Ruined ruins.

The splendor and grandeur of the past were gone, the broken corridors, the crumbling fortresses, the dead courtyards, everything seemed as if even the air had become dead.

"What's going on?"

The girl——— Anicefia's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked around, she clearly knew that she was dreaming. But Anice Fia had never done a dream so clear, even that it felt like a real dream. The palace in my memory was so dilapidated and dilapidated, as if everything had been destroyed.

"Father? Queen mother? Duke of Grandz? Is anyone there? ”

Anice Fia looked around and called out, but there was no response, and even her voice seemed to fade into the depths of the broken hallway, falling silent again.

"Anyone?"

At this moment, Anice Fia became panicked, and she ran forward as hard as she could, but even the sound of her footsteps disappeared into the dark shadows. The garden outside the corridor was also dry, and Anice Fia had never seen a palace like this, as if not only the palace, but the whole world had been destroyed.

What the hell is going on?

Anice Fia walked through the corridor and came to the main hall, but there was no half of it here, and the girl gradually began to panic in her heart, and she shouted loudly, longing for even a little response——— whatever it was, it was better than being alone.

But there was still nothing.

"Bang —————!"

The maiden pushed open the main hall, rushed out of the palace, and looked out, and then she stood there in a daze.

I saw that in front of her, under the steps, the originally lively and prosperous royal city had also become a ruin at this moment. It was as if the city, the country, the world had been completely destroyed, forgotten, and there was no life left except her.

"Why......... What the hell is going on? ”

Anice Fia stumbled back and sat down on the ground, looking uneasily at the ruins in front of her.

"What happened to the Kingdom of Paretia? Why did the royal city become like this? ”

At this time, Anice Fia's brain was blank, she looked at the royal city in front of her in a daze, she was usually a clever head, but at the moment she didn't have any ideas.

"Knock......... Knock ........."

However, at this moment, heavy footsteps suddenly sounded.

"Huh?"

Hearing the sound of footsteps coming from behind her, Anice Fia gasped, the other party's pace was slow, but also very calm, and even every step made the ground tremble slightly.

Gradually, the footsteps got closer, closer and closer——— and then stopped behind Anicefia.

“…………………”

Anice Fia swallowed, instinctively warning her that she should never turn around and see what was standing behind her. But the devil sent the gods, and Anice Fia turned her head and looked behind her.

Then, she saw a tall steel armor standing behind her, its helmet glowing with a dark red, staring coldly at the girl in front of her, as if a beast was staring at its prey.

"Wait, what are you?!"

At this moment, Aenisfia jumped up in horror, trying to distance herself from the terrifying being in front of her. However, at this moment, a scene that she could not imagine happened.

"Bang dang."

I saw that the hand armor of the steel armor suddenly disintegrated and cracked, and the part that originally wrapped the fingers fell to the ground, and at the same time, the helmet of the iron warrior also split, and then, I saw dozens of tentacles rushing out of it, like a python wrapped around the girl's limbs and body.

"Woo —————!"

Feeling the cold touch, Anicefia suddenly screamed, and these tentacles were covered with slippery slime, and they squirmed on Anicefia's body. I saw them slowly go up the girl's slender waist, across the peaks, through the deep ravines, and along Anicefia's neck.

"No, don't, don't come......... No............ Woo! ”

Feeling the wet touch on her skin, Anicefia turned pale, shook her head desperately, and screamed loudly to resist. However, at this moment, I saw a tentacle suddenly burst out of the pitch-black helmet and directly burrowed into Anicefia's gaping mouth, blocking Anicefia's shouting, and at the same time, a biting chill hit the air, making Anicefia tremble.

"Uh......... Whining............!! ”

The girl writhed desperately, trying to break free from the tentacles that bound her, but the slippery, eel-like tentacles were not moved at all, but slowly swept across the surface of the white skin like a snail, and the viscous, disgusting, fishy mucus dripped from it and spread out like water droplets.

“—————！”

Anicefia's body trembled suddenly, but before she could come back to her senses, something even more unimaginable happened——— tentacles wrapped around Anicefia's body began to gradually pull back, and then under Anicefia's frightened gaze, the huge armor cracked a gap in the middle, and then slowly opened to both sides like a gate, revealing its hidden interior to the girl in front of her.

Nothing.

That's right, the armor in front of me feels more like some kind of legendary torture tool, and Anice Fia also suddenly recalled, in her memory, she had read a similar description, in the coffin-like iron bucket, there are countless sharp thorns on the inside, as long as the person is stuffed in and closed, then those sharp thorns will penetrate the body of the tortured.........

As if to verify Anicefia's conjecture, as she got closer to the armor, Anicefia gradually saw that there seemed to be something hidden in the dark shadows on the inside of the armor.

Soon, though, she saw it clearly.

It was a group of tentacles as small as fluff, and they covered the entire inside of the armor, fluttering like seaweed that swayed with the drift of the sea.

Then, as if sensing Anicefia's presence, the tentacles grew longer and began to reach towards Anicefia, slowly pulling her into the inside of the armor.

"Woo—————!"

The girl didn't even have time to let out a scream, and the next moment, the pitch-black steel armor slammed shut down, completely engulfing it.

"—————!!Uhh

Anicefia opened her eyes suddenly, screaming, and she looked up in surprise as she looked around, while a red-haired maid hurried in.

"What happened? Lady Anicefia? What happened to you? ”

"I......... I ..............."

Faced with the maid's inquiry, Anice Fia looked around blankly.

"I feel like I'm having a nightmare........."

"Nightmare? What kind of nightmare? ”

"This ..............."

Anice Fia frowned, thought for a moment, and then shook her head.

"I can't remember, huh......... I can't even remember what kind of dream it was right now........."

"That's ........."

The red-haired maid breathed a sigh of relief at Anisfia's answer, and then she glanced at Anicefia and stood up.

"I'll go get you a glass of water, Mistress Anicefia."

"Well, okay, I'm in trouble........."

I don't know if it's because of the nightmare, at this moment, Anice Fia also felt hot all over her body, covered in sweat, she let out a sigh and nodded. With Anicefia's permission, the maid also hurriedly turned around and went to prepare a drink for Anicefia.

And at this moment, the girl lowered her head, but she couldn't help but be stunned.

"Huh?"

In the candlelight, the girl saw a strange mark on her wrist, as if it had been entangled by something. This caused her to scream, and just then, the red-haired maid with the cup came to Anice Fia again.

"What's wrong?"

"No, I just ........."

Taking the cup from the maid, Anice Fia looked at her wrist again.

Over there......... Nothing.

Could it be that I was wrong just now?

Soon, the night passed.

"Hoo ..............."

When Duanmu Huai walked out of the room, he stretched comfortably.

"Good morning, big brother."

Looking at Duanmu Huai and Ao Ji Si who came out, Zhen Jiling also said hello to the two.

"How was your sleep last night?"

"It's not bad, I seem to have a good dream."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai moved his body and neck.

"By the way, what's the situation on your side?"

"Ah, I did investigate some things, as you said, big brother, this country also has some problems of its own......"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's inquiry, Zhen Jiling suddenly became serious, and then she came to Duanmu Huai's side and told Duanmu Huai about what she had heard about the internal situation in the Paretiya Kingdom.

And after listening to the real machine Ling's narration, Duanmu Huai's expression became much more solemn.

"So, you mean, the royal family and the nobility of this country all make contracts with something called magic elves and use magic?"

"Yes."

"Uh-huh..............."

Hearing Zhen Jiling's answer, Duanmu Huai reached out and knocked on the table and thought about it. Generally speaking, Duanmu Huai is wary of this kind of non-real things such as magic elves. It turns out that if a thing doesn't live in the real plane, then the Eight Achievements are monsters in subspace.

And the legend that the royal family of the Paretya Kingdom signed a contract with nobles and magic elves to use magic reminded Duanmu Huai of the records of those psionics who were in the company of subspace demons in order to seek greater power.........

Not to mention that this is inherited by blood, so it is very likely that the royal family and nobles of the Kingdom of Paretia are descendants of psykers.

As for the appearance of subspace creatures, Duanmu Huai doesn't care about it at all, in fact, many planetary civilizations are like this, such as the wolf souls of some barbarian beliefs, or animal spirits or local mountain gods, etc., according to the standards of the Inquisition, they are all subspace demons, and they are all killed.

Therefore, magic elves may belong to the belief in the Paretiya Kingdom, but once Duanmu Huai discovers that these magic elves are subspace demons, then he will have to do it.

Well? But why can't Princess Agnis Fia make a pact with a magical elf to use elven magic?

Is she untouchable? But when she came into contact before, Duanmu Huai didn't feel the feeling of being untouchable from her, she actually had magic powers......... Logically speaking, it seems that it is okay to learn the human magic system?

Or is there something else going on?

"No matter how you look at it, it looks like there are a lot of problems in this country right now."

Thinking of this, Duanmu Huai shook his head and sighed.

All in all, it now seems that only one step at a time can be counted.

As for the specific situation——— let's analyze it and solve it specifically.

(End of chapter)