Whispering Verse

After leaving the church and coming to the street, gray snowflakes had covered the street, and on the entire Cherry Leaf Street, less than a quarter of the shops were open.

Continuing to walk along the street towards the intersection, Shade did not see the four-wheeled taxi waiting for guests in the originally bustling place.

The policeman who ran past in a hurry, holding a kerosene lamp in his hand, loudly reminded Shade that the Randall Valley had encountered a special negative pressure vortex weather that had not been seen in a century. Now the highly toxic substances in the air of the entire city are settling, so today is the worst time. It's best not to stay outside. While staying indoors, you should also pay attention to the urban earthquake warning information issued by the city hall that there will be a major earthquake outside the city tonight.

Shade walked a street in a city that looked like a dying patient before finally finding a taxi. From the coachman's words, he also learned that the earthquake that occurred at the banquet last night was just the beginning of a series of earthquakes.

Throughout the night, more than eight strong earthquakes occurred in the urban area of ​​Randall Valley, so that almost no local citizen could sleep well.

At the same time, the earthquake caused widespread fires in the slums of the old city and severe landslides in the mountainous countryside east of the Randall Valley. Just from the news heard by the driver, the number of people killed last night due to the series of subsequent effects of the earthquake has already reached three digits.

Therefore, starting from this morning, unless they are infected with a nasty disease such as the Petrified Plague, people will try not to go out as much as possible. With the gray snow falling in the city in the season before early spring, this ordinary coachman who has lived in the Randall Valley for forty years sighed again after telling the urban anecdote about frogs appearing collectively on the streets. In my tone, I felt that the city was different from ever before:

"It's as if the land itself is sick."

He said to Shade who was sitting in the carriage amidst the sound of horse hooves.

The carriage first took Shade to the Fertile Land Hotel in the city center. The hotel is still open today, and there are many more guests on the first floor than usual. It wasn't the citizens who came here to drink, but the people staying in the hotel who were anxiously talking to their companions about the situation in the Randall Valley today.

After Shade entered the door, he glanced around and saw Miss Marilyn Hendel sitting by the wall. He didn't say anything, just put [Creation and Death] in her hand as she passed by, and walked towards the stairs.

Miss Handel lowered her head and looked at the card, while the soul of Joey Barton looked hesitantly at the cat being held by Shade. Mia was held by Shade with one hand, her front paws were on Shade's shoulders, and her little head was looking at him over Shade's ear.

As a result, the dead soul felt something was wrong, but it didn't know where the strangeness came from. He once divined the fate of this cat when he was doing divination for Shade, but when he saw it after death, he felt something completely different from when he was alive.

Shade went upstairs and did not see Luvia in the room, but found a note left by her. Luvia was called away by the Prophet's Association this morning, but she will go to the Wilde Opera House to meet Shade at noon, and tells Shade not to run around.

Luvia mentioned the Wilde Opera House because it was located in the city center and it was easier to get information than the Witch's Manor. Therefore, the Opera House was closed for the day and served as the base camp for this operation.

When Shade arrived there, the four great witches, Miss Aurora, Miss Bernice, Miss Carina, and Miss Sylvia, were already in place, and the witch apprentices were making preliminary preparations for the actions of the great witches. , Sirius and Miss Swift entered the Parliament to report to the other witches in the Parliament who were waiting for news.

In other words, except for Margaret, who has not yet held a ceremony and has not yet been awarded the official status of witch apprentice, all the forces belonging to the "Witches' Council" in the Randall Valley have gathered in the Wilde Opera House.

When a ring warlock participates in an event that can be called a large-scale battle, he doesn't just put on his clothes and hold the cat, go out and go straight to the destination. Even Shade, who has little possessions, has to spend a night and a morning sorting out the items he needs. The ladies who are witches and ring sorcerers also need complicated preparations, and most of these preparations are made by apprentices and followers. Assistance.

"How's the situation?"

When Shade appeared in the office on the third floor of the Opera House with Mia in his arms, Miss Benenice was the only one drinking tea alone.

She motioned for Shade to sit down and talk:

"Don't be so anxious. Try the black tea I made. This is tea bought from the East."

After Shade sat down, Miss Benanis introduced:

"The church has received the news you got from the guardian. Fortunately, with the experience of the Battle of Fort Midhill, the church has made arrangements in advance. Although there will definitely be casualties, it should be enough to protect the safety of the city. . The Speaker made a deal with the church. After eight o'clock tonight, except for Sylvia who will follow you to Oxenfurt Manor, the three of us will take High Ring's followers out of the city and go to the southeast to fight. If the news is accurate , the intensity of the battle this time will not be lower than that of Fort Middleton."

Although she was talking about a very serious topic, her tone was very relaxed:

"After living for so many years, I finally encountered a major event that will be recorded in history books, recited by bards, and adapted into stage plays by playwrights. I am not nervous at all, but rather excited. "

Her beautiful eyes looked at Shade:

"You have participated in more things than any of us. Tell me, Shade, how you feel."

"I don't feel anything."

Shade touched Mia's soft hair:

"I am confident that we can solve this matter. The only question is what price we have to pay."

"Are you so confident?"

The witch smiled:

"What I'm most worried about now is actually you. Maybe when this matter is over, no matter what the outcome is, you probably won't visit this city so frequently. Then we have agreed that after it is over, I want to be alone for you Can we perform it just like we did when we first met?"

"I usually don't talk about the celebration party at the beginning of a big event."

Shade said hesitantly, but seeing the expression on Miss Benanis's face, he nodded in agreement:

"I'll be looking forward to it, or will I sing?"

The witch's face turned red and she smiled:

"Besides singing, don't I know how to perform other things?"

The Zhengshen Church and the three major academies have more fragments of poems, but up to now, they are still not completely sure where the Chosen Ceremony of the Chosen Ones of the Earth will be held.

Fortunately, after the church gathered enough psalm fragments, it was able to locate possible locations based on the map. Later, the Prophet Association conducted divination on this, but because the answer could not be 100% certain, seven areas were finally delineated.

These seven areas are scattered among each other, and there is even one within the city. Therefore, in addition to the ring warlocks who are involved in the "city defense battle" tonight, more high-level warlocks and most of the thirteenth-level warlocks will be assigned to these seven areas.

Except for the one in the city, coincidentally, Shade had actually been to four of the remaining six areas. Those are the moon worship ruins near Oxenfurt Manor, Lake Eldron in the upper reaches of the Elrond River, the Demon Seal Watchtower in the lower reaches of the west of the city, and the Night Temple in the mountainous area.

As for the two places that Shade had not been to, one was the farthest from the city, directly across the river valley and into the mountainous area east of the city. The other place is on the open plain south of the city, where there are the only remaining ruins of the ancient Stonewell Kingdom.

The news about these seven key areas was brought by Sister Devlin at noon that day.

Sister Devlin regarded Shade's matter as more important, so she took the initiative to apply to help defend the moon worship ruins near Oxenfurt Manor. The church originally planned to keep the nuns in the city, but they respected the nuns' opinions, and the ruins happened to be in the relative center of the seven areas, making it convenient for the nuns to move around at any time, so they agreed to the nun's application.

Sister Devlin and Iluna are both the most important characters tonight. Even because Sister Devlin's level is much higher than that of Iluna, Sister Devlin can even be said to be the most important.

Considering that the chosen ones this time, there is a risk of losing control, and no one can predict how terrifying the out-of-control thirteen-ring warlock will be. Therefore, the nuns, who are also chosen ones, are the best candidates to check and balance the "Guardians". In the face of the fate of the chosen ones, only those who are also chosen can contend.

According to the previous plan, Sister Devlin took away Shade's [Night Watch] before leaving, and took away [Origin Knowledge] to learn the best time for her to appear.

Before Sister Devlin left, Luvia had already arrived at the Wilde Opera House. She took a leave of absence after finishing the matters at hand in the morning, citing her physical discomfort. Although this is a time of shortage of manpower, Luvia is not a member of the local association after all, so the association can only reluctantly allow her to take leave.

"The operation has been roughly arranged."

Shade sat in the front row of the performance hall on the first floor, watching the girls on the stage maintaining Miss Aurora's weapon, which was a white oak staff with a diamond on the top that she had recently acquired. The oak staff is as long as Shade's height. It is a sage-level relic that can amplify specific spells.

The most open area of ​​the Wilde Opera House, apart from the basement, is the stage. Anyway, the opera house is not open today, so the four witches each chose a stage to prepare.