Chapter 283: A loving father and a filial son
The moon is almost full and the night sky is clear.
Standing on the wall of the floating city of Sacros, Yada, the ghost prince, saw the snow-capped mountains of Thunder Peak, which were cold and desolate, but beautiful under the moonlight.
The top of the mountain is scattered with silvery white moonlight, like a row of jagged sharp teeth, while the foothills and slightly lower mountaintops are hidden in the shadows.
It is very close to the sea. Just move your eyes to the south and you can see the Sea of Falling Stars, because the city of Sacros is docked 3,000 meters above the city of Sergante.
But the Prince of Shadows cannot see the sea, and the Lost Lady has cast a dark curtain in the sky, blocking his sight.
The Ghost City of Sultansa is closer to the sea than Sacros, but he still can't smell the sea.
In the past, it was called the 'dry sandbank', a basin extending for tens of kilometers in all directions. It was also a saline-alkali zone that was extremely lacking in water.
With the return of the City of Shades, his father, High King Telamant, used the powerful magic "Marvin's World Weaving" to create a world on the most barren land in the history of Toril. A sea of shadows stretching for thousands of square kilometers.
The lake there is clear and cold, surrounded by dark clouds and mist all year round.
The ghost city of Sultanza is docked above the Sea of Shadows.
How to use the power of magic to transform nature was an important research direction for the great arcane masters during the Netheril Empire.
Among all the Grand Arcanists, Grand Arcanist Marvin is the leader in this regard.
The 'World Weaving Technique' developed by him can be regarded as the pinnacle of the Netheril people's natural transformation.
This spell is also the only two spells in the empire period that are known as 11th-level magic.
After the City of Shadows returned to the material plane, the great prince Revalan's plan was to unite with the people of the Church of the Lost Lady to evade the High King Telamante and allow the goddess's followers to take control of the floating city.
But when his father successfully cast "Marvin's Worldweaving Technique", Revalan gave up this long-planned plan without hesitation.
Parricide will be damned forever, Yada thought.
The Prince of Shadows turned around, pushed his hair away from his eyes, and looked down at the floating city of Sacros, which was salvaged from the Sea of Fallen Stars.
The city of Sacros is mainly divided into two parts. A huge cut mountain peak is turned over into a whole. In the center of the city, there is a small round hill. The top of the hill is flattened and crowned with a deep Temple of Shadows.
There is a hundred-meter-high Haunted Soul Tower on both sides of the Shadow Temple.
The outer city is located at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by stone walls densely covered with dark runes. The outlines of many ruins such as the Arcane Academy, the alchemy workshop, and the blacksmith shop inside are still preserved to this day.
When Yada led the ghost mages to dive into the seabed, there were many coral reefs and sahuagin coral fortresses growing in this floating city.
Their attack destroyed all the coral fortresses, including the underwater temple of the shark god Sekora, leaving only silt and the bodies of the sahuagin.
The only thing left is forty-four boulder ribs that broke out of the ground, like huge white tree trunks.
Seeing them, Yada, the ghost prince, could not help but feel his heart beat faster.
It is said that this is the body of the last sea dragon in the world, the most powerful legendary creature born in the sea.
It feeds on sea monsters and dragon turtles, and can swallow entire islands when angry.
However, the sahuagin shark god Sekora personally descended into the incarnation and killed the sea dragon. Sekora's spokesperson in the material world and the high priest of the proud shark tribe turned its bones into fossils. , so that future generations of sahuagin will always remember the achievements of the shark god Secora.
The ribs of the Sea Dragon became the beams and pillars of the Temple of Sekora, and its mouth was used as the altar of the Shark God.
The Proud Shark Clan of the sahuagins had ruled in Sacros for two thousand and seven years. Yada recalled the history told to him by young Brenas, who was also an archaeologist.
The sahuagin, enemies of the sea elves and followers of the Storm God, ruled not only the Sea of Fallen Stars, but also the surrounding rocky lands.
This group of murlocs, known as the ‘Devils of the Deep Sea’ by the coastal residents, wears robes woven from seaweed, and the teeth of the sea dragon are carved by them into the holy symbol of the shark god Sekora.
But this was a matter of thousands of years ago. At that time, the sahuagin crossed the fog-shrouded coast and the endless ocean swells. The ominous bass that chilled the blood was their hunting horn. , is also their call to plunder and fight.
The walls of the Water Palace built by the sahuagin in Sacross are covered with tapestry woven from silver seaweed. The sahuagin warriors gather around a huge starfish-shaped table to enjoy the gifts of the sea. Even their seats are made of mother-of-pearl.
But that's all gone, the glorious days of the sahuagin are gone, just like the empire of Netheril.
It's time to end it all, it's time to start over, Yada thought.
This ancient and solid floating city was built by the great arcanist Thorend. It has accumulated for thousands of years and was discovered by his youngest brother Brenas, who took it from the sahuagin.
The current owner of the floating city already belongs to the Tanshur family, and Yada, the ghost prince, will not let it be lost from his hands, nor will he let it crash in front of him.
If the floating city is really destroyed, he will also accompany him, with a sword in hand and a smile on his face.
The cold sea breeze blew in his face, and the Yinhun Prince standing on the city wall paused. He immediately felt a boundless coldness and tried desperately to get into the gaps in his armor.
Even he didn't know when he had not felt this kind of coldness before. It seemed to be cold to the bones, and every bone seemed to be brittle from the cold.
This made him immediately realize that when fighting Brian in the Shadow Temple, the sequelae of being hit head-on by a legendary death spell due to his negligence had not yet disappeared.
"Obviously he is just a spell caster who has just stepped into the legendary realm, why are his attacks so weird." Prince Yinhun thought to himself, he gritted his teeth, a trace of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his whole body was covered in bone-chilling cold. , Jiji shivered.
"The mage lord of Mokou Town...I'm afraid he won't be forced to death so easily."
Thinking of this, Yada seemed to recall something.
He endured the pain of his body being washed away by the energy of death. After releasing the magic to relieve the pain, he quickly activated the teleportation circle and appeared in Lamorak's Haunted Tower.
Lamorak's Laboratory.
Yada saw the sixth eldest brother studying a baby aboleth swimming in a huge glass bottle on a table filled with experimental vessels.
"How did you do with the things I asked you to do?" Yada said to Lamorak in a cold voice.
The people responsible for the defense of the floating city of Sacross are Lamorak and Mattik.
The former is the representative of the neutral faction in the City of Shadows, while Mattik is his father's man. The purpose of doing this is nothing more than to maintain a balance of power.
But Yada has never liked Lamorak, the sixth child. On the contrary, he prefers his younger brother Desude, who is the fifth child.
Desude's wisdom and keen insight can always help him solve problems and troubles that he cannot solve.
In Yada's impression, his father, High King Telamant, had personally admitted that among his many brothers, the two most promising to break through to the High Legend were Desude and Brenas.
"You have no right to order me to do anything, Yada." Lamorak replied without raising his head. "You must know that just now, I was facing a mysterious lady's chosen one, the leader of the Harper Alliance. , in order to hold back this powerful lady from causing trouble in the floating city, do you know how much pressure I faced at that time?"
"Yes, you don't know at all." He raised his head. His face looked haggard, as if he hadn't rested for months, and his hands as dry as claws were playing with a skull without a jaw, "And now, my dear brother, you actually want me to face the demon lord of the bottomless abyss. You think too highly of my strength.”
Yada remained silent and did not reply.
What Lamorak said didn't make sense. After all, when they went to the underground ruins where the demon lord was sealed, no one except his eldest brother Revalan could withstand the demon lord's blasphemous words. Even the priests and warriors who followed them were all killed by the devil's truth.
The most important thing is that they couldn't kill him. Revalan was also worried that the fierce battle would lead to the accidental destruction of the earth line magic circle that the great arcanist Thorund was proud of.
This is the main reason. This Earth Vein Array System that has been preserved to this day also has a very considerable increase value in the energy conversion of the Shadow Demon Network Stone.
As for the purpose of asking Lamorak, it was simply to ask him to help him find out what happened after Brian entered the underground space.
As the saying goes, 'You want to see people when you are dead, and you want to see corpses when you are alive'.
Feeling the powerful force of death wash over his body, his instinct told him that the mage lord of Mokou Town would not die so easily at the hands of the demon lord.
"I'm not asking you to check it out personally, Lamorak." Yada said, "I'm just asking you to use the observation eyes of the Ghost Tower to carefully check the specific conditions of the underground space."
"I will do what you ask, dear brother." Lamorak rubbed the skull in his hand with his fingertips and said seriously:
"But not yet, after all, I want to let the reconnaissance magic penetrate It's not easy to penetrate the fog of the Earth Vein Array. Don't you see? I am very busy. You have disturbed a mage who is doing research for a long time. Life is precious, but this is not a waste of our time. "
Parricide will be damned forever, Yada thought.
“I don’t want to talk nonsense to you here.” The Prince of Shadows suppressed the murderous intent in his eyes, snorted coldly, and said in a mocking tone:
“Because whenever you show your wisdom, When you look meaningful, all you say is bullshit. At this point, you look like a clown compared to Desude.”
When the pain was mentioned, Lamorak's face couldn't help but twitch, and he said with a smile:
"You are right, my dear brother, but you must also understand the fate of some people. They look gorgeous on the outside, but they hide their terrifying nature, because they don’t know what they are doing, and the bloody claws have already reached them.”
Yada naturally heard the meaning behind the other party’s words. He really meant it, but he didn't care. In his opinion, Lamorak's ridicule was just a joke at fifty steps and a hundred steps at a time.
He knew clearly that in the shadow plane in the early days of Netheril's demise, his sixth brother was the first to take the initiative to accept the ghost transformation ritual.
“The purpose of doing this is to consider the safety of the floating city.”
Yada didn't want to talk nonsense to him, and realized that because of his next words, he would probably find an opportunity to ridicule him. He also said bluntly:
"I witnessed with my own eyes the leader of the Harper Alliance leaving Sacros. I also saw the shadow incarnation of the Lost Lady personally chasing down the other three people, but I can’t guarantee that those who fall into the sealed land will definitely die at the hands of the demon lord. After all, it is protected by the Shadow Demon Network Stone and the Earth Vein Array. Land, what if..."
"What a fart! It seems that you have been frightened by the little lord of Mokou Formation." Lamorak interrupted him and really did not forget to mock him. :
"It can be seen that his spell has made you tremble with fear. You did not kill him with your own hands. This was your mistake and your dereliction of duty. Since it was your dereliction of duty, why not kill him yourself? Go and see?”
“Aha! I understand, you are scared, right? However, you don’t have to worry, because I understand the situation in the underground space and I have reinforced it myself. I can assure you." He stroked the skull in his hand, a confident smile on his haggard face, "Let me believe that this little lord survived, I would rather believe that Sacross crashed!"
As if in response to the words of the Prince of Shadows, the entire tower suddenly began to shake slightly. The baby aboleth swimming in the huge glass bottle also showed a panicked expression and kept banging its head against the bottle.
The expressions of the two ghost princes changed.
Lamorak's smile froze on his haggard face. He quickly reached out and waved, and a cloud of black smoke spewed out from the skull he was playing with.
The smoke floated in mid-air and turned into a ring, showing the overall scene of the floating city of Sacross inside.
“Boom!”
The roaring explosion sounded like thunder, and the entire floating city began to shake violently, as if it was in the end of the world.
The two of them simultaneously saw a tumbling mushroom cloud emerging from the cracked ground and rising slowly. The ring-shaped and strange clouds gave people an extremely shocking feeling in the night, full of a sense of wonder. The beauty of destruction.
At the same time, the Shadow Temple was also washed away by the mushroom cloud, collapsing and shattering at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into ruins.
The terrifying energy spewing out from the ground was like dozens of volcanoes erupting at the same time. The raging energy storm began to rage, destroying everything in its way.
The soldiers on patrol were blown away by the burst of energy, and the priests who had no time to escape from the temple evaporated instantly.
The exclamations and screams resounded throughout the floating city, even Yada standing in the high tower could hear them clearly.
Obviously, this terrible destructive energy not only destroyed the Shadow Temple, but also the Earth Vein Array and Shadow Demon Network Stone of the entire Floating City were destroyed together, including the protective array of the Haunted Soul Tower. .
"Sacros is about to end..."
Looking at the scene in front of him, the ghost prince Yada's mind flashed the scene of him fighting the mage lord of Mokou Town, and the other party. The scene of falling into the abyss.
He couldn't help but secretly regret why he didn't take the risk of dragging his seriously injured body to the devil's sealed place to check it out.
He did not choose to escape, but sighed softly, and then closed his eyes in despair, as if quietly waiting for the final blow to end his life.
"I knew it, damn it! I've never had any luck."
Lamorak's face changed drastically and he became furious. He was too excited to maintain his original appearance. Zi showed his true form.
These are two blood-red eyes wrapped in a thick fog as black as ink, as well as a black skeleton and only a beating black heart in the chest.
“I have never been lucky. As soon as I got control of the floating city, something like this happened, and I even had to pay for it.”
A glass bottle containing a baby Aboleth was taken away by Lamorak out of thin air. While he quickly collected the research items in the laboratory, he cursed, "Damn it, what the hell is going on? Such a powerful destruction Energy...it's not like the King of Balor was killed."
"You're kidding, it's impossible!"
He is the only one left. The body with bones and eyes rolled violently in the thick fog floating in the air. "How can a spellcaster who has just advanced to the legendary level kill the demon lord Balor the Fire Demon King!? This is absolutely impossible!!!"
…………
Under the bright moonlight.
Brian looked at the two corpses on the ground, his expression becoming extremely gloomy.
After killing the Balor Fire Demon King, he immediately broke through the fog in the underground space and appeared at the meeting point agreed in advance with others.
However, an accident happened.
What awaited him was only the storm and two corpses, but no sign of the drow girl Santila was found.
At this moment, he saw that Feng Feng on the side had opened his eyes, and quickly cast a doubtful look and asked, "How is it? Find out who did it?"
"I traced back here. What happened before." The Harper leader stood up slowly and sighed, a trace of sadness appeared on his beautiful face, "The picture is very blurry, it looks like a dark dancer."
"Dark Dancer. "Who?" Brian frowned.
It is said that when the lost lady Shar came to the material world, she had two completely different incarnations: the Nightsinger and the Dark Dancer.
The Nightsinger wears a large black robe and an ink-colored feather mask on his face. The dense black feathers flow from his face into the depths of his hood.
The Nightsinger did not speak. When she spoke, what came out of her mouth was a song full of sadness and loss.
In comparison, Shar's other incarnation: Dark Dancer, appeared wearing very little clothing.
Dark Dancer has a beautiful and graceful figure. Her clothes can only slightly hide her slightly shiny black jade-like skin. The woman dances enchanting pirouettes and 'persuades' mortals to worship her with her seductive, provocative gaze.
"You mean..." Brian did not continue because he felt that this guess was difficult to convince even himself.
Since the ‘Arcane Catastrophe’ subsided, the rules among the gods have undergone tremendous changes.
The most profound impact on the material world is that it is difficult for the gods to allow themselves to possess the incarnation of divine power and descend to the material plane.
It is for this reason that Tiamat, the Five-Colored Dragon Queen, went to great lengths to have the people of the Dragon Worship Cult hold a powerful ceremony of unprecedented scale in an attempt to bring her incarnation to the material world.
If this plan really succeeds, then the incarnation of Tiamat will be invincible in the material world, and it will be easy to conquer the world.
So, he really couldn’t believe what kind of huge price the lost lady Shar would pay to become his incarnation.
After all, in ten years in the game world, he had never heard of such a thing.
Even the City of Shadows and the Church of Shar were suppressed and beaten by the elves of Myth Drannor and the Chosen of the Goddess of Magic for a period of time, which resulted in the scarred Magic Network being repaired, and the plan to replace the Magic Network with the Shadow Network was announced. Neither the Broke nor the incarnation of the Lost Lady has ever appeared.
"That's right."
Storm's soft words shattered Brian's last glimmer of hope. She looked up and stared at the bright moonlight, letting the cold moonlight shine. Scattered on her graceful figure, she said softly, "It was indeed the Dark Dancer incarnation of the Lost Lady."
"What exactly is going on?" Brian asked confused, "What method did Miss Lost use to bring her incarnation to the material world?"
Storm raised her delicate jade hand and waved it lightly, wrapping the two of them in an invisible barrier with a look on her face. He replied solemnly, "The God-killing Sword."
God-killing sword? ! ! !
Hearing these words, Brian's expression changed drastically.
As a player who is familiar with the history of the country, how could he not have heard of the legend about the ‘God-killing Sword’.
This matter must start with the catastrophe of the saint.
In the year of turmoil, a large-scale saint catastrophe broke out in the material plane. Many gods were knocked down to the mortal world by the 'god above' Io and appeared in the form of saints.
One of the masterminds was the three gods of death in the evil camp at that time.
In order to avoid the danger of the Saint’s catastrophe, the god of thieves, Mask, turned himself into an artifact, the God-killing Sword mentioned by the storm!
This sword fell into the hands of Cyric, who was still a mortal at the time, the god of murder who is now sealed due to madness and the producer of the "Cyrex Book".
In the Year of Turmoil, Cyric, who was still a mortal, used this sword to kill Baal, the God of Slaughter among the Three Gods of Death.
After this, Sk, the god of thieves, betrayed the phantom female Lyra to Cyric, allowing the god of murder to obtain the phantom priesthood.
It was also mentioned when Brian rescued the ranger Azara that the Book of Cyril was first used as a test on Lord Bozor of Zhentil Keep.
But Mask, the god of thieves at the time, happened to be pretending to be this lord, and therefore read the book on his behalf.
"Heritage" successfully weaved a web of lies in Mask's consciousness, so that the God of Thieves had to give up part of his divine power (the Conspiracy Priesthood) before he successfully escaped.
That’s not all, this god of thieves who likes to seek death has once again provoked the ‘Chaos Demon Dog’ Kozev, a demon dog that can even bite off the arm of the powerful god Tyr.
It is precisely for this reason that the world thinks that the God of Thieves has fallen long ago.
"The God of Thieves, Mask, is not dead." Storm expressed the doubts in Brian's heart.
“In the process of the Chaos Demon Dog chasing him, in order to survive, he voluntarily gave up his thief and thief priesthood. However, contrary to expectations, he was left with only the shadow priesthood, which was imprisoned by the Lost Lady and remade into The God-Killing Sword was left in the material plane."
"You mean..." Brian suddenly realized, and subconsciously expressed his guess, "The Lost Lady has obtained the divine power of the God-Killing Sword. This gave her a strength comparable to the incarnation of a god in the material plane."
But there was one question he still couldn't figure out, that was why he had never heard of it in the game world in his previous life. God Sword's anything.
Is it because...
Brian looked shocked, the truth seemed to be getting closer and closer to him.
"That's probably what it means." Feng Feng nodded slightly, then shook his head, "According to my guess, there should be many restrictions here, but I don't know what they are specifically."
"I understand." Brian nodded slightly and asked solemnly.
“So, I am very curious about what kind of agreement the dark girl Eilistraee made with the moon goddess Suellen, so that the Lost Lady would not hesitate to use this hidden power to kill her reincarnation. . ”
Obviously, the reason why this happened is because of Santila.
After all, in the game world, this drow girl had never awakened her divine bloodline until Brian traveled through.
But in this real world, due to Spider Queen Rose's artifact Qirashar Rose and his influence, she awakened early, so that she was noticed by the Lost Lady.
In other words, the entire incident was entirely caused by Brian.
At this moment, he could only secretly hope that Santila, who had lost her trace, could escape the pursuit of the Lost Lady.
When the two were in the demiplane, he had personally heard Santila claiming that the Elf Lord Corellon would not let her die so easily.
"You actually guessed it."
The leader of the Harpers looked at Brian in surprise, then showed a slightly helpless smile and said to him, "As the initiator of all events, you have the right to know These things."
"Too bad!"
She was about to speak when her expression suddenly changed and she said to Brian, "I received a summons from Xinbu, and she was hit by Reeva. Lan’s ambush, let’s help her out first.”
…………
High King Telamanthe emerged from the dark void.
Unimaginable magical energy overflowed from his raised palm, instantly placing the crumbling and about-to-collapse floating city of Sacros onto the open ground.
The tenth-level spell "Protik's Mountain Reversal" from the Netheril Empire period.
As usual.
The High King of Shade City wears ancient and traditional black armor that symbolizes the dominance of the Netheril Empire, with a dragon-winged cloak, fixed-style gauntlets and dark purple robes.
His personal mark: a lion-like creature with dragon-like wings depicted in black outline on a blood-red background.
Yada, the ghost prince, looked at the Supreme King Telamant Tanshur, his father, who had turned the situation around with a complicated expression.
Although the floating city was saved, their losses were still very heavy.
The Shadow Temple built for the Lost Lady Shar bore the brunt. The entire Shadow Demon Network system collapsed, and countless clergy lost their lives.
This heavy blow was enough to put all their next actions on hold.
Looking at the Supreme King Telamante floating down from the sky, Yada found that his expression was sluggish, his breathing was a little short, and even the eyes that he did not dare to look at looked a little dim.
This made him realize that something, or a fierce battle, might have happened when the Supreme King left the realm of the Demonic Network.
He subconsciously fumbled his hand to the hilt of the sword, and then gently removed it.
Parricide will be damned forever, Yada thought.
Every time he recalled this sentence, he couldn't help but think of his mother who had passed away long ago.
These words were the last words his mother left to their brothers before she died.
It was these words that sounded like a warning bell that made the twelve ghost princes in Sultansa City not to kill each other no matter how much they hated each other.
Even though dozens of centuries have passed, Yada, the Prince of Shadows, can still vividly recall the beautiful memories hidden deep in his heart.
But his mother died in an assassination, and all doubts pointed to his father, the High King of Ghost City, Telamant Tanshur.
Even if little Brenas, the most beloved of their brothers, asked them face to face about the cause of his mother's death, his father never gave them an accurate answer.
"Don't go the way of your brother, Yada."
High King Telamant's voice was as soft as a spider, so that he had to listen quietly, "I warn you, from now on, I won't bear it anymore."
"Even if you are right." Yada mustered up the courage to look directly into the eyes of the Supreme King, as if he wanted to see through his truest thoughts:
"The cycle of night has stopped, and I will also serve Lady Lost. If you want her to be helped in the next war, fully implement every plan of the goddess."
"Lost The Lady has never cared about ancient empires and noble blood, she values ability above all else, "He continued, "A strong person like you, when the Lost Lady rules the world, everyone will bow to you."
"If you need help, I believe Revalan is being punished, Yada." Under the pale moonlight, the High King stood with his hands behind his hands and said calmly:
"He has gone crazy, he thinks he will Ending the world, his mind was tossing in the cage prepared for him by the Lost Lady, and he only dreamed of darkness and endings, and suffered for them."
"If you don't want your children to suffer, you should. Try your best to help Miss Lost."
A surge of anger surged in Yada's heart for no reason, but he did not vent it into the next words. Was it because he didn't dare or for other reasons? Even he I don’t even know.
"I have always been angry that you have not truly dedicated yourself to your faith in the Lost Lady. How could you have ended up in this situation if you fully assisted our plan."
"Maybe." The High King shook his head slightly, and his calm voice revealed an unprecedented seriousness and solemnity:
"I have completed the agreement with the Lost Lady. This is my last move. I hope you can remember it. : The future is invisible, and tomorrow is unknown, but the fate is determined and cannot be changed."
The magic energy flows, and the Supreme King disappears into nothingness.
Looking at the disappearing figure of High King Telamante, the ghost prince Yada suddenly had a premonition that this was probably the last time he would see his father.
…………
(End of this chapter)