【Western Fantasy】City of Light

"Where is Master Ansel?"

"Sleep still, the banquet at Barnett's family lasted until late at night yesterday..."

"...There is something urgent..."

"...No, I'm going to see you now..."

"Boom-thump-"

The door was knocked cautiously, and Ansel slowly opened his eyes.

The whispered conversation outside the door had already woken him up, the priest lifted the quilt and got out of bed, and quickly got dressed.

"Please come in."

Priestess cautiously opened the door, Ansel nodded slightly: "Good morning, Elizabeth."

"Good morning, Lord Ansel." For some reason, Elizabeth's voice trembled: "My lord, something happened in the city last night."

Last night, Ansel stayed at Barnett's banquet, and the work of city inspection was handed over to the priest on duty at night.Although their divine power is not as powerful as Ansel's, the priests are conscientious and conscientious, and Ansel believes in their abilities.

Something happened now... The blond priest couldn't help frowning his handsome brows.

Elizabeth nervously knocked on the door, before she had time to explain, a young man emerged from behind her and broke into the priest's bedroom carelessly.

"Yarlin." Ansel pulled the seat away politely, "You're here too? What happened?"

The visitor was tall and handsome, and his red hair symbolized his aggressive character.The young man was dressed in silver armor with the logo of the Knights Hall and the family crest painted on his chest. He was the young master Barnett who had just been canonized as a paladin.

Yarlin coughed lightly and sat down on the seat. Elizabeth understood, turned and left the room to guard the door, leaving the two adults to discuss countermeasures alone.

As it was about the safety of Ampton, Ansel was unavoidably anxious, and asked again: "What happened?"

Ya'erlin stroked his long sword and said in a deep voice: "About early morning, several guards in the city received reports one after another that thirteen commoner girls were missing in the whole city. Yesterday's celebration lasted until late at night. These girls of parents thought the child was just out to play, and didn't realize something was wrong until dawn."

The innocent and immature faces flashed in front of his eyes, Ansel's heart tightened, and the beautiful faces appeared extremely dignified and cold.

who is it?

Are those vampires?

As if responding to his conjecture, Yarlin continued, "I suspect those vampires outside the city did it, tsk, these nasty beasts."

The strong sense of crisis made Ansel clenched his fingers unconsciously: "I'm going out of the city to the Summer Palace."

Yarlin patted him on the shoulder empathetically: "I think so too."

"No, Yarlin." Ansel shook his head, "Please stay in the city to protect the citizens. If I don't come back, please go to the capital to find my sister."

Ansel is supernatural and has been guarding Ampton alone all these years.If there is no decent person in the city, he can't leave with confidence.

Yarlin disagreed, and stood up with the sword in his hand, saying, "Ansel, I am the lord's son and a paladin. I have the duty and responsibility to eradicate vampires."

Seeing the fighting spirit and courage written on the face of the red-haired young man, Ansel pondered for a moment and said, "Then please ask some priests to stay in the city, and the rest will follow us out of the city."

"I'm afraid it won't work..." Elizabeth, who was guarding the door, came in with a worried tone, "The priests who were on duty last night deeply felt that they were negligent, and they left the city in the early morning. Now there are only five priests left in the city."

how so?Ansel glanced at Yarlin who was eager to try, and asked: "Yarlin, didn't you bring some paladins back?"

The red-haired young man spread his hands: "How can they sit still? They followed the priest on duty at midnight and chased them out of the city."

Ansel had been a priest for so many years, and it was the first time he felt powerless. He frowned and said, "...Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Yarlin said with an innocent face: "We all thought they would come back soon, so we wanted you to have a good rest. Who knew they were all missing, and there was no news at all, so we came to call you as soon as possible."

It may be because they have lived in a peaceful and stable environment for a long time. People in Ampton are optimistic by nature and think of the best in everything.

Ansel felt a bit of fear for no reason, and he ordered: "Then, the remaining five priests should all stay in the city, and Yarlin and I can go alone."

Elizabeth felt that something was wrong, but Yarlin was full of confidence, and comforted Ansel in turn: "My friend, please don't worry about manpower. In fact, besides me, there are some brave citizens who also volunteered to ask for help. Join our team."

Hearing this, Ansel raised his head: "Is it someone from the guard?"

Yarlin laughed and said, "How could it be those idiots? These people are all good hunters. Everyone has caught vampires with their own hands, and they have more experience than you and me."

The guards in Ampton are formed spontaneously by the citizens. Since the city has always been in good order, the guards have very few manpower. Their daily work is to give way to lost travelers. In terms of combat effectiveness, it is indeed not as good as being exposed to the wind and sun for a long time in the wild. hunter.

Right now there is no other better way, Ansel got up and found a map of the suburbs in the bookcase, after a little preparation, he left the bedroom with Yarlin and came to the front hall of the church.

The usually quiet and solemn church was shrouded in a tense atmosphere. Seven or eight hunters were carrying bows, arrows and short knives, waiting for the priests and paladins.Outside the door of the church, some ordinary citizens were whispering and talking, and the horses neighed uncomfortably for a short time. The gloomy weather seemed to herald the arrival of summer storms.

Between the tall hunters, a thin figure could be vaguely seen.

"Alai?" Ansel was very surprised when he saw the black-haired boy among the hunters at a glance, "Are you here to deliver food?"

Alai ran to Ansel and showed him his small dagger and small kettle: "Master Priest, I heard the whole thing. Let me go out of the city with you."

The blond priest immediately objected: "This is not an outing, nor is it an ordinary hunt, it is too dangerous."

Alai grabbed the sleeve of the priest's robe with both hands, raised his face and begged earnestly: "My lord, I often go out of the city with hunters, I am very familiar with the terrain, and I have also met vampires... Take me, I will be very useful of."

A hunter interjected, "Alai has a very sharp nose, like a wolfhound."

"My lord..." Alai shook the priest's arm vigorously, his dark pupils were clear and translucent, like uncut crystals.

"...Okay." Ansel lowered his head slightly, avoiding the boy's gaze, "but you must always follow behind me."

Alai couldn't wish more, and immediately went around behind the priest and held his robe tightly.

Yarlin had already mounted the steed at some point. He held the rein in one hand and swung his long sword with the other: "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Priests and hunters also went out to mount their horses.Alai was not tall, so he shared a black horse with Ansel.

The young man sat behind the priest, his slender arms tightly wrapped around the priest's waist, and his chest was completely attached to the priest's straight back.

"My lord..." Elizabeth stood at the door of the church, hesitating to speak.

Although her divine power is not strong, she is also a priest who is different from ordinary people.At this moment, looking at the team that was about to leave, the priestess sensed a trace of ominousness for no reason.

"Elizabeth." Ansel asked solemnly, "Please be sure to protect our city."

Hearing this, the priestess nodded solemnly.In her young heart, perseverance and faith overwhelmed the momentary anxiety: "I swear with my life."

Ansel nodded slightly, raised the reins and said, "Drive—"

The horseshoes splashed fine dust on the road, and a group of people hurriedly left the city and headed for the summer palace in the suburbs.

The countryside of Hampton is picturesque and idyllic.The summer breeze blows on people's faces, bringing light fragrance of flowers and plants, which makes people feel refreshed.The horse galloped swiftly across the field, eyes full of greenery, like a green symphony played by nature.

It's just that at this moment, the weather is gloomy and stormy, and the group of people are in a hurry, no one is in the mood to enjoy the scenery.

The Summer Palace was built by a small lake not far from the city. The priests rode the best BMWs in the city and arrived at their destination in less than two hours.

First, a small dot appeared in the field of vision. As the distance narrowed, the small dot gradually became larger, and the details gradually became clear. A delicate and elegant royal palace came into view.

Ansel had never been to the Summer Palace, but he knew that this luxurious palace that cost a lot of money should never look like what it is now.

I saw countless thick thorns coiled around the palace as if covering the sky and covering the sun, almost impenetrably blocking the sight of the outside world.Through the narrow gaps in the layers of branches, the scarred white stone walls are looming.This group of thorns seems to be alive, the wind blows, all the leaves are trembling, and a few bats have emerged from nowhere.

In the dark sky, the dark gray clouds churned and gathered, making the Summer Palace particularly terrifying.

Yarlin, the leader, reined in his horse and gestured.Everyone got off their horses one after another and hid their horses in the bushes nearby.

In order to prevent surprises, everyone chose to approach the Summer Palace on foot.After getting closer, they found that the range of thorns was larger than it looked from a distance, almost like an upside-down water basin, tightly surrounding the summer palace.

Yaerlin drew out his sword and led the way through the thorns and thorns.The hunters who followed put their arrows on their longbows and watched the surrounding wind and grass vigilantly. The priest and Alai were in charge of breaking the back.

The deserted palace exuded a gloomy and decaying atmosphere. After going deep into the thorn forest taller than a person, Ansel's nerves gradually tensed up.

He vaguely felt that something was peeping at him, and that gaze made the priest feel very uncomfortable.

However, when he looked back, he could only see Alai's innocent dark face.

"My lord." Alai followed obediently behind the priest. Seeing the priest's expression tense, he asked with concern, "My lord, are you feeling unwell?"

"Hush—" A hunter turned around in front of him, put his index finger on his lips, and glanced at Alai in warning.

Alai didn't shut up, he quickly took two steps and stuck to the side of the priest, "My lord, let's rest for a while."

This kid is usually not so disobedient.

"Alai, are you tired?" Ansel asked in a low voice, he guessed that the young man felt timid, which is inevitable.

"I'm not tired." In the dim thornbush, Alai's eyes were dark and shining, "My lord, don't you really want to rest?"

The priest shook his head helplessly.Because of the haste to go out, the meticulously combed hair on the back was completely loose today, and the soft blond hair fell on the forehead, making the priest's eyes greener and clearer like expensive gemstones.

"Why don't you take a sip of water?" Today Alai was clingier than usual, and he graciously handed over a water bottle.

The priest had no choice but to take the kettle, unscrewed the lid and raised his head to take a sip.

When he drank it, he suddenly felt that the taste of the water was not right.

It seems—too sweet and greasy.

Under the dim light, the priest looked into the kettle suspiciously.But before he could take a closer look, Alai reached out and snatched back the kettle.

Ansel gave the young man a strange look. Seeing the innocent look on his face, he felt that he was being suspicious, so he signaled the young man to follow behind him and continue walking forward.

However, before taking two steps, the priest felt a sense of collapse, and a feeling of powerlessness emanated from the center of his body, completely controlling his limbs with an irresistible posture.

Almost at the same time, wild laughter suddenly sounded from the bushes in all directions.

The numbing laughter quickly surrounded several people in the center, and the hunters shot arrows around in horror, but the arrows did not hit any enemy, and all fell to the ground.

Enemies are invisible ghosts that can move quickly through the sharp and hard jungle.One by one, the black shadows flashed before the human eyes and then drifted away immediately, as if the black vortex swallowed up the prey.

Yarlin gritted his teeth and drew out his long sword, slashing around with his keen sense.Due to the dim light and the vague figure of the target, the paladin occasionally felt that something had been stabbed, but when he took a closer look, there was only a huge bat on the ground.

Everyone fell into a stalemate war of attrition, and their physical strength and arrows were disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ansel was so anxious that he went crazy, but he couldn't cry out. He couldn't exert all his energy, and the more he tried, the weaker he became. In the end, he couldn't even stand up, and could only collapse limply.

Falling into a slender embrace.

"Alai? Is that you?" The priest tried to open his increasingly heavy eyes, trying to see the boy's face clearly, to see if he was a devil who was good at imitating the human form.

The black-haired boy hugged the priest tightly, and his cold lips trembled on his white forehead:

"My lord, my lord priest..."

It was Alai, it was really Alai who betrayed him...

A little tear moistened the green eyes, Ansel endured the young man's almost pious kiss, and said angrily, "Alai, why?"

Alai shook his head, not knowing what he was denying.With one arm around the priest's shoulder, he reached into the pocket of his robe with the other.

The tentacles are soft, as expected...

Alai pulled out the damned handkerchief, and tore the embroidered name with his sharp canine teeth angrily.

The broken cloth fell softly before Ansel's eyes. He stared blankly at the sharp fangs and asked, "Are you... a vampire?"

Hearing this, the boy immediately shook his head vigorously.He tossed the damaged handkerchief aside, and leaned to Ansel's ear to explain something.

However, the priest closed his eyes and murmured, "Run...run..."

"My lord?" Alai didn't understand what he meant. Suddenly, he noticed that the priest clasped his hands in front of his chest, drawing a spell of light with his last strength.

"Don't—" The boy guessed what the priest was going to do, but he didn't have time to stop it.

I saw a ball of white light bursting between the thorns!Countless black shadows poured down like a flood, and they desperately escaped from the range of the light source in an instant.

The paladins and hunters who had been fighting for a long time were blinded by the light, and when they opened their eyes again, they found that they were no longer in the same place.

The horse tethered in the coppice neighed uncomfortably when it saw its master.Yarlin, who escaped from the dead, said in surprise, "It's space magic...it's a teleportation spell...Ansel moved us out!"

A hunter said in horror: "Then why isn't the priest here?!"

Before he had time to rejoice in his own survival, a bucket of cold water was poured on everyone's heads.Several people searched the undergrowth, but couldn't find the blond priest.

Yarlin finally understood, and said in great pain: "Space magic consumes a lot of divine energy. Ansel may only be able to send us here. Neither he nor the old Toby's children can escape."

Someone hastily suggested: "Let's go back to the city to rescue soldiers, these vampires... are different from what we have encountered before."

Ya'erlin's heart turned cold: "Those you encountered are far from the strength of this group in the Summer Palace." If they didn't know the enemy well enough, they wouldn't rush in at all.

If these vampires took away the girls in the city, then the fate of these children is really unimaginable.

And the priests and paladins who came to explore the way earlier, I am afraid it is more or less ominous.

Thinking of this, the red-haired young man's heart was overwhelmed with annoyance and anger.He got on his horse and urged, "Hurry up and go back to Ampton, let the church and my father add more people to protect the city. I'm going to the capital to send reinforcements. The enemy this time should not be underestimated."

Everyone didn't dare to be careless, and quickly responded.

Yarlin glanced at the gloomy summer palace and prayed silently in his heart: "Goddess of Light, please bless your faithful messenger and give him enough strength to escape..."

Then, Yarlin yelled "Driving—" and quickly ran towards the capital.

The other hunters also got on their horses and ran back to the city as if fleeing.

However, neither the paladin nor the few hunters understood the divine power of light or the principles of magic.

If space magic is so easy to use, then why do humans bother to use horses and carriages to travel?Ravens are no longer needed for communication between cities. Wouldn't everything be fine by sending letters directly with magic?

They didn't know that even with Ansel's innate divine power, just moving a few people for such a short distance has completely exhausted all his strength, and it is almost impossible to recover within a year and a half.

The current Ansel is just an ordinary person who has exhausted his divine power and fell into a coma.

Betrayed by the most trusted boy, and fell into the dark lair that hates the goddess of light the most in the whole continent, how should the blond priest deal with himself?

The author says: