Nightmare’s Call

With the suppression force field of the Sanctum and power radiation of the Tower of Dusk in Henricqal, the clergies had gotten a huge boost in strength.

Almost every one of them had the very basic divine ability of Evil Detection. As this ability was getting more powerful with the help of the Tower of Dusk, it evolved into Holy Shock, which could do a lot of damage to even Two Wing-level Darksiders.

In Henricqal, the suppressive energy of the Sanctum of Dusk would beat down the strength of all Darksiders by a level. That meant when a Three-Wing Darksider came to Henricqal, its strength would reduce to Two-Wing. They would face the threat from the lower-level clerics who roamed the streets by the thousands. These lower-level, One-Wing clerics possessed the divine ability to Detect Evil. When this evolved into Holy Shock coupled with the enhancement from the Tower of Dusk, they would do a lot of damage to even Three-Wing Darksiders. This had given rise to a strange, massive defense system. So in Henricqal, the large number of lower-level clerics would function as Three-Wing Darksiders.

“How many lower-level clerics are there in Henricqal?” Lin Sheng rummaged through the statistics in his memories. It was over thirty-six thousand and still counting. “It’s a pity I can still not confirm if energy suppression is effective against the Palatinates. If it is, then it would be too awesome.”

Lin Sheng sauntered along a street where rollers were rumbling away to resurface the road. There were apparently more people in the streets, and most of them were the Transcendents. There were less ordinary people, but people’s faith in the place’s safety was growing.

It was fairly easy to distinguish Transcendents from ordinary people. In today’s harsh environment, people with no strength tended to behave more cautiously. Transcendents, even the weakest Transcendent, on the other hand, behaved more confidently. For Lin Sheng, distinguishing the Transcendents from the ordinary folk was like seeing a torch in the night. The soul of the Transcendents was generally stronger and easy to differentiate.

Walking around a few corners, Lin Sheng came to a well-designed apartment hotel. He did not go in there, just taking a glimpse of the unit on the eighth floor as he walked past. That was where Xiao Qiaoyue stayed. After Xie Qiaoyue told him about the situation in Xilin, he had arranged her to stay there.

“The stone taken from Xie Qiaoyue is still in the holy water in the research lab. I’m going to check it out and see what it could do. Since Sarroux is still alive, I will have to bring him over no matter what. He is one loyal follower.”

Lin Sheng was having these thoughts as he walked past the hotel toward the Sanctum of Dusk. He was coming out not to stroll around but to perform an upgrade to the Sanctum.

Behind the window of the apartment hotel, Xie Qiaoyue peeked through the gap of the curtains, looking as Lin Sheng slowly disappeared from her view. She then breathed a sigh of relief.

“He is gone. He has finally gone. Phew! I felt my heart was almost in my mouth!”

Since seeing Lin Sheng a few days ago, she has been a bundle of nerves. She was seeing Lin Sheng as a demon. Her blood would run cold whenever Lin Sheng shot him a glance. She had been in a state of stress.

Moving away from the window, Xie Qiaoyue looked back at the water drop-shaped, dark-green stone on the tea table in the living room. The stone, crystal green, was only the size of a thumbnail. She had been wearing it since she was small and was told it was passed down from her grandma. But since yesterday, something strange started to happen to the pendant. It was heating up, its color more beautiful and clear.

“What is this thing, actually?”

She picked up the pendant. Suddenly discovered something; there was a tiny crescent on the inside.

“This had never been there before?” She raised the pendant close to her eyes, carefully studying it. Just then, it glowed in a dazzling light. The light was as green as jade, forming a circle of eye-catching runes that spun before her eyes. She then heard a voice. It was a singing voice, as light as wind. It seemed to come from afar, and it reverberated in the room. Quickly, she felt a powerful and mysterious force of wind turn into the invisible soul artifact and rush into her head.

It was the Wind Servant.

The Vessel from the Paragon of Destiny had finally come.

…

In Xilin, Isaac was standing alone at the bridgehead. It was quiet in the surroundings.

The outbreak of the Black Tide had devastated Xilin, which had been a war zone all along. many people had died and were missing. The monsters from the Black Tide fed on the blood and multiplied in number and strength, forcing the army of Xilin and Redwin to retreat. Now, the last battalion of Redwin troops was leaving the land.

Isaac reached to touch his goggles, looking at the crystal-clear river flowing down below.

“Without humans causing pollution, nature seems to be cleaner now.” A sense of ridicule rose within him.

The mechanized infantry was to escort the support base personnel leaving the area. It was the last batch as the others had evacuated earlier on. Once the evacuation was completed, the monsters would overrun the land, turning it into their playground.

In Xilin, aside from a few important cities, the other areas had turned into ghost zones. The population had reduced by eight-tenth. If not for the area limitation of the Black Tide, the entire Xilin would have fallen into total destruction.

“This was a senseless war. It’s good that it has ended.”

Isaac fished out a cigarette from his jacket pocket, lit up and inhaled, finishing the entire cigarette in just a breath. With the flick of his fingers, he flung the cigarette bud down the river. Turning around, he strode toward the evacuating forces.

Just then, he heard a thumping sound, like that beating of the heart. Isaac was startled. He looked down at the trinket tied on his waist belt. It was a little black cup, a present his daughter gave him on his birthday. The quaint, Olro-styled little cup looked more like an hourglass than a cup when looking from a distance. But taking a closer look, you would find a viscous transparent liquid on the inside. Isaac did not know what that liquid was. But he knew the sound came from the trinket.

“What’s going on?”

He suspected that some hallucinogenic monster was attacking him.