The sun is high

Regarding the conjecture that the rat prophet is actually the "mad poet" Azifu, Shuge did not arise from the beginning.

When Shuge first heard the prophecy about "fire" and "fire" from the old priest, he just believed that the so-called rat prophet had probably seen Aziv, or perhaps Aziv Those who learn magic.

This is a very reasonable conjecture. After all, Azifu has traveled in the Dark Abyss for a long time. In "Poetry of the Night", he also recorded a large number of his encounters and contacts with the creations and ethnic groups in the Dark Abyss. deeds.

However, after Shuge had a lot of conversations with the old priest, he had strong doubts about the identity of the so-called rat prophet.

Shuge remembers very clearly that at the time when the faith of the Earth Mother and the rat-people civilization were at their most prosperous, the rat-men were fully capable of confronting the Familia of Charron, the Lord of the Ocean. At that time, they and some other Familia , all belong to the "superior residents" among Van En, while races like humans will be labeled as inferior and useless.

Based on this understanding, rats are destined to look at humans with contempt or even contempt, and this attitude and perspective have been deeply engraved in their blood and have become an instinct that is difficult to change easily.

This is completely different from the attitude shown by the members of the Ratman hunting team when they met Shuge.

Not only did they not show any emotions related to contempt or hostility, they even showed some affection for Shuge. This situation can only be described as abnormal.

Not only that, Xiuge also discovered that these rat men obviously knew some common language. At least they knew a lot of vocabulary of the common language and used them frequently. This was consistent with what the old priest said, that the rat man army mistakenly entered the dark abyss. The timeline of Wasteland is seriously contradictory.

"There are various signs that there is a certain 'person' who brought knowledge and vocabulary that did not belong to their original era to these rat tribes trapped in the wasteland, and changed their inherent concepts and habits..."

Shuge slowly expressed his inference. He looked at the rat prophet in front of him: "The only one who can bring about such a degree of change is the prophet among the rat people... Only one who truly conforms to their beliefs and can Only the individuals who represent the Mother Goddess of the Earth in the Dark Abyss can truly change their inherent thinking."

The Rat Prophet nodded and looked at Shuge: "Apart from that, is there anything else?"

So Xiuge pointed at the magic slates piled in the corner of the room, then pointed at other furnishings in the room, and finally pointed at the rat prophet in front of him: "The magic and rituals you study, your life Habits, the common language you use, and the questions you asked at the first moment... are all strong clues to support my inference."

At this point, Xiuge laughed generously: "Of course, none of them are actually conclusive evidence... I was just asking casually. Even if I guess wrong, there will be no loss. You are right. Bar?"

After hearing these words, the rat prophet grinned and laughed. The laughter was not pleasant, but it was filled with happiness and joy.

After a long time, the old rat finally stopped laughing. He took off his glasses and wiped the corners of his eyes with his fingers: "I thought I would just rot in this world... I didn't expect that before. The two words I said casually actually happened. This is really true, this is really..."

Shuge noticed that the rat prophet's mouth trembled slightly twice, but he could not say the words.

Shuge successfully identified the opponent's mouth shape.

What it wants to say is "Mel on top."

However, within the Dark Abyss, the name of the goddess Mel is absolutely taboo that cannot be spoken easily. Therefore, the soul hidden in the body of the gray rat can only express its true beliefs in this way.

"Yes, young man, I am Aziv, the crazy Aziv."

The hoarse voice continued: "You really brought me endless surprises... I know that people who can read "Poetry of the Night" will never be bored."

"It's an honor to meet you."

Seeing that the other party finally admitted his true identity, Xiuge also changed his attitude in time. He stopped his smile and asked seriously: "Before, I never thought that I would have the opportunity to meet you, let alone It will be in this form.”

"You didn't expect me to look like this, right?"

Azifu laughed twice: "Not only did he return to this terrible world as a rat man, he also lived until now. To be honest, I don't really believe it myself."

"So, what happened?"

Xiuge spread his hands: "At the end of the manuscript of "Poetry of the Night", you were cornered by the hounds of the dark abyss. In that case, how did you escape?"

The question from Shuge made Azifu feel dazed. He tried hard to think and recall. After going through his accumulated memories, he finally touched the turning point of his own destiny again.

"Yeah...I should have been torn apart at that time. I have used all kinds of magic, but I still can't get rid of the tracking of those mad dogs."

Azifu said slowly: "I was extremely scared at that time, and every breath I took was radiating my own fear and panic, which made them feel satisfied... so they were not in a hurry to kill me, but They continue to surround me and torture me so that they can continue to draw nourishment from me."

"When I was desperate, I could only use 'Disordered Tracing' again to escape."

"Just like a joke, this magic sent me to a ruins that I had visited before... It was a ruins belonging to the faith of the Mother Earth God. In that ruins, there was buried a person who had obtained The God-chosen priest who favors and blesses the Mother Earth..."

Shuge saw that tears were constantly flowing from Azifu's eyes. It was obvious that this memory made him feel extremely painful.

However, he did not stop and spoke faster and faster.

"I was dizzy. I had heard the voices of the hounds at that time. They crawled out from the nooks and crannies of the ruins and pressed me to the stone slab in the center of the ruins with their claws. They tore my flesh apart and tore me apart. My internal organs and flesh were ripped out... and they were smeared all over the floor."

Azifu blinked: "I originally thought I was dead, but I woke up again, in this dilapidated and old body... Then, I saw that my original body had been torn apart. The shredded body also saw the thick fog left behind after the death of those hounds... and the cracks they left behind."

He sighed: "There must be some incomplete sacrificial ritual engraved in the ruins. The process of me being killed by the hound may have met the conditions for the activation of the ritual... In short, that's it."

"So you finally chose to go through those cracks? Why didn't you choose to stay in Vann?"

Azifu shook his head dryly: "The facts tell me that there is no way to escape the hounds if I stay in Van'en. I have spied on too many secrets of the dark abyss, and there are countless conspicuous things left in my soul. Traces, if I choose to stay in the clean Van'en, I will only make myself a target for the hounds again...On the contrary, it is a disorderly and chaotic wasteland, which is my best choice to hide myself."

After saying this, Azifu sighed heavily. He slowly wiped his reading glasses and then put them on again: "That's it about my past. What happened next, You should have guessed it... In short, with those magics and this body, it is not difficult to become the actual ruler of a weak ratman tribe, but it took me a lot of energy to change their thinking and habits."

"Okay, okay, now that we've finished talking about me, young man...it's time to talk about you."

After ending that tragic and painful memory, Aziv became energetic instantly. He looked at Shuge eagerly: "Come on, tell me about yourself, and tell me about the current Brahma. Well! You have used my magic in the wasteland before, are there so many people in Van En now reading "Poetry of the Night"?"

So Shuge responded: "Although Van En has called you a 'mad poet' for a long time in the past, more and more people are paying attention to your hidden work in "Poetry of the Night". It’s a secret, and I’m just one of them.”

"That's not a good thing."

Azifu shook his head: "Only when things get out of control, people will turn to those absurd knowledge that they have abandoned in the past... Come on, let's talk about it from the beginning. I am very old now. As a young person, you can You have to help me sort out my thoughts. After all, after coming here, the most important thing you need is time."

As he spoke, Azifu waved to the corner of the room, and a stone slab flew over immediately. He picked up a carving knife made of dark green crystals, as if he was about to start a long record.

Seeing this, Xiuge had no other choice. He breathed a sigh of relief, adjusted his sitting posture, quickly sorted out his thoughts, and slowly began to narrate based on his understanding of Van En's current situation.

…

"Bang! Bang bang!"

Sporadic gunshots rang out in the night sky.

In the past, this kind of sound was enough to alarm half of the city and make people worried.

However, for the already devastated Watch City, this level of noise is no longer enough for people to pay too much attention.

A rumble came from afar.

It was the sound of shelling, the clumsy dance of the blindfolded Death on the vast northern border.

This "dance" has been going on for two weeks. Every moment, every minute, the cannonballs dragging strange trajectories are streaking across the sky and hitting any possible position.

In such an environment, the occasional shooting seems a bit insignificant.

In an ordinary house located on the edge of Watch City, Meyer glanced twice in the direction of the sound, then left the window and returned to the shaky desk.

After nearly a month of fighting, the coalition forces finally succeeded in breaking through the two important lines of defense set up by the Kingdom of St. Steele at the front of Watch City. The Dawn Society finally seized the opportunity and relied on several successful large-scale attacks. Assault and advancement achieved the primary objectives of the operation.

Now, this border hub city that was once highly valued by the Kingdom of St. Steele is now under the control of the Dawn Society. With the arrival of the Miner Legion and the Sword of the Dawn, the search and elimination of the remaining threats in the city have also begun. Expand.

The gunfire just now was actually the signal for the beginning of a certain round of purge work.

"This letter is addressed to all those who are following developments on the front lines."

"Thanks to the sacrifices of our great comrades, in this large-scale offensive along the Watch City, we successfully avoided many tragic losses that would have occurred, and successfully attacked our enemies, achieving achieved the expected goal.”

“Here, I should express my respect and gratitude to many specific people, but unfortunately, the war has just begun and our enemies are very active, so I cannot mention their names and can only refer to them generally. A hero—a hero of the Dawn Society, a hero of the people of the North, a hero of Vann."

"As of the moment I write these words, the battle is still going on. Our heroic Creepers are doing everything they can to destroy the enemy's logistics routes. The shelling led by Votel's allies is non-stop. Those who The Black Sun cancer hidden in the corners of the north is also constantly trying to infiltrate us and cause damage."

"However, I write this not to tell you how difficult it is on the front line, but to convey our determination to everyone..."

"Tuk! Tuk!"

The rapid and rhythmic knocking on the door interrupted Meyer's thoughts. He raised his head and shouted: "Please come in!"

So the door opened, and Felix walked into the study accompanied by an elf mage from the Dawn Society.

Felix looked obviously different today than usual. He was not wearing a coat, and his body was stained with some mud and blood.

"Felix, what are you doing...are you not hurt?"

"Thank you for your concern, sir."

Felix thanked him. He came to the desk, stretched out his hands and shook them twice in front of the magic lamp that exuded warm light. At the same time, he said: "Just now, we caught a few people in the city. Black Sun Society members trying to escape."

"Oh? That's good. Are any of our people hurt?"

"There are two minor injuries, but they are all fine and are being treated."

Felix warmed his hands and said: "These guys are not simple. The leader is a river valley level female mage. But, our snipers are better..."

"What are these people hiding in the city planning to do?"

"It's still under investigation, but we found something...important from their possession."