Gwen herself wasn't sure if she wanted to entertain the injured young man. But at the same time, what's the downside? Of course, she can be called for dinner, and that's not a big deal. Ever since she came into this world, she no longer feels like an ordinary woman. Isn't this the most mundane thing for a girl?

"Of course," she replied quickly, not wanting to appear hesitant maybe tonight?"

"Yes...... Yes, please!" Tucko stammered. There was a palpable sense of relief on his face. "I'll make a reservation!"

She wanted to say that the local bar didn't accept reservations, but didn't want to embarrass the boy.

"Hmph," Rhodes muttered, hinting that he would beat Taco hard in the future.

"Takahashi, if you don't take up our time, we're going to the protection station. ”

"You're right, Mr. Rhodes!" Tacco turned happily and jumped onto Gwen's mare. "I'll see you back in town tonight! I'll go to the bar at seven o'clock!"

The long drive to Shield Station was as dull as Gwen had expected. The monotonous landscape stretches as far as the eye can see – endless dwarf bushes, with the occasional sigh as her gums drag on the waterless riverbed.

Then, like a black finger pointing to the sky, the shield station appeared. Like an ominous obelisk, the building stretches until they can see its obsidian base embedded in the earth.

About a hundred meters from his destination, Rhodes drove 4 out of 4 to a parking spot.

"Something is wrong," the farmer muttered that there were no guards, and that someone should be coming to stop us now. ”

Gwen felt it too, feeling a premonition that something was in trouble. The last time they visited a shield station near the Royal National Park, they were surrounded by a dozen mages who checked every panel on the school bus.

"Let's go on foot," she suggested Mr. Dourouz, could you stay?"

"Don't worry, girl. "I'll be there soon," Rhodes assured the girls.

The two left the carriage.

Out of an abundance of caution, Deborah makes extensive use of a wide variety of self-buffs, from increased strength to Shar Pei to magic weapons.

Next to the transformer, Gwen fixed the sunscreen. She herself has nothing at all, and Deborah is not skilled enough to strengthen others.

After that, with Deborah's attention, the girls walked towards the appropriate station. After confirming that they were within range of the divination tower, Gwen left a message on the phone, and they moved on.

"Opa, we've arrived. No one greeted us at the gate. We're going to go in and investigate. ”

After a minute there was no response, and the girls continued.

The gate to the compound is a giant steel gate three meters high. Deborah slowly pushed it open, exerting more force, and as it moved back, it shuddered, revealing a gap just big enough for the two of them to enter.

Inside the compound, there is still no trace of the inhabitants. There must be something wrong, though the girls don't see anything out of the ordinary. Now in the courtyard, they study the legendary shield station. Unlike the power station, the power station is only a transit station in this remote green area.

Still, there should be a team of opponents present, perhaps even a rotating shapeshifter. Inland areas often have hot and humid storms, which means there is a constant process of replacing worn parts.

The entrance to the shielded room is a set of double doors with inscriptions and wards with inscriptions, creating an extreme prejudice against uninvited guests. Now, the doors are a little ajar, and their warning signs are cold and quiet.

"Let me try. ”

Deborah raised a hand, sending out a swirl of ever-changing sand. The sand sculpture snaws its way towards the door, pushing against the obsidian surface. There was a hinged screaming sound in protest as it slowly moved inward, but there was no reaction to Ward's magic.

It was pitch black inside.

"What should we do?" asked Deborah.

"Ariel!"

The mink landed at lightning speed and struck a heroic pose.

"Go and see if there's any danger. ”

Ariel looked at its owner suspiciously.

"Please. ”

"Oops!"

The mink stuck its head into the gap between the doors, its pupils dilated to absorb the dim light. When Ariel entered, a greasy black buttonnose sniffed her surroundings, bouncing around from time to time, paying attention to this and that.

"Oops, hey, hey, hey!"

"What is it talking about?" Deborah asked, impressed by Gwen's versatility.

Gwen tried to deal with the connection she was emphasizing. Unfortunately, her mink has limited intelligence and is unable to convey intelligence in an understandable way. "I think it's safe to go in. ”

"Huh!" Mink glanced at Gwen triumphantly.

Again, Deborah grabbed the point as they entered the atrium.

It was too dark inside for the girls to see.

"Dancing lights. ”

Gwen let half a dozen or so pigtails into the room.

Her spell soon illuminates her surroundings and illuminates the unspeakable horror within.

"God, Gwen. Deborah swallowed.

"Oh my gosh. Gwen suppressed a gag.

It's as if someone has made a floor mural of a human corpse. There was dust everywhere, and each surface was at least an inch thick. Covered in the abstraction of gray matter, the girls could see intertwined human shapes, twisted in a terrifying gesture before their lives expired.

Deborah took a step back and bumped into Gwen.

At the same time, Gwen felt an uncanny sense of déjà vu.

Dust—the feeling of death and decay;

"Those people ... They're all dead......" Deborah said, obviously. Gwen had to remind herself that, unlike herself, this was the first time Deborah had met the victim of a mysterious murder.

In contrast, she not only saw the body, but was responsible for it.

Gwen tried to push over, but Deborah grabbed her arm.

"They're dead, Gwen! they're dead!"

"Shhhh It's okay, Debbie. Let me pass. I need to check it out. ”

Deborah turned around and looked at her with a look of disbelief.

"Of course ... You can't touch them?!"

"I may need to touch them, yes. ”

"Gwen! No! you can't!"

Gwen squeezed her companion's arm tightly.

Without saying a word, Deborah stepped aside.

Gwen knelt on the ground and got a better look at the humans encased in fossil powder. She carefully brushed her fingers over the face of one of the figures. Where her fingertips touched, the clumps of dust parted, revealing a woman who looked as if she had aged countless times in a matter of seconds. She had a sallow, shriveled complexion, and locks of hair were scattered across her fluffy scalp.

Negative energy expenditure - Gwen's heart sank. She had not only seen this power before, but had experienced it before. It is the power that draws from the fundamentals of the dust. Her mind was in a mess. Her master had said that mages rarely awakened to anything related to negative energy. The power of existence does not give the affinity of death to life that is still flowing.

Could it be Edgar? She turned her head. Is Edgar here? Or was it someone else's doing?

Gwen felt her breathing begin to quicken as she stood up from her corpse survey. The thought of having to face her attackers again gave her goosebumps. He was the first to be injured by Gwen's spell. When his emergency ring takes him to safety, she can still see his twisted, evil face twisted by hatred and malice. That man had been a psychic mage, and he had penetrated deeper into her mind than anyone else in this world. He touched her, not only to plunder her body, but also to her soul. He saw what was in her astral body, and her true self in the depths of her heart.

"Gwen, Gwen!" Deborah shook her shoulder.

"I'm fine," Gwen said, realizing she was covered in sweat.

"Let's go," Deborah supped, trembling.

"We need to go a little deeper," Gwen urged. She wondered if Edgar was really here. If that's the case, she'll have relatives and friends ready for him. This time, she will tell him something about negative energy.

Deborah stopped, reluctant to go down.

"Debbie—" Gwen was about to say that Deborah could stay up late while she went down with Ariel and Caliban, but her friend spoke first.

"No, I'll come along," Deborah said weakly. ”

Gwen nodded. She'd rather not do it alone.

"Debbie, before you call, I'm going to tell you something. ”

Deborah blinked.

"I suspect Edgar may have something to do with it. ”

The girl's face was pale.

"Yes, that Edgar. ”

Her hand moved over Deborah's abdomen. He dried her wounds, dried them out. The dust storm, the feeling of being invaded, is really fresh.

"I don't blame you, Debbie, if you want to stay here," Gwen chanted carefully, watching her friend's lips quiver. How could she blame Deborah if her friends couldn't face their most painful moments, and despite Deborah's shouting, the girl was only 16 years old and a child in Gwen's eyes. How could she let a child accompany her to danger?

"I'll go," Deborah declared firmly. Beneath her stubborn eyes, her joints were white and she was trembling.

Gwen nodded. "Wait a minute. ”

She took out the phone and dialed Su Ya's number again.

"Opa? It's Gwen. We were ...... at the station."

This time, the message was connected.

"Gwen, well, are you safe? What did you find?"

Ted Gwen explained that they suspected that Ted's body had dried up.

"You should leave right away!" Surya's voice was hoarse like a whip. "Fool girl, you're just students! Go find Rhodes and come back right away!"

"No, grandpa. Gwen's voice was serious and firm, and I want to confirm that Edgar is here. I'm going to face him. I can do it, Grandpa. I had Ariel and Kaliban by my side, and Deborah. ”

Su Ya roared. His granddaughter is too stubborn.

"Then promise me that you will be careful," Surya finally said to run if necessary. I'm going to tell Rhodes to drive the carriage over. ”

Gwen turned to Deborah.

"Let's go. ”

Her friend examined her body closely, then tilted her chin affirmatively.

The two walked through the atrium and the place where the bodies were displayed, and headed for the pit. Through a spiral staircase, the central section of the station goes deep into the core, searching for the Manly Line.

The girls put their hands on the railing and came down.

"Why is this place so ... Empty?" Deborah's voice trembled.

As high school students, they don't know what the pit at the shielding station should look like, but even they know what is wrong.

The textbook says that the relay should have a series of biological cores that are maintained by confessors. Together, they input the renunciation mana into a large shielded resonator. The resonator itself should be a huge crystal the size of a car. Its wavelength frequency resonance creates an invisible barrier between the two stations, repelling magical creatures by attacking their mana cores.

At the bottom, however, the girls realized that they were staring at nothing and could not see anything - where the crystal used to be huge, now there was only emptiness.

"Where did it go?" Deborah asked rhetorically.

Gwen had nothing to say. Crystals of this size weigh at least a ton. It is impossible to move it by hand. Someone had to first remove the core from the mooring system by overcoming its protective guards, and then store it in an oversized storage ring. As a medium-sized ring owner, she knows how much effort it takes to store items of a particular size and volume. The mana required to put an object of this size and mass into a warehouse is staggering.

Will she be able to overcome the protective killing inscription engraved on the mooring system? Not without the desire to die.

Can she and Deborah hold something so big and so dense? If you don't knock yourself out like a lamp.

If that's the case, will they be able to beat the people who were once here?

Gwen wasn't so sure anymore.

"Maybe it's best for us to go back," she announced calmly.

"Agreed. "Deborah was more than happy to obey.

They crept up cautiously. Both girls were soaked in the rain, both girls were soaked in the rain.

Finally, the girl returned to the atrium out of breath.

"Uh-Gwen?" said Deborah, trembling, where is the body?

Where the body was, there were now three marks in the dust.

"," Gwen swears.

The protective crystal is gone, which means there is nothing here to stop wayward elves and other magical creatures from entering the safe zone.

"Ariel!Caliban!"

Her familiar combination appeared behind the girls, occupying the flanks and rear.

"Shah!"

"Oh!

Gwen tries to activate her detection spell, but Deborah is right next to her. It's not time for her friends to find out.

"Huh!" Ariel hissed at a specific part of the atrium.

Gwen conjured dancing lights and sent them down the dimly lit hallway.

There are three humanoid figures.

Three shriveled figures, each hunched over, made a screeching sound.

"What the hell is that?" said Deborah nervously, weren't they dead?

"Now they're undead...... Gwen felt her scalp squirm.

The three of them turned and looked at the girls, their eyes burning like a cold blue flame. The corpse was holding a broken stone that looked like a dagger. Gwen's mind was flipping through her Monster Handbook lesson. Considering the stone weapons and glowing eyes, she had a general idea of the situation they were facing right now.

"Maringi," Gwen announced possessed. ”

As a local threat, Marinch is nocturnal spirits who possess the bodies of the dead. They are especially fond of the bodies of victims who have died as a result of violence.

"Skayaalk!!" the animals roared at the girls, their high-pitched half-cries unrecognizable. The girls were stunned for a moment as the monsters crouched down like arrows fired from baseball bats.

"Debbie!" Gwen screamed, forcing her body to move. Ariel immediately grew into combat mode, unleashing a stream of stingers that pinned a creature to the floor. Similarly, Caliban took a pound of meat from Gwen and then pierced another corpse with a barbed tongue, nailing it to the wall.

"Sand Wall!" Deborah recovered just in time.

The rest of the creature jumped into the air, only to run into Deborah's wall of sand, trapping it in a tightly packed particle. This is the benefit of having a soul operate your mantra independently, a blessing that shows the spirit of cooperation.

The two watched as the corpse writhed. The Caliban, who seem to have no interest in consuming negative energy creatures.

"Lightning!"

Gwen casts a signature summoning spell and watches as her two targets glow blue and white before the evil souls perish. Her master had once told her that Lightning was very skilled with the undead.

Deborah doesn't seem quite sure what to do with her target. She certainly didn't want to hit it, and she didn't want to kick the roaring corpse.

"Debbie, don't move. I'll be done. ”

"No, I'll do it. ”

The sand wall tightened. There was a bone-shattering sound, followed by a howl that escaped from the monster, causing the darkness to fade away.

As soon as it began, their battle was over.

"Lord of hosts. Deborah gasped, her eyes filled with questions. Whether she killed animals or people, she wasn't sure. "Oh my God, it was so intense. ”

"Well done, Debbie. ”

Their eyes met. Deborah seems to have regained some of her ego.

"Yes ... It's true. We did it. It's just you and me. ”

"Yes. Let's get out of here first. Ariel Caliban!"

Her family is back.

They walked through the gate, where an anxious Rhodes was waiting for them.

"Are you ready? Surya seems to be insisting on letting you go back to the city. He looked nervously at the ajar door of the shielded station. "Is the back okay? From what I've seen, the fireworks show is amazing. ”

"yes, I think we've had enough. ”

Rhodes nodded, and chose to be concise as they drove four hours back to town.

Thanks to the Cariban, Gwen was exhausted and chose to take a nap in the back of the carriage. Deborah sat next to her, leaning on her shoulder, and the two fell asleep together.

When they finally arrive in town, Rhodes takes the girls to lunch. It's almost afternoon now, and the long drive is draining their energy. Gwen staggered through the cafeteria, picked up a fish and chips, and absentmindedly nibbled on a greasy lunch.

Seeing her exhausted state, Rhodes asked her if she should take them back to the estate. Gwen reminds him that she promised Taco a dinner date, and Rhode Island casually mentions at the banquet that it would not be a big deal if she wanted to cancel.

To Rhodes' surprise, Gwen refused.

"Okay, I'll find you both a room. The farmer pointed to the inn, and it was a lovely place called Rooster and Bull.

There, he paid for a room so Gwen could sleep in. Just in case, he also felt that it would be much safer for his health if Surya knew about this upcoming development, so he called him the old mage.

"What?!date?!" Surya's howl was heard. "How dare that boy! I'll be there soon!"

Rhodes turned off his message device, realizing with absolute certainty that he shouldn't have called that crazy old wizard.

Taco wears his best clothes.

He looks likable, at least on the advice of a snickering Tommy and his gang of asshole friends. He wasn't sure how trustworthy the fashion advice of half a dozen young people without dresses was, but he had read men's magazines and he felt he was a good fit for the role.

He also arrived at the bar an hour earlier than scheduled. He brushed his hair back to the same greasy color as his leather jacket, pushed the door open, and nodded to the cashier.

The tavernkeeper, the elder Jecaro himself, heard of Taco's efforts and personally arranged a romantic corner for him for the young man. He even asked his wife to cut off the head of one of her cherished roses and put it in a "delicate Chinese" cup in the center of the table.

One of Taco's companions, Yuen Yiu Fat, chose to play the role of waiter at dinner.

Taco sat down and flipped through the menu in the mainland.

Grilled steak.

Grilled fish.

Chicken cutlets.

Palmie chicken cutlets

Spag meatballs

Thermal chips.

While making dessert, the cashier asked his wife to cook some of her cherished bread and butter pudding.

The tavernkeeper didn't know if his tavern would survive the day, but he knew it was going to be a spectacle. The townspeople would talk about Taco for months or even years. Tonight was a lucky night for Taco and a female mage, or died in an attempt. The gallery is just a matter of drinking and watching. Tonight was a night to remember, and the tavern owner was a man with a great memory.

Gwen took a deep breath. She's ready.

Deborah has been busy with her hair for the past hour, and now she can go. Looking in the mirror, she unwrapped her clothes and smoothed out the folds. She asked Deborah to pick the dress, and Gwen now regretted it.

She didn't even know where Deborah had found the dress. She was trying to lure her friends away from their early morning encounter, but the plan for a date distracted her.

Later, somehow, while taking a nap, Deborah tidied up a dress, hair, and even found a pair of Chinese blue high heels that were exactly the same size as Gwen. The dress was also very close-fitting, almost an inch, which made her doubt what Deborah knew about her figure.

As for the date itself, Gwen became uncertain.

Even in her previous world, she had never dated. As a career woman, she has had relationships, but she rarely cares that the whole purpose of dating is dating itself. Occasionally, the messages her compatriots have on Facebook with their husbands, children, and golden retrievers make her feel anxious, but she rarely gets depressed for long periods of time. For a single working woman, there are worse things in life than a water room and two cats.

"Are you sure?" Gwen looked at herself in the mirror.

Due to Deborah's heavy use of bras, she wore a very long one-piece cheongsam, which made her curves appear rather unreal. The silk dress also had a long slit that exposed her thighs as she moved.

"I like it!" Deborah assured her. "He is Chinese after all. ”

"Takahashi is a Japanese name......" Gwen corrects her friend, but Deborah won't.

"It's close enough. Her friend, whom she had never met, skillfully suggested that you look so cute, Gwen. I can eat you. ”

“... Thanks?" Gwen replied. The dress was a little too loose for her taste.

Deborah took her to the door and slapped her in the ass, causing her to scream. From the second floor, Gwen could tell that Tacco was waiting below.

"Go find them!" Deborah's face was filled with mischievousness.

Gwen left the motel room, her stiletto heels striding over to the edge of the Bannister railing.

She looked down.

Fifty long-awaited faces stared at her, grinning from ear to ear.

"Damn it. ”