Stray

Oliver didn't lie to him, there really is nothing more distracting.

Since those tiny cracks started to open, Nemo didn't dare to move at will. It's not because of the fear of failing the spell, but because the hostility is too strong. It doesn't matter, he can persevere, this is the price he chooses himself. But compared to the chill caused by the turbulent disgust, another thing is more serious—

He knows the feeling. Attacked, hated, and begged.

There are only vague impressions in mind. The sky is a little darker than it is now, and the attacks are more realistic. The swaying shadow is not clothed in commoner clothes, and all kinds of armors emit a faint halo in the faint light. Countless languages ​​and spells meet in the dark, like a storm without rest. Although the memory was vague, the instinctive reaction it brought made Nemo feel a chill behind him—he subconsciously wanted to attack the source of hostility, and the attacking consciousness seemed to come from instinct, and he was even a little accustomed to it.

He was frightened by this impulse, and almost stopped everything in his hand. But the fear and hostility of the townspeople did not stop because of this, so Nemo had to bite the bullet and reluctantly continue, while trying to empty his head.

"The illegitimate child of reptiles and demons, go to hell—" The old man with bad legs slumped on the ground and shouted angrily at him.

But maybe that's where he came from.

"The traitor of mankind, the despicable monster!" A scream belonged to a woman.

There are only a handful of humans present.

"Mom, I'm afraid, let it stop—" This time it was the child crying.

I'm really sorry. Nemo sighed and shook his arms slightly.

"...I like you." And his friend stopped in front of him—Oliver's tone was serious. "Perhaps more than anyone in the world."

"…Huh?" Nemo finally raised his head, this time his mind really turned blank. They were clearly in a battlefield full of gunpowder smoke, but those noisy and annoying voices seemed to go away in an instant. With the latter sentence, he could not logically understand the former sentence as a friend's comfort.

Nimo glared at each other in shock, Oliver didn't mean to joke at all - rather, if Oliver was to make such a joke on the current occasion, he would definitely be the first to beat him.

So he raised his voice in confusion: "What?"

"Help you distract yourself." Oliver held his shoulders firmly, and there was a sense of relief in his tone. "Of course, that's the truth—you don't need to answer me, at least not now, and never. Now, distracted?"

He was more than distracted, Nemo stared at those beautiful emerald green eyes, almost forgetting the next step of the plan. He tried to discern his own mood, but it wasn't pure joy, or the characteristic warmth of being loved. There were so many things mixed together that he couldn't figure out any of them for a while.

This is not his first confession. Lubiao Town doesn't like the aristocracy, no one will write hymns to their sweethearts, and the words that people use to confess are basically just a few sentences. The last confidant had said the same to him, with a sweet smile, her eyes sparkling and her face flushed with nervousness.

At that time, Nemo readily agreed to her without any hesitation. Because that's what he's supposed to do—as long as he doesn't hate the other person, or even appreciate it, people will naturally try. He was just one of many mortals, and he didn't resent the girl.

Now that I think about it, the last relationship ended so quickly, maybe she found something - for example, he didn't really "understand".

Nemo exhaled, and finally pulled a thread out of the tumultuous emotions in his heart. It was the strongest, the heaviest—he was panicking. He didn't want to answer a gentle "yes" any more, and then watched those beautiful green eyes slowly cool down for the long time that followed.

"I really can't answer you right now, Ollie." He responded very, very carefully, as if louder would scare Oliver away. "But I'll always answer you, okay?"

The cracks in the air are no longer closed, they return to their normal state, like a flower broken in the wind. Countless clear icicles penetrated the house and stretched out into the dark, oppressive sky. And the ashes and shadows are still floating around, and the current scene is infinitely close to a standard nightmare. The battlefield never leaves much time to breathe.

Oliver smiled, he did not show the slightest disappointment, his face even showed a trace of joy: "Of course."

"...Do you believe me?" Nemo gritted his teeth, but this time he had to work harder to concentrate.

"Of course." Oliver repeated without hesitation.

"Then attack me with the best of your power," Nemo whispered. "There's only one step left - now I can't do it alone. Please, Ollie."

Oliver released his hands from his shoulders. He silently drew out the silver sword, the tip of the sword pointed diagonally at the ground, and his expression was very calm.

"Why?"

"We're really just outsiders. I can't love these people or these birds, I can't convey feelings that don't exist, and I don't think they'll let it go - 'hear' the pain No fundamental problem."

"Indeed."

"But there is one man who loves Vincent Town and the Blue Bird tribe at the same time."

"...I understand." Oliver nodded, the blade of the silver sword was particularly dazzling in the dim sky.

He didn't say more, he never seemed to be indecisive at a moment like this. Oliver walked away without hesitation, stopping a few dozen steps away from Nemo. Not far away, the bluebirds who had healed their wounds seemed to find that there was no malicious intent in those shadows and cracks. They aimed at the disintegrating crowd, and the brilliance of the spell came back on.

"Come on." Nemo opened his hands, his throat straight and dry. He was a little uncertain at first, but it was the most reasonable thing to do—he had done countless things beyond human limits, and felt uneasy and terrified about it. But someone doesn't care.

Oliver doesn't care.

Nimo suddenly realized what the other person's feelings meant. His fear of his own strange power finally dissipated. Maybe it doesn't matter if he forgets the principles of human beings for a little while, maybe he can really go too far, and that person might—there is a little chance, really not will run away.

The panic is followed by a poignant peace of mind. The opponent raised the sword, and he stretched out his hand, and at that moment he was full of thorny confidence. The reality would develop as he wished, and he didn't need to bow to it for a few seconds at least.

A sword wind with icicles swept across the hard ground, the ground trembled, and the soil surged to the sides like waves. Nemo straightened his arms and folded his hands. Tiny fissures meet end to end, forming a stark cross in the air. They twist and twist, the squirms begin to converge, and just as the cracks begin to blend, the sword wind arrives.

The cross-shaped crack instantly turned into a huge gap, making a sour tearing sound. The space was opened, and then it shattered to the surroundings like broken glass. As if a strong explosion had occurred, the blasting wind squeezed away around the gap. The townspeople fell to the ground, and the bluebirds fell from the sky.

The scene beyond the fissure was calm and frightening.

Gentle blue fire, white bones, deformed tree bird on it. Lavinia raised her head very slowly, staring at this all too clear nightmare.

The movements of the blue birds were completely frozen.

Nemo let out a sigh of relief, and he sat on the ground with a very unimpressive butt. The string that had been stretched in my mind for a long time finally loosened. The screams of the townspeople and Teague's shouts mingled in his ears, and he didn't bother to discern the content.

"Please feel free." He said wearily to the "God" in Vincennes Town.

Not far away, Teague Lorenzo stood in confusion. The blue birds had stopped attacking, but the holy scriptures in his hands that were almost on fire began to break free like living creatures. He stared in horror at what came out of the crack, the look of which made him hairy.

There is no hatred in it, it is so gentle that it makes people palpitate. It swept the battlefield like a blizzard with a powerful coercive force.

This eventually got out of hand. He thought, and he took out the communication crystal tremblingly, albeit a simple gesture. He nearly smashed it to the ground.

"Nightmare Praise." The big young man muttered, "Quickly activate it—"

The communication crystal lights up, which means that the other party can hear his instructions. However nothing happened. After a few seconds, the crystal went out again.

"Nimo Wright is a little tougher than I thought." Jesse sighed, stepping on the flimsy spar, and the sole of the boot made a small cracking sound. "I underestimated him."

Adrian Cross was still sleeping beside the magic circle, and in front of the blond youth, several townspeople were tightly bound in the air by light chains, and their toes could not even touch the ground. The chains of light locked their mouths, leaving them with only muffled, angry ah-ah-ahs.

"I really can't figure out why some people don't go the easy way." He pouted and walked to one of the townspeople, took out a dagger in a bad mood, Randomly tossing and receiving in the terrified sight of the other party. "My dear Venus is like this, even the demons of the demons. Even if they do nothing, no one will accuse them of it - it's the fault of those stupid people anyway, why do they do everything for a group of people What about the idiots who don't understand?"

He swung out the dagger, and the blade left a clear bloodstain on the arm of the townsman in front of him. The blood immediately spread along the folds of his clothes. The man let out a scream of being restrained.

"Let's talk." The smile on Jesse Dillon's face disappeared for a few seconds. "I'm here to tell you your original destiny - you were supposed to go on living in peace for a week, of course this **** shouldn't happen now. Merlotti Delaney was supposed to die in the wild as a deformed monster, and Pasototu Should be **** in jail. The next Black Chapters will kill the Blue Birds, and then the Blue Birds will... ah, sorry, your wife and children are turned to ashes. Finally, Teague Lorenzo activates the Nightmare Praise. "

"And you are destined to fight until the last moment." Then he laughed maliciously again, and another dagger flew out.

"In the end you're going to be a sad little news, another frontier town ruined by monsters - I think that's not bad, really."

He compared the dagger to the throat of the man in front of him: "What do you think?"

The man rolled his eyes and whined frantically.

"Yeah, I understand." Jesse nodded understandingly and moved the dagger away. "Idiots also have the helplessness of idiots. I'm not afraid that you will misunderstand... After all, I really don't mind your life or death, but selling your favor can always make me feel happy."

The dark clouds began to fade, and the sun fell on the ground again. A dazzling red light shone in the direction of the center of the town.

"Oops." The blond youth put away the dagger and folded his arms. "The fun begins."

Nimo thought Lavinia would give orders to the Blue Birds, or at least explain a few words, but she said nothing. She quietly raised her wings, and a gentle strand of blue light hung down, rolling up the book before the human corpse. The book emits a red light similar to the light wall - it floats gently, passes through the fragmented space, and flies to the center of the field. The filament of light continued to stretch in the air, catching the scripture that broke free from the chest of the big young man. It gently dragged the book against the sparks, placing the two books in one place quietly.

Then the filaments of light suddenly tightened, and in the crimson light, they scattered into scattered pages. The sacrificial text of the blue bird broke free from the paper and turned into scattered light and dust. She unfolded the book with gentle mana—it wasn't a shield, it wasn't a weapon.

Now Nemo knows what's written there.

The phantom appeared around everyone, gradually became clear, and then began to move. They're a little blurry, but with an unmistakable sense of realism.

It was countless pages of memories, and since one of them had been replaced, the initial scene started a little abruptly.

The phantoms of the blue birds gathered at the edge of the forest, and some of them slowly stepped out of the team with hesitation. They turned around and faced their former compatriots. Two blue birds stepped out of their respective ranks. One of them had no white eyes, and there was a starry sky in his eyes.

The townspeople may not be able to understand the language of the blue bird, but they can see what happened next - the blue bird in the starry sky spreads its wings, a dazzling white light flashes, and the part of the blue bird who stepped out of the team A painful transformation began. Their pitch-black beaks shrank into their skulls, turning into snow-white teeth. The cyan feathers fell off, and dark hair appeared on the gradually smooth head. Bare wings twisted, palms and fingers appeared at the top.

They screamed hoarsely, twitched on the ground, and turned into humans.

Just now, the leader-like blue bird has turned into a tall and strong human youth. He pulled up the prepared linen, and hastily covered his naked body. On the ground after the cloth was taken away, the cover of the "Holy Book" was revealed.

He bowed deeply to the blue bird who performed the spell.

The townspeople riot, and Nemo understands their confusion. He had seen this young man, whose portrait was on the wall of the mayor's house - that was the first mayor of Vincent Town.

The long-dead phantom spoke slowly, his voice very dry, his tone slow and strange.

"Lavinia," he said rustly, as if trying to recall the vocabulary. "Lavinia...bye."

The burning ashes of the pages slowly fell. There is only one place left in the scene after that - the bone mound exposed in the crack, in front of the sleeping deformed tree bird.

"A human businessman contacted us today, and everyone is doing well."

"Those kids learn fast."

"We deceived a group of hunters who really took our word for it."

"We were registered by Willard! Our town has a name..."

“…”

Young people become middle-aged people.

"I wrote a lot of songs for you, and there are also merits to human songs. I have already written a book. It's a pity that I can't hear your voice, if..."

"Isn't the cover beautiful? I know you like red stuff. I left it unfinished, it's better now than you saw it, I put your name on it... do you mind?"

"It's a pity that I sing very hard, otherwise I can sing it to you."

“…”

And middle-aged people are getting older.

"Lavinia, the weather is nice outside today."

"Lavinia, do you dream?"

"Lavinia, I'm too old...I don't want to change back. If you wake up one day, will you recognize me?"

“…”

This time, he was too weak to leave.

"…Everyone is doing well. Vincent is a happy town, and I don't have anything to worry about anymore."

That's probably the last page of the diary.

In the ashes gradually dissipating, the gods of Vincennes raised their heads and began to sing.

That may not be the language of the Blue Bird, because Nemo couldn't catch any special meaning. There's even a lot of melodies that are clearly human in the mix, and it's still very beautiful.

And very, very tender.

(m..=)