Chapter 131 Eternal Slate

Some people say that the threshold of life and death can completely change a person, and some people say that people who escape from death can often see it very clearly. Regarding these two points, Gawain believes that Viscount Andrew at this moment has a deep understanding.

During the few days when he was controlled by the cultists with magic, Viscount Andrew was always awake. His consciousness was trapped in the debilitating body. "Myself" issued the order of martial law throughout the city, watching the family and servants in his castle being taken away by the cultists, watching this glorious family castle sink into darkness and distortion day by day, in this long, like a hundred years In the sky, he realized that the king who was far away could not save him, that the small churches in the town that claimed to be blessed by God could not save him, and even the glorious inheritance of the Leslie family for hundreds of years could not save him.

The one who finally rescued him was the ancient duke who came from the lower reaches of the Baishui River, 700 years ago.

Destiny is really an inexplicable thing. A bold "investment" a few months ago has now received an extraordinarily rich life in a completely unexpected way.

In the lord's meeting hall with a big hole, Viscount Andrew, who had regained some strength, sat on his large chair and said the truth that caused disaster with a wry smile: "Because a new crystal vein was discovered in the mine, I sent someone to dig a new mine, but the mine collapsed during the excavation process, and the supervisor reported that a large space was found under the mine.”

Gawain's heart moved when he heard this: So this Viscount Andrew discovered the secrets under his territory?

However, his previous judgment was also correct. The Viscount did not know the existence of those Gondor ruins before. It was a recent matter that he discovered that there is another universe under the mine.

And Viscount Andrew continued: "It was some ancient ruins, with ancient, stone-like walls and supporting structures, and they were wide like corridors in a palace, rather than narrow and narrow tunnels. Most of them collapsed and Buried, but there are still some well-preserved places, I sent people to investigate in the ruins, and later they found a room that was tightly sealed. The magic seal of the room was invalid, so the magician on my territory easily lifted it. We found some antiquities in the room, including a fragment of the Eternal Slate."

Gawain is no stranger to the Eternal Slate. It is said that all the secrets about the gods in this world come from that mysterious Eternal Slate. In ancient times, when mortals had not yet been exposed to miracles, the Eternal Slate was a complete piece. Later, the sages of humans and other races discovered the slate, and at the moment of contact with it, knowledge about the gods poured in. The heads of those people, including the inheritance of divine arts, the distribution of divine positions, divine titles, etc., and the first batch of sages who came into contact with the eternal slate became the earliest "apocalypse" among mortals, and became the first pope and Holy Sees.

The Eternal Stone Slate was torn apart soon after,

As if the gods were reluctant to let mortals touch the divine grace beyond their ability, the infinitely powerful slate turned into countless fragments and scattered into the world.

In the years after that, several major sects that have risen rapidly among mortals have found some fragments of the slate. These sects include the most powerful God of War Church, the Church of the God of Light, and the Church of the Three Gods of Harvest. They smashed the slate into pieces. The pieces are regarded as holy relics and are kept in their respective holy places. Only the highest-ranking members of the church have the opportunity to touch the slate and obtain revelation. Although the slate has been broken, there are still a lot of residual power. You can comprehend the knowledge related to God, and the reason why several orthodox powerful churches have been able to maintain their prosperity for thousands of years is half of the credit of these slate fragments.

According to various churches, those "sacred knowledge" have been collected by major sects, and the slate fragments are currently under the control of several powerful churches, but Gawain is very clear that the churches have only collected the largest ones. It's just fragments of slate. God knows how many small fragments are scattered in this world. Some of them are secretly collected by those small and medium-sized churches, and some small fragments fall into the hands of kings, dukes and even big collectors. It's just that these small fragments seem to carry very little "divine grace", which is far from enough to improve people's magical level or enable people to acquire complete knowledge of the gods, so they can be preserved semi-openly among the people, without being held by major sects. Desperately looking for it.

Gawain just did not expect that Viscount Andrew would be so lucky (or unfortunate) to find a fragment of the eternal slate scattered outside.

Immediately afterwards, he thought of the ancient ruins in the Dark Mountains, as well as the thousand-year-old experiments mentioned by Nicholas Egg, those "locally unearthed samples", and those conjectures about "God's Sin".

So, that slate fragment was discovered by the magisters of the Gondor Empire and buried in this underground ruins? Could it be that the locally excavated samples mentioned by those researchers were fragments of the Eternal Slate? No, probably not. Although the Eternal Slate is precious, when the Gondor Empire was at its peak, several major churches did not dare to confront the imperial authority. As the eternal slate that is written and played with walnuts, then the fragments of the eternal slate buried in the depths of this earth may only be part of the excavations that year.

Gawain's heart turned sharply, but it was only a momentary thing, he showed just the right amount of surprise on his face and looked at Viscount Andrew: "So the cultists are eyeing the eternal slate in your hand. Derived from the Druid Church, they maintain distorted beliefs, and it is normal to be paranoid about these god items, but how did they get this news?"

"My butler," said Viscount Andrew with a wry smile after a moment of silence, "I should have known, when he brought me all kinds of potions, and when he showed his knowledge of the occult, he would have known earlier. He is the one who will die in the end!"

Gawain was stunned, and then he remembered who the butler was, mainly because Amber stole a watch from him, which was really impressive.

Amber next to him also touched his chin and muttered: "Then it seems that I don't have to return the watch to him."

Viscount Andrew's own magical talent is not high, and he does not have any talent for extraordinary occupations such as knights and wizards. However, as a nobleman, he must ensure that he has basic "extraordinary qualifications", so he has always been interested in potions and mysterious rituals. He is very interested in things that can improve his extraordinary abilities, and the butler around him has followed him for many years. He is a learned person who has some knowledge of the occult. Viscount Andrew trusts, but who would have thought that such a butler who did not show any clues for decades would be a minion of the end of all things?

It is a pity that this minion escaped earlier after the cultists initially took control of the castle, and the butler disappeared from everyone's sight.

Based on these sporadic information, Gao Wen guessed that the "housekeeper" is likely to be a "peripheral person" specially trained by the end of all things. He does not have any extraordinary talent, and he has a certain knowledge of mysticism, so he can easily obtain it. Nobles are trusted, and they are not guarded. Once the believers of the Society for the End of All Things take action, such peripheral personnel will quickly evacuate. They may change their names to hide next to other nobles, or they may transfer to the deeper layers of the organization.

What Gawain was really worried about was that this situation was probably not a special case.

Viscount Andrew is not a well-known family that can control the situation of the kingdom, but the Society for the End of Everything is a behemoth that has developed into multiple countries. It is unlikely that this cult organization will specifically plant a Viscount on the border of Ansu for decades. eyeliner, the only explanation is that it is the norm for them to place eyes around nobles.

What kind of monster has this fallen Druid order 700 years ago developed into? !

And soon, Gawain knew why the cult controlled Viscount Andrew to issue martial law.

"I told him that the Eternal Slate has been reserved for the king by me, and I have already arranged for the men and horses to be transported out of the castle," Viscount Andrew said slowly, with a happy smile on his face, "His sorcery can control my limbs. , can control my tongue, but not my mind, he can let me speak according to the lines he arranged, but he can't let me say what I know in my heart, so he has no idea where I hid the slate , he can only enforce martial law in the whole city, and then go door-to-door in my name to search, and before he finds something, he dare not let me die.”

It turned out that Gawain nodded clearly. The fallen Druid did have a magic technique to control people's words and deeds, but it was not the mind control technique of the necromantic faction, but a shallower limb nerve control technique, which was derived from the original Druid. The Yi spell "Animal Domination" is twisted and transformed. In the face of this kind of spell, as long as you have a tenacious will to fight against it, you will not be forced to speak by the cultists.

Gawain just didn't expect that Viscount Andrew, who looked like a sick child after taking a lot of drugs, would have such a tenacious will.

"That's why the cultists buried the people in the castle in the atrium to extract their thoughts, also to interrogate the whereabouts of the fragments of the slate." Amber also reacted at this time, looking at the weak Viscount in surprise, "but they don't know where the fragments are at all. , you are the only one who knows about this matter, which means that you didn't send that thing out at all?"

"Of course I didn't send it out," Viscount Andrew laughed hard, and despite being weak, he still tried to hold his head up, "I'm a heir of the Leslie family, I'm starving to death, I'm dying outside, jumping out of here, it won't work. Possibly succumbing to a cult!"

Although he felt a little familiar with the sentence pattern, Gawain still looked at this weak traditional nobleman with some admiration. This is the nobleman of this era. He is indeed old-fashioned and backward, and there are indeed some who are ignorant from the perspective of God. But he also has a so-called "aristocratic spirit", which supports an almost unreasonable pride, and this pride makes him not bow his head to the cultists even if he dies.

"Then where did you hide the fragments of the Eternal Slate?" Gawain asked curiously.

"Hahaha" Viscount Andrew laughed happily, and even coughed violently, "Just under that guy's eyelids! Right under his eyelids!"

While speaking, the viscount struggled to get up from the chair, and then lifted the thick cushion.

"That idiot opened my treasure trove, rummaged through my magic materials room, searched my bedroom and attic, pried open every locked chest and cabinet in the castle, but he never, never would have thought, I Just sit it under your ass!!"

After the thick cushion was lifted, Gawain saw it.

It was lying quietly on the seat, only the size of a palm, and its thickness was even less than half a centimeter by visual inspection. What was even more different from what Gawain had guessed was that this so-called eternal "slate" was not actually a slate.

It is a pale gold metal plate with an extremely smooth surface and a mysterious texture.