Chapter 4: Imperial Sunset Epilogue Afterglow
87_87643 Seventeen tails flew down with the Tower of Seven Sins, absorbing the energy that flowed out of the tower and the return of that part of the energy, and Forty-Seven changed again. It is not a transformation between a giant and a dragon, but a particle-level decomposition and reconstruction like O'Sullivan's construction weapon Atlas, where every part that makes up Forty-Seven's body shrinks and merges, eight compresses into four, four into two, and two into one, transforming into something between solid and liquid, reshaping into a new form, this miniaturized structure serves as a suppression of Forty-Seven in terms of volume and strength. Even a nuclear reactor can't run at full capacity every day, right?
The dragon constantly changes form as it falls, getting smaller and smaller.
By the time Forty-Seven had fallen to the top of the wreckage of the Tower of Seven Sins that had shaken the sky and dust on the Plains of Tanori, he had already taken on the form of a human man. Tall, gloomy, not handsome but angular, his figure was as perfect as a sculpture, and only the shimmering metallic skin and the unmistakable back hairstyle showed signs of what he had once been a gigantic construct - the hairstyle certainly wasn't messy, for it was just steel like hair.
Forty-seven walked down the ruined tower and walked towards Singh, who sat dejectedly among the ruins. The smooth, mercury-like skin gradually hardened as it flowed, forming a shiny full-body armor that wrapped tightly around the body, as if it had been polished.
The tight-fitting armor changed with Forty-Seven's movements, and some decorations and patterns kept appearing, disappearing, reappearing, changing positions and forms, probably simply because of Forty-Seven's unpredictable mind.
He was careful not to get too close to Singh, and stopped twenty or thirty feet away from him, and Singh did not make any drastic moves—he just looked up and squinted his eyes, staring at him with no expression.
"Maybe we can talk about it now. Old man. ”
Singh suddenly laughed. He raised his hand, his index finger slightly flexed and pointed at forty-seven. I don't know if he wants to release the last spell, or if he wants to say anything to Forty-Seven, no one knows the final answer - maybe because his old body has reached its limit, maybe because the fierce battle just now caused irreversible damage to Singh, and more likely because the spiritual pillar that supported his soul has collapsed along with the fallen Tower of Seven Sins, Forty-Seven clearly saw that in Singh's clear eyes, the light of life was quietly extinguished.
The old fingers trembled and hung limply. Singh is dead. Maybe. It also symbolizes the complete end of the glorious mage era of the Argus Empire.
Old Stubborn ...... The rising sun shines on the huge steel ruins, casting brilliant light and shadow. Forty-seven looked at Singh, who was sitting motionless with his head bowed against a broken iron plate, and suddenly remembered a few lines of poetry he had seen in a certain comic:
"The highest honor,
A magnificent fate,
After all, it's not something I can master......
......
A fierce blow of fate,
Even the most powerful of men,
Also smashed to pieces—"
A fierce blow of fate struck from behind. Forty-Seven tilted his head and dodged Moriel's angry slap, but he was immediately kicked in the calf.
"Oops......" Morriel took two steps back. It's a bit lame. She accidentally kicked the edges of the forty-seven leg armor.
"You bastard! I barely managed to escape!" Morrill was furious, "Do you want to kill me?"
Forty-seven looked at her in astonishment—now he was able to make a more decent expression to anger her: "How so? Aren't you doing well now?"
In the distance, the Tanoli River flows quietly under the caress of the morning sun, unchanged for thousands of years.
Half a month later.
"It's like a dream...... I still don't understand ......"
It's a small, nameless village in the southeast of the Tarnori Plain, close to the Dragon Strait to the south, where Hunter grew up. On a sunny hillside outside the village, the head of the Council of Masters of the Argus Empire, the archmage Singh, is buried - there are no tombstones, and even the grave mounds are just small and low, and when the spring flowers bloom next year, the mandrakes will grow wildly, and it will be difficult to find this place.
"Don't think about it so much. "Standing in front of Singh's grave. Sayers patted Hunter on the shoulder: "Now that things have become the way they are, it's useless to think about anything! Well, let's go on a trip with me! Let's go to the town of Trareh first, and then we can travel all the way east along the Dragon's Jaw Strait......"
"No, I want to stay here. Hunter shook his head.
"Stay here, Argus is dangerous for the mage right now!" Sayes scratched his chin with his battle axe, "The city of Watan is in chaos. There is no emperor, there is no council, the powerful nobles go their own way, staring at the throne and fighting, and pushing every qiē to the council and the mage, saying that it is simply not with us, everything is our fault, if it weren't for the fact that my father and mother still have a little reputation in the army, plus lie that I have died in the tower of seven sins, even they will be in trouble...... In case the wave reaches here. It's hard for a trainee mage like you to protect yourself!"
Hunter turned his head to look at Sayers, dressed as an adventurer, and no one would think he was a mage now—he might be able to bring down a bear!
"Seriously, you look so presentable. Hunter turned his head back to stare at the new soil, "But I'm different from you. I've dreamed of being a mage since I was a kid...... My parents and sister had exhausted all their savings for my unrealistic dreams, and I took their hard-earned money and ran to Watan again and again, fantasizing that I would be suddenly taken by Speaker Singh or Master Kiscain and take me as an apprentice, but each time I found nothing. I don't even have the qualifications to connect to the mage zone, and I've never had a single mage look at me more...... But I still don't give up. I never took care of the work of the family, even one time my father fell ill during the harvest season, and I was still waiting for the opportunity for the great library to be opened to the common people in the city of Watan, and all the food was harvested by my mother and sister who got up early and harvested it late at night......"
"It wasn't until the war with the Night Elves suddenly became fierce that I was drafted before I could understand what was going on, first after more than a year of assault training, and then I was thrown into battle...... When I finally got home, my father came up and slapped me. My mother and sister hugged me and cried bitterly......"
Hunter snorted: "I help the family, but I can't do anything, I can't do anything, they don't let me do anything, but I am proud to secretly say at home that I am already a mage, not an ordinary person...... How do I face them?"
"Alright. Sayers slapped him the back and slapped Hunter on the back, "What is the manly man's crying and crying! Didn't Commander Morrill already lend you her research notes for the past few years! Stay here to guide you and some of the other probationary mages who have taken refuge here - you have never been treated like this!
A new level to become a veritable mage!"
"yes. I really don't know what to say about her. I haven't seen her since she recently returned from Watan...... And Sayyas, aren't you really going to be a mage? Even gave me your necklace, so you-"
"Hmph, of course I'm no longer a mage!" Sayes flexed his arms as if showing off, and his muscles flexed: "I've learned the 'power of the bull', and that's enough! The next time you hear the name of my Sayyas, you'll be the Berserker Sayya—"
"You two fools!" Morriel threw a piece of dirt from afar and hit Sayers on the head, "let you come to Hunt, you are talking to him here?"
Molel walked up to the two of them, facing Singh's tomb, some wonder if it was because of habit or something else. After a brief silence, Morriel bowed slightly, and bowed one last time to the old mage, who had been in control of Argus not long ago, but now could only sleep in silence underground.
"Commander Morrill ...... Is it better?" As if unable to bear the silence in front of Moriel, Hunter hesitated.
"Okay? It's not the same as it used to be, it's just a mess. Morrill sighed imperceptibly, and turned to signal the two of them to walk down the hill together.
"Have you never found Master Kiscain and Master Kant?" asked Hunter, a little anxious.
"No, neither living nor corpses have been found. It seems that Morrill doesn't want to continue the conversation anymore: "The Council and the Emperor are gone, and there is nothing that can be changed whether the two of them live or die." ”
Not only them, but Isabella, who lives in the port area, is also empty. Dagulas was gone—but Morriel didn't think she would die in the Tower of the Seven Sins.
"That...... I heard you're leaving, going to the Sleeping Forest?"
Morrill nodded, "That's right, I just wanted to talk to you about it." I'll have to go to the forest and talk to the elves, and at least get out the low-level mages who don't even know how to find their way...... Ever since the mage forces in the Sleeping Forest learned of the upheaval in Vatan City and the collapse of the Tower of the Seven Sins, they were in chaos and collapsed before the Night Elves could attack. I asked Forty-Seven to go to the forest and ask the Night Elves to let them go, but I was really worried that he would stab me in some way, so I also went to the forest, hoping to get the elves to agree to let them leave the forest instead of shooting them to death one by one......"
"Commander Moriel, you said you were going to the Sleeping Forest, and I hope I can go with you!" Hunter seemed to think about it, but his eyes were full of determination: "Also a mage of Argus. I hope to help them!"
Morriel stopped and turned to look at the young apprentice. Next to him, Sayes looked at Hunter, and then nodded at Morrill as well: "I want to go too." ”
"Yes, but you don't need to call me Commander anymore, just call me Moriel. ”
Deep in the swamp, the ruins of a mage's tower are gradually being restored, and it will soon return to its former crumbling but still sturdy form.
Kant struggled to carry a bucket of drinking water obtained by "water purification" in a stinky pond not far away in the extremely muddy swamp, and he was now covered in sludge. His face was also dirty, and the goatee on his chin was simply glued together. It's like a little girl's braid, which, in every way, doesn't match the Archmage of the Council who was honored and honored in Argus.
Kant kept pulling his feet out of the mud and kept muttering something, and it seemed that he was quite dissatisfied with the job.
"Well, Kant, quick, quick. Well, I just made it, make the halva, well, it's not faster, well, it's not your share!" Kiscain appeared in the window of the mage's tower, snorting and chirping in the sun, looking very pleasant.
"Yes. Master Kiscain!" Kant hastily agreed, cursing the demented old man viciously in his heart - ever since he met Kiscain somewhere on the plains of Tarnori, Kant had been eaten to death, beaten to death, unable to run, threatened, pleaded, and cast a spell on him that he had learned from an unknown barbarian people, and made him lose most of his strength. As a result, he could only use the low-level spells of 'Water Purification' and 'Light Technique', which had no offensive power, and now Kant had completely become a slave of Kiscain, and was finally pulled by this old man to the swamp where birds did not lay eggs, and settled down on this half-collapsed mage tower.
Look, sooner or later I'm going to escape, at the very least...... The old man can't live longer than me!
Kant walked into the tower, unloaded the bucket from his shoulder, and thought hatefully.
After stepping into the Sleeping Forest, Hunter and Sayes clearly felt the hostility of the Night Elf warriors. That's why Morriel brought them to the forest - to lose the council and the crafting technology, if the radicals in the Night Elves had the heart to retaliate. The low-level mages remaining in Argus couldn't resist it at all, and compared to the pursuit of those nobles, this was the deadliest threat.
Actually, it was none of Moriel's business, but when the Tower of Seven Sins fell, Morriel wept and mourned when he saw these escapes from Watan City. The low-level mages, who had been used as a tool by the Council and had nowhere to go now, suddenly felt that they should be helped.
"Forty-seven?" Morriel asked, sitting on the canoe and looking at Fado's unfriendly face.
"I don't know. Fado replied coldly.
In fact, she still knew something, and when Forty-Seven returned to the forest, she first went to see Filgas and them. Faced with the power of purgatory and greatly changed appearance, the demonized elves were a little at a loss, and Forty-Seven told them that they no longer had to follow him, and they could do what they wanted. Grand Elder Uther immediately said that he could let the demonized elves stay in the tribe until they found a way to reverse the demonization - the demonized elves didn't say anything at the time, but they all disappeared that night, and the Captain of the Joelis warrior went to ask Forty-Seven, and he just replied nonchalantly, "What's the matter with me?"
The angry Joelis almost quarreled with him - if it weren't for the high priest who had taken the new warrior away in time.
Ildris was still very beautiful after the end of her life in seclusion, and even Morriel couldn't help but admire how a creature could give birth to such a beautiful creature when he first saw her, not to mention the dumbness of Sayes and Hunter at the time.
The negotiation was smooth, and since it was Moriel and Forty-Seven that ended the war, the question of prisoners of war was naturally resolved for their sake of face - not to mention that those Argus mages were just trapped in the forest. It's not a prisoner of war either, as long as it's a little guided. Soon they were together, and by the time the mages were ready to leave the Sleeping Forest, it was nearly dusk.
"Miss Morriel
It has been decided to return to the city of Watan!" Hunt's tone was somewhat resolute, and after a while, the child seemed to have grown up a lot: "With so many companions together, and with the help of Miss Moriel, we are going to rebuild the city of Watan!"
Sayers seemed taken aback, apparently Hunt had not told him beforehand about these ideas.
"I'm going to do something of my own, so ......"
"I know, I just want your blessing, thank you, Miss Moriel!" Hunter bowed deeply and turned to walk towards the other mages, Sayes looked at the departing Hunter, then at Moriel, and chased after him without saying anything.
Morriel looked at the backs of these mostly young mages...... The city wall that carries the thousand-year-old glory of the Argus Empire, I don't know what kind of wind and rain it will experience.
Forty-seven lay on the rattan bed on the roof, leisurely. He didn't even bother to wander around the elven city with Moriel and buy some weird spell casting materials - she'd come to him when the business was done anyway.
You're leaving this damn place...... Shall we go there? Shall we go back to Rain City first? Forty-seven closed his eyes and pondered, the sun shining warmly on him, so he decided to take a nap - or rather, close his eyes and recuperate.
The unique sounds of nature in the forest make the surroundings seem more tranquil. Forty-seven, which had extinguished most of the main system, saw some images before his eyes...... It's like a dream. Forty-seven could be sure that even if he took on the form he was now, which was already very human-like, he still shouldn't be dreaming. Burning skies, chaotic planes. The colossus of gods, shining with a rainbow of brilliant light, seems to be a dragon formed entirely of light, a huge and terrifying indescribable monster......
As if for a split second, he sat up sharply. The rattan bed made a crisp cracking sound, and several of them were broken, causing a few little night elves who were secretly watching him to disperse.
"Where are you going?" Moriel, who had just returned, was startled as Forty-Seven jumped straight from the roof.
Forty-seven did not answer, but dragged her away.
Suddenly, a loud roar enveloped the entire Eldris tribe. A metal dragon soared into the middle of the city, and all the Night Elves watched the sudden behemoth. Lying on his back, Morriel was lying on his back, spreading his huge wings with thrusters, the dragon flew above the lake around the city, and the violent wind pressure blew the lake water out of wave-like ripples, and some wooden boats were swept away, and suddenly a fierce blue-white flame erupted from under the dragon's wings, causing him to fly away from the night elf city in an instant, and disappear into the sunset sky.
"I don't think he's going to come back. Uther stood at the window. Holding the pergola and looking at the behemoth that was quickly moving away, there was no surprise and panic like the other Night Elves in the city, it seemed that no matter what Forty-Seven did, he would not surprise the old druid: "At least, he won't be back for the time being......"
Deep in the forest. Forty-seven and Moriel in their humanoid state stood next to a huge crater.
As if something was deliberately hidden—the crater was surrounded by towering walls of impenetrable trees, intertwined with each other, and the dense canopy of trees completely obscured the light, and it would have been pitch black had it not been for Moriel lighting a magic light.
"What kind of place is this? How do you know about such a place?" Morriel looked into the depths of the pit with the glow of magic, and couldn't see how deep it was.
When she was in the air just now, she couldn't find anything special here. If there must be a word, then it can only be said that the area where this crater is located, covering a radius of hundreds of miles of forest, is so lush that it is almost possible to walk on the canopy of trees, and if it weren't for Forty-Seven's sudden swooping and landing, she wouldn't have detected a large hole here that seemed to lead to hell even with her prophecy spell.
"It's a dream. I dreamed of this place. "Forty-seven and a half squatted down. He also looked into the hole: "It seems that something attracts me...... But it looks like I'm late. ”
He grabbed a handful of damp dirt and seemed to feel the marks left by the thing that had crawled out of the hole—and then he stood up and clapped his hands.
"Let's go, there's nothing to see here! aren't we going back to Rain City?"
There was a lonely figure walking on the gloomy earth, he staggered and stumbled, and after several times he seemed to be unable to get up again, but after a long or short rest he barely got up and went on, he did not know his direction, he did not know his destination. It's just wandering in a daze, only feeling that the life in the body is being exhausted at all.
After falling down again, he didn't have the strength to go any further. Fortunately, dying here may not be a bad thing, and soon wolves and vultures will come and snatch his corpse, which will become the fodder for these wasteland creatures, then their dung, and finally dust in the wind......
As he lay dying, the dying traveler seemed to see a vague and huge temple descend on the wasteland. Vaguely indistinct, looming. It was almost mixed with the howling wind of the wasteland, and it was hard to distinguish.
"Is that him? looks like he's going to die. ”
"That's him. Take. ”。