Scepter of Thorns

lyle.

He said it silently to the bottom of his heart, and then asked, "You call me Hierophant, is that my name?"

"Yes, Pope." Lyle tapped the Tarot card on his chest, "Keep it safe, this is your identity card, once it is torn, it means you will disappear completely-this is a non-existent space."

The Pope suddenly felt that this word was very familiar. He tightened his hand holding the diary, and asked, "Then what about your cards?"

Lyle smiled: "Here."

There was a blank tarot card pinned to his chest, which was clean and contained nothing.

The Pope thought about it quickly, and just when he was about to speak, Lyle stopped him suddenly, "That doll seems to be holding something in its hand."

He pointed to a young girl puppet dressed in Gothic style. Her complexion was pale, but delicate and lifelike. She was made of unknown materials. The black gauze dress was supported by a steel skirt frame, and bright red gemstones were dotted on it.She was pinching a piece of paper in her slender fingers. Lyle walked over and took out the paper, glanced at it and handed it to the Pope.

A poem was written on it.

"When I woke up,

All I could see was chaos.

Darkness rushes past behind,

Light is just a broken element.

And he, standing at the junction of light and dark, smiled at me.

"He said the world needed new rules,

I followed his words and created the first space;

He said he hoped to have a paradise,

I obeyed his words and put smiley faces on everyone.

Even if not really happy. "

The paper has an old dark yellow color, and the brush strokes are immature and rusty.The Pope suddenly felt familiar. He quietly opened the diary, and a trace of astonishment flashed in his eyes.

It was written by the same person.

He quickly turned back a few pages in the diary, and a familiar word came into his eyes, the space that does not exist.

"The non-existent space refers to the abandoned space created by the main god before the creation of the continent. Because it violated the law, the main god finally deleted it. The fragments of the space were scattered in the turbulent flow, and most of them gathered in the ruins of eternity."

The fingertips of the pope turning the pages of the book were a little stiff. He closed the book and said helplessly: "This poem is about the birth of a space that does not exist."

The moment the voice fell, the gothic doll moved. She bowed to him like a dancer dressed up, and then twirled not far away on tiptoe.All the puppets seemed to be awakened by an invisible spell. They opened their eyes, stood up slowly, and bowed in neat and coordinated movements, just like the opening of a puppet show.

The pope was startled, and subconsciously held the scepter across his chest.It's just that Lyle still looked careless, and lightly put his left hand on his shoulder, "Relax, a rash attack will not solve the problem."

The puppets came together and took to the previously covered stage.Only then did he realize that this space was unimaginably large, but because of the dim light, everything was a little unclear.Soon there was only the Gothic doll left on the stage, and she clasped her collarbone and sang shrilly: "She was so honored to be awakened by him. The companions gathered around her and asked earnestly, Lucky, you Can you see what he looks like?"

Another two or three dolls in plaid skirts came onto the stage from the side, with flaxen curly hair flicking, and they all responded together: "Lucky, can you see what he looks like?"

The gothic doll spun around a few times, and the black gauze skirt fluttered.She held up her hands and sang: "No need to remind and recall, his features are etched in her mind." She replied with a little pride, his hair is the brightest sun at dawn, and his eyes are blue The clearest spring water in the stream. His six pairs of broad wings cover us and give us the warmest and most comfortable home.”

Another person dressed as a wizard came to the stage, and he sang hoarsely: "Indecisive woman, since you saw him, why didn't you persuade him to stay?"

The gothic puppet sang back: "Oh, that is the most revered god! It was as if her soul had been taken away when she looked at him. She pursed her lips, but was ashamed to speak in his presence."

The king wearing a laurel crown came onto the stage with a group of attendants. The king said majestically: "You indecisive woman, you let us miss such an important opportunity. Do you know where he is at this time!"

"He stood at the bottom of the stage, silent but omniscient. His eyes swept over us like flying dust." The gothic puppet folded its hands, with a sacred and sad expression.

"Sad! Our god is indifferent to us," said the wizard to the king. "Your Majesty, he must be made to stop for us."

"It makes sense." The king also raised the scepter in his hand, which seemed to be an order, and all the puppets sang in chorus: "Our hearts are broken, but our smiles remain the same. If it weren't for the mask he gave, we would have already Cut off your own face."

They sang and danced loudly, their singing was shrill and hysterical: "Leave him, leave him! Our God, you will be imprisoned forever on the high platform of worship."

The Pope's hand holding the scepter loosened, and he tried to cover his ears, but the ghostly singing seemed to haunt his soul.Strange emotions splashed and shattered like a huge wave collapsed, affectionate, intense, but also contained sadness. A cluster of thorns climbed onto the scepter from nowhere and grew quietly and slowly.

"No, don't sing..." His whisper was more like sex, and Lyle took the opportunity to wrap his arms around the other person's waist, bringing him closer to his embrace, "Wake up, Pope."

The dolls stopped singing, and they turned their heads to look at the two with eerie smiles painted on the white masks.More dolls squeezed onto the stage, wizards raised their staffs, knights drew their swords, ladies giggled with delicate fans covering their masks, Lyall caressed the back of his neck intimately, as if they were already close, "Get ready, they're coming."

The prelude to the attack was a protruding spear. At the other end of the spear was a small doll. He stood on tiptoe and threw the spear out. There were dark figures behind him.These dolls are smaller than real people, and their weapons have shrunk a lot, but their flexible joints and teamwork ability should not be underestimated.

Lyall snapped off the incoming spear, but what followed were colorful balloons that rose seemingly harmlessly into the air, while at the back of the line, clowns laughed and blew them.The ladies put on the shoulders of the gentleman and danced tango in the chaos. They still held the fans inappropriately in their hands, but when these fans approached the two of them, sharp thorns suddenly appeared, and something was quenched and shone on them. .The gentleman's top hat is the same, there are always a few thorns protruding quietly, they suddenly reached out and threw the hat away at the last movement, the balloon was punctured, and the scarlet liquid flowed out, corroding someone's procrastinating skirt horn.

This battle is more like a feast, and the joyful atmosphere hides the murderous truth.

Facing all kinds of attacks, Lyle just propped up a white barrier to envelop the two of them.The poisonous thorns and corrosive liquid destroyed it little by little, but Lyle didn't care at all, instead looking at the Pope worriedly.

The Pope finally raised his head, with fine beads of sweat on his face, "Thank you."

The barrier is broken.

He manipulated the scepter to emit a large area of ​​gray light, and the action of the puppet covered by gray light just paused, and Lyle reminded him: "Psychic attacks are useless to puppet."

Contrary to the Pope, Lyle's methods were more ruthless. Three or four pairs of dancing dolls had been killed by the needle-thin weapon in his hand. Their heads rolled aside, and the broken cross-sections were still dripping. Blood.Leaning his back against each other, he teased and said, "This will only work, you are so tender."

"..." The pope clenched the scepter tightly, and the gray light beam struck the balloon far away from them like lightning. The scarlet liquid corroded several dolls, their limbs were broken, and they were lying on the ground with their mouths open.Arrows shot out from unknown corners, piercing the balloons above their heads, the pope hastily released the gray barrier, and the liquid dripped on the barrier, giving off a pungent smell.

Lyall's attack stopped, the barrier cut off the inside and outside, and the dolls kept shooting balloons, trying to force them out.The Pope said helplessly: "This is not possible. Hiding in the barrier will not do anything, but we must also avoid the balloons above our heads while attacking. The two of us will restrain each other. It may be more convenient to spread out."

"No." Lyle categorically refused, "You can't leave my sight."

The Pope gave him a strange look, and repaired the barrier by the way.When he didn't notice, the blank card on the opponent's chest suddenly twisted into a pattern, it was a "lover".

Lyle breathed a sigh of relief, but the blue in his eyes became darker, "I'm afraid you'll get hurt."

"You care about me?"

"Yes." His tone was gentle, but there was a hint of murderous intent in his words, "Because if you get hurt, I will lose control. You can't bear the result, and this space will also collapse."

The Pope was silent for a few seconds, and finally withdrew the barrier. Lyle pierced through the throat of the puppet at once, stringing them together.The pope uses a group attack spell to injure the puppets around him, and consumes as many balloons in the air as possible to deal with them.

The corners of his robe were corroded a little, and there were already large and small bloodstains on his body, making him look miserable.The pope shouted behind him: "Can you fly!? The attack range of the dolls on the ground is too large, and I'm afraid I won't be able to last until they are exhausted."

When he finished speaking, he felt as if he was flying, with white and soft wings sticking to his back, and there was also a pair of wings made of black runes.

Lyle constructed a ward and was turning to smile at him.

"White wings..." He looked at the other party and murmured, "It's so beautiful."

Lyle's cold fingers groped for the bloodstains on his body, "You're hurt."

"It's nothing." He caressed the other party a little unnaturally, "It's all minor injuries."

Where the other party's fingers passed, the wound quickly healed into a scar, and then fell off to reveal the new skin.When Lyle was about to reach a more secret place, the Pope grabbed his hand.

"Okay."

Lyle looked down from the sky, surrounded by black dolls, they looked up at the gods above, all attacks stopped, even after Lyle removed the enchantment, he didn't make any moves.He spread the wings behind his back, put his right hand on the pope's shoulder, and sang in a low voice: "The law is peeping in the dark, and it discovered this secret and absurd paradise. It was angry at things beyond its control, so it ordered the destruction of this place."

The puppets stared at him blankly, as if he was the law that destroyed everything. Tears gradually filled their eyes, and they smiled and cried: "Our God, why did you abandon us? We enshrine you in On the high platform, but you see us as tiny dust."

The card on Lyall's chest was changing again, this time it was a "tower" [Note 1].

"You have committed a crime called 'greed'."

There was a huge gap on the ground, like a greedy mouth, frantically wanting to devour everything, the dolls were drawn into it with tears, the corpses, blood and even the broken cloth were swallowed up, the last one The Gothic doll who was about to be devoured had red eyes, a pale smile, and her black gauze skirt was in tatters. She clasped her hands together, looking into his eyes and praying, while the other party just watched with cold eyes.

After all the dolls disappeared, the pope asked coldly: "All this is just part of the drama, isn't it?"

"...Yes." Lyle said softly, "You still found out."

"I'm not that stupid. You know a lot before the play begins, even beyond the scope." The Pope laughed ironically, "You are the law, and I am the so-called God. According to poetry, God created Paradise and awakened The first doll, but the dolls have a greedy desire because of God’s indifference, so they tried every means to keep him, but the law was disturbed, and the entire space was destroyed.”

Finally, he raised his scepter and pressed it against Lyall's chest, "So, who are you?"--Chapter39.Doll&End--

The author has something to say:

[Note 1] "Tower" in the Tarot card means greed, disaster and destruction. There is a huge greedy mouth at the bottom of the card, which is the root of destruction and will eventually devour everything, including yourself.It also refers to a stubborn outlook on life and illusory structures.

The computer broke down, saying that the operating system could not be found, and my dad refused to fix it for me, so this chapter was typed on my mother's computer.

I guess I'm just as bold as I am. I don't have a password to play Danmei on my mother's computer. I use a small black room and I can't set it up...so update, you know, I try to...once a week or more of