After nightfall, the forest was eerily dark. Neither the moonlight nor the starlight seemed to be able to penetrate the overly dense foliage, and even though he used magic to give him the ability to see at night, Ed always felt that he would hit his head against a tree at any moment, and he walked carefully with every step.

Xiaobai followed him. In the darkness, the white hair looked almost faintly glowing, and Ed unconsciously remembered the balls of light that jumped around in the labyrinth beneath Krissus.

It's eye-catching—too eye-catching, especially when they need to be out of sight. But no one said anything and offered to let it go.

This white panther is a mystery...... But no matter what time it is, its existence is inexplicably reassuring.

It was Murray who led the way, but occasionally Xiaobai would sneak to the front, intentionally or unintentionally. The leopard's low roar occasionally sounded, as if to point them to a safer path...... At least, they didn't run into any obstacles along the way.

The elves' footsteps were still almost silent, but they were unusually heavy. Ed didn't ask him why he wanted to kill his own kind—at that moment, he subconsciously swallowed all the questions in the face of the elves who seemed to dissipate like ghosts banished by the light of one more word in front of him.

Since the place he was going to was not far away, he did not waste another teleportation spell, but followed Murray to avoid the elven colonies and go around to the southeast of Grivar.

Go around to the Tower of Silence.

Ed had already made up his mind that if Murray wanted to break back into the Silent Tower, he would follow him no matter what. Payne is likely to be in deep danger, and that alone is enough to hell with all his scruples.

Murray paused and stared at it for a moment, when he could already see the starry white tower through the gap in the trees...... Then the direction was changed.

Ed stopped talking, silently following, but couldn't help but glance back.

The last time he came, he didn't feel this way - this tower is really white...... It's a bit bleak.

The surroundings of the Silent Tower are unusually quiet. Most of the people who lived nearby were elders, and there were probably more than ordinary soldiers guarding this place, who should have been more careful, but Murray quickened his pace in spite of it, almost rushing towards a huge oak tree not far away, and then stopped abruptly.

There was a clearing around the oak tree, and at last a starlight spilled down, making the lush foliage seem to fall with a layer of silver frost. Ed unconsciously tilted his head, full of awe. He knew that an oak tree could grow to be so big, but he had never seen it so big, so big that a tree was already like a forest...... A fortress with tree trunks towering like rocks over a cliff, with no upward access in sight.

“...... My lord!"

Murray looked up and shouted.

Ed looked at the canopy. He couldn't see the delicate house hidden under the foliage, but he could see the light that shone between the leaves...... He could even feel the peeping eye on them, but he never heard a response.

“...... Who lives here?" he whispered to Fenway.

"Elder Silver Leaf. Fenway replied.

Ferry Silverleaf.

Ed was silent - he didn't have a good impression of the old man.

"Your Excellency!"

Murray shouted again, his calm tone revealing a stubbornness that would not stop if he did not achieve his goal.

Ed didn't think Fairey cared about such a threat.

“...... Is there no one else who can help?" he began, "...... Other elves. ”

Murray glanced at him, a weird sneer curling into his lips, and didn't answer his question.

He lunged forward, upward, tiptoe on the trunk of the tree, and in the blink of an eye he was almost submerged in the canopy.

...... Is it time to start breaking through?

Ed sighed silently, and was thinking about how to keep up when a hazy mist of light descended from the canopy.

The fog was thin, more like a net, light and fluttering, which seemed to be no threat, and brought a strange sound in the night wind, fine and continuous, sounding soft as rain, but inexplicably a little ominous.

Ed instinctively wanted to stop that net from falling on Murray, but it was too late. A dark shadow flashed in his sight, and before Murray's mid-air figure could touch the net, he fell heavily - Fenway had already chased after him, grabbed his ankle, and ripped him off violently.

The speed of the light mist increased, and in an instant, it was pressed above their heads. The two elves quickly rolled away in opposite directions, and the mist split into two.

Ed raised his hand, a spell had not yet taken shape, and Xiaobai's low roar suddenly sounded.

Ed shuddered involuntarily.

He knew that Xiaobai was not an ordinary leopard, but he had never felt such a ...... in it Fearsome rage.

The sound was almost like a dragon's roar with the dragon's might, pouring tangible fear into the soul. Both elves stiffened at that moment, and the light mist suddenly dimmed, spreading out like a school of frightened fish, and even if they regrouped after a while, they seemed to have lost their purpose, and as if they were afraid of something, they hesitantly floated in the air, no longer attacking.

...... Is this thing alive?

This strange thought popped into Ed's head, and suddenly it felt that it was not like some magic, but more like the gnats that gathered on the banks of the river in the middle of summer, a dense swarm like a black mist, which made people's scalps tingle at the sight, and he just wanted to stay away.

“...... Get out of here. ”

Finally, Ferry's low voice fell from between the leaves, "Ed Singal...... None of this has anything to do with you. ”

The corners of Ed's mouth twitched - what a ...... As expected.

"In fact," he said, "I have a small question that I hope will be blessed with your guidance on...... The original song. ”

He stared at the canopy, as if he could see the haughty and indifferent elf through the leaves...... See every expression on his face.

"You're a ...... As always, self-righteous. ”

- The corners of his eyebrows and lips would be raised subtly, for a moment, enough to express sufficient disgust and ridicule without destroying his seemingly innate grace.

Ed shrugged at the imaginary face, "Each other. ”

He wasn't polite at all—being courteous in front of Philee would only suffocate himself, and he knew it all too well.

A spiraling staircase juts out from the trunk of the tree, as if the new branches and leaves are stretching out. The elf who walked slowly down was still draped in a simple gray robe, and the hesitant mist of light rushed over as if it smelled blood, fierce and greedy.

Ed was startled, vaguely realizing that he had probably made a mistake.

This fog ...... Whatever it was, it wasn't under Fei Rui's control.

The white leopard's roar rang out again, but this time, the light mist only stopped for a moment, and then rolled towards Fieri.

The elf stopped, standing up straight, neither flinching nor seeming to resist.

And in those blackened green eyes, Ed saw something unexpected.

.