When Gladyse Archibald awoke from her stupor, the smoke had cleared.

What happened –

The glow of the fire crystals lit up the long night, and all she could see was patches of ruins and devastated land.

Where is this?

Subconsciously gave birth to such a question, and the blonde lady couldn't help but be silent.

- She knows the answer.

Here, this ruin, is Hemtika.

It's just that...... What kind of terrible battle had torn the city apart, so shattered? was it the monster I'd seen before, the evil, the tyrannical, the muddy, the terrifying monster?

Gladys wanted to connect with others through a spiritual network.

But there was silence.

It's not that there are no others alive, but it's ...... Her spirit has long been overwhelmed, even such a small thing as connecting the spirits of other people can't be done, weak like a mother who has just experienced childbirth, no matter how strong she beats her spirit, it is difficult to defeat weakness and hardship.

Fortunately, however, the Glory's innate physical strength has not been compromised.

Even if it is only about appearance, she is just a slender lady who stays at home, but her physical fitness in all aspects is far above ordinary people.

Pushing through a low wall pressed against her chest, the eldest lady of the Archibald family gasped heavily.

Then put your hands on the ground and straighten your waist.

- The sensation in the lower body is very weak, numb and crispy, and it makes people not want to move.

"I'm going to have my leg amputated later," Perhaps in normal times, Gladys would lazily obey her mind and rest well on this unclean and unconstrained gravel bed, but now that the situation is still unclear, she has no right to be willful, "It's really lucky......

As she spoke, she bit her lip: "I hope Hemtika is just as lucky." ”

Standing up from the ground as stiff as a broken rag doll, Gladyse Archibald habitually patted the dust off her body, her eyes paused slightly on the tattered and bloodstained dress, and then sighed softly, stopped the useless movements of her hands, and simply moved her legs.

After a while, I officially started.

Trembling, trembling—no different from seventy or eighty-year-old grandfathers and grandmothers, and even the arc of their steps is much greater than theirs.

Damage to the image.

The girl couldn't help but think of this, and then the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she said without self-deprecation: "Until now, no one cares about the image." ”

There are people alive, but not many.

There were about 700 glorious people who had logged into her spiritual network, and now...... The spiritual light points that have not yet been completely extinguished are only two or three hundred, maybe a little more, maybe a little less, but it is probably this number, and there will be no big error.

In other words, at least half of the people will return to dust and sleep forever.

There must have been many faces she was familiar with—even her father and mother.

Gladys's expression was slightly gloomy, but that was all, since the war with the Chaos Sect had begun, the rare parting of life and death in the past had become the norm, but in just a few days, she had nearly ten familiar elders and peers who could speak buried in the cold and dark underground of Hemtika.

She had long been prepared for death.

It's just that...... The intensity of the war was far beyond her expectations.

- I don't know, I still see a few familiar faces after this war is over.

The eldest lady of the Archibald family thought bitterly, after all, she could not build a spiritual network, and she did not even know if the war was over, let alone anything else.

All Gladyse could do was stubbornly hold on to her steps, marching in the direction where most of her spiritual light points converged—whatever hope or despair awaited her there, she would accept it with ease.

After all, it couldn't have been any worse.

However, it wasn't until she was only 100 meters away from her destination that she clearly knew what it meant to deceive herself.

- Stopped in front of the pit of the Temple of Hephaestus.

Hesitation, hesitation, inability to make a choice-

She did not dare to face the cold and cruel reality.

At the end of the day, she's just a girl in her early twenties, a girl who hasn't experienced the rigors of the world.

But there's no going back to the way things were.

People have to grow after all.

No matter how unwilling she is to face reality, she must learn to face it.

Silence, silence, silence.

After a long silence, she finally handed in the answer sheet with her own actions.

Even if you don't hesitate and cower, it is not so complete, but at least it is progress and improvement.

Maybe it's fate that rewards her-

When I stepped into the middle of the ruins of the temple of Hephaestus, at the bottom of the pit that had obviously collapsed, I couldn't help but lose my mind slightly when I noticed the faint but unusually striking orange-red flames in the crowd.

This is......

Tinder?

Doubts arise as a matter of course.

If it is not a fire, how can it not be eroded by the deep night and burn, but if it is a real fire, how can it be so weak? so bleak?

"What's going on?"

After a brief moment of distraction, she inquired about the Glory Ones beside her.

However, the other party was just a shrug of his shoulders.

"Please be quiet. ”

And just as she was puzzled, a slightly familiar voice silenced the chatter - it was a teenager who spoke - Gladys knew him, his name was Amy Ulysses, the eldest son of the Ulysses family, and the Glorious Descendant suspected of possessing rare prophetic abilities.

"Dagon has been taken by me. ”

The first sentence after calming the scene was the first to speak, and the black-haired and black-eyed teenager became the focus of everyone's attention at this moment: "Although there have been several ups and downs, we have won the final victory." ”

The skeptical, probing, and incredulous gaze focused on him, and if it was Duke Goldsworthy, probably everyone would cheer and rejoice for it, and share the joy of victory with everyone around him, but Amy Ulysses is only an innocuous minor character in the circle of the Honorables, even if most people know that the Ulysses family has such a person, but ...... Who would believe the words of a young man under twenty, especially when what he says is so big and so widespread.

Fortunately...... For this scene, the teenager was mentally prepared.

"I know that many of you don't trust me, and have considerable misgivings about what I just said," his gaze swept over the dozens of Honorable Ones gathered here before pausing slightly, "but this is the truth, the irrefutable fact - in the name of Amy Ulysses, in the name of the High Priest of the Temple of Hephaestus, I can guarantee this, you can believe it or not, I don't care, and I won't interfere, just be sure to be quiet, even if you want to leave, please don't interfere with the judgment of others." ”

"High Priestess?"

Someone rudely interrupted the boy's speech with disdainful words.

"That's right, it's me. Amy said calmly, looking at the glorious man in front of her with a cold temperament and a feminine appearance, "Any opinions?"

"Of course," said the unknown Honoree, straightening his clothes, "you say you are the high priest of the temple of Hephaestus, have you notarized by the council, have you received the approval of a majority of the councilmen? if not—your status has no legal effect at all, but only a top hat you put on yourself. ”

He sneered disdainfully.

"But the mountain monkey of Ulysses, who also wants to get his hands on the sacred scepter of Hemtika?"

"I think," Amy Ulysses was unfurnished by his taunts, and her tone was as calm and indifferent as ever, "you've mistaken something—"

"The High Priest was never chosen without the opinion of the Council, and there was only one condition that had to be met from the beginning to the end, and that was to be recognized by the Kindling. ”

"What are you kidding, the fire has long been extinguished!" and did not get angry, the spoiler pointed out the well-known facts, "There will be no more ...... High priest too. ”

His voice was bitter.

"yes, not anymore. The boy sighed softly, and the cluster of orange-red flames floating in the air swayed with his steps, "Because, I have already decided—to abandon the plan to solidify the first flame and light the fire of Hemtika." ”

"Say it as if you can do it. Another voice said, sarcastic.

In any case, using the Divine Flame as a ladder to climb up is something that is unacceptable to the Descendants of Glory in Hemtika.

"Of course I can do it," Amy, however, doesn't seem to realize it and goes her own way, "but Hemtika can't afford it." ”

"Can't afford the price, what are you kidding!" the Honorable One, unable to control his emotions, rushed forward and grabbed him by the collar and let out a gnarl of dissatisfaction, "Do you know what Tinder means? It means hope! It means civilization! It means that we don't need to cross the dangerous deep night, sacrifice our comrades and robes under the siege of demons. ”

"Four hundred and thirty-seven—" The boy said in a cold voice.

"You, say, what, what?" Naturally, he couldn't extinguish the anger of the other party with any words he couldn't understand, and he still held his collar and looked at the young man with a vicious gaze, "What do you say, four hundred and thirty-seven." ”

However, from those dark eyes, all he got was shock.

Or rather, horror.

"The number of living sacrifices is needed, and the number of glorious ones is needed. ”

Amy gave the answer, the brutal answer.

Four hundred and seventy-three is not a small number, and the lives of this number of Glorious Ones are an unaffordable number even for Hemtika in his heyday, let alone whether there are four hundred Glorious Ones alive at this moment in this ruined city.

"There's a limit to joking—"

As he said this, his fierce expression gradually softened, and the hand holding Amy's collar couldn't help but let go.

- There is no need to deceive, let alone lie.

For the flame was with him.

The irascible Glory Ones confirmed this, and once again felt the throbbing of the blood in their bodies - they, the reason why they, dozens or even nearly a hundred Glory Descendants, gathered here was precisely because they felt the call of the blood in their bodies to them, and felt the call of the fire to them.

- That's hunger and thirst.

- Chew them all and swallow their hunger.

Realizing the nature of the source of the bloodline's call, he shuddered.