Volume 3: The Land of Mist Chapter 31: Destruction
Hobbes felt like his thinking had short-circuited for a moment.
That's right, under the cloudless sky before the fog, a black dragon suddenly appeared without any warning, which was indeed very strange. And after it appeared, it did not attack the Whalebone, which was closer to it, but immediately went to find the Empire's warship, which also made Hobbes feel a little strange.
But you want to say that this black dragon was summoned by this source silver smuggler? How is that possible?
Even if this man who called himself Yin Shima was indeed a powerful magic chanter, he could not have reached this level. Dragons were the most sacred symbol of the empire, and since Terra I, no one had the qualifications to sign a summoning contract with them.
Even the most powerful magic caster today cannot summon a dragon to fight for him. Even if he can... is it worth using such a large force to fight against an imperial warship?
But before he could continue to ask, Morton, who was standing opposite him, said:
"[True Shadow] is a forbidden spell that can temporarily transform the illusory shadow in the caster's mind into reality. Violet Granyi, a former illusionist at Blackwater University of Magic, analyzed the divine-level illusion created by the Holy Spirit Manifestation. During the Great Book Burning Era, this spell was labeled as heresy by the Holy Spirit Church, and all records were destroyed. Only the Eighth Church had a copy... Later, it became a means for them to pretend to be gods and create so-called "holy miracles."
He pointed his sword at William, looking sure of victory.
"Apart from the lackeys of the Eighth Order, who else can use this spell now?"
Hobbes heard this, turned to William and asked:
"Is what he said true?"
William did not answer Hobbes' question, nor did he pay attention to the other party's look that was mixed with doubt and a little fear.
He looked at the Fenghuo City Lord in front of him, who seemed ready to stab him with a sword at any time, and said calmly:
"If you are really the warrior leader of Avazhou, put down your weapon and let's have a good talk."
He said this and took a half step forward.
The other party's expression became serious and he raised the sword in his hand slightly.
"Just stand still where you are."
"To be precise, just the two of us talking."
William ignored the other party's words and continued to speak.
"Would you like to try taking another step forward?"
Several golden elven inscriptions lit up on the blood-red sword in Morton's hand, and a faint golden flame began to cling to the sword.
William stopped when he saw this.
The magic swordsmen of the high elves are completely different from the magic swordsmen of humans. For them, the magic sword is another form of spell medium. Compared with warriors, their position is more similar to that of human battle mages.
"I have to say, the stories you made up earlier are quite interesting. The rangers who traveled to the mainland and went on adventures together...why not tell me which ranger it was?"
Seeing William stopped, he sneered.
"This is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about in private."
William replied helplessly.
"Anyway, I can't run away now. This is your territory, and there are so many people here as hostages."
He looked around and continued.
"Yin Shima, you..."
Hobbes, who was standing by, opened his mouth slightly when he heard the word "hostage", but when he looked at the unsheathed swords around him, he finally closed his mouth.
"What is there to talk about? And why can't we talk about it here?"
Morton frowned, not sure what the other party was planning.
William couldn't help but sigh at this.
He didn't want to reveal his true identity here.
It's not that he was too cautious, but now most of his energy was focused on the affairs of Ava Continent, and he must not let the Void Kings know about it, otherwise the other party would definitely project their power directly near the Blackwater Swamp, making it difficult for him to take care of both ends.
Previously, when he was still in the Blackwater Swamp, the other party had used the Summoning Day to summon the Demon General Devouring. If they knew that most of his energy was now in Ava Continent, that would be disastrous.
Because the information that Thorn City could collect about Ava was too little, William didn't know whether the Void Kings had developed their own power here or set up their own spies. Therefore, he not only changed his appearance and hid his identity, but also did not rely on the official channels of Thorn City, but hired the Whalebone to come to Ava on the black market.
If he were to reveal his identity here now, regardless of whether the other party would believe it or not, William really didn't want to bet that there were no Yuejing spies nearby.
In fact, William didn't even want to reveal his identity to this guy who seemed to be a fanatical supporter of Remedios. Apart from Remedios herself, he was unwilling to trust anyone around him for the time being.
Even...after what happened to Coles last time, William was a little wary of Remedios before coming here.
Thinking of this, William had no choice but to retreat and said:
"Okay, fine. If you don't want to talk, then don't talk... What are you going to do with us next?"
The other party snorted softly, then pointed his sword at Hobbes and the crew members around him:
"They are staying here until we can confirm their true identities."
After saying that, he pointed the sword in his hand at William, and then moved it to Diana who was beside him.
"As for the two of you, come with me back to Yuefa City to meet Her Majesty the Queen and accept her judgment under the witness of the Holy Fire."
Morton looked at William with a sneer, hoping to find an expression of fear or despair on his face.
But the other party just rolled his eyes.
"Why didn't you come earlier... Forget it, hurry up and don't waste time."
…………
Moon City was originally a city of sacrifices and priests in Ava. It was not until the city-state era that the priests who worshipped the mist became the first group of magic chanters in Ava, and it became the city of mages today.
In the distant past, Yuefa City was the capital of Ava. Every Mist King was crowned here and would eventually disappear here. The Mist Kings were not only the secular rulers of Ava, but also the spokespersons of theocracy who symbolized the "Mist Spirit".
The "Mist Spirit" worshipped in Moon City corresponds to the "Fire Spirit" of Phoenix City, and becomes the source of the two major beliefs of the elves - mist and fire.
Compared to the humans on the continent of Vic who imitated the shadows of the vanished gods and gave up their egos to gain extraordinary powers, the elves on the continent of Ava were much luckier. Of course, from another perspective, they were also much more unfortunate.
Because the spirits of the elves' ancestors did not completely become invisible like the ancient gods of humans, but were only passed down as the collective memory of the race. On the contrary, they have always retained their real forms and exist in the world, and are truly worshipped by the elves.
On the one hand, this has caused the elves to struggle in the quagmire of theocracy for much longer than humans - if gods really exist around you, and you can clearly realize that everything from birth to death is inseparable from them, then this kind of belief will naturally be difficult to erase.
On the other hand, once rationality awakens in this environment, the collapse of theocracy will become extremely thorough. It is precisely because of the vagueness of human beliefs that even in the era of magic that emphasizes rationality, superstition and ignorance continue to hit their society repeatedly, and even in the past 800 years, it has regressed to an extremely terrible level.
But once the sacred halo of is taken off, her altar will collapse instantly like a dam bursting, with no chance of recovery - there is nothing special about gods, and the mist that can reflect the past and the flame that can cause reincarnation of life and death are just some special magical phenomena.
Although the worship of sacred fire and positions such as priests are still nominally preserved in the present-day Ava state, those things ultimately exist only as cultural customs.
"So this is what you're proposing? Become the goddamn king of the fog? Do you think anyone would support your decision except that guy who only thinks about war and glory?"
These were the first words Ward Windsong spoke when he entered the room.
This is Remedios Moonshadow's collection room.
To be precise, it is the collection room of the ruler of Ava Continent, but considering the years she was in power, it would not be wrong to say that it is her own collection room.
At this moment, she was standing at the end of the exhibition room, where there were two display cabinets made of dragon crystal glass. The faint light of countless magic barriers was flickering on the display cabinets.
The display cabinet on the left displays an elegant longbow made of colored glass. A quiver inlaid with dragon scales hangs on the glass wall, and several arrows, also made of colored glass, lie quietly in the quiver.
In the display case on the right, there is a complex crown made of countless hair-thin silver metal wires. At first glance, the crown looks like a ring of smoke floating in the air.
Remedios did not respond to Ward's words. Her eyes kept moving between the two display cases.
Seeing this, Ward quickly walked behind her.
"Do you think you can succeed? Do you think you can reverse history and make you the spokesperson for the Mist Spirit, the so-called King of the Mist?"
Remedios turned around and looked at him when she heard that.
Those extremely empty eyes made Ward's heart skip a beat, but he continued to speak with undiminished momentum:
"Think carefully about the general education you have received on magic over the years. Faith is magic. You can now control the fog around Ava because you are now the master of the continent in the eyes of all the elves and the supreme ruler of Ava. This crown alone cannot make you the King of the Mist, because the voices of the people will directly pull you off the throne."
Thousands of years of free city-states made it impossible for the high elves to accept the idea of a mist king who held the power of killing and seizing standing above them. But without this belief as the cornerstone, the full power of the "mist spirit" could never be expressed in a personified form.
In the past, the King of Mist was able to summon troops of heroes from history to fight, but now the Lord of the Continent can only sporadically summon some afterimages of the past in the thick fog - those afterimages are not even under his control.
Therefore, when Ward heard Morton tell him that their continental ruler intended to be crowned the Mist King of Ava, integrate all forces, and rely on the authority of the Mist Spirit to fight against the Empire's expeditionary force, he felt no other emotion except absurdity.
"I know what you're planning."
After quietly listening to the other party finish speaking, Remedios slowly spoke.
"Of course you know. I have already made all my plans clear at the Moon Wheel Meeting. Is there anything you don't know?"
Ward immediately interrupted the other party's next words.
"Just listen to me first..."
Remedios said slowly, an invisible pressure emanating from her, which made Ward stop talking.
"To be honest, I don't care about the position of the continent master or the position of the King of Mist. I don't even want to care about where the entire Ava continent will go in the future. Do you want to know why?"
Her voice was very light and clear, and there was some kind of invisible pressure revealed in it, which made Ward feel goose bumps on his back.
Ward shook his head cautiously.
"Because more than 1,200 years is enough time to erase everything."
In the elves' language, there is no word for "old". Later, after Ava came into contact with other intelligent races on the continent of Vic, they added this concept to their language, although they still could not understand it well.
But now, Ward felt that he heard the meaning of the word "old" from the other person's tone.
"The long time will erase everything you have. At first, it's passion, then emotion, then desire, and finally even memories begin to blur... Time is like a file, it will wear away everything you have little by little, and in the end, only one thing will be left as residue."
Remedios stopped talking here and pointed at the Mist Crown beside her.
"Do you think I really want it?"
Then she pointed her finger at the Liuliyue on the other side:
"Or do you want to pick it up again?"
Before Ward could answer, the other party spoke up:
"Neither. The only thing that drives me forward now is a promise, a promise that I once exchanged with a friend. Now he has carried his promise to his death, so at the end of my life, I should do my best."
"Wait a minute...what do you mean the end of life?"
Hearing the other party suddenly say something bad, Ward hurriedly asked.
"I don't want to become the King of Mist, but to directly merge my soul into the will of the Mist Spirit. I want to fully activate it, just like my friend did, and create a barrier to isolate the Empire's fleet from Ava Continent."
