My name is Akatosh,

I'm holding back my strength......

—4E, 201, Moon of Fire, 20th, 17:19 -

On the southern outskirts of Rift Valley is a rocky mountainous terrain with a rough-looking stone gate carved with an abstract circular relief of a bird on one of the stone walls, and a pile of broken black stones is being watched near the stone gate.

Based on Illya's level of magic, it can be roughly judged that there was originally a large magical barrier in the position where she is currently standing, which will refuse anyone to enter without permission, and the permission is given by this broken "Nightingale Stone", which will cover the opponent with a thin layer of armor-like things when touched, so that they will not be blocked when passing through the barrier.

It stands to reason that this approximate buff variation should not cause the recipient's own magic to retaliate, but the "Nightingale's Stone" shatters as it does when the magic trap is destroyed.

Unless, Joan of Arc has a more powerful protection spell on her body, and the nature is the same as that "permission", in this case, Blackstone must be increased to the same strength as it when casting the spell, and it will break due to being overwhelmed.

If you want to talk about the reason, after all, you've been dealing with the demon god or the Holy Spirit lately, and most of it is a blessing from a certain being, although it's not sure which one it is, but looking at the increasingly disgusted expression on Joan of Arc's face, Illya decided not to ask.

"Okay, I'm sure your 'Night Mother' will protect you, so follow me." Kalia sighed at the shattered Nightingale Stone and turned to walk through the main entrance of the Nightingale Hall.

"Hey, hey, hey~ Of course, mother is omnipotent~ (Spades)" The clown followed.

"Although the elder infighting of the Thieves Guild has nothing to do with the Dark Brotherhood, after all, it involves our acquaintances, and no matter what, it's always good to have help." Joan of Arc said as she followed the door as well.

Gallus and Sylvia glanced at each other and didn't say much, just walked silently through the door with Illya.

Well...... Is it too late to keep it a secret from your mother? With my mother's intelligence, this accident has exposed a lot of things.

As Illya walked through the door, she saw the giant statue of a woman with her arms raised and three nightingales perched on them.

Well, there's no point in secrecy at all.

——17:22——

"It seems that Mercer hasn't come back all these years," Kalia said, observing the ground that didn't have much dust due to the complete closure of the space, "neither do you. ”

"yes, that's right." Sylvia answered with a bit of resentment, although the two were not talking the same thing at all.

"Ah...... I was worried that as soon as I walked through this door, I would be slapped to death by the lady raising her hand. Gallus said, looking at the giant statue.

After entering the gate, you are greeted by a flat stone square, and in the middle of the square is the obsidian statue of a woman dressed in a gorgeous gauze, which is five times the size of an ordinary person, if you can really move and slap it down......

Illya shook her head and shook the imagination away.

On the other side of the square, a small raised platform with many tilting seats appears to be a place for meetings, and on each of its left and right walls is a relief door that is as old as the outer gate.

"On the right is the Nightingale's living quarters and the equipment and loot collection room, there is no need to go until the Nightingale team is rebuilt," Kalia led the group to the left of the high platform, "We need to have a ceremony to contact Lady [Noktunar] first." ”

"Rituals? Isn't it a direct call to God's name? (Cube)" Cicero said in a strange tone, "isn't it?" Mother ~ (hearts)"

Illya, who was looking around at the decoration of the hall, noticed Joan of Arc open her mouth, but frowned, and finally didn't say anything, she must have asked the clown not to be so frivolous in the temples of other demon gods, right?

"Huh? (Plum) strange? Mother ~ (Spades) Mother ~ (Hearts)" The Mr. Clown waited for a moment without responding, so he took three steps forward with open hands and two steps back and danced a strange dance.

"The Hall of Nightingale is able to cut off any magical means of prying eyes and communication, unless a demon god or Holy Spirit forcibly penetrates with more power than the Lady, but then the place will collapse completely." Kalia turned back to Cicero.

"Hmph~ (Spades) Okay, I guess Mother is just afraid of smashing you to death~ (Hearts)" Cicero stopped dancing dissatisfied.

Illya tilted her head, subtly sensing that what this Mr. Clown seemed to be telling the truth?

"Speaking of rituals, are we missing now? And my 'Nightingale Armor' was destroyed during Mercer's sneak attack. Gallus asked, hesitantly.

"The Nightingale Armor itself was given by the lady, and if He is willing to forgive us, it will naturally be given again, if not. Even if the armor was still intact, it would not be able to resist the lady's anger," Kalia stopped, "Okay, go and see if the lady is willing to forgive you?" ”

"Uh......" Gallus hesitated a little as he looked at the old stone door in front of him, but finally reached out and pushed it away, and then breathed a sigh of relief.

Illya looked curiously, and saw that behind the door was a small cavern, not as polished as the square outside, in the center was a small circular square with nightingale marks painted on the ground, and there were paths that extended in three directions, and three small platforms for people to stand on while maintaining the same spacing, and on the way from the gate to the circular square, there were three square stone tables painted with a crescent, a half-moon, and a full moon, each with a set of fine blue-gray leather armor on their tables.

"Now that I think about it, the choice I made was like a prophecy of fate," Gallus said as he walked to the stone table marked with the crescent moon: "The crescent moon, which is mostly obscured, corresponds to the situation that I have not dared to appear in the public eye all these years." ”

Click-pop-boom-boom

On contact with the stone table, the leather armor on it flew up on its own, dismantling into various parts, such as shoulder armor, chest guards, leg armor, boots, gloves, cloaks, and visors, and attached to Gallus's body with extraordinary precision.

With its wing-like size, helmet and visor shaped like a bird's beak, and gloves and boots shaped like a bird's claws, if you wear it at night and glide down from a height, you might be mistaken for a giant nightingale.

Illya marveled for a moment at the self-wearing armor, only to realize that they were not real armor, but were "attached" to the leather armor that Gallus was wearing at this time, and the shape and material were shaped, which was a very special kind of transformation spell.

"You're okay, I'm going to track down Mercer's whereabouts, and at the same time prevent him from being found, constantly changing identities, just like this half-moon, both a tracker and a fugitive." Kalia said as she walked over to the half-moon stone table, the "leather armor" that had been "dressed" itself on her body like the previous one, but it was clear that many details had been improved in a feminine direction.

"However, the 'Nightingale Ritual' requires three people, and who will replace Mercer's 'Full Moon'?" Gallus was a little dull because his face was obscured by the nightingale's visor.

"I, I, I~ (hearts)" Cicero raised his hand.

"Absolutely not!" Except for Illya, everyone retorted in unison.

"I can't either, unless you want this thing to explode like a black rock outside." Joan of Arc shook her head.

"Hah, isn't that just me? You weren't going to take me before, but what happened? Sylvia laughed and walked to the "Full Moon" stone table.

But just as she reached out to touch the Nightingale Armor, the entire leather armor instantly spread out as if it had been hit by something and flew away.

"Mom, didn't you perform the Hippogriff ceremony? In that case, you and the aunts in the tower will be followers of Helsing, and you won't be able to accept the Lady of the Night's stuff. Since the incident was related to herself, Illya almost immediately thought of the reason.

"What now? Can you two perform the ceremony? If not, go back first, there are still some of my witch sisters who have never performed a ritual, but only believe in the god of wisdom in general. Sylvia took a few steps back away from the stone table, watching as the nightingale began to float back into place.

"No, I'm already ready to communicate with the two of them when I come to Gallus, after all, if I communicate, I'll die, and the two of them will only be very tired—huh?" Kalia explained, half stunned.

As the parts of the Nightingale were flying too slowly, Illya grabbed a glove in front of her and tried to send it back, but felt it instantly stick to her hand, and in the next moment it transformed into a small leather glove that fit her.

Whew-

The parts of the Nightingale Armor that were about to return to the table all stopped for a moment, and then all turned and flew towards Illya, and before she could exclaim, the various parts had been completely assembled, and then, a small "Nightingale" appeared in front of everyone.

"Aunt Kalia? Can I participate in the ceremony? Illya asked with a wink as she lifted her beak mask.

"Of course you can, so that no one will have a burden, come!" Kalia was stunned for a moment, then nodded, and raised her hand to the small platform on the periphery of the circular square: "You and your father are each standing in the same position as your own armor, don't speak, I'll preside over the ceremony." ”

"Oh......" Illya moved her hands and feet and walked towards the platform, as she usually wore mage robes or civilian clothes, and was a little uncomfortable with the weight of leather armor.

"You'd better be sure that this 'ritual' is absolutely safe." Illya heard her mother say this.

"Of course, after all, Illya is also my child," said Kalia, commanding Illya to stand with Gallus, who was completely afraid to speak, "You see, little Gaga thought of me when she chose her daughter's name. ”

No, no, Illia and Karliah aren't quite alike, and the dark elf aunt's logic becomes strange when it comes to this.

However, Eliya's silent retort was of no avail, and she noticed that Sylvia's gaze at Gallus had sharpened.