In the 159th year of the Laman New Calendar, at the end of the 10th year of God’s Creation Calendar, the east coast ushered in a rare long winter.
Occult scholars and writers in the imperial capital of Laman were running around, believing that this was a sign of the return of the Ice Age, and racking their brains to think about how to deal with possible famine in the empire. What only a handful of people have noticed is that the biggest temperature drops aren't in the icy northern mountains and Palohia plateau, but in the southern lowlands.
It was exactly one month before the Lamanite New Year.
For the first time in more than three hundred years since the last time in the Bagnato-Originai Forest, the fog completely dissipated.
Condensed in the air, permeating between trees all year round, even if it rains, only a few areas will become clearly visible. The forest of mist, the forest of mist, is clearly displayed in front of the world for the first time.
The green vegetation of the forest, which is basically unexploited, stretches as far as the eye can see, and the sight is densely packed into the distance. It is a magnificent sight. But right now, no one or animal near it has the intention to appreciate it. All animals are gone. Squirrels are hiding in tree holes and wild boars are digging holes underground. Both cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals instinctively huddle together just to get even a trace of humble warmth.
The temperature dropped to freezing point in just a few seconds.
All the water vapor turned into frost and fell on the ground, covering the grass and tree branches.
This is an extreme environment that the Imperial people who are accustomed to the warm tropical climate are at a loss for what to do. No one could have expected that just a few years ago, it would have been extremely hot and stuffy when wearing a full set of plate armor, but now they just want to wrap themselves in thick clothes. The round ball, sitting by the fire, didn't want to move.
It usually only took a few days to reach the town of Scotti. It took them nearly 80% of the time, but now they only walked less than half of the distance.
Considering the series of impending dangers, this sounds and looks like suicidal, but it is almost normal for plans to fail to keep up with changes, and in this unfortunate team, changes are often for the worse. direction of development.
There were ups and downs, and the people who had just regained their energy due to their encounter with the unicorn were hit hard this time because, ironically, they were too well prepared.
Although they are not the ones who made the preparations.
As a thousand-year empire with strong financial resources, the horses used by Padrosi's knight nobles are adapted to local conditions. In order to maximize their combat effectiveness, the knights in the north and the south are very different from their vests to various equipment and the horses themselves.
Only by being able to adapt to the local climate and geographical environment can war horses exert sufficient combat capabilities. For this reason, the knight horses in the southern part of the empire are all hybrids of Absera's fine stallions. With the bloodline of prairie horses, they have strong stamina and can run with heavy equipment in the hot and sunny environment in the south without easily collapsing to death.
But what is sacrificed for this is the ability to withstand the cold.
The cold resistance is poor, but not so bad that something will go wrong if the temperature drops slightly. But the cold wave they encountered this time was not just "slightly" simple, but they had already suffered before.
The horses were exhausted. Even though their vests were removed, objectively speaking, they still didn't get much rest. The fatal threat was hot on their heels, and no matter how distressed they were, the knights could only grit their teeth and force their horses to continue on their way.
The consequences of all this were instantly apparent when the temperature dropped sharply.
First, half of the horses were very emaciated due to their unwillingness to eat. Then three horses fell down due to cold and diarrhea. Then, due to a series of factors such as vasoconstriction caused by repeated sudden drops in temperature, two more horses suddenly suffered a heart attack and fell to the ground and died suddenly.
The transport vehicle lost a considerable proportion at once, which was already slowing down the team. But after realizing that this cold wave may not end soon, if we force the remaining horses, which have already increased their burden, to continue moving forward, I am afraid it will cause serious consequences. When more troops were lost, Constantine decisively gave the order to slow down the march.
That's not the worst.
The pervasive cold air contains abundant magic power. Even if we don't mention our Luoan girl who has weak magic power after igniting the mana pool, everyone else can feel the discomfort that is not limited to the physical level.
Just like what we have described before, when an individual with strong magic power radiates it with clear and targeted consciousness, the people around it within its range of influence will feel as if the air pressure has changed, and they will suffer from hypoxia. Chest tightness and a series of other signs.
After Horno and Henry explained it, they more or less had the ability to judge things related to magic. When something goes wrong, it becomes a monster. Even if the winter cold wave arrives and the temperature drops to such an extent within a few days, it is obvious that the tossing and turning can only be a good thing done by a witch.
She's nearby.
Followed by.
Before actually fighting the witch, the group of people felt that if they rushed to Scotti's side, there would be something they could do if there were more people. But now it seems that a garrison of more than 200 people, lacking magicians and clergy of the White Church who are more familiar with magic-related things and can resist, will only increase casualties.
The shortcomings of the extreme lack of communication means are fully exposed at this moment. Constantine and his party are not stationed in Scotti Town, so they cannot bring along ravens or homing pigeons that have been trained for many years to follow them and know how to return to the other side of the town. There are only a few days left to travel, and even thinking about it There was absolutely no way to warn the garrison in Scotti Town about the witch.
How to do?
Send out cavalry to inform?
The men and horses were extremely tired, and when the temperature suddenly dropped and supplies were insufficient, it was extremely risky to split up the troops and send a few people to speed up to the town. Even if someone in the team is willing, the chance of success will be extremely slim.
""The silence has lasted for two days. Except for the briefest necessary words, there is almost no communication among the team.
The instincts of warm-blooded creatures are similar. When the surrounding temperature drops to a certain level, people will become reluctant to move.
The amount of calories required to maintain physical activity increases significantly compared to when the environment is warm. Out of the instinct of self-preservation, the body will tell you to reduce consumption, and you will become tired and sleepy, making you just want to curl up next to the fire and fall asleep. .
And once you succumb to this instinct, fall asleep, and don't get up to look for firewood and food, a vicious cycle will begin.
Many people who die in snow-type environments cannot sleep like this.
But even though most people know that this situation is not good, overcoming it is definitely not as simple as saying it verbally.
The ill-prepared team lacked the necessary thermal equipment, and the thin cloaks did not have enough thermal insulation effect when the temperature dropped to freezing point. Fortunately, the lighter items that the merchants did not abandon happened to be various fabrics. Wrapping them inside the clothes and stuffing them into the gaps in the armor barely prevented everyone from being too cold to move.
Fingers are numb and movement is slow.
The heavy sleepiness swept over me - and then suddenly disappeared after the sixth cold wave came.
"It's an earth dragon." Henry, who seemed not to be affected by the temperature at all, checked the traces on the ground, and his words did not surprise anyone.
With the arrival of the cold wave, biological activities require more heat. Now that all the creatures in the Ba'ao Forest are hiding, the only ones who can get enough food are naturally the human towns who raise livestock in captivity and raise various livestock.
Everyone who had been in contact with Earth Dragon that day looked at each other and felt a chill running down their spines.
The people in Scotti Town probably don't know anything about this yet, and are busy because of the sudden cold wave. In this case, not only the witch, but also the earth dragon is approaching in this direction.
We can't tolerate them lingering here any longer.
"Divide the troops." Constantine said concisely and concisely, which reduced the burden. The entire team was still not light and convenient. The damage of the horses and the presence of the wounded slowed down their progress to a considerable extent. In order to warn and prepare for Scotty Town, a few reliable people must carry the foster care and speed up in a light team. After careful consideration, it was obvious that this candidate was only Henry and his party.
There is a huge difference between the supplies for dozens of people and the supplies for just a few people. It is impossible to move fast while looking for food and firewood and taking care of the wounded. And if they slow down even more and collect the supplies and distribute them to a few people, then the detached team can focus on their journey without spending time obtaining supplies such as food and firewood.
The decision was made, and under the command of Constantine, everyone counted the various beasts that had frozen to death on the roadside due to the sudden drop in temperature and assigned them to Henry and the others.
The sudden arrival of the cold wave brought a lot of gifts in this regard. They didn't need to go hunting. They could just look for the frozen beasts by paying attention to the traces on the ground. The near-freezing temperatures also allow them to be better preserved and prevent them from rotting easily.
"Ha--" The breaths exhaled by the man and the horse turned into snow-white mist. Although the road was not frozen, in order to protect the horses' soles from frostbite, they made simple fur riding shoes from the fur of the prey.
The patchwork of thermal equipment looked very ridiculous. The bright and heavily armored Imperial Knights when they first met no longer existed. Now they were trying to wrap themselves tightly in furs, fabrics of various colors, and cloaks. He looks no better than a low-level mercenary with no reputation.
But survival is more important than appearance.
Food and firewood were piled on Henry's flatbed carriage. The temporarily reinforced part of the second half had been jolted to pieces on the ramp coming down from the ancient city of Katigali. For the sake of speed, it was no longer possible. Needing so much cargo space, they stripped it.
The team returned to its original size of five. Filippo and Ferruccio, whose horses had been killed by the earth dragon, took over the two horses in the best health from the knights, while Henry and Mira shared a ride, which was of slightly inferior quality and was not particularly special according to the environment. The trained horses are much more adaptable to the environment.
"Hiss—" The spiritual unicorn seemed to be aware of what these humans were about to do. It came over and rubbed Mira, obviously intending to follow the five of them on the road.
"I, stay," Horno, who had been staying in the carriage driven by Margaret, suddenly said this. Barrow followed her silently and dullly as always. When he didn't take action, the team Almost no one among them would notice the presence of this brown-skinned man.
"Well, that's fine, we need a magician here." Constantine nodded, and Henry took a deep look at Horno, and then looked at the knight captain.
"Be careful." He said this, and Constantine frowned. Hearing this seemingly ordinary admonishment, the knight commander felt that there was something in the words.
"Yes, I will." He nodded seriously. Although the sage was a complicated existence for him in terms of position, the knight commander was not stupid enough to ignore this because of some entanglements in his heart. man's warning.
"Then, let's set off." Without too much nonsense, Henry and the others said goodbye to their partners who had been traveling together for a long time.
Compared with their friendship through thick and thin, this farewell seemed a bit too simple.
But no one cares about this issue.
The huge pressure caused by threats from all sides made everyone's hearts feel like a huge stone was pressing on them. The ominous premonition made no one care about it too much.
Although changes in temperature caused the moist ground to freeze, the footprints persisted longer than when temperatures were normal. But the thin layer of frosty water vapor that overflowed from the bottom of the pit could be inferred to some extent that the earth dragon passed through here when the cold wave just arrived - in other words, this was a few days ago.
If its destination is indeed Scotty Town, I'm afraid it's already very dangerous there.
The horses' hooves galloped on the hard mud. The closer they got to Scotty Town, the more complete the stone floor became. With the change in the road surface, the sound also changed from a dull thump to a loud click.
The five people who accelerated and galloped quickly left the large army behind them far away. After they had opened a long distance, they followed the footsteps of the earth dragon and confirmed that it was indeed heading towards the town. , when he stopped to light a fire to eat and warm himself up to regain his strength.
In the sky, the first snowflakes slowly fell.
Located in the tropical southern region of the Padrosi Empire, this strange scene is rare to see in thousands of years.
Mira extended her hand.
Because the temperature was not extremely cold, the half-melted snowflakes fell on her palms. Her palms, which were stiff and numb due to the cold wind, could only feel the slightest hint of coolness.
"Uh-" A stinging pain flashed through Luo An's girl's mind. After igniting the mana pool, she was more sensitive to the magic around her than normal people. But the moment she came into contact with this snowflake, she was clearly I felt the emotion contained in the magic associated with this widespread cold wave.
Emotions from the witch herself.
Contrary to expectations, it was not hatred.
"She is-" Mira muttered to herself somewhat dullly.
"Cry?"
