The Nameless Town.
"The Azure Dragon" Mason and "The Frozen Knight" Fered slowly descended from midair, landing before "The Earth's Wrath" Matvey.
"So you've figured it out and are willing to follow me to the Warden's Lodge to accept punishment. A very wise choice," Matvey said, his voice lifting with what seemed like a hint of mocking amusement.
In normal circumstances, such a tone would have been unremarkable, but to the adventurers in the Nameless Town, who were trapped in extreme anxiety and oppression, it felt like a spark igniting a buried fury.
Mason's hands clenched into fists. It took considerable effort to rein in his emotions. "Matvey, I want to submit to a joint interrogation by the elves and the mages first, then go to the Warden's Lodge. You can follow me the entire time to make sure I don't run. Surely that's not an unreasonable request?"
For a knight squire and any knight below the Great Knight rank, such bargaining would clearly be seen as disrespectful toward a "warden." But Mason and Fered were Celestial Knights — as long as they were willing to accept punishment, such wishes would surely be granted. If even this "simple" request was considered excessive, then nothing would ever be enough.
And Mason had already made up his mind: during the interrogation by the mages and elves, he would emphasize Matvey and his group's peculiar behavior. Under scrutiny, even if Matvey and the others harbored other intentions, they wouldn't dare lay a hand on him.
Matvey laughed twice, devoid of any real musement. "How could it not be excessive? You've wasted my time! You're a Celestial Knight, and so am I — my time is just as precious! Mason, Fered, come with me to the Warden's Lodge. Otherwise, I'll have to use force."
His voice turned cold and merciless, delivering a final ultimatum.
Mason and Fered exchanged a glance. Through the Azure Dragon bloodline's secret mode of communication:
"We don't have any grudge against Matvey, do we?" Mason asked, confused. Matvey's refusal to yield even an inch could only mean either they had deeply offended him at some point, or he had other motives entirely.
Fered's eyes had taken on a striking ice-blue hue as he replied gravely, "No. We've barely had any dealings with him. So the fact that he's pressing us this hard, refusing to budge — he must have deeper intentions. We absolutely cannot go to the Warden's Lodge!"
His instinct as a Celestial Knight screamed at him. If they actually followed Matvey to the "Warden's Lodge," the two of them would face mortal danger. The foreboding pressed down on his chest, and the negative emotions he had accumulated over the long years seemed on the verge of erupting.
Mason gave an almost imperceptible nod and turned his gaze toward "The Earth's Wrath." "Matvey, whether my request is excessive or not isn't your call to make. We'll go see the high elves, go see the mages — let them be the judges."
His voice rang out powerful and righteous, loud enough for every nearby adventurer to hear clearly, and for the elves surrounding the town as well.
The elves who had sealed off the town turned to look, saw that Matvey was handling the matter, and then turned away again.
Mason paid no attention to the elves' reaction and continued in a voice like a dragon's roar: "Do you dare come with us to see the mages!"
In just those few sentences, the positions between them and Matvey seemed to have completely reversed.
Having spoken, he tensed the muscles across his back and walked toward the far end of the town as if nothing were amiss. Fered followed closely behind.
Matvey suddenly let out a cold laugh and called out loudly: "The mages and high elves have already delegated the interrogation to us!"
Before his words had even faded, the earth beneath Mason and Fered's feet suddenly surged in waves, sending the houses along the street swaying violently, threatening to collapse at any moment.
Mason, who had been on extreme alert, reacted instinctively. With a crack, a thick bolt of silver-white lightning materialized out of thin air and struck hard toward Matvey. Mason's body seemed to swell to twice its size in an instant — every inch of skin exposed beyond his black armor sprouted azure scales, and between the gaps of those scales, arcs of electricity danced and crackled.
Fered swung the long sword in his grip backward. The temperature inside the town plummeted instantly. The scorching, desolate abyss-like scenery was engulfed by a sudden blast of freezing wind, and shards of ice shaped like swords and spikes spiraled through the gale toward Matvey.
Wherever the ice-blue sword-light from his blade passed, thick layers of ice spread across the earth, and sharp ice spikes jutted upward from the frozen ground.
The ground beneath Matvey's feet cracked open, and crimson lava surged upward, neutralizing the bitter cold, canceling out the frost and wind. At the same time, a massive yellowish-brown hammer materialized in his hands, drawing down bolts of lightning to strike the earth.
"The high elves and mages have colluded with him?" Mason and Fered exchanged rapid communication through their secret method.
Fered took to the air, bringing his long sword down in a sweeping arc. Thick crystalline ice formed and blocked Matvey's earthfire and lava. "Even if there's collusion, it can only be a small faction. We'll blow this whole thing up — make every elf and mage aware of it!"
As a Celestial Knight, he was nothing if not decisive.
Just as he was about to unleash a wide-area attack like a northern blizzard, he suddenly felt the surroundings grow dark, as though the battlefield had been severed from the town and plunged into shadow.