Chapter 2216: Stygian Bridgekeeper

"Forget it, let's go over the bridge honestly!" Clark grinned reluctantly and comforted himself: "Since those dead souls can cross the bridge safely, we should be fine!"
Is it really okay?
It turns out that he said this too early.
As soon as the crowd approached the bridge head, magical power surges in the air.
Immediately afterwards, a burst of eerie laughter came into the ears, which made people horrified.
Qiao An raised his head and looked at the place where the laughter came from. Just above the crystal arch bridge, the vague figure of a knight was being transmitted from the "spiritual world", gradually becoming solid.
The first thing that appeared in his field of vision was a tall and strong horse-shaped beast with a dark mane, his mouth and nose spit out smoke mixed with flames, and there was also smoke rising under his feet, exuding a scorching breath.
On the back of a horse-shaped monster sits a crooked old woman, dressed in a black velvet cloak, with wrinkles and a huge hooked nose, with an unkind smile, plus the flickering sinister bird in the sunken eye sockets. His eyes immediately reminded Qiao An of the "old witch" in a fairy tale.
The old witch was playing with a magic stone, which looked like a crystal clear heart.
"Oh oh~ I recognize that dark horse." The ice wolves raised their heads, and their blue eyes met the dark horse's aggressive red eyes. "That guy must be the so-called'Nightmare', the villains and villains who worship the evil gods in the legend. The death knight always rides such a dark horse that looks pretty cool when he comes out."
"In addition to the Dark Guard and Death Knights, the old hag is also one of the most common passengers on the back of the nightmare." Hilde slowly raised his spear and was ready for the battle. "If I'm not mistaken, the one blocking our road at the moment The old hag must be Mordgood, the bridgekeeper of Styx."
"Oh? It's really rare for young people now to know the name of my old woman!"
The old hag on horseback grinned grinning, showing white teeth that were inconsistent with her old face.
"You little guys are really weird. You are all alive, why do you want to cross the Styx? Don't you know that across this bridge, the opposite is the kingdom of the dead?"
Gaina stepped forward two steps, stood at the top of the bridge, looked up at the old hag on the back of the nightmare, and greeted politely.
"Dear Mrs. Mordgood, I am a witch from the Temple of Styx in the Kingdom of Mists. I was inspired by my lord Hull to go to His Kingdom of God to listen to the teachings. Please do your convenience and let us go. bridge."
"Haha~ little girl, since you claim to be a pilgrim from the Temple of Styx, you should have that kind of round biscuit in your hand, right?"
The old hag protruded her thin right hand like a bird's claw from the wide sleeve of her robe, rubbed her index finger and thumb, and made a gesture to Geena to count money.
"Old lady, I'm very talkative, little girl, as long as you give me a piece of Hull cake, I will let you cross the bridge. This deal is a good deal for you, isn't it?"
"What is Hull's cake? I haven't heard of it!" The Winter Witch looked innocent. "Old lady, can I give you other cookies?"
The old hag immediately darkened her face and her eyes became particularly gloomy.
"Little girl, you'd better not play tricks with me! If you really don’t have Hull cake, hehe, then take the initiative to hand over someone to soak up my blood and have a full meal. It’s okay. The rest of you Can cross the bridge safely."
The old hag looked away from Gaina's face, looked at Joan, Clark, Hilde, and Sharon in turn, and finally returned to Gaina's face.
"I suggest that you discuss it carefully and choose a person to be the sacrifice to cross the bridge. Think about it, lovely young people. You only need to sacrifice one companion to ensure the safety of others. There is still more in the world. Is this a better deal?"
"Oh, to put it to the heart, if I were one of you, for the sake of my sincere friendship and the interests of the team, I would rather stand up and sacrifice my life so that other comrades can cross the bridge safely. They are all honest and kind-hearted children, so I must have such plans?"
Genna didn't say anything, turned her back to resist her anger, and said to her companions: "Don't believe the old witch's nonsense, pretending to be a fake, in fact, she is deliberately provoking us to fight!"
"You don't need to say this, we can all see it."
Clark clenched his fists, the knuckles rattling.
"There is no need to talk nonsense with the old witch, if she refuses to give way, just beat her!"
Hilde calmed down and turned to look at Qiao An: "Dr. Vader, what do you think?"
"Is this old hag also known as the'night hag'?" Qiao An recalled the relevant records in the literature.
"Yes, the old hag is the'night hag.' Although it looks a lot like the green hag, the demon hag, and the sea hag, it is not a humanoid monster, but the demons born on the lower planes and other people living in the world The hag is stronger than that, but she doesn't have much blood relationship, and doesn't have the ability to initiate and participate in the'ghost rally'. She always walks alone, and her only partner is the nightmare horse she rides."
Gayna herself has a quarter of the "Winter Hag" pedigree, and understands the characteristics of various hags better than Qiao An.
"By the way, you may have noticed that I didn't mention'Winter Hag' just now. This is because Dong Hai has a huge difference compared with other hags, so it is not easy to compare them together."
Gaina looked at Qiao An intentionally or unintentionally, as if waiting for him to ask.
"Is there anything special about Winter Hag?"
Mr. Master was still too young, and he really took the bait.
Genna smiled slightly, stroked her cheek, making no secret of her narcissism.
"Our winter ghost, the most special thing is that she has a superb appearance, and she is a stunning beauty, and she is naturally beautiful, not a disguise made by magic!"
"When people talk about a hag, they always think of an ugly woman with a hunchback and wrinkles. This is too unfair to us winter hag!"
"Hey! Are you changing your style to praise your beauty?" Qiao An was angry and funny.
"So what, am I wrong?" Gayna asked confidently.
Qiao An scratched his head and recalled the illustrations of the winter hag in various literatures. Except for the darker skin color, she was really not picky in terms of appearance. Compared with other kinds of hags, it was a clear stream. No wonder Gaina was her own. Dong Hai Po's blood is proud.
"Hey! You little guys, patronize and chat, don't think I don't exist!"
On the opposite crystal bridge, the old hag yelled impatiently.
...
Allusion: Gjoll
The Gower River is one of the twelve rivers in Elivagar. It flows from the Hvergelmir spring and passes through the Ginunaga Gap to come to this world.
It is said that the place where the river passes through the underworld of Heim and its gate is the "styg" in Norse mythology.
According to legend, the river is extremely cold and there are knives in the water.
This river is the border between Niforheim and Helheim. There is a gilded crystal bridge on the river, suspended by a hair.
Most ghosts after death cross the bridge on horseback or in cars. These horses and cars are funeral objects burned along with the deceased during cremation.
The hideous old hag Modgud (Modgud) guards the crystal bridge, and anyone who crosses the bridge must let her blood as a toll.