Chapter 685 — Intelligence in the Mist
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 4
"The Gondor scholars of a thousand years ago believed the gods were gradually approaching madness, and that in their final stage they would bring destruction upon the mortal world because of it. But they got one thing wrong—the gods are not gradually approaching madness.
"From the very instant mortals began to think, the gods were already mad."
Luo Yan did not speak for a moment, but pondered briefly. Then he shook his head. "I have heard enough of these vague, ancient fables. Let us speak of practical matters. What actually happened on the Holy Spirit Plain? What did the Order of All Things' End do, and what did those Cecil people do?"
"We had already left Ansu before the great decisive battle, so I fear we cannot give you overly detailed intelligence, but there are some things we do know," the elf twins answered. "The Order of All Things' End created an artificial god, but this artificial god fell into madness from the moment of its birth. And those Cecil people... they destroyed this artificial god in the White Sand Hills region."
Luo Yan's eyes instantly turned sharp and deep. After a brief pause for thought, he asked slowly: "An artificial god? How powerful is it? Are the Cecil people capable of destroying such an artificial god? What price did they pay?"
"The artificial god is a counterfeit, but its power still surpasses any mundane creature you know of. As for the Cecil people... they seem to have had allies aiding them, though for now we do not know who those allies are."
After a brief consideration, Luo Yan nodded, leaned back in his chair, and said coldly: "I understand. This conversation is over."
This time, the elf twins, who had maintained confident expressions throughout, finally could not help but show astonishment. "You do not intend to accept our cooperation?"
"Did I ever say I would?" Luo Yan glanced at the two elves with a faint, ambiguous smile. "I admit your words are indeed very seductive, but you got one thing wrong."
The elf twins exchanged a glance and said in unison: "What thing?"
"I do not negotiate cooperation with cultists. You are not yet qualified."
"Then earlier you..."
"That was merely exploitation," Luo Yan raised his right hand slightly. "And now, it is exploitation as well."
The elf twins finally sensed the powerful magic that this Typhon ruler had been secretly gathering. Their expressions changed in an instant, and countless venomous vines burst forth from the floor and walls as if out of thin air, stabbing like arrows at Emperor Luo Yan behind the desk. At the same time, the twins themselves were shrouded in rings of green radiance, and within that veil of light they transformed in an instant into tiny nightingales, darting straight for the nearby windows.
A string of explosions suddenly erupted in the study. Countless branching, forking arcs of lightning spread out from Luo Yan at the center, reducing those venomous vines to ash in the blink of an eye. Then he waved a hand at the two nightingales, and barriers of arcane energy crystallized like walls of crystal, sealing off the routes by which the elf twins sought to flee.
The two nightingales let out cries at once melodious and chilling. Invisible ripples spread through the air, hampering the closing of the arcane barriers. Magic surged into layer upon layer of sparks that leapt and scattered through the study. Amid the flying sparks, a slender black shadow slipped through a gap between the arcane barriers and vanished in an instant into the busy darkness beyond the window, while the other shadow was caught in the magical cage formed by the arcane barriers; after dashing left and right, it fell to the ground.
Only then did Luo Yan Augustus rise from behind his desk. Arcane lightning crackled and danced around him as his steps crossed the study floor, still trailing wisps of smoke. He came before the nightingale that had fallen to the ground and looked down at it expressionlessly. "Catching one is better than nothing..."