Arcane Journey

Chapter 274 Xi Rui Sutra (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)

Accompanied by the buzzing sound of the teleportation circle, the figures of Brian and Santilla appeared in the silent and empty banquet hall.

"Hey, Brian, you are too good. Victor already knew that the impostor Reckney, the 'Big Mistress', was no match for you."

The observer's beholder's voice suddenly sounded beside the two, "Because only Victor is the most perfect creation of the Great Mistress."

Brian looked in the direction of the sound, and he saw Victor dancing with four snake-like eye stalks, sticking out his long tongue, and his grinning face was full of flattering expressions.

It looked like a puppy lying at the door, waiting for the owner to throw him a bone.

"Hey, you have to know that this demiplane was created by Victor." Seeing that the other party didn't reply, the observer beholder said again: "Victor knows everything that happened here, so Victor Sensing that you have killed Reckney, then..."

"No!"

Brian raised his hand to interrupt the beholder's words, and emphasized blankly: "This demiplane is mine, and I got it after killing Reckney."

The drow girl next to him also followed his words and deliberately took two steps forward.

"Uh..." The observer beholder was about to refute, as if sensing something was wrong, he quickly apologized and said, "Vector knows, Victor knows that this demiplane is yours..."

"This demiplane belongs to me, there is absolutely no need for you to know." Brian interrupted his words again, speaking in a light tone.

"Of course, the demiplane must belong to you, what Victor means is..."

Seeing Brian's reticent appearance, the observer's beholders circled around the two anxiously, eager to explain to him like ants on a hot pan.

Bryan didn't accept his tricks, and with a deadpan expression, he forcibly stopped his words, "I don't care what you mean, this demiplane belongs to me now."

"Of course Victor knows about you." The observer beholder said anxiously.

"Nonsense, this is mine!" Brian replied in Victor's familiar tone.

Santilla, who was stern, looked at Brian's serious expression and almost couldn't help laughing.

"Damn!" The beholder who was on the verge of collapse finally couldn't help but swear, and said excitedly:
"Can you still have a pleasant chat with Victor? Without Victor's help, it would be impossible for you to find the ranger. If you can't find the ranger, you will be trapped in the middle of nowhere forever just like Victor. In the plane. Didn’t you see it? Victor is thinking of you, but you don’t appreciate it at all. It hurts Victor’s heart too much. Woooooooo... Brian, you shameless , if it wasn't for Victor's intentional release of water in the Underdark, how could you get..."

"Okay, shut up!" Brian raised his hand to interrupt the beholder's increasingly vigorous words, not intending to tease him any more.

"I can give you this half-plane and leave it to you to manage." He straightened his expression, looked solemnly at the beholder floating in front of him with a flattering expression, and said:
"However, I have a condition. I need to integrate the mansion of another dimension of your former master, the missionary mage, with this demiplane..."

"Wait a moment!"

The beholder stretched out a blinking eye stalk, interrupted Brian's words, flashed the huge single eye in the center of the fleshy ball, and looked at him suspiciously:
"Victor understands, Brian, you sixth son, you shameless bastard, you have been playing with Victor's ideas since the Underdark. You must have taken a fancy to Victor's talent, see After getting on Victor is the most perfect creation of the "Big Mistress", so I want to let Victor, who is finally free, be your magic pet. Victor tells you, this is absolutely impossible! From now on, The demiplane belongs to Victor, and freedom belongs to Victor..."

While talking, the observer beholder seemed to feel something was wrong with the surrounding atmosphere. He secretly glanced at the two of them, then quickly stopped talking, showing a flattering expression, and said with a smile:
"Hey... Actually, Victor was joking with you just now, Brian, don't worry, as long as you are willing to hand over the half-plane to Victor's management and not let Victor be your magic pet, Wei Kurt listens to you in everything, what do you think?"

"Okay, I promise you, I will make a cooperation agreement for you when the work here is over." Brian thought for a while, and agreed to the observer's conditions, "In order to test your sincerity of cooperation, now Lead the way."

In fact, the only thing he cares about in this demiplane is the time velocity which is 5 times different from that of the main material plane.

Owning this demiplane means giving him 5 times more time to learn his magic knowledge and consolidate his own strength.

As for the purpose of merging the different dimensional spaces of the preaching mages together, it is only to allow the students of the Magic Academy to take shape at the fastest speed and develop their own spellcasting organization.

And the observer beholder in front of him can just act as the guardian of the demiplane, and he never planned to take this noisy guy as his magic pet.

"Okay!" Seeing Brian nodding, the Observer Beholder showed excitement, and quickly acted as the perfect leader, looking for the location of Ranger Azara together.

Led by Victor, they walked through the corridors of the manor and came to a door where they were resting.

"Reckney is very cunning." Victor explained to the two the purpose of bringing them here, "but he still can't escape Victor's eyes, after all, Victor is the most perfect creation of the Great Mistress , Victor is an observer beholder, and nothing that happens on the demiplane can escape Victor's eyes."

"Victor saw with his own eyes that Reckney sealed Azara in a different-dimensional space." The observer beholder said as he knocked open the door of the lounge, "If you want to find the location of the different-dimensional space, you must find Four magic paintings, as long as the four magic paintings are put together, we will find a portal through the space of another dimension for us."

After following the beholder into the room, Brian found the lounge to be warm and smell of wood smoke.

The furnishing is plush and charming, with conversation chairs and sofas arranged.

A large painting of a forest hung on the west wall, a fireplace crackled along the east wall, and above the mantelpiece hung a portrait of two people, one of whose face had been scratched with ink.

"This forest painting is one of the keys to the space of another dimension." The beholder pointed at a beautiful woman with ink splashed on her face in the painting with her eye stalks and said:

"This beautiful woman seems to be called Riraya, and she looks like Azara's lover. When Victor was chatting with him, he found out that this woman betrayed him, so he was splashed with ink."

Brian didn't focus on the story, and directly signaled the drow girl next to him to put away the magic painting.

Under the leadership of Victor, they came to a small restaurant again.

The room was dimly lit, and a small gold sconce stood on a rectangular dining table with a silver set that could easily seat six, but the chairs that accompanied the silver were the only ones that showed regular signs of use.

A large painting of a banquet hangs on the east wall.

This is a picture of a gathering of the Harper Alliance. Through the terrain, Brian can judge that the location should be in the Shadow Valley. He also saw the sage Elminster and Lady Storm of the Shadow Valley in the painting.

There is no doubt that everyone but Azara has been splattered with ink.

After Santilla rolled up the magic painting, they came to a guest room.

This bedroom has a double bed and a spacious wardrobe full of formal and informal clothes.

On the north wall hangs a large painting of a Peng bird flying.

"The roc in the painting is Azara's animal companion." Victor explained to the two, "This is the companion that Azara raised since he was a child, but Azara said that this roc also betrayed him, Released in the Valley of Shadows."

After taking the magic painting, they went to a cell in the backyard and took the magic painting from the south wall that showed Azara being imprisoned by the Harper members.

Then, Victor took them to Azara's bedroom.

"There is a portal leading to another dimension hidden in this bedroom." Victor said to Bryan, "As long as you use the magic painting to open the seal of the bedroom, you can pass through the portal and find Azara's location."

Brian gave Santilla a glance, and the drow girl holding the magic painting immediately spread it all out and laid it flat on the ground.

Accompanied by the strange light of the four spells, a huge one-eyed phantom condensed in the air, and shot a ray similar to "dispelling magic" toward the door of the bedroom.

In an instant, the one-eyed phantom disappeared, the four magic paintings spontaneously ignited, and the door of the bedroom opened in response.

Using detection magic and psionic energy, Brian carefully probed the interior of the bedroom. After confirming that it was correct, he walked in under the guidance of the beholder Victor.

The bedroom furniture and ornate decorations make it clear that this is Azara's room.

In the center of the room is a queen-size bed for four, upholstered in blue velvet, alongside a dark wooden wardrobe and a bedside table with a vase of freshly picked flowers and a leather-bound diary.

A door on the east wall leads to a private bathroom with a mirrored vanity.

Brian nodded slightly, walked to the bedside table, carefully picked up the diary, and quickly browsed through the contents through reading magic.

There is no doubt that the diary on the bedside table was left by Azara.

From the contents recorded in it, he learned that during the period when the other party was captured, Azara would write regularly, and it wasn't until Reckney's arrival that these works became more and more irregular.

Azara thinks that 50 years have passed in the Wisteria Valley, but in reality only about ten years have passed on the Material Plane.

He also claimed in his diary that he was lying to believe that the Harpers said they would find a cure for himself, and that he feared that the Harpers were just biding their time until they could kill him.

Therefore, he has been studying the method of escaping from the demiplane from beginning to end, and the beholder tyrant who suddenly appeared in the demiplane is the key to his escape from Wisteria Valley.

He believes that if he can get close to Reckney, he can lure the beholder to reveal information about how to escape Wisteria Valley, or manipulate the beholder's reality-warping magic to create an exit from the demiplane.

Azara's last note, though, about his fear that Reckney suspects that the ink on his plan here has been smudged, as if he'd been interrupted while writing the sentence.

Apparently, the beholder tyrant sensed his plan and had him imprisoned.

"Let's go." Brian greeted Santilla and Victor when he saw the portal appearing in the corner.

"Vector is not going." The Observer Beholder said to Brian suspiciously:
"Once we leave here, Victor is worried that he won't be able to find it here. Victor will also use the growth of the half-plane to enhance his own strength. Victor will never leave the half-plane!"

"Let's go." Brian glanced at the shameless beholder, knowing that this guy was fighting wits with the air again, so he didn't bother to talk to him, and entered a different dimension with Santilla.

They pass through the portal and appear in a library.

The warm candlelight illuminates everything in the room, the walls of the two bookshelves extend to the ceiling, and a mobile floating ladder can be used to access books at higher places.

In the center of the room was an armchair and a desk, upon which books were piled untidily, many lying open beside a bottle of ink and a quill.

And the fallen ranger Azara was sitting in an armchair at this moment, flipping through a book in his hand.

"Hello, outsiders." The handsome ranger Azala put down the book in his hand, and asked politely and friendlyly: "Excuse me, who are you and what is the purpose of coming here?"

In Brian's impression, after the ranger Azara was rescued, he participated in the battle to recover the Shadow Valley with the player group, and eventually became the lord of the valley.

It is said that after 50 years of imprisonment in the demiplane, after he was freed, his strength not only advanced to a medium legend, but also inherited his father's behest and became the Ranger Chosen of the Forest Goddess Melika.

This made him the most outstanding representative of the children of the Seven Sisters of the Northland.

Thinking of this, he signaled Santilla not to speak, and let himself deal with it.

"We are mages from Waterdeep City." Brian did not immediately reveal his true identity, but calmly said to the ranger, "His Excellency Helast, the king of the Lost City of the Earth Leys, is here to track down a case that was captured by the beholder tyrant Lei. The treasure that Kenney stole was found here by accident."

"I see, it seems that Victor must have told you many things." The ranger's gentle eyes flashed a gleam of joy, and he said with a smile: "Since you have found this place, you obviously killed Reckney, I am right ?"

"You're right, the poor man trapped here by the beholder." Bryan nodded slightly, "Gods are merciful, they let us find you here."

"Thank you, enthusiastic adventurers."

The ranger got up from the armchair, saluted Brian respectfully, and said politely, "You killed Reckney, and you must have found a way to leave the demiplane, if possible, please take me away together .”

"I'm very sorry, but we can't take you away for the time being." Brian refused his request, "The leader of the Harper Alliance, Ms. Storm told me that you have got corruption, and you must never be allowed to leave the half-plane."

Hearing Bryan mentioning the Harper Alliance, the smile on Ranger Azara's face disappeared, revealing contempt that could hardly be concealed, and said to him, "Your Excellency, do you think I look like a fallen man suffering from corruption?" ?”

"In fact, during my 50 years of imprisonment, I have already healed my spiritual trauma." He assured Brian: "If you don't believe me, you can take me to Aunt Storm and ask her to confirm See if I've really recovered."

Bryan didn't speak, but Santilla answered, "And then? And the moment we take you out of the demiplane, you immediately activate the teleportation scroll to escape, right?"

After being told that, the ranger Azara's face changed slightly, and finally he no longer concealed his previous polite and elegant expression, showing a ferocious face, and roared viciously:

"I'm not wrong at all! It's the harpers who are wrong, what 'overthrow tyranny, all people are equal!' Fuck me! After they overthrow it, they don't care, wait until it's unbalanced, then overthrow, they're a bunch of insanity idealist."

"They are a group of lunatics! A group of extremely hypocritical people!"

"The only right choice is to take refuge in Cyric's embrace." He looked mad, and said in a hoarse voice full of anger:

"Because anyone who dares to oppose Cyric will die! Everyone must bow before his supreme power and offer him the blood of those foolish people who do not believe in the only true God. Only those who know how to fear and respect those in power, kill Only those who are weak, hypocritical, and false prophets. Kill those stupid people who resist the Church of Cyric and advocate peace, order, and law, so that all living beings can be equal..."

Hearing the other party mention Cyric, Brian couldn't help but his eyelids twitched.

Cyric, a god with powerful divine power, is also known as: Prince of Lies, Prince of Madness, Dark Sun, Black Sun, God of Madness.

This is a narrow-minded, self-centered, and extremely extreme deity.

He considers himself superior to all gods, and has a large number of followers on the mainland. He attracts those mortals who thirst for power with evil brilliance, and makes them be swallowed coldly by the flames like moths.

The third death of Mystra, the goddess of magic, was the assassination of this god.

Although they have been imprisoned by the gods of the Pantheon for thousands of years, the shadows of Cyric's followers are still active on the stage of the mainland from time to time.

"It seems that he is terminally ill." Brian didn't want to talk nonsense with him, and said to Santilla, "then there is no need to persuade him, let's get ready to do it."

Santilla nodded approvingly.

"Go to hell, you hypocrites, you stupid people who dare to resist the only truth." The hideous Azara's whole body trembled, and waves of evil energy surged out of his body.

The warm and bright library also disappeared in an instant, turning into a dark and empty space.

"Could it be influenced by the "Book of Siri"..." Brian guessed the problem, and finally understood why he was imprisoned here.

Immediately afterwards, he saw two long swords and short swords wrapped in dark energy emerge from Azara's hands out of thin air, charging towards him at a dizzying speed.

"You don't have to interfere, let me do it!"

Brian quickly reminded Santilla, and handed an amethyst dagger to her, then raised the staff, and the spell condensed and formed by the metamagic specialty "Instant Spell" was suddenly released.

——"Seven Rings Spell: Force Field Prison!"

A boxy light blue force field cage was drawn by him with his staff, and under the control of his mind, it fell from the sky, trapping the ranger who just arrived.

"Bang! Bang!"

Azala's long sword slashed out, and the cage shattered like fragile glass.

Seeing the strength displayed by the other party, Brian showed a look of surprise on his face. He did not expect that as an arcanist in the field of creation, the cage released by the other party could be broken so easily by the other party.

Feeling the sharp sword wind that was about to sweep towards his body, with a move of his mind, he disappeared on the spot with a flash of magic.

——"The Star of Avandor!"

Nineteen sparkling tiny meteors were shining brightly in the darkness. Under Brian's control, these meteors dragged streamers like thin lines and struck towards Azara.

Although Azara looked crazy, he still maintained a certain degree of sobriety and fighting instinct.

I saw this ranger who is proficient in dual wielding, with two sharp swords in his hand, one long and one short, dancing two impenetrable sword nets, hitting all the meteors, bursting out clusters of brilliant magic flames.

——"Shadow tentacles!"

——"Crystal thorn!"

Brian's magic didn't stop because of this, dozens of tentacles transformed from shadow energy and celestial energy, took advantage of Azara's resistance to the meteor, and entangled him like mad snakes dancing wildly.

While moving swiftly, avoiding the tentacles' entanglement, the ranger raised his sword and slashed. When he made a passage through the tentacles, his figure suddenly turned into a gleam of light and disappeared.

——"Nine-ring spell: Ice Rage!"

Brian stood calmly on the spot, using the arcane shaping feature to condense the evocation spell into a wide ice giant sword.

When the figure of the ranger appeared above him strangely, with two sharp swords slashing at his head with a murderous aura, Brian, who had been prepared for a long time, swung his sword to meet him with his once incomparably skilled swordsmanship.

"boom!"

The moment the three weapons collided, the great ice sword in Brian's hand burst suddenly, and the cold blue and white energy, centered on his right hand holding the sword, suddenly spewed out, freezing everything around in an instant, turning into white. A vast expanse.

The ranger who was facing him head on was startled. Although he flashed past the frontal spray of ice energy in time with his flexible body, he was still brushed by the frost, so that a thin layer of frost condensed on his whole body. Both feet were frozen on the white ground.

——"Overfrequency Blast!"

——"Rainbow Jet!"

With a finger of Brian's staff, dazzling colorful energy gushes out, covering the figure that Ranger is trying to dodge, and then the rhythmic mind blast interrupts his plan to escape through displacement skills.

"Go!"

Seeing this, Brian immediately sent an order to Santilla who was hiding aside.

Before he finished speaking, Santilla, covered in thick white, appeared behind the ranger, and the sharp amethyst dagger accurately avoided the vitals and stabbed him in the body.

The task was completed, and Santilla quickly retreated, dodging to Brian's side.

Stabbed by the amethyst dagger, the ranger Azara's eyes flashed with a strange purple light, and his body staggered back, becoming weak and weak, as if he would fall to the ground at any time.

At this moment, Brian and Santilla saw at the same time, a mass of deep purple light erupted from Azara's body, and a phantom of a skull without a jaw emerged.

Although Xuying smacked his mouth funny, the words he said were cold, vicious and crazy, "Midnight bitch, you dare to sabotage my return plan. Even so, you still can't stop my footsteps, hahaha... I am the only truth among the true gods...you just wait tremblingly for me to return..."

Before the crazy words were finished, they collapsed and disappeared.

At the same time, Ranger Azara also fell on his back, unconscious due to loss of strength.

"Bryan, what happened just now." Santilla said with lingering fear, "That phantom is so terrifying. When I looked at him, I had the urge to fall into madness."

"That is the remaining power of the "Siri Book"."

Brian took a look at the unconscious ranger and explained to her: "It is very likely that Azara was dealing with the Zhentarim people, and he undoubtedly read the manuscript of the "Sirian Book", which caused his mind to be affected. , become a follower of the god of murder."

The Book of Siri is one of the most dangerous books in the realm.

It can convert any follower of other gods who hear or see it into a fanatic of Cyric, thereby destroying other gods in the realm, and making Cyric himself the only true god.

Therefore, the temples of other gods, like the Shrine of Cyric, sent agents to constantly search for its whereabouts, whether they wanted to use it as a bargaining chip or completely destroy it.

To make matters worse, there still exist some earlier drafts of the Shri-Book without enchantments.

While most of these have since been destroyed along with their creators, there may be one or two that still exist and circulate.

This shows that the influence of the Shri Sutra is still present in all the kingdoms.

It is said that the Book of Siri was made after the sacrifice of 397 scribes, and it was first used as a test on Fuzor Cherbury, lord of Zhentil Keep.

But Musk, the god of thieves at the time, happened to pretend to be the lord, and thus read the book in his stead.

"The Book of Siri" successfully weaved a web of lies in the reader's consciousness, and only after Musk gave up part of his divine power did he barely get rid of the full dominance it brought.

It can be seen from this that any mortal or god weaker than Cyric will undoubtedly be affected by the tome, let alone a mortal ranger.

Obviously, the reason why Azara was able to get rid of the control of the "Book of Siri" was not only because of the manuscript, but also because of the power of the goddess of magic.

"Let's go, the problem here has been solved, we should go back." Brian checked the ranger who was fine, carried him on his shoulders, and took Santilla away from the demiplane.

…………

(End of this chapter)