After leaving the church and coming to the street, gray snowflakes had covered the street, and on the entire Cherry Leaf Street, less than a quarter of the shops were open.
Continuing to walk along the street towards the intersection, Shade did not see the four-wheeled taxi waiting for guests in the originally bustling place.
However, the policeman who ran by in a hurry, holding a kerosene lamp in his hand, loudly reminded Shade that the Randall Valley had encountered a special negative pressure vortex weather that had not been seen in a century. Now the highly toxic substances in the air of the entire city are settling, so today is the worst time.
It is best not to stay outdoors. If you stay indoors, you should also pay attention to the urban earthquake warning information issued by the city hall that there will be a major earthquake outside the city tonight.
Shade walked a street in a city like a dying patient before finally finding a taxi. And from the driver's words, he also learned that the earthquake that happened at the banquet last night was just a series of events.
It was just the beginning of the earthquake.
Over the course of the night, more than eight strong earthquakes occurred in the urban area of the Randall Valley, so that almost no local citizen could sleep well.
At the same time, the earthquake caused widespread fires in the slums of the old city and severe landslides in the mountainous countryside in the eastern Randall Valley. Just the news heard by the driver, the number of people killed last night due to a series of subsequent effects of the earthquake
, it has reached three digits.
Therefore, starting from this morning, unless they are infected with a bad disease such as the petrified plague, people will try not to go out as much as possible. With the gray snow falling in the city before early spring, this person in the Randall Valley
An ordinary rickshaw driver who has lived for forty years, after telling the anecdotes about frogs appearing collectively on the streets, sighed again and felt that the city has become different from ever before:
"It's as if the land itself is sick."
He said to Shade who was sitting in the carriage amidst the sound of horseshoes.
The carriage first took Shade to the Fertile Land Hotel in the city center. The hotel is still open today, and there are many more guests on the first floor than usual. This is not because the citizens come to drink, but the people staying in the hotel, the people's hearts
He anxiously discussed with his companions the situation in the Randall Valley today.
After Shade entered the door, he glanced around and saw Miss Marilyn Hendel sitting by the wall. He didn't say anything, but put [Creation and Death] in her hand as he passed by.
Walk towards the stairs.
Miss Handel lowered her head and looked at the card, while the soul of Joey Barton looked hesitantly at the cat being held by Shad. Mia was held by Shad with one hand, and her front paws were touching Shad's
His shoulders and his little head were looking at him over Shade's ears.
As a result, the dead soul felt something was wrong, but he didn't know where the strangeness came from. When he was doing divination for Shade, he also divined the fate of this cat, but when he saw it again after death,
But I felt completely different from when I was alive.
Shade went upstairs and did not see Luvia in the room, but found a note she left. Luvia was called away by the Prophet Association this morning, but she will go to Wilde at noon
The opera house meets Sha De and tells Sha De not to run around.
Luvia mentioned the Wilde Opera House because it was located in the city center and it was easier to get information than the Witch's Manor. Therefore, the Opera House was closed for the day and served as the base camp for this operation.
When Shade arrived there, the four great witches, Miss Aurora, Miss Bernice, Miss Carina, and Miss Sylvia, were already in place, and the witch apprentices were making preliminary preparations for the actions of the great witches.
, Sirius and Miss Swift entered the Parliament to report to the other witches in the Parliament who were waiting for news.
In other words, except for Margaret, who has not yet held a ceremony and has not yet been awarded the official status of witch apprentice, all the forces belonging to the "Witches' Council" in the Randall Valley have gathered in the Wilde Opera House.
When a ring warlock participates in an event that can be called a large-scale battle, it is not enough to get dressed, hug the cat, go out and go straight to the destination. Even Shade, who has little furniture, has to spend a night and a morning sorting out his needs.
The items used by witches and ring sorcerers require complicated preparations, and most of these preparations are assisted by apprentices and followers.
"How's the situation?"
When Shade appeared in the office on the third floor of the Opera House with Mia in his arms, Miss Benenice was the only one drinking tea alone.
She motioned for Shade to sit down and talk:
"Don't be so anxious. Try the black tea I brewed. This is tea bought from the East."
After Shade sat down, Miss Benanis introduced:
"The church has received the news you got from the guardian. Fortunately, with the experience of the Battle of Fort Midhill, the church has made arrangements in advance. Although there will definitely be casualties, it should be enough to protect the safety of the city.
The Speaker made a deal with the church. After eight o'clock tonight, except for Sylvia who will follow you to Oxenfurt Manor, the three of us will take High Ring's followers out of the city and go to the southeast to fight. If the news is accurate
, the intensity of the battle this time will not be lower than the one at Fort Rice."
Although she was talking about a very serious topic, her tone was very relaxed:
"After living for so many years, I finally encountered a major event that will be recorded in history books, recited by bards, and adapted into stage plays by playwrights. I am not nervous at all, but rather excited.
"
Her beautiful eyes looked at Shade:
"You have participated in more things than us. Tell me, Shade, how you feel."
"I don't feel anything."
Shade stroked Mia's soft hair:
"I am confident that we can solve this matter. The only question is what price we have to pay."
"So confident?"
The witch smiled:
"What I'm most worried about now is actually you. Maybe when this matter is over, no matter what the outcome is, you probably won't visit this city so frequently. Then we have agreed that after it is over, I want to be alone for you.
Can we perform it just like we did when we first met?"
"I usually don't talk about the celebration party at the beginning of a big event."
Shade said hesitantly, but seeing the expression on Miss Benanis's face, he still nodded in agreement:
"I'll be looking forward to it, or will I sing?"
The witch's face turned red and she smiled:
"Besides singing, don't I know how to perform other things?"
The Zhengshen Church and the three major academies have more fragments of poems, but until now, they are still not completely sure where the Chosen Ceremony of the Chosen of the Earth will be held.
Fortunately, after the church gathered enough psalm fragments, it was able to locate the possible locations based on the map. Later, the Prophet Association conducted divination on this, but because it could not be 100% sure of the answer, it finally delineated seven locations.
area.
These seven areas are scattered among each other, and there is even one within the city. Therefore, tonight, in addition to the ring warlocks who are involved in the "city defense battle", more high-level warlocks and most of the thirteenth-level warlocks will
are assigned to these seven areas.
Except for that one place in the city, coincidentally, Shade has actually been to four of the remaining six areas. They are the moon worship ruins near Oxenfurt Manor, and Lake Eldron in the upper reaches of the Elrond River.
, the Devil's Seal Watchtower in the lower reaches of the west of the city, and the Night Temple in the mountainous area.
As for the two places that Shade has not been to, one is the farthest from the city, directly crossing the valley area and entering the mountainous area to the east of the city. The other is on the open plain south of the city, where there is the only remaining ancient Stonewell Kingdom.
remains.
The news about these seven key areas was brought by Sister Devlin at noon that day.
Sister Devlin regarded Shade's affairs as more important, so she took the initiative to apply to help defend the moon worship ruins near Oxenfurt Manor. The church originally planned to let the nuns be in the city, but they
I respected the nun's opinion, and the ruins happened to be in the relative center of the seven areas, making it convenient for the nun to move around at any time, so I agreed to the nun's application.
Sister Devlin and Iluna are both the most important characters tonight. Even because Sister Devlin's level is much higher than that of Iluna, Sister Devlin can even be said to be the most important.
Considering that the chosen ones this time, there is a risk of losing control, and no one can predict how terrifying the out-of-control thirteen-ring warlock is. Therefore, the nun, who is also the chosen one, is the best check and balance "guardian"
The chosen one. In the face of the fate of the chosen one, only those who are also chosen can compete.
According to the previous plan, Sister Devlin took away Shade's [Night Watch] before leaving, and took away [Origin Knowledge] to learn the best time for her to appear.
Before Sister Devlin left, Luvia had already arrived at the Wilde Opera House. She used her physical discomfort as an excuse and took leave after finishing the matters at hand in the morning. Although it was a time of shortage of manpower, Luvia
After all, she was not a member of the local association, so the association could only reluctantly grant her leave.
"The operation has been roughly arranged."
Shade was sitting in the front row of the performance hall on the first floor, watching the girls on the stage maintaining Miss Aurora's weapon, which was a white oak staff with a diamond on the top that she had recently acquired.
The oak staff is as long as Shade's height. It is a sage-level relic that can amplify specific spells.
The most open area of the Wilde Opera House, apart from the basement, is the stage. Anyway, the opera house is not open today, so the four witches each chose a stage to prepare.