The overseer hurried from the portal, shouting in a panic as he ran. Sweat soaked his hair and covered his face.
Under the sunlight, both fatigue and fear are clearly revealed.
A little further away, the shouts of more people were mixed together, and along with the roar of the wind, they all drifted into Earl William's ears.
"Oh my god! Goddess, who can tell me what is going on?"
"Am I dreaming? This...this magic circle actually moves on its own!"
"Who did it?"
"It's really not me who did it! I swear on the name of myself, my father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather!"
"Stay away! It's dangerous out there!"
"..."
Earl William narrowed his eyes.
In his field of vision, the newly built plane portal suddenly began to radiate dazzling light to the surroundings and rotate rapidly at the same time, like a colorful whirlpool.
That's right, it's a whirlpool.
As it rotates, it generates an extremely strong attraction, seeming to want to swallow up everything around it.
The surrounding workers and magicians had to evacuate in a hurry to avoid being swallowed by this terrible whirlpool.
The overseer, who was closest to the magic circle before, was also running the fastest at this time. He didn't stop until he reached the entrance of the hall of Earl William's castle, holding on to the door frame and gasping for air.
Judging from his pale face and dazed look, he was obviously frightened by this unexpected incident.
"It was just a little bit," he was heard panting, clutching his heart. "It was just a little bit like it, and I was going to be turned into a pulp by it."
"At least you're alive."
Hearing what he said, the guard guarding the door patted his shoulder and smiled helplessly.
However, although there were no casualties in the earl territory in this incident, the surrounding materials could not escape the disaster.
Earl William stood on the top floor of the castle, looking helplessly at the materials around him. The equipment, including the rare magic materials used to make explosives, were all involved in the out-of-control magic circle, and then it was like falling into a black hole.
Completely disappeared.
Then his face immediately turned cold.
He waved his hand and called all the magicians responsible for drawing the magic circle for questioning.
"Gentlemen, I need an explanation." Earl William said calmly.
Several magicians looked at each other.
After a moment of silence, one of them replied hesitantly:
"Lord Earl, to be honest, we really don't know what happened just now.
"As you said, we drew the magic circle according to the drawings given by Master Allen. We checked it several times after drawing it. I dare say there are no mistakes or omissions at all.
"I think... the accident just now was probably due to the interference of the turbulent flow of space in the void!"
Hearing this, Earl William showed a meaningful smile on his face:
"Listening to your tone, do you want to tell me that the reason why you couldn't cook a meal was because a fly from another dimension fell into your pot? Oh, do you think I will believe it?"
"But... Lord Earl," the magician said aggrievedly, "I didn't mean to excuse myself... but it is indeed the case!
"Just... just now, there was really a force from the void that interfered with the magic array, causing it to undergo that weird change..."
Seeing the innocent expressions on the magicians' faces, Earl William shook his head silently and waved for them to leave.
At this time, he had to secretly rejoice that he had bought property damage insurance in advance.
…………
Northern Inquisition.
Ariel had already been unhandcuffed, lying on the urine-smelling straw in the corner of the cell, counting sheep in his head out of boredom, having long lost the concept of time.
The cell was as dark as ever.
There is no light except for the small window used to deliver meals.
Every prisoner locked up here will feel that he has become no different from a blind person, or to be precise, no different from a dead person.
The walls and floor are made of rough rocks, which are as cold as ice to the touch. They are crowded in from all directions, forming this small space full of oppression.
It's like being buried in a tomb.
But Ariel didn't seem to care about it.
As time went by, he gradually adapted to the weak light here.
The god who controls the night gave him a pair of black eyes, allowing him to see the world clearly in the darkness.
At the same time, the mysterious six-pointed star pattern also gave him a strong psychological suggestion, making him firmly believe that the "messenger" would come to save him, and that the great God of Darkness was still looking after him.
After all, his ax was taken away by Bishop Nerga.
And under the influence of the "holy light array" covering the trial center, it was difficult to mobilize the power of the gods in his body.
Obviously, he cannot break out of the cage with his own strength.
But the mysterious six-pointed star seems to be completely unaffected by the "Holy Light Array".
This gave Ariel hope to escape.
"Great God of Darkness," every once in a while, Ariel would stare at the ceiling, clasping his hands and praying, "If you can bless me and let me escape from this place, I will definitely change my ways.
Make a new start, lose weight, never drink, never act stupid..."
At other times, boredom becomes his worst enemy.
In order to pass the time, he tried counting sheep, donkeys, bricks, or guessing how the "messenger" would think of getting him out... But as time went by, he gradually got tired of it.
Whenever this happens, he will sigh from the bottom of his heart:
"Well, it would be nice if there was wine here."
Under such a situation, he was happiest every day when the jailer came to deliver meals.
Whenever he heard the footsteps outside, he would come to the window and sneer in what he thought was the sharpest tone possible:
"Is the Church of Light so poor that it can't open the pot? How can it provide such garbage-like food?"
"Is this food for humans to eat? It's better for rats to eat! Humph, you people in the Light Church are all rats."
"Hey, you can't even afford a drink here, can you?"
"..."
Most of the time, the jailer who delivered the meal ignored him and would just stand by quietly without saying a word. After he finished his meal, he took the plate away.
Only once did the jailer respond to him casually.
"Then what do you want to eat?"
Ariel hadn't talked to anyone for a long time, and he just felt uncomfortable.
Hearing this, he replied without thinking: "Hot dogs, sandwiches, fried steak... Well, anything except brown bread. If possible, have one of each."
The jailer commented lightly: "You have a great appetite."
"I have always had a good appetite," Ariel said proudly, "otherwise, why would I eat so much meat and drink so much?"
But the jailer's next words silenced him immediately.
I only heard the other party pondering for a moment and said: "No wonder you are so fat."
The other party's ridicule hit Ariel's pain point, making him deeply angry, but he didn't know how to fight back.
When he finally thought of a retort after gritting his teeth and thinking for a long time, the jailer had already turned around and left.
Before leaving, he didn’t forget to leave a sentence: “I heard that you have a nickname called ‘Crazy Axe’, but I don’t think it’s very appropriate. How about you call me ‘Fat Bear’ instead?”
"Fuck you 'Fat Bear'!" Ariel slammed his fist on the thick door of the cell. "You are the 'Fat Bear'! Your whole family is a 'Fat Bear'!"
This conversation is just a small episode in Ariel's life in captivity.
After that, the jailer never showed up again.
In the long silence, Ariel even suddenly began to miss him a little.
"Actually... it's quite pleasant to chat with him," Ariel said to himself, "At least it's more interesting than counting sheep... Well, as long as he doesn't mention the word 'fat bear' again, everything will be fine."
After some time, Ariel changed his mind again.
"Hmph! 'Fat Bear' is just 'Fat Bear'! As long as someone can come and talk to me, I'm willing to call me a pig!"
However, at this moment, as if he heard his voice, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door.
Ariel suddenly sat up straight, braced himself, took a deep breath, and prepared to put the words he had been holding back for the past few days into the other person's ears.
But the person who came was not the jailer who called him "Fat Bear".
Instead, he is a Judgment Knight of the Church of Light wearing chain armor and holding a prison key.
Only a few "clangs" were heard, the cell door was opened, and strong light shone in, making Ariel unable to open his eyes.
Then the knight of judgment strode in and grabbed Ariel by the collar, forcing the latter to stand up passively.
"Heretic, our Lord Magistrate has something to ask you," the knight said in a cold tone, "Please answer truthfully, otherwise we will have many means to make your life worse than death."
"Your Lord Judge...he...what questions will he ask?" Ariel rubbed his eyes, feeling a little caught off guard.
"All aspects," the Judgment Knight replied, "including your identity, your past, your plans, and the various layouts of you cultists...
"And most importantly, the secret that you saints would rather die than tell."