The next morning, Lightning told Maggie about her plan. After a brief discussion, they decided not to search the stone forest layer by layer. Instead, they sped up their pace and flew straight to the platform of the rift valley.
Whether there were any new discoveries or not, they would return to the Snow Ridge of the Kingdom of Everwinter and meet the Taquila witches after drawing the topographic map of the area.
At this moment, the sun had just peeked out from the skyline. The mountains were covered with mist, and there were streaks of white frost in the crisscrossing waterways, which were the traces of the flood last night. As the terrain slowly climbed, they saw more and more white until the whole mountain was covered with white. The rift valley in the distance was completely covered with snow. From afar, it looked like an upside-down white porcelain bowl.
According to estimates, it was about 300 kilometers away from the Kingdom of Everwinter, which was as large as the Southernmost Region. The Union had also recorded this rift valley in the map of the Land of Dawn. It was believed that it was formed by a volcanic eruption, but now it had completely subsided.
Lightning had also seen the volcanic craters on the Searing Fire Islands that spewed thick smoke and sulfur all day long, but compared to this mountain, they were much smaller.
Two hours later, the Exploration Group approached the rift valley area.
This spectacular and unique terrain was finally revealed to the two of them.
"It's... it's so big," Maggie exclaimed while flapping her wings. "It feels like a whole kingdom can be stuffed into this pit."
Lightning could not help nodding. The rift valley she had thought was actually not a fault, and the shape of the platform was not a mountain. Instead, the ground seemed to have been forcefully split open from the inside out, and the raised rock strata formed irregular "mountain walls", which looked like scars on the ground from a bird's eye view.
If this "breach" was really caused by an eruption, how shocking would it have been at that time?
The two lowered their altitude and landed two or three kilometers away from the rift valley. To be on the safe side, Maggie was usually the first to take the lead. After all, she could blend in perfectly with the local environment. Even if the enemy ran into her, they might not be able to recognize her.
"Listen," Lightning said. "Don't go deep into the cave. Circle around the crack and come back. If you find anything unusual, don't go there alone — "
"We must report to the leader first, and then we can decide on our next step together." Maggie interrupted, "I know, I know, coo. You've said it many times … just like His Majesty, coo!"
"Uh, really?" Lightning scratched the back of her head, a little embarrassed. She remembered that when Roland had given her such advice in the past, she had privately complained to her team members. A genius explorer would naturally know how to make the most reasonable judgment. There was no need for her to be told so many times. Now that she thought about it, she was indeed too childish at that time. "Ahem, anyway, there's no harm in repeating important things a few times! I'll stay here and search the nearby area. It won't be more than a kilometer. Remember this location and return within 30 minutes. Understood? "
"No problem, coo!"
"Very well, go ahead." Lightning patted her on the shoulder.
"Maggie, let's go!" Maggie flapped her wings and flew towards the center of the Great Rift.
It was not until Maggie's figure completely disappeared that Lightning withdrew her gaze and carefully looked around.
Snowy owls were a common bird here, a kind of owl. They could move around day and night and had excellent eyesight. As long as one did not act rashly, the possibility of an accident was very low. On the other hand, it was much easier for Maggie to expose herself. There were glaciers everywhere, and there were almost no traces of beasts. If a demon suddenly appeared, she would become the most obvious target.
Therefore, instead of looking for signs of enemy activity, Lightning first looked for places to hide or hide. She couldn't leave all her troubles to others to deal with like she did in the past.
However, in less than five minutes, there was a rapid sound of flying above her head.
Lightning could not help but be stunned. As soon as she looked in the direction of the sound, she saw Maggie swooping down in panic and bumping into her arms.
"Demon, demon, coo!" The little girl shouted.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat. Was there really a God's Stone mine here? "What did you find?"
"A huge vigilant Eye Demon, lying on the stone wall below the entrance, coo!" Maggie gestured with her hands and feet. "As soon as I flew over the entrance, I saw it!"
That meant the Eye Demon also saw her.
Lightning could not help but feel lucky that she was not always the first to rush to the front as usual. Seeing a witch and seeing a bird were two completely different things. A snowy owl should not have aroused the Eye Demon's vigilance.
"Then what? You didn't scream, did you?" Just in case, Maggie still asked one more question.
"Of course, I'm an experienced bird — no, an explorer, coo!" Maggie stuck out her chest and said, "Not to mention screaming, I didn't even blink at that time, and I even pretended to look around at the scenery, quietly averting my eyes, coo! I bet it has forgotten me now, coo! "
Another scene flashed in Lightning's mind.
A snowy owl opened its eyes wide and stared at the vigilant Eye Demon on the stone wall. Then it turned its head and deliberately looked away...
"Oh, no!" She suddenly grabbed Maggie and rushed to a hiding place that she had found earlier!
"Coo?" Maggie did not have time to react.
It was an ice cave hundreds of meters away. Probably because of the surrounding rocks, the snow did not fill the crack below, which was just enough for one person to hide in. Lightning rushed into the cave and lowered her body, only showing half of her head to look at the top of the rift valley.
A moment later, a "door" with a strange luster appeared out of nowhere in the air.
Then a demon walked out of the door and floated straight above the rift valley. Lightning felt that even her breathing slowed down. She felt the pressure from the demon was no less than that from Ösrook.
The demon looked around for a while, then suddenly rushed down the mountain! For a moment, Lightning felt that all the blood in her body was about to freeze. Her body almost subconsciously wanted to turn around and escape. If it wasn't for the fact that the other party's direction and hiding place didn't match, she was afraid that she would have followed her instincts.
The demon plunged into the ice and snow, splashing a large cloud of white fog. When it stood up again, there was a snowy owl in its hand.
Lightning swallowed her saliva and touched her chest involuntarily.
Fortunately, Maggie was still here.
The demon looked at the frightened snowy owl for a long time. Finally, it shook its head in disappointment and let go of the owl. The snowy owl immediately screamed and flew into the sky, soon turning into a white dot.
The demon did not stay for long. It clenched its hands again and tore open the door of light in front of it. Then it stepped into the door and disappeared in front of them.
Lightning finally let out a sigh of relief.
In this way, the Exploration Group's whereabouts were not exposed.
"Coo … What should we do next?" Maggie finally realized her "wrong reaction" and asked with her head drooped.
If it was in the past, Lightning would have tried to sneak into the rift valley from another direction. The rift valley was so wide that even the vigilant Eye Demons could not monitor every corner. For an explorer, the first one to discover something and the second one were separated by only one person, but the significance was completely different. If possible, she would always want to be the first one.
However, at this moment, she was not just an explorer, but the leader of the Neverwinter Exploration Group and a sentinel who opened up new horizons for the First Army.
No matter what was hidden under the rift valley, the appearance of the vigilant Eye Demons and the Senior Demon was a sign of extreme danger!
She had to send the news back to Neverwinter as soon as possible and inform King Roland Wimbledon.
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