The wilderness in late autumn is still just as desolate.

The goshawk tapped the hilt of his sword and sighed and looked at the camp below. As an elite scout, he's been here for half a month now. While this wasn't much for a scout who was good at scouting and searching, for Goshawk, he was a little fed up with this kind of life.

It was originally just a wasteland, but now, there are many tents set up there, and soldiers and adventurers in armor can be seen coming and going. They either shouted loudly or talked in low voices. But in any case, they have only one goal.

Thinking of this, the goshawk raised his head and looked ahead, where the city of gold loomed in the mist. In the thick mist, only its tall figure could be faintly seen. He is no stranger to the city. He had been to the city once a year earlier -- in the name of a private person. To him, the City of Gold was not so different from any other place, whether it was the people who lived there, or anything else, it was as distinctive, as was the rest of the wilderness.

But now, the city has completely lost its original appearance and has become a city of no return.

Until now, thousands of soldiers and adventurers have delved into the Golden City to discover its secrets, but none of them have been able to return unharmed. No, it should be said, so far, not a single person has returned. Whether it's the self-proclaimed adventurers or the elite troops of the Ten Towns Alliance. As soon as they disappear into the mist, no one will ever see them again. The city of gold has now become the most terrifying cave in the entire wilderness. He'd even seen paladins and clerics from the Templar Order, but even they were just like everyone else. Completely disappeared into the fog.

After the heavy losses suffered by the Connection, the Templar Order and the Ten Towns Alliance do not seem to intend to continue their useless work. They had simply sent scouts and spies to watch the entire place from afar on the outskirts of the Golden City, and to report back if anything unusual had happened, and that was why he had been sent here.

To be sure, the job was fairly simple for the seasoned scout, and the City of Gold itself, while dangerous, was peaceful on the outside. As long as you don't die and run into the fog, there won't even be any danger. At most, it's just to meet the beasts roaming the wilderness -- but for some unknown reason, even wild beasts rarely come near here these days.

Although the job is fairly easy and pays well. But for Goshawk, he didn't like the job. The city hidden in the fog gives people a very strange sense of fear, and just looking at its shadow makes people shiver from the depths of their hearts. In fact, during the time I first came here. He had several nightmares over and over again. Although he couldn't remember the contents of the dream, the vague impression that remained was enough to send chills to his body. There were even many times when he needed to anesthetize himself with alcohol to be able to escape from that nightmare.

Thinking of this, the goshawk reached out and picked up the wine bag at his waist and poured another sip of wine. The hot sensation ran down his throat and suppressed his nervous heart. He had already decided to wait until the mission was over. Leave this hellish place and leave the army by yourself. Then find a place with beautiful mountains and rivers to retire. Anyway, the reward for this mission is quite generous, as long as he gets this money, then he can find a place, buy a farm, and then ask for a wife. Get married, have children, and die of old age. In this way, it may be possible to completely forget all the qiē that happened here, including those nightmares............ Well?

At this moment, suddenly, a commotion was heard, dragging the goshawk back to reality from the wonderful prospect of the future. This made the goshawk quite unhappy, and he squinted his eyes and looked towards the place where the commotion had occurred, and saw that the adventurers were running around shouting and shouting, and gathering men.

Seeing this, the goshawk shook his head. He'd seen it too many times, and the high-spirited adventurers went into the fog with their banners held high, and never came out again. Their companions either left in disgrace or cried out to go in to find their companions. Either way, however, they will disappear from here entirely.

But soon, the goshawk noticed that this time the situation seemed to be different. Because not only those adventurers ran out, but even the soldiers who did not usually show up much were hurrying out of the tent at this time, pointing at the distance, as if they were talking about something. Seeing this, the goshawk frowned, and then he also raised his head and looked ahead.

And then, the elite scout's eyes widened in surprise.

In his eyes, the fog that originally enveloped the entire Golden City began to dissipate rapidly, and almost in the blink of an eye, those fogs disappeared completely. The city, which had been shrouded in thick fog, once again reappeared in the sunlight.

What's going on?

Seeing this scene, the goshawk stood up in surprise, not even noticing that the flask in his hand had fallen to the ground. Although it is said that as scouts, they are here for the "emergency" in front of them. But for the goshawk, he would rather this "unexpected situation" have nothing to do with him. Unfortunately, a lot of times things don't just go the way you want. Looking at the Golden City after the fog dissipated, and those adventurers who screamed excitedly, a deep uneasiness welled up in the goshawk's heart.

Although deep down I feel that something is not quite right, for Goshawk, the most important thing now is to report back to the Ten Towns Alliance. After all, the fog of the Golden City had lifted, though I don't know what that meant -- was it, as the adventurers had said, that their companions had finally defeated the monsters that had entrenched in the city, and that the city had been restored to its sights. Or is there another reason. But for the goshawk, this qiē is no longer important, and he only wants to stay away from this ghost place now. It's better never to come back.

Therefore, the goshawk stood up without the slightest hesitation, and then he pulled the war horse next to him, turned over and leaped up, and then whipped his horse and galloped away in the direction of the Ten Towns Alliance. Although logically speaking, a scout should find out what is happening at the moment and then report it. But the goshawk didn't want to stay here any longer.

It was at this time. There was another cacophony behind the goshawk, what seemed to be the sound of people shouting in surprise, though they knew they shouldn't look back. But the goshawk turned his head and looked in the direction of the camp.

Then, darkness came over the face.

“―――――”

Just for a moment, there was only pitch black in front of the goshawk. The previous voices were completely gone. If it weren't for the war horse under him or running tirelessly forward. He even thought he was dead. And now his soul is on the line between life and death.

What's going on here?

The goshawk gripped the reins hard, trying to hold on to his horse. But this old partner, who had been with him for several years, did not obey his master's orders this time, but instead ran forward more and more frantically. It looks like it's running away from some fierce and terrible beast.

Seeing that his mount was disobedient, the goshawk had no other choice, so he gritted his teeth and took out the illumination crystal in his arms--this precious magic product was quite precious to them scouts, if it weren't for the fact that the situation in front of them was too abnormal. Goshawks are also reluctant to use such props. But now, it was no longer his turn to hesitate. Come to think of it. Goshawk gritted his teeth, then raised the crystal in his hand.

The pure white light illuminated the darkness in front of him for a moment. With the help of the brilliance of the lighting crystal, you can clearly see the ground in front of you. A qiē didn't seem to have changed at all, and what appeared in front of the goshawk was still the solid land in the wilderness. And underneath him is ...... What is it!!?

The goshawk's eyes widened in horror, the war horse that was supposed to be under him turned into some kind of disgusting monster at this moment. It looked as if it were some kind of mud condensed with filth and sewage, revealing a disgusting, bright red body in the glow of the illuminated crystal. And on its body, it was full of dense, honeycomb-like holes, and not only that, but from those black holes, you could see white, giant maggot-like things poking their heads out of them from time to time, trembling and shivering.

What the hell is this!!

Looking at the monster in front of him, the goshawk was taken aback, and at this moment he didn't care about continuing to ride on the horse, but hurriedly turned over and jumped off it, falling heavily to the ground. In horror, he drew his sword from his waist and looked ahead. I saw that the monster seemed to sense the goshawk's movements. It suddenly stopped at this moment, and then turned around and came back to the front of the goshawk.

"Don't come here! Don't come here!! ”

As the monster approached, the goshawk became more and more frightened, because he was surprised to find that the head of this monster was actually in the form of an octopus, and he saw that at this moment it was "hissing" and letting out a terrifying low roar, and the long, bloody tentacles on both sides of the mouth kept swinging towards him. What makes the goshawk even more frightened is that on the top of the flesh bud, a small mouth with sharp teeth actually grows!!

"Don't come here, you monster!!"

Seeing the disgusting tentacles stretching out towards him, the goshawk finally couldn't bear it anymore, he roared angrily and raised the long sword in his hand, and then slashed down. Cut off the tentacles that were reaching for him. The monster seemed to be frightened by the goshawk's blow, and it screamed, then immediately turned and ran, and disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

"Whew......... Call............... Phew..............."

It was only at this time that the goshawk gasped and put down the long sword in his hand, he raised the crystal, and looked around blankly. But all I could see was darkness, as if it was late at night.

What's going on?

The goshawk raised its head and looked at the sky, but it still couldn't see anything, not even the stars. Not only that, but there was also a dead silence around, and there was no sound.

And at this moment, in the heart of this elite scout, there is only one thought.

What's going on with this qiē? (To be continued......)