I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 196 The King's Revenge

This great sword belonged to a Roman soldier. It was a Celtic long sword. Unlike the well-known Roman short sword, it was about one and a half times the length of the short sword, that is, two feet five inches, and the width was like the palm of an adult man. , mainly used for chopping - it is indeed used for chopping, the wind is sharp, the blade is sharp, even the soft and tough linen can't stop it, Corneille despairingly thought that he would hear a sad cry. Shouting, or screaming in pain, he never thought that what he heard was the collision of metal and metal, which was different from what Ko Naiyi heard in his room-that time, the shackles collided with the shackles, This time it was sword to sword.

Beneath the Celtic longsword is a scythe, which is probably the weapon most familiar to the dark wizards, because the priests of the Inquisition use halberds, short spears, and greatswords, but most are scythes, and some can Folded up and hidden under spears, some are like this one under a long sword, the joint is fixed - this scythe is larger than the scythe usually used as a weapon, the sickle touches the holder's jaw, and the blade is sharp Below the abdomen, the widest part is more than five inches - the chief judge of the tribunal, Ela, lay flat on the bed, with the same innocent smile on his face as if he had not been tortured for too many years. Looking at this smile, he looks like a naughty man joking with his friends.

   But no naughty man jumped up from the bed and waved his scythe to split a strong soldier in leather armor in two.

The soldier's blood splattered all over Gao Naiyi's face. He subconsciously held his breath, but a strong smell still poured into his nose. What surprised him was that what he smelled was not blood, but blood. It's the smell of paint, and although he's a playwright, he's also studied painting, so he's very sensitive to that smell.

   "Black Mass, blasphemy, reversal." Elaly said softly: "The usual method of Jeromenes Bosch."

The Roman soldier he slashed was not incapacitated, he swept his sword across the bedpost, the bedpost snapped, and before the top drapery collapsed, Eliro jumped out of the expensive linen cage, his sickle like a zigzag lightning bolt Bouncing around the room, as Elarius uttered the word Black Mass, the three saints behind the Roman soldiers slowly poured with strange expressions—their faces, arms, waist, a clear blood The thread runs through it... When their bodies finally split, the broken holy artifact (that is, the instrument of their suffering) fell from their torn fingers; when it came to blasphemy, those who uttered a silent cry, as if The martyrs who rushed up like madmen also followed in the footsteps of the saints; when it came to the reversal, Elarius had already advanced from the bed to the door, and stabbed a head with a knife, and this head was not even cut off by Elarius. , it has been held in both hands before - but this is not the head of Saint-Denis, the Grand Inquisitor seems to glance at the bedroom, which was full of splendor, and has now been completely destroyed, There were paint splashes everywhere like blood.

Those "things"... just lost their color, like a washed drawing board, revealing sketches with simple but lifelike lines, but they can still move, how terrible a moving sketch is, look at our Corneille The gentleman knew, he wanted to pass out, but he couldn't, he could only look at these wriggling stumps, but Elaly not only did not flinch, his eyes quickly swept across the ground, and then a vulgar Words burst from his lips.

   Corneille doesn't know if he should be held accountable - he means, a priest uses vulgar things, he only cares about the content, because Elarius said: "Where is the head of St. Denis?!"

He also quickly restrained his fear and searched, but before that, a writhing and swaying mutilated body suddenly bounced from the ground like a scorched earthworm, which seemed to be a signal, more arms, The feet or heads also flocked to Elaius' position like a flock of disturbed dogs. Although the scythe of the great judge was sharp, it was difficult to get out for a while - those "things" would be exhausted no matter how much they were cut. Do your best to entangle this thorny foe.

It may have only been a matter of seconds, "You idiot who deserves to go to hell!" cried Elaly, "Monsieur Corneille, go to the chapel to find Monsieur d'Artagnan, the king is with him, go and tell They!...warn them!"

Gao Naiyi ran out immediately and left this strange scene behind. The corridor was still empty and the candles were extinguished. He could only stumble forward by relying on the faint light of the sky. As he ran, he blamed himself for too much Neglecting to exercise—this palace is not big, but on the way from the courtyard to the right wing, he still felt like his legs were filled with lead. Fortunately, maybe he was disturbed, and the chapel was lit with candles. Gao Naiyi pushed the door open. He saw the king. He didn't even have time to adjust his breathing, so he shouted intermittently: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Quick..."

He couldn't say what he said after that, because he saw the king's eyes widen in astonishment, and there was a sudden light on his back - what happened next, Ko Naiyi won't know until the dust settles - the missing head, Saint-Denis's head was tightly attached to his back, and he took it to meet the king. As soon as he saw the king, it flew up and bit the king's throat!

Blood splashed everywhere, this is real blood, thick, with the unique sweet smell of blood, Corneille stood there, he watched Saint Denis's head bite the king's head, rubbed his side, fluttered. to the dark.

Gao Naiyi thought that the scream he made in the king's bedroom was sharp enough and scary enough, but now he knows that before the real despair, the sound that humans can make is much more scary, his eyes almost out of their sockets, **** Tears streamed down his cheeks onto the linen nightgown, and he cried hysterically, until a hand was placed on his shoulder, graciously pardoning his sins—he passed out at last.

The king's headless corpse was the last thing left in Corneille's mind, and at the same moment he fell into darkness, the corpse also began to change, it shrank, faded, and finally became a doll that could be held in his hand. .

  Louis XIV came out of the ear room, "Why is Corneille here?"

"It's for him to be a witness," Erael, who had already sorted out the "things" in the dormitory, walked in from the door: "Bose is a... I prefer to see other people's bodies suffer more than they do. The one whose will and faith finally collapsed under his curse," because of Louis XIII, who did not say the words "especially the noble ones", "is mocking us," he said: "At the same time, this It will also make people think that you have committed some kind of unknown crime, and you will be punished so horribly by Saint Denis."

   "Whatever he wants to do," at this time, the king's horse had been brought over, and the king flew on it, "this is the last time."

   At this time, Viscount Turenne ran over, still with deep disapproval on his face, "Your Majesty, that's a dark wizard, maybe he has helpers."

   "You should trust our Grand Inquisitor," said the king, "I have heard your counsel, but don't forget, sir, that is my father, your king."

  Viscount Turenne sighed deeply, "I won't stop you, but don't stop me either." He also got on his horse and looked at Vauban, "Vauban stay here."

  The gate of the castle was originally open, and a group of priests and monks from the Inquisition, surrounded by the king and his generals, rushed into the endless night.

The icy wind ran through the king's hair, yes, let reason speak, the king should not be in this party, should not face a dark wizard, but Louis is tired of the endless retreat to the world-- Bosch may be the most unscrupulous wizard among the wizards, but like him, there are not a few wizards who arrogantly look down on all mortals. Of course, Louis can let Elarius hunt Bosch, but in the battle of Flanders, he suddenly One important thing to understand is that on the battlefield, soldiers can only see their generals forever, a nobleman who has never been on the battlefield with them, even a king, even if he is respected, there will be a relationship with them. An inescapable estrangement.

  Like these priests, like Elarius, the king is a benefactor to them, but if this situation continues, the inner world - the original inner world, just has a new owner.

   To let them see him, believe him, bow down to him, and stay in the palace, in the comfort of honor, can never do that.

  ——

In Bosch's triptych, the head of Saint-Denis finally falls, and Bosch takes a step back, admiring his masterpiece happily - "Thank you, my dear disciple," he said, "you always It can give me a lot of unexpected inspiration." He turned his head and looked at Rubens, the light in his eyes was chilling, "It hurts my heart to abandon you, I swear, this is the truth."

Rubens stared at his teacher, his heart was at peace, as if he had expected such a result on the first day he betrayed the Holy Spirit, Bosch's fingers slid gently on his face, sticking The greasy paint slowly seeped into the latter's skin, and he felt his face tighten and wrinkle, his bones creaking, just like the figures Bosch had drawn on the drawing board, Completely losing control of his body, he staggered to his feet and came to the triptych, his fingers twitching and spasming, but he could only slowly sit down again, facing the drawing board.

The king is dead, the king is lucky, the priests of the Inquisition who follow the king will soon come here sniffing the smell, and Bosch could have left with him calmly, but he seems to want to do it once and for all, Jeromenis Bosch is dead, Rubens-Bosch's face should also have changed, he can use Rubens' face and body, his identity, to continue to exist - compared to Bosch, Ruben Even in the inner world, among the dark wizards, he is more trustworthy than his mentor.

Bosch arranged everything and turned away, leaving Rubens in his room, Rubens alone in this spooky castle now - he doesn't know where Bosch went back to, Rubens Sitting in front of the drawing board, he knew that the priests of the Inquisition were seeing a dark wizard who was casting sorcery, and without the slightest hesitation, they would kill him immediately, and then burn everything here - he tried to drive his own. fingers, but just like Corneille at that time, he couldn't move, Rubens closed his eyes, then opened them, and he stared at a dove in the picture, which he drew, and he kept it for so long. Watching, the pigeon suddenly moved its small head, then spread its wings, and flew up, leaving the drawing board and flying onto his shoulders.

But it was too small, almost the size of a thumb, otherwise Bosch would not have let him off easily, Rubens could not speak, could not gesture, but commanded it with his mind - the dove flew to his nose, After hesitating for a long time, it began to peck at Rubens' face, and the beak of the dove was like the tip of a needle, constantly pulling at the wrinkled skin, the bulging fat and the tangled hair, Rubens' own Under the influence of witchcraft, the skin has been tightly adhered to the oil paint, and doing so is tantamount to peeling himself a little bit. And at this moment - he heard a strange sound, like something was hitting the door, and after a while, a pale head flew in biting another head, Rubens had seen the king of France 's portrait, and at a glance you know that Bosch's curse is in effect.

Rubens was born in the Holy Roman Empire, in Flanders, and later moved to Italy, Spain and other places. As Bosch said, the inner world should not overlap with the outer world, and Bosch always taunted and refuted him that he had also used witchcraft to avenge the officials who had hurt his family - but Rubens did not say Wrong, this is the root cause. The unscrupulousness and arrogance of the people in the world will definitely lead to disasters that they can't resist at all. The wizards retreated to the place where they were originally defeated by magical creatures and The islands or remote places occupied by ghosts and erected barriers that block the sight of mortals are the so-called "inner worlds". Then, a thousand years later, when mortals are constantly becoming stronger in war, how can wizards think that they can resist the revenge and invasion of mortals?

   Even if it is a king, the king is dead, long live the king, mortals can have another king, and wizards? Even if the world becomes so crowded, the number of wizards is still incomparable to mortals, and mortals are not without a chance of winning in terms of extraordinary power - long before the establishment of the church, the wizards had a split, and the mortals had a split. The wizards who stand together, their blades never dulled in the war against werewolves, vampires and their kind...

Saint Denis threw the king's head at Rubens' feet, and it flew around Rubens curiously, as if he didn't understand why his master went mad and pulled out all his skin, but his face It really shows the coveted color...

   Rubens, instead of being frightened, smiled.

   It's late today, I'll add a thousand words to the next chapter.

   (end of this chapter)