4 Phantom of the Desert

Located in the eastern part of the Spright Empire, the Desert is a large desert that stretches east to the coastline of the mainland. From a distance, the endless desert resembles a golden ocean, the sun shines brightly, and the ten thousand points of light shine brightly, making it extraordinarily beautiful – but don't forget that its name includes "Desperate Situation".

Like the Misty Jungle, the Desperate Desert is also a terrifying existence, and it is said that after entering the depths of the desert, humans will completely lose their sense of direction, and even the compass they carry will fail, so they will get lost until they die. So what exactly lies in the depths of the desperate desert has always been a mystery. Fortunately, the desert is not very attractive to humans, and it is not as deceptive as the Misty Jungle, so there is no risk as long as you stay away.

Many of Spellet's eastern cities and villages are located on the edge of a desperate desert, and apart from occasional sandstorms, the desert does not bring any danger or contingency to people's lives, and the desert itself has never expanded. So next to the Desperate Desert, there is a main road along the edge of the desert that connects the southeast and northeast of the empire. If you start from Anseson and follow this road, you will reach the town of Windwalk, which is located in the northeast of the empire.

However, the road is now in trouble. An Imperial army tasked with supporting the city of Anseison has lost its mark on this road, alerting the Duke of Risson. Rumors followed, such as "a mysterious sandstorm", "ghosts in the desert", and "remnants of djinn hiding in the desert...... After the Djinn crisis, people are becoming more and more vulnerable, sensitive, and timid, and in the face of the endless unknown, there is no better way than to bravely reveal the truth.

At night on September 21, 1805 in the imperial calendar, a giant eagle flew from north to south over this road. The giant eagle soared high in the sky, drawing a straight trajectory, and experienced people can see that this giant eagle was transformed by a magician through transformation magic, and a real eagle rarely flies in a straight line, more often it hovers and flies.

Along the road to the south, a blue flame rushed into the sky, like a flea suddenly rising on the flat ground, standing out above the empty desert and plains, yet so small. The blue light rose rapidly, and the faint light released its power vigorously, and in just a moment, the firelight withered, leaving no trace in the sky.

The pale blue flame was a common distress signal for the Spellet Empire, which could be launched into the sky with specially made arrows or released with magic.

The eagle noticed the flame that was rising into the clouds, but it did not change direction and continued to fly in a straight line, and under the cover of the night, the eagle soared silently, and no one would notice it. In a few moments, another beam of the same blue flame dragged a long tail flame into the air, and disappeared in an instant, just like the previous one...... But this time, the Giant Eagle changed direction.

At the edge of the desperate desert, Captain Martin was very remorseful, he and his team were already in trouble, although there was no need to worry about getting lost at the edge of the desert, but the test of life and death in front of him continued, his trembling hands held the giant axe, sweat continued to flow down his forehead, wetting his armor. The light of the torches illuminated the three men behind him, a middle-aged female magician in a white robe, a soldier with a musket in his hand and heavy rattan armor, and a ranger with a short bow and a long sword in his hand, and a scruffy beard. Their equipment is emblazoned with the roots of trees on a white background - this is the symbol of the Wanyuan Sect, and they are the church soldiers sent by the Wanyuan Sect in Anseson City to investigate.

A gust of wind blew, rolling up a little sand, and the four of them watched the movement around them vigilantly, and they all looked very nervous. "It's coming again!" The four were ready for battle.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the surrounding area was covered with a grayish-yellow patch, and it was still extending and growing in all directions, obscuring the moonlight and the firmament...... there. The Ranger pointed in the direction in front of him, lowered his bow from his back, drew his bow, and aimed at a few faint black figures in the grayish yellow.

"Whoosh-" An arrow was fired, and a dark shadow dissipated, but more shadows slowly appeared. In the chaos, black figures surrounded the soldiers of the church, and slowly surrounded and advanced towards them. "Damn!" Martin cursed, "When is it over?" Don't let them get close, attack! With the order, muskets, bows and arrows, and magic began to attack the surrounding black shadows, and the sound of muskets rang out rhythmically, and the rows of black shadows dissipated in response, but they still couldn't stop the black shadows from continuing to approach.

As the shadows emerged from the chaos and gray, their figures became clear: they were all black, unable to tell what kind of equipment they were wearing, and in their hands they held weapons and shields that looked like brass and iron, at least as recognizable as their outlines, and a handful of bows and arrows, but the wood on them had long since decayed. Strangely, their faces were still blurred, as if they were a dark fog that obscured them from what they really were—or that black fog was their true face. When they were hit, they dissipated in an instant and disappeared without a trace, leaving only the tattered equipment on their bodies to fall in the sand, which would soon be buried by the wind and sand......

"Hold on until dawn!" Captain Martin encouraged his comrades, and then he instructed the sorceress, "Send another signal, what if someone nearby can come and help?" The sorceress cast blue flame magic into the sky again, this distress signal she had already sent twice just now.

"Whoosh-whoosh-" Bows and arrows were shot out of the shadows, and the four of the Church defended themselves against them using their weapons and the defensive magic unleashed by the sorceress. "Ah!!h Two arrows grazed Martin's face and his arm, respectively, and he cried out in pain. Seeing that the captain was wounded, the other three continued to try to deal with the attack of the black shadow, and if they relaxed a little, they would all be wiped out.

After the sun sets, whenever the wind rises, the sand and dust are filled, and the black shadows will appear and attack them, although they have repelled the siege of the black shadows many times just now, but the ammunition in their hands is about to run out, and their physical strength is close to overdrawn, I don't know how long this black shadow's attack will last.

The shadows were still around, and they could even smell the rot on the tattered equipment......

Suddenly, an even larger black shadow fell from the sky, knocking down many black shadows in front of the four of them, and the four of them saw that it was a giant eagle, but quickly realized that the giant eagle was actually a magician. The giant eagle stood firm, flailing its wings, slowly blowing away the gray and chaos around it, and the black shadow slowly disappeared, finally merging into the desert beneath its feet.

Only the Eagle and the four soldiers of the Church remained, still vigilant and watchful for movements. The silhouette of the giant eagle gradually changed to a human form - the magician wind chime appeared in front of the four of them.

Captain Martin excitedly stepped forward and thanked him: "Thank you so much for coming to support us, we are about to die." As she spoke, she saluted the wind chimes, and the other three bowed to her in thanks.

"No need to be polite. Why don't you run away when you're attacked? If you are surrounded here, sooner or later you will die of exhaustion. Wind Chimes asked the people of the church, reproach in their voices.

The magician of the church quickly explained: "It's also our fault, we have to spend the night in the desert, and now we can't see the stars and the moon in the sky, and we can't judge the direction, so we decided to stay until dawn." If you run away rashly, it will be even more dangerous to get lost. This answer clearly convinced the wind chime, and she said, "Then you follow me, I know the direction." ”

Hearing the words of the wind chime, Captain Martin smiled and thanked the wind chime, hoping that she would lead the way immediately. The wind chimes point in one direction and signal everyone to move forward. So, the four of them began to move according to the marching queue, still on alert at all times.

Captain Martin lit the torches again, and the previously lit torches were extinguished during the battle. The fire shone on the group, and everyone could see each other's faces clearly. The heavy rattan armor soldier caught the attention of the wind chime: this rattan armor was unusually tall, and I don't know whether it was because the person wearing it was burly or because the rattan armor itself was bloated and bulky, but this person moved freely and was not constrained by the wide armor at all. What's even more exaggerated is that this rattan armor is also equipped with a rattan hood, with a rattan mask, covering the entire head, and you can't see the appearance of the people inside at all, and even the hands are wearing thick leather gloves, which is completely closed. But what really attracts the wind chimes is the family crest printed on the front of the rattan armor - a white shield on a red background.

A long but familiar surname came to the mind of Wind Chimes -

"White Shield...... People of the Akayi family? ”