Chapter 29: Prelude to the Crisis

In the darkness of the night, a figure in a cloak and hood glides through the fortress city. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info in the midst of the cemetery of Lantier.

Although this figure was carrying a huge bag, it was still amazingly agile, and it was extremely sensitive to avoid the magic lights and guards of the cemetery all the way, and like a wandering ghost, it continued to advance into the most inaccessible depths of the cemetery.

Finally, in front of the temple in the center of the cemetery, she finally stopped and slowly peeked out from under her hood.

This is a young woman in her twenties, in the prime of her life. The blonde hair is brilliant and dazzling, and the facial features are beautiful and upright, with a cute childishness like a feline. But it is also as dangerous as a seemingly cute cat, and can reveal the ferocious nature of a carnivore at any time.

In addition, although she wore a black cloak with a hood, her shoulders and waist were bare in a bold manner, completely ignoring the cold of the spring evening breeze.

“…… It's finally here. ”

The woman muttered in a playful tone, reached out and picked up her short blonde hair, then carried the bag and pushed open the stone door and entered the temple.

The interior of the temple in the darkness was empty, and there was nothing on the stone platform where the corpses and sacrifices had been placed, only the strong smell of smoke lingering, and the excessively sweet smell irritated the woman's nostrils, making her frown a little unpleasantly, and then she pretended to hum a song lightly.

“…… Hum-hey-"

Humming, the woman found an inconspicuous figurine from under the pedestal, and pressed it down hard.

As the statue moved downward, there was a mechanical "click" of the snap. After a few more moments, various click-and-click sounds sounded continuously, and the stone platform that had been in the center of the temple was slowly removed, revealing the deep staircase leading to the ground under the stone platform.

“…… I'm coming in—"

As if going to a neighbor's house, the blonde woman smiled and shouted down, and walked in. In the middle, I turned a corner and came to a large underground square, or a giant cavern, a place suitable for the villain to act as a secret base.

And this giant cave can indeed make people feel the evil aura at a glance - the walls are hung with tapestries with strange patterns, and a few red candles made of blood are burning in the alcoves, emitting a faint light, and the smell of burnt blood. The flickering candle flame cast countless shadows, and the air was filled with a special corpse stench peculiar to low-level undead creatures, which could not be concealed even by burning more spices.

As for the young men who came up from the cave, they were all dressed in black robes, with gloomy faces, and they looked like "this is definitely not a good person".

However, the blonde woman ignored this eerie atmosphere, and instead put down her big pockets and greeted with a grin:

“…… Hello – I'm here to see little Kaji, is he there——? ”

Such a flirtatious and familiar tone made all the black-robed men a little overwhelmed, until a guy who seemed to be the leader stood up and ordered: "Okay, you all go down, it's your own people!" These black-robed people scattered as if they had been amnestied.

The chief was a very thin man. His eyes are badly sunken, and his face is so bad that he doesn't look like a living person, which is very much in line with the statement that he is lifeless. The top of the head is bare and there is no half hair. Not only that, but even his eyebrows, eyelashes and other body hair are gone, and it feels like he doesn't have half a hair on his body.

Obviously, this appearance makes it impossible to tell his age at all, but judging from the fact that there are no wrinkles on his skin, he should not be old.

The man was dressed in a sumptuous dark red robe, with a necklace strung from the skulls of small animals around his neck. A pair of hands so thin that they were skinny and skinny, and hands with dirty yellow nails held a black cane. It seems more like an undead creature than a human.

“…… Hello yo - little Kaji. ”

The woman's frivolous greetings made the bald necromancer frown—the villain's style has been punctured!

“…… Can you stop calling me that? This would undermine the prestige of Ranon. Just call me by my first name, Khajiit. ”

- Both the blonde woman and the necromancer entrenched here are members of a well-known evil secret organization called "Zhiranong".

According to public accounts, the "Zhiranong" is a powerful and evil secret organization with a large number of battle-hardened magic minstrels. The members of this organization are all people who are keen to make bloody sacrifices to evil gods, demon kings, and demons to satisfy their crazy desires, and if necessary, they will even sacrifice an entire city as a sacrifice without hesitation. He has personally caused several bloody tragedies.

Because of the above-mentioned madness, this organization is ostensibly regarded as an enemy by all civilized nations, and has been subjected to a joint crusade by all countries for many years. And in order to prevent their heretical beliefs from spreading, each crusade is to kill all the people involved without leaving them alive, which is extremely cruel.

But the strange thing is that, just like al-Qaeda and a series of other terrorist organizations of all kinds that cannot be killed on the earth, the "Zhiranong" organization in this fantasy world does not seem to be declining quickly under the iron-fisted suppression of various countries, but has a tendency to become stronger and stronger in the face of setbacks......

As for why it has been repeatedly suppressed, if you look at the "defection agents" of various countries in the "Zhiranong" organization, you may be able to reveal a little bit of the truth.

“…… Is it? The blonde woman whistled disapprerovingly, causing the necromancer leader's brow to furrow even deeper.

“…… And then what? What are you here for? You know I'm here to inject power into the Orb of Death. If you're going to come here and make trouble, I'm not going to be kind to you. The necromancer leader narrowed his eyes and clenched his wand harder.

As a superior cadre in the same organization, he knows how powerful the woman in front of him is, and how crazy she is.

To put it simply, she is a big bomb that can explode at any moment, indulging in an alternative hobby of torture and killing in an extreme frenzy, never caring about the consequences. If it were possible, the necromancer leader really didn't want to be involved with this guy at this critical time.

But now that the other party has come to visit, he has to bite the bullet and try to maneuver.

“…… I hate it—little Kaji. I've brought this for you—" The blonde woman smiled coquettishly, her hand groping under her cloak, and a click-clad sound. Finally, I finally found what I was looking for, and happily stretched out my hand.

It was a gorgeous tiara, not the kind of hard and bulky gold crown, but a soft ornament that could be crumpled together as a feminine ornament

Countless delicate gemstones of various colors are dotted on slender metal threads like spider silk, like a spider's web stained with water droplets, and the workmanship is quite exquisite. In the center of the tiara, where it should be worn on the forehead, is set with a large gemstone that looks like a black crystal.

“…… This is...... Oh, my God! The necromancer leader, Khajitt, couldn't help but be dumbfounded. Although he had only seen it from afar, he would never admit that he was wrong-"...... The symbol of the shrine princess, the Crown of the Wise! Isn't this one of the most precious treasures of the Slen Sect! ”

“…… That's right—I was surprised to see a cute girl wearing such a strange tiara, and I thought it was so ugly that I did! The other party immediately went crazy - it was really a - "

The blonde woman laughed as she spoke. The necromancer leader, Khajitt, rolled his eyes at this. If the crown of the wise man is snatched away, what will happen to the person who originally wore it, that is, the so-called "witch princess", the blonde woman in front of her, who is a member of the special forces of the former Slian Sect's "Dark Holy Codex", of course, it is impossible not to know. Because, one of the daily tasks of the "Dark Sacred Codex" is to swing a knife and execute when replacing the next "Shrine Princess", and send the former "Shrine Princess" who went crazy immediately after the [Wise Crown] was taken off to the gods.

“…… But there's no way around it. If you don't do that, you can't take it off—it's the fault of the person who made this crown, it's the guy who's wrong—"

- Indeed, there is simply no safe way to take off the crown of the wise. The function of this tiara is to close the wearer's self-consciousness, turning the living girl into a human body tool for unleashing ultra-high-level magic. The problem is that even if every witch princess is doomed to die from the moment she wears the [Wise Man's Crown], it is not possible to find a random girl to serve as such a living sacrifice.

So, after a moment of surprise and shock, the expression on the necromancer's leader's face changed to disdain, "...... Hmph, what he wanted to snatch even if he betrayed the Sect was such a waste. Is there something wrong with your brain? Instead of that, it's better to grab the artifacts left by the six gods. ”

“…… It's too much to say it's rubbish—" the blonde woman puffed out her cheeks in disguise, while the mage continued to scoff unceremoniously:

“…… It's not wrong to say it's rubbish, right? Although the power of the [Crown of the Wise] is powerful, the probability of a woman who can wear this item is only 1 in 1 million according to the proportion of the population. Who else but the Slen Cult can find someone who can wear it? ”

- Among the nations, only the Slen Sect has established a household registration system for the whole people, and it is possible to find a suitable person to wear this prop, or a living sacrifice for this prop. And no matter how powerful other forces are, they can't do such a needle-in-a-haystack thing.

“…… That's why I'm here to ask you for help! Khajiit. Dell. Badantil, you, who are also the 12 cadres, are you willing to help me? ”

“…… Oh, have you finally revealed your true intentions? A doppelganger of the Queen's Tears! Don't call me Dale, I don't use that Christian name anymore. ”

The necromancer leader, Khajitt, frowned slightly in disgust, as if he was reluctant to hear his original name mentioned.

“…… Then don't you call me 'the doppelganger of the Queen's Tears', do you? Call me Clementine. The blonde woman pouted.

“…… Well, Clementine, what do you want me to help you? Khajiit sighed as if distressed, "...... First of all, I can't help you sift through the millions of women and find the right ones among them - even His Majesty can't do such an exaggerated thing! ”

“…… Don't bother, Khajiit! Isn't there a well-known natural ability in this city? It's the one named Enfreya. The little guy in Barea is the lucky one who is born to use any magic item......"

The blonde woman, named Clementine, replied lightly, "...... As long as that guy is caught, he can replace the shrine princess's qualified person, wear this [Wise Man's Crown], and then turn into a super powerful living magic weapon......"

“…… I see, the legendary one! Well, I've seen what he's capable of, and maybe he can do it! Speaking of which, the kingdom has not controlled such a celebrity, which is really dull enough! The necromancer leader, Khajitt, nodded in realization, "...... But...... If you only kidnap a human from the city, wouldn't you be more than enough for one person? Why do you have to come to me? ”

“…… Well, you're right - in fact, the little guy has already been arrested! ”

Clementine lifted his leg and kicked the hemp bag he brought with him, and an unconscious teenager covered in blood rolled out of it in an instant, and then pulled out a dagger from his waist and licked it with his tongue quite charmingly, "...... However, people are not particularly good at this kind of magic! Besides, ever since I got this thing, there have been people who have been following me to make trouble! What a headache for these guys! ”

“…… I see...... In order to get rid of the pursuing forces of the Slian Cult, do you want me to create a big mess in the city, help you cover your tracks, and then take advantage of the chaos to escape? The necromancer leader, Khajitt, nodded knowingly, "...... But why should I help you? ”

“…… Hehe, of course it won't let you do it for nothing, little Kaji! What would you like if I would be willing to use the Crown of the Wise to help you with your sacrificial ritual? Pretty good deal, right? Clementine grinned wickedly and let out a cute low cry like a kitten, but it was full of murderous intent.

“…… Well, the deal is set! Or rather, it's pretty good, Clementine. Hehehe! Why didn't I think of that? ”

The necromancer leader Khajiit narrowed his eyes and smiled evilly: "...... If you're willing to help me with the Crown of the Wise, you can do the 'Rite of the Dead' in advance!" No problem, I'll do my best to help you! Maybe when you succeed, you won't have to hide anymore! ”

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

While the evil organization "Zhiranong" has brought destruction and death, the mediocre mortals in the city are still unaware.

The next day, the fortress of the city yes. The people of Lantil, as usual, spent what was probably the last peaceful day of their lives.

In the afternoon of the same day, the dragon man Sebastian steward of the Great Tomb of Nasalik, with more than 200 hired adventurers, and a small number of war refugees who were ready to move to Karn Village along the way, pulled a dozen carts of food, tents and tools that had just been procured, and embarked on the journey back to Karn Village.

Because of the late departure and the large number of people, the journey was slow, so until the group of people raised the campfire in the evening, they still did not go far, if you look back, you can still see the fortress city at the end of the horizon. The tall walls of Lantil.

The smell of broth wafted from the pot, the camp was filled with the cacophony of laughter, and everything seemed so calm...... However, Tabby Elvis Presley, who was entering [automatic feeding mode] and nibbling on small dried fish to alleviate hunger, knew that a drastic change was imminent.

Because, the gamer panel unfolded in front of his eyes, has fully revealed everything that is happening:

[A natural ability who can use any magic item, the heir of the famous apothecary family Enfreya. Barea was captured in advance by Clementine, a female agent who defected from the Slian Sect, and was put on the [Crown of the Wise] and transformed into a magic prop, gaining 1000 reward points. 】

[The evil organization "Zhiranong" launched the undead frenzy in advance and obtained 1000 reward points]

[There are 50,000 reward points in total, and the conditions for a single person to leave have been met, ask if you want a participant to return to the real world?] 】

“…… It's finally time to start meowing! This evil organization in this fantasy world is really fast! ”

As the sun slowly sets over the horizon, a certain kitten man mutters, "...... Hope you don't disappoint us! As for the little brother Enfreya, I can only say sorry, after all, you would have such a catastrophe, and we are not obligated to eliminate it for you...... And the citizens of the fortress city, anyway, even according to the original plot, you will be ruled by the undead next spring, so now you should get used to it in advance......"

He said to himself with a sincere expression, "...... Anyway, I'm going to ask for yourselves tonight......"

- Then, that night, in the middle of the night, the fortress city yes. There was a sudden and unusual commotion at the cemetery in Lantil......