[Western Fantasy] The mystery of life and death

The wild and steep canyons twist and turn, and the long river rushes down with rough waves.The torrent is constantly smashing the huge waves on the steep cliffs, and the shattering waves have countless white sharp teeth. The constant roar day and night is like tens of millions of giant beasts galloping and echoing in the valley.

The steep cliff seems to be split by a huge axe, a black spot clings to the nearly vertical rock wall, sometimes moves quickly to draw a path of phantom shadows, sometimes stops for a short time, and gradually approaches the turbulent river.

Luoka is wearing a dark leather armor made by a fierce and fierce dragon. His blond hair is flying in the wilderness wind. His handsome and deep eyebrows are becoming more heroic and solemn. Under the deep dark light, there is a strong power in every gesture, and the neat and vigorous figure jumps lightly and nimbly between the cliffs, sometimes staying for a moment to feel the atmosphere around him carefully.

Thorn Cliff disappeared after being designated as the fiefdom of Duke Timothy, which was naturally due to the protective barrier.The perception of ordinary people is affected by it, and they will inadvertently stay away from the defensive range of the enchantment.People with advanced magic skills can see through it, but as long as they touch the barrier, they will be detected by the mage on duty.

Over the years, masters have continued to disappear near the barrier, even including priests recently sent by the church to investigate secretly.

Perhaps because of the mighty power of nature, the rushing river banks disturbed the aura, and the barrier power was the weakest in the river. With Luoka's current cultivation base, as long as he restrained his breath, he could sneak along the cliffs of the river valley without touching the barrier's induction at all. .

Loka once again settled down on the cliff, firmly clung to the jagged rock formation, the violent waves crashed under his feet, and he even clearly felt the roar shaking the rock wall.There are gravels rolling down all around, and they are submerged in the tumbling raging waves in a blink of an eye.

He concentrated on sensing the fluctuations of magical energy in the air.At this time, the head wind almost flew towards the waves, flapped its white wings a few times, and stopped on his shoulders.Judging from the information collected by Cuesta on patrol a few days ago, the loophole she discovered seems to be around here.The lower reaches of the river valley have all been monitored by the Priestesses of the Mirror Lake tribe led by Cuista, serving as Lorca's peripheral intelligence support.

"Nifeng, is this here?" Loka seemed to be talking to himself. "Negative Wind" cooed.Spreading its wings, it flew up, circled around the water surface, and suddenly closed its wings, like a white shuttle that shot rapidly into the waves.

Loka jumped up immediately, and jumped into the exact position where "Headwind" just turned up the small waves.

Even with Lorca's current skills, he needs to go all out to maintain his balance in this turbulent torrent. The leather armor made by the violent demon can form a protective barrier that fits the body shape in the water, and it can also be used in rapid diving. Greatly reduce the impact and friction of water flow during swimming.

Although "Headwind" is a falcon, it was trained by Princess Jinghu like a barracuda. ​​Loka followed closely against the rushing current, shuttled through the rapids, and dexterously dodged the abrupt reefs at the bottom of the river. Swim quickly to the other side. "Headwind" suddenly crashed into the rock wall like a point of white light and disappeared.

Loka also plunged into the rock wall without hesitation.

It turned out that this place was a crack in the rock formation, but the texture of the rock formation interlaced with the underwater light, coupled with the influence of the energy fluctuation of the enchantment, it was extremely difficult to be found.

The crack only allows one person to walk sideways.Loka roughly judged the direction, and it will extend to the depths of the Thorn Cliff mountain.Sensing the contours of the surrounding rocks, he climbed sideways on the jagged rocks at the bottom of the water. Even though the bottom of the water was pitch black, Loka still walked quietly in the dark without using any magic lighting.Although he left the dangerous rapids, he was more cautious.Even completely restrain the whole body breath.Ever since he entered the crack, he had an inexplicable sense of danger.

Loka walked forward without haste, and soon approached the exit ahead. He could feel it from the change of the water flow without lighting.In front of it is a wide shuttle-shaped exit in the middle of the upper and lower points, like a huge erect eye, staring at him quietly in front of him.

Devil's eye?Loka felt a pain in his heart.So many days have passed, he can hardly bear to imagine what will happen to Mason.But he still asked Livingston and Tilda to help deduce all the possibilities.This is the evil result caused by oneself, which must be borne by oneself.Tilda told him that he should even be prepared to end Mason's life with his own hands. "Perhaps, this is also his final salvation." Afterwards, she handed over the "Blazing Heart", the inherited sacred object of the Huiyue Clan, to Loka. ".

Loka stroked his chest lightly.His personal pendant is the sacred object of the Jinghu tribe - "Dream Tears".Cuista has just broken through the realm and reached the cultivation level of the high priest, and is able to take charge of the sacred objects passed down from generation to generation of the Jinghu tribe. The "Dream of Tears" is said to be obtained from the relics of the battle of the three sages who sealed Morris thousands of years ago. The power of purification and sealing.

Before leaving, Loka didn't know why she didn't dare to look directly at her.Custa put on the "Teardrops of Dreams" for him with her own hands, her blue eyes filled with tears, "Don't be ashamed. I know that Mason loves you more than his life. His love for you is not yours. Wrong, it is not his fault to fall in love with someone. I am not sure how you will face this kind of love. No, Loka, there is no need to promise or decide anything immediately. I know that you will not live up to this pure It would be a great injustice for us Aranti to abandon such a noble soul who is compassionate and kind. No matter what, I believe you will bring him back no matter what kind of situation he is in." She showed a Encouraging smiles, crystal tears rolling down, Yinghua's brilliance is far better than "dream tears".

Luo Ka sensed that the "teardrops of dreams" that were close to the skin exuded a calm and peaceful power, which soothed the turbulent mood.He concentrated his mind and continued to move towards the gap.

Suddenly, Loka stretched out his hand to hold the "Headwind" in front of him.The closer he got to the exit, the stronger his sense of danger became.

Ahead is a large space inside the mountain. From the bottom of the water, you can already see the faint fire on the water surface. Loka holds the "headwind" in one hand, and slowly rises against the rock wall, trying not to cause water fluctuations.But he still sensed a faint tremor in the water, which seemed to come from the thick and insoluble darkness deep in the water.

As soon as Loka came out of the water, he immediately let go of "Headwind" and climbed up the rock wall at the same time.

Luoka didn't know that he had just left the water the moment before, and the next moment, there was a long flat black shadow in the water silently sweeping across the place where he just stopped. This long and flat black shadow extended from the darkness deep in the water Coming out, like streamers and tentacles, the black shadow tentatively floated around in the water, and then slowly sank into the bottomless darkness.

Lorca, dressed in black armor, naturally blended into the shadows of the surrounding walls in the dark. He was not worried about the guards around him. He had already mastered the secret technique of Kedile San Miluo, which had the same origin as the Shadowmoon Aranti. Using powerful mental power can easily create illusions.

However, there wasn't a single guard around.This is a pool deep in the mountain.There was silence all around, and there was a faint smell of rot in the air.Loka made a rough estimate during the climb. The distance from the water surface to the brazier with flickering flames above is equivalent to the distance from the foot of the thorn cliff to the top of the mountain.

Near the top of the rock, a wide semi-circular platform extends from the rock wall. There are twelve braziers on the edge of the platform, and the flames are always burning.At the end of the platform is a grand stone arch, the vault is covered with complicated hollow carvings, and two heavy iron doors are tightly closed.

"Headwind" has already parked on the arch, and if it is not for combing its feathers from time to time, it will give people the illusion that it is also a part of the carving.

Loka carefully caressed the iron gate, sensing whether there was a restraining mechanism, when suddenly there was a noise from inside the iron gate, mixed with screams and cries.Loka quickly glanced around, jumped to the top of the stone arch, and leaned against the stone wall on the complicated and heavy carvings.

The heavy iron door opened with a teeth-piercing friction sound, and the hoarse cries were suddenly suppressed into terrified sobs.Two soldiers in heavy armor dragged an old man dressed as a warrior to the platform.

"Please...please...Master Palmer...my lord...please forgive me..." The sobbing and begging voice was suppressed and low, as if afraid of disturbing something.

From Loka's point of view, he could only see the curled and kneeling back and the messy white hair like fluffy grass.Palmer's voice came from behind the iron gate, "Master Toct, Mr. Toct, Uncle Toct, which name do you like best? Do you remember? Are you happy? This is a special gift from the Duke. , allow me to repay you for taking care of me in the past years. Are you still satisfied with this special honor?"

"No...please...my lord...please forgive me..." The old voice trembled in fear.

Lorca wanted to rush down and capture Palmer for a moment.But he sensed that there were many masters around Palmer.Now is not the time to startle the snake.

"It is the honor of your humble life to pay tribute to the noble Caprico." Palmer's voice was still elegant, but with a cold smile. "Remember! Honorable Caprico likes to live," he ordered.

"No...no..." Tokt struggled in vain and was dragged to the edge of the platform by the soldiers.A cold light flashed, and with a click, one of his legs was cut off, "Ahhhhh!" Amidst the heart-piercing screams, the soldier kicked the broken leg off the platform.

There was the sound of rushing water from below.A long, flat black shadow cruised out, dexterously catching the broken leg.Then—the entire mountain was trembling slightly, and Loka noticed that the smell of fish and rot in the air seemed to be getting stronger.The sense of danger is getting stronger and stronger, making people shudder.Loka set up a powerful enchantment around him to isolate sound, and also enveloped "Headwind" within the enchantment range.

The sound of the water was rushing, and the calm pool seemed to be boiling.From the swaying firelight, Loka could see the huge projection on the opposite mountain wall rising slowly, like a vigorous black flame, and like a slowly rising hill.Lorca knew that something was emerging from the water, and the projection in the firelight was getting bigger and bigger, showing that it was a huge monster with an astonishing size.

Lorca sensed that Palmer had left in a hurry, and the iron door closed slowly.The two executioners left Toct on the edge of the platform, and retreated towards the iron gate in horror.

At this time, Loka could see from the giant shadow projected on the mountain wall that "Caprico" had completely emerged from the water.He had never seen such a species!Behemoth, monster, these words are no longer enough to express the shock in his heart.

The height from the water surface to the platform is equivalent to the height from the bottom of Thorn Cliff to the top of the mountain. The horns on the top of "Caprico" barely swept across the bottom of the platform while shaking.The outline of the upper half of the huge back is similar to that of a wild goat standing upright, waving its forelimbs or hooves violently. The lower part of its body is actually a huge fish tail. The huge tail fin slams into the water, and the whole mountain trembles endlessly. "Capricu" raised its head and opened its huge mouth, screaming, and the air was immediately filled with tyranny and wildness from the prehistoric.Even the projection on the stone wall can clearly see the long mouth full of sharp teeth.The long tongue sticks out from the mouth, cruising around like a tentacle.

Tokert was completely paralyzed on the edge of the platform, and the two soldiers shivered back amidst the heart-pounding screams.The mountain trembled constantly, and gravel kept falling down.

"Wait! The venerable Caprico can't get the tribute, you have to throw him down!" One of the soldiers stopped the other.Maybe it was because the person was of a lower rank. Although he was terrified, he still stopped and looked at the edge of the platform hesitantly.

"Honorable Capriku has been awakened by blood! Only a blood meal can calm him down!" The higher-ranking man ordered: "Go and throw him down! Quick!"

At this time, Loka noticed that the twelve braziers evenly distributed on the edge of the fan-shaped platform seemed to form a formation. The long tongue of "Caprico" wandered around the platform, but never penetrated into the platform.This intensified the fury of "Capriku".The huge tail fin hit the rock wall, and the violent mountain vibration almost knocked Loka off the arch.The two people on the platform couldn't stand upright amidst the falling debris and fell to the ground.

"Damn it! Throw that guy down! Quick!"

The two stumbled back to the edge of the platform, kicking the limp Tokt off together.

In the swaying firelight, Loka saw the giant shadow on the stone wall with its long tongue volleying in the air, and swallowed Toctenna.Then there was a clear "crack, click" sound, the sticky flesh and blood burst, and the crumbs continued to splash out from the chewing mouth.Lorca was very fortunate at this time, he could only see the projection of "Caprico" from his own perspective, and he didn't have to face this appalling scene.

The heart-pounding chewing sound finally stopped, but "Caprico" did not retreat into the water, and its long tongue swam around the platform again.

"What's going on? Why hasn't it calmed down after getting the blood food?" One of them asked suspiciously on the edge of the platform.Loka felt that his voice was somewhat familiar, and then he suddenly remembered!He is from Alante, and is the personal guard brought out by Palmer from the secret realm.

Suddenly, the soldiers around the man gave a strong push, and the man was pushed out of the platform by surprise. As soon as he left the range of the platform, he was dexterously caught by the wandering long tongue and sent into the long, huge mouth.His screams were wiped out in the chewing sound of "Kacha Kacha".

"Because it's not enough." The soldier sneered.

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Capricu is taken from a homonym of Capricornus