HP's Adagio Minor

A thunderstorm hurricane formed by magic elements swept across the entire valley. Trees were uprooted, and countless branches and leaves mixed with mud and stones were drawn into the upward-stretching air vortex.Seeing that the wind was getting stronger, the dragon horse flapped its wings anxiously, no matter how hard it tried, it still couldn't get close to the eye of the wind—the thunderstorm cloud smashed down the lightning, forcing it to dodge left and right, and the manic and sharp wind blades kept falling on its hard scales. On the armor, there was a sound like a sharp weapon cutting.

The dragon horse has been enraged, it erected its reverse scales fiercely, and spewed out a stream of magic flames - patches of bushes were ignited, and pure white flames were sucked into the funnel-shaped cyclone - mixed with flames, black smoke and burnt wood The vortex of the wreckage, like a huge winding fire dragon, plunged straight into the sky, forming a more destructive fire tornado.

Ryoma knows that his recklessness has made a big mistake, but he is unable to make up for it.In a panic, lightning struck and paralyzed its body.The flying beast fell off the cliff, blood oozes from the bright red mark on its forehead, and the severe pain caused it to howl, but there was no response from its master.

At this moment, in the center of the eye of the storm, separated from the storm, lightning and thunder from the outside world, the place is so quiet that there is not a single sound.The semicircular magic barrier had dissipated, and Anos, who was unconscious, kept Lola tightly in his arms while maintaining a sitting posture.Lola has also fainted, and the magic power is constantly pouring out of her body. The thick dark energy group is scattered and gathered in the hurricane, and the purest black magic elements condense into fine crystal dust, like star sand in the dark night , falling lightly on the two of them.

After the last tiny crystal fell, a shining silver object appeared above their heads.It was suspended in mid-air, as if it was examining everything in this chaos, and then it trembled in a strange rhythm—the whole earth began to tremble accordingly—between landslides and cracks, narrow and long space-time cracks quietly emerged, like black holes Like, frantically devouring everything around him.

In a ray of light piercing the sky, the fire tornado and thunderstorm cloud disappeared out of thin air, leaving only a scorched black earth.

Waking up from a horrific, suffocating nightmare, Lola finds herself lying in a strange place.Surrounded by gray and dense fog, there are huge tree vines like a devil's net under the feet and as far as the eye can see.

A cold, haggard hand tightly clasped her left.

"Anos!"

Anos' whole body was almost swallowed by the plants, and his once young face was full of wrinkles - he was still breathing slowly, but he was already in a state of exhaustion and exhaustion.Lola struggled to pull him out of the limp, yet malleable roots.During this process, the densely packed plant roots attached to his body were torn off, but only after a while, those slender tentacles-like plants tentatively entangled themselves again.

Lola stood beside Anos, constantly driving away those roots—this kind of weird plant would retreat subconsciously after touching her body, but always tried to wrap itself around Anos’s body—as if He was their prey, their nourishment, and she was not.

Lola didn't know what made the tentacle roots treat them differently, but she was certain that the place where she and Anos were now did not belong to any known and documented boundary Guilt—especially after the memory fragment, she had to wonder if she was still in the original world.

Everything around her was unknown, and she was glad that she still had a clear consciousness. She could even feel that the power of evil spirits in her body was wrapped into crystals by layers of magic power, lurking and sleeping like a silkworm chrysalis.

This discovery made Lola's heart sink.

She understands that if one day the power of the evil spirit wakes up and breaks out of her body, it means that she will become a puppet driven by it, and what awaits her will be a torment that is worse than death, a painful but inescapable numbness.Before that, she had to do something—although her magic wand was still there, the spells she cast seemed to sink into the sea, and even the contract induction with Ryoma was interrupted...but she still had a strong desire to survive.

She looked at the unconscious Anos—and some tree roots took the opportunity to wrap around his legs—without the slightest hesitation, she stepped forward to carry Anos on his back, and he became very light, like a real old man His weight made her feel extremely heavy and complicated - no matter what happened, she couldn't leave him alone and let him go.

Step by step, she walked forward, trying to explore the world around her, and those tentacles, like some kind of reptilian creature after deformation, kept wriggling and following, and from time to time, they used their blowholes to swallow the bits and pieces of floating light in the air— —For a moment, Lola thought she was dazzled, otherwise how could she easily see the legendary high-level magic power element?

Gradually, she realized that everything she saw was real.In this primitive land covered by dense fog, there are high-level magic elements everywhere. It is a pity that the physique of modern wizards is no longer able to absorb these magic elements and use them for themselves through faith and meditation like ancient wizards.

Stop and go, I don't know how long it took, the surrounding tree roots are getting thicker and harder, and they can no longer wriggle so flexibly - they will no longer chase and want to use Anos as nourishment up.

Lola breathed a sigh of relief. She wiped the sweat from her head, and noticed that the surrounding area was obviously hot, and the heat source seemed to be everywhere... She closed her eyes and felt this different space——surprisingly, she She was able to 'see' some magical elements emitting orange-red shimmer, curiously touching her cheeks and hands, and then drifting slowly, opening a path for her...

She opened her eyes, and walked in the direction guided by the elements suspiciously. Along the way, she could 'see' magical elements of other colors from time to time. Great interest arose——Under constant 'guidance', Lola stepped on the moss and rotting dead leaves all over the ground, and came to the end of the thick fog, a wall as thick as a city wall, towering like a Muggle building before the obstacle.

Lola wasn't sure what this... plant was?fossil?Or the body of the roots?

She found an open space, carefully put Anos down, and then walked to the gray-brown 'wall', looking at the weird and rough texture--the slight heat of the ash wand came from her hand, a kind of An incredible feeling arises spontaneously.

A gust of wind passed, and the dense fog seemed to clear up a bit.

After a little distraction, Lola suddenly realized that the texture was very similar to some kind of creature—it had a face similar to a human, with profound features, and a slender body—it lowered its eyelids, its face was expressionless, and its whole body was in a In a posture of trying to break free, trapped in the thick bark, the body is almost integrated with the latter.

Wind, fire, water, earth, the four major magical elements gathered in front of Lola, forming a light cluster - they surrounded and murmured, as if telling her the past, the touch so deep that it could touch people's hearts, made Lola Reaching out uncontrollably——

The moment she touched the light ball, her fingertips tingled, and a drop of blood dripped on the bark——the magic elements suddenly became joyful, the surroundings shook, and the entire wall-like bark began to peel off gradually , a soft white radiance permeates from the inside—that sculptural creature has come back to life—from the pair of sharp ears, bright gray hair, and dry cheeks, one can still see a good appearance; The thin armor on his body is spotless, which seems to be able to prove its former identity and status.

It turned its head slowly, as if it already knew about her arrival.

[So weak, but not restricted by the laws of the secret place... You are a descendant of Ganiercha. ]

"who are you?"

The other party did not answer, but showed a strange, almost mocking expression.

[Sure enough, the Wende family has also disappeared, and has even been eroded by the undead—if Ganiercha knew that his blood was so thin, he didn't know what he would think... Unfortunately, he didn't have this opportunity. "

With that heavenly tone, speaking the obscure ancient language, and the lofty posture—especially, when the other party mentioned 'Ganircha' twice—a figure appeared in Lola's mind, but The era of elves haunting is longer than the time when Ladi was alive, and each 'Ganircha' will pass on the honorific title to the next one before death, so it is impossible to identify the 'Ganircha' that the other party is talking about. No one can judge what kind of past it has with the Wende family.

She retreated subconsciously, and if the opponent took the opportunity to attack, she could also distance herself from the defense.

[You don’t have to be so timid, the water spirit is unwilling to have any intersection with mortals——] In its black rock-like pupils, the faint mockery turned into a trace of naturalness, […… If I had a choice, I don’t even want to spend more time with you To say a word-human beings should abandon the dark side of their hearts in order to truly get in touch with the truth, and even... more. "

The legendary elves are an extremely exclusive race.

Lola looked at this proud yet pathetic creature—its body had been assimilated by the dark brown giant branches, and even its hands had turned into trees—Lola didn't understand what the other person was referring to, maybe It was related to the past, but now she had no time to pay attention.

"Where is this place?"

[You already have the answer in your heart, so why ask me for proof. ]

The elf's eyes moved away from the boundless fog above her head, and turned to Lola - to be precise, it was staring at her cloak pocket - Lola subconsciously reached out and took out a strange, The shimmering diamond-shaped sculpture was exactly the same as the one she had seen in the secret chest in the darkroom of Castle Black.

"This is not mine."

['Wend's key' can only be used in the hands of the Wend people, and anyone else who wants to monopolize it will cause trouble... It brought you here, obviously thinking that you have already done it Preparation for sacrifice. ]

"..."

[I don’t know anything, it’s not your fault. ] The elf glanced at her lightly, [It was your ancestors who took the lead in destroying the power of the law, which led to the current situation——]

"As you said, the ancient Wende family has long been extinct. This is history, and you brought me here just to vent your dissatisfaction?" Lola really didn't like its compassionate appearance, even though it seemed to have experienced a lot , "Why are you here, this is 'Wende's secret place', isn't it?!"

The elf didn't expect the young human being in front of him to say such sharp words, it froze for a while:

[No, it was your arrival that created new energy fluctuations here, and I was able to wake up... Although the ancient inheritance is no longer known, the tree of the world still exists, and its branches are rooted in every In the space-time gap, absorbing nutrients continuously...Under the bond of energy transmission, I have become a part of it—]

Therefore, after it strayed into this place, it could no longer get out.

The elf's words made Lola confirm that this is really the 'end of the world' mentioned by Ruddy - as the 'guardians of the World Tree', the origins of the Wend family are full of fantasy, but at least To be sure, the 'secret realm' is not completely closed - there must be an exit here.

[They are very close to you. ]

The elements watched by the elves gathered intimately around Lola, and there was a desire to conceal it in his tone. In this unique small world, only the Wende family has this unique ability, but he is indulging in the illusion , lost all.

"You... are you friends with Ganiercha?"

[No, we are just an alliance. In that catastrophe, the power of one race alone cannot defeat those demons...Of course, I know that these have been buried by ruthless time. ]

"You don't want to stay here, why don't you leave?"

Lola looked at its crown, and with the legendary ability of the elf royal family, it was completely possible—after all, elves were recognized as the most perfect race favored by the Creator God.

[You are right, but the law here has a special suppression for me, and Ganiercha... he despises the selfish behavior of the royal marriage, he must be sanctioned... otherwise, how can he be worthy... Although this is absurd, but I still think he owes me and my people a decent explanation. ]

Lola wondered for a moment, the elf in front of her was clearly... until the other party showed a bit of shame and anger, she suddenly realized that although the individual differences of elves are not big, there are gender differences, even though many elves are bred by various elements It has a long life and infinite magic power - and the world is fair, such a powerful race is extremely difficult to conceive the next generation, but even so, it does not mean that they do not understand love.

"So you came to find him, to find Ganircha," Lola suddenly realized, "because he didn't choose to marry the elves, and you... don't you love him?"

[Bold assumptions, but not entirely true. ]

After many years, the elf still couldn't let it go, it snorted coldly, its expression was full of disdain.

[As the descendants of gods, the Wende family chose to intermarry with humans. This kind of reproduction is meaningless. The blood of gods is thinned from generation to generation, and his descendants will only become weaker and weaker—until they are assimilated by humans, there is no difference. ]

"But at least they still have descendants, and descendants have more descendants. Even if 'Wende' ceased to exist, they continued in another way, with another life—and the elves really disappeared. "

Lola's words made the elf fall into silence, and just when the atmosphere was extremely dull, Anos suddenly coughed hoarsely.Lola held him up, trying to get some water out of her magic, but to no avail.

[This space cannot cast your low-level magic... What is his relationship with you?You are not related by blood, but very close - obviously, he is dying. ]

"So what?"

[Being burdened, you will die sooner or later if you continue like this. ]

"He's not!" Lola retorted. "There's no way we're 'living' like you are."

The words full of sarcasm stunned the elf—it fell into a long memory—in the memory, a magnificent crystal palace towered above the dark green lake bottom, and the white marble stairs extended to a red coral garden, among which were countless light and graceful figures Shuttle freely... Until that late night, a dark wave surged up on the blue water bank, and then ripples rippled like dead silence, and under the cold moonlight, a bright red luster like coral was reflected.

[The elves are not always like this, death is not completely far away from us... just like a dearest relative to me, it fell in love with mortals, abandoned its long life and innate strength, and also wanted to be with that people together. ]

Lola didn't answer, all her attention was focused on Anos, she wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, leaned his head on her shoulder, and put her arms around him halfway, trying to make him feel comfortable Some.The elf doesn't care if anyone listens, it can't hear any sadness or melancholy in its light tone, it seems to be just stating the past events that can be remembered one by one.

[…The last time I saw her was at the baptism of her offspring—her child was very similar to hers, and that was the first time I bestowed a blessing on a mortal...Unfortunately, she couldn’t watch That child grows up—birth makes her weaker and more painful than ordinary people, she already knew her fate, but she insisted on it... She died, everything was her own choice—]

The elf suddenly stopped talking, and its gaze paused when it swept across Anos' face. After staring for a long time, the doubts in its eyes turned into blazing heat.

[His... what is his common name? ]

"Why are you asking this!"

Although Lola could perceive that the other party was not malicious, she still protected Anos behind her out of instinct.But unexpectedly, the elf looked at Anos with a kind of relief and emotion.It kept murmuring, and finally shed tears—the tears washed away the filth that blinded its eyes, and those dark eyes became blue and clear, like the sky after a rainy day.

[Maybe she's right, faintly, but that's... a continuation of fate. ]

It took a deep breath, the light around it became brighter, and the rough branches connected to its body began to split and peel off, revealing the original gray-brown bark, and the new shoots danced as the elves stretched; The earth trembled slightly, like buzzing, and like a tide, and the magic elements of four colors made a silent cry, dispelling the continuous thick fog-the World Tree finally revealed its true face-the huge ash wood was as thick as a mountain peak, and the trunk Tall and straight, touching the sky and stars toweringly, the dense branches grow outwards, and the thick leaf crown is enough to cover the light and plunge the whole world into darkness.

Lola was completely shocked by what she saw. She seemed to see countless transparent creatures wandering on the World Tree. She could understand those ancient calls. For a moment, her soul almost floated away. rise.

[Not yet—]

The elf's words awakened the lost descendant of Wind, and its eyes became brighter than before.It seems to be enlightened.

it says:

[The Wheel of Fortune once predicted that after the gods fall into eternal sleep, they will melt the blood of gods into the mortal world, but from dragon people to elves, we just want to continue to obey the glory of creation, but we don’t want to bear the pain of change, If, from the very beginning, he had chosen to continue the bloodline like Wende did, maybe everything would have been...the bloodline of the elves would not be interrupted...at least not now. ]

The elf opened his arms, and a crystal-clear light blue halo emerged from his chest. The light separated Lola and projected on Anos' chest—wave after wave, flickering like a heartbeat, the water elf The light of blessings slowly entered Anos' body, repairing his exhausted mana and body after heavy injuries, and regaining his vitality.

Lola watched in disbelief that Anos had returned to his original appearance. She couldn't help but stepped forward and stroked his closed eyes with trembling hands—it was true!She subconsciously looked at the elf, but saw the halo around it dimming at a visible speed.

[Don't hesitate, the descendants of Ganircha, follow your ideas and exercise your rights - take him, take the blood of the elves, and your persistence... get out of here. ]

With a wave of the elf's hand, almost all the magic elements rushed in front of the two of them. Lola managed to grab Anos, and was pushed lightly by a force into a dark tree hole that appeared inexplicably—— After the two of them slid into the long corridor of the tree hole, the thick branches blocked the hole again.

[If I was willing to give up my life and strength back then, I would have left here long ago...]

After the elf watched the figures of the two disappear, the last touch of fluorescence on his body also went out, and his blue eyes were stained with dark gray again.

It tried to raise its head and looked at the dense fog that appeared above its head again, blocking its sight. It knew very well that this was probably the last time it had its own mind. A mass of energy disappears into the world... Despair?how could be!All unwillingness has long been worn away by eternal time, and for it, everything is like a deep sleep that will never wake up—this can be regarded as a relief in a sense.

The elf lowered its eyes, and there was a trace of peace on its expressionless face. It allowed itself to be trapped and swallowed by the branches of the magic tree, and then its consciousness fell into boundless barrenness and darkness...

……