The cold wind howled, lifting white frost and sweeping it across the boundless, gloomy snowfield, creating rippling patterns on the snow that resembled the overlapping hard scales of a giant dragon.
A few Ice Wolves bared their fangs, running agilely across the snowfield, hunting a lone Frost Slime. They quickly surrounded the round little creature.
But compared to the soft-bodied Slime, the Frost Slime living here had a body as hard as an ice ball. Once surrounded, it immediately buried itself deep into the soft snow layer, only exposing half its head.
The pursuing Ice Wolves, whether using their sharp ice claws to scratch or their teeth to desperately bite, could do nothing to the round little thing, only leaving shallow white marks on its icy shell.
At that moment, several dozen shadows, almost blending with the snowy ground, flashed by not far away. As they passed through the area where the Ice Wolves were hunting, their speed did not decrease in the slightest. Only the faint whistling of daggers slicing through the air could be heard.
In the next instant, all the Ice Wolves stiffened in place, large holes simultaneously opening in their necks or hearts, before collapsing with a thud.
"Auntie, all taken care of." A few slightly slower shadows caught up with the main force ahead, reporting in a low voice.
The shadows receded, revealing Nilly and the dozens of agile Stone Descendant Assassins behind her.
Nilly casually pulled the dagger from the eye socket of the last Ice Wolf, her gaze sweeping towards the Frost Slime still trembling in the snow pit.
Although the Slime Kingdom was a kingdom of Magical Creatures, it had no strict racial hierarchy within. Even humans enjoyed the same status and rights as citizens as the slimes.
It was precisely this point that allowed the ancient and proud Stone Descendant clan to agree to join the Slime Kingdom and get along quite harmoniously with other races.
Moreover, to ordinary humans, the Stone Descendants could actually be considered a kind of "other."
Nilly sometimes thought that instead of calling it a "Magical Creature Kingdom," it might be more appropriate to call it a "Kingdom of Others."
Magical Creatures, Stone Descendants, Vampires, Undead, Elves... it was simply a pot of "hodgepodge" with complex ingredients.
The fact that beings of different races and beliefs could coexist so peacefully, building and defending the same homeland together, even felt somewhat unbelievable to her, a widely experienced Stone Descendant Assassin Master.
Perhaps that Slime Majesty was sufficiently amiable, or perhaps they were all weary of endless war, suspicion, and hostility. Regardless, this miraculous kingdom had indeed been born and was expanding at a surprising speed, thriving and prospering.
As she pondered, her gaze had already crossed the vast snowfield, spotting the low, sturdy outline of a fortress not far away.
This was precisely the transit fortress the Goblin Army had established in the elemental plane. When necessary, they would enter and exit through the fissures here, launching wars by invading the Dark Realm, posing a threat to the Slime Kingdom.
And they were merely the advance scouting team sent to gather sufficient intelligence for the Magical Creature Legion that would arrive soon, ensuring the smooth cleanup of the Demons and remaining Goblin forces entrenched here.
Nilly's gaze shifted slightly upward.
Behind the snowfield fortress, a grand, mysterious castle stood imposingly. Ethereal chains extended from around the castle, deeply embedded into the surrounding snowfield, firmly anchoring several element fissures of varying sizes nearby, preventing them from naturally closing even after the summer Magical Tides had passed.
This was her first time observing this mysterious castle so closely. Although her heart was filled with curiosity—how did this magnificent castle appear here? Who was its master?—the mission took priority now.
Nilly quickly shifted her attention back to the increasingly close snowfield fortress, waving to the Stone Descendant Assassins behind her, signaling them to spread out and approach the fortress from different directions.
She herself swayed slightly, completely entering a Stealth state, silently moving closer to the fortress.
However, what puzzled Nilly was that after searching for a long time, they couldn't see any traces of Goblin activity around the fortress's perimeter.
The quarry, which should have been bustling and noisy, was now completely empty. Only scattered frozen mining picks, rusty shovels, and a few overturned mine carts lay half-buried in the snow.
The crude slave tents set up nearby were also empty, tattered canvas flapping loudly in the cold wind. The extinguished bonfire embers in the center of the camp were long cold, with a few frozen, rock-hard black breads discarded beside them.
All signs indicated that the Goblins here had left in a hurry, even somewhat panicked, not even having time to pack their daily tools and food.
Strange...
As if realizing something, Nilly made a few leaps, landing heavily on the fortress's low city wall.
Looking down inside, as far as her eyes could see, the interior of the fortress was equally dead silent. Besides low stone houses, warehouses, and a few dark cave entrances half-buried by thick snow, no Goblin figures could be seen, nor any sounds heard.
Could it be... those guys ran away in advance?
....
In the south, deep within a certain valley cave tunnel.
Goblins wearing thick animal skin coats and shabby iron helmets were holding flickering torches, forming a crooked long line, heading towards the faint light at the end of the cave.
The entire procession was stretched long, with noisy complaints, coughs, and the clanging of metal tools echoing from time to time in the narrow tunnel.
At the very front of the line, Hammerbone looked back at the fissure exit gradually receding behind them. Seeing no strange Slimes pursuing, his body relaxed slightly.
Beside him, a Goblin Shaman draped in a filthy feathered cloak leaned over, a fawning smile on his face, chuckling, "Fortunately, thanks to Lord Hammerbone's wise guidance, we were able to run away early and avoid those terrifying Slimes."
Hammerbone was in a good mood now, even humming an off-key tune, not impatiently shooing him away as usual.
That damned Filthy Demon had recently transformed into a high-level Demon. Originally thinking there would be major action, but upon hearing that those Slimes had breached the human fortress, it had been scared witless, abandoned them, and scurried back to the Golden Radiance Valley.
Since Ea had run away, Hammerbone naturally and logically became the Army Commander, leading the Goblin Army out of the damned snowfield and arriving in the south through the fissure.
Hammerbone took a deep breath, as if he could already smell the south's damp, warm air and greet the long-awaited sunshine.
As long as they left that monster-filled swamp, no longer had to face those weird Slimes, and found a suitable habitat in the south, maybe even moved into a dungeon, the Goblin Army could quickly grow strong under his leadership and become glorious again.
He could even imagine himself standing on a high stone platform, waving to the sea of green skins below, all Goblins responding enthusiastically, respectfully shouting, "Long live Army Commander Hammerbone!"
Just as he was harboring beautiful dreams for the future and continued walking forward, a Goblin in front of him suddenly stopped.
Caught off guard, Hammerbone almost tripped over it. He glared angrily, about to scold, when he saw this Goblin pointing ahead in terror, its voice trembling, "L-Lord Hammerbone... f-fire, torches! So many torches!"
Hammerbone jerked his head up, looking ahead.
He saw that in the pitch-black cave below, torches suddenly lit up one after another, their numbers continuously increasing. The orange-red firelight quickly connected into a vast expanse, illuminating the entire spacious cave brightly.
Under the torchlight, the figures of fully armed human soldiers were revealed. They held spears and shields, with longswords hanging at their waists, looking down at the panicked Goblin procession below.
A knight in shining iron armor with a vibrant feather on his helmet, leading the group, slightly turned and respectfully addressed an elderly man in luxurious fur coat beside him, "Your Majesty the King, the intelligence provided by those Adventurers was correct. These filthy green skins indeed wanted to infiltrate the Kingdom through the fissure deep in this cave."
The old man addressed as the King swept his gaze over the chaotic Goblins below and simply waved his hand.
"Capture them!"
"The mage lords of the Holy Silver Kingdom just happen to need some 'live' Goblins as experimental subjects."
Hammerbone's eyes widened, his pupils reflecting the dense firelight and cold weapons above. He finally realized they had stepped into a human trap!
He never expected these weak southern kingdoms to ambush them.
"Fire arrows!" came the cold command from above.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!
Dense fire arrows descended like a torrential rain of fire, instantly filling Hammerbone's widened pupils.
....
Late at night.
Evernight Domain, site of the Vampire Ancient Castle.
Under the leadership of Arthur and Count Bran, the Magical Creature Legion had already assembled, standing solemnly in a dark mass on the open ground before the castle ruins, ready to advance at any moment, cross the Fald Frontline, enter the fissure, and subjugate the Demons and remaining Goblin Army forces entrenched within.
They were still waiting for the Stone Descendant Assassins to bring back the latest news from the front line.
Count Bran, bored from waiting, landed on the ground, using its claws to dig through the soil, trying to find some tasty insects for a snack.
It kept muttering, "These Vampires are too unrefined. This wretched place doesn't even have a decent insect. How did they manage to stay here before?"
Suddenly remembering something, it quickly prayed, "Lady Xueni above, I hope His Majesty won't bestow this godforsaken, bird-shit-free wasteland upon this Count..."
"When this Count returns to the Shadow Mountains next time, I will definitely bring the most delicious insects as an offering to you."
Arthur, who had been sitting quietly on the stone steps of the ruins polishing his Lance, looked up upon hearing this, his Soulfire flickering slightly as he said seriously, "Perhaps... that Lady doesn't like eating insects?"
"Oh, right." Count Bran's small eyes lit up. "Gems?! She must like gems!"
"Then this Count will pick the most... ahem, the most perfectly shaped Gray Gravel Crystal from the nest. The Lady will surely like it!"
It had originally wanted to say the biggest Gray Gravel Crystal but ultimately couldn't bear to part with it.
Count Bran puffed out its chest proudly, as if already seeing Lady Xueni's approving gaze upon receiving the gift. It turned to Arthur, its small, bean-like eyes sparkling with anticipation:
"Arthur, don't you think so?"
Arthur was about to nod when his Soulfire suddenly focused slightly. He sensed living creatures rapidly approaching from a distance, and quite a number of them, moving in an extremely stealthy and swift manner.
He raised his head, looking deeper into the Evernight Domain. Although his vision was obstructed, he seemed to see vague shadows darting swiftly, charging towards their location.
The Stone Descendants were back.
Sure enough, not long after, dozens of figures emerged from the surrounding shadows. It was Nilly leading the assassin scouting team.
And the intelligence they brought back had already been transmitted first through the Gel Network covering the battlefield.
"The fortress is empty... the Goblins ran away?"
"The mysterious castle in the fissure is active, its gate opened?"
By the time Chen Yu received the intelligence, his clone had already been flying on his sword and had just entered the Evernight Domain.
He wasn't too concerned about the whereabouts of that Filthy Demon and the Goblin Army. He had already broken through to the Golden Core stage and could even capture high-level Demons alive. It would be strange if those guys didn't run after receiving the news.
What he cared more about was that the Stone Descendant Assassins discovered that the mysterious castle originally standing within the element fissure seemed to have become active and had actually opened its gate.
Faced with this sudden situation, the experienced Stone Descendant Assassins did not rashly enter to explore but chose to return and report first.
This was indeed a smart approach. After all, no one knew what was inside the castle. Rushing in recklessly, they might not come out again.
Not long after, Chen Yu rendezvoused with the Magical Creature Legion and together entered the fissure passage leading to the Ice Elemental Plane.
Different from what was seen when observing from afar, now up close, one could see the entire majestic castle seemingly enveloped by a translucent crystal ball.
Outside the protective shield, it was still the scene of howling winds and swirling snowflakes on the icy plain. But inside the shield was another completely different world.
Warm, golden light like a spring afternoon emanated from inside the castle, illuminating the space within the shield. One could even clearly see that lush green trees and flourishing flowers and grass were actually growing around the castle.
Chen Yu looked up along the ancient stone steps half-buried in snow. He could see the castle's gate, flowing with warm light, was completely open, as if silently welcoming them, the arriving travelers.
However, Chen Yu's attention wasn't on this light gate. After carefully sensing the surrounding environment, his eyes suddenly widened.
So pure... too pure!
This was the first time he had sensed such pure and dense spiritual energy in Zeyerra.
Could this really not be some blessed land or secret realm?
He suddenly remembered that Weiola had mentioned before—this castle might be an alchemical creation left behind by that mysterious Golden Core alchemist.
Looking at it now, it indeed could only be his masterpiece.