Chapter 107: The Veil of the World (2)

After leaving the ship, they stepped on a barren sandy field, the white stone brick walls stretched from the unreachable distance into the sea, they could not see anything moving except the ghosts, even the clouds and the sea seemed to be frozen, and the corridor was full of terrible shouts—from the ghosts, the footsteps of the Yin corpses and the unknown liquid dripping on the ground, Louis remembered seventy-seven steps, wizards liked numbers with magical powers, he was weak, but he could still support— He wanted to hold on to the walls, but he couldn't lift his hands at the thought of the foundation stones mixed with the ashes of the wizards after they had been burned.

The corpses and spirits peered at them, their eyes—transparent and cloudy—condensed on each of the living who passed through them, and the gray-white stone bricks did indeed have black stains, and Louis passed through them calmly, the corpses were like frozen carrion, and the ghosts were like a cold wind blowing from the swamp, but fortunately he had the fur cloak that Marie had prepared, and he didn't feel too cold.

The light came suddenly, and with the darkness came the cold, and a warm warmth made Louis shiver slightly, and his arm was immediately held by a man, it was Miledi, Louis looked around, and was surprised to find that this was the other side of the city wall, and the reason why it was the other side - he saw a mountain range that might stretch for hundreds of miles.

Marie and Vesalius came out later than Miledi and Louie, which surprised Mary a little, because Louis was a mortal and was only temporarily disguised as a wizard, and Miledi, she was an outsider without the guidance of a mentor, Vesalius was not surprised, the wizards' ways tested the willpower of the comers, because they were always proud of their sanity and strength compared to mortals, but even mortals, there will always be a person who is determined and unshakable.

Of course, without Colonna's blood, if the person who came was just a mortal, even if he was strong-willed, his breath would still be sniffed by those yin corpses and ghosts, and then they would rush up and tear apart and eat.

When Mary was about to say something, they heard a pleasant flute sound, and Louis turned his head to look at it, showing a slight look of surprise under his hood, for the sound was clearly from a monster, which was slowly approaching them with the wizard on it, and this was the manticore that Mary had mentioned. It had the face of a male human, round ears peeking out of a fluffy golden-red mane, and a pair of eyes as blue as the sea were looking at them curiously, just looking at it with a stronger emotion than some unqualified theatrician, and the wizard who sat on it, as soon as his gaze fell on Mary's face, he smiled kindly.

"Alas," he said, "I am astonished, little lady of the Mancini, have you returned from the watch world?"

"Oh, yes," said Mary calmly, only to see the male wizard jump off the manticore, raise her hand and kiss it, "I thought you wouldn't be back in the world anytime soon." "Because the Mancini family has decided to find a noble marriage for their sisters in the watch world, this matter is no secret among the noble factions.

"That's true," said Marie, "but I'm going to be an introducer for the Duke of Colonna," she said, and then turned to Louis and the others, "This is the son of the Dante family, and I'...... A friend when I was a child. ”

As soon as the young man of the Dante family heard the name of the Duke of Colonna, his expression immediately became serious, "I have heard his name for a long time, Your Highness. He bowed to Louis, who did not wear wide-brimmed hats embellished with feathers like the young men of the Inner World, but with pointed hats or hoods that came with their robes, so they rarely took off their hats when they saluted, but only opened them and crossed their hands over their chests, which Louis guessed was a sign that they did not have the "weapons" of the wizards in their hands, that is, the herbs or mineral powders he had used by Mary, "Hello, Mr. Dante," He nodded gently, even if it was the real Duke of Colonna, it was the first time he had come to the inner world, and he would not salute like a wizard, and given what he had seen, in the inner world, a duke was afraid that there was no need to make a humble gesture to most people.

He was right, the Dante family was not angry that Louis did not return the salute, he was inferior to Mary, and he did not have a knighthood, "I'm sorry," he said, "although it is you, Your Highness, do you carry a coat of arms?"

Louis showed him the coat of arms hidden under the cloak, the brilliant gold and blue coat of arms made the Mr. Dent dazzled, and then Milady and Vesalius also took out their coat of arms, the subsidiary coat of arms of the Colonna family, and then Marley, in full accordance with the rules, that is, after inspecting the coat of arms, the young wizard guard asked in a low voice if they needed to summon the Pegasus carriage, and Mary shook her head: "The carriage of the Colonna family will be here soon." ”

The eyes that shimmered with utilitarian light dimmed suddenly, but Marley simply turned away, and Mr. Dante's gaze shifted to Louis, who was evident that this distinguished outsider might be easier to cling to than Marley, but unfortunately, before he could speak, he heard a violent whistling.

The manticore suddenly fluffed up its hair in a rage, although it had a human face, but when it opened its mouth, it could be found that it had three rows of sharp triangular teeth, like a shark with a barb, Mr. Dent scolded a few times, but it still arched its back and made a threatening gesture, Miladyi slowly walked between the king and the manticore, raised his eyebrows and smiled at Mr. Dante, and forced him with a very threatening look.

I saw that the son of the Dante family looked at Milady for a few seconds, and then retreated helplessly and angrily, his fingers only hooked, and the manticore could no longer make a sound, and even the tail full of stingers slowly drooped, no longer terrifyingly opened, as if it was about to be launched at any moment.

"What a disgusting guy. Miledi whispered.

Since this wizard knows the Duke of Colonna, he should also know that he is the first time to enter the inner world, so he deliberately indulges his mount, whether the Duke of Colonna is afraid or curious, he has a chance to talk directly to Louis.

Mary, perhaps because she was used to seeing manticores, only now did she know what was happening, and she looked angry, but at this time the Colonna family's Pegasus carriage had circled down, it was a gold-inlaid four-wheeled carriage dragged by eight beautiful black pegasus, they fell to the ground, ran a few steps briskly, and stopped in front of Louis accurately, a middle-aged man also dressed in a robe jumped from the back seat of the carriage, with an extremely happy smile on his face, and bowed deeply to Louis: "I am your steward here," he said: " You can call me Luca. ”

"I am His Highness's attendant and physician. Vesalius said.

"I am Your Highness's handmaiden. Miledi said.

Luka's eyes lingered on them for a moment, and then he saluted Marie Mancini, and they were quickly ushered into the carriage, which was larger than it seemed, and it was like a delicate dormitory, to be exact, because the chairs were like couches, piled with fur, and Louis could lie down comfortably, which he really needed.

As the Luca manager was about to retire, Louis stopped him: "Luca," he said, "there is a man out there who has angered me." ”

"I see, Your Highness. Luca said.

It was probably only a few seconds before they heard the wails of the beasts and the neighing of the horses, and then suddenly fell into an inexplicable dead silence, followed by the sound of Lukka talking to Mr. Dante, who was visibly suppressed in anger, but Lukka was smiling and light-hearted.

"I beg your pardon, Your Highness. When Lukka returned to the carriage, "there was a slight delay." ”

"Huh?"

"One of our pegasus, Your Highness, suddenly loosened its bridle, so it ran out and killed Mr. Dent's mount," Lukka seemed to look back, "Oh, probably ate a little." ”

"Mr. Dent is not hurt. ”

"No, just a little frightened," Luca said, "I'll give him some compensation." ”

"Good, Luca. Louie said.

They set off after the Pegasus, who had suddenly "loosened its bridles," and the Pegasus carriage was lighter and smoother than any vehicle Louis had ever experienced, and as they galloped on the ground, only the sound of Dada's hooves indicated that they were advancing, and when they flapped their wings and took off, the carriage trembled slightly, and then there was a moment of weightlessness, and after a few minutes Miledi saw only the gauzy clouds and the blue sky of the lake outside the glass window.

"What kind of horse is that?" Louis asked.

"It's a nightmare. In fact, even the Mancini family only had a carriage pulled by four nightmares, and the Colonna family should not have prepared such a complete set for their children here, after all, the young wizard was not ready to enter the inner world, so it could only be that Mr. Bishop had prepared it for the king.

"Is it a demon?"

"No," Vesalius said, "wizards don't have that much power, this kind of monster is just something they have made with alchemy spells, but it's not easy, and it requires a lot of precious materials. He looked out the window: "They are very expensive, even in the inner world, but they can drag the carriage like a pegasus, and they can hunt or protect their masters like a hound, and they have a beautiful posture, so every noble family will have a nightmare carriage." ”

"They eat meat?" Milady asked with interest.

"I said they were like wolfdogs. Vesalius said, but he didn't say he had ever seen them chase fishermen or pirates who had accidentally intruded into the nearby seas - to mortals, it was tantamount to a demon descending, a nightmare Pegasus that could fly and not be afraid of ordinary swords, and could land on any ship or the surface of the sea at will, and they would lift the deck, open the hatch, grab the prey in the air, drag it to the reef, tear it apart, and eat it.

People in the watch world often say that this is how the so-called ghost ship was made.

Although Milady couldn't hear Vesalius's heart, she also guessed that those horse-like monsters were unusually cruel creatures, and the manticores they saw were at least ten magic feet in tails, with sharp teeth and huge claws, and scorpion-like spiky tails, but they were not even the same enemies against the nightmare Pegasus, she smiled, and did not continue to ask, there were too many secrets in the inner world, and there were many more things to explore.

——————

Louis took a nap in the Pegasus carriage, perhaps only ten minutes, when he heard the soft whisper of Miledi, and he got up and leaned against the window to look down at the scenery below, the verdant mountains were fading away, and the ground appeared rolling hills and ribbon-like roads, and then there were neatly divided fields and villages, and this scenery lasted for about an hour, and then slowly became denser towns, and finally several huge castles connected together.

The reason why it is said to be connected together is because the castles are connected by walls, and inside the city walls is an extremely large field, unlike the castles, the buildings inside are much lower and more neat, and there are several circular squares.

But the Nightmare Carriage didn't land in the castle complex, it circled slowly in the afterglow of the setting sun, and then slowly landed in a secluded courtyard, where the spell was cast in a targeted manner, the howling wind and the icy air were blocked outside, a lovely little open-top carriage— To be precise, it was not a carriage, but a unicorn cart, for it was a unicorn that shimmered silver that was pulling the cart for one person, and Louis could not help but put his hand on it, and it blinked softly, and did not allow only the virgin to touch it, as the legend says,

Although Louis was a man, he could not help but be attracted by the satin-like fur, and he restrained himself from stroking it again, and stepped into the cart, and the unicorn stomped towards the gray-black Basilica building without being driven.

Basilica's architectural style comes from ancient Rome, a kind of cross-shaped building with a plane, and was later used by the church to build monasteries and churches, and it is not surprising to see it in the Middle World, because the wizards migrated in the fifth or sixth centuries AD, the Byzantine style was still a child, and the Gothic did not even have a rudimentary form- On both sides of the path where the unicorn passed, there were peony-like flowers, Louis couldn't be sure, because this was not the flowering period of peonies, but whether it was or not, the flowers that were so big that they were larger than the palm of a human hand, and the heavy flowers hanging from the branches were really lovely, not to mention, as the unicorn passed, the alarmed goblin flew out yawning with starlight pollen.

The shadow of Prince Van Zhuo, the blue-gray kitten peeking out of Louis's coat, grabbed a little goblin when it almost pounced on the king's face out of curiosity, so Louis heard a series of small exclamations and complaints, and the little goblin fled quickly, but also left half a wing, and when Louis pinched it, it shattered in the king's finger.

The cat lowered its head, licked its pollen-stained paws, and barked a few times as if complaining.