The Shadow of the Crown of Snow [Western Fantasy]

If the current "Hecate" is not wearing this layer of identity, he is just a dangerous and suspicious element, a war weapon that can only be used in war years. Except for Selene, anyone who knows the truth Such a person would not be allowed to continue living in Frostcover and inherit the throne after Selene's death.

What everyone likes is the Hecate in memory, and respects Hecate, a member of the royal family who finally returned from the enemy country, rather than the weapon created by Hussein.

After Selene was surprised by Raymond's "ruthlessness", she finally realized belatedly. Besides herself, who else in Frost City has any feelings for the current "Hecate"? .

The ceremony was naturally conducted in secret, and the only people present were Selene, Hecate, and Raymond.This ceremony constructed entirely by the Penglai people was completely devoid of the extravagance and exaggeration of the Guangming God Sect. It was just an ordinary square table with a light but untearable charm placed on it.

As soon as Hecate sat down on the chair, he yawned several times and fell asleep on the table, while Raymond slowly stretched out his hand and pressed it on the spell.

Raymond doesn't know how to use divine arts, let alone magic, but he seems to be familiar with how to use this spell, and soon large pieces of things similar to the power of faith gushed out of the spell, It spread along the table, wrapping the sleeping Hecate.

"Your Majesty." In the middle of the ceremony, Raymond suddenly turned around, but his hand was still pressing on the yellow charm written with Penglai characters, "The ancestor wants to summon you, please put your hand here. "

Selene didn't realize what Raymond had said until she put her hand on it in a daze.

ancestors.Her ancestor was the deceased Nord King.Not one, but forty.

When she regained consciousness, she found herself standing in a rushing river on the edge of a cliff, and the water hit her ankle hard, causing a dull pain.Selene took a step carefully and followed the pebbles at the bottom of the river to the bank. The moment she stepped on solid ground, all the surrounding scenes disappeared, and after a brief twist, it turned into a dark basement.

To be precise, it is an underground palace.The tall stone pillars and rough carvings are completely in the style of the Nord Kingdom, but the lights on the wall are not candles or torches, but round stones—the night pearls of the Penglai people.

The entire hall of the underground palace is also circular, with forty chairs clinging to the walls, also arranged in a regular circle, and in the center, apart from the outsider Selene, there is also the owner here, Hecate .

She was still a child, curled up like a cat and fell asleep, with a transparent barrier between her and the outside world, preventing Selene from touching her or waking her up.

"Selene?"

In the empty hall, a voice calling her name suddenly sounded.

"Relax, we're not going to hurt you—in fact, we're not capable of that," another voice continued. "Be prepared, don't be intimidated."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the night pearls in the underground palace suddenly went out, but it was only for a short moment, when they lit up again, the forty chairs were already full of people.

To be precise, forty thrones.

From the seventh generation to the seventh generation of No.40, these people that Selene had only seen in history books appeared in front of her, but they all looked pale and tired, lifeless.

These souls have waited too long.

"Selene—is that your name?" Someone cleared his throat, and Selene recognized him as Toynby, "We called you here because there was a big problem with the ceremony. I believe you have also discovered that there is a place that is vacant, and he belongs to..."

Selene immediately realized who was not here.

"My father Roy." Selene said softly, "He should be here too, shouldn't he?"

"Yes." Toynby nodded, rubbing the pattern on the armrest of the throne, "When he passed away a few years ago, he should have come here and waited for the ceremony with us...but he never showed up until It is not there today. So there is a small gap in the place where the soul can be accommodated, and such a small gap is enough to block mortals and gods."

Following his gaze, Selene found the "place" he was referring to, which was the space enclosed by the transparent barrier, and besides Hecate, there was also a small ball of light curled up in it.That must be the mother's soul.Selene knelt by the transparent wall, looked at the gentle flickering light cluster, and then raised her head to look at Toynby: "My father's soul has not come here, so I am the only one who can fill the void? "

"You can't do it now, at least you have to wait for more than ten years, or at least you have to wait for the Nord Kingdom to survive this war." Toynby's voice was no longer as lax as before. Now, he seems to be no longer a dead soul, but the Nord monarch who reunited at the front line back then, "You can't win, Selene, I haven't asked about human affairs for many years, but I still have this judgment Yes. Admit it, there is no shame in losing a lone wolf to a pack of wild dogs."

"...So, what should I do now?" Selene knew that no matter how she was called a genius, there was still a certain gap between her and the almost legendary conqueror Toynby, "Originally Hecate was our The only chance to come back, but now there is a piece of soul missing."

"Go to the Talis Alliance."

"The Tallis Alliance will not help Nord for no reason."

"But the Tallis Alliance wants to deal with the Holy Church of Wilton." Toynby narrowed his eyes, "I regret that when I was alive, there was no such country on the mainland that could shake the status of the Holy Church of Wilton. .”

"...Abandon Frost City?"

"You can't defend the Frosted City anymore. Nord wants you to live more than letting you and Hecate die." Toynby slowly stood up from the throne, "Even if Nord has [-]% more It can compete with the current Nagrand, but even if Nord's soldiers are doubled out of thin air, they will not be able to last long in front of Wilton."

The underground palace became silent. These kings who had been in power for several years, except for Toynby, seemed to have lost interest in everything in the Nord Kingdom today, and they didn't even care about its survival.

"The soul will also become old." Toynby sighed, "They still look like they died, but some of them have been waiting for hundreds of years, and they can't wait any longer."

The soul does not die, it only grows weaker day by day.However, under the leadership of Toynby, these souls who had finally waited for the ceremony seemed to have regained their vitality, and stood up from the throne one after another.

The kings stood in a circle in strict accordance with the order of ruling, and the vacant seat that should belong to Roy was between Toynby and the young man.

"I am Roy's father, that is, your grandfather." The young man smiled kindly at Selene, "I didn't even live to see Roy get married, nor did I see him here again..."

He rubbed his eyes with regret and sadness, as if he still wanted to say something to Selene, but before he could speak, the ball of light hanging above began to flicker again, melting him in the dazzling white light .

Only Selene and the young Hecate remained in the underground palace, and then the ball of light slowly descended from the sky and sank into Hecate's body. The transparent barrier around her also began to emit a luminous glow like a night pearl.There is only a small gap, and there is still no color or light.

That is the place reserved for the future Selene.

All the brilliance she gained by burning her doomed short life will be one fortieth of the soul of a god, which is insignificant and indispensable.

In a moment of trance, Selene disappeared from the underground palace, and she stood in the rushing river again, with the grown-up Hecate in front of her.

There is no crescent blade, no silver-white armor, no traces of living in Nagrand, her complexion is as pale as every native Northlander, and she is a little taller than Selene when standing with her back straight, Only the hair is still the same as in reality, half-length but not short, messily tied behind the head.

This image, which has no substance and only lives in fantasy, seems to have come from Hecate's own thoughts.

"Sister." She didn't have the Nagrand accent like Hecate in reality. "The real me has long since died. What survives in this world is a puppet without a soul, and a little residual phantom."

"Hecate..."

"But I'm very glad that she can stay by your side instead of me."

The illusion began to collapse. First, the distant scenery was distorted, and then there was only darkness in sight. Selene reached out and groped, trying to find an exit to reality.

When Hecate woke up, he was lying in the shelves of a freight wagon.The carriage was traveling on a narrow forest path, and the person driving the horse was undoubtedly Selene.

"Selene?" She rubbed her stinging temples, "What's wrong with me? Where is this going? The Frosted City..."

Before she could finish speaking, she fell back again, lying on the edge of the shelf and retching.

"Your body still needs a long time to adapt." I don't know if it's an illusion, Hecate felt that Selene's tone was much colder than usual, and she didn't even look back at her, "Sit still .”

Hecate shook her head vigorously, and finally got a little understanding of the current situation. She sat firmly on the swaying carriage, and shouted in amazement: "You ran away?!"

The queen who was said to have a guilty conscience still did not dare to face Hecate's gaze: "Don't speak."

Even though the body was still suffering from the backlash of the soul, Hecate was still not too weak to move. She broke Selene's shoulders, grabbed her by the collar, and asked her angrily: "You told me that we would win, but now You want to run?"