“it’s that flying lion!” amy exclaimed happily.

  the griffin was excited to see mag. it swooped down quickly to him, but when it heard amy, it slowed considerably. finally, it landed a few meters away from mag and amy and did a lap around them warily, staring at the girl like she was dangerous. it then took to the air again, hovering not too high above them.

  mag was surprised. he wanted to laugh. apparently, the griffin was afraid of her, even though it was much bigger and more powerful.

  “ah zi, come on down,” mag called up.

  the griffin looked from mag to amy and ventured a little closer.

  “ah zi? that’s a cute name. do you know him, father?”


  mag nodded. “it’s an old friend.” then he turned to his mount again. “come down, ah zi!” it was hard to believe that a 10th-tier griffin which had torn a demon to pieces would be so afraid of a little girl.

  hesitantly, the purple-striped griffin flew down beside them. despite its fear of amy, it edged closer and rubbed its head against mag’s shoulder.

  “wow! it’s so cute! i want to pet it too,” amy said, reaching out a hand.

  yet before amy’s hand could reach it, the griffin retracted its head swiftly, staring at her as if she would kill it.

  mag didn’t understand. “this is amy, ah zi, my daughter. she won’t hurt you.”


  “ah zi, be a good griffin and let me pet you,” amy said, whipping out her magic staff. “or i’ll crack open your head.”


  frightened, the griffin thrust its head into her hands right away.

  “that’s a good griffin.” amy stroked its shivering head, her smile as bright as her shining staff.

  mag: “.……”


  soon ah zi stopped shivering and started enjoying her stroking. mag watched and smiled.

  he hadn’t figured out why it was so afraid of amy, but it seemed they were getting along well now.

  “father, ah zi killed those bad people because you gave it orders, right?” amy asked as she touched the griffin’s fluffy head.

  mag nodded. “yes.”


  “even your pet is so powerful!” she sighed deeply. “ugly duckling is too fat. even if it becomes a swan, it will be a very fat one. i don’t think it will be able to fly, let alone fight.”


  the imagery of a round ball of an orange cat flying brought an amused smile to mag’s face. he put amy down on the ground and took out some black clothes. “we’re going to kill some bad people and save those that are being held captive, but heroes never reveal their true identities, so we need to disguise ourselves.”


  “like the heroes in the legends? i heard a legend, a hero with a mask rescued a lot of people in trouble, but left no name.”


  “yes. so you can’t tell anyone what we’re about to do, and don’t say a word after we get there. can you do it?” mag asked solemnly.

  amy nodded. “yes, father.”


  “that’s my girl.” they dressed themselves in black, put on masks, and climbed onto the griffin’s back. “let’s go.”


  mag patted his mount’s back. “ah zi, take us to those guys hideout.”


  “let’s go!” amy said with elation as she raised her hands high into the air.

  the griffin flapped its wings and took to the air, disappearing into the distance in a short while. their horse was tied to a tree, still shaking with fear……

  the people of the gray temple were now in the basin, examining bodies and searching for clues. several men were looking for the escaped demon in the collapsed cave.

  brandli had a lot of questions for the members of the rose mercenary squad, who were the first survivors of the elf hunters.

  “a demon escaped into that cave, and then the griffin collapsed it with a lightning ball,” said dennis. “we don’t know if the demon is dead or not. some of the caves here are huge and have multiple entrances. he might have escaped through one of them.” he still had some lingering fear as he thought back to the scene.

  brandli nodded. “thanks. we’ll take it from here. go home and get some rest. we may have more questions later.”


  “anything we can do, just ask. you know where to find us.”


  “found him!” a man called out suddenly. several more men rushed into the cave immediately and carried out the lightning-blackened demon, who was still smoking. one of his legs had been crushed by rocks. he was dying, but they still tied him up with spirit binding rope.

  brandli walked over to the demon. “fix him and make him talk. i want to know where they are hiding.”
……

  15 kilometers to the west of the basin, there was a big mountain. to the west of the mountain was a nearly vertical cliff. under the cliff was a canyon, which was filled with dense fog all year round. visibility was down to several meters in the fog.

  there was a thick forest in the canyon. few people had come to this place over the past hundreds of years, so the trees here were massive.

  the purple-striped griffin landed quietly at the mouth of the canyon.