After Fenno's slash, a great amount of blood splashed out from the ground!

More than twenty Ice Worms were severed by Fenno's sword.

But things didn't look optimistic. The centipede-like Ice Worms kept popping out from the cavity in the snow.

"This is an Ice Worm nest! Damn it, when did an Ice Worm nest appear in Torch Valley!"

The Legend Wizard's face was unsightly.

Ice Worms were relatively common lifeforms in the Crimson Wasteland, but it wasn't that common to see an Ice Worm nest. Even if a few Ice Worms wouldn't be worth mentioning, a whole nest of them was a true challenge.

It was like the Immortal Snow Soul. Alone, it would be weak, but with many of them together, especially near a nest, they were comparable to a Legend!

And from another point of view, killing them was very strenuous, while the rewards were negligible.

The Ice Worms' distinctive Ice Breath was comparable to a White Dragon's. The damage they could do to weapons and armors was rather dire.

Every Legend of the Martial Path cherished their weapons. Dealing with monsters like Ice Worms would easily damage their weapons and wasn't worth it.

But they had no other way now because they had already provoked the wrath of the Ice Worms and thousands of them were rushing out from the nest!

Marvin tugged his horse back and lifted his staff, pretending to chant.

The next second, a green light covered the field of snow!

[Nature Communication]!

The immense Nature Power flooded the entire area and many of the Ice Worms became sluggish.

"Return!"

Fenno pulled back his partner, who had been preparing to stake it all with an all-out attack. His foresight and judgement were top-notch. He knew of the Nature Communication spell, but wasn't sure about whether it could influence the Ice Worms. However, fighting the Ice Worms now would surely hurt more than help.

Because Marvin was currently trying to communicate with the Ice Worms!

This was one of the strengths of Druids.

They revered life and nature, which helped them be able to communicate with all living things.

It was rumored that some profound Druids could even chat with inanimate objects like stones.

Something of that extent was naturally impossible for a fake Druid like Marvin, but the Greyhawk Staff was actually an Oddity, and it gave Marvin half the identity of a Druid, which he now took advantage of.

The Ice Worms weren't creatures with no intelligence, and they didn't attack adventurers for no reason.

Marvin wanted to find out the cause of their ire.

Bathed by the green light, the worms gradually slowed down.

But Marvin's frown was deepening.

Because in his consciousness, he could only hear a constant buzzing sound.

The intelligence of these Ice Worms was apparently too low. Their minds were fixated on one idea, which was to attack any lifeforms approaching their nest.

Marvin reached out with his mind to try to communicate with them, but was still unable to get any sort of information from them after attempting for a while.

Still, after about five minutes, the Ice Worms were gradually pacified as everyone watched in surprise.

They slowly retreated and disappeared back underground, as if they had never attacked in the first place.

But the blood on the ground was evidence of the fierce battle that might have taken place.

"Worthy of being a Great Druid."

Fenno looked pleasantly at Marvin as he complimented, "You can actually pacify those Ice Worms."

Fenno wasn't happy for no reason. Even though many Great Druids had the powerful Nature Communication ability, communicating with a lifeform with low intelligence was very challenging. And Marvin gave them an effortless victory.

The others' looks toward Marvin had also become more respectful.

Marvin's aura was relatively reserved, making him seem quite mysterious.

But before this encounter, the strength he displayed was rather ordinary, so no one had attached much importance to him.

Marvin shook his head as he corrected, "I didn't persuade them."

The Legend Wizard froze. "Then why did they go?"

"I only made them a promise," Marvin explained as he began to frown.

"What promise?" the Wizard insisted. She sounded very dissatisfied. Marvin actually made a promise in her stead even though he was just following along with their group. This kind of action already exceeded her bottom line.

Marvin shrugged. "I told them that we wouldn't pass through Torch Valley."

"What! What gave you the right to make this kind of decision!?" Nolane shrieked, "Not through Torch Valley? Do you want to climb the mountain?"

Marvin frowned more deeply, but didn't say anything.

Fenno was rather gloomy, while that big guy holding the enormous axe remained indifferent.

The Legend Wizard sneered, "Tell me why you did that. Or are some pitiful Ice Worms enough to make you take a detour? Great Druid?" Her tone was sharp and was laced with a hint of charm magic.

The effect was to incite the target's anger.

Although it wasn't able to make Marvin angry, he still felt it.

She was provoking him.

'That woman is too used to being domineering,' Marvin sneered inwardly, but he didn't feel like bothering with her and looked toward the Paladin instead.

"Mister Griffin, they didn't see, but you should have understood?"

The Paladin originally neglected by everyone nodded silently.

He took a step forward and a silver light burst out of the ring on his finger.

A faint outline of a scale could be seen in the light!

[Truth Scale]!

Marvin's mind shook!

Although he had already guessed that this Paladin was unfathomable, Marvin hadn't expected that he had already trained to the point of being able to summon the Truth Scale.

Even though the God of Truth had already fallen, the Truth Scale once represented the Domain's highest law and power.

Under the shadow of the Truth Scale, the short road leading to Torch Valley became transparent.

The snow seemed to have disappeared and was replaced by a clear pattern.

At that instant, they all held their breaths!

Because that short road actually hid more than twenty Ice Worm nests!

A single Ice Worm nest was enough to wear them out, but if they angered more of them and all these monsters came out… the consequences would be unthinkable!

Cleric Nolane's expression became unsightly.

So did Team Leader Fenno's.

That Legend Wizard was unable to speak for a long time.

The awkward silence was broken my Marvin's calm words.

He cleared his throat and looked at everyone. "If we forcibly rush through Torch Valley, these Ice Worms will tear us to pieces. I don't know how strong everyone is, but regardless of your equipment and skills, would that be enough to ignore the Ice Worms' Ice Breath? Under a collective attack from so many, we would turn into ice statues."

"This road is clearly impassable for us."

He pointed at the tall snowy mountain and continued, "We can only climb the mountain to reach Holy Light City."

The others remained silent.

Only Griffin nodded to Marvin.

After a while, Fenno's eyes flickered. "Sorry, we cannot keep moving forward."

"Last time we climbed the mountain, we met an Immortal Snow Soul. If we hadn't retreated quickly enough, we might have been buried there. We can't take this path again."

"Moreover, these Ice Worm nests already explain a lot. Someone doesn't want people to cross the mountain. That person, or perhaps those people, want to seal the path from Black Swan Hill to Holy Light City. And someone that is able to set up so many Ice Worm nests definitely isn't someone we can afford to provoke. Even if we manage to climb the mountain, we will most likely end up in a deadly snowstorm or something else."

"We won't go any further."

His expression seemed regretful.

Marvin frowned as he looked at him.

The others' expressions also seemed unnatural.

Marvin didn't say much as he dismounted and left the group. He set foot on the long mountain path with Paladin Griffin.

After five minutes, once Marvin and Griffin's shadows disappeared...

"Are we really stopping?" The big man with the big axe scratched his head as he asked, "Team Leader, didn't you say that you absolutely must go to Holy Light City this time?"

"Going, of course we are going." Fenno's expression suddenly darkened. "We will follow behind them."

"These two aren't simple at all. They might be able to force the mastermind's hand. We will follow behind and reap some benefits."

"Go! Let's catch up."

The small team once again set off across the boundless field of snow, following the pace of Marvin's group as they slowly climbed the mountain.

...

On the other side of the mountain, in some dark, desolate ruins.

A Wizard was obsessively looking at a statue.

"Luna… I'm here…"

"I finally found you after so many years."

"This time, I won't let anyone take you away!"

Under the Wizard's hat, two bright green flames shone.

And the statue in front of him had suffered from the passage of time, but it still had vitality.

It was a statue of a beautiful young girl.

She was kneeling on the ground, seemingly accepting some punishment with a heartbreakingly painful expression on her face.

A spear was piercing the young girl's heart, and the scene looked exceptionally cruel.

Her hands were hanging in the air as if she was holding something, and one could see a faint flickering blue spot.

"Damn thief!"

The Wizard cursed, suddenly unable to restrain his anger, "You actually stole Luna's Cold Light's Grasps. I'll carve you into a thousand pieces!"

Suddenly, a crystal ball in front of him burst out with glaring lights.

A scene appeared inside it.

Two men were climbing the mountain.

One of them was carrying a weak, young girl on his back.

The green flames in the Wizard's eyes flared up.

"I won't let anyone get close to you, Luna, my darling…"