Atlas Battle Song

Chapter 36

Egg had that dream again.

The hot molten iron was poured down, those people screamed and were tied to the bronze statue and struggled. Soon, the shape of the flesh was melted in the magma-like molten iron, the bones and flesh were peeled off, and the skin was scorched and cracked open.The once-human creature screamed, then gradually stopped screaming and died.The idol also melted away.The old god was melted down with its worshipers, like candy, the boy thought.

The execution of the copper pillars was carried out one by one.After this side is done, continue there.

The child saw that more people were tied to more idols, and watched their companions turn into charcoal and pieces of meat, but it was their turn.

Gumbling.

Gumbling.

He heard the sound of molten iron boiling, like the soup in a pot, it was bright red, as beautiful as a red sugar ball under the backlight.But those people were all crying, all terrified, begging and screaming heart-piercingly.They were screams that could not be said, and the tongues of those people seemed to have been cut off.

sizzle,

Sizzling, crackling.The boy listened to the sound of hot molten iron swallowing people.In the beginning, the person who was showered would still cry, watching his body lose its human shape.The crying became weaker and weaker, but the piece of meat was still alive, and the head was skinless and still alive.

The face had melted, the features glued together, but the mouth was still moving.

The boy stared blankly, realizing that he knew many of the executed people.There are his uncles and grandpas.Maybe there was Dad too, he looked around but didn't see it.Maybe Dad is not in the shape of Dad anymore.

Those chunks of flesh, the black mouth, are still moving.

For a moment, all the people who were tied to the bronze idol did the same thing - the same mouth shape, the same mouth with the tongue cut out.

It was as if they were shouting the same sentence, the same curse.

The boy looked dazedly. He observed the adult's mouth shape, which was the language he understood.But the soldiers around him spoke another language, which he couldn't understand.There are still some children standing around, younger than him, who are not very good at talking.

what.

what.

The chunks of flesh writhed, wriggling darkly where the mouth had once been.Then died.

The boy watched carefully, and gradually, he seemed to understand the shape of the mouth.

"Oh……"

The boy has just learned to speak.But he knows the word.His mother taught him, and his father taught him.The grown-ups have said that it is the most sacred word in the world.

"'pull'"

said the child.

From the abyss, something surged up and entered him.

The nightmare was interrupted, and the images and pictures became blurred.But that disgusting slimy feeling still haunted him.Little Egg was in a dream, so uncomfortable that he was suffocating, and he couldn't wake up.

He knew it was a nightmare, but the invisible thing weighed on him, grabbed him, entangled him, and wouldn't let him escape.

"Ah...ah..."

Colorful darkness, gurgling cauldrons, sweet smells.Little Egg wanted to shout, but his tongue was numb, and his limbs were so numb that he couldn't feel it. He seemed to be squeezed into a very small box, and then fell suddenly into the bottomless abyss.

The instructor's face appeared again, with an ugly smile and a face full of desire, sucking and licking his chest, making an obscene sound of water.Countless tentacles with mucus greedily caressed his body, small suckers squirmed, gnawed every inch of his skin, and entered his ears.Creamy liquid, disgusting, venomous darkness, slid into his mouth like a snake.Going all the way into his stomach, gurgling, lumps of meat.It was as if there were many moths fluttering in his stomach, eating him.Angel.

it hurts.

very scary.don't want.

Mother's voice is in the ear, gentle laughter.He cried and called.Mom said, "I'm so happy, Mr. Red Dragon."

very scary.

The boy cried helplessly, but no one came to save him.In the darkness, he was left here alone, like a sacrificial offering.

"Master Egg! Egg—!"

Someone called him.

Egg woke up.

"..."

Looking around, the abyss and monsters had disappeared, and it was his familiar room again.The little lion looked at him worriedly.

"Did you have another nightmare? You just kept crying. Don't worry... don't worry, I'm here."

Trand said softly, hugging the young master tightly.

"Silly lion."

said Egg, laying his head on Trand's chest.

"Yes, I'm a big lion, and I will chase away nightmares. If the bad guys come, I'll bite them. Don't be afraid, I'm right next to you, we sleep together, right?"

"Correct."

However, the nightmare is still repeated.

No matter how many times, as soon as Egg fell asleep, "the thing" in the abyss would come to him.

Gradually, he got used to it.

If suffering is the normal state, just redefine normal.Egg gradually understood what his mother said, as long as he understood everything again, it would not be so uncomfortable.

At least, when he wakes up every morning, he can still see the little lion.This gave the boy great comfort.

"Master Egg, were you okay last night? Is it still a nightmare?"

Trand smiled and kissed his forehead.

Looking at Trang's bright green eyes, Egg thought, "I want to make the lion cub happy."

"No nightmares."

He said.

The recurring darkness is no longer a "nightmare", but an ordinary "dream".This is much better.Egg has learned how to protect himself, and he no longer has to force himself to write "very happy" notes.

He is fine.

"Let's go for a walk by the lake today too!" Trund looked really happy.

"Okay."

That's great, and Egg is happy too.

Mom is right.

****

The happy days are back.It is gratifying that the young master has recovered healthily.But Trander also faintly felt... There was something wrong with Egg.

Egg became silent.

But whenever Trander asked worriedly, the young master showed a gentle smile again.This feeling is very familiar, but Trander can't put it into words.Every time he tried to get to the bottom of it, Egg kept his distance forever.Maybe it's a psychological trauma, maybe time will heal Egg, that's all Trander can think.

"Excuse me, is this your friend?"

Trand tries to "introduce" the jilted ragdoll lion to Master Egg.

Egg stared at the puppet, expressionless.

"Ha...it's okay, it's okay." Trander smiled wryly, trying to put the puppet lion away.

Egg glanced at Trander, then at the puppet, and said:

"hello."

The boy hugged the puppet lion into his arms again.But he didn't even look at the puppet, he just kept staring at Trende, as if observing and studying.

When Trand found out, he said, "Master, don't force yourself. If you feel that you have grown up and don't play with dolls, shall we stop playing? We can entrust the little puppet lion to Ish Miss Tull. Don't know how she is doing at the Duchess's. I wrote her."

Egg shook his head.

"Muppet Lion, my friend," he said deadpan.

Strange things like this happen all the time.Trander always pays attention to Yi Ge's changes.

One day, Trand took the young master for a walk in the forest again.Egg was able to walk already, but after a short walk he was tired and needed rest.

The two teenagers were walking when they suddenly saw a soldier lying in the snow.

"Hello, sir! How are you?"

Trander hurried forward to check.The soldier didn't die, he just fainted.It will freeze to death.Trand tried his best and finally woke up the soldiers.

Egg watched.

"Ahh..." The soldier woke up, and when he saw the two boys, he immediately showed a terrified expression.The man begged, "Please, don't tell anyone! Don't tell anyone!! They'll hang me if they catch me! Good boy, please!"

"what happened?"

Trand was startled.

"Please, forgive me! Don't tell anyone that you saw me!" The man staggered over to the ground and hugged Trand's leg.

"Yes, yes! We will never tell anyone. But you must explain what happened? Who is arresting you? Why are they hanging you?"

"The count will hang me! The army will hang me... I am a deserter! I ran quietly from the barracks. Lord, forgive me... But I don't want to fight, I will die. How can I win? I beg you Let me go, I'm never coming back. I'm just a farmer, I don't know how to fight!"

"!"

Trander looked at Egg in surprise, the young master just folded his arms indifferently.

"Deserts? But I haven't heard that the Earl is recruiting troops."

Thinking back carefully, Trander suddenly realized that there seemed to be a lot fewer men in the town.They all said they went hunting in the mountains, but they didn't say when they would come back.

The soldier's spirit breaks down:

"There is going to be war, there is going to be war! Please, don't tell anyone! If they find out that the news has been leaked and I run away again, they will hang me with my family! Let me run quietly, even if I am caught I'm the only one who will die! God, have pity on me."

fight?Lord Earl?with who?

Just when Trand was full of thoughts, Egg walked over, took off his two emerald earrings and put them in the soldier's hands, and gave the man a picnic basket containing food and hot wine.

"Go, no one sees you."

said Master Egg.

The soldier was stunned at first, then cried and thanked, and fled with his things in his arms.

Trander took a deep breath: "I have a bad feeling, I have to find out what he means by 'fighting'. It's too abnormal, the Earl has no news about the winter conscription...not even told you How long has it been since he wrote to you?"

"Anything is fine."

Egg shrugged indifferently, and walked towards the frozen lake.He just felt that the deserter was wasting time, and he was in a hurry to see the otter.

Nothing special happened that day.

The two teenagers came back from the lake, Egg had taken his medicine on time, and read a book in the playroom with the old woman.It was getting dark, and Trander kept thinking about what the deserter said.He faintly felt that something was wrong.

Occasionally, he raised his head and looked out the window, only to see a long flame in the middle of the dark forest—they were all torches, like an ominous dragon hiding in the snowy night.

"What is that!" Trander stood up abruptly.

"Huh? That's strange. Is it a hunter who came back from hunting?" The old woman raised her glasses, "It shouldn't be, there are too many people."

"They're all soldiers."

"Soldier? It's winter, what is this for?" the maid asked.

Trander clenched his fists: "Is it true that the master has no news at all? Didn't you send a letter to the young master?"

"Really not."

"..."

Only Egg didn't care at all, lying on the deck chair, stroking the snow-white forest cat intently.

As Trand had guessed, it was just a symptom.

A few days later, several doctors performed routine examinations on Master Egg, and Trand went to search in the forest alone, trying to find some clues.

It has just snowed heavily, and the footprints should have been buried by the snow.Trand was half-Sybyl and lacked Master Egg's keen sense of smell.He plodded through waist-deep snowdrifts and wandered through a maze of forests, finding nothing.

However, Trand found that Dradite's terrain was very complicated, with mountains and forests intertwined with deep valleys.If he was the commander, he would definitely choose to hide the army here.

But even if there is indeed an army hidden here, who is the Earl going to declare war on?

After wandering in the mountains for a long time, Trander was too cold and was about to turn back.Master Egg would be upset if he was gone for a long time.

After walking for a while, he suddenly heard many footsteps and the sound of metal knocking as he walked.Definitely not a hunter.

!

The boy quickly hid, squatting behind a clump of snow-white bushes.But he was flustered, because his footprints must have been left in the snow.If those people found footprints, they would know he was there.But curiosity overcame anxiety, and Trander looked around cautiously, observing the pair of centaurs between the bushes.

It really is the army.

Roughly estimated, there are at least five or sixty people.They were dressed thickly, with swords around their waists, and the carts and carts were all covered with coarse cloth.Probably weapons or food.Among the group of men, Trund really saw familiar faces. They were Earl Gorgon's knights, who had trained him before.

"Hurry up, Lord Earl, let us complete the preparations as soon as possible!" The knight commanded, telling the soldiers and farmers to hurry up.

"It can be done, soon."

"Anyway, we have to hurry up...wait."

A bearded soldier stopped, and he found Trand's footsteps on the snow.The other knights also noticed and drew their swords one after another.

"Someone!"

"find out!"

Trander secretly complained, why is he always so unlucky!

Seeing that he was about to be discovered, Trander had no choice but to jump out of the bushes, and smiled awkwardly: "Ha, don't worry, it's my own."

The sudden appearance of the boy startled the soldiers.

Immediately, the blade rested neatly on Trander's neck.The faint blue metal glowed coldly, dazzlingly bright in the snowy forest.Trand smiled and raised his hands in surrender, his breath turning into white mist.

The bearded man shouted: "Where did you come from, you little brat! He came here in the deep mountains and old forests in winter, sneaking around, could it be a spy!"

Trander thought to himself: You are the ones who are sneaky!

The man spat and continued to curse: "Damn it, take this brat away together, don't let him go, in case the news gets leaked..."

"Wait!" A knight recognized Trander and said hastily, "This kid is not a spy, he belongs to Master Egg."

"Master's people?"

Trander secretly tried to be brave in his heart: No, Master Egg is mine.

The knight explained: "That's right, this kid's name is Trande Muawia. The master picked it up and gave it to the young master to play with. Later, the two little boys have been together and have a deep relationship. Don't worry, he I will not do anything against the earl."

"I didn't see anything today," Trander shook his head, "Master Egg is still waiting for me to go back."

The blades were all down, and the soldiers were no longer hostile.

"Then you go, brat."

"It's okay, don't come to the mountains. You may not be so lucky next time, and you will meet someone to help you excuse."

"No more," Trand said.

The few acquainted knights gathered around, patted Trand on the shoulder, and compared the boy's current height.For a while, everyone was a little sad.The knights watched the boy grow up.They can be regarded as comrades-in-arms who sweated together during training, so what about in the future?People are tacit.

Before leaving, the knights said, "Little Lion, take care of Master Egg and tell him we love him."

"Ah."

"Tell the young master that we miss him."

"Ah."

"Little lion, if you also believe in Nushen... pray for us when the moon comes out."

"Ah."

"Farewell, take care, and see you sooner or later in Giltega, the palace of the underworld."

"Ah."

After speaking, the boy ran away.

As he ran, he was thinking about that terrible conjecture: war is coming, the count is going to fight...to whom?

The snow creaked.The wind was blowing on his face, he was covered in cold sweat, and his heart was heavy.

Ran across the hills, ran across the lake.

Trand finally returned to the Gorgon family's manor.From a distance, he saw Egg standing by the window of the study on the second floor, waiting for him.

"There can be no one else. The Earl has no enemies who must declare war, unless it is..."

Trand was out of breath.

Egg hugged the little white cat and stuck out his tongue at him expressionlessly.

"It's the emperor..."

He should have thought of it earlier.

The Earl wants to plot rebellion, declare war on the Empress, and declare war on the entire empire... that's the only way it could be, Trand thought.He had heard that the earl and some pure-blooded nobles still hated the empress, thinking that she poisoned the late emperor, and after she ascended the throne, she carried out reforms to suppress the privileges of the Sybil nobles.

Impossible to win.

This kind of lunatic's behavior... Just thinking about it makes Tran feel scared. Who doesn't know the power of the iron hooves of the Sibyl Knights?Who doesn't know that the empress Turna is the cruel god of war. She killed several pure-blooded old nobles who conspired against her when she took the throne, including her own brother and uncle.Has the count forgotten?

How is it possible to win?

Earl is mad.Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely impossible to win.Trander suddenly understood why the deserter was so terrified.

The emperor will be furious, will condemn and destroy the Gorgon family, will seize the earl and cut off his head...will hang the bloody heads of all the rebels on the walls of the imperial capital...

The crows took flight.

The weather is good, the sun shines on the snow, shining brightly.The window on the second floor opened, and Master Egg waved to him:

"Silly lion, come up and play—!"

Trand was still in a daze.Thinking of all the possibilities of this inevitable rebellion, he felt cold all over his body, like falling into an ice cave.

Master Yi Ge is the heir of the family, the eldest son of the earl... the emperor will definitely not let him go.

"No...no..."

The count would die, the knights would be beheaded, and Egg would not live.

"Before then, you must escape with the young master...it will be too late."

Trent raised his head in a daze, looking at his Egg.

War is coming.