When his palm touched the rough surface of the sarcophagus, the elf felt a faint tingling pain, accompanied by a strange paralysis, as if he had touched not a stone at all, but ice...... or lightning.

The paralysis spread through his palms so suddenly that Ed blurted out "Wait!", which sounded as if it was across the water.

Elves are incredibly agile - and that's why he's so bold. If there really is any trap, he is the only one of the four who has the possibility of avoiding it in time...... But at this moment, no matter how hard he tried to quickly retract his hand, it was as if he had completely lost control of his body.

An indescribable fear swept through the normally calm elf's heart. He suspected that if it hadn't been for Ed's careful protection beforehand, what he felt now would not be paralysis and tingling, but the cold embrace of death.

Someone grabbed his vest and dragged it backwards with all his might. For a moment, Norway almost wanted to scream - he felt that his body was firmly attached to the sarcophagus, and his soul seemed to be torn out of it.

It was an extremely long and painful moment...... Then the elf came to his senses and let out a sharp breath, as if he was about to suffocate as he was pulled up from the depths of the water.

His body was cold and stiff, as if the whole world was weighing heavily on him, making it difficult for him to even stand.

Ed propped himself up, and Tess stood in front of him, the dagger in his hand glowing with a faint blue light.

But she faces an enemy she can't deal with.

Ed's flame of light still glowed softly...... But under the suppression of another light, it appeared so pale and faint.

It's not bright. But in the suffocatingly strong white mist, a vague figure floated in the air like light smoke, and the long hair that spread out was as white as dead ashes. The gray-black dress is as dark as night mist, and the face under the long hair is sometimes clear and sometimes hazy, sometimes delicate and beautiful, as if in life, sometimes ...... Sometimes only the withered, rotten flesh is half wrapped in white bones.

It's a ghost...... An elven ghost who has been gone for an unknown amount of time...... But it seems that it is not just a ghost.

The ghost has no substance, but her body seems to be constantly condensing and forming, and then scattering like flying ashes.

She didn't attack. No wailing, no screaming...... Just watching them quietly, the gaze from death itself made everyone creepy.

No one spoke. Naria silently helped the elf to her feet. Allows Ed to cast spells smoothly...... Against a ghost, the priest is the best warrior.

But Ed hesitated, and replaced the involuntary attack with a question.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The ghost did not answer. She still watched them quietly—no, Novi suddenly realized. She was just looking at him. Unblinking, his eyes shifted between two empty black holes and a faint dark green, and his gaze was so focused that the elf could barely breathe.

Then, a smile bloomed from her sometimes beautiful, sometimes eerie countenance. She reached out to him both, as if waiting for a hug.

"You're back. Her joyful and ethereal voice seemed to come from the underground, and it seemed to come from all sides, "My son...... My stars. ”

Norvi's eyes widened in astonishment.

“...... What did she say?" Tess couldn't help but ask, confused.

It was an extremely old Elven language, and she couldn't understand it.

She said Norway was her son. Ed replied dumbfounded.

Tess stared back at the elf, her face full of incredulity.

“...... Is this your mother?!" she yelled.

The muscles in Norvi's face twitched.

Of course not...... His mother had left long ago. But he didn't even remember what she looked like. His mother had long, waist-length light brown hair and gray eyes that were almost transparent, while he and Viorita's blonde green eyes were inherited from their father.

He forced himself to look directly at the ghost's ever-changing face—now. She became more and more stable as if she were a human being, her long gray hair gradually turning blonde, and her bright and innocent smile made her look innocent.

After a moment of silence, the elf spoke gently, "I am not your son...... But if you're willing to tell me his name, maybe I can find him for you. ”

But the ghost didn't seem to listen to what he was saying.

She began to look at the others, with deep disgust and hatred.

"Why do you want to be with these lowly humans?" she asked him, her voice shrill and piercing, "have you forgotten? They betrayed us, they betrayed us...... They all deserve to die!"

There was endless resentment on his suddenly distorted countenance, and a faint skeleton appeared under the gray flesh. Before she could finish her sentence, Ed had already warily uttered the incantation, several flickering auras enveloping them all, but not fully fending off the ensuing attack.

It was just a terrible scream.

Not the silent wailing of the dead, nor the roar of the dragon...... It was fear, it was death, it was a blade that cut flesh and soul at the same time. It stabbed everyone mercilessly—including Norvi, and the other figure that had fallen out of the darkness.

"Attack!, fool!" the man scolded unceremoniously, "are you going to die here?"

Norvi's surprised gaze swept over the familiar face, but he was the first to react. He raised his hand and shot an arrow at the ghost—of course it couldn't hurt her, but the magic attached to it could.

The short arrow shot through the ghost, far into the darkness, but it left a bright scar that pierced the ghost's forehead.

The screaming stopped abruptly. She looked at Norvi, and the sad and confused look in her eyes made the elf feel sorry for herself.

“...... I'm sorry. He blurted out.

Two subsequent arcs of light struck her. Her body trembled and began to blur, but it quickly recovered.

Whether or not that did real harm to her, it completely infuriated her. She turned and stretched out her hands, only the knuckles of the bones made strange gestures, and spat out ancient spells from between her parched lips.

Norvi's hair stood on end, and he grabbed Tess and stepped back.

“...... Can ghosts cast spells too?!" Tice exclaimed angrily, "I hate mages the most!

Tentacle-like black smoke emerges from the ground, but the target of the attack is not theirs.

“...... That's Nigel......" Narya muttered, as if she couldn't believe her eyes, "That's Nigel Lowe...... Isn't he dead?!"

Of course, the "unhappy pastor" is still very unhappy at the moment. He scrambled to dodge the black smoke's onslaught, his staff opening in bright arcs of light.

"Ed, Singall, you're not dead yet, are you?!" he roared, "Didn't anyone teach you how to deal with the undead?!"

“...... How about we leave him here?" said Tess, "I must say, he obviously didn't have a good idea of bringing us here. ”

Ed smiled bitterly, his lips squirming, and a scorching glow shot from his fingers.

The ghost floated towards Nigel's figure and stopped, turning its head to stare at him grimly. Ed stood still without flinching, raising his hand and throwing another spell.

Norway sighed silently and raised his crossbow again—he didn't want to hurt her, she reminded him of the lonely, dead elf in the tower of the Arctic Light, of what he might become...... But she no longer belongs to this world.

They didn't work together at all - they, and Nigel, who was supposed to have been dead for more than a year. The red-haired girl threw a knife over Tess as the unhappy priest's spell swept over Tess's head, and the elf had to abandon her original goal and shoot down the weapon that was likely to stab the priest's leg in time.

"Tess ......," he sighed.

Tess pursed her lips and continued to throw all sorts of new and strange things at the floating ghosts.

Most of the time it doesn't do any damage, it just distracts the other person - even if he has become a ghost, the mage still needs to be fully focused on casting spells.

But the problem is that she's also a ghost...... Her screams, which grew louder and louder in anger, were the biggest trouble.

“...... I think we should think about escaping. ”

After barely carrying another round of screaming with Ed's spell, the elf, whose lips were already white, calmly suggested.

The priest's spells were limited, they were exhausted, and the enemies in front of them seemed impossible to defeat at all.

At the same time, Tess was powerlessly throwing out her few remaining weapons—and Norwe's eyes followed the dark light, and he was helpless to discover that the strange dagger that should have been returned to Ed and found from the crow was still hidden on Tess...... Of course, she always has a reason.

The dagger stopped in mid-air.

Norway blinked in surprise - it wasn't because the ghost had put some protection on herself, she didn't bother to do so. She can be hurt, but she always recovers quickly......

The ghost suddenly stopped all its movements, looking down at the short knife that was piercing his waist.

Yes, it was stuck there, like it was stuck in something real, and from that point on, her shadow thinned little by little.

“...... Ah. Tess said, a little overwhelmed by the unexpected victory.

The ghost looked up and looked at Novi sadly.

"Why did you do this to me?" she asked him softly, "are you still resentful that I killed your father?...... But that's not my fault...... I swore I'd avenge him, but you locked me here......"

Norvi opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.

"What else can I do for you?"

She struggled to float towards Norvi, her body becoming more transparent with each point she got.

Norway stood there stiff, not backing down.

Before disappearing completely, her last whisper passed into his ear:

"Ankeland...... My son......" (To be continued......