Chapter 77: . Past memories

In a surprising silence, Rhea insisted on holding the ice wall for a while, and after confirming the safety, the divine power was dissipated, and the ice wall disappeared, leaving only a faint chill in the air.
"Oh, it turns out that they are here to save their comrades. They feel very united..." Gloria stepped forward unconsciously, covering her forehead with her hand and looking far away, as if she wanted to find another one. Be careful of the black soft ball left.
"...Give me to stand behind." Rhea pulled the troublemaker behind her, and she had just consumed a lot of divine power, seizing the time to start meditating against the black stone wall, calming the fluctuation of divine power.
Yuno still has a strong curiosity about those weird black balls, and playing with the girl sounds like: "Where did you catch it? This thing has no hands or feet, it doesn't look like it will run out by itself..."
"Just under the gravel pile over there, I thought it was a ball of wool, but when I picked it up, it moved a bit, and it frightened me, hehe..." Gloria thought of the little thing in her hand. She was trembling and couldn't help laughing while covering her mouth.
"...When can you get rid of the bad habit of picking things up?" Yuno sighed weakly. No matter how harmless the little black ball looks, this is the nest of the legendary monsters. What should be kept in mind... She just picked it up like this, wouldn't it cause a mess?
"No! I've asked a big man before, and he hasn't objected... Hey, look, he has returned, if you don't believe it, just ask!" The girl retorted righteously with her hands on her hips. The returning Great Swordsman immediately jumped up to meet him, "Big man, tell him quickly, I didn't pick up things randomly, did I?"
She tried her best to lift her neck to get approval, but Eamon didn't answer. She only glanced at the female archer who was meditating on the side of the rock, nodded gently, took the girl over and put it on her shoulders, and strode back. Rushed away. Rhea jumped up immediately, pulling Yuno to follow closely, and everyone ran west along the mountain wall for a few minutes, and they saw a huge hole about six or seven meters high on the mottled limestone wall ahead. .
The yin wind rolled up in the cave rushed out. The little doctor covered his hood to avoid the wind vents, looked around for a few seconds, and pointed to the southwest: "The more over there is the Victory Square for military training, but , I didn’t see such a big hole when I came back then..."
"Here... it doesn't look like it was dug out." Rhea leaned closer and found that the rock wall at the entrance of the cave was unusually round and smooth, with no unusually visible excavation marks. She stretched out her hand and rubbed it, feeling smooth and astringent. It is like a crystal surface fired at a high temperature.
"I just drilled out of a cave and came again... This unfortunate mission is really terrible!" Gloria jumped off Emon's shoulders displeased, turned on the searchlight and took a look into the hole. The opening of the cave looked quite large, but it didn't seem to be deep. Under the strong bright light, through the ubiquitous mist, one could already faintly see the scorched flat limestone at the end.
"Now, big man, why don't you go in first and check it out!" She grabbed the strong man as she rolled her eyes, turned and waved to Emmon, smiling like a enthusiastic host greeted the guests and took a seat.
"Don't worry, you guys avoid the entrance of this cave first, and wait for me to go around..." Rhea habitually glanced around, suddenly her pupils shrank slightly, and she didn't care to finish her words, she just jumped to no In front of the ruins of the low building supported by the broken wall in the distance.
The remnant ruins in front of me look the same as the rest of the collapsed buildings in the fortress. The cobwebs are entangled and the broken walls are connected. There is a long slanted square stone platform facing the entrance of the cave. The black stone statue carved on the platform is also badly broken. Original appearance. But Rhea's gaze is not these. Her eyes are almost condensed, she only stares at the old sword hilt that is covered with dust and can't see the color underneath the stone platform, and countless distracting thoughts in her mind are chaotically. Can't see, hear nothing else.
"Sister Rhea... Sister Rhea?" Seeing that she was suddenly electrocuted, Yuno yelled two softly in surprise. He felt abnormal when he didn't get a response. He thought of the black that appeared to be mysterious. I ran nervously and grabbed her arm and wanted to pull it back. Unexpectedly, the female archer reflexively flipped her hand and grabbed it hard. The uncontrolled force was so terrifying that he could not help whispering pain.
"Hey, what are you guys doing!" Gloria ran over in a hurry when she saw this. As soon as she wanted to separate them, Rhea took the initiative to withdraw her hand.
"Sorry..." Rhea turned around, there was still a shocked expression between her eyebrows, as if she didn't belong.
"It's okay, it's okay, I'm a little impatient, too rude." Yuno rubbed his hands awkwardly.
"That's enough for you...Speaking of which, what's the matter here?" The girl squinted at them in disgust, then turned to look at the dilapidated stone platform. She didn't find anything strange, she was still puzzled. But Rhea didn't answer, and stared at the hilt silently for a moment, and finally bent down and squatted down, slowly pulling it out of the ground.
Everyone’s eyes lifted up with her movements, and there was only a small fragment of the blade under the hilt. It was shimmering and it looked like it was made of crystal. The whole body was transparent and pure. People regret its breaking even more.
"Wow, what is this made of? It's beautiful." The girl curiously leaned over her arm and took a closer look. Her reflection was clearly visible on the seemingly slender crystal surface.
"This is... the sacred object of our clan from generation to generation-Ice Sword Aisalinger." Rhea murmured to explain to her, her eyes always patrolling the broken sword, "It is the identity symbol of the patriarch... …"
The status symbol of the patriarch... Yuno instantly thought of General Bared Turner, the former patriarch who died in the fortress. Could this be the relic of Rhea's father? This is where he last fought?
But before Yuno asked, Rhea had put the broken sword into her waist belt, and when she turned around, she only asked him and Gloria to "wait for me in the cave", and she couldn't restrain her eagerness anymore. Flashing into this huge ruin, repeatedly back and forth, constantly searching.
Because of this sword, she was almost certain that the rubble in front of her was the last place where her father was. She eagerly wanted to know what happened at that time, what made the prudent person like her father unable to implement the plan of getting out smoothly, and finally here, here...
Damn it! She gritted her teeth and wanted to curse the culprit who had not yet known the real name, but a self-esteem stemming from bones and blood was always blocking her, making her disdain to vent unnecessary anger before the truth was found out.
She carefully searched around the broken wall near the stone platform, traversed every piece of floating rock, checked every hidden dark corner, but there was nothing except indiscriminate dust and black fog. She found nothing.
how is this possible! ? Unwillingly, she expanded the search range, her steps getting faster and faster, her dark eyes staring sore, and her breathing was short of breath. No matter how critical the situation was at the time and how strong the enemy was, at least, at least a little fragment of his giant bear helmet could be left behind! Even the corners of the family crest, or his copper pipe, his iron brooch, or...
Suddenly, she felt dizzy in her mind and couldn't think anymore. She supported the wall for a while, panting, and looked around the dead city buried in the past. The surrounding area was still quiet. Without her companion, she could even feel the lifeless gloomy horror of the dark swamp hinterland. This is the land of nightmare that can swallow all spirits.
She originally thought that she could at least find the slightest clue to the mystery of her father’s death, but after running back and forth for a long time, she was still empty...The gloomy river and raging flames had nowhere to fall, and she felt even more disappointed. Looking at the sun, which was so dark that there was almost no outline, I felt a little unreal and emptiness.
She immediately reached into her arms and touched the armor belt, her fingers touched the smooth and cold surface of the ice sword, and her heart came alive - she really was not in a fantasy dream. She closed her eyes and felt the faint chill from the crack of the broken sword, as if she had crossed thousands of miles at the moment she stretched out her hand, and returned to the deep cold crypt under the far north ice field, where the family trial was located.
I still remember that at that time, after successfully passing the trial, she asked the illusory and ghostly magical existence that came out of nowhere about the whereabouts of her father.
"I forgot my name, how could I know it!?" The phantom-like guardian old man seemed to be touched by the pain in his heart, and roared angrily, "What do you think I am? God? Humph! Don't be high. Estimate me, little girl, I'm just a poor worm who relies on the blood you worship to temporarily wake up!"
"But since you are the guardian of the family, at least you can at least know if he is still alive! The patriarchs of all generations will sign a secret agreement with you. This is what you said by yourself. As a contractor, don't you know if the other party exists? ?" She clung to the little hope, and refused to give up.
"That's right, but I'm not a contractor..." The guard changed a few times, sighed, and looked sad, "The real object of the contract is Ice Sword Aisalinger, so ......You came here this time without the brand of the Holy Sword. It stands to reason that I can't let you pass the level......"
"Ice Sword...Aisalinger?" She naturally remembered that this was the remnant sword that was hung around her father's waist all the year round, like an ornament, and there was an absurd feeling in her heart. She had been a father Being so indifferent to this unremarkable broken hilt, I didn't expect...
"But... your talent is very surprising. To be honest, you are much better than your father..." The Guardian said without answering, "I can give it to you, within a year. , Bring the holy sword back to me and I will complete the final contract for you..."
It gradually dissipated after saying this sentence. Rhea didn't get the answer he wanted, and asked anxiously: "You really can't know his whereabouts?"
"Go find that sword... If he is still alive, you can't use it, otherwise..."
These words still seemed to linger in her ears faintly until this moment. She involuntarily took out the remnant sword and placed it flat between her hands. After hesitating for a moment, she finally grasped the hilt of the sword and took a deep breath. Ning suddenly issued extremely ice power to attach to the sword.
The ice-blue clear light instantly lit up, and the divine light on the fractured gap kept surging, and the sword head stretched forward as quickly as it was pushed by a huge wave. In the blink of an eye, it returned to a perfect ice crystal sword. In this gloom, a holy white light that cannot be ignored is emitted.
This wonderful sight, as if God-given divine power, did not make Rhea feel happy. She stared blankly at the long sword resting between her hands, her lips trembled, and she couldn't even breathe out. Her heart was just like that cold ice. Cold residue.
For more than 3,000 days and nights, she always had a bit of extravagant hope in her heart that she could not even convince herself. The true circumstances of the fall of the fortress can never be ascertained, and the news of her father’s death only stays in the official newspaper, and even the family can’t even hold a funeral for him. This made her sad and angry, and she was somewhat unrealistic. fantasy.
Maybe my father had successfully escaped from the fortress a long time ago, maybe he was trapped somewhere, somewhere unknown, unable to get out, and unable to contact his family... it must be like this! He is such a strong person, perhaps because he feels ashamed and not coming back, or maybe...
She had dreams countless times, and imagined that one day, she finally managed to find her father's whereabouts smoothly, welcoming him back to the clan, and meeting again... But at this moment, this shining, slender ice sword Shattered her little imaginary imaginary, so that she could no longer find any excuses to escape the reality: Father, he, after all, is gone...
The grief that rushed into her heart instantly made her almost cry. She trembling hands withdrew her divine power, and slowly tucked the ice sword that had returned to its broken state into the belt, lowered her head, and walked towards the stone platform in silence as if staggering. cave.
She walked in despair, and she couldn't help recalling all the past, recalling her unhappy childhood. Because my father had to stay in the fortress all year round, the seemingly peaceful Ice City had already been undercurrents, but she was completely unable to detect it when she was young. For her, her daily life consists of endless schoolwork, the nagging martial arts master Grandpa Kuran, and her mother who is still diligent in family affairs despite her poor health.
But during festivals, she would sneak out of the house and ran alone to the highest peak of the floating castle made of ice and snow, looking down at the most crowded place-the airship platform, hoping to see the patriarch's ship Oliu The beautiful figure of the SS is as white as a giant whale. However, almost every time, she could only go home unconsciously accompanied by the sunset, waiting for her, and the teacher's angry reprimand.
Only during the New Year's Day when the war was a little rested could she see her father who was hurried home with a face full of dust and could not hide her tiredness even if she was holding her and laughing loudly. The time when the family was together was short-lived, but it was because it was rare that she felt more cherished, and she became more reluctant to be separated from her father, and hoped that the war would end soon and the family could be reunited. However, this little expectation was also erased like dust in the shocking cataclysm eight years ago.
The disaster like the sky had just ended, and the situation that followed made her more painful. Because she could not bear the blow of her husband's death, her mother could not afford to fall ill in the depression, and she passed away soon afterwards, and the power of the family fell aside. Before she could get out of the grief of the successive deaths of her parents, the conspirators seized power in the name of her young age. They also called her advanced studies and sent her to the capital city of Takiguni, but they set up ambushes halfway through. To put her to death.
In order to protect her, Grandpa Kuran was seriously injured on the way, and before he died, he entrusted her to a western spice merchant who happened to pass by. Because of this unexpected decision, she was able to get rid of the chasing soldiers, drifting away from her incognito, to a southern coastal town in the hostile country of Frsaris.
The hardships of life in exile are not enough, especially for a girl who is only eleven years old... But at that time she was already under the control of the monstrous anger, except for selling physical strength in the market and the dock to earn some points every day For the food, he just frantically practiced martial arts, from morning to night, until his body was so exhausted that he could no longer think about anything.
This kind of life lasted for nearly a year. Later when she was helping a certain well-informed shipowner to unload the cargo, she accidentally heard that the mercenary guild was officially established. She carried her bags without thinking about it, and plunged into the fight against alien animals. In the craze, I have been fighting so far. After all, her sole purpose of becoming a mercenary at first was to find out the truth of her father's death through the power of the guild, so that he could not return to the clan's soul to rest in peace...
However, the complexity of Yancheng was beyond her imagination. The torrent of open and secret struggles between various forces made her feel like a small boat in a whirlpool, so dazed to resist. At that time, she had no name, no identity, no money, no friends, or even a weapon in hand. I plunged into this wave with enthusiasm, but was almost swallowed by the tide so that there was no residue left, if it hadn’t been for Gloria...
Leah... She was shocked suddenly, and she came to a clear sense from her heavy thoughts, and immediately glanced around her body vigilantly, with cold sweat on her forehead. What's going on here? Unconsciously, she would fall into this kind of memory, and she was trapped to the point where she could hardly extricate herself from it, something was wrong... She took a few breaths, suppressed all the remaining thoughts into the sea with her strong willpower, and drew her longbow on guard. , Speed ​​up and run towards the cave.
However, as soon as she saw the huge black hole through the thick fog, she faintly heard the sound of disputes coming from it. Her heart jumped and she could not care about other things. A sprint leaped into the hole, and the scene in front of her surprised her. Even the hands holding the longbow began to tremble.