Shadow of the Evil God

She dropped him down with her, and he sat on the ground, and she sat on him.

"I thought you would be happier." Cesar said in her ear.

"How should I put it?" Ferriers muttered twice, holding his hand tightly. "I didn't know you would be here, so clear-headed, even so... wise. And, sorry, I..."

Chapter 403 You Are My Fantasy

"It's nothing," Cesar said softly, "just a broken arm."

"I know it's nothing," Ferriers lowered her voice, as if she was afraid of being heard. "I know you're not real, you're just a voice and image I imagined. That's nothing. But even so, I still can't accept it..."

Cesar was quite surprised, but he still lowered his voice to cooperate with her. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Sevra is in very poor condition." She looked a little absent-minded. "When I come of age, she will transform into something else as expected. The school told me that this is the servant's mission, and no one can disobey. I always thought I was different and could avoid many fates, but no one has ever been able to do so."

"So you think I'm not real?"

Despite this, Ferris still held his hand tightly. "She wouldn't be like this... I can't explain it. I know you're Sevra, but you look too perfect to be real. I must have imagined a more perfect Sevra, hoping that this illusion could comfort me, save me, embrace me, be wise, and speak in a very... like the answer to everything. And you just turned into a beastman, which makes it even more impossible. I heard that some people with mental problems will imagine someone talking to them. I must be having a very serious mental problem now."

There was a grumble, audible only to Cesar. It looked like Sephora was insulted. After all, that was how things were between them. He didn't want to deal with the remnants of the past, so he watched intently.

"Okay," Cesar shrugged. "You've convinced me. So what I'm about to say is what you secretly want me to say, and what I'm about to do is what you secretly want me to do. So what about the fight just now?"

"Maybe you took advantage of my spell without my permission. After all, you are my, um, fantasy," Firth muttered. "I can't explain it, but it must be like this. You are a part of me, and because you are a part of me, it's understandable that you would do something remarkable."

Cesar found that the pride in this guy's words was still the same as before. He left all the inexplicable things to magic, which was indeed a very convenient idea.

Ferrieres stood up, wanting to let go of the hand she thought was an illusion, but she was reluctant. Her skin was paler than before, her eyes were gray, and her nose was red. She looked like a wronged cat, and the blue runes around her neck looked like patterns. "Perhaps this will be good for your mental state," Cesar said. "You need someone to support your soul and your mind, so I showed up. So, what do you think?"

She took his hand like a child and led him to the collapsed fireplace, squeezing through a narrow gap filled with broken furniture. "Maybe it is so," she said. "My secret basement is right here. Let's get some things first, and then we'll leave."

Cesar and she walked down the stairs and saw her bed in a familiar-looking basement. The reason it looked familiar was that the arrangement of the items was very similar to Firth's underground testing ground in Neuen.

Next to her bed was a desk filled with spellbooks and notebooks. Even so, many scrolls of paper were piled high on her pillow, and her bed itself was pushed to the far corner by the crowded spell supplies. Furthermore, numerous bottles and jars were piled against the walls and beside the tables and chairs, creating a chaotic mess that was eerily lit by the eerie candlesticks.

If Diana hadn't cleaned it up every day, perhaps Phils's testing ground would have been as messy as it is now.

To her, there seemed to be no difference between her living quarters and her experimental locations.

"Take this book with you." Ferriers picked up a very thick book from her bedside and tucked it under her arm.

"The Wreath of Time," Cesar said, looking at the book cover. "A collection of stories from the ancient Diutna? You like reading this? Which volume is this?"

She was surprised. "How do you know about this story collection, and that the author is the ancient Diutna? Uh, well, you're a part of me, and I know because you know. I'm not obsessed with story collections, but, uh..." She muttered, "I've been keeping you at the academy lately to prevent you from completely breaking down, so I wanted to find some books to entertain you. Although this is a story collection for children, although, uh, it's still the work of the ancients! Maybe I can see something different? Really, that must be it."

"Let me hold it for you."

"Huh?" Ferris didn't react.

"You go get some lighter books," Cesar said. "I'll find a bag and pack up all the heavy books you need. What do you think, my master?"

"Is this possible? You're just a..."

He smiled, "You are a great mage. You must have accomplished something remarkable that you yourself were not aware of, to have caused your imaginary being to carry the tome you needed."

"Really, great? Not to that extent yet?" Firiels shook her head in denial. "The Sephora I imagined actually said I was a great mage. Is it because I'm too narcissistic? Although I always have high expectations of myself, I'm clearly

No, I'm not like Milawa and my sister."

“Maybe people need to love themselves first before they can truly love others.”

"Is this the excuse I came up with for myself? It's a bit too sweet for narcissism... Why can you say it so sweetly? No, forget it, there's no point in asking this. People have so many trivial thoughts in their minds. Maybe there's one I overlooked, but you didn't..."

The way she asked and answered herself and muttered to herself was really strange to watch.

"That's certainly possible," Cesar nodded. He took the copy of The Wreath of Time from her hand and flipped through a few pages. He noticed it was the second volume in the series, lost in later generations. He raised his chin, beckoned the dog over, and gave her a quick glance. When this was over, he could share some of it with Bernadette, who had read all the remaining volumes, to observe her reaction on Winter Night's night, and he could also tell Diana and Fels about it.

Ferris pulled out a few more books from the pile. Cesar had never seen any of them before, so he gave them to Gouzi, asking her to quickly read them and memorize them perfectly. Even if some of the texts were harmful to living beings, he wasn't worried. Beings like the Faceless Ones were soulless and had no connection to the veiled knowledge of magic. Divine texts, ciphers, even residual memories didn't exist for her, so concealment was irrelevant.

Seeing Ferriers trying to reach the books piled high on the cabinet, Cesar grabbed her waist and lifted her up to the top of his head as she exclaimed, feeling no effort at all. This was all because she was too slender.

She reached up, and the sleeves of her robe fell, revealing two slender arms engraved with blue runes. Cesar looked up and observed them more closely, finding them like branches and veins, woven against her pale skin, quite alluring. If time weren't pressing, he would have found a way to lick her slender, white limbs. He kissed them gently along the shimmering runes, down her calf to her ankle, and then...

"Don't let me know what it's like to lick someone's feet," Sevra warned him.

Cesar wanted to say he could kiss the soles of her feet, but a sharp, slashing pain in his waist and abdomen made him gasp, and he immediately stopped thinking about it. This guy was really bold when it came to self-harm, even though they were both experiencing the same sensations.

As Ferriers tossed and turned, dust rustled from the books high up in the cabinet. He saw it was a panel, a painting in oil, with a texture like relief, depicting a forested lake nestled between mountains, with shadows shimmering within. Although she had left it atop the books, gathering dust, she seemed to care for it, carefully brushing off the dust and tucking it into his bag.

“This is the map to the Tomb of the Wise,” Sevra whispered.

Cesar understood what she meant, so he grasped Ferriers's slender waist and lowered her down. Perhaps the strength of his fingers wasn't right, as she blushed and seemed to struggle.

"Isn't it... a little wrong to fantasize about something like this?" Phyriels muttered to herself, stroking her waist, as if she could still feel the traces of his fingers. "Don't you think it's a little wrong?" She raised her head. "Am I also like the ordinary people, my soul confused by the world?"

"You are too suspicious of yourself," Cesar said. "If it were me, even if I were to see another version of myself, I would still talk to her about love without changing my expression."

"You're more than just calm?" Sevra sighed. Her opinions about him and Ajeh were almost overflowing.

Cesar packed up Ferriers' books with a smile and watched her change into a thicker robe and put on a hooded cloak.

"Let's go next..." she muttered to herself.

"If it were me," Cesar told her, "I would go first to the places where books and documents are stored. Knowledge is more valuable than those newly built palaces and buildings, and we don't need to worry about the change of dynasties."

"Yes, I think so too." Ferriers agreed immediately. Knowing Ferriers well, he knew that this was exactly what she thought.

She led the way, holding his hand as they walked through many narrow, winding corridors. It seemed that even if she thought he was her own fantasy, she would be worried that her fantasy would disappear halfway and she would no longer be able to talk to herself.

They entered an unguarded domed hall in the darkness. At first, Ferrieres was cautious, but when she realized there were no black-armored knights guarding it, she breathed a sigh of relief. Cesar suspected she had long wanted to peek into the collection, but she'd always been blocked by Milava's knights. Now that the palace was engulfed in battle, she saw an opportunity to sneak in.

Aya couldn't hide in his body like Ajeh had, so she had to follow them all the way. Ferris, with her memory lingering, seemed completely unaware of Aya's presence. However, Cesar noticed that Aya was constantly showing small emotions. Was it because he was impersonating Sephora's image and calling someone else his master?

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from the other side of the corridor. Phyriels suppressed her breath and heartbeat, and immediately dragged him all the way into the library of the Fran Empire. "Don't worry about what's behind you," she lowered her voice, "I want to take away all the books I've been wanting for so long!"

Chapter 404 We Should Change

......

Perhaps because the war lasted so long and destroyed so much, the Frankish Empire's collection of books is small, but fortunately, they are all very precious. If the emperor hadn't been attacked, the entire palace would have been in turmoil, and there would have been a heavy guard. Ferris dragged him along, running under the smoldering candlelight, toward her destination. Her direction and purpose were so clear that it was clear she had planned it all along.

The books and scrolls in this place were stored in locked bookcases. Cesar followed Ferrieres as she forced the locks open, selecting books and manuscripts and tossing them into the bag he carried. He instructed Gouzi on a few books and begged Aya to join him in the search, as she had been forced to learn the Kuna language and writing. Back in Noyen, Aya was illiterate, but now she was a scholar, fully versed in the ancient languages ​​of the ancestors.

Most of the books and manuscripts that Ferriers found were related to magic, but they weren't records of true knowledge, just discussions of ideas, leaning towards the philosophical considerations behind magic. Cesar, with his knowledge of the ancient Kuna language, could only get a rough idea of ​​the language; there were so many unfamiliar words, so he showed them to the dog beside him, and then copied them for Diana after he was done.

Aya found a cabinet containing works from this era. It was dust-free, and the books looked old. Cesar was quite curious about them, but Ferrieres had no interest in the works of the Frankish Empire. She glanced at them and ran away. He gestured for Aya to open the cabinet and retrieve the books. He wanted to follow Ferrieres forward, but she crossed her arms and shook her head.

“This guy only understands the Kuna language,” Sevra reminded him.

"Doesn't she have the soul of a street?" Cesar asked. Ferrières was standing on tiptoe, reaching up, and he grabbed her waist and lifted her up. It looked like she could still search for books in this place for a while, but they couldn't search for long.

"The Franks in that street are illiterate," Sevra reminded him.

Cesar pondered for a moment before realizing that Aya had nearly died in a dog pit. Back then, that street was mostly populated by porters and miners, and the soldiers guarding the lower town couldn't read much, let alone the ancient Flan language in this cabinet, which was thousands of years old.

"Don't even think about it," Ajiehe suddenly said. Cesar suddenly realized that if these two stayed together, they would clash sooner or later.

"This is something only you can do," Sefrah said. "You're the only one in this place who's proficient in the ancient Frankish script."

"Why should I listen to your orders?" Ajiehe said in a playful tone.

"I'm asking you to go out and lend a hand," Sevra said.

"I brought you some raw meat that year, but you ignored it and instead tied me up in chains to trap me to death. Now you ask me to go out and help your little maid?" Ajiehe asked back.

"The raw meat you brought was not from wild beasts, Ajeh," Sevra said flatly, "and I have no interest in cannibalism. In the ancient legends of all Sassulai tribes, inviting a person to devour the flesh of their own kind when hungry is an invitation from the devil."

Ajeh's tone was also flat. "You are not from Sasoulai, Sephora. You are a soul from another world. Souls from other worlds are even more distant than the demons in stories. Do you remember that you are a fragmented creature that survived by exchanging parts of your soul and flesh with me? Part of you is a beast."

"It has been more than ten years since we separated. After those curses left me, I became closer to a human, but you became closer to a beast. This is enough to prove everything." Saifula said.

"That's just because you haven't tasted blood." Ajiehe's voice gradually rose. "Just his blood. Drink some, and I'll go to work."

"Are you sure we want to do such a meaningless thing?" Sephora seemed to frown.

Ajiehe smiled and said, "I don't do things for meaning."

"Of course," Sefrah said, "you certainly don't do things for meaning. That's why inexplicable disasters and deaths often occur in the tribe. That's why—"

"Is that why you want to find a shaman to chain me, but you can't bear to kill me completely? Well, let me put it this way. I'll throw this ridiculous sword to the ground and ask you to kill me. Will you do it? You still won't do it. You'll just find a chain and tie me up like a dog, right?"

"Kill a dog that's standing right in front of me, ready to be slaughtered? I've never actually done that, but if it were you, I might try to make an exception."

Before Cesar could even think of how to speak, Sefera had already kicked Ajeh out and rushed towards him, holding the black-armored knight's sword. The blade scraped past Ajeh's claws, making a sharp friction sound.

Ferrieres suddenly screamed, and he realized that she had been lifted half a meter higher by his suddenly raised height and arms. Cesar quickly steadied her and sat her on his arms. "Where have you been, Sevra?" she cried. "I can't see you! How did you get so tall? Why is the bookcase over there cut open by a sharp weapon?"

Cesar thought for a moment, then picked up a piece of gray paper and wrote a line with his finger, "Your mental state has become more unstable, Master."

"really?"

“Try to restrain your senses,” he wrote. “I will help you continue collecting books.”

"Don't come up, Aya." Sefera asked the mute girl with clenched fists to retreat. "I have to

Come show her how this place is done.”

"Of course!" Ajiehe raised her voice. "You are confident in your own abilities, otherwise we wouldn't be competing here again, right?"

"Mutual," Sevra suddenly thrust, slicing across Ajeh's shoulder blade. She swung a pitch-black longsword, blocking it with her backhand. The sound of metal clashing echoed. "Zavulon's sword?" She raised an eyebrow. "You brought it here, hiding it inside Cesar's body?"

"What's the harm?" Ajiehe said, feeling no remorse for stuffing dangerous objects into her mouth. "He'll definitely forgive me, right, Cesar?"

Before Cesar could speak, Sevra stepped forward, blocking Ajehe's view from him. With a flick of her wrist, she instantly shifted from a forward thrust to an upward thrust, slicing across her face and slicing off a sliver of gray wolf hair. With a move no human could possibly perform, Ajehe leaped back, spun mid-air, and instantly landed on top of the bookshelf behind her. This time, no blood was drawn.

"It's not wise to be distracted by flirting during a sword fight," Sevra said. "If you have anything to say, go talk to them in the sarcophagus."

"I knew you'd accepted that memory, too!" Ajeh roared, her fanged wolf mouth bared. She ducked low and leaped. She twisted her body with the momentum of her fall, and her blade, like a whirlwind, slashed through Sevra's blade with unstoppable force, sending him stumbling backward.

Then Ajeh used the momentum to leap back, causing a nearby bookcase to cave in. Then she arched her feet, gathering strength, first crushing the bookcase, then thrusting forward at Sevra's chest. She barely blocked it, and just as she was about to counterattack, Ajeh leaped back again.

After crushing another bookcase, Ajeh lunged at her again, forcing Sevra back against the bookshelf to steady herself. She thrust her sword downward, sending Sevra careening backward. Her eyes widened, and a strong, bloody breath emanated from her wolf's mouth. "Have the memories of the sarcophagus given you a different perspective on life, Sevra?"

"No big deal, two idiots." Sevra breathed softly, leaving a damp spot on the blade. Then she ran her left hand over the damp spot, fingers pressed together into a palm, and thrust forward. The thrust instantly slid the sword forward, pressing it forward, almost touching Ajeh's throat. She stepped back quickly, but the sharp edge of the Frankish longsword still left a thin, bloody mark on her neck.

"Why are the bookshelves around me breaking one by one!" Ferriers shouted in a low voice.

"Your spells are unconsciously disrupting the world," Cesar wrote with the pen she threw to him. "Don't worry, at least they're some distance away from us and won't tear up the books I'm carrying."

"I have to get back to the academy and check myself out," murmured Ferriers.

"Not bad," Ajeh said. "I'm in good shape. By the way, Sevra, do you remember that we were dissected from a dead body?"

"My memories of those early years aren't very clear. I only know that we were born a grotesque mass of flesh and blood. Also, you talk too much, Ajehe. I raise my sword not to communicate with you, but to get you to do something."

Before she could finish her words, Sevra took a step forward, her blade moving like a shadow through the dust, piercing her chest with the final, suddenly accelerated half sentence. But Ajeh forced her to sidestep with a mutually damaging thrust, and then Ajeh leaped back again, this time landing directly on the bookshelf in front of Cesar.

He grumbled, lowered himself, and hugged Ferriers. Seizing the opportunity when Ajeh took a step forward, he parried the splintering wood and deformed metal amid her screams. "What happened again!" Ferriers exclaimed. "Didn't you say you were some distance away from us?"

"To be precise," Cesar scribbled a sentence, then sat on the ground holding her and continued writing. "It's about an arm's length away from us. It's still quite a distance. Well, I'm sorry, I can't describe it too accurately. I can only try my best not to hurt you."

"I...I didn't mean to condemn you," she muttered. "Thank you. Are you bleeding? I saw the splinters and metal hitting you. Some of them got stuck in there."

“As long as you can’t see me or feel me, I won’t bleed,” he wrote.

"That's good... I'll help you get it out." Phiriers muttered a spell, brushing away the splinters with a warm light. Then she looked behind her. "Am I so... amazing?"

This guy's way of thinking is still so different from ordinary people.

At this time, Aya came over with a pile of books, put them on the ground, coughed seriously at him, pointed at the ground, and then slipped away to move the books. Cesar realized that these were all books from the bookcase in the French Empire. The bookcase had been trampled by Ajiehe, so there was no need to lock it.

"Do you think I should swap maids with Sephora? Just for a few days, it'll definitely feel different," Cesar said to Gouzi. "Of course, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about that guy. They seem to have a good relationship, fighting back and forth. They should be able to stay in the same tent for a while. Maybe this way we can ease the relationship."

Aya turned around and glared at him.

Chapter 405: Ferriers's Cipher Manuscript

Seeing that Sefera and Ajehe were locked in a fierce fight, Cesar didn't want to interfere and simply let Gouzi flip through the stacks of books that Aya had brought. If the Faceless Ones hadn't been able to memorize everything at a glance, this would have been a difficult task.

With his limited knowledge of ancient writing, he saw a series of brief histories of wars in the early era written by scholars from the Frank Empire, as well as a book he thought only scholars from the Kasar Empire would dare to write, "On the Existence of the Pantheon." The existence of this book was unusual, indicating that Milava had already considered dealing with the authority of the Pantheon during his time in the Frank Empire.

Through this book, Cesar pondered the fall of the Fran Empire. Was it because the Pantheons sat on their hands, or even fanned the flames within the Fran Empire, that it fell? After the founding of an empire, it was not surprising that the emperor would consider suppressing the authority of the major pantheons. Without external interference, this might have proceeded smoothly. However, with the sudden appearance of the Kasar Empire, things became dangerous.

After a while, Sevra and Ajeh seemed to have calmed down. However, since her bag wasn't very heavy, Ferrieres continued to pick and choose the books she wanted to take with her. When she had finished, she retreated to a corner of a nearby bookcase and began reading in a small side room. Since she wanted to read all the books she couldn't take with her, Cesar naturally wouldn't refuse. He carried the piles of books she requested into the side room, until they almost filled half the room.

As he wrote on the pages and talked with Ferrieres, he flipped through the books for Gouzi, hoping she would memorize all the books in this place. Later, they could make a copy of the library collection of the Fran Empire. Of course, considering that many of these books would receive special attention from the major temples in the future, this library would definitely be more private and secretive.

"Are you not finished yet?" Sevra asked him.

"It's rare that you would ask me this question." Cesar closed the book. "Have you reached a conclusion after discussing this?"

"Of course," Ajiehe raised her voice, "In order to reach an agreement, she must take a step back."

"Let's both take a step back," Sevra said coldly. "I don't want to do this myself, so you do it for me."

Cesar was silent. Before he could point out the problem with her idea, she had already bent over to him, her hand on his chest, and disappeared before him like an illusory shadow. He stretched out his suddenly slender hand and looked up at Ajeh, but she just shrugged and bent down, holding his thigh.

"Bite me." She leaned her face closer. "Bite anywhere, but remember to lick the blood that seeps from my skin. One drop, and this young Ferriers beside you will see your clothes torn and your body covered with inexplicable bite marks and scratches. Would you worry about such a thing, dear?"