Soon, the people in the sea of fire suddenly felt a chill.
It was as if they had just stepped out of a sauna room, only to be hit in the face by a blast of extrely cold air conditioning. They shivered, instantly snapping to full alertness.
And it was not an illusion—
They saw the flas on Tan Juan’s side of the fire, its temperature and height visibly decreasing. Three seconds later, the fire was forcibly extinguished, leaving only a few stubborn flas flickering tenaciously on the ground.
The players trapped in the fire saw their young lord standing outside.
On either side of him were towering fire walls, nearly five or six ters high, with thick black smoke billowing up.
But this smoke could not approach Tan Juan Geraint at all.
Exhaling faint wisps of white frost from his mouth and nostrils, his skin beca abnormally pale, devoid of color, and his eyes glowed with a deep blue light.
From his cuffs and trouser legs, bursts of turbulent white cold air gushed out. This frost-white mist clung closely to the ground, rippling outward slowly in circles like water waves.
The ground, just monts ago afla, chilled rapidly, cracking and leaving traces, with tiny frost clusters condensing upon the earth.
"My lord..."
"We are incredibly grateful, Tan Juan."
The players imdiately saluted Annan, with the salutes rather haphazard... They were still worried that this might be so kind of taboo.
But quickly, they realized Annan wasn’t even looking at them.
Annan’s gaze was fixed on a corner.
Those eyes cold and rciless as winter itself, stared intently at an empty corner—
Just when the players were at a loss, they suddenly heard two screams from that corner:
"Lord Geraint, we, we surrender..."
"Help, help! It’s so cold, I’m dying..."
Slowly erging from the shadows there were two people, their bodies encased in chunks of frost, curled up on the ground emitting increasingly weak cries for rcy: "Help! Lord Geraint..."
The pupils of the players dilated slightly.
Both those within and outside the sea of fire shifted their attention swiftly.
A realization dawned upon them.
No wonder they couldn’t find the last two people...
They could actually turn invisible to hide themselves!
Facing the pleas of the two, Annan remained unswayed.
His young face held no smile. He simply chuckled, exhaling a breath of cold frost as if he had just taken a puff of smoke.
"Surrender, you say? Do you wish to surrender?"
His lips curled up slightly, revealing teeth so white they seed to emanate a visible chill.
Under the flickering flas, his expression appeared even colder.
"Yes! We surrender!"
"We know all the secrets... Please spare our lives! We can testify for you—"
"Oh, surrender. Such a tender word. Even if you just tried to kill , according to the rules among nobles, I cannot kill those who surrender...
"—That’s what you think, right?"
Annan smiled radiantly, his slightly upturned eyes filled with a soft laugh: "But I’m sorry, my dear... There is no surrender between us.
"You were the ones who first broke the rules. This isn’t called vengeance—it’s called murder."
As he spoke, he reached out his right hand towards them, palm up.
"No... no!"
"Spare , Silver Baron... I beg you... my lord..."
The two of them, beholding Annan’s action, were terrified, stuttering in their pleas.
But Annan showed no rcy.
He simply wore a broad, gentle, elegant smile, slowly retracting his fingers starting with the pinky.
With each finger he drew back, the frost on the two grew thicker. By the ti all five fingers were pulled in and he made a fist, they were motionless, eyes wide open, breathless.
Their faces twisted in severe pain and fear, eyes frosted over, they looked like fish in a freezer.
This scene of chilling resolution, nearly cruel, left the players montarily breathless.
anwhile, the ice shards emanating from Annan’s side, reflecting the light of the fire, made him sparkle like a deity in the night.
It wasn’t until after executing those two that Annan turned back, the frost around him gradually dissipating.
His smile was faint, detached yet polite, nowhere as bright as when facing the two n, yet it conveyed a strong sense of trust.
"Welco back from your victorious return, my loyal guards," Annan said slowly, his voice crisp and pleasant: "Forty people in total, all present. Not a single one betrayed , not a single friend left .
"I’m very sorry; I should have welcod you properly. Due to the recent events, I temporarily lack the energy and finances to throw a banquet for you. I hope you can understand ... Once our days get better, I will definitely make up for today’s absence of a banquet. I believe it will be a luxurious and lively event,"
Annan’s voice was soft, his expression serious, "I an what I say."
After speaking, he paused before adding in an even quieter voice, "Welco ho... safely."
At that mont, a mission prompt appeared before the players:
[Mission Complete: Kill all Roth Fort private military within thirty minutes (114/114), destroy or control all Black Fire (50/50)]
[Main Mission Completed: Ordeal of the Black Fire]
[Unlocked: Frostwater Harbor]
[Unlocked: Player Forum]
[Tutorial mission ended. From now on, your deaths will be penalized. Each death will deduct all current shared experience and randomly decrease 1~2 job levels by one.]
[Gained 40 shared experience]
[Gained 100 favor with Tan Juan Geraint]
[Current favor is Friendly (0/500)]
[Upon hearing news of your return, Tan Juan Geraint was so excited he couldn’t sleep all night. But because of this, Tan Juan also sought a lifeline from the murderous intent of the Viscount of Roth Fort.]
[But now, Frostwater Harbor still faces a calamity.]
[You suspect that the old Viscount must want to put him to death due to his identity being related to the internal chaos of the situation. Perhaps, there might be other forces behind the old Viscount, subtly affecting Frostwater Harbor...]
[Regardless, this is your ho.]
[You’ve decided not to back down any longer.]
[Main Mission Acquired: Hocoming]
[Mission Requirent: Acquire a residence in Frostwater Harbor, and log off in your own bed (0/1)]
[Distributing extra reward assessnt...]
"Oh, right,"
Annan suddenly turned back, "Yiyi, Wandering Child, Delicious Wind Goose, you three rember to co with later."
Just then, a light screen flashed before Lin Yiyi’s eyes.
[Your favor with Tan Juan Geraint has increased]
[Current favor is Trust (0/1500)]
She looked around and exchanged a glance with the other two.
From their expressions, Lin Yiyi gleaned the information she was seeking.
So it’s true... a 100% extra completion reward is to directly increase favor by one level, isn’t it?
What’s left, then?
If Annan knew what she was thinking, he would surely have happily cleared her doubts—the reward for 40% completion is naturally a 40% increase in favor!
What a fair, practical, balanced, and cost-free reward!
Oh, and another hidden perk is that the three of them will have residences closer to Annan...
To the players, this might also be considered as "sothing special," right?
But the other players didn’t have ti to discuss the matter of completion.
After confirming they would still be able to browse the forum while following Annan, nearly all the players went into the Player Forum without exception.
The players moved like zombies, heads down, lifeless as they followed behind Annan.
From afar, it looked particularly ominous.
Only one person didn’t enter the forum...
Jiu’er followed Annan with curiosity, eyes fixed on him, a weird smile crossing her lips as she seed to ponder sothing.
But Annan inexplicably felt a chill.
It wasn’t malice, yet it sohow made him uneasy.
Damn it, what is she thinking...
But ultimately, Annan was content.
With players guarding Frostwater Harbor, at least Annan could confidently progress through instances...
He wouldn’t have to worry about coming out of an instance to find the whole Frostwater Harbor ablaze.
And besides... it was ti to deal with Roth Fort as well.
Annan narrowed his eyes slightly.
For so reason, he felt that this was the ti to get angry.
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