Stray

     Teague Lorenzo is in some sort of erratic state right now—and not a good one.

    It is difficult for him to articulate his current mood. His heart seemed to stop beating, and the warm blood in his veins turned to hot molten iron. The cold sweat had completely soaked the fabric of his back, and it was still seeping out through the pores. The big young man's face was expressionless - he even forgot how to pull the muscles on his face.

    This cage is done perfectly. It is strong enough to overdraw all the mana of the Holy Codex and cover as few houses as possible. Its position, shape, and even the curvature of the dome, he has thought about it one by one, and rehearsed it countless times in his mind.

    He wanted to do this for a long time.

      curse. To be honest, he couldn't figure out why after so many generations, the group of monsters who didn't seem to be able to use their brains could still live freely near them.

    Maybe it's a common problem with older people, he thought. The old people are always too cautious, holding every chip in their hands tightly, not daring to take the slightest risk. And the townspeople are too stupid - they don't care about the living conditions of their descendants, they just want life to remain the same. People worship their gods religiously, but in the face of monsters, most of them can only be insulted and spurned. Few dared to actually use the knife.

    Some people even forget hatred.

    Obviously they will hunt a lot of things, from small common rabbits to large steel-thorned porcupines or manticore wolves. What a normal thing - among countless prey, only the blue bird will be so haunted. Not only do they bite back when they are being hunted, they even attack afterward. Despite the inflexible and rigid attack, even with a bit of stupid "pride" that he sneered at, Vincent lost a lot of property and several innocent lives.

    They have become more difficult to capture in recent years. The money they got and the price they paid were completely disproportionate, and the terrifying alienation curse began to appear one after another—why did they let those dangerous things live?

     Teague Lorenzo even had some kind of heroic tragic in his heart when he planned all this. It doesn't matter if people don't understand, as long as results are achieved, his care and sacrifice can always be seen. Rather than announcing the plan ahead of time to face the endless debate and persuasion in the town, this may cause a little confusion at first, and he just needs to guide the townspeople reasonably. This will be a great and beautiful battle.

    But everything at the moment is more like a farce than a "great and beautiful battle".

     On both sides of the ice wall, the screams, cries and calls for help did not disappear. The two sides that were separated began to come together separately. The blue birds stubbornly slammed into the crimson wall of light, leaving bloodstains; and people tremblingly embraced their loved ones, seeming to have finally reacted to their situation. The injured person injured by the blue bird sluggishly covered the wound and let out a vague moan from his throat. The wounds were not bleeding, but on the contrary, they also lost the possibility of retrieving their limbs—the stumps had already been turned to ashes, and no one could afford a healer to regenerate them.

    The black badge that just pressed the pause for the melee climbed to the top of the ice wall. His short light brown hair was blown slightly by the wind, he turned his face to Teague, and his voice was smooth and clear.

    "Remove this thing!" Oliver shouted, "Stabilize the townspeople, and remove it! Now is a chance, and you have a chance to communicate—"

    "What the **** do you want?" Teague yelled back in dismay, "Why meddle in our war? We're going to win! You two dirty bastards, we could have win!"

    The big young man gasped violently, his eyes gradually brightened, and he seemed to be persuaded by his own words. He ignored Oliver's request and turned his head to the townspeople outside the cage.

    "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" he shouted in a hoarse voice, "Take up arms and protect your compatriots! The aliens' spells can't attack the outside, and we can still attack-"

    These words ignited the hope of the people in the cage, who let go of their throats and began to cry out for help to the townspeople outside. Nothing makes people more nervous than the cry of a child, and under the blood and ashes, people have no time to think about the reason. With a sudden sense of mission, the still free townspeople dispersed quickly. When they returned to the vicinity, they all had a variety of utensils that could be used as weapons—from sturdy bows and spears to scrolls. A machete with rust stains.

    They began to gather on the side where the Blue Bird army was.

    Niemo has not yet climbed the ice wall, he is just in the blue bird army at the moment. Although the appearance of human beings at the moment caused a lot of trouble for his actions - the black shadow flew away the blue bird that he didn't know which attacked, and he finally squeezed in front of Pasototu.

    "Why are you here?" he asked eagerly, "Where's Merotti?"

    "She...she's fine." Pasototu sounded a little sad, "and I have to prove to the tribe that I didn't 'betray'. I tried - we talked about it earlier Okay, let's follow the old rules. Only this time we have to destroy all the buildings and drive out this group of humans."

    He looked sadly at Nemo with the only eye left: "It's a trap, isn't it? Actually they insisted on spreading out and attacking indiscriminately at first, if it wasn't for me..."

    Blue Bird lowered his head and did not speak any further. The blue birds realized what the barrier meant, and on the other side, people with weapons were approaching. The shrouded dead objects have already been burned to ashes by the blue bird's spell, and despair has begun to spread.

    The blue birds abandoned the solid wall of light and began to attack the wall of ice.

    Oliver reinforces the ice wall layer by layer, trying to keep the townspeople on the other side from being exposed to direct attack. Nemo could see his hesitation—they could shatter the cage, but what about shattering it?

    They are not idealists. No one knows whether the Blue Birds will immediately start to retaliate wildly, and no one can predict what attitude the Blue Birds will take when they make a comeback, and everything at the moment is just proving all the views of the main war faction. Nemo nervously sucked in the muddy air full of tiny ashes, his heart pounding so hard that his chest hurt. Can they really stop this?

    Whether Teague succeeded in eradicating these blue birds, or Pasototu managed to escape, the next thing will only be a more crazy counterattack.

    Are they preventing the prophecy or making it happen?

    The townspeople outside the cage hesitated, and finally someone started to attack. An arrow shot into the cage and was cut straight by the shadow—but the shadow was too fast, and cut it into two pieces, and the front end still stabbed a blue bird's wing. Nemo looked to the source of the arrow—Isaac Delaney took another arrow and put it firmly on the bowstring.

    With one successful example, the crowd seems to be greatly encouraged. Spells and sharp blades began to pour into the cage, and most of them were stopped by the shadows. Nemo quickly commanded the shadow, but he couldn't defend against spells and blades at the same time.

    "It's abyss magic, that's a demon believer who doesn't deserve to die!" Teague commanded the crowd, "He's with them, and he doesn't need to be merciful—"

    The crowd finally started to boil. On a sunny day, the buildings in Vincennes still have a lovely, cheerful hue. The air was as warm and humid as it used to be, but at this moment it was split open by countless killing intents.

    Maybe it's time, Nemo thought blankly. The so-called "no way" - these people are not strong, he and Oliver can defeat everyone, and then forcibly suppress. Of course they can forcibly stop this small war that is about to get out of control, as for the next thing...

    It shouldn't be. He raised his head with increasing killing intent and looked at Oliver's back. The other party is still trying hard to erect the ice wall to protect the people on the other side. Oliver is still holding on, believing they can find a better solution than Jesse Dillon's suggestion.

    Think. Nemo bit his lip hard, he should know the answer.

    And a few steps away from Nemo, Fritz was also holding a bow and arrow, and his hands were shaking so that he could see clearly at this distance. The young hunter avoided Nemo's gaze. Amid the cries and cries of his compatriots, he finally raised his bow. And just as Fritz shivered and stretched his bow, a cyan figure crossed the crowd from above and stumbled towards the cage.

    The blue bird made an intermittent, meaningless chirping. Nemo couldn't quite tell what the bluebirds looked like, but he recognized the awkward gesture and the meaningless call.

    It's a pity that Merotti didn't succeed in rushing into the cage like the girl with long braids.

    Several arrows stabbed deep into her uncovered back. She fell a few steps away from the cage, the blood began to seep in the soil, and Isaac Delaney's eyes were firm, and he didn't mean to stop attacking.

    She was breathing hard, she had not had time to learn the funeral of the blue birds. So she just stretched out her forelimbs towards the cage like a human, and made a weak "silent" chirping from her mouth. After finding that she couldn't drag this strange and heavy body, she raised her head and looked pleadingly at her former compatriots around her.

    And her countrymen raised swords at her, except one.

    "...Merotti?" Fritz's voice was trembling, and he stared into her eyes. "Merotti?"

    "What nonsense are you-" Isaac growled angrily, then his voice choked. The dying blue bird nodded very slowly.

    Fritz knelt down halfway and placed his weapon lightly on the blood-sucking soil.

    "That's right," he said softly, with a stiff, ugly smile. "I guessed it was you."

    He may be just as abnormal as she is. This realization has never been so clear - he also fell in love with a blue bird.

    The huge wings spread out behind the hunter, and the crowd screamed in fear and scattered around. It's like escaping from a corpse that died of a plague. Fritz Berman's transformation was much faster than Merorty's, and in a short while, nothing human remained.

    He stayed quietly where he was, beside his beloved girl.

    The young men who rushed forward—some familiar faces, Nemo guessed were Fritz’s friends—also began to have blue feathers on their arms.

    "Calm down!" After a long silence, Teague's voice sounded again. This time there was an extremely subtle weeping in his voice. "The curse is contagious! As long as these things are alive, we'll all be contagious—"

    "War is impossible without sacrifice!" he roared, hiding his left arm, which was almost entirely a wing, behind him.

    With the fear of aliens, people are no longer cautious. The sight of what was beyond common sense drove the townspeople into a frenzy.

    At this moment, the red wall of light suddenly turned into a spot of light. Nemo broke it completely, stood up and made a final decision - he was about to turn to greet Oliver, who had already made his move.

    But it wasn't an overwhelming attack.

    "You have a solution, don't you?" Countless icicles rose from the people, stirring the battlefield into a pot of porridge. Oliver jumped sharply from the top of the icicle. He winked at Nemo, activating the communication crystal.

    "I need a little time, a little is enough," said Nemo quickly.

    "I know—Ms. Savage, it's time to join us," he exclaimed, erecting a solid wall of ice near Pasototu. "Let's make a mess!"

    The free blue bird did not fly away immediately. They angrily tried to attack the crowd, but were prevented from casting spells by icicles poking out from various angles. Anze ripped off his cloak and jumped on top of the fuller goat - this time, she didn't use lightning magic, she directly grabbed Bagelmoru, and rubbed the bird's neck, which spewed out of her mouth. A dark beam of light.

    "Abyss magic." She stayed beside Teague Lorenzo and whistled the incoming bluebirds, "I can't guarantee what will happen after being hit—"

    "You devil..." The gray parrot scolded weakly, but before the end of the curse, the bird's neck was stroked again. The beam of light with a strong evil spirit broke through the air like a demonstration again.

    "I'm really honored to be so praised by the devil." An smacking her lips, "Don't be self-willed, this is teamwork."

    Since the leaders of both sides are well protected, the two sides can only start to attack each other. Too bad their attempts didn't last long. Just as the blue bird and the townspeople were making a mess, a strangely dense dark cloud covered the sky. Day seemed to be cut into night at once. The unnatural change slowed down the pace of the fight, and then they lost interest in fighting—

    There are countless tiny cracks in the air, like solidified chopping marks.

    There is a chilling fire in them, and dark shadows keep pouring out of the cracks. They crawled along the ground like living things, past the dying Merlotty Delaney, past the crying wounded. Wrapped around every life whose heart is still beating.

    Nemo stretched his right arm firmly, trying to clear his head. Countless fragmented memories rolled through his mind, from Merotti's battle words to the blue bird messenger's wailing, and finally settled on the half of the unfinished fairy tale.

    Love can indeed lift Lavinia's "curse", but the real story has developed to the present, and a vital part is missing.

    He twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a difficult but sincere smile. If you want to deny your human identity, there is nothing better to distract your attention than this: "How about seeing the real 'curse' of the evil mage?"

    Dark shadows surged, fear and killing intent intertwined, and the scene in front of them was like hell.

    "I 'curse' you," he whispered, "I 'curse' you... audible."

    Oliver recognized the abyss magic in front of him. It had pulled him back from the brink of death in the battle with Witherspoon, and on the way to Vincennes, the shadows had crawled timidly around blood bubbles on the soles of his feet.

    Nimo is treating them. No, maybe it wasn't pure healing - the shadow also entangled Oliver himself, who was still unscathed.

    Oliver suddenly realized something, he turned his head suddenly to look at the black-haired youth in the middle of the shadow vortex. Nemo's face was pale, and his eyes were a little lost. The golden-red fissure expanded outward with difficulty.

    Then he did hear it.

    He heard the substantive melody hovering over the battlefield. It was full of anger, sadness and despair, with a dagger-like pain in the skull. His brain shuddered at the shock, his nerves throbbed numbly as if immersed in ice water, and the mournful and beautiful melody almost suffocated him. He wasn't the only one who was shocked, the townspeople of Vincent Town stopped moving at about the same time. The blue birds with their wounds healed flew up and instinctively stayed away from those cracks.

    "Let it stop—!" A woman tore her hair, and the machete slipped from her hand. "Let it stop, please!"

    "You devil—"

    People wailed. Seemingly unable to bear the emotions sung by "The Emotionless Monster", they quickly switched hostile targets, but lost the strength to attack. They swarmed desperately in the opposite direction of Nemo, staggering and fleeing, just like that would make the knife-like melody a little less.

    Nemo stood motionless among the ashes, like a statue. He pursed his lips tightly, his sweaty face expressionless, letting the despair and killing intent of the townspeople pour out—they were so thick at the moment that even Oliver felt his hair stand on end. Countless tiny cracks were still floating around Nemo, but they were shaking slightly at the moment, showing signs of closing.

    Oliver thought for a moment and took a deep breath. He straightened his dusty front and stepped over the shadows and ashes.

    "Nice job." He stood in front of Nemo, staring at his face. "Is this what you've been hearing?"

    "Yes." Nemo answered succinctly, his eyes fixed on the ground. "Don't talk to me yet, I'm trying to get distracted..."

    They don't need the combat experience of Adrian, and they are enough to feel the thick hostility. The cracks shake even more—

    This is not a human imitation at all. Nemo Wright would really suffer because of this majestic hostility, and a soul that would suffer could not be nothing. He does like the person in front of him - or whatever, it doesn't matter anymore. Because he stood in the circling shadow, but he could no longer feel the slightest instinctive fear of the unknown.

    If the other party needs a little fire now, then he may be able to say that sentence. It must have been a lot different than the "deep love" he had assumed, Oliver thought. It is too soft, too quiet, and not good enough to be a shield against the whole world. But even if it was just a tiny, shaky light full of doubts. At least it's always been there, and it hasn't been extinguished since the day it ignited - it might be able to open a little breather in this airtight malice.

    "Then this may help." Oliver stretched out his hands and put them directly on the other's shoulders. "Look, even though I don't know if this qualifies as love, I still have a lot of questions I haven't figured out. But you have to listen-"

    "I like you, maybe more than anyone in the world."

    (m..=)