According to Hathaway, the "artifact" in Hercules' hand is actually just a clumsy shell, and the real power of the artifact comes from its core, which is far from being shaped by extraordinary human power."
It's a scepter, and I'm sure you've seen descriptions of it somewhere else," Hathaway said in a calm tone as she stood in front of the window, "but the scepter itself is nothing, it's just a shelf to bind the true core of the artifact—the Olympians don't know where they got an infinitely powerful core, and that core is the essence of cosmic power, with the power to subvert the entire world, However, Zeus and Athena didn't know how to control this power, so they resorted to the most stupid way of all, using a combination of red crystals and enchanted metals and cores to make a weapon. ”Hao Ren didn't expect a "core" to suddenly pop up, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "What does that core look like?"
”"I haven't seen it," Hathaway shook her head, "and it's said that whoever looks at it will be plagued by calamity."
It was sealed inside the scepter's crystal, and no one had seen it look like since the scepter was cast, and Hercules had described it as a piece of pure darkness......
But he's just listening to what others say. ”Lily followed up and asked, "Is it because you fought too hard and that thing got out of control?"
”Hathaway nodded slightly, "Yes, but not all."
Since the fall of Olympus and the escape of Hercules with the artifact, he has encountered numerous crises, most of them from the witcher's strangulation - each time he can only rely on the power of the artifact to save the day, which causes him to rely more and more on the scepter, but the scepter's energy is limited, and drawing too much power from the scepter finally leads to a change in the core.In our last battle with him, the crystal on the scepter broke, and all sorts of powers burst out of it, partly positive, which removed the hostile curses we had against each other, and partly negative, which damaged Hercules' mind. ”Hathaway paused here before continuing: "In the beginning, this backlash was not serious, but as time went on, the power leaking out of the artifact seemed to find an invisible channel, constantly eroding Hercules' body and spirit.We studied this erosion together after the armistice was signed, and eventually found that it was not part of any magical force known to the world.After a period of pointless experimentation and research, we made a pact with Hercules: he would henceforth remain incognito, find a place to live in seclusion, and try to fight the shadows of the spiritual world, while we traveled all over the world in search of clues related to that evil force. ”Hesperius asked, "Did you find it?"
”Hathaway shook her head: "Nothing." ”"Why don't you just throw the artifact away?"
Lily scratched her hair, "Didn't you say that the power it leaked kept drilling into Hercules?"
Throwing it away doesn't work?
”"We've tried, but it didn't work—some kind of connection across time and space connects Hercules to the core of the artifact, and no matter where we throw the artifact, its power will manifest itself in Hercules' nightmare.Rather than this, it is better to keep it by his side, so that at least it can be used as a weapon for self-defense, and it can also monitor the changes of the artifact at any time. ”Vivien muttered under her breath, "Cursed things are basically drawn in this style. ”Hao Ren had already made the ins and outs of the matter clear: "So in the end, things got worse and worse, and your efforts were in vain, one day Hercules sent a message to you, saying that the situation was too serious to be managed, and you came to this place......
I pretty much know the rest of the story.It seems that although you have not been able to find a way to lift the curse, you still have some understanding of the core. ”"That's right," Hathaway said, "as the power in the artifact gets out of control, and the nature of the core is revealed, our research becomes much easier.Sivir is one of us, and she eventually discovers that it is actually a door, leading to a dark and terrifying world, hidden in the depths of the nightmare of the real world, the dark side of the universe......
The reason why the artifact has great power is precisely because it is an outlet for the power of such a world, and no matter how great the power of the mortal world is, it is impossible to compete with a world. ”What Hao Ren thought of at this moment was the dream plane.However, it is clear that the Dream Plane is not as terrifying as Hathaway describes, except for a lurking mastermind and a group of Guardians who have gone mad, the Dream Plane is just a normal universe, how can it leak such evil and terrifying power?
Could it be that the rift in the artifact core leads to another place?
A truly dark chaotic universe?
Or maybe Hathaway and her fellow witchers are mistaken, they don't understand the concept of the universe and the barrier of the world, and what they describe as the "dark side of the universe" is actually just a slightly larger, twisted alien dimension?"
What's in the 'dark side of the universe'?"
Vivien's brows furrowed slightly, and her tone was serious, "Except for the primordial energy. ”"There is also a frenzied and noisy will, an evil force that cannot be described by the real world, has no reason, and tries to devour the whole world," Hathaway's body couldn't help but shake when she said these sentences, and the undead body showed bursts of fluctuations, obviously these things caused a huge shadow on her, even if she experienced life and death, even if she guarded this place for two hundred years, it couldn't calm her down, "That thing is not to be opposed!"
Even the mere knowledge of its existence can make one lose one's mind.Sivir, she just studied too deeply, so she became fascinated by the darkness on the other side of the border, she opened a passage to send herself to the border, but she buried herself, and let the monster in the dark perceive the existence of the real world, and opened the border door step by step......"
Hao Ren interrupted before the other party's spirit fluctuated too much: "So you finally built this prison?"
”"That's right, we built this place," Hathaway looked up and pointed out the window, "Ironically, this place was built with the power of that artifact, which can tear through barriers and reshape space, and that's how we split the real world in two."
In this parallel space-time, we built a huge cage around Hercules, isolating him from the artifact and preventing them from having any contact with the real world, so that it would be difficult for the border to continue to expand outward; We have built a surveillance site here to monitor the cage situation for a long time.For all this, Hercules became a sealing table in a cage, and nine of our companions sacrificed themselves to open the ritual.After that, Master Mohaben and I became the caretakers of the house.For two hundred years, the Master sat in this place, staring long inside the cage, while I, looking out. ”Hathaway's gaze fell on the old man in front of the window, the witcher was still alive, but like a dead man; Hathaway stood nearby, her face still the same, but in fact long dead."
You've built prisons on alternate planes, but the real world outside is still affected," Hesperius said, "...... village" "I know," Hathaway nodded slightly, "manpower is limited, this seal isn't perfect, and there's still some part of that thing that has crept out of the border."
At the end of the ceremony, we were almost in vain, and the negative energy emanating from the dark side drove some of the fellows who presided over the ceremony crazy, and Reinhardt even burned down the ceremony site located in the real world, when Master Mojaben and I had already entered this parallel time and space, unable to do anything about the real world.In the end, we had to make a few sacrifices - the two of us forced the final part of the ritual here.The price was obvious: I died, became an undead, Master Mojaben aged overnight, and the negativity that escaped slightly took hold in the real world, turning the village into a cursed place. ”That's the truth of the whole thing.And at this moment, a sudden voice from his pocket interrupted Hao Ren's thinking: "Hey!!"
”Hathaway looked at Hao Ren's pocket curiously: "What did you bring?"
”Hao Ren took out the canned food bottle from his coat pocket, only to see that the little evil spirit was starting to ramble wildly inside, shouting with his teeth and claws as he collided: "Scared!
Syllable!
Hiss – whoa, whoa, whoa!!
”The little thing seemed desperately trying to convey something, or was just caught up in a simple euphoria, and given that she had no mind, the first possibility was not high.Hao Ren still remembered that the last time this little guy tossed was when everyone fell into a different space, so this time he instantly raised his vigilance.And almost at the same time, a low roar suddenly came from the direction of the village!
(To be continued.) )