With this brief respite, Shire hurried to find his way to the lower levels of the palace, jumping into the passage through which the children had emerged, and chasing the steps leading down.
"Is the treasure house far from here?" He put the charred ring on the kid's paw, and the whole ring gave off a faint heat.
"I have to think about it." Graddius muttered, "Not every palace is built alike. But don't worry, the little ones will buy us time, at least ten minutes."
Shire vaguely heard the workshop above the head of the fire explosion and the devil roaring, in the brief deflagellation all returned to calm.
"How did it disappear in a flash?" Char looked up and saw only the crackling sound of burning above him.
"Ha ha." Gladwood laughed dryly.
'What do you mean?
"It means run faster or the fire will come." "And in my experience, rolling on the ground is faster than running," Graddiu urged.
Many parts of Graddius's palace were transformed to better suit the aesthetics of the new owner. The sharp patterns on the walls were erased and replaced by burning torches and flares, and these burning corridors were constantly extinguished by Graddius, who, with a paranoid attitude, re-daubed the walls and the ground with his beloved sharp pattern, declaring his dominion over the place.
Shire did not know how wide the hall was, but he passed through endless corridors and empty rooms without encountering any demons, as if it had been deliberately built into a maze, and the palace was so high that it itself seemed to stretch lengthwise like a sharp blade.
"My men and servants used to live here." Graddius looked around cautiously. "They are all now harvested, as they would be without my protection, their demonic qualities torn apart for consumption, their souls given to the imps to be promoted to servants of the Fire Lord, and they should not be here, but sent to attack other lands." I've led you to a poorly guarded palace. Only the hatchkeeper is still looking for us."
One thing Shire cannot understand is that the demons clearly do not need a grand palace, but they move rocks, order thousands of children to serve themselves, create a grand empty stone hall, countless demons fight day and night, and civilization is fleeting.
"You want to know why? You'll understand. As I grew in strength, I grew tired of the lower demons roaming the dry land."
Shire kept running, and every inch of the castle was sinking, and he had to work hard to move higher, or he would slip.
"The original game was very simple, I let the demons follow me, those who could keep up with me were rewarded, and those who could not keep up with me were destroyed. It's amazing to see them doing everything they can to keep up with me."
Char jumped down the steps, which were designed for particularly tall demons, and had to be careful not to break his legs.
"Then the game became more complex, I kept them moving, and they became accustomed to listening to my instructions, and when they didn't get my instructions, they became very uncomfortable. To keep these freaky little devils occupied, I had them mine the rocks, polish the boards, and build them into palaces on a scale of thousands of years. Tens of thousands of such palaces were erected during my reign, and the one we are now in is still a very small one among them..."
The Shire passes through a prison-like area, flanked by rock prisons where countless grotesque creatures shake stone railings and plead to the Shire in strange tones, are they from conquered worlds? Having long arms and legs, having no arms or legs, having a metallic form...
"Later, I no longer need to command, the small demons themselves divided into strong and weak, in order to win my favor, the higher demons took the initiative to command those children to create wonders, forge all kinds of knives to win my favor." Power and desire are intertwined, inseparable from each other. I arrogantly surveyed my dominion in Hell, and made it clear to every demon that Gladius, the blade demon, was once a very powerful Lord."
Shire was surprised to find that his endurance seemed endless, he continued to run, but not like human will be tired, I do not know because this body is specially designed, or every demon has superior endurance.
"You will like it later, too, by forcing your will upon others, by subjecting others to your ideas, by genuflecting thousands before you, by changing the fates of countless people by your commands, by creating your rules out of the existing order, by changing the order of things according to your likes and dislikes, and he who does not pursue such a life is fit for captivity."
Graddiu's noise is making the Shire restless.
"What do you think? Shire, climb up, release your utilitarian heart, and trample everything under your feet."
"I'm not like you." Char said to himself.
He turned his head and saw a very tall door, made of different materials from the surrounding rocks, like exotic jade.
"Is this it?" 'he shouted.
"Yes, we are at the place."
Following Graddius's instructions, Charles stopped at the door of the palace Treasury.
"Is this where the treasure is hidden?" Char touched subconsciously, and the whole door burst into flames, forcing him to withdraw his hand.
The head of a strange flame demon emerged from the flames and gave a fiery cry to the Shire.
"Hello again! Graddiu!"
"What should I do?" Char frowned at the flame's face.
"Kill it!"
Shire with the deformed blade of the right arm into the door on the fire face, the fact proved to be a mistake, the demon body a dip in the fire, in the soul flame quickly melted, the heat burned through the demon skin, crackling constantly, that is the scale can not withstand the high temperature, is blasting inch by inch.
"You're out! This place no longer belongs to you!" As the fire demon continued to press on Gladius, Char sensed that the Blade Demon was growing restless, and Hell seemed to inspire its infinite fury, its home, its land, its domain, now seized by others of its kind.
"Cut them off! Graddiu urged.
"You're too impatient, we can't kill it!" Shire jumped backward, burning through his right arm, his power quickly deceded, is not the opponent of the fire demon in front of him, the degree of jungle in hell is more serious than he imagined, as long as the strength is stronger, the advantage gained in the competition will be infinitely amplified, the ability of inferior demons no chance to turn over.
More demon heads emerged from the flames as they streamed through the walls of the palace, and the demons of fire in various poses laughed strangely as they looked at the tiny Charles and Graddiu.
Some of these demons have a smiling face in the fireball, some have several burnt Heli horns, some have a burnt face and red eyes, some have a completely carbonized face, some wear a metal mask, some have a deep brand on the face, some have an uncertain form, and are completely a blazing fire... Numerous powerful demons appeared in the wall of fire, mocking Graddiu's vulnerability.
"You're out, but you're back." One of the fire demons hissed, "You're out -- don't you dare come back!"
"Your lands have been divided, your cities have been shattered by fire and rain, and your kindred and servants have been destroyed!"
"Come back and find shelter? It's too late, Graddiu! The grotto does not belong to you!"
"It's sharing a soul with a mortal, look at it, look at it now!" The demons rising from the fire spoke in sharp voices, and Charles could almost share Graddiu's resentment, almost cutting them all through.
The spirits of these demons were on their way, and the Shire could sense it, for the whole palace was shaking, and in the distance there was the sound of rising magma and running beasts. These mighty demons were trying to crush Graddius here, and they were happy to destroy a demon with their own hands.
Baaaah!
Is there a demon beating up the palace? Such a shock! Even the flaming faces on the door shake.
"You will become the Lord of Carnage's most handy weapon." The head of one of the demons opened its mouth wide, and the giant ball of flame slowly flew toward the Shire.
He didn't want to be slow, so he ran away. Halfway through the flight, the flame ball suddenly accelerated and hit the spot where he had been standing, burning the thick stone of the floor red, swelling and flowing like dough.
There is a fire in the palace corridor in pursuit, and there are numerous powerful demons outside are approaching, the projection of those demons in the sea of fire angry roar, do not cover up their desire to kill, can personally kill a demon, this will be their merit, Shire know that these demons will never let go of themselves.
Everywhere is melting.
The fire demons of different forms and levels roared, making the Shire uneasy, and at the same time spewing fire at random at the palace, and the walls around the Shire melted like mud, in fact, he felt that he was about to burst into flames.
But with the sizzle, the whole jade Kumen is melting fast, and these attached flame faces continue to burn and consume themselves, gradually disappearing. Char suspects that these are only incarnations, not noumenon, and cannot burn for long without the supply of a stable soul source.
He hurried through the storehouses of burned doors, the world tilted before his eyes, the foundations of the palace were melting, the Shire felt an imbalance.
There were numerous pillars, each of which hung one or two exquisite treasures, of different colors and kinds, many of which presented a very grotesque appearance, perhaps brought by demons from other worlds, which Shire had never seen.
There was shining jeweled armor, flanked by clasps, which should have been draped over some animal; There are swords hanging high in the air, scattering indigo ripples around, and feeling calm when approaching; There's something like a quarter stick, it's an illusion... Or does it really move on its own?
Char withdrew his gaze and stroked a piece of skin on the pillar in front of him. This skin had a glassy appearance, translucent, colored stars flowing in the translucent matrix beneath the skin. A pair of sad eyes were weeping silently on it, and it felt moist and warm, unlike this dry and barren hell world. It was as if he was begging me to take him...
"Will you stop looking? This place is falling down. We have to run."
"You tell me what to take!" Shire complained, "Which ones are really useful."
"I forgot, as I said, that I built too many palaces, and then accumulated too many over the years..."
Ba-boom! It seemed that one of the pillars supporting the palace had given way, and the whole treasure house was tilted on one side, and Charles, caught by surprise, slipped and fell with a great number of other treasures towards the south side of the room. He was buried under several heavy pieces of armor, jewels, and certain mechanical devices, and he saw a ring like a silver-white gear of dwarven craft, and a sword made a bird's call, The long scroll was dimly painted with multi-eyed beasts bearing trees on their backs.
"Take us back!" Shire picked up a few treasures at random, and looked up to his astonishment to see that the vault of the Treasury was also burning and heating, and if it too melted, it would be a harder place to run and hide than an armory.
"Stand firm." "Muttered Graddiu.
It was a huge popping sound, the floor under Charles suddenly collapsed, Graddiu cut a huge gap, just Junchal fell.
His body fell down, his arms clasped the treasure he had gathered in haste.
"Look, we're going back! The human world! Go away, hell, go away! This wretched little hatchery!" Graddius had cut a long gap directly below them, opening the rift between the worlds into which Charles would have fallen.
"Not so fast."
Shire heard someone talking, why have not fallen into the crack, return to reality?
He found his body frozen in midair, the flames and stones still.