Cornwallis City, the capital of the Hayward Empire, was once the brightest star of the many cities in the South.

Unfortunately, after the great empire that had ruled the entire South for hundreds of years was destroyed by a witch rebellion, the former star city also quickly declined. Today, more than a decade later, it has been reduced to a dilapidated third-rate city, and even the air exudes a smell of decay and obsolescence, and there is no vitality at all.

It's the last day of the year, it's cold, it's snowing, and most of the people walking on the roads of Cornwallis are hurrying with their heads down, they just want to get home as soon as possible, light the fireplace, and collapse on the warm couch by the fireplace, preferably with a hot cup of coffee, and heal the tiredness of the past year in the fun time with their families.

In short, no one wants to stay outside for even a minute outside where people can freeze to death.

"Selling matches, selling matches, does anyone want to buy matches?"

A little girl in tattered clothes walked helplessly down the street, shouting as she went.

Even in the harsh winter full of snow, she still stepped on a pair of slippers on her feet, the slippers did not fit, this size was too big for a little girl, probably wearing her mother's shoes, the girl's white feet in the slippers were gradually turning blue and red against the background of the snow.

Even if the little girl is already shouting hard, who will pay attention to her?

It is the last day of the year, and the most important holiday on the continent, the Day of the Flames, the Christmas Day of the Great Lord of the Flames.

The excitement of the festival has stimulated a little bit of vitality in this declining city, and the shops on both sides of the street are mostly decorated with joy, and the festive atmosphere has made even the small shops that used to be unpopular have a lot of customers today, and the people in the shops are busy choosing gifts for their families, and no one will waste a little more time on this poor little match girl.

Besides, in this era when gas lamps and lighters have long been popularized, who needs matches.

The clock at the top of the church in the city struck the bell for noon, but the poor little girl did not sell a match.

She hadn't eaten for more than a day, and now she was hungry.

The little girl stared at the window of a bakery on the side of the road.

Inside, the bakery owner was putting freshly baked bread on the shelves, and beside him were two children about the same age as little girls, dressed in beautiful new clothes, with joy written on their faces, who were unpacking presents around the Christmas tree.

The little girl, who was indulged in the food and the warm atmosphere of the house, did not see that in the street not far away, a four-wheeled carriage drawn by four white horses was speeding up, and by the time she finally heard the sound of the coachman who was driving the carriage rattling, it was already a little late.

Fortunately, the coachman's driving skills were very good, and he let the carriage avoid the little girl at the last moment, and only passed her, but even so, the frightened little girl sat on the ground.

The snow melted from her body temperature made the little girl's shabby clothes wet, and the poor little girl shivered when the cold wind blew through the street.

The coachman scolded all the way away, and after a long time, the little girl got up from the ground and tried to pick up the slippers that had fallen off from the fall.

However, at this time, a group of brightly dressed bear children ran past the little girl, and they took the little girl's slippers, which was just an inconsequential prank for them, and they went away with their faces, and no one cared what happened to the helpless little girl.

The weak, poor, and very hungry little girl curled up, she tore her old pants, trying to put the frozen blue and purple feet in to warm up, but the short pants that didn't fit well really couldn't cover the girl's feet, and she could only use cold hands to warm the colder feet.

Without the slippers, the little girl's frozen feet were no longer able to support her to continue walking.

In desperation, the little girl could only beg the passers-by on the side of the road.

"Does anyone buy matches? Uncles and aunts, please buy a match......"

The poor pleading did not change the fate of the little girl, and when it was getting dark, the little girl still could not sell a match, and the passers-by who were begging for her had no mercy, and even felt that the girl who could not read the atmosphere spoiled their good mood at the festival.

There were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the road, and the little girl's heart became desperate, even if it was already dark, she didn't want to go home, because the grandmother and mother who loved her in the family had died, leaving only her father, and the drunkard father would only beat her for not earning him money for drinking.

Because it is the day of the fire, so according to tradition, the street lights on both sides of the street today will not be extinguished, these lights will be on all night, my mother once told the girl, every day, all the lights of the continent will be lit, illuminating the darkness, if someone can look down from the sky, you will see the river of countless lights, which is also the origin of the name of the day of the fire.

Of course, at this moment, the little girl didn't care how beautiful the flowing fire spread all over the continent would be, she just thought that if she stayed under the lights, she might be discovered by her father, so in order to prevent being beaten, the little girl went into a dark alley and avoided the lights that illuminated the darkness.

The little girl huddled in the darkness was a little frightened again, she was afraid of the darkness that surrounded her, and she felt even colder because of the darkness, and her hands and feet were almost frozen.

The trembling little girl reached into her pocket, she took out a match, and wanted to burn it on the wall, the flame of the match should bring her a trace of warmth, but did she dare?

It was a match that Daddy wanted her to sell, and if she knew that she had lit it casually, the poor little girl couldn't believe how angry Daddy would be.

The frozen hand gradually became weak, and the hand slipped down naturally, and the little girl swore that it was really just a coincidence, and the match in her hand just rubbed against the wall, and the faint light of the fire lit up.

The flame that looked like a small candle was so warm that it instantly attracted all the attention of the little girl at this time, and in the light of the fire, the girl's blue eyes seemed to flicker with light.

She felt as if she had come to a fireplace, and the firewood in the fireplace was so much more vigorous and warm, and she wanted to come closer, so that her whole body could warm up, but the stove went out, and then disappeared.

The little girl was left with only a matchstick that was about to burn out.

This time without hesitation, the little girl once again took out a match, the bright flame was once again lit in the dark alley, a table full of food, a huge, full of Christmas trees decorated with gifts seemed to appear in front of her eyes, she was happily eating the food, unpacking the gifts, and the girl's beautiful little face that was about to cry showed a happy smile.

The flame went out again, but soon rekindled.

This time, the little girl appeared in front of her grandmother and mother, who had long gone to heaven, and they opened their hands, as if waiting for her to throw herself into their arms as before.

"Mom, grandma, are you here to pick me up?"

The little girl happily asked her family who had not been seen for a long time.

Mom and mother nodded.

"Of course, silly boy, mom and grandma are here to pick you up, just come with us, you..."

The words stopped abruptly, and the figures of mother and grandmother disappeared into the darkness.

The little girl quickly struck a match again, but her mother and grandmother did not appear again.

"As long as I go with you, what will happen to me?"

The small flame was extinguished again, and the little girl asked with some grievances towards the empty darkness.

"As long as you go with them, then I won't eat them."

In the darkness that should have been empty, a terrifying voice answered the little girl.

The little girl struck the match again in horror, and in the faint light of the fire was a large face that had come to her, a face that exuded an indescribable aura, a terrifying, monstrous face.

"You see me."

The monster's gaping mouth cracked into a smile, revealing a mouth full of dagger-like teeth.

"You shouldn't have seen me."

The monster said to the little girl.