Just being a dark elf in Warhammer

Renn pushed aside a rotten silk curtain. In front of him was an arch, and behind the arch was a narrow street. He blinked and shook the dust out of his eyes. He felt as if his face was covered in spider webs, but he knew there was nothing but the blood on his face, and he resisted the urge to shave.

The glass crunched beneath his feet and fell onto the road like newly fallen snow, crushed into countless shards by the passage of time. The glass shone in the dim light, and wisps of light jumped from shard to shard until the whole road ahead seemed to be illuminated.

Glass grows in nooks and crannies, turning into giant, fungus-like clumps of glass that glisteningly cling to crumbling brick walls, as if the entire city is swallowing itself. He saw his reflection in a glistening glass, and it was staring back at him, and he was pretty sure it wasn't him, because he didn't have that broad, inhuman smile on his face now.

He wanted to know who had founded this city, someone other than those pale ghosts moving through glass and stone. Maybe a dead thing hiding from him as he passed by? Or were they the ghosts that stared at him as he passed through the streets?

"What is Mosque?" Ren asked in a low voice, abandoning the messy thoughts.

"It's not what, it's who. A man who creates miracles, a craftsman. He is the most outstanding craftsman in this city, no one. He designed many miracles, and there is his hidden treasure in the depths of this city. Of course, this There are many deep cellars in the building, and some cellars are also stocked with things. If you are willing to face the pests bravely, you can find all kinds of things," Zuvas said while patting the rag hanging on his waist. sword.

Renn, who was about to say something, stepped on a mushroom. When the mushroom deflated, it let out a high and thin sigh, which scared him so much that he almost jumped. Seeing this, Zuvas laughed, his voice echoing in the street. He glared at Zuvas, but in the end he said nothing.

"I seem to have been here before?" After a moment, he looked around, trying to discern the direction. Part of the city looked very familiar to him, but something was wrong about it. Twisted reflections of ruins in the desert, the way the streets narrowed and widened at random as if both sides were fighting, some buildings so close together that they formed a high roof of balconies and walkways above his head.

He remembers that he seemed to have been here before? He glanced down an alley and saw a familiar shapeless statue standing on a tall pedestal. All around him, glass rose along strangely curved walls, making the road appear wider than it actually was. Thick spider webs covered the roads, and sewage flowed silently from the cracks in the streets, turning into rapid streams, then suddenly stopping and pouring into the lightless depths.

Everything seems contradictory, but not contradictory in this damn place.

"Not only are humans trapped here, a net is cast down and it captures more than just the souls of mortals." Zuvas said gloomily.

"What are you talking about?"

"What I'm trying to say is that there is worse. We are in a deep darkness, and all kinds of intelligent creatures and beasts are wandering here, not only souls, but also bodies." Zuvas said as he spoke. While looking around warily, he lowered his head to pick up a piece of glass shard from the ground and raised it to his eyes. Through the shards, his mask became distorted, almost monstrous.

Ren didn't want to look at the glass. It was the glass that put him in this situation, but as if there was some kind of magic controlling him, he looked at the glass uncontrollably. But a cry severed his connection to magic, and somewhere above him, something screamed, maybe hunger, maybe fear. Then there was an eerie laugh that echoed in the air like the sound of breaking glass.

"Did you hear it? The sound of death is nearby."

"I didn't hear anything." Renn shook his head.

"Your ears are weak," Zuvas murmured.

Wren felt a twinge of pain. He said he didn't hear it, but he heard it. Here, his secret channel lost its function, but his vision and hearing remained. The sound in the street travels strangely, sometimes fading and sometimes flowing, regardless of distance or volume. The sound of rocks clashing became a rustle, and the low murmur became a thunderous sound. He heard the scraping of stone against stone and possibly the clatter of horses' hooves.

Suddenly, he felt the ground beneath his feet twitch, and he looked up to see a nearby pillar swaying like a sapling in the breeze.

"Fragments! Hide!"

Renne knew how to hide without Zuvas shouting. He rushed into the lee of a broken wall to find cover. The moment he found shelter, there was a scream of shattering glass far above, and a flood of glistening shards fell. Thousands of fragments pierced the stone of the street, some shattering into smaller pieces, others remaining uncannily intact.

Glass dust filled the streets and he could hear something screaming in the distance. And it wasn't just screams, he heard the sound of steel on steel and the hiss of some strange weapon, as if they were happening all around him, it sounded like someone was taking advantage of the falling debris.

"Do you want me to explain?" Zuvas, who was hiding in another place, came out and came to Ren's side and said. After he saw Ren's expression, he continued, "Do you really care, or do you really care?" Is this just misplaced pride?”

"I want to know, where are you taking me?"

"I'll take you where you want to go, my friend, and if you want to stay alive, just stick with me."

Renn, who had been standing there for a long time, finally moved and caught up with Zuvas who was waiting for him in front. They moved faster, through canyons of stone and glass, pillars rising around them, clustered as tightly as trees. A shroud of tattered silk and canvas was wrapped around the pillars like a pale canopy.

The shrouds rustled as they moved among them, and Wren saw that many of them had strange stains, like the outlines left when some bodies were wrapped too tightly. The blurry face twists, the mouth seems to twitch, whispering as the shroud rustles and twists in the nonexistent wind.

Instead of walking in a straight line, Zuvas led Renn in circles, sometimes tearing the shroud apart as he passed and opening a wide path in the fake canyon. After a long time, they finally came out.

"I know what you want to ask. I have been here before. At that time... there was a person following me like you. He has been following me, but when I walked out, he disappeared. Where is he? ?While I was thinking, I was interrupted by a scream, coming from far away and high, and the shroud was twisting and flapping in joy.

When I looked in the direction of the sound, the scream sounded again, a long sound. This time it wasn't coming from high up, but somewhere nearby. There, over there? Zuvas, who was standing on the spot, started talking, pointing randomly as he spoke.

"The sound came again, this time a thunderous scream, louder than any creature could make alone. After a moment, I smashed a broken section of fence on the road, revealing an invisible alleyway. It seems to stretch upwards in endless jagged stone walls.

I found the man, lying on the ground, his body looking like it had been there for weeks, his body twisted as if the last moments of his life had been filled with pain. His jaw was wrenched open, his tongue was missing, and his eyes, someone had cut them out, but he was still alive. "

While listening to Zuvas' story, Ren glanced at his surroundings. He could feel the shadows seeming to dance on the stone wall, twisting and spinning in response to Zuvas' words. He had an immersive feeling. He felt that the person who spoke Zuvas' words seemed to be none other than him, but...

"Let's go, my friend." Zuvas said softly after noticing Ren's confusion, and then turned and left.

——

"Do you want to know what happened? Or something else?" Darkus came to the bonfire where the team was sitting. He did not sit down, but whispered softly under the gaze of everyone.

"I just want to get out of here..." Loxia, who was sitting there in a defensive posture, muttered after seeing everyone shaking their heads.

"Yes, I just want to leave here. I'm going to get something. I'll leave in a minute, very soon." After finishing speaking, Darkus turned and left. When he came, he specially brought a binding spell and a statue so that he could easily shake people. Maybe he could negotiate a deal? ——

Wren and his new friends came to a street that was both strange and familiar to him, with hundreds of broken pillars protruding from cracked stone slabs at odd angles. He felt as if something huge had dug a hole beneath them, squeezing the entire road down, and a mist enveloped the stones, drifting in like a cold wave.

There were things moving in the mist, mostly small things. Maybe a mouse? He hoped so. Slowly, he became aware of the intrusion of a dull sound, a rhythmic thump, like a heartbeat.

"Drums? Who's gonna play the drums here?"

"There." At first, Zuvas did not answer. When the sound echoed from above and the sound of metal scraping against stone came out, he pointed in the opposite direction from where the sound came.

Ren followed the guide and looked over. On a nearby pillar, there was something shining in the fog. After a moment, a rope net fell with a bang, and the rope net spread out, revealing the bloody heads of several orcs.

"We are not alone, my friend."

The road through the forest of pillars widened, revealing a wide square. Fog shrouded the ruins on both sides, and the streets in the distance seemed to be peeled off and shattered. Something emerged from the ruins, looking like a towering slab of black stone veined with green and gold.

The stone slab tilted, as if something pushed it up from below, and stopped just before it completely broke through the ground. There are two huge metal doors in front of the stone slab. The door frames are shaped into the shape of flames, or of course, the shape of smoke.

The whole square trembled slightly, a broken wall collapsed, and the stone collapsed.

"aftershock?"

"The ground is unstable, the city is shaking, and hidden things are revealed. It's a vault that sometimes emerges as the city shifts. Breaking through the streets like bones piercing flesh, every fool armed with a weapon will swarm in search of Loot. But the vault is rarely opened. Once it is cracked, it will be catastrophic to all existence." Zuvas stared at the square and said to himself.

As if to prove the truth of his words, there was a shudder in the square, and something that might have been a bird screamed and flew up from the surrounding ruins.

"Someone is watching us, look." Ren saw something pale emerging from a broken window.

"No, they've been following us. Ghosts are moving through the glass, spies are watching where we are going, there's a war going on in this city, the living are fighting for the dead, the dead are fighting for the living, we are soldiers, we are Commander, you are following a strategy that makes no sense to us, so keep a low profile and don’t lose your mind,” Zuvas said while looking at Renne and continued to move.

The closer they got, the bigger the vault seemed. The vault swelled and occupied Ren's sight. It looked as big as a castle. The door was taller than him and five times as wide as him. He could see the underground corridor leading to the vault clinging to it like barnacles, a face carved into the door, some sinister mask, some unknown face, staring blankly as they approached them.

"How do you know all this?"

"I've been here a long time, come with me now."

The road ahead slopes down to form a high, vaulted chamber. Huge stone shelves lined the walls, stretching into the darkness. There are dust-covered statues in the deep corners between the shelves, most of them covered in thick cobwebs through which traces of strange glass and metal instruments can be seen. The invisible still gurgled, perhaps shaken by their footsteps.

"Now be quiet and be careful and don't touch anything."

"I'm not stupid," Ren responded scornfully, but as soon as he finished speaking, he stopped as something huge and dark slid across the glass floor beneath his feet. At first, he thought it was a stray oil flower, but the thing moved so purposefully, twisting with the light like a shadow. Purple light flickered deep within the thing, and the longer he stared, the harder it became to look away.

"Getting closer... getting closer..."

The tip of the needle turned into particles, and something took shape, round and black.

"Getting closer... getting closer..."

Something touched Ren's armor, and he instinctively turned around and raised the Blade of Reality.

"I wouldn't listen to them if I were you." Zuvas took a step back and raised his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Who do you listen to?"

"The real dead, they are all liars. Go away! We are not interested in your lies." Zuvas stamped his feet and kept stamping. After a moment, he calmed down and stared at Ren, "They Like a moth, attracted by the light emanating from your soul.”

"My soul doesn't belong here."

"The air is full of hungry ghosts, especially in a place like this. They are like crows looking for rot. Right here, right where the record says." Zuvas said as he searched, and after a moment He reached out his hand and brushed away the thick dust. In a shallow corner behind the dust sat a blocky object nearly three meters high.

"Whose record?"

"I once knew a... being." Zuvas hesitated this time.

"What's that in your hand?"

"A key, or a map?" Zuvas said while pointing to the circular slot on the block.

"How can such a small thing open such a large vault?" Ren muttered to himself, watching Zuvas put the key in place and turn it. A moment later, he got his answer, a grinding sound, the clicking sound of thousands of invisible gears and levers moving simultaneously. As the machinery inside the door moved, the stone shattered and the ground shook, raising dust.

The vault was opened, and it was dark inside. The dirty air blew out, making Ren feel suffocated. Then, he heard huge footsteps coming from inside.

Thanks to the elf's vision, he vaguely saw the being that made the sound. The huge claws were carved from glass and covered with gold patterns. A heavy six-meter-tall humanoid creature walked and patrolled regularly. It looked like it was carved from a huge piece of glass, and its proportions were awkward and featureless.

In a deep alcove within the disembodied skull, a miner's lampshade device rotated and clicked harshly, a faint gleam of light filtering through the rattling metal plates.

"Construct?" At this moment, the heavy humanoid creature reminded Ren of the Holy Titan he discovered when he was in Elsin Alvin. Although they looked different, the essence of the two seemed to be the same.

"Yes, this is a war golem. Now, we have to go in."

Renn looked at Zuvas with a "Who are you kidding me" expression.

"Go in, it's not safe here."

"I chose to come here with you because you promised me. And is he safe? This structure obviously guards the vault. I'm sure that as long as we enter the vault, he will launch an attack." Renn lowered his voice. the voice said.

"This is not a conflict! Yes, the war golem will attack, so... this time you run to the left, and I will distract the war golem."

"this time?"

Before Ren could finish asking, Zuvas moved, as if he had touched a cordon. The war golem straightened up, the glass plate swung wide open, and light and heat filled the air. Pure white light emits from the construct's skull. The beam pierced the square, burning through stones and pillars, burning everything into black slag, but he dodged and was not burned into greasy dust.

Soon, a second ray of light shot out, and Zuvas, who was constantly moving, once again avoided this almost fatal blow.

Ren was stunned as he watched. If he could, he would like to ask: Why are you so good at hiding? It's like knowing the landing point and trajectory of the light emitted by the structure. Just as he was looking, the sounds rang from his ears again, but this time he did not look back. He knew what was waiting for him behind him. If he was controlled, he would probably encounter Zuvas. The plunderers mentioned, he was blocked there, facing the plunderers...

Scenes of the exchange between him and Zuvas flashed through his mind. He had a very strange feeling, too strange to be described in words. He took a deep breath. He was ready to believe Zuvas once. Even though it was ridiculous, but He decided to believe in Zuvas for once.

A gust of cold wind blew over him, and he moved quickly, climbing the cracked steps and seeking shelter on the other side of the shadowy arch at the top. Moments later, a hundred of him were running through the hall of shattered mirrors. They weren't all the same, they weren't all elves, and one wore tarnished battle armor, a look of determination rather than fear on his gaunt face. The other was a foul-smelling thing covered in leprous sores, holding a pitted axe.

He did as Zuvas said, and a visceral feeling of uneasiness came over him. The shadows on the wall enveloped him and seemed to be closing in on him. He wanted to fight and kill, but there was nothing here to vent his rage, only reflections and whispers.

He felt breathless, the air filled with smoke and ghosts. Everything around him seemed to curve away from him, like wheels, up and down. He saw the statue smiling at him, a cheerful expression full of malice and mockery. He could hear glass breaking and people screaming, like a battle, in the distance.

His reflection was there too, encouraging him, cursing him, imploring him. They wanted him to run, run, stop. A dozen voices, all his, echoed in his head, shouting conflicting instructions as he readied his weapon.

He kept running, as if his steps would never stop, until the end of time, until a figure suddenly rushed out and dragged him down. Caught off guard, he stumbled and fell, and even the Blade of Reality he held tightly in his hand fell to the ground and rolled away, but he did not give up resistance. He instinctively punched out, and his fist hit the metal. It was only then that he saw that it was Zuvas who was dragging him.

The blade of reality clattered over the edge and fell into the gap.

"So it fell there." Zuvas, who stepped back and fixed his mask, looked at the disappearing reality blade and whispered. Then he asked Ren, who had stabilized, "Do you want me to explain? ?”

"Have we met?"

"not yet."

"Why are we here? What's in here?" He looked around. He seemed to know the place, albeit a little vaguely. This place was different in some way, like a reflection within a reflection.

"Not yet, but what will grow in such soil? What will be born from this cocoon of stone and glass? Gods, unlike mortals, do not drift along the river of time, but rather like Like water itself. It's everywhere and everywhere," Zuvas said, turning around and spreading his arms.

"Maybe a new god is born here, a new challenger. Maybe there is nothing here, maybe the only voice that can be heard is my own voice, echoing in the darkness. Maybe this is everything that has ever been, have I ever "Told you, how did I get here?" After speaking, he lowered his arms as if he was tired.

"No."

"I died once, but remember, my friend, not this time! Then I came back, and before I got here, time folded here, and I died and came back, once, twice, and again After a while I was looking for the right path, the one I had been on before. Now that I saw it, I couldn't help but wonder, what if...?

"What if I ignore it? What if I continue like this and let the past take its course? Time is a circle, my friends, a cycle that keeps repeating itself. What was, is, and will always be, that's what I'm doing in Learned here. This cycle must be repeated again and again until the being that initiated it is satisfied.”

"Then what?"

"Then let's enter the next cycle, or... the end!" Zuvas raised his head and stared at Ren.

PS: It’s already obvious…it will be settled tomorrow. (End of chapter)