Chapter 167: The World Changed

Chapter 167: The World Changed

The sky above Silverpine Town gradually became covered by a red mist, and blood slowly seeped out from beneath the town’s gates. Even from a hundred meters away, the heavy smell of blood made Rio feel like he could hardly breathe. Silverpine Town was finished! His home was finished!

A long, shrill cry rang out in the town, and the Insect Swarm surged toward it like a tidal wave, dense and endless…

Rio also rushed toward it. He needed to eat. If he couldn’t grab food for this meal, he would be even weaker for the next. He had to survive first.

Lily walked out slowly against the Torrent. The Little Bear stood at the very back of the Insect Swarm, stretching its neck and trying hard to see. When it saw Lily’s figure, it eagerly dropped to all fours and ran toward her.

…

The Snow Falcon dove down like lightning. With a fold of its wings, it crashed directly through an open window into the Castle.

The excitement brought by victory also infected this message-carrying bird of prey. It charged recklessly into the Castle, knocked over several weapon and armor stands, and finally steadied itself under everyone’s gaze.

Victory!

Cheers first erupted from within the Castle, and then more and more people joined in. Even young children, affected by the atmosphere, let out loud cries…

Angie squeezed through the crowd, excitedly shouting. She thought—her mother would be back soon. Even if she couldn’t return immediately, her mother was safe. There was no need to worry anymore.

The Dia sisters were also jumping for joy in the crowd. They had forgotten the unhappiness of their childhood, feeling only the joy of hearing about the victory.

The brothers Adam and Aki could hardly contain their excitement. They felt proud because that was their sister; they also felt discouraged, again because—that was their sister.

Xirui excitedly ran wild in the Mountain Villa. She felt only pride. That was her Sister, and also the goal she aimed to surpass.

After the celebration, the Northlands did not immediately send people to seize Silverpine Town. Instead, they continued, as planned, to deploy new Insect Swarms. Lily also led her old troops back around. This time, the target was to completely deal with the Demon Clan’s vassals.

…

Bran set up a map room in the City Manor. He was currently sketching part of the outline of the Bloody Plains in a sand table and marking Silverpine Town on it.

Ever since getting the detailed news, he had worn a smile on his face, even laughing out loud a couple of times. People didn’t know why he was happy for so long. Even though this was indeed a victory worth celebrating, it shouldn’t lead to endless laughter.

“Can you understand my words?” Bran let out another loud laugh.

This was the Northlands. No matter how powerful an individual might be, they couldn’t escape one fact—isolation. The people here had always lived here, with little communication with the outside world, so they didn’t have much experience.

Most people here saw things in black and white, so their actions appeared simple and direct.

He could imagine a naive and earnest young girl who had never seen the world seriously asking her opponent, “Can you understand my words?” Though her strength was more than enough, she clearly hadn’t realized the problem with it.

Looking at Bran’s smiling face, Eileen asked, “What are you laughing at?”

“Can you understand my words?”

“Get lost!”

Eileen had moved in a few days ago and had regained her old familiarity with Bran. At this moment, the creature wrapped around her was trying to swim over to Bran.

“What kind of monster is this?”

“That’s a secret.”

“What’s this monster’s name?”

“That’s a secret!”

“Hey! What’s so secret about a little snake?”

“Don’t try to trick me! Why does it always want to crawl onto you?”

“It’s absorbing Mana, and the Mana around me is the thickest.”

“Boasting! Wouldn’t it be better if I stayed by your side every day?”

“Is your Trial absorbing Mana from it?”

“No!”

Bran reached out a hand toward this monster, and it coiled up along his arm.

Watching this, Eileen spoke up, “We call it—Fulong.”

Bran raised an eyebrow, “Not a secret anymore?”

“Get lost!”

“Why did you specifically mark Anya, the Northlands, and the Dragon Riders on the map?” Eileen voiced the question in her heart.

“I just feel we have some connection.”

“Really?”

“Really, we’re similar in many ways. I don’t want to pry into your secrets. The so-called inheritance ceremony of the Dragon Riders should be closely related to Mana. You know, our Trial is also closely related to Mana. Isn’t that interesting?”

“What about the Hell Knights of Anya?”

“That should be the case too.”

“You have Facial Markings, but we Dragon Riders and Anya People don’t.”

“Perhaps it’s because the way we obtain Mana is different. And we shouldn’t be different only in this. I didn’t think of these things back at the city gate, so I didn’t check carefully…”

Though Bran stopped speaking in time, the two still fell into silence.

…

With the net cast, Lily paid no more attention to it.

By now, she had left the Insect Swarm with the Little Bear days ago and arrived before Anya’s defense line. Holding a large flag with one hand, she walked forward as if no one else was there.

This was something Bran had specifically reminded her of. She couldn’t just drive the Demon Clan away and be done with it. She needed to mark the Territory boundaries promptly. We were the ones who drove them off, so the land naturally belongs to us.

To prevent Anya from taking advantage behind their backs, she would directly mark the necessary path for their sorties as belonging to the Northlands…

Thinking of Bran, Lily couldn’t help but pat the Little Bear’s head. “I understand now why Bran was used to telling stories to Huahua.”

This statement clearly angered the Little Fairy Lijia, so she appeared and tugged hard on Lily’s hair.

“Yes, I at least still have you—Lijia.” Lily corrected her mistake promptly.

How did Bran manage when he was alone? She would ask him when she got a chance. Recent experiences made Lily foresee a certain possibility.

When the large flag representing the Northlands appeared, it attracted the attention of both Anya and the Demon Clan. A young girl held a large flag with one hand, a truly large flag, so large it was a bit exaggerated, too large to ignore.

Beside her, a giant clumsy bear was brandishing its claws and teeth, threatening the air around it.

She walked to the exact midpoint between the two sides’ defense lines and slammed the heavy flagpole hard into the ground. It seemed she felt it wasn’t secure enough, so she grabbed the flagpole and pushed it down forcefully several times. Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the flagpole visibly sank a section with each push.

The watching crowd…

Everyone understood the meaning represented by that large flag! If that flag were allowed to stand firm, Anya would likely have no chance to rise again; the Demon Clan would also be close to defeat. So, not long after, two groups of people from both sides rushed over at the same time.

The Anya People felt wary and somewhat baffled by the sudden appearance of the Northlanders. The Demon Clan, though they already knew Silverpine Town had fallen, absolutely did not expect the Northlanders to arrive here so quickly.

Now, both sides had to face this strange Northlander girl.

…

Looking at the people from both sides who had run up close, Lily asked, “Can you understand my words?”

Everyone was stunned for a moment. The Knight leading the Anya group looked at the girl before him, feeling somewhat familiar. It reminded him of someone, making his heart tighten.

“Hello, I’m Kurt. Is there anything I can do for you?” His voice trembled slightly.

“From now on, this place belongs to the Northlands.”

Kurt pointed at the Demon Clan Knight opposite, “But they are still here.”

“Is that so?”

Lily drew her Long Blade and walked toward the Demon Clan ranks. Her speed wasn’t fast; every movement was clearly visible, but no one could dodge. In one stroke, both rider and horse were cut in two.

It was as if she were facing straw practice dummies, demonstrating how to slash and kill. Her movements were neither hurried nor slow, but clean and decisive.

Soon, the girl turned back and smiled at them, “Are they still here?”