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The vast dandelion fields, the lifeless ice fields...all the majestic and magnificent scenery could not stop Black Knife's steps.
They now live for only one purpose - to find the two people in their minds, cut off their hands and offer them to the embers.
……
The city of Winter is always in the midst of snow and wind. Endless snow and wind descend upon this city and are then cleared away by the people here, over and over again.
It was already late at night when the Black Blades arrived at the snow-covered city. This was their favorite time.
But for the people of this city, the night is the most annoying time. Every time at this time, the cold wind of the winter will turn into a sharp blade, testing every house in the winter city.
"What a familiar feeling, it reminds me of the days when I was imprisoned." Er looked at the snow in front of her and remembered the days when she was imprisoned in the sealed prison in Huasheng Snow Plain.
Wu Heshi had the same experience as her. The cold there was even worse than winter!
"Is this the reason why you executed Wang several times?" Shiyi looked at Er's emotional expression and complained.
She had seen the three guys, Er, Wu and Shi, stabbing Yu Jin in the kidneys more than a dozen times.
II They scratched their heads in embarrassment when they heard this. At that time, they were almost sick in the sealed prison, and they finally saw a guy running in, so they were naturally "enthusiastic".
Of course, they were also given a good beating by Yu Jin afterwards.
"Okay, let's stop talking." Aleto looked into the distance and took a rough look at the layout of Winterfell City. He already had a route forward in his mind.
"Pinch the Rune and bend the arc. Prepare for battle!"
As soon as Aleto finished speaking, he took out an arc-shaped fragment and held it above his head.
Rune Curve - The fragment of the Elden Ring that touches everything after its transformation. When used, it can bring blessings to the equipped Great Rune.
When used without a large rune equipped, it can slightly increase the upper limit of HP.
The lower half of the Elden Circle has an arc at the bottom, which symbolizes the vessel that receives the grace of the Circle. Now the grace is endless, and the arc is constantly extending. It is said that it has touched everyone.
As the Rune Curve broke into pieces, the long-accumulated blessings were fully activated. Eleven complete Elden Rings suddenly appeared and disappeared.
The Great Rune of Ashes - Gods do not need to bless, but their power can only be barely manifested through the Great Rune. Through the power of grace, one can gain a higher level of power that transcends the essence of life.
This Great Rune is a complete and calcined Elden Ring.
The god of love burned himself, so the Ring of Elden descended upon everyone.
The magic circle disappeared, and some changes took place on the eleven black swords. They became extremely vast and unpredictable.
But soon, this aura disappeared in their bodies. After all, the fragments of the power of the gods could not support the might of the gods.
"Huh, the former king was so terrifying." San was extremely shocked as he felt the "power" in his body with unknown source, unknown form, and everything unknown.
"No, the current king is still terrifying." Di Xi interrupted San's words. She stayed with Ember for the longest time and knew him better.
The current embers were in a state that she couldn't explain clearly.
"Is... is that so? The king has reached that level, and there is still room for improvement?" San was somewhat incredulous.
[Rising? Not necessarily.] Di Xi looked into the distance, shook his head slightly, and said secretly in his heart.
"Okay, this is not something you should worry about." After adapting to the new power in his body, Aleto took the initiative to run towards Winterfell City.
Seeing this, the other black knives understood.They remained silent and began to communicate in their hearts.
Not only that, through the blessing, the eleven black swords also entered a special state that best suited them.
Now they have a common vision, a common memory, and a common thinking. They are eleven people and yet they are the same person.
In the past, black knives were trained like machines, largely in order to be able to approach this state.
Eleven knives put together are still knives, but eleven people cannot be put together at all.
Marika used to make them into eleven knives, and then used Lani to kill her own son.
Then it took Ember a long time to twist them from swords back to people. Now it seems that eleven people forming a sharp blade are much stronger than eleven swords alone.
The city of Winterfell was still as dark as ink in the middle of the night, but if someone was careful, they would find that the darkness tonight was deeper than usual.
Chapter 115 Night of Black Knife
20
2023-08-28
2.0
The prosperity of Winterfell could not be compared with that of Liyue. So at night, most of Winterfell was in darkness, just like Mondstadt, with only a few spots showing some light.
However, this is obviously not the case outside the Queen's Palace in the center of Winterfell - because this is the headquarters of the Fatui, the heart of the largest military organization in Teyvat.
No matter what happens in Winter Solstice, this place will not stop operating. In addition to a large number of soldiers stationed here, most of the executive officers who stayed in Winter Solstice also have their own residences here.
Lights illuminate every corner here, and numerous watchtowers and ubiquitous patrolling soldiers are patrolling the entire city.
From a distance, the solemn atmosphere is enough to scare people away.
However, none of these could stop the infiltration of the Black Blade. Without special means, it would be a pipe dream to find their traces.
Although there are many Fatui barracks outside the Queen's Palace, there are still many special buildings that form a sharp contrast with the featureless barracks.
A large part of them are public buildings, and a small number are the residences of powerful and influential people among the Fatui.
As the strongest and most powerful eleven among the Fatui, the executive officers naturally have their own mansions at the headquarters.
Black Blade shuttled through the maze-like station, as if those peculiar buildings guided them, or perhaps they already had their own route in mind.
Soon, after passing many checkpoints and patrolling soldiers, the Black Blades arrived in front of a magnificent villa.
It is hard to imagine that in such a solemn garrison there is a building with such a completely different atmosphere.
But no one objected. Because this is one of the residences of Pantalone, the ninth seat of the Fatui, the rich man. With his identity and status, he can support his strange behavior.
Of course, executives all have peculiar behaviors to a certain extent, so this quirk of the rich is not surprising in comparison.
[Target spotted!] Eleven figures hiding in the dark surrounded the entire mansion, and they could already see a wealthy man still working in a bedroom.
……
"There's some trouble." In the brightly lit bedroom, the rich man looked at the information in front of him and began to feel uneasy.
He had only felt this way before he became an executive officer, but now it was coming back to him.
Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma, the chess pieces he planted in these three countries have not informed him of any news for a long time.
Moreover, according to the news from various major garrisons, many of their things are in short supply now. This is true for both normal and abnormal things.
All these clues pointed to a result that he had never expected - all his business routes were destroyed by others.
Whether it was the regular trade routes or those secret trade routes hidden in the dark that transported some shameful things, as long as they were stained with the name of "Pantaronne", without exception, they were all erased by a certain existence.
"The underground intelligence network of the Northern Continent?" The rich man first thought of the organization that was hidden in the darkness and always opposed the Fatui.
But he quickly rejected his own speculation, "No, it can't be them."
The rich man's brows were knitted. Although the underground intelligence network of the Northern Continent was against the Fatui at every turn, it was impossible for them to destroy all their trade routes with their strength alone.
Moreover, even if they really have such strength, there is no need to destroy all their trade routes - there are regular trade routes here.
Destroying them would gain nothing except leaving loopholes. At most, it would delay the Fatui's supply flow.
“Did I offend someone?” The rich man frowned. Who has such great power to destroy everything he has worked so hard for?
Not even other executives can do this!
Suddenly, a figure flashed through the rich man's mind: a guy who had caused him great harm, a man who was escapable and whose strength was unpredictable.
[You guessed it right, but there is no reward.] A female voice suddenly sounded in the rich man's ears, causing his heart to shrink suddenly.
"Who?!" The rich man's breath instantly rose. The moment he heard the female voice, he used all his strength to activate his evil eye.
The biting frost immediately enveloped the entire villa. The severe cold descended on this huge building, and the fireplace that was constantly burning in the center of the living room seemed so ethereal at this moment, it could no longer remove any cold.
However, none of these made the rich man feel at ease. Wherever his power reached, he found nothing!
"We can talk." The rich man suppressed his shock and said calmly. As he spoke, he moved towards the window.
Now he doesn't even know the enemy's location. If he wants to have a chance of survival, he probably has to escape outside.
This is the headquarters of the Fatui, hiding all the secrets of this organization. Once this huge machine is running, the rich are confident that those guys hiding in the dark will stay here forever!
But it is obvious that Black Knife is not as easy to talk to as Ember.
Two men with black knives suddenly appeared behind the rich man and twisted his arms tightly behind his back.
"Crack, crack, crack!" The frightening sound of breaking bones was heard. The black knife's attack was extremely ruthless and instantly crippled the rich man's arms.
"Hmm!" The rich man groaned. Despite enduring such intense pain, his face remained calm.
Only the cold sweat oozing from his forehead and the involuntary twitching of his eyes showed that the pain of having his arms broken was truly felt by him.
"Actually... I still admire guys like you who can't be traded. It's a pity... I can't use you for my own benefit."
The rich man gasped and looked at the black knife that was placed behind him. He was wearing silver armor and was very big, not like a human.
Just as weird as that guy.
"Well... I hope you can survive the encirclement." The rich man's face turned extremely pale, and then his body suddenly shattered.
The bone-deep chill instantly filled the entire bedroom.
"Crack! Crack!" Crisp breaking sounds were heard. In the place where the cold air was pervasive, all objects were subjected to extremely severe cold.
The walls cracked, the flowers froze, and all the objects became extremely fragile in the severe cold, and they would break into pieces with just the slightest touch.
"Haha, quite tasteful. This kind of flower can only bloom in the south." He walked to the table and took out a frost-covered flower from the vase.
Then she crushed it into pieces.
"He can't escape." Looking into the darkness, she saw the rich man who could never escape.
……
"Hu——, Hu——" Large streams of white frost came out of the rich man's mouth. At this moment, his face was as pale as the white air he exhaled.
As the only one among the executive officers who does not have the Eye of God, the evil eye he wears is the best among the fools.
But even so, the price of using the Evil Eye with all his strength is enough to make an ordinary person like him suffer.
At this moment, a trace of white appeared in the rich man's hair. He felt that his body had obviously aged a lot, and he couldn't help but laugh at himself.