Vilgefortz Has Been Marked

[Um?!!]

If Ailin had any body hair at this moment, it would surely stand on end and his spine would feel icy cold.

The sudden chill that arose in my heart from staring directly at the white light erupted tenfold or a hundredfold, as if it had startled the snow on the towering mountain, causing an avalanche that shook the heavens and the earth.

The soul begins to numb, and consciousness becomes blurred.

Let's go!

He shouted in his heart.

In the instant that consciousness begins to stagnate, the "spiral" on the translucent panel is activated.

The next moment.

Meritellie's wooden amulet hung from the ceiling, its candlelight flickering.

I'm back...

Ailin breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside the window, the sky is full of stars, and a crescent moon hangs low beneath the starry backdrop.

The temple was quiet, with only the rustling of leaves and grass in the mountain breeze.

"I slept for four hours," Ailin estimated the time. "Sure enough, the flow of time in the spiral is different from that in reality."

He stayed in the spiral for at least a day.

Then Ailin fell silent, her mind filled with the image of the "white light" blinking.

He didn't understand why he was blinking.

To be precise, it wasn't the "white light" in the center of the spiral corridor that blinked, but rather the hollow of the spiral corridor that, like an eyelid, suddenly closed.

It was as if an inanimate object had suddenly come to life.

It's so eerie that just thinking about it sends chills down your spine.

He could understand the opening animation of the Conquest Armor and the blinking of the "window" in the spiral; it was probably because he was confused and misread it when he was being chilled by the cold.

But he was perfectly conscious just now.

"Why does the void in the corridor blink?" he murmured, puzzled. "What is it?"

The feeling of more and more mysteries being solved is unpleasant.

However, all these mysteries actually have a final solution—catch a Wild Hunt.

Since they were hiding in the center of the corridor, they must know what was blinking.

And then there's 'He,' whom Regis mentioned, who, like him, could see through the spiral and whose name instilled fear in the Wild Hunt.

"I still need Experience Orbs!" Ailin thought to himself.

If you unlock "Beast Roar: No-Fly" at this time, you can think about camping out for Ban Adler. In case Regis attacks the Warlock with the Wild Hunt and a conflict breaks out, you might be able to camp out for one or two Wild Hunt.

"Never mind."

Ailin shook his head, abandoning a tempting idea that had been swirling in his mind.

In reality, his strength is about the same as that of an ordinary Wild Hunt, or even weaker.

Even if you really master "Beast Roar: No-Fly", hunting the Wild Hunt would still be too dangerous.

If you were to draw a centurion like Regis, you might die before you even draw your sword.

"We still need to improve our strength!"

Ailin sighed.

Wild Hunt, Evil God, White Frost...

The world of The Witcher isn't actually that high-level. Judging from Geralt, who conquers the world with just a silver sword in the original books and games, it's really just a world with low magic, or at most medium magic.

How come he encountered these abnormally powerful monsters?

"Since things have come to this, let's get some sleep." Ailin stopped wasting his energy. "The more rest I get, the sooner I can recover from the weakness caused by 'Beast Roar: Berserk'."

However, he had barely closed his eyes before he was too sleepy to stay awake, and he immediately opened them again.

"No, I'd better meditate," he thought to himself.

Although the restorative effect of meditation is not as good as falling asleep normally.

However, the passive effect "Dream Shadow" of the "Spiral" skill occurred twice when he was weakened and asleep normally.

"If he falls asleep now and is then channeled into the Spiral, and they encounter that monster that looks like White Frost, wouldn't they be doomed?"

Ailin sighed again.

He got up, dressed, placed his hands on his knees, and glanced out the window.

Night fell, and the crescent moon hung like a hook.

The summer insects seemed to be infected by the tranquil atmosphere, no longer chirping as restlessly as usual.

"At this point, the Wild Hunt should have discovered that the Fragment of Ad Gaes's Gate were missing."

"I wonder what they will choose..."

"Centurion Regis, this place has been disturbed!"

Wild Hunt, crouching in front of a birch tree, rubbed the soil on the ground with his black iron-gloved hand and looked back.

A large group of Wild Hunt stood behind him.

Within the skull socket of the lead Wild Hunt, a crimson will-o'-the-wisp burned, flickering in the darkness.

The skeletal horse stood beside them, motionless as if it were a dead thing.

"Dig!"

Regis stared at the ground and gave a cold command.

"Yes." The crouching Wild Hunt immediately and carefully took off their gloves and placed them aside. Then they stretched out their slender and well-proportioned hands and plunged them into the dark soil without hesitation.

As natural-born masters of magic, every Ain El is a natural sorcerer.

Even those who lacked talent but ultimately chose to use swords all possessed some basic telekinesis to make life easier.

Therefore, using magic to dig through the soil was not a problem for them.

However, the things in the soil made them afraid to let even a single element seep into the soil around their target.

For He is the Gate of Ade-Gais, the Grand Gate, the Gate of All Realms, the Gate of Ain-El, the Gate of Conquest, the Gate of Escape from Calamity, and the Gate of the End of the World,...

Even if what lies hidden beneath this soil are merely fragments from the disintegration of Ad Guise, no longer sensitive to magic, no one dares to take the risk.

Even as a member of the Wild Hunt, a pioneer of the Alder Folk, Ain El's strongest spear and shield...

For any part of their noble bodies to touch anything in the lower world is an extreme insult.

"Shh~"

"Shh~"

The mountain wind blows from the summit of Adria, rustling the leaves and branches of the forest.

In this tranquil atmosphere.

A large group of Wild Hunt watched their companions dig, seeing the forest soil stain their fingernails black.

The bluish-gray flames burned in the bone sockets, trembling and leaping.

The excavated soil was piled up higher and higher, and the pit was already two meters deep.

No one would bury something so deep underground on short notice, not even the Wild Hunt.

However, no one told them to stop. In fact, the few Wild Hunt themselves, who had already dug their hands into the dark mud, not only did not slow down, but instead quickened their pace.

It seems that as long as they dig fast enough and deep enough, things that were not originally there will suddenly appear.

"The fragments have been stolen!" Regis' tone was icy, yet extreme anger emanated from the flickering crimson bone flames.

He turned his head to look at the Wild Hunt, who was holding a staff and wearing a star-patterned robe, and commanded:

"Beatrix, find the thief."

The Wild Hunt, Beatrix, didn't speak, but simply waved her staff.

In an instant, the thick fog spread and then disappeared, and two humans appeared in front of the birch tree.

Around the pit, nearly a hundred flickering bluish-gray will-o'-the-wisps stopped in their tracks as they approached.

One of the humans crouched down, gently running his right hand through the soil as if to confirm its location, and then he began to dig...

"Damn those lowly Dh'oine, they actually dared to covet the Gate of Ad Gais!"

"Find them, kill them!"

"I want them to watch their own skin being peeled off!"

Nearly a hundred Wild Hunt instantly erupted with intense Mental Fluctuation that were difficult to suppress.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

The convergence of Mental Fluctuation caused distorted air currents, resulting in the surrounding trees and branches shaking and trembling violently, eventually breaking and snapping.

The illusions of the two humans were torn back into wisps of cloud.

"Quiet!"

Regis glanced back, but didn't let Beatrix restore it.

The result is clear: these two humans stole the fragments that belonged to Ain El.

"Who are they?" Regis asked.

"They must be the humans who killed Parnovius and Sera, and also..." Beatrix's bone fire trembled a few times, and the white mist surrounding her re-converged into two figures.

She pointed to the standing human in the white robe and said:

"The Stars of Ilar sensed the aura of Primal Magic emanating from him, and the deaths of Parnovius and Sera are definitely related to him."

"And his current location is over there..."

Beatrix raised her right arm.

Regis looked north in the direction he was pointing.

He remained silent for a moment.

He knew what was there.

A ruin, the ruins created by their comrades.

However, this is not surprising.

In the era when the Alder Folk conquered all worlds, which world did not have cities they destroyed, and wildernesses strewn with corpses?

Strangely enough, there was still life in the center of those ruins.

And there are also many extraordinary lives.

"Lord Regis, let us find him, kill her, and reclaim the fragments of the Ard Gais Gate!"

"Yes, Lord Regis, let us kill those lowly Dh'oine!"

"Kill them!"

Seeing that Regis remained silent for a long time, and the bluish-gray will-o'-the-wisps flickered violently in his sockets, the Wild Hunt members eagerly requested to fight.

"Shut up!" Regis turned around and snapped.

"Beatrix," he said, looking at Beatrix who was waving her hand to dispel the spell, "Tell Lord Eredin everything that has happened here."

"Then I need to contact Avallac first."

Regis hesitated for two seconds, as if thinking about something, before nodding slightly.

Then.

Beatrix's mouth opened and closed, her chanting, accompanied by the sound of a bell, echoed throughout the forest.

The forest responded with a faint, distant echo, overlapping and resonating with her chant.

Slowly, slowly, the whistling mountain wind in the forest stopped.

A crescent moon descended, casting its silvery light upon Beatrix, followed by the lighting of her robe, which was embroidered with unknown constellations.

The bluish-gray bone fire in the bone socket suddenly emitted a golden light.

"What is it?"

Beatrix's voice was soft and androgynous.

"Lord Avallac, the fragments of the Gate of Ad Gais have been stolen," Regis said hastily. "I would like to consult with Lord Eredin about the next course of action."

"I see."

The theft of the fragments of the Gate of Ad-Gaith did not seem to cause any mental disturbance in Avallac.

He gently nodded with Beatrix's body, the golden flame in his bone socket dimmed, and then a red bone fire, like that of Regis, ignited.

However, this flame was clearly redder than Regis's, as if it were blooming from freshly spilled blood.

In an instant, a strong smell of rust enveloped the large area of woodland.

"Speak!" The sudden voice rang out like the clang of metal.

Regis leaned forward respectfully as he recounted Beatrix's visions, then asked for instructions:

"Lord Eredin, what should we do next? Reclaim the fragments of the Gate of Ade Gais?"

The crimson bone fire burned silently.

"The powerful magical source is stationed in that place called Ban Ad; it was he who drove a thousand-man squad out of this world..." Beatrix's words flowed like an operatic aria, "So..."

"Let them come back..." The flames in Beatrix's sockets suddenly turned golden.

"Hahaha~" Eredin laughed heartily a few times, then denied it decisively, "No, Avallac, I don't believe that anyone in this lowly world can drive out a thousand of my Red Riders without paying any price."

"So..."

Eredin's smile vanished, and she said coldly, "Regis!"

"Exist!"

Regis and his Wild Hunt crew all knelt on one knee.

"I command you to investigate the state of that powerful magical source, find the fragments of the Gate of Ade Gais, and the Guiding Stone that Sera lost."

"Yes, Lord Eredin," the Wild Hunt responded in unison.

"Eredin, I remember you..." Beatrice's eye sockets turned from red to gold again, Avallac hesitated before speaking.

"You issued a challenge?" Eredin laughed heartily. "I never thought that one day, Avallac would worry about my reputation."

A challenge?

Regis and the other Wild Hunt members exchanged bewildered glances.

They set off immediately upon receiving the magical distress message from Parnovius and Sera, unaware that there was also a challenge, and that it was personally issued by Lord Eredin.

However, they did not ask any questions.

The Red Riders are the sharp blade and the sturdy shield of the Alder Folk; they need only to obey orders.

Other things are none of their concern.

Avallac did not speak.

"Avallac, I am not a knower like you. The Alder Folk live by your voice," Eredin muttered to himself. "I am a warrior. Warriors do not need to keep their promises. They only need to accomplish their goals."

Avallac was silent for a few seconds, then, through Beatrix, sighed, "The nickname 'Unicorn' gave you was truly fitting..."

"The Sparrowhawk?" Eredin chuckled twice more. "I like that nickname. I am the Sparrowhawk of the Alder Folk, using my keen eyes and sharp talons to hunt prey for my people. And you, 'Fox'..."

Do you like the nickname the unicorn gave you?

Avallac remained silent, clearly displeased.

Eredin didn't care and focused her gaze back on Regis was kneeling on one knee.

"That's settled then, Regis. Investigate the state of that magical source, and then find the fragments of the Ade Gais Gate and the Guiding Stone."

"We vow to complete this mission, even at the cost of our lives..."

"No, no, no!" Eredin interrupted Regis. "Don't die, come back alive, that's the top priority."

"There are not many brave warriors left among the Alder Folk."

He paused for a moment, his tone deep:

"Be careful, don't forget Parnovius and Sera."

"Humans have the ability to 'resurrect' ineffectively and kill you."

"Yes, Lady Eredin," the Wild Hunt said, their voices filled with gratitude.

The crimson flame in Beatrice's orbit flickered, and it seemed that Eredin's consciousness was about to leave the body.

Suddenly, golden light flashed.

"Regis, bring back the magical source that the Ilar Star indicates..."

Then.

Avallac paused, then added:

"Ideally, it should be alive."