Fern looked closely at the places where the ghouls had rummaged through before, but had no clue. "It's completely unclear what they're looking for. ”

Ness followed Fern step by step. "Fern, I feel bad, I always feel like the dark tide will come back, let's get out of here. ”

"Wait a minute, I'll see. Fern was reluctant to give up hope, and in fact at first he suggested that the two of them should split up and go their separate ways to find clues, but Ness would not leave him at all. "If we can find a little clue, it will be very helpful for our future journey. ”

Ness had no choice but to look around worriedly, and every minute seemed like an hour.

Finally, after examining everything he could remember, Fern sat down on the floor dejectedly, thinking sadly.

"Have you finished checking, do you see what they're looking for?" Ness crouched beside Fern and clasped her hands around her knees.

"No, no. Fern looked down at the ground covered in a layer of snow. "But there are some possibilities that can be ruled out, such as the fact that from where the ghouls are rummaging, they can't hide a person, so they must not be looking for someone, but something, and this thing is not very large. ”

Ness listened intently, and she found herself enjoying Fern's reasoning more and more. "Well, what else?"

"And ...... They must have searched for something not to possess it, but to destroy it. Fern used his scabbard to pick up a broken wooden window that had just been inspected. "You see under this wooden window, it's all smashed by ghouls, they search very roughly, they don't even think about whether they will damage anything, there is only one possibility, they want to destroy that kind of thing. ”

"And then?" Ness asked, wide-eyed.

"They might be looking for something like a holy artifact and then destroy it. Fern felt his ass cold and immediately squatted up.

At this moment, suddenly the sound of horses' hooves made the two of them extremely nervous in the distance, and the horses' hooves ran faster and faster, getting closer and closer to Alfheim.

"What about Fern, the demon is back!" Ness grabbed Fern's arm tightly.

"Hell, you got it right. Fern quickly found his way, pointing to a half-collapsed room not far away. "Get out of there. ”

The two of them hunched over and quickly ran into the house, the roof of the house was already in tatters, and a large part of it had even collapsed, so there was not much space inside. The two huddled against the wall, Fern drew his sword and stared at the doorway, Ness hid behind the mercenary, clutching his left hand, Fern could feel Ness holding his left hand trembling slightly.

The sound of the horses' hooves was getting closer and closer, and he could hear that he was already in the ruins, and that he was no longer running, but walking slowly, and Fern could already hear the snorts of the horses.

The demon had already reached the vicinity of the house, and Fern and Ness were clinging to the wall, not even daring to get out. Fern's sword palm was already soaked with sweat, and Niss was clutching her hand harder and harder, but Fern didn't feel any pain at all, and all his attention was focused on the doorway that was only one step away from him.

But the horses did not stop, and passed the house where the two were hiding, and still walked slowly forward. Fern didn't dare to look outside the house, so he had to judge the demon's movements by the sound of his voice. The horses stopped not far away, and the demon began to laugh horribly, as if someone had been choking by the neck and still laughing.

Ness was already at her limit, her forehead pressed against Fern's left shoulder, her whole body trembling, almost screaming. Fern wanted to pat her, but he didn't dare to move himself, so he leaned his head to the left and pressed it against Ness's head, hoping to make her feel his strength. Sure enough, after the two of them touched their heads, Niss gradually quieted down, but her hands were still shaking.

Outside, the demon's laughter continued for a full minute, and then stopped abruptly without warning. Fern pricked up his ears to listen to the movement outside the house, lest he miss a single detail. Then, the sound of the sword being drawn rang out, followed by the sound of the sword slashing against a hard object, and then gradually changing to the chaotic sound of slashing on the messy debris.

What is it that deserves to come back and cut so many swords?" Fern thought to himself.

It went on for a few more moments, and just as Fern estimated that whatever it was must have been chopped by the demon by this time, the sound stopped, followed by the sound of the blade brushing against the scabbard.

The sound of the horses' hooves sounded again, this time not in a slow-to-fast step, but immediately running fast, but it was definitely a good thing for Fern and Ness. In a few moments, the sound of horses' hooves was far away from the ruins of Alfheim, but the two of them still did not dare to move, and still stuck to the wall stiffly.

For a long time after the sound of the horses' hooves had completely died down, Fern and Ness hid inside the house until Fern could feel his stomach rumbling again, and then slowly moved to the door, tentatively looking out of the house.

There was no sign of the demon outside, and the silent ruins seemed to mock the mercenary's timidity. Fern stepped out of the house, glanced around, and beckoned Ness to come out after making sure there was no danger. Ness squinted as if she couldn't stand the strong light outside, because she had kept her eyes closed in the room, and she never dared to open them.

"Fern ...... Let's get out of here. Ness's voice was still trembling, and the mage grabbed Fern's arm, sweat rubbing the mercenary's sleeve with sweat from his palms, urging him.

"Give me a little more time, I'm going to see what he just did. Fern glanced apologetically at Ness, he could understand the mage's fear and desire to get out of here right away, but he had to check the place where the demon had slashed just now.

Ness didn't say much, but continued to grab the corner of Fern's coat and follow the mercenary to the ruins of a dilapidated house. The only remaining base of the wall showed that it had been a very large room, but now only one wall barely stood in the cold wind, and the other three walls had been almost destroyed, and the remaining foundations were not even knee-high than Ness's knees. On the only intact wall, there are two candlesticks that have long been covered in ice and snow, and in the middle of the candlesticks should have been a statue of a god, but now it has become a pile of debris on the ground.

Fern stepped over the base of the wall and crouched down in front of the fragments of the idol. "This is it, and if there is no snow on these debris, it should have been destroyed. Fern said, looking through the scabbard.

Ness also watched as Fern slowly pulled away the shards, and under the top shards, some shards covered with blue ice crystals appeared in front of the two of them. Fern touched the blue ice crystals with the tip of his scabbard, and the fragile ice crystals shattered instantly, and in the innermost layer of the ice crystals, some blue liquid that had not yet frozen dripped down the shards to the ground.

"What is this?" Fern sniffed the liquid on the scabbard. "We've been waiting in the house for so long, and it's not completely frozen in this very cold weather, it's certainly not ordinary water. ”

Ness picked up a piece of ice that had fallen to the ground and held it in her hand for a moment. "There are still some remnants of magic left in this ice crystal, but they are almost dissipating, and they are dissipating very quickly. Ness then smeared a drop of blue liquid with her right index finger and pondered for a moment. "There is still a very strong mana in the liquid that has not yet frozen, and this severed idol should have been a container for these liquids, which were not frozen until they were destroyed, and were full of mana. ”

Fern listened in a fog and turned his head to look at Ness's focused face. "What does that mean? Do you think of anything?"

Ness wiped her index finger over her cloak and turned her face to look at Fern. "Yes, if I'm not mistaken, it's holy water, a liquid that contains considerable mana and can inflict special damage on the Dark Tide. ”

"If that's the case, then that would explain the actions of the demons and ghouls. Fern clapped his hands and stood up, retracting his sword from his belt. "I just don't know why there is holy water in Sarah, and why Sara is falling so quickly with all this holy water. ”

Ness stood up too, still thinking. "Holy water is recorded in "Dark Tide Strikes", and it is said that this liquid full of magical power only appeared in the First Dark Tide War, and it had a great impact on the war situation at that time, but there is no description of the origin of holy water, so that no one has been able to make holy water again. ”

Fern's brain spun rapidly, and an idea struck him. "Could it be that Sara suddenly discovered a way to make holy water for some reason or someone's help, and already has a small amount of holy water, so Darktide needs to destroy Sara immediately to ensure that the holy water does not spread throughout Wallis, so they launched a surprise attack on Sara and destroyed Sara before the holy water can be scaled. ”

Ness nodded approvingly. "There's a good chance that if it's just a small amount of holy water, it really won't help much. ”

"I'm afraid there are other conspiracies involved, why Byron didn't rescue Sarah, and the female voice that Stan heard, and the evil mage in Wolf Castle that Hessey said, all of this must have something to do with it. Fern shook his head, feeling like he didn't have enough brains. "The more I think about it, the more complicated it becomes, let's leave this ruin. Fern looked up at the gloomy and dark sky, and although it was almost noon, the heavy dark clouds did not let much light shine through, and the whole earth seemed to be still sleeping.

Hearing Fern say that she was going to get out of here, of course Ness was very happy. "Okay, let's go, in case the demon comes back......"

"Well, let's go. Fern smiled, and although he didn't think the demon would ever return, he couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Ness.

The two quickly left the ruins of Alfheim and continued north. The farther north you go, the terrain becomes more and more varied, and small mounds of snow and ice begin to appear, each without any vegetation on it.

"I don't know what happened to Ryan and Stan, I'm really worried about them. Ness herself was out of danger and began to worry about her companions.

"Compared to what we just saw, they are the real test. Fern subconsciously touched his stomach, and his stomach had been screaming since just now. "Trust them. ”

Ness also heard the sound of Fern's belly, and her expression changed from worried to snickering. "We already missed breakfast and lunch. With that, Ness suddenly remembered the first time she saw Fern. "Fern, do you remember the first question I asked you and your answer when you were in Deville, after you accepted this commission?"

"Your problem?" Fern struggled to recall. "Are you asking us what we're going to do next?"

Ness mysteriously placed her left index finger on her lips. "Well, if you get it right, it's not too bad, so what about your answer?"

Fern looked up and thought for a moment, then scratched the back of his head. "I can't really remember, do you mean we need horses, or are I going to get you a dagger?"

Ness smirked, she finally had a question that stumped Fern. "No, you told us it was time to eat, dinner time has already passed, remember?"

Fern shook his head in realization. "It's this image, how do you remember it so well?"

"Because your answer was so unexpected to me, and I was ready to listen to your advice, but you came to such a sentence, so I will never forget it. Ness turned her head to look at Fern and laughed innocently, the wind blew through the girl's long bright red hair, and blew some of it messily on the girl's fair cheeks and neck, and the girl's pure eyes and the fragrance that sometimes wafted to Fern's nose made his heart move.

Fern looked at the charming girl in front of him, and was stunned for a moment, he knew that he would never forget the appearance of Niss at this moment, and it would be deeply engraved in his heart.