The barbecue was sizzling on the small iron rack, and the fat dripped into the charcoal fire, causing tiny sparks and a burst of burnt aroma. The stall owner was a short, fat man in his fifties, with oil stains on his apron. He flipped the meat skewers with the iron tongs in his hands and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel on his shoulders from time to time.
The setting sun has sunk below the ridgeline, but the sky is not completely dark yet. There is still a dim red light in the western sky, like the embers of a charcoal fire that is about to be extinguished.
Nuoyaji was sitting on the bench next to the stall, holding a skewer of barbecue in his hand. He took a bite, chewed it twice, swallowed it, and then took another bite.
His movements were very mechanical, not because he was hungry, but because Chaluoke was very focused and said, "That's it for now, let's eat first."
His expression was very calm, but his mind never stopped for a moment. It was like there were a thousand threads tangled together. He unraveled them one by one, and every time he untied one thread, three more threads were tangled up.
Chaluoke sat opposite him, also holding a skewer of barbecue in his hand, and ate much faster than him.
His cheeks were bulging, and the corners of his mouth were stained with oil and spices. From time to time, he picked up the barley tea next to him and took a sip.
His eyes swept back and forth on the street, seemingly casually, but Nuoyaji knew what he was looking at - he was looking at alleys, rooftops, corners where people might be hiding, and assessing the city's security capabilities and possible escape routes.
This is a habit he developed at the Southern Continent. He can't change it, and he doesn't want to change it.
There is a piece of barbecue next to it, wrapped in oil paper and tied tightly. It was brought to Fuyila.
"I'm a little depressed."
"Huh?"
"I feel like I can guess something, but I can't do anything."
He stared at the wood grains on the table. Those wood grains were winding and winding, like roads with no direction. You could go anywhere, and you might not be able to come back.
Chaluoke threw the bamboo stick in his hand on the table. "It's okay. You have to do what you can do. If you can't do it, others will do it for you."
Chaluoke's voice was not loud, but the tone of "I am telling the truth, not comfort" made Nuoyaji's brows relax a little.
Nuoyaji turned his head and looked away from the table, falling on the shadow of the building across the street that was lengthened by the setting sun.
His eyes stayed on the shadow for a moment, and then moved away.
But the moment he moved away, something broke into his peripheral vision.
Black, a very small spot, on the edge of the shadow, in an unreasonable position. It's not the shadow itself, the shadow doesn't glow; it's not the leaves blown by the wind, the leaves don't burn.
It's flames, black.
Nuoyaji was stunned for a moment.
He turned his head back and stared at that bit of black. It was not an illusion, not a hallucination, not the afterimage of the setting sun on his retina, but a black flame, beating silently under the wall of the building.
It has an extremely subtle lavender halo around its edges that can only be detected by staring at it.
Nuoyaji stood up suddenly. The chair slid back a certain distance, and the chair legs made a sharp, ear-piercing sound on the stone floor.
The guests at several tables around him raised their heads and looked at him.
"What's wrong?" Chaluoke put down the meat skewers in his hand.
Nuoyaji didn't look at Chaluoke. His eyes were still staring at the black flames, but his mind was no longer here.
"Something happened. Something big."
"Is it bigger than the emperor ascending the throne?"
Chaluoke Try to use a joking tone.
Nuoyaji turned his head and looked at him. There was no fear in his eyes, but there was something that made Chaluoke more uneasy than fear - certainty.
He was sure that something was going to happen, something bigger than anything else, so big that the empire, the throne, the enthronement ceremony, and the envoys from all countries would all seem insignificant in front of these things.
"Much bigger."
Chaluoke was silent for a moment and put the unfinished skewer of barbecue in his hand back on the plate.
His hand paused above the plate, then took it back.
"What should we do?"
Chaluoke's voice was steady, but his left hand had moved from the table to the handle of the hatchet at his waist.
Nuoyaji's eyes retracted from the cluster of black flames and fell on Chaluoke's face.
"Who can contact His Majesty the Emperor?"
Chaluoke thought for a while. "Sangis, it can only be her, a close minister of the emperor." Nuoyaji nodded.
"Go find her."
Sangis was sitting at the desk in the side hall, with three piles of documents spread out in front of him. The pile on the left belonged to Senate, the pile in the middle belonged to various provinces, and the pile on the right belonged to envoys from various countries.
Each pile was taller than her forearm, and each pile was getting closer to a precarious state.
The sunset outside is still setting, and the light in the room is getting darker and darker.
The tip of her pen paused on a document about the banquet menu.
"And this -" She picked up the bottom document and just unfolded it when the guard walked in from the door and stood a step behind her.
"Sir, someone wants to see you."
Sangis did not raise his head. "Who?"
"Karelia is from the mission, Chaluoke, he said there is something urgent."
Sangis's quill paused on the paper for a moment. Karelia The people from the mission were in the inner city of the capital, why did they suddenly come to find her?
It was not an appointment made through diplomatic channels, nor conveyed through Senate, but her address was found directly.
Chaluoke? She has never heard of this name. "Where is he now?"
"He is now in front of your residence."
Sangis Put down the quill.
She stood up, gathered together the spread documents in front of her, and used a paperweight to hold down the top document that was blown by the wind.
Then she walked around the desk and walked towards the door. Her steps were very fast, and her skirt made a rapid rustling sound as it dragged on the ground. Her mind was running rapidly - What are Karelia people looking for her for?
She hasn't even handled domestic affairs well, so how can she have the energy to deal with an episode in a foreign mission?
Sangis walked through the main hall.
The gems on the dome are still shining, but the light is darker than usual. It's not that there's something wrong with the gems, it's that the air in the palace has changed.
There was an indescribable, heavy feeling, like something pressing on the chest, that permeated the entire hall.
She paused slightly, then continued walking forward.
Walking past the giant mecha and the still buzzing Chaos Beast King Core - she didn't notice that the black flames on the surface of the bead were getting bigger.
She walked past the throne.
Caesar Your Majesty is not here.
His Majesty flew out and never came back. She didn't know where he went or when he would come back.
I can only hope that His Majesty can remember the time of the enthronement ceremony.
After she walked past, the light in the palace seemed to dim again.
Sangis's residence is not far from the palace. It is a three-story building with light gray stone exterior walls and dark red terracotta tiles on the roof.
There is a small open space at the door. The open space is paved with stone slabs with moss growing on them. Nuoyaji and Chaluoke are standing in this open space.
Nuoyaji's eyes moved away from the outer wall of the small building, swept across the surrounding streets and alleys, and finally landed on the dark red palace on the skyline in the distance.
"So, what is going on?" Chaluoke's voice came from behind him.
"Do you remember Forbidden Land from Vagrian? The legendary place where demons are sealed."
Chaluoke certainly remembers it. Vagrian Forbidden Land, the most mysterious realm in the eastern part of the empire, has been personally guarded by the red dragon Valerirus for more than a thousand years.
No one knows what is sealed inside. The official statement from the empire is "ancient ruins" and "cultural heritage in need of protection," but everyone knows that is not true.
Chaluoke has been near Forbidden Land and took a look from a distance. All he saw was a gray-white wasteland with no grass growing, and a sealing barrier at the end of the wasteland that stretched from the ground to the sky, like a huge glass wall.
"There is the place where Evil God fell." Nuoyaji's voice was very low.
Chaluoke's eyelids twitched.
"The black matter we see now, Filth Nexus, is His creation.
This shows that the seal has been loosened. He is resurrecting, penetrating into the outside world, and using those things to test the defense of this world."
Nuoyaji's tone was very calm, as calm as if he was stating a fact that had already happened.
Chaluoke was silent for a moment.
"It's a bit shocking. You can guarantee that-" He paused, "Forget it, there are even three golden dragons in this world, and another Evil God doesn't seem too outrageous."
"Then what are you going to do?"
"I contacted His Majesty and hoped that he could send a message to the countries on the mainland.
Forbidden Land's situation is no longer something that Vagrian can handle alone. It requires all countries to join forces, legendary powerhouses to join the war, and all available forces to be mobilized."
Nuoyaji's tone is still so calm.
Chaluoke looked at him, "Are you kidding? Which country would care about you at this time? They didn't even deal with the disasters caused by the previous storm.
Karelia is still on the verge of civil war, Saint Junxi and Victoria are fighting each other, and Vostok is still digging up corpses in the frozen soil.
You ask them to fight Evil God? They can't even sweep the snow in front of their own house."
"If that doesn't help, first evacuate the cities near Forbidden Land. For example, the capital."
Chaluoke's expression became more subtle. "Evacuate the capital? That is unless you can produce more damaging evidence.
Don't you know how much time and resources it takes to evacuate a city of one million people?"
Nuoyaji has no answer.
"That one is here." Chaluoke said.
Nuoyaji turned around and looked. A carriage turned out from the end of the road, its wheels running over the stone floor, making a rumble sound.
The carriage is black, has no decorations, and does not have any emblems that can identify one's identity. This is the car used by Sangis to handle private matters.
The carriage stopped. The door opened and Sangis got out of the car.
She was wearing a dark red dress with ink marks on the skirt, and her bun was a little loose.
She stood still in front of Nuoyaji and Chaluoke and glanced back from her body.
Her eyes were not a condescending look, but a judgment on whether the two people opposite were worth her time.
"I'm Sangis, hello gentlemen. What's the matter?"
Nuoyaji did not beat around the bush. "Sir Sangis, you should know the Forbidden Land of the empire."
Sangis's eyes changed slightly and quickly returned to calm.
"Know."
"Forbidden Land There's something wrong there. Regarding the sealed thing - something has flowed out of it."
Nuoyaji pointed to the "flame" in the distance. As soon as he raised his arm, the ground shook.
It wasn't the slow shaking that came from under your feet like an earthquake, but the violent beating like something suddenly pushed up from the ground, lifting the entire ground up and then throwing it down.
The stone pavement was cracked, and the cracks extended from Nuoyaji's feet to the opposite side of the street, and then from the opposite side of the street to further away.
Nuoyaji's body shook violently. He held on to the stone pillar next to him to steady his body and raised his head.
The dark red palace that was so huge that it looked like it was carved out of a whole mountain - it cracked.
No, it wasn't cracked, it was stretched open by something from the inside. A black, huge, tentacle-like thing pierced out from the dome of the palace, and the top twisted in the air, like a snake that had just woken up from hibernation and stretched.
Then a second one comes out from the side wall, and a third one squeezes out from the relief above the door.
Those black things are twisted and thick, with fine bark-like textures on their surface.
There is a dark red light flowing in the lines, like blood surging in the blood vessels.
Their surfaces are covered with a layer of black, silently burning material, dyeing the red granite walls of the palace into an ominous, slowly spreading black.
They crawled all over the domes and walls of the palace, turning this building that symbolized the thousand-year glory of the Vagrian Empire into a corpse wrapped in black vines.
The city fell silent at this moment.
Not the kind of silence that quiets down, but the kind of suffocating silence where all sounds are choked by a hand.
People on the street opened their mouths and raised their heads, their eyes widened, children's cries stuck in their throats, and the goods in the vendors' hands slipped from their hands and hit the ground.
Sangis stood there with her head raised. Her face turned into a bloodless, almost transparent pale at that moment.
Her lips moved, but no sound came out. Her fingers were clenched in the sleeves of her robe.
Then screams exploded from several directions at the same time.
The crowd on the street spread out in all directions like lit fireworks. Some were running, some were crawling, some were calling "child", and some were calling "mom".
No one can listen, everyone is running, everyone is escaping in their own way.
Sangis took a deep breath. The breath was so long that she felt that her lungs were about to burst.
Then she slowly spit it out, forcing herself to move her eyes away from the palace entangled with black tentacles, and fell on the people on the ground who were still running around.
"Guard." Her voice was not loud, but the kind of hoarse calmness squeezed from the depths of her throat that could still remain calm in the midst of extreme chaos made several guards around her who were still stunned tremble at the same time.
"Go and call the Winged Dragon Cavalry. All those who can move should take off. Seal the area around the palace, evacuate the people, and give priority to the east city gate and south city gate.
Send people to Senate and ask them to organize the nobles and officials in the city to coordinate the evacuation. Anyone who dares to cause trouble at this time will be arrested directly.
And - send someone to inform the Lord Protector and tell him that something happened in the palace."
The guards acted quickly.
Sangis Take a deep breath.
Her eyes moved away from the palace and fell on the group of people running away from the street, then back again and fell on Nuoyaji and Chaluoke.
She looked into Nuoyaji's eyes and said only one sentence - "Now, come with me first. Then we'll talk."
The carriage door is still open.
Sangis turned around and got on the carriage. Nuoyaji and Chaluoke looked at each other.
"I haven't got my share of barbecue yet." Chaluoke said. Nuoyaji pulled him into the carriage and closed the door.
The wheels of the carriage began to turn. From slow to fast, it drove away from the palace.
Behind him, the once glorious palace was constantly entangled, covered, and engulfed by black tentacles in the darkness.