"It looks like there's a dead man lying there."

Following the direction of the torch in Martha's hand, a figure lying on the ground loomed. His body seemed to be spitting out a layer of oil, glowing with a dull sheen.

"Would you like to go over and have a look?"

After a moment's thought, Lydia agreed to Martha's proposal. She lowered the tip of her longsword and cautiously walked over to the human body lying on the ground.

This guy is a big man, and he wears heavy Nord plate armor. It also brought a vague sense of familiarity to Lydia.

Maybe we've met in Xueman?

He had a deep arrow wound on his body, but the fatal wound was in the throat, and judging by the size of the wound, it must have been caused by a quick slash from some kind of dagger or short sword. It seems that this has nothing to do with the assassin who ambushed them before.

But it doesn't make much sense anymore. The heavy plate armor on this guy's body has melted down more than half. The heavy sword he was leaning against at his feet could only make out an outline.

Maybe it's more accurate to use the word "melt"? On his body, Ladia saw no signs of being burned by molten iron. Although this does not change the reality that most of his body muscles are necrotic.

In other words, the guy is dead. Dead completely.

"Why did the Dark Brotherhood kill him? Shouldn't they help each other in this case? Lydia whispered.

"yes, help each other." From behind came Martha's voice. "So you should hurry up and get my bones back. I promise to send you safe and sound outside this place, and by the way, help you find your lost little master. ”

"Shut up!"

"At least help me get a torch! It's already burning to my hands! It hurts! ”

“……”

Lydia ignored her, just looked at the corpse lying on the ground, lost in thought.

This kind of spell that directly interferes with the nature of the metal should only be used by two people in the world. One is the original creator, the dark wizard Gerd, and the other is Alice, who has obtained part of Gerd's spell book.

Gerd was defeated in the Grey Swamp Raid. But he didn't die. However, he probably won't be back in the snow anytime soon. According to investigative intelligence obtained from the comrade-in-arms group. The old fellow may have made his way through the Cold Rock Passage into the Yar Border, or made a detour to the East, and he could only be found in Mosal or Windhelm now. It's impossible to stay in this snowy hinterland.

Then, the person who cast this spell should be Alice. But if so, another suspicion arises.

Lydia is well aware of Alice's powers. She confirmed that none of the people she knew, except for the pioneers of the Brothers-in-Arms, could stand up to Alice. Then, in terms of Alice's character, once she is judged to be an enemy. She will kill the killer without mercy.

But the man survived. Judging by the signs of struggle on the ground, he was able to catch his breath for a long time after escaping Alice's pursuit, and was finally killed by the Brotherhood assassins in this hidden underground passage, which is unreasonable.

The only possibility is that something more powerful is stopping Alice. With a little speculation, you can know that the dragon did the good thing.

Behemoths in the fog, metallic clouds, vanishing steel and flesh, dragons and thunder.

In doing so, the monster that killed the thousands of townspeople......

"Sure enough, it can't get rid of you. Mistress Alice......"

Just then, there was a soft sound from behind her. Then the stone chamber lit up.

[Did Martha light the brazier in this neighborhood?] That's not bad......]

How did she do it!?? 】

Lydia quickly turned around, only to see the worst of all!

Not far behind her, a frowning Martha struggled to move her fingers. —the burnt stick rolling at her feet.

[Damn, careless. 】

She slammed forward, the blue tip of her sword about to pierce Martha's heart!

【Now the word! Make it! Her eyes locked on Martha's posture like a goshawk, and her sword power locked all the paths around her!

Can't hide. With Martha's reaction speed, there was absolutely no way she could dodge this sword!

However, Martha didn't need to dodge. She just needs to raise her right hand.

"Stagnant Enchantment."

In the fragment of time, which cannot be called even a moment, the invisible barrier that is unique to Martha and interferes with physical effects is rapidly expanding. Envelop the entire stone chamber completely!

The tip of the longsword was less than half a foot away from Martha's chest, but it would never have hit its target. Because the hand holding it had been completely frozen in mid-air. Can't do even the slightest activity!

Not just her hands, but Lydia's entire body was confined in the air by this powerful force field. Even the fluttering strands of hair froze and froze. Except for frightened eyes and faint breathing. She was no longer able to react.

It's like a worm stuck in amber.

"Do you know how painful it is to use a simple gravity circle to pull apart a misaligned joint and put it back in? Want to give it a try? She kicked Lydia hard in the shin.

'Phew! -"Hmm~"

The results are clear. A witch's feet can't compete with steel plate armor in any way. So Martha decisively turned sideways and limped to the back of Lydia's side. Without a trace, he used his mana to covertly massage his injured toe.

[Hiss - it hurts, it hurts! 】

The more she looked at Lydia, the angrier she became. After all, it wasn't long ago that this guy broke her left arm bone.

The healing technique of the Restoration Fù system allows the flesh to multiply rapidly at the cost of mana. But there is nothing that can be done about the damaged bones. If you want to carry out a thorough treatment, you must collect the corresponding alchemy materials to make a potion.

Martha is not the kind of wizard who can cast spells at will with her will. When the fingers can't move, relying on the movement of the arm to draw a simple circle with blood is already the limit. Even if she had recovered one hand now, she still couldn't use those powerful spells.

"The combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced."

"But it's better than expected. It seems that the previous preparations to summon the aid of the Sai Ke Order are no longer useful. Not...... Am I going to go back and wipe that circle off? Martha tilted her head and thought about it, and finally decided not to bother with this little thing.

The wizards who call themselves the Order of Saik are outrageously strong. Martha couldn't figure out why they had found her. But they wouldn't have bothered themselves with such a small offense.

Probably.

Maybe?

“…………”

"It's all your fault!" Caught in a deadlock, Martha threw a lightning bolt at Lydia.

Even if he couldn't speak, the stone room seemed to be filled with the girl's wail. Even though she was restrained by the static force field, her whole body still trembled uncontrollably. The sweat oozing from her skin was flattened by the force field before it could gather into drops, making her body look greasy and smooth.

Lydia's cheeks flushed. The pupils are constantly enlarging and shrinking. In her breath, there was only inhalation.

"Phew." Martha looked away.

"I'll talk to you later."

She lifted the stagnant barrier.

Falling to the ground, Lydia shrunk up like a frozen shrimp, twitching like a fish out of water. Many meaningless fragments of characters spit out between the lips.

It seems that she will not be able to move for a short time.

Martha then ignored her. Start preparing new spells.

"The Vision of Life."

The world turned gray in front of her in an instant. Except for the two clusters of light above their heads that were as bright as the sun but that they didn't know how far apart. There were very few large lives left in her vision.

"Huh?" She suddenly noticed that it was not far from the stone chamber. There was a figure that was exceptionally bright, but flickering. It was only about two hundred feet away from her in a straight line.

Very close distance, very dangerous distance.

"He's a guy with a lot of life. But it seems to be injured. Martha whispered. I was thinking about countermeasures in a hurry.

She couldn't cast too high-level spells now, and she didn't dare to use powerful spells. If it catches the attention of the two guys above, even the aftermath of the fight that deliberately leaked over would be enough to kill the few people hiding underground!

Martha looked at the stone wall overhead. It's already covered with new cracks. And in the muffled crashing sound, you can hear the sand and gravel sliding clearly.

Because the battlefield of dragons is the sky, is it relatively safe underground? But this situation must not last long. Sooner or later, this place will collapse.

Then, we can only take a more subtle way.

The rock melted like wax under Martha's magical powers. With strong acid arrows, this can be done in silence. Fortunately, the stone quality here is not exceptional. It doesn't take much effort to corrode them away.

Nine times out of ten, the one who stayed there was an Assassin. Under the premise of lack of meat shield, and in poor condition. Martha wasn't interested in running over and dancing with the shadowy Grim Reaper. She'd rather go the extra mile and use spells to take out her enemies from a distance.

The rocks melt layer by layer. Soon, the washbasin-sized path in front of Martha was less than three feet away from the glowing humanoid.

[A little closer...... A little closer......]

[There are still two feet ......]

[One and a half feet ......]

"Spear of Sorrow!"

The witch snorted, and a pale blue ice spear shot out, pointing straight at the figure that was flickering and disappearing!

However, what welled up from Martha's heart at this moment was not joy. It's a very different emotion.

[The heart seems to be paralyzed.] Why do I feel like my hands and feet are getting cold? 】

[This feeling...... What does that feel like? 】

[Die! 】

Ten times faster than the Ice Spear, a dark shadow flowed up! Behind its tail, the air was torn into a massive cavity, and a sharp roar was about to be heard!

Black! Wood! Arrow!

"Babbling ————!"

Martha only had time to deflect her body a little before the pitch-black arrows pierced her spell shield along with her body! She let out a high-pitched scream, and then crashed into the end of the stone chamber in a violent impact!

At least half of his ribs were broken. At the same time, most of the organs were also damaged by a considerable amount of damage. Martha lay limply on the rough ground. I kept vomiting small mouthfuls of blood.

It wasn't until the cold stone wall beneath her was warmed by Martha's blood and body temperature that she regained her mobility a little. Barely raising his right hand, which is still able to move, he has to cast a healing spell on himself.

'Phew! ’

The iron boots stepped down, and the pale yellow light that represented life splattered into fragments on the ground.

Martha stiffened her head, her frightened gaze met a pair of bloodshot eyes.

It's Lydia! She's recovered from the paralysis of the electric shock!

"Wait! You can't do this! Martha shouted in horror.

But Lydia ignored the witch. She just raised her sword in the air.

'Bang-'