Shadow Apostle

Miss Jessica Burnt had a dream.

In the dream, she returned to the old home of the Burnt family.

The mother was watching her younger brother playing in the garden. Two aunts who had come from afar and several cousins ​​were accompanying him. There were a lot of servants and laughter. It was a happy scene.

The midsummer sun was shining on her body, making her whole body warm. Before Miss Berndt could join in the play of her relatives, the whole world was suddenly swallowed up by a bloody flame.

Thousands of strange shadows poked their heads out from the firelight, like countless twisted tentacles, tumbling and extending towards the garden from all directions.

Surrounded by tentacles, a figure emerged from the flames.

The figure is like a burning skeleton, the whole body is burning with raging fire, gray flames are constantly coming out of the empty eyes, and the mandible is opening and closing with flames. The whole person is like a horror coming out of the fantasy world. dominate.

Just when everyone in the garden looked horrified, a spooky, evil, hateful and hateful voice suddenly sounded from the mouth of the figure.

"Sheng Hui Ten Luca, I'll be back after paying the money."

"Okay, I'll pay and you come back."

Miss Burnt woke up at the same time as she blurted out her sleep talk.

She found herself still on the stairs leading to the steam engine room. The air around her was so hot and humid that she could hardly breathe.

The groggy brain has regained consciousness slightly, and the memories just now flooded into my mind.

The self that is locked out.

Tears streaming down my face.

I wanted to rush back but had to grit my teeth and turn around and leave.

However, as soon as she ran up the steps, she heard a loud noise behind her, and a huge impact hit her behind, knocking her straight out.

By the way, I never had time to turn off the gas valve, so it seems it exploded.

Then Mr. Horst...

Miss Burnt's sense returned a little and she found herself moving.

Lie on a broad back and move along the steps towards the ground.

Black formal suit, black top hat, black windbreaker, but with a very heavy smoky smell, like lying on the back of a piece of coke.

For some reason, Jessica suddenly remembered the flaming skeleton in her dream.

It was dark, humid, and hot. In such an environment, Jessica, who was in a daze, seemed like an illusion.

The face and side of the person in front of him were hidden in the darkness. It seemed that something was constantly moving on the surface. However, the angle was not very clear. At least from the back, everything looked normal.

Jessica's groggy brain made it impossible to tell whether it was an illusion or reality. She only heard her own voice become particularly soft.

"Mr. Horst, did you escape too?"

"Yeah." Horst's voice was extremely hoarse, as if two pieces of metal were rubbing against each other.

Jessica asked in a daze: "Is your throat okay?"

"It has just been roasted by the fire and is a bit dry. It will be fine after a while."

"Being burned...ah, by the way, thank you..." The air she breathed in gradually became fresher, and her hazy mind gradually woke up. Jessica shook her head and asked, "What happened inside? The Invisible Son Woolen cloth?"

"After I locked the door for you just now..."

There was an incomprehensible grunt from behind, like a protest, but Horst shrugged and said calmly:

"I was going to treat them to a big meal. When they were about to swallow me, I fired the gun and ignited the gas. Because the time was short, the gas concentration was not too high. Unfortunately, there was no big explosion, but a deflagration in the room. That’s it. The three invisible sons were relatively unlucky and were closest to the fire point. They seemed to be more afraid of attribute attacks, so they were quickly burned and nothing was left."

"What does it mean to be a pity?" Jessica's mind speeded up gradually, "Then you..."

"I was swallowed by them. After the deflagration, they burned through, so I came out. As soon as I came out, the water pipe above my head was burst, and the water put out the fire around me, so I turned off the gas valve. , and then took the opportunity to run out. As soon as I went out, I saw you lying on the stairs and refused to get up. Are you lying on the ground because you couldn't bear the ten-luka closing fee? "

"A scion of the Bernt family will never compromise in danger!" Miss Bernt, even though she was still a little confused, still said it righteously, but even the black dust on Horst's back could not cover up her appearance. The corner of his mouth curled up: "So I decided to refuse the bill."

"That's not possible. The transportation service is a supporting service for the door locking service for customers. It is not provided separately. Please come down and go by yourself."

Although he said this, Horst still carried Jessica, who was fainting due to lack of oxygen, all the way back to the ground and towards the sentry outside the woods.

The sky was already twilight, and the fresh air in the morning dispelled the flames, smoke, and steam. Jessica's mind suddenly sobered up, and her limp body gradually regained its strength.

But looking at the back in front of her, Miss Berndt didn't say anything. Instead, she relaxed her body and lay down softly again.

"Miss Burnt..."

"Call me Jessica."

"Call me Miss Jessica." Hearing the strange grinding sound from behind, Horst considered the distance between his ears and sighed, "Okay, Miss Jessica, you... look at this What is it? It's in the breast pocket of my windbreaker."

"Huh?" She snorted softly from her nose, and Miss Berndt reached out to Horst and took out what he was talking about.

They were three crystals, slightly larger than a thumbnail, slightly thicker than Silver Luca, and overall about the same size as a coin.

But they are hexagonal, and the dark red transparent crystals seem to be filled with thick blood-red clouds. The mist is lingering and circling in the crystals, with a disturbing power. After staring for a while, the vision seems to It's like being absorbed into it.

"Mysterious crystals." Miss Berndt played with the three crystals for a moment, then put one away, stuffed two more crystals back, and put her arms there, "They are the relics of the three invisible sons. You are really lucky, Mr. Horst, this is a crystal formed by some mysterious aliens from the fantasy world when they return to the fantasy world, and it is generated by chance."

"Is there energy in it?"

"No, they are not the same as the spar from the Newland continent. They are not energy bodies, but simple manifestations of mystery. They are generally used for mysterious rituals or the preparation of special medicinal materials. It is said that the crystals from the Oude continent The alien method consumes a lot of money on this thing. I don’t know much about it. Anyway, it is not very useful in our Middle-earth continent. There are many substitutes. It is not valuable. One piece is only two or three luka."

"But this thing will dissipate by itself after being left for a while. It is difficult to store it for a long time, so whether you can buy it depends on luck. I left one just to prepare some medicine for you. The concentration is too high for you to use now. Mysterious crystals of this level are enough."

"Make medicine for me?" Horst was stunned, "Is it free?"

"Is this the only thing you care about?"

"Ahem, okay, I just didn't know you need medicine to read."

"Of course you don't need to read books, but you should do more than just read books."

.

Looking up and seeing that it was not far from the exit of the woods, Jessica simply jumped down from behind Horst:

"Becoming an awakened person is a complicated and dangerous thing, especially a solitary person like you who has no support from the church."

"Is anyone going to stop me?"

"No, there is no such person, unless you choose that evil path."

"Becoming a cultist?"

"Yes, abandon humanity, embrace madness, and dedicate your soul to those masters from the fantasy world in exchange for the power of awakening. Then everyone will stop you, including me."

"My soul is very valuable and I won't give it away easily." Horst looked down at his stomach and said to himself in a voice that only he could hear, "If I still have that thing."

"So no one will stop you. The real danger comes from yourself, because you have no belief in gods." Jessica sighed and explained, "Don't think that this is a means for the twenty-four churches to control the people. In fact, The so-called soul awakening in the Internet is basically for mortals to twist their souls according to the characteristics of gods, allowing themselves to imitate the characteristics of gods, and then master some magical abilities."

Horst smiled bitterly. He already understood that this was tantamount to borrowing someone else's power without their approval.

"That's not entirely true. For example, my compassion means that I recognize Lady Fiona's belief from the bottom of my heart, so my soul has awakened this characteristic, allowing me to help my companions share all the harm. And some other effects. So it’s not about whether the gods agree or not, but you must at least absolutely believe in your own characteristics.”

"If you don't believe in the path you are going to take, even if you succeed in trying tricks when you first awaken, you will only go further and further away from the characteristics you choose in the future, until you finally become insane and fall into eternal madness. Therefore, Qian Don’t think of these as the means of gods, at least they are not just means, they are also related to your own life and soul.”

Horst felt that his throat was a little dry, and then he realized that he had underestimated the awakening of the soul in this world.

"Mr. Horst, let me tell you the truth. The Bernt family does have a collection of low-level awakening soul activation sequences for several fallen gods of the previous era. They can also help you prepare various protective potions unconditionally to help you survive the most difficult times. time period.”

"But whether you survive and successfully awaken, or whether you become a madman, all depends on your own will. And after that, if you want to attack a more advanced awakening, you can only rely on your own luck. Bourne The Te family is willing to support, but there is very little we can do at that time. If you are not lucky, you may be stuck at the most basic level of awakening for your whole life, with no room for advancement."

"So, it's up to you to decide whether you want to give your faith to a certain god again or choose the current path. You still have some time to think about it. I'm always waiting for your answer. But before that, Uncle I hope you can accompany me to investigate this commission from the Ent family."

"I understand, Miss Jessica. I checked before I came up just now. The upper iron plate of the computer room has been overturned, and the magic circle above should also be destroyed."

"That has no effect. The magic circle has taken effect, which means that it has been completed in a mystical sense. Now even if the magic circle itself is destroyed, the effect it produced before can't be restored. If you want it to be completely ineffective, you have to wait for time. Its mystery fades, or we have to find those connections that point to it or to which it points, and start from them to solve the fundamental problem.”

Horst nodded thoughtfully and said: "So no matter what angle you look at it, we must find out the black hand behind all this as soon as possible."

"Well, but you don't have to worry, Mr. Horst, I have already copied the magic circle. I will go back to the church later and ask a professional to evaluate it. I think the results will be available in the afternoon. You have worked hard all night, and I will arrange it right away. They will send you to the family mansion, have a good rest, and we will wait until the results of my appraisal come out."

"Forget it about the mansion. I still have some important things to deal with today and I have to go back. If it's convenient, just send me to the central market in the Princess District."

"Is it really that important, Mr. Horst?" Miss Berndt looked regretful, "Please give the Berndt family a chance to express your gratitude."

"It's very important, especially today, absolutely not." Horst sighed, looked down at his body, shook his head solemnly, "Today's matter is a matter of life and death, we must not delay it, let's wait for another day."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Unfortunately, some things can only be faced by oneself."

"That's such a pity." Miss Bernd lowered her head, rolled her eyes, pursed her lips and smiled softly and said softly, "Next time, Mr. Horst, don't forget that the entertainment is free."

There was silence in the woods for several seconds.

"Let's discount today's entertainment, now."