A deep mark appeared in the vast desert.

It stretched out in all directions like a huge scar across the earth, appearing in view without warning.

The halfling leaped up from the deck, stepped onto the side of the ship, grabbed the cable and looked in the distance, and turned back to the crowd and said, "There it is." ”

There's the Phantom Sea—

The brown canyon is dotted with dark green, and it is a lush forest at night, like a deep emerald jewel set in the ravine. And on top of that there is a layer of flux of color—like a disintegrating veil, giving the impression that it is there and not in the world.

When Miss Fairy saw this scene, her eyes flickered, and she whispered, "Mr. Knight, the shadow of refraction." ”

The wind blows in the face, with a faint smell of sand.

Facing the wind on the deck, Fang Ou turned his head sideways and asked in a low voice, "What is that?" ”

"Mr. Knight must have heard of Mirage, right?"

Fang Yuan nodded: "That's a kind of water vapor refraction phenomenon, which is very common in desert areas. ”

"It's pretty much the same as that, the canyon we see in front of us isn't in this place, it's just an aetheric projection, refracted from another world. Miss Kita's spell, the principle is actually the same, but such a vast range, I'm afraid it can't be reached by manpower. ”

"So it's a phantom?"

Tata nodded slightly, she sat on Fang Yuan's shoulder, and spoke softly as a whisper: "But everything is true relative to the person in it, just like the magic of a naturalist." And this may be even higher, Mr. Knight still remembers the wine of the 'Star Flower' that he drank at the Celestial Princess, and that is the thing that was brought out of it. ”

"And the things that can be taken away from the illusion are actually the mimicry of the ether, which conjures up the nature of that thing, and this power is actually very close to ......"

It's almost created.

Such a thought suddenly popped into Fang Yuan's mind.

That was the power of the Emerald Star—so the canyon and the forest were in fact projected from the fragments of the Emerald Star. He looked at the changing colors and looked back and asked, "Is it safe to walk through?" ”

Alfonde thought for a moment: "Should it be possible?" ”

Should?

Facing Fang Yuan's gaze, the halfling man hurriedly waved his hand: "I mean almost." ”

Almost?

"You know, Captain Ed," Alfond laughed, "there is always some trouble in such a situation, after all, we are intruders, which is why Her Highness the Princess asked me to come with you." You put a hundred hearts, I'm pretty sure about it, I've been here many times. ”

"Many times?"

"Doom...... Plus this time, there are two times, right? ”

"Anyway, what should we do now?"

"Look at me," the halfling snapped his fingers and shouted behind him, "Miss Kita, Luo Yu, lower the altitude, and let's land in the forest over there." ”

With an unsettling shake, the dinghy began to lower altitude.

It swayed from side to side through the dreamy layers of color, as if it had passed through a wall of light that didn't exist, but it seemed that nothing had happened, as the halfling had said.

Fang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the little boy not far away. At the signal of his gaze, Pasha also climbed the mast with dexterity on his hands and feet, and began to roll up the silver sails—

However, only a few minutes later, a scream like a pig was heard from the ship: "Holy, here they are!" ”

"They?"

"Banshee, wait, I seem to have made a mistake at the landing spot!"

Fang Yu ran to the side of the boat and looked down. There was a tumult in the forest below, and then a small black dot screamed from the canyon, and the human-headed monsters with two wings were gathering into a black cloud and swooping in this direction.

He hurriedly turned his head: "No, you said it's okay, Mr. Alfonde." ”

"What? The wind was too strong for me to hear. ”

"Someone," Fang Yu gritted his teeth angrily, "Throw this person down with the Papara people!" ”

Parker, who was watching the play, was taken aback when he heard this: "Wait, why me?" ”

But Luo Hao had already picked him up.

……

Four warlocks stepped out of the crowd.

Almost all of them were followers of Andrama, the mystics of the Revealed Eye, wearing purple-gray robes, showing their status within the sect second only to the temple keepers.

Barbartan turned around and nodded lightly to the men, while the four mystical sorcerers placed their right hands on their chests and gestured to the king of the sand sea. Under the gaze of the Sand King, they each walked to their positions, forming an oval that surrounded the huge Emerald Star—

This is the first step.

Barbartan looked at Albeni behind the four Warlocks, who also nodded to him to show that he was ready.

The Sand King took a soft breath.

“…… But why should we go to the Third World, Afifa, isn't that the work of explorers, adventurers, outlaws and madmen? ”

"Explorers, like your brother, may be acting for the sake of their ideals."

"But to put it mildly, Afifa, those adventurers, outlaws are actually a kind of people, and it is not too much to say that they are crazy, what is the difference between them and those gamblers who pan for gold in the Argo wilderness, who do not produce, only dream of getting rich overnight......"

"They have drunken dreams, but even if they are truly favored by Lady Luck, fortune that comes too easily changes hands and loses all their money at the table. I've seen too many gamblers, and they've suddenly gained momentum, and they're penniless in the blink of an eye, and many years later, and most of them are still on the move......"

The girl smiled: "Yes, there are such people, but they are them, and we are us." ”

She looked at the silver gravel, the white palace, the verdant palm grove and the rippling blue lake, and only gently looked at it all.

"See, Babaltan, this is your country, and I want it to live on, so that even after our deaths, for many generations, people will remember you—as a wise monarch."

Or, as a ...... A new era, a pioneer ......"

"Afifa?"

The girl looked back, "Remember what I told you a long time ago, Babaltan. I told you a secret—"

At that time, he only looked at each other with a little puzzlement - at his beloved lover.

And the girl whispered:

"Barbartan, our world, may not be able to hold up for too long."

It was an old story from a long, long time ago.

A thousand years ago—the Numerin Elves left to mortals perhaps not just a gift, but another precious hope.

“…… The third coming of the Calamity Star will bring complete destruction to this world, and perhaps it is for this reason that the elves have left this world......"

"So what the elves are looking for is a place where they can escape the war, and it may be the Third World, but it may also be another world that we don't know at all...... Even the legendary Land of Promise, maybe it'......"

"Barbartan, you know that place, right?"

That legendary name.

Eta.

"Babaltan ......"

"On top of that note, there are some things that we can't imagine......"

"The elves can't take away everyone in this world, and they can't take away the descendants of mortals who once fought side by side with them......"

"But they left a key."

"The key is hope."

"It's the secret contained in the holy relic—"

But there is no inheritance of holy relics in Istania.

But we have this, Afifa. The King of Sand gently brushed the emerald crystal in front of him with his hand, as affectionately as caressing the skin of a lover, and he silently stared at the old reflection on the crystal, with himself and the women around him, the familiar face, and even his own children.

Everyone he knew in his memory seemed to be written on this verdant wall, and history seemed to extend backwards in this reflection, and he gradually saw the past and future of this ancient kingdom, and the ancestors of the desert people rose from this land and single-handedly shaped all the glory of the past.

He also saw the future, where majestic buildings, tall palaces, and white vaults sprung up in the unknown land, and where his descendants, the descendants of the Istanians, would continue on that land forever, the end of the world and of time.

And that's all she longs to see.

It is what they are all seeking, another kind of eternity.

The raging fire of life burned in the chest of the old king, as if it would rush out at any time. It's just that his over-exerted hands seem to be a little pale, as if they have lost their blood color, and the back of his hand has some gray color.

He finally made up his mind, turned around again, and spoke slowly:

"Albenny, you will preside over this ceremony."

This is what was written on the note, the second step-

But Seneman in front of everyone was slightly stunned, and his face changed and he said, "Wait, Your Majesty, I should preside over the ceremony here." ”

But as soon as he finished speaking, there was a sharp thud, and a slender blade rested on his neck. The chill from the blade made Seneman immediately get goosebumps on Seneman's wrinkled skin, and the old man was slightly startled, but his expression quickly calmed down.

He looked grimly at the blade, the hand holding the sword behind the handle was young and powerful, it was a sword fighter in his early twenties, the other party didn't even look at him, his eyes only stared faintly ahead. Next to the young man was another young man, who Seineman happened to recognize.

The former president of the Cowlin-Ishurian Southern Alliance, one of the Ten Kings in the mouth of the Chosen One, that man was called Ye Hua, a very strange name. But the names of the Chosen are hardly unstrange to them.

Except, of course, for some people -

For example, 'Ed' is so ordinary and unremarkable.

Somehow, such a name popped into Seneman's mind. However, he lowered his gaze to look at the sword resting around his neck, and although his face was gloomy, he did not say a word.

His calmness made Ye Hua glance in this direction with a slight surprise, but it was just a glance, the task had been completed, this was their last obligation to the King of Sand. The mission of the Chosen to come to this world is to take away the information of Starlight, and the Stargate Declaration binds their words and actions, and they cannot get too deeply involved in this world.

In this regard, the Super Athletic League has gone a little too far.

The actions of the Chosen ones apparently caused a commotion among the courtiers.

It's just that the guards guarding the perimeter of the hall seem to have no sight of this scene, just motionless, like stone sculptures.

This strange atmosphere made the ministers unable to move, and of course they could not come up to hold grievances for this minister, because the King of Sand had not yet spoken. What's more, looking at the current scene, the ministers seemed to quickly sense something, and they looked at the gloomy Seineman one by one, and suddenly realized something.

Those who were close to Minister Zuo took a step back without even a trace, although people had not yet guessed for a while how this Minister Zuo had provoked the King of Sand.

Everyone's eyes couldn't help but look at the center of the hall—

But Babartan didn't even care about this direction.

There was only the huge crystal in his eyes at the moment, the reflection in the jade, which seemed to attract all his attention. The little patience he had was only on the mystic sorcerer on the side:

"Albenny?"

"The minister is here."

Albeni watched this scene silently, and then took his staff from the hand of the waiter on the side, and then walked up step by step.

This is the second step.

……

The square plover emerged from the bushes in a bit of a daze.

He looked back and found that the bird-fleshed banshees had really vanished, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After checking his condition first, Fang Yu looked at the split sleeve on one side of his side, and was a little speechless for a while—this was given to him by Sylvide, and he hadn't worn it for long—but fortunately, apart from this loss, he hadn't suffered any injuries.

There was a rustling sound in the forest, and the others came out of the bushes one by one. It seems that after a battle royale, everyone's image is a little not good, but fortunately, no one cares about this at the moment. Everyone was checking their condition and equipment to see if they had lost anything in the battle.

"This place is really weird." Luo Hao couldn't help muttering.

Fang Yu nodded.

Not to mention that it's rare for a bird-bodied banshee to be so congregated in one place, and it's confusing to see how they vanished and disappeared without a trace just as soon as they landed.

But it was obviously not a phantom, after all, the previous battle was real.

Fortunately, except for some abrasions, bruises and other skin injuries, no one was too badly injured in the previous fierce battle.

They soon found the 'dying' Paparals behind a bush of grass—

However, after Fang Yu walked over, he found that this guy with his belly was actually just lying there and pretending to be dead - the other party was even better than the others, and even his hair was not messy - so he couldn't help but kick it: "Don't pretend to be dead." ”

And before he could reach his feet, Parker had already hurried up first.

The Paparal man screamed as he got to his feet, "...... Holy, you threw me down from such a high place and didn't let me lie here and get hurt for a while...... I want to complain to Xingmen Port! ”

Fang Yu couldn't help but laugh: "What's it called, it's not that I didn't give you a gliding backpack." ”

Paparal's eyes widened, and he waved a pair of small short hands angrily: "But you don't see how terrible those bird-bodied banshees are!?" ”

"They have a natural interest in falling things," Fang Yu said with a smile, "Isn't it up to you and Mr. Alfonde to help distract them so that the others can land safely, and as long as you do what I say, there will be no problem." ”

"Look, aren't you all right?"

"But an innocent Paparal, whose heart has been greatly damaged, you have lost your king of the Night Thieves."

So Fang Yu finally used a big meal to soothe the wounded heart of the 'Night Thief King', and over there, Kita and Luo Yu also found the halfling, Mr. Alfonde. The latter didn't have so many things to do with the Paparals, only patted the dust on his body, and walked over to the other party and smiled bitterly:

"Although it is my responsibility this time, can you not let me do this kind of work next time?"

"To be honest, I'm actually a little bit afraid of heights—"

"Afraid of heights?"

Fang Yu looked at this guy, he was afraid of heights and was on the boat?

Alfonde spread his hands a little helplessly: "Captain, this is the reason why I retired...... If it weren't for the fact that Her Royal Highness the Princess was a big patron......"

Fang Yu was also a little speechless, and couldn't help but wonder if this was another sense of asking for money and dying.

However, at this time, Pasha, who had not spoken, suddenly asked a key question: "...... When we get back, how are we going to return the boat to Her Royal Highness the Princess? ”

There was a moment of silence.

Fang Yu looked at the tattered dinghy hanging on the trees over there, thought for a while, and thought that this should be regarded as a successful landing...... Should?

He subconsciously looked at Afifa on the side, but found that the little princess was holding the wood carving, still bowing her head and not saying a word. Looking at the other party's appearance, Fang Yuan's intention to make a joke in his heart to ease the atmosphere was also much lighter, he couldn't help but sigh and give everyone a look:

"Let's go to the Sand King first."

"Alfonde, sir, do you know the way?"

"Of course."

This time, the halfling was very sure.

It's just that before everyone left, Luo Yu walked over with Ji Ta, and the box also followed behind the two.

"Ed," Luo Yu said in a low voice, "Before we came over here, we saw some people......"

"Some?"

Fang Yu was slightly stunned and couldn't help but look at the other party.

Luo Yu only nodded slightly.

……