Who designed this underworld dungeon?.

Chapter 723 Let's do something big

The brother and sister led everyone to hide in the cellar. No one would have guessed that such a small house would have a cellar big enough to hide ten or so people.

Before leaving, the two children looked at Todd with concern, but he waved them away before they finally left.

"I hope that civilized people will come, because it's easiest to talk to civilized people."

As the figure drew closer, Todd straightened his collar and calmly went to meet him.

He dared to go up alone and told everyone else to hide. He felt that it wasn't because he was particularly outstanding, but simply because he could perform better when no one was around to bother him.

Having learned to cheat and swindle from a young age, he was already used to facing all sorts of big scenes!
Come on, let me see which side these people are on. Let me organize my thoughts beforehand!

Closer and closer the people on the other side were. A tattered flag hung from one of their horses. Todd squinted, examined them closely, sighed, and after gathering his thoughts, called out:

"Good morning, fellow members of the Church of the Spark. What brings you to our poor little town? I have always been a supporter of the First Flame; the linking of the Flame is the greatest act in the world—"

"Whoosh!"

"Uh ah ah!"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly screamed and collapsed to the ground, clutching his thigh where he had been wounded by an arrow and screaming in agony.

His brows furrowed deeply, and cold sweat poured down his face.

What's wrong with these guys? Why are they shooting arrows at me without warning?!
Although it's not a large church, I've heard that Spark Church is very civilized and polite. Could it all be a facade?

Oh no, am I going to die here?
"Huh, he's actually a wild magician?"

The sound of the squad's horses' hooves stopped behind him, and a clear, girlish voice rang out. Todd suppressed his discomfort and forced a fawning smile. "Um, there must be some misunderstanding between us."

Suddenly his eyes widened as he saw the girl's face.

The girl had soft green hair and delicate features. Although she wore shimmering silver armor, she did not look like someone who had been through many battles.

Todd didn't recognize the other person, but what made his eyes widen was that the other person's breastplate was branded with the symbol of the Church of Holy Light.

He suddenly stood up and looked again, and all those people riding horses were wearing the standard armor of the Holy Light Church!
The flag of the Church of the Spark that he had just seen from afar turned out to have been cut in half and attached to the saddle.

This looks exactly like spoils of war! Why did you hang the enemy's flag so high?!

Todd had a million complaints he wanted to shout out.

“Sniff, hmm, you don’t smell like rebels,” the girl turned to a stern-faced young man on horseback and said, “Brother, this is a civilian.”

As she spoke, she pulled the arrow out of Todd's thigh. Before he could even scream, the girl touched the wound with her hand.

Without seeing any healing magic glow, the deep wound healed automatically, even giving Todd an extremely comfortable feeling, so comfortable that his vision went white.

"Why are civilians here? Could they be spies sent by the rebels?" a knight said sternly.

“That’s true,” the girl patted Todd’s face, and suddenly he felt a piercing pain and howled, “Are you a spy?”

"No, no, I'm a law-abiding citizen!"

If the pain continues, Todd will lose his composure.

As soon as he finished speaking, the pain disappeared, and as he gasped for breath, he heard the girl say, "He said he wasn't a spy."

Who are these people?! The Holy Light Church I know wouldn't be this brutal! These people must be mercenaries recruited on short notice!

"I do not believe."

The knight who had just spoken so sternly dismounted, drew his sword, and pointed it at Todd's throat, saying, "He just mentioned the Church of Starfire! What's your name, and what are you doing here!"

"My name is Todd, Toddsbek! I'm here to pick up some good stuff while the fighting is raging!"

Todd lied, but the lie is very real in the current situation.

"Hmph, another scavenging rat. I've seen too many of these days." The knight snorted, seemingly actually believing him.

The main reason was that he saw the things Dorian had picked up in the small hut next to him, some of which were indeed from the battlefield, which immediately increased the credibility of the story.

The girl lost interest in Todd, stood up and said, "It's all those Starfire Church people's fault for launching a surprise attack, causing us to go the wrong way. This isn't even a battlefield. Brother, let's go back?"

The expressionless young man nodded, remaining silent throughout.

“Wait,” the knight said, his sword still pointed at Todd, “since we’re here, let’s gather some supplies to take back. We’re short of supplies right now, and this town doesn’t look like it’s only been abandoned for a short time.”

Todd's eyes lit up when he heard him say that.

Perhaps I could join the Church of Holy Light! These guys seem pretty good at fighting; maybe they can protect me from Dorian!
"I can lead the way—"

Before he could finish speaking, the tip of the sword suddenly pierced his throat a little, and the blood that flowed out made him dare not move again.

"Since he's just a scavenging rat anyway, and we're not even sure if his identity is real or fake, we might as well just kill him here; it'll be safer that way."

"!!!"

This time, no one objected, and the girl waved her hand and turned to leave.

Todd's heart sank to rock bottom; in the end, he couldn't trust anyone!
The knight's sword was about to pierce his throat, but just then...

"Aaaaaah, let him go!"

The little boy who had been hiding earlier charged over, waving a wooden stick.

The knight glanced at him, then kicked him several meters away. The little boy rolled a few times before finally coming to a stop.

"elder brother!"

The little girl also ran out, anxiously checking on her brother's injuries.

"They actually hid someone; they were definitely hiding something. Just kill them."

Just as the knight was about to carry out his duty of justice, he suddenly saw the girl walk over and squat down in front of the little boy and girl.

The knight's face beneath his helmet immediately darkened, and he covered his mask, saying helplessly:
"Hero, what are you trying to do now? This is a battlefield."

"Are you twins?"

The girl ignored the knight's words and just stared at the two children curiously. Seeing the girl hugging the boy tightly, she laughed and said, "Don't hug him so tightly, he's not hurt at all."

"Really?" the little girl asked, still somewhat doubtful.

"real."

The girl grabbed the boy's hand, and he immediately opened his eyes, patted himself all over, and exclaimed in surprise:
"Are you really not hurt?"

How could I not be injured after being kicked so far and rolling several times? Am I some kind of martial arts prodigy?

“After all, children are the future, and our knights are very good at controlling their strength,” the girl said.

The knight didn't react.

"You two are siblings, right? What are you doing hiding here? Who is he to you? Why aren't you leaving?"

Faced with the girl's barrage of questions, the boy hesitated for a moment, then said timidly:
“We were abandoned by our parents. It was that uncle who took us in. He would go out every day to collect things and bring us food. After we finished eating, we would study.”

"Learn what?" The girl narrowed her eyes.

"How to tell good things from bad things, how to run faster, and the currencies of different countries, etc., I don't quite understand, it's so hard to learn." This time it was the little girl's turn to frown appropriately, as if she was really worried about her daily lessons.

In reality, they were all lying.

Hearing their words, the girl's expression softened immediately, and she waved her hand, saying:
"Let them go. They're just a scavenger who found two little helpers. No need to be so serious."

"Anlessie, this is a battlefield!" the knight called out the girl's name directly. "Then I order you to leave quickly in the next few days and never come back."

The girl named Anlessie ruffled the heads of the brother and sister, then suddenly waved her hand, and the water bottle hanging on the saddle flew over.

A chill emanated from her hands. She shook the kettle, opened the lid, and inside was perfectly frozen ice cream.
It seemed the water bottle originally contained something like sweetened milk. She handed the bottle to the little boy and said:

"Here you go, as an apology. Kids probably like ice cream, right? I loved it when I was little."

With that, she turned and left. The knight who had been pointing his sword at Todd angrily withdrew his sword and grumbled, clearly quite resentful.

As she passed the still-shaken Todd, Anlessie stopped, not even looking at him, and simply said:

"The magical canopy is about to unfold, and this area will likely be enveloped as well. Since you are a magician, you should understand what this means. I'll spare your life for the sake of those two children."

In this situation, Todd still had to force a smile and nod repeatedly.

"I suggest you start running now. After all, you don't have our church's most advanced magical pegasus, so running on two legs will be very, very slow. Besides, there are quite a few of you. Don't let me see you again."

After leaving those words, the team from the Church of Holy Light headed back the way they came. Just as they said, they had indeed gotten lost and ended up here. They had also encountered an ambush by the Church of Sparks along the way, fought them, and won.

They didn't ransack the town as mentioned earlier, but even if they had, they wouldn't have found anything good. At most, they would have seen people licking their soup bowls clean, but that might have made them realize that there were even more people hiding there!

Todd suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. As he watched Anlessie's retreating figure, his legs suddenly felt weak.

Moreover, there are quite a few of you.

The other party said that, which means she has already discovered the people who are hiding?
Exhausted, Todd sat down, leaning against the steps of the house, and sighed deeply, clutching his neck where the bleeding had stopped.

In a situation where the surrounding area has become a battlefield, the sudden discovery of an unidentified person would likely have been dealt with by any soldier. He is only alive because of the other party's kindness.

Moreover, the magical canopy.
His face showed seriousness and fear. He had to leave this place now, and he had to escape overnight!

"Uncle, are you okay?"

The little boy and girl ran over, looking at him with concern. They had left their sweet ice cream untouched, even though it should be quite nutritious for someone who was lacking food.

"That knight is a bad guy! He kicked me and hurt me, and it was that big sister who healed me," the little boy said indignantly, then smiled and said, "How was our acting? They didn't seem to suspect anything, did they?"

In the end, everyone hiding in the cellar was discovered, probably because they suspected our identities.
Todd didn't say those words aloud. Looking at the protectiveness in the children's eyes, he suddenly felt his heart race, but he quickly pursed his lips, patted the children's heads, and said:
"You're still far behind your uncle, you need to practice more!"

If I were really going to run away, I would probably take these two children with me, right?

In truth, the two kids' lies saved him twice. Although Todd was a swindler, at least he still had some desire to repay their kindness.

What's more, these two kids might be even more talented than me. Hehe, if they're properly nurtured, their future is bright, and I won't have to worry about who will take care of me in my old age!

So now I'm going to train these two to be my loyal followers!
Thinking of this, Todd couldn't help but laugh, and whispered something very intimately into the children's ears:
"Come with me, I've hidden two candies as a reward for your cleverness today. Don't call the others out yet, or you won't get any."

"Yay!" The two children cheered softly, following Todd away with anticipation, as if in their eyes, Todd's two pieces of candy, which might have gone bad, were more worthy of cheering than the ice cream that Anlessie had given them.

As the day passed and night fell, Hypa Town fell into a deathly silence.

Todd was staring blankly at the empty table. The commotion that had happened that morning seemed to have passed by in a long time and had no effect on the evening. Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open.

"I'm back. Today I successfully got two people to praise the Mad Fire before they died, but there's still someone saying they'd rather die than believe in heresy."

Under the moonlight, Dorian, carrying a large bundle, chattered on and on, tossing the bundle aside as he focused on sharing his day's haul with Todd, whom he considered his close friend.

In the past, Todd would have offered emotional support while opening the package to see if there was anything good, but today is different; today we need to get down to business.

Nearly a month later, Dorian hadn't changed much. He was radiant when talking about the Mad Fire, and there was still a touch of innocence in his eyes.

He looks completely different now than when he teamed up with Elifius; the cloudiness in his eyes has been washed away.

To paraphrase Todd, he's starting to look more and more like a complete idiot.

However, he is a big fool with high combat skills, so in the current situation, he needs to rely on the other party's strength.

“We have to get out of here, my friend.” Todd rested his chin on his hands, his old glasses gleaming.

"Why?" Dorian was taken aback.

"Because the war has escalated, the Magic Sky Curtain is coming."

The Magic Canopy is a powerful weapon used by mages in group battles. With the help of the Magic Canopy, mages can gather magic power more easily and quickly, and the power of their magic will also be amplified.

When mages tear down the magical veil on the battlefield, it signifies that the war has entered its most brutal phase, a time when massive spells and even forbidden incantations begin to bombard the battlefield.

Todd had prepared a whole host of arguments to persuade Dorian.

But to my surprise, the other party simply nodded and said:
"Okay, let's go then. I'm tired of playing around here anyway."

So obedient!?
Now it was Todd's turn to be stunned, but he quickly recovered and smiled, clapping his hands and saying, "Great! We're sure to find more believers in other places. Let's not delay, let's set off tonight. We should be able to get there on foot."

"No need to run, I just happened to pick up some usable items."

With that, Dorian opened the bundle and took out an iron box about the size of a human head, shimmering with a pale silver light. It looked very high-quality.

There's just one problem: the metal box has the Holy Light Church's logo printed on it, which is exactly the same as the logo I saw for Anlessie and the others this morning.

"This thing is really fun; it's the first time I've ever seen one."

As he spoke, he pressed a part of the iron box, and the iron box instantly transformed, eventually assembling into a Pegasus made of steel, which was clearly a powerful magical artifact with a strong motor!

And it must be very expensive to manufacture; it's definitely a high-end product!

Todd was stunned.

Todd began to tremble.

Todd spoke haltingly:
"Where did you get this thing?"

His voice was completely filled with fear, because he couldn't help but be afraid of this thing.
Isn't this the Holy Light Church's [Magical Pegasus]?

This morning, Anlessie was so proud when she mentioned this thing!
Dorian, what's wrong with you? How did you manage to pick up something like this? Where have you been all this time?
"How did you get this?!" Todd was about to scream.

"I picked it up."

Dorian's words were concise and to the point.

"."

Todd was speechless; Dorian had once again shattered his understanding of the world.

However, this seems to be a good thing, since with the help of such a high-level magical pegasus, they can go very far tonight and no longer have to be afraid of any magical canopy.

But at that moment, he suddenly realized something was wrong. Touching the frequency of the magical energy fluctuations coming from the Magic Pegasus's sensory interface, his face turned deathly pale.

"This thing is transmitting its location!!!"

With such high-quality goods, how could the Church of Holy Light not establish a positioning for them!

"We have to run, run now!"

If we get caught by the Church of Holy Light, we'll be worse off than dead!
"Tap tap tap——"

Just when he was terrified.

The quiet town of Hypa was awakened by the sound of hurried hooves, followed by endless clamor.

Todd froze, muttering to himself:
"We're finished."

(End of this chapter)