The crowd walked through the wooden platform at the entrance of the inn, and the leaky planks creaked like a door that had not been oiled in years. The once bright bonfire on the stone platform not far away has now been extinguished, and no one has the heart to take care of it, leaving only a mess.

Walking up the steps, the boiler inside the gate was glowing reddish from the grate window, sizzling. A dwarf stood listlessly beside the crystal ore, hugging its knees and napping with its head peck.

The clutter puppet was still in place, but it hung its head down, and no longer shook its rusty arm to greet every guest who entered the inn, but it didn't move, and a hole was cracked in the recording crystal.

I don't know when the puppet broke, but no one cared. Tianlan looked at the empty shell and couldn't help but feel sad for a while, "It wasn't like this last time." She muttered to herself.

But the last time they came, it was more than a year ago.

"Hello, Mr. Shayek." Fang Yu saw the rickety figure standing in the dark part of the hall at this time, and suddenly understood who Princess Brian said was waiting for them here.

"Hello, young man." Shayak replied in a hoarse voice.

The old butler was more bent than the last time they met, I don't know if it was the illusion of shadows, and the wrinkles on his face deepened a lot, always giving people the feeling that they had been seen for a long time, and the other party had aged a lot.

Princess Brian's deep voice rang out in my ears: "This is the same person watching us from behind the window, I don't know what your relationship is with him." ”

Fang Yu turned his head, but saw that the elf princess was facing forward motionless with her hood hanging down her face, and she didn't look like she had spoken, and she didn't know how she sent her voice.

Then he turned to the old butler and said, "Mr. Sayek, we have come to find the master of this place, the one you have followed. You should know that he told us to go to the southern class for one thing, and now we bring back the things and the results. ”

He paused, "But when we were in Reef Bay, we got word from the Black Goat Chamber that he and Mr. Lucius are no longer here, is that true?" ”

Shayak stepped out of the shadows, the old face reflected in the glow of the hearth.

He looked at each of them quietly with gray, dull silver eyes before he spoke: "You have made a mistake, young man, the master he has sold this place to your people, and now this place does not belong to us. ”

He slowly turned his back and made a gesture of please, "But I know your intentions, in fact, I have been waiting for you here for quite a long time, please come with me." ”

The old butler walked forward first, and walked into the corridor in that direction.

Fang Yu and the others exchanged glances, and hurriedly chased after them.

The pale moonlight shined through the window on one side of the wall and sprinkled on the mottled wooden floor of the corridor, and the staggered light and shadow were constantly changing on Sayak's body as he slowly walked forward.

The old butler suddenly spoke again: "You may have seen that this place is very different from when you came here a long time ago, and people and things are no longer what they used to be. The dwarves and dwarfs who stayed here also walked and scattered. Now I'm the only one left to look after the place, and for that reason, they're willing to give me a small salary......"

He turned his head and looked out the window, the silver moonlight seemed to fall in the deep eyes, black and faint, like two doors. Shayak's voice was a little quiet: "...... Now darkness lurks in the land, and something has returned, to the world—as you can see, death and withering, and is returning to the world. ”

This was not the first time Fang Yu had heard such a description.

But what he saw and heard along the way made him appreciate all of this more deeply – especially the battle not so long ago.

It's just that he still doesn't quite understand how to make this originally lively place become like this in a year.

"So, Mr. Shayek, what is going on here, is it just the attack on Chartist City that has brought about such a big change? I've learned about the Great War from people who resisted the invasion of dragonbeasts. ”

Shayak paused and replied, "I noticed the movement outside, but the few drakes you killed were actually just the weaker of those things. ”

That's exactly what Fang Yu cared about.

"But how did they get here from Charter City?"

"A lot has happened since that attack, and dragon minions have sprung up from the darkness and appeared all over Tarun. It's not just this place, you can see it all the way from Al Pakhin to Gula Harbor. ”

"First the dragon beast, then the inexplicable disappearance of the people above the villages and towns, then the entire village, the entire town. But more importantly, something new has emerged from the darkness—"

The old butler's voice was unhurried, but it seemed to coincide with an intonation, which moved secretly in the darkness and spread silently. But if you listen closely, it's just an echo in the hallway.

Even so, it was enough to make people's hairs stand on end, and Tianlan couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva and asked, "...... What's new? ”

“…… It was the Shadows, the puppets blinded by eternal life and controlled by dragons. For you have never seen them, and my master has only seen similar descriptions in some ancient books, but they have returned...... With the dragon as ......"

Outside the window, the moonlight fell on the swamp, a bright white, as if covered with a layer of ice.

"Is that a dragon minion?" She asked tremblingly.

"Deeper than that, they're silent. It has taken hundreds of years for mortals to finally win a war, but it has not eliminated the dark believers, and the true Eternals have always walked between you and me. ”

Shayak paused, "The master told you to go south, you should have seen something." ”

Fang Yu couldn't help but think of the wanderer.

But was Donde's grandfather also an eternal?

The other party is indeed walking in this world with many identities, and he even suspects that that is the other party's first identity.

It's like no one knows what happened to the Rogersel family in that frozen world.

"You're saying there's more than one such being?" Fang Yu suddenly shuddered.

What Idus had seen and heard still scared him when he thought about it, and if it hadn't been for Karatu and Donder having been investigating the matter, perhaps the wanderer would have succeeded.

Shayak turned his head like a pale and gloomy ghost in the moonlight, and pointed to the place, "Remember what I said to you, back then, it was here. ”

Beneath the shadows lurks a bad omen, and only the dying can see the dragon's wings in the shadows—

This sentence made Fang Yu stunned for a moment.

He paused to look at the others, who had defeated Nicol Bolas's Phantom in the South, driven out the wanderers, fulfilled Josud's agreement with Everil, and eliminated the threat of the Dragon's Golden Pupil once and for all.

He hadn't forgotten that the dragon's golden pupils actually contained the power of the dragon king, Lifgard.

It's just that they defeated the dragon king, Lifgard, and Nicol Bolas, transformed by Lady Misu, still exists in this world.

That's where it all began.

Sky Blue couldn't help but ask, "But haven't Mazak and Mr. Lucius already set out to find Nicol Bolas?" With Galapeia here, and Nicol Bolas having lost the power of the Dragon's Golden Pupil, they should have a good chance of winning, right? ”

But Shayak didn't answer, and the long silence was a little oppressive.

The oppressive atmosphere is like a pause in this conversation.

For they had reached the door at the end of the hallway, and behind it was the Dragonhorn Hall, where Nicol Bolas's missing corner had once hung, and now there was nothing but darkness left in the hall.

Fang Yu remembered that there had been two servants here dressed in bright robes to open the door for passing travelers.

But at the moment, the door was closed and empty. Shayak walked over to the place, pressed his hand on the door, and struggled to push it open. In the midst of a lengthened 'squeak-' sound, dust rushed to their faces, causing everyone to cough in a low voice.

The bright, warm-toned hall, the bright flames in the fireplace, the neat tables and chairs, the shiny brass pipes, the reverberating bells, and the smell of nutmeg and roasted cheese in the air all disappeared like an illusion.

Behind the door was a gray world, tables and chairs piled together, covered with a white cloth and covered with dust and cobwebs—only an open box on several tables that had been put together.

Getting closer, Fang Yu saw that the depression inside was just right for the shape of a sword.

Sayak stopped.

“…… The master and Lucius had indeed set out for the north to find the whereabouts of Nicol Bolas, the dragon witch. They may succeed, but they may also fail, after all, none of us have lived through that era. ”

"So much so that for generations before I was born, the concept of the dark dragon was nothing more than an abstract symbol in the minds of each generation. It is even left with that alarmist phrase that the former enemy will return...... And that slender horn, proof that they once existed......"

"What if they succeed?" Sky Blue asked, "What happens if you fail?" ”

"Nothing has changed."

"How is that possible!?"

“…… Because the shadow of the dragon's wings is only a bad omen, and the real threat lurks in the shadow of death. Everything you have seen on this trip is only a façade of them, and more importantly what lies beneath the surface. ”

"What's beneath the surface?"

Fang Yu suddenly interrupted the two of them at this time, "Those things, including dragon beasts, are all the heirs of Nicol Bolas?" ”

Shayak shook his head.

Sky Blue was a little surprised, "But didn't Nicol Bolas bring them?" ”

"Perhaps, but not necessarily. Even if it wasn't Nicol Bolas, there would be something else—the shadow of the dragon's wings was just a bad omen, a harbinger of the return of a former enemy. The enemy of yesteryear doesn't have to be the Dark Dragon—the black dragon flame, but a symbol of destruction. ”

"What would the enemy of the Oath Keepers be if it weren't the Dark Dragon?"

"The Dark Dragon is the fate of the Oath Keepers."

Shayek's gaze fell on Fang Yuan: "But for those who see the shadow of the dragon's wings, it may not be so......"

Fang Yu's heart moved slightly.

Shayak continued, "Lucius didn't want outsiders to get involved, it was a feud between him, my master, and Nicol Bolas. But my master thinks you'll definitely come back to this place, so I'm here to wait for you. ”

Sky Blue looked at the others and asked, "Mr. Mazak, do you have anything to say for us?" ”

The old butler's voice was slightly hoarse.

"He told me to tell you that your mission is over."

She pouted and opened her mouth slightly.

On the side, Fang Yu didn't look surprised.

Tianlan couldn't help but say, "Konicol Bolas, Ms. Misu......"

Shayak interrupted her indifferently, "From the moment you drank the blood of the dragon, the fate of the Oath Keepers was sealed. We slashed those monsters by the sword, and now they have returned from the depths of our blood, but it all began, and it all ended—"

"The former holders of Galapeia, their descendants and descendants, their ancestors have done great deeds, and their descendants will end their long-cherished wishes at this moment."

His faint gray eyes looked at everyone: "After a thousand years of the War of the Giants, the history of the Oath Keeper clan is over, and the history of this era has just begun. Get out of this place and get away from ......."

"You have done well the task entrusted to you by my master, but your journey is far from over."

"From now on, everything here will be none of your business. And you will see this land born out of the sea of clouds and end under the sea of fire. ”

The old butler's deep gaze finally stayed on Fang Yuan's body.

"Young man, do you understand what I mean?"

Fang Yu nodded slightly.

"But I really didn't expect so much to happen here during the time we were heading south."

He looked around and replied in a low voice, there were some things that even Momiji hadn't told them. Of course, maybe even she doesn't necessarily know.

Sayak replied unhurriedly, "You must not have heard of any of these things in the south, because the Lord Chancellor of the Cowlins has suppressed the news. Actually, your people are already involved, and not long ago there was a group of young people investigating the matter, and they stayed here for a while. ”

And just as the two of them were asking and answering, a page of the screen was slowly unfolding in front of Fang Yu, and the world event line above had changed significantly.

'The Dragon Witch Eventline Changed-'

'More branches are listed in the sub-directory of the Third Calamity event-'

……

When it came back to the ship, everyone's mood changed a little.

Fang Yu turned his head and looked at the distance of the forest from the side of the boat, and behind the fog was the light of the wind lantern. Faintly, penetrating the shadow of the longing tree.

The swamp was stretching in the moonlight, and on the flat horizon was a wetland as bright as a mirror, with a slight spark in that direction, reflecting the stars on the horizon.

It may be the direction of the traveler's rest.

"Mission done?" Luo Hao pulled everyone up from the gangway one by one and asked.

Fang Yu nodded slightly.

"Got the stuff back?"

"No," replied Alyssa, "as a reward, it was given to us. ”

"That means there are no other rewards?"

Everyone was slightly stunned, as if this was the case, but they also forgot to care about it at that time.

Luo Hao looked at everyone's expressions, was stunned, shook his head and said, "If you don't have it, you won't have it, in fact, you have gained a lot along the way." Some of Attaria's quests are like this, with rewards included in the course of the quest. ”

Is that so?

Alyssa bowed slightly, but seemed a little silent for a moment.

It's hard for her to tell at the moment, is this really just a high-dimensional information world, or is it real?

The innkeeper had left them nothing, not even Lynn Lucius had left them at least an insignia, but what Xhayek had told them was enough to answer all the efforts they had made over the past year.

That sentence has always been very simple -

Don't forget your fallen enemies.

It's not the dark dragon that's making a comeback, and the shadow of the dragon's wings hides a true ominous omen.

It was the light of the scourge star.

Mazak sent them all the way south to find the Dragon's Golden Eye's past, perhaps not just to neutralize the threat of the Dragon King Lifgard, because the War of the Giants was a story of a bygone era.

They have been buried in the dust of history along with the Oath Keepers. Nicol Bolas' final feud with Galapeia is the epilogue of the story.

And after that, it was the beginning of a new era.

Unlike the Calamity Star that the Noumerin Elves faced, they still had no way of knowing the name of the shining demon star in the sky, but it had indeed come to this world and was bound to cause a storm.

Fang Yu looked up at the dark night sky, and in the southern sky, the stars with a magnitude of six were flashing with a red and strange light.

And they still don't know what the future of Aitalia will face.

As for Sky Blue, the little girl was silently looking into the dark distance in the mist, as if she felt an emotion that she had never experienced before.

It was a mission that they had been carrying out since the beginning and until today, it finally came to an end. But there was a sense of emptiness in her heart, what had changed them, and it was as if nothing had changed.

She looked at Luo Yu on the side, and couldn't help but gently lean on the other party's shoulder.

"Luo Yu, do you think Mr. Mazak can defeat Nicol Bolas?"

Luo Yu lowered his head and looked at the poet lady who was snuggling up to him.

He thought silently for a moment and nodded.

What they do may have some effect after all.

Galapeia's past, a thousand years ago, a hundred years ago, thirty years ago, all the way to the present day, from Idus, to Dorifin, and everything will change. Perhaps, hopefully, in a better direction.

"Where are we going next?" Luo Hao's voice asked on the other side of the deck.

"Gura Harbor."

Fang Yu replied, "Next, we will go to Gula Harbor. ”

……

Wonderful Book House