The large, bulky, mystically carved vault door required three different keys to open.

Prince Corwin untied a large gold key draped in silk thread from his neck and inserted it into the keyhole in the door of the vault. The key was divided into three sections, and with each insertion, Corwin slowly turned the key at an angle, first thirty degrees, then forty-five degrees, and finally two hundred and eighty-five degrees, exactly back to the original point.

First there was the click of the hinges, then there was a soft click from the door of the vault, and two short rods protruding from the keyhole, about the length of a fingernail and thinner than a little finger.

Corwin twisted the handle of the key and flipped it to the side, just as the two small holes on it matched the short rod. This mechanism ensures that even if someone copies the golden key's key teeth, the lock will not be opened.

The first key is mechanical, while the second is magical.

The prince quickly pulled out a scroll from his robe, unfolded it, activated the spell on it, and a flame erupted from Corwin's palm. The prince pointed his palm at the door of the vault and burned a specific pattern on the door with flames. Then, there was another crisp sound at the door, and it seemed that the second lock had been lifted.

The third key is the heart.

Corwin said to Hedicher, disguised as a servant, "Alright, I say three-two-one, let's open the last lock together." He seemed to be a little absent-minded, still unaware of the other party's disguise.

This stumped the face dancer, she was pretending, and naturally she didn't know what the last lock was that the other party was referring to. But at this time, if she reveals that she is in disguise, will Ram's prince be able to let her go? Corwin may have been an enlightened nobleman and a prominent businessman, but at heart he was also a prince, the son of a witch king.

Corwin is a ** master, and although he never casts magic on his own, he always carries a variety of scrolls on his body to deal with different situations. Even if the face dancer is suddenly difficult, killing him may make a move. When the time comes, the guards and mages in the house will be over.

The face dancer was not confused, but calmly echoed yes. Then, she used all the skills she had learned, making her disguise vivid, and ready to turn her face at any time. Her Hidden Blade is machine-driven, fast, and even more useful at close quarters. Countless powerful samurai have been killed by the most inconspicuous mechanism, and they don't even realize that the enemy has arrived before they die.

"Three," said the prince, still with a worried expression, as if his mind had flown to some thorny problem. "Two," he continued countdown, ending with "one." ”

Face dancers tense nerves and prepare hard.

At this moment, an invisible spiritual energy fluctuation came out of the door of the vault and swept past the two of them. Next, a voice with no emotion, no ups and downs, no accent sounded mechanically, "The scan is complete, the identity is confirmed, and it can be turned on." ”

I see, Heidicher thought to herself, this so-called key is to examine the fluctuations of the mind of the person who opened the door. The servant in disguise was too similar, and he could not only fool the mind-reading of the telemancer, but also the scan. As for why Corwin had to scan the thoughts of two people at the same time to open the door, it may be that he was afraid that he (or the servant) would be held hostage by the enemy, and if he was alone, even he would not be able to open the door himself.

After checking all three keys, the door suddenly rippled like water, and then became translucent. You don't have to feel the fluctuations of the magic, the face dancer recognizes that this is a portal.

It seems that Corwin is not stupid, knowing that the door of the vault can withstand a violent breakthrough, but the wall cannot. If someone really blows up the entire wall, they will only find that there are countless traps in front of them, all of which are magical and mechanical, and the end will inevitably be dead and boneless. Only this portal can safely transport people to the secret passage.

The two of them stepped into the portal one after the other, and teleported into the secret passage behind the vault gate. The moment he walked through the portal, the face dancer felt a feeling of weakness in his body, and it turned out that this magic was maintained by the user's life force.

The secret passage winds its way downward, as if there is no end. There were a few sections that were less than seven feet tall and two feet wide, and a man could barely squeeze through. There were a few sections of it that suddenly became wide, like an underground hall. Sometimes, there are branch roads that branch off from this secret passage. Where those dark side roads lead, I'm afraid no one knows.

On the inner walls of the secret passage, strange mosses, fungi, and indescribable nameless plants with false roots and flaky leaves. Some nameless reptiles live on the inner walls of the secret passages, white and sickly, and some strange plants even feed on reptiles. The face dancer saw with his own eyes that a paralyzed and arrogant bug accidentally climbed onto a leaf. The leaf suddenly closed, pinching the careless worm firmly.

On several occasions, Heticher saw small holes the thickness of her fingers in the walls of the cave, as well as the tail that was being retracted from the exposed holes. It seemed to resemble a snake, sensing that someone was coming, and they hid back in their dark caves.

On several occasions when he walked to the spacious part of the passage, the face dancer saw a mushroom-like creature flickering in the distance. The monsters were about the size of a human, with mushroom-like caps and human-like limbs, and it was unclear whether they were animals or plants. Face dancers can see in the dark as clearly as they do in the daytime, but they also struggle to catch the monsters underground.

Hedicher remembered the rumors of monsters she had heard when she was a child. But then she was a little girl, and now she is a fearless assassin.

Sometimes, cracks appear in the secret passages. Most of them are not wide, only as thick as a few fingers, three or four feet long. Hediocher deliberately kicked a piece of gravel into a crack as she walked, and after nearly fifty breaths, she could still hear the sound of the gravel tumbling and falling, but not to the end.

Judging by the type of rock, there have been volcanic activities in this area in the past, but no matter how many times the lava flows under the Ram, it must have been dead for a long time.

The smell in the secret passage is unbearable for ordinary people. Like Tyre, there are a number of oil and gas veins underneath Lamu. There is a ** smell in the air, and if it weren't for the fact that Kewen released an air filtration technique, it would be really difficult to deal with.

Underground secret passages, it is difficult to judge the distance when walking. Because the secret path twists and turns, most of the time downwards and sometimes upwards, there are few markers on the road that can be used as references. The face dancer can only walk while silently counting his steps. "Ninety thousand six hundred seventy-seven, nine thousand six hundred seventy-eight......"

Along the way, Corwin barely spoke. The prince was visibly preoccupied, and his handsome face was full of melancholy. Why?, the face dancer, had been kicked out of the city, and the other princes and princesses had fallen to his side. Even Tyr agrees to cooperate with him and keep his property safe. What else is he worried about?

"Magic doesn't come in handy here. After a few more walks, Corwin suddenly spoke. "The underground radiation here is getting stronger. Luckily, I prepared a rope...... We're going to climb down this time. ”

In front of me was a deep pit of a black hole, about 100 square feet in diameter and more than 300 in circumference. Heticher leaned against a protruding stone and looked down, and below it was nothingness and darkness. Even the faint glow of the fluorescent mushrooms in the secret passage was not enough to illuminate the slightest space in the pit.

Just looking at the pit was enough to make an ordinary person dizzy, and he felt that his center of gravity was constantly moving, as if a pull was reaching out from the bottomless pit and grabbing him. But for the face dancer, it's just a pit, maybe a little darker, a little deeper, but nothing to be afraid of.

The face dancer's eyes saw through the darkness, and the almost straight rock face had many protruding sections, perhaps Corwin was ready to use them as a foothold. If you don't need a ladder for this kind of cliff, then the handrail is to be found anyway. Having a rope tied to the top solves the problem, but how do you untie the rope when you get to the bottom?

Corwin's rope is not a magic rope, and although it is made of the lightest animal tendon keys, it is only a few hundred feet long. And this pit doesn't look like it's only a few hundred feet.

The prince solved the problem at once, and untied a bundle of rope about the thickness of a thumb, and four hundred cubits, and at first he lowered half of it, and circled it around a hard, protruding lava, and then lowered the other half. So both of them could take hold of half of the rope and descend, and when they had gone down about two hundred cubits, they let go of half of it, and took hold of the other half and took it back, and there was nothing more convenient than this. This approach can be repeated indefinitely.

The two began to descend one after the other. It was utterly silent, except for the sound of small rocks falling from them.

The pit is roughly an inverted cone, and the face dancer thinks they can fly down with their abilities, but then they are exposed. She imitated the posture of a servant, carefully descending little by little.

The face dancer holds two ropes tightly with one hand, and with the other hand uses a stick with a pointed end wrapped in iron to stabilize the body, and thus descends. Prince Corwin has good skills and a calm mind. Whenever Corwin slipped a step on his feet, he quietly said, "Be careful!"

"Be careful!" Corwin said again.

Within half an hourglass, the two of them reached a protruding rock in the pit.

Prince Corwin grabbed one end of the rope, and the other flew up, through the rocks jutting out above and down, followed by a burst of gravel that looked like a sandstorm, even like a great-grandmother's sandstorm.

Looking down from the edge of the small platform where the two were standing, the face dancer still couldn't see the bottom.

The rope was repeated, and in another half an hour they descended about two hundred cubits. Hedicher observed the texture of the stone and guessed how the haunted place had come to be. What is Corwin doing here?

It was almost three hourglasses, but the bottom was still out of sight, the hole above was getting smaller and smaller, and the light from the fluorescent moss was almost gone. The two continued to descend, and the face dancer thought that the sound of falling pebbles meant that the stones had soon reached the underside. And by counting the number of times they had used the rope, she could calculate how deep she had gotten and how much time it had taken.

They had already repeated it fourteen times, each half-hourglass hour, so it took a total of seven hourglass hours, plus a quarter of an hour for each break, for a total of ten and a half hourglass hours. The rope was about 200 cubits long, which meant that the two had descended 2,800 cubits.

"It's here. The prince finally said.

At the bottom of the pit is an extremely dark place. About fifty feet square, the ground is covered with rubble and dust that has fallen from it for thousands of years. The face dancer was wondering what Corwin was doing here, when he saw the prince walk to the wall of the pit with certainty, reach out and grope a few times, and open a secret door.

If Muhadi had been here, he might have been surprised that the temperature had not changed significantly when he had reached such depths. But the Psychic Warlock won't be bothered by this problem for long, Attath has two moons, and their orbits cancel out a large part of each other's gravitational pull, so there is almost no tidal movement on Attas. It is precisely because there is no tidal movement of the almost mantle, so it is possible that the planetary core of Atas is much colder than that of Earth. The only volcanoes that are supposed to be located on the fault of the earth's crust.

And if Starch Spencer had sent a druid Camilla to hear the Psychic Warlock think that, he would have made a big mockery of him. The secrets of Atas's underground are far from so simple. And those secrets are still known only to the Starch Spencer Druids. Even the witch kings, who claim to be gods, are only controlling the thin surface of this planet. They can't imagine what lies beneath the earth.

"I don't know how long I can hide it from the Tyres. Prince Corwin led Hedicher, disguised as a servant, through the secret door, whispering as he went. "The Psychic Mancer...... He's so clever that we can't hide this place forever. ”

As he walked, he commanded the face dancer. "I want you to hurry up and get ready, and move everything here away, leaving no trace. ”

The passage behind the secret door is not long, and the exit is the point ahead, Corwin continued. "I know it's hard to find another place with leyline radiation that prevents the mage from appearing. But this matter is extremely important, and if we are not careful, then the dragon king, Abu Polis, will take out his wrath on Ram's head, and then it will be all over. ”

"It's all over. These words, the prince bit very hard.

At the end of the passage, a qiē suddenly opened up.

It's a large space, like a naturally formed auditorium, at least thousands of feet wide. The position of the face dancer happens to be a high platform. She looked up, and the rock above her was hundreds of feet above.

This space is full of fluorescent moss, so you can see it more clearly. Fungi and other bizarre species thrive on the ground here. Some kind of strange monster with white flowers lives between fungi and underground plants, like aphids on leaves, and it makes people feel disgusting to look at.

The face dancer didn't recognize what the white-flowered creatures were at first, but the next moment, she realized, and she was shocked.

Those monsters...... They are people, ** people.

Human, Elf, Dwarf, Half-Elf......

Tens of thousands of people were imprisoned and kept in captivity in this dark and gloomy underground. Muddy, no day and no moon.

Heticher then realizes what this place is, the secret base where the Witch King has researched the Untouchable, and this is where the first face dancer was born.

The face dancer suddenly felt angry, as if the hatred of the first face dancer had reached her. It was cultivated by struggling to survive underground, and he had an unforgettable hatred for the Witch King.

Clearly, the Witch King had entrusted the research facility to Prince Corwin. But the Witch King must have already mastered the method of creating untouchables, why did Corwin continue to operate this facility, he put all of this...... What do people want to do when they are raised like livestock?

Why does Corwin say that if you are not careful here, you will anger the most powerful witch king, Abu Polis?

"What's wrong with you?" asked Prince Corwin, as if he had seen that something was wrong with his servant, with a hint of blame.

"One qiē is normal, Your Highness. The face dancer suppressed the turbulence in his heart and said calmly in the servant's voice. "One qiē is normal. ”

Muhadi ended the timemark ability and pulled his mind away from the distant past and returned to reality.

A feeling of powerlessness and prostration hit, and he fell to his knees gasping for breath, his mind full of shock, and it was a long time before the psychic felt that he was able to think normally again.

Five loaves and two fish, right? Puppeteer, you're really extraordinary. Muhadi whispered to himself. So, you have met with the Witch King to help the afflicted people of Laham. So what happened after that? You provoked her, and then the two sides fought?

But the Witch King clearly said that the two of you used to be close. Was it born before or after you petitioned for the people?

If only he could cast a time mark in Abellachili's palace, Muhadi thought. But in that case, he is afraid that he will know too many secrets that he should not know, and the witch king will have to kill him.

Come on, the army of Tyr. Muhadi straightened up and patted the sand. I've had enough of Ram and I want to start a new adventure early. Investigating the Witch King's household affairs is really not my specialty.

The body of the Mandingo warrior Yusuf was still in front of him, and the psychic mancer thought about it, drew his scimitar, and cut off the opponent's head as a trophy according to the custom of the tribe.

The blood flowed to the sand and was black. I don't know how many slaves Yusuf once drove to fight here, and now his own blood has joined those slaves.

The Psychic Warlock left the arena and walked out of the gates of the Psionic Academy. Seeing the Templars guarding the door, he suddenly remembered that he didn't know what Baibars and Princess Dirdley were doing. Eighty percent didn't do anything good, he was sure.

When he returned to Corwin's mansion, he had his own servant to report to him, and the robes he had bought had been delivered and placed in his room. The Psychic Warlock nodded, threw the head to the servant, gave him another gold coin, and ordered him to go and put the level in order.

Muhati was about to return to his bedroom, when a strange man stood in his way.

"It's you. "The Psychic Warlock recognized it as a face dancer from the fluctuations of his thoughts. "I have to say, your taste in choosing your appearance is not very good, I think this man's face is very ugly. ”

"I'm sorry, but this was made from your face. The face dancer ignored Muhadi's sarcasm and lowered his voice. "Come with me, I have something important to tell you. You should be free right now, right?"

"I thought you'd never ask. Muhadi nodded and agreed.

The two returned to Mohamadi Dorman's bedroom. The latter carefully used psionic energy to arrange various anti-detection methods before opening his mouth to ask the female assassin. "What have you done, what is important?"

After looking around, and no one was snooping, Hedicher described in the most brief language how she secretly followed Corwin, entered the underground, and then appeared in the Witch King's facility. Muhadi didn't pay much attention to it at first, as he was still thinking about the puppeteer, but the more the female assassin talked about it, the more frightened he became. In the end, he frowned tightly, interrupted the other party's words three times and twice, and asked the other party to recall some details.

"You mean, Corwin is secretly running a brutal facility?" asked Muhadi. "It's very ...... Fantastic. How is the food for tens of thousands of people supplied? And you say that there are only two people who know about the secret base, so who guards those who don't escape?"

"I think I've made it clear, don't you believe me?" the face dancer asked Muhadi, as if he was a little angry. "You owe me. ”

"No, don't get me wrong, I trust you. The Psychic Warlock said. "But this is a big matter, and I don't dare to act rashly. ”

The Psychic Warlock took his sword and sat cross-legged on the carpet, rubbing his forehead vigorously with both hands. "What the hell is going on?" he thought to himself. "What the hell is this going on with Corwin? He knew that Tyr would never allow such a thing. Neither can I. ”

In a way, Muhadi believed in the principle of the law of the jungle. He also understands that in a harsh environment and backward society like Attas, it is only a matter of imagination to talk about pacifism and pluralism. When he was rescued from the depths of the desert, he was forced to become a slave of the Scorpion tribe, because he wanted to repay Fatoumah for his favor. Muhadi resented slavery because slaves were unnaturally placed in a lower class regardless of their own talents.

If Corwin really imprisoned tens of thousands of slaves to carry out secret operations underground, then Muhati would have to break the cooperation with the other party.

"I doubt it. Hediciher reasoned her own. "Ram's Witch King is researching new weapons to deal with psykers, and asking you to investigate the puppeteer's past and form an alliance with Tyr is just a cover to buy time. Once their research is complete, they will tear their faces and counterattack Tyre. ”

"What did you say?" the telemancer incredulous. "It's not logical. Why ......"

"your logic!" the face dancer enraged, grabbing the neckline of the Psychic Warlock's robe. "What I've seen with my own eyes is not something that any normal person can accept. Corwin, he has a problem!"

Muhadi lowered his eyes to see the hand that was clutching his collar as if some kind of denunciation, and then raised his eyes again. "Listen to me, I'm just an ordinary officer in Tyre. I'm not a king, I'm not a councillor, what do you want me to do?If Prince Corwin is really a conspiracy with evil intentions, a demon who destroys humanity, as you say, we would still be in his mansion right now. “

"If there is a conflict, you and I may be able to escape, I doubt it. What about Raina, what about the mercenaries, leave them here to die?" The psychic mancer raised his voice and told the other party. "Listen, we can't act rashly. ”

"We can't sit still!" the female assassin shot back. "The Ram may have set a trap and are preparing to ambush Tyre's army. Don't think I don't know anything about the political situation in Tyre, for Aikis, Ricas, Foward bin Abbas, and Fahd are all close friends with you, and you can influence the council!"

"I am not indifferent. "If it weren't for the strict psionic training, Muhati would have been a little hot at this time. "I'm just saying we have to be cautious. ”

"How?!"

"First. "Psychic manipulators use their brains. "I've got to make sure it's true, you mentioned earlier that you're disguised as a servant in the house. And that servant actually happens to be Prince Corwin's henchman?"

"That's right. The Assassin nodded.

"Then we can take that servant captive first, and I'm sure we'll be able to torture him for some useful information. "Psychic Warlock built yì.

"Corwin's people are likely to be tight-lipped. ”

"Trust me, I'm a professional corkscrew. Muhathir gave assurances. "Also, the underground facility you mentioned. Based on your description, I can estimate the approximate location. With some psionic energy, I might be able to locate there. Then we can dive in again and have a look. ”

"What would you do if you found out that it was true?"

Muhathir thought for a moment and replied conservatively. "If the situation is not severe, the Witch King or Ram just wants to keep some remnants of slavery, or their own secret weapon. Then I will still complete the agreed cooperation with Corwin. Of course, after this I will return to Tyre as much as I can, and report my present to the House and to King Ctesian. When the time comes, it is up to them to decide whether to fight or to make peace. I will respect the decision of the House. ”

"If they decide to make peace, will you really do what they are told?" asked the face dancer. "Can you really tolerate the kind of behavior that keeps people like livestock?"

"Sue you, we face dancers will never tolerate such atrocities of the Witch King. Although we are only assassins lurking in the shadows, unable to see the light. We will fight against this behavior to the end. Even without Tyr's support. ”

"I can't tolerate that, but it's a real world. There are so many intolerable evils in the world that I can't correct them all. You can only change the world step by step, little by little. Muhathir said. "Otherwise, the result is likely to be a hell on earth. ”

"Okay. Then if you are now, the negotiations of the Ram people are a cover. What about the revolutionary government that they wanted to destroy Tyre from the very beginning? Not to mention that now the elite main force of Tyre's army is in Ulric City, and there are not many troops left behind to defend Tyre!"

The psychic was silent for a long time before he spoke. "From Tyre to Ram, the army had to travel for two months. ”

"If the Ram really plan to ambush Tyre's army against the water, then it will take some time. I'll use this time to report to Tyr. ”

"Good. The female assassin nodded. "Then I'll go and get that servant right now. Then let's think about what to do. ”

"You don't need to catch people, I brought them here. The door to the room suddenly opened, and both of them were startled. Prince Corwin pushed the door in without hesitation, his face pale. Two of his blasphemer mages followed, along with a non-obscure servant. "You really need to think about it. ”

"Your spy is really not simple, and he completely deceived me. If I hadn't happened to meet the real servant again, I would still be in the dark. With a glance, Corwin's mages stood on either side, faintly surrounded. Although he couldn't see it, the telemancer could feel that several dozen guards were surrounding the room.

When Muhati saw the prince breaking in, he did not panic and calmly interrogated. "It is rude to interrupt the private conversation of young men and women. ”

"So she's a woman?" said the prince to Muhadi, looking at the face dancer disguised as an official of Tyre. "I didn't expect that such a realistic camouflage technique, feeling that she is a face dancer?"

"I can speak, you can ask me directly. Hedicher had no intention of maintaining a mask at this time, and regained her true face and sneered. "Yes, I'm a face dancer. ”

Corwin looked at the female assassin and nodded, grinning toothedly, but his expression was all too clear to be threatening. "I have to say, Muhadi, you have good taste, similar to me. It makes me a little sad, especially when I think that we might have to fight each other. ”

"The murder of the Tyre officer is tantamount to declaring war on Tyre. The Psychic Warlock shrugged his shoulders easily on the surface, but in fact vigilantly analyzed the strength of the two mages. Together, I don't think they're opponents, the telemancer thought, and he had to get out as much as he could.

"Delaying the blood tax on Polis is tantamount to declaring war on the Dragonlord. Corwin sighed and said. "Why do you have to send a face dancer to spy on my secrets? We could have pretended to be at peace with nothing, you don't know our little secret underground, and we don't go against your holy war. And yet now...... You people of Tyre really have too much sense of justice. ”

"For the sake of justice in Tyre, thousands of people will shed their blood and die. Prince Corwin said. "What a bloodthirsty monster...... O Tyre......"

Actually, the face dancer did it on his own initiative, and he ended up with this, but Muhathir couldn't say anything. I can only look at the woman with resentment. Then he sued Sù Corwin. "Maybe we can't find a way out of peace. ”

"I'm sure the council of Tyre won't allow that little toy I have underground to keep my zài. Corwin said. "How can you find a way out peacefully?

"If that's the case. The atmosphere of confrontation eased, and the prince threw out temptation. "I will give you a quarter of my property. ”

"I'm not going to do that. Muhati shook his head, despite the fact that the atmosphere had become tense again. "If what this friend of ours says is true. He pointed to Hedicher. "Then even I can't accept your actions. ”

Corwin sneered, and for the first time, that expression made Muhati realize that he was facing an old man who was hundreds of years old, but with a young body. "Then what do you mean, fooling me, or are you indulging in the feeling of a war of words?"

Muhadi shook his head again. "Nope. First, you have to sue me. What the hell are you doing underground, and why do you say that if it is disturbed, it will offend Abu Polis?"

"As far as I know, the Dragonlord Abu Polis, although he is the strongest witch king, does not interfere in the internal affairs of the other city-states at all. He didn't even bother to take care of such a major event as Tirsen's revolution to overthrow the witch king Karak, why would you think that Polis would plot against Ram?"

Corwin looked at Muhadi with the deep eyes of a few hundred years old. "Do you really not know, or do you pretend not to understand?"

The psychic mancer looked back without fear. "May it be auspicious. ”

The prince laughed as if he had heard some joke. His men were inexplicable, and the face dancer had no expression on his face, but Muhadi knew that she was ready to do it.

Corwin laughed for a long time, but finally decided to speak. "Okay, I'll tell you the reason. ”

"There is a person who I don't know if you know, he is the master of magic, the primordial warlock, and the propagator of war. He was called the great enemy by the elves, the destroyer by the orcs, the root of all evil by the dwarves, and the father of all evil by the goblins...... He is also the Terminator, the Eye of the Ancient Elementals, the Endurant, the Waiter, the Cursed...... Devourer of worlds, contempt and destroyer. He's Rajat!"

Muhadi's heart jumped violently, and the seed of thought that had been dormant in his heart seemed to beat suddenly. Although Corwin suddenly pulled into history, as if it had nothing to do with the current one, Muhadi squirmed his lips. Go on. ”

"The Rajat, who has many honorific titles, was an extreme great humanist, and it was he who issued the decree of extermination and began a fifteen-century-long war of purification. The primordial warlock has many ** divisions under his command, and he calls these powerful mages fighters and orders them to destroy the inhuman race. ”

"One by one, the humanoids were uprooted and wiped out by the Rajat fighters. Those races that possessed greater strength, greater fertility, and deeper magical talents than humans were defeated, ravaged, and exterminated one by one. Their kingdoms were destroyed, their cultures were wiped out, and their writings were forgotten. ”

The prince said. But then, some of the fighters' ambitions swelled so violently that they even became contemplating Rajat. Rajat's fourth fighter, the Troll Roaster Mai Lang, raised the flag of rebellion first. However, he was quickly eliminated by the Primordial Warlock, and Hamanu took Miran's place as the new Fourth Warrior. ”

But then, the rebellions continued. The Thirteenth Fighter, Polis of Abu the Dwarven Slayer, once again raised the banner of rebellion against Rajat. ”

"Polis was originally Rajat's most powerful apprentice, and he also had many powerful helpers. Corwin said leisurely. "Second Fighter, Ogre Doom Karak. Third Fighter, Dragos the Giant Ravager. Fourth Fighter, the new Troll Griller Hamanu. The Fifth Fighter, my mother, Younis of the Orc Plague God Wafli. The sixth fighter, the enemy of the dwarfs, Nibennai. The Seventh Fighter, the Vitaran Dragon, the Destroyer of the Miè Seruba......"

The prince spat out a long list of names. “...... The Eighth Fighter, Elven Slayer Andr Penis. The Ninth Fighter, the Human Lion Annihilator, Tektu Ke Titlai. Tenth Fighter, Lizardmen Executioner Oronis. Eleventh Fighter, Lalalip, Lash the Flogger of the Arakora. The Fourteenth Fighter, Darschino, the God of Death of the Goblins. The fifteenth fighter, the mantis nemesis, Kalidema. The Sixteenth Fighter Spirit Sucks Monsters and Destroys Miè Malick ......"

Corwin said a long list of names before asking. "Do you know why I'm suing you for this?"

Without waiting for Muhadi to respond, the prince gave his own answer. "The Tyrs killed the two Witch Kings, but Polis not only sealed the Primordial Warlock, but he also murdered the first fighter, the Kobold Curse, Zacha, and the twelfth fighter, the Peake Destroyer. The deaths of the third and seventh fighters were also inseparable from him. Two-on-four, who do you say Ram should be afraid of?"

"This history only shows that Polis is very powerful. Muhathir noted. "Still not being able to explain why giving up that underground facility would offend him. ”

"Sue you, in the end, the primordial warlock was besieged by Polis and more than two dozen of his most trusted fighters, and was sealed in the black soul stone. ”

"Rajat can't be killed, only sealed. But the magic used to seal him also needs to extract life force in order to function properly. Corwin said. "In order to keep the sealing magic working properly, the dragon king Abu of Polis demanded that every city-state in the desert hand over a thousand people every year to extract life force to maintain the sealing magic. This is the blood tax of polis. ”

Seal the magic of the primordial warlocks, the blood tax, this is one of the most important secrets in the desert. When the Psychic Warlock and the Face Dancer heard this, they were both speechless in astonishment.

"Blood tax. Muhadi said in silence. "Wait, the people in that underground facility are used to pay the dragon king's blood tax?"

Corwin nodded. "Do you think I, Corwin, will let the men and women of Ram City fuel the magic of Polis?"

He turned his head to the face dancer and said. "Sue you, the real yàn stopped shortly after the ancestors of your face dancers fled. Those who were kept underground were the prisoners and the descendants of the prisoners in the city of Ram. They had their chances, but they chose to commit crimes and get something for nothing, and I gave them to Polis to die in place of ordinary citizens. It can be regarded as finding a noble use for their miserable lives. ”

Muhati retorted. "The criminals may be guilty, so why should you lock up their offspring?"

"If someone has to die, isn't it better to let some people die than to let normal people die?" "Those prisoners have long been erased by my magic in the morning, and their offspring have also been strictly cultivated by me, without human intelligence, human thoughts, there is no pain, no despair. Do you want to say that I should send the innocent civilians of the city to die, and tear apart fathers and sons, husbands and wives, so that they can become the source of power for the magic of Polis in despair, or do you say that you Muhadi is noble enough to die for one of you?"

"I don't want to do it if I could. Corwin was indignant. "But I have no better choice but to choose the lesser of two evils. This is Attas, this is the cruelty that this world must have. ”

"Guess why I never cast spells myself, and why so many people in the city are inexplicably hostile to me?" said the prince. "I don't cast spells myself because I have to memorize every day the spells that suppress the minds of those people, lest they realize the pain of dying. I was hated by many people, in part because some people knew I had done such things, like my brothers and sisters. Partly because the Witch King had cursed me, I was always left with an ugly impression on the Rams. For fear that I will buy people's hearts, and then drain the vitality of those people underground and cast spells to overthrow her. My own mother!"

Corwin said. "Tell me, Muhadi of Tyre. Who deserves to die? Who doesn't? Do you think you're qualified to judge?"

"Nobody should die. Rebel against Polis. Muhathir said. "Dragon King, even if the Demon Dragon becomes the tenth layer, it can still be killed!"

The psychic warlock gritted his teeth as he spoke the last few words. Others only said that he was indignant, and he knew that he would not be angry, and that his anger had another source.

"Revolt against Polis...... Easy to say. Corwin said contemptuously. "Didn't you Tyr also give in to Polis?"

"What?" said Muhadi with the face dancer.

"Don't think that Ram is the only one who has to pay the blood tax to the dragon king, and all the city-states in the desert do. You must have paid the blood tax in Tyre, too, or Polis would not have been indifferent. ”

"Your speculation is unfounded. Muhadi affirmed. "The Governing Council will never allow such a thing to happen. ”

"Tyrk doesn't just have a consul. Corwin reminded with a sneer. "You have a coral witch who can kill the witch king, and a king, who said that if you pay a blood tax, you must go to the council?

The Psychic Warlock interrupted him before he could finish speaking. "Shatiri wouldn't do that kind of thing, and she wouldn't allow anyone else to do it. Tyr will never give in to the dragonlord Polis. At the mention of polis, the seed of thought in Muhadi's heart jumped again, and irrepressible anger welled up from the bottom of his heart.

"You can't guarantee that. Corwin said, looking into Muhadi's eyes. "As I've said before, your leaders may be much more flexible than you think!"

--------------------- the second volume may be much longer than the first volume, at least there are three major plots of parliamentary struggle, time travel, and crossing the salt sea that have not been written. The Azure Storm is even more of a no-brainer.

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