Chapter 269: Sound of the Wind

Chapter 269: Sound of the Wind

Rio credited his survival to divine protection, but Nicole did not see it that way. Personal experiences and knowledge determined many things, influencing each person’s judgment. The hardships of the lower class gave Rio many valuable qualities, such as resilience and endurance. But the environment that created all this also determined that he could not have much knowledge.

Many hearsay stories were just fresh ornaments in Rio’s dull life. These things sounded fun and interesting, yet worthless. So, he did not try to connect some pieces of information or think about the possible impact of these things.

Over the past few decades, the coastal areas of the Demon Clan had been under constant harassment, and the situation had been getting worse.

As a union, the Demon Clan had complex members and strange appearances, but they all had some human-like features more or less, and could always find some similarities among themselves. However, the creatures invading from the coast completely overturned their understanding; they were utter monsters.

The coastal harassment was not taken seriously at first. It was not hard to understand that a few monsters occasionally appeared in this world and caused some commotion. Many things did not need to be dealt with; they would mostly disappear after a few years. So as long as they did not disturb densely populated towns, no one cared.

Until one day, monsters went deep inland, and then someone discovered a strangely styled camp by the sea.

The Demon Clan army easily wiped out this shallow-rooted camp. After the battle, little of value was found. They seemed to have appeared there suddenly, as if emerging from the sea.

The overly easy victory made everyone slack off, but the consequences were very serious. After a period of neglect, when the Demon Clan wanted to clean up again, they realized that such camps could be seen everywhere along the long coastline.

A large-scale cleanup followed, and the army still did not encounter much resistance. These monsters seemed to have come to die. Perhaps they really came to die, as the endless waves were the situation the Demon Clan faced for a long time.

The change came very suddenly. During a routine cleanup operation, a team encountered fierce resistance. After that encounter, the Demon Clan made a new discovery. They saw fairly fine weapons and armor on their opponents and found several small wooden boats on the beach.

At that time, the Demon Clan had a rough judgment about the monsters that first appeared on the beach: vassals or tamed creatures.

After that, changes occurred one after another. White fog began to gather around the monsters’ camps. The Demon Clan then realized that the surface buildings of those camps might just be a front, because even destroyed camps were shrouded in thick fog.

The fog gathered more and more, gradually extending toward the land and the sea. The Demon Clan army also became passive; the dense, lingering fog became their greatest enemy. In the fog, they only heard sounds but saw no one.

After several fruitless actions, facing the gradually expanding fog, the army chose to retreat. That fog seemed to rely on the ocean to maintain itself, so the land area covered by the fog was very limited.

As the fog stopped spreading, the army camped at its edge, and a peaceful standoff began. When years passed and the fog gradually became accepted, and the stationed army was no longer surprised, real trouble began. Patrolling soldiers went missing one after another, and the remaining traces pointed to the direction of the culprit—the fog.

War broke out again, but the Demon Clan no longer held an absolute advantage; the two sides actually fought back and forth evenly.

Nicole knew this and had even participated in the war there personally. Although her participation was more like a quick tour under heavy protection, it left a deep impression on her.

Nicole sat in the study of the City Lord’s Manor, her fingers slowly moving over the spread-out map. According to the news Rio provided, the Demon Clan army outside the mountain pass had withdrawn. If they gave up there, it meant surrendering the nearby hundred-mile area.

Without any messengers or negotiations, they withdrew so suddenly and inexplicably, so the Demon Clan must have encountered big trouble. And from Nicole’s understanding, the only place that could create trouble was there.

This was a good opportunity. Nicole sent her analysis back to Twinwing City as fast as possible, but the reply she received a few days later was to stay put.

Lily sat in the High Tower, flipping through the information in her hands. After receiving Nicole’s report, she had Kehan compile the related messages into a booklet.

Xirui stood behind her sister, watching the booklet together. When war was refined into lines of short, clear information, it became very dull. After just a few pages, she lost interest. She began picking out descriptions about monsters to soothe her dwindling curiosity.

Lily also did not have much patience. After roughly scanning through it, she tossed the booklet to Xirui. There was nothing of interest to her here; just a bunch of small fry with no reference value.

If it had been me on the Lonely Island back then, at least I would have seriously fought that bubble to figure out the real gap between the two sides. Bran, that coward, only knew how to run. Now, he knows nothing when asked.

Looking at her younger sister beside her, she was about to say that she should be braver in the future, face dangers and difficulties head-on, but the words stopped at her lips.

“What did you want to say?” Xirui looked up at her sister.

“In the future, learn more from your Fourth Brother. Don’t be too impulsive; if you can’t win, run.”

Hearing this, Xirui took a deep breath. “I won’t learn from him, that stingy guy!”

“He’s not stingy with you.”

Xirui was too lazy to argue and just snorted.

“Are you jealous of me?”

“No!”

“For a while, he wanted to give Northland City to you. He just knew you wouldn’t accept it, so he didn’t mention it.” As she spoke, she called the Little Dragon coiled on Xirui’s shoulder into her hand. “This is the most precious gift he has given so far.”

Xirui pouted. “This originally belongs to me.”

Lily pinched the Little Dragon’s tail and swung it around. “His expectations of you are very high. He even hid his newly grown flesh and blood here.”

Lily smiled at Xirui. “He’s really generous! Your Fourth Brother and I played a game before. When our Mana merged, some interesting changes would happen.”

As she spoke, Lily infused a trace of golden light into the Little Dragon’s body. Instantly, vibrant life burst forth.