The wall receded with a crackling sound, and behind it was the entrance to a basement.
Seeing Alyssa put her hand on the sunken square brick, Ai Xiaoxiao blinked curiously and said with some surprise: "I didn't expect there was a secret door here. Miss Aitila is so awesome. Ah, Miss Aitila has the same surname as me, and we are both members of our Ai family."
"Miss Aitila's surname is not Ai." Fang Yu corrected his cousin's friend who was full of whimsical thoughts.
"But what's the difference?"
"It's a big difference."
As he answered, he stretched out the torch in his hand and waved it behind the secret door. Torches have this advantage compared to lighting crystals. On the one hand, they can provide a little warmth in the severe cold, and on the other hand, they can come in handy in the current scene.
Fang Plover waved the torch, but the light from the torch was very stable, which seemed to indicate that the air inside might be no different from the outside.
He tested it for a while before turning back and handing the torch to the hands of the Papalar people on the side. After hearing that something had been discovered here, everyone who could not find any valuable clues in other directions also returned here.
Only Kweed and Blackbo left some of the redeemed people to guard outside. Saya and her people also stayed behind voluntarily, and everyone else gathered here.
The Papalars walked down. The light of the torch extended down the stairs, but it was not very deep. There were only about ten steps in total. Then there was a turn, and then there was another step. However, the two stairs in succession are only of ordinary height, and the basement is below.
The Papalar people raised their torches high and used the firelight to outline the outline of the basement - it was very spacious below, made of solid rock, but it was empty.
He blinked and looked around the empty room. There was a pit at the end. It was pitch black under the pool, but there was nothing in it.
Parker couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and said, "Hey, there's nothing here. It's just a joy."
The little dwarf shrugged again: "We should have thought of it earlier. They destroyed all traces. There is no reason to leave such a place for us to discover. The cellar we discovered last time in Istania was just It’s just good luck, but luck won’t be so good every time.”
Hongye then turned around and asked curiously: "What did you do in Istania?"
"Well..." Parker hesitated and couldn't speak. Some of their experiences in Istania cannot be talked about to the outside world. They are related to some secrets of the Penelope royal family and their relationship with the kingdom. Although the Papalars are not serious or serious, at least they are Understand that this is a team decision.
However, they actually had nothing to hide from the people of Tapolis. It was just that Parker looked at Kweed and Blackbo on the side and could not trust these outsiders.
Fang Yu ignored the two of them and walked down the steps to the edge of the pool. By the light of the torch, he discovered that the dark things under the pool were uneven, resembling dried blood. But he squatted down and tried it with his hands, and found that the thing was not a blood shell, and it was solidified on the stone slab and motionless.
He then turned around and motioned to Parker to bring the torch over. When the fire came closer, the whole picture of the pool was reflected. It was like a layer of crystal growing on the bottom of the pool. It was dark and absorbed most of the light, with only the edges refracting. With a glimmer of light.
"What is this?" Ai Xiaoxiao asked.
But Fang Yu didn't know what it was. He looked at Jita aside. Miss Naturalist stood at the edge of the pool holding the big book in her hand, frowning at the situation below. But after a while, she turned around and gently shook her head at Fang Plion, saying that she didn't know.
"Perhaps I can go down and take a look?" Her own knowledge failed to help. Jita always felt a little unwilling, so she looked at the crystal layer again before asking in a low voice.
Fang Yu nodded. He had already gone down there once before, and there was no danger down there.
Jita placed the thick book in her hand on the edge of the pool and climbed down carefully. Fang Pliover walked over and gave her a hand. "Thank you, 'Captain'." Jita blushed a little, looked at him, and replied in a hesitant voice.
She quickly retracted her hand, bit her lip, turned around, half-knelt down and touched the crystal in the pool with her hand, but her fingertips responded with a special feeling - she immediately put it away. He got rid of his dazed mood and concentrated his energy.
The touch was slightly cold, with a ray of chill, but it didn't feel like a realistic touch. It was as if the fingertips had passed through a layer of space and touched an unreal world.
Ms. Naturalist had been dealing with the ether for a long time, and she realized that there was something wrong with it. An ordinary person might not be able to feel anything unusual. The crystals he touched with his hands were just some hard 'glass'.
Fang Yu stood on top of the pool and looked at it, then asked: "Did you find anything?"
"Captain...these crystals contain escaped etheric power. I'm not sure what the ingredients are," Jita replied in a low voice: "...they seem to exist in this world, but they are anchored in another space. My hand can pass through it and touch 'them' that exist in another world."
"Isn't that the attribute of space and time?" Fang Pliover also has a solid theoretical foundation of ether, and he understood this description as soon as he heard it.
At this time, Jita took back her hand, put it to her nose and sniffed. She wrinkled her delicate eyebrows and smelled a faint smell of blood.
"Blood?" Fang Yu was a little surprised when he heard the other party's description. He instinctively felt something. He turned around and saw Aitila and Hongye walking up together. "——Is there someone there? Have blood sacrifices been performed here?" Alyssa listened to the conversation between the two and immediately asked a little sensitively.
After all, for everyone in the Seven Seas Brigade, they have dealt with too many followers of the Dark Saints, so it is not surprising that they would have such an association.
But Aitila knew what the two of them were thinking and shook her head. She looked around and replied: "There are not all the necessary things required for the ceremony here. This alone cannot explain anything."
She didn't say more, but the implication was that more evidence was needed to prove the other party.
Fang Yu nodded lightly, then he looked at Jita and said, "But no matter what, this is probably the place where the most suspicion is. There's no need to waste any more time. Let's give it a try here."
Jita responded, picked up her magic book, opened it and laid it flat under the pool. She knelt down, pressed her white hands on the page, knelt there, and then raised her head to look at Miss Elf——
Attila was taking off the necklace from behind her neck. The leaf lying flat on her chest was Amaya's holy symbol. She picked up the necklace with one hand, raised the holy symbol, and then made a faint sound. A green light shines on Kita's magic book.
Centered on Jita's magic book, a dense cloud of smoke spread out.
In Aitaria, the ability to predict has always been the domain of the saints, and even astrologers need divine power to see the foggy future - Aimea has always been an ally of the righteous lady Marlan, and the two The goddesses had promised Fang Plover a favor, and now it was time for them to fulfill their promise.
Of course, the promise of the Saints of Oulin is not without restrictions, but Fang Lu understands that when used at such a time, it must be in line with the other party's intentions.
Sure enough, the mysterious divine power passed through the space and came to the basement.
The dense smoke formed a phantom, shrouding the entire basement. The shadows were longing, but they were not objects, but people. What was vaguely visible were many figures, like a scene that happened in this basement at a certain period of time, but they gradually became fixed, and gradually overlapped together, becoming one.
Jita's hands were tightly attached to the pages of the book, and her eyes were filled with silvery light. She seemed to be an incarnation of the long river of time, looking back to a certain moment, to a certain day two months ago.
"Back in history."
She spoke in a low voice, her cold voice as if she was not her own. The ancient books were filled with time, and reading history was like seeing the past.
The numerous phantoms finally settled and turned into several established figures. They were like ghosts, translucent, glowing in the dark basement. There were seven figures in total, some were tall and some were short, and one of them was shorter. A female figure is standing beside the pool.
She stared into the pool, her face foggy and unable to see her image clearly, but her gaze seemed to be facing Ji Ta in the pool, which was hollow and silent, making Miss Naturalist shudder. The woman knelt down and picked up a crystal from the pool. She held the crystal with both hands, then turned around——
"Glodia!?"
Ben looked at the female figure and couldn't help but scream. Even though he couldn't see clearly the face shrouded in the mist of the phantom, he still recognized the companion he had been with day and night from the dress and figure.
Unfortunately, the phantom didn't seem to hear it at all. It passed him calmly and walked towards the other six people holding the crystal. She raised the crystal and placed it in front of those people. The tallest person among them said:
"Okay, it's finally done."
"We can leave this place."
The hollow voice echoed in the basement, like the words of a ghost, penetrating everyone's heart.
Then the seven phantoms seemed to have weathered, and gradually dissipated into the darkness along with the diffuse fog, and silence returned to the basement.
Everyone couldn't help but look at each other. Although they saw some things as expected, these things seemed to be a little different from what they imagined. What is that crystal, and who are those six people?
And how could Ben's missing companion be among them?
Others couldn't help but look at the young man, but the latter seemed to be greatly shocked: "How could it be possible? Glodia has been here all the time, but how could I not be able to contact them? ... How could she and she... We know those people, we have never been here before... it was just an accident that we received that mission..."
Parker, who was always willing to assume the worst about others, shook his torch to look around and replied, "Maybe they weren't telling you the truth."
"This is impossible," Ben shook his head in disbelief: "They have no reason...and if they disappear so suddenly, won't I become more suspicious?"
"Maybe they thought you couldn't leave here?" Alyssa thought for a moment and then replied.
But the young man shook his head firmly: "...It will never be like this. I have known them for several years. Gloria and Cordier will never be such people...and..." He He couldn't help but scratch his hair in pain, some details in his mind told him that the truth would never be like this, but he had so many clues at the moment that he didn't know how to explain it.
Blackbo patted the young man's shoulder and said nothing.
Fang Yu saw the other party's embarrassment, and of course he understood that this incident had a great impact on him. In fact, it had a great impact on everyone present, at least they haven't figured out what happened here yet.
He looked at Jita again and asked with his eyes whether the other party had recorded the previous scene with a crystal. After receiving a positive answer, he said: "Everyone, you only have one chance. Now we have got what we want." What we want, as for what the scene in the phantom is, maybe we still have time to prove it, but not here. The area of Altori is not safe. If it is confirmed that nothing is missing, I think it is time for us to Returning to the Seven Seas Traveler——"
Everyone was a little silent. The answer that they thought was easy to get is now hidden behind a lot of fog - especially at this critical juncture, everyone can't help but feel hesitant.
However, Fang Yu's deliberate calmness still infected them, and Kweed also nodded and said:
"I agree with that."
Blackbo on the side was about to speak, but at this moment, suddenly, everyone heard a loud noise coming from outside the castle.
They couldn't help but turn their heads in that direction.
…
The redeemed built bonfires on the city walls.
Since there are no other people nearby, they don't have to worry about anyone noticing the fire above the city in this direction. Besides, it's freezing cold and the city walls are covered with ice. If they don't light a fire, they won't be able to stand on top of the crenellations without lighting a fire. It’s really hard to be sent down as a sentry.
The flickering flames temporarily dispelled the chill, and people threw a piece of wood into the bonfire - the wood came from the exquisite and luxurious furniture in the castle, but in this cold night, they returned to their original appearance, It's just a piece of firewood.
Several older hunters were sitting by the campfire, leaning on their long bows, looking at the scene outside the crenel. In the snowy night, the forest was completely dark, with only the whistling of the wind and no other movement. They relaxed and began to chat in low voices. Most of them were originally refugees from various places, discussing the situation in their hometowns.
This severe winter has made the past northern territory no longer exist, and the peaceful scene seems like it was yesterday. But today, people have to face monsters that appear everywhere. In addition, there is also the high-pressure rule of the Crow's Claw Temple, which is overwhelming. People were gasping for breath.
They talked about some silent topics, and sometimes there would be long silences and a few sighs. During the quiet time, people took out dry food and distributed it to each other.
Saya and Sora sat on the other side and also received food. The young man's face was still pale and a little weak, but he was able to hold a bow - Fang Plover made him another magic bow, and the quality was even better than the previous one. He couldn't be more fond of this bow now. It is precious and will never be lost again no matter what.
He thanked those people, and when they saw that he was weak, they gave him some more dry food. Kong originally wanted to refuse, but after thinking for a moment he fell silent. Now that everyone was on the same journey and were comrades fighting side by side, there was really no need for him to be so polite.
Seeing that he understood this, the other party nodded and turned around to walk back.
"Excuse me, can you teach me how to shoot the arrow more accurately?" In Saya's slightly surprised look, Sora stood up and asked.
The cold wind howled in the winter night, and the redeemed people looked at him with some surprise.
The young man was a little embarrassed. The chosen ones and the aboriginal people came from two different worlds, and their experiences were often not the same. But he had seen that these old hunters were much better than him before. When dealing with those When there were several skeletons, only he and the little girl named Ai missed the shot.
The Order of the Oak no longer exists—
And everything he saw in the refugee camp made him eager to become stronger. Only in this way can he protect the people around him.
Only then can we live up to the expectations of Captain Ed.
The older hunter turned around, looked at him, thought for a moment, then pointed to the bow in his hand and said, "Shoot an arrow and see."
Kong nodded quickly, took off the big bow from his back, activated the magic furnace, and then opened the bow. He narrowed his eyes, aimed over the forest, and pointed the arrow in one direction, but just as he was about to loosen the bowstring, a sudden change occurred.
In his field of vision, in the dark night sky, suddenly a bright golden line illuminated his eyes.
The bright golden line slowly extended, as if someone had used a pen to slowly draw a horizontal line across the night.
Kong was slightly startled. Facing this scene, he subconsciously let go of his hand and raised his head to look in that direction.
Everyone stood up.
In the night sky, a ball of fire seemed to appear. It was getting bigger and bigger, and it was falling straight in their direction.
"That's...?" Kong opened his mouth wide.
But before he finished speaking, a huge force suddenly pushed him to the ground. The old hunter flew over and knocked him to the ground. The next moment, he let out a sharp cry, mixed with strong wind, and swept past him. In their eyes - blazing flames flew right over their heads.
"careful!"
Then there was a sharp scream and crashed into the castle.
Sora sees it clearly——
The wing sails stretched out in the flames were the remains of the flying wing boat.
…
