The difference between a thought and a step

After the sun rose, Sela kept her head down with her hood on, but her gait gradually slowed down.

Keane noticed that her companion was pale, like she had lost too much blood."Sela, you look sick."

Sela raised her head, the scene in front of her eyes became very blinding, and her body trembled uncontrollably."I drank too much blood, and it made me a bit overwhelmed.

The daylight makes me weak.

It's the vampire's 'photosensitivity'."

"Isn't drawing blood supposed to make you stronger?"

Sela lowered her hood with her hand, a very uncoordinated movement."Not exactly." She tried to say something more, but was out of her depth.

"What can I do?"

Sela was no longer able to vocalize.

Her lips twitched a few times, and then she fell into dormancy.

"Stay out of the sun." Keane read his companion's lips.

He picked up Sela and went deeper into the woods, settling under a tree that was lying down.

Looking at the map, Ironstone Town is about three to five days away from Ice City.

about half a day's travel outside of Ice City is a wilderness.

It is covered with mud and moss and has no shade.

According to the current situation, crossing the wilderness during the day is not good for Sela, and the wilderness at night will become a hunting ground for wild animals.

Keane stared into the campfire, knowing that he was left with few options.

The two men had to get to the valley as soon as possible, lest their target get defensive after hearing about Ironstone Town.

In doing so, they would have to risk making the journey at night.

The smoke curled slowly into the coniferous forest, and sleepiness set in.

Finally, he could not resist the fatigue and closed his eyes.

It was dusk when Sela woke up her companion.

She placed the food by the fire where she would rest and continued the bedtime conversation."The power of a vampire depends on the ability to drive blood magic.

This ability gradually increases in the constant consumption and ingestion of mana, also known as blood.

For young vampires, ingesting a large amount of blood at once can greatly enhance their power at night, but relatively speaking, they will also be weaker and more easily injured during the day.

I am not a vampire who is only active at night.

I should have exercised some restraint last night."

----------

Ahead, puddles of water are scattered in the wilderness, like broken mirrors reflecting the cold night sky, and it is these mirror fragments that cut the dull surface of the earth.

Ice City's lights loomed in the distance between the mountains.

Keane stopped to touch the rope hanging from his waist."The crows told me the gates were closed.

To get into the city, I'll have to find another way."

"It's not hard to understand.

The city gates open at sunrise and close at sunset.

It's all because people work at sunrise and rest at sunset."

"So when the very night comes, that city gate will remain closed?"

"You're quite a country bumpkin." Sela teased."Haven't you noticed things like off-ramps?" She fished a vial of medicine and a few berries out of her travel bag, "Maybe I can convince the gate guards to make it easy for us."

----------

Seeing two hobbling figures approaching, the city gate guards stepped forward to check."Stand still! The city gates are closed, you can't go in now.

Come back tomorrow morning when the sun rises."

"Hello.

We're from Ironstone Town." The woman assisted the man, who had a number of red spots on his face."My husband was bitten by something while hunting in the forest.

He is now covered with spots, and they are contagious." With that, the woman pulled up her sleeves, revealing her red-spotted arms.

"Go away! You'll get the town killed!" The guards pointed their spears at the two men.

The woman took two steps back, "It was Lia Yurr, the captain of the guards in Ironstone Town, who sent us to the Archmage.

He said the Archmage could heal us."

"Cure you? Hmph!" The guard sneered, "That shitball Jia Yurr must have had another agenda to say that.

As far as I know anyone who seeks medical attention from that archmage doesn't live long."

"But we always have to try." Said the woman, pulling a coin out of her pocket and handing it to the guard.

"No! I don't want to be infected!" The guards hurriedly stepped back."Since you think you've lived too long, go in through the small door! That Archmage lives in the Mage Tower."

Ice City is located in a three-sided craggy depression on the outskirts of Windrose Valley.

A wide wall seals the gap in the depression.

On the mountain wall, large crossbow machines are set up in artificially cut quarters.

Trestles embedded in the mountain connect these quarters together, forming a more tricky city defense system than battlements.

In addition, lookouts were built on top of the mountains, and they were always functional at all times.

Most of the lord's residences were located on the flat ground in the middle of the depression.

Most of the civilians live in caves cut into the lower part of the mountain wall.

A clear spring gushes out from the mountain and is led by a canal to cisterns in all corners of the city.

After looking around, the two entered a tavern called the "Old Mine".

Tavern owner named Josephine, is an old woman, seems to be quite peaceful.

"So this used to be a mining cave?" Sela pointed down at the sign behind the owner.

Josephine brought up a plate of bread and two bottles of wine for the two men."Yes.

My husband, Flavord, was a miner and he was the one who first discovered the silver mines here.

Unfortunately, not long after digging, the silver mine dried up.

Some people accused us of digging without offering gifts to the gods and goddesses, but to whom should we offer gifts? Varola (the goddess of agriculture and earth on the Wissane world) doesn't seem to care about things like silver mines, huh?"

"So you turned the place into a tavern.

That's brilliant." Sela chimed in.

"Things aren't going as smoothly as you think, ma'am." Seeing that the guest was interested in the tavern, Josephine took a seat."At first, Lord Isak Winter, the current lord of the city, was very angry.

He had invested a lot of manpower to dig this place, but did not get an adequate amount of return.

So he planned to close this mine so that my husband would lose his job."

Hearing about the Lord of the City, Keane touched the clue he had jotted down, "The bear claw shaped iceberg ..."

"Thanks to my husband's friend Schoen Han, who suggested to the lord that this place be converted into a tavern, I was able to take over the business here."

"So how's business?" Sela asked.

"Twenty years ago was not bad.

At that time, the construction of the city defense had just started, and many craftsmen would come here to drink.

After the city defense was completed, most of them switched to other businesses, so there were fewer customers.

As for now, as you can see, this place is rather remote and not many people come here."

"Thanks, Josephine.

two more bottles of wine for me.

I'll take them back to my room and enjoy them." Sela offers two coppers.

Apart from the hall, the old mine had only four guest rooms, separated from each other and supported by wooden pile walls.

The entire tavern relies on a wooden air duct suspended from the top for ventilation.

The room located deep in the tavern is used for storage like a cellar.

Keane put the only six coins he had on him on the table, "I don't have many.

It's a good thing we won't be staying long."

Sela rubbed her arm from time to time, looking like the mixture of berry jam and mushroom powder applied there not long ago had made her skin a little irritated."This is unexpected.

I fooled the guards at the gates by imitating the disease, only to embarrass myself." She looked to the bath in the corner of the room."I need some fresh water.

Could you please step back for a moment."

"Sure.

I was just about to go find my bird."

Soon the tub would be full of hot water, and Josephine was satisfied to receive another coin."Are you sure you don't need my help, lady? Just give me one more coin and I can rub your bath myself.

Of course, if you don't think I'm an old woman with rough hands, I can find you a younger girl to do it for you.

But that will cost another two coppers."

"No.

Thank you for your kindness.

Later my husband will do it for me."

After Josephine left, Sela whipped out a cold mist that froze the door to the room from the inside, then sat down in the tub to freshen herself up.

The bath relieved the fatigue, but not the feeling of restraint.

By chance, Sela noticed the termites entering and leaving the cracks in the walls, so she put on her clothes and went up to observe.

After a moment, she nodded, "The termites chose to nest here not because of the wood, but because of the silver ore left in the rocks.

That's what triggered my allergy."

Sela sat down at the table and picked up the remaining coin, weighing it in her hand, "Well, I did go so long without touching the silver coin that my body overreacted a bit to it."

The candlelight was fading, and the crunching sound of the brass plates was making people more and more uneasy.

Suddenly, Sela clenched her fist and looked towards the door of the room, the brass plate creaking in her hand."I have an unsettling feeling.

It's not the first time."

----------

Keane weaves through the dark streets and alleys, his movements collected and released, as quiet as a shadow.

The guards on patrol didn't notice a thing.

On a deserted corner, he applied the poison to his dagger as he thought back to the city as the ravens saw it.

The warriors guarding the lord's palace gossiped about the city's anecdotes.

A few other warriors lazily patrolled the surrounding streets and alleys.

Two taller towers on either side of the building, the western tower of the guards have been crouched on the ground dozing, that is the barracks of the lord's palace.

The eastern tower was unguarded.

Through the window, Keane could see some sun-dried herbs hanging on the walls of the house.

That must be the mage's tower.

Keane followed the roof ridge to the second floor balcony of the Mage Tower.

No one was moving around in the house, so he entered the room.

There was nothing else in here except for everyday items.

A steep staircase led to the top floor, but it was covered with iron plates.

Keane climbed up the stairs and spat a bit of saliva at the iron plate.

The iron plate did not respond, so he judged that there was no magic trap set on the iron plate.

He was about to reach out and push it, but then he stopped.

Since he could not be sure whether there was a trap on the other side of the iron plate, he could not act rashly.

With this in mind, he returned to the balcony and climbed up to the top floor from the outer wall.

The top floor balcony holds some plants, some of them poisonous.

The house is fully equipped with magic facilities.

The lamp oil is about to run out in the four bullhorn wall lamps.

There is a rhythm of magic behind the windbreak.

A mage was lying on his side on the bed, protected by a mana shield.

Although he did not see the mage's full face, Keane remembered the man's short beard and the unusual costume.

So he gripped his dagger and recited the spell to destroy the mana shield.

Feeling the barrier protecting him disappear, Frostfire Yush, an Archmage, awoke immediately.

He could imagine that the enemy was up to no good and immediately recited Skin Petrification Magic to reduce the damage he would take.

The dagger failed to penetrate the target, but the feeling of the blow told the assassin that the target's ribs were broken.

It takes some time for the effects of Skin Petrification Magic to spread throughout his body.

He pushes the assassin away and rolls in the opposite direction, cutting his arm with a dagger in the process.

After getting up, he raises his mana shield and prepares to defend himself.

Keane threw a cup at the mage to disturb his senses, then quickly ran to the edge of the room and extinguished three wall sconces.

The room went dark.

The mage was unsure whether the assassin had escaped or was hiding in the shadows waiting for an opportunity.

He tentatively threw an ice spear at the spot where the assassin had disappeared.

The ice spear hit the wall and then exploded.

Keane had already evaded in advance, but the shattered ice shards still brought bone-chilling chills.

While nervous, he also remembered Betty's wounds.

Without waiting for him to think, a fireball as big as a round shield in diameter flew over, and he hurriedly rolled on his side.

The explosion of the fireball ignited the lamp oil, narrowing the shadows of the room.

"Ugh!" The mage covered his ribs and swam towards the light."The claustrophobic environment is good for assassins.

I always thought Spell Banisher was just a legend." He tries again, throwing a fire vector and an ice vector.

"Why don't we talk about it?" The mage lit the other two wall lamps with a fire vector, "You step out of the shadows.

I'll show you around my storeroom.

There are many specimens there, perhaps you can join them." He continued to try his magic, not even realizing that his right hand had been poisoned.

This hand was still able to cast spells because it had been driving the icy energy.

This delayed the onset of the poison and also reduced the pain to some extent.

"There's another live one there that I haven't had time to deal with yet.

I can introduce you to-ah!" The mage screamed in agony.

the excruciating pain from Fire-cracker Ant's toxin burst interrupted his spell casting.

The lamp oil gradually ran out, and the top floor was enveloped by more shadows.

The mage felt more isolated than ever.

He threw the clothes from the locker on the floor and attempted to light them, only to be interrupted by a succession of flying debris.

Based on the direction the debris flew, he determined the assassin's trajectory and threw several ice vectors again.

Although these magic all fell short, but he has taken the opportunity to ignite the clothes and books, and then threw them around.

At first, the mage's tentative attack with the strengthened magic was to force the assassin to show himself.

And later, he tried again with weakened magic is to lure the assassin to show up.

Now, his mana shield has thinned, which indicates that he has little mana left.

All this was watched by Keane, who was hiding in the shadows.

Considering the cunning of the enemy, he did not act rashly, but grabbed a candlestick and slowly moved towards the stairs.

It was easier to light the animal skins.

Igniting wooden furniture requires more mana.

You are now powerless to ignite the fire retardant treated wooden floorboards.

You must use the last of your mana to escape.

He thought as such.

"At least tell me why Spell Banisher tried to kill me?!" The mage yelled feebly, followed by a few coughs.

He couldn't take a big breath, much less cry out for help."Vile bastard! You've hurt my lungs!"

The books and clothes were nearly extinguished.

The mage endured the pain and lit the animal skins on the bed.

He was still struggling to stay alive.

At that moment, a cacophony of noise came from outside."Mage Tower! Surround the divisional tower!" The people outside shouted.

The mage saw hope.

He wiped away the alveoli he coughed up from his mouth, flung the burning furs violently to one side of the stairs, threw a fire vector at the other side of the stairs, and then rushed recklessly towards the stairs.

However, the thin layer of mana shield around him did not help him get through the difficulty.

The previous injury took an even heavier blow at this point.

With the sound of bones breaking, several ribs pierced his lungs, and he was kicked down to the floor by the side blow.

The mage remained undaunted.

He used his poisoned right hand to protect his injury, and his left hand to match his legs as he struggled to crawl toward the iron plate covering the stairs.

Without warning, a candlestick came crashing down, pinning his hand to the floorboard.

The inexplicably fallen cabinet blocked that near escape.

"If it hadn't been for the cocoon shaped like a dew, I wouldn't have noticed its presence." Keane said.

"This is the first time I've seen a moth that can weave a web.

It will take me some time to observe its habits." Sela set the bug box aside.

It's time we got down to business.

You know what I'm referring to."

The FluoMush in the spell weaving hall had been extinguished, and the flickering magical energy was the only source of light at hand.

A few spell banishers were scattered in the darkness of the hall, watching Master Sosbin's demonstration.

If it weren't for the reflections in the eyes of these onlookers, a passerby would have thought it was a one-man show without an audience.

"..."

"'Spellbreaking,' as the name implies, is to destroy the enemy's spells.

Therefore, magical defense and resistance do not fall into this category."Only the act of disabling, deflecting, or even reversing the enemy's spells can be called'spell breaking'."

"..."

"'Spellbreakers' are first and foremost very good spellcasters so that they can understand the principles of magic." If willing, those powerful spellbreakers can block the enemy's spells for a period of time by interfering with the caster's incantations.

Some spellbreakers who understand the spiritual realm can even make the enemy forget the spell they just used."

"..."

"The theory is that all magic can be broken.

However, the use of spell-breaking is not so widespread, and it will be affected by many factors.

So spellbreakers often need to weigh a variety of factors.

Too far from the enemy, and the spellbreaker will not have enough insight into the enemy's spell, while too close to the enemy, and the spellbreaker will not have enough time to recite the spell.

But we are Spell Banishers, and our lineage gives us a certain advantage—"

"Does destroying an enemy's mana shield also fall under the category of spell breaking?" Keane interrupted Sosbin.

"Yes," It can disable the enemy's spells.

But what I'm going to say below is the key.

Whether or not you can successfully perform a spell break depends not only on the method and timing of use, but also on the difference in power between the two sides.

If you want to break some archmage's mana shield and you don't have enough power to fight it, then you need to seek the right timing."

Not long ago, Keane had successfully powered up magical energy, but his process of channeling the spell's energy was a mixed bag.

As far as Sela could remember, excluding the complete recitation of the spell to destroy the mana shield, his companion's most successful spell casting was to channel the lightning energy to his fingertips.

After that, due to forgetting the last syllable of the spell, he failed to release the magical energy in time and was struck down by the reverse lightning bolt.

Sosbin attributed the reason for this to the divine nature of Ciara, which Keane could never let go of when the goddess failed to heal herself.

For Sela, a heart full of blood is like a juicy tomato, while a fresh liver is more like a tender cutlet of meat.

These foods give her ample strength to drive her inner blood magic and quietly awaken her long-hidden vampire nature.

When her spirit is happy, she reveals her true self unconsciously, perhaps with slightly red eyes, or perhaps with the silver tips of her teeth half hidden between her lips.

----------

The moment the stone door of the refuge closed, a whispered conversation came slowly from the darkness ahead.

"..."

"Repayment is the deepest longing."

"Fear because of isolation."

"Last Sighs...

Dying Wishes..."

"Silence." Sosbin's cryptic whisper silenced the murmur of the pattering rain.

"Surely you are not looking for Ms.

Sela in full armor." Sosbin usually follows his voice into the dark underworld, but this time he did not.

"Master, I—"

"No, there is no need for words.

They know the purpose of your trip.

Your mourning has been turned into a dagger.

Remember, the Path of Shadows is the Path of His.

The Path of Binding Shadows Forward is the Path of Spell Banishment." Having said that, Sosbin used his voice to open a shortcut to the ground.

----------

The events of a few months ago may have long been forgotten by others, but they never faded in Keane's memory.

Every time he thought of the people on the list still breathing, his heart felt like a knife.

In order to reach Windrose Valley as soon as possible, he kept walking through the shadows of the trees, trying to redeem the lost time with his speedy footsteps.

After nightfall, Keane rests under a low, dense canopy of trees.

A campfire burned in the earthen pit to provide heat and cover his eyes and ears.

After setting the usual traps, he pulled out the clues and read them over and over until he could tell where each one led before lying down.

Keane gripped his weapon and stood guard.

When he turned back, Sela was already sitting by the fire.

"It's a shame you've never experienced flight." Sela broke off a branch and threw it into the campfire."Which do you think is faster, running or flying?" She snapped another branch, as if she were breaking a rib that wouldn't give in.

Seeing his companion's dry lips, Keane handed over a water bag.

I'm sorry, Sela.

You must have searched for a long time."

"Nope."Not too long." Sela spoke without meaning to."To find your trail, I just followed a stream and flew until I saw the snow line." Then I wandered through the wolves' hunting grounds for half a day, asking for the fallen ravens in the woods in the process, and almost walking into elven territory." She emptied her bag of water in one gulp."Is that how you thanked me?"

"Yes," I don't want you to run, let alone risk your life."

"So now you're winging it and starting to worry that I'll hold you back."

Keane is not lying; he really does not want Sela to take any risks.

But Sela seems to have misinterpreted his intentions, which makes Keane helpless.

"I'm just scared to make the choice again."

Hearing this, Sela sighed.

She wasn't going to continue chastising her companion and instead grabbed a branch and fiddled with the campfire.

I've spent more time in the Golden Waterwheel than you have.Like you, I have good reason to seek revenge.

In Noah, women are allowed to fight in battles.

You can't deny that."

"Yes." Keane felt a little taken aback."But you had said you weren't a Noah." You don't like the traditions? "

Don't be silly, I only said that to put off the idiots.

Anyway, if you're worried about me getting hurt, then you should be putting up a shield around me, not leaving me out of it."You're a lot bigger now than you were before, but that doesn't mean you're as strong as I am." Sela pointed to her shoulder, where she had been wounded by an elven arrow."Will your wound heal by the third day?"

Sela's words left Keane speechless and unable to do anything but nod his head.

Shortly after falling asleep, images appeared in Keane's consciousness.

At first, he thought he was dreaming, but the images came so clearly and so real.

A group of people dressed in jungle-colored clothing with weeds and leaves on their heads moved noiselessly through the depression.

Keane sat up and recalled the image in his mind.

From the orientation, those people should be on the other side of the mountain.

Unsure if it was a vision or a fact, he came to the ridge.

The scene below was just as he had seen in his dream.

"I recognize this group, this group of elves to be exact." Keane spoke to Blackfeather.

He then quietly withdrew to the camp and extinguished the fire, waking his companion again and gesturing for her to follow.

Upon reaching the ridge, Sela quickly recognized the group of elves who had attacked her."Let's stay quiet and wait for them to leave."

Keane drew an arrow from his pouch, the elf's three-bladed arrowhead mounted at the tip."I think we should give this back to them." With that, he drew his bowstring full and aimed at the elf at the front of the group, releasing it in a flash of a slight pause in his target.

"An ambush! Hunters of Ursula (the goddess of beasts and hunting of the Wissahne world)! Prepare to fight! "

The elves took cover, then opened their bows and looked for the enemy.

Keane pulled Sela into the darkness and disappeared.

The two stopped only after they were far from the elven party.

"Ursula's hunters, ambushers, and hunting experts have been stolen by their former prey." This will cause them no small setback.

How did you find out about them?

"It wasn't me, it was the crows that found it."

"It?" Sela raised an eyebrow, willfully.

"Yes.

It showed me what it saw, and I'm not sure that's what's going on."

----------

A crow flew over Ironstone Town, and instead of announcing its arrival with a raspy call, it just landed on the roof of a house and pecked at the moths in the beams, looking up from time to time to keep an eye on the townspeople.

Although it is already summer, Ironstone Town has not regained its usual vitality.

It seems that with the departure of the last winter not only the frost and the wind, but also those withered lives and fragile souls.

The town is less children's fights.

Outside the mine, the two new furnaces were working day and night.

Some of the guards came and went between the furnaces and the tavern, most of them carrying honey wine for the summer heat.

At the edge of the forest, a campfire the size of a hand burns quietly behind the trees.

The smoke it raises blends in with the surrounding watery mist, indistinguishable to the naked eye.

"The bear claw ice peak emblem, the person wearing the weapon." Keane read off the clues he had jotted down earlier comparing the features on the guards."I don't remember who the local lord is.

What is certain is that he is not influential enough to use the emblem to mark his warriors."

"Sounds like these guys wearing emblems took over the place." Sela wrapped up her cloak and lay down by the campfire."We'll figure it out.

Until then, we rest."

After nightfall, Keane strangled a lone guard with his bowstring and dragged him into the woods.

"You-" the guard coughed while covering his injured neck."Who the fuck are you!" He squeezed out.

Keane did not speak, quietly giving the guards time to catch their breath.

The guard struggled to sit up, clinging to the large tree behind him.

He stared at the medium-sized native with a short beard in front of him.

He could not tell the other man's age because the light was too dim."All right! Bastard! What do you want here?!"

"Schoen Han, do you recognize it?"

The guard coughed a few more times, "He's crippled.

He lost his last eye and received a knife in his back, and is now confined to the tavern in town called the 'Mammoth Nose'.

He now calls himself 'Dry Spring Shaan' or 'Shaan Dry Spring', which was his name before he became a lord.

Who cares.

Anyway, he can't be a warrior for the lord anymore."

Keane puts away his weapon as a way to get the other man to relax.

He wanted the other man to tell the truth so that he could find out who all had a hand in this."Tell me what happened, in detail."

"A few months ago, in order to weaken the power of the Highlanders, the Lord of the Valley ordered Schoen Han to lead us to the Golden Waterwheel to plunder it.

We failed to capture a few men and had to bring back the villagers as Frostfire Yush wanted.

One night, those villagers attacked us.

Two of the women seriously wounded Lord Schoen Han."

Keane looked at his clues, "Have any of you been bitten?"

"It was Jon.

he took over Schoen Han's command of our fight and was bitten in the face by one of the women."

"Where is Jon now?"

"He was made a lord and has gone back to Ice City."

"Where are the others involved in the looting?"

"Except for Jon and the one who died that night, everyone else is stationed in the tavern." The guard slowly rose to his feet holding onto the trunk of the tree, "You know I've said enough.

I'm not an idiot.

I know you're going to kill me, but I'll fight you to the end!" With that, he lunged.

Without much thought, Keane swung his battle axe and chopped off his head.

----------

In a slight creaking sound, the wooden door slowly opened.

A woman tightly wrapped in a cloak walked into the tavern.

The smell of alcohol hit her face, and the corners of her mouth rose slightly.

A thick, curved ivory tusk hangs prominently on the wall as the tavern's sign, with the words "Mammoth Trunk" carved into it.

The sign is decorated with a knot of wheat sheaves woven with leather cord, a traditional decoration of the Noah people.

At this moment, most of the guests have already left.

The bar was empty.

A few drunken guards are gathered around a table relying on a simple drinking game to pass the extra energy.

They put a coin on the shield and turn it.

When the shield stops spinning, the brass plate stops in front of whoever drinks.

Noticing the strange woman's arrival, a guard picked up a bottle and staggered over to her."Really! Hiccup, Killian's (the Wissane world's god of martial arts and war) maids are not as tempting as you are! Hiccup, I'm the big man here, Jia Yurr.

what's your name? Where are you from?"

"My name is Sela.

I got lost.

Luckily, I found my way here." The woman said.

"Hiccup, why don't you come join us for a few drinks." The guard reached out his arm and put it on the woman's shoulder.

"Yes! Come on!" The other guards echoed.

"I'd love to join you." Sela pulled the guy who had offered him the door to her and slowly unleashed her charms on him."But I'm looking for help.

My sister, she sprained her ankle.

I left her on the side of the road.

She needs a couple of strong men to carry her over."

The guard was so captivated by the woman in front of him that his eyes wouldn't leave for a moment."My brother and I can give you a hand, provided that -"

Sela stared intently into the guard's eyes.

Soon, the hypnotic gaze allowed the vampire's will to penetrate the guy's mind."I need everyone, everyone."

"Yes, all of them." The guard repeated mechanically.

He then turned to the others, "You drunks! Come over here, all of you! Let's go help the maid find her sisters! Hiccup-"

----------

The torches in the darkness were as feeble as candles in the wind.

A wail cut through the silence.

It did not startle the mountains like the wolf's howl, but it was enough to startle away the drunkenness of a group of guards.

As he fell to the ground, the wounded man dropped his torch and yanked down his nearest companion."Take down this damn trap! I'll use it to serve the hunter's life!"

The other man picked up the torch and looked around, only to find that the woman who had just led the way was nowhere to be seen."Does anyone know where we are?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, an arrow coming from the darkness pierced into the man's thigh.

Immediately after, several more arrows attacked the group of unsuspecting warriors one after another.

None of these arrows were fatal, but they sowed confusion with the fueling potion they carried.

"Stay calm! Extinguish the flames!" This command briefly saved the day.

However, when several incendiary potions exploded at their feet, the group of warriors abandoned their companions and began to flee on their own.

What awaited them was a carefully placed tripwire.

Hiding in the shadows, Sela browsed the darkness for fleeing prey.

Those amber eyes glowed red.

The bloody teeth that showed between her lips were pale in the moonlight."You missed the shot on purpose."

"Yes.

Save each other and end up all buried." Keane gripped his battle axe and shield and began to chase down the fleeing enemies, just as they had chased down the villagers of the golden waterwheel that night.

A burned guy became the vampire's appetizer, and Sela pounced on the still gasping prey to drink the fresh blood."Too bad you're too old to be roasted." She dropped the body and pounced on another guy who had tripped over a trap."This one's just right."

"Mercy! Please -" before the words were finished, the warrior was already head over heels.

The guy next to him who had one breath left had his neck broken by a stomp.

Keane runs to the other enemies, "Run! Yes! Run like cowards! You will never enter Temple of the Spirits!"

Hearing this, the six surviving warriors stopped in their tracks.

Turning around, they found that the visitor was only one person.

Four of them looked at each other for a moment, then swung their weapons and swarmed forward.

The first three companions soon fell in a pool of blood.

When they saw the fourth guy get his throat bitten off by the blood-covered monster, the remaining two hesitated.

"Fuck Temple of the Spirits! He's a man-eating demon!" The shouter turned to continue his escape, only to be paralyzed with fear by another hideous face covered in blood.

After a short struggle of thought, the only guy left finally gathered his courage.

He picked up the battle axe that he had just thrown at himself but failed to hit, and rushed towards its owner, "I am the North Wind's-!"

Keane stepped forward and slammed his shield into his enemy's face, followed by grabbing his target's head and slamming it into his knee, breaking his neck.

The man on the ground was no longer struggling, and Sela was still exuberantly feeding on the blood pouring out of his arteries.

The vampire who had suddenly revealed her true nature was a far cry from the usual gentle apothecary.

After a few moments, she got up and wiped the blood from her mouth."What? Did it scare you?"

"No, Sela."

"Then don't gawk.

It's not over yet."

----------

In the upstairs room of the tavern, the two men found a soundly sleeping Schoen Han, with his waiter asleep in the foyer.

"What are you going to do? I know you brought some Fire-cracker Ants.

You want him to eat the Fire-cracker and watch his throat get ripped out.

But if he swallows those bugs, you'll have to think of something else." Sela warned in a low voice.

"If I choke his throat, he won't be able to swallow.

But now that you mention Fire-cracker Ant, I can't help thinking of a fire-cracker."

Shortly after leaving, Keane fetched two fire tongs and the crucible with the iron slurry.

Sela saw this and took a few steps back.

She picked up an empty bottle and walked toward the waiter's bed, "If the waiter wakes up, I'll knock him out with this."

Keane approached the bed and swung up and slammed Schoen Han in the chest.

Schoen Han covered his chest in an attempt to scream, but some kind of cold iron was shoved into his mouth and forcibly pried open.

The man, who had lost his vision, hissed and fought against the monster on top of him.

Unfortunately, the arm just holding the dagger was nailed to the bedpan with some kind of sharp object, while the other hand was sent into the monster's mouth in a panic.

A few fingers came with severe pain, unable to break free.

The slender but heavy sizzling stream showered into the wailing throat, like a flame of hatred that could not be cooled for a long time.

Sela extinguished the burning bedstead with a cold mist, then picked up the dagger next to the body and handed it back to her companion."This is your dagger.

Who taught you that just now, Veshan?"

"It's hate."