The lightning is flying over the forest of hide-and-seek.
To her, the world seemed to shrink. Where her eyes reached, details faded away, leaving only patches of color. Brown represented the earth, gray the mountains, green the forests, and blue the rivers.
Green occupies the vast majority of the vision.
Unlike the vibrant emerald of Border Town's fields, the green here is a deep, somber blend of gray and black. Neither westward nor northward can one glimpse the horizon of this ink-green expanse. Prolonged observation evokes a sense of descent, compelling the lightning to periodically lift its gaze to the sky, dispelling the mounting sense of confinement.
Behind them, a grayish cloud hung low, obscuring the peaks of the Desolate Mountains and shrouding Border Town in a veil of rain and mist.
She was now searching for relics from four hundred and fifty years ago in the Hidden Forest, undoubtedly a grand adventure. Half a month earlier, when Roland had assigned her the task, Lightning had immediately pledged her agreement. Unlike the snake demon mage Harkara, who clung to ancient texts, RolandYour Highness repeatedly stated that the blueprint was for reference only, emphasizing the importance of safety and assuring her it was no problem if she couldn't find it. This greatly delighted the young girl.
She knew Your Highness was absolutely right. Even a castle, after four hundred years, would be devoured by overgrown vegetation and reduced to dust. Yet she still sought this place—the location of the hexagram signifying the Sacred City of Tachira. Lightning, having heard the whole story, naturally understood what Tachira meant.
There, she is likely to assist Your Royal Highness in uncovering the Church's cover-up of the true cause behind the war with the Devil.
This is far more thrilling than my father exploring the sea routes with me!
Using the same method as map-making, the Flasher would fill a square parchment with evenly spaced grids. By tracking their flight distance over time, they could estimate the content to be filled in each grid. Once all grids were completed, the search area was essentially finished.
Now she has filled half of it.
The dark clouds behind her surged closer faster than lightning could imagine. The girl could faintly hear the thunder rumbling through the clouds. She lowered her altitude and streaked down toward the forest below.
Just then, a grayish-white shadow flashed past the corner of my eye.
She froze, her body suspended mid-air, then turned to survey the area she had just passed.
Nothing was found.
Is this an illusion? After a moment's thought, Lightning decided to fly over the area again.
This time, she pressed the height even lower, and the forest ceased to be a monotonous expanse of green. The speckled trunks, branching twigs, and leaves of varied shapes... the details emerged from the color blocks, returning once more to the lightning's gaze.
After several breaths, she suddenly spotted a small section of a white stone pagoda beneath the layered branches. The entire top of the pagoda had been removed, leaving the structure partially concealed by the forest and making it difficult to detect from the sky. Had she not been trying to avoid the rain clouds, she might have missed it entirely.
The lightning bolt's heart raced wildly. Could this be the ancient ruins marked on the map?
After circling the stone pagoda, she found nothing unusual and decided to get closer to investigate further.
After landing, the little girl realized it wasn't quite a white stone tower.
The tower's surface, now covered in vines and moss, had turned a grayish-green hue upon closer inspection. Its slight tilt suggested it had been struck by some colossal force. Scattered stones around it, matching the tower's texture and color, likely came from its shattered top—some larger fragments still visible, while smaller ones were probably buried under weeds and soil. The structure was massive, with a base area comparable to that of RolandYour Highness's castle. Such grand man-made structures typically featured underground chambers.
Logically, she should be recording the ruins' location now and heading back to Border Town.
The various adventures in her mind also reminded her that venturing alone into a centuries-old tomb was a grave mistake—just the suffocating underground gases could have cost her life.
But Lightning realized she couldn't move a muscle, with curiosity whispering in her ear:' Just take a peek inside, it's all it takes.' She looked up at the sky—once clear and bright, it had now turned gloomy and dark. Clearly, a heavy rainstorm was about to break.
"Let's do this," she told herself. "It'll be awkward flying in the rain. We'll take shelter in the tower and check it out. If we find the basement, we won't go in alone."
After her thoughts had settled, Lightning, overcome by irresistible curiosity, approached the vine-covered entrance. She drew a dagger from her waist, carved a passage through the foliage, and scaled the wooden door—now completely rotten—into the tower.
With the top section removed, the interior became crystal clear without torches. Lightning flashed around the base of the tower, leaving no traces. Time had erased all exposed objects and marks, leaving only the crumbling partition wall and the ground below. She discovered a hole in the wall that once led up, likely for a staircase, though the staircase itself had vanished.
The basement passage stood out prominently on the southwest side of the first floor, directly facing the stone pagoda entrance. Lightning suspected that following this path into the wilderness would lead to the sacred city of Taqila, as recorded in ancient texts.
Just then, fine raindrops fell from the sky, dripping onto the lightning's nose. She slowly entered the underground passage, turned a corner, and a wooden door appeared before her. Though not entirely corroded, it looked severely damaged, ready to shatter at the slightest touch.
Soon, the light drizzle outside turned into a torrential downpour. The pitter-patter of raindrops on the ground gradually merged into an inseparable symphony. Though sheltered from the rain here, the water quickly trickled down the stone steps. To avoid wetting his shoes, Lightning lifted both feet off the ground and floated slowly.
Suddenly, she faintly heard a shout mingled with the rain, almost indistinguishable.
The sound sent shivers down her spine. Panicking, the young girl scanned the narrow corridor, which was empty except for a few scattered withered vines. With the faint light from outside, she opened her waist bag and retrieved a portable torch and flint, intending to light a fire for a closer inspection.
Then the shouts rang out again, this time seemingly emanating from the wooden door behind her. Lightning shuddered involuntarily and spun around abruptly. The torch slipped from her hand, landing on the ground and sending up a splash of water.
This time the voice seemed much clearer, and she could vaguely make out that it was a woman's voice.
Someone in the basement? The thought sent a chill down her spine. How could this be possible! The stone tower was a relic from over four centuries ago, hidden deep in the Mystery Forest. Who else but herself could have reached this place?
"Save me..." The third cry was unmistakably coming from behind the wooden door, sounding like a desperate plea. Lightning swallowed hard, then cautiously placed his hand on the door and gave it a gentle push. The damp, slippery wooden door caved inward, crashing down with a muffled thud.
A tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her!
A bolt of lightning froze her blood, and the figure before her was none other than Devil from Soraya's painting! In the dim light, Devil seemed to be watching her too—his massive frame leaning slightly forward, a three-fingered hand clutching an axe that gleamed with dark red bloodstains. In that instant, the gruesome scenes of these brutal killers murdering the Sisterhood members flooded her mind.
"Ah—" she screamed in shock, flinging the flint at the intruder. In a flash, she spun around and dashed through the passage, plunging headlong into the rain and fleeing toward Border Town.
Unaware of the impact, the flint struck Devil's chest with a sharp crack. A ring of fine cracks appeared at the point of impact, spreading rapidly until they covered his entire body. Amidst the growing fissures, Devil's form crumbled into white dust, vanishing into the wind.