Chapter 98 The strange fog
The dim candles illuminated the moss-mottled stone walls, and the clanking sound of armor passed through the dark and damp corridor.
This is the headquarters of the Knights of the Trident in Thunder City, or to be precise, it is the dungeon below the Knights' headquarters.
Different from the small dark room in the necropolis, there are no skeletons telling ghost stories here, only the most original punishments, as well as screams and wails that penetrate deep into the soul.
Strictly speaking, the Knights, as the lord's army, do not have law enforcement rights in a municipality like Thunder City.
However, if there is a warrant from the lord, it will not be a problem.
The man holding the candlestick walked to the end of the corridor, stopped in front of a wooden door with an iron edge, and turned his attention to the knight's retinue guarding the door.
"Where's Mel?"
The young knight's retinue stood up straight with a nervous expression and glanced at the wooden door next to him.
… Inside.
The moss-covered wooden door exudes an stale atmosphere, like a back door leading to the depths of hell.
Listening to the faint begging for mercy and pitiful screams coming from behind the door, the man frowned slightly, but in the end he said nothing and just reached out to hold the door handle.
With a soft creaking sound, he pushed open the old wooden door and walked in. What hit him was the thick smell of blood and the pungent smell of rotten fat.
The armed priest with a mace on his waist stood outside the compartment of the interrogation room and cast an unexpected look at the knight who walked into the door, as if he did not expect him to appear here.
"What kind of wind brought you here."
"As ordered by the lord, I am here to see the progress of your work."
The man named Miles looked around and his eyes fell on the closed door of the interrogation room.
There is something he did not say.
Local citizens were quite critical of their actions, and the public dissatisfaction even reached the point where the lords had to respond.
The interrogation room was busy, and he vaguely heard the sound of hammering nails, so he asked casually.
"Mel is inside?"
"Yes." The armed priest nodded and said with a smile, "Besides that, there is one of Miranda's accomplices... He refused to admit anything at first, but his poor acting skills failed to fool Knight Commander Mel's eyes, and in the end we pried his mouth open."
Miles nodded and continued to ask.
"Then what? This is the first accomplice you have caught."
"The eleventh one," the armed priest said proudly, "Thanks to Mr. Meyer's reasoning, we are getting closer and closer to the truth."
"Eleven." Miles did not show a happy expression when he heard this. Instead, he frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "Why the necromancer... actually has so many accomplices."
Generally speaking, with so many people united around a necromancer, this is no longer an ordinary criminal gang -
but a secret religion.
Putting the candlestick in his hand on the wooden table nearby, he did not go in to disturb his colleagues' work. Instead, he sat at the table with a small window and stretched out his hand to pull up the partition.
The moment he pulled up the partition, the thick smell of blood wafted into the tip of his nose.
Although he had tortured and extorted confessions from many guilty people, the horror of the scene in front of him still made his face tighten uncontrollably.
I saw the man sitting on the interrogation chair, with a bloody white cloth covering his head.
There was a thick rope hanging around his neck, and dozens of iron nails penetrated his shoulders, arms, and even knees and ankles, nailing him to the chair.
Other than the word "horrible," Miles couldn't think of a more appropriate description.
There is not even a single piece of intact skin on this guy's body. It must be like this in the torture chamber of the Hell Demon City.
In order to prevent the prisoner from fainting, the interrogation room is also equipped with a trainee armed priest who releases healing spells and holy light magic from time to time.
Because it was covered by the white cloth, Miles couldn't see the prisoner's face.
But he could clearly see that the young man with the apprentice knight badge had a face as white as paper, with a heavy bead of sweat on his forehead, as if he might faint at any time... One can imagine how many times he used the Holy Light today.
However, in contrast, Knight Mel still had a meticulous expression on his face.
His fingers were crossed on the table, and his concentrated eyes were like torches, as if no evil could hide in front of those eyes.
That perseverance is certainly admirable.
But unconsciously, a slight chill arose in Miles's heart.
Let it end quickly.
He couldn't help but pray silently for the prisoner in his heart.
At this time, Knight Mel cleared his throat and waved to signal the executioner holding nails and hammers to retreat.
Knight Commander Mel motioned to the people standing nearby to pull off the white cloth on his head, and at the same time recited the incantation to summon the Holy Light.
Bathed in the milky white holy light, the prisoner sitting on the interrogation chair regained some energy.
As a mouthful of bruises coughed out from his mouth, the insane voice seemed to become a little clearer.
"I...I am guilty. The day before yesterday...no, it should have been last month. I did see Miranda."
Everyone in the interrogation room except the prisoner was shocked. Knight Commander Mel stared at the prisoner who spoke slowly and asked sharply.
"Tell me the specific time and place!"
Black blood ran along the cracked corner of his mouth and onto his heels. The prisoner named Bracken gasped lightly and spoke, letting the fragments of consciousness spread out at will.
He can be sure.
I don’t know the guy named Miranda, let alone what he committed.
But——
Him He knew that if he answered like this, the Lord Knight in front of him would definitely not be satisfied.
Something seemed to be close to his ear, whispering beside his shaky consciousness.
"Have you really never seen it before?" 』
Isn’t it?
Bracken stubbornly answered the voice that emerged in his heart, but what he got was an unquestionable response.
What you have seen... think of it quickly. 』
I...have seen it?
The trance-like black shadow drifted to the side of Knight Commander Mel, seeming to overlap with that majestic and holy figure.
Faced with the unquestionable sight and the faint echo, Bracken suddenly couldn't make up his mind again.
If he really has never seen it... why is he sitting here?
Why was he subjected to such torture?
H There is no doubt——
H He has indeed met Miranda, the crazy alchemist and necromancer.
It’s more than that.
He is still his servant, serving the same god as him - the god from Chaos.
"The time...should be the day when Archduke Campbell held a triumphal ceremony. The location seems to be...the Pavilion of the Sword and the Broken Sword." Under the influence of the force majeure, he said these sober words in a trance, "I saw that face, it was...a face that is hard to forget after seeing it. Handsome is not enough to describe it all, he seems not to belong to the world..."
The Pavilion of the Sword and the Broken Sword!
The moment they heard the name, everyone present except Miles showed excited expressions on their faces.
Especially Mel.
He was so excited that he wanted to stand up.
All the prisoners they interrogated all mentioned that place -
The tavern behind the Thunder City Adventurer's Guild!
"Then what? Keep talking!" Mel clenched his fists, leaned forward, and stared at him, "What is your organization! What evil spirits do you serve? Were you holding a meeting that day? And - what did you see at the meeting!"
This was the most sober-minded of all the prisoners he interrogated.
When other prisoners talked about this, most of them either went crazy or died.
Obviously.
Miranda placed an evil curse on them, preventing them from revealing anything about the organization.
This guy is in good shape!
Meir has full confidence that he can open a breakthrough with this guy!
As if being infected by the strong aura on his body, Bracken slowly raised his head, and slowly opened his mouth under the guidance of the voice in the darkness, softly spitting out the truest lie.
Bracken shook his head, his eyes gradually became hollow, as if he had changed into a different person, and he whispered softly.
"He is the name of the mist of mystery, the embodiment of knowledge and conspiracy, and one of the great beings wandering in the chaos——"
While speaking, Bracken stared directly at Mel with his empty eyes, and his voice gradually became crazy.
"At the same time, He is also the true God that we, who are thirsty for the truth, truly serve!"
The devil finally showed its tail.
In the face of the Holy Light, all evil will have no escape!
Looking at the evil energy that suddenly emerged from the prisoner's body and his almost self-destructive speech, all the knights present widened their eyes.
Especially Miles who was watching.
When he saw this poor guy before, he was completely blinded by the woman's kindness. He even had doubts for a moment, suspecting that Knight Commander Mel had arrested the wrong person.
It now appears——
Mel was right.
Only cultists will pronounce the name of the foreign god without hesitation, and the aura exuding from that guy is undoubtedly the evil energy in chaos.
That is pure evil than the undead!
Miles had a look of shame on his face.
Shock and astonishment were written on the faces of every knight present.
Only Mel is different.
His face was not only shocked, but also had a hint of ecstasy!
Norwell!
The strange fog!
That's it——
He should have guessed it was this person a long time ago!
That voice in the dark has been whispering in his ear, and now he finally knows what the name of that voice is!
That is the embodiment of knowledge and conspiracy!
Only those who pursue the truth can face the truth!
An unprecedented joy filled every cell in his body, spread to every inch of his nerves, and even swallowed up his soul.
There was a hint of fanaticism on Mel's face, and even he himself couldn't tell for whom it was fanaticism.
"Then what! Miranda, what did he say to you?"
The prisoner has completely given up resistance and told all the information without reservation.
"He... did not talk to me, but to a woman."
"A woman?"
"Yes, a woman with freckles on her face, if I remember correctly... Her name is Chris, and she belongs to the Silver Scimitar."
All the clues are connected together.
The truth then emerged!
Mel's index finger trembled slightly, and her bloodshot pupils jumped for joy.
The name of the evil organization is Silver Scimitar!
The woman named Chris is an important member of the organization!
Different from those peripheral members, this woman had direct contact with Miranda and was suspected to have a close relationship!
As long as this guy is caught and subjected to the necessary torture, he will not only be able to find Miranda's hiding place, but also uproot the entire cult organization!
Meier stared into the prisoner's eyes and interrogated him in a tone that left no room for doubt.
"Tell me, where is the woman named Chris? Where is Miranda!"
Bracken stared at the knight commander with empty eyes, and his shaky consciousness seemed to be about to leave the broken body.
The first thing to disappear is vision.
Then touch and hearing...
But for some reason, even if his senses fell into darkness, he could still hear the underworld voice and respond soberly.
‘Tell him. 』
Tell him what? I have no idea.
『You know, thinking about it...』
What are you thinking about?
While Bracken was thinking this, he suddenly saw a mist and a forest covered by the mist.
There seemed to be a wooden city, or town, in the forest, and figures in twos and threes were walking towards the town.
He knows it there.
To be precise, every adventurer recognizes it.
Under the gaze of a pair of eyes, Bracken, who had been silent for a long time, slowly opened his mouth.
"The maze...the misty forest and the town...there..."
"Who is there!"
Mel roared excitedly, but this time Bracken didn't react at all.
The trainee priest standing nearby came to his senses and quickly cast the Holy Light spell, but no matter how hard he tried, the man could no longer breathe.
Miles, who pushed the door and walked into the interrogation room, went straight to the interrogation chair, reached out and checked the prisoner's breathing, and found that he was out of breath.
“He is dead.”
Miles took his hand back, looked at Knight Commander Mel and another jury knight who stood up from behind the interrogation table, and continued with a serious expression.
"Norville, the Fog of Strangeness... one of the Four Evil Spirits of Chaos. If what he tells the truth, then we may be in big trouble. This Miranda may be more dangerous than we imagined."
"Let everyone gather together! Get ready to go to the maze!"
The deputy nodded seriously.
「Yes!」
The location of the target has been determined, it is in the foggy town on the fourth floor of the maze...that is the outpost of the Adventurer's Guild operating in the maze.
Although he had been there before, he did not search carefully and just handed the wanted notice to the local guard.
Now it seems that it is necessary to focus on searching there.
Miles stepped forward and reached out to hold his shoulder.
"Let me and my men go with you. It will be better to have more people to take care of you."
Mel wanted to nod, but a senseless suspicion came to his mind, so that he changed his mind.
"No need, I can handle it alone."
Miles glanced at him in surprise.
"Are you sure?"
"Waiting for my good news."
Mel patted his shoulder and then snapped his fingers.
With a soft click, the prisoner sitting on the interrogation chair fell into the bottomless abyss together with the chair under him.
The straight rope snapped Bracken's neck.
From the beginning, he had no intention of letting this guy get out of the cell alive.
Looking at the cruel Mel and the others leaving, Miles could not help but hold his breath. He always felt that this colleague seemed to be a different person.
At the same time, Chris, who was working as a "thief profession and novice guide NPC" in the necropolis, suddenly sneezed without warning and muttered something coldly.
"Damn it, who are you scolding me..."
On the other side, deep in the misty forest, in a small town run by the Adventurer's Guild.
A young man with pale skin was huddled in a narrow and dark hotel room, covering his head with a quilt and shivering.
Ever since he inadvertently completed the ancient ritual, the voice in the darkness has been chasing him...
He only regrets one thing now, and that is that he should not try random things.
Listening to the nagging whispers, Miranda roared under the quilt.
"That's enough...get out of my head!"
No response——
As if mocking his incompetence, the voice continued.
』
(End of this chapter)