493 Resurgence (1/2)
In the dark palace, the dim flame lit the face of a broken statue of a saint. The statue was covered with moss, and small cracks crawled all over it. It held a torch in its hand and gazed into the darkness.
In the huge palace, the green air moved like a snake. Accompanied by a scary melody, the green air expanded and shrank, again and again. Every time the air shrank, someone in the darkness screamed with pain. In the depths of the palace, a few people moaned and cursed.
”Ludovic, how dare you usurp the Pope?!”
”Black musician… as the Cardinal, how dare you collude with the Black musician?! You have infuriated God! You will soon be burnt to death by God!”
”Lord Ludovic, I give in, I would do anything for you…” Before he finished his sentence, he suddenly screamed in extreme pain. Crack! A bone was broken.
A man said with a hoarse voice, ”Ludovic, you can kill us if you want! Even if you are the new Pope now, the sacred Palace of Sarroman will never be blasphemed by you! The glory of the Sacred City that has existed for thousands of years will never be tarnished by you either!” Meanwhile, a holy light appeared in the poisonous green air and was soon devoured by the sheer darkness.
In the darkness, these people were being chewed, their blood splashed onto the face of the statue, and soon the face of the statue was covered with red blood.
Finally, silence reclaimed the palace.
The green air began to wriggle and gather together, then turned into a shred of fluorescent light and went back into a skull-made wine glass.
An old and withered musician held up the glass and smirked. He turned around and said, ”My Lord, they have died.”
A group of priests walked into the darkness and stopped next to the torch. They wore the sacred ferraiolone and scary beak-shaped masks on their faces.
When the green air finally dispersed, Ludovic took off his mask. He stood next to the corpses and looked at them coldly.
”They are such idiots! Why there are so many of them?”
No one answered.
Ludovic held the scepter in his hand and walked to the bottom floor of the underground palace. In front of him, there was a bronze door. He stopped and stared at the terrifying relievo on the door.
There were three bronze statues of ugly sinners on the huge door. Their necks were shackled and their faces were twisted as if they were in great pain. The relievo looked both scary and magnificent. It consisted of hundreds of bronze statues. It was a scene of hell; they were suffering in hell, and the light of heaven was shining upon them. They desperately looked up to the man who was shining and surrounded by numerous angels.
This door was the door of hell and redemption.
Ludovic reached out his hand and touched the faces of the bronze statues of ugly sinners. Then he showed his sympathy and smiled.
The holy Sarroman temple was a forbidden area that only the Pope could step into, and the Holy Ax was sealed in this place. Besides, only the King of Red knew about this place, and only he could reign over it.
”Nibelungenlied,” Ludovic said.
”Pope, what can I do for you?” A sound came from the roof.
”Nothing in particular, I just want to show you my gratitude.” Ludovic stared at the Three-inch Void in front of him and solidly said, ”The holy temple of Sarroman is hidden in the deepest part of the Sacred City. If it were not for your guidance, I could never manage to cross the 'Minotaos road.'”
”It is my duty to lead the Pope.”
”So you regard me as the new Pope?” Ludovic smiled. ”You are funny. So many people consider me a usurper, while you, a catastrophe, regard me as the new Pope.”
”For me, a Pope is a Pope,” Nibelungenlied replied. ”I made an agreement with humanity, and my duty is to record their stories. In my view, a Pope is just the same as everyone else. Since you have been elected to be the new Pope in the Sixtinum conference, you are the official new Pope, and after you drink the sacred blood, you will become the new King of Red.”
”You have no stance on this issue?” Ludovic joked. ”I never thought a catastrophe would be someone without their own stance.”
”As a recorder, I am not allowed to have a stance; otherwise, my records would be biased,” Nibelungenlied said. ”'Three Wise Men' coexist with humanity, and they have their own personalities and ways of life. I am neither a leader nor a mentor, I am simply a witness. It is my duty to record the happenings and stories, and I won't stop anyone from reading these stories or try to rewrite them. If you think I have bad intentions, you can choose not to believe me.”
Hearing this, Ludovic laughed and said, ”Nibelungenlied, you really think you know everything?”
”Not now,” Nibelungenlied replied, ”but as long as I continue to witness, record, observe, one day I believe I will be able to know everything.”
”I think it is impossible, but still I hope you can turn it into reality one day.”
Ludovic waved his hand and Nibelungenlied stopped talking.
The palace became quiet again.
”Finally, it is going to begin,” Ludovic murmured, while staring at the huge door in front of him.
The light was dim in the palace. His followers all gently backed off and knelt. Ludovic walked forward, held up his scepter, and read out the spell to open the door.
”The mortal shall all die at last.”
Bang!
As soon as the scepter was put into the hole in the ground, the whole plaza began to shake. On the ground, countless bronze rings began to rotate, and the gears hidden beneath revealed themselves. The gears rotated quickly and collided with each other. Numerous sparks appeared, and the gears kept running against each other and created a magnificent power.
This magnificent power was created by the collision between the gears made of iron and bronze. It surpassed the physical material, life and the death. The force was unimaginable. The power permeated the sheer darkness and created the sound of a dragon, and at the same time, the fire was lit and the iron melted.
A tornado appeared, and in the next moment, the Door of Hell opened.