Months ago, Grand Mage Jurgen Locke suddenly lost contact.

Thus, the Supreme Mage issued an order.

Send twelve direct Silver-faced Mages to the Northern Territory to find out the truth.

Target: the Northern Territory border and the ruins of the northern tribes.

Due to the vast location, the twelve of them were divided into four teams, searching separately.

This was initially seen as an easy mission, just finding a person...

At least, everyone thought so at the beginning.

But reality quickly taught these determined Silver-faced Mages what "clueless" really meant.

The wind in the icy land was cold, and the clues even colder.

Weeks passed by in the blink of an eye, no ruins, no bodies, not even a trace of lingering magic power was found.

"This place is increasingly like a dead end." Lei Xi'er frowned at the map, casually igniting a ball of magic flame at his feet.

The three of them sat by the campfire near the creek, munching on dried food with expressionless faces.

"I said it a long time ago, getting into management is the true way of life." Modi bit into the rock-hard bread with a crunch,

"Silver-faced Mage sounds glorious, but in reality, what's the difference between us and cattle; at a Mage's word, we have to run into the Northern Territory forest to find a person we can't find for a month."

"If you want to become a Golden-faced Mage, you first need to learn to kiss ass." Lei Xi'er glanced at him, his tone flat.

"Then forget it." Modi shot him a sideways glance.

Flavia said nothing, tearing at her dry food, seemingly deep in thought.

Her gaze occasionally drifted to the shadows of the forest, where the wind seemed a little off.

The firelight flickered, and the intertwining snow and forest shadows created an indescribable sense of oppression.

"By the way, do we really have to keep going? Not a trace of magic residue." Modi asked in a low voice.

Lei Xi'er didn't answer, just stared into the depths of the forest.

"We've come this far, can't really say we turn back now." He said softly, "Let's go ask the residents nearby later."

Just as they were chatting idly, the forest breeze changed subtly.

The sound that should have been the gentle rustling of branches in the forest suddenly mixed with a bizarre noise.

A creaking, as if bones were grinding against each other, or rusted metal dragging on ice, dull and distorted.

"Wait." Flavia halted her words, frowning, her gaze sweeping sharply behind them.

"Something's coming."

In the next second, shadows of trees cracked open, and five or six figures burst from the dark forest.

Wearing tattered leather armor, their cloaks in shreds, their strides strangely uniform, shockingly fast.

Their faces expressionless, eyes unfocused, as if filled with death intent.

The black-purple totems on their chests appeared like birthmarks, pulsating as if alive, like hearts beating outside skin, emitting a "thump, thump" rhythm.

The most terrifying part was their muscles weren't contracting but writhing, like leeches squirming under skin.

From their eyes and mouths continually crawled translucent threads, some even showed wriggling forms under the skin, like nightmares burrowing into bone.

"These are not human." Flavia's voice was barely audible, "No heartbeat... like husks, controlled by insects."

Lei Xi'er kept his brow furrowed, silently donning his silver mask, a heated demon pattern appearing on his palm.

And Modi was already up, battle-ready: "Forget what they are, just stop them first."

"Armor Technique·Rock Shell!"

A low roar, gray patterns rapidly climbed his body, he rose like a stone statue soldier, the ground exploding underfoot, his whole body like an arrow shot from a string!

"Hah—!!"

A fierce punch sent an Insect Warrior flying, crashing through two trees before slamming into the ground.

But—

"Creak, creak."

The Insect Warrior made a sound like misaligned teeth, rising from the pit, its neck twisted a hundred and eighty degrees with a snap, eyes meeting Modi's, actually swinging a sword in a horizontal cut!

"Damn!"

Modi raised an arm to block, the blade sparking against his rock-hardened arm, a counterforce pushing him back half a step.

This wasn't the strength of a puppet, this was combat strength capable of killing.

"Prepare to control the field!" Lei Xi'er said in a low shout, flicking his right hand.

"Fireball Technique·Chain!"

Three fireballs shot out, hitting three Insect Warriors, erupting into a towering blaze!

As the fire storm raged, those Insect Warriors rolled to the ground like charred corpses.

But the next second, several of them stood up amidst the flames, holding their axes tightly, their charred bodies rushing forward as if impervious to pain.

"Even crawling can attack!?" Lei Xi'er grit his teeth quietly.

One Insect Warrior had already lost its lower body but crawled with its arms like a centipede, not much slower than a normal person.

Insects danced at the corners of its mouth, displaying a nauseatingly eerie grin, pouncing at Flavia.

"Disgusting." Flavia dodged while chanting.

"Swift Blessing·Heavy Protection, Modi!"

Magical light whirled, Modi accelerated again, instantly lunging to the side of the Insect Warrior, a downward punch slammed its entire body into the ground, bone cracks mixed with the burst of insect nests echoed.

A sour, rancid smell of insect pulp wafted through the air.

"Lei Xi'er, two more from behind!" Flavia shouted a reminder.

"Got it," he replied in a deep voice, firing with his left hand.

"Fireball Technique!"

Another wave of fire roared, illuminating the shadows among the trees.

But the Insect Warriors had no instinct to dodge at all, they weren't "fighting"—they were "executing orders."

Even with severed limbs, melted eyes, or half their body gone, they still instinctively pounced, slashed, approached.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.