[Western Fantasy] The mystery of life and death

The Thorn Cliff shrouded in mist, the world has been unable to see its true face for many years, but it has long been regarded as a holy place in the hearts of people who sincerely respect Duke Timothy from all over the mainland.The hundreds of shelters opened by Duke Timothy not only helped the poor and raised orphans, but also regularly selected young people with outstanding qualifications from among these orphans and sent them to the Holy Land of Bramble Cliff.

The Holy Academy, located at the foot of the Thorn Cliff, originally selected hundreds of people from the orphanages in various places every ten years, and cultivated magic and martial arts according to their talents, and could serve in the mansion of the Thorn Cliff in the future.The outstanding ones will be allowed to join the Duke's guards and be eligible to directly serve Duke Timothy.It is said that if you can follow Duke Timothy, you will be able to get closer to God's grace.

Over the past decade or so, the selection cycle of the Holy Academy has been changed to every five years.

Over the years, many hopeful young people entered the sacred place in the mist, and most of them never came out.Ultimately, no one knows where they went.

And for many people in this world, to be selected to enter the Holy Land of Thorn Cliff, and even to meet Duke Timothy, is the honor they dream of in life.

A sudden earthquake realized the dreams of many young people ahead of schedule.Although most of the buildings in the Duke's mansion are thick and solid, there are also many collapsed sculptures everywhere, and the cracked walls need to be repaired.The students from the Holy Academy had to be transferred to the mansion in advance to repair the damage.

All the outer guards stationed at the foot of the mountain were promoted to the direct guards of the mansion on the top of the mountain, and the waiters and outer guards in the mansion were replaced by students from the Holy Academy who had not yet graduated.The Master Chief claimed that the direct guards and attendants who were on duty at the top of the mountain were unfortunately killed in the earthquake.

The general manager led a team of heavily armored guards, patrolling the mansion with a serious face, and the busy figures running around are all young and new faces. These young people are full of vigor, and their youthful faces are full of youthful excitement. , Occasionally there are some nervous and hectic, but under the instructions of the general manager, it is also orderly.

Looking at these young and unfamiliar faces, the solemn chief executive couldn't help feeling a little scared.Fortunately, he was ordered by the Duke to settle Caprico that day, so he escaped unharmed in the underground passage, otherwise, at this moment, even the position of the manager is probably a newcomer.

Recalling the scene of cleaning up the remains in the palace afterwards, the steward still felt chills down his spine.All the corpses that fell in the halls and verandahs, regardless of men and women, even maintained the postures before they were alive, but what was wrapped in various colorful clothes or armors were only shriveled bones, no, to be precise, they were covered in rotten gray bones. A skull covered in paper-like thin skin.The mages who were guarding the palace that day were also dying, describing their decline.Although these mages are already old, but because they follow the Duke, they can rely on the "holy wine" secretly bestowed by the Duke to maintain their prime appearance and energy all these years.But that day, the steward could hardly recognize these master mages anymore. The decayed mages were wrapped in gorgeous robes, and their trembling appearance was even older than their real age!

Now in the mind of the steward, the Duke's new pet—the monster named "Murphy" by the Duke is a hundred times more terrifying than Caprico.Thinking of those dreamy and magnificent purple eyes, he couldn't help shivering.

In the maze-like complex of the majestic mansion, the chief steward led the team of guards behind him to carefully inspect the halls, halls, corridors, warehouses, and aisles.It is not only to inspect the progress of the repair project, to supervise and observe the new attendants, but also to familiarize the environment with the new direct guards.

After walking for a whole morning, the conscientious steward led the new members of the guards to complete the inspection of the part of the huge maze shrouded in sacred light.The Chief Manager walked a few steps away, and winked at the captain of the guard behind him.The captain of the guards immediately understood, turned around and arranged for the guards to take turns in the garden of the palace, and then returned to the manager alone.

"Fick, hurry up and get the 'holy wine'. Don't make the adults wait too long." The steward lowered his voice and ordered.

"Yes, my lord." Fick bowed his head and took the order. He turned slightly sideways, and quietly took the key that slipped out of the cuff of the manager.

In the Cliff of Thorns, those who are eligible to have access to the core secrets are the guards directly under the Duke.But almost all of the former direct guards were killed.Only the soldier Palmer sent to escort Caprico's tribute that day survived.This lucky guy was naturally directly promoted to the captain of the new guard directly under him, and became the chief's confidant.

The steward is very fortunate that he still has an old person left in this sudden catastrophe that he can use to dispatch, otherwise he would have to face the creepy side of this huge labyrinth himself—for example, feeding the terrible Caprico; for example, to take the 'holy wine'; Fec's iron-faced helmet, heavily armored, but which in no way hampers swift action.He quickly descended the steep path behind the mountain and hurried on his way.Soon came to an inconspicuous hut at the foot of the mountain, opened the door and entered, it was a small chapel.A sullen priest looked up listlessly at him.Fick raised his hand and greeted familiarly, "Hey, buddy, I have to work again." He took off the heavy helmet and wiped his sweat casually.

Fick has brown curly hair, high eyebrows and deep eyes, and a grim face. A cold light flashes across his dark blue eyes, and there is a seemingly helpless playful smile on the corner of his mouth.The priest stood up, cast a spell to open the mechanism, and the two rows of bookshelves separated to the two sides to reveal a huge cross.Fick stepped forward and inserted the key into the grain in the middle of the cross. The huge cross made a creaking sound and separated from the middle, revealing the steps leading to the ground.The pastor glanced at Fick with some disgust, and handed over a large silver jug ​​half a person's height, "Hey, it's almost enough, don't get it everywhere."

Fick strode down the steps with the silver pot in his hand, waved his hands casually without looking back, the door behind him closed slowly, and at the same time, dim fluorescent lights lit up on the four walls, which were magic runes emitting faint light.Fick walked down step by step with steady steps, his figure gradually sank into the dark underground, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, his complexion became more and more dignified, and the deep blue eyes like the sea were burning with forbearance. and pain.

The real Fec was reduced to ashes by Lorca's "Fire of Purgatory" on Caprico's tribute stand.Now this newly promoted "Fick" who has been promoted to the manager's confidant is naturally pretended by Lorca.

After pushing his companion off the platform, Caprico was really satisfied and slowly returned to the water.As soon as Fick turned around, he was subdued by Lorca.With powerful spiritual power, Loka performed the secret technique taught by Kedile Shan Miluo, invaded Fick's soul, and obtained everything he wanted to know.Loka saw that Fick's figure and appearance were somewhat similar to his own, so he had an idea and found that this was a good opportunity to sneak into the enemy's interior.

Lorca had noticed before that the people around Palmer were all masters.It is conceivable that after truly entering the hinterland of the core, you will inevitably meet many people with higher levels of magic, and this mysterious Duke Timothy himself is said to be even more unfathomable.Illusion can only deceive ordinary people and low-level magicians.In front of real masters, slight fluctuations in mana will cause suspicion.He himself had easily seen through Mason's illusion disguise.So Lorca carefully disguised himself with the potion refined by the Priestess of the Mirror Lake Clan.He even carefully sensed Fick's life breath fluctuations, and adjusted his voice and breath to be exactly the same as Fick's.

But this Fick is not a high rank in the Guards, and the areas he has permission to go to are also very limited.Loka had no choice but to take it step by step.

The catastrophe that day brought Loka a godsend opportunity.Although most of the direct guards were reduced to dry bones, there were still a small number of survivors.In the confusion, Luoka approached them as "Fick", hypnotized their minds with the secret technique taught by Kedile Sanmiluo, and asked many situations.After that, these people were naturally reduced to ashes in the "fire of purgatory" without anyone noticing. ——In this way, "Fick" became the only survivor of the former direct guard.And the steward has only a vague impression of low-ranking soldiers.This "Fick", who is impeccable in terms of temperament, was naturally promoted to a new confidant.Loka was entrusted with important tasks without performing any secret techniques at all, and the manager even personally guided him to learn many secrets.

In the silence, there is only the heavy echo of leather boots stepping on the stone steps.In the darkness, the steps extended to the darkness below, as if leading to the depths of hell.The vague smell of blood in the air told Loka that he was going deep into the real hell.

Will Mason... be there?

No, it should not be here.From the few words revealed by the manager, he can infer that Mason has become the "Murphy" that Duke Timothy relies on most, and Fick is not qualified to meet him at his current level.Even, in this intricate labyrinth, he couldn't even find out where he was.

The manager, Luoka found that his magic cultivation was not weak, and he was wearing many protective magic weapons.From the energy fluctuations faintly emanating from those ornaments, Lorca realized that as long as there was abnormal magical energy around the manager, Duke Timothy would be able to detect it immediately. In order to avoid side effects, he cautiously did not use the secret technique on the manager. After officially entering the mansion, he never used spells beyond the ability of "Fick".

There was a faint sob at the end of the steps.Lorca had already put on the iron-faced helmet, and his whole body, even his fingers, were tightly covered by the armor.This special armor can isolate most vitality fluctuations.As for why this is necessary, although he has a general understanding from the former Guards soldiers, at this moment, the scene in front of him has given him an intuitive answer.

In the wide aisle ahead, the walls and the top of the head are covered with brown thorny vines. These vines even spread from the walls to the ground, covering most of the ground. The damp stone ground only leaves a narrow path in the middle, and the thorny vines are intertwined. , wriggling like life.Loka felt as if he had walked into the body of a huge creature. The dense vines around him were like twisted blood vessels, and the branches swayed and stretched around Loka, like tentacles.Loka felt the slightest sound resembling a poisonous snake letter echoing in all directions.He could already clearly sense the bloodthirsty desire of these vines.

Although he was mentally prepared, facing this scene directly still made his scalp tingle.Under the tension, Loka unintentionally released the sharp evil force around him, and the vines seemed to be frightened suddenly, and they retreated back to the wall.The stone ground suddenly widened a lot.The surrounding space also becomes more spacious.

But Loka was shocked by the scene in front of him. The dense vines on the wall retreated to the depths of the corridor while wriggling. The vines are like a huge net, and the thorns of the vines firmly nail these prey in the intricate net.

Lorca recognized that these people were wearing the uniforms of the Holy Academy. Their bodies were tightly strangled by vines, and the thorns pierced deeply into their bodies. The pure white academic uniforms were stained dark red by the oozing blood.Their young faces were covered with tears and bloodstains, maybe the creeping vines pulled the wounds, and the sound of moaning and sobbing echoed around Lorca one after another for a while.

——"Ah... help... me..."

"Help me... help me..."

"Help……"

"Save...save...me..."

"Crack!" - Loka took a step back in embarrassment, and he tried to take a few deep breaths to restrain the thought of splitting these thorny vines.He knows that his current identity is "Fick", and with the habit of "Fick", he will even torture these people severely to make their pain and fear reach the extreme, so that these thorns and vines can absorb more vitality Blooming energy - this is the source of the "holy wine", the secret to the youth of Timothy Duke and his followers!

Weak sobs and cries for help intertwined and echoed in the damp tunnel, like countless wraiths crying and tearing at the heart.Loka gritted his teeth, walked around the corner in this heart-wrenching torment, and finally came to the end of this space.He pulled out his sword and cut off the unsightly vines in front of him as if venting. These branches quickly retracted with a small and sharp sound of pain, revealing the wide vertical groove on the wall.The trunk of the authentic thorny vines extends underground along the groove.

Loka slashed hard at the trunk, but only made a small gap, and thick brown juice gushed out and flowed into the silver pot.The trunk of the vine trembled strangely, and all the vines in the entire underground space made a sound, like the shrill neighing of a wounded snake, as if these vines would feel pain.The weak cry for help turned into a miserable howl, and the injured vines apparently twisted the prey even tighter.

Loka sensed that the thorns and vines were trying their best to absorb the vitality that had bloomed due to the pain, and even trembled more violently in excitement.At this time, he suddenly sensed a vague aura emanating from the groove leading to the ground, which was actually a very familiar aura——

Could it be Mason? !

Loka immediately jumped in, climbing deeper underground along the trembling vine trunk.The part of the wide groove buried in the ground looks like a long deep well.Finally leaving this deep well, Loka found himself entering an extremely open underground space.The roots of the vines poured down like a waterfall, almost filling the dark space.

Now Lorca no longer needs to use magic crystals or mirror lake pearls to perform lighting techniques.With a thought, several clusters of light appeared around the surroundings, illuminating the surrounding space filled with countless tangled roots.The familiar breath became clearer. Loka followed the induction and climbed in the forest with intertwined roots. Suddenly, a pale and thin figure surrounded by vines came into view. He bowed his head and his black hair was messy. , the outstretched arms were bound by vines.

Loka's heart suddenly exploded with burning pain - he suddenly discovered that the vines entwining the pale body actually passed through the body, entwined and circled and penetrated into the body again!

"Mason!" Lorca's eyes were red, he even burned the roots blocking the way in front of him, and climbed straight to the side of the pale body amidst the violent shaking of the entire forest of vines and whiskers.

Loka came in front of him and found that the front of this pale body was even more attractive.On the left side of the pale chest, the position of the heart is a shocking hole, and tiny roots penetrate into it. Loka can even see that the heart that is still beating slightly is also entangled by layers of roots.

As if sensing someone approaching, the drooping head slowly lifted up.It was only then that Lorca realized that he was not Mason, but his body and appearance were somewhat similar to Mason.

But with this familiar aura, which was so similar to Mason's, Luoka suddenly understood that he was an Aranti from the Shadowmoon Clan.

This Shadowmoon Aranti man is still alive.

That handsome face was similar to Mason's, with a kind of numbness and exhaustion that he was used to suffering.Perhaps the violent vibration of the roots exacerbated his pain, and his dull face showed pain.He slowly opened his eyes, his dark eyes staring blankly at the front, his bloodless lips pursed with difficulty, as if he was panting, as if he wanted to say something.

Lorca heard clearly from the faint breath that he was speaking in Aranti——

"Please... kill me..."

Loka looked at the deep black pupils, and he felt as if he was facing an endless abyss of despair.

At this time, there was a dull rumbling sound from nowhere, as if some huge mechanism was operating.Loka sensed a powerful and terrifying aura penetrating into this space oppressively.The entire root forest that had calmed down suddenly trembled as a whole, as if a huge monster was twitching, and the strange echoes caused by the fine and sharp tremors echoed in the air.The Shadow Moon Alanti man in front of him suddenly twisted his face in pain, and let out a hoarse wail.Lorca suddenly found that the hoarse wailing sounds intertwined from all directions.

Loka raised more light clusters, and he found that there were pale bodies entangled in the ghostly shadows of the root forest.From a rough look, there were about dozens of people.From the vitality blooming in their extreme pain, he sensed these familiar auras very clearly, all of them were similar to Mason, the unique aura of life of the Shadowmoon Clan's Aranti!

After recording everything here with the mirror dream crystal bead, Luoka almost fled and left the root forest.He was tormented by the burning flames of hatred, he hated himself, he couldn't do anything at this moment, the lives of these Shadowmoon Alanti people were connected with these roots, it seemed to form a huge strange symbiosis.He didn't dare to act rashly at all.

When Lorca climbed out of the groove through the deep well, the suppressive and terrifying aura had disappeared.

It seems that someone has been here and has left at this moment.

The silver pots on earth are full.However, Loka keenly felt that the surrounding air was obviously different from just now, and it was filled with a strong smell of blood.He vigilantly walked slowly along the tunnel, and found that the thorns and vines were even more plump than before, like countless full-fledged poisonous snakes, wriggling lazily and slowly.All the vine branches and leaves glowed with a dark red luster.

After turning the corner, Lorca quickly understood why.Because the breath of life of nearly a hundred people in this tunnel disappeared.Their remains were abandoned on the ground by vines, and they were piled up and down on the stone floor. Wrapped in the blood-stained student uniforms, there were skeletons covered with putrid gray skin.

Roca once participated in cleaning up the mansion after the "earthquake" as Fick.This is not the first time I have seen such a scene.

He knew who had been...

Witnessing such crimes time and time again, Loka couldn't imagine what this man-eating monster looks like now.

Armored fists clenched tightly, under the cold armor, the torrent of regret and guilt almost crushed the trembling soul.Lorca didn't know if Mason was still there, or if it was already beyond redemption.Loka thought, maybe he hates me, maybe he hates everything in this world, maybe, love and hate have no meaning in Mason's heart today.

These days and nights, he has thought about how to confess to Mason countless times, and wants to say sorry to him personally.However, this simple apology is so thin, so insignificant in the face of the big mistake he made.Luoka no longer asks for any forgiveness in his heart, no matter whether the real Mason can be found or not, he can only move forward in the darkness of ignorance.

The author has something to say:

Fake is a homonym for fake