两男一女的双龙挺进

Standing on the east side of the Armstrong Duchy\'s walls, Eve\'s glittering ruby eyes flashed with suspicion. "These beasts look too coordinated," she said aloud. Then anger crossed her features as the faces of certain people appeared in her mind. "Don\'t tell me this is their doing. But they know very well that I stay here."

By "them," Eve was referring to the Lich Courts.

"They\'re the only group capable of pulling off something like this." The anger in Eve\'s eyes gradually faded, replaced by confusion. Why would they attack the western region?

The goal of the Lich Courts was to protect other necromancers, though Eve knew very well this was just on the surface; they often followed this only when it served their interests.

"Also, they\'re interested in the kid, so it\'s highly likely that they\'re the ones orchestrating this attack." A flash of silver passed through the necromancer\'s eyes. "But who?"

The only way to find her answer was...

Eve stared into the distance, her viewpoint largely occupied by furious monsters.

"If I want to find answers, I need to head there," she thought, glancing in the direction where the monsters were pouring from.

When she and Nox had returned to the west, the beasts they\'d encountered were very few. This made Eve think the beasts might have been stored somewhere, and the easiest way to deal with the threat was by finding that place.

Usually, Eve wouldn\'t be bothered much, but the west was her home now... she was planning to stay here for a long time before returning.

"Till then, I need to keep it safe." With this thought in mind, Eve proceeded to jump off the towering walls.

"Wait!"

Just before she could jump, someone called out from behind.

"I didn\'t even sense them." Eve\'s eyes became sharp. Someone who could easily trespass on her seasoned senses was no joke. However, she knew very well that for this person to call out, it could only mean one thing:

They weren\'t here to fight.

Turning around, Eve found herself face to face with a tall woman clad in milky armor, her red hair whipping in the air due to the furious wind. Behind her were soldiers dressed in the Armstrong Duchy attire.

A slight surprise appeared on Eve\'s face. "Miss Aina," she greeted politely, then her gaze swept over the guards, who immediately felt uneasy under her scrutiny.

"I know you must be confused. Well, here is a short version of everything." Aina then proceeded to tell Eve everything that had happened.

"So the kid became a duke? And now we must protect this place as well. If I heard correctly, you and this squad are here to protect this part of the walls."

"Yes," Aina nodded.

"How? This doesn\'t even make sense." Eve blurted out her thoughts. It was truly a rare sight, seeing the stoic woman in such dilemma and confusion.

"Yes, I felt exactly the same way too, but there is something even more important!" Aina said, her voice containing a hint of urgency.

"What is it?" Eve eventually came out of her shock and asked.

"Since you were not around, I guess you wouldn\'t know about this. But after you and Nox left, the western region has been suffering attacks from magical beasts. They\'ve been drawing close to our walls and even penetrating them. But unlike normal magical beasts, these ones are special..."

"They\'re unusually powerful?" Eve interjected, recalling the blue-fanged python some years back. Aina nodded, confirming her words, her expression turning serious.

Aina went on to give a shorter explanation of everything that had happened.

\'So They stopped attacking for some months just after Nathan asked for help and then suddenly showed up when everyone was distracted.\' Eve eyes narrowed. She was right! This was indeed a carefully orchestrated plan by someone!

Seeing Eve\'s pondering expression, Aina spoke up. "I have a feeling if we head toward that direction..." Aina pointed toward the Luminary Forest. "We\'ll be able to find where the beasts have temporarily gone into hiding and see if there\'s a way to stop this horde."

"I thought the same thing," Eve stated as she stared at the horde of monsters that were now very close to the walls.

Then she leaped off without any warning, causing the soldiers behind Aina to gasp in shock.

Watching her plummet to the ground, Aina silently said to herself, "This is the longest we\'ve ever had a conversation." It was strange; it was a known fact that Eve was a very brief person. "Did something happen to them when they were away? Now that I think about it, even Nox seemed a little different." Aina shook her head, chasing these unimportant thoughts away.

These fleeting thoughts lasted for only a couple of seconds before Aina turned to the group of soldiers. "I want one of you to take care of things here," she said in a strict voice. "I\'ll deal with the beasts on the ground, while you attack from here."

"I\'ll be in charge!" an awkward voice came from the crowd, and a helmeted Awakened stepped forward.

Click! Click!

The armored boots of that Awakened reverberated, attracting Aina\'s attention.

Aina narrowed her eyes, finding this person a bit suspicious, and used her Inspect skill. Apart from seeing the person\'s level, which was in the 40s, there wasn\'t much information, mostly because the person was using an item to hide it.

"Alright, you\'re in charge," Aina said, as this person was the strongest Awakened here. Then she jumped off to the ground.

"Phew," Kron exhaled deeply. "For a moment, I thought she\'d find out."

At first, he didn\'t want to step out; however, nobody here was capable of taking charge. Being the leader of the guards and also because of his love for the duchy, he had stepped forward, taking a huge risk.

Straightening his posture, he looked at the soldiers. "Alright, straighten up, everyone."

Meanwhile, Aina landed gracefully beside Eve.

"How about we make this more interesting?" Aina suggested, expecting Eve to say "not interested" as usual. But surprisingly, she said:

"What do you propose?" Eve asked.

"How about this," Aina smiled. "The one with the highest kill count gets a gift from the loser?"

There was a moment of silence. Then Eve nodded with a smile on her face. "Deal!"

That smile... Aina was stunned inwardly. Did Eve just smile?