The Frontline (9)

While Ang spoke quietly with Cox, a Flame Swordsman hurried over, his breathing slightly rushed.

"My lord, we found some traces ahead." He saluted, his expression grave.

Ang perked up at once and nodded. The group quickly followed the swordsman to the area where the traces had been found.

It was a slope covered in weeds and scattered rocks, its soil trampled into a mess.

Ang crouched down for a closer look and soon noticed several faint boot prints on the ground. They were not the hoofprints or claw marks of lizardmen, but traces left by standard Imperial military boots.

There were also fading magical traces on the nearby rocks. A scroll seemed to have been activated here, and the residual energy patterns still faintly trembled in the air.

Most alarming were the large dark brown stains on the ground. Dried bloodstains crisscrossed the area, some of them having seeped deep into the soil.

"Is this... blood left by humans?" Cox asked quietly from the side.

"Very likely." Ang rose to his feet, his expression darkening.

He carefully collected the bloodstained soil, sample by sample.

Then he set up a temporary tent and began a complex magical separation ritual inside.

Time slowly passed.

The afternoon sun grew ever more scorching as the soldiers waited outside the tent.

By noon, a faint magical resonance came from within. Ang placed the extracted blood sample into a crystal vial.

He then gently dripped it into the Magic Tracking Compass he had prepared beforehand, a circular disk embedded with star crystals and engraved with dense runes.

As Ang slowly poured magic power into it, the needle at the center of the compass began to tremble. It spun several times before finally settling, pointing steadily northwest.

"Does this... mean we found them?" Dana leaned closer,