Scepter of Thorns

As he spoke, he inserted the cards upside down into the soil, like a huge sword piercing straight down.

At first, there was only a slight vibration under his feet, but after the root of the tree of life was pierced, the pope heard the mournful cry of the ancient tree that covered the sky and the sun, and he couldn't bear it for some reason.Lyle gently held his hand, and tapped the first card of the scepter with his index finger.

"Use this." He whispered into the pope's ear, adding a bit of ambiguity, "Go and burn the roots of the ancient tree, and then you can get three cards."

The Pope froze.

"Go." Lyle hugged him and turned his back, the huge wings blocked the light from the silver chalice, and cleverly blocked the sight of the other two.The pope thought for a moment amidst the mournful cry of the ancient tree, and then threw the cards into the pit of earth with twisted roots.

The moment the card surface touched the tree, a cluster of sparks sparked, and the wings behind them gathered again to prevent the fire from spreading, and they fit closer together.The Pope built a ward to filter out the burning smell, and whispered, "How do you know?"

"Then why did you do what I said?" Lyle said in a cheerful tone, "Because I like you, and you trust me."

The pope froze on the spot, not knowing what to say for a while.

"I thank you for saving my life," he finally said, "but, sorry, if that's why you're helping me, then I can't take it."

"It's up to you to accept it or not, but it's up to me to like you." Lyle stroked his hair, "We've known each other for a long time, even longer than you think. You have the habit of taking notes , there are at least five sticky notes in a notebook, most magic books will write down the key points, and you will also keep a diary, but it is never emotional, like a boring schedule. I also know that you like to read various All kinds of books, even one in the ring is dedicated to storing books..."

The pope interrupted suddenly: "Stop talking."

He turned his back, the roots were burned to soot, and the crying stopped.But his heart was full of subtle pain and bitterness, as if he had killed his own child.Three shiny cards were suspended in the air, and he reached out to take them.

【Two of Wands】【Three of Wands】【Princess of Wands】

His coat was ripped off, and Lyle threw it into the embers, then quickly took off his white robe and draped it over his shoulders.

So, before the pope could react, he had already changed into a new coat.But he just froze for a moment, and then said nothing.

"Hey, are you alright?" Death yelled not far away, "It works here!"

Lyle folded his wings, they turned around, and a road that was forcibly split led to the deep underground.The magician realized that the coat he had given to the Pope was missing, and he immediately let out a strange yo.

"I told you not to think about him, God of Death." The magician held up the Holy Grail and was the first to enter the tunnel. "He is a pair."

"No wonder." The god of death shrugged and followed, "If it's a lover, then why did the pope's scepter become a sword?"

...The pope silently put away the scepter.

The passage is straight and narrow, it was cut with a sword, so naturally it will not be easy to walk.After half an hour of stumbling through the damp smell of soil, they finally saw a brass gate carved with runes.

Death whistled, "There is such a thing in the ground."

There was no handle on the door, but a bird's head instead. Two jewel-like eyes suddenly radiated light, and then the sharp beak opened and closed up and down. Pope, the god of death looks on like a poisonous snake spit out a letter, the pope gave the robe to the devil, and then gave up the scepter!"

"What!" The magician took a step back and looked at it warily.

"Judgement is going to be judged." Birdhead smiled strangely. "Those who answer correctly will go to heaven, and those who answer wrong will go to hell; those who accept will be reborn, and those who escape will be turned into bones."

"It's the Tarot card Judgment." The Pope tried to recall, "The Judgment card is the holy light that revives the people in the coffin, and those who turn their backs to the holy light are still bones in hell."

Death God frowned, "So we have to answer its questions correctly to pass? Is it equivalent to the holy light?"

"It seems so."

The bird's head was fixed to the door panel, but it still tried to twist its neck, "Judgement said, please prove the lie is true."

"How is it possible!" Death God was the first to retort, "This is clearly contradictory."

The bird head ignored his rebuttal, but went on to say: "The answering time is half an hour, and each licensee has one chance to answer. When the opportunity is exhausted and the correct answer is still not obtained, the judgment will fail."

All three of them were lost in thought, but Lyle was still casual.The Pope glanced at him, "Aren't you going to answer the question?"

"I'm not a licensee, so I'm not qualified to answer questions." He smiled indifferently, "What did you think of?"

The Pope leaned against the earthen wall. "It speaks of a paradox."

"Then answer with a paradox." Lyall moved closer, his hair falling on the Pope's shoulders, "I believe you."

Soon, the god of death had the answer, but his answer was made up at random, "I got the question right and entered the brass gate, that's it, I can't think of more."

"Jie Jie." Niaotou let out another strange laugh, "It's really full of confidence, but unfortunately, the answer of Death God is wrong."

The Grim Reaper didn't feel guilty at all, but spread his hands, "This kind of perverted topic doesn't suit me, tsk, hope is in your hands."

After more than ten minutes, the magician also came up with the answer, he said: "All birds are lying."

"Judgement never lies, but the magician does." The bird head was proud of its defense, it looked very proud, "The magician can't prove its authenticity, so the judgment is wrong."

The magician said helplessly, "Then I can't help it."

"Wait a minute." The Pope raised his head, "You just said that all birds are lying?"

"Yeah." He was a little puzzled, what's the matter.

The Pope chuckled, "I see."

"Oh?" The strange bird turned to look at him, "Judgement is very curious, the Pope said he has the answer."

"I'm lying." The pope's dark blue eyes were rippling, and he stared at it tightly, "This is the answer."

After a few seconds, the strange bird shouted angrily: "Okay, the Pope got it right, but!"

It changed its tone, and soon laughed triumphantly, "Judgement still wants to send you to hell!"

Bird's head's strange smile pierced the eardrums like a sharp needle, the brass door slowly opened to both sides, and the black and white checkered bricks immediately appeared in front of everyone.When they walked in, the brass door slammed shut behind them with a loud thud, along with the phrase "Judgement never lies".

Amiens thought carefully, "I'm lying - this is a paradox, if it is true, then what I'm saying is a lie, the sentence 'I'm lying' itself becomes a lie, then it means I'm telling the truth..."

"Yes." The Pope seemed in a good mood, "but I was inspired by you, because Judgment said that those who got the right answer would go to heaven, but it sent us to hell, and at the same time emphasized that he was not lying, which means that it is also lying, It itself is contained in birds. This can be transformed into "all birds lie, but one bird says it never lies". The premise of this paradox is that what Judgement says is true, but it knows I am lying, and it repeatedly emphasizes that I never lie is actually a lie that disturbs you, and you cannot prove it, so the judgment is wrong."

"That's it." The magician understood, but the Grim Reaper was still a little confused.But he didn't care about this at all, "You say, what needs to be guarded by something like Judgement?"

Lyle finally said, "It's something to do with wisdom."

"Ah, that's right." Grim Reaper seemed to have finally remembered something, "Lyle, why didn't you say anything just now?"

He took the Pope's arm, "The Pope is smarter than me, and I got the answer right before it was my turn."

—he was lying.

The Pope let him pull himself forward, and soon, they came to an open hall, the floor was made of black and white bricks, and there were lifelike statues on some of the brick surfaces.Each statue is life-size, but all are dressed in black and white, which makes the already simple hall look colder.

The magician sighed softly: "The law of this placement is... a chessboard."

The Pope took out the diary and opened it, looking for clues about this.

"...We came to the group of statues, and he said that each statue came here by itself, including the current pope and the legendary mage, they were all solidified into statues in dead postures, and even posed in a patchwork According to the overall form, he said that every strong man will rest here."

The diary jumps to the next content here, but these statues are neatly dressed, and they are not as described above.He could only close the book, the god of death and the magician had already dispersed to check the sculptures in black, and he simply walked among these sculptures, trying to find something.

The four spread out.

The magician stopped in front of a tall statue, it was a woman wearing a black iron crown, her face was cold and solemn, even wearing a black floor-length skirt, she couldn't show the softness of a woman.The magician always felt that the person in front of him was a little familiar, so he turned around the base of the sculpture, only to find a set of small characters.

【Black】【Queen】

Does that mean the person represents the queen on the chessboard?

And beside her, there is another statue that is equally eye-catching.He has a pair of silver eyes, like the rays of light falling from the stars, and his black hair is combed in the style of an aristocrat, as if his status is very high.The bottom of the statue is also inscribed, and the magician looks down.

【Clement Phaethon】【Chariot】

He finally felt a sharp pain in his head, something screaming and roaring, seething in the sea of ​​his consciousness.The Holy Grail in his hand fell to the foot of the statue and immediately shattered into silver pieces.And at this moment, it seems that an invisible button has been pressed, and the time frozen on the statue begins to flow slowly.The hard corners of his clothes softened, and the silver-eyed man lowered his head, looking at the magician who was tormented by pain, his eyes filled with sadness.

He bent down, carefully hugged him in his arms, and called softly: "Amiens."

----Chapter44. Lies & End----