Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

"The previous generation of heroes?" Thea asked in a gentle tone that was almost unchanging. "You mean, Elvis?"

She was silent for a moment, then continued:

"Even I have to admit that he is a respectable warrior. From him, we have obtained crucial..."

When Xia said this, the Steam Knight behind her, an old man named Donald, suddenly interrupted her.

"I killed him."

Donald showed a disgusting expression and stared at Charles with his dark red eyes:

"I pierced his heart with my own sword. I watched him die. I also found the fragment of the holy sword that he had hidden on his body..."

"If you want to avenge Elvis, come find me in Sheffield," he told Shire, telling the false hero, "I'll be waiting for you there."

Charles clenched the holy sword in his hand.

"I will," he answered Donald in a very calm voice, without any emotion at all. "I will go to Sheffield to find you, for Uncle Elvis and for...Rachel."

"?"

Lacie, who had no idea what was going on and was suddenly called by Charles, said "Huh?"

what's the situation?

There was nothing wrong with Charles wanting to avenge his uncle, but why was she suddenly involved?

Although she…if Ciel went to Victoria to avenge his uncle, she would indeed go with him.

All... a few buddies!

If her buddy is in trouble, she will definitely stick her neck out for him! Not to mention Victoria, she would even be willing to take a risk even if it was a dangerous situation!

In order to show her sincerity, she simply stood next to Charles and wanted to advance and retreat with him.

After a brief silence, Thea, who was interrupted by Donald, spoke again:

"The truth is... just as Donald said, we have not violated the 'Tilin Agreement'. The forbidden force field we possess does not come from the silencing spells of the wizards, but from the inheritance of the brave..."

"No." This time it was Old Deng who interrupted her. "You Victoria did not violate the "Tilin Agreement", but you killed the heroes of the previous generation and tried to stir up disputes between mages and mortals again..."

Xia disagreed with Lao Deng's speech:

"No, it was not me, let alone Victoria, who provoked the dispute between mages and mortals. You should know, Lord Viliden, that even if we do nothing, sooner or later, a fierce conflict will still break out between mages and mortals. The conflict has already existed, but you are turning a deaf ear to it."

"But that's much better than making the conflict worse like you did! Don't you really understand? After you provide those advanced technologies to Victoria, what will happen to the Pangaea because of the war!" Lacier retorted to Xia on behalf of Lao Deng.

But at this time, Xia's voice became gentle again:

"No, it won't, my compatriot, you should know this better than anyone else. It is because of our existence that war will not come."

"Huh?" Rachel didn't understand what she meant.

Thea continued on her own:

"Each witch will choose a "topic" that belongs to her, just like you chose the hero of the modern era, and I chose the mortal country Victoria, but time is always limited, and the result is always failure..."

She suddenly paused here.

Even though they were separated by a communication spell, Lacier couldn't help but have a certain illusion - she felt that the witch named Xia was quietly watching her in Sheffield, thousands of miles away.

"No, my compatriot," she heard her say, with a tone of inexplicable doubt, "Have you... forgotten our duty?"

Lacey couldn't understand what she was saying anymore.

But Xia didn't seem to intend to make her point clear, so before Lacier asked any questions, she continued:

"Time is indeed the most terrifying force in this world. But don't be afraid, my compatriots. You are not the first Forgotten One, and you probably won't be the last..."

"You will remember, you will remember your duty, you will complete your "task", even if all of our compatriots, all of our "tasks" will eventually lead to that road that is doomed to failure, but..."

Thea's voice became increasingly distorted, like a whisper, and she told Rachel:

"——At least, we have all witnessed it, tried it, and saved it..."

The witch Thea's communication was suddenly disconnected.

The bright blue light no longer flickered, perhaps the magic battery had run out of power.

After waiting for a while and confirming that the communication had been completely cut off, Donald put away the communication spell module, raised his head, looked deeply at Charles, and issued an order to the subordinates behind him:

"Pollution cleanup operations terminated, we withdraw."

Without any questions or objections, the group of guys wearing steam armor retreated as quietly as they came.

They flew across the wilderness like hawks streaking across the sky, and returned silently to the armored train called the "Iron Throne", where they lay down in the cold black coffins one by one in an orderly manner.

The putting on and taking off of steam armor requires special machinery. Although the Iron Throne is equipped with such machinery, those machines are only for emergency use. Under normal circumstances, armored knights will complete the putting on of armor in the base camp in Sheffield. Once the armor is put on, they will not take it off until the mission is over.

This is not only to enable them to engage in battle at the first moment, but also to save unnecessary and cumbersome steps.

As for how the knights wearing heavy armor can successfully reach the mission location...

The solution given by the witch Xia is "black coffin".

Before setting off, the knights lay in black coffins and entered a state of suspended animation due to low temperatures; after arriving at the mission site, the black coffins thawed, the knights were awakened, and with the help of drugs, they quickly recovered to a state where they could join the battle.

But now, the mission was terminated due to an accident, and the armored knights who were about to return to Sheffield would naturally have to lie back in the black coffin.

Donald was the last one to lie back in the black coffin.

He pulled down his mask, closed his eyes, and slowly sank into the dark and sticky liquid. The strange scene he witnessed fifteen years ago when the previous brave Elvis entrusted him with the fragment of the holy sword appeared in front of his eyes.

The man's body had been almost completely eroded by some dark, almost muddy unknown substance. Those damn things even had their own will and were tearing at the man's flesh and blood, trying to leave their master and gain freedom.

And in this situation, the man still maintained a clear mind.

After he and Thea arrived at the scene, the man handed them the fragments of the holy sword and asked them to help him fulfill his last wish...

Another picture suddenly appeared in front of Donald's eyes——

That was a scene that had just happened not long ago, when a young hero declared in front of him that he would save more people.

But if a young hero couldn't even defeat a prototype steam armor and an old man who should have died long ago...how could he claim that he wanted to save more people and avenge his uncle?

The old man in the black coffin grinned strangely, and then, in the cold and silence, he slowly fell into a deep sleep.

[To be continued]

-

78. A test

The Emperor of Diesel and his people were exiled into the stars.

The once peaceful and harmonious country disappeared, leaving behind only an enormous deep pit.

The area of ​​the pit is equivalent to the former territory of Diesel. Just like using a spoon to scoop out a large piece of ice cream, the legendary investigator Nicholas Kate used his special magical skills to fulfill the emperor's last wish.

——He will begin an eternal wandering in the starry sky with his kingdom.

It took thirty years, was handled by four groups of people, and cost the lives of two... no, three investigators.

At this point, Diesel's anomaly was finally contained.

However, Diesel's story seems to be not over yet, and there are still many unsolved mysteries hanging over the kingdom that has been exiled to the depths of the starry sky:

What are these strange black shadows? Why do they appear in the ruins of a previous civilization? Are they related to the sudden demise of the previous civilization?

Why did the limited wishing machine appear in the ruins of the previous civilization along with the black shadow? Aren't they the byproduct of a scholar's failed attempt to create a "universal wishing machine"?

Not to mention, those Iron Ghosts from Victoria brought them even more problems——

What happened to the previous hero Elvis? How did Victoria use the fragments of the holy sword she got from the previous hero to create the steam armor troop? And...

"What exactly is the so-called 'duty of a witch' mentioned by witch Thea?"

Lacy lay on the bed, biting her fingers gently as she thought.

She was a little irritable.

Obviously, she is also a witch, but this witch is not that witch. She totally doesn’t understand what Xia is saying.

After all, she was only a half-baked witch.

The general understanding of witches in the academic community of Pangaea is that they are a kind of immortal race whose appearance and some physiological characteristics are no different from human women.

Their origin and reproduction methods are unknown, and they are the unsolved mysteries of human nature. Due to their small number and excessive strength of individuals, no one can instruct them to do anything unless they cooperate voluntarily.

But they all have strange personalities and act recklessly.

Therefore, in most legends of the Pan-Continent, witches are often described as fun people who are neither good nor evil, with a chaotic stance.

When she first arrived in Pangaea, Laciel had no idea that she had the "potential" to be a witch. In fact, if Lao Deng hadn't reminded her of this, she would probably have thought she was just an ordinary person.

——Although she had lived as a witch in the Pan-Continent for nearly a hundred years, Lacie still did not feel that there was much difference between witches and ordinary wizards.

Apart from being good-looking and having an almost endless lifespan, they do not even possess magical talents and special magical skills that far exceed those of ordinary wizards.

If we insist on saying that they have some special features that are different from ordinary people besides their beautiful appearance and long life span...

That's probably just the terrifying magic affinity that they all possess - but there are also very few mages who have the same terrifying magic affinity as witches.

So Laciel herself had thought that the so-called witch, apart from being prettier and cuter, and able to live longer like a turtle, seemed to be no different from an ordinary wizard.

However, the witch Xia broke her understanding of witches.

The witch Thea tells her that what makes witches special is that they have "duties".

But what exactly is the so-called "duty"... The witch Xia didn't say, she just said a lot of weird and ambiguous words that made people really confused.

"Damn you Riddler!"

Lacey couldn't help but complain in her heart.

What "responsibility", what "subject", what "the road to failure"...

Who understands what she said?

Can't you just say whatever you want to say like Ciel?

Oh, so Ciel was actually hiding the truth about being a fake hero before, so that’s okay.

Lacey sighed.

She actually... inexplicably, she had a feeling -

When the witch Thea said those words to her, she seemed to be convinced that she was on the right path. Even though she knew nothing about her "duty", she had already fulfilled her "duty" as fate had arranged.

Just like the saying:

"…Just like you chose the hero of our time, and I chose Victoria, the kingdom of mortals."

She has made her choice.

Next, regardless of whether she knew what her duty was, she would naturally join the brave man on the road that would ultimately lead to failure.

As for the information and intelligence that she lacks... naturally, she will gradually get "compensation" along the way, and finally, at the end of that road, she will become a real witch.

Before this, the witch Thea seemed to think that telling Laciel the information and intelligence too early would not be a good thing for her young compatriot.

"But my brother is going to be a hundred years old this year..." Lacie thought unhappily, "Besides, even if I don't believe in my brother, I should at least believe in the heroes of this generation, right?"

"Although……"

Miss Witch's mood suddenly became depressed.

"Although...he's not actually a true hero."

In fact, Lacele doesn't care whether Charles is a so-called hero or not, because she has already determined that Charles is a real hero.

She never really cared about what other people thought.

But what about Ciel? Ciel, whose true identity has been revealed...how will he feel when facing the doubts of others?

While Lacele secretly feels happy that both she and Charles are "fakes", she is also afraid that Charles will be questioned by others and that he will be sad because of this.

This complex and conflicting emotion caused her to toss and turn on the small bed in the observation room.

"How is Ciel now? Is he okay?"

The witch hugged the pillow tightly in her arms and couldn't help thinking.