After the elves were sure that there was no danger around, all four stood on the edge of the abyss.

Tiny orbs of light hovered a little farther away from them, emitting a soft and steady light, but leaving their blurred figures at the edge of light and darkness, keeping them from falling into complete darkness and becoming too obvious targets.

The range of light it can illuminate is very limited. Ed tried to get it to fly across to see how wide the crack in the ground really was, but soon had to let it fly back - more than he could control.

"It's wide, but not too deep. "There seems to be something down there," Norway told him...... I can't see too clearly. ”

Even though they can see in the dark, the elves' night vision is still much worse than normal vision.

Ed crouched down, cautiously poking his head out, manipulating the light flame to descend slowly. Tess threw a piece of rubble, and a moment later, the sound of the gravel falling to their ears was heard with a faint echo.

"It's really not too deep. Tess muttered in disappointment, "I can just slip down without any tools!"

The "abyss" in front of us may just be another river that has dried up, and its depth is mostly an illusion brought about by darkness. The flame of light that had descended to the bottom flew forward as if it had life, and when a little reflection of metal suddenly flashed in the darkness, everyone involuntarily held their breath.

The light froze in place...... Then it suddenly goes out.

The sound of Nalya unsheathing her sword was shrill and harsh, followed by an embarrassed cough.

"That...... It's time for spells. He explained in a whisper.

In the dark. Naria slapped him on the scoop of the head with precision. Not light, not heavy, but with full irritation.

“...... It's a helmet. Norway whispered, "Like Anktan's wolf-faced iron helmet." ”

A brief moment. He could see the reflection clearly.

Ed rubbed his hands together and was about to perform another cautious light technique, when a flash of fire flashed in his vision, and Tess had impatiently lit the torch.

In everyone's eyes, the red-haired girl confidently crossed her waist with one hand and raised the torch higher with the other.

"Actually, I've wanted to ask for a long time. She said, "Why do we have to be as sneaky and cautious as thieves? They're all staring at it anyway, and if there's any trap here, they've probably been set up in the morning, right? We're in the open, but that's our only advantage! Why can't we light the torch in the open. If you can illuminate every corner clearly, you can do whatever you want? If you are blind and scared in the dark light, it will be easier to step on the shit!"

Such words come out of the mouth of a thief, and it is really ...... There is no way to refute it.

Ed laughed silently. Stand up. Gazing at the darkness in front of him that a torch could not illuminate, he pondered for a moment, folded his hands, and recited a spell he had never used before.

The light flowed from the palm of his hand like water, into the dry river, and then swelled like the surface of the river after a summer rainstorm. The bright river of light quickly stretched to both sides, until as far as they could see, the underworld, ruled by absolute darkness for an unknown number of years. In an instant, it was as bright as day.

“...... Not bad!" Ty gave Edby a thumbs-up without hesitation.

"How long?" said Naria, a more practical question.

"That's it...... ...... for a moment," Ed smiled wryly, and withdrew his hand a little weakly.

A few words in time. The brilliant light has begun to fade. Before the darkness could regain its control, they found a gentler spot and descended to the bottom of the river.

The originally bright river of light had turned into a thin mist, faint as distant starlight, and the trance made them feel as if they were in a galaxy, and in their surprise and admiration, they almost forgot the purpose of coming here for a while.

"I've never heard of this spell. Norway couldn't help but speak, "At least not among the elven chanters...... Is this unique to human priests?"

"Uh......" Ed replied a little dazed, "I haven't heard of it either." ”

“...... So, you created a spell yourself?" the elf did not hide his surprise.

"I just...... Try to combine the two spells together......" Ed scratched his chin dumbfoundedly, honestly, he hadn't thought much of it at all, but the elf said that...... That still seems like a bit of a big deal? Can he put his name on this spell? "Singal Light River" or something......

Norway looked at him and shook his head incredulously, a smile on his lips, but he didn't say anything more.

The fantastic beauty was just a fleeting moment. Soon, the torches were once again their only light, but they were enough to see what they hadn't discovered.

Footprints.

They instinctively walked in the direction of the helmet they had just found. There was no water in the river, but the air was very humid, and the thin mud was littered with footprints in places where the light had not shone before, and it was difficult to make out from a distance because the color was similar to that of the rocks. There were even one or two dark marks nearby, emitting a faint touch of blood.

Nori half-crouched down and looked at the helmet that was buckled to the ground. As he could judge from a distance, it was Anktan's wolf-faced iron helmet. The armor was cast to look like a wolf's face, protruding slightly forward at the mouth, and it didn't look old, although there were a lot of scratches, there wasn't much rust, probably fell here not long ago.

"Although there is nothing to sympathize with...... Tess said, "why do I think the Anktann soldiers who have disappeared here are so unlucky?"

Ed's heart beat uncontrollably—he knew it wasn't right, but he was more worried about the priests and paladins missing from the Temple of Collins than the strange, and probably ill-intentioned, Anktann soldiers.

He stared silently at the ground, trying to find some clues about them, but found nothing - if it had ever been used as a battlefield, there was not a single corpse left.

That gave him a glimmer of hope. Generally speaking, even if they kill an enemy, if possible, the priesthood will not let the corpse be exposed to the wilderness.

"They're not all going to be undead, are they?" said Tess with another possibility.

"At least I haven't seen the skeleton's footprints. Norway said without looking up.

"There's no trace of drag either, do you?" asked Tess rhetorically, "they died, and then they got up and walked away, and now they might be gathering somewhere waiting for us to get to the door...... Oh, honestly, I'd rather face the skeletons, at least they don't stink!"

"If they stink enough, you can tell where they are from a long distance...... It's not a bad thing. Naria said matter-of-factly.

Ed stood there, his mood fluctuating with their conversation, and suddenly realized, with some surprise, that the rancid stench he had once smelled when he descended to the bottom of the river seemed to be completely gone.

He sniffled unconsciously, wondering if he had gotten used to the faint scent, but it was the faint scent of roses on Naria's body that wafted into his nose.

She was standing beside him, sweating, a few strands of hair sticking to her neck, black and white, with an indescribable temptation......

Ed stiffly looked away, not daring to look at Naria's face, and a little desperate for himself who still had time to spare.

During his months in Icefield, he was reluctant to think about the failed confession, believing to himself that even if they couldn't become lovers, they could still be each other's best friends as before......

Of course they are. But something would still pop up at a moment he didn't expect, and he was caught off guard that he might never just think of Naria as a "friend" - perhaps not since he saw the brunette girl blushing with exasperation in the kitchen of Chrischerbourg.

He crumpled the mess in his heart and stuffed it into a corner, quietly moved a little, and squatted beside Norvi.

"Actually, there shouldn't be any fighting. They seem to be just running and then falling to the ground. The elf whispered to him, gesturing at him the distance between his steps, "They should be dressed in uniform armor, just like Is's said before." The boots are all square-toed leather boots instead of paladin's lock boots...... There are no other kinds of footprints yet. ”

He knew exactly what Ed cared more about.

It took Ed a moment to concentrate and nodded vigorously. After spending a few months on the ice field, he also learned to distinguish footprints.

"I think they're on the run. "If it's chasing something...... It's not going to be crowded like this. ”

Surrounded by darkness, huddled in fear, running desperately...... but there was no trace of the enemy.

Perhaps Tess's suspicions were right - the Skeleton Knight's silent scream was enough to have such an effect on the unprepared.

They all set their eyes on the darkness ahead. It was supposed to be downstream, and the terrain seemed much more complicated than the near-straight stretch of the river they had just traversed. A few rocks suddenly emerge from the ground obscuring the view, making the road ahead even more unpredictable.

"Hey!" Tess cried, slamming Norway on the shoulder, "Look there! Look there!"

She was pointing to the upper reaches of the river, the direction they were coming.

Ed stood up sharply, his eyes narrowed—far away, he seemed to see a faint light in the darkness.

(To be continued......)