Stobel returned to the Unicorn before Ed, and he brought back all the mages, leaving only the spiders in place. Although he had succeeded in doing what he wanted to do but could not, the mage's face was even more solemn than when he set out. He didn't regret it, but how to deal with the Lord of the East Tower after that was a real headache.

Ed, who brought back his father, did not see a trace of joy on his face. Bangbu looked left and right, and then looked up at the sky...... Looking at the water overhead. The air was dreary, and he always felt that it should be dark at this time.

It was dark indeed, but the full moon shone brightly, and the light was still bright through the sea.

“...... Hey!" he said, trying to poke a hole in the stagnant air for him to breathe, "Good news!

All eyes fell on the little mage for a moment.

Terry looked dazed: "...... What?"

All eyes turned to Bangbu again, with varying doubts, angers, and reproaches.

"......'I think I've found him!'" Bang Bu was anxious, "you said that!

Bertram looked at the two people's expressions that were not difficult to see, and couldn't help but feel a little sad - the gods are above, and his little mage has actually learned to lie!

“...... It's just 'as if'!" Terry blushed slightly as he avoided his gaze, "That might just be a trap! Just like the one they met in Stray, it would just freeze us inside!"

"You used that scale?" Ed asked him.

Terry nodded sullenly. They retrieved the beautiful dragon scales from Strray, and when Bertram gave it to Ed, no one objected, and Ed gave it to him for "safekeeping" in order to comfort him as he had to stay on the Unicorn......

He didn't have the right to use it.

He wilted and handed the scales back to Ed, and honestly confessed, "I just wanted to see if I could cast a spell...... For a moment I seemed to sense his position, but I ...... it all of a sudden."

"Where?" asked Ed. There was no reproach in his calm tone, but Terry was even more frustrated.

He stretched out his hand and pointed to the southwest: "Hill of Hopeless...... It's where you just left. ”

“...... He's mixed in with pirates?" Bertram touched his chin, feeling a little incredible, the fair-skinned and delicate face of the blonde young man in his memory would never fit in with a crowd of pirates with their faces sunburned—and he didn't think that Iss would be wronged for any reason to be in the midst of a stinking pirate with a rotten face.

Ed's mind was filled with worse speculations, and Terry's fingers drooped down again.

"Below the Hill of Hopelessness. He said.

At the bottom of the sea.

.

It was only when he got close that Ed felt a biting chill - colder than the dragon scales on his skin.

The depths of the ocean were already cold, dark and cold, incomparably quiet, pressed heavily in all directions, and no matter how powerful they were, they only felt small and fragile, uncontrollably born in the endless loneliness of boundless fear.

The light in their palms was a little brighter, but still insignificant compared to the darkness that surrounded them.

“...... Jhansi told me that there was a fish in the deep sea, and "after a long silence, the little mage spoke casually, "and there was a little lamp hanging above his head, just like we ...... now"

His voice grew lower and lower, as if swallowed by the dark water.

The atmosphere was not relaxed at all, and the little mage hung his head with a bitter face.

Ed wasn't unaware of his efforts, but he wasn't in the mood to soothe him. He was tired and annoyed, his mind was filled with countless worries, and the seemingly innocent little mage beside him, for some reason, didn't seem to want him to find Is.

The gaps between the reefs were sometimes too narrow to cut him in half. At first he would patiently look for another channel, and then he would simply let the hard reef crush in the sharp blade of water.

The part of the Hill of Hopeless, hidden beneath the surface of the sea, is as large as the majestic mountains to the north, but it is filled with countless labyrinthine holes. They burrowed around in it, holding up a flame of light and felt like a blind fish. When his fingertips touched the smooth ice instead of the rough reef, Ed touched it again and again in disbelief to make sure it wasn't an illusion.

They were blocked by a thick wall of ice.

"Is!!"

Ed cried out in ecstasy, completely unaware of how faint his voice was in the water.

He slapped the ice wall hard, and even pressed his forehead against the ice, his eyes widened, trying to see through the darkness on the other side, but all he could see was his slightly distorted face on the ice illuminated by the flames.

He could understand why Iss was hiding here. If that rift still exists, no magic can find out where he is, and no one can dive to such depths...... But he plugged the crack.

It's no longer safe here—he'll have to at least let Iss know that.

He considered using magic to lift the ice wall...... Or teleport himself to the other side, but the spell was barely coming out of his lips when Terry suddenly tugged at his sleeve.

He couldn't help but feel a little angry, so he could only bow his head to hide it.

A hand reached out from his side and pressed against the ice, subtle fluctuations spread out in the water, and the winding runes appeared in the ice with a glimmer of light, and then slowly disappeared.

"You can't get in. Terry whispered, "This wall of ice is also very difficult to break...... He protected himself well. ”

Ed was stunned—he hadn't paid that much attention at all.

"'He's a dragon, he can solve it himself. Terry's voice lowered, "You always told me that......"

"Always?" said Ed smiled wryly. Many years later, he might have had that composure—by then he and Iss might have been strong enough.

But now, he really can't do it.

Maybe he could at least carve a warning or something into the ice......

He thought blankly, and Terry tugged harder on his sleeve.

He subconsciously raised his eyes, and on the other side of the ice wall, he saw a vague golden flame.

After a moment of confusion, the blood in his whole body rushed to the top of his head, and he pounced on the ice, which was the huge eyes of the ice dragon.

It stared at him, and through the ice, the golden yellow, which usually seemed too dazzling, did not have the indifference and cruelty that he feared, but melted like a warm light, soft and firm.

The rapid heartbeat gradually stabilized. Ed's fingers scratched at the void, as if trying to grasp the ball of light in the palm of his hand. He wanted to tell it that he would be here...... But he had to leave.

Perhaps he could only believe what he himself would say many years later:

"He's a dragon and he can figure it out on his own. ”

.