"From the moment the bird left the nest, it was looking for the thorn tree...... When it pierces its body into thorns and is dying, it begins to sing until it dies at ......the end of the song" (Note 1)

As she descended the endless staircase, the urgency of fate echoing with every step, she wanted to end this ridiculous journey and stay in Fort Campana until the end of the apocalypse. But she doesn't want to live like an animal, and it's not her heartbeat and feed that drives her to live, it's her dreams.

"People need dreams, and the more ridiculous they are, the more wonderful they are, like eating sugar in the sea, like basking in the midnight sun."

She remembered this sentence as if it came from her mother, who was a person who dared to follow her dreams, but also lost her life because of following them. Like a moth, desperate to rush into the raging fire, just to embrace that moment of light, even if it costs its life, even if it turns to ashes.

So, what fate awaits her?

Vikirik didn't have a detailed number in mind, but people have to walk if they live, and no matter what end awaits her, she can only run forward on the road non-stop.

"Abel, how far do we have to go?"

The empty tower was eerily quiet, so quiet that Draenor couldn't help but hold his breath, and he couldn't tell if the words were his own whispers or pure thoughts in his head.

There was a sudden commotion outside the window, which made Vikirico have an ominous premonition, it stands to reason that Campana Fort should be the safest place in the whole of Nikanlos, and if there is any abrupt sound to break the silence here, it is probably something big is going to happen.

She hurriedly climbed up to the window and looked out, only to see that the walls were crowded with black crowds that were almost overflowing from the mountain road to the bottom of the mountain, and among them were holding wooden signs with the words "Release Liberty" in the Misarian language.

"Damn, what the hell are these guys doing?" Judging by their clothing and accents, those people did not look like the inhabitants of the Imperial City. And the inhabitants of the imperial city loved their emperor very much, and there was only one place where the inhabitants were able to do this - the Hermanstats.

The reason why Hecheng built an underground shelter is precisely because it is on the periphery of the Pillar of Great House, which is not protected by the Imperial City, and is also used as a grain warehouse by the northern realm, and the people of Hecheng have always been prejudiced against the northern realm, but they never expected that they would be so bold as to dare to run to the door of Campana Fort.

Vicilico carefully searched the crowd for clues, and sure enough, at the gate of the Campana Fort, there were several tall men dressed in black.

"Desmeig? Which one are they going to do? Vikily was sure that Desmeig wouldn't be so aggressive just to capture them, and that they were so well disguised along the way that they shouldn't be the object of suspicion.

"Dear Frews the Great! We are entrusted by the nobles of Hecheng to beg you and the royal family to stop the oppression of Hecheng! If you remain silent, we will storm the city at any time! A man with a long-brimmed felt hat shouted, Vickily remembered the voice, he was the leader of the men in black, Diego.

"What happened? It's noisy outside. Jeanne leaned her ear close to the window, the sound unsettling her.

"These guys are afraid that they are going to rebel, we have to find a place to hide, if we let them in, we will kill two birds with one stone." Viciliko hurriedly looked around the tower, they had already walked downstairs, and being trapped in this tower would be tantamount to letting Desmeig catch a turtle in an urn.

She suddenly remembered the letter her father had written to her, and the key that was in the envelope, and she quickly pulled it out of her bosom, a silver key that only this Aveline Tower could use.

"Vicky, what are you doing? There's no time for you to feel the past now! Draenor urged her anxiously.

"Chamber of Secrets...... This thing should be the key to a secret room in the tower! Vikirico focused, recalling the time she had frolicked with Fredot in the tower, and they had found a strange stone brick that wouldn't be pressed back, as if it had been stuck in the wall.

"That brick, I remember it was around here!" Vicchily turned and jumped down the stairs as she spoke, and before she had time to dust off her body, she pressed her body against the wall by the staircase to look for the strange stone brick.

The walls were covered with dust, and she fumbled for the walls to almost be blinded by the falling dust, when suddenly, her fingers touched a rectangular bulge, and she quickly crouched down to blow away the dust around her.

"Draenor, come and do me a favor!" Vicky turned her head and called out to Draenor.

"See this brick? Unplug it! "Yes, when she and Fredo were children, they couldn't push the raised stone brick, but they never thought to pull it out entirely.

Draenor did as she said, gripped the stone brick with both hands, stepped on the wall with one foot, leaned back and pulled the long stone brick out.

"Good fellow, this thing has to be a meter long, right?" Draenor looked at the pillar-like brick in his hand in surprise.

Vickyli didn't care about talking nonsense with him and pushed Draenor away. The hole left by the stone bricks was about twenty centimeters wide and fifteen centimeters high, just big enough to fit into one of her arms.

Vicilico pinched the key with her right hand and reached into the hole, she seemed to have touched some metal parts, which should be the keyhole of the secret room, so she decisively inserted the key into it, twisted it to the right, and saw that the wall around her began to shake violently, and the dust scattered on the ground like a waterfall. The wall slowly receded, and a staircase leading to the ground appeared in front of you.

"The Chamber of Secrets? I knew it! Vicilico pulled out the key, a triumphant joy on her face.

"Don't worry about it so much, while those people haven't entered the palace, we have to hurry down!" As she spoke, Vicky turned and rushed deeper into the stairs, and the other three didn't have time to hesitate to chase after them.

The walls slowly closed, and it was pitch black before everyone's eyes. Vikirico's eyes were not yet fully accustomed to the darkness, and she felt the wall and walked down little by little, she seemed to feel a strange chain, and habitually pulled it down, only to hear the sound of "brush", and a huge crystal lamp suddenly lit up.

"My eyes...... Can you say that beforehand? Draenor was staring in the direction of the crystal lamp as the light came on, and the bright light flickered, almost blinding him.

"Sorry, I didn't know there were lights in this place...... "Vicilico squinted her eyes and gradually adjusted to the bright light.

She remembered the crystal lamp, which was not lit by electricity, but because of the box in the center with a strange phosphor, and the flip switch would dip the box in a transparent container filled with water, and the phosphor would emit a harsh white light when it met the water, but when the switch was pulled again, it would leave the container, and the light would dim a little.

"It's weird, remember that underground factory in Hecheng? This lamp is exactly the same as the one in my house! Vicilico said excitedly, as if she had returned to her house in Hecheng. But she soon fell silent, for she could clearly see that the entire structure of the chamber was visible to her in the light of the light.

It's a secret room, but it's more like a church buried underground, and the walls around it are covered with reliefs made of red ore, a mineral that no one has ever seen, and it glows with a blood-red streamer in the light.

The reliefs are a record of some history or mythology, and the reliefs on either side are countless human figures kneeling on the ground, staring at the wall in the center with longing eyes, it is a woman flying in the sky covered in curly hair, and she has four huge wings behind her, almost covering the entire sky. The woman was half-open, with her arms open, in the worship of the crowd.

The underside of each wall was a pile of dry bones covered in rags.

"It's ...... Where? Vicilico was deeply frightened, she had never heard anyone in her family talk about such a strange secret room. Red eyes looked closely at the center of the wall, and on the woman's chest was a raised white stone pillar with some twisted text carved into it.

"Is this ...... Ruby? Grory's greed for money was revealed, and he reached out to touch the blood-red relief, but the moment he touched the wall, he felt a sharp sting pain from his fingers, and the relief suddenly greedily sucked the blood from him as if it were alive.

"It's ...... Yes!!! Vekily heard Grori's screams, turned and leaped to her feet, knocking him to the ground.

Poor Glori stared at her right hand and struggled to pass out. Vikli quickly grabbed his arm that had been attacked by the relief, but was frightened into a cold sweat by the scene in front of him.

Where is the arm, the entire right hand has been sucked dry and turned into twisted dry bones!

Vicky quickly picked up Glori away from the wall, and within seconds of her unnoticed, the statue devoured his entire right hand alive.

"Be careful! Don't mess around! Vikirico turned her head to Draenor and Jeanne in warning, staring at the wall, where the reliefs were enjoying the feast, slowly squirming on the wall like leeches dipped in a pool of blood.

"Damn, how do we get out of here?" Draenor was starting to get nervous, and the scene in front of him made him feel like he was in hell.

Vickily ripped open Glori's sleeve, only to see that the rest of his arm was unscathed, and he could still feel his pulse.

"It seems that this strange stone sucks blood, but it doesn't seem to actively attack, just keep your distance and don't touch it."

Vikliko warned the two of them, and she slowly walked to the central relief, where the woman looked like herself, and had long, curly hair, which made her shiver.

When she walked to the pillar of the relief, she finally saw the ancient Misalan script written on it.

"'Borrow the body of the ancestors, inherit the bloodline'? What does that mean? "Vicili feels like a poem, but there's something missing, and it's technically part of a poem.

There is a horizontal circular groove in the center of the stone pillar, like a container used to hold something.

Vicilico suddenly remembered the key she had used, pulled it out of her bosom, and read the words engraved on it.

"'Nourish the thorns with the blood of inheritance......,'" Vicilico's eyes widened, and she stared at the embossed eyes, thinking of the combination of the two poems. Suddenly, the entire wall began to shake violently, and several Misarean letters slowly appeared above the head of the embossed woman.

“navlien...... Naulion? Is she my ancestor? The hidden history came to life before Viklico's eyes, she had never heard of the ancient name, but she was sure that the woman in the relief was one of her ancestors, and the blood flowing in her body boiled violently in front of the relief, and this was the best proof of this.

The pillar slowly sloped downward, extending out in front of Viklico.

Remembering the meaning of these two verses, Vikily pulled out an arrow and slashed her wrist. Resisting the stinging pain, she pressed her palm against the top edge of the stone pillar, blood dripping down the circular groove.

There was a sudden tremor from the stone pillar, and she quickly retracted her arm, and the wound trembled and gradually healed. The blood in the groove gradually spread as it trembled, and the blood flowed like a worm around the white stone pillar, towards the woman's chest.

"Vicky be careful! Stay away from that weird thing! ”

Ignoring Draenor's dissuasion, Vickyli stood under the pillar and carefully observed the changes in the relief.

The woman's eyes slowly opened wide, blood was sucked into her chest, and the outline of her arms became clear, moving against the wall. The blood worms flowed down the embossed arms to the palms, growing together like thorns, the walls stopped shaking, and the woman dragged the thorns downward with her arms.

The blood coagulated, revealing streamers of red metal, and the thorns twisted and spread to one end, forming a sharp, pointed blade—a spear that shimmered with blood.

Vicilico knew that this was a relic of the relief carved to herself, and although she didn't know who Naullian was, as her descendant, Vicilico had to accept her will.

She crouched down, leaped into the air, and took the spear from the woman's hand. In that moment, Vikily could touch the woman's finger carved out of blood-colored ore, but instead of being hurt like Grori, she felt a hint of warmth.

The spear radiated heat like a living being, and the dense and delicate lines were more like countless slender veins, spreading from the sharp edge of the spear to the end of the other end.

"'The Bird of Naulion'?" She stroked the carved words on the hilt of the spear, and the temperature of the spear seemed to slowly fade.

"A bird born in the blood thorns, then you are a thorn bird?" As if hearing Viklico's call, the spear gradually regained its temperature, glowing crimson on Viklico's fingertips.

There was a movement overhead, and she looked up to see the corners of the woman's mouth on the relief slightly raised, like a proud smile on the face of an elder. The wall beside the woman slowly descended into the ground, and a path into the unknown appeared in front of her.

Suddenly, there was a deafening jolt from the ceiling, and the entire underground palace began to tremble with the violent crash.

"Anyway, the vicinity of Fort Campana is dangerous right now, and we can only continue from here!"

Vickily said as she returned to the crowd, wrapped her spear in a white cloth and stuck it in the gap in her backpack, picked up the unconscious Grori, and led the two of them to the unknown path.