Early the next morning, when the orange light of the morning light illuminated the crowns of most trees in the Spirit Tree Forest, Gus, who had had a good sleep for the first time outside the Goblin Mine, said goodbye and set off. , embarked on his journey again.
However, what is somewhat surprising is that this time, besides Anne, there is also the trainee witch from the Spirit Tree Hall, Shirji with short green hair?
"strangeness!"
|ω`)
"Sister Shirji, why do you want to come out with us?"
(ω)
"What's the point?"
☆(o*ω)
Of course, Annie couldn't hide things in her heart, so after the three of them left the spirit tree forest and set foot on the country road outside, she couldn't help but get close to Miss Shirji and He asked with a curious look on his face.
"..."
"The dark ages are coming, so..."
"Teacher Flora asked me to take this opportunity to practice with you."
Shirji first glanced at Gus, and then directly said some of the things her teacher said to her without hiding anything.
Of course, she didn't dare to mention other things, such as what her teacher said that Gus might be her Shirji's 'destiny'. She just raised her eyes and frowned at the person in front of her. Just a glance at the tall black figure leading the way with long strides in front.
"oh!"
(⊙o⊙*)
"Dark Ages?"
()
Annie nodded, and after knowing the basic reason, she responded casually.
In fact, she just asked casually, so of course she was too lazy to ask the other party what the dark age was.
After all, for her, what era the world is in, whether it is dark or light, or whether it is neither black nor white, half black and half white, etc., has nothing to do with her at all!
"Did you just say the Dark Ages?"
"What is that..."
However, at this moment, Gus, who was walking well in front, suddenly turned his head and asked a rare question.
"??"
"Don't you know?"
"Didn't I say that then?"
Hearing this, the green-haired witch Shirji was slightly surprised.
Then she looked at Gus and then at Annie. She thought that the two of them should have a deep memory of what they said when they first met. Didn't you take it to heart?
"Did you tell me?"
(°ー°〃)
"But they seem to have forgotten!"
(^▽^)
Anne answered confidently and with a smile, showing no shame at all.
“…..”
Gus didn't speak anymore, just continued to walk forward and waited for Shirji's answer.
"All right."
"Is such that……"
There was no way, seeing the two of them like this, Shirji walked forward for a while, thought about it, and then relayed the prophecy she once said.
"The messenger becomes the Eagle of Darkness..."
“He is the master of the sinful black sheep and the king of the blind white sheep!”
"He will end up being the sinner who summons the Dark Ages to the world."
"When that man rules this land..."
"The world will officially be plunged into the Dark Ages."
At this point, Shirji stopped.
She subconsciously raised her head and glanced at Gus, who was immersed in walking in front of him, because she already knew some things that happened to Gus from Annie's mouth last night, and she also knew that Gus was planning to, or could be said to have already stepped on. What happened on the way to deal with that 'Dark Eagle'.
That will be an extremely difficult road. Shirji and her teacher Flora know the power and terror of the 'messenger' better than anyone else. Otherwise, when she went to monitor the other party, she would not be possessed by the bird. body and hid far away.
Because, once a witch like her who frees her soul from the shackles of reality and learns the method of exploring the underworld passed down from ancient times dares to get too close to the 'Eagle of Darkness', it is very likely that her soul will be lost in the underworld. The fact that she was shot and died prematurely was something she couldn't bear.
"That's right..."
(⊙o⊙*)
"In other words, this is the dark age now?"
(Д≡д)!?
"But people think nothing has changed!"
(.)
After looking at the sky and then around, Annie said that the world was still the same as before, with blue sky, white clouds, flowers, and grass, and it didn't seem to be abnormal as the other party said, and she didn't feel anything was abnormal.
"Changes have occurred..."
"It can't be wrong."
"Mr. Gus, what do you think?"
Shirji didn't answer Annie's question, nor did she say where the change was. She just looked up again at Gus, who was walking in front silently, and asked.
"Well."
Rarely, Gus actually agreed with Shirji's statement.
"Speaking of which, before something happens..."
"I almost never see those things..."
"But now, they are appearing more and more frequently. They are not just attracted by my brand. They are even appearing more and more frequently in some places."
"That's not normal!"
"This world is really different from the world I knew in the past."
"even……"
"I myself have become a little different."
With that said, Gus also raised his hand and looked at the golden mark on the back of his hand.
A certain little girl is an outsider. She has seen all kinds of worlds and has not stayed here for long, so her feelings are naturally not deep. But for Gus, who was born and raised in this world, all the changes are really... It was so big that he almost thought it was a dream.
He still remembered that before he joined the Eagle Group, although he had occasionally heard some rumors, he had almost never seen 'abnormal' existences beyond his understanding, such as demons, apostles, undead, or others. Something that he had never been exposed to before he met Griffith and joined the Eagles.
but……
After he lost to that guy and joined the Eagle Group, especially after the Eagle Group was sacrificed, and after that hateful guy became the so-called 'messenger' or the 'Hand of God', it seemed that the whole world had changed overnight. It really becomes different between them.
For example, the countless demons, undead, ugly monsters and apostles he encountered along the way, the demon leader of Kaka City, the earl of the earldom, and the 'Eagle of Light', etc. wait.
Therefore, Gus strongly agreed with what Shirji just said and felt deeply about it.
However, thinking of the demon in Kaka City, Gus finally remembered the old lord who was forced to sign a contract with him.
Although Gus himself was forced to sign the contract at the time, if he succeeded in lobbying the old priest and Crete this time, maybe he could also try to order the old lord to join his camp?
In that case, maybe he could raise an army in a very short time?
If it is really possible, perhaps, it will be him fighting against the 'Eagle of Darkness' disguised as the 'Eagle of Light', against the 'Hand of God', against that Griffith and the individuals he gathered together. The basic base of the 'apostles'.
Naturally, all of the above are just Gus's temporary ideas. He doesn't know yet whether they can be realized by then, so he can only take one step at a time.
But there is one thing, and that is: the world has changed, and so has he. Then, certain things must also change. Otherwise, it will not be easy for him to seek revenge.
“It’s indeed a big change!”
“The boundaries between worlds become blurred.”
"perhaps……"
"That's the real reason why Teacher Flora asked me to come out with you to practice, right?"
Sighing and looking at the blue sky and white clouds in the sky, the green-haired witch Shirji thought for a while and could only guess with a wry smile.
"Is that so?"
く(＾_)ゝ
Scratching their heads, although both of them thought so, Annie still didn't have much idea.
After all, in her opinion, the world is just fluctuating from 'low demon' to 'high demon' at most. That is normal, and there is no such thing as a 'dark age' at all.
The so-called supernatural powers in this world are compared to the many worlds she has been to that are in the 'high-demon' stage, such as the world of Azeroth, the world of Sanctuary, the world of prehistoric times, and the world of Elusalia. Wait, it’s still too different.
Apart from anything else, in the world of Azeroth alone, among the so-called gods, ancient gods, or guardian dragons, which one is not stronger than the other?
If they dared to go too far, they wouldn't know when they would be jumped out and hacked to death. And that kind of situation where a mere messenger of the 'Dark Eagle' jumped out and caused trouble, in another world, maybe they would have been killed earlier. He has been destroyed several times, how can he make trouble in this world like he is now?
"Of course!"
"We fairies can all feel that the connection between this world and the underworld is getting closer and closer!"
"The original boundaries have become a little blurred now!"
Before Shirji could say anything else, the flower spirit wind elf Ibarela flew out first and interrupted loudly, and expressed her own opinion with a proud look on her face.
"Anyway, I think there aren't any big changes!"
(,,,,)…
“It still looks like it’s in tatters everywhere!”
(ˉ▽￣~)Cut~~
After saying that, Annie didn't take it seriously and continued to skip forward behind the two of them.
She didn't just let Tibbers out to carry her on her way. Firstly, it might scare others in a place where there might be people around. Secondly, she got up early this morning and had an unprecedented meal. A hearty breakfast, so you definitely need to jump around and burn off that abundant energy.
(…)
(●￣￣●)
"!!"
!(;o)o
"What are you doing?"
⊙﹏⊙‖∣°
At this moment, Annie bumped into the young lady Shirji who was walking in front and stopped suddenly. Then, she almost sat on the ground and protested loudly and dissatisfiedly.
What's more important is that the other person is thin and weak, with not much flesh on his body, and his butt is neither round nor straight. She felt panicked when she bumped into him just now!
"Mr. Gus..."
"Can you stay in the village ahead for one night?"
Shirji didn't care about Annie's protest behind him, nor the fact that he was hit. Instead, he pointed to a village not far away and asked.
"Just call me Gus."
"but……"
"Can I ask what the reason is?"
Looking at the sky, it was only noon now, and there was still a long time before dusk. According to Gus's idea, he should still be able to go a little further. However, if the other party could give some reasonable reasons, Maybe he could be accommodating?
After all, the other party and his teacher gave him a lot of help, and also used magic to help him cover up the smell of the brand. In the future, he will no longer have to fight those demons and undead every day, so for Shirji's certain Of course, he would not easily refuse some reasonable requests.
"certainly!"
"During this period, the village seems to have been harassed by a kind of underworld creature called a beast ghost. They once sent people to the forest to ask for help, but they were all persuaded to return by the barrier."
"The teacher has not made up his mind because of his health, so..."
"Before I leave, I plan to investigate and, if possible, solve the trouble here once and for all. Otherwise, they may go to the woods to beg the teacher. And her body is like that. I am a little worried about her... …”
At this point, Shirji couldn't continue.
Her teacher Flora has lived for hundreds or thousands of years. Now, her life has come to an end, maybe tomorrow, next month, or next year when she will completely embrace the Netherworld. So, if possible, , Shirji hoped that he could stay quietly in the Spirit Tree Pavilion during the last moments of his life.
The prerequisite for the other party to stay quietly in the Spirit Tree Hall is that she, Shirji, takes the lead in eliminating all the troubles and threats around the Spirit Tree Forest. That way, those stupid and ignorant villagers will no longer send people there. She went to the forest to disturb her teacher.
"So that's it!"
"I see."
Hearing Shirji's statement, Gus paused for a moment, then nodded. Then he didn't say whether he agreed or disagreed. He just changed the direction of his walking and took a long stride towards the person who looked far away and saw only a circle of low Walking towards the village surrounded by short broken brick walls.
"correct!"
"Gus first..."
"The existence you are going to deal with is very powerful and may be very difficult. Are you really sure you want to do it?"
After walking for a while, Shirji couldn't help but asked softly.
She has observed the 'Eagle of Light', the so-called 'Eagle of Darkness', more than once. In her opinion, the existence of the other party is like a huge whirlpool that can draw people in and confuse all living beings. It is a mysterious existence that cannot be touched or harmed by any existence in the world, and it also involves the fate of this world. It is the kind of destiny that no one in the world can match. If possible, it is best to stay away!
But the Gus in front of him was thinking about defeating the opponent. In Shirji's opinion, that kind of thing was indeed a bit too forced.
"It's difficult?"
Of course Gus knows that it is difficult, because now he may not even be able to defeat the opponent's immortal Zod!
"..."
However, when he thought of Casca, who was still like a three-year-old child, who could only babbling and uttering a few short words, Gus's eyes narrowed, and then he didn't explain much, just walked firmly towards Go forward.
"I will definitely kill him!"
"I swear!"
After a while, he suddenly turned his back to Shirji and Annie and spoke so firmly.
"Yeah……"
"I see."
Nodding, after knowing Gus' determination, the witch Shirji stopped asking any more questions and just followed him silently and continued walking forward.
soon!
Gus, Annie, the witch Shirji and her little goblin Ibarella walked outside the village where many villagers armed with simple weapons were stationed on guard, and successfully confronted the villagers who came after hearing the news. Negotiations started.
"What?"
"You just said..."
"She is the witch from the Spirit Tree Forest. She is here to help us destroy those monsters, the kind of beast ghosts you just mentioned?"
"you sure?"
"Just her?"
"A little girl wearing a witch's robe and a witch's hat?!"
In front of the village entrance, a group of villagers who came after hearing the news gathered here and saw that the Witch of the Spirit Tree Forest who came uninvited after several unsuccessful attempts was actually an eleven or twelve-year-old girl. The bearded village chief, who was obviously more gorgeous than the other villagers, exclaimed in surprise, with a look of disbelief on his face.
His thoughts were written on his face. He didn't really believe that Shirji, the green-haired little girl wearing a witch robe and claiming to be a witch, could really help them. In comparison, the tall girl who was also carrying a With a big sword, a black swordsman who looks stylish is more oppressive and convincing?
"Not a witch!"
|˙˙)
"It's two!"
(゜▽＾*)
At this time, Anne also jumped out from behind Gus, and said with two fingers, indicating that not only that guy Shirkey was a witch, but she, Queen Anne, was too!
'ah? '
'Why is there a younger girl? She's only seven or eight years old, right? '
'She is also a witch? '
'really? '
'What a joke! '
'Aren't witches all kind of scary old women with pointy noses? '
'That's right! '
'That man looks very strong, but unfortunately he is not only blind, but also missing an arm, which is probably of no use. '
'But that sword of his is so big! '
"Well……"
'It's indeed big, but I don't know if it's hollow. If it were solid, normal people wouldn't be able to carry it, right? '
'What's not said must be hollow! '
'...'
While the village chief questioned Gus's words and Shirji's identity, the villagers who came to watch after hearing the news naturally began to look at Shirji and Gus, the green-haired little witch wearing a witch robe and holding a wand. The three of them pointed and discussed in a low voice.
And from those unabashed whispers, it is not difficult to know that it seems that the villagers in front of them don't trust the three of them too much.
'wrong! '
'look! '
'That's just what, is it a goblin? '
'where? '
'ah! I saw it, the little man with wings seemed to be a real goblin! '
'I saw it too! '
'There are, there are goblins, doesn't that mean they are really witches? '
Fortunately, at this time, Shirji's little flower elf Ibarela emerged from her witch hat, instantly causing the ignorant villagers to exclaim, and then more or less Let those people begin to overturn some of the conclusions they had just made.
"Hello!"
o(*｀ー)o
"We really are witches!"
ε()з
"You guys should stop nagging and hurry up and prepare some delicious food. Then in the evening, we will help you solve all those problems!"
o(*︶*)o
At this time, Annie spoke again, and even shouted directly and rudely.
After all, they all traveled a long way to get here. Now they are obviously here to help, but they are being questioned. It is strange that she can be patient!
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Hearing this, look at the tall black swordsman, then look at the green-haired witch who is only eleven or twelve years old, and the little girl Annie, plus the little goblin. This weird combination naturally makes the villagers No one dared to talk easily, but they all looked at their village chief with hesitant eyes, as if they were ready to let their bearded old man in Chinese clothes make the decision?
"this……"
"Well……"
"let me see……"
However, the old man seemed to have no idea. He just kept looking at Gus and Shirji, and couldn't make up his mind for a long time.
"etc!"
Just then, a sharp voice suddenly sounded.
"Don't listen to those evil witches who only know their magic powers and do some weird divination!"
"village head!"
"Don't even think about it!"
Then, when all the onlookers were surprised and took the initiative to move out of the way, a thin-faced man wearing church clothes and a felt hat walked out with cold eyes and sarcastically refuted and stopped him. :
"village head!"
"The power of the witch is unreliable and cannot be trusted!"
"Do you think two little girls and a weird elf can destroy those monsters?"
"Do not make jokes!"
"Besides..."
"The guys in front of us who come out in witch clothes to deceive us have burned a lot of our Dharma King's Hall in recent years. You must not be fooled by them!"
"Otherwise, God will punish you!!"
Looking at the clothes, it is not difficult to guess that the person coming is a priest of the church, which is similar to the old priest that Annie and Gus met.
However, unlike Miss Crete and the others, the priest in front of them had strong hostility towards Anne, Shirkey and Gus as soon as he appeared, and he tried his best to ridicule them in his words. He was sarcastic, not to mention how unpleasant the words he said were.
"snort!"
"A disabled mercenary..."
"Two little girls with missing teeth who came from nowhere..."
"Such people……"
"How is it possible that there is a way to deal with those monsters?"
"I think it's better to drive them away... drive them away..."
"???"
However, before the thin-faced and cold-faced priest could say the word 'drive away', she suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Anne as if she had seen a ghost.
Because, he saw that at this moment, the youngest girl, the little guy who claimed to be a witch, reached out and grabbed a ball of... fireball? !
'look! '
'what is that? '
'Magic, magic? ! '
'Very good! '
'village head! '
'They can do magic, it seems like they are really witches! '
"God!"
'We're saved! '
At the same time, the villagers who also saw Anne grabbing a fireball with her bare hands and looking at the priest with ill intentions started making noises and cheering.
If they were still doubtful after seeing the goblin just now, then now that they saw the little witch performing magic directly in front of them, they no longer had any doubts.
"Shut up!"
"!!"
"Shut up, everyone!"
"Listen to me, it's just a trick!"
"Her hands must be stained with some flammable phosphorus powder. Our Dharma King's Hall has seen similar situations many times!"
Finally, the priest quickly reacted, and while angrily yelling at the villagers to shut up, he walked quickly to Anne, and then stretched out his hand to expose Anne's behavior in front of everyone. A trick to create fireballs by rubbing phosphorus powder.
"..."
乛乛
"Hey!"
(ψ｀▽′)o~
However, of course Anne would not let the other party touch her or the shattering fire in her hand. Instead, she took the lead and threw the fireball into an open space not far away with a wave of her hand.
boom! ! !
Soon, with a roar, orange-red flames soared into the sky and shot so high that everyone's faces turned red.
Immediately afterwards...
'Roar! ! ! ! '
A huge Balrog, mainly composed of magma and flames, actually stood up from the ground and leaned down, using its huge mouth that was bigger than the gate of the village entrance wall to face the man who was dumbfounded again. The priest opened his mouth and roared.
The blazing flames and heat waves, even from a distance of more than ten meters, instantly blew off the felt hat of the priest who wanted to reach out to grab Anne's hand. At the same time, it also knocked off the other person's eyebrows and pitifully sparse hair. They were roasted until they curled up.
'! ! '
'Devil, devil! '
'Monster! ! ! '
'Wow! ! ! '
'Mother! '
"Hurry, run quickly!!!"
The next second!
Of course, the villagers were so frightened that they turned around and fled in all directions, crying, as if they only hated their parents for not giving them more legs. Then, in an instant, this At the entrance of the village, the only person left was the thin-faced priest who was so frightened that his eyes turned white and he slowly fell to the ground and peed all over his pants.
“It’s so scary!!”
(ˉ▽￣~)Cut~~
Seeing the cowardly look on the other side, and looking at the people around her who were scared away, Anne had no choice but to cancel the summons with a wave of her hand, turning the Balrog into a pool of magma with billowing heat waves. It fell into the big crater that was just exploded.
"..."
Gus frowned and took a deep look at the big pit with his one eye, then looked at Annie, and then frowned again at the priest who had fainted from fright.
In the end, he said nothing and just looked at the witch Shirji, wanting to see how the other party planned to deal with the matter in front of him.
"Um."
"Very powerful fire element magic!"
"but……"
"Would it be too much of a waste of magic power to use it this way?"
After being surprised, Shirji began to criticize in a formal manner.
She didn't seem to deny the power of the witch just now, but in comparison, she still felt that it was too wasteful to use it like that, and it was better to save it to deal with those beasts and ghosts.
"would not!"
(-)
"I have a lot of magic power!"
(^▽^)
Anne's magic power is endless, and she was just trying to scare the other person, not serious at all, so there is no such thing as wasting magic power.
"Well."
"Although the villagers believe that we are witches, but..."
"never mind."
"There seems to be a shed over there, let's go over there and rest for a while!"
"Those beast ghosts should only appear after dark. By then, we can just find a way to eliminate them and then leave."
Looking at the chaotic entrance of the village in front of her, and then at the closed doors and windows in the village and the pairs of frightened eyes behind the doors and windows, the green-haired witch Shirji had no choice but to sigh and point to a seemingly distant place. It's a shed for farmers to rest in. He said so.
"Eh?"
(.)
"You are here to help them, why don't you let them take care of food and housing?"
=('ヮ'=)
Of course, Anne was a little dissatisfied with this and muttered unhappily.
"??"
"you?"
"Aren't you going to take action too?"
Hearing this, Shirji turned around in surprise and asked as he walked.
"of course not!"
()
Annie said firmly, indicating that she was just following that idiot Gus to watch the fun and would not take action easily.
"you sure?"
"Then what you just did was..."
Shirji blinked, then stopped and asked a little weirdly.
"Of course it's just to make them believe that we are witches!"
()
"Anyway, I won't help you fight those monsters at night. You have to find a way on your own!"
()
Anne answered confidently.
However, she said in her heart that she was not very good at helping, but she was quite good at occasionally causing trouble or scaring people. Just like how she did it to scare people?
(…)
(●￣￣●)
"That……"
"what ever."
After thinking about it, Shirji nodded in agreement, then continued to turn around and walk forward.
"??"
(.)
"Why, sister Shirji, you don't seem to be in a high mood?"
|'-')
Seeing the other party's appearance, Annie was also a little strange, and then hurriedly ran after him and asked.
"Um."
"I don't like them!"
After speaking, Shirji didn't explain much, but continued to walk forward.
And the 'them' she just said clearly refers to the group of villagers just now, and of course, perhaps also including the priest of the King's Hall who is still slumped on the ground and unconscious?
"What a coincidence!"
(ˊˋ)
"They don't seem to like it either!"
(^▽^)
Anne didn't like it, of course because they were obviously here to help, but those people didn't provide them with food or shelter, and they were suspicious of them. Now they hid directly, which made her look a little annoying!
"But!"
(ー`ー)
"Are you really planning to live outside?"
⊙﹏⊙‖∣°
"Can't we just go and occupy the biggest house?"
o()
Anne didn't want to squeeze into the small, shabby place that looked like a cowshed, so she pointed to the distance.
On that high ground, there is the largest building in the village, which is the church made of stone.
————————
() Be sure to remember to vote monthly.
(End of chapter)
