The sun is high

The conclusion drawn from the peripheral traces can be said to be obvious.

Someone has successfully penetrated into the area between the 5th Chasseur Regiment's position and Black Forest Castle, and there must be a spellcaster among these people.

Weilin relied on her experience as a lake-level scholar, and she judged that among these infiltrators, there were even mages above the stream level, and they might even be people like sword-wielding hermits or Iris guards, because only It is absolutely impossible for an ordinary spell caster to consume the magic power in this high-quality magic crystal in a short period of time.

What's more, there is only one place with the most high-quality crystals produced in the snowfields of the north.

That's Merlin Lehe.

If the Kingdom of St. Steele is the "country of crystallized minerals", then as the origin of spellcasters in the entire Van En, Merlin Lehe is the real holy land for spellcasters. In this special war period, the Legal Committee has Those members of the mages who are fighting for Merlin Lehe's interests will naturally increase their support.

To put it bluntly, even if the members of the Legal Committee wanted to use magic crystals to directly smash people to death, the top management of Merlin Lehe would support it with both hands.

"Consuming magic crystals means that they have consumed magic power... In other words, those people have used magic or performed magic rituals."

An accompanying mage whispered: "What do these people want to do? Exploring our position, or do they plan to do something else?"

"Not sure."

Wei Lin shook her head, and then she ordered: "Control the search range of the summoned objects and do not expand it any further... Be sure to ensure safety around the road and notify immediately if anything is discovered."

After finishing speaking, she said to an officer: "Ask the messenger to take the message back to the position and make sure it is delivered."

Soon, all the gathered people dispersed again, and the team began to move forward.

At this time, Wei Lin, who had some knowledge of Shuge's abilities, gave him a more important task: "Let's search along the road... The Jaeger Regiment is on the road leading to Black Forest Castle. We have set up multiple observation stations and outposts to ensure road safety. If possible, you can first see if there are any problems in these places."

At this time, Shuge naturally had no way to refuse, so as he mobilized his thinking, a considerable number of rats controlled by the will of the Ernst family immediately searched and moved towards the road where everyone was.

A large amount of information was fed back along the magic connection between Xiuge and the rats. Fortunately, Xiuge's current magic power has far exceeded before. Otherwise, just these detailed information from different directions and locations would be enough to make him confused. .

While directing the rats to conduct exploration, the metal disc in Shuge's spiritual world also began to rotate under the stimulation of magic. Shuge knew that when it came to detecting and responding to danger, he, the one used to inscribe magic, The disc is the most accurate!

The surroundings are still very quiet, and the wilderness next to the road can be said to be unobstructed. With the magical perception of the military mages and the night vision ability after taking the potion, any person or thing that appears on both sides of the road will be immediately detected. Be aware and be found out.

In this way, everyone continued to move towards the Black Forest Castle.

Soon, the group of rats responsible for exploring the path for Shuge and others had arrived near the "observation station" that Wei Lin called.

It is said to be an "observation station", but it is actually a temporary station built with a few magics and several large waterproof tents. This kind of station is often maintained by a dozen soldiers and an ordinary raindrop-level mage.

The work that the personnel in the site have to do is also very simple. While serving as an outpost to guard the surroundings, they also need to use the magic mysteries they carry with them to monitor the flow of magic in a certain area to prevent the enemy from attacking in some important places. Perform large-scale magic rituals in the area that are not beneficial to one's side.

But now, the entire observation station is extremely quiet. After Xiuge ordered the rats to enter and explore, he found that there was no one here at all!

"problem occurs!"

Shuge immediately told Wei Lin about this situation. At the same time, other mages who accompanied the army discovered something nearby - someone's summons was found near a huge lake near the road.

It was a pile of neatly arranged equipment - they were basically intact, from water bottles to bullet bags, to the standard cloaks and revolver rifles used by members of the 5th Jäger Regiment... Shuge I quickly counted the number of items and found that there were twelve revolver rifles, one revolver, and the number of supporting items such as bullet bags could also be matched one by one.

And beside the revolver, there was a magic book neatly placed, which was the version printed by the council.

Obviously, this is the trace left by the missing team in the observation post.

"What happened? Someone killed them? And then brought everything here?"

An accompanying military mage expressed his opinion, but obviously he himself did not believe in such a judgment. After all, this situation was a bit strange. It did not look like someone deliberately destroyed the traces after sneak attack on the site, but more like that Demonstrate.

Soon, the soldiers who went to the observation station to check the situation also returned. They found nothing else. As Shuge said, except that there was no one in the observation station, everything was normal and everything was in order. They even On the table in the temporary house, I saw the Dragon Tooth Brand that had not been confiscated and a cup of herbal tea brewed at an unknown time.

Through these details, Xiuge was even able to restore the situation in this observation station not long ago.

At that time, the soldiers in the station should be talking and resting indoors. Two of them were playing dragon tooth cards, and the rest should be watching around the table. Some of them brewed a cup of hot tea with their own collection of tea leaves. …

But these are not problems.

The real problem is that Shuge and others have no way of knowing what happened that made these twelve soldiers and a mage finally leave the site and abandon their coats, weapons and other personal equipment in this kind of place. place.

Xiuge even felt that the word "abandoned" was not appropriate, because these things were obviously carefully sorted and arranged, and even all the abandoned coats were carefully folded, just like those soldiers I just put my things here temporarily and will come back after a while.

However, this is so illogical.

This is a very important and tense period. In the military, such behavior is tantamount to "defection."

After getting along with each other for a period of time, Shuge has gained basic trust and understanding of all members of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment. He knows that the soldiers of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment have absolute loyalty to the Kingdom of Votel. Guaranteed, they will never suddenly choose to defect collectively at this time.

At this moment, Wei Lin, who was very familiar with the Council's mage equipment, suddenly frowned. Her eyes quickly scanned the firearms and clothes twice, and then she said: "No, there is something missing here. .”

Hearing her say this, Xiuge couldn't help but cast his eyes towards those objects again, and this time, his attention was focused on those belonging to the mage who accompanied the army.

It can be seen that the mage must have taken out everything he carried with him. Xiuge even saw the official certificate issued by the council, which was the same as his own and was in the latest style.

Xiuge soon realized what the problem was, and he was surprised: "The secret ritual is missing?"

"Yes, the secret ritual assigned to each observation station..."

Weilin used her mage's hands to search through the folded and stacked clothes. After seeing that nothing was missing, she shook her head and said: "That is the most important thing in every observation station, as long as it is on duty in a place like this." The mage will definitely carry it with him."

Wei Lin's words are not an exaggeration, because Shuge had already seen this kind of portable secret instrument assigned to observation sites and important outposts when he was in Brown Hill Town - they were often directly made into heavy metal pendants or metal ornaments. , as long as the magic power is continuously supplied or magic crystal is inserted, it can continue to operate.

In addition to reacting to the magic power of the surrounding environment, this secret ritual can also record the disturbance of magic power according to a specific cycle.

"Since the secret ritual was deliberately taken away, it means that the person who did this did not intend for us to understand what happened nearby through the records in the secret ritual. As for those soldiers..."

As Xiuge spoke, he looked at the lake in front of him.

This lake is connected to the river next to Black Forest Town. It should be an excellent water source for farmers nearby. Xiuge saw some man-made canals and a simple magic waterwheel. .

However, it is unreasonable that the lake is still not frozen when the river has begun to freeze.

But the strange thing is that in the face of this abnormal phenomenon, Xiuge did not feel any trace of magic. The metal disc in the spiritual world, which has always been extremely sensitive to abnormal phenomena and dangerous situations, is only rotating at a stable frequency at this moment. With.

An accompanying mage stood up. He had never been satisfied with his magical summons - because it was a water lizard. This magical creature moved too slowly on the ground and could only use its flexibility in the water. Sex, so he never misses an opportunity to use it.

Under the command of the summoner, the water lizard, which was as long as an adult's forearm, quickly jumped into the lake. In the process, the mage's eyes were constantly flashing with the luster of magic. It was obvious that he was using The magical connection with his summons observes the underwater situation.

However, after a few minutes of silence, the mage's body suddenly shook violently, and then he forcibly broke off the connection between himself and the summoned object. His entire face began to become extremely distorted and pale. He persisted for a few seconds, but in the end he couldn't help but bend down and retched violently.

His performance surprised everyone present, and at the same time caused some panic in people - a military mage above the stream level should have extremely tough psychological endurance. After all, for them, the magic laboratory The gruesome specimens inside and the mutilated corpses on the battlefield are commonplace, and we have seen them a lot.

People couldn't imagine what could cause such a violent physiological reaction in a military mage.

While Wei Lin and others were asking about the situation, Xiuge quietly mobilized his magic power, so the mist of the messenger in the mirror flashed over his body, and a figure silently appeared in the cold. formed in the lake.

After receiving Shuge's order, the magic double immediately summoned many Touches of Charron. With the help of these tentacles that were originally born in the ocean waters, the Mirror Messenger began to move quickly towards the depths of the lake.

In the innate magic vision of the messenger in the mirror, the darkness in the depths of the lake could not hinder it at all. It was precisely for this reason that when Xiuge controlled his spirit to come to the center of the lake and headed towards it When he looked into the depths, an astonishing picture that completely exceeded Shuge's expectations suddenly came into his field of vision.

"..."

He was speechless for a moment.

A series of words such as horror and bizarre were not enough to describe the scene he saw now.

In the center of this lake, in the deepest part of the dark lake, there were a large number of figures floating.

There is no doubt that they are all corpses.

These dead people look like insects fixed inside huge amber. They all maintain their own postures. Some of their bodies are severely distorted, as if they are performing a difficult dance, and some stretch their arms as if they are embracing the invisible. lover...

Most of them should have drowned in desperate struggles. With the help of the magical vision of the messenger in the mirror, Xiuge was able to see clearly the appearance and clothing of these dead people. Then he was surprised to find that these corpses were actually all Very "fresh".

It has neither rotted or deformed due to long-term immersion, nor has it been gnawed by lake creatures.

Rather than saying they were corpses, they were more like strange sculptures displayed by some perverted "artist" in the cold lake.

The number of the dead was so large. They were both men and women, ranging from young children to the elderly. Most of them were ordinary urban residents wearing Delan civilian clothes, but Xiuge also saw some bodies. The corpse of a Teresa soldier wearing the uniform of the Black Forest Infantry Regiment.

And in the center of these corpses, closest to the messenger in the mirror, there are thirteen completely different figures floating.

Twelve of the corpses formed a circle, with their heads lowered and their hands at their sides, suspended straight in the water, as if they were performing some kind of strange military salute.

In the center of the corpses of these soldiers was a figure wearing the clothes of a military mage of the Fifth Chasseur Regiment.

The mage stretched his upper body vigorously, his hands dropped back, and his mouth opened to the point that it violated human physiological structure.

Xiuge saw that in the mouth of this mage was the missing secret ritual.

It looks like someone forced this thing into his mouth...