensional space, you must find four magic paintings. As long as you put the four magic paintings together, you will be able to find it. Find us a portal through another dimension.”
After following the beholder into the room, Brian found that the lounge was warm and smelled of wood smoke.
The furniture is furry and charming, with conversation chairs and sofas.
A large painting of a forest hangs on the west wall, a fireplace crackles along the east wall, and above the mantel hangs a portrait of two people, one of whom has his face streaked with ink.
"This forest painting is one of the keys to another dimension." The beholder pointed at a beautiful woman with ink splashed on her face in the painting with its eye stalks with small eyes and said:
"This beautiful woman seemed to be named Ruilaya, and she looked like Azara's lover. It was only when Victor chatted with him that he realized that this woman had betrayed him, so he was splashed with ink."
< br>Bryan did not focus on the story, but directly motioned to the drow girl next to him to put away the magic painting.
Led by Victor, they came to a small restaurant again.
The lighting in this room is very dim, a small golden candlestick is placed on a rectangular dining table with a set of silver tableware, which can easily seat six people, but is accompanied by chairs with silver tableware is the only one that shows signs of regular use.
A large painting of a banquet hangs on the east wall.
This is a picture of a gathering of the Harper Alliance. Through the terrain, Brian can determine that the location should be in the Valley of Shadows. He also saw the Sage Elminster and the Sage of Shadow Valley in the painting. Lady Storm.
There is no doubt that ink has been poured on everyone except Azala.
After Santila rolled up the magic painting, they came to a guest room.
This bedroom has a double bed and a spacious wardrobe filled with formal and informal clothes.
A large painting of a flying bird hangs on the north wall.
“The roc in the painting is Azala’s animal companion.” Victor explained to the two of them, “This is the companion that Azala had raised since childhood, but Azala said that this roc The bird also betrayed him and was released in the Valley of Shadows."
After taking away the magic painting, they went to a cell in the backyard and took away the painting of Azara being killed by the Harper from the south wall. The magic painting where the members were imprisoned.
Then, Victor took them to Azara's bedroom.
“There is a portal to another dimension hidden in this bedroom.” Victor said to Brian, “As long as you use the magic painting to open the seal of the bedroom, you can find Ah through the portal. Zara's location."
Brian glanced at Santila, and the drow girl holding the magic painting immediately spread it out and laid it flat on the ground.
As the four pieces of magic flashed with strange light, a huge one-eyed shadow condensed and formed in the air, and shot a ray similar to "dispelling magic" towards the bedroom door.
In an instant, the one-eyed shadow disappeared, the four magic paintings spontaneously ignited, and the bedroom door opened in response.
Brian used detection magic and psychic powers to carefully explore the interior of the bedroom. After confirming that it was correct, he walked in under the leadership of the beholder Victor.
The furniture and ornate decoration of the bedroom clearly indicate that this is Azara's room.
In the center of the room is a four-person bed upholstered in blue velvet, next to a dark wooden wardrobe and a bedside table that holds a vase of freshly picked flowers and a leather-bound diary.
On the east wall there is a door that leads to a private bathroom with a mirrored vanity.
Brian nodded slightly, walked to the bedside table, carefully picked up the diary, and quickly browsed the contents through reading magic.
There is no doubt that the diary on the bedside table was left by Azara.
From the contents recorded in it, he learned that during the period when the other party was captured, Azara would write regularly. It was not until Rekni's arrival that these works became more and more irregular.
Azara thought that fifty years had passed in Wisteria Valley, but in fact only about ten years had passed in the material plane.
He also claimed in his diary that he believed the Harpers were lying when they said they wanted to find a way to cure himself, and that he feared the Harpers were just biding their time until they could kill him.
So, he has been researching ways to escape from the demiplane from beginning to end, and the beholder tyrant who suddenly appeared in the demiplane is the key to his escape from Wisteria Valley.
He believed that if he could get close to Rekni, he could lure the beholder to reveal information on how to escape from Wisteria Valley, or manipulate the beholder's reality-distorting magic to create an exit from the demiplane.
However, Azara's final note, about his fear that Rekni would suspect his plans, is smudged here, as if he was interrupted while writing this sentence.
Apparently, the beholder tyrant became aware of his plan and imprisoned him.
“Let’s go.” Brian saw the portal appearing in the corner and greeted Santila and Victor.
“Victor is not going.” The Observer Demon said to Brian with doubts on his face:
“Once he leaves here, Victor is worried that he will not be able to find this place. Victor also needs to use the growth of the demiplane to enhance his strength. Victor will never leave the demiplane."
"Let's go" Brian looked at the cheating beholder. Knowing that this guy was fighting with the air again, he didn't bother to pay attention to him, and entered the different dimension space with Santila.
They passed through the portal and appeared in a library.
Warm candlelight illuminates everything in the room. Two bookshelf walls extend to the ceiling, and a mobile floating ladder can be used to access books higher up.
There is an armchair and a desk in the center of the room. The desk is littered with books, many of which are open next to a bottle of ink and a quill.
The fallen ranger Azara is currently sitting in an armchair, flipping through a book in his hand.
"Hello, outsiders." The handsome ranger Azara put down the book in his hand and asked politely and friendly: "Excuse me, who are you and what is the purpose of coming here?"< br>
In Brian's impression, after the Ranger Azara was rescued, he participated in the battle to regain the Shadow Valley with the player group, and eventually became the lord of the valley.
It is said that after he was released from fifty years of imprisonment in the demiplane, his strength not only advanced to a medium legend, but he also inherited his father's will and became the ranger elect of the forest goddess Melikai. .
This makes him the most outstanding representative among the children of the seven sisters in the North.
Thinking of this, he motioned to Santila to stop talking and let him deal with it. "We are mages from Waterdeep City." Brian did not reveal his true identity immediately, but said to the ranger calmly, "We are here to track down a piece of equipment stolen by the Beholder Tyrant Thunder. The treasure stolen by Keni was discovered here by accident.”
"I see, it seems that Victor must have told you a lot of things." There was a hint of joy in the ranger's gentle eyes, and he smiled: "Since you have found this place, you have obviously killed Rekni. I am right. "
"You are right, the poor man trapped here by the beholder." Brian nodded slightly, "The gods are merciful and allowed us to find you here."
"Thank you, enthusiastic adventurers."
The ranger stood up from the armchair, bowed respectfully to Brian, and said politely, "You must have killed Rekni. We have found a way to leave the demiplane. If you can, please take me away with you."
"I'm very sorry, we can't take you away yet." Brian refused his request, "Harp. The leader of the Hand Alliance, Lady Storm, told me that you have been infected with Corruption and must not let you leave the demiplane."
Hearing Brian mention the Harper Alliance, the smile on Ranger Azara's face disappeared, showing barely concealed contempt, and said to him, "Sir, do you think I look like a corrupted person suffering from corruption? ?”
“In fact, during my fifty years of imprisonment, I have already healed my mental wounds.” He assured Brian: “If you don’t believe it, you can kill me. Bring it to Auntie Storm and let her confirm whether I have really recovered."
Brian didn't speak, and Santila continued, "Then what? Then wait until we take you out of the demiplane. In an instant, you immediately activated the teleportation scroll and escaped, right?”
After being told this, Ranger Azara’s expression changed slightly, and finally he no longer concealed his previous polite and elegant expression, revealing a ferocious face. He yelled viciously:
"I was not wrong at all! What was wrong was those Harpers, what about 'overthrow tyranny, all living beings are equal!' Damn it! After they overthrew it, they didn't care. If it continues to be unbalanced and overturned, they will become a group of insane idealists.”
"They are just a group of lunatics! A group of extremely hypocritical people!"
"The only right choice is to seek refuge in the arms of Cyric." He said with a crazy face and a hoarse voice full of anger:
“For anyone who dares to oppose Cyric will die! All must surrender before His supreme power and sacrifice to Him the blood of the ignorant people who do not believe in the one true God. Only those who know how to fear and Respect those in power and kill all the weak, hypocrites, and false prophets. Only by killing the fools who resist Cyric Church and advocate peace, order, and law can all living beings be equal..."
Brian couldn't help his eyelids twitching when he heard the other party mention Cyric.
Cyric, a god with powerful divine power, is also known as: Prince of Lies, Prince of Madness, Dark Sun, Black Sun, God of Madness.
This is a narrow-minded, self-centered, and extremely intolerant god.
He considers himself superior to all gods and has a huge number of followers on the continent. He uses his evil radiance to attract power-hungry mortals, letting them be coldly swallowed up by flames like moths. .
The third death of the goddess of magic Mystra was due to the assassination of this god.
Although he has been imprisoned by the gods of the Pantheon for thousands of years, the shadow of Cyric's followers is still active on the mainland stage.
"It seems that he is already terminally ill." Brian didn't want to talk nonsense to him and said to Santila, "Then there is no need to persuade, just prepare to take action."
Santila nodded with deep understanding.
"Go to hell, you hypocrites, stupid people who dare to resist the only truth." The ferocious-looking Azara was shaken, and waves of evil energy surged from his body. out.
The warm and bright library also disappeared in an instant, turning into a dark and empty place.
"Could it be influenced by the Book of Shire..." Brian guessed the problem and finally understood why he was imprisoned here.
Immediately afterwards, he saw two long swords and daggers wrapped in dark energy emerge out of Azala's hands, charging towards him at a dizzying speed.
"You don't need to interfere, let me do it!"
Brian reminded Santila quickly, handed an amethyst dagger to her hand, then raised the staff and used the metamagic specialty "Spell Instant" "Fa" The condensed spell was suddenly released.
——"Seventh Ring Spell: Force Field Prison!"
A square light blue force field cage was outlined by him with his staff, and under the control of his mind, it fell from the sky , trapping the ranger who just arrived.
“Bang! Bang!”
Azara's long sword slashed out, and the cage shattered like fragile glass.
Seeing the strength displayed by the opponent, Brian had a look of surprise on his face. He did not expect that as an arcanist in the field of creation, the cage released could be broken so easily by the opponent.
Feeling that the fierce sword wind was about to sweep over his body, he made a thought and disappeared using the flash spell.
——"Avandor's Star!"
Nineteen tiny sparkling meteors shine in the darkness. Under Brian's control, these meteors drag strips of stars. Thin thread-like streamers struck towards Azala.
Although Azara looked crazy, she still maintained a certain level of sobriety and fighting instinct.
I saw this ranger who is proficient in dual-wielding style, with two sharp swords, one long and one short, dancing out two airtight sword nets, hitting all the meteors, exploding into a ball of brilliant magic. flame.
——"Shadow Tentacles!"
——"Crystal Thorn Technique!"
Brian's spell did not stop. Dozens of shadow energy and stars formed. The tentacles transformed from mass energy, while Azala was resisting the meteor, wrapped around him like a wild snake dancing wildly.
The ranger moved with swift steps to avoid the entanglement of the tentacles while slashing with his sword. When he cut a passage through the tentacles, his figure suddenly turned into a faint light and disappeared.
——"Nine-ring spell: Ice Explosion!"
Brian stood calmly on the spot, using the arcane shaping properties to condense the energy-shaping spell into a wide cold weapon. Ice giant sword.
When the figure of the ranger appeared strangely in the sky above him, and two sharp swords, carrying a murderous aura, slashed towards his head, Brian, who was well prepared, used his extremely skillful Swordsmanship, swinging the sword to meet the attack.
“Bang!”
The moment the three weapons collided, the ice giant sword in Brian's hand suddenly exploded. Cold blue-white energy, centered on his right hand holding the sword, suddenly spurted out, freezing everything around him and turning it white. A vast expanse.
The ranger who faced the frontal attack looked shocked. Although he used his flexible body to dodge the frontal jet of ice energy in time, he was still brushed by the frost, so that a layer of condensation formed on his body. There was a thin layer of frost, and my feet were frozen to the white ground.
——"Overfrequency explosion!"
——"Rainbow jet!"
Brian pointed his staff, and dazzling colorful energy spurted out. The figure that the ranger tried to dodge was shrouded, and then the rhythmic mind blast interrupted his attempt to escape through displacement skills.
"Do it!"
Seeing this, Brian immediately sent an order to Santila who was hiding aside.
Before he finished speaking, Santila, draped in dense white, had appeared behind the ranger. The sharp amethyst dagger accurately avoided the vital point and stabbed his body.
The mission was completed, Santila quickly retreated and flashed to Brian's side.
Being stabbed by the amethyst dagger, a strange purple light flashed in Ranger Azara's eyes, and her body staggered back, becoming extremely weak, as if she would fall to the ground at any time.
At this moment, Brian and Santila saw at the same time, a ball of deep purple light erupted from Azala's body, and a skull without a jaw emerged.
Although Phantom pouted comically, the words he spoke were cold, vicious and crazy, "Midnight bitch, you dare to ruin my return plan. Even so, you still can't stop me. Footsteps, hahaha... I am the only truth among the true gods... Just tremble and wait for me to return..."
Before the crazy words were finished, they collapsed and disappeared. .
At the same time, Ranger Azara's body also fell to the ground, unconscious due to loss of strength.
“Brian, what just happened.” Santila said with lingering fear, “That phantom was so terrifying. When I looked at him, I felt the urge to fall into madness. ”
"That's the remaining power of the Shiri Sutra."
Brian glanced at the unconscious ranger and explained to her: "Azara was probably dealing with the Zhentarim. Undoubtedly, he read the manuscript of the Book of Heroes, which influenced his mind and became a believer in the God of Murder.”
The Book of Heroes is one of the most dangerous books in the country.
It can turn any believer of other gods who hears or sees it into a fanatical believer in Cyric, thereby destroying other gods in the kingdom and making Cyric himself the only true god.
Therefore, the temples of other gods, like the Temple of Cyric, send out agents to constantly search for its whereabouts, whether they want to use it as a bargaining chip or to destroy it completely.
To make matters worse, there are still some earlier unenchanted drafts of the Torah.
Although most of them have been destroyed along with their makers, there may still be one or two that still exist and are in circulation.
This shows that the influence of the "Heritage Sutra" still spreads across all countries.
It is said that the "Heritage" was made after the sacrifice of 397 scribes. It was first used as a test on Fuzor Chebery, the lord of Zhentil Castle.
But Musk, the god of thieves at the time, happened to be pretending to be this lord, and therefore read the book on his behalf.
The Scriptures successfully weave a web of lies in the reader's consciousness, and it was only after Musk gave up part of his divine power that he managed to escape its completely dominating effect.
It can be seen from this that any mortal or god weaker than Cyric will undoubtedly be affected by the volume, let alone a mortal ranger.
Obviously, the reason why Azara was able to get rid of the control of "Hira Sutra" was not only due to the manuscript, but also the power of the goddess of magic.
"Let's go, the problem here has been solved, we should go back." Brian checked on the ranger who was fine, put him on his shoulders, and took Santila out of the demiplane.
…………
(End of this chapter)