November 13th. The same day that the girl and the Lord of the Black met.

The capital of the Okade Federation, Floating Sands.

It's a young city. The great Lord of the Falcons, Nicholas Best, built this incredible city in the endless desert almost out of nothing, and moved the capital of the Federation here. It's like a gigantic ship that sails atop the endless sandy seas of Okad.

Nearly 70 percent of Okad's land is barren tundra and desert. For millennia, the Okad people used the "sand boat" – a type of boat that could travel through the desert – to travel between oases and settlements in the sand sea, but even the inventor of the "sand boat" and the leader of the confederation of the eastern continents a thousand years ago failed to establish such a majestic city in the desert. Thousands of years have passed, and the loose union of nations has become a federation, but the great desert has still not been conquered. Until the Lord of the Falcon, Nicholas Best, appeared.

The majestic Floating Sand City marks the Okadian people's conquest of nature. However, to the displeasure of the Okadians, the city of wonders did not win the world's attention.

A few years before the city was built, one of the greatest mages ever built on the continent of Theerland—perhaps only the legendary pioneer who founded the French kingdom of Elrios could rival him—the Black Lord Palamedes founded his Black Floating City. Compared to his Sky City, the Okadians are a little inferior to the Okad's Desert City. But many of the Okadians still consider the city to be the greatest city in the world. Every day, the floating sand city "rides the wind and waves" in the vast sea of sand in Okad, slowly moving forward.

In another day, Floating Sand City will stop at a small town on the edge of the desert. People who want to leave Floating Sand City will use it as a transit to travel to various places in Okad.

……

In a tavern in the city of floating sand.

The young and handsome Lieutenant General Armstrong was drinking sullen wine in solitude. He played a great role in the civil war, but the peaceful days made him feel lonely. It had been a long time since he had returned to his personal territory. His wife died in childbirth after a year of marriage to him, and the child died in less than two months, and he did not want to return to that sad place. Life in the capital is peaceful, training the recruits for the garrison, or occasionally helping the Speaker to teach disobedient officials. Lieutenant General Armstrong was not dissatisfied with such a life, but the whole joy of his life was in the adventure.

"Excuse me...... Your Excellency, I really didn't expect to bump into you here. Would you like to have a drink with you? ”

An old voice sounded behind itself. Lieutenant General Armstrong turned back. It was Major General Hoffman.

"Major General Hoffman. I don't dare to enjoy your honorific title...... Come, have a drink......"

In the war that passed, the old Hoffman always tried to give credit to the young. Many of the Federation's young generals benefited from him, and Armstrong was one of them. Hoffman refused any reward, and in the end, he reluctantly accepted the rank of major general and accepted a small piece of land in his hometown. In terms of virtue alone, Hoffman can be compared with several generals of the Federation.

Hoffman, with his sideburns, sat across from Armstrong. This was the first time the two had drunk together since the end of the Civil War.

"I'm afraid this is the last time I'll be in Floating Sand City," Hoffman said leisurely after three rounds of drinking, "I have made a will to be buried in my hometown when I die." ”

"Whatever you say, you will live a long life." Armstrong said repeatedly, but seeing the wrinkles on Hoffman's face, he couldn't help but feel a sense of tightness. Maybe the veterans are really running out of time.

"But I'd like to go," Hoffman shook his head and smiled, "but you, my friend, are not yet thirty years old, and why are you drinking here alone." ”

Armstrong drank the wine in his hand. He stared at the empty cup and was silent.

"With all due respect, friend, you shouldn't live in the shadow of a man all the time," said Hoffman, a veteran who knew Armstrong's experience, "and I've heard a lot of talk in the past few days in Floating Sands. ”

Armstrong was helpless: "I'm with Major General Lijie, right?" It's just a rumor. When some people saw that I was staying in Fusha City and not leaving, they began to talk nonsense. I should have cleaned them up a long time ago. ”

Major General Lijie is almost twenty years old, but she is not yet married. Her heroic appearance on the battlefield also made many young men fall in love with her...... It's a pity that Lijie can't even look at it.

"You should get out of this place," Hoffman reminded, "and there is no big battle to be fought, but it is not my duty to clean up the wandering bandits." ”

"Let's talk about it later," said Armstrong, who was already slightly drunk, "and who knows when we will fight the Elrios." ”

Hoffman sighed in his heart. is a good young general, but he has no fighting spirit at all.

"You say," Armstrong said, playing with the glass in his hand, "why can't a man be resurrected when he dies?" ”

"You can't come back to life after you die." Hoffman only said he was drunk.

"But...... I've heard that two thousand years ago, before the continents rose above the clouds," Armstrong said, staring straight at the glass, "and there were spells that could bring people back to life even when they died. ”

Hoffman's expression changed.

"What do you want to say, my friend?"

"Nothing. Two thousand years ago, the great gods lifted the continent to the clouds in order to save us from the suffering of the flood...... But I don't understand, if God really wants to protect us, why does God deprive us of the right to rise from the dead? ”

"You're drunk, Armstrong."

"I'm not drunk," Armstrong's eyes reddened, "I just don't get it." He glared sharply at the veteran, "Mr. Hoffman, you have lived longer than I have and are well-informed. You say...... Why is that? ”

Hoffman was speechless.

"You won't tell me," Armstrong cried, "you must know something, and you won't tell me." ”

"Armstrong, my friend," Hoffman said slowly, "we are soldiers. It's our job to fight. We shouldn't ...... There should be no fear of death. ”

"We are warriors, but my wife is not!" Armstrong exclaimed, drawing the eyes of the other guests in the tavern, "Why- we can live, but she must- no, why not me-"

Hoffman let out a long sigh.

"We are warriors, and all we can do is hold on to our weapons and fight, hoping for a glorious death," said the old warrior, "and why should we die?" Why can't you come back to life when you die? I believe that such a question is more important for those powerful mages and priests to know. Two thousand years, Armstrong. Those spellcasters must be eager to find out the secrets of life in the Cloud Age...... No one fears death more than the caster, and wants to hold the keys to eternal life and resurrection. But, Armstrong, two thousand years have passed, and they have gained nothing. Even the legendary Elrios and Okad themselves have not been able to overcome the limit of lifespan, nor have they heard of anyone who has survived death......"

Armstrong bowed his head and remained silent.

"Accept fate, my friend," Mr. Hoffman said, putting his hand on the young man's shoulder, "and that's our only option." ”

……

An hour later.

Staggering down the streets of the Floating City, Lieutenant General Armstrong walked in the direction of his mansion. The conversation with Hoffman did not untie the knots in his heart, but rather added to his sorrow.

"Huh?" Although he was drunk, Lieutenant General Armstrong's acumen for life and death on the battlefield still made Lieutenant General Armstrong aware of the looming danger.

"Who is it? Come out! He shouted to the alley behind him. He wasn't scared at all. He carries his short knife with him, and he can easily take it down even if there are ten people on the other side.

However, when Lieutenant General Armstrong saw the man emerging from the shadows, he was shocked.

It was a black-haired man dressed in a white priest's robe and wearing a silver-white mask. Armstrong was well acquainted with him, and he was the Speaker's confidant and most important agent. A few days ago, the Speaker of Parliament ordered himself, Major General Hoffman, and others to protect him and deter many parliamentarians. Armstrong was not convinced by this strange man of unknown origin, but he had no opinion.

"I, Armstrong, have never offended you," Armstrong was awake seven or eight points after realizing that the other party might be a powerful spellcaster, "Or is it the church that thinks of me?" Sneaking around people doesn't fit your teachings, right? ”

The black-haired man shook his head.

"It's not bad for you," the masked man said in his strange awkward lingua franca, "and Yu is very grateful for what you said in the tavern. ”

"You've been eavesdropping on us." Armstrong's face changed slightly. But he also felt ...... The visitor does not seem to have malicious intent.

"I'm on my way, on the orders of the Lord," said the masked man, his strange tone making Armstrong uncomfortable to hear, "There's something I should tell you." ”

"Let your beloved, the way to return from the abyss of death."