When the spell sounded, Ed lunged out without thinking, slamming into Lydia with all his strength.

He didn't know what he was guilty of...... But if the weapon's attacks were ineffective, for a split second he could only think of this way to interrupt the spell.

He watched as Lydia's slightly dull face quickly enlarged in front of his eyes, and then he felt his whole body slam into an invisible cloud of mud, which was less than two fingers away, but he couldn't touch Lydia at all. The spell's defense apparently neutralized some of the power, and instead of knocking Lydia's tall but slender body into the air, he clumsily tripped over her.

He thought he had succeeded—the interrupted spell ended out of tune, turning into a meaningless chant as he wished. But before he could rejoice or breathe a sigh of relief, Lydia had already made a nimble backhand press, and as she was about to be crushed to the ground, she rolled over with force, her knee slamming into his waist.

He gasped in pain and instinctively swung his scimitar backwards, only to remember that it didn't work.

The next moment, Lydia's dagger was pressed against the side of his neck, and her voice trembled slightly from an uncontrollable laugh.

"What shall I say?" she giggled, barely stopping, "Thanks?"

Ed's face burned hot as bloodshot, and he stared at the ground, hoping that a huge crack could be made there, and he and Lydia would fall into hell together.

But after that moment of embarrassment, he suddenly realized that the situation in front of him might not be so bad.

Lydia grabbed Ed by the back of the collar and kicked him to get him to her feet. Deliberately tugging him to confront Risek and the group of believers who had not yet recovered from their stunnedness.

Ed tugged at the corners of his mouth in embarrassment, and the smile he barely managed to squeeze out was more ugly than crying.

The people looked at each other hesitantly, though they did not lay down their arms. But he didn't dare to continue the attack - Ed was not Rey, not an insignificant old woman, but the nephew of the Sage...... and the Holy One of another deity.

Risek glared at Ed, his eyes almost bursting with fire. If there was no one else here, Ed was sure he wouldn't hesitate to shoot an arrow into his chest - but he couldn't do it in plain sight.

A smugness that bordered on absurdity rose in Ed's heart. He didn't want to be Lydia's captive and shield at all, but compared to his already terrible reputation, it would prevent Risek from sacrificing all the people who were "ready" here. Obviously much more important.

"Do I need anything more?"

In his ears, Lydia's voice sounded sweet and playful as a girl, with too deliberate innocence. "I don't think you're going to 'sacrifice' this lovely young man too, do you?"

No one answered.

The main hall was suddenly so quiet that even the air seemed to stop flowing, and it was dull and pressed on everyone's heart. People exchanged glances uneasily in silence, completely at a loss.

Many people have their eyes on Risek. Hopefully, the usually calm and reliable hunter will make a choice for them—Ed is important. Catching Lydia Bell is also an irresistible temptation.

Risek's eyes flickered, his face was gloomy, but he regained his composure little by little.

"What do you want us to do, sir?" he looked at Ed, his respectful tone and address clearly not to a "friend" he claimed to be.

Ed was stunned for a moment before realizing that Risek was addressing the priest of another god at the moment...... The Sage speaks. The decision he made was not only on his own, but also on behalf of all the priesthood of the god of water...... Even on behalf of Ni'o.

And a Sage who would ask them to let go of the "Necromancer Leader" in order to save their lives, an enemy who is likely to have no chance of defeating again...... Clearly not worthy of anyone's respect anymore.

“...... They want you dead. Ed. Lydia sighed and whispered in his ear, the voice and its meaning piercing to the bottom of his heart like a myriad of ice edges. "They want you to choose your own death, to be brave and fearless...... And foolish. ”

Ed looked at Risek in a daze, at the anxiety and greed in his eyes, as if he had met for the first time the man who had once been as gentle and attentive as a brother.

He tried to convince himself that Lydia was only deliberately provoking that the human heart would not be so dark and sinister...... But deep down, he knew Lydia was right.

He didn't want to think about how many people here were, like Risek, who hoped that he would be able to choose the great sacrifice of his own choice, so that they could win the victory in peace, free from the condemnation of conscience and the responsibility they had to bear—and they would probably raise a glass to his unsurpassed courage at the celebration of victory.

He almost wanted to laugh, but he couldn't breathe, and an indescribable indignation seemed to explode in his heart.

"Lydia...... Let him go. ”

A familiar voice came from behind him, but Ed couldn't believe his ears.

“...... Is?" He paused for a few moments before he spat out the name in disbelief, and the unexpected ecstasy suddenly burst out of the clouds like sunlight to dispel all the darkness and cold.

"Is!" he cried out, forgetting the dagger that was still pressing against Lydia's neck, and desperately trying to turn his head away—and Lydia thoughtfully removed the dagger.

The blond-haired young man impatiently pushed through the crowd crowded by the door and appeared in his field of vision, glaring at him with a look of exasperation and helplessness.

"When will you learn not to be stupid?!" he said.

Ed felt a little aggrieved, but he didn't care about it now, and the smirk on his face turned into surprise in the blink of an eye, and he looked blankly at the boy who was dragged behind by Is, and couldn't accept the surprise that fell from the sky one after another.

“...... Sersio!" he cried out.

The first thing that caught the ice dragon's attention was a flash of light that suddenly lit up under the clouds in the distance.

It was like the dawn of the morning that gradually illuminated the sky behind the clouds - but the sun did not shine from the ground to the sky, nor did it flicker and darken, as if it flickered in a certain rhythm...... Underneath it, the mountains and forests northeast of Anktan, could not have been illuminated by the towering lighthouse outside Neo Harbour.

Curiosity led it to lower its body and fly in the direction of the flash, and when it saw through the clouds to see the land still shrouded in night, the light was gone.

Not far away, in the wilderness between the mountains, is a long-abandoned city—the ancient home of Miaz-Weiss, the light of the far north, the elves of the Sunseeker.

The ice dragon was vigilant. It had heard stories about the city, some in its distant memories, some from Ed. But in any case, this should be a dead city with no one.

Where does that light come from?

It hovered slowly above the city, and in the meager moonlight, the vast ruins were as pale as piles of dry bones, and it seemed to have no life or movement.

It wondered if the previous light had come from the temple of the sun god at the top of the city—could it have been the great god who had suddenly descended on the city that he had long abandoned, or that his priesthood had returned to its former glory?

As he hesitated whether it should go down to see what was going on, it saw a small figure walking alone on the road leading to the city gate, and even though the dragon's shadow passed over him, his steps did not stop for a moment.

When he saw the blonde hair in the moonlight, the ice dragon realized that it was a human. It looks like a teenager is just a teenager, but on a night like this, he is walking in such a place......

Maybe it's some hell trap - when I reminded myself, the ice dragon had already landed in front of the child.

This time the strange little guy finally stopped, and stood there, looking up blankly at the behemoth in front of him, with neither surprise nor fear on his face.

The ice dragon lowered his head and stared in surprise at the blonde boy with a blank look in his eyes and a lost soul.

It recognized him—but why was he here?

“...... Sergio?" It whispered his name, trying to make it sound less terrifying, but the boy just stared at it blankly, and after a moment he walked again, walking slowly forward as before, as if he couldn't see a huge ice dragon blocking in front of him.

The ice dragon silently moved out of the way, looking back in the direction he was heading.

It had just seen the temple in the wilderness. When he was flying around looking for Scott a few months ago, he came and saw nothing but a building that had been abandoned before it was built...... Unexpectedly, the followers of Nesses actually ran back to complete it.

It followed the boy towards the temple. The bonfire burned in the huge square, and there was not a single figure in the distance—at this time, people were probably still asleep.

Halfway through, it unknowingly changed back into human form, probably because it was too awkward to follow a slow human child at the pace of a dragon.

As he approached the temple, he grabbed Sergio and instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

The boy did not try to break free of his grasp, and after a moment's pause, he continued to stubbornly move forward, like a manipulated doll, only knowing how to move towards the goal he had specified. Isis frowned, picked him up, and strode towards the temple.

As he walked into the plaza he heard voices - as if everyone had woken up at the same time, muttering and whispering, and the sound of Soso rolling out of bed......

He retreated behind a statue and listened as more and more people left their huts, talking in confusion. They seem to have fallen into different dreams, but they wake up at the same time, and they all take it as some kind of omen. And when someone screamed in surprise, "We've got the necromancer's head!" ran from the temple, the good guess seemed to prove it.

Cheers rang out. When Isis dragged Sergio into the crowd that was pouring into the temple, no one even noticed them.

But...... Do these humans know what it means to "catch?!.

(To be continued......)