Soul of Burning Steel

In the 27th year of the Great Cataclysm, July 11th, night.

In the northwest of the mainland, the former imperial capital of the Ulan Empire, Gaetar, a city of psychic powers.

The vast sky is high above everything, and the endless bright starlight and the warm blue moon shine on this dead land.

There is no vegetation here, only on the gray-brown rocky plateau, almost endless black dead shadows with their own scarlet and dull eyes, wandering around the giant rocks of the Gaetar Plateau, amidst the mist, you can see There are quite a few of them who can fly, and it seems that powerful undead shadows with self-will are guiding the group of undead on the ground, making them follow certain laws without the slightest self-will, surrounding and guarding the center of the plateau, the building that is covered in The magnificent capital in the mist.

The cold wind blows and howls from the top of the world, blowing across the Gaetar Plateau, the severe cold and sand and gravel are wrapped in a suffocating necrotic miasma, forming a hellish sandstorm that even the strongest in the sky will frown. It seemed that the capital city of Gaetar, which should have been completely reduced to ruins in the earthquake nearly thirty years ago that seemed to tear the entire continent apart, stood intact in the sandstorm.

In the dark capital city, there is no light at all, but with the thin starlight and dim moon, one can vaguely see clusters of dark shadows squirming among the seemingly intact dwellings, screaming, wailing, or venomous and cursing. The sound, the location of these dwellings—or the location of the building structure in the entire capital seems to have been completely changed. They seem to have become part of some kind of huge formation, guarding the center of the city. Obelisk.

On the seven obelisks made of obsidian and some kind of strange metal, there are black and purple energy lights shining, layer after layer are extremely complicated, as if the runes containing infinite mystery flash along with the energy veins, they Located in the center of the city, it absorbs all the free energy in the entire Getar Plateau, and then supplies it to unknown beings.

Suddenly, in the darkness, there was a shrill sound of wind.

In the deep and gloomy capital city, a dark silver brilliance suddenly flashed. This light broke through from the manic sandstorm outside the city, and in just one second, it crossed nearly ten kilometers and came to the center of the city. In the array of obelisks.

The person who came was a swordsman. He was shrouded in a cloud of gray mist. He couldn't see his face clearly, but he could see that he had a long sword with a simple shape that could not be concealed. On the ground, there was thunder and lightning flashing, releasing an extremely dangerous aura.

The swordsman stood on the obelisk with the huge number "three" engraved on it, and the surging black-purple energy poured into his body, replenishing the energy he had consumed recently. Apart from that, the swordsman didn't have any extra energy. Move, just wait quietly.

And not long after.

A series of piercing sounds sounded, and abnormalities occurred frequently.

A mage with seven crystal balls of different colors floating around his body and a seed of a holy stone that shone bright red on his chest opened the gate of time and space, and came to the obelisk with the huge number "two" engraved on it. superior.

A warrior wearing heavy armor with a ferocious dragon head and carrying a giant dragon-slaying sword walked through the void and came to the obelisk with the word "four" engraved on it.

Accompanied by the surge of a cloud of shadows, a figure of thin mist who could not be seen at all without being able to see his appearance clearly, and whose sense of existence was too low to pay attention seriously, gathered at the square engraved with the word "five" at some point. The top of the pointed stone.

Coming on an ender dragon, a spellcaster wearing a hooded robe, and a skeleton archer holding a simple black iron longbow with only bones left, also came to the obelisks of 'six' and 'seven' in turn On the stele.

Finally, there is a knight.

This knight did not reveal any strange strength, nor did he hide his appearance. This ordinary-looking, old knight with long gray hair rode his own old and skinny war horse, taking one step at a staggering pace. Stepping across the dark fog-shrouded street, where he passed, the wailing and cursing shadows in the dwellings suddenly stopped their voices and turned into painful and unwilling prayers. He stared at these shadows with a pity and benevolent light, but In the end, he just shook his head, causing the shadows to sigh in disappointment.

It took a long time for the knight to walk through this long stone road and arrive at the obelisk formation. Under the watchful eyes of six other extremely powerful beings, he led his horse to volley through the air bit by bit. Walk to the top of the stele with the number 'one' engraved on it.

No one expressed dissatisfaction, even the heavy armored warrior ranked fourth and the skeleton archer ranked seventh saluted respectfully.

"I called everyone here this time because I have an important matter to discuss with you, but before that, we need to gather the latest information first."

There is no nonsense, the knight said to the surrounding beings in a surprisingly thick and powerful voice that did not resemble his appearance: "In the territory of the former Gelug Empire, there is a sanctuary around the Forest of Autumn Water in the Missia Plain in the northwest. Even the peak power that almost surpassed the sanctuary tore through time and space, allowing a powerful existence from another world to descend."

"All the preparations for our plan are about to be completed, and only the final removal of obstacles and implementation are left. The arrival of this strong man from another world is very untimely. Now, all accidents must be ruled out."

When he said this, the old knight turned his head and looked at the third-ranked swordsman: "I have asked the swordsman to send his men to investigate the situation. Is there any result?"

"No."

With his hands folded in front of his chest, the swordsman made a faint voice: "My subordinates haven't sent back any information, but he is Roz, the shadow of change. Presumably, he should be able to find information that satisfies us."

"Then put this matter aside."

The knight nodded, and he turned to look at the second-ranked crystal mage this time: "Is there any result in chasing the dragon blood girl who is suspected to be holding the 'Robe of the Origin Saint'?"

"No, my lord." The seven crystal balls floating around danced briskly in mid-air, forming one after another strange runes and formations. The caster replied slightly bending down, but his voice seemed to be suppressed. Synthesized, as stiff as a machine: "The power of the robe of the origin saint is beyond my imagination. Its last eruption destroyed the entire army of the dead shadows. I have sent my three crystal puppets to pursue it. But the Lord of the Dark River blocked them."

"Has the Lord of the Dark River sheltered her? Then there is indeed no way."

Seeming to understand the opponent's strength very well, the knight's eyes flashed a trace of nostalgia: "You may not understand its true strength, you withdraw the puppet first, and don't conflict with it for the time being, we need to gather all our strength to do more important things. "

Afterwards, the knight inquired about all the other recent information in turn. No one expressed dissatisfaction, and they all answered truthfully.

After the skeleton archer also reported the latest information with a voice synthesized by magic power, the knight nodded slightly, and said calmly, "Very well, everything is still within the plan."

He said bluntly: "The important thing for inviting everyone to gather this time is that I have successfully restored the method of summoning and 'controlling' the heroic spirits of the Ulan Empire, and made certain improvements according to our situation."

When he said this, all the seven powerful beings sneered with disdain, and even the swordsman, who had never been emotionally fluctuating, shrugged his shoulders.

They did not laugh at the old knight's words, but the Ulan Empire.

If it wasn't for this arrogant empire that is greedy, intends to reverse the taboo of life and death, and intends to forcibly control the heroic spirits that condense countless people's beliefs, how could they reappear on this land?

"The world of Grandia is a world without belief in gods." The spellcaster who came riding the ender dragon chuckled softly, his voice came from under the hood, unexpectedly young: "And the place I went to Other worlds are completely different, all beliefs are condensed on the ancestors and heroes, if you want to control me...they, you have to fight against the whole world and the will of all human beings."

And the warrior in heavy armor also sneered in a low and vague voice: "You can't do what you can."

The old knight seemed to have anticipated the thoughts of others, so after everyone stopped laughing, he spoke again: "After restoring this method, our next goal is the southwest region, which is firmly protected by the four major human resistance forces." Live in the 'Tomb of the Saint'."

The knight's voice now had a hint of mistiness: "The sages and heroes of the past, our old friends, and even our 'self' are all buried there."

Suddenly, on the fifth stele, the indistinct misty figure suddenly whispered something that no one could quite understand.

The old knight heard it, and he responded clearly: "Yes, we don't have the power to attack the past head-on for the time being, and the remaining human resistance is still very tenacious. If you want the plan to be completed smoothly, you can't consume too much of your own power."

"Therefore, we must first destroy those scattered resistance forces that spread throughout the continent, and let these scattered existences 'become' our strength."

When the old knight said this, he lightly touched the spear hanging on the side of the horse under him, and there was an almost imperceptible smile in his voice: "Then, cut off their sources of information , blocking the source of food and water, robbing the original crystal ore, and polluting the upstream water quality."

The skeleton archer ranked seventh, the soul fire in his eyes flickered, he clenched the longbow in his hand, and the heavy armored warrior ranked fourth couldn't help but hold the hilt of the giant sword behind his back with his backhand, He looked very much looking forward to it.

The other powerful beings, although they couldn't see their expressions clearly and didn't make any movements, their aura was quite different from the dull feeling before.

Over the Gaetar Plateau, thick fog surged, and lightning snaked down from it, and finally submerged in the pitch-black sandstorm, turning into flickering flames.

The pale light shines through the city that has long been turned into a dark dead zone, as if day has finally come to this land that has been submerged in the abyss for twenty-seven years.

"This is war."

Under the light of lightning, the old knight said so, his tone contained a trace of relief and expectation that finally arrived.

"Twenty-seven years."

"The final decisive battle is about to begin."

I'm sorry, I got cold after watching the igv game yesterday, and I didn't wake up until just now. This chapter is only 3,000 words, and I will update it tomorrow.