Soul of Burning Steel

The rolling hills at the end of the Ajax Mountains extend all the way to the center of the northern plain. Even if travelers reach the Grand Canyon within the guarding range of the Ural Fortress, they can vaguely see the slightly raised rock hills on the vast plain.

As all travelers who walk on the road can see, on the side of the Ural Mountains that divide the Northland and the Central Region, there is a long and narrow canyon that spreads to the western seas, a huge crack created by the movement of the two continents for thousands of years It may be another prototype of the ocean tens of millions of years later, but now, it is just a channel connecting countless underground water systems. On the upper end, a huge bridge connecting the two sides spans a distance of several hundred meters and connects the two sides.

This is the border between the Moldavian Territory and the central region of the Northern Empire - the fortress of the Ural Mountains.

In history, King Ajax blew the horn of the first pioneering era here. Countless knights went deep into the wild snowfield one by one in pursuit of glory, and made the current extremely cold plain, the Ajax Mountains and the land at the end of the earth one by one. The Blind Sea was merged into the territory of the empire, and now, the Ural Fortress, as the hub connecting the Northland and the central region, has gradually become an extremely prosperous big city.

Starfall 834, April 5th, the border of the central region of the empire, the Ural Mountains, the Ural Fortress.

Across the long stream of people, Joshua and his two weapons sat in a carriage made of steel core wood and dragon grain wood, and passed the inspection gate of the fort at an even speed. After seeing the inconspicuous emblem of the hand holding the sword on the carriage, they all took a step back tacitly, allowing this ordinary but extremely strong carriage to enter the fortress smoothly.

Ever since he rejected Nostradamus's proposal last time, Joshua has made plans to set off alone, but he doesn't want to find a teleportation circle at random, and reach the imperial capital in one click - teleportation magic Although it is convenient, this is really too boring, so after several master tailors made a dress for him, the soldier took his luggage, sat in a carriage, and set foot on the road to the imperial capital leisurely.

Although this behavior is a waste of time and meaningless, for Joshua, what he has seen and heard along the way is a good opportunity for him to re-examine this familiar yet unfamiliar world. The horses of the carriage took a turn and turned the carriage onto the central avenue of the fortress.

From the main city of Moldavia to the Ural Fortress, this journey can be regarded as comfortable and warm. Without the entanglement of government affairs, soldiers can calm down and enjoy the scenery of early spring with peace of mind.

Next to the Ural Fortress, there is an artificial river that shines with golden light due to the sun. The green grass spreads from the beach of the moat to the woods beside the mountains. Because there are sawmills and water mills inside the fortress, this artificial river It was also pulled out of a tributary and continued into the city, bringing the fresh grass and trees in the mountains. The carriage was walking along this artificial river towards the center of the city. Rin had already sat beside the old coachman, Humbly learning the skills of how to control several war horses at the same time, while Ying looked out of the window curiously, admiring the cityscape that was completely different from the main city of Moldavia.

Joshua also smiled and looked at the scenery outside the carriage window, as well as the pedestrians who came and went in a hurry, feeling extremely refreshed in his heart.

Man, I really need to relax. He has had a hard time in the past year, with major events one after another, leaving no room for respite. I can't find time to put down my official duties, really take a few days off, and travel around.

Of course, if they were walking at their speed, it would definitely be too late to reach the imperial capital in a few days, and it would be a problem whether they could pass through the jurisdiction of the Ural Fortress, but as long as they entered the central area of ​​the empire, Joshua and others could borrow it at any time. The teleportation array of the local city goes to the foot of the Imperial Capital Mountain, so there is no need to worry about being late.

"If you want to go out and see, go out."

Suddenly, Joshua spoke to his two weapons, and both Ying and Rin couldn't help but be surprised by this incident. For this reason, Rin returned to the carriage and had a look at her sister face to face. In the carriage, I don't know why my master suddenly had such an idea.

Master, what do you want to do?

The doubts of the two did not hide the slightest, it was written directly on their faces.

And Joshua also saw their expressions—but where did the soldiers have other thoughts? He just saw that Ying and Rin seemed to be very curious, so he simply let the two go out to play by themselves. Anyway, this time is to relax, and there is no need to act together all the time. He and the two have feelings and are not afraid get lost.

As for the danger, Joshua is not worried at all. Both Ying and Rin have silver high-level strength. As long as he, the master, works hard, he can even advance to gold level, even if there are human traffickers or other villains who are attracted to their looks. However, it is absolutely impossible for them to suffer.

"Then... are we leaving?"

Before leaving, standing by the side of the road, Rin looked at Joshua in the car with some hesitation, and said softly, "Aren't you joking?"

"Of course not, let's go, just don't spend all the money."

Joshua shrugged his shoulders, and he nodded to Ying, who was standing beside him, not to look suspicious: "Go if you want, don't have such a suspicious expression."

Watching the two disappear at the corner of Central Avenue, Joshua nodded slightly, and then unfolded the city map that came with the carriage. After looking at it for a while, he determined his next target—a person who is relatively A well-known alchemist, he has some things to ask an alchemist.

However, just as he was about to tell the coachman to change direction and head for the south of the city, Joshua suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.

This chill does not come from the temperature in the air, nor from the unknown enemy, but from the depths of the soul.

— the distant altar.

The weird ceremony has come to the end, the armor placed on the obsidian altar has been shattered under the erosion of black tentacles, leaving only countless fragments and dark brown blood scabs, and the blood magic circle drawn on the dome Supported by eight stone pillars engraved with countless profanity and curse runes, an indescribable chaotic atmosphere shone, spreading towards the void in the unknown distance.

"Chaos reigns supreme!"

Accompanied by the simple and crisp incantation, all the fragments of the armor were melted away by a darkness from the void, and the dark brown blood scab seemed to regain vitality and turned into fresh blood plasma. However, the green blood from the orc was At the same time as it manifested, it was completely wiped away by a strong force, only a little dark red blood was wrapped in the black tentacles, trembling like red balls.

"Blood sacrifice to my god!"

Beside the altar, a tall figure suddenly cut his forelegs, and sprinkled his own blood on the lines on the ground, and with the flickering of the lines, the blood beads suspended on the altar were instantly covered by an unpredictable and evil horror. The power evaporated. The black-red blood mist filled the sky above the altar, and was completely absorbed by the obsidian altar. After that, the altar seemed to have acquired something necessary, and it began to fully activate. It was suspended in mid-air and began to rise slowly. High, spinning, and the two huge figures who were chanting the mantra before bowed down respectfully, expressing their fear and awe at the sight in front of them.

The altar made of obsidian is shining with blood-colored patterns, and it is filled with endless brilliance. With every rotation of the altar, the magic circle on the dome and the runes on the stone pillars will flicker like breathing. The speed of the altar's rotation became faster and faster, and the speed of its flickering also became faster and faster, until finally, the altar that was originally spinning crazily stopped suddenly, and the magic circle stopped choosing—but at this time, the void had been torn apart, and a wave of An incomparably powerful negative will came here silently, and after confirming certain information, it broke through the air in a certain direction.

The speed of thinking and will is faster than light, freed from the power of time, and the moment the ceremony was completely completed, the curse fell on Joshua who was in the distant Ural Fortress at the same time.

At this moment, Joshua subconsciously felt great terror. His muscles, which were harder than steel, tensed suddenly, and his heart beat violently, transmitting the power of life to his whole body to resist unknown dangers.

But the cursed power came so fast, in contrast, any resistance became sluggish. Just as Joshua frowned and was about to explode with all his strength, the evil power broke through. Come to remember the mobilized body protection power, straight into the soul of the warrior.

Ying and Rin, who were walking hand in hand on the street, were happily listening to an epic poem about King Ajax sung by an elf bard, but suddenly, the two of them looked into the distance in shock, and their bodies trembled violently , there are obvious signs of fluctuations as if there is a bad contact.

"Owner?!"

Before they had time to say the next words, the spiritual bodies of the two who were slowly collapsing suddenly stabilized again, and at the same time when Ying and Rin looked puzzled, there was an invisible and intangible, only [purification] this A kind of light of order suddenly exploded on the north side of the city, turning into a beam of light that ordinary people cannot see, but in the eyes of professionals, it is extremely bright, even brighter than the sun, and it goes straight into the sky, as if penetrating through it point of infinity, sinking into the void.

And in the center of this beam of light, a black-haired man pressed his hand on his chest, tightly holding the treasure hanging on his chest. His whole body was burning with a translucent flame, which was comparable to all mortal things. Flame is different, it seems to be the origin of life, the source of existence, and the most basic force for the survival of everything.

[Tinder: Lv1]

A little late, jet lag today...