Shadow of the Beautiful World

Monsters, this is an indescribable force.

As I said before, it is not a specific racial name, but more like the name of an organization that is united by different species. And this low-key organization among the heterogeneous is actually powerful behind it. At least according to what Merlin has learned so far, there are traces of their existence in every area of ​​the world where there are heterogeneous activities.

Any alien can become a member of the monster force, as long as they are willing to agree with the declaration and system of the monster organization.

I don't know much about monsters.

In the reception room on Blood Street, Merlin looked at the old man who called himself a Sphinx and was smoking a pipe. He played with the cigarette in his hand and asked softly:

So I have some questions for you to answer, Mr. Sphinx... The first question, are you really the legendary Sphinx?

You can call me that.

The old man Sphinx nodded, he exhaled a smoke ring, and he said:

The real name of our race is the Scorpion, and we are indeed as eager for knowledge as the legend says. People in ancient Egypt regarded us as a mythical creature. Those pharaohs would occasionally pray to us for wisdom. They put our sculptures on In front of the mausoleum, trying to communicate with us after death, but in fact, this is impossible.

He said:

Sphinxes don't have the ability to communicate with souls, we are just one of the countless aliens.

Well, thanks for the confession.

Merlin pushed his glasses, and Icarus quickly added an information annotation for the Sphinx in front of him, and added it to Merlin's heterogeneous database.

He looked at the old man in front of him. This guy was undoubtedly a legendary creature, maybe not as good as Dracula, but in this city, he was already one of those old guys who lived in seclusion.

Merlin thought for a while, and he asked again:

In this city, are there many people like you?

No, not much.

The Sphinx replied:

But it's not as rare as you think. Don't worry, Mr. Merlin. The legendary creatures that can live in seclusion in this city have more or less their own troubles. Unless you push them to a corner, they won't take the initiative. Jump out to interfere with your actions to reorder the city. They, including me, are no problem to you.

Okay, one last question.

Merlin says:

Monsters, what I mean is, your organization, what are you... You know that your inheritance is very ancient, and it seems to involve an ancient monster dynasty, but I don't know your history very well, and, The path and principles you adhere to. Can you explain it to me? I am very interested in this.

Of course, that's why I'm here.

The Sphinx reached for his pipe, looked at Merlin, and said:

If you want to know the history of the monster dynasty, Mr. Merlin, you must first know the origin of the aliens... I have read almost all the historical books of wizards, and I know that wizards believe that the vast majority of aliens in the world Part of it is born in this world, but in fact, this view is wrong, at least one-sided.

It is true that there are many aliens born and bred in this world, such as the disgusting vampires. But there are also many aliens from other worlds, such as dwarves and elves. The origin of fairies is in a world called Alfheim , their ancestors came to the earth through the rainbow bridge, and then lived and multiplied here.

Sphinx said eloquently:

But besides these two sources, there is the last one...Mr. Merlin, do you know that there is a rare astronomical phenomenon called 'celestial sphere convergence'? (1)

No, I don't know.

Merlin says:

I'm not very good at astrology or astronomy.

Well, indeed, judging from the lifespan and history of human beings, it is indeed difficult for you to come into contact with this phenomenon.

Sphinx says:

After all, it only happens every 5,000 years.

The cause of it is very complicated. Let me briefly explain it. You can think that it is a strange natural landscape. When the celestial sphere converges, the nine kingdoms and nine worlds under the rule of Asgard will be in the world. There is a line connecting cities in the phantom of the tree, at that moment, the dimensions of each world will be completely broken and merged with each other.

The Asgardians call it a disaster, but they don't know that the nine worlds are connected in a line, which is just a part of the intersection of the celestial spheres. The scope of its influence is far beyond the imagination of the Asgardians. And our... the original monsters were thrown into the earth in a celestial-sphere convergence 10,000 years ago.

If you still can't understand, then please allow me to use a more straightforward metaphor.

The collision of the world is like ships sailing in the sea colliding in the tide. The violent shock will throw the cargo on the ship into other ships. This is where we come from.

The old man looked at Merlin, and he said seriously:

Yes, we come from another world, a world that is not in this group of stars, not even in this dimension. The aliens generally think that monsters are an organization that includes all aliens, but it is not... the earliest time this name was called was The sign we use to distinguish us from Earth's native aliens.

The old man waved his hand and said:

As for the monster dynasty, that's just the name given to us after we conquered enough aliens under the leadership of our leader, Emperor Xia Kela.

There is no undefeated dynasty in this world. Even the wise and mighty Emperor Xia Kela will encounter rebellion from within. After a long enough time, our race and power from another world are withering.

In short, our dynasty was destroyed nearly a thousand years ago. The leader who commanded our group of alien survivors died in battle. Those vassal aliens set a fire on the corpse of the dynasty and burned the entire monster dynasty.

As for why we have persisted in this millennium until now...

The Sphinx looked at Merlin and said:

The reason is very simple. We want to go home and send our descendants back to our real home before the real monsters die out completely, that's all.

Hearing this sentence, Merlin's eyes immediately became strange. He looked at the Sphinx in front of him and asked:

You mean...the next celestial sphere convergence is coming soon?

Um.

The old man nodded, and he said to Merlin:

Probably after 8-10 years, but we want to go home, just waiting for the celestial sphere to converge is not enough, we also need a beacon, a beacon that can guide us back to our world among the endless stars.

We hope S.H.I.E.L.D. will help us find it.

The old man stood up and said in a serious tone:

For it, we are willing to do our best to help S.H.I.E.L.D....the only thing we ask for in return!

Wait, the amount of information is a bit large, let me go through it.

Merlin paused for the old man in front of him, and said:

First of all, you are from another world. This is not difficult to accept. I have seen too many aliens. Second, you were sent to Earth by a natural phenomenon called the celestial sphere convergence. This is not difficult to understand. In the end, you'll need a Beacon to get home when the next Conjunction approaches, um... there's nothing incomprehensible about the language.

He raised his head and said to the Sphinx:

So, please tell me, what is the difficulty of this work? So much so that you have been working hard for nearly a thousand years but have not been able to find the beacon, and finally need our help?

Because of that beacon, it was sealed by Emperor Xia Kela himself when the monster dynasty fell. In order to protect its safety, the emperor used his own power to hide it.

Sphinx explained helplessly:

Can't be locked by prophecy, can't be detected by detection magic, and no one even knows where it is hidden. We have searched almost the whole world in the past thousand years, but still found nothing. With the rapid rise of human civilization Afterwards, the living space that belongs to us is compressed and we cannot move as freely as before, so...

to be honest!

Merlin reminded:

We won't help you unless you tell the truth.

The Sphinx stared at Merlin, and Merlin stared at him. After a few seconds of stalemate, the old man sighed and said:

Well, you are indeed the kind of person who is difficult to deceive.

I asked you for help because I saw the scene where Miss Xilia talked to you before. Miss Xilia has the ability to travel through dimensions, which is known to many aliens who have lived for a long time. My idea is that if If we haven't found the beacon before the celestial spheres converge, maybe we can use your relationship to ask Miss Siria to send the young monsters back to the world we came from.

Then why don't you go and ask her yourself?

Merlin says:

You are a legend, and she is also a legend. There is always a lot to talk about between legends.

Because... because of the power behind Miss Xilia, we cannot and dare not touch it.

Sphinx said vaguely:

I can't reveal more to you, I can only say this, Mr. Merlin, do you agree with my request?

I want to see your actions first.

Merlin says:

By this time tomorrow, will I see the results?

As you wish, Mr. Merlin.

The Sphinx leaned slightly towards Merlin, smoking his pipe, and said:

I'll go talk to the dwarves now, and by this time tomorrow, Brimstone Harbor will be yours.

Oh, by the way, the beacon we asked for your help to find...

It... well, she, called Hipperry Sean Xia Kela, is our First Princess Highness. (2)

———————————————————

After get off work in the afternoon, Merlin stood on the top of the tower at the highest point of Blood Street, looking at the Sulfur Harbor in front of him.

Compared with a few days ago, the city looked even more dilapidated. Merlin could see the buildings collapsing in chaos, as well as the figures huddled in the corners. In the heavy rain, the whole city seemed to be was cast a shadow.

This wasn't what Merlin wanted to see, but he wasn't disappointed either.

Destruction is just a moment, but reconstruction is a process. Merlin wanted to look further away. He saw agents in cloaks in the distant city, sending some food and shelter from the rain to those homeless aliens. They were led by Coulson to distribute necessities in the rain.

And in the northwest corner of the city, in the ruins of the destroyed Dark Spire, large-scale engineering equipment is being assembled with the help of wizards. Maybe in a few days, a temporary containment area will appear on the edge of Brimstone Harbor.

And the shelter and its matching building will be the first step for S.H.I.E.L.D. to swear sovereignty over the city.

I believe you can also shine with the light of order...

In the rain, Merlin whispered something, then turned around, took a step forward, and disappeared into the hazy city.

When he reappeared, Merlin had already returned to his home in New York. Obeyowulf shook the raindrops lightly on his body, and quickly made Merlin's windbreaker dry again. He stepped into the room and saw Elsa cleaning.

She was cleaning the table in the living room earnestly, and didn't seem to notice Merlin's return.

cough cough

Merlin coughed, and Elsa woke up suddenly. When she turned around, she saw Merlin standing in front of her with one hand behind his back.

What are you holding in your hand?

Elsa sniffled and said:

There is a hint of fragrance, isn't it a flower?

It's not interesting when the story starts and ends.

Merlin took out his left hand from behind his back, holding a blue flower in his hand, and said:

I stole this from Nissa's house. It is said that it was the favorite plant of Grand Duke Makinos before his death.

How old are you, and you still play this kind of game.

Elsa glared at Merlin reproachfully, but she happily found a vase and put the gorgeous blue flowers in it, because it was not a rest day, and the two small light bulbs were not at home, which meant that there was no time to go from work to work. During the period of sleeping, Merlin and Elsa could always get tired of being together.

Merlin even watched a love movie with Elsa after dinner that he had never watched before.

Everything seems to be changing.

Change for the better until it all comes to a screeching halt.

In the middle of the night, Elsa was standing alone on the balcony, and the pouring rain was becoming more and more crazy outside the window. She looked at the sleeping Merlin in the dark, her eyes full of nostalgia.

hum

While the white light was beating, Cilia appeared beside Elsa, and she said to Elsa:

time to go...

etc.

Elsa replied:

Let me take another look at him...give me a few more seconds.

It doesn't make sense, Bloodstone.

Shiriya turned her head away, she looked at the crazy rain outside the window, she said:

In another 2-3 hours, this rain will turn into snow, and in another 24 hours, the entire city will be frozen. After 48 hours, the entire North America will become a no-man's land at minus 200 degrees.. .Father warned you before, Elsa, it's time to go.

All right.

Elsa breathed a sigh of relief silently, her fingers touched the blue flowers on the balcony, cold air gushed out from between, and quickly sealed the beautiful flowers in flower-shaped ice cubes, As long as she's here, the ice cube won't melt.

Let's go.

Elsa took one last look at the sleeping Merlin, and she said to Cilia:

Leave this world, and may never return.

Don't be so pessimistic, Bloodstone.

Shiriya comforted:

It is not yet possible to determine the relationship between you and Baishuang...

If you're lucky, Elsa, you can come back.

PS:

1: The confluence of the celestial and spheres comes from a natural phenomenon in The Witcher 3. It only borrows the background to expand the world view. The explanation is slightly different from the original work, including the appearance of Hoarfrost. Don't get too entangled in the details.

2: The name Hipperry Sean Xia Kela is fabricated. The monster princess’s name is Xia Kela, but I think it’s a surname, but I can’t find her name, so I just make it up. Anyway, everyone will call her Xia Kela in the future.

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