This is the castle where Hela is.
Standing at the bottom of the castle while being held by Red Spider, Bering looked at the brick wall in front of him that seemed to be covered with a layer of strange gray-black moss, and crossed his arms in thought.
As the "goddess of death" in Norse mythology, according to Bering's idea, the place where Hela lives should be closer to the adjective "hell".
Not to mention the broken arms and legs, it should at least be more "civilized and polite" than the Pale Lady's hiding place, right?
However, looking at this ancient fortress that was similar to the Yashaku... Dimitrescu Castle in "Resident Evil 8", Bering could not imagine at first that this place was Hela's residence.
It always feels too simple.
After looking at the wall in front of him, Bai Ling hesitated for a moment and said to Red Spider behind him: "Put my hand on the wall."
Although Starscream was a little surprised, he finally followed Bering's instructions.
She grabbed Bai Ling's hand and slowly brushed it across the wall.
The next second, Bai Ling paused slightly.
"poison?"
He glanced at his fingertips.
At this moment, some black and blue marks had appeared on Bai Ling's fingertips.
This was probably a very strong poison. Just by slightly touching the wall, it began to corrode Bai Ling's fingers. It was like a maggot clinging to a bone, gnawing at Bai Ling's skin from the outermost layer and twisting inside to get in.
Looking at the expanding blue-gray color on his fingers, Bai Ling frowned slightly.
He didn't pay too much attention to the toxins, but asked Starscream to let him shake his hands, with a relaxed and casual posture.
Poison didn't mean much to Bering - you couldn't expect poison to kill a dead person again.
Of course, nerve-blocking toxins don't count.
However, if he really encountered this kind of poison, Bai Ling felt that he would not be able to escape even if he wanted to - the strength of "Hela" was much more troublesome than he imagined.
The two men walked past the wall in silence. In the darkness, Red Spider, carrying Bering, groped and found a winding staircase.
"Are we going in this direction?" Starscream turned around and asked Bering.
Bai Ling nodded slightly and let Red Spider continue to move forward.
The staircase is spiral, twisting all the way upwards from the bottom, as if leading to the unreachable clouds, close to the layers of clouds.
This castle looks taller than I had imagined.
When he saw the staircase, a similar thought flashed through Bering's mind.
There are many Nordic-style decorations on both sides of the stairs, many of which have obvious mythological metaphors. For example, there are majestic wolf heads, or long pythons wrapped around the side of the stairs. In addition, there are also things such as one-eyed heads, wall lamps with dancing flames, and giant swords sealed in ice. Bering has heard of these things, but he doesn't know their specific origins.
Walking up this staircase, Bering felt like he was walking through a vast, long and heavy... mythological corridor.
As for Starscream next to him, the core of his emotional expression is simpler.
"Wow," Starscream exclaimed, "That's a lot of treasures."
There were probably quite a few things among them that Starscream found very tempting, so she subconsciously wanted to touch them.
With this thought in mind, she stretched out her finger and gently touched something on the wall.
Just when Red Spider's fingers were about to touch it.
The next second, a lazy voice came from the top of the stairs: "If I were you, I wouldn't do that."
Hearing the voice, Red Spider was so scared that he stopped what he was doing and looked around guiltily.
And Bai Ling raised his head thoughtfully.
His gaze spanned the long corridor, looking in the direction where the reminder came from.
Although it was still dark on the stairs, the person who spoke the reminder was carrying a bright flashlight, so Bai Ling could see the person's appearance by the light of the flashlight.
She was an old woman who looked somewhat old and decrepit, with a hunched back, exposed yellow teeth, and thick eye bags filled with unwiped eye boogers. She looked sloppy and dirty.
However, this was only the appearance of her upper body; in fact, her lower body was completely the opposite.
With the help of the light, Bai Ling could see her legs. At this moment, the old woman was wearing a gauze-like skirt that fit her thighs, making her white thighs look youthful and strong. Her legs were straight like a graceful lotus, slender and beautiful.
In other words, this is a contradictory person with an old upper body and a youthful lower body.
I have to say that this kind of attire and dress is indeed very strange.
Starscream also followed Bering's line of sight.
When she saw the old woman, she suddenly felt a chill: "Wow, this is really... an uncomfortable look."
"Does Hela have such unique tastes?" she asked. "Are all the people in the castle so unpleasant?"
She spoke so softly that the old woman did not hear.
But maybe he heard it and didn't care much.
In fact, the strange-looking old woman just yawned and said, "The whole castle is filled with poison. This is what the mistress set up to guard against some blind thieves. Although I don't know what's wrong with you, out of duty, I still advise you not to move around casually."
"Of course, it's best not to look around casually," the old woman said wearily. "The hostess doesn't want her things to be viewed casually. It will make her feel bad."
Hearing her addressing Hela, Bai Ling's heart moved slightly.
"Are you Gunlot?" He looked at the old woman. "In mythology, one of the servants of Hela, the goddess of death?"
Gunlot is a name that once appeared in the Norse mythology "Edda".
She is one of the servants serving Hela, and her colleague is Gangrati, a man similar to her.
These two people are "slow walkers", representing laziness and laxity. They are responsible for taking care of the goddess' daily life and living in Hela's palace.
Although Bai Ling had heard of this, he never expected that Gangluot's appearance would be so... weird.
On the other hand, the old maid, Gangluot, whose name was revealed, said nonchalantly, "Yes, you are right, this is my name."
Looking up at the bottomless staircase, Ganglot yawned again: "Don't waste time here now. Come with me. The hostess asked me to guide you all the way to her room."
As she spoke, she grabbed her lantern and walked slowly up the stairs.
And Starscream turned his head and glanced at Bering.
"Follow them," Bai Ling said noncommittally, "It seems like Hela has already guessed that we would come."
After hearing this.
No matter how reluctant Red Spider was, he had to obey Bering's orders and climb up with Gangluot.
Although he looked hunched over and had little strength, Gangluot was surprisingly fast.
After only a few minutes' walk, she had left the other two behind and continued to walk up slowly by herself.
But Red Spider is not an ordinary person.
Even though Gangluot's speed was amazing, her speed was definitely not slow.
Except for falling behind a little at the beginning, the two of them soon kept a distance of no more than five meters. No matter how fast Gunlot accelerated, Red Spider could keep up steadily.
This made Gangluot unable to help but looked at her twice more, and gradually began to speed up.
Later on, the speed of both sides was so fast that even a normal human running at full speed could not catch up.
At such a fast speed, they soon reached their destination.
Stopping at the door, Gangluot rubbed his sleepy eyes and said tiredly: "This is it..."
She tremblingly opened the heavy door in front of her and said softly, "The hostess is waiting for you inside now."
Hearing this, Starscream and Bai Ling looked at each other.
After exchanging glances, Starscream walked straight into the door without hesitation.
Wait until they just enter the room.
Behind them, in the direction they came from, the heavy wooden door was closing little by little.
In just a few seconds, Ganglot completely blocked the door behind them, trapping them in this space.
When the door behind them was completely closed, the two of them were suddenly in extreme darkness.
There was no light coming out, and there were no signs to indicate the direction. Everything was exactly like the legendary hell...! Looking at this scene, Red Spider subconsciously said, "What is that disgusting guy doing..."
But before she could finish.
Bai Ling behind her whispered, "Shut up."
Staring at the darkness before him, Bai Ling lowered his voice and said, "Hela... is watching us!"
Hearing Bering's warning, Starscream was shocked! Although her level was similar to Hela, and strictly speaking, she might even be a little higher than Hela, after all, she was the real monster closest to the origin. But how could they say it? The place where they were staying was the other person's lair, not to mention that Starscream was carrying a burden, and the most important thing was that this burden could not be thrown away...
Therefore, with such a comparison, the original tiny gap in strength was eliminated or even exceeded.
Compared to Starscream who thinks too much, Bering is more calm.
Although he was being carried by Red Spider, he did not feel much discomfort. Instead, he whispered into the darkness, "If you are planning to show your power, I don't think it's necessary."
"Ms. Hela."
The words fell.
Not long after, a bright light suddenly lit up in the dark room.
The flame of this lamp is blue, not as bright as the orange flame, but rather piercingly cold. As it sways faintly, it makes people feel as if ants are crawling on their backs.
Under the blue light, a vague figure sat in the deepest part of the room.
"I know you," the figure spoke, his voice sometimes sounded like a frosted vicissitude, and sometimes like an innocent girl, "You are the prophet who has become famous recently."
Looking up at the silhouette in front of him, Bai Ling smiled: "It seems that I have become quite famous recently, and it has even spread to Tartarus."
Amid his laughter, Hela showed no expression.
She just hid in the darkness, her voice rising and falling: "It was you who destroyed the 'Humanity Watch'. Although those guys were trash, they were more or less useful tools. However, because of you, most of them are useless. Even the few who escaped from the surface were scared and their performance was disappointing."
"This makes me a little angry. After all, they used to bring me a lot of entertainment and offer sacrifices to me. But now, all of this is gone, and the reason is all because of you."
Looking at Bai Ling, Hela finally bared her ferocious fangs: "And now, you actually walked into the trap... It seems that you really think you have lived too long, and you want to get eternal sleep from me?"
Her voice echoed in the dark room, like a shadow growing in the swamp, spying on all travelers, as if if there was anything wrong, she would drag those guys into the swamp and feast on them!
It was clear that Hela's anger was real.
At least Starscream could sense the annoyance in Hela's tone.
She subconsciously pulled Bai Ling's clothes, thinking about which direction she should jump so that Bai Ling would not die here.
But Bai Ling behind her was not panicked at all.
He smiled and said, "It's just a matter of stance. Just like you and the other masters in the abyss, in the final analysis, you are just standing in different positions, so you think differently."
"Besides, those guys may not be able to bring you more favorable conditions like I can." Bai Ling restrained his smile, "It's like they are destined not to have... this."
As he spoke, Bai Ling whispered to the Red Spider beside him: "Lift my hand and hand it to the darkness."
Starscream gave Bering a suspicious look.
But in the end, she still grabbed Bai Ling's hand and sent these extremely pale hands into the darkness.
Strangely enough, when Bai Ling stretched his hands forward, they actually began to disappear little by little from the front.
As if he had entered a world behind a curtain, his hand was sent to the other side of the darkness.
"As expected, is it a visual effect, or is it the folding space?"
Looking at his half-missing right hand, Bai Ling understood.
It wasn't long before he felt a groping sensation on his hands.
Hela seemed to be holding his palm and observing.
Not long after, Bailing heard Hela's slightly moved voice: "Is this... the Philosopher's Stone?"
That's right.
This is why Hela was moved.
The Tyrant King's Ring, or... the Philosopher's Stone made by the Hermetic sect! Even in front of Hela, the overlord of Tartarus, the "Philosopher's Stone" is not a common commodity.
In fact, this can be clearly seen from what Bering has seen so far. He is knowledgeable so far, but even he has only seen two philosopher's stones.
One is the ring on his hand, and the other is the Pale Lady.
Apart from this, this magical tool, which should have been famous in the history of alchemy in Western Europe, has never been seen by anyone.
Therefore, Bering felt that this thing should be rare for Hela.
And the second Philosopher's Stone was also based on Hela's template...
Bering would not believe that she had no idea about this.
Sure enough, not long after, Hela grabbed Bai Ling's hand and said hoarsely: "It seems that you are lucky."
"Not everyone can get the Philosopher's Stone of Hermes," Hela said. "Even among the alien species, apart from the old man El who has a little bit of it, basically not many people have heard of it."
El, the creator god.
The old man who ran the game hall and looked very old, Song Qingci's father and Ji Qianqin's mother had all exchanged things with him. And more than a month ago, Bai Ling also took the two girls to the old man to get the memory fragments of their fathers.
Bering was not surprised to hear El's name from Hela.
After all, the God of Creation, although he has fallen, can still be considered a person of status. It is normal for Hela, a top god, to know about the old man.
Therefore, Bering just smiled and said, "El God will not possess a Philosopher's Stone as pure as mine."
"In fact, this is my gift to apologize to you," Bai Ling said calmly, "a high-precision philosopher's stone. This must be a great gift to you."
Hearing this, Hela paused slightly in her grip on Bai Ling.
Not long after, she slowly said, "I understand. Yes, the Philosopher's Stone is indeed precious to me."
She seemed to want to agree.
However, Hela soon changed the subject again: “But this cannot make up for your mistake.”
She tightly grasped Bai Ling's hand, her voice gradually rising with greed: "You have caused me great harm! Just a Philosopher's Stone is not enough! You know, because of you, I have completely lost face in the Abyss! Therefore, you must give me more compensation than the Philosopher's Stone!"
While Hela was speaking, Bailing could still feel something cool flowing slowly through his palm.
This guy couldn't have drooled on my hand.
Bai Ling frowned and said, "So, what compensation do you want?"
As soon as these words were spoken.
Hela grabbed Bai Ling's hand and exerted force again.
She said hastily, "That's right. Since you hit me in the face and humiliated me, you should compensate me more sincerely than you are doing now..."
"Your...hiss...your compensation..." Her voice began to fluctuate little by little, "Your compensation is..."
"I want your right hand!"
As soon as these words were spoken.
The Red Spider standing next to Bai Ling suddenly opened his eyes and glared at Hela fiercely!
"You bastard, half-breed, son of a bitch!" Starscream's voice suddenly rose in anger, "How dare you? How dare you?! I think you are the one who wants to die, you inferior stupid dog!"
It was obvious that Hela behind the black curtain was startled by Red Spider's voice, and the hand that was holding Bering trembled slightly.
Soon, Hela realized whose territory this was, regained her composure, and turned to Starscream and sneered: "Who was I then? It turns out to be your loyal dog."
“Why, after that man left, you found another man?” Hela sneered, “Then it seems that your luck is not very good - the two owners who are willing to hold the dog leash for you have some problems. You really met the wrong person.”
"you?!"
Starscream could hardly suppress his anger.
She subconsciously wanted to step forward, pull out the female monster hiding behind the curtain, ride on her and slap her hard! However, Bai Ling quickly stopped her action: "That's enough."
His eyes turned back to the blurry figure in front of him, and the smile on Bai Ling's face gradually faded.
"You want my right hand?" he said. "Okay, no problem."
Then, without hesitation, he said directly to Starscream: "Cut off my right hand."
Hearing this, Starscream looked at him in shock, and even Hela, who was holding Bering with a little more force.
"Are you crazy?!" Starscream lowered his voice, "Do you know what Hela wants?! She doesn't want your hand, but a part of your soul!"
"As the goddess of death, she likes 'dead people' like you very much! And although her soul skills are poor, she has a deep understanding of death. If she captures a part of you, it will be like someone has planted a voodoo doll on you... then everything about you will be controlled by others!"
Bai Ling looked at Starscream with a half-smile.
If you look at it from anyone's perspective, they would probably think that Starscream has a sincere heart, wants to give Bai Ling advice and is concerned about his safety.
But only Bai Ling knew that Red Spider didn't have such good intentions at the moment.
It was just because of the constraints of the oath, plus some of her concerns, that Starscream tried her best to dissuade Bering from doing so, that's all.
But she was right.
If Hela really took away a part of herself, it would be like someone making a doll for her, which would be equivalent to giving someone a weakness out of thin air.
but……
That would require that this weakness is truly "useful".
Thinking of this, Bai Ling's expression remained unchanged.
"Don't worry about it," he said, "just do it!"
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