As the forest went deeper, the towering trees obscured the sky, and the path became blurred and indistinct. The monsters all hid themselves, but the tiny venomous insects did not intend to give up the delicious food that reached their mouth.
When setting up the camp, the mercenaries lit mugwort, and the strange smell filled the entire camp, at least they could sleep soundly for a night, most people thought.
"Wild vultures have very poor eyesight at night, we can attack at night." A clear voice rang out, and it took a long time for everyone to realize that the words had come from Anita.
"Are you sure?" One mercenary asked, though they had been out and about for a long time, they had never encountered such a mission as the Crested vulture. Besides, this bird either lived in groups in the dark blue forest or in the sealed forest, so naturally few people studied it.
"Um!" When I was a child, I often went to catch..." Anita Talia suddenly fell silent, her deep blue eyes tinged with scarlet, and she lowered her eyelashes and stopped talking.
"She was killed by her sister." LAN suddenly rang out what Karen had said. Even someone as strong as Anita would be cursed with such deep resentment. It must have been voluntary... I believe my sister won't harm me, and I believe her until the end...
"A soul is split in two, and the one born later must have been bewitched by the devil." "But what if the bewitched one is the Son of God..." Anita, huddled beside LAN, murmured in a low voice.
"Then let half of the world fall with her." LAN replied with a smile.
"Sister's name is... Annasilia." Anita closed her eyes drowsily, "LAN... When one day I have to kill you with a knife, will you believe that I will choose you at the last minute?"
"No, I'll kill you before you do." Without the slightest hesitation.
Anita Talia was stunned! But then she was relieved, "At least you are more candid than anyone else."
LAN smiled faintly, if only he had been honest...
Because of Anita, he seldom got involved in the adventure team's plans, and was a little surprised when he learned that they were about to launch a night attack on the vulture. Because he had not had a good rest since the previous battle and had been on the march for two consecutive days, troubled by venomous worms, the progress was not only slow but also tiring. If he were to run at full speed these days, it might take half a day to finish the journey.
"If we drag it on any longer, we'll all die of exhaustion here." Simon Xia said with a wry smile, "Let's claim we still have strength, finish the task first, and then go back to the Deep Water swamp to rest. That's Karen's territory. It's safer than sealing the forest anyway."
"It doesn't matter to me." Anita, who should have gone to sleep, opened her eyes. "Since it's decided, go."
"I'll go with Anne." "The fewer people there are, the less likely they are to be discovered," said LAN suddenly. LAN didn't care about disturbing the crested eagle; he just didn't want to make a move in front of too many people.
Anita was his important companion, and LAN himself didn't know why he had such a perception. The girl he had just met for a few days was even more important in his heart than the girl with jade-haired hair he had once loved. The young man habitually attributed these to fate because he knew more about the realm of the gods.
Four years of wandering from Pisan to Berudandi had given him a full understanding of the unique aspects of the world, and the old village chief Alex's collection of books had given him a deeper understanding of the realms of the gods and demons he had encountered before. This time he met the Guardian of Hell, though called out by the three-headed dog of Hell in a way that sought help from its master, but it also made him realize how fragile the membrane was between the plane he was in and the planes that people often talk about, such as the divine and the demonic.
"LAN?" Anita Talia seemed to notice his distraction.
"I was just thinking again about what to use to measure the difference between an ordinary human and a demon or a god." In LAN's former world, there was a hierarchy of abilities, regardless of occupation. Canes that could store instant spells were everywhere on the streets. Even a junior mage could take out a warrior four or five levels higher than himself after preparing a canes that could store instant spells in a chain, without consuming the slightest bit of his magic power. The level test must be done with bare hands, but in reality no one dares to underestimate a low-level ability user.
Regarding this point, it was equally obvious in Pisan and Berudandi. As for the other countries they had never visited, LAN didn't dare to say anything. After all, the rather martial Pisan had already neglected the importance of elemental magic. They had never even seen orthodox elemental mages but only knew how to train summoning combat mages.
Berudandi, on the contrary, pays extreme attention to the training of mages. Even among a group of children walking on the street, one or two apprentices who can release elemental arrows can be found.
"Gap?" Anita Talia was puzzled. LAN had spent a lot of time talking to go alone with her, not even with the warrior called Gasiah. She had thought he was so insistent that he had something to say to her alone, but she didn't expect it to be such a question.
"Level 15 warriors and level 14 mages are in the ranks of the strong, level 22 is holy, level 30 is virtuous..." LAN said, "What if it's a lot more than thirty?"
"Thirty-six is heaven, forty is god." "To be able to cross the barrier of the sacred mountain and reach its peak is to be a god, and to be able to see the barrier requires at least the strength of level thirty-six." said Anita. In fact, there is no very detailed division from level 30 to level 36, basically starting from the Holy level, the so-called levels have already been disregarded."
"You know... What is a 'neutral'?" Ran suddenly asked, intuitively knowing that the girl beside him knew more than anyone else.
"Who did you hear about this word?" Anita Talia's expression changed slightly.
"Overheard it one day by accident." LAN didn't understand what was so special about the word.
"If it's not you, never mention him again." Anita lowered her eyelashes slightly. "That would arouse the wrath of the gods of the gods. Compared to this small world, the God of the gods governs all the stars in the sky. God says our world is the same as the stars in the sky, but they haven't been to the stars, let alone the moon, which is where the God of the Gods lives..."
God of the gods? Lilith? LAN thought to himself, the moon is Lilith's home. But in LAN's impression, Lilith darkness was a very lazy and kind goddess, no wonder, after all, the deity in charge of idleness.
In the blink of an eye, they reached the foot of the cliff where the crested vultures had gathered. It was very quiet on the cliff, and the few vigilant vultures could not detect LAN and Anita, who had suppressed their breath and scent.
The weather was favorable. In the pitch-black night, not only was there no moon, but no stars could be seen. In the pitch-dark darkness, several deep blue flashes of lightning flashed, and the vigilant vultures fell before they could make a sound.
LAN stopped Anita, who was about to climb up, and wrote a few words in the palm of her hand, then reached out to summon a strong wind.
Every move LAN made made Anita feel that magic could be used in this way...
The wild wind blew down the dead vulture's body, and the thick smell of blood spread out, and the sleeping vultures flaked about in confusion. LAN calmly put the dead vulture into the bag that had been prepared earlier and cast the isolation spell.
In the pitch-dark night, even a faint flash was conspicuous, and the vultures immediately noticed them. After the alarm, a small group of vultures rushed down.
"Annie!" As LAN called out in a low voice, several extremely dazzling lighting spells flew out of Anita Talia's slender fingers, and the wild vultures, unable to adapt to the changing light for a moment, screamed and soared into the air.
And the chaotic originator had already sneaked away under the cover of night.
"When this is over, you can go back to Rosemary." LAN suddenly said that his training with Garcia had only just begun and he had no intention of going far away to complete his training. There were already many places in Rosemary, located beneath the sacred mountain, for him to explore.
"Rosemary..." Anita repeated in a low voice, a strange expression on her face, but concealed by the night, LAN did not notice.
Since the number of feathers harvested was far more than expected, it was only natural to "divide the spoils" and enjoy LAN's cooking skills.
"I wonder if Miss Karen will be waiting for us by the marsh?" Eager to return home, even Karen, who had blue skin, looked beautiful in the eyes of everyone.
"Take a good bath when you get back. It would be best if there were hot springs." "Then I'm going to show off our adventure at the noble ball," said Osirena, gracefully smoothing her curly hair on her chest.
Spassi wrapped his arms around Osirena's waist with the same noble grace, and he had never shown any of the other noble vices, at least he could be called upright.
"I'm going back to make a flag for our little Black cat Adventure team!" "Emilia said excitedly.
Bulvigi scratched his head. "I'm going to train, and one day I'm going to surpass LAN." They all fainted from the moment they dismissed the hellish gatekeeper, and although their accounts were evasive at that time, they all said it was LAN's doing. And to put it another way, who hasn't had dirty clothes on this adventure? ! Even Simon Xia's robe has a big hole in it, and LAN's white robe is still as shiny as ever. The only one who is the same as him is Anita.
Moya didn't comment much, but the look on his face as he stared at Osirena's magical gear was enough to tell what he would do.
Excited to the edge of the marsh, he was stunned by the sight of his eyes, with pale blue liquid flowing everywhere, Karen was indeed there, but lying there!
The pale blue liquid kept flowing from the bellies of the horse beast. Karen, who had regained her beast form, opened her beautiful eyes uncontentedly, her long eyelashes quivered in the wind, and on her forehead was a fist-sized hole where the beast's crystal nucleus was located.
Anita's beautiful eyes were wide open too, as if she had not yet recovered from the sight before her. LAN reached out to cover her eyes, and after blocking the view, the girl slowly closed her eyes, as if suppressing something.
Everyone knows how powerful Karen is, who can instantly subdue everyone here except LAN and Anne. Karen died, but there was only one wound on her abdomen, and the wound on her forehead was left purely after she died to remove the crystal nucleus.
Gasiah was the first to go up and check, but he backed away after the crowd had surrounded him. He had a strange look, and then his gaze fell on Anita, who had her eyes closed.
Anita opened her eyes, her gaze as clear and bright as ever. She met Garcia's gaze, but the latter pretended not to care and avoided him.
A flash of anger flashed in Anita's blue eyes, and then she turned her gaze away. She did not need to look at Karen's body, and she was extremely familiar with the sword technique that had caused the wound on Karen's abdomen.
"Bury her, let's go." Anita Talia was unexpectedly heartless.
But LAN knew that the man who killed Karen must have some connection with Gasiah, though, given Gasiah's level, it was not possible for him to fight in one go, and judging from Gasiah's expression, he should have known the man who killed Karen.
Anita's right hand's fingers were constantly bending and stretching until she was held by LAN and looked into the fiery pupils. Finally, the girl couldn't hold back her tears, and LAN gave her a soothing pat on the back, without much comfort.
The crowd gathered to bury Karen, then pulled the raft out of the hidden place, and got on the raft, Anne nestled in LAN's arms, looking very tired, but everyone knew that she was just too sad.
The black magic array emerged on the ground without warning, and a large amount of black mist instantly obscured the sky.
In the midst of the crowd's panic, LAN did not act, because Anita did, the most direct holy light miracle, not only dispelled the black fog, but also wiped out what was hidden in the fog.
"Two hundred years, isn't that enough?" "Sister..." whispered Anita Talia. Why, you still won't let me go..." The mournful murmur was blown away by the wind, and only the waves caught the scattered words.
"Are you still determined to keep evading like this?" LAN whispered in her ear.
"I just wanted to be an ordinary girl, but I became a saint; I only wanted to pursue the highest level of martial arts, but I became a victim of my destiny... God says... The so-called twins are one soul split in two, and the one born later must have been bewitched by the devil... So why do you want me to become a god of war? Why make me a bright sacrifice? Why, after giving me so much, have their followers judge me? !"
"Why so many whys?" LAN suddenly laughed, "If you want to be an ordinary girl, then go to a place where no one knows you, anywhere other than Berudandi. If you are not satisfied with the current situation, then stand up and resist. We are not pawns in the hands of the gods, there is no need to act according to their will." Only LAN could utter such a heinous word, for only he had truly come into contact with truly true deities.