At this moment, a storm was brewing behind the northern peaks, but the tall mountains blocked the dark clouds, and the lower slopes gradually began to wear a green blanket of Demacian pines.
Although the green pines did not fear the bitter cold and grew with stubborn resilience, they had been bent by years of northern wind. Looking east and west, endless mountains were gradually covered by a blue haze, while the sky was a heavy, oppressive black.
Sure enough, it began to rain on the road to Fossbarrow. The drizzle gradually turned into a steady rain, droplets falling with a steady rush. A faint white mist rose over the forested mountain path.
The farther north they went, the more obvious the difference in terrain became. The lush, fertile land beneath their feet slowly turned into a barren wilderness eroded by wind and sand, sparsely dotted with broom and thistle.
The north wind came carrying the icy chill of the Freljord. The air grew colder and colder, and the outer walls of the villages grew higher and higher.
This was because the north was close to the Freljord, the famously frost-covered land of Runeterra.
That place remained cold all year round, and even strange sights like snow falling in summer could occur there. Affected by it, Demacia's northern frontier also stayed cold throughout the year.
Especially now, when it was only the end of winter. Temperatures everywhere else had already begun to warm, but only the north remained cold as ever. Now that they were being drenched by the rain, the chill had already soaked through their whole bodies.
Although it was raining, Luke and the others still sped up, thinking they were almost there.
Along the way, freezing northern rain poured down, washing over the jagged mountain ranges.
This mountain range was the natural barrier between Demacia and the Freljord.
To the north, forests covered the mountainsides of the plateau, which were full of cliffs and ravines. It was a dangerous land, filled with savage creatures and wild monsters of all kinds.
At dusk on February 7, Luke and the others arrived at Fossbarrow.
The small city was built by the water and stretched across both banks of the Serpentine River. This river originated in the high mountains, winding all the way until it eventually flowed into the sea from the western coast. Smooth granite walls rose and fell along the mountain terrain, and most of the houses in the city were built from stone, old wood, and glazed tiles. To the east stood the tower of the Temple of the Lightbringer, where the brazier at its top gave off a warm glow.
"We're finally here."
The rain continued falling. Lux sat on her horse and looked at the small town before her, feeling strangely exhausted.
During the climb up the mountain, her memories of why she had never wanted to come here to pay respects to her ancestors became clearer and clearer. Her experience from back then had now been repeated all over again.
Dark clouds gathered above the town, and Fossbarrow, shrouded beneath them, looked somewhat gloomy. Lux did not know if it was an illusion, but the moment she saw it, she had a very bad feeling.
At this moment, Luke was also sizing up the town before him. His gaze narrowed slightly, and a faint sense of foreboding rose in his heart.
But since they were already here, they had to go in.
"Let's go in."
He took the lead and headed toward the town entrance. The others followed behind him.
As they approached, two figures appeared in the watchtower atop the iron gate. One of them raised his voice and shouted, "Who goes there?"
"I am Luke Lightshield." Luke did not want to waste words, so he directly took out the symbol of his royal identity. A golden seal flickered with golden light in the dim evening gloom. "Open the gate."
The soldier stared carefully through the darkening twilight. In the next second, he cried out in surprise, "It's His Highness the prince. Open the gate!"
Accompanied by the heavy sound of chains winding, the gate slowly rose and withdrew into the city wall.
Luke and the others waited until the gate had risen high enough, then entered the city. A hastily assembled ceremonial guard was there to greet them, ten soldiers wearing leather armor, their blue cloaks pinned with silver brooches shaped like matching winged swords.
They were proud Demacian soldiers. However, looking at them now, one could see traces of hardship and listlessness on their faces.
Or rather, they seemed to be missing a bit of spirit.
This place was sheltered from the rain, so Luke removed his cloak. Behind him, Lux, Sona, Poppy, Katarina, and Yurna did the same.
The noble air in every movement of the group had basically already confirmed their identities.
After seeing Lux's golden hair, the soldier also recognized her. He bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Highness, and greetings, Miss Crownguard. Welcome to Fossbarrow."
"No need for formalities." Luke asked aloud, "Who is in charge of Fossbarrow?"
"The highest-ranking official in the city right now is Judge Giselle. I will inform her of your arrival at once."
After the soldier answered, he turned and left first.
Soon, another soldier came forward and bowed. "Judge Giselle's residence is this way. Please follow me."
He began leading the way. The group put their cloaks back on and officially entered the small town.
Not long after they entered, Lux, Sona, Katarina, and even Poppy all sensed a strange aura.
The latter two were not as sensitive, but Lux and Sona sensed the dark magic surging in the shadows almost at the same time.
Their expressions became more solemn, and they looked toward Luke in tacit agreement, only to find that Luke's face was equally grave.
He nodded and said, "Let's meet Giselle first."
Along the way, they could indeed see quite a few people on the streets. However, at a glance, the people's spirits were even worse than those soldiers from earlier. Every one of them walked with heavy steps, their expressions looking extremely exhausted.
In Demacia, a town in this kind of state was already strange in itself.
After walking for a few minutes, a figure followed a squad of soldiers and hurried over to welcome Luke and the others.
"Your Highness, Miss Crownguard, forgive me for not coming to greet you sooner."
The speaker was a brown-haired woman wearing a fur-lined marten robe and the bronze winged emblem of a Demacian local judge. Clearly, she was Judge Giselle.
Luke looked at her and said, "We came to pay respects to the ancestors. Do you have any available lodging to arrange for us?"
"Of course. I will arrange lodging for you immediately."
Giselle answered at once. "Before that, please rest for a while at my residence."
It could be seen that even her mental state was not very good. Heavy dark circles hung beneath her eyes, and she looked just as exhausted.
So before arranging lodging, the group first went to Giselle's residence. It was a small building that served both as an office and as a home, and it was not very large.
After they entered, the furniture inside was also very simple. Once the group sat down, Giselle began busying herself with hot water.
Before long, she came out carrying a warm kettle.
At this moment, Luke asked, "What happened in the town?"
"You noticed too?" Giselle poured water into the cups while explaining with a bitter smile, "I am investigating the cause. Judging from the current situation, the town has definitely suffered interference from some external force. In short, strange things started happening for no reason."
Lux held the cup of hot water, driving away the chill in her hands, and could not help asking, "What strange things?"
Giselle looked at her and thought for a moment. "I don't know how to describe it either. I suppose they are nightmares."
Lux looked puzzled. "Nightmares?"
"Yes." Giselle nodded and said, "If it were one person or ten people having nightmares, that would be one thing. But this time, the entire town has had nightmares. As long as someone closes their eyes and falls asleep, the nightmares come. We wake from our dreams again and again, and each time we wake, we are more exhausted and sleepier than before. So in order to avoid those nightmares, many people are now forcing themselves to stay awake."
Hearing this, Luke had basically understood the situation. He asked, "When did the nightmares begin?"
Giselle thought for a moment, then said, "About two days ago? Over these past two days, we tried many methods, but none of them worked."
Luke nodded slightly.
So, around the time they had just arrived at High Silvermere.
Lux looked at his expression and asked, "Did you discover something?"
"More or less." Luke nodded again, looked at Giselle, and asked, "Aside from the nightmares, have any other strange things happened?"
Giselle shook her head. "At present, aside from that, nothing else strange has happened. I'm afraid this problem is beyond our ability to solve. It truly is fortunate that you have come."
She had been worrying about how to resolve the town's current problem, only for His Highness the prince to personally arrive.
"This will not be easy to solve."
Luke's expression remained grave.
Seeing that even he had this kind of expression, the others all felt that this matter was probably not simple.
Even Giselle sensed that the tension in the atmosphere seemed to be rising, and she hurriedly said, "If there is anything you need, please say so. We will fully cooperate."
"There is one thing, actually." Luke thought briefly, then said, "Go gather everyone in the town at the plaza outside."
"I understand." Giselle immediately nodded, then turned and headed out.
After she left, Lux looked at Luke. "So what's wrong with this town? When I came in just now, it felt strange."
"You all sensed the aura of dark magic, didn't you?"
Luke did not keep them in suspense and asked directly.
Hearing his question, the others sitting across from him all nodded.
After listening to Giselle's account of the town's situation, everyone had sensed something strange. And the only thing that could cause such an eerie phenomenon was dark magic.
Even the people in the town had probably more or less sensed that something unclean had come to their town.
And the first thing they thought of was an infamous dark mage.
Mages could be good or bad, and dark mages were the same.
However, the odds of finding someone as good as Frey among a group of dark mages were about the same as finding gold in a cesspit.
In Demacia, a large part of the reason mages were unwelcome was thanks to these dark mages.
Dark mages obtained power through abnormal means. For example, the Rock Hag whom Luke and Lux had encountered before.
Her method of obtaining power was absorbing human memories. The better the quality of the memories, the more benefits she could gain. She had even lived for over a hundred years because of it.
And a dark mage was absolutely something many people were unwilling to mention.
However, Luke knew that what had come to the town this time was not some dark mage, but a demon.
Once again, he had run into one by coincidence.
He sighed faintly in his heart.
Demons had always been difficult to deal with, especially the old and cunning ones.
"Why are you so sure it's a demon?"
Lux believed Luke. She was simply curious about why he was so certain.
Sona, Katarina, and Poppy also looked over curiously.
Luke thought for a moment and said, "Do you still remember that your great-grandfather once killed a demon?"
Lux nodded. "Of course I remember."
Luke asked again, "What about the more detailed version? Do you still remember?"
This time, Lux thought for a moment and said, "Back then, the town was disturbed by a demon. A town of several thousand people became lifeless and gloomy. My great-grandfather passed by and saw the situation, then fought that demon. They fought from the town all the way to the cliffs beyond the mountains. Trees were knocked down, rocks rolled and scattered, and finally, my great-grandfather and that demon fell from the cliff together. My great-grandfather suffered fatal injuries, while his blade also pierced the monster's black heart. Since then, the town regained peace. To commemorate him, the town was specially named after Fossian."
This story was recorded in the important records of House Crownguard, and every member of House Crownguard had to know it.
As she spoke, Lux began thinking seriously. "A town of several thousand people became lifeless and gloomy..."
It was not just her. After hearing this, the others also thought of the town's current situation at the same time.
Although it had not yet reached the point of being lifeless and gloomy, this phenomenon had only continued for two days and had already become like this. If it lasted longer, it would probably become even more serious.
Lux frowned slightly. "You mean the demon my great-grandfather killed back then didn't die?"
Luke nodded. "Demons are very hard to kill. For many demons, the heart is not their fatal weak point."
"In other words, it actually didn't die back then. Instead, it found some hidden corner to hide in, and only now dares to cause trouble again?"
Lux felt that it did indeed seem like that kind of situation. After spending a long time with Vayne and Frey, she had also learned a bit about demons from them.
Aside from some low-level demons that were very easy to deal with, higher-level demons were not only powerful, but also very hard to kill.
Looking at it now, this demon was planning to make a comeback, and Fossbarrow was its first target.
At this moment, Lux suddenly thought of something. "Then has it already discovered us?"
"If nothing unexpected happened, yes."
Luke nodded. However, he could at least confirm now that the demon was not watching them at this very moment.
But it was also certain that the demon already knew about them.
Because not long after they had stepped into the town, Luke had sensed a fleeting gaze watching them.
Although it had only lasted for an instant, he had still noticed it.
Lux could not help asking, "Then what should we do now?"
"If we've been discovered, then we've been discovered. At worst, we'll fight it openly."
Luke stood up and looked outside. Under Giselle's summons, more and more townspeople of Fossbarrow were gathering in the plaza.
Above their heads, it was as if a mass of darkness had gathered, lingering without dispersing.
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