The words spoken by the old bishop exceeded the most bizarre imagination of everyone at the scene, so that no one said a word for half a minute after the old man's voice fell, and finally Hao Ren was the first to break the silence: "You mean, the entire city of gods has disappeared?"
”"Ninety percent of the city has disappeared, and only a small part of the Divine Side, the ring closest to the sacred mountain of Assuman, remains, including the Icon Palace and several annexed palaces.Due to the blocking of the chaotic forces, the reconnaissance team we sent out did not get close to get closer, but just looking from the outside, it was certain that the light in the Icon Palace had been extinguished, and there was not even any breath of life in the entire building. ”Carasius couldn't help but take a breath: "Goddess!
”The High Bishop's hands clenched involuntarily and spasmed, apparently the shocking news had made him distracted at once, so much so that he felt at a loss.In this case, only Hao Ren, who has always maintained a third-party perspective, can still ask as usual: "Have you ever sent someone outside to explore after that?"
Are there any remnants of the city around the City of the Gods?
Are there any survivors in the wilderness outside?
Perhaps this tells us exactly what happened. ”The old bishop shook his head weakly: "Of course we have thought about what you said, but the repeated attacks of the nightmare forces have exhausted the remaining priests in Lu'an City, and it is already a miracle that we hold on to this cathedral, how can we still have the strength to send a second team."
In fact, the first team suffered a lot of casualties, and at that time, we organized a reconnaissance team with the idea of desperately breaking through to the Holy City for help, but now that the entire Divine City is gone, it is impossible for a new reconnaissance team to set off. ”Hao Ren glanced at Karasius beside him, the other party was still in shock and grief at the moment, but the high-ranking bishop still calmed down with his extraordinary willpower, and he exhaled a long breath: "We must go to Assuman immediately......
Mr.
Hao Ren, do you have a plan?
”Until now, Carasius had not forgotten the edict he had heard from the Pope when he set out, and he firmly believed that the "miracle" of Haoren from the Temple of Cassuan was the hope of saving Assuman, even if the situation worsened - because it had almost become the only reason to continue to persevere, and now that the city of gods had mysteriously disappeared, he needed a pillar of faith to support his actions.However, Hao Ren didn't answer immediately, he just thought about it seriously, and suddenly asked, "Bishop Hozman, did the City of Divine Favor cut off its external contact before chaos completely enveloped the earth?"
”He heard a suspicious detail from the old bishop's description, and he couldn't help but ask questions.The old bishop nodded."
At that time, the City of the Divine Favor hadn't 'disappeared'?"
The old bishop continued to nod: "It should be so, the light from the Holy City can still be observed at that time, and the existence of the Holy City can also be confirmed through divine divination, but all communication channels have been cut off. ”"In other words, at least until the first nightmare began, the City of the Divine Favor was unharmed, but it was completely locked down at the time, and then it mysteriously disappeared, and no one knows what happened in the process."
Karasius looked at Hao Ren suspiciously: "What do you think of?"
”Hao Ren said lightly: "I suspect that someone has taken the initiative to cut off the connection between the City of Divine Favor and the outside world, and this person can only be the ruler of the city." ”"His Holiness the Pope?
It can't be," said Carasius immediately, "why would he do it?"
”"There are many reasons, maybe it is to be controlled, maybe it is to protect the Holy City, or maybe it is to protect other cities, maybe it is to prevent some kind of evil force from spreading through the divine connection between the cities?"
Hao Ren raised his eyelids, "I didn't say anything else." ”As he spoke, he glanced at the gloom standing in the corner, without saying a word: "Dim, do you have anything to say?"
”This woman had said that she had a major mission and had to go to the Sacred Domain, but now that she had really arrived at the Sacred Domain, she was as silent as a puppet, as if this place had nothing to do with her, and Hao Ren was curious and wanted to hear what she had to say.It seemed that Di was wandering in the world, until Hao Ren called her again, and suddenly woke up, her hood moved, and a hoarse voice came from it: "Before I go to Asuman, I want to see what those who are trapped in nightmares are like. ”Hao Ren and Karasius's gaze fell on Bishop Hozman, and the old man nodded happily: "Of course." ”Although the surviving priests of Lu'an City are currently confined to the cathedral, they have never given up on finding a way out of the predicament, so the study of the nightmare phenomenon is always ongoing.They found the person trapped in the nightmare from the city and took them to an annex behind the cathedral to try to find a cure for the nightmare and reverse the erosion, but so far they have made no progress.Hao Ren and his entourage saw the sleeping citizens of Lu'an, a total of more than a dozen people, lying neatly on both sides of a long room, several low-level assistant priests taking care of these "living corpses", and the scene of the whole room was as strange as a morgue.The building was originally a hospital attached to the cathedral.The people who have been eroded by the Chaos Nightmare look indistinguishable from ordinary people, they just lie quietly, breathing slowly to the extreme, but the characteristics of life such as heartbeat are normal, as if they are falling asleep normally.Tubes of unknown purpose extended from their bedding and attached to metal utensils next to the beds, floating with milky halos and runes, which appeared to be medical devices used by the Church based on the power of magic.Since the old bishop still had to stay in the dungeon to preside over the overall situation, the priest Bernstein, who had received everyone before, once again acted as a guide and narrator.He explained the situation of the sleeping citizens: "People who fall into nightmares are like this, who look like ordinary living people, but whose souls hover between reality and illusion, their flesh.
The bodies lay here, and the shadows born from their spiritual world wandered through the city outside, much like an out-of-body experience, but they could not be used by ordinary spirit summoning magic or tranquilizers. ”Glow walked slowly among the "living corpses", carefully checking the condition of one or two of them from time to time, without saying a word.Hao Ren couldn't help but ask her, "Did you find anything?"
”"Their souls have fallen to the 'other side,'" whispered darkly, "and it is not their souls that linger in the city outside, but only phantoms refracted from the 'other side', more ethereal than their souls, weaker than dreams.However, those illusory shadows are a great threat, because they carry the aura of the 'other side', which is a precursor to the imprisoned breaking free from the restraints and passing through the barrier, and the more those shadows are active in the real world, the more fragile the barrier becomes, and the more aura leaks out, which will greatly accelerate the collapse of the prison. ”Hao Ren didn't expect that he could say so many words when he opened his mouth, and he was suddenly confused by the other party's vague words, and he stared: "Can it be translated into lingua franca?"
What's the 'other side'?
”The dark hood lifted slightly: "The other part of Chloe that was folded up, the cage of eternal exile, held the abyss of oblivion of Lokmardon. ”Father Bernstein, who was standing behind Hao Ren, gasped."
You're saying that these people who have fallen into nightmares have actually been sucked into the prison of Lockmarton?!"
Hao Ren stared at the dark, "And then their actions in the prison were projected onto the real world and turned into a shadow wandering in the city?"
”"Exactly."
Lily couldn't help but poke her cloak: "Hey, how do you know so much?"
”"When I get to Asuman, I'll confess everything, but now is not the time."
Lily rolled her eyes: "Hey, I love to say it." ”Hao Ren looked at the sleeping citizen and gently touched Lily's arm: "I don't know what connection this sleeping phenomenon has with the nightmare monster you caught. ”"Why don't you bring it over and ask?"
Lily's ears twitched, "It was able to communicate normally last time."
But most of the time, it can only take the initiative to speak, and there doesn't seem to be much response to outsiders' inquiries. ”Father Bernstein was keenly aware of the word "monster" and immediately asked, "Nightmare monster?"
Have you caught the culprit who caused the nightmare?
”"I caught it on the Ansu Continent, and the attack on the border of the Talos Kingdom is related to that kind of monster," Hao Ren explained simply, "When we came here before, we weren't sure about the situation in the city, so we first arranged for someone to imprison that monster in the grove outside the city, and we could bring it over at any time." ”When the priest heard this, he became nervous: "Outside the city?
Guarded by someone?
Will there be an accident?
”Now that the dark magic of the Sanctuary is rampant, although the forces of chaos have been temporarily forced out of the barrier, the minions of chaos have infiltrated everywhere, and the city is not safe, let alone far away from the wilderness outside the city protected by various temples, so the priest is surprised.Hao Ren smiled slightly: "There is no problem, they all have artifacts on them." ”Isn't it an artifact, a handful of dog hair per person?
But it may also be that Hao Ren's luck is not good today, as soon as his voice fell, the communicator he carried with him suddenly lit up.After connecting the communication, a panicked cry sounded immediately: "Whoa, whoa, whoa......
Woo Woo" Hao Ren was wondering, and Lily snatched the communicator with her hand: "Send someone who can talk to people!"
”There was confusion on the other side of the communicator, and then a church knight hurriedly spoke: "Wolf, that monster is in trouble!"
”Hao Ren really wanted to slap himself in the face: This is a slap in the face!
He couldn't say anything about the problem just now."
What's the situation?""
It's ......
Evaporate!
”(To be continued.) )