Early the next morning, Lightning told Maisie about her plan. After a brief discussion, the two decided not to search the Stone Forest area layer by layer, but to speed up and fly straight to the Rift Valley.
Regardless of whether there are new discoveries, after drawing the topographic map of the area, return to the Snowy Mountains of Eternal Winter to meet the Taquila witch.
At this moment, the sun has just emerged from the skyline, and the mountains are filled with mist, and strips of hoarfrost can be seen in the criss-crossing waterways, which are the traces left by the flood discharge last night. As the terrain slowly climbed, the whiteness in the field of vision became more and more, until the great rift valley in the distance was completely covered with snow, and it looked like an upside-down white porcelain giant bowl from a distance. .
According to estimates, it is about 300 kilometers away from the Kingdom of Eternal Winter, and its area is enough to be worth an extreme south. This rift has also been recorded in the whole picture of the Union's Dawn Realm, and it is believed that it was formed by a volcanic eruption, but now it has completely subsided.
Lightning has also seen those craters on the Burning Fire Islands that spew thick smoke and sulfur all day long, but compared to this mountain range, the scale is too much.
Two hours later, the expedition approached the Great Rift Valley region.
This spectacular and peculiar terrain panorama finally showed in the eyes of the two of them.
"Okay... It's huge," Maggie exclaimed, flapping her wings, "I feel like a whole kingdom can be stuffed into this pit."
Lightning couldn't help but nodded, the rift she thought was not actually a fault in the earth, and the shape similar to the mesa is definitely not a mountain peak here, but the ground seems to be punched open by something from the inside out, tilted up. The rock formations form irregular "walls" that look like scars of the earth when viewed from above.
If this is really a "break" caused by the eruption, how amazing would it be at that time
The two pressed down the height and landed two or three kilometers away from the Great Rift Valley. To be on the safe side, Maisie was usually the one who took the lead. After all, she could perfectly integrate with the local environment. Even if she was caught by the enemy, she might not be able to. recognize.
"Listen," Lightning urged, "Don't go deep into the cave, just circle around the crack and come back. If you find anything unusual, you must not go alone."
"Be sure to report to the head of the regiment first, and then decide the next step together." Maisie interrupted, "I know I know Goo, you've said it many times... Just like His Majesty Roland Goo!"
"Uh, is that right?" Lightning stroked the back of his head a little embarrassedly, remembering that when Roland told her like this before, she also complained to the members in private, a genius explorer naturally knows how to make the most reasonable judgment, which one? Need to be instructed to be instructed to go. Looking back now, she was really too childish at that time. "Cough, in short, it's not harmful to say important things a few times! I will stay here and search the nearby area by the way, no more than one kilometer at most. Remember this location, and return within 30 minutes, understand. ?"
"No problem goo!"
"Very well, let's go." Lightning patted her shoulder.
"Maggie, let's go!" The latter fluttered his wings and flew towards the center of the Great Rift Valley.
It wasn't until her figure completely disappeared from view that Lightning retracted her gaze and carefully looked around.
Snowy owls are common birds here. They are a type of owls. They can be active during the day and night, and have excellent eyesight. As long as they don't act rashly, the possibility of accidents is extremely low. It's much easier for her to be exposed. There are glaciers everywhere, and there are almost no traces of animals. If a devil suddenly appears, she will become the most conspicuous target.
So rather than looking for signs of enemy activity, Lightning first looks for places to hide or hide. She can no longer leave her troubles to others to clean up like before.
However, within five minutes, there was a rapid sound of flying overhead.
Lightning couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and as soon as she followed the sound, she saw Maisie swooping down in a panic, slamming her head into her arms.
"There are devils, devils!" the little girl shouted.
Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that there really is a divine stone vein here? "what have you found?"
"A huge alert beholder is lying on the stone wall below the entrance of the cave!" Maisie gestured, "I just flew over the entrance of the cave and looked at it!"
That meant the beholder saw her too.
Lightning couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness. Fortunately, he didn't always rush to the first one as usual. Seeing a witch and seeing a bird are two different things. A snowy owl should not arouse the vigilance of the other party.
"And then, didn't you scream on the spot?" She asked one more question just in case.
"Of course, I'm an experienced bird no, explorer goo!" Maisie raised her chest and said, "Don't say screaming, I didn't even blink, and I pretended to look around the scenery without moving. He looked away gleefully! I bet it's forgotten me now Goo!"
Another picture flashed in Lightning's mind.
A snowy owl opened its eyes wide and stared at the vigilant beholder on the rock wall, then turned its head and deliberately turned away...
"Damn, lousy!" She grabbed Maisie suddenly and rushed towards a hidden spot she had discovered before!
"Gu?" And the latter hadn't reacted.
It was an ice cave hundreds of meters away, probably because of the surrounding rocks, the snow did not fill the cracks below, just enough for one person to hide. Lightning rushed into the cave and lowered his body, only showing half of his head to look at the top of the rift.
After a while, a "door" emitting a strange luster appeared out of thin air in mid-air.
Then a devil walked out of the door and hovered upright above the Great Rift Valley. Lightning felt that even her breathing was a little slow on the other side, and she felt the pressure no less than facing Ersk.
The devil looked around for a while, then suddenly charged down the mountain! For a moment, Lightning felt that the blood in her whole body was about to freeze, and her body almost subconsciously wanted to turn around and flee. If it wasn't for the fact that the other party's orientation did not match the hiding place, she would have followed her instinctive reaction.
The devil plunged into the snow and ice, splashing a large cloud of white mist, and when it stood up again, there was a snowy owl in his hand.
Lightning swallowed and touched his chest involuntarily.
Fortunately, Maisie is still here.
The devil brought the frightened snowy owl close to him and stared at it for a long time, and finally shook his head in a bit of disappointment, and let go of it. The latter immediately screamed and flew into the sky, quickly turning into a white dot.
The devil didn't stay for too long. It held both hands empty again, tore open the door of strange light in front of nothing, and then stepped into it and disappeared in front of the two of them.
Lightning finally let out a breath.
In this way, the whereabouts of the expedition group have not been exposed.
"Gu... What should we do next?" Maisie finally realized her "wrong reaction" at this moment, and asked with her head lowered.
If it was in the past, Lightning would probably choose to try to sneak into the Great Rift Valley from other places. Even if the beholder is alert, it is impossible to monitor every corner. For the explorer, although the first discoverer and the second discoverer are only separated by one person, the meanings are completely different. If she could, she always wanted to be the first.
But at this moment, she is not a simple explorer, but the head of the Neverwinter Expedition Group, and a sentinel who broadens the horizons for the First Army.
No matter what is hidden under the Great Rift Valley, the appearance of alert beholders and high-level demons is an extremely dangerous signal!
She must pass this news back to Neverwinter as soon as possible and inform His Majesty Roland Wimbledon.
"Let's go to Manxue Ridge and meet the Taquila witch," Lightning bit his lip, "This mountain is no longer a safe place for no one to set foot in."