"Sister..."

Angela looked up sadly, reaching out her small white hand to touch Nara Cook's face. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"What's wrong, is there any injury?"

Nala Cook was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously grabbed Angela's little hand, only to find that her face was already full of tears.

There are only two of them left in the "Smiling Honey Sword", which is a fact that cannot be avoided no matter how deliberately it is.

The scene of the magician Fei Yi being crushed by the flaming giant claw is vivid, and Casey and Jasmine are drowned by wolves and demons in that sea of fire.

“・・・”

She didn't deliberately look strong anymore, hugged Angela and cried bitterly.

The older mercenaries had taught them their experience, and as long as they could survive, the mercenaries could feel hope.

But they are only now realizing that they have to step on the land of sorrow to move forward towards hope.

"If it weren't for me taking on this mission—"

"No, it's not."

Angela interrupted Nara Cook's rebuke in a stern voice.

"Everyone agrees with my sister's decision, if you want to become a more powerful mercenary, you must challenge more powerful tasks, and everyone knows this."

"Has my sister forgotten about Kelly?"

Kelly and Casey are both veterans, good sisters, and during an operation to encircle thieves, Kelly died to protect Nala Cook, who was the captain, and this incident made her depressed for a long time.

In the mercenary profession, the longer it goes, the more you will experience all kinds of deaths.

The more she experienced death, the more fearful she became of her teammates' departures, and with a bit of cowardice, she did everything in her power to protect her team.

"But, but—"

Even if she was ready to become enlightened, she had never felt that death would come so easily.

When people are in a safe environment, they will start to think about other things, and the self-blame, remorse, anger, and resentment that disappear will all rush to the top.

In the whirlpool of emotions, Nala Cook held Angela's hand and unconsciously tightened it.

The surrounding trees glittered in the sunlight, showing a thriving gesture of joy, but the two of them were immersed in sadness, helpless and desolate in the shade of the trees.

・・・

Leo now has two goals.

During his time with them, he learned about the situation in the Altai camp.

With Mark May and Mike nowhere to be found, Neil and the Red Rose escaped from the demon's encirclement, but were pursued by the Devil Tengshu and the Kazekage wolves.

The Devil of Tengshu is more mobile than the Angry Melter, and Neil is running in the opposite direction of them.

On the path leading from the Hidden Jungle to Strange Rock City, the forest range on both sides is about the same, and now half of the forest area is flooded by demonic flames, and I think Strange Rock City should also be aware of it.

If Neil and the others could really run out of the area of the Hidden Jungle in that direction, they would reach the Servant Forest, and beyond that would be Earthrock City.

So it would be unwise to go after Neil, and Leo decided to go to the Altai camp first to see if there were any corpses of Mark May and Mike.

"I hope it's not in ruins."

Leo sighed, to be honest, demons and wind shadow wolves are raging, and the Altai camp will definitely become a hell on earth, and the cruel picture is simply impossible to look at.

It's strange to say, if it was him before, after seeing such a bloody scene, he would definitely collapse or vomit, but after the systematization of his body, his ability to bear seems to have increased significantly.

It seems commonplace.

"Is it okay?"

The two walked on the winding path in the forest, avoiding the area where the flames were spreading, and Leo looked at Lindsay, who was panting.

In fact, Lindsay and Nala Cook should have returned to Strange Rock City together, but he didn't know the reason and process of the demon's attack, and he decided to take Lindsay with him because of his intuition.

Holding Lindsey up, Leo sped up his movements, opened his skill [Demon Guardian], and instantly passed through a woodland where flames spread.

"I'll help you search for mana fluctuations in the camp, it will save you time."

Iros's voice came from his ears, and Leo nodded, and the understanding between them grew more and more tacit.

Soon, the charred grassless path appeared in front of him, the potholed ground was still emitting heat, and several Wind Shadow wolves squinted in the sunlight, comfortably biting the charred corpse.

The demons and most of the wolves had already left, and not far from the Altai camp, the blackened silhouette could be faintly seen, and there was a little firelight.

"Don't get too far away from me."

Leo put Lindsay down, who nodded obediently and followed, while nervously looking at the Wind Shadow Wolf not far away.

Seeing the appearance of the living people, they roared, and their eyes were red and pounced, but they were slashed by Leo's swords.

"Ding! Current XP: 1041/1800! ”

Pale black wolf blood spilled on the ground, smelling and hot, and Leo looked at Lindsay behind him, and saw that her face was a little pale.

Speaking of which, this was the first time she had seen Leo slay the Shadow Wolf up close, and she and Nala Cook had been hiding far away from each other in the previous battle with the Fury Melter due to the danger.

"I'm fine, let's go to the camp and have a look."

Lindsay didn't wait for Leo to speak, then bit her lip and took Leo's hand.

"Except for the magic fluctuations of the Wind Shadow Wolf, there are no other fluctuations in the camp."

They approached the Altai camp, which had become charred and in ruins, and as Iros had said, there were no more people left alive, except for a few scattered corpses and broken and charred clothes.

The wooden fence at the main entrance had been violently destroyed, the outpost houses were still in flames, there was not a single intact tent in the camp, and the people who had traveled together were either charred or torn apart, and their appearance was unrecognizable.

"Ding! Current XP: 1044/1800! ”

"Do you recognize the tent that Mark May is in?"

casually slashed the unknown Wind Shadow Wolf, feeling Lindsay's hand grip tighter, Leo asked.

"The innermost one is, but the mercenary sister said that he went to the tent where the scholars of Strange Rock City were in the morning."

The tents provided to the scholars in the Altai camp were Phnom Penh, and even if they were charred, they should not be difficult to identify.

"Let's go to that tent first, then go to Mark May's original tent, and finally investigate the tent Mike is in."

"Help me keep an eye out for clues in the tent, Iros."

The latter sentence was said in his heart, and after receiving an affirmative reply from Iros, Leo walked in the direction that Lindsay was pointing.

Most of the tent in Phnom Penh was burned down, but half remained on the ground, and traces of water damage can be seen, as if it had been extinguished.

The contents were cluttered and covered in colorful charred black shards, and the pungent smell of potions hit the face.

"This is an alchemist preparing a vitality potion, which is very common in the market of Qiyan City."

Lindsay sniffed carefully and spoke up.

Mercenaries use vitality potions to heal acute injuries, which can temporarily suppress poisoning, bleeding, and other common ailments.

Most of the carpet fragments that were burned were fragmented corpses, judging from the clothing, they should be scholars from Qiyan City, there were three of them, and the smell of potions also came from the corpses.

Presumably, he hid in a tent when the demon invaded, and the fire spread, trying to stop the burns with a vitality potion, but failed.

But judging from the shattered bones, they should have been smashed to death by the [Fury Molten Monster].

"There's been chaotic battles here, and you can feel the remnants of the magic scrolls."

No trace or Mike's body was found, and Iros made the discovery, but none of them were significant clues.

The place where the materials were placed, or the mattress, was nothing but ashes, and there was nothing left to investigate.

He and Lindsay left for Mark May's tent.

The damage was even worse, with fireballs scorched everywhere, and if it weren't for Lindsay's sure, he wouldn't even think there was a tent here.

Since Mark May's tent was on the edge of the camp, he and the tents on the periphery seemed to be the hardest hit when the demons launched a fireball offensive.

The two of them rushed to Mike's tent without stopping, but the situation was not very promising, except for a few intact knightly swords, and a few bottles of vitality potions that were useless, the investigation in all three places was fruitless.

"Demons come from 'mark', and there are 'mark' in the Misty Swamp, which means that the demon comes from the Misty Swamp."

Leo calmed down, made a clean place, and sat down with Lindsay on the pieces of the tent.

He had to think about it.

The Altai camp was placed at the entrance to the Misty Swamp, and if Mark May's investigation was correct, the demons would have to come out of the entrance if they wanted to leave the Misty Swamp and prepare to surround the Altai camp, but this would definitely be discovered by the nearest outpost.

There is only one junction between the Misty Swamp and the Hidden Jungle, and the others are cut off by towering rocks, and even if the demons force their way through, they will surely be discovered.

Could it be that there are also demonic "marks" in the hidden jungle?

What exactly was the purpose of the demons' attack on the Altai camp?

In the deepest part of the Misty Swamp, did the self-proclaimed "defenders" who informed Leo of the news in time have any connection to this matter?

"The Altai camp is almost completely wiped out, and when Nala Cook arrives in Strange Rock City, the Knights will definitely come to investigate here, but..."

Leo was startled and suddenly realized that Mark May's disappearance did not mean that Lindsay's identity would not be exposed?

When he thought about it, he didn't have to figure out what was going on.

His purpose was to fulfill the promise made to Mark May, and it was obvious that the mission could not continue at this point, and he could take Lindsay out of Strange Rock City and go directly to the Astaire Imperial Capital.

Although she didn't want to take Lindsay with her, this girl has a sensitive identity and has nowhere to go, and she also knows a lot of his secrets, so she can't be left to fend for herself.

In terms of life and common sense, Lindsay is better than Iros, and he comforts himself that it's not so bad.

And as he fought with the demons, he gradually discovered that he was not so afraid of the pursuit of the Astaire Kingdom and the harassment of the Luna Cult State.

It's just that if he wants to reach the Snow Empire in the north, he has to arrive at the imperial capital of the Astaire Kingdom first, take a boat through the "Cold Dock" outside the imperial capital to reach the "Dal Mountains", and then pass through the high mountains of the "Dal Mountains" and pass through the "Boundary Cold Forest" located at the freezing point to truly reach the Snow Empire.

As for how to find the legendary "Holy Maiden Snow Peak" when you arrive in the Snow Empire, that is something to consider later.

There were a lot of thoughts in my head.

"Mr. Leo, what are we going to do now?"

After sitting in the sun for a long time, the surrounding ruins gradually smelled of it, Lindsay looked at Leo beside her, and said in confusion.

"Return to Strange Rock City."

He stood up, his expression lightened.