The Death Knell

There is a door somewhere. In front of the door is a lake that emits a faint white light. A figure wearing golden heavy armor stands on the water, kneeling on one knee, with his hands resting on the hilt of a long sword in front of him.

She closed her eyes, as if she was sleeping, but she wasn't even breathing, and there wasn't a ripple on the water.

In the darkness, she guards a secret, a secret that threatens the entire multiverse. As a knight, this is her sacred oath and duty.

This place is located in a secret pocket space. The entrance to the space is underground in a small town called Brunn in Austria. An Augustus monastery is its cover. The bones of the saints and the cemetery serve as a cover.

She is not dead, she just entered a special state of dormancy. If no one wants to invade here to get the 'stone', then she will sleep like this forever.

But at this moment, clear footsteps came from the darkness. The owner of those footsteps was steady and sounded very powerful when he landed.

The knight's ears twitched, and she suddenly opened her eyes as if awakening from a dream.

I don’t know how many years ago she last fought, but for her, maybe it was just a second before her hands pulled out the sword suspended in the lake, holding it firmly in her hands, and she moved toward the sound of footsteps. The direction from which it came shouted:

"Stop whoever comes! I am Sir Enara Roshtu of Anatolia, King Arthur's sworn guard. No matter why you broke into this sealed place, I ask you to retreat immediately and swear a blood oath to keep the secret, otherwise I will take your life right here!”

However, the visitor had no intention of stopping and continued to approach quickly.

But just when the female knight was about to swing the sword in her hand, the opponent released a small magic. It was a small suspended purple fireball. There seemed to be a vortex rolling in the center of the fireball. The flame illuminated the visitor's face. appearance.

He was an old man with white beard and hair. His handsome short hair was carefully taken care of. There was a circle of black feathers around his shoulders, which made his smile full of mystery.

"It's me, Ainara, long time no see."

Seeing the familiar face and hearing the familiar voice, the knight whose memory still lingered on thousands of years ago showed an expression of surprise, then he sheathed his sword and knelt down on one knee.

"Lord Merlin, is that you?"

"Of course it's me, otherwise who else would know the secrets buried here?" The old man stepped onto the lake, and the transparent and luminous water rippled under his feet. He seemed to be walking slowly, but he appeared in front of the knight in an instant, making out. He touched her hair: "Your mission is over, you don't have to guard here anymore."

"But the king did not give the order." The female knight was touched by the old man on her head and felt a warmth. She smiled, but still asked worriedly: "The thing I protect is a threat to the entire world. It cannot... ..."

"King Arthur has been dead for fifteen hundred years. Ainara, just give me the things."

Merlin shook his head. He bent down and helped the knight up. Although he looked like an old man, the knight's plate armor, which weighed nearly 100 kilograms, was as light as a feather to him. His strength was so strong that it could even be said that he was lifting it. He picked up the female knight like a kitten:

"You can never wait for his order. The oath has expired, and the times have changed long ago. Our world has experienced a restart, and the shattering of the origin wall finally called me back to roam the star world."

"I'm sorry, Lord Merlin, even so, you can't take it away without the king's order."

The somewhat sad female knight quickly regained her composure and regained her morale. She accepted death very seriously. After all, trustworthiness is one of the necessary virtues for a knight.

I have promised the king something, so it is useless for anyone to come.

The old mage scratched his head in the light of the lake. He sighed and tightened a wooden box under his arm. He looked at the girl's face and reached out to gently touch the skin, as if touching a gem.

He looked into her eyes with a smile, and many memories seemed to flash through his eyes:

"You are really a qualified knight. I am happy for you. It is wrong not to have you on the round table."

"You are exaggerating. My ability cannot be compared with that of many adults." The female knight blushed. She was obviously honored by such praise: "Please come back, Master Merlin. I will continue to fulfill my duties and oaths. Until the day the universe ends, or until the king comes and relieves me of my mission.”

"Oh, what a pity, things would never have turned out like this..."

The old mage embraced the young knight and whispered in her ear.

The intertwined heads and necks of the two prevented her from seeing the mage's tender eyes just now, which were now occupied by red light.

"Click!"

Then, she felt a sharp pain.

The woman who had just reacted was startled and tried to push the old man away in her arms, but she did not have the upper hand in strength. At this time, Merlin's claw had penetrated her body and armor, and she was even more powerless.

The mage's arm penetrated her body, knocking her heart out from behind and bursting into blood foam. The entire forearm was trapped in the warm flesh and blood, and the blood gushed out like a fountain.

"Why...?"

With all her major internal organs damaged, the dying woman slowly slid off the mage's forearm and knelt down on the lake with the sound of armor rubbing against her.

She fell into a dying state, but her face was full of confusion.

Why would the chief court magician, the king's loyal companion, want to kill him? Didn't Master Merlin and the king seal that thing together in the first place?

The old mage shook his hand and touched her head, then grabbed her head and pushed her hard into the lake:

"Because if I don't kill you, I won't be able to get that 'thing'! The multiverse will usher in a new life, and this new life is me!"

At this time, Merlin seemed to have changed. He still looked like a gentle mage. With his body covered in blood and his face looking ferocious, he looked like a demon walking out of hell.

The lake water that originally supported the knight swallowed her up. She stretched out her hands without blinking and slowly sank to the bottom of the lake, as if she had entered another world.

"call!"

The ferocious-looking old mage finally put away his madness and gradually calmed down. He sighed, squatted down and washed his hands with water, arranged his clothes again, picked up the sword that the knight had thrown on the lake, and put it in his pocket.

"You can survive as my pawn for a few more days as long as you obey. Why do you want to go against me? What a pity, what a pity."

After sighing with emotion, the old man stood up again. He walked gently on the lake, crossed the entire lake, and came to the door that the knight guarded with all his life.

The door was not large, at least not large enough for a person to pass through, but more like a small insulated door on a bakery oven.

But this small door is made of gold and gems, with 360 magic seals added by Merlin himself 1,500 years ago.

"untie."

The old man uttered a word to the door, and then the rotating magic pattern on the door exploded into stars all over the sky.

A ray of dark light flowed out from the crack in the door...