The afternoon sun, continuously shifting westward, appeared like an overburdened fireball plummeting toward the distant horizon, setting the vast expanse of clouds ablaze with fiery red.
Across the wilderness, the battle between the Revenge Alliance Wizards and Deep Blue Castle Wizards within the city was drawing to a close. Having lost the support of nearly all the Supreme Order Divine Society members, the Deep Blue Castle Wizards were clearly no match for the entire Revenge Alliance. They were forced into retreat, soon surrounded, and then massively annihilated. Only a few survived, some attempting a desperate final strike, others trying to break through and flee.
To this, the Revenge Alliance Wizards showed little mercy, intensifying their attacks, ready to completely wipe out the Deep Blue Castle forces. During the battle, the Revenge Alliance Wizards carried within them a mixture of strange emotions, fighting while occasionally glancing toward a certain spot in the sky outside the city.
Somewhere in the city.
A group of Deep Blue Castle Wizards had been eliminated. Wizard Ewa stood on the scorched ground, burnt by flames, and slowly raised her head to look towards the distant sky outside the city.
There, a figure hovered in the air, wearing a Black Iron Mask that obscured their face, but their presence exuded a terrifyingly powerful aura. It was this figure’s existence, their slaying of numerous enemies, that had allowed the Revenge Alliance to turn the tide. Strangely enough, despite having killed so many, they made no effort to reveal their identity.
At that moment, as the figure hovered in the air, surveying the surroundings as if searching for any fish that slipped the net. Once they were satisfied that they had killed almost all the enemies, their body folded and they shot off towards the north at an incredible speed, vanishing from sight after a short while.
Ewa’s eyebrows couldn’t help but raise at this sight.
The somewhat heavy footsteps sounded from behind Ewa; Wizard Tifeng approached.
Wizard Tifeng wasn’t in good shape; his wounds from the earlier fight at Deep Blue Castle had not healed cleanly, and he had recently been hit by several spells, leaving his face unusually pale.
Walking up to Ewa’s side, seeing Ewa continually looking northward, Tifeng knew what she was thinking. With a somewhat hoarse voice, he asked, "Master Ewa, are you trying to guess the identity of that person?"
"..." Ewa remained silent, neither confirming nor denying. After a while, she turned her head and asked Tifeng, "How are your injuries?"
"Eh, somewhat serious," Tifeng frowned and admitted without pride. His injuries were indeed not light, only slightly better than being severely wounded, and his strength had been significantly reduced.
Hearing this, Ewa spoke, "Then you should be more cautious and seek treatment as soon as possible. There may be many more matters ahead that will need your attention."
More matters to attend to? Wasn’t the war over?
Tifeng appeared puzzled but didn’t overthink it. He nodded in confusion and walked away.
At that moment, Teddy walked by quietly, looking guilty as if he had something to hide.
"Wizard Teddy?" Ewa called out to Teddy as if she had eyes on the back of her head.
"Ah? Master Ewa, did you need something from me?" Teddy started, then quickly regained his composure and approached. Teddy looked much better than Tifeng; aside from dirty clothes, there was no sign of any injuries on him.
Eva looked Teddy up and down and asked meaningfully, "Wizard Teddy, I remember arranging for you and Wizard Richard to be together, right? Aside from you, there were Wizard Bata, Wizard Noel, and Wizard Jenny, three people. Why... is it just you here now? Where are the others? Especially Wizard Richard?"
"Ah, this...," Teddy’s eyes slowly swiveled in their sockets, "Here’s the thing... Master Eva, listen, I... uh... we were together at first, then we rushed over here because something seemed off. But the battle was so intense that we inadvertently got separated, and I still don’t know where they are. They might have perished, but then again, with some luck, maybe they’re all alive."
By the end of his speech, Teddy suddenly spotted a familiar figure, turned his head and said to the approaching witch, "Wizard Jenny, I’m right, aren’t I? We were with Wizard Richard the whole time, just got separated on the way here to provide support."
Eva looked toward the approaching Wizard Jenny. Jenny nodded calmly, then, as if remembering something, her gaze dimmed somewhat as she said, "Wizard Richard is very powerful; he should be fine. However, I think I saw Wizards Bata and Noel get hit by enemy spells, I’m afraid their chances are slim. Sigh."
At the end of her remarks, Jenny breathed a light sigh filled with a touch of sadness. It was not the kind of grief one would feel over the death of a relative or friend — that would be too contrived — rather, it was the kind of sorrow one feels when someone they had spent time with suddenly dies — natural, just right, fitting with the rhythm of life and death.
Eva blinked her eyes, her expression still somewhat dubious, but ultimately she chose not to say anything and waved Teddy and Jenny away. After the two left, she looked towards the northern sky for a while, shook her head, and smiled at herself mockingly before withdrawing her gaze.
On the other side, Teddy and Jenny had walked some distance when Jenny suddenly said, "We should look for an opportunity to check out the Screaming Forest. I don’t know if Richard has dealt with the bodies of those two idiots. He may not be afraid, but we need to cover our tracks to avoid trouble."
"Okay," Teddy agreed with a nod, took a few steps, then had a sudden realization, "Hey, you mean... you want me to go?"
"What else?" Jenny rolled her eyes.
"Why is it that I have to do the dirty and tiring work?" Teddy protested.
Jenny pursed her lips, "I could do it, sure, just give me a piece of Magic Tools. After all, I’ve already taken care of smoothing over the situation. I can’t be expected to do extra work for nothing, right?"
"I..." Teddy said helplessly, "Fine! I’ll do it!"
"Tch, I knew you would, stingy!" Jenny rolled her eyes again and quickly walked away.
Teddy stood there, fuming.
In a corner of the city, the broken ground, collapsed houses, and the shards of ice scattered around hinted at the tremendous battle that had occurred here.
Currently, Nancy and Gro stood there, both looking toward the north — the direction from which an incredibly mysterious person had just left.
After watching for a long time, Gro slowly withdrew his gaze, muttering somewhat absently, "I wonder who that person could be. Wearing a mask, so secretive, yet so powerful, easily killing many people, and even a Dragon. Most importantly, he had a Dragon of his own! Although far away, one could see that his Dragon was more beautiful, no wonder he was ruthless when it came to killing the first Dragon. Could it be that he is the legendary Black Spirit King?"
At this, Gro vigorously shook his head, denying his own words, "No, that can’t be right. After all, those opposing us, those standing behind Deep Blue Castle, are looking to restore the Black Spirit Empire. If it really were the Black Spirit King, why would he fight against himself? So, who could it be?"
As Gro pondered more and more, it became puzzling. He couldn’t help but turn to Nancy and ask, "Nancy, do you have any idea who that person could be?"
After hearing this, Nancy first rolled her eyes dramatically, then covered half her face with one hand, and with the other, she stomped passionately onto Gro’s head.