Not long after,

The three of Raymond came to the collection area of ​​the Art Academy Library.

Ilya was puzzled: "Uncle, aren't you looking for clues about Soderos? Why did you come to this art section? There are some famous calligraphy and paintings here, but there are no swordsmanship classics..."

"Soderos was born in an artistic family, and his parents wanted him to be a painter rather than a swordsman. Therefore, he was highly accomplished in painting when he was young..."

Raymond was deeply impressed by this plot at first and gave an explanation.

He tried to think back and then said: "If I remember correctly...he would have signed the pseudonym Picasso J. King on his works."

"Picasso? I think I heard it in art class..."

Elijah was clearly impressed.

She followed the labels on the bookshelf and quickly found her target, "Look, it's here."

There are a lot of things on the bookshelf, including oil paintings and scrolls. It seems that Soderos's output of art works was not small back then!

Ilya looked at the exquisite and unique painting in front of him and exclaimed: "It turns out that Senior Soderos is really a painter!"

"Um."

Raymond frowned as he looked at these old things that had been covered in dust for decades, feeling vaguely that he was going to return home empty-handed today. No matter how you looked at it, there was no possibility that the "magic sword" was hidden in these piles of paintings.

Could it be that you guessed wrong?

Thinking about it, he still didn't give up and said: "I'm looking for a painting called 'Hell Transformation'. If you see it, pay attention..."

This was the only information he could associate with "Hell". As introduced in the game background, Sodros seemed to have found inspiration from that painting, saw Hell, and understood the "Twelve Scenes of Hell."

...

"found it!"

Not long after, when Judy spread out a picture scroll, she saw the label "Hell Transformation"!

This is a ghostly picture with an extremely scarlet background, as if soaked in blood. There are blood pools, thunder and lightning, volcanoes, evil winds, instruments of torture, demons... in the painting, which depicts the horrific landscape of hell.

The heroine in the painting is a woman burning in flames... Her eyes show the burning pain, but more of it is deep affection. Those crystal eyes filled with affection seem to be separated by

The scroll looks at the person who painted it.

The artist's skills are very superb and vivid. The real scenes in the painting make people feel slightly dazed, and they suddenly feel as if the flames are about to burn through the painting. It allows the viewer to experience for a moment the heartbreaking emotions of the woman in the painting.

Burning pain.

"Ah! Why do I feel my scalp is numb after looking at this painting..."

Ilya's little face wrinkled up, and he was very unhappy: "This seems to be a sketch? Could it be that Sodros was watching people burn to death in front of his eyes, so he painted this painting?"

Even Judy, who has seen too much life and death, frowned slightly. She had seen this look before and murmured: "This is the look of farewell before death. Probably, the woman burned by the flames knew the painter.

of..."

"Well, they do know each other. This painting also depicts the true story of that year..."

Seeing this painting, Raymond's eyes were slightly misty, and he slowly narrated: "It is said that Sodros was obsessed with swordsmanship, and he had already touched the threshold of the sword's will. But that feeling was like the inspiration of a painter.

, mysterious and mysterious, and illusory, it always makes him unable to grasp it... He is almost crazy because of this. The more anxious he is to understand the sword intention and step into the realm of 'swordsman', the farther away that feeling becomes from him.

.”

...

"Ah...what does hell look like?! I have obviously seen its outline, but why is it becoming more and more blurry...If I lose this God-given opportunity, I am afraid I will never be able to enter it in this life.

'Swordsman' level..."

"Soderos, the person I love most, I feel your anxiety...Can I help you?"

"No...Sonia, you can't help me. My swordsmanship is to let people see despair! I have seen the scene of hell in my dream, and that is my ideal 'Ultimate Way'

Tao... But now I simply can't understand the artistic conception of the painful struggle in hell, and I can't understand the heart-wrenching despair of being trapped in hell..."

"..."

Soderos finally lost that kind of "inspiration". He thought that God had given up on him, took back his swordsmanship talent, and blocked him from the threshold of realizing the "sword intention".

Having lost his swordsmanship, he spends all his time drinking to drown his sorrows, like a zombie.

After holding the wine bottle in his hand, he never touched the sword again.

all of these,

It was all seen by his lover Sonia.

that night,

Soderos got drunk again.

On his way home, he vaguely saw a fire in the distance, thinking it was a drunken dream. He staggered closer, and the fire was like a red lotus from hell, blazing into his eyes. And there was something in the flame.

The figure struggled painfully, moaning in despair and pain on the edge of death...

"Oh my God, isn't this the despair I have experienced before?"

This horrific scene not only did not frighten Sodros, but he thought that God had once again given him supreme inspiration, allowing him to touch the "ultimate artistic conception" that had disappeared and was invisible. This was the hell he had seen.

scene!

He was going crazy, afraid that he would forget this scene again, so he quickly took out his drawing board to record this wonderful scene in front of him...

He seemed to be possessed by a demon, writing like a god. He looked at the woman struggling in the flames and seemed to see the most exciting scene in the world... He forgot everything, himself, and the woman in the flames.

The woman... In his hazy drunken eyes, the familiar mood of despair surged into his heart again, one move after another, one sword after another... The wonderful sword moves that he couldn't think of even after racking his brains, were in his mind at this moment.

It's like a volcano erupting...

He understood.

The flames had reached their peak, and their vitality was gone... The woman in the flames finally slowly turned her head and showed him the last smile at the end of her life.

It was a pretty face familiar to her lover, and her eyes were still full of love.

She waved goodbye in the flames,

"My love, goodbye..."

This moment was like waking up from a big dream.

That smile made up for the "artistic conception" that was missing in the end.

She bid farewell in despair in the flames, and Sodros also felt pain.

Losing a loved one is such heart-wrenching despair...

"No! Sonia..."

His lover turned into ashes before his eyes and turned into a flame in the red lotus hell, which helped him burn the burning "sword intent" in his heart.

From then on, there was no love in the world, and all he had left was the way of the sword.

this night,

Sodros escaped from hell,

Understood the "Ultimate Sword Intent".

...

After hearing the story, Ilya looked in disbelief, "You mean, the one on your scroll is Sodros' wife? She burned herself to death in order to help him understand the sword's meaning?"

"Um."

Raymond nodded, looked at the scroll, and said in a serious tone: "This is the origin of the original 'Twelve Scenes of Hell - Mysteries'..."

Ilya had a complicated expression and muttered: "How could there be such a stupid woman!"

After Raymond told the story, he felt very heavy.

What's more serious is...

Damn it, this seems to have nothing to do with those last words!

Where is the magic sword? I didn’t even see the shadow!

Just when he pouted in disappointment and wanted to put away the scroll, a system prompt suddenly sounded.

[Ding! Invasion of mysterious consciousness, do you accept it? 】

Can you still choose to accept it?

Raymond was a little surprised. It didn't look like an offensive mental spell.

【yes!】

With this confirmation, he saw that the blazing flames in the picture really "lived".

immediately,

An old voice spoke slowly in my ear,

"You can see the mental remnants I have left behind. It must be my 'Ultimate Sword Technique' that I have inherited. Fortunately... I have had the magic sword [Ghost Eye] for ten years, and I have gradually become a demon. I know that my life is not long, so I will leave it here." This volume..."
To be continued...