When Hageston Cemetery was first built, its designers chose this solemn place, surrounded by pines and cypresses, covered with forest fog, and above the silent clearing, there is a stone monument like no other.

The stele records the extraordinary deeds of its master, who was buried under this place after his death, and the inscription is written on the pedestal in Inwatt script:

'Be with all the saints, and may they have everlasting peace—'

The dwarven saints are the kings of the mountains, and the scattered sparks under the hammer of Talos, each of the brightest stars, is the existence of a hero.

Since Inwatt cuneiform is one of the oldest dwarven languages in Aitaria itself, it is not difficult to guess the identity of the tombstone's owner.

The stele reads:

The deeds of the heroes he followed all his life are like a poem haunting the dreams of his master, and the great and brave feats he witnessed during his lifetime have now become stories and legends. ’

'Traveler of the past, please stop, there is a noble soul buried in the ground here, perhaps you have heard such a name-'

'The heroic sword-bearer, the brave groom, the dragonslayer's retinue, the shadow behind the noble man in countless songs, the tomb of Sir Hagston-Duke Horstins. ’

If you are familiar with the dwarven culture of Aitalia.

Then it's not hard to see the meaning behind the name.

Haggerston means horse breeder and groom in dwarven language, Duke is a common religious name, dwarves believe in the king of the forge, the master, the protector of the dwarves, Rotas, so as long as born in the dwarven society, received the ritual of anointing the holy oil, any dwarf will have their own religious name.

Finally, there is the family name, which might look more like a typical dwarven name if the more obvious name of the 'Steelbrow' clan were used instead of the human translation of Hostins.

But the name 'Earl of Hostins' may be more well-known in the kingdom of Cowling, because this dwarven family that emerged in the human kingdom a hundred years ago has a rather glorious past behind it.

The reason for this lies in this inscription.

Several dragon-worshippers surrounded the stele.

Exactly the tall man who surrounded them, though no one knew the name or identity of the latter, only the evocative code name - the messenger.

The latter is looking at the stele.

One of Bane's eyes beside him was dim, and the only remaining eye was also full of impatience, and he looked around and complained, "Mr. Messenger, I know that this stele has a special meaning, but it is not real, it is just an illusion, should we do something more meaningful?" ”

The messenger turned his head and smiled faintly: "It's all the more worth seeing because it's not true, who would have thought that we could go back thirty years ago and see all this?" This is the beginning of everything, how many people in the world understand that the truth is buried under a ruin? ”

Bane shrugged, not quite understanding the other party's feelings, nothing for him was as simple and straightforward as physically eliminating the opponent, these things were really boring.

But that's all he would dare to say.

He knows very well how terrible the other party is.

The former, however, seemed very talkative, and continued: "He is a follower of heroes, the groom of Huyord, who has followed the dragon-slaying hero all his life, and is the famous Earl of Horstins, and has no regrets in his life. But a few people in the world know that in the end, if it weren't for this person's greed and secretly replaced the dragon's golden pupil, the latter should have been cut to pieces by Xiu Youde with a sword in the White Tower, how could we have everything today? ”

Bane couldn't help but be silent for a moment when he heard this, and he was a little apprehensive: "But it's good that he did that." ”

The messenger shook his head: "You think that's what he intended?" ”

"My lord, but ......?"

"Everyone has greed, but the dragon's golden pupil took advantage of him. Once greed grows, it will be out of control, and lust grows from the depths of the heart, like filth covering the eyes, blinding reason, it will make people more proud and arrogant, and from then on, they will not be able to do something crazy. ”

The man's voice was faint, but there was a chill: "So human beings are so weak, even heroes are not exempt from vulgarity, and those things we pursue require us to abandon these wandering ignorant feelings." ”

He turned his head and looked at Bane, "Do you understand, Bane?" ”

Bane shivered and nodded.

There was some silence in the pine forest, and only a raven was croaking not far away, but the believers present did not care, and seemed to have long been accustomed to such an environment.

In the distance, the people of the Dragon Fire Guild didn't know who they were fighting against, and from time to time the flames flashed, and the sound of gunshots like bursting beans could be heard in the distance.

That direction is the direction of Horstins Cathedral—

Bann couldn't help but look back in loneliness, not quite understanding what they were waiting for here, the stele looked old, covered in moss, and the handwriting was blurred.

But even if the words were legible, he didn't recognize what was written on them.

"My lord, do we really expect those people to snatch back the blade of false victory?" He finally couldn't help but ask, and the suspicion in his tone was overflowing.

"Did you see that before?" The messenger asked, looking back.

Bane was slightly stunned: "What? ”

The messenger said, "The dragon's golden pupils." ”

Bane said with some incomprehension, "Didn't we all see it, and those people from the Dragon Fire Guild?" ”

The messenger shook his head, "Bane, you haven't experienced what happened thirty years ago, and neither do I. But it was in that catastrophe that Lord Manlow's father died, and only 'catastrophe' can describe the failure we experienced at that time, and he personally instructed me before he came, and everything he saw in this illusion was unbelievable. ”

"But I don't understand?"

The messenger said, "Think about what we are going to do, Bane. ”

"Your Excellency, you mean, kill Lord Nicol Bolas?" Bane swallowed a big gulp: "But it's just an illusion, we have to get the Blade of False Victory to complete this process in order to get the Dragon's Golden Pupil, and we don't really want to be an enemy of Lord Nicol Bolas - Lord Bishop said that it was an illusion set up by Lord Nicol Bolas's enemies, and it is not enough to be trusted." ”

The messenger was noncommittal when he heard this answer, and only glanced at the other man meaningfully.

"So why did we fail thirty years ago?" He asked rhetorically.

Bane suddenly got stuck.

How could he know so much, all the things he knew were told to him by the 'priests', but why did he fail thirty years ago, who knows?

That's something that Master Manlo can't even guess.

The messenger shook his head, "But you're right, I never expected anyone from the Dragonfire Guild to really do anything unexpected. Seriously, they've exceeded my expectations, at least until they got into this illusion. ”

He looked at Bane closely, "Bane, I understand what you're thinking. But you have to correct the perception that these unexpected allies are important to us, that their world ......"

He thought about it for a while, but decided to give up the topic and shook his head: "All in all, for your father's sake, I will give you some chances, but within the limits of my tolerance. ”

Hearing this, the vicious man nodded quickly and honestly.

Then the messenger suddenly stopped and looked in the direction of the forest.

The bushes there suddenly moved, parted left and right, and a group of people came out of it. The men's attire was not much different from theirs, except that the hood covered half of their faces, and the edges were tattered, as if they were artificial.

As he got closer, Bane saw that the men's cloaks were trimmed with metal scales, with dragon's eye pendants tied around their belts, and they were armed with nine-tailed whips and a blood-stained nail cone.

"Eternal!" When Bane saw these people, he couldn't help but gasp and looked at the messenger in shock: "They are here too?" ”

But the messenger did not look at him, and coldly asked those who came: "The raven must have come to me ready, right?" ”

The Eternals nodded.

One of them said, "The fog near Hostings Cathedral has already cleared for the most part, and someone has indeed seen that person enter the cathedral before, and we have identified several key seals, and it shouldn't be a problem to enter the cathedral next step - it's just that Lord Raven is not sure if the fog has dissipated is related to the Blade of False Victory." ”

When the man spoke, his voice sizzled strangely, like a viper spitting out a letter, or like the murmur of metal rubbing. Bane frowned when he heard this, as if he was extremely uncomfortable.

But the other party seemed to be quite complacent about this voice, and glanced at Bane with some smugness.

The messenger asked, "Do you see what the firefight is going on over there?" ”

The man replied, "It seems that someone else has infiltrated the vicinity of the cathedral, but not like the Knights of the Oak Order of Tapolis, and we don't know which side it is." They should have fought with the people of the Dragonfire Guild, and we will pay special attention to this side. ”

"Caution," replied the Courier, "this is the final battle, and the true resurrection of Lord Nicol Bolas is the most important step in this plan, and the situation of thirty years ago must not be repeated, and must be succeeded in one fell swoop." ”

"Understood."

Shin drew a strange symbol on his heart with his hand, and said something of unknown significance: "Thorin will eventually dominate everything and pursue the immortal Ita." ”

The Eternals waited for a response before turning away and disappearing into the bushes again.

Bane watched this scene dumbfounded, and after a while he reacted, and asked a little excitedly: "My lord, it turns out that you were really prepared, but I didn't expect to see the Eternals, it is rumored that they have been fighting with the elves of Aquinn - behind this mission, are they 'those people'?" ”

But he didn't expect the former, who was still very good at talking before, to look at him coldly.

"Shut up."

The latter seemed to realize something at this time, and was silent for a moment.

……

The road leading from Fogshield Avenue to Hostings Cathedral passes through a wooden bridge, and under the wooden bridge is nothing more than a small stream that happens to be overgrown with reeds this season.

Fang Ou and Heath hid under the bridge together, carefully listening to the chaotic footsteps on the bridge board, and the dust fluttered down and fell on top of their heads.

The two of them didn't even dare to take a breath, let alone cough or sneeze.

After a long while, Fang Yu heard that there was no longer any abnormal noise outside, so he climbed up the dirt slope and probed his head to look outside, and only after confirming that there was no one did he breathe a sigh.

Heath below couldn't help but cough lightly twice.

Both of them are wading across the river, and the scene in the fantasy world is only between April and May, and the night wind blows, and they are a little cold. But Fang Yu is a little curious, will the ghost also catch a cold?

But thinking so, he still took off his coat and put it on the other party in a very gentlemanly manner, because he was relatively tall, at least the coat was still mostly dry.

Heath gave him a grateful look.

She seemed to want to say something, but Fang Yu motioned for her not to speak first, and then he climbed out to take another look. The two of them had managed to use Type III walkers to get rid of the pursuers of the Dragon Fire Union, but they didn't expect to accidentally attract the Dragon Worshippers when they recovered, which was a long time coming.

Fortunately, although the Dragon Worship Cultist has a high level, it is not like the Dragon Fire Guild that is good at tracking the Elector, and finally let him evade the other party's search with the cover of this bridge.

It's just that the two sides chased and fled, and although Fang Yu tried to keep close to the direction of Horstins Cathedral, he didn't dare to guarantee that he had found the right direction in the darkness.

He had to make sure where he was first, and it would be hilarious if he accidentally ran back to the town hall.

Fortunately, God didn't play this huge joke on him.

He hid in the grass and looked out, and in the distance there were still hazel groves on either side of the road, which zigzagged ahead, and then he saw something dark—and after a moment of careful discernment, he could tell that it was a grape trellis.

He was glad that it was the estate of Horstins Cathedral, or even the winery of Fogshield Manor, which stood next to the cathedral, and that he was basically on the ground.

The so-called Great Sanctuary, which was used as the residence of the priests of Ori, was naturally not just a church, in fact, the entire area, including the Fog Shield Manor, belonged to the church - and what he wanted to find was the school building of Hollitt College, which actually had nothing to do with the main building of the church.

But at least I got it in the right direction, and I got off to a good start.

Fang Yu didn't want to think about where the others had gone for the time being, since he had exchanged hands with the Dragon Fire Guild, there were sounds of firefights coming from time to time nearby, and he didn't know if there were anyone else in it.

He had asked Momiji and Parker earlier, and both of them replied that they hadn't been found yet.

As for the rest of Sylvid and Shesta, Fang Yu always felt that everyone had been discovered, and the noble lady might be able to hide it well.

I don't know where his confidence comes from, but Fang Yu has such certainty in his heart, as if it is intuition.

Moreover, apart from the others, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no people from the Knights of Tapolis, or people brought by memories, or some other part.

For some reason, Fang Yu thought of the masked man again.

With this in mind, he looked around, and found that the fog in this place was inexplicably thicker than outside, which was really causing him trouble.

Then he remembered that he also had a 'local guide', and secretly cursed that he was really mentally retarded, and then climbed back again. And under the bridge, Heath was staring nervously at the top at the moment, and when she saw him come back, she showed a relieved look.

Fang Yu came down and immediately asked, "Heath, do you know where Hollitt Academy is?" ”

Heath nodded.

"Can you take me to that place?"

Heath hurriedly nodded again.

Fang Yu couldn't help but be satisfied, and then asked, "By the way, why are you in this place?" ”

Heath showed an anxious look at this time, and said eagerly: "Mr. Eddard, save Hudi!" ”

"Hudi?" Fang Yu was stunned for a moment, thinking that he was still looking for that guy: "What's wrong with him?" ”

"Mr. Eddard, the dragon's golden pupil took him to that place, and it won't be too late—"

Fang Yu was slightly stunned: "That place? ”

……