After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

One autumn rain brings a chill; the weather is unpredictable, deepening the desolation of the forest.

The brave team built several blood pool shelters along the way, aiming to save the elven city. They visited one chaotic elven city after another, and steadily made their way towards the capital of the elven kingdom.

She grabbed a few active vines, thicker than an adult's arm, that were wrapped around and embedded in the cracks of the wall. The wall instantly shattered, revealing a tangled mess of roots. Lilith, experiencing death and rebirth within the space, slowly walked to Annie's side and asked her a question.

"Since a curse inflicts direct death upon a living being, isn't it somewhat redundant to induce the growth of vines compared to mere destruction?"

Annie glanced at her indifferently and tilted the umbrella slightly towards her head.

Several weeks have passed since the mission began, and Lilith has been able to find large vines that have sucked the blood and flesh dry in some nooks and crannies. Even without the nourishment of corpses, they are still very healthy, even healthier than most plants.

"It grows very quickly, with large leaves, well-developed roots and stems, and woody vines. It has animal-like mobility and is a master at strangling trees."

"This location is very remote, and elves are generally solitary creatures. So many vines intertwined together... I suggest you investigate them first to see if they exhibit gregarious characteristics."

Calmly offering her analysis, Annie pushed up her glasses, and a few drops of water on the lenses reflected Lilith's surprised expression.

She quickly looked up, glancing around, but all she saw were thick dark clouds and a curtain of rain.

"What are you looking at?" Annie squinted, her expression a complex mix of emotions.

Lilith shrugged and spread her hands, saying, "It's nothing, I just wanted to see which direction the sun rises from today."

"..."

After a brief rest, the hero team continued their journey and soon caught up with Sylvie, who was scouting ahead.

Sylvie stood before a barren patch of land, her gaze deep and lost in thought. She crouched down, picked up a stalk of wheat softened by the rain, and turned to the others.

"The elves are cursed, and they have a chance of dying when exposed to the wind, so most of them now hide indoors... But this wheat field has been completely harvested."

Everyone was speechless and silently peered out. Although it was a hilly area, the land within sight alone covered hundreds of acres.

Harvesting grain in autumn? Unless the elves are incredibly lucky, this place will surely become a sea of ​​vines...

"It must be humans who have arrived. The one stationed in the Eastern Territory is the Northern Army's Third Division, with more than 30,000 front-line combat troops. Their armor coverage is extremely high, and their combat power should not be underestimated."

Sylvie crumpled the wheat straw, her feelings mixed. She hadn't expected the Northern Army to act so quickly. Although the Third Division was mostly made up of new recruits, they were numerous and well-equipped. The several major battles in the Central District in previous years had also added many veterans to the Third Division, which had never been absent.

"The Northern Army you're talking about, is that the one?"

Annie pointed into the distance, where a figure on horseback had been stationed on the hillside, quietly observing them across the barren land.

Before long, another warhorse galloped along the ridgeline, and after the two horses met, they quickly retreated. In the hazy sound of rain, everyone could hear the echoing of horns.

Sylvie glanced at Annie with a smile, a hint of helplessness in her eyes, then turned to the group of people with varying expressions and held up two fingers.

"Two choices. One is to fight them head-on and kick the troublemakers out of the Elven Kingdom. The other is to split up: Isolde and Diana can continue building the Blood Pool to try and rescue more elves; Lilith and Annie can go and investigate the curse in secret; and Thorne and I will draw the Northern Army's attention to you."

Seeing the puzzled looks on some people's faces, Isolde chuckled and said, "Let me remind you all, don't think that just because the Elven Kingdom is far away from the Northern Territory, Duke Oswald is capable of descending upon any battlefield."

Nicole's death is like a Damocles' sword hanging over the heads of the hero's party. Unpredictable, unanalyzable, the Undying King's power is enough to make these chosen ones of the gods tuck their tails between their legs and behave themselves.

Lilith sighed, "So we can't fight head-on. During the operation, we must try to avoid conflict with the Northern Army..."

call out!call out!call out!

Before the words were even finished, several arrows, as long as spears, landed near the carriage, splattering everyone with mud. The sharp arrows embedded themselves deeply in the ground, their tails suddenly disintegrating and spewing out thick red mist.

Sylvie was taken aback, then quickly issued the order: "They're anchoring our position! Evacuate this area immediately and proceed according to plan!"

The mist rose high into the sky. Sylvie, who had looked around but found no trace of the soldiers, determined the direction from where the arrows landed. Then, she grabbed the bewildered Thorne and rushed forward.

The sound of galloping warhorses shattered the rain. Looking towards the distant red mist, Lucas frowned slightly. A special forces scout in disguise quickened his pace and rode up to him.

"Captain, there's no mistake, it's the embodiment of the curse! The figure of the hero Thorne is also inside! They've separated, and two of them are heading towards us."

Lucas's eyes widened, and after a moment of stunned silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "Finally, they've shown themselves..."

"Requesting backup! Tell Commander Catherine we request the deployment of the Loyal Death Legion!"

"yes!"

The scouts rode away, while Lucas led his cavalry squad at full speed. In the distance, signal flares rose into the sky one after another, their intense bursts of white light illuminating even the dark clouds.

This was the first time Thorne had ever experienced this feeling. They hadn't even stirred up a hornet's nest yet, but the entire Elf Kingdom had suddenly launched a crazy riot.

The rain grew heavier, and he could vaguely see four or five cavalry units moving across the land. As he and Sylvie ventured deeper into the forest, infantry formations suddenly appeared at the edge of the forest.

The steam cannons in the formation were ready. With a deafening roar, a terrifying steam rose up and exploded into a shockwave that shattered the thunder!

As the shells fell, and his ears rang, the alchemical bomb, larger than a millstone, disintegrated above Thorne's head, spraying out large amounts of corrosive fuel.

He looked up blankly and saw a single spark spread into an endless inferno, the intense heat splashing away the rain and swirling down towering flames.

With nowhere to hide, Thorne smelled the acrid stench in the air. He stopped running and saw Sylvie's body transform into a stream of blood, carrying him as he sped out of the cannon's firing range.

The heat scorched his back; it was a raging fire dragon unleashing its ferocious power across the plains. Before Thorne could even catch his breath, still shaken, the Northern army's cavalry arrived.