Scepter of Thorns

There is a faint singing sound coming from a distant place.

The melody is not soft, but has an undulating arc, as if jumping from the lowest valley to the dome, a combination of dumbness and sharp contradictions.

Edward flew across the Red River and folded his bone wings.The black umbrella Henry was holding suddenly unfolded in his sight, blocking the scenery in front of him.

"Who was singing just now?" He raised the umbrella a little and asked.

"Sacrifice."

After a while, the singing disappeared into the patter of rain.

Edward was silent for a while, and then followed Henry to register at the main city gate not far away.The main city is called Swan, and the most famous industry here is also called Swan.

The rain washes its black feathers, and the swan bends its graceful neck and sings to all who come.The dark purple sky is weeping, but brilliant umbrella flowers bloom on the cold and damp ground.

Edward walked through the bustling streets and bypassed the blood-soaked underground city.A demon not far away stepped forward and stopped him with a smile, "My name is Scott, and I was sent by Lord White to meet Earl's nephew Doyle." He handed over a golden card, and Henry He stepped forward to take it, and after looking carefully, he nodded to Edward.

"I am." Edward returned the card to him, "Excuse me."

Scott led them straight into the dungeon, "Your Excellency has told you to treat Mr. well. Mister is new to the Demon Realm, why not get used to the trading rules here first."

What's more, this gentleman can't enter the palace openly.

Edward actually had no choice but to follow.The cold air from the ground seeped into the corridor, making him feel chilly all over.They walked down for a few minutes before an extremely spacious hall appeared in front of them.

The flint stones set in the corners gave off a faint light, drying the moisture in the air.Large and small shops are scattered throughout the hall, selling a wide variety of items.The light is very dim, but the demon's strong night vision ability will not be affected in the slightest. Edward can even easily see the lip nails sold at the stall ten meters away.

He looked casually, and found that the shop on the left sold familiars.Edward mentioned a golden cage that held a crow, and the crow stayed in it quietly and motionless, but stared at him with scarlet eyes.

"how much is it?"

The shop owner is a winged devil, and he is cleaning his too thin bone wings.Hearing this, he glanced at Edward strangely, "Hey, kid, don't you understand the rules of the dungeon?"

Scott, who was standing behind Edward, said, "We want that crow, what do you want?"

Only then did the winged demon gather its wings, and slowly moved in front of them: "I have a habit of collecting coins and banknotes." He knocked on the birdcage, "It's only a human race, if you can get a complete Yes, I'll give you this."

Edward took several human banknotes of different denominations from the interspatial ring, fanned them in his hand, "Can I exchange them?"

The shopkeeper counted them carefully, and said with some regret: "There are three types missing, and it would be a loss to replace a human-shaped familiar." Although he said so, he quickly snatched the money as if he was afraid that the other party would go back on his word, and then gave it to him. Edward was given a key of the same color as the lock on the cage.

Edward lifted the cage and was about to leave, but the winged demon behind him was still chattering: "Where did you get so many? The things in the human world are rare. I searched the entire dungeon and couldn't find any..."

"A gift from a soldier friend."

The crow in the cage rolled its eyes and opened its beak with a chuckle.

Scott took the birdcage from Edward and carried it for him, "Sir, you'd better make a contract with the familiar. Humanoid familiars are relatively rare, but they are very cunning and will escape if you don't pay attention."

"There's no need for that." Anyway, Edward didn't expect to be able to raise a capable assistant. "Run away, it didn't cost much anyway. By the way, why is it carved on the pillar over there?" So many names?"

"'Swan'." Scott replied, "the information center of the Devil Realm, which collects and sells information. The names on it are the main intelligence targets in the near future. If you have accurate information about them, you can get a sum of money; on the contrary, if you want to know Their intelligence also costs money."

It was a two-meter-high five-prism, silver-white in its entire body, standing in the center of the dungeon.Neat rectangular grooves were chiseled on each side, and the corresponding crystal cards were engraved with names, and black borders were traced to form a table similar to a leaderboard.

-Sena Comoro-

-Black Widow-

-Lilith Monroe-

……

Edward stared at the first crystal card and took a deep breath.

"May I ask who Senna Comoro is?"

"The Seventh Prince of the Demon Realm has recently attracted attention for taking back part of the Black Queen's military power." Scott obviously didn't want to reveal too much, but this still couldn't hide the gloating in his words, "Our little queen has burst into tears."

…Edward kept telling himself that this was actually just a coincidence, right? It must be just a coincidence, and it must not be what he thought… Otherwise, he would fly away in fright.

So he decided to temporarily change the topic: "Where is the black widow?"

Scott thought for a moment, and replied hesitantly: "Killer. Black Widow is just a code name. There is no exact information about him, and his information is well hidden. Those who are said to be killed by him are powerful and influential in the devil world. Background tasks, so he has made many enemies, and the code name has always been hung here."

"Oh."

Edward was not in the mood to continue shopping.In short, in the end, Scott led them into a secret passage that came out of nowhere, and directly entered a side hall.

He was coughing when he jumped out of the closet, and there was a very choking dusty smell, obviously it hadn't been cleaned for a long time.Scott explained embarrassingly: "Sorry, sir, this is the nearest exit, it's easier to walk."

Edward shook his head to express that he didn't mind, and Henry remained expressionless as usual.The Mozu opened the door and led them into another clean and tidy side hall, "Please take a break for a while, the bathroom has been filled with water. I will notify you when His Highness White returns."

Henry followed him to the outside of the hall sensibly, and closed the door gently.

Edward took off his cloak and hung it on the hanger, and the birdcage was also hung on it by the demons. The crow's eyes rolled around and stared at him, which made him feel uncomfortable.

He simply opened the cage and let it out.

The crow flew around the top of the wall and landed on Edward's shoulder, following him into the bathroom.The bath is very large, with a radius of two meters, filled with steaming water.There are various bath products in the small cabinet on the side, and there is a set of bathrobes on the top.

"Do you want to wash it too?" Edward asked as he combed its feathers.

Crow nodded.So he thought for a while, lifted it from his shoulders and threw it into the bath, and then watched it fly out of the pool with a hoarse scream, and began to circle around him.He originally wanted to take off his clothes, but it made it difficult for him to do so.But Edward immediately realized that the clothes were waterproof, so he went directly into the pool.

Now the crow's mind is full of thoughts: why doesn't he take off his clothes! !Why doesn't he take off his clothes! ! !

Angry Birds decided to transform, but before that, it did not forget to establish a spiritual link with its rival as a provocation.So Senna, who was having afternoon tea with Her Majesty the Queen, suddenly "saw" his Al, half-clothed, leaning against the edge of the bath with his eyes closed to rest.

It seemed that because the clothes were a bit troublesome, he pulled down the neckline, exposing the collarbone and half of the chest.The water-soaked fabric clung tightly to his body, outlining his thin waistline.

The perspective was much clearer, and he realized that the crow was approaching.Her Majesty the Queen beside her looked at her seventh son in confusion: "Dear Senna, are you feeling unwell?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." He got up and saluted, "Forgive me for leaving early."

Senna left in a hurry, and his mother, Queen Victoria, inserted a fork into the cake like a little girl, "He is angry."

She pursed her lips and pushed the plate away unhappily, and she was only a teenage girl in terms of appearance.

Senna returned to his palace, called back the servants and closed the door without a single gap.He lay on his side on the bed, red runes emerged from the air, he manipulated them, then closed his eyes and remained silent.

The crow did not regret its stupid behavior after receiving a strong mental shock. It was not Senna's opponent at all. It was too weak to survive a long time away from the host and lack of blood essence nourishment. It just resisted symbolically and then withdrew. own sea of ​​consciousness.

It knew that Senna would occupy this place and use its body to be tender with that person for a while, but there has never been a real winner in this world, right?

Until he completely occupied here.

Edward opened his eyes, the demons are instinctively sensitive to danger.

He saw black feathers falling slowly from the air to the water.The black-haired, red-eyed boy was lying on his side by the pool, turned over and fell into the pool, as light as a feather.

He was covered with black veils, but he couldn't seem to get them off because he kept trying to tear them off.

"A raven?" Edward asked.

"Yes, master," he answered, "I am Crow."

He no longer tried to tear off the black veil, but just pressed close to Edward and rubbed against his ear: "Give me a drop of blood, master. We must make a contract."

Not to keep me from running away, but to keep you from running away.

His skin was very cold, not even touched by the temperature of water, his pupils and lips were as red as if there was only a transparent membrane, and blood was flowing inside.The black hair brushed against Edward's neck, and fell into the water, intertwined with his hair regardless of you and me.

"No." Edward has always rejected intimacy.He quickly moved away from there, watching Croo warily.

His clothes were a little lower due to the movement, and two points of light red could be seen.

"What are you afraid of?" Kroo smiled incomprehensibly. He approached Edward step by step, his arms turned into black wings and enveloped him, blocking the escape route.

"A crow from the God Realm?!" Edward suddenly remembered the pair of blood-stained wings when he left the God Realm. He grabbed the feathers on them and carefully looked at Croal's face and clothes.

There was a moment of bewilderment on the boy's face, but he quickly returned to the previous smile: "I think you misunderstood, master. Is he also a humanoid familiar?"

His expression does not seem to be fake... Edward flipped the page lightly, "Well, don't get too close to me, we can't sign a contract."

The moisture in the bathroom was very thick, and it was unavoidably hot and humid, so he simply opened his collar and took off his clothes.Edward's complexion was much healthier than before, it was no longer bloodless pale, but reddened by the hot water, and he looked much cuter.

Kroo stared at him even hotter, as if he wanted to eat him alive.

His butterfly bones, which were more protruding than before, suddenly spread out a pair of bone wings, propping the crow farther away.

"Don't get too close to me," he repeated again.

Those scarlet eyes seemed to be bleeding, drop by drop into the pool.

----Chapter24. Crow & End----