Stray: Chapter 97 Church of Silence

Roscoe City is located in Willard and is relatively remote. Garland and Alban are bounded by the Ash Mountains, which extend north to Willard and end not far from the city of Roscoe. If we follow the normal way of travel, this team is estimated to have to travel for half a month, but with fixed teleportation coordinates, everything is much simpler - it can be seen that Vergil has put a lot of effort into the teleportation coordinates set up by himself. Fragile and expensive, it simply won't stand up to a few uses. His every action and every word are filled with the desire for success.

Fortunately, the location near Caleb was ambiguous, and they hadn't had time to check in at Alban. Otherwise, this way from the private teleportation coordinates will definitely be judged as illegal invasion by Willard.

After thinking about it, Nemo still held his new staff unaccustomedly, and stepped into the teleportation array with the team.

The difference between a personal teleportation array and a public one is huge. This time, it wasn't just Oliver, who was suspected of being in a halo teleportation array, and Nemo almost sprayed the dried plums out of his mouth. If a large public teleportation array feels like a wooden-wheeled carriage galloping across a pebble riverbed, a personal teleportation array…

Nimo only felt like he was hanging from the blades of a windmill and faced a hurricane that could blow livestock away.

Fergil seemed to be accustomed to this kind of tossing for a long time. He took care of the small things on his body without changing his face, and then smiled apologetically at them. This time, even Fuller's goat didn't stand firm, and grimaced, he squatted forward, and the package on his back rushed forward, almost being pierced by the horns of the goat.

Adrian just slightly arched his waist and lowered his center of gravity. He stood upright the moment he landed. At this moment, he was frowning at the scene in front of him.

It's almost nine o'clock at night, and it's already dark. The humidity here is much heavier than in the desert, and the stars in the sky are somewhat blurred by thin clouds. And in front of them was a forest, or the remains of a forest.

The trees and shrubs on the land where they stand are still lush and lush, with insects chirping from the gaps in the fallen leaves from time to time, and there is a dead place in front of them - the general appearance of the trees is still there, just the branches All are dry and burnt black. Although the soil was wet, no plants were seen growing. Not to mention ordinary animals, even demons and monsters are rare.

The pale and thin mist flows slowly against the ground, and it is dead silent. Beyond the layers of dark branches, Nemo could see the spire of an odd building in the distance.

"Silent Church." Adrian said in a deep voice, with a little more chill in his tone. He finally showed the appearance of a judge knight commander, and the murderous aura and hostility around him instantly rose.

"Control it, Cross." There was no joke in Ann's tone. "That's not the enemy for now."

Adrian adjusted his breath a few times and quickly suppressed the killing intent. "Sorry, everyone," he said flatly.

"I understand." Duran Fergil smiled uncomfortably. "If you want to discuss it, let's take it now. If you don't prepare, it will be troublesome for everyone to move forward."

"Why?" Oliver frowned slightly.

Fergil didn't know which bag on his back took out a gnawed apple. He lowered his body and rolled the round fruit towards the dead land - after crossing the clear boundary like a knife, the original rosy and attractive fruit quickly decayed, and soon only a little black and yellow dry debris remained. .

"Unless measures are taken in advance, ordinary surface creatures can't hold it." Virgil wiped his hands, "This is still their lowest barrier."

Nemo grabbed a little nervously at the little leather pouch hanging from his belt - he wasn't sure if the Sandhorn prunes would survive this, and eating ashes wouldn't help him hold back expression.

"The weaker the vitality, the better the protection." Fergil seemed to see through Nemo's thoughts. "If it's just food, just protect it with a little abyss magic. But if you want to bring people in, you must either use extremely strong surface magic to hold it, or you must ensure a stable output of abyss magic. Believe me, there are other things behind. Barrier, the people of the Church of the Abyss will usually transport... uh, other creatures in carriages engraved with the protective circle."

"How do we keep in touch?" Oliver is more concerned about another thing, "We need to know your situation so that we can take cover in time."

"The communication crystal is not good. Its magic power is too strong and it will be detected." Fergil touched his chin, "I recommend the one-time communication crystal... I have enough here, I can share it with Wright gentlemen."

"The one that can only speak two or three words at a time?"

"Yes, it's cheap and easy to use. It doesn't need the long activation time of the communication crystal. The Church of the Abyss never restricts its rules so deadly. I remember that you can bring up to three pieces."

Nimo took a breath from between his teeth. After leaving Lubiao Town, he hadn't acted alone yet - he didn't expect that the mission goal of his first solo act would be so big that even Sha Jiaomei couldn't hide the restrained look on his face for a moment.

"Three days, one communication per day, and the remaining three are reserved when they enter the tomb." Oliver quickly suggested, "If the people of the Church of the Abyss are used to moving at night, they should report peace at sunrise. If Something dangerous happened, or we didn't get the news in time—"

"You're just creating some confusion over here to get some of their attention—"

"No, we'll pick you up." Oliver said word by word.

Fergil raised his eyebrows: "You may have no idea of ​​the degree of vigilance of the Abyss Church..."

"I have." Adrian whispered, "Mr. Ramon's proposal is fine."

"I'd like to go with you if possible." Oliver sighed and stood in front of Nemo. "We'll be waiting for you here, take it easy."

He stretched out his arms and gave Nemo, who was wearing a gray and black robe, a very hard hug. Nemo could feel the cool kiss fall between his brows. "Be safe." Oliver's voice was calm and clear after moving his lips away.

Duran Fergil watched them silently. There was no surprised expression on his face, but a hint of sadness.

"My God, 'be careful'." Ann's voice finally got a little happier, she glanced at Vergil, her voice very low. "His words should be told to Abyss Church."

"You're absolutely right." Jesse was still smiling, as if the gloomy scene in front of her was just a comical backdrop for a comedy stage. "But I have a hunch—"

"Please shut up." Adrian decisively interrupted the other party's speech, "Prophecy is prohibited during the mission."

Jessie closed her mouth aggrievedly and leaned on the Fuller Goat crookedly.

"Then let's go first." Vergil looked at the spire of the Church of Silent in the distance. "If it goes well, two days will be enough—let's go, Mr. Wright. Are you ready?"

Nemo looked at Virgil silently, his pupils already in the shape of an inhuman cross. The latter stepped back abruptly, looking at him suspiciously.

"Illusion." Nemo explained dryly, and put three layers of black shadow on the Shajiaomei bag hanging on his waist for protection.

Fergil frowned, and after a moment of contemplation, he shook his head as if giving up: "Let's go."

Nemo exhaled forcefully and stepped into the dead place. Sure enough, nothing unusual happened. He turned his head and gave his teammates a "okay" gesture, inserting the end of his staff into the soft dirt.

The fog quickly separated them.

"You don't seem nervous at all." After walking for a while, Vergil opened his mouth tentatively.

No, Nemo thought seriously. Although the expression on his face did not fluctuate, the soles of his feet were tingling with tension. But what's the use of that - at this moment he can only trust his own problematic background and the fighting ability of Witherspoon who was kicked back into the abyss by him.

"Fine." He squeezed out a relatively appropriate answer.

"You're not even curious about how I plan to get in." Vergil gave a wry smile, "Perhaps the mercenary guild's evaluation of you is biased—you seem to have a plan."

…No, he just forgot to ask. The corners of Nemo's mouth twitched—the other party's identity as a demon warlock was there, and he didn't even think about asking Vigil exactly how he planned to get in.

"Hmm." Nemo turned his face away, hummed indistinctly, and was almost caught in the throat by Shajiaomei.

Fergil's next move answered this question on her own. The tall man moved his shoulders, took out a strangely shaped metal whistle from his neck, and blew a sharp whistle.

After a while, a bird flew down and gently landed on Vergil's shoulder. Nemo raised the brim of his hood curiously and turned to look.

Then he shuddered.

That's not a "bird", at least not a bird on the surface. It is a bit like a crow, except that it has no feathers and has long black scales on its skin. The thing was bigger than a raven, but it had only one solitary paw.

These are still within his range, the problem is its head - the "beak" of that thing is larger than that of a raven, as if the whole head protrudes forward, and then splits in two, Only a little bit of skin is left on the back of the head. There are no eyes where the scales are still on its face, and three pairs of black and white eyes are embedded in the sides of the long beak correspondingly, and they turn straight.

The eyes were on Nemo right now, and Nemo felt like his hair was about to stand up.

"Corpse bird." Virgil explained softly, scratching the thing's chin. "Um...you don't have to stay that far, they're docile."

Originally Duran Fergil felt easy-going and warm, but when such a thing stood on his shoulder, his whole temperament was instantly crooked - at this moment he looked very similar A grinning serial killer.

The corpse bird tilted its head at Nemo, and Nemo completely swallowed the sand horn plume down his throat. He turned his head away mechanically, took out a new one from the cloth bag, and threw it into his mouth as naturally as possible.

"What is that?" Vergil asked curiously.

"The heart of the Clebator salamander." Nemo replied dryly, "Want one?"

Vergil shook his head politely. "Then you have to be careful... We are close to the Church of Silent. Nearby things will not actively attack creatures with a demonic breath, but they will still respond to 'provocation'."

"Like?" The new Shajiao plum has a strong sour taste. Nemo tried his best to keep the conversation as short as possible, while staring straight into the other's eyes. Mr. Cross's advice was useful so that he could also take his attention away from the terrifying corpse bird.

"Like...be careful with your feet and don't step on them."

Nimo's footsteps froze, he thought it was just that the soil on the soles of his feet softened a lot. He raised his feet as carefully as he could, and had a friendly look at the multi-eyed slime mold he just stepped on. The sky was too dark, and even if the dead woods were not covered by leaves, he could not tell for a while that those dense reflections were from slime molds. The bubbles are the slime mold's little black eyes.

The slime mold grunted and did not attack.

"It seems that this one has a better temper." Vergil said sincerely, looking straight ahead. "But be careful."

He doesn't really want to meet Nemo Wright's eyes.

Fergil really didn't feel that powerful combat power from the opponent, that should just be a harmless devil believer. But he just couldn't meet those eyes calmly—

That's not much like illusion, and if so, the effect is too realistic. Those silver-gray eyes were blocked a little by the drooping hood from time to time, and in the dim night there was a shimmer like mercury. When the cross-shaped pupils turned, Fergil always felt that there was an ice pick that would not melt on his heart. He couldn't accurately describe that subtle sense of fear.

It may be an additional effect of the illusion, he can only think so - after all, he has looked at the real superior demon, and he has never felt this way at that time.

At the same time, the edge of the dead forest.

"Let's go too," Jesse said lazily. "This distance should be safe."

"The communication crystal is fine." Adrian checked his hand again, "Keep in touch at any time."

Oliver nodded and stroked the hilt of the Sword of Rest with his right hand.

"Keep in touch at any time." Their head's voice was steady, "I and An are here to watch, you two...don't force it."

"Oh, don't worry." Jesse blew a kiss to the two teammates left behind, "I believe our dear knight commander, I will try my best to support him—"

"The Church of the Abyss will never find us," he added sweetly.

(m..=)