The faint moonlight was slanted, reflecting the candlelight in a room in the Royal Court of the Prayer Tower. Together they spread the light, illuminating the heavy paper rolls that were spread out or stacked on the desk.
The face of the blue-haired girl who was looking solemnly at the scroll also became particularly clear.
This girl is none other than Jasmine, a whaleman who has been in Longting for a few years.
"Well"
On both sides of the girl's long blue hair, her two slender black ears flapped, blowing up a bit of cool breeze but unable to blow away the heavy tiredness on her face.
As a priest of the Red Dragon Palace, she has to deal with many things, especially now that the war is getting closer. Although there are many officials like Mir below to help, there are many trivial but critical things that require Jasmine to implement and supervise.
All the subsequent work will be handed over to Emre and his wife, the patriarch of the bat species. They are also people whom Rafael trusts very much. They followed Rafael to establish the New Dragon Palace five years ago.
Jasmine is a fast learner. She has completely mastered the Longting language within just a few months of coming here, and she has no problem with speaking, reading, and writing.
The work in front of her was almost completed, and the time for dispatching troops was getting closer and closer, which made Jasmine feel a little unsure in her heart - although she and Rafael had no more secrets since Fisher came back.
They had met down there, but the affairs of the Dragon Court were still communicated through official documents, so Jasmine knew very well the next arrangements of Rafael and the Red Dragon Court.
She just suddenly remembered the war two and a half years ago, the crazy wind, the simply invincible enemy, the human general Barbatos.
Unlike Rafael, Jasmine has been with Scrophulariaceae since she was a child. Even Scrophulariaceae is not an excellent educator. There are many things that cannot be taught to Jasmine in a simple and in-depth way, but she can stay under the influence of a demigod.
Even now, Jasmine still clearly felt the huge difference between her mother and other living beings.
myth.
She did know this concept, and knew that Fisher had already reached the Myth level. She, a whaleman who left the ocean in order to protect him from falling into the vortex of destruction, could never see the threshold of the Myth level.
She doesn't have the same talents as her mother.
So what talents do you have?
Is there nothing?
Jasmine was in a daze, looking at the cold tea in the wooden cup next to her. After a moment of silence, she stepped back a little, took her overly broad mind away from the support of the table, and shook it elastically.
She was a little confused and stared blankly at the source of the water in the cup. It was not until a long time later that she softly opened her mouth and called out,
"Lord Lamastia"
""
But as expected, Lamastia still didn't reply to her. Since several years ago, Lamastia's consciousness has no longer left the ocean. If she wants to contact him again, Jasmine will have to return.
Just go into the deep sea.
But in that case, Jasmine will definitely be discovered by Scrophulariaceae, and it's hard to say whether she can come back.
However, according to Jasmine's stagnant state, she might be captured by Scrophulariaceae before her demise comes.
"Well, what should I do?"
"What do you mean?"
"What should I do?"
Jasmine rubbed her temples and replied subconsciously, but then she realized something and quickly looked towards the door, where she happened to see the arrogant and fiery figure revealed in the weak candlelight.
But at the door of her room, Rafael had changed into a black dress. Her paws were supporting the door frame. She did not step into Jasmine's room, but looked like she was waiting outside the door.
Jasmine quickly stood up and looked at Rafael at the door with some disbelief.
Maybe it was the defeat from the previous head-to-head confrontation, maybe it was the guilt of having secretly met with Fisher for fear of being discovered, or maybe there was a little joy in seeing each other again after a long time?
So at this moment, Jasmine was obviously in her room, but she seemed quite cramped.
"La Rafael, are you here?"
"Well, can I come in, Jasmine?"
"of course."
Rafael smiled slightly and slowly walked into the room where Jasmine worked. Facing the night breeze outside the window, her long rose-colored hair was blown behind her by the breeze and swayed slightly.
There were many unlit candles on the candlestick nearby. Rafael noticed it and asked,
"Why don't you light the lamp?"
"When we're in the sea, we don't need too bright a light. I'm used to it."
"Wouldn't this be very dark?"
But Rafael stretched out his two fingers and placed them on the candle. He rubbed it slightly, and the heat burst out from it caused the candle to burn, continuously illuminating other extinguished candles and lighting up the room.
The shadows slowly dissipated, illuminating Jasmine's face not far away at this moment.
Jasmine shrank a little, but following the light, the appearance of the dragon race in front of her was also clearly displayed in front of her.
Rafael's appearance was as bright and hot as when they first met, like a lit candle that wanted to illuminate everything in the room.
Unlike Jasmine who was staring at Rafael, the first thing Rafael saw as she slowly approached was the various official documents from Longting placed on her desk.
When she saw the official document, Rafael's previous steps stopped where she was. She paused for a moment before going on to talk about another thing.
"I took Fisher to meet my mother earlier."
Jasmine was slightly startled when she heard this, and then she pursed her lips, but didn't say anything. She just waited silently for Rafael's next words.
From the corner of his eye, Rafael saw that Jasmine was silent. There was no unexpected expression in her green eyes, and she just continued,
"Jasmine, you are from outside Longting. Logically speaking, everything here should have nothing to do with you, but"
"Rafael, are you trying to drive me away?"
Rafael looked at Jasmine with a somewhat surprised expression, but then she shook her head and said with a smile,
"How come, in my heart, you have always been my good friend. And, I mean, Long Ting's matter should have nothing to do with you, but you have been helping me all these years. Without your help, I would be helpless.
To this day, I am very grateful to you and respect your friendship. I don’t blame you for what happened to Fisher, Jasmine.
"If you want to blame, you can only blame him. Blame him for being a sentimental Nali man. Blame me for not having the ability or the confidence to monopolize him. You told me a lot about your relationship with the teacher before. Of course I know that he saved me."
I believe you can also understand the respect and tacit understanding between me and him. It's just that neither you nor I thought that we were missing the same person, which created the current embarrassing situation."
Jasmine also lowered her head in embarrassment. The candlelight beside her flickered, casting a shaky shadow on the other person's face and her own.
"Rafael, me"
"I took Fisher to see my mother, just because I didn't want him to have any regrets. I wanted to tell him my friendship for him, and I didn't want my suitable partner to be just my wishful thinking. Even my parents and
My ancestors all have to be deceived. If possible, I even want to hold a wedding with him and make everything about us public. But you also know that the situation in Longting is no longer enough for me to do this. Barbatos and his army
About to go south, two and a half years ago, his terrifying power still impressed me to this day. To be honest, I don’t know how to deal with him.”
Rafael raised his scale-covered paw, which was trembling slightly, as if his muscles were recalling the pain of being instantly shattered in a head-on battle with that terrifying enemy.
Even though Rafael's injuries have healed now with Jasmine's treatment and the passage of time, the terrifying power has fallen along the muscles and into her heart, making her shudder when she thinks about it.
Could it be that the rumored "Dragon Queen" is so timid that she would be intimidated by an enemy?
In fact, if she was really frightened, she would not be calm and composed in front of Long Ting, her relatives and Fisher, even if this calmness was just her disguise.
However, the power as terrifying as the chasm in the sky is undeniable. According to Fisher, he has not even seen the door of the "myth" before he has to fight head-on with the existence of the eighteenth level. In this way
The disparity in power will make anyone feel the disparity and invincible despair.
demon
It turned out to be the legendary devil.
Rafael didn't know why the devil colluded with humans and those puppets, but there were not so many reasons on the battlefield. Since they were enemies, the only thing Rafael could think about was how to defeat the opponent.
But after much thought, there was no way, and this was the source of Rafael's powerlessness.
Jasmine noticed Rafael's slightly shaking hand. She was also a witness to that war and was the one who rescued the seriously injured Rafael. Of course, she also knew what kind of existence they were facing.
Once again, she thought of her mother.
When she was a child, her mother told herself that when she was not yet at the mythical level, she once had a conflict with a mythical angel and fought him till death in the sea. Although she was seriously injured and lay on the bottom of the sea for a long time,
But she said that she was very excited at the time and didn't feel defeated at all even if she failed. She even wanted to wait until her injury healed before heading back to the Angel's lair to fight again.
As a result, the injury hadn't healed for long, and when she was happily preparing to fight again, her father had already avenged her in advance, which made her quite worried.
As a result, the injury hadn't healed for long, and when she was happily preparing to fight again, her father had already avenged her in advance, which made her quite worried.
Therefore, even if her mother later encounters an enemy hundreds of times stronger than that angel, she still feels no more satisfied than the original battle at the bottom of the sea.
And what about yourself?
I encountered such a mythical species, but I just wanted to escape!
Although from the perspective of hindsight, it was a wise move for him to escape with the injured Rafael, and it was a blessing among misfortunes that he could escape successfully.
But Jasmine herself knew that at that time it was not a decision made after rational weighing, but an overwhelming fear coming from the soul.
At that time, she only wanted to run away. She was so scared that she didn't even dare to look at the other person. She ran away so much that her mind went blank. She couldn't remember anything but running wildly all the way.
Totally different from my mother
Jasmine didn't know how to comfort Rafael. She pursed her lips and just said,
"Those beings are demons, but I don't know why they escaped from the demon dynasty. But before, didn't Fisher say that he had"
Jasmine fell silent as she spoke, and then glanced at Rafael cautiously. Because logically, Rafael should not know about her secret meeting with Fisher, including Fisher.
I told Jasmine that I would deal with the two demons in a private meeting. Wouldn't it be exposed as soon as I said it?
But after hearing this, Rafael just glanced at Jasmine and didn't care about the secret meeting between the two of them.
Maybe it was because she heard Jasmine's movements while pretending to sleep this morning, which made her sure that even if the two of them met, they would not do anything bad; or maybe it was because Rafael's feelings for Jasmine were deep enough,
Now that the two of them were alone, she would not harshly criticize the sister she had been with for four and a half years.
In fact, if we really look at the time spent together, Jasmine stayed with Rafael much longer than Fisher.
Unfortunately, emotional matters cannot be measured by the length of time.
Just because of that pitiful glimpse, how many people have had trouble sleeping and eating, and an illusory shadow has lived in their hearts; how many people, even if they sleep with the people around them day and night, each has their own hidden agenda.
Although the time spent with Fischer was short, it was so amazing that if Fischer didn't have such a sentimental problem, Rafael would even feel that no matter how long it was to record the relationship between them,
The feelings cannot be overstated.
I believe this is also the case for Jasmine. When she left the ocean for the first time and was not familiar with the world, she was involved in a dangerous situation where her relatives were involved in the death and she was left alone. Fisher, who saved her from fire and water, became an inseparable part.
Jasmine's words stopped abruptly, but Rafael already understood what she meant, so he shook his head and said,
"Of course I am willing to believe Fisher, even he himself feels that his ability is not as good as that of Barbatos. He said that there is not only one demon similar to Barbatos on the other side, but there is another one there,
Is this Agares the one who sent the human reporter here?"
"There's another one?"
"Well, I can't even imagine how terrifying these two demons who exist like that would be. I believe Fisher may have already figured out how to deal with them. After all, with his character, he won't say anything without a clue.
It’s because he has to go out and solve this problem.”
"Then what is Rafael worried about?"
Rafael hesitated for a moment, then turned to look at her,
"I'm worried about the methods he uses."
"method?"
"Well, whenever I think about Fisher helping me, I sometimes have nightmares, dreams that I don't quite remember the specific content of. I forget what I saw, but I still remember that I was dreaming.
The feeling, the uneasiness and fear. I don’t know if it’s because of those powerful demons or because of my suspicion of him.”
Rafael paused for several seconds, and then completed his unfinished words,
"I believe in his friendship for you and me, so I suspect that he may make inappropriate decisions to save us, and take risks using unorthodox and incorrect methods. If so, the price he will pay will be difficult for me to
Accept it, even if he really defeats the devil in the end, I will feel unworthy for him."
"Have you ever asked Rafael what method he will use?"
"I asked, but it was very vague. He just said that he would go to the Demon Dynasty, the lair of the demons, and the place where the demons escaped. But I don't believe that this method alone can avoid confrontation with them."
After all, it’s very wrong that those demons would appear in the human coalition to serve Elizabeth. There must be other secrets that we don’t know.”
"Demon Dynasty"
"Well, I don't know where that place is, but I've heard from Chief Erem before that demons live deep underground."
"So, what does Rafael want Fisher to do? Do you want him to give up helping you? This is simply impossible, and I can't accept it. If the war fails"
"Of course he won't agree, Jasmine. In a few days, I will lead the army to the front line, and he will definitely leave too. I still have things to take care of on the front line, and you, Jasmine, I hope you can go to the Demon Kingdom with him
.”
"Hey, me?"
Jasmine suddenly became nervous, and she looked at Rafael, fearing that this was her way of testing herself, but when she looked up, she only saw Rafael's face turning towards him.
She was carrying a candle, her green eyes shining brightly,
"Well, you."
Jasmine shrank a little and whispered,
"I thought Rafael cared about me and me."
"Yeah, I'm very concerned about it."
"Then you still"
"But there is no other way. I'm afraid this is the end of me."
Rafael shook his head, looked out the window at Long Ting who had a moment of peace as if on the eve of a storm, and whispered to Jasmine,
"You and I both know the situation in this war. Even without those two demons, our strength has been greatly reduced due to the defeat two and a half years ago. In terms of soldiers, we are far inferior to the puppet court and humans, not to mention that there are people behind them.
Nali. Even if our abilities are much higher than ordinary, we are no match against the devil. So, I have to consider what will happen if we fail.
"When I was defeated and retreated, many ethnic groups left their homes and families with me and retreated to this corner of the country with me. If I were defeated, I would not have the face to leave them, Fisher, and my family and fly away.
I will die here and be buried here with my soldiers. But you are different, Jasmine, you are not a demi-human from Longting in the first place. You can leave freely, which is also a guarantee for me.
"Although I still feel grudges about it, I would rather entrust Fisher to you than Elizabeth and others. I want you to follow him into the Demon Dynasty, and when he is forced to make mistakes because of me and Long Ting
Stop him when you decide so that he doesn't pay the price. Then, even if you fail, you can take him and my mother out of here."
Jasmine pursed her lips. At this moment, she felt Rafael's concession, but she was not happy at all. She gritted her teeth, hesitated for a moment, looked at the ocean outside Longting, and then said,
"I'm going to beg my mother to help us."
Rafael just looked at her quietly, then shook his head and said to her,
"As you told me, the promise you made with your mother is that a strong person like her will of course feel compassion because of your identity, but that is for your safety. Going back to look for your mother will not be the only way to go back again.
She won't agree to anything except not coming. Don't do anything stupid, Jasmine."
Jasmine reached out and pinched the edge of her sacrificial robe tightly, but at this moment, she quite wished that she was as powerful as her mother.
She might prefer that Rafael would argue with her over Fisher as before, and she wouldn't want her to tell her the instructions and arrangements behind her so calmly, like a slippery slope of fate, and she could only watch indifferently.
I watched it slide down into the abyss.
"That's it, Jasmine, remember what I said, I'll leave these things to you."
Rafael smiled slightly, then turned sideways to look at her. Of course, he also saw her hesitation and unwillingness. After hesitating for a moment, Rafael stepped forward and gently held Jasmine's hand, holding her slightly coldly.
The skin was wrapped in the scorching heat.
"Rafael, maybe there are other ways, Fisher."
"I hope so too, but if I survive, you and Fisher will be in trouble."
"Rafael, you know me"
Rafael gently shook Jasmine's hand and muffled her next words in his mouth. Then, she finally said,
"Thank you, Jasmine."
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