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TWL Chapter 73: Gargoyles, Portals, and Forbidden Desires
🕑 Added 2024-01-19 20:11:48 +0000 UTCLann said: "Since they are made of marble and granite, then anything that can destroy marble and granite can also destroy them, right?"
Geralt hesitated and nodded.
Lann turned around and called to the soldiers: "Switch weapons, use hammers. Forward! Smash them one by one, don't give them a chance to wake up!"
This is the purpose of Lann asking the soldiers to carry hammers: to face the gargoyles and golems that may be encountered, these hard things that are not made of flesh and blood.
The soldiers dispersed, and the sound of the stone being destroyed echoed in the hall. Statue after statue was hit on the head, followed by a few more hammer blows that turned the bodies into stone fragments.
Lann was concerned that the gargoyles' weak points were not in their heads and insisted that they be reduced to small pieces for safety.
“Ah, ah, ah... Intruders...”
After clearing numerous motionless statues, a gargoyle suddenly roared from its abdomen with a deep, deafening sound.
He opened his eyes wide and found five or six hammerheads rushing towards him.
As for gargoyles, magic theorists still debate how to classify gargoyles. For example, some claim that they are a type of golem, as gargoyles are just weird statues driven by magic to perform simple errands, and they can only perform the most basic of tasks.
Simply put, they are too stupid, and their reactions are too slow. Even if they have certain magical abilities, their use is very rigid, and they don't even have a chance to use them.
The gargoyle that had just roared had its head quickly destroyed by a hammer. After waking up, the only thing she could do was let out a roar.
The soldiers, who cooperated tacitly and had become familiar with each other, hammered the gargoyle several times regularly, completely smashing the gargoyle's body into pieces. They were surprised by the sudden roar.
"Sure enough, there will still be ones that can move." Lann asked: "Is this the last one?"
Everyone looked around; all the statues had turned into rubble, leaving the already very austere room with an added touch of 'war damage'.
Geralt, as usual, came to loot. The materials produced by this kind of magical creation are generally more advanced. Elemental essence and gargoyle dust can be collected, which can be used to enchant equipment.
The Druid also stepped forward to take away the heart of the gargoyle. Gargoyles are quite valuable within the magic circle. When Lann and the others were smashing them just now, the Druid's eyes were twitching in distress.
After collecting all the materials, the group began to plan the next step.
Geralt scanned the room with his witcher senses and said to Lann: "My witcher senses tell me there is something wrong with this altar, but I don't know what the problem is."
"Maybe it's not the way to the lab. Should we try another route?"
Lann had been patiently waiting for the two of them to squeeze out the remaining value of the gargoyle. Then he pointed to the altar and said: "Look at the shape of the altar, does it look like the foot of this gargoyle?"
Geralt was stunned. This was a direction he had never thought of before. After all, the gargoyle's feet were not a magical material, and he had never thought that they could have any effect.
Who in his right mind would use the legs of a gargoyle as a mechanism?
He squatted down and tried to break off the gargoyle's feet. The gargoyle's feet that had lost their magical connection were easily removed.
There is indeed a mechanism!
Geralt looked at Lann with a complicated expression and suddenly said: "I suddenly have the feeling that you know this place very well. Before leaving, you asked me to prepare alchemical bombs, and ordered the soldiers to familiarize themselves with a variety of weapons."
"After entering this ruin, you knew the key mechanisms like the back of your hand."
"But it seems like this is your first time in this place, and a sense of strangeness and familiarity appear on you at the same time. This makes me feel very awkward. "
It had to be admitted that the white wolf did not disappoint with his keen perception.
Lann shrugged his shoulders; After all, he couldn't say that he had already been to this place in his previous life. "I have my sources of information. It seems that the quality of the information I obtained is quite high. Isn't it okay to explore the ruins in an easier way?"
Exploring the ruins in an easier way certainly wasn't bad. Geralt nodded and did not continue asking, he turned and placed the foot of the gargoyle statue on the altar.
There was a sound of mechanical springs and friction of stones that I had heard many times today. The altar slowly lowered, and then a strong wind began to blow in the room.
Everyone looked around and saw that nearly ten portals suddenly appeared in front, back, left, and right, including the second floor of the hall.
Different from the golden-framed portals that the druid temporarily opened before, these portals emit a faint blue light and are also pitch black in the center.
If you only observe from this side, it is impossible to perceive the situation on the other side of the portal.
Geralt looked embarrassed. He was dizzy. Just looking at these portals, he seemed to have waves of dizziness: “Lann, did your information channel explain this situation?”
The druid didn't have any bad feelings about these portals. Instead, he was full of amazement: "How much magic power is needed to maintain these. Professor Tomas Moreau is worthy of his reputation!"
Lann was familiar with this scene, after all, it was the puzzle that puzzled him for a long time. Unfortunately, the complexity of this puzzle was not something he could fully remember; In his mind, he only kept a general idea of how to solve it.
“The teleportation gate on the first floor connects to the second floor, and only one of the teleportation gates on the second floor can connect to our destination—Professor Moreau’s laboratory. The other teleportation gates will teleport people back to the first floor.”
Listening to Lann's explanation, Geralt's brow wrinkled. How many portals would they have to go through?
"Anyway, there are many of us. We try one by one; Geralt, you can rest for a bit. Each of us chooses a portal and enters. Whoever reaches the laboratory first, returns immediately and takes the others inside, understood?"
"Yes!"
Everyone quickly dispersed, each selected a portal and entered one after another.
Lann took a deep breath, looked at the portal in front of him, closed his eyes, and dashed forward. After a brief dizziness, Lann opened his eyes.
Around him, he saw a room illuminated by magical lights. He was surprised because what he saw was completely different from what he had imagined.
The room was large; Near Lann, there was a broken wooden table with laboratory equipment that he didn't understand. Near the wall, there was a statue of a wizard-like man, and on the ground were some fragments of the statue.
On both sides of the room, there were stairs leading upwards, and as you moved forward, you could see a series of descending steps, indicating that the room had more than one level.
This was... Tomas Moreau's laboratory? How was it so easy to get here? Lann was surprised; Theoretically, it shouldn't have been a portal from the second floor that connected them here directly.
But what left Lann even more amazed was that he faintly began to hear Black Wind's neighing.
...
In Toussaint, the capital Beauclair, during the night.
The solitary moon rose high above, and the night wind was sharp. From time to time, one or two crows cawed, disturbing the tranquility.
Headstones stood scattered in the cemetery, surrounded by weeds that no matter how hard they tried to groom, never seemed to go away. The floral offerings left by relatives during the day had already turned into crushed petals, devoured by small animals and birds.
In the center of the cemetery, stood a robust tree that stood out perhaps due to its geographical location.
House and Ace were resting against a tree. They had just checked most of the tombstones in the cemetery and came here to take a break. The four soldiers dispersed to identify the names on the remaining tombstones one by one.
They checked several tombstones... But there was no trace of the objective of their mission, Tomas Moreau.
Ace muttered: "Do you think it's possible that...the Earl is wrong?"
House rolled his eyes and retorted: "I think you are wrong for having this idea. There are still some things you haven't checked here. Let's get up and continue after a while."
Ace pointed to the soldiers busy under the moonlight: "Didn't they come for that?"
House stood up and said: "I don't trust them. Only if I see it with my own eyes can I be sure that nothing is missing."
Ace couldn't stand his best friend's stubbornness, so he curled his lips and followed him.
They worked for another half an hour. The moonlight became brighter and brighter as time went by, but their hearts gradually sank.
All tombstones have been inspected.
"This is the city cemetery. If it's not here, it could be in the mass graves outside the city." Ace sighed. "Isn't Tomas Moreau a magician? A figure as noble as Advisor Mousesack, could he just be buried anywhere?"
House shook his head: "I can't say for sure. Didn't the Druids say they don't even have graves? They just 'return to nature'. It's normal for some mages to have weird tempers."
"That doesn't mean I wanted to be buried in a mass grave, does it?" Ace said indignantly: "If we are going to check the mass graves, it won't take us a day or two."
House said resolutely: "Then we have to start as soon as possible."
The two attendants rested against the tree and complained, but did not notice that as they discussed, the air on the top of the tree behind them fluctuated, and there seemed to be an object swallowing the moonlight perched on it.
If Lann or Geralt were here, the Witcher medallion on their chests would start to vibrate.
“I just heard you talking about Tomas Moreau? Are you grave robbers, humans?” A female voice leaked into everyone's ears.
The tone is mellow, like the wine at a banquet that makes people intoxicated; the tone is low, like a soft big bed that makes people sleepy; the most attractive thing was the melodious intonation that carried with it a subtle rhythm, as if the words became seductive vines that penetrated the listener's depths.
Everyone under the tree got goosebumps after hearing the sound, and they couldn't help but look towards the place where the sound came from.
In the place where the charming voice resonated, initially empty, the air began to vibrate like the waves in a pond when a stone was thrown. A woman with horns on her head and goat-like legs gradually manifested before them.
Just looking at her face, she was a beautiful woman; Just looking at her figure, she was an extremely seductive creature.
Her facial features are exquisite, her expression seems to be smiling but not smiling, and the peaks and curves on her body are like unknown scenery that invites exploration; her brown skin is as smooth as silk under the moonlight, full of exotic amorous feelings; her chest, waist, abdomen and elbow joints It has white lines that look like tattoos and contains a provocative mystery.
She was covered by a simple white band that crossed her chest and a short skirt made of the half-cloak fabric at the bottom.
But the look should stop here, since underneath there are goat's hooves. Despite that, there is no denying that she was a beautiful creature.
“Succubus!” After blinking, the people drew their weapons, quickly fanning out in defensive formation.
Due to the possible presence of succubus in Toussaint, before leaving, Geralt had provided them with information about them. Lann had also heard the explanation along with them.
Succubi are extradimensional creatures brought to this world through the Conjunction of the Spheres. Many people confuse them with advanced vampires, but succubi are different from other monsters. In most cases, they love peace.
In other words, their desires need a peaceful environment to better satisfy them. Their victims rarely resist, but that doesn't mean they don't pose a danger. Their insatiable demands may be pleasurable at first but have driven more than one man mad or to death.
Victims of a succubus often smell strongly of sulfur. To treat this severe form of addiction, one must find a widow to give him pleasure and then give him a cold decoction.
Of course, succubi could also have positive results. They had 'created' numerous teetotalers and penitents for religions and knightly orders.
Mages believe that this phenomenon is caused by the succubus' unique magic. It is difficult for scholars to draw conclusions. After all, there are mages and scholars who have sworn that witchers will eat children.
In dangerous situations, succubi also possessed remarkable combat skills. Being otherworldly creatures, they had clearly defined steel muscles on their bodies, and the horns on their heads and the hooves on their feet could break bones with ease.
