Fourteen hundred miles east of Oroyusta, the Valley of the Silver Blood.

This is the main road leading from the Great Plains to the eastern highlands, and the crimson mountains that stretch up to the south and the majestic mountains in the north are far away, leaving a narrow strip of land in the middle that is only a few miles or so but nearly a hundred miles long. In the war fifty years ago, the imperial army once fought to the death with the coalition forces of the elven tribes here, rivers of blood and corpses and golem wreckage were everywhere, hundreds of law arcane and high-level magic completely changed the terrain here, too strong elemental fluctuations, the summoned abyss breath made this place a dead place within a radius of a hundred miles, only countless corpses were slowly scorched and mutated between the lava, and the violent wind element illuminated the sky into a miserable white silver, hence the name of the Silver Blood Valley.

Fortunately, after decades of revegetation and restoration of the natural environment by the elven druids, the place has finally been restored to its original appearance, and only the occasional remnants of broken golems found in the valley still tell the story of the horrors of the battle.

A group of about twenty people was struggling through the dense woodland. The roads of the Age of Empires are now long gone, because in order to heal the natural ecology of this area that has been too badly destroyed, the elven druids have cast up to the eighth order of nature magic here, and the vitality of the plants here is incredibly strong, even if the road that is hard to open up will soon disappear under the destruction of vegetation, coupled with the collapse of the empire, no force is willing to spend energy in these non-core areas, and this is a real barren area. Only the caravans that travel between the plains and Inclave pass through here can bring some human scent to the area.

Eight of the people in the group wore mage robes, but compared to the traditional robes with wide sleeves covered with gold thread and precious stones, their robes were much more austere, with sleeves that fit snugly around the body for easy movement, and many large and small pockets on the robes, which was the characteristic attire of Inclave's artisan mages. There is no doubt that this is a group of Inclave's mages, and they are heading from west to east, apparently returning to Inclave from the Great Plains.

The other dozen or so people were all dressed in armor and weapons, and their skills were much more agile between actions, and each of them had a high-level god emblem of the Guardian Hand on their chests, and these were all Paladins of the Guardian Hand, hired to defend these Artisan mages along the way.

Even for high-level mages, it is very dangerous to enter the wilderness alone, the shock of the magic net and the aftermath of the forcible arrival of the gods not only caused a natural disaster for ten years, but also semi-permanently changed the ecology of the continent, the probability of beast demonization and ferocity has been greatly increased, and the laws of the world in some areas have been seriously deviated, and the danger even makes the archmage dare not go deeper. Therefore, even the two cities of Encre and Oroyosta, which can be called the pinnacle of continental civilization, are not easy to communicate with each other. Although the arcanist's arcane skills are powerful, they cannot be compared to them in terms of experience, insight, strain, etc., and most of the arcanists can only be regarded as ordinary people who have mastered great power.

"Haven't you gotten to the point where you can use the Golem, my feet are about to break....." A young mage walking in the middle of the line finally couldn't help himself and begged for mercy.

It's not that this young man who looks like he is only in his early twenties can't endure hardships, and there are not many mages from Increy who are pampered, but today they have walked more than eighty miles in this kind of place, and the auxiliary arcane to enhance the physique This young man has also used it three or four times, and his physical potential and mental power are about to be squeezed out.

"Not yet. One of the paladins who walked at the front didn't look back, and answered him lightly but firmly. "This place is still in the Elemental Ramp Zone, the operation of the Golem will definitely attract the attention of the Wind Element, if it is the Thunder Element, it will be dangerous, and the movement caused is more likely to attract more powerful Demonic Beasts. ”

"Okay...... When can we rest?", the young mage continued to ask weakly. "Didn't it take us a full seven days the last time we passed through here, and this time we have to do it in two days?"

“..... We're still three miles or so away from the campsite we left last time. An old mage not far away spoke up, his face was already covered with sweat, but he was still athletic and could keep up with the team. "Because this is not suitable for golems, we must get out of this area as soon as possible. Hold on a little longer and try to get there before dark. ”

Even if it was only a three-mile journey, it took a lot of effort to walk in this lush wilderness, but fortunately they persevered. After cutting through a large mass of ferns, a col appeared in front of everyone in the twilight, and both the paladin and the artisan mage breathed a sigh of relief, and the young man fell to his knees with a limp.

"This is it, the same place we left last time is still there. As luck would have it, it hadn't been discovered by the druids yet. "One of the mages pointed to a huge rock at the very end of the col and said that the shape of the rock was strange, and if you looked closely, you could see that it could not have been formed naturally.

The paladins scattered around the perimeter to reconnoiter and watch, and several mages stepped forward and used a few specific arcane techniques on the rock, and the huge rock began to slowly expand and deform, and after a few minutes, it expanded in size nearly tenfold, becoming a huge rocky cliff that completely filled the col, and then revealed several holes on it.

"This is a rock lair commonly used by our caravans in the field, made of a specific alchemical arcane circle that gathers earth elements, taking into account both defensive and concealment functions. As long as you have this, there is basically no need for vigilance and vigil at night, and everyone can rest with peace of mind. The leader of the craftsman mage was an old man in his fifties, his face was full of wrinkles and traces of wind and frost, and he couldn't help but feel proud when he introduced this rocky cliff, but then sighed again. “.... It's just that the elven druids say it's an act of destroying nature, and if it's discovered, it's going to be destroyed, so we have to rearrange it every few times. Thankfully, this time it stayed and was not discovered. ”

"Come on, let's all go in and rest, I'm too tired today. The old mage led the group towards the mouth of the rock cave, but one of the leading paladins waved his hand, drew his sword from his waist and plunged it into the ground, and knelt down with his back to the rock lair.

"With my sword, for my faith, protect the good and the innocent, relatives and friends, ......" With the prayer of the holy warrior, a burst of yellow light bloomed from his long sword, instantly enveloping the rocky cliff and then disappearing again. Then the paladin stood up and sighed heavily, his already tired face even more tired.

"Mr. Gawain, you have really worked hard for you, and you deserve to be a swordsman with the title of Guardian. The old mage smiled, clearly pleased with the paladin leader's actions. Obviously he had already said that this rock lair was very safe, and this guardian still had to spend his mental and physical strength to pray for the magic of the guardian hand, he had already seen it along the way, this magic of the guardian realm had both protection and vigilance effects, and even had some automatic reaction abilities like the sequencing technique, and its effect was even comparable to several high-level arcane arts. In its own specific realm, the effects of divine magic are indeed more powerful and comprehensive than those of arcane.

"It's always good to be careful. The tired paladin was none other than Gawain, and he waved his hand and made a unique communication gesture between several guardian hands towards the other paladins, and the other paladins followed the mages towards the rock lair, leaving only the two outermost ones to find a suitable hiding place to hide, and still did not let their guard down.

The outer wall of the rock lair is at least ten meters thick, although it is temporarily used to absorb the earth elements of the ground with the power of the arcane magic circle and solidify it, but it is hard and thick and not inferior to the best granite, enough to resist the attacks of most demonic beasts, even the weak earth dragon can hinder one or two, because the mages of Inkray walked into it, their expressions were completely relaxed, including the youngest mage, several people collapsed directly to the ground.

Nest** The stone wall of the part emits a soft light in turn to illuminate the interior, although this is mainly used for temporary shelter protection, but the infrastructure that should be there inside, after the passage is a hall, there is a long stone square table in the middle, more than a dozen stone chairs, and there is a stove-like facility at the edge of the hall, a few craftsmen and mages who still have energy stepped forward and skillfully activated, and the dark red flames quickly rose from below, and they took out some food from their folding bags and baked and fried it on it, and after a while, the fragrance of food spread。

"It's so convenient. "A few paladins had seen this kind of arcane shelter for the first time, and they couldn't help but nod their heads in admiration as they watched the mages fiddle with interest. The paladins of the Guardian Hand often have to escort caravans in the wilderness, and sleeping in the open is commonplace, and everyone has a lot of experience in the wilderness, but that doesn't mean they like to sleep in the wild. To have such a safe and warm resting place after a tiring day of travel, and to eat fragrant and hot food, is certainly a hundred times more comfortable than drinking muddy water and eating dry food in a damp tree hole or in the wild.

"Of course, this is the work of our Punas Artisan Workshop, which is convenient and practical, and it does not consume much arcane resources, and it only consumes a gem for the six-ring mage to meditate once at most, and it is also very popular in Inclave, which can be said to be an indispensable must-have when traveling in the wild. The boy on the ground gasped for breath and struggled to climb onto the stone bench and sat down, with undisguised pride on his face, and then his expression became a little strange. "It's a pity that the mages in the Plains don't know the goods, and it's obviously inefficient and wasteful to use arcane and a large number of guards, and they don't buy this kind of device, and they ridicule us for this is a lowly method......"

The other mage lay lazily on the table, and said weakly: "Okay, don't you know the virtues of those Oroyosta masters? Even if you are too poor to even wear pants, you must carefully dress up the outer robes in the style of the imperial nobles." ”

"Well, but are you Guardian Hand interested, if so, I can give you a little discount, I remember that your Guardian Hand also has mage members......" The young mage was not discouraged by this, but turned to Gawain to pitch it.

"Thank you. I don't think we need to. Gao Wen lightly refused. I've long heard that these Incre mages are like peddlers, very different from the aristocratic demeanor around the West Coast and Oroyosta, and this is the first time I've experienced it firsthand. However, this kind of philistine atmosphere is also much stronger than those noble mages pretending, at least there is a kind of vitality full of vitality, not to make people sick.

"Alright, Plas's boy, stop disturbing the friends of the Guardian Hand. The old man on the side knocked on the table. "We're going to be on the road tomorrow, so let's get some food and rest first. ”

Soon, the prepared soup and porridge were brought to the table, and the artisan mages who had been dizzy from hunger rushed up to devour, and after a few moments, the few who had eaten were directly lying on the stone table and fell asleep, and only a few could barely drag their feet to the other special bedrooms.

Only the old mage at the head and the holy warriors of the guardian hand are still awake, Gawain asked the three holy warriors who had finished eating to change the guard for their companions who were on guard outside, and set a time for the vigil rotation, these holy warriors are all masters of trekking in the wild all year round, and their physique is very strong, and this fatigue is nothing to them.

The old mage, on the other hand, only held on, and waited until Gawain had finished arranging it before he spoke, "Thanks to the help of the Guardian Hand, we have a deeper understanding of the Guardian Hand. When I return to Inclave this time, I will definitely report back to the Duke and ask him to agree to increase the number of temples that the Guardian Hand has in Inclave. ”

"You're welcome. What Duke Incre did, of course, had his own considerations. And since we have accepted your commission this time, of course, we will do everything in our power to protect your safe return to Inclave. Gawain still replied lukewarmly. If it were an ordinary paladin, he would probably be overjoyed by this promise, but as one of the upper echelons of the West Coast Guardian Hand, he would naturally not be so short-sighted. The power of the temple is relatively weak, which is of course due to the weak history of Incre, which has not developed from a wild land with nothing for many years, but the deliberate suppression of various beliefs by the Duke of Incre is also one of the important reasons. The God of the Craftsman and the Guardian Hand are relatively the main beliefs over there, and the Sunlight Temple, the Fighting God Temple, and the like are almost impossible to see. As for the reason, it goes without saying that three generations of Duke Incre have managed that highland from scratch, and of course they don't want other forces to intervene.

Looking at the old mage's still somewhat uneasy expression, Gawain added, "And this time we sent so many elite men to escort you back to Inclave, not only because of your employment, but also because of the request of the envoys of the 'Qian' Empire. So you can rest assured that whatever you're shipping, we won't care. We will only do our best to fulfill our duties, which is both the credo of our Guardian Hand and the promise of our friends. ”

The old mage let out a long breath and nodded, slightly relieved. The contents of the folding bags on their group were very important, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. In fact, it stands to reason that it should be appropriate for the Duke and Archmage Adler to bring back Inclave in person, but those two still have to stay in Oroyusta to handle the welcome ceremony of the Western envoys, and they are also afraid of what small actions the people of the Arcane Academy are secretly doing with the help of the Arcane Sequence of the Academy, so they simply let them take these with these and send these materials back to start the preliminary preparations first.

But when he thought about it, he felt that he had really been overcareful. Since the Duke is relieved to let them go on the road alone, of course, they are also assured of the safety of this road, the wandering demonic beasts are certainly a little dangerous, they are not ordinary businessmen who are helpless, the golem in the folding bag is enough to withstand the impact of a medium-sized ogre tribe, not to mention the elite paladins who have specially hired the guardian hand.

As for other real enemies, he really didn't think about it. Except for those mindless beasts, there is no one in this land who is truly hostile to Inclave and dares to show it, and the highland men who can carve out a great city on the wasteland infested with demonic beasts are not comparable to those noble mages who are addicted to opera and alcohol, and even the imperial remnants of Oroyosta can only make small moves behind their backs.

Thinking of this, the old mage finally relaxed completely, and with it was an irresistible tiredness. He can hold on to his age better than those young people, but in fact, he just relies on his strong willpower, and as soon as his mood is relaxed, he no longer has the energy, and he lies directly on the table, and he feels a vast drowsy darkness surging up.

"Everyone, be careful, something is wrong!" Gawain's cry of anxiety and vigilance came into his ears, almost immediately overwhelmed by the drowsiness around him, but the vigilance and sense of responsibility that the old mage had honed over the years were unusually stoic, and he struggled to wake up from the darkness.

"What's going on?" the old mage jumped up from his seat, stumbling on his feet and sitting back down.

"There is a hostile change of the law at a higher level. Gawain's face changed several times, obviously because the guardian magic he had arranged before had reacted.

"Is there a high-level demonic beast attacking?" several other holy warriors immediately drew their swords.

“... It's people. Gawain's face was so ugly that only he could clearly feel that the information fed back from the outside magic was terrible. "Several of the brothers outside are dead......"

"What? how could it be?" the paladins were shocked and furious. "What enemy could kill Charlie so quietly, they didn't even send out the alarm..."

Gawain didn't answer, but just looked around the room and asked the old mage, "How many exits does this rock lair have?"

"There are only two. One was the one we came in before, and one was the small door at the back. The small door needs us to open it. The old mage was now taking out a bottle of potion from the folding belt and drinking it with a grunt, and then the tired look on his face was immediately swept away, and instead he showed a morbid state of cheering up. Of course, there is no shortage of arcane artists to dispel fatigue and stimulate the spirit, alchemy potions are also part of the arcane culture, but the essence of life will not change because of these means, these things have amazing effects but have various side effects, and no mage is generally willing to use them unless they have to.

"Get up, kids, there's a guest here. The old mage not only drank it himself, but also poured all the remaining potions into the mouths of several mages who had fallen asleep, and after a while, all of them also came to their senses. The old mage himself had already begun to fall into an excitement that should not belong to his age under the effect of the potion, and looked at Gawain eagerly and said, "Your Excellency the Guardian, should we take the initiative to go out to meet those visitors?"

"It's best to find a chance to break out, this lair has become a prison. I even suspect that someone has set a trap with this thing, and now we are turtles in an urn. You'd better let me try that other exit, and if you can just dismantle this nest. ”

Although the mages were all sober and ready for battle, Gawain's face did not change for the better, but became more and more solemn. The hard shell of this rock lair that was originally used to deal with the beasts had now become a shackle that shackled them, and the hard rock formations that were several meters long, even if he had to stick out hard, it would not be easy for him to stick out. This kind of alchemical creation of craftsmen and mages finally revealed the disadvantages of immaturity at this time.

"No, I think we should ......" The old mage was just about to retort when he suddenly saw a figure walk in through the passageway, it was the Holy Warrior who had been on guard outside.

"Hey, didn't you say they're all dead?" the old mage turned to look at Gawain, the expression on his face full of suspicion. "Could it be that your magic has gone wrong?" ”

A paladin on the other side walked up directly and put his hand on the shoulders of this companion: "Charlie, are you alright? You look ........"

"Get out of him!" Gawain rushed towards his companion, the sword in his hand flashing brightly.

It's a pity that it's a little late. Just as his companion approached him to ask, the holy warrior's neck suddenly stretched out, like the tongue of a chameleon, and his mouth grew to the limit, even his cheeks were torn apart, and then he bit off the hand of his companion who asked about him.