Sword of Dawn

The old Viscount's eyes fell on the few pieces of paper in front of him, and it wasn't until Gawain walked in front of him that he slowly raised his head and said in a calm tone, "You are here, Duke."

Gao Wen looked into the Viscount's eyes quietly, and he saw a trace of sadness and relief in the other's eyes, but there was no fear.

"You seem to... know I'm coming."

"It's just a premonition." Viscount Kant smiled stiffly, "You can do what you want now."

"I came here just to tell you a story." Gawain himself moved a chair from a corner and sat opposite Viscount Kant. He looked at the other's old face with a gentle and gentle tone, "This The story begins more than 30 years ago, on a rainy night...

"On that night, Kant led the young Viscount, that is, you, to gallop in a carriage in the rainy night, with your wife and son sitting in the carriage.

"Because of a slippery mud or rock, the carriage skids into a mountain stream and unfortunately, you are thrown out of the carriage.

"Mr. Victor Kant, you were killed instantly - and your son.

"And your even more unfortunate wife, Mrs. Lilith Kant, obviously couldn't bear such a blow and pressure...

"So, she chose to 'die' herself and let her husband and son 'survive' - at least that's how it went in her dream state.

"That's all, Monsieur Viscount."

Victor Kant sat quietly on the chair, and suddenly sighed, his ethereal voice seemed to come from another world: "It's just a nightmare, isn't it?"

"Yes, it was a nightmare."

Chapter 0180 The Power of the Eternal Sleeper.

There was heavy rain, lightning and thunder, and the cold wind from the northern frigid zone carried the same cold rain and splashed on the steeple of the castle. On this day, the most prestigious and oldest people in Kant Land had a dream in unison. They dreamed Time seems to go back to 30 years ago, back to the same rainy night - their young, strong, just and benevolent lord was driving back to the town in a carriage, and not far from the front of the carriage was Kant Castle The tall and majestic outer walls and towers are all shrouded in the mist and night caused by the rain, and the carriage is galloping on the endless road, like a dream that cannot wake up.

Gawain walked in the deep and long underground corridor, which led to the north tower of the castle. The soldiers who were supposed to guard this corridor fell to their posts. They still had breath, but their spirits had gone Being stripped from this world and entering a dream that is difficult to wake up, at the same time, this dream is also freed from the shackles of illusion, it extends its tentacles to the real world, leaving itself in the real world formed by matter Distorted projection.

Mottled stone walls are covered with moss, and the moss peels off continuously, revealing the decayed and deformed wall below. The time and space logic inside the corridor seems to lose its regularity at this moment. The scenes in the dream and the real world are in the same space. The positions are alternately staged, and the magic spar lamps embedded on the walls also flicker, reflecting the ancient oil paintings between the lamps in a eerie and strange way.

Boom!

A thunderous thunder pierced the sky, and the completely enclosed underground corridor with a thick ceiling was actually illuminated like daylight by the lightning. Huge cracks appeared in the dark ceiling at some point, and between the cracked stones, A dark sky could be seen from which torrential rain poured down.

Gawain looked up, and through the ceiling of the corridor, he could vaguely see that the entire upper half of the North Tower was floating in pieces in the sky. Those broken boulders and roofs seemed to be floating in the rainy night without gravity, blowing away with the howling wind. They kept spinning, and pieces of broken bricks and rubble were scattered between the collisions.

He ignored all of this, and walked straight through the wind and rain-filled promenade, and the inconstant rain sprinkled on his body, sometimes making him drenched, and sometimes disappearing - every observation showed different results.

The heavy oak door finally appeared in front of him, just like the one he saw in the dream before. Gawain stretched out his hand, but before his fingers touched the door, a shadow beside the door suddenly squirmed, and Amber's figure condensed into shape. : "Hey! Gao Wen, you are here!"

Gawain looked at Amber: "Did you find the lantern?"

"I just touched here, and I can already feel obvious fluctuations in magic power, but no matter how hard I try, I still can't open this door!" Amber's tone sounded extremely depressed, obviously she was full of confidence before, but as a A thief's inability to open an antique wooden door severely hit her confidence.

"Can't open the door?" Gawain frowned. He looked back at the direction he came from, and found that the strange corridor had regained its stability at this moment. The damaged walls and roof had been closed again. There was no mottled moss or collapsed bricks in the wind and rain, and the oak door at the end of the corridor was in a solid and complete state. Although it was old, it was tightly closed.

Gao Wen looked at Amber: "When you were here, did you see the rain in the corridor?"

The half-elf looked blank: "Rain? How could it be raining in the corridor?"

"It seems that you are still in the dream," Gao Wen understood clearly, "The door in the dream is sealed, and you can't open it no matter what."

While speaking, he looked towards the oak door, then closed his eyes slightly, recalling in his heart the knowledge and power he had acquired from the mind fragments of the cultists of the Eternal Sleepers: "Only by opening this door in the real world, you Only then can we see the real appearance of this castle."

He opened his eyes again, the cold wind and rain howling in the corridor, the dark stone ceiling was covered with a series of cracked gaps, moss covered all the walls, and the oak door showed an old mottled, It looked like it was in disrepair.

With a slight push, the door opened.

Amber's eyes widened the moment the oak door was pushed open: she finally saw the same thing as Gawain's vision.

The half-elf lady exclaimed: "This...how did it break like this all of a sudden?!"

Gao Wen shook his head: "Because it hasn't been repaired for 30 years."

Then he walked in front, and together with Amber walked into this place where the illusion was maintained.

The cellar space behind the oak gate is still well preserved, and the high tower building on the upper floor shelters the torrential rain from the sky, and the noisy sounds around are gone at once, and the whole world seems to be quiet.

In the hazy and dark space, the light of the lantern suddenly lit up, and the warm and gentle radiance dispelled the darkness. Within the range of light, a female figure in a long white dress was emerging.

Behind her was the stone pavilion that Gawain had seen in the dream before, and a large number of stone pillars that were the same as in the dream supported the entire cellar, and countless shimmering runes shone on each stone pillar. .

"Mrs. Lilith Kant," Gao Wen looked at the other party quietly, "It's time to wake up from the dream."

"My lord duke, you shouldn't have come to this place." Lilith's eyes were full of sadness, "It would be nice if you acted like nothing happened."

Gawain shook his head slightly: "But it has already happened, you are only deceiving yourself and others by indulging in this dream - what the Eternal Sleepers gave you is not a good medicine at all, you should be very clear, they are just borrowing your hand Draw power, what they give you is just an illusion."

"But I am willing to believe it, it is true!" Lilith Kant's emotions suddenly became agitated, "I am almost successful, I have already succeeded! As long as you don't come, as long as I keep hypnotizing myself, I will ...I will..."

Gao Wen loudly interrupted the woman who had fallen into madness 30 years ago: "You will never succeed, because the dream power given to you by the Eternal Sleeper is congenitally defective-the dreamer himself is always awake! Or a birth defect that they can't fix themselves!"

Lilith Kant's expression froze for a moment: "Why... would you know?"

"Because I devoured an eternal sleeper and got his knowledge and memory."

Lilith Kant's figure swayed uncontrollably: "So... you will realize the truth here?"

"No," Gao Wen shook his head, "Although I got the memory of the eternal sleeper, I was indeed deceived by this 'real dream' when I first came here—it's a pity that you left too many loopholes , I can realize the truth little by little.

"There are many old books in Victor Kant's study room, and the latest book was collected 30 years ago;

"Regarding the accident 30 years ago, both the people on the territory and the people in the castle have vague memories, and regarding the 'Viscountess', the two groups of people have completely different perceptions;

"Viscount Kant seems to be the person in charge of the entire castle, but every time he comes to matters involving you, he shows obvious slowness and confusion. This is because you are worried that he realizes that he is only living in a dream. He set a tight thought lock;

"But the biggest loophole is not these, but the lantern in your hand-I am afraid that no one in this world knows its origin, but I know it. I gave that lantern as a gift 700 years ago. A friend, and its function is to allow the "dream weaver" to maintain himself and find a way in the controllable dream world. In other words, the person holding the lantern is the one who really controls the dream! "

Amber, who had been standing beside her for a long time, finally understood the whole thing. She opened her mouth wide and pointed at Lilith Kant who was not far away: "So...so 30 years ago..."

"Yes, the Viscount Kant and Master Belm 30 years ago were actually dead. They died on the spot when the carriage fell into the mountain stream, and the Viscount who was known by the world to go crazy on the fourth day and died of drinking poison Only the one who survived. This dream was not created by Viscount Kant to recall his lover, on the contrary, it was the Viscountess who accepted the power of the Eternal Sleeper and reshaped her husband in the dream—even made her husband I have been the lord in this dream castle for 30 years, and have governed the territory for 30 years!"

"He manages the territory well! He manages the castle well! Even if this is a dream, why can't this dream last!" Lilith Kant's voice suddenly became sharp, her beautiful His face was quickly filled with hatred and madness, and the lantern emitting a soft halo was suddenly covered with a layer of lavender light reminiscent of starlight—the power provided by the Eternal Sleeper allowed this woman to maintain her beauty for 30 years. Youth is not old, but now it is finally time for the cult spell to ask for the price. One second, she was still in control of the lantern, but the next second, she has become the lamp's slave, "Why did you come to destroy all this! Why did you Come wake up the sleeping people! If you don't come...if you don't come...everything will be fine!!"

A huge and distorted black shadow formed behind the Viscountess, with dots of starlight shining in the shadow, it suddenly condensed a sharp claw from the illusion, piercing Gawain's chest with a howl, and the shadow spread The coming voice overlapped with Lilith Kant's voice: "What good will it do you to destroy all this!?"

Gawain raised his hand, and the long sword of the pioneers was already in front of the claws of chaos: "You have used thousands of lives to maintain all this, and it is about to threaten everyone in this entire land , so destroying it is in my greatest interest!"

At the same time, in the ruins behind the main building of the castle, Knight Philip's long sword was raised high, and then he slashed down with all his might.

The castle was making a terrible sound behind him. A low rumbling sound was constantly coming from the direction of the north tower. Although the main body of the castle was still intact and stable, the entire north tower was gradually falling apart in the night sky, turning into fragments and floating in the air. Under the dark night, and there are constantly huge bricks and roofs disintegrating and disappearing in the squall.

But Knight Philip didn't care about the changes behind him at all. He faithfully carried out Gawain's order, and after using his ability to detect evil to find the focus of the profane aura, he began to excavate the collapsed ruins - the powerful knight's The strength allowed him to easily blow away the decayed and fragile ruins of the stables and the slate floor, and finally, a hidden entrance appeared before his eyes.

Chapter 0181

The monster that shone like starlight and was always wriggling indefinitely launched a fierce attack on Gawain. Its indescribably weird limbs seemed to be able to transform into countless forms full of destructive power, whether it was sharp claws or Huge swords, even crossbows and tentacles can be continuously condensed from that piece of "starlight aggregate". This changeable form may hint at its essence: a created dream product, it is like Nightmares are generally nameless, endless, and ever-changing.

Gawain, on the other hand, resisted every attack of it, and chopped off those proliferating limbs and mimicked weapons time and time again.

"Steel Storm!"

Gawain's sword blade was activated by the magic power and turned into countless scorching light blades. The shock wave swept away in front of him, and the slate ground along the way and the mutated limbs extended by the monster were instantly torn into pieces by the powerful impact. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Gawain immediately jumped up and unleashed the long-prepared "Champion Slash" - a sharp blade wrapped in white light descended from the sky, and struck Lilith Kant's body in the air.

Lilith Kant's body was almost torn in half by this blow, but in the next second, the lavender radiance filled the lantern again, and her torn body was also quickly repaired under the shining starlight. Gathered together, the crazy woman held up a lantern and laughed: "It's useless, hahaha, it's useless! I've merged with the power of dreams, you can't kill a dream! As long as I refuse to wake up , I will never die!!"

Gawain smiled slightly, and casually chopped off a sharp claw that came sneaking from the blind area of ​​vision: "Is there anything in dreams... It seems that the teachings of the Eternal Sleeper have really been deeply ingrained in your mind."

"Give up, I admit that you are powerful. In terms of combat power alone, no one in this land can defeat you, but no amount of power can destroy a dream. Likewise, I can't kill you," Lilith Kant's frenzied expression calmed down in an instant. She looked at Gao Wen coldly, and said indifferently, "You can pretend that nothing happened here, and I can promise you that you will not take any action against your leaders."

"I can see the madness in your eyes, ma'am, the power of that dark magic weapon has eroded your mind, and I won't believe any promises you made when you held the lantern," Gawain regained his posture again, taking a step Step by step towards Lilith, who has already shown a semi-fused state with the "Starlight Aggregator", "And why should I give up——Didn't you notice? Your regeneration is slower every time."

"Huh?!" With Gao Wen's reminder, Lilith Kant finally noticed the changes in her body. She gasped and looked at her enemy angrily, "What did you do?!"

"It seems that Knight Philip has found the real 'pillar' for maintaining your dreams," Gawain raised his long sword, "How long can you hold on now?"

In the ruins of the stables behind the main building of the castle, Knight Philip smashed the secret door in front of him - as the power of the nightmare weakened, the doors that were originally indestructible due to the blockade of the dream now lost the power to protect themselves , Slashing the long sword wrapped in magic power, no matter whether it is wood or steel, it will instantly be torn apart.

Behind the secret door is a staircase leading to the ground, and at the end of the staircase is an astonishingly vast underground space.

Seeing the scene in the underground space, Knight Philip frowned tightly.

The vast underground hall is illuminated by dim magic spar lamps. In the obscure light, one can see neatly arranged square stone pillars standing there. Countless obscure and incomprehensible words are engraved on each stone pillar. Magic runes and lines, but what really made the young knight angry was not the evil runes on the stone pillars, but the "things" surrounding the stone pillars.

Rectangular platforms are arranged with stone pillars as the center, forming a neat matrix-like structure, and on each platform, a skinny, twisted, shriveled human body can be seen. These people are still alive, but life is worse than death. They lay on a layer of dark brown soft material, and some kind of "biological tissue" like umbilical cords or blood vessels connected them to those square stone pillars. Branches, piercing into the skulls of everyone on the platform.

Those people maintain the operation of the entire dream world under such circumstances. Their brain power is squeezed and drained, and they sink into continuous dreams without being able to wake up. Their limbs left in the real world occasionally There was a slight twitch, and low and hoarse murmurs came out from their throats from time to time, but all these were just the most basic nerve reflexes.

On the ground between each rectangular platform and square stone pillars, there are dead bones: they are exhausted "firewood", homeless people who have disappeared on this land for 30 years and do not belong to the Kant Territory.

"This is...how...evil!!"

Philip growled angrily, raised his long sword high, and slashed at the stone pillar closest to him.

In the underground cellar of the North Tower, the rune brilliance on the stone pillars was being extinguished one by one, and the power maintaining the continuous regeneration of the "Starlight Aggregator" was also declining sharply. Gawain easily cut off this changeable Every proliferating limb on the monster once again exposed Lilith Kant's body, but this time, the latter's regeneration had almost completely stagnated, only sporadic lavender rays of light that could not be formed flickered in the air. floating.

The mad woman roared, "How would you know... how would you know!"

"Because you asked the butler Carter to divert our attention, but you accidentally exposed your last secret." Knowing that the situation was settled, Gao Wen couldn't help sighing softly, "If I'm not wrong, the butler may also be a The product of the dream, the real Carter should have died many years ago - no one can disappear into Amber's sight out of thin air, because the most powerful shadow master in the world can't do this, he disappeared in the ruins of the stable Nearby, it can only show that there is the 'inner border' of the dream..."

"In the final analysis, you are not a professional nightmare master. Although the Eternal Sleeper allowed you to master powerful power, but that power was displayed with the help of an ancient lantern, and you... are just half-baked."

The expression on Lilith Kant's face became more and more distorted. When she heard Gawain's words, she suddenly grinned and said, "You reminded me that I still have this lamp... Although it is not finished yet, this lamp The accumulated energy has been... what?!"

She looked down at her hand in astonishment, but the lantern emitting magical radiance had been replaced by an ordinary horse lantern at some point, and only then did Amber's figure emerge from a distance. Unexpectedly, the lantern had already reached her hand.

The half-elf thief smugly waved the lantern in his hand, speaking presumptuously and twitching: "Let me tell you, not being able to pry your door open is already the biggest shame in my career! If I can't steal your lamp again, I will I won’t be in this business anymore!”

This time, even Gao Wen had to look at Amber with an expression of surprise and admiration: He really didn't expect that this guy could even succeed in this. How many levels did she have in the sneaking skill tree? !

But on the other side, Lilith Kant, who had lost her lantern, calmed down strangely. The starlight aggregate behind her gradually dissipated, while another dark shadow gathered at her feet. Looking at Gawain and Amber, this The Viscountess of Kantland suddenly showed a strange smile: "Do you think you have won?"

Gawain frowned.

"Our son... is coming home soon."

Lilith smiled and opened her hands, as if she was going to welcome her son who had traveled far away for many years, her voice was full of joy and pride: "Belm, my proud child, he has traveled abroad for decades, he has grown up For a real man, a real heir! Today is the day he comes home... Did you hear that? The bells of the carriage are already ringing on the stone road outside the castle, and he is returning to the place where he was born, as The heir of the Kant family, to inherit this family business and glory... and you, will never be able to stop his inheritance!"

Gawain clenched the long sword in his hand instantly, he did hear it, he heard a phantom sound of carriages and horses rang in his ears, he heard an inhuman creature born from a nightmare getting off the carriage Come towards the castle!

That's what this thirty-year-long dream really conceived—that's the real interpretation of the words he heard in the memory fragment of the Sleeper cultist:

"The one that passed away will eventually return, not only in dreams, but also in reality..."

For 30 years, everyone in this land has a traveling "Master Belm" in their hearts. Although he has never appeared in the territory, those letters from other places, descriptions from the lord, and stories from the market Rumors have completely outlined the existence of this person, and Lilith Kant spent 30 years and the lives of countless people accumulating a huge amount of magic power to shape this "individual" that originally only existed in dreams.

Her real purpose is not only to keep her husband by her side, she even wants to revive her son in reality!

But in this dark and corrupt ritual, what she resurrected could only be a monster—an indescribable monster covered in human skin, piled up by the subconscious whispers of countless people!

The Lantern had been separated from Lilith Kant, so it was meaningless to kill the Viscountess in front of him, but Gawain had already predicted the worst situation in advance, so he was not afraid, but held his long sword tightly, Waiting for the heir of the Kant family to step into this castle and come to this place.

The new nightmare creation is not invincible - after Knight Philip destroyed the maintenance power of the dream, the "Master Belm" was nothing more than an ordinary monster with flesh and blood that could be defeated.

At the gate of the castle, a black carriage was parked in the rainy night, and a "visitor" wearing a long black trench coat with no facial features came to the gate of the castle, he knocked on the gate, and after a while, the door The heavy door opened, and the butler Carter stood behind it with a smile.

A welcome team appeared in the main hall of the castle in an instant, and the band began to play, welcoming the return of the heir of this territory.

In the cellar of the North Tower, Lilith Kant's vitality began to flow at a speed visible to the naked eye. She was as pale as a dead body, and her legs could no longer stand. She knelt and sat beside the stone pavilion in the center of the cellar, looking at the Gawain and Amber had provocative smiles on their faces.

But at this moment, the oak door of the cellar was suddenly pushed open.

The figure of Viscount Victor Kant appeared at the door.

Lilith's eyes widened at this moment, and she looked at the figure standing at the door in surprise and even horror.

"Honey...how did you come here?!"

Victor Kant's body seemed hazy and even transparent as if covered with a layer of tulle. He walked towards the center of the cellar with a low and gentle tone: "Come and see you, come and see me, come and see ...our son."

"No...don't come here, you can't come here!" Lilith exclaimed, and even miraculously stood up again, "You can't come here!"

"Madam, don't stop me," Victor Kant's figure shook for a moment, and then continued to walk forward, "Don't disturb my spirit anymore, this is my last wish in this nightmare."

In the main hall of the castle, the faceless visitor walked past the servants who lined up to greet him, accompanied by the butler Carter. There was a hoarse and chaotic voice in the visitor's body, which was a language that could not be understood by the human brain, but Carter But as if he understood, he kept nodding with a smile on his face, and accompanied his "young master" across the hall and through the corridor.

In the cellar of the North Tower, the Viscountess rushed to her husband in vain - her fingers went through him, causing her to cry: "How can this be a nightmare? How can this be a nightmare! This... ..."

"This is a nightmare for all of us, Lilith," Viscount Kant looked down at his body, and then at his wife in front of him, "Give up, you should wake up, and you have already woken up."

He went straight past the Viscountess, came to the stone pavilion, and put his hands on the coffin lid.

Before pushing it away, Viscount Kant looked back at Gao Wen.

"Thank you for your help, Duke Gawain Cecil, as the epic says, you are a hero who saves the people."

The heavy coffin lid was pushed open.

Viscount Kant looked inside, and he saw a fragmented skeleton. Beside the skeleton, there were several obviously thinner bones.

And between the two skeletons lay a woman with her eyes tightly closed—the real body of Lilith Kant had already been buried in this stone pavilion.