Underground palaces, the path to the deepest layers.

The endless staircase seems to lead to the abyss hell, the ancient and deep black stone wall seems to seal the original malice of this world, row after row of magic crystal lamps are embedded in the two sides of this sloping down staircase, but the bright light seems to be powerless to fight against the darkness entrenched in this passage, the light emitted by the magic crystal can only illuminate a small part of the walls and steps, where the light cannot reach, it will always be a daunting darkness.

The sound of vines and roots grinding between the stairs and the hallway rang out, and Bertilla walked unhurriedly through the passage to the abyss of flesh, a faint mad murmur echoing in her mind, her figure moving forward in the feeble light of the magic crystal, and the darkness closing behind her.

The staircase leading to the deepest part of the palace is divided into several levels, and basically every long inclined ramp is followed by a layer of gentler corridors, which seem to provide some kind of cushion for the descending staircase, allowing the person walking on the ramp to rest a little, relieving the insane psychological stress - but in fact Berthira knows very well that the best way to get through this staircase safely is not to stop anywhere.

Each gentle corridor has two stone doors, and with each such "pair" of stone doors, the forerunner is affected by a deeper level, the mad whispers and the fear that seems to be constantly consumed by darkness grows stronger, and every minute of stay on the road means a step closer to madness and death.

An extraordinarily heavy and ancient stone door appeared in front of Beltila, and the surface of this stone door depicted twisted flesh, plants, and a mysterious starry sky that did not exist in this era at all: the last barrier to the "secret room".

In front of the stone gate, two tall figures bent down slightly, and saluted Beltila in silence.

They were two formidable creatures - even though their human features still lingered on them, they really couldn't be described as "human". They have growth-strewn, swollen and deformed heads, eyes and ears that have been severely degenerated and turned into sinuous tentacle-like structures, and their limbs are thicker than those of humans and are wrapped in bandages to prevent the out-of-control flesh from separating from their bodies - they are the "keepers" of the dungeon.

These caretakers cannot speak, see, or hear, and even their way of thinking and perception has mutated into an inhuman state.

Before becoming the Wardens, they were the most fanatical and loyal members of the Society of the End of Everything, paying an unimaginable price for humanity, and even mutating into this chilling state, in order to be able to guard the deepest secrets of this underground palace for a long time, because ordinary human guards simply could not hold out in this passage for long.

Thinking of the Grand Imam who had been in the "Chamber of Secrets" since seven hundred years ago, even Bertila couldn't help but feel a slight shudder, she nodded to the caretaker, and then walked forward with a solemn expression.

The heavy, ancient, unknown stone door opened in front of Beltila, and a small hall with three forks in the road appeared before her.

The fork in the middle leads to the real "Abyss of Flesh and Blood", the left leads to the "Sacrifice Ground", and the right is the secret room where the Grand Imam is located.

Bertilla walked forward, and the moment she stepped through the door, countless crazy whispers suddenly intensified, as if they were about to devour people, and the female imam couldn't help but frown, and then walked to the Grand Imam's secret room in the entanglement of crazy whispers.

The "caretaker" standing in front of the chamber was still silent and saluted Bertilla and helped open the door to the chamber.

The moment she walked into the secret room, all the crazy babbling disappeared in an instant, and the chaotic mental pressure that had always pressed on her body was gone, and Beltila breathed a sigh of relief, she knew that this was the power of the Grand Imam.

The chamber was not large, and there was no decoration in it except for some stone tables, chairs, and furniture, and the formidable Grand Imam was in the center of the chamber, sitting behind the stone desk, looking through a large, thick and ancient book.

Bertila couldn't help but glance at the book, and a powerful spiritual attraction immediately held her tightly, but before she was completely controlled by the "ultimate book" that could never be read, she forcibly looked away, and bowed to the black-robed and vague-faced Grand Imam behind the desk: "Grand Imam." ”

The Grand Imam's voice came from under the hood, mixed with a hoarse voice: "I heard that your actions were exposed, and you were injured?" ”

“…… Yes," Bertilla hesitated for less than a second, but nodded in confession, "I was careless. ”

"It's okay, it's just a small matter," the Grand Imam said lightly, as if he really didn't care about this failure, "we won't have to hide it soon, those elves won't cause much trouble." How's the matter I've ordered you to investigate progressing compared to that? ”

"The Sleepers refer to Gawain as 'Wanderers of the Territory', and they seem to have gotten some information and judged Gawain accordingly? Cecil's resurrection was an illusion of an alien 'demon' or 'unspeakable being' taking possession of the body. ”

"Wanderer......" the Grand Imam muttered, and then, seemingly casually, brushed his hand over the "Ultimate Book", which immediately emitted a buzzing sound, and the pages spontaneously flipped and landed on one page.

The Grand Imam glanced at the page and shook his head slightly, "There is no information about extraterritorial wanderers on the Ultimate Book. ”

Bertila said cautiously, "So...... Is this intelligence fake? ”

"It's also possible that it's beyond mortal comprehension and involves the secrets of the gods," the Grand Imam closed the Book of Ultimate and said in an indifferent tone, "Gawain? Cecil could not be resurrected, you know that. ”

"Yes," Bertila bowed her head slightly, "and what about Gawain after that?" What is Cecil's action to take? ”

The Grand Imam opened the Book of Ultimate again, brushing his hand over the pages, this time the pages of the Book of Ultimate turned with even more frantic speed and amplitude, and stopped at one of the pages after a few seconds.

"The answer to the Ultimate Book remains the same," the Grand Imam said lightly, "no contact, no interference, no distance." ”

"Yes."

The Grand Imam nodded slightly, and his deep voice came from under the hood, "Have we started our arrangements in Ansu and Typhon?" ”

"By your command, war will come in a false peace."

The Grand Imam was silent for a long time, and let out a slight sigh: "...... This is the price that mortals must pay to break free from their fate. ”

"One thing is of great concern, Grand Imam," Bertila said suddenly, "the activities of the Church of the Light have been becoming more and more radical lately, and in the name of fighting heresy, they have begun to suppress other sects in various places, and to absorb shallow believers and new believers on a large scale, and in a short time they have doubled in size by ......"

"Shallow Believers...... Do you want to rely on numbers......" the Grand Imam muttered to himself, and finally shook his head, "Kill yourself...... If they continue to develop, sooner or later they will be swallowed up by the light of their faith, and all their efforts at the moment are nothing more than weaving a noose for themselves. ”

"But if they do succeed, I'm afraid the God of Light will become an invincible being......"

"The other sects will not sit still, the stronger the power of the Holy Light, the stronger the resistance it will have to face," the Grand Imam shook his head slightly, "Anyway, now is not the time for us to intervene. ”

"Yes."

Dozens of minutes later, Bertila left the bottom floor of the dungeon, through the deep corridors filled with crazy whispering, dark and terrifying, and left all the auditory hallucinations behind, the female imam exhaled slightly.

Looking at the brightly lit dungeon corridor in front of her, she whispered to herself: "'Extraterritorial Wanderer' that even the Ultimate Book can't answer......"

In the city of Saint-Sunil, in front of Cecil's mansion at 4 Crown Street, there is a constant stream of visitors.

This is the second time in a century that the house has been buzzing like this in the whole century since the Cecil family hit rock bottom overnight.

Last time or Gawain? When Duke Cecil returned to the royal capital.

The multiple recruitment messages sent out by Santis did have an effect, and even if people's doubts about the Dark Mountains were still there, there were still many people who would take a look at the situation - but most of the people who responded to the recruitment could only meet and report to the contacts left by Santis in the Craftsman Guild and the Scholars Guild, and those who were eligible to come to Four Crown Street must at least be a member of the Mage Guild with the official transcendental level, or have a letter of recommendation from a big person.

But even with such a "filter", No. 4 Crown Street has received dozens of visiting guests during the day.

It makes sense that there are so many responders - half a year ago, when Gawain first released recruitment information in the royal capital, the southern frontier development was still just a piece of paper, except for a development plan, people could not see any security and prospects, and naturally there were no responders, but now no matter how you say it, more than half a year has passed, and the southern frontier development team has at least indeed gained a firm foothold, which is equivalent to breaking most of the bad rumors about the dark mountain range, and Santis, a member of the mage association, is holding the duke's order at this time, Leading a glamorous team and conducting an official open recruitment in the royal capital, the situation will naturally be different.

At least, this time, the scholars, mages, and craftsmen of the royal capital can see some practical guarantees.

Those who have achieved something and do not worry about survival may not waver, but those who are already downcast and just want to survive will inevitably appear tempted.

Among all the people who responded to the recruitment, the largest number were rune craftsmen and mechanics who signed up in the Craftsman Association, followed by the down-and-out scholars and clerks who signed up in the Scholars Association, and the number of mages was the smallest, and a considerable number of them just maintained a wait-and-see mentality.

Standing in the living room on the first floor of the mansion, the "witch" Jipley greeted visitors in mage robes or robes with a smile on her face, quietly observing the subtle changes in each person's expression.