Lydia's appearance was somewhat unexpected by Allen.

He had always suspected that the truly valuable secret for Sean Fletcher was Ankland...... Instead of Lydia Bell, she became the leader of the necromancers.

Fifteen years ago, when Alan Cavo and his famous squad suddenly disappeared from view, there were many speculations circulating among adventurers. The closest thing to the truth is that they discover a dangerous ruin and nearly wipe it out, with only Alan and the half-elf Celebrian narrowly escaping - a guess that Eren had always had assumed.

When Lydia reappeared, the first to hear the news were the adventurers who walked on the edge of light and darkness.

Before Iss suddenly transforms and is imprisoned in the underground of the Collins Temple, Alan hears the news that Lydia has appeared in Stonebutch.

Suspicious and uneasy, he hurried out of Karnak, hoping to find out more, but he didn't expect Lydia to find Iss so quickly, and easily let an ice dragon replace her as the target of public criticism, attracting everyone's attention.

Lydia has never been good at keeping a low profile, and even if she becomes a necromancer who must carefully hide her whereabouts, she will inevitably leave some clues. But when a dragon flies above the sky, how many people are still interested in chasing the shadows that wander in the dark night?

For adventurers, dragons are clearly a more attractive target than necromancers—greater glory, more wealth, and almost as much danger. Many people may rather face a dragon than those grim black-robed mages. After all, the worst outcome of being an enemy of a dragon is death. And the enemy of the necromancer...... The end is likely to be worse than death.

Even so, a few years later, the rumors about Lydia got closer and closer to the truth. On more than one occasion, it had been mentioned to Allen, consciously or unconsciously, that the necromancers seemed to have a leader, a female mage with black hair, green eyes and a sweet smile......

If adventurers have heard more or less about this "secret", the priests and paladins who use necromancers as their natural enemies. It is impossible to be ignorant - Lydia herself should know this.

But with the character of that female mage, even if she knew that she might be recognized, she would not show her face at such a grand festival. It's a bit of a shame.

Eren had also told Sean about his worries, but the Paladin Leader only gave him a faint look and asked him, "Even so, what can she do?"

Sean's near-proud self-confidence is not unfounded. In all the troubles that can happen on the May Festival. "Attack of the Necromancer". It's probably the last one in the list. Collins has been a sacred place for nearly two hundred years, and the power that lies deep within the land is a natural barrier that itself resists the invasion of darkness. And given the terrible history of nearly a thousand years ago, every May Day, the priests and paladins will carefully put all kinds of protections, except for the faithful servants of the water god, all magical powers will be suppressed, including the natural magic possessed by Is, a dragon.

Whether you're a necromancer. Or a "mage who has learned necromancy", Lydia is extremely limited in what she can do. She shouldn't risk being caught, and she has to play some tricks.

Alan thus put aside his worries and concentrated on another, more realistic trouble—a crowded place that is always easy to cause a riot, and this time on Mayday, there are not a few people who want to cause a little chaos for various reasons. Sean had already borrowed some of his soldiers from the Lord of Visa, as was customary, to maintain order, but that was clearly not enough...... Alan had to turn to his adventurer friends for help. Some small tricks that are difficult to guard against can only be discovered by those who are born in the market and have seen a lot of experience in time...... And some of them have even accepted the offer of employment, and are excitedly planning to surprise the proud "adults" of the Temple of Collins.

It took a lot of effort for Alan to get most people to agree to help rather than mess with it. He wondered if he should warn the guys that if he did see Lydia, it was best to stay away from her...... But adventurers aren't fools - at least, most of those who are still alive aren't fools, they know how to protect themselves, and Lydia is a bad character to mess with, even before she became a necromancer.

Eventually, he just said, "If you see Lydia, let me know as soon as possible." ”

He thought that was enough...... At the moment, he feared that it was that sentence that killed Gage Tolia.

Gage's body was only discovered at dusk. Alan hurried away, but there was nothing he could do.

"She's going to pay for it. One of Gage's few friends, the mage Goodyle, threw this to Alan with a gloomy face and turned away. Alan had to keep two people on him to keep an eye on him, lest he do anything irreparable in his anger.

“...... Are you sure it was Lydia who did it?" Browder asked. He still couldn't believe that the female mage could be so bold.

He was seen bringing a woman with black hair, green eyes, and a charming smile into his tent...... There was not a single scar on his body, and the dagger had slipped into the palm of his hand...... He knew who he was up against. Alan replied with a heavy heart.

Gage had never been a reassuring guy, he was always overly curious and overconfident, and he probably believed that he could catch Lydia, or at least get some news out - Alan thought he would be more or less stable when he got married and had children...... Now how is he going to deal with his family?

"Where the hell is Sean?!" he asked again, becoming more agitated, "If Lydia dares to kill people here without any qualms, it's hard to imagine what else she's going to do!"

“...... He's not here. Browder reluctantly told the truth, "No one knows where he is at the moment." But he'll be sure to make it in time......"

"Just in time?" Alan pointed out of the temple in exasperation, "It's already dark, but nothing has yet begun...... When the hell are you going to wait?!"

Browder closed his mouth a little displeased. His face finally became gloomy.

"At least get Ed and Iss back first!" Alan said in a bad tone,...... "If you don't even know where they are, I can tell you!"

"Of course I do, but what's the use?" Browder blurted out. "Ed ......"

"Ed is your Sage, and he has the Staff of Eternity!" Alan interrupted him angrily, "Unbelievable...... That is your god's own choice anyway, and do you only have such a little faith in Nyo?!"

Browder's face turned slightly blue. His faith is questioned by an adventurer who is not very religious and will pray to any god in times of need...... This has never happened before.

But he had to admit that Eren was right - Ed could at least use the Staff of Eternity. The sacred thing that belonged to every generation of saints had shown great power more than once when necessary.

"Tucker!" he called back, "go find Icabird......

"Your Excellency!" a paladin ran down the hallway, his voice unconsciously raised because of nervousness, "Lord Sanks!"

"Calm down!" shouted Browder, exasperated. Unable to take care of his usual perfect demeanor, "How many times have I told you to stay calm no matter what happens tonight!"

"You've got to go out and have a look. Your Excellency!" The paladin stopped his steps, but the panic in his tone did not diminish at all, "Fog ...... We are surrounded by dead fog!".

Before it was completely dark, Ed was already fidgeting.

"Shouldn't we go back?" he muttered as he walked around. "It's getting dark......"

The ice dragon opened one eye and looked at him, "Didn't Sean tell you when you should go back?"

"He'll let me know when he's just talking about the time......," Ed's eyebrows twisted. "But as soon as it gets dark, the May Festival will begin! I haven't even changed my clothes yet! You don't know how much time it will take me to change that dress......

"Then shut up and wait. The ice dragon interrupted him impatiently and closed his eyes again.

Although it seemed to be unconcerned, it had the same doubts and uneasiness in its heart, it knew about Sean's plan, at least the part that had to do with it, and it was indeed a little late, could it be that something was going on in the temple? Eren was still there......

It didn't see Alan, it was Ed who told him. Alan had returned to the temple the previous night, but he had only hurried over to say hello to him and left. He seems to have a lot to do. Sean unceremoniously mistook him for a paladin - why......

The ice dragon climbed up and looked at Collins as the lights began to light up in the distance, the sparkling firelight flickering, and everything seemed so calm.

It hesitated for a moment, then fell back on its stomach - Sean, Fletcher and Alan were there, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?

Time passed, and Ed was quiet for a while, and finally jumped up uncontrollably.

"Something is wrong!" he cried, "something must be wrong!"

The ice dragon snorted sarcastically, "Maybe they've found a new Sage - maybe Sean plans to be a Sage himself." ”

...... It would be nice if that were the case.

Ed was stunned.

"But the Staff of Eternity is still with me. He said, waving his slender cane, "Doesn't he need this?"

It sounds like he's more worried about what this will do to Sean than that Sean will take everything that belongs to him.

The ice dragon couldn't help but want to give him a huge roll of the eyes. It admits that Sean would be a more suitable Sage, and Ed himself probably thinks so - but did he give up a little too quickly! Has all their hard work and forbearance so far been in vain?!

Its gaze swept across the plains of Collins, and it suddenly stood up, staring high.

"Is?" Ed asked, uneasy, trying to jump up, "what do you see?"

“...... Mist?" the ice dragon said suspiciously.

In its field of vision, a dense gray mist like smoke was slowly pouring out of the forest, enveloping the entire plain.

(To be continued......)