Iss tilted his head in confusion, but didn't hesitate for long.

"Good. He said, "How much?"

It was as if what Scott had asked him for was nothing more than a glass of water. However, dragon blood is quite a powerful magical ingredient and an essential part of all weapons used to slay dragons...... Such unreserved trust made Scott even more unbearable.

“...... Don't you even ask me what I'm here for?" he smiled wryly.

"Okay...... What are you doing here?" asked Is, nonchalantly.

“...... I don't want to lie to you, so ......" Scott paused, guilt and unease clogging through his chest, making it impossible for him to say any more.

"Meaning, you can't tell me. Iss accepted this calmly and reluctantly, "Look, that's why I didn't ask. You're not going to use it to kill me anyway...... You don't need it at all to do it. ”

Scott's face turned pale as paper in an instant.

"You know I'll never do that. ”

His voice was almost trembling.

"It's just...... Just kidding. Iss whispered, rubbing his toes uneasily on the ground, "Why are you so serious?"

Scott closed his lips tightly, unable to answer.

Iss looked around a little embarrassed, grabbed a wine glass from the table, hurriedly said "Wait a minute" and strode out.

Scott heard the sound of the wind as the dragon spread its wings, and his gaze fell to the ground in a daze.

What the hell is he doing? He struggles to get back into this world for the people he cares about...... Now he began to hurt them in order to survive.

Xiaobai, who was hiding under the chair, silently sprang out and rubbed around his legs.

Scott half-knelt down. Reach out and gently caress the top of the plush head of the growing white leopard.

"You know everything, don't you?"

He asked softly as he looked down at the light blue eyes that were almost identical to Is.

Xiaobai rubbed the tip of his cold nose against his palm. The cat whined and whined, as if in response.

Scott laughed miserably.

“...... Very good. He said.

There is only one door to the three-storied pagoda - at least only one that most people know about.

The secret door in the sewers had been completely sealed, and while it wasn't too much of a problem for Niah, at least for now, he had no intention of spending time on it.

"It's the safest and most direct way to get in. ”

Pushing open the heavy wooden door facing the statue of Casagrande I in the courtyard of Lockburg, Nia explained to Iss in all seriousness, "Any other path is as abnormal as Casagrande and Romuen's brains." ”

"Romuan?" asked Naria, curious.

It was a name that didn't appear in the legends.

"Romuen West. Nia smirked as she explained to him. "The mage who turned this tower into something like this - I played a game of chess with him, in hell. Oh, that guy is a real genius...... Of course. He was also a real madman, crazy and funny, so funny that even the demons couldn't bear to take his soul to build a wall and let him wander around hell...... I think they're going to regret it one day. ”

“...... You describe hell as if it's a funny place. Naria said. Suddenly, I felt a little emotional—who were all around her? A saint who has risen from the dead, a thief who has returned from hell...... And she was still running around with them, looking for a door that would scurry around.

Her mind is normal, but her life is getting more and more abnormal.

"It's interesting there...... Hey, did I tell you it keeps changing?" Nia looked at her with bright eyes, as if she was going to invite her to Hell for a little adventure in the next moment.

"That's enough, Nia. Alan said with a dark face, "Hurry up and find what you want and get out of this place." ”

Nia quickly stuck out her tongue, still looking mischievous like a child.

Naria raised her torch aloft. Looking up, I marveled at the shelves that seemed to stretch up endlessly—but honestly. She had little interest in reading.

"If you're looking for a book...... It's going to take some time. She said.

Nia had been mysteriously refusing to tell them what he was looking for in the Black Tower. Isis told her that the best way to deal with Nia's pretense of mystery was to ask nothing, as if he was not interested at all, and sooner or later he would not be able to hold back himself from saying it...... But Naria couldn't resist trying to test it.

Nya smiled and winked at her, and climbed up the bookshelf with ease, muttering words in her mouth, her fingers running between the spine of various materials and the piles of dull yellow parchment, then pulled out a book and threw it down.

Eth grabbed the book and realized that it wasn't what Nia was looking for. For the thieves still scurried from scurry to shelves like monkeys, dropping more books one by one.

The books had no connection with each other—anonymous collections of poetry, vulgar folk tales, gilded atlases, incomprehensible runes......

But when the last book fell at Naria's feet, a faint golden glow rose from beneath the ground, and the ancient bookshelves began to move silently, as if the rows of heavy books above were mere phantoms, and spiral-shaped staircases emerged from the walls, looking like a ladder to some place of eternal happiness in the hazy light and mist.

“...... Did Romuan tell you how to open the mechanism he had set up?" Nalya came back to her senses, amazed at what she saw.

"What?" Nia, jumping off the shelf, "Oh no, this is a trap set up by Doren Bofford...... You don't think all he's done is turn this place into a boring library, do you?"

Alan glanced at him, "Looks like you've learned a lot in hell." ”

"There are many ancient souls wandering around there, and sometimes they tell me stories. Nia grinned, "Who made me so likable?...... Hey, wait, don't go up!"

He yelled to stop Is, who was about to step up the steps.

"That's a trap. "All those who can't wait to climb it will become the manure of this tower, and let it light itself every night - you see, there is always something in the 'legend' that is true......"

Looking at Is's increasingly gloomy face, he hurriedly added, "Of course, you're a dragon, and I guess even the Triple Pagoda will spit you out because of indigestion." ”

That certainly didn't make Is's face look any better.

"You made this staircase and told us we couldn't go up - what are we going to do here?" asked the impatient Ice Dragon, angrily.

"Go down. Nia smiled and replied, "It's a trap...... But it's not just a trap. ”

“...... But we're already at the bottom of the tower. Naria said, carefully searching for a staircase to descend around her.

"'What is invisible does not mean that it does not exist. Nia shook her head and muttered, pacing to the end of the stairs, turning around, and walking "down" thoughtfully.

Naria's eyes widened in surprise as she watched him fade beneath the ground, a situation that was both eerie and made her want to laugh.

Iss hesitated for a moment and followed.

He hated these weird, whimsical things that humans had created...... But he had to admit that he was a little curious.

The body pushed away as if nothing but air—slightly viscous air. When his eyes sank to the ground, he blinked involuntarily, and in an instant, there was another space in front of him.

There was a solid staircase beneath his feet—a staircase that was indeed visible, as smooth and clean as the stairs that stretched upwards in the light and mist.

It was brighter than above the ground, but it was empty. The golden light permeated the entire empty rotunda, like some kind of ritual rotunda, making Is's body itch and almost stand on end.

He raised his hand and watched wordlessly as the silver-white scales rose and disappeared.

It's full of magical power, so pure that it seems to have been refined, and it's so simple and powerful that people can't help but be afraid.

That's definitely not just the power of the "fertilizer" that the three-storied pagoda has absorbed in less than two hundred years.

He stepped cautiously on the gray-white ground, countless fragments of light shimmering on the rough surface of sandstone, with a variety of different colors...... Each one is dazzling.

Someone crushed a large number of gems and mixed them with some kind of rock grain to cast them all over the ground - a king certainly had enough wealth, but also enough madness to do such a thing.

In the center of the ground is a heart-sized, fiery red gem, which is the true source of the tower's power.

Isis looked down at the gem that seemed to be beating, and the scorching aura it emanated was familiar.

It is impossible for something so powerful to remain unknown, but Isis searched every corner of his mind, and he could not find a single trace of it...... There are not even rumors of chasing after the wind.

But he also couldn't believe that humans could make such a thing—whether it was Casagrande, Romuen, or Doron, whether it was a great king or a genius mage.

This is far beyond human power.

"What the hell is this?" he asked.

"A stone that fell from the sky. Nia said solemnly.

Iss glared at him hard.

"It's true!" Nia raised her hand and swore, "that's what Romuen told me! Even if he lied to me, it wasn't my fault...... Besides, why should we care what it is?"

Isis shook his head.

"Because you can't control it. "Do you need me to tell you how many times humans have been so arrogant as a result of their desire to control something beyond their power?" he warned, "I'm sure you've heard many of these stories in hell." ”

Nia looked at him, her expression becoming solemn, "Yes. So, Is...... I need you to do me a favor. ”.

(To be continued......)