When did you realize it?
The fact that he was already in an illusion.
The air is still the same, and the forest environment is no different.
But the feeling of dissonance cannot be erased.
"You must remember these words of mine, little girl."
"In the next battle, some things you will face are beyond your imagination. Don't think that your existing experience has any effect, abandon those inertial thinking ideas, use your logic, and listen to your intuition , follow your heart.”
"I've told you many times before, right?"
"In combat, experience, skills and physical fitness are important, but these have limits."
"In terms of physical ability, you will meet people better than you; experience and combat skills are often only applicable to one or two environments. For example, the method of using a long sword to deal with a long sword will not be effective when encountering a spear. "
"So the most important thing on the battlefield is not just to defeat the enemy, but also to have something that allows you to survive."
"It's imagination."
“Now is a good time to put it to use.”
These were the last words he spoke.
Still carrying the words of Yu Wen.
But.
he is.
who?
I.
who is it?
She lowered her head and started to look at herself.
The protruding design of the breastplate on the body to resist arrows was exposed in the middle of the skirts on both sides of the cloak. The wind mixed with some fallen leaves blew over, causing the metal tie on the cloak to lightly hit the surface of the armor, making a "clang, clang, clang, clang, clang" sound. sound.
The warm variegated fur collar swayed gently in the wind. She raised her hand covered with thick thermal gloves. Her left hand was empty. Although her forearm was still slender, it had been well-trained. Then she noticed that her right hand was holding A sword.
Not only was the blade damaged, but even the perfect guard was full of traces of battle. The kid leather wrapped around the handle has become a little wrinkled due to long-term use. If you can return to the city, you must find a blacksmith to take a good rest, or replace the sword - if you have the funds.
A series of thoughts emerged one after another as she looked at herself in a short period of time, but she had no idea why she knew these or why she had these thoughts.
"Is this...t...to...hair?"
As if she had forgotten even the pronunciation, she used her free left hand to wipe the thing on her head that was fluttering in the wind, and then learned the pronunciation of the word again.
"b...ba...white."
Who exactly am I?
A lonely person here is doing something.
she does not know.
There is a voice that keeps shouting, this is a dream, it is a dream, it is not real, wake up.
But before she had time to think about it, she suddenly felt the hairs on her back stand on end, and an inexplicable creepy feeling came from the back of her head.
"call out--"
There was a rustling sound in the forest behind him that was supposed to be empty.
have what.
coming.
"Ah -" She ran instinctively, and with this movement, the voice seemed to speed up.
She ran.
But I can't run fast.
Is it because of the armor? Is it because of the sword? These things are... heavy?
I really want to leave them behind, they are all burdens, I really want to leave them behind and run away.
'No, this is in a dream, this is in her illusion. She can't give it up. Just give up the protection and stop resisting! '
The thing was in hot pursuit.
'You have to stop running away and fight it. '
"No, it's impossible to beat that kind of thing!"
Can't fight, can't escape!
Why.
Why are you in such trouble.
She ran, and ran, and the armor and sword seemed to get heavier and heavier, until she couldn't bear it anymore and her knees gave way and she fell.
The thing didn't chase her. It seemed that it wouldn't chase her if she didn't run away.
She fell to her knees and suddenly started crying.
"I want to go home..."
A warm light suddenly appeared in the woods ahead. She stood up with tears in her eyes, staring blankly in that direction, and then instinctively wanted to walk towards the warm and bright place, but the voice in her heart But started shouting 'No! '
She ignored it.
Just walk there step by step.
The pace began to become smaller with the movement, her whole body began to become smaller, and the short hair began to grow as she got closer to the warm place.
"That's - home -" A heartfelt smile appeared on her young face, which was still full of tears. As long as she returned there, she would be safe. She would have left this world full of cold things and this world. The heavy and tiring armor and the enemies that are always chasing you.
Now that you are safe, you can sleep peacefully.
But the light was blocked.
What stood in front of her and the warm family was a girl with a frown and short hair. She was also holding a sword, a sword exactly like her own.
Rather, that person is exactly the same as me.
"Ha--" She let out a long sigh.
Then he spoke as if he was talking to her, but also to himself: "I also know that you are very tired. This journey has never been smooth, but you can't get into her trap."
"It is a very warm place, a very safe place, where everything is there, including mom and dad, and the best things in dreams."
"There you don't have to live such a life, and you don't have to bear such burden and pain."
"But I've already seen it once."
"It's enough to relax once in a gentle dreamland."
"Although my hometown is good, one cannot stay in the cradle all his life."
"This is the path I chose."
"I now have a place where I belong."
"That person is still fighting now."
"It's not the time to sleep here." "Qiang——" "Ah——" She raised her sword towards herself, while the other young girl let out a scream.
"Wake up quickly."
"Step-!" Her short white hair was flying in all directions. She held swords in both hands and rushed towards this side with a sprint.
"Bang——Clang!!!" Sparks flew everywhere.
Henry took a step back.
"What should we do?" Erica also took the same action. She only fought once and then retreated. The sage looked around in silence. Horno kept whispering with difficulty in the place they were protecting, his eyes turned blue, and he was obviously casting a spell. There was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead and her face was quite pale. She could no longer even stand and was leaning against the edge of a tree.
Even among the favored elves, Orno, who is considered the top among them, made her use such laborious magic.
——There are only a few in the world.
But now is not a good time to think about this.
"Here we go again!" Erica warned, then lowered herself and grabbed the front half of the spear to use as a short spear. "Roar!" She accurately stabbed the ghoul from the chin. The hard cuticle on the inside of the neck did not have sufficient movable structure, so she was able to go straight in and directly cut off the end of its cervical spine. The direct approach to the central nervous system made this terrifying monster that could continue to fight despite being fatally injured twitched and fell heavily to the ground——
——But Erica's actions were not over yet. She first stretched her legs and lowered her body to avoid the attack of a sledgehammer on the left. Then she held the middle part of the spear with one hand and struck it to the right, hitting the target accurately. The throat made the man fall back again and again.
"Bang!!" Compared to the silver-haired red-card female mercenary's precise and sharp shooting skills, the sage's battle looked more open and full of courage. The indestructible Kramer easily split open the two ghouls that passed by him, but then he deflected the edge of the sword and even changed his grip, so that his left hand only lightly wrapped the weighted ball instead of Real Grip blocked the attack of the person in front of him with very light force.
"Whoops -" Four fireballs shot from the other side, and Henry avoided them with such a small arc that his cloak was burned. There was a smell of burning hair in the air - and the reason why he needed The reason for this was quickly revealed - the sage was momentarily distracted when the half-handed sword in front of him struck at his throat again.
"When-" Henry blocked it again, and then took a big step back.
"The circle is getting smaller and smaller." Erica warned. Her and Henry's breathing was still steady, but they did not have a numerical advantage. Every time they took action, the circle was shrinking.
"Wha-dang!" A speeding crossbow bolt was blocked lightly, but then two more ghouls rushed over. The sage easily split them open with his sword in one hand, but he opened the door wide. At the same time, two sharp swords, one on the left and one on the right, were stabbing at the exposed armpits.
"Qianglang - step." Erica, who rushed out from the left, threw a spear to disrupt the attack of the sword tip, and then used a sideways swing to drive back the two attackers, but because of her retreat, the zombies But the ghosts also approached Horno from another direction.
"Bang! - Phew -" In desperation, Henry threw the big sword in his hand and chopped off the ghoul. Then he took out the dagger from his waist with one hand and pulled it from Erica with the other hand. Her spare weapon was drawn from her waist.
"Remember to return it to me." The silver-haired lady said, and then the two separated again and rushed forward.
"Clang-dang-" The crossed daggers jammed the blade of the sword. The sage leaned forward, then put his arm into the man's arms and patted down the entire sword.
"Qiang——" The long sword fell to the ground.
"Wha--" But another long sword stabbed from one side, and the direction was completely without concern for the feelings of his teammates. If he avoided it, the disarmed person in front of him would definitely be stabbed.
"..." "Ka Qiang——" The dagger used to block made a gap but successfully deflected the direction. "Stab la——" The collar of the cloak was picked up with a huge opening, but this was When it became an opportunity, Henry decisively abandoned the dagger, then tore off his cloak and rolled it against the man's sword hilt guard. When the wrapped weapon could no longer exert its combat effectiveness, he pulled and kicked again. Successfully disarmed.
But it wasn't over yet. The man who had been disarmed earlier pulled out the dagger from his waist and stabbed him. Without saying a word, Henry stepped back again and threw the cloak towards her head to cover her vision. At the same time, he took out the cloak. The long sword inside.
"Ding-dang--" The sage blocked the sword thrust by her after dodging the feint attack, but the other disarmed person rolled over and picked up the sword that fell on the ground and suddenly stabbed him from the lower left. Come.
"Crack-" A burst of sparks flew from the surface of the chest armor's belly, leaving a deep mark. Henry twisted his body the moment he was hit by the sword, and the man who had not completely lost his strength lost his balance at the point of contact. Disturbed, he rushed forward. The sage stepped on the sword with one foot and kicked his chin with the other foot, causing him to fall down again.
"Bang!" Several fireballs came at him again. He dodged them nimbly, and then hit the breastplate of the person in front of him with his palm, pushing her several meters away and falling to the ground.
"Huh-" Henry breathed out, and then retreated to Horno's side again with Erica.
"Uh-huh-" The elf's expression became even paler.
Black body fluids began to spread on the ground - but this term may not be accurate because they flowed too fast.
In just a few minutes, the beheaded ghoul turned into a mummy. The black liquid in their bodies drained away as quickly as if it had been absorbed by the earth.
"...Are you sure you know what you are doing?" The silver-haired red-brand mercenary glanced at Horno, who nodded palely. "I'll give this back to you." Erica then said and threw Kramer back to the sage. Henry loosened the long sword in his hand and inserted it into the dirt, then grabbed his familiar weapon again.
"It's really difficult." The sage's expression remained calm, but his gray-blue eyes were more focused than ever.
"yes."
"It's okay if hallucinations obscure and disrupt cognition, making people unable to distinguish between friend and foe. In that case, this elite team lineup can still be solved through psychological defense and mutual understanding. But direct control..." Ellie Ka said this, and where she was facing, Stephen and Adolphus, holding weapons and expressionless, slowly approached with the ghouls.
"What did you call this phenomenon in your previous records?" Erica frowned.
"The witch's toy," Henry said.
"It's really your style of naming." Erica raised her eyebrows, obviously not praising him.
"You are an opponent who cannot kill you."
"Should I be glad now that we had the foresight not to come with a whole bunch of people?"
The female mercenary said this, and then shook the spear in her hand. The dirty black liquid dripped onto the ground and was absorbed by the earth. She frowned and glanced at Horno again from the corner of her eye. .
Henry half-squinted his eyes, watching the disarmed Mira and Filippo get up from the ground again, slowly approaching with Camilo who was a little further away.
"How long will it take?" He looked at Horno, and the elf began to experience bursts of magic power fluctuations that even slightly affected the air. This was a sign that the abundant magic power began to overflow in the final stage of large-scale magic casting - Obviously, even as a top magician, she cannot single-handedly perform such a large-scale magic without spilling any magic power.
Horno looked here and raised a finger with a pale face.
"Understood."
"Cha——" The sage was ready, but paused the moment he took a step.
Erica noticed this, and she said with a serious expression: "Aurora again? You have to hold on."
"I don't want to fight you."
"Yeah." Henry responded softly, and then raised his head again.
But in his eyes, the whole world was suddenly no longer the dead woodland of Bao Forest, but a plain covered with snow, with a white tower with a high bronze bell hanging in the distance.
And the figure of Mira approaching in front of her suddenly turned into another person.
The man's long black hair swayed gently in the wind and snow, and the red scarf around his neck swayed gently in the wind.
Behind her stood a whole row of knights, all familiar faces to her.
They were holding big sword pillars on the ground with solemn expressions.
She lowered her head first, and the hair on her forehead with neat bangs was flying in the wind. Then she raised her head and looked here and slowly opened her eyes.
But those eyes were not the familiar ones in the past, with gentle eyes.
The red eyes on the cold expression exuded a cold light, as if he was already above human beings, looking down on the world as a creator.
Ice and snow were flying, and the knights raised their swords.
"Sa..." Before the name could be fully spoken, Henry closed his mouth tightly.
"People can fight against fate."
"That's what you said."
"To be honest, I still doubt this statement."
"But I saw something," Henry said to himself.
"A stubborn little girl."
“Like a rock in the rapids, it always maintains itself no matter how drastic the environment changes.”
"If it's her."
"If it's up to her."
"Maybe it's possible that this sentence may come true."
He tightened his grip on the sword.
Just like in the past.
"Wha—" the illusion disappeared with the wind, and a gleaming short sword with complicated patterns stabbed towards him.
But before hitting the sage, it stopped, and then began to tremble crazily along with its entire body.
"Uh-" Mira covered her head and squatted down with a look of pain, while Henry grabbed her by the back of the collar and threw the Luoan girl next to Horno.
"Take it!" The long sword in Filippo's hand stabbed the position where Mira was just now.
"Pick up the sword." The sage said, and the white-haired girl who still hadn't fully come to her senses was uneasy but her movements didn't slow down even a minute. She decisively grabbed the sword that belonged to Filippo. , and then protected Horno.
"Why on earth are we killing each other?" She looked around, but her eyes had returned to their original look.
"The witch did it, concentrate!" Henry explained everything to her in a short sentence, and then continued.
"coming soon."
"What's coming?"
"she."
"Huh——" The strong wind roared, and the ghouls and the controlled people distanced themselves and retreated to a slightly outer place.
It was like the attendants were clearing the way for their king.
