Chapter 405.
Chapter 405 Intersections
The damp and cold second waterway corridor, the Gatekeeper was striding towards the darker depths.
The black clothes representing the defenders of the city-state had long been torn and tattered, the combat cane made of special technology was scarred, the pain and exhaustion all seemed to have turned into some kind of distant hallucination, and all that came to his ears were the echoes of the hollow echoes from the depths of the earth.
Blood seems to be running out, but the heart is still beating, death is so close, between breaths, as if you can feel the coldness of the world of the dead – in this dark and lonely corridor, there are no more comrades, and it has been a long time since I saw the enemy.
But there is still something accompanying Agatha forward, at the end of this journey to death, there is a cluster of not very bright, but slightly warm fire.
Agatha’s left hand was held in front of her chest, carefully protecting the “fire” that was dancing in the air, and the greenish color of the flame reflected on her chin, and also on the small section of the corridor around her, and she felt, and even enjoyed, the warmth that this little bit of fire brought to her – because she could feel the fire ahead of her. -because she could feel that the road ahead was already getting colder and colder.
Or perhaps it was her own body that was cold.
“I’ve crossed the intersection of the Upper City and am approaching the branching corridors around the Boiling Gold Mines ……” Agatha whispered softly to the fire, and she raised her head, her gaze sweeping over a plaque on the wall in front of her flank, mottled with antiquity and inscribed with a sewer counterpart streets of the city – which would help her determine where she currently stood, “I’ve encountered few enemies on this stretch, but the road is getting harder and harder, and there’s a …… suffocating coldness that’s slowing me down. ”
A majestic, low voice sounded directly in her mind, “Perhaps the cultists have given up stalling you with their minions …… they are focusing on the final moments.”
“What’s the situation outside?”
“A fog has risen, it is enveloping the entire city-state, the city guards are maintaining order and urging the residents to return home, small groups of guardsmen can already be seen at some intersections – they are carrying carrying carrying lamps for their nightly patrols, as the fog is blocking the power of the sun,” that Agatha’s mental majestic voice said, “Around the city-state, the sea is also fogging up, and the coverage may extend hundreds of nautical miles away.”
“…… Those heretics took action,” Agatha said softly, “Perhaps my actions spurred them on to move ahead …… “
“You don’t seem to be in very good shape.”
“I may have been hurt a little badly,” Agatha continued on, feeling her breathing a little heavy, but her mind instead clearer than ever, “but there is no need to worry about me, I am ready to die- -I will deliver your fire to their nest, one way or another.”
“I would prefer to see you complete this task alive, Agatha – though you are an emissary of the God of Death, there is no need to be in such a hurry to report to Bartok. By the way, speaking of which I’m suddenly a bit curious, for you magi of the God of Death, is this matter of ‘death’ …… considered a demotion or a promotion?”
Agatha was stunned for a moment, tugging at the corner of her mouth, “Your sense of humor really surprises me – I’m sorry, I can’t really answer this question, I’m afraid that none of the God of Death Magi throughout the ages have ever pondered over this matter, and after that if you have the chance… …I’ll think about it.”
“Well, good luck finding the answer.”
The voice in her head fell silent for the time being, and Agatha gently breathed a sigh of relief – I don’t know if it was an illusion, but she suddenly felt that her breathing wasn’t as hard and exhausting as it had been just a moment ago, and even her footsteps had become slightly easier.
She glanced at the fire resting in her left hand, carefully shielding it as she stepped through yet another intersection.
There was water overflowing from a nearby drainage channel, creating a small pool of water on the ground, which was as calm as a mirror, in which the dimly lit dome of the waterway was reflected.
Agatha stepped through this standing water, and the calm surface rippled in layers – the steeply shattered reflection reflected a figure dressed in a black trenchcoat, ceremonial bandages wrapped around his body, and carrying a pewter walking stick in his hand.
The figure walked in the direction Agatha had come from, and for a brief moment, they passed each other head-on.
……
Agatha stopped abruptly and looked a little puzzled at the spot she had just walked over, where she saw a small patch of standing water, still rippling in layers from the footsteps that had disturbed it.
The reflection of the moment just now could no longer be seen in the turbulent and broken water, but Agatha always felt as if she had just seen something.
It was a figure that looked like her own, yet not quite – the figure was dressed in a tattered black coat, covered in scars and bruises, looking as if it had been through one battle after another, while the direction of its travel was the depths of the second waterway.
That was exactly where he himself had just left.
Probably because he had stopped a bit abruptly, the voice of the ministry came from behind him, “Gatekeeper? What happened?”
“That patch of standing water ……,” Agatha turned back and pointed not far away, “was it just now? Did you guys see any strange sights in there?”
“Pooled water?” The ministry glanced back with a somewhat puzzled expression, “It was there just now …… but I didn’t see anything strange.” Agatha didn’t say anything, just suddenly fell silent, gazing longingly at the still shaking water, for a long time, before a trace of gravity and thought gradually grew in her eyes.
“Are you seeing something?” The ministry couldn’t help but be a little worried.
Agatha was silent for another moment before gently shaking her head, “No need to worry, everything is fine, everything …… is fine.”
The subordinate obviously still had some doubts, but in the face of his superior’s grave expression, he still collected his excessive curiosity and promptly changed the topic, “What did you just find across that door? It feels like your expression has always been serious since you returned ……”
Her mind’s tumultuous thoughts quickly gathered, Agatha raised her head and looked in the direction she had just come from – the gate leading to the abandoned mine had already disappeared on the other side of the intersection, but she still clearly remembered what she had found in that dark mine tunnel.
She didn’t explore that mine tunnel for too long, but instead returned to the Second Waterway the same way she had come after confirming her discovery, and hurriedly led the group on their way back to the stronghold – out of necessary caution, she hadn’t disclosed to her men exactly what she had found behind that gate until now.
Even now, she did not know how to explain to the black-clothed guards in front of her that too thrilling and bizarre …… “conjecture”.
After a brief hesitation, she turned around and continued walking towards the stronghold.
After walking for a while, she suddenly whispered as if she were talking to herself, “What does the Frost …… use to survive?”
“Survive by what?” The subordinate was slightly stunned, not reacting for a moment, and only after a few seconds did she speak hesitantly, “You mean the economic source of the …… city-state? The boiling gold business?”
“Boiling gold is the blood of Frost, and the mines are the heart of the city-state ……” Agatha muttered softly to herself, speaking words that baffled the black-clad guards, “None of us seem to have thought that there would ever be a time when that heart would stop beating time ……”
Another of the black-clad guards couldn’t help but step forward with a hint of nervousness on his face, “You ……”
Agatha gently raised her hand, interrupting her subordinate’s words.
“Don’t think about it so much for now, everything cannot be determined yet, I do see something across that door, but whether or not I can reveal it to you, I still need to consult with the Archbishop before I can do so.”
She had calmed down from her earlier upset.
She had perhaps been too nervous herself; it was just a depleted and abandoned mine tunnel, and for an old mine that had been mined for many years, the depletion of a tunnel or two was not something to be surprised at, and the subsequent decision by the city-state’s municipal council to block it off could well have been something else – some sort of contamination that had once existed, but had now faded was the most likely scenario.
Jumping to conclusions is a big no-no in investigations.
Agatha shook her head, but her mind couldn’t help but recall the fleeting scene she had just seen in that pool of water.
That in the reflection and their own reverse, through the battle stained with blood …… “himself”.
Agatha slightly closed her eyes, gripping the cane knuckles because of the force and slightly white, but a moment later, she reopened her eyes to look ahead, her face expression has been restored calm.
There was still much to do for herself.
In silence, Agatha led the Guardian squad back to the stronghold located at the underground intersection, and as soon as she returned here, she noticed that the atmosphere around her seemed a bit strange.
A slightly tense aura enveloped the stronghold, there were priests who looked like they had just come down from the shaft nervously talking to the head of the stronghold’s guard about something, and a few of the steam walkers that had set out earlier to clear the turnoffs had been summoned back early, and appeared to be preparing to return to the surface by elevator.
Agatha quickly stepped forward, and without waiting for her to voice an inquiry, the black-clad guard commander in charge of the stronghold here had already spoken up quickly, “Your Excellency the Gatekeeper, there is a situation on the surface.”
Agatha frowned, “What situation?”
“Fog, a very large and eerie dense fog that has enveloped the entire city-state and the surrounding sea, the sky can’t even see the sun anymore,” the commander reported quickly, “There are also evil spirits that have appeared in the library and archives, although they were suppressed by the scholars on duty just in time, panic and chaos are spreading through the city! –The Archbishop sent someone down to ask you to return immediately!”
(End of chapter)