Chapter 345 Mystra's Blessing
Two tall stone pillars surrounded a fine gold gate engraved with runes on the stone wall of the extremely huge tunnel, with reliefs with serious expressions carved on it.
On the door on the left is a young and beautiful girl, while on the right is a wrinkled and weather-beaten middle-aged woman.
Hung in front of the door is a small bell made of unknown material and a hammer the size of a fist.
“We have been exposed.” Brianus said to Brian after inspecting the temple of the Lost Lady. “I can feel the magic fluctuations emanating from the temple. Obviously Elsweir’s men have done it. Be ready and waiting for our arrival.”
"Then what are you waiting for? Just break in."
Brian frowned. His keen sense of magic made him clearly feel that the ritual inside the temple was on the verge of success.
Even the magic elements floating in the air began to become more and more violent.
As the witch Arokar killed by him said, the magic network in this land has been polluted, and any spell used here will affect itself.
Although Brian used his arcane fire instead of magic net to cast spells, the closer he got to this temple, the more frightened he felt that the arcane fire in his body was actually a little bit... Arcane energy spills out uncontrollably.
This is not good news.
Because if he stays here for a long time, the result will be that the energy of the arcane fire will be exhausted, making him unable to release any spells.
"I think so too, let's get started." Brenas was obviously aware of this situation. He summoned his two fist-sized constructs in advance, making them shine light blue. Colorful light surrounds himself.
Then, he said to Brian with a solemn expression, "Come and break the door. I plan to give a small gift to a group of lurkers in the temple."
Brian nodded slightly, He recited a spell quickly, then stretched out his finger, and released the nine-ring spell "Mordenkainen's Disintegration" that exploded with destructive energy. At a speed visible to the naked eye, he first brutally crushed all the restrictions on the door. Then he caused this solid door to turn into its most primitive material form and dissipate into the air.
At the same time, the spell of the ghost prince Brenas has also been prepared.
I saw the two structures surrounding him shining with a faint milky white light, and then turned into two streams of light at a dizzying speed and rushed into the temple hall whose door was broken. inside.
With the dazzling white light suddenly exploding in the electric light, the entire temple hall was shining as spectacularly as dozens of suns falling here.
The scorching heat spurted out from the gap in the temple. Brian vaguely saw dozens of priestesses wearing purple robes, whose strength was probably around the middle and low levels, suddenly bursting out. In the terrible light, it burned out, and in the shrill wail, it was reduced to ashes.
Brian and Brenas took this opportunity, wrapped in the light of the magic circle, to quietly arrive in the hall where the thick smoke was gradually dissipating.
Brian, who had real vision, quickly looked around and found that the hall was carved into hard basalt, facing the entrance. A shimmering wooden screen was leaning against the opposite stone wall.
The screen is carved with three female figures standing under the stars, but it looks rough and unfinished.
There is a small door on the left and right walls, and a large double-leaf door on the west side.
If what he expected was true, the large double-leaf door on the west side leads to the area where the priestess Elsweir performs the ritual.
With the sudden appearance of the two men, the survivors in the hall also took action with super high efficiency, either hiding or hiding, or even showing up on their own initiative.
Right in front of Brian's sight was a pale-skinned woman, with deep purple eyes flashing with passion and anger.
This priestess, whose strength has obviously reached the legendary realm, wears a long purple lady's coat on a black plate armor engraved with runes, and holds a dazzling hard weapon. Head hammer and adamantine magic shield.
On both sides of the priestess, summoned from the Scorched Hell, two Maglos demons with six insect limbs were staring with their eyes that could not blink but were glowing red. them.
These two strong Magloth demons are like personal guards, each holding a large metal trident in their two claws, ready for battle.
At the same time, a tall and thin man appeared from the darkness of the hall.
He held a long sword and a shield, wore a shimmering mithril breastplate, a dark purple cloak, and a helmet with sharp teeth.
His red hair was tied into a braid, with a malicious sneer on his face, looking at Brian and Brenas with disdain.
"For the glory of the Lost Lady, stop them!" The tall dark guard shouted, and deep purple energy suddenly burst out from his body.
The wooden screen in the hall that shimmered with faint light seemed to receive a response from the Dark Guard, and actually shone with a little golden divine brilliance.
The bright light illuminates the three female figures standing under the starry sky carved on the screen, as if they are alive, as if they can walk out of the screen at any time.
From the corner of Brian's eyes, he glanced at the unfinished screen. There was no doubt that the sculpture on the screen was the statue of the lost lady Shar, which made his expression appear solemn unconsciously.
In this short moment, he discovered that the pollution of the magic network in this land had further deepened. If the two of them could not stop it as quickly as possible, it would really be possible. , allowing Priestess Elsweir's plan to succeed.
With the shouts of the Black Guards, dozens of well-equipped warriors and a dozen Shar priests appeared in the corridor on the second floor of the hall.
These warriors and priests all hold crossbows with an icy sheen, and the crossbow arrows have demon-breaking properties that are most feared by spellcasters. They have already been loaded by them.
“Clang!”
The Dark Guard raised the sword in his hand and roared from between the sharp-toothed helmet: "This is a blessed sanctuary protected by the Lost Lady. Anyone who dares to violate it will suffer divine punishment and curse!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he took the lead in attacking. Along with the roar, the surrounding dark aura was like a solid thread, crazily gathering around his body, then turned into a ray of light and shadow, and rushed towards Brian. .
The moment the Black Guards launched their attack, Brian was already prepared in advance.
Before the opponent got close, he activated his enhanced version of Arcane Storm. With the blessing of curse fire and psychic powers, he displayed a terrifying energy storm, instantly knocking the charging Dark Guard into the air. It rolled up to the ceiling and fell hard.
While resisting the Dark Guard, the roaring storm also swept away all the demon-breaking crossbow bolts fired by the warriors and priests in the corridor on the second floor.
——"blasphemous words!"
At this moment, the priestess, who was commanding her two guards, the Magloth Demon, to attack Brainas, seized the opportunity and used the His best attack method.
In an instant, Brian felt this terrifying evil force, frantically eroding into his mind. In the blink of an eye, dense test data appeared in his system bar.
He put aside the dazzling feeling caused by the blasphemous words, and without hesitation activated the characteristic "Good Protection Barrier" of "Heavenly Mountain Blessing", allowing the bright sacred light to surround himself.
Then, his bright eyes, illuminated by the divine light, suddenly locked on the priestess, giving her the most ferocious counterattack.
——"Chaos Mantra!"
As an almost invisible terrifying energy swept through, the body of the priestess stiffened suddenly, her beautiful face suddenly became distorted with pain, and then she hugged her hands. head, groaning in pain.
This powerful mantra attack affected even the Dark Guard who had just fallen to the ground from mid-air and struggled to get up from the ground.
From the corner of his eye, Brian noticed that Brenas had controlled the two powerful Magloth demons attacking him, and even controlled two constructs, heading towards them like two bombers. Following the soldiers and priests on the second floor of the hall, they launched an attack.
He did not dare to waste time. He was raising his staff and preparing to cast an attack spell to clear out the enemies in front of him. However, he suddenly discovered that the unfinished screen once again burst into golden light.
Wherever the light full of divine energy shines, the Blackguards and Priestesses who are suffering from the Chaos Mantra are immediately healed and become more alive.
——"Binding Slash!"
With a loud shout, a dozen dark purple energy chains spewed out from the Dark Guard's sword strangely, like a volley of sharp arrows. , shot towards Brian.
——"Revenge Storm!"
The priestess also took this opportunity and chanted a few syllables in a deep voice, and then a large group of terrifying black condensed in the sky above Brian The storm, carrying lightning and thunder, made a soul-shaking sound.
Brian was instantly shocked by the roar of thunder, which was like the chirping of cicadas in midsummer. It echoed for a long time. He immediately stabilized his mind and calmly held up an elemental shield for himself, blocking the second round of lightning and the third round of the revenge storm. One round of strong acid, followed by dozens of rounds of violent wind, rain and frost.
Then, while resisting the spell attacks of the Vengeful Storm, he drew out the Star Sword that was filled with chaos and cursed fire energy.
A flash of blue-white light flashed, and a dozen dark purple energy chains that were speeding towards him were all cut off by Brian's sword.
Then, he immediately activated the flash technique and disappeared within the scope of the revenge storm.
As soon as Brian emerged from the magic circle, the Dark Guard and the Priestess had already imbued various buffing spells and rushed towards him with their swords and shields flashing in their hands.
Apparently, when they realized that divine magic could not cause effective damage to Brian, they tried to prepare pure physical attacks to deal with him.
At this moment, a ball of incandescent light the size of a fist suddenly fell between Brian and the Black Guard.
With a loud explosion, the entire temple hall turned white. Even Brian was affected by this and fell into a state of temporary blindness.
Breners, who had cleared away the surrounding soldiers, appeared next to Brian. He did not choose to attack the enemy immediately. Instead, he glanced at the screen in the distance and said to Brian solemnly: "As the Demonic Network continues to be polluted, almost all of the followers of the Lost Lady have established links with the Shadow Demonic Network. Under the protection of the Shadow Demonic Network, it is difficult for us to completely kill them."
" That’s it.” Brian looked surprised, and then murmured to himself: “Are you planning to slow down the pace?”
"I'm afraid there are other meanings here." Brenas shook his head slightly and quickly transmitted a message to him: "Since these believers have been completely bound to the Shadow Demon Network, from the moment they are killed, It will turn into the energy of the pollution magic network and speed up the completion of Esweil's ritual."
"You hold them two, I will go find Esweil now." Brian said with an expression. To his surprise, he discovered that as most of the warriors and priests were killed by Brenas, the surrounding magic elements once again became more chaotic.
"Be careful yourself." Brians hesitated and agreed to Brian's proposal.
Seeing the Prince of Shadows nodding, Brian no longer hesitated and immediately quickened his pace and left the battlefield in front of him.
After blessing himself with various protective magics, he knocked open the large double-leaf door on the west side and plunged into the deep darkness without hesitation.
To his surprise, he managed to find the place where the priestess Elsweyr performed the ritual of tearing the magic web at almost no cost.
Tranquility enveloped the large room, or shrine.
Two dim candles on the side of the door emitted a faint green light to illuminate the room.
The floor and walls are made of black, purple and blue tiles that look like a dazzling swirl pattern. Six black marble columns with golden lines support the entire room.
Brian walked straight towards a passage in the northeast that was covered by a black curtain.
After opening the black curtain made of some unknown magic thread, he saw a podium at the far end of the room. There is a large statue standing on the podium, which is the 'Night Dancer' image of the lost lady Shar in the material plane: a beautiful woman with a veil, holding a dagger in each hand around her chest, the statue's feet The stone platform in front of him is engraved with arcane symbols.
Brian looked at the arcane talisman thoughtfully, carefully mobilized the arcane energy and injected it into the talisman.
A scene that surprised him happened.
With the arcane sigil flashing a faint magical aura, a stone door rose on the wall behind the statue of the Lost Lady.
The easy way to crack the secret room made Brian feel hesitant, but when he thought about the magic elements around him that were obviously more chaotic than the hall, he finally risked his life and walked in bravely.
What appeared in Brian's sight was a large cave comparable to a football field. The ground was completely paved with a smooth basalt stone slab, which was very smooth.
The naturally formed rough stone pillars still serve as pillars to support the ceiling overhead. There is a 10-meter-wide sunken pit in the center of the cave.
Dozens of iron cages hang in the air of the pit, each containing a haggard and thin spellcaster wearing tattered robes.
A mass of darkness that seemed to be alive pulsated in the middle of the pit, with snake-like shadow tentacles tethering the poor people above.
The creatures in the cage were all lying down, their eyes were vacant, their mouths were slightly squirming, and they were chanting something over and over again.
There is no doubt that the casters in front of him are exactly the same as the ancient black dragon Despier that Brian encountered in the Dark Canyon. The only difference is that the scale here seems to be larger. There were also more slaves.
In the Dark Grand Canyon of the Shadow Plane, the ancient black dragon failed to succeed due to his destruction.
But unfortunately, this time they succeeded.
Brian was shocked to see that the large pit in the room was gradually expanding the area of the dead magic area as the ritual progressed.
Brian could even clearly sense that the magic network in the distant void was being torn apart bit by bit.
If this terrible ritual cannot be stopped, everything here will continue to grow until the magic network destroys the entire world.
Most areas of the cave have been completely shrouded in a real dead magic area. Unlike the current situation where the magic network around the valley is weak, spells and spell-like abilities that are not derived from the shadow magic network are completely prohibited here. with magic effects.
However, for some reason, Brian was able to try the magic of driving the magic network in this area.
This made him realize instantly that this was definitely related to the kiss that the eldest sister of the seven Northland sisters, Shiron, gave him before she disappeared.
Because when he rescued Azara from the dungeon, the other party claimed that he could clearly feel the silver fire energy from Xilen.
“We finally have a guest.” A priestess, who was facing the terrifying whirlpool rising in the huge cave, slowly turned around. She was a beautiful lady with pale skin and long hair. She has long, silky black hair and a pair of black eyes full of energy.
She wore a richly decorated ancient full-body armor, with gold and black interlaced, looking graceful and elegant.
In addition, she also held a scepter made of fine iron, the head of which was engraved with a snake with its mouth open and fangs exposed.
Obviously, this person is the high priest Esweir Graycastle who presided over the ceremony of tearing the magic web.
"I have been waiting for a long time, the messenger of the mysterious lady." The priestess said in a passionate tone that could not be concealed: "Praise the lost goddess who hides all secrets. I always insist that such a great ceremony should require an audience to witness the whole process. "
Hearing these words, Brian's expression darkened. Looking at the confident and confident look of the priestess, he faintly felt that he seemed to have arrived too late.
“Now, come and witness this greatest moment with me!”
Little by little, the divine radiance emerged, and the golden light began to emanate from Elsweyr’s body, Her black hair was faintly shining, and her armor, which was criss-crossed with gold and black, stood out like a shadow emerging from the brightest light.
As she slowly opened her arms, her body exuding nobility, mystery, and grace slowly rose into the air and surged toward the whirlpool in the huge cave.
"Elsweyr, you bastard who believes in Shar, you are willing to die, don't take me to be buried with you!" At this moment, the snake head on the priestess's staff sprayed out a cloud of black mist, The soul of the witch Arokar appeared in mid-air and cursed at her.
“Everything I do is for the glory of the Lost Lady.” The priestess remained unmoved and allowed her body to float into the whirlpool. She said with a pious and fanatical look: “Anyone’s sacrifice is worth it. It's worth it..."
"Fuck you, it's worth it, I don't want to, Shar, you are such a bitch, why should you sacrifice my life?" The witch roared at the top of her lungs, her eyes flashing. out of deep fear.
Seeing this, Brian finally realized the seriousness of the problem. He took out the Archmage's staff without hesitation and directly cast the legendary spell "Luxury Dispelling Magic" instantly.
However, what shocked him was that before the spell was released, he was backlashed by a chaotic energy that was huge enough to suffocate him. He spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot and sat down on the ground with a sluggish expression. , wrapped in a sense of weakness and powerlessness, making it difficult to get up.
"Stop making ridiculous struggles." The priestess looked at Brian with mocking eyes, and without hesitation, she took the soul of the lich Arokar and threw them into the vortex above the huge cave.
"Boom!"
With bursts of heart-shaking loud noises, the vortex rolled up like boiling water, and the bodies of dozens of spellcasters imprisoned in iron cages All around, blue-white energy suddenly emerged, rushing towards the vortex crazily.
These poor spellcasters could only desperately hold on to the bars of the cage, watching with horror on their faces as their bodies turned into skinny mummies at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The situation on Brian's side was not optimistic either. When the last caster was sucked dry, he could clearly feel that the entire cave was completely enveloped by the energy of the Shadow Demon Network.
Under the influence of the Shadow Web, he was unable to release any arcane, spell-like, supernatural abilities, or even psychic powers. Even the arcane energy in the arcane fire in his body was rapidly passing away at a speed visible to the naked eye. Lose.
He raised his head and was shocked to see a dark purple cloud, which was expanding towards the surrounding space at a slow speed.
For some reason, he almost instinctively believed that this dark purple cloud was the manifestation of the Shadow Demon Network in the material world. When the cloud and mist enveloped the entire world, it meant the Shadow Demon. The net completely replaced the magic net.
"Did it really fail?" Brian muttered to himself, looking at the purple cloud that had expanded by one-third, standing there blankly.
At this moment, he suddenly felt a deep powerlessness. He thought he could prevent this disaster from happening, but who would have thought that he would become the first mortal to witness the disaster.
After much thought, it was difficult for him to guess which part of him had gone wrong, leading to this situation.
“No, there must be a solution.” An idea flashed in Brian’s mind, and he seemed to have thought of something, but he didn’t dare to confirm it.
At this moment, the last poor victim imprisoned in the cage turned into a handful of gray dust, and he suddenly felt an invisible person appearing near him, which made his There was a violent trembling feeling on my cheeks.
“As you may have imagined, my dear friend, there is still room for redemption.”
A soft voice, like a whisper from the breeze, came to Brian. In the ears: "What you have done is worthy of praise, and now there is only one last task left: you must guide the silver fire of the goddess Mystra to repair the scars of the magic web."
"Only in this way can the conspiracy of Shar's followers be completely defeated."
"Can you...can complete this task on my behalf?"
Brian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, silently. Looking into the void, he nodded.
Immediately afterwards, he felt the witch of Shadow Valley inject all the remaining power into his body.
In an instant, a cold white flame suddenly burst out from Brian's eyes, hands, whole body, and even the arcane fire in his body.
The huge and hot breath surged forward, washing away the ever-expanding deep purple cloud in the center of the cave.
For a moment.
The shadow and the silver fire were fiercely confronting each other. These two terrifying energies were like wild horses, rolling violently in the void, trying to engulf each other.
At this moment, Brian can't help at all. He is like an adventurer who has watched the animation, watching the battle for the magic network between the lost lady Shar and the magic goddess Mystra.
Until the flames won, the purple vortex disappeared, and all the clouds and mist dissipated, as if they were burned dry by the flames in an instant, Brian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Apparently, Mystra, the goddess of magic, won the battle.
At the same time, Hillen's voice reached his ears again. Although the sweet voice sounded beautiful and sweet, like the most beautiful music, it seemed a little weak and had some deep nostalgia. With reluctance, "This is good..."
"Now, I ask you to go to the world of the magic network, repair the last scars, and win this battle for the goddess I love so much, so that The radiance of the goddess shines on the land full of freedom..."
"My power has come to an end..."
"Goodbye, I am very grateful to you, dear friend..."< br>
After that, the voice of the Shadow Valley Witch faded away, and Brian suddenly felt that she had completely disappeared here.
Unnaturally, he felt that something was missing in his heart.
A system prompt interrupted Brian's deep thoughts. He discovered that he had gained a good ability because of this battle:
[Mystra's Blessing: You have obtained You have gained the favor of the witch of Shadow Valley. When Sheron injected the silver fire into your body, she chose to transfer part of Mystra's special protection to you. The goddess of magic acquiesced to her behavior and granted you her blessing. .
Effect:
Bonus Spell: Select a spell from the list of spells appropriate for the current spellcasting level as a spell-like ability that can be used once per day. Once selected, it cannot be changed.
Spell Immunity: Select one spell from the list of spells suitable for the current spellcasting level, and you will be permanently immune to the effects of these spells. Once selected, you cannot change it.
Immunity: Please choose any two from aging, disease, petrification, dissociation, poison, and sleep as blessing attributes. 】
…………
Seeing the text information appearing in his retina, Brian was stunned.
If there was no problem with his memory, the bonus spells and spell immunity in the blessing were all characteristics of the chosen ones of the goddess of magic. He didn't expect that he could obtain them in this way.
He ignored the first two options for the time being and focused on the third one.
Then, without thinking, he chose aging and petrification as his attributes among the "immunity" attributes.
…………
(End of this chapter)