Chapter 19 Behind the Cold

It was dusk, and the icy sea breeze blew through the oaks and bushes north of Indalsfell.

A pair of ghostly reflecting pupils floated in the jungle.

"Crack..."

The witcher stomped on a dead branch and reached out to lift a dense leaf...a shimmering pool of water came into view.

In the silent night, only the chirping of insects by the pond and the rustling of three leafy willows swaying in the wind can be heard.

This situation coincides with the carving on the pendant!

"Ahem, Mr. Linus, we're there. But you'd better hurry, it's dangerous to go to this wild country at night! If we encounter wolves, bears, or crab spiders, we may never see each other again. to the sun tomorrow."

"Don't worry, I'm here, no one can touch you!" Roy stepped on the wet mud and circled the pond. When he walked to a willow tree, the pendant between his neck suddenly began to buzz. Buzzing lightly.

He poked the air in front of him casually, and the air rippled like a churned water wave, and the dim light snapped strangely from it.

phantom?

"Mr. Linus, what are you doing? Looking for treasure?"

"Quiet, you can play while you go!" Roy turned around and outlined his five fingers in front of the young tour guide.

The latter shivered all over, and walked under a willow tree like a wooden man, hugged the trunk, and moved slowly in the posture of a yellow dog urinating.

The witcher nodded and drew the dark Kramp seal in front of him.

No illusions were summoned this time.

The black spell is like a needle, instantly piercing everything in front of you!

"Boom!"

On the flat ground in front of the willow tree, the soft and thick layer of humus suddenly disappeared, revealing a pressing board with a handle.

The witcher lifted the plank, and a steel sword was inserted outside, with the seal of Quinn and Helios.

Carefully walked down the dark wooden stairs behind the planks.

The narrow, dark space, the bare walls,

In front of it stood a tightly closed door that radiated magical lustre.

The door has a keyhole-like groove.

After a little hesitation, Roy put the pendant of the necklace into it.

Strictly fit.

click-

The witcher opened the heavy magic door.

"Duan..."

Roy snapped his fingers. Elf-like flames circled around the fingertips, illuminating the entire secret room——

A room similar in size to a single bedroom in a tavern, surprisingly empty, surrounded by hard walls, except for a table in the corner, a silk bag, a telescopic mirror for communication and projection, and a magic lamp on the ceiling...

There was no one there, and there was no equipment or experimental equipment that the witcher expected to transform living things...

The most eye-catching is a pair of six-pointed star formations engraved on the yellowed wooden floor. Each corner of the formation is engraved with ancient characters representing seals.

The witcher stepped into the magic circle, and the magic in his body suddenly became heavy and slow, like a blocked water pipe, and his mind became dizzy and groggy.

At the same time, a strong rancid stench came out.

He bit the tip of his tongue and frowned. Lifting up his spirit, he stretched out his hand to control the beating pendant, squatted down, took some out of the white dust that depicts the magic circle, and put it in front of his nose—injecting the dust.

"A powerful magic circle used to seal some kind of creature?"

"It's been around for a year and still has residual potency."

What did Ortoran build this chamber to seal?

Roy turned on the witcher senses.

A gray ribbon of rancid smell and bloody smell suddenly appeared in the mid-air of the secret room.

He walked along the ribbon and took two steps, and came to the center of the most intense array of scents.

"Duan Duang—" the witcher tapped the wooden floor, "empty?"

"boom!"

The five fingers outline the blue spell, and the magical airflow spews out and smashes the wooden board under the feet.

The sawdust collapsed, and the fuzzy dust diffused into the air.

Roy held his breath and widened his eyes.

A heavily corrupted skeleton, wearing a traditional Skellige fur coat, rotting to the extent of only a few pieces of skin, eye sockets, nostrils, and mouth, stared blackly at the witcher.

"The time of death, at least one year and three months ago..." The witcher took the corpse out of the wooden hole, and examined the pelvis, the rotten flesh piled up under the clothes, and the teeth in the mouth, "Male, thirty-five years old...height About six feet tall, with gray hair and the physical features of Yanke's missing father, Frandon."

"It seems that Ortolan killed him soon after he took him... It really was a life-sale. Calf, nasal bone, arm, ribs, dozens of fractures all over the body."

"Tsk tsk, Altolan tortured him cruelly."

Roy's face became solemn, and the torture was usually related to some dark, evil ritual.

"Masters in the biological field, dogs can't change to eat shit."

He shook his head and sighed, bent down and pressed his body into the wooden hole, and took out the second corpse.

Orange dress, fox fur waistcoat.

"Twenty-eight years old... five feet six tall, female... fingers, toes, multiple fractures, suffered torture before death..."

The third, emerald green jacket.

"Thirty years old, five feet seven tall, female, suffered torture before dying..."

Fourth, white fur cloak, velvet pajamas.

"Twenty-nine years old, five feet seven tall, female, tortured before she died..."

"Hi-" Staring at the four severely corrupted and unrecognizable corpses in the center of the circle, the witcher gasped and fell into deep thought.

"Three prostitutes, one gambler, Altolan spared them all, tortured and killed them..."

"I can imagine the horror and agony before they died..."

The witcher looked around, his eyes flashed with a warning light, and a thought flashed in his mind,

"This master of biological transformation, wants to use the pain of human beings to create some kind of monster? Then use this hexagram to imprison the creatures in the secret room?"

But the magic door was closed, and there was no sign of violent destruction. He was sure that there was no other creature in the room besides himself.

Roy turned his gaze to the silk bag on the table and the telescopic mirror next to him.

The iron bracket is inlaid with a complete image crystal.

He walked over, gently rubbed the image crystal on the telephoto mirror with his palm, and passed through a magic power.

The scene that was once in the lab at the bottom of the lake in the Nine Valleys is reproduced - the crystal reflects a blue wave of light, and a curtain is intertwined in the air.

A man appeared in it.

Wearing a gray close-fitting scholar-type robe, he is in his forties, with short blond hair, deep and intelligent eyes, and a delicate beard on his upper and lower lips. From a distance, he looks like a handsome university professor.

Except for the slightly grim expression.

At first glance, no one believed he would kill four innocents.

With a low, magnetic voice, he began to speak slowly...

"In 1261, I said goodbye to the Castle of Risberg, which had worked for more than two hundred years.

In this ancient castle, I have made countless brilliant achievements - assisted Arzu and Malaspina to create the witcher, researched the elixir with fifteen colleagues, created and improved one hundred and two Fifteen creatures... I thought I'd devote my life to magical research until I die of old age in a castle, or an accident.

But on the day when I was three hundred and fifty years old, I felt a kind of boredom from the bottom of my heart, a fatigue in the depths of my soul, and I had a feeling that my deadline was not far away, at most 40 years... I do I made the boldest decision of my life to leave Lisberg and return to my childhood hometown of Great Skelliger..."

"I was born on the island... I grew up as an ordinary person until I was eighteen years old, and here I had the first love that I will never forget. Seeing this blue sea and blue sky, I know that I will be buried here, and there will be no more experiments, Research, live a leisurely life like a lonely old man, enjoy the sun, the beach, the waves, and the seafood."

The handsome face of the man in the image began to show a strange brilliance, and his calm tone was a little more ups and downs.

"In June 1261, I saw her while fishing off the coast - a girl standing on a fishing boat collecting a net, young, beautiful, with a healthy blush on her cheeks, delicate skin like diamonds in the bright archipelago sun Glittering, all of a sudden, I seem to be back more than 300 years ago... The first time I saw Alodie, yes, the two of them looked exactly the same, especially the beauty mole on the corner of the mouth. I felt the lifeless body A strange energy surged out of me, and my numb heartbeat suddenly began to speed up during countless live experiments..."

"An old man of more than three hundred years, the ruthless Ortolan, would have a heart-pounding day? If Algnon and Idalan knew about it, I'm afraid they would think that I had received some kind of mental transformation. "

The corner of the man in the projection grinned with a self-deprecating smile.

"Fate was destined, and there was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - she was shot into the sea by the waves, and I did not hesitate to cast a spell to rescue her... I sent her home, I got her name Ava, I remember her I don't know why I showed that kind of gentle smile to her. I'm getting old, and there is a wish in my wreckage, the only wish, I want to marry her, it's a kind of make up, make up I used to owe Elodie. I started going after her."

...

"In July 1261, Ava, the simple archipelago girl, did not resist the offensive of the old man - I have money, I have boundless energy, and profound knowledge... I am a retired 'rich businessman' from Long Essette. Altolan exuded strong confidence. "She married me... I decided to move to Indalsfair Island, where it's quieter and no one disturbs our two-person world."

"November 1261, the four-month honeymoon period was as happy as a dream, I seemed to be back in my youth, my body was full of passion and energy, that shabby and tidy private house, a small double bed, we were in every day Together, it's never enough."

The indifference on his face disappeared completely, replaced by a faint smile, "Our body and soul are blended together, and I understand her more and more. A simple girl, who trusts me without reservation, melts the ice in my heart... ...she looked like Eladie, but I started to realize that she was more of Ava, a one-of-a-kind girl...I started to really embrace her."

"In December 1261, I noticed that her recent mood seemed to be a little off, and her smile began to diminish. Occasionally, she would stare at the sky in a daze, with a depressed expression on her face."

A haze appeared on Altolan's handsome cheeks, and his voice became indifferent, as if a cold wind was blowing towards the back of the person's neck, "I found the crux... She was parasitized by 'Dart'."

"I made a big mistake, and now I remember that 'Dart' should have followed me all the way out of the Riesberg Fortress, but this special evil spirit transformed by me using 'Sim' as a raw material is cunning and insidious, It kept ignoring and it knew it couldn't move me. When I rescued Ava from the sea, her soul and will was at its weakest, and 'Dart' took advantage of it. 'Dart' Start weaving a haze inside her."

"My many experiments in the past have proved that the process of the evil spirit's erosion is slow but firm, up to a year... The erosion of the mind will make her crazy and desperate... Her abnormal performance begins to increase."

"But I can't give her any comfort or explanation. The more she knows, the more flaws in her heart. Then 'Dart' will fill these holes with nightmares and pain."

"The more I care about Ava, and the evil spirit that hates the creator, the more viciously it will torture her."

"I started to snub her on purpose, trying to make Dart think I was tired of her." The man shook his head apologetically, "Sorry, Ava, the necklace will be by your side from now on."

...

"In March 1262, I went back and forth between Lisberg Castle and my home for four months. I used more than twenty inducers, exorcism devices, all of which didn't work..." He looked tired and depressed. , "'Dart' was too powerful for us to make, and the necklace couldn't stop Ava's depression and distress from getting worse. She started hallucinating."

"I have no choice but to try the old witcher's method against 'Shim', using another weak-willed soul manipulated by negative emotions to lure 'Dart'."

"I chose a target, Frandon, a gambler from another village. He lost all his property because of gambling, and hurt his wife and children. He has always harbored deep guilt in his heart, but he didn't show it. He began to give up on himself and fell into the abyss. I gave him a chance at redemption. He took it like a drowning man."

"I used magic to intensify the guilt and guilt in his heart. I took Ava to bed while he fell asleep..."

He shook his head and sighed.

"I've been trying for close to a week, but the plan doesn't work. Dart dismisses F**..."

"It's not interested in ordinary souls."

"It's parasitizing Ava, just to make me, the creator, feel pain... It's only interested in my soul!"

Altolan's face was gloomy, and his tone became cold and ruthless,

"Even if I have a good impression of Ava, it's far from that. The ruthless Ortolan is not a knight who guards the princess... It's time to leave, change places, and spend the rest of my life..."

The image disappeared, and after a long period of darkness in the secret room, the picture was lit up again.

"She was nauseous and vomited today... I checked her body and found her..." The mage in the image became very strange. He stared at the empty place, but the corners of his mouth could not help grinning, and the tone began Trembling, nervous, and a little surprised, "She was pregnant for several months, and I've been running around, but I didn't find it."

"When I stepped into the magic road, I performed a magic ligation in order to strengthen my determination. Logically speaking, the process cannot be reversed, and this is absolutely impossible... But I used magic to test it again. The child in her stomach is connected to my bloodline, but I can't tell if there is any magical talent for the time being..."

"All I can say is, it's a miracle."

The man's eyes radiated astonishing brightness, his face was graceful and calm, never to be seen again, he smiled...

"Life is always full of surprises. Creating a child with a woman seems to have expanded his life and soul. The ruthless Ortolan has created hundreds of mutant creatures in his life. Every time he creates a successful creation, I feel To the heartfelt joy, the great sense of achievement!"

"But there has never been a time when I was as happy and happy as today..."

His tone was decisive, and his gray eyes lit up with flames, "Ava, my children, nothing can hurt them!"

...

"I gave Frandon a life payment and I called him to this back room...I killed him and broke his bones one by one before he died, and listened to him crying and begging for mercy for two hours. ...Unfortunately, my mood has not changed." One moment before the man's mouth showed a happy smile, the next moment, it was replaced by indifference.

"It's too simple for me to think. Torture and kill an ordinary person doesn't make Altolan feel guilty or sad. Thousands of past live experiments are enough to prove that I'm hard-hearted, and the only thing I care about is only Ava and the children."

"For the first time, I felt that being strong inside was also a sin."

...

"In April 1263, I was looking for a way to rescue Long Essett's library, and I met a prostitute on the street. At first glance, I mistook her for Ava, her back, face, nose, Exactly like Ava."

"I figured out a way to deceive myself...I gave her a large sum of money, left it to my family, and took her back to Indalsfair...I spent two weeks with her and I developed a sympathy for her, Always inadvertently confusing her with Ava, it was time to act - I took her to the back room, tortured and killed her."

"At that moment, I experienced feelings that I hadn't experienced in hundreds of years - guilt, pain..."

"The more guilt and pain, the bigger the hole in my heart - I approached Ava again when I got home, and sure enough, 'Dart' was heartbroken, and I could feel the chaotic energy in the air, as it was about to move ."

"But it's not enough, this cunning evil spirit is worried that it won't be able to conquer my will, my soul, and didn't attack easily."

...

"May 1262."

"I paid my favor and most of my savings to find two other fake 'Ava's. My behavior is really ridiculous. A mage who takes magic exploration and truth as his ultimate ideal, but finally begins to deceive himself." In the video The man's smile is full of bitterness...but his eyes are firm and calm.

"I followed the old way, got along with them both for a while, treated them as Ava, developed a certain relationship, and then tortured and killed them again."

With a click, the influence extinguished and reignited.

The man's appearance changed greatly, becoming unkempt, his simple and elegant robe became wrinkled and muddy, he bared his teeth, sometimes weeping, sometimes grinning,

"Haha... Hurt my 'beloved' with my own hands... Haha, sad, guilt, pain... Every knife cut on her is like cutting herself and sending my child away with her own hands."

"I rushed home when I was the weakest, Ava actually committed suicide, but luckily the necklace stared at her for me... Fortunately my method worked, I was 'weak enough'... 'Dart' left without reluctance Ava's emaciated body, possessed by my creator, its most hated enemy!"

"I succeeded, haha! This disgusting evil spirit can no longer threaten Ava and my children! I don't feel too special, maybe I'm too pessimistic and Dart can't control me!"

He laughed like a madman, but there was a sparkle in the corners of his eyes.

"I started healing Ava with spells!"

"If I can hold on to it without Dart's influence, then I can walk with her and watch the baby be born. Decades are too short for me."

"I don't need to ignore Ava anymore, I even told her the child's name, the boy's name is Asa, the girl's name is Dora!"

...

The eyeballs in the projection protrude, and the sickly-faced man strokes the air affectionately, making an action of holding the child in his arms, like a neurotic.

"Let me stay with you again, Ava, my child..."

"It's a pity... I was so happy when I created Dart, and how mad it was when it hurt me! My will that was close to collapse was destroyed and captured by it, and it kept weaving illusions on me, manipulating my dreams, and making me in a trance. "The guilt and negativity that I have piled up in my heart are boiling water."

"I've only been with Ava for three days, and I can't control my actions. I woke up from meditation, and I actually stood in front of Ava with the knife pointed at her belly. It's only an inch away, if It wasn't the unease that woke me up, I killed Ava and the child with my own hands."

"Dart read my mind, knew my weakness, it's going to make me more miserable, let me destroy my favorite with my own hands."

"But how can I make that evil spirit do what he wishes?" The mage grinned frantically, bared his white teeth and roared hoarsely. "I'm going to destroy it myself!"

"I left home and went back to this secret room... and sealed myself and Dart."

"As its creator, I know very well that there are only two ways to destroy it - either to expel it from the body for a long time, and then kill it, but it will never let me go, and nothing can more attractive than me.

The man in the image was sitting cross-legged in this secret room, suddenly raised his head, and there was only despair and determination on his thin, sickly pale face.

"So I only have a second way, disappear with it!"

"But I can't kill myself... physical death, it can devour my soul more easily, it will become stronger, break away from the circle, and go back to hurt Ava."

"I have to destroy the soul with this parasite."

"Anyway, I have lived more than 300 years old, and I have already lived enough, so I should end my retirement life early."

"I have to find a safe way."

...

"In June 1262, Idaran contacted me. He said that he had a method of 'destruction of body and spirit'. He said that it was especially suitable for sinners like me." The man in the projection no longer had the calmness of a mage. , and graceful demeanor, with bony bones, prominent cheekbones, and tattered cloth strips, in this dark laboratory, like a human-shaped evil spirit, his cheeks full of bones showed an extremely gentle expression, staring behind the light curtain. , whispered,

"My child... If you can find this pool, decipher the illusion and enter this secret room, it means that you are smart enough. When you turn on the image crystal, it means that you have inherited my magical talent."

"You can choose to take the talisman and enroll at your own expense at Ben Ader College in Kaldwin. The check in the silk bag can be exchanged for ten thousand crowns at any Vivaldi bank, enough for five years of tuition, or you can choose Use it to live an ordinary and happy life for ordinary people for a lifetime."

"Finally, I want to tell you that the most correct thing I did in my life was to marry your mother, Ava, she should have remarried by now, reorganizing a happy family. Several men in the village have a crush on her, Aggie , Fahd... But I think according to her character, she should marry the honest Fahd. She deserves a better husband!"

"Hahaha!"

The man was crying and laughing like a madman, and suddenly he put his face in front of the light curtain, only a piece of paper away from the witcher, his eyeballs covered with fine blood like sandworms stared at him deeply, at least for a long time. ten seconds.

As if to penetrate time and space and see the unborn child at that time.

Two teardrops fell from the corners of his eyes.

The witcher held his breath.

"My child, the greatest achievement in my life is to create you!

Time, it's almost time, I'm on my way...

Love you forever, ruthless Ortolan..."

Kaz…

The image is completely annihilated.

The secret room returned to darkness.