After hearing Fors's words, Xio froze for a moment and said with a complicated expression, "You didn't need to come back."
Fors pressed a hand against the warehouse wall and said, "If we keep talking, things inside will be over on their own. So, are you planning to repeat this conversation with me, or are we going in to save someone?"
Xio looked deeply at her friend, then, without further hesitation, stood beside her with the Chilly Blade in hand.
Fors immediately flipped through Lemnano's Travel Notes, bestowing several Beyonder effects upon the two of them. Then she grabbed her friend's arm with one hand and pressed the other against the wall again.
"Once we're inside, we'll hide and observe first. We'll act when there's an opportunity."
"If there really isn't one, or if we fail to seize it, we'll leave immediately. At least then we can still avenge Sherman instead of being buried with him!"
"As long as we're alive, anything is possible..."
Xio nodded solemnly. "All right."
Fors did not delay further. She opened an Illusory Door and led Xio through the wall, arriving behind a row of wooden crates.
They saw Shermane sitting lifelessly atop a wooden crate, as if she had already fallen into despair and numbness.
Standing before her was Viscount Stratford. He took an item from an inner pocket of his clothes. It was a cross covered in verdigris, with several spikes protruding from it. Its style did not seem to belong to the North Continent of the Fifth Epoch; it looked like an extremely ancient item.
Viscount Stratford extended a finger and pressed it against one of the spikes on the cross. Blood immediately flowed from him, only to be swiftly absorbed by the spike and seep into the item.
The mottled verdigris