The scorching, humid air filled Joseph's side.

The skin was surrounded by hot gas, just like in a sauna, and the sweat was dripping down, and the back was completely soaked. Even his eyeballs became slightly hot, and his vision was enveloped in steam, blurring his vision. It's like putting your face on top of boiling water.

It was only after entering the City of Wealth that Joseph truly realized that the city had been destroyed.

The diluted glow of the flame is still heating up a month later. Although the heat was no longer able to ignite anything, it was still hotter than normal boiling water.

Joseph did not wade into the water, he used a secret method to erase his own weight, condensed into a film on the golden water, and slightly sunk the weight that supported him, like a water strider jumping on the water in summer.

If he accidentally fell into it, Joseph had no doubt that his feet and calves would be burned. But he has the confidence to walk on any water without relying on any props.

Treading water is the skill of every veteran stalker, and even if Joseph has abandoned his former beliefs, his fifty-plus years in Nicks' church have not been in vain. That ability has long since turned into instinct, and I can't forget it if I want to.

Like every nostalgic old man, Joseph inexplicably remembered the last time he saw Kakarite. It wasn't too long before he first met Roland, who goes by the pseudonym "Orlando".

At that time, Kakarit suffered severe burns to the back of his neck. His neck was cracked and dripping with blood. There were two rings of grayish-black marks with blood crusts near the wound, and there were blisters nearby. It has even begun to drain pus.

The wound was like being burned with a soldering iron and sprinkled with salt - or a roasted, red-hot iron collar.

At that time, Kakarit's nails were violently removed with pliers. The phalanges of two of the fingers were also crudely crushed, and three fingers were pierced with rusty nails. I just can't live.

If it weren't for Roland, I'm afraid he really wouldn't have survived.

Joseph sighed deeply.

From this point of view, it is not incomprehensible to Joseph that Cacarit has become Roland's loyal dog. But understanding and agreeing are two different things.

Maybe the two used to have a good relationship, but now that they have embarked on different paths, the two are no longer on the same path.

…… Speaking of which, at that time, he and Kakarit were still good friends.

Joseph's footsteps slowed gradually, and the corners of his mouth, which were always stiff, curled up slightly.

At that time, I was sixty-seven years old. Joseph was not yet forty years old, and was nothing more than a child in his own eyes.

Joseph remembered that Kakarit had a seven-year-old daughter who was very cute—and he showed Joseph a picture of the child.

But now......

"He hasn't been home in three years......

Joseph muttered in a voice that only he could hear.

"It's not a good idea. It's all fathers, and they still act so impulsively......"

As if he were the same old man he had been, Joseph, who was now young, rebuked in a stern voice the man who was not in front of him at the moment.

But before he could finish speaking, Joseph's words were inexplicably choked.

A terrible truth came to Joseph's mind at this moment, which he did not want to ponder.

…… If I hadn't met Roland then, what would I do now?

Joseph's mind couldn't help but imagine.

If you don't meet Roland. Then I won't give my faith to the Sleeping Teacher, then I will still be a believer in Nix.

If he hadn't died in Roland's burning of the City of Fortune, he would have followed the army to the White Tower, become one of the Marauders—and die at the hands of Elukado.

After dealing with Elukado. Joseph knew how terrible that seemingly harmless and graceful maiden was.

If she is a "wicked person", then she is a real "monster".

Joseph was not afraid of Roland, but not so much of Elukado.

Just looking at her. Joseph could have felt the chills. Like a shadow that will be swallowed up by night, the darkness has no power to fight back against the greater darkness.

As long as she's there. Joseph did not dare to betray Roland openly.

Joseph suddenly felt as if his spirit had grown younger with his body.

If you put it a year ago. I hadn't met Roland myself, I hadn't become younger, and I didn't have so many ideas. Joseph Sr. lived in a gloomy, prosaic, and contented world. No matter how much the world changes, it doesn't have much to do with him, and he won't live long anyway, his only wish is to raise Roland into the kind of person he dreamed of.

However, as he became younger, Joseph betrayed his old self.

Although his actions still have the shadow of the past, as his body becomes younger, Joseph's lust. There has also been a significant increase in hope. His actions began to become radical, his thoughts became unrealistic, and he began to shout about his "dreams".

When did this change?

For a moment, Joseph lost his mind.

He stood quietly in the very center of the city, looking at the world that had become as golden as dusk under the morning light, and began to reflect on what he had done.

Exactly, what the hell do I ......

But before he could begin to think, he felt what seemed to be shaking violently under his feet, and strong ripples appeared on the golden water.

A violent sense of crisis swept through Joseph's body. His superior perception was desperately warning him.

The feeling of being targeted by a ferocious predator made Joseph feel a chill from the sweat on his back. The hairs on his body tensed for a moment, and the clogged sweat made Joseph feel uncomfortable.

――What the hell!?

The next moment, almost instinctively, Joseph leaped behind him, just in time to avoid the attack from under his feet.

Pure white vines with golden veins—if a vine the size of a bucket could be called a vine—rose from under Joseph's feet, tearing the air apart from the water, and the golden boiling water made a loud roar that set off a fountain of waves.

Joseph only had time to cover his eyes with his hands before he was splashed with boiling golden water.

Then, with a manic hiss, huge oak rose from the water. Known as the "Tree of Suffering?" The druid, who always had a mild-mannered face, waved his vines almost in a rage, whipping everything around him like crazy.

Joseph was at a loss.

…… I don't think I attacked him, did I? How did I mess with him?

"Wait, Mr. Arkham......"

As soon as Joseph's words had been spoken, the scarlet eyes stared at him fiercely, as if confirming the murderer, and several vines struck him mercilessly from all directions.

For a moment, Joseph's heart was filled with anger.

and if they don't provoke you, the good ones will take people's lives......

"Unreasonable wild dogs...... Is it? ”

Joseph's words also became cold.

In his eyes, the silver-gray flame gradually ignited. (To be continued.) )