There was silence in the dark room, and unlike the night before, when the streets had been buzzing with the occasional noise of refugees hurrying overnight, it was so quiet outside that not even a single insect could be heard.

Fern was alone on the ground staring at the ceiling, hours had passed since dinner, and time had passed in a trance, half-asleep, unable to distinguish between fast and slow. Although he knew that the great war was coming, and that he needed plenty of rest at this time, who could sleep soundly in such a situation?

Quiai tossed and turned on the bed as well, and finally sat up and began to meditate, more nervous and even scared than Fern. Karina had invited her to her room to exchange magic, but at this moment Quiai was not in the mood to do this, preferring to stay with Ferne, so she refused without hesitation.

It was midnight, and the darkest hour was approaching, and Fern, who had been keeping his eyes open, suddenly felt that the room was a little different from the one before, but he couldn't tell what was different. After a few seconds of thought, he finally understood why, a faint purple-red light appeared out of thin air in the room that had been dark until now. Fern sat up and looked around, seeing a faint light reflecting through the window.

Fern walked lightly to the window, cautiously opened a small slit and looked out, only to see that the whole sky was shrouded in a purple-red halo at some point, and a light fuchsia mist floated in the air with the breeze drifting around. The entire house and street of Lot were dyed purple red, even the Mage Tower, which was a strange sight to see at midnight when it was supposed to be pitch black.

Queai leaned over as well, and Fern opened some more windows so she could see outside.

"It's ...... Shield?" Quiai said hesitantly.

"Shield?" Fern asked, for some reason, "Is that also a product of magic?"

"It shouldn't be wrong, otherwise there wouldn't have been such a large halo out of thin air. Quiai cautiously stretched out his head and looked at the whole sky. "The scope of the shield is huge, and I suspect that the entire Lot is covered, including the very top floor of the Mage Tower. ”

"Such a large range, how powerful mana does this require!" Although Fern didn't know much about magic, he could guess that the mana required for this powerful magic must be very strong.

Quiai shrank back, pursed his lips and shook his head. "As far as I know, no one has the mana to unleash such powerful magic, not even Etiyèsz. Then he looked down and thought for a few seconds. "Unless ......"

"Unless what?"

"Unless Etiyesh uses some kind of forbidden magic, or he has some kind of extremely powerful magic weapon in his hand that allows him to cast magic that surpasses his own mana. Queai looked up at Fern and said seriously.

"Could it be evil magic, or something powerful hiding in the Mage Tower......" Fern said, and suddenly an idea flashed through his brain, stringing together all the clues from the past, and the mercenary quickly closed the window and walked towards the door. "We've got to go, Quiai. ”

"Where?" Quiai picked up his wand at the bedside and quickly followed.

"Mage Tower. Fern had opened the door and walked out.

Karel was sitting on a chair by the door of the inn, and when he saw the two of them coming downstairs, he didn't say a word, but watched cautiously as they approached him until they were close. "The dark tide is coming, where are you going?"

"That's why we have to get out of here. Fern dropped the sentence and continued to walk towards the door, without even twisting his head.

Karel staggered to his feet and blocked the door. "No one can leave here without Karina's permission!"

Fern stared at Karel tightly, his left hand already gripping the scabbard, he didn't know what his chances were of winning a battle with the Saka swordsman in front of him, but he had to try. Without too many doubts, the mercenary continued to take steps.

"Don't force me to draw my sword. Karel's sword was half drawn, and the momentum made Queai unconsciously stop in place.

"Put away your sword, Karel. Karina's voice came from behind her.

Karel slowly withdrew his sword, not taking his eyes off Fern for even half a second, and then leaned against the door like a statue.

Fern turned to watch the astrologer walk slowly, with another swordsman following closely behind her. "When did you start restricting our freedom? We're going to get out of here. ”

"I'm protecting you. Karina was not in a hurry, and said unhurriedly, "Do you know what is in the magic outside this house?"

Quiai touched the silk spell casting material bag around her waist, and the feeling of bulging made her feel more at ease. "It's a shield cast by Etiyesh, and it's hard to say exactly how powerful it is, but it's supposed to be used to stop the Dark Tide from attacking Lot. ”

Karina stood a few paces away from the two of them. "You're right, Quay, as you said, you don't know how powerful this magic is, and let me warn you, this mist is deadly to both men and the Dark Tide, and hides something terrible in it. ”

"What's that?" asked Queay, puzzled, her hand already gripping her wand.

"I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but if my guess is correct, it's something that shouldn't exist in this world. Karina nodded slightly. "In Wallis, the magic that can make this kind of thing is called evil magic. ”

"Sure enough, yes. Quiai bit his lower lip hard. "Etiyesh was really in a hurry, and he did everything. ”

Fern's voice came coldly. "Besides, isn't there any other reason why you won't let us out?"

Karina's face twitched unnoticedly, and she looked at the mercenary. "What do you think is another reason?"

Quiai also looked at Fern suspiciously, and the mercenary sneered. "It doesn't matter if you don't admit it, you must have your purpose in coming to the Mage Tower, and we have our own things to do. ”

Karina looked into Ferne's eyes for a long time, and then she finally looked away, and then sighed. "Let them go, Karel. ”

The swordsman looked at the mercenary and moved out of the way, and Fern took one last look at Karina. "We shouldn't be enemies, astrologers, you shouldn't make matters worse before Wallis is destroyed, Wallis is the last line of defense in front of Saka. With that, the mercenary pushed open the door, and the cold air outside the house mixed with a light fuchsia mist rushed into the house. As far as the eye could see, the strange red mist was even thicker than just now, and it was completely invisible from a dozen paces away.

"There's something terrifying hidden in the fog, Fern, and I hope you understand what you're about to do. Karina said lightly.

"Even if you don't go out now, won't you have to go out later?" Fern didn't look back. "When the dark tide comes, you will also rush into this mist, because your goal is the Mage Tower, and we are leaving now only to be there before you do. ”

Karina stood still, a flash of surprise and anger in her eyes, but then regained her composure.

Fern stepped out of the hotel door, and Quiai followed the mercenary firmly, and the two figures burrowed into the purple-red mist, and disappeared in a short time.