The shadow of a cloud fell on the snow, and it was faint that it could not be seen in any shape. Scott stared blankly at it for a long time, until the cloud shadow disappeared...... Until the sunlight reflected off the snow pierced him no longer.

The snow-capped peaks of the Giant's Spine pierced into the sky. Under the dazzling midsummer sun, it is still a world covered in ice and snow, with an almost sacred tranquility and solemnity. Beneath the snow line, the black rocks are hard and barren, but they still seem to hold on to the pride and determination of the ancient giants when they fought to the last moment.

But to the south, boundless greenery stretches from the foot of the mountain to the end of the eye, the wildflowers of the northern ice fields spread the most magnificent tapestry, and the barbarians chase herds of prey by the deer lake, enjoying the most fertile and short season of the year, and all the war cries become a hymn to the ancestors and the earth...... All the fighting and killing is left for the snow to fall.

For most of the time, however, Scott couldn't see that. The green meadow would turn into a scorched black in his eyes, the white ashes falling silently like snowflakes, and the streams flowing on the black rocks were dyed a dazzling red with blood and fire...... For most of the time, he couldn't tell whether it was the past, the present, or the future.

Endless time flowed before his eyes, and his fragile soul was just a withered yellow leaf on the water's surface, shattered and devoured again and again...... Again and again, he stubbornly continued to float as he struggled to come to his senses.

He didn't know how long he had been here—sometimes it felt like a dream, sometimes it seemed like thousands of years had passed. Many times he doesn't even know why he's here. This familiar and strange cave, far from the world...... When he could think, he was afraid that he was not far enough away.

He just couldn't think of anywhere else to go.

Another drop of water fell on his forehead, cold to the bone. The snow melted in the sun would freeze again at night, but at this moment, its coldness, purity, and clarity seemed to contain some mysterious power, bit by bit, to cool the anger that burned in his blood and soul.

But the anger never goes out.

He reached out and grabbed the rock wall, slowly stood up, and kicked his stiff and numb leg. Being able to feel your body is a good sign – and it's even more gratifying to be aware of it.

He staggered back into the hole, as weak and sluggish as a bear that had just woken up from hibernation. But his instincts are still sharp...... His body's instinctive reaction was faster than his mind.

When the sword sliced through the air and sliced through the figure that suddenly appeared in front of him like lightning, he was even more surprised than the person who was attacked.

"Oh...... It's dangerous. ”

The apparition vanished like a mist, and Lydia's voice came from the corner, "Scott Christus...... How can you welcome a friend who cares about you like this?"

Scott withdrew his sword with a gloomy face and asked coldly, "How do you know I'm here?"

He can't be tracked down by any spells...... At least that's what he can be sure of.

"Because I'm so smart, of course. Lydia chuckled low in the darkness - he could almost make out the mocking smile on her lips in his mind.

"I will think, I will listen, I will see...... "I will use my brain, not with useless worry or blind trust, and sit there stupidly waiting." You have to go somewhere where no one is and it's safe enough...... And there's not much you can think of in a moment. ”

Scott was silent for a moment. She's right, he needs a ...... for everyone else A place safe enough for himself, a no-man's land—and a cave that no one could reach on the snowy peaks of the Giant's Spine that had once been used as a lair by Is.

But he didn't believe she could find him so accurately based on such a guess...... Perhaps, he didn't want to admit that she knew him so well—that scared him.

“...... What did I do?" he asked in a low voice.

“...... All right. "Don't worry, you didn't play with the barbarians running around on the ice as candles, though I think that's funny—you've only blown up half of a nearby mountain, and my followers are lucky not to die." ”

Scott fell silent again.

So it was indeed he who exposed his whereabouts...... But the greater fear was that he couldn't remember what mountain he had hit.

And, it's just as disturbing that Lydia knows exactly what he's asking, when he's vaguely asking...... or even more disturbing,

“...... What are you doing here?" he forced himself to speak, his tone stiff, "if you know it's not ...... Safe. ”

"Is that worrying about me?" Lydia chuckled as she stepped out of the darkness, "Thank you...... But I can protect myself, all the time. ”

Scott closed his lips tightly, realizing that he had asked a stupid question.

"And I think it's a good place. Lydia walked to the cave with her hands behind her back, "At least no one will disturb us, so we can pick up where we left off last time - if you still want to know where our old friend is." ”

Scott didn't say anything. If she was in such a hurry to tell him...... She'd tell him anyway.

"And ...... I have to admit that I actually miss this place where the snow and the ghosts are gone. ”

Lydia sat down unhurriedly at the entrance of the cave and looked out of it.

"It's so quiet...... That's nice. She let out a long sigh, "Sometimes I want to tie everyone's tongues in a knot...... Or simply slit their throats. The dead are at least as lovely as the living - they don't say anything annoying to you. ”

Scott still didn't respond, just walked a short distance behind her, staring blankly at the blue sky and golden sunlight outside the cave.

The tranquility and light that no longer belonged to him.

"Is this the world that Iss sees?" Lydia poked her head out, her black hair dancing in the wind that swept over the cliffs, but her voice grew lower, "so small...... It's so big again. ”

She sat back and shrugged, "I don't like this—it makes me feel small...... Unworthy. ”

"You don't really feel like you're 'insignificant'. Scott withdrew his gaze and gave her a faint look, "Even if you're facing an infinite number of universes and endless time. ”

Lydia ruffled her long windswept hair and laughed out loud, unexpectedly hearty.

"That's right. The arrogant tone sounded unrepulsive, she said, "in countless universes and endless time...... There's only one Lydia Bell. ”

Scott looked at her with mixed feelings, at her pale fingers in her black hair.

It was stupid and ridiculous—he told himself angrily and harshly, uneasy to realize, that there was a brief moment...... He was grateful that she was here.

He was amazed at how much he was afraid of loneliness.

(To be continued.) )