The sky is as clear as washing, and the sunshine is as soft as satin. The grassland underfoot is vast, and flowers are everywhere. The brackish sea breeze comes from the northeast, blowing away the moist air from the south, taking away the petals and fragrance. Lily strolls towards the west, among the white snow,
A pool of lake water was filled with mist, and my mother's figure was looming in it.
She chatted with her mother for a while, then turned southbound.
Kaya landed on her shoulder, combing her feathers with her long beak - Celine bickered with him from the side, interrupting his work from time to time. The clouds passed across the sky, as fast as lightning; Ryan rushed below them, and the grass blades flew away.
It wasn't much slower. Luweier joined in the middle, sitting on Lily's back as before. They passed by the forest where Ingrid lived, and several fruit trees swayed, throwing plump plums into Celine's arms.
middle.
Not long after, the end of the forest came into view. There was Amberley with a bright smile, and the sachet hung around her neck, which contained Harlan's pine needles. Beside her was Bai Li, who had transformed into a human form, and was holding the golden soft needles.
I stuffed the snacks into my mouth, my face full of happiness.
Lily trotted over and deliberately bumped Bai Li with her shoulder, just like many times before. However, the white bear turned into snow flakes and merged into the ground, leaving only a hint of coolness. For a moment, Amberli also disappeared, followed by Luweier and Celine.
, Kaya, even Ryan and Cangyun——
Everything returned to darkness and she opened her eyes.
It was pitch black above the head, and the dense pine branches blocked the stars, but 'Tess' didn't show its head at all. The silver-white giant wolf raised its body, shook off the snow flakes stuck to its body, and whispered softly.
The hanging branches slapped her back. It was Harlan, her father's oldest child.
Lily jumped back, raised her head slightly, and blew hot air from her nose. All along, this 'brother' seemed to be against her. Hundreds of years ago, he was like this when he persuaded her friends to leave the forest; on behalf of the Elna people,
It was the same when asking for help from them hidden in the Impasse Mountains; it was the same when he and Fimir invited everyone to fight to build a new world. He didn't like any changes, Lily thought to herself - maybe his father had given him the power from the beginning.
He has a stubborn and conservative temperament.
"I ask you." A low voice echoed in her ears through the branches, "Are you satisfied with everything in front of you?"
"Of course." She replied succinctly. So what if it is, so what if it is not? The decision has been made, and the past is a foregone conclusion. She does not intend to change history again and again... and even if she can do it, she may not be able to.
Better than now. "We have chosen the path we are going to take. If you don't want to follow it, how about just watching from the side?"
"You are deceiving you." The branches swayed from side to side, as if shaking their heads, "I am not blind, I can hear and see. Don't forget, we have the same father."
Lily calmed down her expression and stared at the dark sky, suddenly too lazy to hide anything. Harlan was right, even if she had always been dissatisfied with each other's rigidity, they were still connected by blood. There were many others...from hundreds of years ago
Everyone who has lived here since.
"We are indeed sorry, but so what." The female mercenary swallowed her saliva, licked her lips with her tongue, and tasted the faint sweetness - the taste was very familiar to her, with the smell of her 'father' Ada, but it was different.
"We can't resurrect Bai Li, and we can't cure Ryan's injury. In that case, why should we care about the past?"
The branches froze for a moment, then vibrated slightly again, "You are different from the last time you came back, September."
"You don't need to talk too much." She interrupted Harlan impatiently. When was the last time he mentioned? Decades ago in history, hundreds of years ago for her? It's strange that nothing has changed.
Of course, I’m afraid the other party can’t understand this. He has made no progress for hundreds of years. “Don’t think that everyone is the same as you.”
"It's a good thing to be cautious." Harlan's branch swung towards her, and she shook her head and bit it, but she couldn't stop the sound from spreading. "How can you be sure of the future promised by Fimmel?"
Because she had seen it with her own eyes, Lily thought. Even if it was just another memory - or a dream, it was real enough, even better than what she had heard. Such a beautiful world is worthy of anyone's yearning for it, and even sacrifice... maybe so.
She didn't want to discuss this issue anymore, so she swung her tail and left Harlan's side. She couldn't remember why she came here, just like she couldn't remember many other things, but it didn't matter, they were not important after all.
Probably because she doesn't want to see her mother for the time being, the female mercenary told herself.
In fact, after returning to this forest again, she went to Hisar much less frequently because it reminded her of certain things in the past. At some point, she was dissatisfied with the fate of the Sachi people and felt sorry for her companions.
He was arrogant and angry. He left his mother and went to the south to find out the cause of the war and try to prevent the tragedies of the past from happening again. But now...
"There is no problem." She said to herself, "Father has given us these powers, and we must make good use of them. Only by trying can we know how far we can achieve it?" The female mercenary's voice was loud.
Qing, anyway, there was no audience around except her, "The future is there, we can see it. So all that's left is to work hard towards it step by step -"
She ran towards the village in the forest. As she walked forward, the sweetness in the air became clearer. It was the smell of "water of life".
Fimmel Stark took part of Ingrid's body, added Cangyun's rigid feathers, the dragon's horns, her hair, and various rare magic materials. Afterwards, he combined it with the secret records of the White Tower family,
Lily and others used their knowledge of 'Father' and even Cole's knowledge of Mal in his memory to prepare this potion. One afternoon not long ago, it was distributed to all the Sachi people living in the village.
Fimir told her that the user's soul and body are one since then. Even if the body is broken, the soul will not go to the outer world. A long time ago, her father told her a similar idea. Combine the soul with the body and recreate it.
A body that relies on magic power to survive and can continuously repair itself is equivalent to achieving immortality.
If the latter cannot be achieved, the effect will be the same as the scene in the forest before: those pieces of meat are not dead, and there is no way to be considered alive. But Lily is convinced - she tries to make herself believe that Fimmel's end is still ahead, and she sees
It's just the scenery along the way.
There was silence in the village. Brown-skinned figures came and went, no one spoke, cried or laughed, there was only the soft rustle of stepping on the soil. About half of all the Sachi people lived here, and one-sixth of them disappeared above.
A battle. Their bodies were turned into ashes, and their names...may have been forgotten even earlier.
The other half also left the wasteland, seemingly following the guidance of "Wind Whisperer" Jill, and heading somewhere in the east. Those people were still alive, which made Lily feel a little relieved, even if the reason had nothing to do with her.
She pushed open the door of the wooden house, and the black-robed wizard turned around, with soft light dancing in his eyes, green and warm.
"It's just in time, September." He put down the reagent in his hand, raised his fingertips, and took out a small bottle from the air, "Help me go to the Volcano Castle and give it to Duran Ke Yanhuo.
"
"The king of the Beron people?" Lily thought of Bell and Groom, but unfortunately they were not born at this time. "What's in the bottle?"
"Real water of life." Fimir whispered softly, "The material is a bit expensive, but it is worth using it on a king." He took out several more similar vials and lined them up on the experimental table.
, "There are also the emperors and dukes of the empire, and the white-robed bishops of the Theocracy... Some of them must be interested in "eternal life". It is your task to win their trust."
"Then - what will happen to them?"
"They will gain eternal life. No sword, spell, disease or life span can kill them." The black-robed wizard said calmly, "Soon, the souls of all drinkers will be drawn together to fight for this huge body.
'The dominance." He grinned slightly, "The winner gets everything, while the rest will lose everything."
"...You drank it too, right?"
"Naturally." Fimir's voice was steady and confident, "It's a pity that there is only one winner, otherwise I will be happy to share it with you, September."
Lily licked her lips and felt a faint chill on her back, accompanied by more doubts... It seemed that she had related memories, but they were vague. "We have never heard of this kind of magic. Where did you learn it?
"
"Not long ago, the day Golden Spike City fell." Fimiel replied, "It can be considered a blessing in disguise."
The female mercenary stared at Fimir. A question arose in her mind, and then she blurted out, "You know that the Erna people will fail and become your enemies. Is that so?"
The flames in the black-robed wizard's eyes became brighter, and then he nodded, "I never foreseen it, but it was indeed expected."
"You...what do you want?" Lily recalled the vague 'history' in the book and every bit of the two of them getting along. She looked at Fimir without blinking, wanting to see through him completely.
——Of course that is impossible, "What is your wish...and what is the future in your eyes?"
Fimmel Stark smiled. He approached her, took out a dark oil lamp from his arms, and carefully and gently placed it in her hand.
"Don't touch it." The black-robed wizard whispered, "Let me tell you everything about it."
Lily remained silent and concentrated on feeling the object in front of her. She recognized this lamp, which was located in the demiplane of "Earl Stark". It was covered with dust and badly damaged. She also roughly understood its purpose: in this lamp
In her 'memory', Fimmel Stark used it to make a wish, destroying the White Tower family and even her hometown.
The oil lamp in front of her looked much brand new, the surface of the metal was shiny, and almost no cracks could be seen. As Ada's daughter, Lily could feel the huge magic power in it, as well as the fact that its power only filled a small area.
Partially, if fully recovered, it may be enough to rival 'father'.
"I thought you would ask me this earlier, September." The black-robed wizard's voice pulled her out of her memories, "You have seen it, right?"
"Of course." The female mercenary withdrew her gaze from the oil lamp, placed it on Fimir's face, and raised her chin at the same time, "In our original world, you used it to take revenge on the White Tower Family, and you used it to seize Luglan.
The vitality of the forest...are you right?"
"Yes, when I first got it, what I thought of was indeed revenge." Femir's voice was calm and his expression remained gentle, "But this time, because of your existence, my second wish is no longer the same. It
It has nothing to do with the forest, and it has nothing to do with your 'old friends'."
The talent of being a living god told her that Fimir was not lying. She still didn't know what the other party wished for, but it was insignificant. "What exactly is it?"
"It is a relic of the previous era. Contained in it is the soul and power of Ilott, the mother of dragons." Fimiel narrated in a low voice, "Just like the Dracolich, the people of the previous era deceived
And killed her, and then created this artifact." He looked at Lily's palm and sighed softly, "Human beings were so powerful at that time, but they still could not resist the anger of 'father', and they could not escape the fate of destruction."
"We don't care about that." Lily shook her head, "How to use it?"
"You make a wish to it, and it will come true." The black-robed lich said simply, "As long as the magic power is sufficient, there is no unfulfillable wish." He smiled mockingly, "However, it can only come true.
Only death can give strength to the ideal of destruction. The person who makes a wish must pay a price, perhaps the people and things he cherishes, or perhaps himself."
Lily blinked and held the oil lamp in front of her eyes. "What if we wish for your death to it now?"
"I will die." Fimir replied without hesitation, "As for the price you pay..." He touched Lily's cheek lightly with his fingertips, "Probably just losing me."
This was exactly her original wish, a voice told her - to kill 'Earl Stark', stop the Gray War, and change history. But the female mercenary shook her head slightly, put the oil lamp back on the table, and stopped looking at it.
it.
"How do you plan to fulfill your promise...which is also the future we see." She asked, "Use this thing that can only bring destruction?"
"I'm not sure." Fimmel admitted, "But you saw it and the price we paid for it." His voice was without confusion, with a hint of fanaticism, "If the future is good enough, everything will be fine."
You get what you pay for.”
Lily was silent. At this moment, she was also part of history, so she could not judge right or wrong this time. She and the man in front of her had gone a long way, and it was meaningless to look back. Regardless of whether this was a dream, she
I truly yearn to see it again - or even realize the 'future' in my memory with my own hands.
She patted the wizard on the shoulder, and then approached him. "Okay, tell us who are the specific people... and leave the rest to us?"
Fimir held her hand, and through the cold skin, Lily seemed to be able to feel her heartbeat and warmth. The black-robed wizard named many people, covering the entire continent, all of whom were either rich or noble. Finally, he pondered for a moment and spoke briefly.
Look at her face seriously.
"No one likes to be sacrificed. We will bear responsibilities equivalent to this, both in life and after death." The green flames swayed in his eyes, as if they were alive, "I want you to understand, September.
"
"Maybe?" She nodded disapprovingly, "In that case... you have to live well for those people."
"Same for you." Fimmel Stark told her, "Also, the girl in the southern village mentioned you several times. If you are in the mood, you might as well take her with you again."