"I'm someone sent by Lord Emma of Lothric to check on the fire ceremony."

Len pulled out the small flag that Priest Emma had given him.

Although the other party is a blind girl, as a fireproof woman who takes care of the initial flame and the fire transmission sacrifice ground, who believes that she has no supernatural powers?

Sure enough, after Lan En took out the small flag, the fireproof girl bowed slightly to him with her hands folded in front of her stomach as if she had confirmed it.

If you put aside this obviously ancient and outdated environment, the fireproof girl can be called a thousand manners regardless of her face and figure.

But in this apocalyptic world of fire, everything has to be sacrificed for the sake of passing on the flames.

The fireproof woman has a slightly messy but graceful pale braid, which hangs down to the waist.

She straightened up and pulled back the braid that had slipped down her back.

Lan En also bowed slightly in return.

"The situation is not optimistic." After returning the salute, Lan En talked about what he had seen and heard along the way, and his tone was solemn.

"King Othrois has gone mad, and he has spread experiments throughout the city that have not been seriously verified, hoping to transform his subjects into the life of the fireless age. There are now few people alive in the whole of Lothric. I killed him. ”

"And the hero Guda, who was originally scheduled to come to replace the salary king, escorted him in the team with the prince's internal response, and after Guda got out of trouble, he should join forces with the outside to kill the escort team, and blocked the road in front of the fire sacrifice ground to prevent anyone from passing, and I also killed him."

"So far, none of the former wage earners who have been awakened by the bell have come?"

Under Lan En's narration, the fireproof girl also understood the bad situation now.

Her expression became solemn, too.

But with good cultivation and training, she didn't look like an ordinary woman, and her hands and feet were at a loss.

On the contrary, it shows a kind of demure and strength.

She shook her head slightly, indicating that the situation was indeed extremely bad.

But then, he looked over Lan's shoulder to one of the five longing thrones in the heights.

"There's a former wage earner who arrived not long ago."

She whispered.

"But also. Only this one. ”

Lan En frowned, then looked in the direction of the fire girl.

Only then did I see a figure sitting on the second throne of longing on the left in the dim flickering candlelight.

It's just that the figure is really inconspicuous, short and thin. And there is not the slightest breath of the living, like a dried firewood.

That's why Lan didn't notice his existence when he entered the door.

It was a grayish-white, dry old man with death all over his body.

Not to mention candidates for the salary king like the hero Guda. Even the demon king Ocelois, who has given up most of his power and mutated himself, is more powerful than him.

This is the salary king?

Lan En couldn't help but be a little puzzled.

Although so far, he has only seen one of the [Shadow Sage] Eldridge.

But the Salary King, who was not known for his combat effectiveness, had already left a deep impression on Lan En with the horror and profundity of his own power.

After all, the darkness in his body now was only a product of seeing a corner of Eldridge's power.

Strictly speaking, the other party just asked Lan En to cut it, and Lan En 'polluted' himself.

The strength of the power of the Salary King and the high level of the personality can be seen.

But this little old man in front of you?

"If there are more than three salary kings who can sit on the throne of desire, then they can still burn themselves in a form that does little harm, and briefly continue the first fire, buying precious time for the world. But now."

The firewoman worriedly faced the only one who sat on the throne of desire.

"We've been waiting for the other two pay-kings to arrive, but judging by the news you brought"

Most likely, there will be no other pay-payers.

"What if there aren't more pay-earners to share the burning damage?"

Lan asked with a frown.

There is a salary king who has arrived, and it stands to reason that he can open the throne of longing and let him burn slowly.

And now the reason why the Fire Transmission Sacrifice Ground didn't do this, Lan En figured it out after a little turn of his brain.

The salary kings who can sit on the throne and aspire to the throne are all candidates for the top when the transition period of the fire passing ceremony comes. It is not a one-time consumable, but one that needs to be woken up and maintained repeatedly.

And in the case of only one Salary King sitting on the throne.

"The Salary King will burn himself out completely and gradually, even if it is sitting on the throne of desire that can control the speed of burning."

Sure enough, from the mouth of the fireproof woman, words that were consistent with Lan En's conjecture were spoken.

The two fell silent for a moment.

"But there's no other way around it now, is there?"

Suddenly, from above the throne, a soft, old voice sounded.

It was the only one who had arrived at the fire sacrifice site who was speaking.

Both the Firefighter and Lan En looked up.

His voice was flat and soft, so soft that it didn't look like a strong man who was once strong enough to support the operation of the world order, but like an ordinary old man who told stories to his juniors.

"The world is about to sink into darkness. The bottomless, terrible darkness. ”

"And today, since no one will come again, there is only one thing we can do in the end. The firefighter who guards the initial flame."

On the throne, the short, thin figure with a shadow said flatly.

He was sentenced to death.

"Start the ritual and let the world see the light of day again."

"Let me burn."

Lan looked at the figure on the throne, and he pursed his lips.

Seeing a person who is determined to sacrifice themselves for a goal or a certain person can be shocking no matter what.

And in this world where death is normal, the Firewoman only bows her head and bows to the dwarf figure on the throne.

Indicates that he will obey the will of the Salary King.

"I see, Lord Rudos."

The firefighter whispered.

The ritual of initiating the Throne of Aspiration is simple, and in the middle of the Flame Transmission Arena, there is a large basin filled with some kind of ash.

A spiral sword was stuck diagonally in the basin.

The sword looked rough and rudimentary, like two steel cables twisted together to form a sword, and then the grip and sword grid were added.

There was only one exception: even now that it was sinking deeper and deeper into darkness, the sword still looked like it had just been taken out of the furnace, revealing a glowing dark red of steel burned by flames.

The firefighter walked up to the spiral sword and gently touched the hilt of the spiral sword.

"Poof"*N

At the moment when the fireproof woman touched the hilt of the spiral sword, a series of flames exploded and the slight deflagration was connected into a large area!

The entire fire transmission sacrifice ground suddenly became bright.

Originally, only a small piece of candle was lit around a few people, but in fact, there were many more in the fire transmission ceremony.

But the candle flame that brings light not only dispels the darkness, it can not be drowned in the darkness, it also needs to be sustained by strength.

In this world where the concept of 'light and darkness' becomes a real force, this is the law of operation.

The three people in the fire sacrifice ground can only maintain a small candle flame around them.

But at this moment, all the candles that had not yet been lit seemed to be supported by some kind of flame power and spontaneously burned!

The old woman who sat against the wall and could not move, and the sturdy blacksmith who cared for his own iron, both stopped their movements at this moment, and looked solemnly at the longing throne that was the only one who sat down.

All five thrones were activated, and the thrones that were originally unremarkable and were simply carved out of ordinary rocks.

Now it emits a dark red glow like lava between solidification and flow, and in the cracks of the stone material, you can faintly see the hot fiery red coming through the cracks.

However, all five thrones were activated, but only one had a burnable salary.

Lan pursed his lips as he looked at Rudolph on the throne, his thin and short body suddenly tensing.

At the same time, on the skin of the dark green corpse, there were traces of the dead branches being burned.

Burned-out cracks spread all over the body, and sparks and red light shone out of the cracks.

It's like a piece of firewood that is charred on the surface, but still burning on the inside.

The process of burning oneself must have been very painful for the Salary King.

Lan En walked down the steps to the side of Rudoth's throne.

Each throne is engraved with the name of its owner, and on Rudoth's throne is the Vault Dweller.

He should be called 'Rudos of Courland'.

"Ahh Don't, don't, it's too painful. It's so hot, help me."

This sudden pain seemed to have tormented this thin and short old man to the point of losing his mind and unconsciously talking nonsense.

"Behold, ladies and gentlemen, I have become king, and even if the fire is weak, I can continue the world. So forgive me, forgive me. Don't blame me all the time. No. ”

Even if you make a mistake and become an exile in your hometown, will you still beg for forgiveness from your hometown?

Maybe among the four bridging period salary kings, he not only rushed over out of the responsibility of the salary king, but also out of guilt, right?

Rudos tensed and trembled, apparently the pain of longing for the throne was too sudden and intense.

And as the Firewoman said, the price of having only one pay-king sitting on the throne of longing is too great.

Rudos sat on the throne, his dangling feet out of reach. And from the tip of his toe, wisps of burned white ash were peeling off from above.

He's really being 'burned clean'.

As for Lan En himself, the hidden darkness that had affected his mind more and more since the sky had darkened had become slight at this time, as if it had been suppressed.

The murmur of the pain of the Throne Paid King gradually subsided, and it seemed that Rudos had finally begun to get used to the intense pain.

Regardless of his appearance, he is a salary king who can sustain the world after all. As long as the willpower is strong enough, it is only common to speak and behave freely in pain.

The tremors on his body were gradually suppressed.

Yes, it's 'suppression', not disappearance.

Because Lan En was still watching, he kept burning white ash falling from the tip of his toes.

The pain has definitely not stopped.

It won't stop until he's burned out.

(End of chapter)