"No!" roared Is. He still had pain in his right arm and chest, and now he had a headache.

There were so many things in Toom's room, he stared at them, searching every nook and cranny of his head, looking for all the information related to the legendary magical items to check them off, but found nothing.

"Nothing is right!" he said in a tone of chagrin and irritation.

"It must be because you dragons are too high-minded. Ed said, "Let's take a look at this." ”

He didn't find any diaries, so he kept looking for boxes - according to his explanation, necromancers are also human, and human habits, the most important things, are either to be kept in a place where they can see at a glance, or to find a box to hide.

But the most valuable thing he had found so far was nothing more than an amulet that Iss had identified with a disdainful glance as "a useless thing made by a certain priest", with the mark of Andukh on it.

Considering that Anduch was also a god worshiped by the dwarves, Ed carefully put away the useless amulet.

There were a few other spell materials that were scarce, but as Iss said, they all didn't add up to the small piece of power stone he had pulled out of the golem.

Ed placed the wooden box he had found from the cupboard next to the old mage's bed in the clearing. It is beautiful, but not ancient, with a ring of gold decorations in the shape of a wave around the lid, and tortoiseshell inlays on the top of the box, which looks like a jewelry box commonly used by aristocratic women in southern cities.

The box was unlocked, and it was divided into two layers, the first of which contained a stack of papers, which Ed picked up and rummaged through for a moment before handing it to Is.

"I don't understand!" he said. Of course he couldn't figure out the symbols, even the words were like riddles, and Ed hated riddles the most.

As Iss sat cross-legged on the floor, frowning impatiently as he studied the stack of papers, Ed opened the second layer of the box.

The second floor is divided into dozens of small compartments. Half was empty, and half was filled with a number of thumb-sized gemstones.

Growing up in Visa, Ed was familiar with many types of gems and minerals, even though his family wasn't in the gem business. But he had never seen such a stone. It is as transparent as a colorless crystal, but with a strange metallic luster.

Curiously, he took out a sword and looked closely, and the figure could be clearly printed on the irregular, uncut surface.

Is's gaze was still on the paper, some of the symbols he couldn't read, and he didn't know much of the code words that human mages loved to use, but he recognized the handwriting on a few of them.

"It's Lydia's word. ”

"Can you recognize Lydia's handwriting?" said Ed, with some surprise.

“...... I have a good memory. Isis threw him coldly. When he was very young, Lydia used to teach him to write in flower characters, and she didn't take it very seriously, but just taught him to play when he was bored. Iss didn't like the garish fonts, either, but he liked the way Lydia laughed heartlessly at his clumsy, childish imitations—the distant, yet warm fragments always upset him.

"What did she write?" Ed looked at curiously, even though he knew he couldn't read it.

"She found a way to control the souls of the barbarians. Isis shoved the paper back into him.

"How?" said Ed, glaring at the strange patterns and words, trying to discern something.

"How much time do you think we can devote to this?"

"Hmm...... No. Ed tucked the paper into his arms, and maybe Scott and Filly would be able to use it. "What about the stones?"

"The soul stones they made...... Something like a power stone. ”

Ed let go of his hand and let the stone fall back into the box: "...... Doesn't sound like a good thing. ”

"Of course not. That requires a lot of strong and pure soul and extremely rare materials...... Looks like they've got both. ”

Ed remembered the shadow that appeared when the fluorite shattered earlier, "You mean they sealed the souls of the barbarians in stone?"

"Almost. Ise lifted the box, then picked up the Iron Golem's head and smashed the stones one by one, the sound of cracking that made Ed's heart tremble.

"The soul within...... What will happen?" he asked, "will it be released, or will it disappear?"

"Not really. Those souls that have long been incomplete, just some kind of magic-like power. Isis glanced at him. "The shadow you saw before is just a broken soul, and even if you don't smash that stone, it will disappear sooner or later. ”

Ed looked at the debris on the ground, but silently moved a little away.

"What do they want these stones for?" he asked, "to make a golem?...... Are all the undead we saw before?"

"I don't know...... But they shouldn't have so many stones, and those barbarians also have sacrificial marks on their foreheads. There are so many souls that are not shared with hell. The demons wouldn't be happy to find out. I guess they both worked, it was easier to make a deal with Hell, but the golem was stronger, it wouldn't go berserk out of control, and it wasn't afraid of the sun. It will not be purified, although it has lost contact with the necromancer, it can only be controlled by spells, and it cannot make any frightening sounds......" Isis said casually as if he was reading a book in his head, and suddenly stopped.

"Is?" Ed exclaimed uneasily.

"This one is supposed to be used against priests and paladins. Ise smashed the last soul stone hard, "Whatever Lydia's plans are, she's not interested in the Ice Plains and the Barbarians. ”

“...... We need to get out of here as soon as possible. "Ed said he had a strong and bad premonition.

They didn't know where they were, they didn't know how far they were from the cave they had entered, and since the teleportable chair had been smashed, they could only get out through the hole that could be seen from afar, with light coming through.

Eager to catch a glimpse of the giant's ruins in the darkness, Ed used his sword to cut off the magical ball of light hanging above his head, burrowed out of the tent, and held it high, but the range of light sources was still limited, and he looked up and couldn't see the top, and he could only see a high wall that seemed to stretch upwards endlessly. He boldly walked forward for a while, and it was not long before he retreated with a pale face.

"Is it pretty?" asked Iss deliberately.

Ed shook his head. The corpses that stood there in a neat row, like an undead army waiting to be summoned, were a nightmare scenario.

"Tell me what it's like...... I mean the ruins!" Ed begged.

"It's huge. Iss looked up and told his poor friend, "The giant's building is plain, there isn't much carving or anything like that, it's just ...... Extraordinarily large. ”

“...... Thank you very much, what a wonderful description. Ed said with a wobble.

The disappointed tone softened the impatient Is, who thought about it for a moment, and gently pressed his staff against the magic ball of light, and the cold white light gradually spread like water waves, permeating the entire space at an increasing speed.

Ed let out a small exclamation, and with a sincere awe, looked up at the corner left behind by the only giant city.

No one knew which corner it was, all Ed could see were two ruined walls, the sloping peaks pressing against the walls, and the space cut out was large enough to fit Chrysers Castle. Ed couldn't help but fantasize about how tall the two rock-cut walls were, and how big the room really was—it was beyond human imagination.

The light suddenly disappeared completely, and in the darkness, Ed sighed contentedly.

"Really...... It's huge!" he said, and couldn't think of a better way to describe it.

But the ruins were shrouded in the breath of death, and there were thousands of undead warriors, leaving a deep shadow in Ed's heart.

"We can't destroy these ...... Can they turn into corpses of the undead at any time?" he suddenly thought, "They haven't been awakened yet, and even if they are destroyed, no one will notice?"

"It's not as easy as smashing dozens of rocks. "If I were a flame dragon, I could burn them all to ashes, but my breath is not that useful for corpses, and I can't turn into a dragon now." "His injuries haven't healed completely, and his rash transformation now will only aggravate his injuries, not to mention that he has to change back in the end, otherwise he won't be able to get out of the cave at all.

“...... Or I can try it with a human body. On a whim, he said, "This staff will increase the power of spells......

"No!wait!don't do that!" Ed clenched the magic ball of light in his hand that had run out of oil and could no longer emit a single light after a brief burst in his hand, and stopped him in a panic, "It's better to have some fun until next time!"

Isis snorted softly, agreeing.

Ed threw away the useless orb of light, and the sound of it hitting his heart made him suddenly realize how quiet it was. The anger and unwillingness hidden in the history that has been closed for tens of thousands of years, the evil and death that have invaded here without respect, are all absorbed by the thick darkness, and suddenly they are all pressed down together, making people panic and dare not make a sound.

"Let's go. Isis whispered.

In the darkness, they silently walked towards the only source of light, the hole that emitted a faint but warm glow of fire, and it was only when their whole bodies were illuminated by the light of the fire that belonged to the force of nature that Ed was secretly relieved.

The two undead guards at the entrance of the cave stood like statues, but luckily, like the other guards, ignored them. The narrow passage behind the cave was dim and winding, and in the exhaustion and silence, Ed's stomach suddenly made an untimely gurgling sound.

Isis stopped silently.

"I'm hungry...... Ed explained with an embarrassed blushing face at the back of his head, "It's probably afternoon now, we haven't eaten lunch, I knew I should have eaten more before I came, but it's hard to eat barbecue early in the morning, aren't you hungry?......"

Iss glared back at him, but the corners of his mouth curled as he continued to move forward.