Nana quacked with joy, fluttering her wings and trying to catch up, but perhaps because her wings were too small and her belly was too tiring to fly, she gave up after a few flutters, and only grabbed Is's head, stretched her neck and turned around, staring at the little fire dragon earnestly.

The fire dragon flew back with a whirl, and flew around it triumphantly a few times and then flew away. It was not much bigger than the fire on the torch, but it was much brighter, and the fire had a strong penetrating power, instantly making the thick darkness tremble and dissipate, revealing the truth hidden beneath it.

Mock silently extinguished the torch and followed the fire dragon closely, not asking much questions. Terry seemed to take a short breath, but he didn't speak, only Filly slapped Is's shoulder and praised him vigorously, "You've grown!"

But he didn't ask how he had this growth, which was completely opposite to his talent.

Ed scratched the back of his hand, his eyes drifting.

No one asked...... Let's not talk about it for now.

Drawn to the dragon's gaze, they quickly turned to the illuminated space, and they were silent in awe in shock. Beneath them, a broad platform stretched forward, with a slight arc, half-suspended over a deep ravine. At the four corners of the platform stand stout stone columns, two half-embedded in the rock, two rising from under the deep valley, to support a dome with no superfluous ornamentation, but with extremely beautiful lines. Two smooth passages protruded from both sides of the platform, like outstretched arms, leading to the depths of the ancient dwarven kingdom. More passages spread out around the two largest passages, up and down, left and right, like countless tributaries, and like blood vessels in the human body, probing into every corner of this rocky kingdom like life.

It's just that there is no light, no sound...... There was not a single movement.

Ed's pupils shrank as he retracted his gaze. There are dark shadows standing silently at the entrances of the passages on both sides, hidden in the shadow of the stone pillars.

They exchanged glances and followed Mock's footsteps towards the passage on the right. Standing there were statues of two life-size dwarven warriors, with their hammers in their hands, but with their eyes closed, their expressions serene, not the slightest deterrent, but as if they were dozing off.

Ed stretched out his hand and retracted before he dared to touch it.

This statue is vividly carved...... But it's too much like the real thing. He'd only seen a statue of a living person in one place—in the vault at Lockburg.

Maybe it's just a preconceived idea...... He thought to himself. Or at least because they all thought that the dwarves here had been turned to stone, they would think that these two statues were made of living dwarves. Maybe the dwarves just like to carve stone statues so lifelike......

But that's not the case with the statues in the Silver Tooth Pit.

In the end, Mork reached out and touched the statue, but did not speak for a long time.

“...... How's that?" Even Fili involuntarily lowered his voice.

"I don't know. The dwarf replied. But his tone had never been so hesitant, and his voice had never been so weak.

Filly kept his mouth shut.

They walked up the aisle. It is more carefully planned than the Silver Tooth Pit, like a human city, and the main road is lined with shops selling the daily necessities of the dwarves, butchers, herbs, shoes, leather goods, weapons, foundry tools, and taverns that are much larger than the others...... There is even a shop specializing in rat traps and rat cages, which is full of the most ordinary atmosphere of life. Walking around, you can almost imagine the hustle and bustle of this place...... But it is even more strange in the dead silence.

Now the shop is empty, but it is neat, and there is no trace of the battle, as if the owner has just traveled far away from home. At the same time, there was no rotten stench, as if they had taken care of everything before they left, not wanting to cause any trouble to the neighbors.

They walked for a long time, and finally found a dwarf in the bedroom behind a pottery shop.

An old dwarf, with a wrinkled face that looked like it was about to crack, and dressed in beautiful scale armor, lay peacefully on his bed, his hands clasped over his chest, a hammer evidently long in use on one side of the pillow, and a silver box containing a small pile of precious stones on the other.

weapons, and property.

This is not a normal sleeping position, more like an old man who predicts his own death, and then lies down calmly and sinks into eternal sleep...... It's just that his body didn't rot and didn't turn into bones, but turned into stone.

Mock was almost turned to stone. He stood motionless by the bed for a long time, and the others stood quietly with him.

The only thing still moving was the dragon. It was restrained and could not stay away, so it could only walk around the room, boringly turning itself into various shapes, and deliberately throwing itself in Ed's face, startling him and pulling him out of the suffocating sadness and frustration.

They...... It's too late.

But time can't be turned back, and Ed has learned to stop carrying unnecessary guilt.

The fire dragon persistently provoked him, as if he would not give up without a reaction. Ed had to wave at it, he didn't know how Iss controlled it, he just thought that this guy seemed to have the same virtue as Is...... Or rather, it honestly reflects Is's heart. He could be sure that Is's mood was not so sad or heavy, after all, Is's eyes were more like empty when he looked over, but it was good that he was willing to be quiet about the grief of others.

Even Nana lay on Is's shoulder and didn't move, only a pair of golden eyes turned around. At first, Ed thought it was looking at the dragon, but later realized that it was not looking in the direction of the dragon, but more like looking at something in the air that no one could see.

He shuddered at his own imagination. He's not afraid of ghosts...... Not very scary, but the fear of the unseen is always much scarier than the visible.

In the end, the long, deathly silence was broken by Terry.

"I think...... Let's ......," the little mage said apprehensively, squeezing out a few words like a mosquito and calming down, "I think we should probably go deeper and take a look." ”

Mock finally moved. He looked back at the little mage, and his eyes seemed to have fallen into the valley of death, like a dark pool, cold and dark, and empty. The little mage shrank unconsciously, then tried to calm down and look back calmly.

His eyes were clear and bright, like mirrors that reflected the dwarf's appearance at the moment.

“...... Good. Mork closed his eyes, and when he spoke, he seemed to come to life, and turned back into the steady and reliable leader of the dwarves, his voice hoarse but steady: "Let's go deeper." ”