As he drew the rune, his hand shook slightly in mid-air, and then he circled around with an elongated stroke, connecting another rune, and the whole spell was transformed into another before it failed.

The sharp blades of the wind shot out in all directions, and the encircled enemy, after suffering heavy casualties, finally began to hesitate, and no longer followed forward, desperately pounced upward.

Predation is their instinct, but so is survival. Even if you don't have too much stuff in your head, you still have the ability to make judgments.

It's not prey they can gnaw on.

Ed took the opportunity to glance at his own hand. The outline of the bird on the back of the hand was unusually red, like a freshly burned brand...... It did make him feel the pain of being burned.

He hesitated for a moment before making a decision, but before he could pull away, something was thrown at the back of his heart.

Something that belongs to him.

He grabbed it with his backhand, feeling the familiar shape and temperature—the dice that Nia had stolen.

The little thief crouched on a strangely shaped rock not far away, and all kinds of little demons around him avoided it without fear, and soon a blood-red ground was vacated between them.

Ed's eyes rolled downward, then immediately again. The ground was like a living thing...... Like flesh that has been skinned, it trembles in the pain of eternal endeavor. Even though he had been here for a while, he still couldn't get used to it.

The feet were undulating, cold, soft and sticky, like standing on a corpse that was about to rot but was still wriggling.

"Are you leaving?" said Nia's tone full of regret, like a host who had prepared a feast and had invited guests before he had tasted much.

"I managed to pull you in. He grumbled aggrievedly, raising his right hand, which was shriveled and withered, and almost a layer of skin wrapped around the bones.

The dice of the Creator are not so easy to "use".

Ed didn't ask anything. Until now, it was difficult for him to tell whether what Nia said was true or false, so it was better not to ask, lest he step into the pit again.

"Isis is in danger. He said.

"Dangerous. Nia sneered at her face, "But he didn't ask you for help, did he?"

Ed hesitated for a moment, then retorted: "Just because he didn't ask for help doesn't mean he doesn't need help...... I thought you would at least care about his safety. ”

"I care. Nia admitted, "But he's a dragon, he can solve problems on his own, and he doesn't like to be nosy." In fact, he has been protected too well...... He could have grown much faster. ”

Although that growth may be accompanied by more pain.

Ed's brow furrowed. He felt in a trance that he had heard similar words before, and felt a little annoyed: "This is not a ...... to care"

"Do you know why he's angry?" Nia interrupted.

Ed was silent, he really didn't know...... I do want to know.

At this point, he almost regretted starting this conversation with Nia instead of leaving immediately—he had easily tripped up...... As before, Nia was always able to bring him into her own rhythm with a few words.

The red mark on the back of his hand faded, and although there was still a faint burning pain, it was enough for Ed to know that no matter what happened, Iss could indeed "fix it himself".

He didn't know why he was even more agitated because of it.

"He's a dragon. Again, Nia stressed, slowing down the pace of his speech, word by word, "He has his pride. No matter how close a friend is, there are boundaries that cannot be crossed. If you do this again, thinking that you have enough strength, you will treat the people around you as people who need your protection, and even make decisions for them and take on what they should have bore for them...... You'll become a second Scott because you're rushing too fast and going too far and you can't turn back, instead dragging the person you want to protect into greater danger. ”

Ed was silent. He knew he should be more suspicious of the thief, who was no longer human, but he couldn't tell him any ulterior motive in his words—he was telling him what he had done wrong.

Like a trustworthy elder, he can't help but want to talk.

"I want to ...... I just ......," he whispered, "I lost a friend, someone who could have been a friend...... He disappeared before my eyes, and I was ...... Something should have been done. ”

He didn't like such a loss. He hated the feeling of powerlessness, like watching his mother die, and nothing could be undone.

Obviously, he was much stronger than he was then.

"But if that's what he wants, what right do you have to stop it?" Nia asked him rhetorically, "Of course, sometimes people do need help, but they're too embarrassed or too late to speak...... But I don't think you really can't tell the difference. ”

Ed bowed his head silently.

There are still many demons who are unwilling to give up their delicious prey. He raised his hand to knock away a few guys who were too close, and realized in hindsight that it seemed a little strange to talk about such a topic in such an eerie environment.

"You didn't just want to tell me this when you brought me here, did you?" he asked, finally regaining a little more vigilance.

He had been walking alone in the wilderness in frustration, when a huge gap suddenly cracked under his feet, and black flames rose into the sky, like countless shadows entangled together, dancing wildly. Some terrible force dragged him straight down, and he could have resisted, but he lost his cool for a moment, held his breath, and the moment he stepped into this world, he blasted a deep pit in the ground.

He was rightfully full of anger, but when that anger turned into an uncontrollable killing intent, so strong that he wanted nothing more than to tear anything in his way to shreds, no matter how angry he was, he sensed that something was wrong.

He was conscious, but he was clearly affected. He hesitated even when the mark on the back of his hand suddenly became hot—not out of uncertainty if Iss really needed him, but to gauge whether it was worth giving up the killing in front of him.

A killing that made him inexplicably satisfied.

He wasn't without curiosity—it was a rare opportunity. How many people in this world could make it to hell alive? He was really interested in seeing if the wall of souls in the Mad Mage's Notes, or the hell that Anclam had shown him to see, was real. But now he realized that this was not a place he could stay for long.

"If you want to leave, I can't stop it. Nia chuckled softly, "I didn't expect you to tie yourself together like this when I made this plan. However, Ed ......"

He stood up, finally tall enough to look down on Ed.

"There's something here...... You'd better see for yourself. ”