Look back to the day before.

Lily gasped softly, her exhaled breath condensing into a white mist in the somewhat cold air. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info She deftly weaved through the woods, leaping over mounds and shrubs, and avoiding the aerial roots that fell overhead. Eskar transforms into a small white falcon and leads her way - and her fellow Explorers - in front of her.

The morning in the woods should have been silent, but now it was completely different. The demon army that broke away from the cage was a little hesitant at first, but when they realized the smell of new creatures, the tyrannical and murderous nature that originated from the bloodline took over most of their minds in an instant.

Shouting obscure and vicious words in the abyssal language, they scattered aimlessly, attacking any creature other than demons in their sight. The forests also suffered - the weather was drier in late autumn, and there was no rain during these days. The heat on the surface of the Báb's body and the scorching spear tip of the Hilmo easily set the dead trees on fire, and then spread into a fire that swept through the forest.

Billowing smoke rose with a scorching scent, overshadowing the otherwise clear blue sky.

The exploration team carefully avoided the area where the fire had started and headed towards the west side of the forest. Even in areas where fires have not yet been ignited, the remains of wild beasts can still be found everywhere, mixed with a small number of humans, all of whom have been eaten and mutilated by demons.

The stench of burning grease mixed with the diffuse smoke made it almost impossible to breathe. Lily felt a little dizzy in her head, and she covered her mouth and nose with one hand, trying to keep up with the falcon's flight path.

A refreshing breeze surrounded her, banishing the boredom in her head. She turned her face sideways, thanked Yuffie with her eyes, and continued to run without a word.

Almost all of the scattered demons encountered on the way were killed by her, Amberly, and Bell on the spot. The occasional Berserker was also restrained by Yufie, Eska, or Yudina and burned to ashes under Alphonse's spells. It's just that they are still too few compared to the demons that spread throughout the forest. The same is true of the Erna warriors who stayed nearby.

About an hour later, they met Shireffel again. The commander of the Elna casts spells to protect the surrounding forest from demons; At the same time, he arranged for his subordinates to go to various places to investigate the situation and try to control the spread of forest fires.

About a hundred Elnar were camped beside her, half of them members of the Golden Lily Order, the rest were messengers of nature, nearby sentinels, and a handful of wizards. Nearly all of them are wounded, and members with less serious injuries are trying to care for the seriously injured. A few others lay motionless on the ground, seemingly unconscious or lifeless.

From time to time, teams of three or five people returned from outside and mingled with the wounded.

Yuffie greeted Shirinfell and took Lynn to take care of the wounded. Lily approached Shireinfel and briefly described what had happened to Eskar after her message to the silver-haired commander. Then, from the mouth of the silver-haired woman, she learned the whole thing that had happened in the previous hour.

The Lost Lock suddenly collapsed, and a large number of demons appeared on the El Continent with it, obviously exceeding everyone's expectations.

Scattered throughout the forest, the Lily Knights hastily responded to the battle, barely reluctantly reluctantly reluctantly attacking the demons—and the lesser demons who lacked command were likely to flee when they encountered an opponent who could confront or inflict heavy damage on them. For them, their lives are more important than glory and victory.

However, after all, the disparity in numbers was huge, and the Order still paid the price of seven knights killed and dozens wounded. And that's not even counting the distance from the camp, which has not yet ...... Or the knights who can't return.

In response, Yudina fell to her knees with guilt on her face and apologized to Shirinfell and the wizard leader Iceth.

"It was my lack of thought that opened a new mystery lock inside, which caused the strength of the original mystery lock to weaken, which caused this disaster." He said in a deep voice, "I am willing to take all the responsibility for this." ”

Amber and Eskar, who had returned to human form, glanced at each other with some concern. Although Lily felt that there was nothing wrong with what she had done, she still had some mind about the sacrifice of the Elna people, and stood aside and did not speak.

"Don't throw the blame on yourself." Shirinfell sighed, "Isaith, what do you think are the chances that the Lost Lock will survive that explosion even if you don't trap the Firefiend by that means?" ”

"Not more than half." Isses replied lightly, "I just observed a huge tide in the Fire Elemental Realm - that guy Hart probably used himself as a fuse to trigger the power of the Fire Elemental Realm under his jurisdiction in one go...... It's simply a model of stunned youth. He shook his head, his expression a little dissatisfied, but it wasn't aimed at the exploration team, "To tell you the truth, you didn't die in that explosion, you can only say that you were lucky enough." ”

"I heard you." Shireinfell patted Wizard Elner on the shoulder, "You're doing a great job. In the face of a fire demon and an Abyss Lord, not only did he retreat with his whole body, but he also helped stop the Abyss Lord's invasion...... Of course, Hart too. Otherwise, we will face many times more trouble than we do now. ”

"But...... It still feels terrible. Lily shook her head and looked at Shirinfell, "Even if it's an unintentional mistake, what else can we do to help?" ”

"If you want to, that's fine." The silver-haired woman nodded lightly, "There's a lot to do...... Moreover, you can only do one step and see one step. ”

With the consent of the rest, the entire Lilianor regiment remained here for the time being, each doing what they could to mitigate the aftermath of the disaster.

Shireffel summoned all the powerful Elna people in the vicinity and tried his best to destroy the demons in the vicinity and prevent them from spreading to other areas. At the same time, she immediately sent messengers to inform the surrounding countries to defend against the invasion of demons.

"It's a pity that there are still fewer people." Four days later, at dinner, Shirinfell sighed softly, "There are only about 1,000 people living in the nearby Elna, and the mobile forces that are relatively close are currently stationed at the border, and there is no way to complete the movement quickly. In the face of tens of thousands of demons, this is just a drop in the bucket. She brushed the long hair from her ears, her brow a little worried, "The messenger to the Kingdom of Mellon, and the Church of San Leon, has brought back a reply from both countries. But the messenger to the southern Oren Empire...... So far, he has not been able to return. ”

"Doesn't that sound good?" Lily munched on bread and jerky as she commented, "What do you think, Yufy?" ”

The pink girl shook her head slightly, her expression thoughtful. During this time, she healed many wounded and even dying people, and had a high reputation among the Elna people. But other than that, she wasn't involved in more exorcism of demons. Lily felt that she was probably hiding something, but she couldn't get any results out of her mouth.

"Maybe something bad is just beginning." The girl looked into the darkness in the distance and whispered softly.