One
The rough shape of the Lantis Mountains was semi-visible in the misty clouds, fuzzily outlined by the lone moon in the dark shadows.
sat under a tree, gazing at the fuzzy outline of the distant mountains. He had just finished a battle, and the pain in his right hand hadn't yet faded away. A fluorescent blue light on his arm flickered across his face – was always so expressionless, no matter what he was doing.
With battle after battle and countless pains in his right hand, 's memory had gradually been filled up long ago. The reckless boy in the small village, the boy who thought he could defeat everything, and the blazing fire in that village.
For , the days after retrieving his memories were a cold and gloomy bottomless ocean. Between the endless Lantis Mountains, the light and shadow of the rising sun and the setting moon were his only remaining boats, saving him from drowning in the sea.
closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, was standing not far behind him.
"You're always looking over at the mountains."
"Have you recalled anything?" rarely asked about 's past. But now, she felt that the young man's condition seemed worse than she'd thought.
was silent.
"I'm taking a trip to Necrokeep. One of my companions is trapped there. It might be dangerous."
"Let's go." stood up quickly.
skillfully took out the map and drew a simple and clear route.
looked at the route she drew, his eyes halting.
saw some doubts in him: "Necrokeep houses the evil spirit woman . If you enter Necrokeep directly from the Lantis Mountains, it is very likely that the undead she controls along the way will be alarmed."
nodded.
" is extremely powerful...Perhaps, you will see some memories of the past." paused for a while, then said.
After a speedy trip,they got to Necrokeep even faster than they expected. Since the orc army was besieging the Moonlit Forest, and encountered almost no obstacles in the Stormeye Wasteland, and they reached Necrokeep without a hitch.
"The person we want is trapped in here." looked at the sky above Necrokeep with a solemn expression: the clouds were dense, and there was flash of lightning. All of this revealed that 's undead summoning circle had been activated.
followed her gaze. Necrokeep was even more gloomy and treacherous than they expected. The two passed through the dilapidated Hall of the Dead and came to the entrance of the Water Promenade.
"I'll go and deal with this quickly." said to .
He jumped nimbly into the promenade and disappeared without a trace.
looked at the back of her partner in the distance and gave out a subtle smile.
Two
Necrokeep was more dangerous than imagined – that was what 's intuition told her the moment stepped on the Bridge of Annihilation.
A fog suddenly appeared up ahead, and an overwhelming cold breath enveloped , and there was almost no room to breathe. She clenched the long knife in her hand and stepped out more cautiously – it was obviously a clearing, but she found it almost impossible to move a single step, as if something was holding on to her leg.
As calm as was, she felt a little perturbed at this. She tugged at her neckline, trying to make breathing easier for herself.
The fog gradually thickened. heard the ringing of bells in the distance, and again and again, the distant bells became close one moment and distant again the next, but every ring seemed to strike her heart. Her head felt dizzy. Suddenly, many illusory figures appeared in the thick fog: the villagers she had not been able to save, the first enemy she had killed, and her father...
had a keen sense that something wasn't right: "!" She drew her long sword, trying to break through the fog and burst out of the magic circle. But then she heard a sharp neighing sound. A long-haired knight wearing a red cloak slowly walked out of the fog on a sturdy horse – it was the queen's loyal knight – blocking off 's only road of retreat.
On the other side, got all the way to the Water Promenade unimpeded. This place, which ought to have been full of dangers, was unexpectedly safe. never let go of his guarded right hand. His pace got slower and slower as he watched everything around him carefully.
Suddenly, the bell on the Bell Tower of Despair rang and echoed in the distant mountains like a heavy sigh passing through the gloomy Water Promenade.
stopped.
He found he had come to the end of the promenade. The portraits on both sides had long since gone fuzzy. Only the portrait of at the end of the corridor was well preserved. Right in front of his eyes, the painting was incredibly lifelike and had a weird smile.
stared at the portrait blankly for two seconds, then turned and left – he realized that he and had both been trapped. The Water Promenade was not the most dangerous place, but the Bridge of Annihilation at the entrance was.
It was a path of despair where staying or leaving were both hard choices. Surrounded by thousands of undead, was easily able to hit the most vulnerable place in people's hearts, leaving everyone trapped on the bridge with huge troubles.
He ran like mad the whole way.
Despite knowing that was different from the once unarmed villagers, was still very worried. He clearly knew how strong the power of the past was.
If a person does something regrettable, the pain he suffers is far more intense than physical torture.
's pace got faster and faster. With every step he took, memories of flashed back to him.
Before long, he thought he was only composed of the past, and the future was a blank canvas. But now, the moment of fighting side by side under the Lantis Mountains also formed a new memory for him.
The shackles with began when had not yet found his own "self". Meeting was not just a glimmer of light for in his confusion, but also a rare moment when he felt a glimmer of hope on the road to his search for his memory.
Every moment fighting with was the beginning of a new memory for him. Two equally silent people seldom communicate. Even if the memories of the past had been recalled long ago, never took the initiative to speak out about his past, or the past that not even he dared recall.
He thought that maybe had guessed something before she decided to stay and face .
However, only one person trapped by memories is enough.
Three
When arrived at the Bridge of Annihilation, was fighting fiercely with .
From the moment stepped into this place, his heart began to thump uncontrollably. Some undead gathered around him and tentatively approached him.
tried to use a lightning arrow to disperse them, but there were more dead souls than he thought. They were shrouded in the thick fog, following 's control, changing their forms around at will, emitting weird laughs and weeps of bitterness.
The weeping was sharp and harsh on the ears.
These noises made terribly upset, and he began to lose control of his strength, subconsciously sending a blow to the gathering place for the undead.
"Uh..." The pain caused by fighting with his right hand seemed to intensify. could endure the pain of every battle, but now his body was trembling with pain.
The laughter of the undead suddenly rose.
let out an angry growl, shaking his body and rushing towards the dense fog. He wanted to raise his hand to attack, but found that in the thick fog, familiar faces appeared in front of him: the village chief, the sheepherder next door, Elle, the little girl from the neighbor's house... these people all appeared on the Bridge of Annihilation. They were either crying or laughing, and shouted 's name loudly around him.
's body trembled even more severely...He couldn't even do a simple action like raising his hand. Moreover, he was not fighting, but there was a dull pain in his right hand, which was beating him clearly and slowly.
For some reason, suddenly thought of the time when the old man next door brought him along to chop wood for the first time. When chopping wood, one must strike hard and regularly one piece after another in order to save effort.
He thought his right hand hurt even more.
With repeating pain, more images appeared before his eyes.
Some people search for the meaning of life throughout their lives, but knew when he was young that everything he did was to protect the peace of the village. Let everyone in the village worry about the abyss no longer, so that they no longer have to be cautious when cutting wood or fetching water, and beware of the ravages of the abyss demons.
The meaning of his life was destroyed by his own hands.
bent over in pain...
"!" 's voice moved from the distance to up close.
was fighting fiercely with , 's powerful magic circle and made it difficult for her to ward off the blows. When she finally had time to notice her surroundings, she found that was trapped.
She didn't know 's past. This person would never mention the past.
But continuous battles had allowed them to cultivate enough tacit understanding. She looked at in front of her and looked at his right hand again in pain.
She knew that the most important thing to do now was to get out of the fog.
"!
!"
called out loudly. Her voice made the faces in front of turn more quickly: the village chief, the sheepherder next door, El, the little girl from the neighbor's house, ...
"?!"
How could appear among these undead? woke up suddenly, took a deep breath, and looked firmly into the mist with trembling eyelids.
It turned out that the mist contained not only the relatives of the past, but also and the villagers living at the foot of the Lantis Mountains.
's power was being able to not only control the undead, but also make people face their deepest memories head on.
The haze in a person's heart was 's best weapon.
For , the small village had disappeared, but there were still many villages at the foot of the Lantis Mountains suffering from the same fear. It was his greatest wish to resist the demons and save more villages from his suffering.
He needed to protect everyone worthy of protecting, companions, villagers...
Thinking of this, 's eyes suddenly lit up, and the thick fog gradually dispersed. He stood up straight, and the lightning arrow in his hand glowed brightly.
"You go from the left and I'll go right. He yelled to .
With 's help, quickly got rid of 's entanglement. The undead also gradually dispersed as the sound of the bell weakened.
looked at the Bridge of Annihilation in the near distance. He took a long breath.
The pain that could not be relieved still would not go away, but a stone fell in 's heart. This time, he had the ability to protect the people he wanted to protect.
patted on the shoulder: "You came faster than I thought you would."
Without looking at her, lowered his head and said, "Let's go and find the person you're looking for, but we might have to go a different way."
nodded noncommitantly: "Let's go."
There were bound to be more heroes at the foot of the Lantis Mountains.
