mechanical court

Silently, a black mist began to linger around her body, like a big net woven of ashes, wrapping Clara tightly, and gradually, she was swallowed by the black mist, leaving nothing... …

"Clara!? How could you... ah ah ah!"

"Help, help! Help... ahhhh!"

Accompanied by two hysterical screams, the thunder pierced through the sky, the lightning shot straight into the heart of the sky, and the rain fell with a rustle.

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Boom--!

Outside, the wind and rain were dark, and the snake-like lightning strewn across the sky, reflecting the sky and the earth into a pale.The field was full of heavy rain, and the water marks on the car windows slid down quickly, obscuring the dark world.

"Why is it raining suddenly!?"

Ivan in the carriage leaned over to the window, staring at the world under the rain curtain, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable in his heart, always feeling ominous.

"I'm sorry for the guests. It rained suddenly, and the light was so dark that I couldn't see the road clearly. I really can't drive today." The driver's mumbled voice came into the carriage, causing the passengers to complain helplessly and depressed.

"..."

Ivan looked at the dark sky worriedly. Lightning occasionally illuminated the scaly dark clouds, as if there was a big snake lying across the sky.

He took out his luggage from under the car seat, carried it on his shoulders, walked to the door with a solemn expression, opened the door and jumped, and disappeared into the boundless rain.

Chapter 67 The Phantom in the Fog ([-])

Lower Menis, Barcale, Pushu Town.

Pushu Town is located at the border of the New Kingdom of Menes, separated from the Lizardmen's wild territory by the Fourth and Fifth Waterfalls. The town is bordered by the Holy River. The surrounding area is mountainous and rich in spices and precious stones.Coupled with the responsibility of supplying grain and grass materials in the border defense area, it has become the richest area in Lower Menes by virtue of its geographical advantage.

The towns radiate along the stone slab "royal road" that transports materials. The low-lying areas are densely populated, and the higher the terrain, the thinner the dwellings. Looking down from a high altitude, it looks like a cattail tree.There is a small temple at the highest point, which is dedicated to the sun god Atum and his wife, the war goddess Mut. Standing on the top, you can have a panoramic view of Pushu Town at a glance.

The Sacred River flows through winding canyons throughout the year, even in the coldest winter.The sound of galloping water is like the muffled roar of giant beasts, resounding in the ears of local residents for many years.

……

At about five o'clock in the evening, the sky has become dark, and the shade lights on the walls on both sides of the street have been turned on one after another.

The streets and alleys of the town are extremely quiet, all the residents are enjoying their dinner, and there are no people on the street. Occasionally, the chocobo knights who report the military information will fly past the stone pavement, leaving behind a series of sounds of fluttering wings .

"It's almost here."

Yiwen carried his luggage, passed through the magnificent city gate, raised his head, looked at the setting sun that was gradually sinking into the mountains in the distance, and found a temple standing there.

Go to the temple first and ask about the situation.

Thinking of this, he quickened his pace and went to the Atum Temple in Pushu Town.

The war of hunting horror beasts is a surgical war with the temple as the node, the royal road as the line, and the demon hunter as the sword.

From accepting missions and receiving bounties for the demon hunters, to burial benefits after their death, everything has to be handled by the temple.At the same time, they also need to share information with the local security department, participate in the search work, and try to find and hunt the fear beast as soon as possible.

Therefore, before each action, Yiwen must communicate with the local temple to avoid unnecessary conflicts and strive for more convenience.According to the online game, after he came into contact with the temple sacrifices in Pushu Town, it was equivalent to lighting up the map of the area.

The Temple of Atum in Pushu Town is a typical Menesian temple, backed by a cliff, in the shape of a long and narrow strip, and there are two rows of sphinxes in front of the main entrance.After entering the main entrance is the vestibule of the temple, which is a place for public ceremonies, and ordinary civilians can only reach here.

Since Ivan was dressed as a standard demon hunter at this time, no one stopped him all the way to the vestibule, and when he walked to the outer pillar hall, he was considered trespassing in the restricted area, so he was quickly stopped.

As usual, after showing their credentials, the guards immediately put on respectful expressions.

Follow them into the outer column hall, where densely packed stone columns are arranged, and in front of the stone columns are the statues of the Sun Kings of all dynasties.Their projections and the reliefs on the column body become mottled with the change of sunlight, making people feel that there is infinite space behind the column in the change of light and shadow, thus generating awe and surrendering to the majesty of the emperor.

The front of the outer pillar hall is the main hall of the temple. In front of the hall stand two huge stone pillars, and the capitals of the pillars are shaped like female faces.Perhaps because of too much wind and rain erosion, the woman's face looked weird and melancholy, and she didn't know what kind of expression she was making.

"Meet Your Majesty!"

When Ivan followed the guards to the front of the hall, the priests and collective priests of the temple just came out to meet them, and bowed down to worship—even though the other party had already given up all their rights, at least they still retained the title of king, and they were demon hunters again. Hidden leader, such etiquette is still acceptable.

"Get up... forget it this time, you don't have to bow down when you see me in the future."

He frowned helplessly, and really wanted to tell these people that he was no longer the Sun King, but judging from his previous experience, he was afraid that no one would listen to him, so he had to give up.

"Your Majesty came to Pushu Town to inspect...or is there something else?" The priest named Tuze stood up, walked in front of him, and asked in a low voice.

"Nothing else, just follow along based on feeling." Yiwen replied casually.

If it were someone else who said that, he would have been kicked out of the temple, but when he said that, no one dared to say anything, and they didn't even have the thought of questioning it. After all, the legendary hunting rate of the judge was there.

For other demon hunters to search for fear beasts, the level of trouble is similar to that of detectives to solve a case. Finding the target, verifying the real body, judging the danger, and finally collecting the net to hunt and kill, etc., is very time-consuming and labor-intensive, and they often have to fight together.And Ivan just needs to follow his feelings. Due to the mutual attraction of the nightmare aura, the fear beast has nowhere to hide in front of him-this is the reason why he has always been a lone ranger.

"Recently, has there been any murder in the town, or any weird things?"

"The weird thing hasn't happened yet. There is indeed one murder case. It was a manslaughter caused by a fight. It has nothing to do with the fear beast." The priest replied cautiously.

"In that case, you can find me a guide and take me around the town."

Ivan believed in his own feelings. Since there was a nightmare aura here, there must be a fear beast.There is no killing now, it's just a wicked moment of patience, the fox's tail will always be exposed.

"Then let me be the guide." Priest Tuze volunteered.

----------------

Tuze and Yiwen rode two chocobos, walking through the town one after the other. Everywhere they went, the priest could talk about the local allusions and the current situation endlessly.

Unknowingly, it was late at night, everything was silent, and darkness covered the world like a curtain.

Borrowing the hazy moonlight, the two walked in the alleys of the street. Tuze obviously did not have such vigorous energy as Yiwen. After working hard for several hours, he finally showed a tired look, and lost his previous vitality when speaking .

Gaga——!

Just as they were approaching the center of the town, there were suddenly piercing screams from the sky.

The two looked up, and saw a strange black bird appearing on the residential house, jumping up and down crazily, with a pair of black and shiny wings fluttering continuously, making piercing screams.

This bird has a large body, close to the height of an adult, with a particularly broad head and a short, thick beak with a hooked front end.The distribution of binoculars, facial disk and ear feathers make the original bird's head very similar to the human face, which is indescribably ferocious at first glance. ,

Gaga——!

The strange bird looked at Ivan, flapped its wings, flew past him like a black shadow, and then quickly jumped into the air.But those deep pupils have been staring at them all the time, the faint blue luster is particularly obvious in the dark night, as if it can penetrate people's hearts.

It flapped its wings and fled to the distance. A few feathers as black as night fell slowly like dead leaves in late autumn.

"It's not timid... What kind of bird is that?" Ivan asked curiously.

"That's a human-faced owl..."

The priest's eyes trembled slightly, his throat trembled, and he subconsciously lowered his voice and explained: "The locals regard it as a messenger of death. It is said that they will only show up before a particularly serious disaster occurs."