In fact, it is not appropriate to say that gargoyles are a kind of golem, because they are simply monsters created by injecting the core of an earth elemental creature into a stone statue. In addition to being able to fly, they have no physical strength or intelligence.
It is far inferior to the steel body and powerful power possessed by the exquisite golem.
But even so, a dozen gargoyles still caused a lot of trouble for this crude expedition team - those guys who were obviously only elite spearmen and had no exploration experience were almost afraid of the monsters falling from the sky with sharp claws and sharp teeth.
There was nothing they could do, and their passive defense quickly forced them to hold on.
On the side, before Elena split a dozen gargoyles into two pieces, at least three more people were lost - killed on the spot, and there were also some unlucky guys who were scratched on the chest and abdomen, and had their hands and feet cut off. Although in the priest
There was no danger of life under the treatment, but for a while, he could no longer form a fighting force.
"It's... it's terrible."
Wounded people, blood plasma, monsters... The young earl almost didn't know where to direct his gaze. He clutched the hilt of his sword tightly with both hands. However, his face was already pale and transparent until long after the battle ended.
, he murmured a sigh: "How many monsters like this...are there?"
"A lot, I'm afraid."
Edward let go of his hand and let a trace of dust slip from his fingers. It was originally a scroll decorated with gold edges, which might provide some answers to future generations, but hundreds of years of corruption have made things made of these biological materials practical.
Only an empty shell has been left. The strong wind from the battle just now has scattered them into ashes. The remaining parts are also mottled leather, and the writing on it has long been peeled off.
Shaking his head slightly, the psychic had some ominous premonitions in his heart...
When did I first become so careless about taking risks?
I am afraid that only robbers, thieves, or the kings of subjugated countries would think about such things as gold and silver treasures. Iskandar never really got involved in construction during his military life. It was he who finally ended up on the Mountain of Sighs.
One of the reasons, and he only thought of stopping the army before he died. This
How could such a militaristic emperor leave behind a real property-type treasure for his descendants? Weapons or magic props. Or they could become targets. But judging from what the guy just said, the final reward
, it should be a special military training secret recipe.
For me, this is really a dispensable thing, but why do I show so much enthusiasm for it?
Even now, that strange desire is still expanding in the corner of my mind, urging myself to explore this dangerous underground palace.
Another scream interrupted Edward's thinking...
He raised his head and saw a tragedy happening.
A soldier waved his hands randomly, but he couldn't break away from the grasp of death - and behind him, the branches and leaves of a plant were slowly opening... No, it was opening branches at a terrifyingly high speed for plants.
, loose leaves, grow and take shape!
The nutrition needed for this weird growth was that unlucky guy. Several vines passed through his armor and were nailed into his body. In the blink of an eye, his face turned into a dark green.
But his facial features twitched, condensing a strange expression that seemed to be crying and laughing at the same time.
Then, this expression collapsed instantly... Countless tiny vines stretched out from the gaps in his armor, like hollow thorns, piercing into his body again, making strange sounds of squeaking and sucking flesh.
, and the corpse quickly shriveled up. The needlewood roots themselves became tighter and tighter, strangling the bones.
It made a rattling sound, and then quickly shattered. In less than an hourglass time, the human corpse had disappeared, not even a single piece of bone was left! And the green root system produced a big bud at this time.
Twisting, it unfolded a few bright blue petals, which turned out to be extremely beautiful.
The flowers withered and the seeds grew thick... But before those little barbed things matured and fell to the ground, Elena had already sent out a scream, and the white holy flame enveloped the terrible plant and turned it into a piece of charcoal.
As a result, the little count's face became pale and almost transparent.
"It's too late to be afraid now." Edward said: "So, Your Excellency, should you tell me now how much you know about this maze?"
"According to the records, this maze was built in a demi-plane. It is a legacy left by the ancient magic kingdom. These buildings are also continuously generated by certain special spells. As long as this demi-plane does not exist,
If it is destroyed, it will continue to build slowly... Now, hundreds of years have passed..." The pale-faced
The little earl shook his head and spoke in a low voice: "But half a year ago, when the door to Pan's Labyrinth was opened for the first time, it only took the guy from the Hale Potter family three days to bring seven people with him.
A retinue of knights successfully escaped from the trap, and the Hellebore family became the emperor's favorites and first-class marquis..."
"Because you also want to try your luck?" Edward sneered silently.
"This is my last bet..." A helpless smile appeared on his pale face: "I have no choice."
"oh?"
"As a descendant of the Bain family, I originally owned a fiefdom until my father passed away suddenly two years ago... After that, one of my mother's younger brothers, a guy who had nothing to do with our family, came to our house...
…He has a bad reputation and is not accepted by various relatives, but he once owned a fief and had experience in managing the fief, so I asked him to help me." The little earl spoke in a low voice, gradually gritting his teeth.
"But that damned, ungrateful guy who deserves to have his entrails eaten by jackals... By the time I noticed it, my housekeeper had become his accomplice! Moreover, these two guys had all the key points bit by bit.
Some of the characters were replaced by their people, the territory's taxes flowed into their hands, and the guards were bought by them, or replaced with other...those
Ungrateful pariahs, I should have known a long time ago that as long as they have some gold coins, they don't care whether the territory belongs to the real earl or an outside gangster! But even so, they are still not satisfied. In the end, they will take it from the Chamber of Commerce.
He defrauded a large sum of property, and signed the contract in his name, and then fled without a trace! Therefore, for the sake of my mother and I..."
"It's really bad...but," Edward suddenly sneered, interrupting the brat's complaint. "What's the point of saying this to me?"
"I..." The little earl, who did not expect to receive this answer, was stunned.
"Want to be comforted by me?"
Edward twitched his lips. For many days, the habit of wearing robes made his skin look pale without seeing the sun. And his smiling expression, under the shadow of the hood, became increasingly cold: "As a noble,
Naturally, you have the responsibilities of a noble. It is your responsibility to manage the territory. You have no experience, so it is understandable to get his help, but why did you no longer intervene in the management of the territory? "
"It's too troublesome to manage by yourself...is it?" He stared at the other person's eyes until the kid lowered his head uneasily: "Since that is your only remaining support, shouldn't you really master it?
In your own hands? Since you chose to muddle along at the beginning... you don't want to take responsibility. So what right do you have to complain? Didn't you do nothing from beginning to end? So what rights do you have now?
, requiring others to be loyal to you?"
Or, this is always how people think.
There are always some naive people who think that they can do nothing and think that if they have some resources and some benefits, they can rely on others to complete everything. For the sake of petty profits, others will do their duty and help them increase their assets.
The bigger,
This kind of thinking cannot be miscalculated in the program, but such a good thing cannot actually last long... Even in a society with extremely sound laws, it is not uncommon for unlucky people to be defrauded of all their assets, such as entrusted stock trading and entrusted renting.
, illegal fund-raising... there are endless ones, and Edward has seen too many of those guys who are complaining.
You have to strive for your own happiness, how can you leave it in the hands of others?
"Hehe, I'm really lucky that you can put on such an old-fashioned look..." The half-elf standing behind suddenly laughed. He didn't seem to be intimidated by the weird flowers just now, and he didn't worry about whether it was for him.
His companion made trouble: "You didn't accept the invitation, so why did you pretend to be a teacher and teach others a lesson?"
The psychic rolled his eyes in boredom, and then continued his question: "That Tiberius? Who is Gracchus?"
"He is... there are rumors that he is the illegitimate son of Grand Duke Zolgen, the Imperial Minister of State, and he has also received the title of Viscount. Among the younger generation, he is a newly rising and famous figure." Or it was.
The one before
After being poked by these painful remarks, the young count's face was as bad as a dead man, as if he was out of his mind: "And Grand Duke Zolgen has the blood of the Red Dragon family in the Imperial Elector family, so he can naturally enter Pan's labyrinth.
…”
"So, how much do you know about this maze?"
"Let me answer it for you."
The mage who had been standing behind the little earl hesitated for a moment and took over the topic in a low voice: "Nine powers, seven legions... In the empire, this statement seems to have become a secret legend, but in the real world
The Imperial Chosen family has always had their detailed inheritance... It is the greatest wealth owned by the thousand-year-old emperor. It originated from ancient gods. According to rumors, there are a total of
The nine gods gave Emperor Iskandar immense power, and these nine powers constituted his nine armies. It was relying on them that the emperor conquered the largest territory in history. The seven legions represented respectively
One has a unique tactic, strength, and belief. The other two are addicted to darkness. They are not formal, but they are powerful enough to burn down cities and destroy countries."
It turns out that this is the reason why the empire suddenly launched a large-scale attack this time.
"They were originally forces directly under the nine emperor electors, but the source of their power originated from Emperor Iskandar." After a pause, the mage continued to narrate: "With the fall of the emperor, they were also banned.
The place where the ban is located is this God Pan’s labyrinth. Only the blood of the nine emperor elector families can open the door. I don’t know when or where the door will appear..."
"Nine families...if even the collateral families can be opened, wouldn't half of the nobles in the empire be able to try their luck?" Edward frowned.
"The Imperial Elector's family has never been prosperous... So far, there are only a dozen or so nobles left. Most of them are content with their current status. For this kind of nobles,
The legend doesn't hold out hope." The mage shook his head: "The glory of spreading the ashes of death.
Yao, the giant bear of the north wind and ice, the crimson flame of blood and fire, the withering death... But there is only so much we know. Most of the historical materials treasured by the family have been lost in time.
.And as a side family, we don’t have much inheritance.”
"But it's more than that."
At this time, the little guy seemed to have finally recovered from the blow. But he seemed to recall some frightening things. "Pan's labyrinth is not only a place where the emperor's power is sealed, but also the emperor's tomb..."
He looked around. His throat was surging. He murmured to himself: "He... According to legend, he did not die of any disease, but a perfectly planned assassination operation. Those cowardly and greedy guys...
…the imperial electors who were satisfied with their vested interests, our ancestors…
Despicable choice to bury the emperor's ambition to satisfy his own ambition. With the expedition failed and unwilling to be betrayed by his subordinates, the soul of Emperor Iskandar could not sleep at all. Even though he had become an undead, he still carried his
A terrible force returns to the world."
The room suddenly became quiet.
For some reason, those moaning sounds, breathing sounds, and whispered conversations all stopped in an instant...
Only that childish and cold voice was left, murmuring the narrative.
"It's ironic. The power of the gods combined to create an undead with incomparable power... No matter whether this is true or not. But at that time, the emperor's electors could only choose to go with the numerous temples, those gods
The slaves colluded and sealed it again. But the emperor who gained the power of the gods was not so easy to bury, even if the curse eroded
Even if they lost his soul, they would not be able to completely destroy his consciousness. Therefore, they could only temporarily seal him, and then use the power of the whole country to construct this huge demiplane and seal it inside. When that simple seal becomes corrupted
, the emperor woke up from his deep sleep, so it can be said that he is still living here, in this constructed world."
"Ah..." After whispering a long paragraph, the child's body suddenly shook, and he fell softly!
"What's wrong with him?" Edward narrowed his eyes and frowned.
"It seems to be some kind of resonance between souls." Elena probed the little earl's head with her hand, released a magical spell to calm her mind, and then raised her head, her eyebrows full of worry. "The burden here is
The energy seems to be particularly active, so we'd better not stay too long."
But moving may not actually make things better.
After passing through three dark corridors, no more scary monsters were seen. It was just darkness, wrapping depression in everyone's heart. The heavy pressure seemed to make breathing no longer smooth. The brilliance of the torches seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. Finally,
It can only surround everyone.
This darkness continued like this...until the third door opened.
It was a tall door. The dark surface seemed to be engraved with countless scrolls, and when it opened, a hazy white light illuminated the surroundings.
Delightful?
No, that brilliance makes people tremble...
Because behind the open door, countless people came into view.
——Everything that comes into view is, without exception, gray-white calcium, and as long as you pay a little attention, you will find that they all once belonged to humans. With the look of nail holes and traces of being stabbed by swords, they were given
a new image,
They make up everything in this huge space...candlesticks, lintels, arches, pendants...even the steps and floors under your feet.
A spectacular chandelier hangs from the ceiling. The smooth and dry joints of the scapula, arm, collarbone, humerus, ruler, and radius hold skulls of different sizes to form the main body of the lamp stand, while the femur, patella, tibia, and fibula are
... long
The legs and feet support the candlestick, and around it are hanging strings of skull decorations. All the face bones are downward, and the empty eye sockets have the luster that has stayed for centuries, as if they have seen all the world.
of constant change.
The air seemed to have solidified for a moment, and the terrifying coldness was silent, but it penetrated into people's hearts bit by bit. That strange feeling was like a cold woman's song, melodious and ethereal in the darkness,
Grasp everyone's heart little by little.
So everyone could only stand there blankly, staring at such a desperate and strange scene.
In the middle of their sight, a skeleton stood tall.
It seems that it should belong to a human skeleton...or, in other words, a humanoid creature.
Only now, it has been dismantled and formed another shape...
The angular head and slightly curved bones form a high backrest. The armrests are made of arm bones. They are just the bones that make up everything. The size is extremely huge. The skeleton on the backrest alone is enough.
It is three feet in diameter! The tall chair is at least over ten feet, and it is placed on a pedestal made of bones and several feet high, making it look even taller and look down on all living beings.
And all of this is the background.
The real subject is in this seat.
It was a handsome young man with a hint of laziness, wearing a golden dress, a robe, and the hem that reached to the heels was decorated with silver edges... The soft surface shone with the luster of gold threads. But
He seemed to be wearing just such a piece of clothing, with the open collar exposing his strong, white chest. On that broad, solid chest, there was a golden amulet hanging,
He just sat like this, sitting on the skeletal throne, tilting his head slightly, holding his chin with one hand, looking at the people who came into their sight, his expression was cold, but full of freedom and nobility.
"Who are you?"
The strange silence continued like this until an unknown amount of time later, it was broken by a trembling voice.
"Interesting... I happen to have the same question... Who are you? Why are you here, strangers?" The voice coming from the throne was clear and cold, no more than a bolt of lightning, passing through people's hearts. To be continued...
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