Lightning flew over the Misty Forest.

In her eyes, the world seemed to have shrunk. As far as she could see, details faded away, leaving only blocks of color. Brown was the earth, gray were the mountains, green was the forest, and blue was the river.

And green occupied most of the view.

Unlike the bright, vibrant grass-green in the fields of Border Town, the green here was mixed with gray and black, deep and thick. Whether to the west or to the north, there was no end in sight to this dark green expanse. If one looked at it for too long, it would feel as if one were falling, and Lightning had to look up at the sky every so often to dispel the growing sense of confinement.

Behind her, the gray clouds were pressing down low, covering the peaks of the Impassable Mountains and shrouding Border Town in rain and mist.

She was currently searching for the ruins from four hundred and fifty years ago in the Misty Forest, which was undoubtedly a great adventure. Half a month ago, when she heard Roland give her the task, Lightning immediately patted her chest and agreed. Unlike the Snake Sorcerer Hakala, who clung to ancient books, His Highness Roland repeatedly told her that this map could only be used for reference and instructed her to pay attention to safety, saying it wouldn't matter if she couldn't find it. This made the little girl very happy.

She knew that His Highness was right; even a castle would be swallowed by the growing plants after four hundred years and gradually turn into a pile of dust. But she still wanted to find this place—locating the position of the hexagram would be the same as locating the direction of Taqila's Holy City. Having heard the ins and outs of the matter, Lightning naturally understood what Taqila meant.

There, she could very likely help Prince Roland discover the real reason why the Church concealed the war with the demons.

This was much more exciting than exploring sea routes with her father!

Lightning used the method of making nautical charts to draw a grid of equidistant squares on a square piece of parchment, and then simply calculated the content to fill in each grid according to the distance she flew in a certain amount of time. Once the grid was filled, the area would be almost completely searched.

Now she had filled in half of it.

The rain clouds behind her were approaching faster than Lightning had imagined. The little girl could even faintly hear the rumbling of thunder in the clouds. She lowered her altitude and swooped towards the forest below.

Just then, a glimpse of gray-white shadow flashed past the corner of her eye.

She paused, stopped in mid-air, and looked back at the area she had just passed.

She found nothing.

Was it an illusion? Lightning thought for a moment and decided to fly over the area again.

This time, she lowered her altitude even further. The forest was no longer a single block of green. The mottled tree trunks, forked branches, and leaves of various shapes... details emerged from the blocks of color and returned to Lightning's eyes.

Dozens of breaths later, she suddenly saw a small half of a white stone tower under the layers of branches. The top of the stone tower had been completely cut off, causing the tower to be obscured by the forest, making it difficult to spot from the sky. If it weren't for escaping the rain clouds, she might have missed it.

Lightning's heart beat violently. Could this be the location of the ruins indicated on the map?

She circled the stone tower once, found nothing unusual, and decided to get closer for a better look.

After landing, the little girl realized that it wasn't quite accurate to call it a white stone tower.

Its surface was covered with vines and moss, turning it grayish-green when viewed up close. The tower was slightly tilted, as if it had been struck by some immense force. There were scattered stones around it, with a material and color similar to the stone tower, which should have come from the shattered top. Larger pieces could still be seen, while smaller ones were likely buried in the weeds and soil. The entire stone tower was quite large, with a base area comparable to that of Prince Roland's castle. Such man-made structures usually had basements.

Logically, she should record the location of the ruins at this moment and then return to Border Town.

The various adventure stories in her mind were also reminding her that it was not a good choice to break into a ruin that had been sleeping for hundreds of years alone. The asphyxiating gas trapped underground alone could take her life.

But Lightning found that she simply couldn't move her feet.

Curiosity was constantly nagging in her ear: Take a look, just one look. She looked up at the sky, which had been clear but was now gloomy and dark. Clearly, a heavy rain was coming.

Okay, she told herself, it's uncomfortable to fly in the rain. I'll go into the tower to take shelter from the rain and take a look. If I find a basement, I definitely won't go in alone.

After thinking it over, Lightning succumbed to her irresistible curiosity, walked to the vine-covered entrance, pulled out a small knife from her waist, cleared a small hole that she could pass through, and crawled in. The wooden door panels had long since rotted away, and she entered the tower smoothly.

Since the top had been blown off, it was easy to see inside without a torch. Lightning circled the base of the tower, but found nothing. Obviously, the exposed items and traces had been erased by time. Besides the dilapidated partition walls, nothing remained of the above-ground part. She also found holes in the walls, which should have been used to install stairs, but the stairs themselves had disappeared.

The passage to the basement was conspicuous, located in the southwest direction of the first floor, directly opposite the entrance to the stone tower. Lightning suspected that heading towards the Savage Lands in this direction would lead her to the Taqila Holy City recorded in the ancient books.

Just then, fine raindrops fell from the sky, dripping on Lightning's nose. She slowly walked into the passage leading underground, turned a corner, and a wooden door appeared in front of her. Although it had not been completely corroded, it looked dilapidated and would fall apart with a slight touch.

Soon, the drizzle outside turned into a downpour. The sound of the rain hitting the ground gradually became a continuous stream, changing from chaotic to inseparable. Although she couldn't get wet in this place, the accumulated water quickly flowed down the stone steps. To avoid wetting her shoes, Lightning made her feet leave the ground and floated slowly.

Suddenly, she vaguely heard a shout, mixed in with the sound of the rain, almost indistinguishable.

The sound made her hair stand on end. The little girl looked around in panic. The narrow passage was empty except for a few scattered dead vines. Using the faint light coming in from the outside, she opened her waist pouch, took out a portable torch and flint, and wanted to light a fire to take a closer look.

At this moment, the shout rang out again. This time, it seemed to be coming from the wooden door behind her. Lightning couldn't help but shiver and quickly turned around. The torch fell from her hand and splashed in a puddle of water.

This time the sound seemed much clearer. She vaguely distinguished that it was a woman's voice.

Someone was in the basement? This thought made a layer of cold sweat break out on her back. How was that possible! The stone tower should be a ruin left over from more than four hundred years ago, and it was located deep in the Misty Forest. Who else could reach here besides herself?

"Save me..."

When the third sound rang out, it was very clear. The voice was indeed coming from behind the wooden door, and it sounded like a cry for help. Lightning swallowed and carefully placed her hand on the door, pushing it gently. The wet and slippery wooden door fell backward, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

A tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her!

Lightning felt her blood freeze. The figure looked exactly like the demons Soroya had drawn! In the dim light, the demon seemed to be staring at her as well. Its huge body leaned forward slightly, and its large hand, with only three fingers, held an axe. The axe reflected patches of dark red blood. In an instant, all the bloody images of these brutal beings killing the sisters of the Mutual Aid Society flooded her mind.

"Ah—!" She burst into a scream, threw the flint in her hand at the demon, turned around at the fastest speed, rushed out of the passage, flew directly into the rain, and fled towards Border Town.

Lightning didn't notice that the flint hit the demon's chest, making a crisp sound. A circle of fine cracks appeared in the area that was hit, then quickly spread until they covered the entire body. The demon's body collapsed and shattered in these more and more cracks, turning into gusts of white dust and disappearing with the wind.