West of the Valley of Blood, the Wasteland.

In the cold wind, the silence of the barren ice fields was broken by the sound of heavy footsteps, and hundreds of heavily armed light infantry and church knights trudged through the snow, both men and horses were already tired, but they still gritted their teeth and persevered, looking at the ice fields beyond with almost fanatical gazes.

It was the third day after their departure, and after a great battle in front of the gentle slopes of the Valley of Blood, they had not done any repairs, and under the orders of Brandon de Salion, they headed for the westernmost and harshest mounds of the Valley of Bloodbones, looking for the location where the last Ranger had disappeared.

"Stop!"

Naze, the Knight of the Church, who was at the forefront, suddenly raised his right arm and signaled for the team behind him to stop, his resolute cheeks turning blue - not because of the cold winter wind or any physical tiredness, which was not worth mentioning to the chief knight.

What really silenced him was the bones of another Ranger who had fallen in the snow and had long since frozen.

The Ranger still had the corpses of two werewolves lying beside him, clutching his halberd with only a wooden pole in his hand, and barely anything left on his body except his clothes - it was clear that the Ranger had thrown away all the burdens that could reduce his weight by breaking through, but he still couldn't escape the pursuit of the monsters.

On the way west from the Valley of the Blood, this is not the first.

Naze, the knight of the church, closed his eyes in reluctance, but the scene of the search party that had been attacked by surprise echoed in his mind was scattered and evacuated after a fiasco, and finally each was hunted down.

In the past, the Rangers who went north had encountered similar sieges, but they were hunted down like this like prey like never before - what did they find that made these invading monsters completely annihilate everyone at all costs, and not let a single one live?!

Unbeknownst to Nazer, all he could do was continue to march west along the bones, searching for clues with his soldiers and Church Knights, as well as searching for the surviving Rangers, though that hope was slim.

"Knight Chief Nazes. A knight behind him stepped forward, glanced at the queue in the blizzard behind him, and then said in a deep voice: "Two more soldiers have passed out, and six more wounded soldiers have worsened their wounds, I am afraid it will be difficult to continue to hold on." ”

"How far are you from the destination of the intelligence?" asked Naze, with a blank face.

"A day or so. The knight of the church replied truthfully.

"What about their own opinions?"

"The unconscious man was still unconscious, and the six wounded soldiers begged to continue with the group—the current blizzard was almost tantamount to killing them. ”

"Go ahead, we don't have time to delay. Naze, the knight of the church, said decisively: "The unconscious person is on the stretcher, and the wounded soldier is looking for someone to help him, so if he can't do it, he will throw away some of the baggage." ”

"Nazei Knight ......"

"This is the order of His Highness Brandon de Salion, what he promised at the Broken Mountain Fortress!" Naze turned, glancing at the soldiers and church knights who were still in the snow:

"His Highness Brandon promised you all to live as best possible before he dies, and all of you have heard that!

I'm the Knight Master of the Church of Broken Mountains, but now I'm also a subordinate of His Highness Brandon, so I'm now carrying out his orders instead of His Highness Conrad.

Therefore you must also live as long as you can, and then go back with Your Highness, not cowardly, cowardly, or weak, for today is definitely not the day when you dedicate yourself to the Holy Cross.

We will surely find the invading monsters and catch their tails! We will surely avenge the search party's brothers, but until then, all of us will have to live tenaciously!"

The team in the wind and snow was still silent, and the silent soldiers did not speak, but silently set up the wounded soldiers, gritted their teeth and carried the unconscious robes on the stretcher.

"Knight, Chief. The knight of the church on the side suddenly spoke: "A soldier of His Royal Highness Brandon's guard has just arrived, it is their vanguard, and the rest of the people are on the way to approach us. ”

"Coming to us?" Naze frowned, "What's going on?"

"I don't know, but it is said that there was an avalanche on the east side of the Valley of Blood, and the soldiers of the Guard were almost wiped out!" the knight of the church bowed his head, "And it's not just them who have come to meet. ”

No sooner had the Church Knight's words finished than a thunderous bang rang out in the snow-covered sky, and Naze looked up suddenly, and the huge one was already approaching.

....................................................................................

"Boom ——!!!!"

Ice, snow and rocks rolled down from the top of the mountain, and the entire cliff trembled with a loud sound that reverberated through the mountain!

The sudden loud noise made the black-haired wizard not have time to think at all, and immediately hid behind the rock wall, his dark pupils suddenly contracted.

Almost immediately, Loren immediately thought of a certain knight of the Guardian who was probably still alive and was chasing after him!

Was it just an accident, or was he found out again?!

The roar was loud one after another, and the entire mountain was constantly trembling in the avalanche. The black-haired wizard with a blank face clenched the "bright silver" around his waist, holding his breath to keep himself as calm as possible.

At the moment, his physical condition has not fully recovered, and if he confronts the guard knight head-on now, opening the "valve" is his only option.

But the consequences of this have already been told to Master Corona - using the "valve" in the north is like lighting a torch in a dark forest, and the evil gods lurking in the shadows will discover it almost immediately!

The rotting demons outside the cave also didn't seem to be aware of the avalanche's arrival, and the few monsters standing next to the mountain wall were instantly buried in the collapsed rocks and snow, and the remnants continued to tremble violently one after another from the cliff into the bottomless glacial cracks.

"Boom ——!!!!"

The tremors and rings in his ears continued unabated, wailing like the roar of a mountain peak, and the black-haired wizard clenched the hilt of his sword sweated in his palms, staring expressionlessly at the snow that sealed the cavern.

"Really ready?"

Obviously worried, Asriel's expression revealed a certain excitement: "Once the valve is opened, dear Loren, you have no chance to turn back." ”

"I've never had that kind of 'opportunity'. The black-haired wizard who muttered in a low voice, his originally blurred vision gradually focused:

"I will never regret my choice!"

The helpless smile of the young man "Lao Cheng" turned into a black feather eagle in a puff of black smoke, and landed steadily beside Loren.

"Boom ——!!!!"

With a loud cracking sound, the blocked snow collapsed instantly, and when the black-haired wizard raised his head again, the entire cavern was completely exposed;

Damn it... This is no ordinary bad luck!

Or did you use up all your good luck before?!

At the same time, perhaps because of the loud noise, the rotting demons outside the cave were unaware of the black-haired wizard behind them, "panicking" to avoid the rocks and avalanches falling from the sky, and the roar of ice cracking was also muffled by the sound of the sky collapsing.

This is a great opportunity!

Loren, who lowered his body and relaxed his steps, held the bright silver back, and approached from behind little by little, trying not to make the slightest noise from himself.

"Ahhhh——!!!!h

The sudden scream made the black-haired wizard's footsteps falter suddenly—not just startled, but also because the sound was so familiar, as if it were ......

Turning his head stiffly, Loren, whose brows were almost together, saw a guy who was still "fluttering" in the snowdrift, as if performing drowning.

"Help, I don't want to die yet, I don't want to die yet——!!" Isaac Grantham in the snowdrift was extremely embarrassed, and he was screaming desperately, trembling all over his body.

The next second, Isaac, who found that he was still alive, raised his head like a ferret, and two people who were also surprised looked at each other:

"Well, why are you here, Loren, I remember you're not ......"

"Isaac, get down ——!!!!"