Frostfall
“What... What happened? Allerie...she...” The assassin stared blankly ahead.
“What a venomous spell, is it a curse-type magic or a poison element spell?” Rogero squatted by the pool of pus, his expression very grave. “It was ended decisively the moment I discovered a trail... The killer is extremely cunning and cold-blooded, a worthy opponent.”
The other members only realised what had happened now. Awar, in particular, knelt down on the ground, seeming to have a mental breakdown. “Allerie! Allerie!”
The assassin sighed as he looked at the scene. He’d long since known that Awar had feelings for Allerie, but the wizard had only set her sights on the strong. It had left him feeling rather dejected.
Now, the two of them would never be together.
“Is it a venomous curse by the desert tribes?” the assassin asked, looking at the lack of a corpse in the sands. A chill ran down his spine.
“Unlikely. It should be the person who’s been following you from before you entered the desert.” Rogero shook his head, and the spear in his hands whistled.
“Let’s go. We can’t waste any more time. The prophecy is about to be fulfilled, we need to reach the Frostfall Valleys before it happens.”
“Yes, my lord!” The assassin and the rest did not have any objections, and they very soon set off on their journey.
Only the sizzling pile of pus remained, as if reminding someone that it was once a high-ranked Professional.
......
“Rogero?” Leylin walked out from the darkness in the distance. “I’ve heard this name before, a legendary spear user. He’s reputed in the western desert, but I never thought he’d be here today...”
“The black crows will soon cry out to the blood moon. I wonder how many experts are yet to arrive, all blinded by greed...” Leylin muttered, his head raised into the sky. He vanished from his spot.
At this point, he no longer needed a guide. The Frostfall Valleys were the sacred grounds of the desert tribes, and they had protected it for generations. He approached the oasis when he reappeared, plucking a desert warrior’s corpse from the sand. Various fragmented memories flashed across his eyes.
Spells which could retrieve memories were already considered rare, but this skill to extract them from a corpse had the potential to shake the world.
“So it’s there...” After getting the information he needed, Leylin formed a giant sand scorpion. He looked into the distance, and with a point of his finger the sand scorpion suddenly seemed to come to life. It sprinted towards his target.
......
The scene at the Frostfall Valleys left Leylin somewhat flabbergasted. Corpses littered the desert as far as the eye could see, many of them desert warriors with numerous injuries on their bodies. Their faces were filled with rage and utter fear.
There were traces of a castle here, but it seemed to have been reduced to rubble by a powerful force.
“This doesn’t seem like the style of Rogero and his men...” Leylin stroked his chin and looked at a pair of corpses that had died fighting each other. The desert warrior wore a malevolent expression as he gnawed off the throat of his opponent. The other party had plunged a dagger into his skull. The warrior’s eyes were still moist, as if he’d planned to sacrifice himself to kill his target.
However, there was one thing that could not escape Leylin’s eyes. “An aura of death... Is this necromancy?” He reached out and grabbed some black gases above the corpse.
“It looks like a necromancer came here and raised the undead to wipe out the forces of the desert tribe...”
Necromancy was a school of wizardry, delving into research on the physical body and soul. Necromancers dealt with corpses everyday, and in the dark engaged in taboo research on souls. Only arcanists were more hated on the continent.
However, a truly powerful necromancer had much more prowess than his peers. An army of undead could trample and annihilate kingdoms.
“He managed to crush the desert tribe with an undead army... This necromancer is likely in the legendary realm...” Leylin inhaled a deep breath, and followed the trail of destruction into the valley. The further in he walked, the more he could see traces of a bitter battle. An occasional piece of bone was lying on the floor, seemingly from a broken undead skeleton.
Once he entered the middle portions of the valley, Leylin saw multiple figures amidst a huge field. This place seemed to be a command post of the desert tribe, but it was now reduced to a mountain of corpses. Several people stood facing each other in a confrontation.
Rogero and his men were present here, and Leylin also noticed the legendary monk he was apprehensive of.
The monk was moving a corpse into a hole. It had a soft body and eyes that were clear like water, speaking of their owner’s desire to live. This was the tribe leader from earlier, no longer showing a single sign of life.
“Someone else is here!” Leylin’s arrival roused the attention of others. They observed him with wariness in their eyes.
Leylin naturally didn’t reveal his true features. He instead came in the image of Kukulkan, dressed in a mask and black robes. He looked like the manifestation of evil.
A faintly discernible trace of divine force surrounded the area, preventing any detection or probing.
“What an intense demonic aura!” Rogero gripped the spear in his hands tightly, and faint sparks of lightning flashed at its tip. The monk stopped his task and gazed at Leylin with hostility.
Although there were several groups of people standing on the field, they were distinctly divided into two sides. The monk, Rogero, and a few paladins were close to each other, evidently having formed a faction.
The other side comprised of a few powerful solitary people. Most of them had masked their appearances like Leylin, exuding an aura of evil as well.
Contrary to those of good alignment, these people did not trust each other much. They maintained their distance from one another.
“Haha... I never thought that it’d be someone from our camp!” The person who spoke was a purple haired woman who carried a snake-headed nine-tailed whip. Behind her were several powerful people.
“Welcome, my friend. I’m Evida, I wonder who you are...” The purple haired woman’s eyes were filled with doubt. There were a limited number of legendaries in the world, and she should have recognised him. However, Leylin gave her a foreign vibe, and seemed extremely dangerous. This piqued the curiosity of the woman.
‘If I can pull this legendary stranger to our side, our God will definitely give me a handsome reward...’ As she thought of this, Evida’s eyes grew even more coquettish. Even her words sounded honey-coated, intoxicating and tantalising.
However, Leylin did not bother with her at all. Instead, he chose to walk to a corner and gave off an unfriendly vibe.
‘Damn it, is he blind?’ Evida could only curse him. It made her doubt her beauty.
“Well... Now that we are opposing each other, there are simply no benefits to be gotten!” Evida stared furiously at Leylin and stood out to speak to the good alignment camp. “That skeleton lich has already entered the deeper parts. Do we have to fight here and let it take all of the benefits?”
Despite their lack of trust in one another, the evil faction evidently had strength in numbers.
“We’re here to capture the skeleton lich Ilyo. The floating city is not our concern!” The leader of the paladins was a middle aged man wearing shining armour. He made his declaration in a low voice.
Even paladins had to learn to compromise. If at this moment, they began to shout things like ‘eliminate all evil’, they would only end up ground to a pulp by the evil ones.
“Cough... We want a certain item from the floating city,” Rogero said.
“Very well. Although there are certain conflicts of interest, it’s not impossible to mediate. Why don’t we enter the floating city and obtain our desires with our own capabilities?” Evida suggested.
It was apparent that none of these people here wanted to take action in the absence of a tangible benefit.
When two opposing parties were near equal in strength, truces were common. Even though the good side didn’t mention a word, the legendary monk already took off towards the deeper parts of the valley after burying the corpse.
“Hng!” Evida snorted cutely with a satisfied expression, as she brought her men deeper inside. The two parties too began to make their way in.
Leylin followed casually behind the group and continued his thoughts, “Skeleton lich Ilyo? Isn’t that the powerful legendary? I never thought he would be here too. It seems like the castle being reduced to rubble was his doing...’