, The sword of dawn

Guided by the guidance signal sent by Veronica, the dragoon finally landed on a small platform at the bottom of the "crystal spike".

Gawain and Amber walked down from the aircraft. The latter raised his head vigorously and looked at the cone-shaped structure made up of a large number of crystal prisms like a hill. The pure magic gushing out from the deep blue well came from The top of the cone-shaped structure was released, forming a bright stream of flames in the air, and finally converging to the top of the thick shield, which looked particularly spectacular.

Amber just looked up and stared for a long time, and his thoughts finally converged into a sigh: "...Is this stuff going to be sprayed forever?"

"I thought you were going to sigh something," Gawain's mouth trembled, and he squinted at this ingenious shadow assault goose. "According to Tarrond's research records, this rift has existed since the birth of the planet. Yes, it is part of the magical cycle of this planet. There is no concept of'spraying' unless the magical cycle of the entire planet is out of order. As for the energy collected by the Gondor from here... and the entire deep blue Compared to the network, I am afraid it can only be regarded as a small water wave."

"...Endless magical power, the degree of cleanliness does not even require secondary purification, and the difficulty of using it is almost zero," Amber sighed, "No wonder the Gondor Empire was so strong back then..."

Gao Wen did not speak, and at this moment, he suddenly heard a slight buzzing sound coming from not far away. After walking around, he saw that the crystal "wall" at the end of the platform suddenly appeared on the surface. The flowing grid of light, in the shimmering light, the outer wall of the originally integrated crystal undergoes dazzling changes and reorganization, and a towering gate is opened in the blink of an eye.

The sound of footsteps came from the gate, and two extraordinarily tall figures stepped out of it. Under the light of the sunset and the blue magical flames, these two figures emerging from the depths of the ancient fortress even gave Gawain a feeling The feeling of walking from the historical picture. When he approached, Gao Wen saw that these were two "female soldiers". They were dressed in the uniforms of the battle magisters of the ancient Gondor Empire. They did not hold weapons in their hands, only their arms. There are mana booster components that seem to be directly connected to the body on the shoulders, etc. One of the "magic soldiers" seems to have been damaged in the previous battle and has not had time to repair. A wound was cut near her neck, with bionic skin. Below is the bright silver alloy inner armor and connection structure.

Amber next to him immediately reacted: These are two iron warriors, like the "maid maid" of the Typhon Empire, they are powerful man-made weapons manufactured by ancient humans.

Her thinking couldn't help but drift away. If only the "maid maid" named Diana followed this time, she would definitely want to come. She has been waiting for replacement and maintenance for hundreds of years...

While thinking about it, one of the iron soldiers who looked relatively intact spoke up. Her voice sounded a little mechanically indifferent: "Welcome, visitor, you have been authorized for A-level access. Your Highness Ophelia ordered us to guide you to control center."

"The two of us can go in. The others are on standby outside," Gawain nodded and turned to the entourage who served as the "guard" and said, "You are waiting here."

"Just the two of us in?" Kohaku pointed to herself, looking at her expression as if she was a little questioned, "You..."

"This is our first meeting with the last heir to the Gondor Empire," Gawain said in a low voice, "I'm not sure what's down here, so it's better to meet in private for the first time."

Amber shrugged and said that there was no doubt, and then followed in Gawain's footsteps. The two followed behind the iron man soldier and walked towards the glorious "Crystal Gate" not far away.

After passing through the gate, they stepped into a channel formed entirely of thick crystals, and walked along a ramp that continuously sloped downwards. Everything in the place where they entered their eyes was beautiful, like ice crystals. Blue crystals, no lighting equipment can be seen in the entire channel, but in the depths of the crystals on both sides, you can see a steady stream of light surging slowly, which keeps the channel comfortable and bright and clean. The Crystal Corridor, which makes people totally unexpected that there is a barren wasteland outside.

Gao Wen felt as if he was walking in a whole crystal-clear iceberg, and the wonderful light flow was diffused and refracted in the ice crystal, bringing a kind of dreamlike and magnificent feeling.

The two Iron Man soldiers who led the way are obviously pure military models. They have no habit of chatting and are very silent along the way, which makes this incredible journey quite dull.

However, the accompanying Amber is a character who can't calm down. From the moment she came in, she kept looking at the sparkling crystals around her. Amber eyes were as shiny as the surrounding crystals. She walked halfway through. I couldn't hold back anymore: "Hey, these crystals around are so beautiful... What kind of material are these? Are they really crystals? Natural crystals?"

Hearing the visitor's initiative to ask, the iron soldier who led the way finally broke the silence: "It's not a natural crystal."

Amber suddenly lost interest when he heard this: "Oh, what am I talking about..."

"It's the steady-state arcane crystallization," the iron soldier continued. "The pure magic that has been spewing from the Deep Blue Well for thousands of years reacts and deposits with the magical ingredients in the environment."

In the next second, Gawain saw a black shadow flash in front of him, and Amber jumped up on the spot, and tried to leap to the wall closest to him. Had it not been for Gawain who knew the shame of this alliance and The reaction was extremely quick and grabbed the back of the neck of the goods. At this time, Amber’s whole person was probably already slapped on the crystal with a "pia ji" as usual when he was photographed on the wall.

Just this Amber is still struggling in Gawain's hands, and his beloved little dagger has already been taken out: "Let me pick a piece and try it! I'll test the composition! Steady state arcane crystal! Pure arcane that can transmit light Crystallization! Putting it on the black market in the past can allow the mages to punch out the dog's mind. There is a mountain here! A whole mountain!"

"Don't be ashamed here," Gao Wen smoothly clamped Amber under his armpit, looking at the guy who was still dancing with a headache, "Do you know what occasion this is?"

"Isn't this in private?" Amber was plausible while trying to break free in the void butterfly stroke. "Except for the iron man corps that obeys orders, it's Veronica and Veronica is not a foreigner. Hey, it's a shame that you just let the entourage They are all on standby. Hey, I said, there is still such a consideration... As expected, it is you, that is, you are far-sighted, the full moon wine is ready to prepare the coffin early..."

Gao Wen: "..."

He already regrets that he usually teaches this guy so much...

The only good thing is that the iron soldiers who led the way didn’t understand this at all. They didn’t even look back at Amber, which was being clipped under the armpit by Gao Wen. The ancient machine lady began to silently lead the way, and under their leadership, Gao Wen took Amber through this crystal clear "crystal ramp", and finally saw the man-made facilities made of steel.

An elevator that leads to the depths of the earth is completely different from the contemporary "Gugangdor style".

Amber finally turned his head reluctantly to glance at the crystal clear passage, and was dragged into the lift by Gawain, and then accompanied by a slight mechanical friction sound, the protective fence of the lift closed, and they began to sink quickly. underground.

The elevator is surrounded by an open structure where you can directly see the outside scene, and the surrounding shafts have openings to observe the outside at every interval. Gawain and Amber can intuitively understand what the underground of this ancient fortress is like. "Scenery" They walked through this deep shaft, passing through a thick protective dome made of strong metal and concrete at regular intervals. This thick "protective shell" continued for seven layers, and then they I saw internal facilities like factories, excavation stations, and warehouses. Between each of these facilities, there were separate armors and shields to isolate them layer by layer.

Amber, which was still clamoring about picking up a crystal to go back, was completely silent at this time. She stared at the scenery passing by outside the elevator, and finally muttered to herself softly: "Such a tight defense..."

"It's not easy to survive in the wasteland center." As soon as Amber's voice fell, a voice rang abruptly in the elevator. This voice came from a small sounding device, although it was somewhat different from the one usually heard. Difference, but Amber and Gawain immediately distinguished that Veronica was talking, "In the first two centuries, the situation in the center of the wasteland was much more severe than what you saw when you first arrived here. : The deadly pollution penetrated into the ground, and the distortions were not just wandering on the surface. The underground of the old imperial capital had a crisscrossing subway network and drainage system, and those monsters invaded deep underground through these facilities...

"So in the first two hundred years, all I could do was to keep digging down. I dug for two centuries and moved this fortress as a whole to a place twice as deep as before. Underground tunnels and drainage pipe network, and in the process built the layer after layer of "shells" you just saw to protect yourself.

"After another hundred years, the situation improved slightly. I settled down in a stable underground structure and completely restored the efficiency of the triathlon maintenance array. I sent soldiers to clean up those still occupying subway passages. The wandering monsters restarted part of the lines, and based on this, began to further restore control of the surrounding areas of the old imperial capital..."

Following Veronica’s account, the elevator continued to descend in the shaft, and during this seemingly endless descending process, Gawain spoke: "And before that, you had somehow put your own' Thinking' is projected to the outside of the wasteland, just like using the'carrier' of'Veronica', observing our world?"

"Yes," Veronica or Ophelia replied softly, "So in a sense, I'opened my eyes' outside the wasteland even earlier than my surface activities here. For the first few hundred years, it was difficult for me to judge the surface conditions deep underground, so that I had to rely on remote control of the carriers in the "Survivor Kingdom" to understand the changes in the wasteland from the side... One of my carriers is also very famous , I don’t know if you have heard of it."

"Oh?" Gawain suddenly became interested, "tell me more specifically?"

Ophelia's voice is soft and steady: "Griffina, Griffina the sword dancer."

Gao Wen obviously hadn’t heard of the name, but Amber reacted instantly: “Ah, it’s the'mad blade witch'. I have heard of this name. Her story is very popular among country bards. , Enduring for hundreds of years..."

After noticing the confused expression of Gawain next to him, Amber suddenly showed a complacent look. After all, she usually has few opportunities to show off in front of Gawain: "Hey, there was no such character when you were lying on the board. Stories are often seen in the countryside, and it’s normal if you don’t understand

"Griffina is a character about six hundred years ago. It is said that she was originally just an ordinary mercenary operating on the border between Typhon and Ansu. Generally, she has limited ability and can be used as an **** for merchants. Once the caravan she served as the **** was destroyed by robbers. She herself fell into the mountain stream during the battle. It is said that she died on the spot, but it is said that she was resurrected three days later, and since then, her strength has soared but her temperament has changed drastically. The well-known "Mad Witch" is famous for throwing out the chain of lightning that does not distinguish the enemy and us while throwing the whirlwind in the battle. She specializes in accepting the most dangerous commissions on the edge of the wasteland, even until the countries gradually reduce or even die. After exploring the wasteland, she was still wandering among the gradually deserted border villages..."

"What about the last?" Gawain noticed that Amber paused and asked timely.

"Finally? In the end, no one saw her. It is said that some people vowed to see the "Mad Blade Witch" rushing to the depths of the wasteland with their own eyes. Others said that she had to make a deal with the devil to be resurrected, and finally paid She disappeared from the world at the expense of her soul. Some people say that she suddenly had a fight with a passing young knight, and then the two got married. The specific version depends on which genre of bard who made the story, usually five copper plates. The following places tend to kill herself by running into the wasteland."

Humber said that after thinking about it, he added: “Of course, it’s said that there is an exotic adventure, Dragon Quest, and a princess of a certain country to engage in an extended version of Lily, but that one has eight copper plates. I think it’s too expensive. The main reason is It’s really boring, so I didn’t listen..."

Gao Wen: "..."

"In general, this is the truth," Ophelia said in a faint voice, "except for the final ending."

"...I only dealt with'Veronica'. It's really hard to imagine what you looked like when you were active in history in another posture," Gawain had a weird expression, "and it's still such an image... So, you Did you occupy the body of that mercenary back then? It sounds like she was just an ordinary person in the beginning..."

"I occupy her body after she fell off the cliff and died," Ophelia replied, "I will not occupy the body of an ordinary person, nor will I destroy the life of others. This is my principle, unless the other person's life is over. , Or never started."

"..." Gao Wen didn't comment on this. He was just a little curious. "Then the'mad witch''s temperament changed greatly after the resurrection... Is it your evil taste? Because in my impression, your personality seems to be still Quite peaceful..."

"...The body broke my brain, the kind that is difficult to repair," Ophelia's voice was a little weird, as if thinking of some embarrassing memory, "It's really difficult to control..."

Gao Wen: "...OK, I understand."