"Ahhh

The strange howl lasted for a full five or six seconds before slowly weakening under the pale faces of everyone.

Only the echo remained, floating in the dim and empty hall, looming, chilling.

"What's wrong?"

Ricky frowned and shouted softly, "Return!"

The Swords of Calamity turned their heads in unison, nervously searching for the source of their screams.

More than a dozen torches were held aloft to illuminate the surroundings, and the group was like adventurers pioneering the wasteland, nervously alert to the strange unknown.

Tails withdrew from the senses of hell in horror: he saw nothing but dust in the darkness, old stone tables, cells strewn with bones.

Orders were passed from the hall to the tightly guarded stone steps.

"No," after a while, the voice of the mercenary Sonny came from the rear:

"It's not our people, and everything is fine in the back of the return. ”

The suspicion on Ricky's face deepened.

On the other side, the chisel whispered a few words to a subordinate who appeared at some point, and watched the latter retreat into the darkness again, before raising his head solemnly:

"It's not us, either. ”

"It's something else. ”

Ricky turned to Semir, casting an inquiring glance at the former nobleman of the stars.

As if he had discovered something, Semir looked at the iron tablet next to the Iron Curtain with a little surprise, and then looked at a ringing next to the iron tablet: "So this is ......"

And yet at this very moment.

"Woo-"

The heart-rending screams of ghosts came from the darkness again!

Everyone's hearts are tight again!

This time, the terrifying "ghost scream" was accompanied by a piercing and unbearable scratching sound: "Ahh

Almost all of them subconsciously frowned fiercely, and some even covered their ears.

"Hell!"

Russell's face twisted: "What the hell!"

In the unpleasant noise, Ricky clenched the hilt of his sword and asked Semir with forced emotion, "Do you think this has something to do with the Alchemy Tower?"

"Woo-ah-a-"

Tails gritted his teeth, only to feel that the sound made his nerves tense.

Like, like the sound of fingernails scraping across the blackboard in memories of previous lives......

Thinking of this, he was suddenly stunned.

Scratch the chalkboard?

At this time, Semir, who was thinking hard, suddenly spoke:

"I know what it is!"

Semir looked back, his face beaming, like a lost man in the desert who had found a source of water:

"It's, it's the scratching sound of nails on rough metal!"

I saw Semir touch the iron curtain of metal, and said excitedly: "It's from behind here!"

Everyone was shocked!

Countless pairs of eyes looked at the strange Iron Curtain.

Tails looked at the iron plate next to the Iron Curtain and entered the hellish senses:

[Angelo, male, born in 622 in Vola. 】

[Imprisoned in 653 on charges of murder, robbery, theft, murder of a nobleman, and illegal assembly. 】

[Verdict: Emerald City Judge Johnny Brennan]

[Prisoner: Sona Kevendil, Viscount of Gonghai City.] 】

[Prisoner: Baron Garrett Luhmann, Baron of Camp Bladefang.] 】

Imprisoned in 653......

Tails frowned slightly.

There is another name on the iron plate:

[Fowler, male, born somewhere in the Eastern Continent in 613. 】

[Imprisoned in 653 for smuggling, theft, tax evasion.] 】

[Verdict: Emerald City Judge Johnny Brennan]

[Prisoner: Sona Kevendil, Viscount of Gonghai City.] 】

[Prisoner: Baron Garrett Luhmann, Baron of Camp Bladefang.] 】

[Note: Died in 672.] 】

Ricky figured out something, he looked at the Iron Curtain, and then at the iron sign next to him, and his face showed surprise: "So, the prisoner on the sign, the lone thief, he, he's still alive?"

The painful howls and scratching sounds, faded into low drags.

"Woo-"

This time, Tails recognized: it was someone's sobbing, which had changed tone as it passed through the thick iron plate.

All eyes were on the Iron Curtain, and what was behind it.

"I see," Semir walked to the center of the Iron Curtain in the eyes of everyone, looking up and down the firelight in this special room shrouded in the Iron Curtain, "This is the mechanism of the Black Prison, I don't know if it was originally in the Alchemy Tower, or if it was transformed by the later Star People." ”

"The cells we saw earlier were full of bones, but they were all empty cells, and this, these cells with an iron curtain, were cells with 'occupants'," Semir stared at the rings on the wall, his voice a little heavy: "This rings are the switches that control this iron curtain." ”

Behind the Iron Curtain, the sobs of deformation continued.

Listening to Semir's words, Tails looked around the hall with mixed feelings, his eyes swept over the thick dust, over the seemingly inconspicuous but unique crafts that may have been thousands of years ago.

"Belletti, a veteran of the royal guard, was Sakel's chief penistor after his promotion, and was responsible for escorting royal prisoners to the Prison of Bones—he told me many years ago that criminals in the Black Prison suffer both death and life, which I have never understood, and I have not understood until today. ”

Sémir's hand gently stroked the ring, lining it with a layer of dust, and his tone was ethereal: "When the living prisoners are locked in, the Iron Curtain rises with it, keeping them out of the light and the hall, and the supplies dropped through the holes in the ground will only fall under the Iron Curtain, into these prisons where there are still the living." ”

He looked around the other empty cells around him in disbelief, his gaze glancing over the dry bones behind the fence.

On the one hand, it exaggerates the despair of being isolated from the world, and on the other hand, it gives hope for survival. ”

"Two kinds of pain. ”

Semir was dumbfounded, his face was very unsightly.

The crowd fell silent.

Russell, the former baron on the side, looked solemn: "This prisoner behind the Iron Curtain, why doesn't he speak and call for help, just scream and scratch?"

The chisel arched his shoulders and did not speak.

The answer to him was Josh, who had been rescued by the Sword of Calamity.

"Because he can't do it. ”

Josh shook his head, leaving Russell slightly startled.

"It's like practicing a sword, if you don't practice for a day, you will give birth to your hands. ”

"As I said, when you've been in a lonely cell where you've been isolated from the world and no one else, more than you expected......," the Sword of Calamity, who had just been released from the Prison of Bones, looked at everyone, and those who were swept by his gaze felt a chill in their hearts:

"Trust me, you're losing more than just time and freedom. ”

Tails stared at the cell behind the Iron Curtain, only to feel that the air here was a lot colder.

"What the hell," Clay stared at the Iron Curtain, keeping an eye out for movement behind it, "Prison of Bones, what the hell is this place...... Do you want people to die or do you want people to live?"

No one answered.

There was only a faint sob.

Do you want people to die, or do you want people to live?

Tails stared at the Iron Curtain, preoccupied.

After a few seconds, the chisel sighed, "Or neither." ”

Ricky tugged at the corners of his mouth, interrupting the oppressive conversation. "I think we're on the right track. ”

He turned.

"Keep going. ”

The Swords of Calamity moved into action with his form.

"We're just leaving, don't care about the prisoner in the back?" Russell frowned at the heavy iron curtain.

The chisel shook his head and smiled disdainfully:

"Why bother?"

With an indescribable mood, everyone turned around in unison.

Tails took one last glance at the heavy Iron Curtain, his heart heavy.

The firelight moved away from the hall in the darkness.

The iron curtain behind him, and the increasingly painful and desolate sobs.

Their journey continued, but it was clear that the discovery had lifted the Swords of Calamity, who had long been targeted.

Soon, step by step, they passed through the halls that grew larger and larger, and each hall contained more and more cells, from nine, ten, all the way to a dozen, twenty......

To Tails' trepidation, there was an iron curtain in more than one of these cells.

Other words......

"We've found the way," I don't know how many floors, Semir frowned and looked at another iron curtain in front of him, looked at the sign on it, and said, "The real black prison is all below the tenth floor." ”

Clay nodded, ignoring the frantic slapping behind the shadows.

"Looks like so, yes. ”

Ricky straightened up from the iron plate on the other side with the prisoner's profile written on it.

[Tucker Pun, male, born in the city of Sodara in 630. 】

[Imprisoned in 661 on charges of robbery and rebellion. 】

[Finalizer: Supreme King Cather Bright Star]

[Prisoner: Baron Emeritus, Klaus Chatham.] 】

[Prisoner: Baron of Camp Bladefang, Roman Williams.] 】

Tails looked at the iron medals with a depressed mood.

Except for the lone thief at the beginning, they went down layer by layer, and along the way, the cells where the real living were held were everywhere.

Without exception, these cells were shrouded behind a curtain of iron—some left with cries of pain, others with rare human cries for help or two......

Yes, there was only a dead silence.

In these prisons, according to the obscure iron plate and Sémir's account, there were not only the baroness who murdered her husband and children, but also the pirates who plundered merchant ships without permission, the frustrated nobles who rebelled privately, and the blood avengers who killed thirty-four people in one night.

But Ricky ignored the prisoners and just went on all the way.

And the more they go down, the more terrible the guilt of the repeaters becomes, the more complex and difficult to understand, and the more treacherous and difficult to judge.

Tails walked through floor after floor, through cell after cell, after iron curtain, and saw among the prisoners the green forest heroes who robbed military funds and rescued the people in the bloody war, and also saw the generals who killed the incompetent Shangguan in the war, and then led the troops to kill the enemy, and finally won.

There are even generous and kind, noble characters, free help to the suffering, and great nobles with high prestige.

"Why are you locking him up?"

Klay, the swordsman of the Northlands, stood in the cell where the nobleman and his subordinates were being held, frowning at the Iron Curtain and the Iron Plate: "According to you, you are generous, kind, generous, and prestigious—is this also wrong?"

"Of course it's wrong," Russell said coldly, standing aside, "because his ancestors were a close relative of the royal family who was divided into a family by a certain prince and inherited the bloodline of Bright Star." ”

"In the eyes of contemporary kings, this is called 'ambition and ill-intentioned'. ”

"Did I tell you that from the Iron Thorn Empress Dowager to Sumei I, from Ariga to the Red King, the most important thing in the history of the stars is the bloody power struggle?"

Tails' heart moved, and he glanced at the fast rope on the other side.

Semir paused slightly, snorted softly, and continued to move forward.

Along the way, they saw huge embezzlers who had made great contributions to the kingdom at the same time, temple sacrifices that preached the doctrine of the unity of the gods and the doctrine of the destiny of the mortal world, and historians who insisted on going back to the time of the Red King and recovering the old taboos.

"And this, I remember him, this is a scholar who wrote a few books and was thrown in," said the hammer, looking at a cell, and said with a smile, "It seems that he has been locked up with a nobleman who provoked a private war, it seems that he has been locked up for thirty years......"

Hearing this, Tails couldn't help but speak:

"Why?"

Semir came from behind and said coldly, "Because he wrote a book." ”

"Insist that civil power is higher than royal power, and that civil authority is higher than divine authority. ”

Tails was slightly stunned, and was speechless.

"Your grandfather was merciful not to take his life, but to throw him here, Your Highness. ”

Semir's eyes made Tails quite uneasy.

"The stories of these people, each one of them are incomparably complex, mysterious, and legendary, enough to make the bard write for three days and three nights in ecstasy," Semir said, looking at the Iron Curtain cells in front of him, with a strange look:

In many cases, the Kingdom cannot determine their life or death based solely on existing laws and guilt. ”

Tails frowned silently: "So, you mean, the prison of bones is ......"

But Semir only interrupted him, silently:

"Now, they are closed behind these Iron Curtains, waiting for time to kill themselves. ”

Semir was still staring at Tails, his eyes sharp and full of unspeakable emotion.

The apprehensive Tails had to look sideways.

"I'm wondering if I can ...... the Kingdom of Stars if I release these more or less strange felons and hold them in my hands," Russell rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"That's not our goal," Ricky interrupted coldly.

"As our guest, you don't have to do anything more. ”

Russell scoffed.

In the dark, the chisel coughed, attracting everyone's attention.

"I don't know if you've noticed," the chisel squinted, "and the top floors, the empty cells are full of dry bones. ”

"And now," he said, turning and looking behind the empty cells:

"The empty cells in front of us were full of dried corpses, some of which had a slight smell. ”

Ricky's expression moved.

"What do you mean......"

"Either these are prisoners who have been dead for a few years," the hammer said, "Or, we are already in the depths of the earth, where even the decay of corpses is much slower." ”

Extremely deep underground.

Tails' mood sank to the bottom.

The drill slowly said his intentions: "Dear Crassus, if we continue to search so aimlessly, are you sure that we can still return to the ground and evacuate safely within the time limit?"

Ricky's expression did not move, and he raised the torch:

"How long have we been gone?"

Clay on the side replied silently: "It's been more than half an hour, and I've gone down a full eighteen floors." ”

Ricky was silent and looked at Semir.

Semir shook his head, the firmness in his eyes remaining: "It should be soon." ”

"We have to find him to have an answer. ”

Ricky was silent for a moment, then nodded solemnly.

So the crowd turned around again, looking for an unknown target.

The chisel smiled helplessly, realizing that his reminder had not worked.

"It's too big for them to find. Russell snorted coldly and followed.

"Yes, it's too big, but what surprised me the most was that although the air was dull and the smell was a little worse," said Russell, who was beside him, "I didn't feel like I was breathing." ”

"Look at this building, imprison the Academy, right?"

The drill looked around and sighed to Russell, who was getting impatient, "The people at that time, the so-called mages, they must have been very powerful. ”

Tails' heart moved.

He saw Ricky, walking ahead, discussing something with Semir.

"Yes," Tails walked to the chisel casually and sighed sincerely: "I think so too, such a large building is buried deep underground, and it has been meticulously preserved, arranged, and ventilated." ”

The drill glanced at Tails rather in surprise.

This is the first time that His Royal Highness the Prince has taken the initiative to speak to him.

Tails smiled, "Father told me about the Prison of Bones, and according to him, mages are truly magical beings who can surprise you all the time. ”

Surprise.

Sure enough, in the next second, Tails saw that the face of the chisel changed.

Their search didn't last long.

Soon, one floor down, they came to a hall that had never been seen before.

The same dust, the same ruins, the same thick stone pillars, Tails looked around, but saw nearly thirty cells.

Five of them, wrapped in a thick iron curtain, do not see the fence, and the prisoners behind them are not visible.

Semir stood in front of one of the cells and raised his torch.

For a second, Tails could hear Semir's breath trembling in the silence.

The torch in his hand flickered.

"That's right," only to hear Sémir's voice tremble slightly:

"That's what it is...... Our goal. ”

The people who were originally mentally exhausted suddenly became excited, and Ricky stepped forward quickly, looking at the iron cards with a serious expression.

Tails entered the senses of hell, trying to see the iron card.

[Quill Barney Jr., male, born in 631 in Eternal Star City. 】

[Imprisoned in 661 on charges of collaborating with the enemy. 】

[Finalizer: Supreme King Cather Bright Star]

[Prisoner: Cyril Falkenhause, Lord of the Ruins and Duke of the Western Wilderness]

[Prisoner: Bob Cullen, Lord of Huigang City and Guardian Duke of the East China Sea]

[Prisoner: Lord of Emerald City, Duke of the South Bank, Leunster Cavendil]

[Prisoner: Lord of Hancastle, Duke Val Arend, Guardian of the North]

[Detainee: Honorary Honour Araka Mu.] 】

[Prisoner: Sonia Sutherley.] 】

[Prisoner: Roman Williams]

Quill Barney Jr.

Who's this?

Seeing the iron plate, seeing the time of entering the prison, and seeing the unusual names of the convictors and prisoners on it, Tails's doubts became more and more intense.

And also.

The offences are......

Collaboration?

"Wow," the chisel's voice sounded from the side, as if he understood, "This is, little Barney......"

Semir took a deep breath, knocked on one of the iron curtains, and turned back before the last iron card:

"Is there a way to open the Iron Curtain?"

"Five cells...... All!"

Ricky smiled.

He rediscovered the long strip of "key" and walked to the stone pillar in the center of the hall.

The dust was blown away, revealing the emblem of the Alchemy Tower in the firelight.

Ricky put the key into the round hole in the center as before, and when it was raised, he spun around.

"Kara. ”

An unpleasant sound sounded.

The next second.

Thundered......

As the sound of friction sounded, the torches in the hall swayed in unison!

I saw that at the junction of the five iron curtains and the ceiling, a lot of dust suddenly fell.

Thundered......

The sound of rubbing was heard.

Soon, Tails noticed a gap between the Iron Curtain and the ceiling, revealing metal fences.

The darkness behind it is also revealed.

Decline.

Tails said in his heart: The Iron Curtain is falling.

He couldn't help but clench his fists.

Thundered......

Gradually, the Iron Curtain descended more and more, making an unpleasant grinding sound.

The light of the fire shone on the metal railings that were exposed behind the Iron Curtain.

Compared to empty cells, these bars are apparently untouched by dust and reflect a smooth metallic sheen.

Thundered......

But the light of the fire illuminated only a small part of the cell, and it was still dark behind the railings.

An unpleasant smell came from behind the Iron Curtain.

But the crowd did not care, and they stared intently, intently, expectantly, at the five cells under which the Iron Curtain had fallen.

Thundered......

Eventually, the Iron Curtain grew lower and lower, and finally dropped completely to the ground, barely visible.

Boom.

With a muffled thud, Tails knew: the Iron Curtain was fully open.

Darkness was revealed.

(End of chapter)