Scepter of Thorns

Chapter 44 43. Split

The black-haired demon hid himself in the shadow of the ancient tree.At that moment, he could hardly control himself, the sound of the second hand moving rang in his ears, like a death knell.Law had already planted the banner of desire and killing intent in the softest part of his heart—just because of a mistake.

What does it matter, he said to himself, it's only a matter of time before he thinks about it anyway.

But another voice was faintly saying, cheat.

Although one day the lies will wither and the pretense will tear.But he hopes that when that day comes, he can still have his own consciousness, instead of becoming a puppet, doing things beyond regret in pursuit of supreme rights and status.

cheat.

The tarot card on the chest gradually became dark and thick, and the image of the devil emerged.

He straightened his back, a stack of Tarot cards floated in his palm, they were automatically broken up and shuffled until they returned to a deck.He tapped the deck of cards with his fingertips, and the cards were divided into four small stacks, but not evenly, as if they had been drawn away a little.

He picked a stack at random, and then took out the first card to see, it was the Star Coin deck.

"If you want me to do it." After only a few minutes, he returned to his original smile, "then try it."

After finishing this, he walked out, a gray beam of light scattered the fallen leaves above his head, and the leaves fell scatteredly on his body, with a rotten smell.

The pope raised his chin, and the top of the scepter in his hand pointed straight in the direction of the black-haired demons.The opponent's bone wings were stretching wantonly, and the sharp bone spurs drew mottled scars on the trunk.

"Are you the person who created the illusion?" The Pope stood still, but there was a hint of threat in his words, "Is what just now my memory?"

"I'm surprised that you can find out that it's an illusion." The devil's voice was hoarse, but it made him feel a little familiar, "Does memory refer to those strange things, the shroud made of fallen leaves and the celestial clan? There are women and matricides?"

The gray lightsaber was nailed into the tree trunk behind him against his hair, and he knew that the man was slightly angry, "It seems that you are very annoying."

The Pope didn't speak, but under his indifferent exterior, he felt deep fear in his heart.

It was as if a monster had awakened, it was lurking in his body, waiting for the right time, when that moment came, it would eat his will, put on his skin, and finally... merge into one.

He suddenly felt that he was very strange.

"You feel confused and afraid, just because you found another self." The demon bewitched, his tone was so sure that he almost believed, "In fact, that is you."

"Just like me." He slammed his bone wings, and the distance between the two suddenly narrowed.The Pope took a step back, the hand holding the scepter trembling.

The fallen leaves were blown by the bone wings and flew up from the ground. They drifted mightily in the air, forming a wall to enclose them.There was a gray light at the top of the scepter, and the pope spread out the wings made of runes, "Are you creating illusions again?"

"Yes." The pupils of the demons kept shrinking, as if they were suppressing something, and even the smile was a little distorted, "But you can't do anything."

"You can't do anything, El. Whether in the past or now, I am the only one who can control everything. You can always choose to surrender or die." His voice suddenly rose, and the pope took another step back. He instinctively felt Dangerous, like a ferocious and cruel beast that has broken free from the ropes that bind it.Clusters of thorns grew wildly from the soil, and when the sharp thorns touched the fallen leaves, they quickly dissolved them, and its surface was covered with corrosive liquid.The thorns surrounded them now, then criss-crossed overhead in a dangerous cage.

The bone wings were put away, and there was an extra dagger in the hands of the demons. The black crystals shone with a cold luster. They were already very close, only an arm's length away, "Only I can decide your fate."

The scepter emitted a silver-gray light for the first time. The pope didn't notice that the black thorns at the bottom of the scepter climbed a little bit higher. He raised the scepter high, and the inlaid gemstones began to shed their crystal color from the surface, revealing the spire.Then the body of the scepter began to become thinner, and in the end, he only had a lightsaber in his hand.

There are thorns behind him. The Pope did not turn around, but moved his hands back.As he expected, the sword was bounced back, with a layer of transparent juice on it, and he used the momentum of the roundabout to slash towards the demons sideways.

There was a crisp sound when the crystals collided, and the demons dodged behind him after a stab.The thorns obeyed his command to make room for him, and the pope took advantage of the few seconds to slip through the gap where the thorns had grown, but his clothes were badly corroded and his skin was covered with fine welts.The demons stared at the blood on his body, and the red in their eyes suddenly faded.

"You were hurt." He seemed to be muttering to himself, "It's because of me again."

"Hypocrite." The pope taunted, hugging his shoulders, "it's all in an illusion."

The Mozu seemed to regain their senses all of a sudden. He hung his head and stood in the cage. The black thorns separated them, as if they would never be able to pass.

"Sure enough, one of the two of us must stay in the cage." The demons spread their bone wings, and the film touched the transparent liquid on the thorns, and was quickly corroded.The Pope suddenly felt unspeakable anger, and something in his soul seemed to be ignited all of a sudden, "You are the one who should stay in the cage, and it can only be another me standing outside the cage! But the other you always You want to put me in a cage and get everything I have! But now, what right do you have to say this in front of me?"

The Pope was stunned when the words came to an end, because he himself didn't understand what he was talking about.But the Mozu understood, and he stood in the cage watching sadly, as if looking at a beloved thing that he could never have, and the longing love was tortured by pain.

"Yeah," he said softly, "so you can only see another me."

He became docile, and the wildness and cruelty disappeared without a trace just now, but the Pope still wanted to leave urgently, his wings were floating in the air, and then he turned around and left.

The demon was silent, like a wounded animal covering its wounds.Black thorns wrapped around his limbs and gradually rotted away.After an unknown period of time, the thorns began to wither, breaking into pieces and falling to the ground, and the people they bound had disappeared.

The Pope flew a little higher and stood on the branch to look out. An ancient tree in the distance occupied the entire sky with a powerful posture. The other trees were like children who grew up under its shelter, looking extremely short and thin.

Relying on his instinct, he flew into the shadow of the ancient wood, but happened to meet the magician and the god of death. They were fighting with something. The Pope used the scepter to set up a defensive barrier, "What's going on?"

"You're here, why are you in such a mess?" The magician took off his coat and handed it to him, "We arrived here according to the arrow, only to find that you disappeared, and those light spots began to attack us. Lyle went to the tree Go ahead, we have dealt with a large number of light spots before leaving, let's sweep the tail."

"A little trouble, thank you." The pope put on his clothes. "Are these things... strong?"

It wasn't particularly difficult for him to resist the attacks from the outside. He felt that the magician was obviously not weak, and adding a god of death should be a quick thing.

Death snorted, "We thought so too at first."

Then the pope just didn't feel right.

The power of resistance was gradually weakening, he did not stop the supply of energy, but the barrier was soon on the verge of breaking.Death shrugged, "That's it."

The magician threw out a card and said: "These things seem to be able to absorb the energy of other things, whether it's attack, defense, or even life. Once they get close, they will die. That guy Lyle went to nowhere. We It can only be resisted with the Tarot cards obtained in the circus. But what I got is the Holy Grail deck, which has a strong water element and is weak against plants. Death is the sword deck, which is similar to the light spot Things that are too small can't hit at all, you should be the scepter deck, so it's up to you now."

"The tarot cards obtained in the circus?" The Pope immediately took out his own cards, "Who told you that these cards can be used?"

"Lyle," the magician replied, "he used a pentacle two to bury a large area of ​​light spots, as if to say that this card represents balance, and the existence of these light spots has affected the forest, that is, the lack of balance, and then Double the power of the cards—or so, and let us figure it out.”

A thought flashed through the pope's mind, he picked out a seven of scepters, and threw it at the spot of light just like the magician did just now.

"No, no, no!!!" The magician raised his heart when he saw the way he was throwing, and the god of death quickly caught the flashing card, "You threw it upside down."

He twirled the card on his fingertips, and then threw it out coquettishly, as if throwing a delicate rose, "The reverse position will have the opposite effect, and it will also affect us. Toss it upright .”

The Pope thought for a while: "So the real reason you are in such a mess now is because you threw the cards backwards, right?"

grim Reaper:"……"

Saying no would make him look weak, and saying yes would look stupid—in the end Reaper could only cough in disguise, pointing at the dots of light, "Look, it works."

Seven of Wands, counterattack.

The enchantment was completely shattered, and when the cards touched the light spot, it was like a cluster of flames falling into the pile of paper, and they began to burn and spread.When the last light disappeared, the forest fell into darkness.The sound of flapping wings fell from the sky, the magician took out a card, the shape of the Holy Grail gradually solidified, and began to emit soft white light.

The first card of the Holy Grail, feel.

With the light of the Holy Grail, the Pope saw a tarot card floating where the light spot disappeared, the first card of the sword.

Death looked at the card in surprise, and the Pope handed it to him, "It seems to be yours."

"No, no, no." Reaper took the cards and twirled them in his hand, "Well, it seems that I owe you once."

The pope didn't comment on this, he just asked Lyle, "Did you find anything?"

Lyle's white wings became more and more holy under the bath of light, but there was an imperceptible black at the end, maybe it was because the light didn't shine.He pointed to the roots of the ancient tree, "The exit is underground."

"How do you judge?"

Lyle had an extra pentacle one at his fingertips, "The pentacle deck is associated with the earth element. This card tells me that only the land under my feet is the only way out, and everything else is a trap."

Pentacle one, safe.

"Then do you have any doubts, Pope?"

"...No, let's go."

Not suspicious, he just felt wrong.

It seems that starting from this level, the role of the Minor Arcana [Note 1] has become crucial, and each deck has something for it.The scepter is the element of fire, the grail is the element of water, the sword is the element of air, and the pentacle is the element of earth.And he didn't know if these cards would work against people who were companions, but Reaper could indeed use his cards just now, and got the Minor Arcana for his own deck, which meant that there were no restrictions on users.

People with more cards have a higher chance of survival, so in the later stage, if the consumption of the Minor Arcana increases, he cannot predict whether there will be a scramble.All of this seems to be artificially pushed to a specific trajectory. This feeling of being out of control is really annoying.

"Then how do we get underground?"

Reaper quickly shook the reversed card in his hand, as if he was very happy to finally have his place, "Use this one."

The first card of the sword is reversed and destroyed.

----Chapter43. Split & End----

【Note 1】The Minor Arcana refers to the part of the Tarot that represents daily clues.