The long passage stretched downward, and the crystals set on either side of the wall lit up in turn as the mage walked by, a soft glow falling on her long crimson dress. The skirt dragged to the ground, the edges were densely embroidered with golden roses like the wide sleeves, and the tangled branches and leaves were more like a burning flame when they shone in the light.

Between Lydia's loose curls perched a small butterfly, and the emerald green of her eyes was set in the thin wings pinched out of the gold wires, the delicate and intricate craftsmanship of the delicate fingers of some elf.

A mocking smile twitched at the lips of an elf-mage.

Every time she came here, she couldn't help but deliberately dress up, and no matter how much she reminded herself, the contempt in her ever-changing eyes didn't diminish it.

O holy, noble, great elves...... Even if he is half-dead for thousands of years, he still does not change his arrogance.

The room at the end of the passage was so bright that it barely looked like it was underground, and the simple but delicate furnishings and décor made it look like the living room of some elven nobleman, and the scent of unknown flowers wafted through the air, but it still couldn't completely cover the vague, rotten smell.

"You're late. ”

There was a strange stiffness in the deep voice that greeted the female mage, but the anger and anxiety in it were still so palpable.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, I have just escaped from a burning mountain. A female mage of a weak human will have to take some time to recover before she can continue to serve you. ”

Lydia casually lifted the silver kettle on the table. He poured himself a full glass of red wine before turning to face the tall, thin figure in the room.

Even though he lives in seclusion in the underground vault, the owner of this place still wears a dark green cloak from head to end. Even his face is tightly covered.

"You've failed. ”

His contemptuous voice could still easily provoke the anger of the female mage, but she had now learned how to control her anger.

"Oh, I did lose the stone. She said lightly, "But didn't I bring you a better gift?"

"That thing didn't work!"

The cloaked man growled in exasperation.

"So, you still don't know what made that thing ...... 'that'?" Lydia gestured lazily, mocking in her tone, "I thought there was nothing you couldn't do." ”

She expected another roar. But the man was unexpectedly silent when he spoke again. He seemed to have regained his composure, and even seemed polite.

"The power of a god is involved, and it must be from some artifact from ancient times, if you can't find it. That stuff is useless to us. ”

Lydia narrowed her eyes. She probably knew where to find it.

"I'll do my best. She said.

"Then as soon as possible. ”

The man's next sentence was again full of condescending arrogance.

Lydia couldn't help but shake her head. She is often described as fickle and elusive...... Those people should really come to deal with this underground "majesty".

"And. The man slowly stretched out a pale hand to her, "I need a new body." ”

Under the faint white light that came from nowhere, a few blue-gray marks were clearly visible on the originally slender and elegant hand.

"Of course. Lydia smiled, "Please tell me...... What do you think of blonde hair?".

Leaving the ice field and entering the forest can feel like you have suddenly entered another world, no longer empty and lonely, even in the winter when everything is bleak. Forests are also more vibrant than ice sheets. The most abundant trees in the Kasdan forest are spruce, which are tall and straight trees that have grown for many years, under a thin layer of snow. There is already a faint breath of spring.

Iss didn't hate forests, but he felt he preferred the ice field, at least, where he was free to stretch his wings without stumbling between the trees.

But Scott clearly prefers the forest. When a little squirrel comes down from a tree and jumps across the snow. As he climbed another tree, Scott's eyes followed the little fluffy one. The face that had been tense for several days, and the face that looked overly serious became much softer.

"Let's go to Waland first. He told Isis that the village was closer to them.

Valander Isis remembered the name, and Matilda had told him that it was her real home. Strangely enough, he had never paid attention to the woman, but now he could clearly recall her voice and smile, her every move, the excessive small movements when she was nervous and panicked...... Her death made those indelible.

At least her soul can return to her homeland - that's what Is's can only hope for.

Before he could see the village, Isis could already feel an ominous shadow in the air. He lost the power of a dragon, but he still had the instinct of a dragon.

"Scott!" he called out to his brother, who had just found the winding path in the woods and was speeding up his pace, "Be careful...... Something is wrong.

Scott nodded solemnly, as if sensing something unusual.

But when the village at the end of the trail appeared in front of them, they realized that things were far from "wrong" to be described.

"What the hell is this......" Scott murmured in disbelief.

It was no longer a remote, impoverished but vibrant village, but a completely burned ruin.

Scott rushed into the village, but his steps slowed involuntarily, as if he was afraid of waking up something. It was as silent as if there had never been life here. It was real, deathly silence. Thin snow covered the charred wreckage, broken wooden beams slanted to the sky, a ruined wall that stood upright, and crooked lattices hung from hollow windows.

Scott stared at it in amazement—it looked like a distorted, smiling face.

Not a single trace of green smoke wafted up. No matter what disaster befell here. It was at least a few days ago.

"Scott!" Is's voice came from not far away. The voice of the ice dragon, which was supposed to be fearless, shuddered uncomfortably.

He immediately rushed over, his heart full of panic.

Isis was standing in the clearing in the center of the village. Scott remembers that the barbarians used to set up tall stacks of wood here and light bonfires all night long. Like the camp on their ice field. The villagers of Valand probably didn't remove the unburned firewood when they returned here, and it was still piled up in front of Is......

Scott staggered, as if he had been whipped head-on, and his mind went blank.

-- It wasn't some unburned wood.

That's people. The charred corpses of humans, one by one, were stacked on top of each other, and some were scattered in mutilation. It's like being eaten by a wild beast, guts. Severed limbs, dark blood stains paved in a mess that even snow could not hide.

Scott had experienced war, and it was not like he had never seen such a tragic and horrific sight. But the people in this village are just ordinary people who have no quarrel with the world. None of the civil strife in Anktann has affected them, so who would have done such a heinous thing to them?

Scott pressed the corner of his forehead. The extreme anger that quickly rose made him feel a red flame of blood and fire burning under his eyes even when he closed his eyes. He wanted to let out a roar, but the voice was choked in his heart, as if it was about to explode in his chest.

"Scott?" Iss called softly, uneasily.

It took a long time for Scott to respond. He shook his head, as if he had finally calmed down, and tugged at the corners of his mouth extremely reluctantly: "I'm fine." ”

“...... It's weird. Isis said, looking at the burned corpses beyond recognition, and quickly moving away. He didn't know if there would be Matilda's family among them......

"Could it be the barbarians?" he blurted.

"No...... I don't think so. Scott replied.

It can't be barbarians - they will set the houses on fire and burn the villages. And then he walked away, and the corpses would not be piled up and burned like this, and where would the barbarians now be in the mood to rob the human villages? Tulun and his people, who had once occupied the place, had been arranged by him to settle on the other side of the forest, far away. They had received a lot of help from humans, and even if they responded to Dutton's call to return to the ice field, there was no reason for them to commit such a brutal atrocity on the way back.

"So...... Maybe it's the kind of plague created by the necromancer?" Iss guessed.

"If that were the case, people would burn bodies outside the village, not in the center of the village. Scott's tone was filled with irrepressible anger, "This looks more like ...... Some kind of intimidation. ”

"Maybe we should look around. Someone must have escaped. There are only about two dozen people at most...... You can't be the only one in a village, are you?" Is's somewhat awkward effort to keep the conversation going was much better than keeping Scott as silent as a volcano about to erupt.

"Yes...... That's right. Scott closed his eyes. Let out a long breath.

He whispered a incantation, and with a hotter flame the dead were completely reduced to ashes, seeping into the earth with melted snow.

New life will be born on this land. Whether it is flowers and trees, animals or humans, the lives of the deceased will be reborn in another form in their lives.

Cantril is less than a day away from Valland. Scott feared that the same thing had happened there, and that it had kept him so silent that even Iss didn't dare to speak out again.

Scott's heart sank as he saw the charred wreckage from afar. But things were better than he expected.

"I didn't see any bodies. Is's voice was filled with joy. He didn't know anyone here, but Scott did—he didn't want to see that look on Scott's face anymore.

Scott breathed a sigh of relief: "Neither did I. ”

He looked around at the village, which had been burned to the ground almost like Valland, and he knew it better than he knew Valland. Copas trained the young people of Cantril very well. They fled swiftly with the entire village, perhaps even those who had fled from Valand, as soon as they were alerted.

The only hiding place in the vicinity that can accommodate so many people is the Glowing Moss Cavern.

(To be continued)