No sun had risen, but the dusty sky was already faintly gray.

The fog gradually faded, the vision became clearer and clearer, the long night had passed, and by the early morning light, it was finally possible to see the scene in this abandoned city.

The barren and empty but beautiful square is gone, and the floor of the square, which was once like a beautiful picture, is now covered with scorched black patches, and after the high temperature all night, large sections of cracks have appeared in the flat ground, and in the scorched black cracks, there is still a gray steam.

Countless wrecks were scattered in the square, and they could not be seen in their original appearance, only a pile of charred corpses remained, sprinkled with a strong smell of meat, and the whole square was full of black corpses, and from time to time slimy pus and blood came out of the cracked corpses, which mixed with the aroma of barbecued meat, which made people appetize and almost nauseate at the same time.

The wreckage was still steaming, and under the change of temperature, from time to time there were cracks on the dry and charred black surface, revealing the reddish-brown rotten flesh inside, most of which had been motionless and completely silent, and only a few of them were not yet dead, and the wreckage was still occasionally twitching and jotting down, so that a few more cracks on the scorched epidermis were added.

Only the circle around the bell tower is slightly better, although there are also blackened marks everywhere, but at least there is no damage left by the fire, there are no corpses on the ground, and at ten meters above, the exterior wall can even see the original exquisite background, making it particularly special in this dilapidated and desolate square.

"It's ...... What happened?"

Behind a corner outside the square, four yellow-robed figures looked at the tragic situation in the square from afar, and several of them grew up and couldn't even say a complete sentence, and after a long pause, the only woman among the four, the chubby round-faced girl known as Maggie, stammered and sighed.

"When we passed by last evening, it wasn't like that, no, I couldn't see it last night, but it wasn't so exaggerated. How did it become like this overnight?"

"No wonder the sky here was red last night, like a fire, and there were explosions from time to time, so it turned out that such a fierce battle broke out." Last night, the middle-aged leader of the guards also recovered from the shock, and the beard on his surprised face was shaking, and he sighed, "How strong are these people, they can create such a result, looking at the effect on the ground, it is impossible for several elite-level phantom mages to have this effect, you have to be at the commander level." Could it be that we lived in a group of commander-level illusion mages yesterday, Lord Yelu bless, this is too exaggerated, if it weren't for the fear that the kidnappers would hurt their master, they should have come over last night to take a look."

"Captain of the Guard, Chief of the Guard." The guard who was almost sawed off last night, the young man known as Dimi, was still in tattered clothes, and he was covered in blood, but he was recovering well, and he said worriedly, "The master should have been kidnapped by these people, so he wouldn't be here last night, won't he ...... I won't be involved in the battle, and my master won't be in danger."

"Don't talk nonsense, isn't there a circle that hasn't been affected, and it's a high-rise building, the owner must be locked up inside, it should be fine." Another male guard, Hillen, punched his companion with his hand, and said in a low voice, "Captain Guard, why don't we go in secretly and take a look, they must be tired from fighting so fiercely last night, maybe they have already slept, let's just take this opportunity to rescue the master, so as not to be threatened by them."

"You can't joke with your master's safety." The chief of the guard hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head, "Let's ......."

"Guard, guard, captain guard."

The chief of the guard was about to say something, when the chubby Maggie suddenly whispered to him, and for some reason, the girl's voice was dry and trembling a little, as if she was frightened but did not dare to break out.

The attitude of wanting to speak again made the three men look back at Maggie dissatisfied, but the next moment, the three men were taken back a few steps at the same time, and subconsciously pulled out their weapons, because as soon as they turned around, they saw Maggie poking straight and straight at the end, her face was sweaty but she didn't dare to move, and from the shadow behind her quietly stretched out a hand, holding an ordinary dagger in her hand, around her shoulder and sticking to her neck. The dagger wasn't particularly tight, but the sharp edges shone with chills

The light made the skin on Maggie's neck tremble, and it also made her tense but not moving, looking like she was about to cry.

All that could be seen was an arm in a white robe, and the rest of the parts were all cleverly hidden in the shadows of the corner, as if invisible out of thin air, and the dagger moved slightly, scraping the trembling skin of Maggie's neck, making the girl's face even paler.

"I reminded you yesterday." In the shadows behind Maggie, the voice floating out was cold, and there was no emotion to hear, which made people involuntarily fearful, "I told you to stay honest and kill the hostages if you dared to run around, but as a result, not only did you run around, but you also dared to discuss the rescue of the hostages, you think I was joking? Then you can't blame me, as long as I send a signal, you can see the fate of the hostages."

"Wait, it's not what you think." The chief of the guard turned pale when he heard this, and hurriedly explained, "We didn't dare to run around last night, and it was this morning that we couldn't wait for you, so we ......."

"Don't quibble, it's useless, you make your own choices, and be aware of the consequences. Goodbye to your master, don't blame me, blame ......

"Ah, Mondo, Maggie, how do you know that we are coming down now, and we won't be waiting here sooner."

Just when a few guards were anxious but didn't know how to stop it, the gentle and soft familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind several people, and when they turned around, they saw that the owner they were thinking about was standing behind them unharmed, accompanied by a long-haired beauty holding a child, and behind them, there was a person with a staff wrapped in bandages, dressed as a mage and following, just walking a few steps and gasping a few times, obviously looking physically exhausted.

"Master!"

The last time we met was last night's life-and-death situation, and now we are seeing each other in a safe environment, and a few people only feel like they are in a different world, and the eyes of the two young male guards are red, but what is the situation? The guards looked at Matilda in front of them, and then looked back at Maggie, only to think...... Well? What about people?

They found that in the time of turning their heads, the dagger around Maggie's neck, the arms stretched out from her back, and even her body hidden in the shadows had completely disappeared, and only the girl Maggie was still standing there straight, with her eyes closed and a tragic expression on her face.

Look at this side, look at that side, the three male guards felt that their brains couldn't turn, and when Maggie realized that something was wrong and opened his eyes, the dazed people became four. However, when they turned their heads twice and turned their eyes back to Matilda, they saw Babu, dressed in black robes, slowly turning out from a short distance behind several people, silently appearing, like a ghost in the daytime.

"You, you're ......" Maggie pointed to Babu, the cuffs of the robe were too familiar, except for the color was a little wrong.

"What am I, why do I point to someone else when we first meet." Babu blinked innocently, "We helped you pick up the lost person, not only did you not say anything, but you also looked like you had seen a mutant, which is really rude."

"It's just, it's rude." Monica's eyes rolled, and she also learned from Babu's attitude, and said indignantly, only from an angle that no one could see, she showed a narrow smile at Babu, and by the way, she stuck out her tongue.

Just when the two of them teamed up to bully the three young guards, making the three of them almost cry in confusion, Matilda also listened to the explanation of the chief of the guard, and knew everything that happened after she was captured, so she could only sigh helplessly, stepped forward and gave each of the three a hug, and said sincerely: "I'm sorry, I dragged you down, thank you for everything you did for me. Thankfully, with the help of these travelers, no one suffered any misfortune, otherwise I would have felt guilty for the rest of my life if I had survived."

"Master, we've been worried all night, and we finally see that you're okay, what happened last night?" Maggie pointed to the blackened ruins of the square, and then to Bab, and said with trepidation, "And who are they?"

"If there's anything to say, we'll explain it when we get back." The corners of Matilda's mouth twitched, as if she saw the two figures running in the firelight last night, and seemed to hear the three crazy laughter again, but finally she didn't laugh, and reluctantly reassured, "Now go home first, mother and sister should have waited."

I'm in a hurry, there will be an unexpected gain this time, and I won't disappoint my mother."

"Ah, yes, master." The head of the guard, Mondo, seemed to suddenly remember something, and said in a low voice, "Speaking of harvest, we have found something, you better stop by the way, if you are lucky, maybe we will not be left behind by those families this time, but we will also have additional gains, and when the old lady is happy, maybe she will be able to change her attitude and stop objecting."

"There's already an extra gain, but are you sure you're sure you'll get it?" And the harvest will be as big as you say?"

"It's promising, but it's more time and energy-consuming, and you have to hurry, after all, no one can be sure when the entrance will be far away from the neighborhood, let alone when the next edge transformation will occur." Mondo explained in a low voice, "That's why I said to stop by first, and decide whether to get some people together and dispose of it as soon as possible when I go back, otherwise it will be too late to regret it when the entrance is far away."

"Man...... "Man," Matilda hesitantly glanced at the travelers, thought for a moment, gritted her teeth, and said to the three Babu, "Three, about some of the situation in the city, including why our family sent a large number of men into the edge, last night I just briefly said that it was because the idol was lost, but I didn't go into too much detail. The three of them should have heard what Mondo said just now, if there is nothing important, why don't you go with us to see, maybe there is still the possibility of continuing to cooperate, on the way I will try to inform the three of them of some relevant information that can be disclosed to the public, whether to continue to cooperate or not, the three of them can decide at that time."

"Hmm......" Monica and Babu exchanged glances, both of which could see each other's hesitation.

"The three of them risked their lives on the fringes, seeking nothing more than a few things, either lucrative gains, unknown and novel knowledge, or a free and exciting life." Matilda said sincerely, "I don't know what the three of them are pursuing, but if this cooperation goes well, I guarantee that all three requirements can be met."

"Wait a minute, we'll discuss." Monica groaned for a moment, then pulled Babu and Judy to the side, and whispered, "Actually, I don't really want to agree to her invitation, the art museum is waiting for us to explore, we have planned to go to the present world to supply some necessities and start the action, now I don't want to make more trouble." Listening to them, this matter is likely to involve some competition within their Midnight City, and maybe there will be some trouble."

"However, if there are only three of us, some problems are really difficult to deal with, those trivial efforts are too troublesome, if we can help each other, it is not a bad thing, anyway, these people are still acceptable by nature, but they can cooperate." As he spoke, Babu patted Anna's head and lowered his voice, "Besides, they are a city here, and they also have gods, so I would like to know more about the details of the gods."

"Huh?"

"Don't forget, the enemies of Thor are still chasing after us." Babu sneered and said, "Although we have come out, we may never go back, but I don't believe that you have forgotten about this hatred, but I just remember it in my heart and don't want to mention it. In addition, it is chasing us so closely, we will eventually have a battle with it, and no one will be able to let anyone go, in this case, we must learn as much as possible about "their" world before the conflict. Ira's reward for us has already implied very bluntly that their gods and the Illusory Lord are actually the same kind of existence, so I think that starting with the relevant knowledge of the gods, we will definitely gain something, at least we can learn as much as possible about our enemies."

"Okay." Hearing that Babu directly mentioned the old hatred of Thor Town again, Monica's face also became gloomy, squinted her eyes and listened to what Babu said, and snorted coldly, "What you said makes sense, I can't forget this hatred, and it would be best to know more information." Matilda's personality is more suitable for us, and her status is high, and she does have access to this secret information, well, then I completely agree with you, at least listen to their requests before deciding, what about you, Judy?"

"Huh? Me?" Judy was stunned and pointed at herself in surprise, until Monica and Barbu nodded at her as a matter of course, and then she lowered her gaze, folded her hands in front of her, and said in a stereotypical voice that did not fluctuate, "I am now Monica and Babu

Maid, when have you ever seen your master ask for the advice of a maid when making a decision?"

Neither of them paid any attention to her, just stared at her with indifferent eyes.

"Are you serious? Ask for my opinion? Even if I'm adamantly against it?"

"Yes, it is not certain whether we will accept it in the end after deliberation, but we must do it after listening to this process." Monica said toughly, "So, what do you think?"

"I'm a marginal scholar, and any unknown marginal knowledge is a temptation for me." Judy bowed her head and was silent for a moment, with a little more smile in her eyes, and said in a low voice, "It just so happens that the knowledge about the gods and the master of the illusory world is unknown to me."

"Actually, we don't mind if you say it more bluntly, in addition, you joined the "Babu & Monica Oh and Judy" Chamber of Commerce, tsk, the name is getting longer and longer, I think the "oh" can be removed, hiss, don't screw it, Matilda they look at it, pay attention to the temperament."

After enjoying Monica's gentle touch, the two glanced at each other, and at the same time put on a "kind" smile characteristic of a businessman, and walked side by side in front of the five yellow-robed men.

"We're interested in your proposal." Monica smiled and said, "Tell me, how do you need to work together?"

"We want to explore a building." Matilda said expectantly, "It's a beautiful building, and we're interested in some of the things that might be in it."

"Huh?" The three travelers looked at each other, and almost at the same time thought of the Dolon Art Museum.