That was a signal flare.
A crimson beam of light shot up from the direction of the outer city, bursting within the thin mist to illuminate a small patch of the night sky before quickly fading away.
Soon after, a third flare rose from further away, slightly to the north and closer to the city walls.
Glock's expression shifted.
“It's a signal from the outer outposts.” He immediately realized something. “This is bad. I'll go check first...”
Without looking back, Glock turned and dashed off.
A fourth red light rose, this one closest of all. The flare burst in the night sky, painting half of the city wall in a crimson glow.
Kraus did not stop his pace.
“Something is approaching from outside,” his voice rumbled deeply. “Back to the branch. Everyone, head back.”
The group quickened their steps.
The Blue Knight and Margaret flanked them, while the attendant and the Great Ascendant brought up the rear.
Adrian's steps were somewhat unsteady now.
The lights of the Nightwatchers branch gleamed ahead.
The branch's main gate stood wide open, its internal lights spilling out to illuminate a small patch of the gravel road in front.
The moment they stepped through the gate, Adrian clearly reached his limit. His face fell as his body swayed. Fortunately, the two Nightwatchers beside him caught him in time, preventing the Archbishop from collapsing.
Lu Yuan glanced back. Adrian's face was ashen. The power he had forced out down in the Abyss had completely drained him.
As Lu Yuan stared, the grey-white text popped up, just as he had suspected.
【Target Detected: Adrian (Believer Transcendent) (Weakened)】
【A human who worships Angels and strange things. Well, he still counts as a Believer Transcendent, doesn't he?】
The two Nightwatchers supported him toward an empty room nearby, letting him lie down and rest. Another person went to send word to the Church, telling them to pick up their Archbishop or at least send some potions over first.
Lu Yuan didn't dwell on it. He withdrew his gaze and followed Kraus toward the main hall.
The Blue Knight walked on the far left, the light blue cloak behind her worn down to a short stub. Her rapier had already been returned to its scabbard at her waist. A small orb of light blue water hovered in her palm, which she used to wash away the filth clinging to her armor bit by bit.
Margaret walked on the right, looking rather displeased; the battle below had clearly not satisfied her. The attendant's condition was even worse. Aside from the Archbishop, he had exerted himself the most on this trip. His face was devoid of color, and the veins on the back of his hands throbbed violently. The Great Ascendant, as indifferent as ever, occasionally flickered his silver-grey eyes, his thoughts unreadable.
The branch was in even greater chaos than before they had gone down.
Nightwatchers rushed in and out of the corridors. Several were wounded, their bandages wrapped haphazardly, not even having time to wipe the blood from their faces. A Nightwatcher carrying a stack of copper plates dashed out from the direction of the main hall, nearly colliding with Lu Yuan. He muttered a hurried apology before vanishing.
Kraus entered the main hall and sat behind the old long table. His bone armor had completely receded, and the damaged portion of his left shoulder was covered in a layer of dark green crystals.
Lu Yuan stood before the table.
Before Kraus could even speak, urgent reports began to flood in one after another.
The first Nightwatcher pushed open the door, his clothes stained with blood and his breathing ragged. He spoke to Kraus in a low, rushed voice.
“Something happened at the copper wall. The patrol from the pipe network layer reported that the eerie domain behind the copper wall has expanded outward, and the signs of activity are much heavier than before. The guards stationed there were knocked unconscious. The one who did it was Selena Winter of the Polymath Tower. She used some method to trigger whatever is behind the copper wall.”
Before he could even finish, a second Nightwatcher burst in, smelling of fresh earth and gasping for breath. He couldn't keep his voice down as he spoke.
“Most of the outposts stationed outside the city are gone. It's the same for both the Nightwatchers and the Holy Armored Army—they died horrific deaths, and it doesn't look like the work of ghouls. Only seven scouts are still in contact. Also, the inscriptions on the southern section of the inner city walls are fading. Something dark red seems to be growing inside the walls!”
The main hall fell into a sudden, dead silence.
The Blue Knight and the others were somewhat dazed, as they had no idea what was sealed beneath the copper wall and the pipe network layer. Only the Great Ascendant's silver-grey eyes flickered almost imperceptibly for a fraction of a second.
Standing where he was, Lu Yuan immediately realized that Selena was from the Polymath Tower. The Polymath Tower had participated in the Sea of Knowledge harvesting and had dealt with the giant head at the top of the tower. For a Polymath Tower mentor to take such a massive risk to tamper with the city walls, the mastermind behind it was undoubtedly The Man on the Wall. It had chosen the exact moment they left the city to dive—when the city's defenses were at their weakest. Only it could have timed it so perfectly.
As for those outposts outside the city that had died mysterious deaths, they had likely fallen victim to the white mist on the square. If some eerie entity was hidden within the mist and had slipped into the city amid the chaos, it would make perfect sense.
What truly made Lu Yuan's heart tighten, however, was the city walls.
The mass of flesh at the bottom of the Abyss was connected to the bronze pillars, which were the very core of the Bronze City's wall power.
Now that the flesh had been enraged by them, it was actually corroding its way up toward the city walls along the bronze pillars. But how could it expand so quickly?
Kraus did not let the silence linger for long. He stood up and began giving orders one by one.
“Blue Knight, take Margaret and the attendant out to purge. Clear out as many of the encroaching ghouls as possible.”
The Blue Knight nodded, turning to leave without a single wasted word.
Margaret followed behind, looking rather eager. Opportunities to fight were rare, and she hadn't had her fill down below, so killing some ghouls now suited her just fine. The attendant, on the other hand, was somewhat reluctant; curling his lips, he dragged his pale face and followed along.
Kraus turned his gaze to the Great Ascendant.
“The Ascension Society shouldn't sit idle either. I'm leaving that section of the city wall to you. I don't care what methods you use—delay them for as long as you can.”
The light in the Great Ascendant's silver-grey eyes flickered. He neither agreed nor refused, but his massive mechanical body turned around, his joints clattering as he slowly walked out the door.
Kraus then looked at the two Nightwatchers beside him. “Change the scouts to three-man teams. Watch the movements outside the city closely, and sound the alarm at the slightest sign of trouble. Also, have the residents evacuate toward the branch as quickly as possible. Gather and protect them nearby.”
He laid out the orders one by one, finally settling on the city walls and the copper wall. “Send someone to notify the Count. They will come to us. As for the copper wall, I will personally visit the Polymath Tower to explain the situation to the Guardian face-to-face.”
The room emptied quickly as everyone went to attend to their duties. Soon, only Kraus and Lu Yuan were left in the main hall.
Kraus started walking out, stopping only when he reached the doorway, without turning back.
“Lake was just transferred back, and his injuries are severe. Go check on him. If you can help him recover a bit, even better. The guards left behind said the seed in C-District has undergone some new changes; take a look at that on your way as well. Tell me what you see when you return.”
Lu Yuan could tell that Kraus was deliberately sending him away because he was only a Rank 2. The critical matters at hand were not things a Rank 2 could get involved in. With all the proper high-level transcendents deployed, he wouldn't be of any help staying in the main hall anyway.
He nodded.
Kraus's footsteps quickly faded down the corridor.
Standing alone in the empty main hall, Lu Yuan silently probed the thread connected to the fragment deep within his consciousness once more.
It was still completely lifeless.
After returning from the Abyss, the connection to the fifth fragment had snapped. While the links to the first four fragments remained, the thin thread holding the fifth lay quietly dormant. He could feel its existence, but he couldn't pinpoint its direction at all—not even slightly.
Lu Yuan didn't waste any more time. Putting the matter of the fifth fragment aside for now, he turned and left the main hall.
He ran straight into Jurgen in the corridor.
The eighteen-year-old youth was leaning against the wall, clutching a short dagger in his hand with uncleaned, dark red blood still clinging to the blade. The moment he saw Lu Yuan, he immediately stood up straight, the usual gloom in his eyes receding slightly. It seemed he had been waiting here specifically for Lu Yuan.
“Captain Lu, I heard...”
Before he could finish, Lu Yuan raised a hand to interrupt him. “Come with me. We're going to see Lake.”
Jurgen nodded immediately, sheathed his short dagger, and followed in Lu Yuan's footsteps.
Lake was settled in a room deep within the branch. The door was half-ajar, with light spilling through the crack.
Lu Yuan pushed the door open. The first thing he saw was a man so thin he looked practically skeletal, leaning against the headboard. Lake sat there in his human form, most of the Swarming Worms on his body gone, leaving only a few scattered dark red insect tracks beneath his skin. His face was devoid of color.
His injuries looked severe. His right shoulder was wrapped in a thick layer of bandages, the seeping blood already dried, and his left ribs were also bound, looking as if they had been broken. Yet Lake's spirits were entirely different from his physical appearance. He tilted his head, glanced at Lu Yuan, and actually managed a rare smile.
“Don't look at me like that. It's not as bad as it looks.”
Lu Yuan didn't reply. The grey-white text had already floated up before him.
【Target Detected: Lake (Eerie Transcendent) (Recovering)】
【A human who embraces the Swarming Worms. He seems to have released the vast majority of his power and is currently weakened. Embrace the power of the swarm.】
It was similar to what he had seen last time, only with a few more lines. Clearly, his insects had been truly depleted this time. However, this also allowed Lu Yuan to breathe a sigh of relief. Since his status was “recovering,” it meant he didn't need to worry too much.
“Another special individual popped up on the surface,” Lake changed the subject, his expression turning graver. “I almost didn't make it against that thing. If another Rank 4 captain from the Nightwatchers hadn't arrived to lend a hand, I probably would have met my end out there.”
Lu Yuan's brow furrowed.
“There's another one?”
“Yes, and it's extremely strong,” Lake tilted his head. “There were too many amalgamations flooding in at the time. If my pathway didn't happen to counter them, it would have been really hard to handle. The situation on the surface is very grim right now. It'll take some days for this body of mine to recover, and there's really not much I can do for the moment.”
Rate on N.U.
