Blade and Poetry

I sent a butterfly letter to Karajan, prepared five days of food and water, and walked straight into the Land of Eternal Night.

I don't know how many people who strayed into the land of eternal night have been killed.I ride on the back of a paper bird, thankful I don't have to wade through a stagnant pool.A day later, the fog gradually cleared, and the ground turned a kind of gray-green, and the three-pronged bird-claw-shaped tree became the boundary between the swamp and the jungle; I remembered the saying of the man-eating vine, and immediately gave up and continued to fly, and swooped down.

The vines lying still on the ground leaped to the sky at the same instant, danced back and forth after catching them to no avail, and stabbed at me following the sound.I found that they seemed to avoid the place where the trees grow, so I chose to settle on a bird's claw tree.

But the branch of the bird's claw tree also whipped to the side immediately; I jumped around the tree several times, only to find that its attack did not seem to be aimed at me at all-as long as I stood in the center of the bird's claw tree , it just ignores me.

It seems to be more sensitive to those man-eating vines, and it precisely entangled the green vines that flew up to the left with the branches.The place where the bark was close to the vines secreted some kind of mucus, causing the trapped vines to gradually rot, and finally split and fell off section by section.The branches of the bird's claw tree twisted and twisted, and then returned to the original shape of the dry bird's claw.

I tied myself to the nest-like junction of three thick branches and perched all night, and I set off again at dawn.I realized that the only way to avoid these man-eating vines all over the ground was with the help of the bird's claw tree that can restrain them; I either stepped on the center of the bird's claw with every step, or jumped quickly and tapped the tip of my foot.

After I have repeatedly tempered myself, my knife can now be released by me for ten hours a day.After practicing swordsmanship, except for deliberate swordsmanship training, I rarely need to release the swords every day to reach this time limit; but this long journey has made me plan carefully.When I don't need to use Charon, I keep it in my body.

I even took the risk of cutting a section of vine, enchanting it with a section of metamorphosis, and hanging it from tree to tree—so much faster on foot.

On the fourth night, I suddenly felt that I had been submerged in a mist, and immediately retreated vigilantly.The journey was hasty, and the actual arrival in the poisonous miasma forest was earlier than I thought.I sat down in a place where the air was clear, and it was not until dawn that I returned to the old road.

The divisions of the mist are clearly illuminated by the sun.I stood closest to it and waited, not relaxing for a moment.The sun gradually climbed over my head as time went on-just at this time the fog that had gathered in the woods ahead faded away.I saw that the man-eating vines on the ground were all rotten, so I drove the paper bird again, wrapped my clothes tightly, and rushed forward holding my breath.In less than half an hour, the fog seemed to gather again, so I had no choice but to increase the magic power injection at the risk of urging the paper bird to fly faster.

When I could see the light outside the poisonous miasma forest, the structure of the paper bird was finally overwhelmed, its wings drooped, and my magic power was exhausted.I ran with my feet instead, and shook off the foggy woods behind me in one breath.

I was a little dizzy and fell on my back on a piece of wild grass, breathing heavily, and the blue sky seemed to be sinking.During the four days and four nights, the tense sense of alert reached a peak, and it dispersed like the fog at noon.

I ate something after the break, picked out a spare piece of paper in my bag, made a new paper bird in imitation of Ord's technique, and flew to a place where there were people to find out the location.I intend to accumulate magic power, and I wanted to rent a winged horse, but no horse owner is willing to lend it at this time.

"It's too far," said the horse owner I finally asked. "To get to the place you mentioned, you may have to cross the war zone—that is, Bailu City, Zhucheng, and Greenmore Town. In fact, you can also take a detour, but the distance The longer it is, the more dangerous it is—you have to understand that business is not doing well recently. The cost of winged horses is too high, and I dare not lose any of them."

Under the premise that I was soft and hard, and threw out half a bag of gold coins, the horse owner finally agreed to lend me an ordinary horse, and asked me to park it by the side of a post station and send him a letter.I flew all the way to the town of Hoftas, and ran non-stop for most of the day.

The horse was sweating profusely. I patted its head and fed it some horse grass from the post station.

I took the path and came here through an abandoned empty field after the war crossed the border.This inn is near the edge of Green Olive Town, and you can reach Hanging Leaf City by going further away—generally speaking, it is a shortcut to Hoftas Town.But here's the odd thing: I haven't seen any of them since I've been in Green Olive.Some shops clearly still have their doors wide open, but the shopkeepers are nowhere to be found.

In the post station, only the pigeons are still standing in place.I beckoned to one of them, and it sent a letter to the owner of the horse, and sent a butterfly letter to Ode to ask about the current situation.Odd did not reply me for a long time; I made a decision immediately, let the horse rest here, and explore the empty town on foot.A chaotic sound from outside made me withdraw my feet immediately - it was the footsteps of many people, but it was by no means like the sound that a simple "group of people" passing by could make.There were no voices, only gasps accompanying the steps.

I dodged behind the door of the station and looked out through the gap.

A group of fugitives ran past the station.A large group came from the direction of Xuanye City; I counted them with my palms, and about a thousand people passed by one after another.The uniforms they wore did not belong to Columbus. They seemed to have been tattered in a fierce battle, and were covered with large balls of blood; the panic and dust were mixed on the faces, and the strands of hair were stained with sweat. .Although they had wounds on their bodies, most of them had healthy hands and feet, but they ran like desperately at this moment, without even looking at me, as if they were getting rid of a terrible nightmare.

I waited patiently until the last person passed by, and then I collected myself before walking in the direction they came from.

The closer to Xuanye City, the more chaotic the scene in the town.The only few fruit stalls were also overturned, and the roadside was full of broken and neglected fruits, giving off a rotten aroma.In addition, I seem to smell a kind of rust mixed in it.As I approached the open land at the junction of Green Olive Town and Hanging Leaf City, my field of vision gradually widened, and there were many brown footprints on the ground, one overlapping the other; I thought it was muddy water at first, but later found out that it was blood .

Some nameless sense of sadness rising from the surface was answered when I walked under the hanging leaf city.The ground there is pitted and filled with countless broken limbs. The land seems to have been washed by blood once and burned by fire again, and it can also make people feel strong traces of magic.I walked through this hellish scene, and accidentally stepped on a dead man's arm.

I squatted down to check, and realized that the man was not wearing a uniform, but ordinary everyday attire.

There are two large groups of people lying here: the invaders in uniform who fled, and the civilians of Green Olive Town who disappeared.

The heavy city gates on both sides of the north side of Xuanye City have been lowered, indicating that it shuts out all those who come and go.I raised my head, trying to see if there were any moving figures in the tower; but I didn't catch any one from those small and dark windows, but I waited for the butterfly book that Odd flew obliquely.

"I'm in Xuanye City." The butterfly book wrote, "We've encountered danger."

I don't know how Ord negotiated with the soldiers defending the city.After we exchanged Dieshu a few times, a guide rope hung down from the north gate, and I was hoisted up to the tower.

There I saw Ord standing.After half a year of separation, it really didn't change his appearance, except for the rimless glasses that he wore a little crookedly.We hugged tightly, and he led me into the tower.He didn't ask me where I was going for the past six months, but quickly talked about the war that just happened here.

It was only then that I learned that Pu Kingdom had previously marched towards the central part of Colendonan from the west under the banner of marching into the capital.Their initial situation was favorable, but they were quickly counterattacked by several generals.On the marching road to the royal capital they claimed, the south of Galondu was already preparing for a tough battle, but who knew that they fought skillfully at this time, and even dared to divide their troops, dispatching an army of thousands of people to attack South, trying to capture Xuanye City by surprise.

Hanging Leaf City is not a big place, but its location is indeed coveted.It's just that no one expected that the Pu Guojun would take a slanted sword. They would rather take the risk of a sudden drop in numbers and cross the long distance without making a fuss, trying to hit a hit.

"This place was far from being affected by the flames of war," Ode said, "so half of the garrison in Xuanye City was allocated to the main front to fight against the enemy. As a result, the Pu Guojun raided the north of Xuanye City yesterday—perhaps because of The idea is to capture here, and then sweep the area in the middle of the arc with another army in two directions, and finally meet up. The ratio of them to the garrison is about seven to one."

"Seven to one?" I said in amazement.

"Seven to one. There are not enough 1000 people here." Odd said, "The garrison was neglected in the battle, but responded quickly. In the shortest possible time, the three major city gates in the north were lowered, and the defensive cover above was opened. The branches of the Magic Association sent letters asking for help. Pu Guojun attacked outside the city for a night, and after a long time of attacking, they began to massacre the townspeople in the nearby Qingolive Town. The town’s fortifications are different from those of the big city, almost equal to zero. As a result, you I see."

"Slaughter..." I clenched my fists.

"They drove people over to execute them one by one. There were many townspeople crowded at the gate of the city, and they wanted us to surrender. But there were also people in the city. It was impossible for the garrison to agree to open the gate so simply. It would not be wise to even meet the enemy directly. In the case of a large disparity in numbers between the two sides, as the defender, if you break away from the protection of the city wall and attack directly, the chances of winning the garrison are very small. Pu Guo’s lineup is generous-all are swordsmen and magicians, and the garrison The soldiers consisted only of well-trained ordinary people. We had a stalemate with the invading army outside for a whole day."

"But we won," I said, "and the invaders were driven back—how did we do that? I saw their remnants fall before my own eyes."

"It's not over yet." Ode said, "only the Pu Guo army was repelled. The new news is that the city gate in the south was surrounded. It seems that the Pu Guo Alliance suddenly launched an attack, and some troops waded from Yinsha. Fortunately, they seem to have not coordinated well with the group of people in the north, and they were not expected to be repelled so quickly, and they are still defending to the south."

I thought about the geographical location of Insha - it was already very close to the town of Hoftas.

"I thought you should be taking classes at Hofta Division at this time," I said.

Odgo returned a moment's silence.

"My mentor took us out for an investigation during the winter vacation, and happened to pass by Xuanye City." He said.

At this moment, my footsteps and his stopped under a wall.Odd's hand was raised near the cylindrical wall of the tower, and then fell on the opened gate.

"Didn't you ask just now, how did we repel them?" He said, the expression in his eyes was indescribable, "You will know later."

A brick wall enclosing the tower slumped rumblingly.The light coming through the gaps in several window holes, together with the light coming from behind me, illuminated one side of this small tower.There were a total of ten people standing here, including two dressed as doctors, two garrisons, and a student who looked like he was recording something with a pen, surrounding a center like everyone else.Seen from the gap between people, the person in the middle is lying on the ground, and someone finds a blanket for him to cover his body.He was speaking softly to the recorder who bowed his head, his face was a little pale.

"Professor Ryan?" I opened my mouth.It was so silent there; there was nothing but that angry voice.I couldn't actually make any sound.

"I'm sorry, Vicente," Ode whispered behind me, "to bring you such bad news."

I looked at him a little confused.But then I saw Odd take off his glasses and make it dodge a drop of water that rolled down after it-as if it was a mastered gesture.

I stood in the doorway and looked around at the group of people surrounding Lane—most of them were young, except for the two garrisons; most of them looked sad.Professor Ryan seemed to have finished speaking, and smiled at the conscientious recorder.The recorder who looked like a student stood up, packed up his pen and notebook, and suddenly burst into tears.

"There were so few people in the city who knew magic at that time, basically only our small group of students led by him." Odd said, "We are all supporting and waiting for reinforcements. The civilians in the city need protection, and the civilians outside are one after another. They died one by one. Professor Lane finally revealed his identity as a great magister, and persuaded the garrison to open the city gate and attack with him. We originally said that we would go out with him to fight for our lives, but he said that he was not going out to fight for our lives—magic Warriors are not very suitable for melee combat, but it is different after entering the level of the Grand Magister. He said that we must have underestimated the power of the Grand Magister. There is a reason why the Grand Magister of a country has never exceeded two digits; Respond from behind."

I took a step forward, but dared not really poke into the small circle of people.I know what I'm missing; but here I am, listening to Odd's narration.

"That was the most wonderful performance. I never thought in my life that I would be lucky enough to see such a performance... I just realized how far the gap between me and the great magister is. His magic circle spread across the entire battlefield, even His presence was not needed; his spells dealt a head-on blow to every charge of the invading army. His hands were in control—we were all afraid he'd run out of magic, but never did. He managed to hold the scene, The townspeople who were trapped on one side escaped from the claws of the devil, and the army that met us retreated steadily. There were more people falling than standing, and the situation soon reversed, and the army was defeated. His students were guarded by him in the city, he—he was very close, and when he turned around, he was pierced through the heart by a knife flying in a panic. He didn't wear heart armor, knowing that the fatal wound of a magician could not be saved , simply cast a life-consuming forbidden spell in one fell swoop..."

I looked at him and turned my eyes away; I couldn't listen anymore, but those words were replaying in my mind over and over again, changing from sound to words, and from words to some kind of bloody sculpture , forcing me to touch and feel repeatedly.They became an end-to-end cycle of pain that I couldn't go through for a while.

It was Professor Ryan on the ground who spoke first: "Is Vicente here?"

"Mr. Lane," I walked through the crowd and knelt in front of him, "how could it be..."

He smiled: "I'm so glad I can see you at this time."

I looked blankly at the two doctors who had tied their hands aside: "Is there any other way? Maybe you can think about it again—in case you don't just hurt the key position..."

The younger doctor seemed about to say something, but the older one spoke.

"It's a sorcerer's piercing heart injury. Even if we know some medical magic, it's hard to..." he said, "I can only try to slow down the speed at which his life is dying."

I turned my head away.Lane looked at me with a kind of tiredness in his dark blue eyes, and then the tiredness spread out slowly.

I asked blindly, "Is there anything else I can do for you, Mr. Lane?"

Last time I asked him this question, he still answered "as long as you study magic seriously".I think if he says the same thing this time, I will definitely not live up to his wishes, and he will understand—I will carry this sentence with me for the rest of my life, and put it on my shoulders as a serious mission.

"I don't need anything." He just said softly this time, "I don't need anything."

The students he led drew closer; one girl cried so loudly that it drowned out all of us.I felt my hands and legs were weak, and my head almost fell to the ground.

"Vicente," Ryan whispered in my ear, his voice barely discernible, "am I a coward?"

"No. Why do you say that?" I raised my head abruptly, trying to swear by all means, "You are our greatest and bravest professor of magic, a well-deserved great magister, I assure you—— Every one of us is lucky to be your student."

He smiled, and then swept his gentle eyes over everyone around him one by one.

"That's fine," he said.

Then his eyes dimmed.None of us moved, we all stared blankly in place.Still a doctor's hand reached out and gently closed them.They began to deal with the aftermath of Lane's body.

"Sit down for a while," I said to Odd.

"how long?"

"1 minutes."

We sat by the wall for a minute, and Odd held the watch in front of both of us.

"Did you know?" he said, "Professor Lane left you a letter."

"what?"

"Before he decided to go to war, he left a letter to every student here. The text is not long, and it is some pointers or instructions. The recorder just wrote down the characteristics of the Pu Guojun's attack magic."

"Why is there a letter from me?" I asked, bitter in my heart, "I have long since ceased to be Professor Ryan's student."

"He occasionally mentioned your magical ideas to us," Ord said, "and he said he was proud of it."