The scorching sun was shining outside the window, sending a golden light into the gap of the window sash and into the quiet bedroom.

Andrina instinctively raised her hand to block the light, then picked up the black cloak hanging on the hanger and draped it over her body.

"You can go now." Thorne, who had finished packing, hung the two scabbard swords on the sword belt wrapped around his waist again, in case of emergency, and opened the window as he spoke.

The rain last night made the salty air outside the window a lot fresher, and the sun was still shining on my body. It was warm and very comfortable.

"This is the place where I have lived for the longest time in this world. When I think about leaving again, I may never come back, and I suddenly feel a little reluctant." Andrina looked at everything in the room with nostalgia, and gave a slight sigh.

She walked over to Thorne, enjoying the warm sunshine with him, and looking at the little puddles that gleamed faintly in the street.

A short man with thirsty eyebrows and rattling eyes sneaked away along the corner of the wall, and suddenly a small black cat with grinning teeth jumped down from the roof. splash.

The little black cat jumped at a pace that he did not recognize, and disappeared from the eaves again.

Watching the suddenly sentimental sorceress, Thorne reached out and stroked her long black hair that fell over her shoulders.

For some reason, he liked to stroke her long smooth, silky hair very much.

And Andrina seems to know that she has this hobby, and likes to let her long hair loose every time.

Thorne looked out the window.

Just then, a childish young man with tousled long hair appeared and disappeared into the alley. A calm middle-aged man behind the young man walked towards the north without haste.

"This city is no longer safe. We're going to the Wizard's Tower today, so let's go back as soon as possible. We can't stay here too much." Thorne put Andrina's soft little hand in his palm, which was a little cold, and he patted it. He clapped the back of his hand and comforted.

Of course, there is another main reason.

The time for the decisive battle with the Heruk Hobgoblin in the Serenity Forest is getting closer and closer, and time will not allow him to delay here for too long.

After all, this is a battle to decide the fate of all territories in the Emerald Wilderness, and there must be no mistakes.

Failure means they become a true pack of bereaved dogs.

"I know." Anderina reached out and fiddled with the disobedient hair on her forehead with a smile, and replied softly.

Then, she looked up at the ranger's face again, and said in a low voice, "Thorn, do you miss home?"

Thorne was stunned by the sudden question.

"I forgot it a long time ago. I think it's pretty good here. What else do I want to do with it."

Then he smiled at her insincerely, then took the sentimental sorceress into his arms, rubbed her soft shoulders with his palms, feeling the warmth of the touch, and said slowly:

"In the journey of our life, if we can't make a break with the past and always worry about the past, it means that we will carry a heavy burden on ourselves, and we will live very tired in this world and become mentally atrophied. If you are exhausted, the boat of life will be lost in the vast sea, and even in danger of overturning. If we can have the courage to say goodbye to the past, I think life will definitely give us a new beginning.”

"Forget the past like a smoke, and your heart is selfless, right?" Andrina put her head on Thorne's chest, listening to his steady and rhythmic heartbeat, her heart slowly followed suit. down.

"Uh... that's what it means." Thorne thought about it carefully, and felt that her conclusion was very reasonable.

So he nodded, then pulled her from his arms to him, pushed his fingers away from the waterfall-like long hair, held her delicate cheeks, and quietly stared at her beautiful eyes until the other party raised his long eyelashes, Rolling up his beautiful white eyes, he chuckled lightly:

"Why do you suddenly become sentimental, this is not like you I used to know."

A sentimental sorceress certainly had a delicate beauty that made him feel pampered, but Thorne didn't think Andrina was such a person before.

Every time the two were alone, what he felt the most was the faint smile and the gentleness that radiated all the time.

"To tell you the truth, in fact, this is one of my quirks, and my quirks are countless. I will stop pretending, and now I will show you a showdown. I will go back to my original self and let you slowly understand what I really look like. "

Andrina patted off Thorne's hands on her face, and turned into his familiar appearance again, with a very stern tone: "Are you a little regretful, but it's too late."

Thorne shrugged and smiled, without arguing or rebutting.

He understands that arguing with Andrina is meaningless. If he refutes, it will be troublesome to quarrel, because quarrel is a very dangerous thing.

"Then can we go?" Thorne looked at the sorceress recovering.

"Let's go." Andrina smiled and nodded, taking the initiative to take Thorne's right arm, like a newlywed couple.

"Put your hat on." Thorne looked at her charming face, and moved to the hood behind the cloak.

"It's too uncomfortable, I'm not used to wearing it."

"obedient."

"Oh……"

Because the port to the southern kingdom was blocked, the streets of the lower city were empty, and it was difficult to see busy people.

However, when Thorne and Andrina came out of the door of the small bar, a familiar figure stopped them at the same time.

Under the bright sunshine, a half-elf woman with a beautiful and refined appearance came into the sight of the two of them. She was standing with her hands behind her back, standing quietly across the street, looking at the two of Thorne with a smile, and nodded slightly. .

Thorne and Andrina looked at each other, and when they were about to talk to each other, the half-elf with unusual behavior seemed to have evaporated from the world and disappeared without a trace.

"Crazy..." Thorne whispered, preparing to take Anderina towards the wizard's tower.

He just lifted his footsteps, and his inadvertent gaze to the ground made him realize an unexpected discovery, so much so that he shrank back again.

"What's wrong?" Andrina asked curiously when she saw Thorne stop and frowned at the messy footprints on the ground.

"I found something unexpected, wait a moment, and don't make a sound." Thorne retracted his gaze, cast it to the empty alley, and motioned her not to speak.

Seeing this, Andrina immediately kept quiet, staring at the contemplative Ranger with a slightly nervous expression.

She also found the messy footprints in front of the tavern. When Thorne signaled her not to make a sound, she also vaguely heard the sound of some kind of sharp blade hitting, but unfortunately the sound was too weak and was soon destroyed by the Sea of ​​​​Glory. The howling sea breeze was extinguished.

——“Steel Soul School (Stance Skill): Listening to the Sound Discriminator!”

Thorne, who was standing in the same place, was silent for a while, and with a thought, he launched the move of the Steel Soul School.

Under the action of the stance technique, his hearing has been significantly improved. The quiet and desolate lanes filled with various small water ponds seem to have come to life, and all kinds of sounds are flooding the period.

He heard the screeching of feral cats fighting, the laughter and shouting from the hotel, the scolding and singing from the sailor's tavern, and the vibrato of the lute and the obscenity of the bard.

Thorne even heard the snoring of the sleeping man and the suppressed groans of some kind of movement in a small house farther down the alley.

Soon, he caught the slamming of sharp blades, galloping arrows, and the screams of injuries.

Thorne glanced at the messy footprints on the ground, and then looked at the alley where the sound came from. He found that these messy pursuit footprints disappeared towards the alley.

"Remember the paladin Nolan you mentioned earlier?" Thorne retracted his gaze, looked at the sorceress beside him, and said, "She was probably going to enter the tavern just now, but for some reason, she was attacked by unknown forces. Chase and kill, and are now fighting the enemy in the depths of the alley."

It is true that a paladin comes to the location and embarrassing Winter City to attract the attention of evil forces.

If she acts in a low-key manner and doesn't ask about a lot of things she doesn't like, no one is willing to provoke them, but if they want to do justice here and harm the interests of the gray organization, then they have to see what these local snakes are willing to do. I don't want to let it be slaughtered.

Besides, this is a down town that was almost unmanaged after being ravaged by demons. If you kill a few people, no one will take care of it.

Otherwise, the enclosed area of ​​this port would not have become so desolate.

"Then why are you still standing there, go over first to see if you need help." Andrina looked surprised and said without hesitation.

"Let's go." Thorne no longer hesitated, pulling her to the depths of the alley.

It may be because of the heavy rain last night and the destruction of the sewers, the road deep in the roadway became muddy, and the two of them struggled to walk.

Thorne and Andrina followed the sound of the fight and the clear footprints on the ground.

Soon, the two came to a relatively wide cul-de-sac and found a group of people fighting.

Just as Andrina, who was hiding in the shadows, was about to go to help, she was suddenly grabbed by Thorne's right hand, preventing it from moving forward.

Andrina looked suspiciously at Thorne with a dignified expression.

Thorne gave him a wink, and she followed her gaze, and instantly realized that the situation between the two was very dangerous.

Four people in black clothes and fur walked out of an alley and walked straight towards the two of them. Seeing these people, Anderina immediately became vigilant.

Then, four more people walked out of the same alley, but they didn't approach, they just lined up to guard the alley.

They all held poisoned light crossbows in their hands, and daggers and daggers hung around their waists.

Thorne looked around, moved his shoulders, and straightened the two sharp swords hanging from his waist.

"what!"

A mournful cry came from the fighting area, and the eight men in black and Thorne all turned their attention.

A black-clothed man wearing fur fell to the ground and died, the scarlet blood gurgled, and soon merged with the small water on the ground, shimmering with a faint luster.

This was caused by the sharp sword in the hand of a human woman.

I saw her weather-beaten plate armor still shining in the sun, and the sword full of divine energy made the besiegers tremble.

The corpses on the ground are increasing with the wailing, and if there is no accident, the battle will soon be over.

At this time, Thorne knew very well that the eight people guarding the alley were the new reinforcements, but because of the sudden disruption between him and Anderina, the man in black who did not know the strength of the outsider was caught in a dilemma.

Seeing this situation, Thorne was not in a hurry to launch an attack. He and Anderina looked at each other to signal her peace of mind, and then looked at the eight men in black with interest.

During the confrontation, a short man walked out from behind the man in black. He was wearing a white tight top and a short gray coat. The gold chain around his neck swayed with his steps, shining with the golden light of the sun.

"This is the leader of the Poison Rose Thieves Guild. It belongs to one of the gray forces in Xiacheng District. He has assassinated many of our compatriots who tried to develop an organization in Xiacheng District." Seeing the appearance of the visitor, Andrina used magic to communicate to Thorne. introduced.

"Poison Rose?" Thorne whispered, and sure enough, he found a black rose with a faint green glow on the shoulder of the short man, so he asked in a low voice, "How is your strength?"

"It's a third-order shadow thief, be careful." Andrina reminded him solemnly.

"Tier 3." Thorne was slightly relieved when he heard the words.

The battle behind him continued, and another member of the Thieves Guild fell under the sword of a human woman. He died unhappily, crawling in the mud pit, with his fingers firmly inserted into the soil on the ground, moaning for a long time.

With the appearance of the union leader, the eight men in black began to approach Thorne slowly and silently.

Thorne had already touched his hand to the hilt of the sword, and Andrina silently put a protective force field on herself.

The leader of the Poison Rose Thieves Guild walked towards the two of them with firm steps, and eight men in black spread out behind him, blocking every direction in which they could escape.

Thorne looked intently at the leader of the Thieves Guild, his back arched slightly.

Just when the leader of the Thieves Guild was about to touch Thorne's attack range, he suddenly stopped vigilantly and began to look at the two carefully.

Thorne found that the thieves' guild leader's unusually cold eyes reflected a metallic color, and his stern face was morbidly pale.

"The Poison Rose Guild is doing business, and the idle people leave quickly!" The leader of the Thieves Guild made a strange gesture with his hands behind his back and said coldly to Thorne.

Just as he was talking for a while, there was another scream of infinite nostalgia for life in the fight behind him, and then there was the sound of blood-red water splashing.

Through the footsteps and the sound of fighting, Thorne judged that there were only two shadowmen left to fight with the human woman.

At the same time, he also heard the soft cat-like footsteps on the eaves, and the crunching sound of the crossbow bolt being loaded.

"what!!!"

With a scream, another man in black was killed, and the **** head rolled to the corner before it stopped moving.

Only the last person is still struggling.

The thief leader, whose expression changed slightly, drew a gesture that was familiar to all thieves with his hands behind his back.

Immediately afterwards, eight men in black with light crossbows protruded out of the eaves, and the shadow men who were pressing forward behind the thief leader also raised poisoned crossbows, all of which were locked on Thorne and Andrina. On these two uninvited guests.

"Zheng!"

Just when Thorne heard that the last man in black was killed by a human woman and Andrina's magic sound transmission, his slightly bowed body suddenly resembled an arrow from the string, moving towards the approaching eight. The man in black rushed up.

——“Steel Soul School (Strike Skill): Catapult Slash!”

In the shadow of the alleyway, Thorne's figure turned into afterimages due to his excessive speed. Every time the afterimages stopped beside the eight men in black, one of them threw away the light crossbow and fell to the ground while clutching his neck. The remaining thieves leaders who were farther away survived.

The two faced each other so coldly, neither of them moved a bit.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

At the same time, the eight men in black on the eaves all poured poisoned arrows at Andrina, who was alone.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

It's a pity that when the sharp crossbow arrow was about a meter close to Andrina's side, it either deflected directly and flew in another direction, or exhausted all its kinetic energy and landed at her feet.

On the eaves, the men in black who had poured the arrows out did not delay any time. They pulled out their weapons one after another, jumped up, and charged towards Andrina, whose protective field was dim.

The three men in black were hit by the "Arcane Missile" the moment they jumped down, and either died tragically, or fell to the ground and cried in pain.

The man in black who approached first was shrouded in the "colorful jet" blooming from Andrina's fingertips, and fell to the ground unconscious.

The second man in black was precisely hit by a faint green acid arrow, and he was screaming while hugging his thigh that was corroding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The remaining three men in black.

The two were stopped by the human woman who ended the battle. The last one was about to get close to Anders Lena, the dark shadow twisted, and a figure blocked his way.

——“Stone Dragon School (Strike Skill): Ancient Giant Mountain Breaks!”

Feeling the power of the earth rushing through his body, Thorne punched the man in black with a fist full of fear. The fragile head was like a crushed watermelon, and the red and white fluids flowed all over the ground.

- "One Ring of Magic: Hunter's Mark!"

Immediately afterwards, Thorne threw a divine mark on the retreating thief leader without stopping.

Looking at the figure of the other party who disappeared using the shadow trick, Thorne's thoughts moved, and he also disappeared without a trace in the alley.

There were only two standing figures left in the **** laneway.

"Sister Andrina! So it's you!" The paladin girl waved her sword to kill the last enemy, looking at the familiar face who had just lifted her hood, and said in surprise.

Then he stepped forward and gave her a warm hug.

"Long time no see, Nolan." Andrina, who was a little uncomfortable by the cold plate armor, didn't care, but smiled and said hello: "Didn't you travel far? Why did you come back suddenly. "

"Originally, I had already left Winter City. Who would have thought that such a thing would happen, so I was worried and went back again, only to find that most of the people were gone, and you disappeared, and then I went by boat Experienced in the Southern Kingdom, and came back here half a month ago."

Paladin Nolan wiped the blood on his armor, glanced at Anderina apologetically, and told her about his experience.

"Oh, that's right." Suddenly, the paladin in front of him seemed to remember something, raised his head and asked curiously, "Who was the man in black with you just now?"

After she finished speaking, she looked at the eight union members who were instantly killed not far away, secretly frightened.

"My... lover." Andrina pondered for a while, thinking of a fairly suitable word, and said to the paladin in front of her.

"Love?" Paladin Nolan looked at Anderina with a smile in his eyes in surprise, looked up and down again, then smiled slightly and sighed:

"It seems that Bai Fumei from Xiacheng has finally found her true love. I don't know who is so lucky. What's his name? Do I know him?"

"Of course you know." Andrina didn't answer, the shadow of the alley flickered, Thorne appeared beside the two, then walked to the paladin with a smile, stretched out his right hand: "Nolan, long time no see already."

Paladin Nolan, a priest who believed in Ilmat, the **** of suffering.

For the paladin in front of him, he still had a very good impression in his heart.

In any case, Nolan was also a close friend before he met Anders Lena.

Seeing her appearing in front of him again, looking at those beautiful eyes that were still clear and flawless, Thorne's mind reappeared in his mind the sacred image of the moment when this strong girl became a paladin.

It was her rare sense of justice that made him so fond of Nolan that he couldn't have any unreasonable thoughts about him at all.

Because this kind of paladin who devotes himself to a just cause never considers personal feelings, which is why when a paladin falls, it becomes a thing that people talk about with relish.

Even a lot of lovers like to seduce a paladin as proof of their charm.

Therefore, the vast majority of paladins will never marry or marry for life, nor will they let themselves fall in love. They always put their duties as paladins first.

One sentence: Paladins don't die! Justice lasts forever!

As if with endless power, even someone like Thorne who is not a paladin would get excited when he heard it.

This is no longer a simple game, but the real world. A strong belief is also an indestructible force for everyone.

A paladin is a group of people who use the power of faith to the extreme.

"Thorn, it's you! I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."

Seeing the familiar person who appeared, paladin Nolan's eyes flashed with expression, and he glanced at Anderina subconsciously, then stepped forward and stretched out his arms wrapped in thick gauntlets, giving him a long farewell generously. Reunion hugs.

"This is not a place to talk, let's leave first." Thorne glanced at the surrounding corpses and a passerby who was secretly watching, and said to the two.