Black Cross... Seliol?!

Staring at the pair of eyes overflowing with the power of the materialized void, Loren suddenly felt a tingling of his scalp, and his whole body tensed unconsciously.

In the blink of an eye, it was as if everything was still.

Granular dust drifted in the air, and in the distant woods and wilderness, knights galloping with whips froze like landscape paintings, and the light and shadow of the dome became intermittent.

The surrounding witcher guards watched silently, their expressions not revealing anything unusual at all, motionless as if they were marble sculptures of different shapes.

"It's... It's been too long, too long. ”

The icy words rang out, with a chill familiar to the black-haired wizard: "Loren Turin... It's been too long since the last 'friendly meeting' between you and me. ”

"Not as long as you say. Reluctantly hooking the corners of his mouth, Loren smiled: "It's only been a few years, and I still remember your smile at that time!"

But it's clear that Seliol... Or that the "former Bishop of Farnes" has no sense of humor.

"Wrong. ”

The body of the "deserter centurion", whose pupils were overflowing with gray-blue pus, twitched incessantly, so that it was impossible to distinguish his expression.

"The concept of time does not exist in the void, and the 'existence' of you and me is not bound by time and physics, but in it is the possibility of countless messages and emotions, and the condensation of all this. ”

"The moment you open that door and lift the second valve, countless possibilities are born - yes, I have made a lot of preparations to meet you, and I have gone through countless possibilities to return to this world. ”

"All for that... Possible. ”

"Kill you, wipe you out of this world forever... Possible. ”

The deserter's cheeks twitched more and more, and his mouth opened and closed mechanically.

Those ominous eyes and the incomparably large power of the void made the black-haired wizard's heart tighten.

Cold sweat ran across his forehead.

"You're afraid. The deserter's convulsions became more and more severe, and his face was exposed:

"You should be afraid. ”

"Your thoughts, your thoughts, your emotions, your being, your actions...... All in my expectation, you are destined to become the enemy of this world, and then fall at my feet. ”

"You... Doomed to fall at my feet!"

The cold, judgmental voice echoed in the ears of the black-haired wizard.

"Don't listen, Loren!"

Suddenly, a young and familiar voice exploded beside him, faintly anxious.

"He's trying to influence your consciousness!"

There was a sudden shock, and the consciousness that had been in a panic immediately cleared up a lot.

A delicate black and red dress, pale and bloodless skin, white and blonde hair... Asriel, who stood with his hands in his hands, stood between himself and the deserter, the "Black Cross" Serol.

But this time, the blonde boy no longer saw the slightest smile on his face, and his solemn and solemn expression didn't look like him at all.

"Seliol, your power of the void ......" The intermittent voice seemed to be the boy's teeth chattering: "Diabo, Lemantes, Govait, Luton... You... You ...... them."

"Huh. ”

The facial muscles of the deserter showed a "smiling" expression, as if they were puppets with strings being raised.

"Treacherous deserters... Coward... Traitor... Shameless gutter rats... I remember you called them that......" Serol sneered:

"So I killed them all. ”

The tone of understatement, as if discussing the weather in the evening.

The black-haired wizard and the blonde boy chilled at the same time.

Those four evil gods... According to Asriel, even those who are weak enough to rely on certain collective consciousness, such as fear, to sustain their existence cannot be easily erased.

"From another world... The intruder ......" the "deserter" who raised the corners of his mouth and whispered:

"From the last era... Betrayer ......"

"From the oldest years... Forerunner ......"

"Three beings who do not belong to this era and world, with the ownership of the two worlds as the ultimate reward, and each other's existence as a bet, start a unique war. ”

"It's finally time for this grand and gorgeous drama to open its curtain!"

Asriel gritted his teeth, as if struggling to hold on.

"You're terrified, Asrael, I can smell your panic in you - look, my eyes are forever on you and your puppet, whatever you do, what you think, what you want... I know it all. ”

"Always remember that my eyes are on you... Panic, tremble, pain......"

"Die——!"

Without waiting for the "deserter" with a distorted expression to react, Asriel, who suddenly raised his right hand, aimed his palm at the face of the "deserter".

The muscles and blood vessels of the face, which were already twitching, were completely exposed, the pores on both sides of the cheeks were constantly bursting, and gray-blue pus was uncontrollably gushing out from the ears, mouth, nostrils, and eyes, gushing out with the rhythm of the cheek twitching, trembling.

"Poof——!

There was a crisp cracking sound, and the deserter's head shattered in response, but instead of blood, it was a thick gray-blue slurry that spilled out.

The heavy feeling of oppression dissipated instantly, but the surrounding time remained still.

A minute later, the two slowly looked back and looked at each other with "tacit understanding".

"He's back. Loren muttered to himself.

Asriel, who was standing with his hands in his hands, bowed slightly: "He's back." ”

"And it seems that he is now more connected to the Void World than he was last time... This is not a good sign. Pursing his lips slightly, the blonde boy's eyes flashed with panic:

"Diabo, Lemantes, Gwait, Ruton... If even the four of them are killed, then the rest of the unlucky ones will probably ...... too."

"Wait!" Loren raised his eyebrows: "I remember you said a long time ago that it is impossible for evil gods and the existence of the void equal to the evil gods to ......"

"It's impossible to be killed easily, that's right. Asriel's expression was a little pale: "But they can be obliterated, suppressed, and denied by the power of the higher level of the Void. ”

"Black Cross Serol... He... Denying their existence, it is even possible to turn their power into a part of itself, or simply banishing them back into the void... It's all possible. ”

"I don't know how he managed to do it—if you want to compare, it's very close to the power of the Holy Cross—but he, Serol... It has been done, not only but far beyond what we can imagine. ”

For the first time, Asriel's expression became terrified, the kind of helpless fear.

Even when Silverhelm Mountain confronted Serol head-on for the first time and almost wiped out the entire army, he never had such an expression on his face.

"Dear Loren, we must master the forces that we can confront as soon as possible. ”

After being silent for a long time, Asriel's voice trembled slightly: "It's just to open the second valve... Even you are not enough, but there is only so much that Asreal can help you. ”

"I'll do everything I can to help you master the changes that the second valve brings, but you'll have to find a way to go to the next level, you'll have to open the third valve – only by opening the third valve will we have a chance to win, but ......"

"It's also in Seliol's plans. Loren said lightly:

"Right?"

The blonde boy with a solemn face nodded slightly.

"Seliol is not lying – there is no concept of time in the void, only emotions and messages, in other words, if he is strong enough, he can construct a 'world that does not exist' with the information he already has, constantly simulating imaginary situations, like ......"

Asriel smiled suddenly, "Just like when Loren, who was still an apprentice, mastered the first high-level spell with the help of Asriel. ”

The corners of the black-haired wizard's mouth twitched, remembering some not-so-good memories.

The dream world, the burning black sun, the self that can't be killed... He figured it out.

"I used my Void Power to sever some of the connection between Loren and Seriel—more precisely, a part of my memory—so that at least I could guarantee that dear Loren wouldn't be approached by this stalker again. ”

Although he used a joking tone, the blonde boy's expression was still very solemn: "But... This guy is 'Black Cross' Serol, and the devil knows if he has any other way than this way, so caution is a must. ”

"Memory?"

"Yes, memories are also part of the message, and they contain some very strong emotions – the stronger the emotion, the more complete the message will be. Asriel added:

"That's probably how Seriel found Loren's Void Reaction and projected a portion of his power onto the poor ghost... It's an undisguised threat. ”

Threat?

Stunned, Loren only thought for a moment before he understood what Asriel meant.

Although I don't know where this guy came from, since the four evil gods have all died at his hands, it proves that Serol must still be in the northern glacial wasteland at this moment.

Half an empire away, and the Boundary Mountain Range that separates the north and the south, he immediately sensed his existence with just a memory and a faint void reaction......

This is a threat, and it is an undisguised threat - a practical demonstration of his power, and how terrifying it is.

...... With just one thought, the whole world will usher in an unprecedented apocalypse, from glacial wastelands to misty seas, land and sea. All living beings in the heavenly dome instantly dissipated and became invisible......

Such enemies, forces... How can you match it?

........................

It wasn't until evening that the witchers and the Byrne knights who had rushed to the harbor finally returned, and the dusty witchers galloped back with the latest information.

The content of the report is basically consistent with Loren's initial guess.

Almost at the same time as the Byrne army and thousands of rebels broke out in an "encounter", an elven army had already launched a surprise attack on the Crucible.

There were not many troops, only one or two thousand elven warriors, but the legionnaires who had been defeated from the Ebotden line had long since lost their morale, and they scattered on the spot when they heard the news that "the elves are coming".

Not even met with any decent resistance, and the elves did not organize any decent attacks, swaggering through the city gates, and taking over the Crucible.

A funny scene, it doesn't look like a war, but a parade between the two sides.

The few soldiers stationed in the Crucible's Wizarding Academy managed to resist - but they didn't dare burn the city's supplies and ordnance for fear that the elves would be more brutal in the fight if they didn't get it.

So the elves, who were unable to break through the gate of the academy, quickly used the materials at hand to build torsion trebuchets and siege ladders, and took down the Crucible Wizard Academy in one go, slaughtering all the imperial soldiers inside, leaving no one behind.

As for the wizards in the Academy... According to the information sent by the witchers, they were not found, and they should have fled before this, or were robbed and killed by the rebels and deserters.

As for what happened in the middle of the process, no one knew - perhaps the wizards had resisted, or perhaps because the Sacra blood had made them trust the rebels and deserters so much that they gave up resisting.

But in any case, it turned out to be so.

The witchers who boldly infiltrated the castle before the city was breached also found a lot of alchemists' tools and materials, many of which were precious metals that were thrown on the ground by the rebels as garbage.

Judging by this, I am afraid that it is more likely that the wizards have been completely wiped out......

The news silenced Loren for a while, and finally decided to try not to let the little wizard and Isaac know about it until it leaked out.

Needless to say, Isaac... This megalomaniac is still remorseful for the "Earthquake Magic Array" in the Broken Mountain Fortress - he always feels that he is also partly responsible for Conod's death.

At the same time, Luson and Greyrell, Earl of Whitehorse, had joined forces to capture the harbor – and not surprisingly, all the ships had been destroyed by the rebels and deserters, and had been used to repair the houses and their "castle halls".

But this was only a superficial reason, and according to the information sent back by the witchers, their reason for doing so was to avoid any contact with the other side of the Gem River, and now that the whole of West Sacland, especially around the hinterland of the imperial capital, was completely occupied by the Azorean elves.

This ostrich mentality of "hide your head and the enemy won't find it" is really hard to say, but because they have destroyed all the ships, the Byrnes have finally avoided a surface battle that they are very bad at.

On the first moonlit night of the new year, Loren Turin, Duke of Byrne, officially bid farewell to East Sack Land and set foot on the land of West Sakland.

Golovin... It's already at hand.