Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Reslauf quietly watched the hysterical jackal, and the phantoms around him also watched the ugly and funny performance. In this uniform movement, strands of translucent silk threads flowed out from the heart of each phantom and silently wrapped around Reslauf's right hand.

A wound, a wound once caused by the three-headed flail, was healing and eventually solidified into a purple-black mole-shaped dot. The silk threads seemed to have eyes, and after gathering into one strand, they pierced straight into it.

Control, a sense of control. In this unknown space, every phantom except the jackal seemed to be at Reslaufer's disposal at that moment. It was as if a door had suddenly opened in his head, and his icy blue eyes became distant and profound. When the jackal glared back at him angrily, the monster felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave, as if he had seen the true abyss.

"This is impossible, you..."

"You are not a messenger of the abyss," Reslaufer said slowly. As he uttered the syllables, all the phantoms around him began to echo him in unison. "You are nothing but a jackal."

"You want them to kill me, don't you? Very well, how about we listen to their true thoughts?"

Reslaufer raised his right hand slightly, and the sense of control disappeared. The phantoms that had remained silent since Reslaufer first saw them suddenly began to stir, and one after another ethereal voices sounded in a low voice.

“Chop it up.” “Chop it up.” “Chop it up.”

One phantom after another disappeared around Leslaufer, and the jackal kept dodging in fear, but no matter which side it broke through, there were always a large number of phantoms blocking its way. It had to admit that it began to regret taking this opportunity to alarm these phantoms!

At the moment of the material world's death, it noticed that the man had the curse of the abyss on his hand and was ecstatic. It immediately hid in it and waited for the opportunity. When Reslaufer began to seek help from the outside world, the monster was even more eagerly waiting! Its supreme ruler was best at manipulation and confusion, and it more or less possessed some of these abilities - such as solidifying people to sleep, or entering dreams to control victims.

The jackal thought this was a perfect opportunity for it to usurp this body. The will of a mere mortal would be annihilated, and it would become active in the world again!

But why did it become like this?

"Why do you listen to his orders? Aren't we the same kind?!" The phantoms' siege was endless. These unknown beings didn't seem to have much consciousness. They just tore and devoured subconsciously. However, such an inefficient attack was the most desperate. The phantom that turned into a jackal cried, as if it wanted to reawaken even a little "self-awareness" of these beings, just like when it drove and lured them to besiege Leslaufer before.

But such a miracle was doomed to be impossible, because Reslaufer had no control over them at all; every action of these phantoms was entirely at their own will.

"Same kind? Do you really think you're similar to them?" Reslaufer quietly watched the jackal phantom struggling to survive in the sea of phantoms, ultimately unable to avoid drowning. "You've only been with them for a few days?"

"And you actually expect them to kill me here?" Reslaufer remained motionless. He hadn't yet found a way to move around in this space, but that didn't stop him from becoming the master here. "I killed them all, every single one."

"You expect them to be able to do something after they die, even though they can't do it when they're alive?"

The phantom of the jackal could no longer answer him. When Leslaufer waved his right hand and separated the phantoms, only a head and half a neck were left of the jackal in the center that was used as a meal. However, it was still "alive", just worse than death.

"Please... do a good deed..." The monster begged. It seemed to understand something, but also seemed to understand nothing.

"An opportunity you never had in your lifetime. The same question." Reslaufer fixed his eyes on it. "Tell me, your master, your plan—don't mention the demon lord. I'm afraid you don't have the qualifications."

"I really... don't know," the jackal whimpered. "I only know that the alias it gave us was 'Fun', and that it was the direct leader of several of us, including me and the jackal leader. But we've never seen its true face. Every time it conveys news to us, it relies on a letter that will spontaneously combust after reading it..."

"A few days ago, the latest mission given to us was to sneak into the city... So we attacked a carriage, and just as we were about to let that big guy get back on the road, you encountered our hyenas—"

Nearly 80% of the phantoms swarmed over the jackal, devouring it in the blink of an eye. Reslaufer couldn't change the phantoms' movements, but he could at least shorten the process. The jackal's phantom completely dissipated within the space, and following Reslaufer's command, the other phantoms also disappeared.

He got the news he wanted, but there was still one problem that needed to be solved:

How was he supposed to leave this damn place?

In the past, it was not difficult for him to see these phantoms, and he could do so whether he closed his eyes or slept, but now, he was very awake and had his eyes open.

"Yonata! Let me out! Get rid of this damn illusion!" The mercenary had no choice but to shout again, but there was still no response. This futile action only increased the murderous intent in his heart. He couldn't wait to -

When Reslaufer's restlessness had reached its peak, everything around him collapsed in an instant. There was a loud "boom" in his ears. When Reslaufer regained his vision, he was back in the earl's mansion. A bald wizard was putting his wrinkled face right in front of him.

"Thank Serak, you're back." Yonata frowned and looked at Reslaufer's right hand. The wound on it had disappeared, but a strange black mole remained. "The ritual seems to have been successful. The curse on you has faded, but I'm not sure-"

Before the wizard finished speaking, Reslaufer's sandbag-sized fist flew in front of him with the mercenary's roar.

"Get out of my way!"

Chapter 56: Escape from the War

The mercenaries' sudden attack was beyond everyone's expectations. When Earl Xinmu began to call the guards, Master Jonata had already fallen to the ground with blood all over his face.

His nose was crooked, his left eye socket was black and blue, and his lip was cut and bleeding.

"Mr. Reslaufer! Are you crazy?!" Earl Xinmu shouted nervously, "Or have you been corrupted by the abyss?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, several guards who had entered broke out in cold sweats. They held their spears tremblingly and looked at the man sitting on the ground in the center of a magic circle, as if they wanted to get closer but didn't dare.

"Scatter! Stop making trouble here!"

The wizard, who had been hit so hard by Reslaufer's punch that he could barely tell up from down, left from right, finally came to his senses and scolded the useless guards as they left the reception room for the second time: "Damn it, how could you--ah!"

Apprentice Thomson quickly handed over a bottle of healing potion, which Jonata drank in one gulp. It took him a while to catch his breath. The mage looked at the mercenary who had just punched him. Aside from the dark spots and golden stars in his eyes, there was no anger, but instead, a look of astonishment.

"I cast a protective spell the moment you threw your fist. How did you—"

Reslaufer stood up and raised his now unimpeded right hand to examine it. It was the same hand the mage had used to resist with his bald head. Just inside the base of his palm, a black mole, only about one-fifth of a centimeter in diameter, lay quietly.

But he no longer felt the same silk threads as in the illusion, and those phantoms seemed to be just illusions.

"That's it." Yonata squeezed out a word through gritted teeth.

But why? The wizard found it incomprehensible. His ritual had gone smoothly, and the poison and curse had been removed. However, Reslaufer hadn't woken up in time. Just as he was about to step forward to check, the barbarian opened his eyes and punched him.

But this was nothing compared to what he saw now: Logically speaking, even if Reslaufer suddenly attacked, it should have only hit the shield that Jonata subconsciously summoned. But when the fist hit the spell, the shield composed of magic power was disintegrated in an instant!

This is simply not something human beings can do! What on earth happened to this man?!

"If you dare to tamper with my brain again, I will dig yours out with this hand," Leslough warned him sternly. "What on earth is this ritual of yours? It's dragging me into an illusion!"

"Well, I guess you mean, 'dream'?" Yonata ignored the first half of the sentence.

"What a bullshit dream!" Seeing the mercenary raised his fist again, the black-robed wizard subconsciously raised his hands and listened quietly to Reslaufer's story.

Things related to the abyss are obviously not a secret that can be kept hidden, not to mention that the phantom that turned into a jackal also revealed news related to Xinmu City.

"Unbelievable, unbelievable... This doesn't make sense." After listening to Reslaufer's retelling, even Jonata, who had been immersed in mystery all his life, fell into confusion, not to mention the Earl.

"It sounds like this is clearly your dream. During a ritual, dreaming due to deep sleep is not uncommon. But what happened in your dream—can it even be reflected in our material world? This doesn't make sense... No, it does make sense, but how could this happen to you? Could it be that you are actually the chosen one of some god?"

The wizard scratched his head, which had lost all its hair countless years ago. "This isn't right... Oh, right, oh, it's still not right... Hey! There's no point just sitting here and guessing!"

"Don't even think about experimenting on me again, or I'll punch you again no matter what I say today." Looking at the increasingly crazy look in the wizard's eyes, Reslaufer immediately withdrew from the ritual formation under his feet, waving his fist in warning.

"No, it's too dangerous now, and the outcome is completely unpredictable," Jonata waved his hand quickly. "You can leave now, but I hope you can stay in Xinmu City for a few more days. I want to use this flail and the traces left on the jackal's corpse to reverse engineer the entire process you described. It won't take long, and I'll come up with an answer as soon as possible!"

"This is incredible! I've never heard of such a phenomenon!"

"Put away your disbelief, for the sake of your own head," Reslaufer muttered, turning to look at the dumbfounded earl. "My lord, I have no need to deceive you. Xinmu City does have potential risks, and you need to take it seriously."

Normally, these nobles would turn a deaf ear to the news coming from below, but Count Xinmu's eyes immediately lit up. "Don't worry! Don't worry, I've got it all in mind! That infiltrator is called 'Fun', right? I'll have someone start an investigation right away. There's no time to lose!"

"As for you, Mr. Reslaufer, we hope you will cooperate with our investigation and stay in Xinmu City for a while. This is not imprisonment, but simply for the sake of our shared world. I believe that with your awareness, you will definitely understand this decision, right?"

Just as Reslaufer was about to speak, the earl, who couldn't use magic to see into people's hearts, immediately pushed all the gold coins that Jonata had paid in front of Reslaufer. "Please accept these. This is a reward for your righteous act! As I said before, all your expenses for the next few days will be covered by me!"

Earl Xinmu's attitude made Reslaufer a little confused, but gold coins were gold coins, even if they were new coins. Since the other party was willing to pay, he was happy to rest in a big city for a few more days for free. He believed that Angelita would also like this decision.

As for Bella... I just hope that druid doesn't go crazy over this.

"Jonathan, draft a document with me immediately. It needs to be sent to the Emperor and the Grand Duke's desk immediately!" After politely seeing off the "righteous" mercenaries, Count Xinmu immediately swept away his previous dejection, sat down at the desk with full energy, and began to write like a wise decision maker.

"This is an opportunity, Master Jonata! You must have seen it!" The Earl said excitedly as he wrote, "Haven't we always been struggling with a lack of sufficient reasons to avoid the war between the two factions? Xinmu City's resources and wealth make it impossible for them to ignore our existence, but now, they have a reason to avoid us!"

"Our city is being coveted by evil forces. We must demand that both sides cease their hostilities and come to Xinmu City to jointly face a greater disaster. During this period, all residents of Xinmu City must remain within the city to prevent the spread of the Abyss's corruption. We must control those spies stationed in Xinmu City, and they must be under our full surveillance until the crisis is resolved. Anyone who acts differently will be considered a follower of the devil! Xinmu City is being invaded by an unprecedented demonic army!"

The black-robed wizard looked at the overly excited earl in confusion. "I'm sorry, that seems a bit exaggerated. Are you planning to... use this as an opportunity to persuade both sides to restore peace?"

"At this point, they can't be peaceful," Count Xinmu sneered, "but we will be able to soon."

"Do you want Xinmu City's support, timber, gold, or even people? Come, as long as you are willing to accept defeat in the mortal war, just to dedicate your strength to a more glorious cause!"

Chapter 57 Druid Enters the City

Just as Earl Xinmu didn't want to have anything to do with the druids, most people in this city avoided Bella, for fear that others would think they were related to these lunatics who forbade them to cut down trees. As a result, Angelita could not escape the fate of being neglected. When the two found a place to stay, let alone her favorite pear wine and rose candy, even the most ordinary meal had to be bought with more gold coins.

"It seems like you druids are really unwelcome in Xinmu City." Angelita handed Bella's meal over dejectedly. "How big of a fuss did you cause back then?"

Bella didn't look embarrassed at all. On the contrary, she seemed quite proud of it. "We didn't cause that commotion. It was clearly these 'city people' who started it—the tree spirits in the forest complained to us!"

Dryads are ethereal creatures that have a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with trees and even entire forests. They, or rather "they" - because dryads mostly appear in female form - can enter trees or teleport between any two trees in a forest, but their essence is trapped in a fixed tree.

When trees flourish, the Dryad remains youthful; when trees are harmed, the Dryad feels pain; and worst of all, when trees are destroyed, the Dryad goes completely mad.

These goblins usually don't cause much trouble, and will even actively avoid people. Not every elf who lives in the trees will communicate with them. But once these guys are controlled by madness, a quick death at the hands of a dryad is a good thing.

More commonly, dryads will curse their targets—usually creatures that initially cut down the trees they inhabit—binding the destroyer to a tree, transforming them into another dryad, or simply becoming part of that tree.

The former will have to feel the despair of the tree spirits when the forest is cut down, while the latter will have to wait for countless years after all their material and spiritual needs are drained away by the trees before their fellows can free them with their axes one day. Or they may simply perish along with the trees.

"Rufo and his crew received a complaint from the tree spirits and immediately rushed to the woodlands to negotiate, but guess what the lumberjacks did?"

"They didn't listen to the druids' advice, and a conflict broke out?" Angelita speculated. "I heard their wages are calculated based on the amount of wood they send back. If you don't let them cut down trees, it's like..."

"I don't care how they live," Bella interrupted Angelita, shrugging her shoulders. "And if only they were as tough as you say. In fact, according to Rufo, the loggers were even very easy to talk to and immediately packed up and left."

"Then they took advantage of the druids' absence and returned. They cut down half of the trees overnight and set fire to the rest!"

Bella slammed her hands on the table, her voice rising in anger, causing almost everyone in the tavern to look over. Some of the stronger-looking men even put down their glasses and stood up with gloomy faces.

The druid wasn't afraid of that: "What are you looking at! Especially you guys! You were the accomplices at that time, right? Maybe you were the ones who committed the crime! What were you looking at me with? Did you hear the dryads wailing? Did you feel the forest crumbling? No! You only care about yourselves! You would even abandon your own interests to destroy other people's homes!"

"What are you going to pick up? An axe, the one you used to kill dryads? And now you're going to use it on me here? Well, come on! Come on!"

When Bella saw one of the men bend down and grab a heavy woodcutting axe from behind a chair, she became even more excited. Angrita couldn't stop him. At first, when she saw other tavern guests stand up and walk towards the man, she thought she wasn't the only one who wanted to stop the quarrel, but she soon realized that these people were more likely to put pressure on Bella than to stop the fight.

They didn't say anything, but just surrounded the man and moved forward silently. No one tried to take away his axe, and no one tried to block his way. But even in this situation, Bella still didn't intend to retreat. Angelita saw her raise her hand to tidy up the red hair behind her head, her eyes twitching, ready to explode at any time.

"Buddy Antichi" sighed, lowered his head, picked up two forkfuls of food and swallowed them, then stood up and stood beside Bella.

Maybe she couldn't even beat this fierce-looking man now, but she couldn't just watch her friend being bullied by so many people.

However, when the man with the axe came to the distance where he could just attack the druid, he stopped unexpectedly. The man held the axe in both hands and showed Bella one side of it.

"Pami," it was written like this, so crooked that it looked like the person holding the pen was holding a knife in his backhand.

Bella raised her eyebrows and looked at the man, waiting for his next words.

"This is my son. I carved his name on this axe and plan to pass it on to him in the future," the man said slowly. "I know what you said. I was there and I did it. Pammy was three years old at that time."

"This year, he's still three years old."

"Do you know why, young girl? You were probably not that old then. You wouldn't have been among those druids."

"The Mill Massacre," Bella was silent for a moment, then slowly uttered the name of an incident.

She wasn't there at the time, but that wasn't a good excuse. Although she had temporarily left the Quiet Creek Society, she still belonged there, just like the "Pammy" on this axe.

"It was an ordinary winter, still early in the season, and the wild animals were far from harassing the village," the man said in a hoarse voice. "But that day, the wolves came. They were so powerful, so organized, and so disciplined that the militia couldn't stop them. To make matters worse, there were also many deer, bears, and wild boars."

"Poor Padme," he said. "He was hiding in the house with his mother, my wife, and he didn't do anything. But a huge bear collapsed the wall behind them and the whole roof came crashing down."

There is no need to continue talking about this. The lumberjack’s performance fully demonstrates that there is no better possibility.

Countless pairs of eyes were cast at the druid who was out of place in this city. The latter pursed his lips, but quickly regained his composure, responding to those gazes without fear.

"You did it, didn't you?" The old woodcutter stared at the druid. "Don't try to argue. I know it was you. Everyone knows it."

Chapter 58 Lumberjack

"I just don't understand why you would do this?!"

The lumberjack's knuckles turned white from gripping the axe so hard. "You want revenge for those dumb trees? Come at me! You want revenge for those pesky goblins? Come at me!"

"Why am I still alive and well here? Even after that day, I can still go into the woods to chop trees, but my Pammy, my little Pammy! Will have to stay three years old forever!"

"Calm down, calm down..." Angelita was really afraid that the man would swing his axe at her. She raised one hand to block him and reached for her war hammer with the other hand. But soon, the drinkers who suddenly rushed forward made her realize how difficult it was to calm the public anger.

If she dared to touch her weapon with her fingers, a knife would probably come out from nowhere and pierce her body in the next second.

"Buddy, get out of the way," Bella patted her companion's shoulder, signaling her to relax, "This has nothing to do with him. He's a real outsider."

All the eyes that were locked on Angelita withdrew. Her appearance, outfit, and accent all showed this point. If she could just stay out of it, no one would do anything to her.

"As for you..." Bella looked at the man, "First of all, I want to say one thing. You have been wrong from the very beginning."

"We would never do such a thing. The Mill Massacre was undoubtedly a tragedy, and your experience is sympathetic. Perhaps you have already identified the 'culprit', but I still want to say this: it was not us who did it."

"Then how do you explain those—"

"Those wild animals?" A flash of disdain flashed across Bella's face. "Do you know why they came out to harass the village earlier than before that year? Or let me ask you a simpler question: where do they usually move around before they 'come out'?"

"Of course it's in the Lin——"

The lumberjack's face, which had just turned red due to anger, grievance and hatred, turned purple and black at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"It's us, so, it's actually us, it's me..."

"This is natural," the druid nodded. "You didn't give them a way to survive, so they won't either."