After leaving Salorian's lab, Griffith found Peperanch's apartment behind a pile of oddly colored test tubes and flask racks. There was a strange fishy smell everywhere that made people feel sick for a while, and Griffiths almost threw up the bacon omelette he had eaten in the morning.

But a strong curiosity drove him to endure the feeling of a river in his stomach and enter Peperanch's room. As he walked through the jars and jars, his eyes suddenly lit up, and a particularly large mirror appeared in front of him.

It would be wrong to say that it was a mirror, and Griffith could not see himself in the smooth mirror. After a flash of fantastical light, suddenly a racing carriage roared towards him, and the rolling wheels seemed to run over him.

Speed wagon!How could it be!?

"Wow!" Griffith yelled, subconsciously flashing to the side. After a few seconds, he suddenly realized that the racing carriage had not been run over, but had continued to gallop in the mirror.

Why? What's going on? Why didn't the carriage rush over when it was right in front of me? Such fine details are not paintings?

Is this carriage sealed in a mirror!?

Griffith felt his sanity evaporate, his limbs trembling, and all that was left was fear and helplessness at the incomprehensible scene in front of him.

"Is there a guest coming?"

Behind the clutter came a scruffy scholar.

Griffith wiped the beads of sweat from his head, and then looked at the Mr. Peperanch in front of him. He was a middle-aged man with gray black hair, missing a few fingers, and a seemingly defective left leg. There was an extraordinary experience and wisdom in his deep eyes. But to be honest, his first impression of Griffith wasn't good, for he had not yet recovered from the shock when he smelled a strange smell emanating from Peperanch, which was not much better than a drunk's vomit.

"Oh, poor young man, this is the first time you've seen something like a shapeshifting mirror. Don't be afraid, no matter what you see, it can't leave this mirror. This is just the tip of the iceberg of the miracles created by the ancient gods. I know why you're here, but if that's all you have, I'd advise you to give up your crazy ideas. We are too small for those great beings. ”

"It's so real, it's like it's real. Griffith was still lamenting the carriage in the mirror, "What a wonderful creation." ”

"What is this," Peperanch smiled eerily, "if it were a complete shapeshifting mirror, the person in front of the mirror would even be able to take out the objects they saw as they pleased, limited to objects other than living beings. ”

"Can I take a racing carriage out of there?" said Griffith, shocked.

"What?Racing carriage?Speed Wagon?Haha, you're such a funny young man, why are you seeing a Speed Wagon?"

Peperanch didn't say anything more to dissuade him, but continued to walk deeper into the laboratory with Griffith. Peperanch showed him the collection he had collected over the years, all of which were bits and pieces that were beyond the norm.

It can multiply and condense various forms of metal, and on the outside it looks like a small iron box, but it can hold tons of debris, and nothing can be taken out. It's all beyond magic.

Griffith's whole person was already in a state of confusion.

I don't know where he got these weird things...... But I swear these things should never be in this world. Although my knowledge is not very deep, I can be considered to have some insight, and these things are beyond my knowledge.

These creations were created by the old gods, so why did they fall, why did the new gods rule the world, and what was everything I believed in before? Peperanch must have been crazy to keep these things in his school.

Griffith thought in a mess, and after a while his mood finally calmed down, and he found a random place to sit down weakly.

Peperanch did not entertain his guests with tea or coffee, but crouched in a dark corner like an old peasant and told his story to the apprentice knight.

"I was born in the city-state of Anoke on the eastern continent, and you've probably heard of it. ”

"I know that. I heard that it was the strongest human city-state in the East in the past hundred years. But then, it mysteriously disappeared, and it became a mystery forever. It is said that the level of magic of the city-state far exceeds that of other cities, and if this city-state survives until now, with their level, they may also become one of the enemies of the Bayeran Kingdom. ”

"Yes, we were once the most powerful city-state in the East. We are preoccupied with magic and military affairs under the leadership of the Great Archon, and no living creature can match us, whether it is an orc, a troll, or a dwarf. I remember very well that it was the summer of 1425, when a group of elves broke into our territory and killed our soldiers. Whatever their purpose, such behavior is a mockery of our great city-state. And so, our war with the elves began. ”

Speaking of this, Peperanch raised his voice slightly, as if it was the past glory of the city-state that gave him a little capital of pride.

"If you want me to say, elves are really stupid creatures, they have such good bodies, so good weapons, but they know nothing about war, and hundreds of our soldiers quickly captured their camps, defeated and captured them. Well, I remember killing 3 out of 7 captives, and by the way, the taste of an elven woman is something you can't imagine. ”

Griffiths realized what Peperanch was talking about, and his heart couldn't help but be filled with disgust and disgust. Suddenly, Peperanch's voice came down again.

"Still, I underestimated a certain elf, who bewitched me with her terrible charm. After we conquered the elven camp, I was guided by an elven woman and found a book in her study called the Dead Sea Papers. That's it, the existence of the old gods that I knew. ”

The name "Dead Sea Papers" is like the kind of horror novel that is common on the stalls, and the name is grotesque. Griffith felt incomprehensible that a well-educated person would believe something written in a book that looked like an entertaining novel?

Peperanch seemed to have seen through the midshipman's heart, and said slowly: "Of course, in general, it is difficult for people to believe the above things in a book with such a strange name. But—and I'll have to retract a little—the elves, though arrogant and stupid, are not to be underestimated in their individual intelligence. The elven woman, in particular, told me about the theory of enchantments that I still can't get enough of. So, no matter what is written in this book, I naturally accept it. ”

"So, what's written in that book?"

"Through the ruins of antiquity, the song of the elves awakens the ancient gods. ”

"What does that mean? Is it some kind of incantation? Or is it a ritual description? What are the relics of antiquity?"

Peperanch's words have a strange magic that makes people want to listen to it, to explore.

"Don't worry, child, you're too anxious, listen to me slowly, we still have a lot of time. According to the Necronomicon, it was a ritual to call out the ancient gods. Among the elves, there was once a group of fanatics who believed in the Old Gods gathered on an ancient altar on a summer evening, under the watchful eyes of the stars, and succeeded in summoning the Old Gods. ”

"Is this true? Then why didn't any records be left. If there really were people, well, elves who had done something beyond common sense, it would not have been possible for so many years without anyone knowing. ”

"Hehehehe, you said to leave a record, it's impossible, because those elves who successfully completed the ritual have disappeared!"

"You mean, they're all killed?"

"Kill, hehe, no, the Old Gods wouldn't do what only a low-level creature would do. Hee-hee-hee, when I say disappearing, I mean disappearing in the true sense of the word. They didn't even have a body left, they just disappeared. No one knows where the hell they went? hahahaha. ”

Peperanch began to let out strange laughs, as if he was holding something in his mouth.

Griffith felt a chill behind him, not only because of the bizarre and terrifying nature of the story, but also because Peperanch, who told the story, was a little abnormal from the beginning of talking about the topics related to the Old Gods. The corners of his mouth and limbs twitched, his eyes betrayed madness, and he even spoke with an eerie, uncomfortable smile.

"I told you, I believe in the book. That's why I don't care where the elves end up. All I know is that if elves can summon the Old Gods, then humans who are smarter and wiser than them can do the same. And I, hee-hee-hee, am the best of the scholars, so I'm sure I'll be able to complete this ritual as well. It's going to be the greatest feat ever, hahahaha. ”

Griffith discovers that Peperanch is not only a sane scruffy ghost, but judging by his current behavior, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a madman. If he had met him on the road, Griffith wouldn't even bother to look him in the eye.

By this time, Griffith was already a little tempted to get out of here, after all, no one wanted to be in the same room with a madman. Still, curiosity drove him to stay.

"This can't be, according to the Dead Sea Papers you just said, only the song of the elves can summon humans. How did you go about the ceremony?"

"Hee-hee-hee, I told you before, we fought with the elves and captured a few captives. ”

"Do you mean ......?"

"That's right, I and a few other like-minded scholars, including Veronos, the guy who introduced you with the idea, secretly brought out the elves from the prison and used them to complete the summoning ritual. We took the elves to an ancient altar. Oh, by the way, you don't know about the ancient ruins, do you? It was a ruin hidden in a dark and corroded jungle, and no one knew how many years it had passed here. It is said that if you go deep into the core of the ruins, you will be able to touch the origin of the world. There are also many strange creations there.

"Let's move on to our conversation. Hee-hee-hee, those elves are really dishonest and have been struggling and won't cooperate with us. Only the female elf was in a frenzied euphoria, chanting words we didn't understand. So we bound them to the pillars of the altar. Hey, hey, it's taken a lot of work. However, in this way, they will not be able to go anywhere, they can only sing for us there, hahahaha. ”

Griffith listened with horror. The fact that the scholar sitting across from him was once again established as a madman. Galadia is not much different from a human girl except for her pointed ears. Even in the far East, a handful of arrogant and cruel elven hunters will clash with the Eastern Legions, but it will only be a battle between warriors, and the winner will surely give the other side a good time to avoid excessive pain.

And Peperanch actually used the elves for living sacrifices, and Veronus actually participated! This is a crime that Griffith's morality absolutely cannot accept, and people are afraid and disgusted from the bottom of their hearts.

Wait a minute, Veronos, what does he want to do?

It was then that Peperanch's story interrupted Griffith's thoughts.

However, the ceremony did not go as smoothly as expected. Woo, after several days, there was no sign of the arrival of the ancient gods. The ruins in the darkness were full of danger, and our party was attacked by mutated monsters, killing several people, and even the elf as a sacrifice was killed by two, leaving only the female elf singing.

Several scholars, including Veronos, lost faith and left there. Hey, it was the darkest time of my life, you know how it felt, the feeling that you had managed to grasp the little hope of calling on the old gods, only to be worn away by the passage of time. No one around me believed me anymore, they all felt that they had taken such a big risk, and they all came back in vain, and they all left after complaining about me. Hey, hey, people like them who are not firm in their beliefs deserve to be qualified to see their faces. That being said, at that time, even I began to wonder if the old gods really existed. ”

"Finally!" Peperanch's emotions were stirred again, and he was not satisfied with squatting to tell the story, and his whole body jumped, "On the evening of the seventh day, things took a turn for the better! The earth trembled, the air was filled with a divine aura, even the sky was eclipsed, and the ancient gods had descended!"

"You mean, you've finally seen the Old Gods with your own eyes?"

"Woo woo, no. ”

"But didn't you say that the Old Gods appeared?"

"Son, there are so many things in this world that are beyond the norm. And the ancient gods are the most bizarre of these things. Yes, on that day, the Old God did appear, but the night was too dark for me to see Him clearly, everything was shrouded in darkness, and a strange and ominous feeling came over me. And, ...... It's so big that even during the day, it's impossible to fully observe. ”

"Yes...... How big?"

"Bigger than all creatures in all history and all humans have ever seen. It is so big that it is as if it was not the ancient gods who created the world, but the ancient gods themselves are a world. I was really blown away, and I stood there in a daze, not even thinking about moving. ”