The next morning, Lightning told Maisie her plan. After a brief discussion, they decided not to search the Stone Forest area layer by layer, but to speed up their pace and fly directly to the Rift Valley Plateau.
Regardless of whether they found anything new, after mapping the area, they would return to the Snow-Covered Ridge of Eternal Winter to meet up with the witches of Taqila.
At this moment, the sun had just peeked over the horizon, and a thin mist filled the mountains. Traces of white frost could be seen along the crisscrossing waterways, remnants of last night's flood discharge. As the terrain gradually rose, the white expanse grew larger and larger, until it covered the entire mountain range—and the distant Great Rift Valley was completely covered in snow, resembling an inverted white porcelain bowl from afar.
According to estimates, it was about three hundred kilometers away from the Kingdom of Eternal Winter, and its area was large enough to rival a region of the Far South. The Dawn Realm map of the Union also recorded this rift valley, believing it was formed by volcanic eruptions, but it had now completely subsided.
Lightning had also seen the volcanoes of the Scorching Fire Islands that spewed thick smoke and sulfur all day long, but compared to this mountain range, the scale was far too different.
Two hours later, the exploration team approached the Great Rift Valley area.
The spectacular and unique topography of this area was finally revealed before them.
"So... so big," Maisie exclaimed, flapping her wings, "I feel like this pit could fit an entire kingdom."
Lightning couldn't help but nod. What she had imagined as a rift valley was not actually a fault line, and the plateau-like shape was not due to mountains rising here, but rather the ground being forced open from the inside out, with the upturned rock layers forming irregular "mountain walls," resembling a scar on the earth when viewed from above.
If this was truly a "breach" caused by an eruption, how astonishing would its momentum have been at the time?
The two lowered their altitude and landed two or three kilometers away from the Great Rift Valley—for safety's sake, Maisie usually took the lead, as she could blend in perfectly with the local environment. Even if she was spotted by an enemy, they might not recognize her.
"Listen carefully," Lightning instructed, "Don't go deep into the cave, circle around the rift and come back. If you find anything unusual, absolutely do not go alone—"
"Be sure to report to the team leader first, and then decide on the next course of action together," Maisie interrupted, "I know, I know, gu, you've said it so many times... just like Roland! Gu!"
"Uh, really?" Lightning scratched the back of her head a little embarrassedly. She remembered complaining to her teammates in private when Roland used to give her such instructions, thinking that a genius explorer naturally knew how to make the most reasonable judgment and didn't need to be told over and over again. Looking back now, she was indeed too childish back then. "Ahem, anyway, it doesn't hurt to say important things several times! I'll stay here and search the nearby area, no more than one kilometer away. Remember this location and return within thirty minutes, understand?"
"No problem, gu!"
"Very good, go." Lightning patted her on the shoulder.
"Maisie, let's go!" The latter immediately flapped her wings and flew towards the heart of the Great Rift Valley.
Only when her figure completely disappeared from sight did Lightning withdraw her gaze and carefully survey her surroundings.
Snowy owls were common birds in this area, a type of owl that could be active both day and night, with excellent eyesight. As long as one didn't act rashly, the chances of an accident were extremely low. It was she herself who was more likely to be exposed—there was ice everywhere here, with almost no traces of wild animals. If a demon suddenly appeared, she would become the most conspicuous target.
Therefore, instead of looking for signs of enemy activity, Lightning first observed places where she could hide or take cover. She could no longer leave the trouble to others to clean up, as she had done in the past.
However, less than five minutes later, the sound of rapid flight came from overhead.
Lightning couldn't help but be stunned. Just as she looked up, she saw Maisie swooping down in a panic and crashing into her arms.
"There's a de-demon, gu!" the little girl exclaimed.
Her heart skipped a beat. Could there really be a God's Stone vein here? "What did you find?"
"A huge Guardian Eye Demon, lying on the stone wall below the cave entrance, gu!" Maisie gesticulated wildly, "I just flew past the cave entrance and made eye contact with it!"
That meant the Eye Demon had also seen her.
Lightning couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. Fortunately, she hadn't rushed in first as she usually did. Seeing a witch and seeing a bird were two completely different things. A snowy owl shouldn't arouse the other party's vigilance.
"And then, you didn't scream out loud, did you?" Just to be on the safe side, she asked one more question.
"Of course not, I'm an experienced bi- bird—no, explorer, gu!" Maisie puffed out her chest and said, "I didn't even blink, and I pretended to be looking at the scenery, turning my eyes away without a trace, gu! I bet it's already forgotten about me, gu!"
But another image flashed through Lightning's mind.
A snowy owl widened its eyes and stared at the Guardian Eye Demon on the rock wall, then turned its head away, deliberately looking elsewhere...
"Da-damn it!" She grabbed Maisie and rushed towards a hidden spot she had found earlier!
"Gu?" The latter hadn't reacted yet.
It was an ice cave several hundred meters away. Perhaps because there were rocks blocking the surrounding area, the snow hadn't filled the crack below, just enough for one person to hide in. Lightning darted into the cave and lowered her body, only exposing half of her head to look towards the top of the rift valley.
A moment later, a "door" emitting a strange glow appeared in the air.
Then a demon walked out of the door, hovering upright above the Great Rift Valley. Lightning felt her breathing slow down a bit—she felt a pressure from the opponent that was no less than facing Ursrook.
The demon looked around, then suddenly rushed down the mountain! For a moment, Lightning felt like the blood in her body was about to freeze. Her body almost instinctively wanted to turn around and run, but if the opponent's direction hadn't been different from her hiding place, she probably would have followed her instinct.
The demon plunged headfirst into the snow, splashing a large cloud of white mist. When it stood up again, it held a snowy owl in its hand.
Lightning swallowed and involuntarily touched her chest—
Fortunately, Maisie was still there.
The demon stared at the frightened snowy owl for a long time, and finally seemed to shake its head in slight disappointment, letting go of it. The latter immediately screamed and flew towards the sky, soon becoming a white dot.
The demon didn't stay too long. It held its hands out again, tearing open the door of strange light in front of it, then stepped into it and disappeared before their eyes.
Lightning finally breathed a sigh of relief.
In this way, the exploration team's whereabouts had not been exposed.
"Gu... what should we do now?" Maisie finally realized her "wrong reaction" and asked, drooping her head.
In the past, Lightning would probably have chosen to try to sneak in from another place—the Great Rift Valley was so wide that even the Guardian Eye Demon couldn't monitor every corner. For explorers, the first discoverer and the second discoverer were only one person apart, but the meaning was completely different. If possible, she always wanted to be the first.
But now she was not just an explorer, but the leader of the Neverwinter Exploration Team, and a sentinel opening up the way for the First Army.
No matter what was hidden beneath the Great Rift Valley, the appearance of the Guardian Eye Demon and the high-level demon was an extremely dangerous signal!
She had to get this message back to Neverwinter City as soon as possible and inform Roland Wimbledon.
"We're going to Snow-Covered Ridge to meet the witches of Taqila," Lightning bit her lip. "These mountains are no longer the safe, untouched area they once were."