Led by Garin and three other Altuna soldiers, Stan and the others had been walking through the Twilight Forest for four days, during which they had passed through three strongholds of six to twenty men, four small camps guarded by only four men. We try to spend the night in the slightly larger camps, while in the smaller camps we just take a short break, have a bite to eat, and then continue on our way. The demons are still in this forest, everyone knows that in their hearts, and no one wants to encounter them again.

The ravens had been released as soon as they reached the first stronghold, and by this time, Magnus Fortress should have sent reinforcements to support the various camps. Stan and his party had reached the west side of the forest, and according to Garin, they would be able to walk out of the twilight forest after passing through two more camps, and after that, it would take less than half a day to see the walls of Valdosta. Over the course of these four days, Stan also gets to know Garin and his companions, who train hard despite their lack of combat experience. Garin was a man of the word, but surprisingly reliable, leading the crowd through the forest, extremely familiar with his surroundings, and having a good grasp of the time to rest and travel.

Sure enough, that night, they see a wooden house in the distance, it is already dark, and with the faint light of the aurora through the branches, Stan can see that there is no one outside. "How many people are stationed here?" asked the knight curiously.

Garin looked down at the cabin and shook his head. "I don't know, but depending on the scale, it's not too much, I guess six or eight. ”

"There should be someone keeping vigil around, could it be that reinforcements have already arrived?" Rui soothed the somewhat unusual horses. "Something seems wrong with my horse, it had never been like this in the previous camps. ”

"The reinforcements weren't so fast, it would take about two days for the ravens to fly to Magnus, and then another three or four days for the men to get there. Garin was also a little nervous when Rui Yi said this.

Stan stroked his stubble and pondered for a moment. "I'm sure Rui's horse won't be abnormal for no reason, Rui, can you feel anything?"

The mage shook his head. "I didn't feel the breath of the dark tide, and there was no sign of them at their camp in Garin before, but maybe it was because I had fallen asleep that time. ”

Nerfi snorted from the side. "Haven't you heard of demon mages, they can suppress the aura of the dark tide in themselves and a small area around them, so that even a mage with shadow magic can't feel them. ”

"Demon ...... Mage?" Ness muttered the name. "Etiyesh once spoke of them, and it was said that the magic of demon mages was very powerful, stronger than most human mages. ”

"That's right, if a demon mage appears here, we could be in big trouble. Nerfi said, removing her wand from her belt.

Stan looked at the room again, and after a while of talking, the room seemed to be a haunted house in the knight's eyes, and there seemed to be something terrifying lurking in the dark woods on both sides of the house. "We're still going to go, we're too tired and we need a break urgently. The knight glanced back at everyone. "We were divided into two teams, one near the house in the front and the other in the rear, and if there was any accident, the two teams met at once, and then Garin led the way and continued westward. ”

No one objected, except for Nerfi's lips moving twice, as if trying to say something, but in the end he didn't say it.

"Garin, Quinton, Ray, the three of you and I will go to the house as the first team, and the others will wait here as the second team. Stan quickly splits up his line and pulls the reins as he prepares to move forward.

"Wait......" Nerfi called out to the knight. "I think I should be on the first team, I know light magic, and if there's any danger, you'll need me. ”

Stan looks at the mage gratefully. "Then Nerfi and Quinton swapped. Then the knight looked solemnly at the three Altuna soldiers. "Please be sure to protect Ness, maybe the ambush is not in the house, but in the surrounding woods. The soldiers all nodded solemnly in agreement.

"Okay, let's go, be careful. Stan led the horse very slowly, and when he was still thirty yards away from the cabin, the first team dismounted, then hunched over and slowly approached the cabin on foot.

By the time the four of them were within five yards of the cabin, there was still no movement around, which made both Garin and Stan uneasy, and the knight whispered to the soldiers. "If there had been a vigil, we would have been discovered a long time ago. ”

"Yes. Garin didn't look back at the knight, still vigilantly observing the situation around him. "But you see, it's been a long time since there's been a fight here, and these vigil guys may have fallen asleep in the trees, just like Quinton, and maybe they didn't have a vigil at all. ”

"Then I had to go inside and take a look. The knight slowly drew his sword, making sure there was no sound, and began to walk towards the main entrance of the room. Garin draws his sword as well, and walks on Stan's side. Rui and Nerfi each clenched their wands, their lips slightly open and closed, ready to cast their spells.

Five yards away, Stan and Garin on one side of the door, Ray and Nerfi standing on the outside. Stan raised his left hand and gestured to Garin, signaling for him to rush in first, and then the others followed him, but Garin waved his hand, then raised his hand and pointed at himself, and then made a gesture to rush in, he wanted to be the first to rush in instead of Stan. Stan tries to argue, but Garin's determined expression causes Stan to swallow his words back into his stomach and nod.

Garin waited another half minute, then stood in front of the door, the soldier took a deep breath, raised his foot and kicked the door open with all his might, the loud sound of the door cracking piercing the silent forest. Stan only felt a blast of extreme cold erupt from the door, almost freezing him, the knight realized the danger, he tried to push Garin away, but the knight's foot was just forced, only to see a blue icicle hit the soldier's chest before he could react, knocking him out, Garin didn't make a sound, fell to the ground ten yards away, and his body was already frosted.

"There's an ambush!Ray, go get Galin's help! I'll be in the way with Nerfi," Stan yelled, blocking the door, covering Ray, who had already run towards the soldiers.

"Stupid, do you want to be like him?" Nerfi quickly stood in front of Stan, and quickly finished the incantation, and a shield glowing with golden light formed in front of the two of them, and in an instant, a second ice arrow slammed into the shield. Nerfi didn't pause, and immediately continued to recite the second incantation, the shield changed from a circle to a short spear with golden light, and the mage stretched his wand forward, and the spear of light stabbed into the room, and in an instant, a terrifying howl came from the wooden house.

"Hey, hell, we have to meet right now and get out of here!" Stan shouted in the direction of the second team, and tried to take Nerfi's hand and run.

The mage broke free of his grasp. "You go first, I'll be right here, I have to create some obstacles, or they will catch up with us, and there is more than one demon in the house!"

Stan gives Nerfi a worried look. "Be careful!" and ran to Rui, who was crouching on the ground to check on Garin. "How about it? I'll carry him out of here first. ”

Rui slowly raised his head, his eyes full of sadness and helplessness. "There's no need, he's dead. ”

"What?!How could it be?!!He didn't even say a word!" Stan quickly crouched down and slapped the soldier's face, only to find that the soldier's whole body had frozen stiff, like a frozen corpse that had been frozen for a long time, and all the exposed skin was covered with frost, the soldier's eyes were still wide and full of fear, and his mouth was silently open, and he didn't even have time to scream. "Hell, why? I'm supposed to die, I'm supposed to kick the door open!" Stan slammed into the ground with a painful punch.

"What's going on?" Ness and the other three Altuna soldiers had already arrived, and their eyes widened in shock at the sight of the knight kneeling on the ground and Garin lying on the ground.

"There's no time to say that now, while Nerfi is holding off the demon, everyone else is on their horses, and we're out of here!" Rui glanced at Stan, who was still on his knees, and gave the order in his place.

At this moment, several black figures flashed out from the surrounding woods, each with hair like withered grass, mutilated faces with blurred facial features, and broad long swords in their hands.