"Crackling ......"

The sound of burning wood appeared in his ears, and Leo's groggy consciousness fluctuated slightly as he sank to the bottom of the dark abyss.

Like the first light of the endless night, it pierced through the darkness and turned into an invisible force that sent Leo's consciousness to the surface.

The moment his body "touched" the sea, Leo slowly opened his eyes.

The gray mist with no end in sight slowly flowed above the heavens, obscuring the sky and making the sun no longer shine on the world.

But even though the sun is gone, there is still a flame that provides light and warmth to the world.

The bright yellow flame light came from his side, and the warmth swept all over his body, making Leo feel that he was in a hot spring, and his whole body was warm.

He turned his head to look in the direction the firelight was coming from.

It was a bonfire lit on a small island in the middle of the Lake of Blood.

It is said to be a small island, but it is actually just a small place with an area of less than ten square meters.

The original white bone platform has been completely destroyed in the battle, and the black mud that the crown python turned into after its death has sunk to the bottom of the pit, and the blood water has filled the big pit, turning it into a new blood lake.

At the edge of the campfire, a blond man sat with his back to Leo, his figure looking surging with a sense of unreality, the edges of his body a little ambiguous, emitting a shallow glimmer outward.

Next to the campfire and the man was a wooden cross, tied to which the alchemist Goode Carven knelt because the cross was deeply embedded in the island.

The weakness of Leo's body has improved slightly after this period of coma, but the penetrating wound in the abdomen is still there, and he can feel the strong itching that keeps coming from the abdomen through the wound.

Trembling and trembling, he took out the Light Prayer Book, and Leo used the "Holy Light Healing" to milk himself.

Wind Attribute Mana is transformed into a mild Light Mana through the Light Prayer Book, which attaches to the wound in the abdomen.

With that done, Leo breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the exhaustion of the soul is difficult to relieve, at least, there is no need to worry about dying due to physical injuries.

With his exaggerated physical recovery speed, as long as he doesn't die on the spot, with the help of the "Holy Light Healing", he can always recover slowly.

Leo raised his head and was about to look in the direction of the bonfire, but the moment he raised his eyes, he found that his eyes matched a pair of golden children's holes.

Leo was shocked.

When?!

Although he is very weak, the foundation of the transcendent is there, and he can approach without him noticing, which shows that the other party is not simple.

His right hand subconsciously clenched the hilt of the sword, but the next moment, Leo relaxed slightly.

He didn't perceive the killing intent or malice from the semi-illusory figure close to him, and he thought about it, he had been in a coma for so long, the other party really wanted to be unfavorable to him, he had already died, where was there a chance to wake up.

What's more, the figure that suddenly appeared in front of him did not look at him, but stared directly at the book of light incantation that he was holding in his left hand.

Leo didn't act rashly, but he didn't let his guard down either, he was ready to see what this half-illusory blonde figure was going to do, and he would not hesitate to fight back once the other party had someone and any tendency to act in his favor.

After a long time, the semi-illusory blonde man in front of Leo sighed:

“…… Flvi, I'm sorry ......."

It was not the lingua franca of Donghuang, but Leo could fully understand the meaning and emotion in his voice.

Sadness, self-blame, guilt, and what lies deep within, abruptness.

After so many explorations in the dream world, Leo absorbed an unknown amount of soul ashes. Although these soul ashes are only the most unforgettable memories of their master's life, it is impossible for these memories to completely avoid language and words, in other words, unconsciously, Leo already has a certain understanding of the language and words of the dream world.

Some simple everyday words and language are not a problem for him.

He could understand the half-illusory blonde man's words, and because of this, there were violent waves in his eyes.

2k

The more he looked at the man in front of him, the more familiar he felt.

Blonde, known to Frivi Alexander, priest of the sun, who appeared in the northern part of the city, and wore a necklace around his neck that shimmered with a faint light......

All the information is connected, and the identity of the man is about to come out.

- Lord of Joel, Count Alexander!

He's still alive?!

No, that's not right......

Looking at the blonde man's half-illusory body, Leo thought wordlessly.

The state of the other party is somewhat similar to that of the legendary soul body.

He looked at the shimmering necklace around his neck.

It is full of red gold and ends in a round and flawless pure white gemstone.

It was the forbidden level holy object he had seen in the memory fragment of the soul ash of Sun Priestess Frie Alexander, the Resurrection Pendant!

Originally, Leo had always wondered where this thing went, but he didn't expect to see it in this place.

Now it seems that the original Flvi Alexander finally broke through the southern gates, went to the depths of the city of Joel to find her brother, and transferred the life-saving things given to her by the Privy Council to Count Alexander.

It is precisely because of the existence of this holy relic that Count Alexander can be preserved in this state.

So, here's the problem.

According to the hints in the character panel, the soul he absorbed after killing the deviant was named [Blood Abberger].

And is the [Blood Abberger] the same one that existed in the northern part of the city of Yor, the original aberrant?

Or is it that [Blood Deviants] are just Count Alexander's corrupted beings after being eroded by the influence of the original Deviants?

With thoughts churning in his mind, Leo rose with his sword in hand and watched the half-illusory figure of Count Alexander turn and walk towards the campfire in the middle of the lake of blood.

His feet did not touch the ground, but he walked floating a few centimeters above the ground.

After a moment's pause, Leo decided to follow.

Count Alexander's soul body still seems to be conscious, the first truly communicative being he had ever encountered in the dream world.

Moreover, as the lord of a city, the lord of this territory, Count Alexander knew far more things than ordinary people.

If you can communicate with them, you will get a lot of important information.

What's more, on the island in the middle of the Blood Lake, there is also the alchemist Goode Laven who is tied to a cross.

The specific steps of suppressing and even solving the pure-blood, soul purification ritual of aberration and erosion depend on him.

Because Count Alexander is a soul body, he can directly float and fly through the blood lake, while Leo can't, but he has his own methods.

The wind magic gathered around his body, exerting an upward force on his body, which greatly counteracted gravity, allowing him to step on the surface of the water without sinking, so as to walk step by step to the island.

Closer, Leo could feel the warmth of the campfire more clearly.

It was a feeling he had never experienced before.

Light, heat, and the vitality in between......

This should be the real spark that is one and the same as [the spark of malignancy] and brings people hope, right?

Leo thought to himself.

Seeing the soul of Count Alexander sitting down in front of the bonfire, Leo did not rush forward to talk, but came to the cross and looked at the robed figure kneeling on the ground.

The loose hood completely obscured his face.

Leo half-crouched down and lifted his hood.

Then, he was stunned, and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed.

Under the hood, it was not the face he had imagined, but a dead man whose skin was so dry that it clung to his skull.

The alchemist, Goode Laven, died many years ago.

Hanging from this cross is nothing but his corpse.

How could it be......

The bursting of hope made Leo's heart flutter all at once.

Wait, before things are completely desperate, maybe the records of the pure-blood ritual and the soul purification ritual are hidden in the clothes on Goodraven's body?

As if a drowning man were grasping at the last straw, Leo reached out and fumbled with his hand on Goode Lavin's clothes, trying to find what he was looking for.

However, there is no ......

I searched everywhere I could, but I still didn't find anything.

This completely extinguished the light of hope in his eyes.

Gude Laven is dead, and there is no record of a pure-blood ritual or a soul purification ritual, what should he do in the face of the looming aberration erosion?

Could it really be that you can only watch yourself, fall into distortion, and become a monster?

The state of mind brought about by more than ten years of swordsmanship cultivation made Leo barely suppress the chaos in his heart, and he looked up at the figure sitting cross-legged by the campfire.

Count Alexander, one of the participants in the original underground laboratory pure-blood ceremony, maybe what do you know?

Thinking of this, Leo stood up with a "whoosh", came to the campfire, and sat down opposite the Count Alexander.

In sight, the soul of Count Alexander sat cross-legged by the campfire, staring blankly at the beating flames, as if caught in eternal thoughts.

Even though Leo sat down across from him, he still didn't react.

At such a close distance, Leo could see that the edge of Count Alexander's soul body was escaping white points of light outward, although the speed of escape was not fast, but it had no intention of stopping, which meant that Count Alexander's soul body would eventually dissipate completely for a while.

In other words, his death is unstoppable, even if it is a forbidden holy artifact, the Resurrection Pendant.

It's not that the Resurrection Pendant isn't strong enough.

To be honest, over the years, under the premise of completely distorting or even transforming into a [deviant], he was able to protect Count Alexander's soul main consciousness, and the power of the effect of reviving the Holy Pendant had already surprised Leo greatly.

"Can you hear me, Mr. Earl?"

Leo asked this sentence in the language of the jerky dream world, and reached out and waved it in front of the other party's eyes.

The first time he spoke the language of the dream world, Leo's spoken language was still very jerky, but the general meaning could still be revealed.

Unfortunately, neither his words nor his actions could elicit any reaction from Count Alexander, who was still staring at the bonfire and immersed himself in his own world.

Leo asked a few more times, and the swinging hand almost poked the other man's face, but it still failed to elicit a reaction from Count Alexander.

Seeing this, Leo stopped his words and actions and began to think.

Count Alexander's soul body was clearly conscious, as evidenced by the fact that the other party appeared in front of him and spoke when they first met.

But the problem is that mere words and actions cannot arouse any interest in the soul body of Count Alexander.

Thinking of the first time they met, Count Alexander stared at the light spell book he was holding, and Leo suddenly understood.

The reason why the other party can have such an abnormal reaction is because the object he holds has been the owner of the past.

The past owner of the Book of Light was Count Alexander's sister, the priest of the sun, Florie Alexander.

Thinking of this, Leo hurriedly took out the Light Prayer Book from his bosom and looked expectantly at Count Alexander on the opposite side.

Not disappointing him, the appearance of the Light Spell shattered Count Alexander's lack of interest in the outside.

His eyes condensed slightly, and he looked at the Book of Light Spell in Leo's hand, and after a few seconds, he stretched out his right hand.

This is, ask me for this thing?

Leo did not hesitate, and directly handed over the Light Prayer Book in his hand.

As long as Count Alexander is willing to speak, the book of light is not a problem at all.

The outstretched hand touched the Book of Light's Spell, but it passed through it directly, and the two could not make contact at all.

Count Alexander's eyes suddenly became sad, and his outstretched hand hung down a little weakly.

Leo had an idea and placed the Light Spell at the foot of Count Alexander's soul.

In this way, you can't touch it, but you can feel it up close.

Looking at the light spell book that was close at a moment's notice, Count Alexander's soul body suddenly became excited, like a child, carefully stretched out his hands, trying to hold it in his arms, even if he failed every time, his hands passed through the light spell book, but the temperature that remained in the palm of his hand every time he passed, made him carry out this action again and again, and he was never tired of it.

"Mr. Earl, Mr. Earl......"

Leo called out twice tentatively, and seeing that Count Alexander was intoxicated with agitated emotions, he thought for a moment, and turned away into the distance.

About ten minutes later, he returned with two things.

"Thorn-"

One black and one red, two great swords inserted into the campfire, right next to the Book of Light Spells.

They are:

[Blackstone Fortress] - Cleo Alexander's [Knight of Yor's Greatsword Spirit].

[Viscount of Evil] - Anoke Alexander's [Greatsword of Evil].

These two big swords, because they don't fit together, Leo has never carried them with him, he thought they were just discarded things, but he didn't expect them to play an important role now.

Two weapons with a familiar aura appeared in front of him, causing Count Alexander's soul body to tremble, and even to become unstable.

Seeing Leo's heart tremble, he was afraid that if one didn't pay attention, the other party's soul body would dissipate.

Fortunately, the revival pendant is indeed very powerful, and under the warm light, the trembling soul gradually stabilized.

Count Alexander's gaze moved back and forth over the two great swords and the Book of Light, and faintly, Leo seemed to see the light of water in his eyes.

After a long time, before the bonfire, the soul of Count Alexander sighed, and the voice was indescribably gloomy and sad: "Everyone...... I'm sorry, as an older brother, it's all my dereliction of duty......"

Seeing that Count Alexander had a tendency to speak, Leo hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Mr. Count! ”

"Thank you very much, young man." Count Alexander looked at Leo opposite for the first time, and sighed: "You must have gone through a lot of hardships to be able to deliver my younger siblings' things to me, if you want to come here......

"I am ashamed to let you see such a city of Jor, as the patriarch of the Alexandria family and the lord of Joel City."

"Sorry, I'm a little emotional......"

Count Alexander sorted out his emotions, the sadness on his face disappeared, and at this moment, the majesty of being the lord of a city returned to this man.

"Thank you so much, before I was about to dissipate, you showed me that my younger siblings have a good home, and in return, I can answer any questions you have, as long as I know."

"After all, now I only have this ability......"

Count Alexander said with a little bitterness.

Leo took a deep breath, excitement flashing in his eyes.

Isn't that what he's waiting for?

Without any further hesitation, he hurriedly asked the question he was most concerned about: "Mr. Earl, do you know the specific steps of the pure-blood ceremony, or the soul purification ceremony?" ”

When this question was asked, Leo looked at Count Alexander's soul body without blinking, for fear that the other party would spit out a "no" word.

"Pureblood Ritual...... Soul Purification Ritual...... Do you even know that? Count Alexander sighed, and then looked at Leo deeply, and a sudden look appeared in his eyes: "It turns out that you are also contaminated with distortion......

"I don't know the specific steps of the soul purification ritual, it was later made up by Goode himself, and as for the pure-blood ritual, I know a little."

"But there is one thing I need to tell you in advance, the pure-blood ritual does not suppress aberration."

"The principle of the pure-blood ritual is, in essence, to use the blood of the aberrant monster to replace part of its own blood...... In turn, they have the ability to act in distorted and polluted environments. ”

"But...... Once the pure-blood ritual begins, it means that you take the initiative to throw yourself into the arms of aberration. All the pure-blood knights, from the moment they complete the pure-blood ceremony, are racing against time with their own lives, and all they want is to kill enough aberrant monsters before they are completely aberrant. ”

"So, I'm sorry, young man, knowing this, do you still want to know, the specific steps of the pure-blood ceremony?"

Count Alexander's voice echoed in his ears, and the anticipation on Leo's face disappeared little by little.

It turns out that this is the pureblood ritual.

The so-called pure-blood ritual is nothing more than a humble ordinary person, in the face of aberration, gambling with his own life and making a powerless counterattack.

"Is there really no way to completely eliminate the aberration? That's right! Mr. Earl, I once got a Soul Crystal, this is it, if it is a higher quality Soul Crystal, can it drag me back from the abyss of aberration? ”

Leo took out the Soul Pure Crystal (small) from his bosom and asked Qi Ji.

Count Alexander glanced at what was in Leo's hand, then looked at Leo and shook his head slowly but firmly: "I don't want to deceive you, young man. ”

"If it's a contact, it's still possible, but once you become a Deep Dyeer, especially a Deep Dye like you, who is only a little short of transforming into a Deviant, no matter how high-quality Soul Pure Crystal is, it is impossible to do this. At least, as far as I know, that's the case. ”

That is...... Is there no hope? Leo said with some despair.

He thought of his sister who was lying in a coma on the hospital bed, what if he turned into a monster, sister?

Affected by the [Soul Eater] gray qi, her sister Li Fei fell into a deep coma at the moment, and it was all by relying on the sword intent to suppress the gray qi in the depths of her spirit, so that the situation did not deteriorate further.

But the suppression of sword intent is time-limited, and every three months, it is necessary to ask Master Ning to take action and suppress it again.

But if he becomes a monster, a member of the Kendo Alliance, will he still be willing to spend a lot of money to suppress the gray qi?

Leo never hesitated to speculate on others with the worst malice.

For the Donghuang Kendo Alliance, for the old man of the Tuoba Army, and for Ning Shi, he is a gifted kendo genius who is worth investing in, but if he disappears after becoming a monster, it will be okay for a short time, and after a long time, will these organizations or individuals who have good intentions towards him really continue to take care of his sister?

I'm afraid, it's hard to say......

And there is a high probability that it will be given up after a period of time.

Thinking of this, Leo's negative emotions could no longer be suppressed, and even his pitch-black Tong hole climbed into scarlet due to emotional instability.

"I'm sorry to let you know such a brutal truth."

"Even if I don't know the specific steps of the soul purification ritual, in general, it is nothing more than embracing the aberration in another way, maybe the resistance time is longer than the pure-blood ritual, but in the end, it is impossible to escape the end of complete distortion."

"However, it is not hopeless......

Leo, who was about to explode with negative emotions, heard this, his eyes came to him with a clear eye, and he looked at Count Alexander, his eyes wide, for fear that he would miss a word.

Facing Leo's expectant gaze, Count Alexander looked dazed, as if he was recalling something: "During this period of my complete distortion, thanks to the blessing of the Resurrection Pendant, my consciousness resides in the subconscious of the aberrant, which makes me feel something that I could not have felt before. ”

"I 'heard' the call, and judging by the location, it should be from the central holy city of Gaelde."

"There, there seems to be a source of distortion, and if you can go there, you might find a way to solve it."

“…… Central Holy City......" Leo muttered in a low voice, "How far away, I'm afraid that before I get there, I will be completely swallowed by the aberration." ”

"Don't be so pessimistic, young man." Count Alexander's voice reached Leo's ears: "Distortion is rooted in the pollution of the soul, which is difficult to remove, but the will of the living soul itself can delay the erosion of distortion to a certain extent, and in this regard, you have actually done a good job, even better than me at the beginning." ”

"Will?" Leo frowned, thoughtful.

"Yes, will." Count Alexander affirmed Leo's words: "The will, like the soul, is ethereal and untouchable, but the two are inextricably linked. The stronger the will, the higher the resistance to aberrations. Just like knights of the same strength, in the distortion environment, they are often also weak willpower, and they are the first to be eroded by aberration. ”

"Your will is much stronger than I imagined, and I have completely fallen when I have so many distorted souls like you, and you can still stay awake."

"I don't know how you managed to do this, but if you can keep it up, or even go further, I believe it will greatly slow down the erosion of distortion."

"Will ......" Leo whispered in his mouth, gradually understanding.

He didn't think that his will would be much stronger than those bloody veterans in the dream world, and they basically didn't have much resistance in the face of aberrations.

But if the will is replaced by the power of the heart, then it makes sense.

Two master-level swordsmanship, one mastery-level swordsmanship, and one master-level swordsmanship, plus a master-level archery, piled up Leo's spiritual power to a terrifying level.

Especially the master-level royal swordsmanship, the proficiency has been as high as 760 points, no, in the battle with the [Blood Deberger], after entering that inexplicable realm, his proficiency has increased to a terrifying 900 points, such a level of master-level swordsmanship, Leo's spiritual power has been pushed to an extremely exaggerated level.

If the will, or the power of the mind, is strong enough to suppress the aberration, then the promotion of the Sword Master and the transformation of the power of the mind into the sword intent will greatly curb the erosion rate of the aberration?

Although it is not certain, at least, Leo sees hope.

The royal swordsmanship with 900 points of proficiency is not far from being promoted.

The sixth sense from the swordsman made Leo understand that the moment the royal swordsmanship broke through to the master level, it was when he was promoted to the sword master.

"Hoo ......"

Exhaling deeply, as if he were spitting out the evil qi that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time, Leo smiled again between his eyebrows, and he bowed solemnly to Count Alexander: "Thank you very much for the information, Mr. Count. ”

"It's okay, I'll tell you everything I know, it's my reward for you."

As he spoke, Count Alexander slowly stood up, raised his head, looked around, and his eyes seemed to look through the gray mist to the hundred-meter-high wall that surrounded the place.

This is the city created by the Alexander family after more than ten generations of painstaking efforts...... It's a pity that now, it is ruined in the hands of his generation.

His eyes lingered among the high walls, and finally he looked at the two great swords of red and black inserted in the ground, and the incantation book lying quietly under the big sword.

“…… In the end, I'm still, one, a loser......"

Pure white light, from the bottom up, constantly escaped from the soul body of Count Alexander, dissipating between heaven and earth.

"Monsieur Earl......" Leo opened his mouth to say something, but found that he didn't know what to say.

"Young man, can you tell me your name?" Although the soul body was dissipating, Count Alexander's face was not sad, but showed a surging smile.

"Leo."

"Leo...... Peculiar name......" Count Alexander smiled: "My name is Radhay Alexander." Leo, I see hope in you, and at the end of the day, I give you a gift, hoping that you can take it, with my expectations, to cut off the aberration! ”

"I know, that's a bit excessive, but ah...... For some reason, I really believe that you can do it. ”

"Goodbye...... At the end of my life, I am very happy to know you, I ......"

After saying this last sentence, Count Alexander's soul body completely turned into pure white particles of light and disappeared.

Only in the same place, two clusters of light were left, one of which exuded a warm golden color, and the other was colorless through the glass.

Without saying a word, Leo stretched out his hand and gently touched the warm golden light.

[[The Last Watcher] - The Complete Soul Ash of Radhay-Alexander]: It records the precious things that [The Last Watcher] - Radhay-Alexander left to his friends at the end of his life, because of his obsession, the content was completely preserved, even if his body and soul were destroyed, they never dissipated.

[Content: Royal Swordsmanship]: In the Great War a hundred years ago, the Alexander family was given royal swordsmanship by the Gaeld royal family for their outstanding exploits. The sword of the royal road is to destroy all enemies in front of you with incomparable power. Wherever the king goes, all bow down.

[Strength is the only reason to be king.] (I clearly wielded a sword with demon eyes, but after all, I never saw my own direction.) )】