Arcane Journey

Chapter 339 The Witch

After silently eliminating the scattered guards, Brian found the location of the dungeon.

Like a ghost, he walked silently in this cold and damp dungeon.

The smoky room was dimly illuminated by two torches on the mossy walls.

In his sight, a long, low table was fixed in the center of the room, and it was covered with magic shackles forged from pure gold. On the wall opposite him were four prison cells.

Not surprisingly, Brian managed to find the ranger Azara Hawkhand in the third cell.

The chosen son of the Goddess of Magic looked miserable, huddled pitifully in the corner of the cell, on the blood-stained thin clothes, there were traces of being whipped by long whips everywhere, showing shocking bloodstains.

His feet and hands were still bound by heavy magic shackles. Brian just glanced at the magic runes on the shackles, and guessed that there were constant spells that weakened his stamina.

"Is it Azara? If you're still alive, just squeak." Brian shook his head and dropped his hood, looked at the ranger with his eyes closed and moaning weakly, and raised his voice.

After shouting, he was about to open the cell, but suddenly found that the ranger who was trapped here suddenly opened his bright eyes, looked up and saw his figure, and a look of joy appeared on his blood-stained face.

"It turned out to be Mr. Brian, ah, hiss... Praise the Queen of the Forest, I didn't expect you to save me." Accompanied by the rattling of the heavy shackles, Azara dragged his heavy body to stand while gasping for air. Got up, walked to the door of the cell, and said expectantly, "Please, let me out quickly."

Brian had an illusion, and instinctively felt that when the ranger got up, there was a clear difference from the weak and embarrassed look just now.

It's as if the other party's miserable appearance is just pretending.

Is it fake?

Brian didn't open the door of the cell, but looked at Azara vigilantly through the window, and said with a smile, "You really have good eyesight, you can recognize my identity at a glance, and you have no doubts about it. , I am really saving you, as an elite scout of the Harper Alliance, if this is how you behave, then in my opinion, you really deserve to be imprisoned here."

"Mister misunderstood." Azala in the cell immediately understood the true meaning of Brian's words when he heard the words, he smiled awkwardly, and quickly explained: "The reason why I can recognize you at a glance is to save me Yes, that's because I sense Aunt Hellen's silver fire breath on your body, obviously you have already been approved by her, and this is enough to make all the doubts in my heart go away."

"Hellen's silver fire breath?" Brian showed a puzzled look, and after carefully checking his attributes and status, he asked in confusion, "Why didn't I feel it?"

"Well, I didn't ask." After saying this, he immediately guessed the reason, and then waved his hand, the lock of the cell fell off automatically, and the door opened in response.

He thoughtfully looked at Azara who came out, with a keen sense of magic, and after sensing the natural breath emanating from the other party, he said: "So, you have received the favor of the forest goddess and become her voters."

"That's right." Azala nodded slightly, leaned against the wall of the cell with difficulty, then took a few breaths, raised her hands that were bound by shackles, and said with a wry smile: "Mr. Brian, before asking for information , can you untie my confinement first, I have been tortured by Bane's magic and I am about to go crazy."

"How to untie the shackles?" Brian looked carefully at Azara's shackles, and after seeing that the shackles were not as simple as ordinary magic equipment, he frowned and asked, "Do you know where the key is?"

"It's over..." After listening to Brian's words, Azala's heart sank to the bottom of the valley, and her happy expression turned into a bitter face, "The key to the shackles must be in the hands of Sai Luer, okay, In this case, I can only trouble you to send me to Misty Valley, and ask Aunt Storm to help me figure out a solution."

"It doesn't need to be so troublesome, I will try it first." Brian nodded slightly after looking at the confinement strength of the shackles, and then said to him, "Stand up, let me try using the disintegration technique."

"What? Lysis?"

Azara's eyes widened in surprise, seeing that Brian had raised his right hand and was about to cast a spell, he panicked and stopped him quickly: "Wait a minute! Forget it, I still want to live for two more years. Can it be used indiscriminately? You are not afraid of releasing this spell, and even I will be disintegrated together."

"Besides, it's not difficult for you to go to Misty Valley." He added the last thing.

"Don't worry, I still have a sense of proportion." Brian smiled slightly, and before the other party could speak, he cast the spell.

Azara closed her eyes in fright, showing the expression of a martyr.

While he waited tensely for seconds, a magical aura flickered, covering the shackles on his hands and feet, breaking them down into material forms in an instant, and dissipating them all in the air with a 'pop'.

"Is this the nine-ring spell?" Feeling the power gradually recovering, Azala looked at Brian in disbelief, and said in a trembling voice: "I didn't expect you to be able to control the power of the cracking spell so exquisitely, you are indeed a spell-casting genius .”

Brian accepted Azara's compliment with a slightly embarrassed expression.

In fact, the reason why he was able to manipulate the "Madunkin's Disintegration Technique" so exquisitely has nothing to do with his magical talent.

This is all due to the legendary spell "Great Destruction" bestowed upon him by Azuth, the god of mages. After he fully integrated this legendary spell through Azuth's divine power, the similar nine-ring spell came naturally. will become very proficient.

This is the same as learning the courses of the third grade, and then going to the courses of the second grade, and it is easy to master them.

In the dark prison cell, a green magic aura flashed, and the blood and injuries all over Azara's body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the whole person gradually became energetic.

"This is the ability bestowed on you by the goddess of the forest." Brian led the other party out of the cell, and asked: "It stands to reason that, as a divine force, I am afraid that you cannot be restrained by the means of confinement in the material world. Why do you Is it still so miserable?"

"You don't know about this." Azala shrugged helplessly, "If I really use this power to heal my injuries, the guards guarding the cell will definitely torture me until I am covered in bruises before giving up. In this case, I can only deliberately show an extremely weak appearance."

"If it were me, I would send a priest to stand by your side, and then whip you with a whip and heal you at the same time." Brian said to him with a smile as if he remembered something interesting.

After hearing this sentence, Azara shrunk his neck subconsciously, and said with an ugly face: "How can this group of cultists not think of such a thing that you can even think of."

"Well, pretend I didn't say it." Brian suppressed his smile, and asked in confusion:
"I have just fought against Manrason. In my opinion, as a chosen one of the forest goddess, a ranger whose strength has been raised to a medium legend, why was he hanged and hammered by a warrior and imprisoned in a cell."

"How could Manrasong be my opponent!" Azala blushed all of a sudden, arguing a little excitedly: "Even if they are with Sai Luer, they can't keep me, the reason why I will be arrested , Is it because...cough cough... careless, careless if you are not careful."

"Your so-called carelessness is probably because you were seduced by Sai Luer's beauty." Brian glanced at him and said in a teasing tone:
"I've heard that the leader of the Black Hope Legion, Seluer, was once a paladin of Tom, and he often assisted some harp players in the valley to stop the expansion of the dark trade network..."

Seeing the pale face of this thin-skinned ranger, whose ears were almost red from what he said, Brian suddenly realized that that Bane's dark guard really had an affair with Azara, no wonder This girl tortured him so badly.

"It was just an accident, and there will never be a next time." Azala snorted softly, took the initiative to go to the front, led the way for Brian, and walked towards the hidden portal in the ground together.

"Oh, that's right." Brian seemed to remember something, and asked again: "When I was going to Shadow Valley, I happened to pass by Misty Valley. Why didn't I see your mother? She won't have any accidents due to the scars of the magic net. ?”

Azala's mother was Dove Hawkhand, and after she died with the ghost prince Vatik, she wandered in the Misty Valley in the form of a soul, just like Shiron.

"That's not true, she has already gone to Waterdeep City to accompany Aunt Lila who lost her husband." Azala led him into a dark staircase, paused, looked up at the little spider that was spinning a web on the ceiling, and sighed , "When I left, I didn't even say hello to me."

Bryan followed in the footsteps of Azara, gave him a sympathetic look, and couldn't help complaining, "That's indeed a bit too irresponsible. Although they are chosen by the Goddess of Magic, their mission is very great, but You can’t ignore your family affection because of this.”

It has to be said that the Seven Northland Sisters are worthy of being the daughters of the second-generation goddess of magic. Apart from their lifestyle, they even like to raise their children.

"Yes."

Azala smiled helplessly, "However, since she was busy purifying the plague spread by the Goddess of Plague in Bow Valley and missed my coming-of-age ceremony, I have already figured it out, so I don't care much about it."

While chatting, the two arrived at the widest corridor in the underground castle.

At the end of them, there is a wide double-leaf door. Torches burn quietly on both sides of the door, illuminating the decayed and peeling murals on both sides of the corridor.

And the door at the end was obviously built recently, brand new and shiny, with a gorgeous and terrifying scene painted on the door:

A tall and ferocious figure in black armor is raising a barbed fist to beat countless weak and panicked civilians, and there is a passage on the right side in front of the door, leading to another door...

"The portal is hidden here." Azala pointed to another door, "It was here that I encountered the ambush of Man Lasong and Sai Luer."

Brian nodded slightly, and after careful confirmation and inspection, he followed Azara in carefully.

From this door was a long hall, with a gloomy atmosphere, and the green light emitted from the torches around it illuminated the room.

There are three alcoves on each side of the hall, and a statue is erected in each of them, but the statue on the far right side is lying on the ground in the appearance of slipping and falling.

On the stairs at the end of the hall was an altar made of black ore. A blood-red blanket was spread on the altar. Two candles were burning, emitting an unusual green light.

On the walls to the left, right, and behind the altar hung a long tapestry of a murderous man piercing his enemy's chest with his barbed gauntlet...

Brian waved his hand, and a spell flashed, and the tapestry was lifted by him and fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a relief-like arch carved out of unknown black marble appeared in the sight of the two of them.

"This arch is the portal to Zhentil Castle, right?" Brian looked at the ranger beside him and asked.

"That's right." Azara nodded with an ugly face, and said: "Don't act rashly, we must break through the arch within 1 minute, otherwise, Bozor will definitely notice it and send it through the teleportation method." Before surgery to stop, it's just..."

Azara didn't continue, but Brian already guessed what he meant, "It's just that this portal has divine power, and it's impossible to destroy it in a short time, right?"

"That's right." Azara nodded, "Although I am a chosen one of the Forest Goddess, I am not a spellcaster and cannot destroy it through spells."

"Then why did you break into Kragg Castle alone?" Hearing these words, Brian suddenly became curious.

"Ah... it's hard to say." Azala showed an embarrassed look.

"Since it's hard to say, then don't say it." Brian guessed his thoughts, and the other party probably wanted to use his three-inch tongue to persuade the fallen paladin Sai Luer.

From Azara's slightly painful expression at the moment, it can be seen that he has completely given up on the leader of the Black Hope Legion.

Otherwise, if he was being tortured by the whip while healing, wouldn't it all hit the dog, and it would still be a licking dog.

Carefully observing the architectural style of the portal and the faint divine power emanating from it, Brian realized until now that the two legendary spells bestowed on him by the mage god Azus had deep meanings.

"Let me do it." Without wasting time, he immediately prepared the legendary spell "Great Destruction" and released it on the portal.

With a faint golden light flashing on the portal, this arch-like building began to collapse at a speed visible to the naked eye in the blink of an eye.

In just a moment, it turned into a pile of ruins.

At this moment, a dense dark energy rose from the ruins, and in the continuous tumbling and surging, a phantom exuding a pale golden light condensed.

The phantom that suddenly appeared was tall and thin, with a nose like a shark's fin, protruding from his bony face, his eyes were like steel, his beard hung down to his waist, and his long strands of hair fluttered slightly .

"Oops, it's Bozor, the elector of the Dark Lord. How did he appear here?" After seeing the true identity of the phantom, Azara's expression changed drastically, and his whole body tensed up like a full-stringed longbow.

"Don't be nervous, it's just a phantom, nothing to be afraid of." Brian patted Ranger's shoulder with a relaxed expression, and looked at Bozor's steel-like eyes with great interest.

"Manrason, what's going on?" Bozor's majestic voice echoed in the secret room, "Who destroyed the portal, why can't I sense its location?"

"If you can't sense it, just stare wide and see who we are, and you will understand." Brian replied calmly.

"Huh?" Bozor's eyes flashed a sliver of clarity, fell on Brian, and subconsciously asked, "Who are you? How dare you sabotage my plan."

"Since when did the intelligence system of the Dark Trade Network become so bad?" Brian said in a slightly mocking tone, "Then just call it the Tinnitus Trade Network, so as not to be ashamed."

"It's you again!" Bozor recognized Brian's identity, "Mage Lord of Mokou Town, I haven't settled with you yet, yet you dare to sabotage my plan!"

"I destroyed it, what can you do to me?" Brian thought for a moment, then said provocatively, "I even exploded your portal, come and deal with me."

"..." While Azara breathed a sigh of relief, he glanced at Bryan speechlessly, obviously confused by the other party's actions.

"Hmph!" Facing Brian's provocation, Bozor's phantom said angrily, "You ignorant mortal, you think you can thwart the plan of the dark lord by this method, naive!"

"Whether it can be stopped, I don't know, but I exploded your portal to invade Shadow Valley." Brian continued, "I will also hinder all your next plans."

"It's up to you? Overestimate your own capabilities." Bozor snorted coldly, "I can kill you easily! Just entertain yourself to your heart's content and cherish the little time you have left."

"In this case, I will wait for your arrival at any time." Brian said, "When you come to Shadow Valley, the believers of the dark sun and the clone of Mansong will definitely take this opportunity to take your old nest, of course, You can also choose not to believe it."

How on earth did he know?
Bozor looked startled and fell silent, as if confirming the authenticity of Brian's words.

"Why? Still don't believe it?" Brian continued: "I already knew in advance that Mansong's vampire clone hidden in the night mask and the undead clone of Raven Fortress have set off to seek revenge for you, you The dark intelligence network system won’t be ringing in the ears again.”

It seems that he really understands the situation in Shantilburg.

Bozor was shocked by Brian's words, which made him temporarily suppress the idea of ​​going to Shadow Valley in person, and chose to believe in the power of Shadow City and the drow family, and he would be able to complete this mission.

"It seems that you really don't dare to come." Brian continued provocatively: "Then you just stay in your old den and wait for me to kill you like a boss, and then let me kill you." You put on sexy black silk and act like a drag queen."

"Mansong has personally experienced this. If you don't believe me, you can ask in person when you meet, and learn some experience about women's clothing in advance by the way." He made the last addition.

What?Manson actually did such a shameful thing?
As a voter of the Dark Lord, he could feel that what the mage lord said was true, which made him realize that he had accidentally found a handle on his nemesis Mansong, and he must humiliate the Zhentarim Creator of Hum.

"Then I'll be waiting for your arrival!"

Bozor's tone seemed to be chewing steel, and every word was murderous, "I will take out every bone of yours and crush it, and then feed them all to the dogs."

"It seems that you and the dog must have a good relationship." Brian teased: "Oh, I almost forgot, you are a dog raised by the Dark Lord, you two cherish each other."

"I……"

Bozor was furious at Bryan's joking words. He was about to fight back, but found that Bryan cast a spell, which dispelled his phantom in advance.

His words were blocked in his throat and he couldn't hold them back, so that he was shaking with anger.

"Let's go." Brian threw the Ashaba pendant to Azara, and said solemnly:

"Bozor is afraid to come to Shadow Valley for the time being. We must take advantage of this opportunity to drive out all the invaders. Your next task is to go to the Old Skull Tavern and work with Leoson to incite the residents of the valley and contact Komanso Elven Expeditionary Army."

"I see." Azara nodded solemnly, and then couldn't help asking curiously: "Mr. Brian, is Mansong really forced to wear black silk and women's clothing?"

"Of course, if you don't believe it, you can ask your mother, she is one of the leading perpetrators." Brian said to him with a smile.

The lineup of participants in this matter is very luxurious. The seven sisters of the Northland, Gailminster, directly stunned the former Zhentarim leader Mansong.

This is what Brian inadvertently learned from the mouth of the storm.

After finishing speaking, he took out a black communication crystal, "I won't go with you, I need to meet an old friend next."

"Old friend?" Azala froze for a moment, looked at Bryan, and was about to ask, but unfortunately it was too late, the other party had already stepped on the teleportation circle and disappeared.

However, with the help of the light of the magic circle, he was shocked to find that there was such a symbol printed on Brian's communication crystal: a unique pattern composed of three mountain peaks and a moon-like silver ball.

…………

In the gloomy underground palace shrouded in shadows, more than a dozen ghostly ghost lights floated in the dark hall, adding a little bit of horror to the silent atmosphere in front of me.

Shadow Valley has been recaptured by the Elven Expeditionary Army and the Valley Armed Forces!

Yada Tanshul, the second prince of the City of Shadows, brought his three brothers who came to support him. He had just arrived at the underground palace of the Lich Arokar in the Valley of Shadows, when he received this shocking news.

"The idiots of the Zhentarim!"

A gloomy and cold voice appeared from the darkness of the underground palace, accompanied by the sound of high-heeled shoes hitting the ground, a witch with loose white hair and a bright red dress appeared in the hall, "Especially Sai Lu That bitch went to attack Misty Valley with arrogance, allowing the enemy to seize the opportunity and take back Shadow Valley."

"What should we do next?" Yada glanced at Arokar, the witch who appeared from the darkness, and then at her three brothers.

Ecasia looked at a mural of an elf bathing on the wall with bright eyes. Oripa, as usual, was holding his "Goddess" Nether Ancient Sword, leaning against the pillar silently, while Agrila showed a smile. The pair closed their eyes and thought deeply.

"Sai Luer has sent me a message." The witch sat on her throne of bones, crossing her legs, revealing her long, rotten legs from the hem of her skirt.

"She has assembled her troops and is preparing to counterattack Shadow Valley. Let us cooperate with their actions and kill the armed forces of the Valley and the Elven Expeditionary Army. What do you think?"

In the hollow eye sockets of the witch, light spots the size of rice grains flickered slightly, making Yada feel an inexplicable chill.

"Not so good." Agrila opened his eyes, the deep dark eyes flashed a light red light, and analyzed: "The purpose of the Zhentarim is to conquer the Valley of Shadows, and the purpose of the Marimoda family is to conquer the Twisted Tower. Establish a stronghold from the Underdark to the surface, so that they can hunt elves on the surface, and our goal is to tear the magic net completely."

"If we assist them in occupying the Shadow Valley, we will undoubtedly create opportunities for the enemy and destroy the plan of the Lost Lady." He added in a gentle tone, "After all, the Shadow Valley witch Hiron has sacrificed her silver fire, It has seriously hindered the progress of our plan, and we must not delay it any longer."

"Then what do you mean?" the witch asked, frowning her skinny eyebrows.

"It's very simple." Agrila sneered, "Defend the underground palace, and then take advantage of the Zhentarim and the drow family to delay the enemy, and speed up the progress of tearing the magic net."

"Yes, this is indeed the best way at the moment, and it is also Elsevier's real idea." The witch agreed with Prince Shade, and then changed the subject, her cold tone made the whole hall seem to be exuding a bone-chilling chill:
"But Ms. Lost is the goddess of keeping secrets, and she doesn't want her secrets to be known by too many people, so seeing you shadow people staying in my dungeon, just thinking about it can make people sick. "

"Actually, I think so too." Agrela took the initiative to take a step forward and said coldly, "After all, I never planned to stay in the underground palace of a lich like you, but chose to arrange it on the periphery. A trap, quietly waiting for the prey to take the bait."

"And what surprised me even more is that you still feel nauseated and nauseated." He stared at the witch on the throne of bones, and said in bad words:
"Do you feel sick? Miss Arocar, I have heard that as long as it is related to the restoration of the body, even if it allows you to apply the essence of life energy on your loose and rotten skin, You're willing to do it, after all you don't even have a sense of smell and taste, it's not a problem for you at all, is it? So I'm curious, what can make you sick? Please don't take this question as an insult and provocation , I am really curious, what is it that makes the Lich feel sick?"

"What is it, don't you know in your heart?" The witch's shriveled chest rose and fell, and she retorted without showing any weakness:
"What should I call you? Do I call you Prince Tanshul, or Little Prince Licking the Dog? So I'm also curious, what kind of taste do you have, that you are so obsessed with Ms. Polaris, even if she is in an ominous old age, You are unwilling to give up. It's a pity that in the end, people didn't look at you once until they died. Little prince, please don't take this question as an insult and provocation. I am also really curious about where Bryce is. , Fascinated you so much, I can’t forget it until now, and even sent people to the Underdark to find the floating tomb where she once fell, are you planning to do something with the rubber model in the tomb?”

"I don't need to worry about that." Agrela said angrily:

"It turns out that this disgusts you. Of course, this is understandable. After all, your taste is unique. Yes, your taste is unique. Even your two daughters have very unique taste. After all, they are biological. It's understandable. Otherwise, the three of you, mother and daughter, wouldn't serve a man together. What's even more amazing is that the two daughters joined forces to kill their mother in order to fight for power and profit. In the end, they could only be forced to transform into a lich. Turning into a bastard with dark, yellow and moldy skin, and dreaming of being a girl in heat every day, are you planning to show ghouls in heat? Tsk tsk tsk..."

Seeing the scene where the two faced each other without showing any weakness, Yada rubbed his head with a headache, he knew something like this would happen.

After all, the witch Arokar was not only an arcanist in the Netheril period, but also Egrila's former rival, because she tried to steal Lady Polaris' tomb many times, claiming that there was a Netheril scroll hidden inside. All were stopped by Egrila.

Before the magic net collapsed, in order to fight for the right to inherit the Floating Void City, she had been assassinated by her two daughters, and was finally forced to transform into a lich, surviving to this day.

"It can be seen." Just when Yada was having a headache and didn't know how to persuade Egrila, Ecasia came over and said with a smile, "This witch must have been a beautiful woman when she was alive."

Does this need to be said?
Yada didn't bother to talk to her younger brother who couldn't walk when he saw a beautiful woman.

"We are here to complete the Lost Lady's project." He reminded Ecasia in a stern tone, "It's not about falling in love with the witch."

"She died once, what are you afraid of." Ecacia said unconvinced, "She won't eat you again."

"But she is a lich." Yada repeated.

"So?" Ecacia said indifferently, "I'm still a ghost. A ghost and a lich are a perfect match. Don't you want to try it?"

"...a three-year-old child knows that liches are dangerous." Yada said dryly. After saying this, he couldn't help but recall the absurd thing Ekasia did in Cormanthor.

Relying on his ghost ranger's tracking ability, he chased a Benor Lich—a lich transformed from an elf, through at least three dungeons, and finally pinned her in a corner, raised her bony chin, and ruthlessly He kissed him so hard that he couldn't bear to look directly...

"But I'm more dangerous than a lich." Ecasia chuckled, and before leaving, she didn't forget to look back at the witch who had been trembling from Agrila's anger.

…………

(End of this chapter)