Chapter 48: The Knight Squad Scouting Ahead

Just as Lin Yan was preparing to make cement, in the Misty Mountains, a group of people finally passed through the fog-filled forest.

This group of people all wore bright silver armor, broad greatswords in hand—at a glance, their gear was clearly no simple matter.

These people were all knights!

And knights of no small strength.

One knight lifted his visor, revealing a face that looked weathered.

"The great fire has finally gone out!"

The knight said.

His armor was not like the others'—not silver, but a pale-gold plate.

And in the human kingdoms, especially in the human kingdom east of the Misty Mountain wilds, a knight in pale-gold armor meant one thing—a Temple Knight!

"My lord, look quickly."

At that moment, another knight pointed to the side and said.

The Temple Knight in pale-gold armor looked, and his expression subtly hardened.

The place where they stood was no longer within the Misty Forest—the forest was behind them.

And beneath their feet was plant ash.

Much of that plant ash had been washed away by the heavy rain a few days earlier, but plenty still clung to the ground, so the whole surface was mottled black and yellow.

That was not the most critical thing.

The most critical thing was that on either side of them, the unburned forest stood in a perfectly straight line, the boundary between it and the burned forest sharply defined.

Most critically, the boundary between the two was almost a straight line!

That was terrifying!

What kind of fire could burn like this!

Could these flames have grown eyes, burning only one side and not the other—and burning it so neatly at that!

This phenomenon left these powerful knights completely baffled.

"Record the situation here."

The Temple Knight said.

"Yes, my lord."

One knight took out paper and pen and began to write.

"Let us continue on. This great fire came strangely. It's a pity it didn't burn the entire Misty Mountains—then we could have launched an attack on the orc kingdom. But from the look of it now, this fire is surely no simple matter. No wonder the flying-beast squad the royal court sent last time to scout the blaze never returned."

The Temple Knight said.

Originally they had thought it was merely an ordinary great fire.

But what they had just seen had, in a certain sense, exceeded their understanding.

In this age, anything that exceeded one's understanding meant only one thing.

Namely, that whatever had caused this phenomenon possessed strength far beyond their own.

It might also mean one more thing.

Because on the Continent of the Gods, anything mortals could not understand could only be explained in two words:

A divine miracle!

Though these knights were no weaklings, they were still within the realm of mortals.

They were merely mortals who happened to be a bit stronger.

Generally speaking, only by becoming a Grand Magus—that is, reaching the level of a Sixth Rank Great Knight—did one partially step beyond the realm of mortals.

This group of knights set out once more.

But their mood had grown much more Solemn.

Before long, they arrived at a place where the ground was littered with many bones.

The Bone Wastes.

One-third of the Bone Wastes had been destroyed beneath Lin Yan's Heavenly Punishment.

But the remaining two-thirds had not been destroyed by Lin Yan, and so it had been preserved.

"So many bones here—is this the entire expeditionary army our kingdom lost in the Misty Forest over a dozen years ago?"

One knight said, puzzled.

"It should be."

Another knight crouched down, examined the broken bones, and said.

"My lord, come quickly!"

At that moment, a knight scouting ahead cried out in alarm.

The Temple Knight heard this and strode quickly over.

"Be careful, my lord!"

The knight warned.

The Temple Knight halted.

Because ahead, he saw the deep footprints the scout had left in the ground.

Those footprints were still smoking.

And beyond the footprints lay a stretch of ground that clearly looked different.

This patch of earth was charred black, and seemed quite loose.

The Temple Knight crouched down, scooped up a handful of soil from within, and held it before his eyes to examine.

"It's rock ash—somewhat like volcanic ash—left behind after the stone was burned away."

The Temple Knight analyzed.

"My lord, how can there be rock ash here? The temperature underground is extremely high—if I weren't wearing combat boots, I'd definitely be burned!"

The scouting knight said.

The Temple Knight drew his sword and plunged it into the ground.

Then he pulled the sword out, and the tip of the greatsword was coated with red magma.