In the plains with the Necropolis on his back, Richie carried Alisa on his back and walked among the endless graves.

There was still a vast cemetery ahead, and there was no end in sight, and Richie was about to ask how far away he was from the River Styx, but Alisanne on his back began to tremble. The cold breath pierced through the fabric and was transmitted through his slender body.

Li Qi was about to speak, but Alishan spoke first: "Sister Aurora is beautiful, real people are more beautiful than mirages." ”

How did you say that?

"You're beautiful too, Alissa", he hastened to show his normal emotional intelligence.

"Hypocrisy", Alishan did not appreciate it: "I, I can't say it's ugly, let alone beautiful." Even if it is beautiful, it is meaningless, and we people in the church of the dead are very unfortunate in the eyes of others, and if we get too close, we will be tainted with the misfortune of the deceased. ”

"No one else includes me, and I don't care what other people think of you, I just know that you are indeed beautiful. ”

Li Qi said in a very serious tone: "Calling hypocrisy is an insult to my professionalism, you don't know yet, not long ago I just defeated the beauty god and won the championship of the beauty pageant." So when it comes to beauty, there is no more qualified judge than me at the moment. ”

As he spoke, Li Qi was also recalling that the scene where Alishan was waiting for him on the ridge and in front of the temple with a lamp was really beautiful if it was painted into a picture.

"You beat the goddess of beauty in a beauty pageant?"

Alisa burst out laughing at first, and then her body shivered even more, but not cold, but with a hard laugh.

She gasped and said, "His Royal Highness the Duke is really far from the rumored image, more like those idle little nobles in the town, especially good at picking up girls and bragging about how good he is. ”

Her hand around Li Qi's neck tightened slightly: "I actually...... Those who have secretly eaten meat. ”

I vaguely heard the sound of swallowing spit: "Roast pig's head, it's delicious, especially the pig's ear ......"

The dying saint seemed to open the conversation: "Once I ate a mouth full of oil, I didn't wipe it clean, and when I went back, I was scolded by my father, and then I washed my stomach and **, that was the only time I didn't want to be a saint." ”

Li Qi followed her words and asked, "Speaking of which, do you, a holy woman, have any special duties?"

"My duty is to bring the breath of the Necropolis to the deceased, to guide the soul of the deceased, and not to let him wander in the mortal world," Alisa said, "but my qualifications are not good, and I need to come down often to familiarize myself with the aura here." ”

"Come down often, is it the same as it is now?"

Li Qi took a breath, this holy woman can come and go casually in the human world and the underworld?

Alishan's voice became low: "No, it's just consciousness, like now, the spirit and body are one, only twice, and the last time was when I became a saint." ”

Thinking of her qualifications and her identity, Li Qi asked again: "Isn't the saint of your Church of the Dead not selected, but hereditary?"

"This is our fate for generations," said Alissa, "as you know, Duke, that people shun our church. Ordinary people, no matter how poor they are, will not join our church without a special reason. Therefore, the archbishop and the saint are passed down from generation to generation. ”

"I understand", Richie thought of the corpse digger's round hook, and the profession of dealing with bad luck and misfortune, almost all of them.

Although I don't understand why Alishan opened the conversation box and her attitude changed suddenly, Li Qi was still very happy to have someone to chat with during the long journey.

The two of them chatted casually without a theme, and walked past the tombs and into the depths of the plain with no end in sight.

Alisa became more and more active, and she couldn't tell that she was the cold and arrogant saint of the end at all: "Actually, I also want to wear beautiful clothes, I want to dress up beautifully, and I want to make a lot of friends." ”

She said ashamedly: "I used to hate my father, and even hated ...... My lord, but my lord has not forsaken me. ”

Li Qi twitched the corners of his mouth, and said in his heart that your gods have no choice. Just like my Little Red Riding Hood, she may have tried to stomp herself flat many times, but unfortunately, she couldn't find a better spokesperson.

Alisa continued, "Watching the lives of the living in the world of the living, and seeing their souls in the Necropolis towards the River Styx, gradually I feel that this is a good and necessary relief for them. Most of the living were oppressed by heavy suffering, but most persevered to the end, and they completed their mission. ”

"What I do is insignificant, but it makes sense to think of the eternal peace that mortals have attained through it. ”

"It's not right to think so," Richie corrected: "Death is not simply liberation for mortals, the reason why happiness makes people happy, and the reason why suffering makes people fearful, is because human life is limited." If life is infinite, everything is meaningless. ”

Alishan said faintly: "The duke really understands the true meaning of death, and my lord's arrangement is not wrong, I ...... It should be worth it, right?"

Something is wrong with this tone?

Richie was about to ask, but Alishan said, "Leave me alone, the River Styx has arrived." ”

And here it is?

Li Qi raised his eyes and looked at the endless plains ahead, but there were no tombs, and he could vaguely see streams of gray smoke drifting rapidly.

"Does the Styx have to have a river? the galaxy isn't really a river," Alisanne sighed at Richie's ignorance.

I'm sorry, I always thought that the Styx here must have a river, just like the Styx in other fantasy worlds.

Thinking about it again, whether it is various legends or the Lord of the End, there is no mention of the "ferryman", and the Styx in the world of Fein is really different.

No, in fact, there is a "ferryman", that is, the master of the end.

Alisa shook when she landed, and Li Qi held her up, confirming that the previous touch was correct, and that she was indeed wearing only this black robe. Before he could think of anything else, he was startled by the temperature of her body.

It's as cold as ice for 10,000 years......

Looking at Alishan's face again, Li Qi secretly gasped, except that the pupils of his eyes were still moving slightly, and he could feel his breathing, the Saintess of the Dead at this time was almost no different from a corpse.

Alisa rolled her lips quickly, as if she was racing against time: "I'm sorry, Duke, I didn't want to talk to you because I didn't have enough time. If you carry me on your back, I also want to rely on your breath of life to support me for a longer time. ”

"I'm still worried that I won't be able to make it here, but fortunately, I have lived up to my lord's request. ”

When she said this, Li Qi had a bad feeling and said urgently: "Then go back quickly!"

Alisa grinned, but smiled unnaturally because the flesh on her face was as stiff as ice.

"As I said earlier, I will accompany the Duke across the River Styx and into the realm of the dead. ”

Li Qi was worried: "But you look like this......"

Alishan shook her head and said, "Duke, I will be with you for a long time, but you can't be with me anymore." ”

"Tell Sister Aurora that I like her very much, and I like her as Queen Elizabeth the most. ”

"Also, my tombstone is still empty, please ask the Duke to carve an epitaph for me. ”

Li Qi almost jumped up, what are you talking about!?

"Don't Talk......"

Alisa returned to her original cold and arrogant appearance, plugged the long pole lamp in her hand on the ground, and then looked at Li Qi fixedly.

"In the name of my lord Persequis, I, Alisanne Yodel, hereby offer my soul to protect Richie Prell on the journey of the dead. ”

Her figure gradually blurred as if it was on fire, turning into orange and yellow light and shadow similar to the color of the lamp, fluttering and swaying, like a humanoid lamp.

"Arisa ——!"

Richie was startled and reached out to grab her, but his hand fell into the air, and only a ripple was made in the light and shadow.

The light and shadow wrapped around his hands, spreading to him with a slight warmth, and quickly flowing into the pendant around his neck.

It was the pendant that Alisa had given him, and when he gave it to him, he only said that Styx needed it, and he didn't explain it in detail.

Now Richie understands what he's doing with it......

Light and shadow continued to flow into the pendant, and the color of light faded rapidly from orange to a dark green similar to that of the undead. But Li Qi didn't feel a trace of the breath of the undead, only felt that his soul seemed to be covered with a tight and seamless coat, very warm and soft.

There was still a vague thought in the light and shadow, and Li Qi vaguely heard the cry.

"I can't bear my father, I can't bear my partner, I can't give up everything I live......"

"I wouldn't have died if it weren't for Duke Prell, I hate him......"

"This is my duty, this is my destiny......"

"The Duke is an interesting man, and a good man......"

As Alisanne's figure flowed into the pendant, the jumble of voices dissipated, and Richie remained in a position of reach.

After a moment's reckoning, Richie saw another Alissa.

She fell to the ground on her back, her eyes closed, her stray black robe revealing her slender arms and calves, and her skin as white as paper.

It's her soul just now, this is her body.

"Alishan!"

Richie tried to help Alisa up, but as soon as he touched her skin, he knew that it was already a corpse.

"You...... What are you playing?

He still didn't believe it, wondering if Alishan had used some special spell to pull her soul out of her body, hide in the pendant, and continue to walk with him, and then be able to return to her body and come back to life.

"Shall we do it another way? What do you do with your body?"

Li Qi said in a panic: "Why don't you make it clear first? We can work together on a better way?"

"She's dead, Duke. ”

A familiar voice sounded in his ears, making Li Qi suddenly freeze, the Lord of the End.

The Lord of the Dead said lightly: "The pendant you are wearing is an artifact, and its name is Hades Patrol. It protects your soul from the River Styx, while shielding your soul from fluctuations and allowing other dead to see you as one of your kind. ”

"This artifact is no longer valid, and needs to be filled with a qualified, willing soul. Alisa meets this condition, and following my agreement with Lady Crimson, I will give her and this artifact to you. ”

Li Qi muttered dumbly: "She...... Dead? That's it, dead?"

He erupted and roared angrily, "That's it!?"

The Lord of the Dead did not have the slightest fluctuation in his emotions: "It is the best way to let you cross the River Styx safely, but also to protect you from entering the depths of the realm of the dead and reaching the throne of the god of death, I don't understand why you are angry." ”

Li Qi was still very excited: "Because you forcibly gave me such a sacrifice! I don't even have the right to know, let alone oppose it!"

"What's even more hateful is that when I just met her and thought I would have one more friend, I immediately took her life!"

"But these two are just my personal feelings, and they don't matter!"

"The important thing is that sacrifice is only considered when it is compelled to do so! Why should sacrifice be regarded as a necessary and natural thing to eat and drink?

The Lord of the Dead said: "Cherish the life of mortals, is this also the embodiment of the faith of love and liberation......?

He said in a tone as plain as if a mortal would die if he didn't eat, "As for why, I am a god." ”

Li Qi was stunned for a moment, and his anger suddenly dissipated, only turning into deep sorrow, falling into the bottom of his heart, adding another bundle of firewood to the flame of revolution.

He sighed bitterly, "Yes, you are a god......"

Not noticing that his tone was very disrespectful, Li Qi asked with a hint of luck, "Can it be restored?

The Lord of the Dead said, "Unfortunately, her soul is not strong enough and has been dissolved by the artifact......"

"Your Majesty Persequis", Richie's tone turned cold, "I am grateful that you can faithfully fulfill your agreement with my lord. But I'll settle accounts with you in the future. That's right, it's me, not my goddess. ”

"I don't understand it too well, but I'm looking forward to it," said the Lord of the Dead, "It was indeed my negligence that I didn't tell you beforehand, and as a small apology, I would like to give you a reminder." ”

Li Qi suppressed his disgust for the Lord of the Dead, and said angrily: "What's the matter? It's the fee of two gold coins missing from my eyelids?"

The Lord of the Dead obviously didn't hear this stalk, and said in an unchanged tone: "Pay attention to the back." ”

Behind!?

Li Qi was confused, and wanted to ask carefully, but the Lord of the Dead did not respond.

Picking up stones from nearby and building a rudimentary tomb for Alishan's body, Li Qi said in a deep voice: "Alishan, if I can go back alive, I will engrave 'You are with me' on your tombstone, you won't object, right?"

At the ridge of Alishan, where Li Qi first saw Alishan, in the small temple, a thin middle-aged man withdrew his gaze from staring in mid-air.

In his vision, Richie's figure had disappeared into the River Styx.

"His Majesty Bossques......"

The dim light on the wall flickered slightly, and a strange female voice was heard: "How do I find him?"

The man waved his hand, and the flame of the lamp suddenly rose a little, and the small hall instantly lit up a lot, and gradually returned to normal.

"Your Majesty is really willing to do it", the female voice received the message, and there was a hint of doubt in her joyful tone: "Do you really want to ......?"

"In my plan, you are only an assistant, of course what you have in mind, I don't know and I can't stop you, can I?"

The Lord of the Dead said, "I just want the Death's throne to no longer be empty, and we should agree on that, Your Majesty Darkmoon." ”

"I'm just a little undead monarch, and I can't afford to be called that in front of Your Majesty," the voice laughed, "It's better to call me Fenlinde, and it's better to call me Fanny." ”

The Lord of the Dead did not speak, and the flame suddenly went out.

In the darkness, the vision of the Lord of the Dying penetrated space and power, and "saw" a cold white point of light, moving little by little towards the opposite bank in the turbulent river.

The Lord of the Dead did not look at the white light, but at the looming filaments of light that extended from the white light. Although it is extremely dim, it can still distinguish various light colors such as light gold, cold white, and warm white.

"It's a strange ......," the Lord of the Dead sighed in a low voice, "I don't know how much change it can bring to the Underworld. ”

Following a certain pale golden filament, he traced all the way, and finally on the way into the Great Plains, he did not enter a strange figure.

This figure is a cloud of flying ash gathered, constantly surging and changing, as if trying to condense and form.

Behind this cloud of fly ash, there are more than a dozen similar figures, and a small ball of fly ash, which is directly behind the leader of the fly ash.

On the filament of light that only the gods could see, a slight fluctuation came in, and the flying ash shook suddenly.

A head gradually took shape, and it was a black-haired young man, with his eyes wide open but his eyes closed, as if he was facing some great disaster.

"Min......... Kai ......"

The young man's mouth opened slightly, like a dying fish, and he whispered meaningless syllables.