Scepter of Thorns

Edward and Lyle walk through the surrounding group of portraits, so alive they seem to be breathing.

Knight Fred raised his long sword high, his armor was printed with the family crest, and his best horse raised its front hooves, as if it was about to cross the sky.

"Fred Bray, head of the Knights of the Double-headed Eagle, died on the battlefield of the Holy War in 192, at the age of 28."

The wise man Greenton sat bowed on a slightly flat boulder, his long beard hanging on the ground, his hands on his cheeks, his eyes wandering, obviously immersed in his own world and unable to extricate himself.

"Glinton Hurst, a famous thinker, devoted his whole life to the study of magic circles, and finally invented the teleportation circles on two continents. Then this genius died in a premeditated assassination at the age of 64."

Pope Urgot sat on the golden throne, his spine was straight, his right hand tightly held the thorny scepter, his eyes were staring at him, showing the arrogance of a superior.

"...Teacher, Pope!"

"Why don't you say it?" Lyle stroked the little guy's dark blonde hair affectionately, "Because they are all dead, are you afraid?"

"No!" Edward's voice trembled, "He's still alive! I just went to a sacrificial ceremony hosted by him not long ago, how is it possible, how is it possible..."

Lyle interrupted him: "Nothing is impossible. This is the group of fools, the place of bones in the undead world, where all the famous dead figures gather."

"Then," he asked hesitantly, "is the one sacrificed fake?"

"Obviously." Lyle said indifferently, "The Holy See has always liked to play tricks like this."

The white hall is filled with indescribable weirdness, every statue is lifelike, as if it is just a freeze frame of their life, their expressions and movements are exactly the same, even the small wrinkles on the skin are so lifelike.They surrounded each other, but just rightly left an aisle for people to walk, leading to the inner hall with no end in sight.

Fear spread in Edward's heart like a mist. He was thinking, how did the undead carve out so many statues?

Lyle seemed to see that he was a little unnatural, so he put Edward in his arms and teased, "Do you know the origin of these statues?"

The warm breath made Edward feel better, and he shook his head stiffly, expressing that he didn't know anything and didn't want to know.

There was an indescribable pleasure in Lyle's heart. Normally, that person would not be so obedient. Only fear could make him obedient, and put away those sharp little claws.So he lowered his voice, "They came here by themselves."

The body in his arms suddenly became stiff, and Edward shivered like a threatened animal: "You, don't talk nonsense, you are dead, how can you walk..."

As if to verify Lyle's words, intermittent footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the hall.The footsteps are very light, but they are still creaking and rubbing, as if they are dragging something.Edward poked his head out of Lyle's arms and looked there. Where he could see, his face suddenly turned pale.

A demon, to be precise, a corpse of a demon is walking slowly. He has long black hair, a broken horn can be seen faintly, and his eyes are rare silver.Dark purple blood was gushing out from the big hole in his chest, dripping on the snow-white floor, but it disappeared quickly.He was so embarrassed that he had to lean on other statues to rest after walking a few steps. The wound on his chest pierced by a sharp weapon made him look hideous.

The demon walked stumblingly, and when the blood was drained, he suddenly fell under the statue of Fred, as if the knight's long sword was pointing at his chest.He didn't move after the fall, but the expression on his face gradually froze, no different from other statues.

Lyle imitated Edward's appearance just now, and narrated: "Clement Phaethon, the only clan in the demon world, gave birth to a pair of twins with his human wife. The elder brother inherited most of the human blood, and a small amount of clan blood. ; The younger brother all inherited the clan blood. He died in an assassination by a rival party in 301 at the age of 38.

"Can we, can we go somewhere else..." Edward grabbed Lyle by the corner of his robe and pleaded, "This place makes me very uncomfortable. It seems that there is a voice speaking, but I can't hear it clearly."

"He was saying 'death is equal', the undead have always been brainwashed." He explained, "Sorry, the group of fools only has people who go in, not people who go out."

There was no blood on Edward's face. He was dazed for a few minutes, but he broke free from Lyle's embrace, turned his head and ran towards the inner hall.

Lyle didn't keep up, he just smiled faintly, watching the little guy's back gradually go away.

As the route deepened, the number of statues on both sides became less and less, and eventually none of them disappeared.Edward stopped in front of the bronze-colored carved dark pattern door at the end, bent down and panted heavily.

Suddenly he felt something soft rub against his shoulders, and Edward's heart beat faster, remembering the bloody and weird fairy tales in his mother's black book.He turned around slowly, and the wide white wings surrounded him.

He saw Lyle's deep and handsome face, and those blue eyes that were almost coquettish were staring at him, as if he had been waiting for a long time.

"We've left the group portrait."

Lyle's voice was not loud, but it was heard clearly in Edward's ears.He finally breathed a sigh of relief, and tried to push the door open with both hands——

The silver bookshelves are lined up in the palace like dominoes, and the lower left corner of each bookshelf is engraved with a name. The number of books placed varies, some are scattered, and some are densely packed.The books are covered with silver leather covers, and the size and thickness are surprisingly similar, and there is no difference between the books.

In the center of the palace stands a lifeless statue. His temperament is incompatible with the palace, and there is always a lingering gloom.The black robe completely covered him, only half of his face was exposed. Hidden under the long sleeve, he held a sickle in his right hand and a silver book in his left hand, as if he was reading.

"The Library of the Undead."

"It turns out that the epic is true." The initial fear dissipated, Edward looked around, and his eyes suddenly lit up, "It is said that the God of Death built a library of undead with the life experience of the chosen one, covering almost all known and unknown things in the mainland. s things."

Lyle saw his eagerness to move, and said with a smile: "You can go and have a look. Remember to come back when the sun and the moon alternate. I will wait for you here."

Just when Edward was about to ask what is the alternation of the sun and the moon, Lyle's body turned into a little silver light and dissipated in the air.

There are no windows, but there is plenty of light, which seems to come from the ceiling.He looked up at the ceiling, but unexpectedly found that there seemed to be something carved on it.

Edward put on the lens, and there was a delicate human-faced sun and human-faced moon engraved there, like some kind of ancient totem.They moved along a circular orbit, exuding a silver halo.

After Edward understood it, he stopped reading. He walked through the rows of clerks in front, picked four or five books and sat on the shelf, and concentrated on reading them.

"The Celestial Clan is the most special race. They did not live in the Mersaq Continent created by the Lord God, but chose the city of the sky. Another way of saying is that the first race born in the world is the Celestial Clan, the Light Clan The gods endowed them with too much divine power, which led to the ability of the Celestial Race to be much higher than other races.

"In order not to cause confusion, the God of Chaos divided the territory of the Celestial Clan into the sky above the Mosaac Continent, and set a time axis. As a result, the time of the Celestial Clan and the time of other races have changed year by year. The cultivation time of the Celestial Clan was compressed, and the God of Light had a quarrel with the God of Chaos, but nothing changed.

"The God of Darkness wanted to follow the example of the God of Light and set the time of the Mithril Continent to be one day a year longer than that of the Mosac Continent. Unfortunately, the God of Chaos did not help. He failed in the end and only prolonged the lifespan of the demons."

timeline?Edward frowned, but this was never mentioned in the human race's literature.He took out his notebook and transcribed the relevant information, and then turned to the cover. There was no author written on it, only the title of the book.

"□□ Ji".

He wrote down the title of the book and continued to read it.After roughly reading about two books, he looked up at the ceiling, and the sun and the moon were about to intersect.

Edward put the organized notes into the space ring, and ran to the statue to find Lyle.This person is beating the sickle in the statue's hand with great interest, and it seems that he really wants to take it out and enjoy it.

Seeing Edward approaching, Lyle took the initiative to hold him with his right hand, as soft and cool as imagined, "Let's go."

When the bronze door opened automatically, it was no longer what they had just arrived. The endless darkness was like the mouth of a giant beast, trying to swallow everything.He was caught in the arms of Lyle's wings, Edward closed his eyes, and they were flying high.

When he opened his eyes, a ray of light quietly fell from him, and he nestled under the soft wings, with Wanli Yunhe under his feet.

skyline.

"Are you from the Celestial Clan?" He looked up at Lyle, who smiled and said nothing, but the wings attached to his back fluttered slightly as an answer.

Edward lowered his head and stroked the white feathers curiously, "My father is also a Celestial Clan, but he never let me touch his wings."

It was the first time a priest came back from a sacrifice, and he saw the wings on his father's back for the first time. The man passed by him indifferently, ignoring his child's careful but expectant eyes—his outstanding talent in the light element and his vast Knowledge made him enter the temple to study in advance. He stood silently in the corner of his father's only way, hoping that his father would stop and ask him what reward he wanted, and he would say that he wanted to touch the wings of the Celestial Clan.But the man didn't. He just folded his wings a little when passing him, as if he was afraid of getting something dirty.

The wings are thin and warm, and being wrapped in them is like lying in a velvet bedding, which is indescribably comfortable.

Lyle twisted his fingers around Edward's blond hair: "In the Celestial Clan, only those you love can touch your wings, otherwise it means provocation."

The little guy stopped immediately, pretending nothing happened, "Well. Well, why did you take me to heaven?"

As soon as the words fell, Edward was carried by Lyle and flew up. He screamed excitedly and hugged Lyle tightly with both hands.The wind whistled past, overlooking the clouds, the buildings became small, and the walking Celestial Clan could be vaguely seen.There are also many flying celestial beings in the sky, but like elves, they ignore Lyle and Edward.

The two went to the temple dedicated to the God of Light. The roof of the temple was in the shape of a raised hemisphere, and a pillar of salt was inserted into a higher place along the hollow.There is no bright hall as imagined here, the light flickers on and off, making the hall look a little blurry.

The statue of the God of Light is wearing a half white mask in front of the salt pillar, and six pairs of huge wings spread out behind him.The corner of his mouth curved into a smile that was not a smile, and he stood on the high platform with his arms raised, and his long sleeves hung down.

"Why do I think?" Edward walked around to the front of the statue, and the smile inexplicably made him feel mocked, "He seems to be nailed to the pillar of salt?"

He stood in front of the statue, in a trance, and the book said, my god is my virtue, my god is my loyalty, my god is light, and light makes shadows inescapable...

He is a believer in the God of Light, but his behavior is so disrespectful. In the final analysis, it is because there is always an indescribable awkwardness in belief. It is not so much voluntary, but more like someone else imposed it on him.

Lyle embraced Edward's waist, with a bit of helplessness mixed with pampering: "What are you thinking about?"

He clearly knew that he did something that was not in line with his status, and only this bad boy could dare to confront the main god in the temple.

The gate of the temple opened suddenly, light seeped in, and a Celestial Clan walked into the temple against the light.He looked like a nobleman, and although his clothes were light in color, they depicted fine golden dark stripes.He bowed his head in awe, and as he looked up at the statue he suddenly became terrified.

He knelt down immediately, chanting something in his mouth.Edward didn't hear it. He looked at the man's face, but it was unexpectedly familiar.

"Father—" he whispered, and Tianzu glanced at him, also showing a surprised expression.Edward grabbed Lyle's hand, "We seem to have been discovered?"

Lyle narrowed his eyes, flapping his wings dangerously, the strong sense of oppression made the Celestial Clan unable to straighten up.Edward still felt nothing, and said to himself: "No, the eyes are not the same, it's not him, it should be his brother or something, anyway, I have some blood relationship..."

Lyall held Edward's hand tightly, his lips moved, as if talking, the kneeling Celestial Clan looked terrified, and quickly backed out.

Edward didn't hear a sound. He suspected that Lyle cast a silencing spell on him, but when the Celestial Clan disappeared, he heard Lyle say again: "Your identity has been exposed, it's best to investigate you before he investigates you." leave before."

"Oh, okay." Edward was used to going to new places from time to time, so he was sensible enough not to ask who the Celestial Clan was and what identity he had revealed.He just vaguely felt that Lyle was angry, because the other party didn't seem to like being seen by others.

Lyle pulled out a black crystal dagger from his cuff, he drew a Hearst teleportation array on the ground, and then pulled Edward to stand in the center of the array.The cross where the pillars of salt intersect was right on the neck of the God of Light. It projected pure light elements to where the two were standing, and then broke into scattered light spots, completing the transmission.

Just 1 minute after they left, the worshiping Celestial Clan closed the gate of the temple with magic power. He had already put on the emperor's crown at this time, and his confidant knelt at his feet, "My lord, do you need to track down this person's identity?" origin."

"Check." He pointed the scepter to the right, and said solemnly, "That child is quite favored by the main god, and the scepter perceives that he is a pure-blooded clan of the Celestial Clan. The only flaw is that he has half the blood of the Demon Race. My order is to pardon Dorsas Senna, this should be his child, recall him to the heavens as soon as possible, and include that child in the family tree without delay."

※※※

The god of death said: The fool is the wise.

He leads to the future those from the past;

But only those from the past,

To enter the library of the undead.

----Chapter30. Group Portrait & End----

The author has something to say:

Pay attention to the last two verses, Lyle is a god, and the rules of the library of the undead will not restrict him, but Edward is not currently, and the rules of the library of the undead also do not restrict his entry.

Well, the stupid author is going to travel, the ticket at 16:8, come back on August 18, bye~~