Overturned Tower

Russell frowned deeply and sighed.

Russell only felt disappointed with this man who was like a decadent and powerless social animal who seemed to have lost hope.

It was like a punch on cotton... His hatred and anger were accumulated in his fist, but he couldn't swing it out.

There may be wrong names, but there are definitely no wrong nicknames...

"As expected, you are worthy of being...'sheath'."

Russell murmured quietly.

He could feel from the words that "Sheath"'s heart was empty.

That is a small space that exists to accommodate the sword. If the matching sword is broken, the scabbard will also lose all value.

Or to put it another way…

[Sheath] itself is a kind of "container".

In this regard, he is so similar to Russell - what they show is not something that belongs to them. Rather, it is a hero's shell shaped by everyone's impressions, a bright and gorgeous scabbard studded with gems. But he is just a "sheath", and the sword stored in it is not him.

He obviously has great deeds and heroic power, but he only has a cowardly mortal heart; he originally just wanted to seek death, but instead he completed an almost impossible and difficult task.

He is not truly strong, because he does not have a heart that belongs to the strong, nor does he have the strong will to face difficulties and obstacles without regrets like a "natural hero"; but he is definitely not who he says he is. In that way, a humble and incompetent person... can withstand such a cruel and painful transformation, even losing his human appearance, which is a painful test in itself; and defeating or even killing the immortal dragon, there is no doubt that he can It can be called a "great cause".

From a third-person perspective, what a silent and powerful person this is!

But when he spoke, one could only feel the trembling soul from his untrembling voice, and taste the fear and inferiority that had never gone away since childhood.

The boy who gave up his life and fell from a tall building... Although he used plastic surgery to modify his appearance and make his appearance look strong and stable, his heart did not change much.

To this day, he is still the same boy as before.

He is neither a good person nor an evil person.

He's not good, but he's not bad either.

But this is undoubtedly even more sad... because what he denies is not only everything Alice has given him, his friends and the organization's trust in him, but also his own life.

This man's soul has become fragmented like the halo he wears on his head.

...wait.

Thinking of this, Russell's heart suddenly moved.

He suddenly noticed a sense of inconsistency.

Just before, when he and Delphinium saw "Sheath" on the street... he clearly felt that it was an extremely dangerous man.

Just by looking at it from a distance, he could feel a compelling sharpness - the decisiveness that can only be possessed by a person who has given up everything and is ready to give up everything and wield the last sword.

It should be like a comet striking the moon and a white rainbow penetrating the sun. A man who longs for a gorgeous death, silent and heavy, dangerous and deadly.

At that time, Delphinium also confirmed his heart...

It is a soul that has almost no "love" in its heart, only a certain ideal, a certain path, a certain dream, and is willing to sacrifice everything for it.

He was completely different from the decadent and powerless man in front of Russell.

Even when he was sitting there quietly, there was still a compelling power; when he just stood up and sealed the deer head statue, there was still an unshakable determination. But after he started telling stories about the past, that feeling suddenly faded and disappeared.

Russell raised his eyebrows.

He could feel that what the man said was not a lie - he still had the ability to recognize lies.

But why was the sense of disobedience he felt from the sheath so strong?

"...In that case."

Russell spoke slowly: "Why did you come here specially?

"You made every possible effort to return to the Sky Island from the land; you killed a group of mercenaries in front of me, and you arrived at the deer-headed statue ahead of me - not to go to my home to talk to me, but to go to Pakistan specifically. Inside the tower, he sealed the deer-headed statue before talking to me. You know, this is a top-secret place where even I don’t know its actual location.

"You've wasted so much effort, I guess you didn't just come to shoot the deer head statue.

"After you listened to what the deer-headed statue said, you finally started to take action; before talking to me again, you specially sealed her eyes and ears and blocked her tongue. Because you have words that you don't want her to hear. Bar."

Looking at the silent sheath, Russell said slowly: "Then let's talk.

"'In that case, what are the only copies of history that you burned in the church?'... You probably hope that I will ask you this after listening to it, right? Then I will really ask you this.

"Now it's your turn to say it again. What's the answer?"

Sheath "watched" Russell and was silent for a long time.

Then, he sighed slowly.

"How did you find out?"

"You do control your emotions very well, and there are no loopholes in your words. The problem is the motive.

"In the final analysis, how can a truly desperate and decadent person have such power of action? Even when my mother passed away, you didn't come back. You, in order to prevent me from seeing the answer to despair, would Will you come back specially to stop me?

"You even explained to me the transformation you received and your record of killing the immortal dragon. It's not like you're waiting to die...Mr. Sheath."

Russell narrowed his eyes: "Since you don't want to say it directly, let me guess first.

"Did this world once have a glorious civilization that could even touch the stars? But in the end, due to the interference of external civilization or some internal crisis, it chose to self-imposed ban?

"The deer-headed statue has made it very clear that the 'Grey Dome' can be opened by ourselves. A prisoner cannot hold the key to his own cell; but the dragon is still restricting the development of civilization and technology, so it It doesn’t feel like a sanctuary either.

"You also said that this world is like a prisoner who has been sentenced to death and is in his final probation period... Let's not say that there is no death penalty in this era. What you mean is that the death of this world is already doomed. And not now - then what you call 'death penalty' is a future of resource depletion.

"The dragons are constantly restricting aerospace technology and guarding the false 'grey dome' above the sky. This means that the dragons believe that we can leave this planet alone. They believe in our motives and abilities, so they specially Many restrictions must be imposed; but at the same time, the dragons are maintaining the order of the world and trying to repair the damaged world. This shows that they do not have murderous intentions, but are still trying to maintain the foundation of civilization.

"In summary……"

Russell said slowly: "This is not a cell for death row prisoners, nor is it a shelter from disaster.

"—but an isolation ward that will never be opened, right."