Wizard Earl

Dezerby was right. Among their group were two level one wizards and nine Storm Church Arbitrators. Even if they did encounter a Blackblood Fox Bear, it wouldn't be a big deal. Perhaps everyone could even get some magical beast materials.

However, it's important to understand that while over 90% of Blackblood Fox Bears are solitary creatures, there's a 10% chance they might be traveling with a family. If they were to encounter such a dire situation, their group might face further trouble…

The team continued to advance and search, and soon Connor and Dezelby, the two formal wizards, saw the ruins that the scouts had just reported.

They were some dilapidated buildings with stone walls and wooden walls, and they weren't very large, only about five or six rooms.

Although these ruins appear to have been weathered by wind and rain and the passage of time, and are now very dilapidated, one can still vaguely make out the magical runes on these stone and wooden walls. It is clear that the people who built these houses, or those who originally lived here, were wizards.

Seeing this, Connor and De Zelby exchanged a glance, and then De Zelby waved his hand, directing the arbitrators beside him to begin setting up the formation, while Connor closely observed the ruins, trying to discern something from them.

A few minutes later, Dezelby led his men to set up the array that Connor needed. Without saying a word, Connor stood directly in the center of the array and began chanting a low incantation.

"Kutsevski... Lucerne... Salgio... Piqué..."

As Connor chanted his incantation, the array around him slowly emitted a black light. Connor Ferguson, who was at the center of the array, also experienced a significant increase in mental power with the help of the array, and began to explore the depths of the underground ruins.

His mental energy pierced through the black soil and hard rock, and Connor finally discovered what was buried forty meters underground…

Connor frowned slightly as he slowly withdrew his spiritual energy from the depths of the ground. As he did so, the black light emanating from the magic circle gradually faded. Seeing Connor end his investigation so quickly, Dezelby, who had been protecting him, showed a hint of surprise in his eyes. After Connor finished casting the spell, Dezelby tentatively asked, "Is there something underground?"

Hearing DeZelby's question, Connor glanced at him and then nodded.

Seeing Connor nod, DeZelby, who had grown accustomed to disappointment since the start of the operation, suddenly brightened with excitement and asked Connor, "Are you sure what it is? Is it the relic we're looking for?"

With a helpless smile, Connor pointed downwards and said with a bitter expression, "There is indeed something forty-seven meters underground, but it's a mass grave!"

"There are about a hundred corpses in the mass grave, all decomposed to skeletons. Among those skeletons are those of wizards, but most are ordinary people, men, women, and children. Each skeleton bears some marks, suggesting that they were tortured before they died, then brought here, slaughtered, and buried in this mass grave!"

Upon hearing Connor's explanation, De Zelby's expression instantly turned grim, having initially thought he had found hope. After a few seconds of silence, he asked Connor again, "Can you determine how many years these bones have been dead?"

"I can't determine the exact year, but I think they've been dead for about thirty years!" Connor hesitated for a moment before giving his assessment.

Upon hearing Connor's answer, DeZelby glanced at the stone and wooden walls, his expression somewhat hesitant. Seeing this, Connor shrugged slightly and said nonchalantly, "If you want to observe for yourself, that's fine too. It's only forty-seven meters underground, not too deep!"

As Connor finished speaking, De Zerby was clearly more interested. Just as he was about to order his men to start digging, one of the arbitrators on guard duty on the perimeter suddenly shouted to De Zerby, as if he had noticed something, "Lord De Zerby! Come here quickly and take a look at this!"

The arbitrator's shout immediately caught the attention of De Zelby and Connor. Without hesitation, the two of them flashed to the side of the shouting arbitrator in the next second. Following the arbitrator's gaze, Connor and De Zelby also saw his discovery.

Hidden in waist-high grass were clumps of completely dried, dark brown things. Connor initially didn't recognize them, but DeZelby's expression changed slightly, and he instinctively called out...

"not good!"

Hearing DeZelby's exclamation, Connor was undoubtedly even more curious about what those dark brown things were. However, before he could ask, DeZelby took a deep breath and shouted to everyone, "Fire a signal flare to the scouts ahead! Tell them to retreat immediately! Everyone else, get out of here right now! Hurry! Hurry!"

"DeZelby, what is this thing?" Seeing DeZelby's flustered appearance, Connor could no longer suppress his curiosity and asked him:

As Connor spoke, a blue flare signaling retreat was launched from the other arbitrators. DeZelby, while organizing the retreat of his arbitrators, explained to Connor, "These dark brown things are Blackblood Fox Bear droppings, but they're completely dried out, so you can't smell any Blackblood Fox Bear odor! Judging from the quantity and distribution of these droppings, it definitely didn't come from just one Blackblood Fox Bear!"

Upon hearing De Zelby's last words, Connor immediately realized something, and his expression changed drastically. Just then, a pitiful howl suddenly came from not far away in the forest.

"ah············!"

The howl stopped abruptly halfway through, clearly indicating that the fate of the person who screamed had come to an end.

Although Connor wasn't very familiar with the arbitrator who was being used as a scout, he could still recognize the scream as his own. De Zelby, who also heard the scream, and the other arbitrators looked very grim, but now was clearly not the time to express their grief.