The room was filled with silence in an open room made of silver-gray masonry, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows allowing the outside moonlight to pour in, and Fina sat at one end of the long red table, looking at the person opposite. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

It was an old man, dressed in a white robe and cloak, wrapped himself in a white lonely ghost, his face hidden from under the hood, but it was not difficult to guess his age from the hands that had burst out, it was a skin made up entirely of folds, like withered branches.

The only two people in the world who are qualified to wear the title of ceremonial chief, one is him and the other is Fina, one old and one young sitting across the long table, both are the most outstanding people in terms of magical attainments, one represents the accumulation of time, and the other symbolizes that miracles and absolute talents are real in this world.

After Fina handed over all the research materials she had brought with her, she never looked at the respected old man again, not because she didn't know how to respect, not because she was proud of her equal title and disdained the other party, but she couldn't keep her heart and thoughts in this room, or even in this city. She misses someone, and at this time she is on pins and needles.

"Excellent," the old man put down the last few pages in his hand and looked up, his nose as if spewing yin, "as surprising as it may be amazing, you do have a talent worthy of amazing everyone," he praised, and his voice was old and hoarse, and his fingers tapped on the page, "there are many places where you have found spots of light and omissions that I have not been able to notice, and the results of this research are good. ”

"Thank you, I don't dare to compare myself with a famous old gentleman," Fina turned her head, but her eyes were still wandering, and her mind did not return to this discussion at all, "It is the honor of the juniors who have discovered and guessed things within their own abilities for so many years, and it is an honor for the juniors to be recognized by the juniors." ”

"Your general views are all in line with mine, and you have found the place yourself, and I also have my own theories, combining what the two of us do not have, and the success rate of this sealing ceremony can be maintained at more than 80 percent," the old man said eloquently, with a confident gesture, and his fingers swiped his fingers back and forth on Fina's research materials. "The remaining twenty percent, half of the heavens are destined, and the last half depends on the people who serve as the body of the seal, their physical strength and endurance, as well as their compatibility with the magic power, are also key elements. ”

"There's always going to be someone who is going to die. Fina hung her head slightly.

Fina knew that the "sealed body" in the old man's mouth was just a literal and easily accepted statement, and the ugly and popular point was that the container, or sacrifice, was necessary to seal the magic circle of the Yaqi Blood Demon, and at the same time, there must be a suitable object to bear the power of the Yaqi Blood Demon being extracted.

It was not an ordinary seal, or even if there were two people in this room at this moment, they could not completely seal the blood demon, they could only strip their power from the body, and then divide it into many parts, and seal them into different containers, but there were very few people who could successfully withstand that huge power, such a ritual was originally accompanied by death, so the chosen people would also be secretly called sacrifices, and it was inevitable that their lives would be sacrificed.

"It should be said that it is a sacrifice, their lives are sacrificed for the sake of their families, and we perform such rituals to minimize the number of casualties, and if we can protect thousands of people from disasters for this, then their sacrifice is worthwhile, honorable, and their families can be proud of it," said the old man, "Even we, no exception, are to seal the most vicious and evil things in the world, and we may also be sacrificed on the ritual." ”

"In the face of the kind of object that can be put together with natural disasters, whether it is a civilian or a person with the title of ceremonial chief, in terms of sacrifice, it is the same. The old man sighed softly.

"I know. Fina nodded.

The old man was a little unpleasant, until now, this young man with a talent that he was a little envious of, whether it was words and deeds or demeanor, had reached the standard of cultivation and respect, and he was not the kind of person who was self-contained and arrogant, which made the old man feel satisfied, but the only shortcoming was that the young girl's attitude, or mentality, had not been involved in this important study at all, and they had to complete the unification of the construction of the magic circle in these two days, and it was necessary to completely and perfectly combine the two people's lifelong understanding, and it was not too much to invest double the energy for this。 But the old man saw that as soon as the girl entered the room, her eyes moved uncontrollably, like a distracted student in class. The old man was a little angry, he felt that this kind of big thing could not be accomplished by half-heartedness and not seriousness.

"The magic circle needs two layers of inlays, the innermost layer is used to strip off the power, and the outer layer is used to seal the energy that is detached," the old man continued the topic, "The magic power of the Yaqi Blood Demon cannot be extracted at one time, the precedent of the predecessors has already told us, this ceremony, the body of the seal is tentatively set at one hundred, more will spread too much panic among the people, less will be detrimental to the ceremony." ”

"Well, that's a hundred. Fina nodded.

"The ritual begins with the cry of the moonsongbird, and after they have flown around the sky and returned to their nests, that is when the night's magic power fluctuates most strongly," said the old man, "and the best five hundred ritual sacrifices selected from all over the world will begin the ritual around the circle, which will inevitably forcibly awaken the blood demon who is still sleeping, but it will only start the ritual while he is asleep, and we cannot give the monster time to react." ”

"Well, okay, I'm tired of the priests brought by my predecessors. Fina nodded slightly.

The old man felt that his heart was beginning to catch fire, and this should be a very serious moment, but the girl in front of him made him see at a glance that his heart was completely far away. That's why he hates to sit and discuss with naïve young people, who don't know which is more important, can't fully understand the importance of things, and can't keep a calm and concentrated mind when and where!

The atmosphere suddenly fell into a terrible silence, and the old man put down the page in his hand.

"Aren't you afraid, senior?" said Fina, suddenly, "for this ritual that is close at hand." ”

"I'm already sitting here, how can I be afraid," the old man's tone cooled down, with disdain, thinking that he was really a young man who had never seen much of the world, and he began to be afraid at the end of the matter, and it was very dangerous to hand over important things to such a person," You can't be afraid now, the ceremony hasn't started yet, and you haven't really seen the monster up close, so you start to be afraid, if that's the case, you should refuse the title of ceremonial chief from the beginning, talented people are never lacking in the world, but you are the best among them, we can invite a few more authoritative people to assist, this ceremony, the country wants not only talented people, but also suitable people, people who are greedy for life and afraid of death will sooner or later fall off the chain. He spoke harshly, like a stern teacher in the classroom, with a sense of anger.

"No, it's not like that, I started a long time ago, and it doesn't matter how long I've lived, but now, there is a reason why I don't want to die," Fina looked out the window again, and now it was the time when the moonsong bird was crying, and her eyes were also wandering with the blue feathers of the birds, it had been a long time since she left the house, and she was thinking about what Dracula would do at this moment? It's not that you're just afraid of death, it's just that when you're about to die, you think that there are still things in this world that make you extremely nostalgic, and you don't want to lose those, so you're afraid, not afraid of death, but afraid of loneliness. ”

"I've lived for a hundred years, I've seen too much, I don't have any attachment or unfulfilled thoughts, my wife has died early, my children have already started a family, even without me, they can still live a good life, those old guys who are my best friends have also gone one step ahead of me, and now I am the only one left in this world," The old man looked at the thin figure of Fina looking sideways, as if she was alone lost in the world, and the words should not be sighed by people of this age in the old man's cognition, but the kind of heartfelt sigh, which made him suddenly change his opinion of the young girl in front of him, "If there is really anything to support me to live a little longer, it is like watching the achievements of my life improve and improve a little more, and benefit the world a little more, that's all." He restrained his anger slightly.

"But what about the people who are the seals in this ceremony? if it weren't for some reason, they wouldn't have chosen to take on this duty, they would have died, they were just mortals, they must have felt scared, they didn't want to leave their families," Fina had a sad look on her face, "their death can be exchanged for the safety of their families and more people, but even so, they don't have to die, they also have the right to live." ”

"There are some things that I can't do about it. The old man was silent for a moment, and gave Fina's expected answer, a disappointing but uncompromising answer.

"But you're right, unlike me, you're still young and entitled to enjoy the rest of your life and spend time with your family and friends," the old man said, "but helplessness is helplessness after all, but many things still have to be decided by the parties themselves, even if they are helpless, they should lead to different results due to different choices." ”

"Good or bad?" said Fina, looking at the old man.

"Nobody knows. The old man shook his head, this was the first time he had fully seen the girl's face, because Fina had never looked in his direction, this pair of eyes made the old man's heart tremble a little, not because of the girl's beauty or anything, he was an old man and would not be emotionally attached to young women, but he felt that the girl in front of him was a little strange, or different, different from everyone else.

It was an ethereal feeling, her pupils were like a mirror, and people felt that they could see everything from it, not only the reflection of themselves, but even the emotions that emanated from what was in the mirror.

The old man suddenly thought of something, he had lived for a long time, and he had heard a lot of things, but some things, after all, were just heard, no matter how detailed and complete they were, they could not withstand the moment when they actually saw it.

"Your physique, is it difficult to ......," the old man frowned, and then gave up, "It's nothing. ”

"What does the senior want to say?" Fina didn't understand what the old man wanted to express, "Senior, I'm here this time just to transfer all my research results to you, you know more than me, you must be able to fully integrate my things into your own understanding, although I'm sorry, but I'm sorry, I can't carry out this ceremony with you." ”

"Is that so......" Fina was a little surprised, but the old man was not surprised, but replied lightly, as if he had already guessed, "Your expression, your atmosphere, and your eyes don't look like a person who is ready to take his life to go to the ceremony." ”

"I'm sorry, if you treat me as an immature child, then I admit it, please understand," Fina raised her head, only the next words, she had to hold her head high, that was the goal of her trip, and it was also the choice she made as a party, no matter the outcome, "I have it too, I can't let it go." ”

"You don't have to apologize to me," the old man waved his hand and picked up the materials on the table, "You should convey this matter to the chief knight in charge of everything, I have indeed received the results of your research, and I should be able to make up for all the hard work I put in on my side without you." ”

"I've consulted with the Chief Knight, and I'm sitting here here just to deliver the results of my research," said Fina, pulling out a thin wad of paper from her clothes, and she had other materials in her possession, "I have one more thing, and if I can, I'll give it to my seniors, and I won't get into it again." ”

"You're still very talented, it's a pity. The old man took the information handed by Fina, and wondered in his heart, what kind of things did this young man with God-given talents study, and even let her hide it separately on his body, what kind of secret treasure should it be?

The old master of ceremonies flipped through the documents in his hand, and at first glance there was a look of surprise on his face, and such a happy expression appeared on his face like withered bark, showing a sense of dislocation, as if returning to the young man who was most enthusiastic and yearning for the study of magic back then, and the joy of discovering a new continent.

"Great idea, very special focus!"

At first, with doubts and tentative understanding, he gradually slowed down his reading speed, as if he was pondering the deep meaning and meaning of the expression word by word, as if he had seen a rare treasure book in a hundred years, and wanted to imprint every word in his eyes.

But as he flipped through the pages, the old man's face froze, his hands trembled slightly, and the expression on his face suddenly froze in amazement.

"This is ......" When the old man finished reading the last page, he slowly put down the precious result in his hand, "Is it really you who researched it alone?"

Fina nodded.

"If, as I just mentioned, even we may not escape the fate of sacrifice during the ceremony, it is because in order to seal that terrifying monster, we had to use all our human strength, consume all our magic and energy, and die of physical exhaustion," The old man stared at Fina's eyes, but this time he couldn't see anything else in this girl's eyes, it was still a smooth and clear mirror, like a calm lake, without a trace of waves, he realized that this young man did have a talent that should not be underestimated, "This research of yours can already be classified as a forbidden art, it is indeed understandable, this should be the most powerful sealing magic, it will consume the personal vitality of the interpreter as a price......"

What he holds in his hand is not a rare treasure, but a forbidden fruit, and this magic that ordinary people have spent many years and may not have developed is from the hand of a teenage girl.

"So I don't want to touch anything about it anymore, and if I could, the most basic magic, I want to forget,"

Fina was not afraid of the old man's fierce gaze, and said seriously, "I just want to live an ordinary life, with my cherished family." ”

"You, tell me again, what's your name? The old man asked solemnly, for he had a bitter attachment to the young man at first, and he had never wanted to remember the girl's name before.

"My name is Fina, senior," said Fina, "Fina Nien, I don't have parents, and the surname Nien was given to me by me and my family. ”