[Part I, Dance of the Human Form]

——Bai Shi Dongzhou, Future City

The majestic edifice of the White World Branch of the Heavenly Punisher stands in the middle of the Future City.

On September 3rd, Alicia and Snow Crane entered the third day of the Future City branch. When Harden and the others began to study, Cedar and they began to make their morning patrols, and Ataya and the others began to go to sea, the two girls underwent physical examinations, combat effectiveness assessments, and regular exercises, and it was not until today that the positions were officially determined: Xuehe entered the daily patrol group, and Alicia, who was a princess and Wang Zhen's personal disciple and highly evaluated, entered the secretariat. Ellie finally gets a chance to get into the top after sending Snow Crane out on patrol, and takes the elevator with her own leader, Dimetrios Barbaro, the "Flame of War".

Speechless all the way, Ellie looked at Dimi, although Dimi also experienced the Rebellion of the Dead with them in the Demon King, but because of his cold and serious personality, he never got along with the children. He wore the white and gold-rimmed military uniform of the Baishi Branch, and he looked handsome and extremely majestic, worthy of the famous charming iceberg of the Future City Branch.

"Dimi's senior has been the acting lieutenant when Mr. Jean was the queen ghost, right?" Ellie asked slowly after breaking the silence first.

Dimi looked at her with the same turquoise eyes and said in a guttural voice, "Hmm." ”

It's so cold...... Ellie smiled slightly: "Dimi's predecessor looks a bit like my brother Leilia, and even his personality is a bit similar." ”

"Not really," Dimi answered, "I've met Prince Leilia, and he's more sociable. ”

"No, Relia came here because he didn't know what to do, and his father used to say him. ”

Dimi just smiled slightly, and continued to lead her silently to the floor where He Yanfang was. There was an electronic notice board on the wall of the hallway, and Ellie glanced at it, the death of Sibil "Siren" Russos had been posted in the system, and the names of her companions were in the raiding party.

Dimi glanced at the message and made a complicated gesture that Ellie guessed was the prayer ritual of the Golden Dragon race.

They walked through the hallway to the door of He Yanfang's office, and Dimi knocked lightly on the door, and then Ellie finally heard a familiar gentle voice.

He Yanfang's office is very large, but it looks very warm, and it still has the simple and heavy feeling that He Yanfang likes. He Yanfang sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and smiled at them, and then let them sit casually.

"Sit casually," Dimi repeated to Ellie, and then nodded lightly to He Yanfang, "I'm going out to work, please call at any time if you have something." ”

Watching Dimi walk out, He Yanfang smiled again and asked, "Are you still used to it these days?"

"Well, no problem. Ellie sat down and looked curiously at He Yanfang's photo wall—

The warm-colored walls were littered with all sorts of photos of him with Jean, Carlos, Sikong, and many members of the Heavenly Punisher, political dignitaries, and so on, as well as photos with them this summer.

I feel honored to be on it myself...... Ellie looked at the table again, and there were also a few small picture frames on it, a photo of Jean after recovering his identity, and a bright photo of Cedar on the cover of the monthly magazine "Demon Slayer".

"I like these photos very much," He Yanfang smiled and said softly while making tea, "I didn't ask your opinion before, what do you think, if you don't think the choice is good-looking, you can replace it." ”

"It's good, I'm good-looking. "I think I'm getting along fairly well," Ellie said jokingly, and then wondered in her heart—

The photo of him and Oreo is only a very small and inconspicuous one.

Maybe it's just that she's overthinking, but there are too many rumors of discord between eagles and snakes, and it's always worrying. But she couldn't help but ask this kind of badly asked question without interest, not to mention that there was indeed a beautiful group photo there.

Worried about being noticed by him, Ellie continued to look at the table, and then asked curiously, "This is Harden and his sister when he was a child, right?"

"Well, it's cute, isn't it?" He Yanfang smiled and picked up the photo frame, it was a group photo of the seaside on a sunny day, he was holding the little Harden sister and brother, and the three of them were smiling very happily and happily-

It's like a real parent. He must have been a good father, so gentle and responsible, but also majestic and powerful.

"Harden's appearance hasn't changed much, but I can't really see that he looked so soft when he was a child. "Ellie sometimes hates Harden, and that kid is always so vicious and arrogant that it makes people want to fight.

"Actually, Harden has never changed, as long as you are good to him, he will definitely treat you gently," He Yanfang chuckled, "He always seems fierce to outsiders, but now he pretends to be cooler, and he also looks snarky when he is good to people." ”

Childish little ghost, Ellie smiled slightly, and then said: "Actually, Mr. He, you are used to being tossed, if it were me, I would like to be well-behaved and cute-"

The pleasant chat atmosphere was suddenly interrupted by the letter notification, He Yanfang said sorry and glanced at the email on the computer, and his sunny expression immediately dimmed.

"Sybil Russos's funeral is tomorrow," he said slowly, "and the number of official Heavenly Punishers is limited, and everyone will attend if the situation allows." ”

"Mr. He, are you familiar with Lady Rusos?"

"I don't know each other too well, but she used to be one of Asgard's lead singers, and we had many contacts...... "He Yanfang lowered his eyes, "and it's my private attention, Sybil...... Maybe I should call me hypocritical, this name impresses me. ”

"Why?"

"Sybil is not only a personal name, but also a common name for a female physiognomy or female prophet. Cybil of Kubis is a famous prophetess in Greek mythology. In the epic Iliad, the sun god Apollo grants her request for immortality, giving her as much life as the dust in her hands. But she forgot to ask for eternal youth, and as she grew older, her body grew old, and she was suspended in a bottle in the temple of Hercules—or hanging upside down in a cage. ”

Although he didn't have an in-depth understanding before, Mr. He seems to be a very emotional person in private...... Ellie listened silently, and then spoke slowly: "Lady Russos has become a half-demon and continues to live for so long, it will be sad to think of Goumi's Sybil. ”

"Yes......" He Yanfang continued, "I have seen Eliot's long poem 'The Waste Land' not long ago, and he begins with an inscription quoting the ancient Roman writer Petronius from 'Satylicon', which reads, 'Yes, I myself saw Sybil of Gumi hanging in a cage. The children were asking her, 'Sybil, what do you want?' and she replied, 'I'm going to die'. I felt ...... It can be said that it is shocking. ”

For a fallen Heavenly Punisher who has become a half-demon, or even an ordinary Heavenly Punisher, this sentence should be really shocking. Ellie wanted to respond to something, but felt heavy and couldn't speak.

"I'm going to be ...... that too," she said softly, and she stopped her voice again.

Her consciousness shouldn't have been shaken here, should she...... Looking at her depressed expression, He Yanfang smiled bitterly: "Fighting against depravity, aging, and bad luck to the death, and becoming a heavenly punisher, you probably have your own reasons for having to do this." Losing everything to come here, otherwise who can bear this fate in peace?"

He paused for a moment, then said softly, "You still have a chance......"

There's still a chance to quit, right? Ellie felt a wave of depression and unwillingness, but it was hard to refute. The cozy office was shrouded in an unsettling silence for a moment, and then a distant rumbling shook suddenly broke the silence—

Ellie subconsciously grabbed the armrest of the chair, and He Yanfang had already stood up to protect her at this time, and his eyes were worried about the window. A moment later, the alarm and communication sounded urgently: "Here is the day patrol group, there is an unexplained explosion in Kandi, we are rushing to the scene!"

Explosion?Ellie didn't feel a particularly strong magic fluctuation, could it be just an ordinary bomb explosion?He Yanfang stretched out her hand and pressed the communication button, and said in a deep voice: "Intelligence class?"

"This is the intelligence team, and we are using the 'Map of Light' to conduct a city-wide projection investigation!" the female correspondent's voice responded hurriedly, "There is no sign of a large-scale magic attack for the time being!"

In the event of a situation, it is necessary to first confirm whether it falls within the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Punisher, which is a point of the Code. Ellie composures herself and waits for further briefings.

"I'm Dimetrios," Dimi's voice came from the communicator again, "I'm in the intelligence squad to learn about the situation-"

The tremor came again at this time, and Dimi reported again: "This time there was an explosion from the ground, and a faint ring-shaped magic resonance band appeared around the explosion point of Kandi, which is suspected to be a magical act!"

That's not good...... He Yanfang immediately straightened up: "Ellie, let's go, let's go to the intelligence squad too-the Japanese patrol group, the daily patrol group, what's the situation over there?"

"The daily patrol team here has arrived at the scene to assist in the evacuation and search for the dead and wounded! At present, three people have been confirmed dead, and there are no obvious traces of magic around!"

"Understood, continue the search. He Yanfang quickly took Ellie to the office of the intelligence team, and all the relevant members were observing around a huge glowing map—

One of the ancient weapons made by the gods, the auxiliary "Map of Light", has a relatively large number like the goddess screen, and can be driven by magic to project three-dimensional images and show all traces of magic. It's just that the all-round presentation of this kind of magic traces will also bring a huge workload, after all, the naturally existing magic power has extremely large and complex traces, as long as the opponent has a certain amount of magic control, it is very difficult to find the enemy's traces.

"I think it's strange that the crowd near the blast site is moving, this group of people didn't try to escape from the blast area quickly," the female member of the intelligence squad frowned and observed the video, "This ...... Isn't it like a zombie?"

Her speech made the air in the room suddenly tense, the large-scale zombie disaster in Dongzhou had only subsided for a few months, and it was going to be so soon-

"Day patrol group, do you notice that the crowd is abnormal?" He Yanfang asked again with a frown, his eyes observing the entire map back and forth.

"The daily patrol team here has found a crowd of suspected zombies and is trying to intercept the uniform!"

"I'm afraid it's necromancy, Mr. He, do you need me to activate the purification circle?" Dimi saw that the situation was not right, and immediately asked.

"Excuse me, Xiaodi, in addition, the Japanese patrol team should beware of the possibility of poisonous fog and wound infection, and report the latest situation at any time!" He Yanfang, whose face was solemn, gathered his eyes, and it seemed that the situation was not optimistic, "Ellie, inform the reserve group, and be ready for reinforcements at any time." ”

"Understood!" Ellie immediately contacted, fearing for the safety of the Snow Crane. She continued to join the observation discussion after the end of the communication, and the map already showed signs of magical warfare.

"It doesn't look very strong. Seeing that the crowd of suspected anomalies was quickly contained, Ellie spoke.

"It's hard to judge the effectiveness of necromancy, but in any case, you need to figure out the mechanism to prevent the spread of evolution. He Yanfang's gaze was still looking down on the entire city, probably because his long-term experience did not allow him to slacken.

Ellie also understands that necromancy is a relatively "cost-effective" type of magic, and many spells have the uncertainty of multiplication and infection and even midway evolutionary mutation, and it is difficult for even the caster to predict and control the consequences once it starts, which is one of the reasons why necromancy is orthodoxly regarded as taboo.

"The daily patrol team here, all the anomalies are confirmed to be dead, and the estimated time of death is ......" The leader of the team paused for a moment, and then quickly reported, "It's more than a day!"

"Spells that manipulate corpses usually use power stones and sensor wires, and the more advanced ones will have demon and puppet beasts," the female team member of the intelligence squad continued to ask, "Have you found a similar control medium?"

"Searching for sampling, no findings yet!" At this time, the golden circle covering the whole city has been unfolded by Dimi, and prima facilitarily it can be considered that the situation has been controlled at a relatively safe stage, and ordinary necromantic magic will definitely be purified.

Now all that should be left is to find all the victims manipulated by necromancy, Ellie trusts the strength of the Future City branch, and she feels that the atmosphere in the entire office seems to have eased a little, although she is immediately re-tightened by the screeching voice of an outside phone-

After all, the intelligence team is also responsible for accepting requests for help. The female team member glanced at He Yanfang, and then went to answer the phone: "Hello, this is the branch of the Future City of Heavenly Punishment-"

She stiffened suddenly, frowned, and lowered her voice: "Ma'am, can you repeat it again?"

As if he knew her intentions, he smiled crisply at the silver bell on the other side, but it was a little artificial, which made people feel unpleasant.

"Ma'am?" the female group member spoke again.

The delicate voice laughed enough, and then slowly spoke: "Good morning, Uncle He Yanfang." ”

This voice-Ellie looked at He Yanfang, who was frowning, was it true......

"You're going to respond to me gently, aren't you?" I like to talk to you even though I'm an enemy, because you're the most considerate, and I'm comfortable talking to you............" The little girl said in an affectionate tone for a while, and then chuckled again, "Don't speak?" It's really sad, I'm Wu Anya, one of the ghosts under the throne of the former Empress of the Firmament, with the title of 'Evil Ghost'. ”

When it comes to necromancy and even black magic, it is inevitable to mention the cruel opponent, the "evil spirit" Wu Anya. It is not surprising that the wicked girl who was remembered many times in the strange incident of the deceased but never showed up finally appeared.

"Ah, now I'm here with my seniors as a star general candidate," Ellie could imagine Wu Anya's smiling smiling appearance slightly, and today the Child-faced Witch brought big news again, "There are many traps in the future city, and there are still many dead corpses waiting to dance with you......!

—

Preview: "Find them, then annihilate." ”

"Guess where I am~"

"She wants to make a blood killing array on the spot, so she needs fresh blood!"

"Senior, he didn't come alone, it's amazing...... Please hurry up and report that it was a half-person who attacked Future City this time - no, no, no, it was a quarter of a person, what a topic!"

"The madness that belongs to the same practitioner is unexpectedly familiar...... The enemy manipulating the corpse is in the city, and if I'm not mistaken, it's attached to the corpse!"

"The materials used for the experiment this time, but the excellent half-demons produced by your Heavenly Punisher?"

"Shut up, scum!"

"Isn't this a bit similar to the performance of Oniyama Dogwood?"

"Come on, come to us, come to the party—"

The treacherous schemes of the wicked women, the evil tricks, the whole city is in an uproar just to sow the seeds of destruction? Whose evil intentions are hidden in the posture of dancing forward and backward, how can you continue the tragedy of the spiral cycle!

"Isn't it easiest to find you, Wu Anya. ”

"No kidding, it's impossible for Future City to fall. ”

"The game is boring, farewell!"

The sparks of battle bloom under the heavens as you intermingle, ending your sins once more—

Part II: The Flower of Judgment (Part II)