Azure Scepter

Page 56

“Looks familiar…” Noi blinked.

The girl in the painting also blinked her red eyes, looking at Noe tenderly, her pupils seemingly glistening with tears.

Without a doubt, this portrait, brought to life by necromancy, depicts herself.

“Looks like I did a pretty good job drawing.” She heard Trier mutter to himself.

Noy felt a strange sense of looking in a mirror. She ordered the Death Knight to break open the iron bars of the cage, then slowly walked to the portrait.

She reached out and touched the girl's cheek in the painting, and the girl frowned in grievance.

Noy chuckled softly, then grasped the right edge of the portrait and gently pulled it down.

"Crench."

The sound of metal chains moving could be heard from the wall behind the painting. Gears and levers meshed together where she couldn't see them. The tiny force she applied was amplified a hundredfold in the sophisticated machine system. After a few breaths, a hole several meters wide appeared next to the animated portrait. A blood-red color seeped out of the hole, and the girl in the painting opened her eyes wide in unease.

Noi gripped the holy emblem tightly and strode to the entrance of the cave.

The space inside the cave was not large, only a few meters wide. At the far end of the long, narrow room sat a gaunt figure, slightly illuminated by the dim, blood-red light.

“Ah, it was that poor bishop who feared death who sent you, wasn’t it?” the figure said slowly. “I remember you, you were called Neu by Vercingetorie, Neu Hall.”

Chapter 107 Madness (Part 1)

The dim, blood-red light flickered as Noy's gaze quickly swept across the entire dark room.

The dark room was empty, and the Drought Lich had no undead followers beside him. As the representative of ancient evil in most stories and legends, he sat alone behind the oak table, all alone, like a statue trapped in an endless labyrinth.

The only thing to be wary of is a set of strangely designed mithril plate armor a few meters away from the shadowless man. The unsettling dark red light in the dark room is emanating from that mithril plate armor, and the light seems to be filled with the furious smell of blood.

"It could be a special Death Knight," Noy thought to himself.

Her gaze swept quickly past the armor and landed on the sheathless longsword beside it. Unlike the sharp and striking mithril plate armor, the longsword looked unremarkable; the worn wooden hilt was even covered in dust, and there wasn't a trace of metallic sheen on the entire sword.

As his gaze shifted further to the side, Noe's mouth dropped open in astonishment—

In the curved wall beside the longsword, there were neatly arranged storage stones. Only then did she realize that the entire inner wall of the dark room was made of black storage stones!

As the eldest daughter of a high-ranking nobleman in the southern duchy, Noy was no stranger to these expensive and powerful consumables, but she had never seen such an astonishing quantity before.

She stared absently at one of the magic storage stones. The cold black crystal silently refracted the bright red light. The red light flowing in the crystal reflected the ritual magic circle, which resembled the delicate texture on the wings of an insect, like a mirror. The lines of the ritual and the light interacted with each other in an extremely subtle way at a frequency of more than twenty times per second. Noi seemed to see the very subtle tremors inside the hard crystal.

The quality of these storage stones is frighteningly high!

"These are the treasures left behind by Trier!?"

Noi took a deep breath, barely managing to regain her senses, and looked back at the shadowy drought lich sitting behind the table.

"Good night," the drought lich said gently. "Or perhaps, good morning?"

It poked its head out, revealing its true form from the shadows created by the blood-red light.

At this moment, Noi realized that there was a transparent glass between her and the Drought Lich. From her perspective, the Shadowless Man seemed to have locked himself in a glass cage.

The drought lich was emaciated, but its body beneath the white linen ceremonial robes was not hunched over. On the contrary, its body was strangely tall, like the slender Kornic pillars that Noi had seen in his family's mausoleum when he was a child.

Noy gripped the flail in his hand and looked at the face of the drought lich.

Like other mummies, the dehydrated face of the Shadowless Man initially appears no different from other dried corpses. However, upon closer inspection, it can be seen that it is not bald. Several stubborn tufts of white hair grow from the cracks in its face, with dark red spots dotting the hair. Underneath the red spots is a pair of rather fashionable red sunglasses.

It's neither fish nor fowl, and extremely bizarre.

The shadowless figure slowly stood up and walked to the glass. It stretched out its withered left hand and pressed it vertically against the glass wall, seemingly to express friendliness.

Noy noticed that the drought lich had no shadow under the light.

"Please sit down," the shadowy figure said slowly, revealing a hollow smile.

Noy naturally had no intention of complying. She was about to swing the flail and smash the other person's head when Trier's voice suddenly rang in her mind.

"Don't rush, listen to what it has to say." Trier's tone was also very calm.

Noi sighed, then sat down on the wooden chair in front of the curtain wall and silently stared at the shadowless figure.

"..."

"..."

Silence filled the crimson light. Neither of them uttered a sound. Gradually, like a stone pillar eroded by sand and about to collapse, a sense of unease rose in Noe's heart.

Without a doubt, the Shadowless One is a powerful lich. Generally speaking, a lich, as an undead being, does not drastically increase the strength of the transformed being, except for granting them the ability to resurrect repeatedly. However, spellcasters who can transform themselves into liches are usually very powerful.

Is this lich brewing some kind of spell, or is it simply trying to take control of the conversation?

Noy blinked.

The next moment, the shadowy figure laughed silently, its voice hoarse as it said, "It seems you didn't kill my student. I know he's still alive."

“And you, poor Noy, you weren’t sent by Vercingetorius either. You are now, like me, an exile from the world of the living. You are eternally bound to someone, a spirit bound to them…”

The shadowy figure made no attempt to conceal its arrogance, and Noe frowned, the intimidating tone in its words clearly indicating that it had no intention of backing down.

Suddenly, Noy saw three clay jars behind the shadowy figure—the jars containing the internal organs of the drought lich's life box?

She couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity. Could there really be liches running around with their own life boxes? Or was this some kind of deception, using people's preconceived notions to mislead them?

“Wow, there really are liches running around with their phylacteries.” She heard Trier’s slightly surprised voice. “That’s not a fake viscera; I’m pretty sure it’s the Shadowman’s phylactery.”

Although the drought lich had five clay jars that could resurrect himself, seeing this scene before her, Noi felt a strange emotion rising in her heart. She felt that there was an indescribable sense of disharmony about the lich in front of her, as if he was trying his best to suppress something.

Seemingly noticing Noi's gaze, the Shadowless Man laughed even more heartily, still standing ramrod straight.

“Exceptional observation skills.” The lich’s expression suddenly changed, and its withered face quickly darkened. “Your ambition is quite large! You wear the radiant priest’s robes, and you seem to pray devoutly every day, and you appear to be enthusiastically helping others, but your heart is filthy and evil. You, this evil being, will never give up any opportunity to dominate others.”

The lich lunged at the glass wall, but its expression suddenly brightened, and it laughed again: "Of course, evil isn't a bad thing; it means you're not pedantic."

Noe stared expressionlessly at the Drought Lich. She was very familiar with these boring little tricks of his. When Trier lost her memory, she often tested this person who was unfathomable in the past and present.

“You are angry, but it’s not anger, it’s fear—I’ve hit the nail on the head about your true nature, haven’t I?” The shadowy figure slowly retreated, leaving a layer of black grit on the transparent glass curtain wall.

Suddenly, Noi caught a glimpse of the bag at the shadowy man's waist, the edge of which vaguely revealed a black cover.

Does it look familiar? It looks like... Trier's diary?

The shadowy figure, who had just appeared completely at ease, suddenly changed his expression: "I understand, I understand! All of this, all of this was sent by you!"

"?

Chapter 108 Madness (Part Two)

"I sent you?" Noi stood up, half confused and half surprised, instinctively tightening her grip on the holy emblem in her hand.

"Pale face, low fever, but not delirious." The shadowy figure stood straight like a mindless zombie, but his neck seemed bent as he lowered his head. "Are you missing a screw? Fishhook or whale? It's a crimson dream."

As the illogical babbling of the drought lich echoed, Noi suddenly smelled a greasy scent of pine resin mixed with tar, a smell that reminded her of corpses smeared with holy oil and about to be buried in the shattered desert. The shadowy figure abruptly reached out, and a black cat silently emerged from the darkness. It lazily stretched, then instantly leaped into the glass and vanished.

Noe's pupils contracted sharply; she was quite certain that the cat had appeared out of thin air!

A legend can distort reality with sheer willpower—the shadowy figure before us is a true legend!

At this moment, Noe felt as weak as the weathered sand in the desert. The feeling of weakness washed over her wave after wave. She even felt that her legs could no longer support her body, as if she would fall forward and become a wave on the receding tide.

Although he was prepared, the sudden pressure from the powerful enemy still made Noi feel a spasm in his stomach, as if a snake covered in cold scales had crawled inside.

Theoretically, the undead shouldn't be affected by any mental effects, but Noy knew that Trier had preserved all of her memories and thought patterns completely during the process of turning her into a spirit, including her emotional system and other things she didn't yet fully understand. This treatment, on the one hand, completely perpetuated her will, but on the other hand, she still retained the weaknesses of ordinary humans—including fear, of course.

Although this wasn't Noi's first time coming into close contact with a legend, she still felt an inexplicable sense of terror at this moment. This terror far exceeded the dread she felt when facing the dragon's might up close. The difference between the two was like the difference between the raging waves on the sea during a storm and the gentle breeze on a calm pond.

“Trill, it’s legendary!” Noy thought urgently to himself. “It can change reality with its will.”

“I know, it’s a plane traveler too,” Trier’s calm voice came. “Don’t be afraid, liches all have the supernatural ability to instill fear in others. Legendary is nothing special, you’ve even killed one solo. Hey—don’t rush to use Solar Flare, take a deep breath, yes, listen to what else it has to say.”

Trier's flat tone settled like a rock into Noe's turbulent heart. She took a deep breath, struggling to clear away the rising external fears in her mind with the "mental barrier" she had put in place beforehand. As she slowly exhaled, her wavering emotions seemed to calm down a little.

Yeah, Harlan is a legend too, didn't I kill him too?

Although this example seems a bit strange...

"Don't you understand? Can't you hear the tremors in the crevices of your brain?" the Drought Lich continued, removing his red glasses to reveal the cold blue soul fire behind the lenses.

He slowly closed his withered eyelids, raised his hand as if he were a conductor in a symphony orchestra at the climax of a play, then lowered it again. A ball of sharp fishing line and a rough, miniature whale made of sand appeared suddenly on his withered palm, as if they had sprung out from a piece of music played in the void.

"Your heart races, your vision narrows, and nature's poison surges from your glands into your bloodstream, crosses the membranes of your brain, and pumps into your brain—that's fear. But don't you realize this isn't just your pathetic physiological reaction, but the universe singing through your brain?!"

But I don't have a brain right now—even if I did, the universe couldn't possibly sing to me... Is he metaphorically observing, analyzing, and summarizing the natural laws of the universe?

Noi rarely harbored resentment towards others, but the Drought Lich's inexplicable words stirred a strong urge to do so within her. At this moment, she was quite certain that the lich before her had completely gone mad.

Noi forced a stiff smile, nodding insincerely at the lich's ravings, saying, "The universe has its own rhythm."

As if reading Noy's mind, the shadowy figure suddenly became extremely furious. He slammed into the glass, and a web of shocking, radiating cracks erupted amidst a shower of shards. He roared through gritted teeth, "I hate it, I hate this pathetic and inadequate ability to express yourself! You understand absolutely nothing! You idiot!"

"The world is interconnected! Foolish! Destruction is imminent!"

"The sacred scorpion will devour the sandstorm, the blind and scarred old man will shatter the azure law with his silver knowledge, and the worms will tighten their grip on the sacrificial tower like intestines! The vile gods will fall from their thrones!"

"The undead are enough to become a catastrophe sweeping across the world; red knights drive red chariots, spreading strife; worms will be born from beneath each of your masks; gods will become saints walking among mortals..."

With each word he spoke, he moved closer, shards of glass scraping into the shadowy figure's eyes like files, but he paid them no heed. The glass fragments reflected the raging fire of his soul, a dazzling, cold, eerie blue flash that seemed to burn them away.

A chilling murderous intent and a feeling of annoyance, as if a secret had been exposed, suddenly rose in Noe's heart. She was stunned for a moment, then realized that the source of this emotion was Trier.

“Trier?” she asked tentatively.

Trier's cold voice came from the depths of his heart: "Kill it, take back the notebook—no, don't rush, I'll be there soon."

The shadowy figure continued his mad ramblings, and Noy vaguely realized that it seemed to be a prophecy about the future.

"The destruction begins at this very moment, here, in the southern duchy of the Kingdom of Orko, where the betrayed ancient queen will once again raise her throne high..."

"Gods are not so great. I too will become one of them. After they fall from their thrones, divinity, divine nature, divine office—this is a paradox of cause and effect..."

"It's not that I've possessed knowledge, it's that I've understood the truth..."

"It's not that I possess the truth, it's that knowledge understands me..."

"I'm the only one who knows! Why can't even you understand?"

The lich slammed its head into the glass, shattering it completely! Amidst the flying glass shards, black sand and skull fragments were mixed in. Due to the excessive force, the black notebook in its pocket also fell into the shards of glass.

"Thud!" The black-covered notebook fell to the ground, and several weathered, yellowed pages scattered in all directions.

Chapter 109 Madness (Part 3)

Time seemed to stand still—

"No, you can't take it away! It's my treasure!" The lich's face showed terror, and his soul fire blazed with boundless rage.

Noi found it hard to imagine that a lich would have such an expression on his face.

The next moment, she felt a purple magical power that could be seen with the naked eye. A bright ball of light appeared out of thin air above the shadowless man's head, and the powerful force was brewing like boiling water.

The shards of glass, the oak table, the plate armor gleaming red, the soil, the magic storage stone, and the several Death Knights following Noy in the dark room all floated up. In a few moments, the piercing black sand transformed into a sandstorm that obscured everything, and dark purple lightning crackled and exploded like whips within the sandstorm.

Noi felt a wave of dizziness. After a moment of disorientation, she suddenly realized that the space around her was beginning to distort. The oak table floating in the sandstorm looked like a whale caught in a fishing net. The purple light around it, which should have been straight, even produced a curvature similar to that of a fishing net being squeezed by a heavy object.

In this apocalyptic scene, the world seemed to be cleaved apart by blade-like light. At the point where the light intersected, cracks like shattered glass spread along strange curvatures. Noi stared for a moment, then realized that the curvature perfectly matched that of the staircase. A putrid, negative energy surged forth like a tidal wave; conversely, a powerful gravitational force, almost tearing everything apart, suddenly struck like a giant claw gripping the heart. The sturdy oak table fell into the cracks and instantly shattered into dust!

In the next instant, the dust returned to the oak table, then turned back into dust again. The moment seemed to become eternity, the oak table flickering and twitching as if a frame had been dropped.

The Shadowless Man is no ordinary legend! Even the legendary Bishop Vercingetorius, who was also a legend, did not possess such exaggerated abilities!

In a flash of inspiration, Noy gripped the Holy Symbol tightly. She knelt on the ground, struggling against the terrifying suction that seemed to tear her skin off. Her plan was to unleash a Sunfire Burst and then use the completely unaffected Hanged Corpse to smash the three viscera jars behind the lich—at least to inflict basic damage on the crazed lich before Trir arrived.

“I have become eternity.” The shadowless figure floated at the top of the narrow room, muttering indistinctly, “I’ve had enough of exile.”

suddenly--

All the strange phenomena disappeared.

The tornado made of black sand vanished into thin air, the purple lightning disappeared in an instant, and the mind-numbing ring of light and the cracks in space all disappeared—even the shadowless man himself flashed back behind the glass wall that had been reduced to dust.

Everything returned to normal in the blink of an eye.

Only the lingering stench of negative energy in the air and the oak table that kept flashing between powder and intact state suggested that what had just happened was not an illusion.

Noy blinked.

Suddenly, the incomprehensibly powerful shadowy figure began to tremble and convulse as if electrocuted. After a few breaths, he abruptly stopped his epileptic tremors and then fell into a strange stiffness.

The shadowy figure stiffly raised its neck, stood up, and said in a friendly manner, "Good night, or rather, good morning?"

As he spoke, the shards of glass on the ground floated up silently, like fireflies summoned by a spell, and then reformed into a glass curtain wall in a few breaths.

“Ah, it was Vercingetori who sent you, wasn’t it?” The shadowy figure stood behind the curtain, his eyes burning with the fire of his soul as he stared intently at Noy. His voice was gentle. “I remember you. You were called Noy by that bishop who feared death, Noy Hall.”

—He's completely repeating what he just said! Like a controlled robot...