Storm Over the City

Inside Northwind Keep, the final city of the Principality of Lakeman. Panic gripped Northwind Keep. Although the Shield of the Eagle strictly suppressed all news of territories falling to the Cinder Nest, the citizens still managed to piece things together or catch wind of rumors. "I—I'll let you in on a secret..." "Mex City, Teluo City, Akan City... "They've all fallen." Someone slurred those words inside a tavern, clearly having had far too much to drink. Before he could say another word, plainclothes secret agents dragged the drunk away. The tavern plunged into dead silence; not a soul dared utter a sound. Under this suffocating atmosphere, an impending sense of doom weighed heavily on everyone's hearts. The air in the city felt thick, stagnant, and suffocating. Security throughout the keep was airtight. Several Shield of the Eagle guards stood posted at the entrance to every major district, inspecting passersby. Anyone acting the least bit suspicious was hauled away as a traitor. Houses kept their doors and windows bolted shut, yet gray-robed agents still kicked them open for house-to-house searches. If the slightest irregularity was uncovered, the occupants were subjected to brutal interrogation—or simply dragged off on the spot. No one knew where those branded as "traitors" were taken. Rumors even spread that every last one had been executed. This cast a pervasive dread over the entire city—a terror not only of the Cinder Nest's impending assault, but also of the city guards' ruthless purges and the terrifying unknown that lay ahead. *** "Dammit, where did he go?" "Must have gone that way! After him!" "Capture him! Dead or alive!" In a murky alleyway, Langlibaitiao crouched in the shadows, slipping past another search party. He wiped away nonexistent sweat from his forehead. As a vampire spawn—an undead creature—he didn't actually possess the bodily function to sweat; it was merely an old habit. "Has that old fossil lost his mind? Rounding up people like this..." "Well, the bastard's days are numbered anyway. Once the heavenly host of the Cinder Nest arrives, that bloodsucking old geezer is getting brought to justice!" At the thought of the Cinder Nest's overwhelming military might crushing the coalition army, any leek of a player would puff out their chest with pride. Yeno hid beside a garbage bin as well. One takes the color of one's company. After spending so much time around Langlibaitiao, the former count had thoroughly shed his so-called noble dignity, degenerating into a shameless rat skulking in the shadows. Hearing Langlibaitiao's muttering, he asked curiously, "You've been holed up in the bunker this whole time. How do you know what's happening outside?" Langlibaitiao chuckled smugly. "A master has his ways. "I even know that the coalition army the old geezer sent out got completely wiped out. All thirty thousand of them got turned into barbecue." Recalling the Battle of Trier, Langlibaitiao felt a pang of heartache. He had actually missed such a massive faction battlefield quest! Countless players had raked in thousands, even tens of thousands of Faction Contribution points in one go, showing off their prowess on the battlefield and even rolling out armored war machines. Meanwhile, he had been stuck crawling around in a dark, dank dungeon, silently doomscrolling the forums. *This time, I'm definitely going to shine!* Langlibaitiao swore to himself. Yeno cautioned, "Stop daydreaming. The pursuers will search this way sooner or later, and when they do, there'll be nowhere left to run. "Besides... if things really are as you say, Father will never surrender without a fight. "I know him too well. He'll stop at nothing to achieve his goals—his obsession borders on absolute madness. He has plotted this for an entire century, and over those hundred years, thousands have been forced to offer up their lives." Langlibaitiao paused, startled, before asking, "You mean... the old geezer is planning something huge?" "Precisely." "I suspect the citizens branded as traitors are being dragged down to the bunker to be turned into blood thralls," Yeno continued. "Father must realize that his time is running out. He's no longer bothering to hide it—he's openly mobilizing the entire city's resources at any cost to complete his so-called grand Ascension." Langlibaitiao's eyes lit up with eagerness. "Looks like I'm destined to become the hero who saves this city." "Don't get ahead of yourself. You may have faced Father once, but... you don't understand his true power." As if dredging up dreadful memories, a faint trace of horror surfaced on Yeno's pale face. Langlibaitiao shrugged indifferently. "Why are you chickening out again? PTSD acting up? We've been on the run for this long, and has that old fossil managed to rein me in? "Besides, I've got this—" He pulled out an exquisite metal insignia mottled with bloodstains. [Rebel Emblem] [Quality: Special] ["Once, a wizard was turned into a vampire spawn. Seeking to rebel against his master, he poured his life's blood into crafting this emblem. Alas, he failed, melting away into a pool of gore, while this emblem was left to rest quietly in the Duke's gallery, awaiting the next rebel's arrival."] [Effect: Temporarily grants a vampire spawn immunity to their master's control.] This was an item Langlibaitiao had scavenged from the Vampire Duke's collection while following Yeno, and it gave him tremendous confidence. Yeno shook his head, a hint of helplessness coloring his bloodless face. "Do you truly believe you can succeed?" "I knew the man who crafted that emblem. His name was Tris—the most gifted wizard I had ever seen. He was always brimming with hope and passion. Even after being turned into a vampire spawn, he never gave up, searching relentlessly for any method to fight the Duke. "Yet in the end, he still failed..." A flicker of nostalgia and regret crossed Yeno Lakeman's eyes, swiftly overtaken by a fleeting glimpse of despair. "Come on, just because he couldn't pull it off doesn't mean I can't. I, Langlibaitiao, am—" Mid-sentence, Langlibaitiao's voice abruptly seized up, and only two words squeezed past his lips. "Holy crap—" Yeno's pupils had suddenly been consumed by a murky, crimson glow. All sanity vanished from his gaze, and a bone-chilling aura of death radiated from his body. "Ascension..." "For the glorious Ascension..." "All sacrifices are worth it." "Dedicate everything—" Yeno muttered under his breath, an expression of fanatical ecstasy spreading across his pale face. At this moment, he looked like a devout cultist about to bathe in divine grace, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the somewhat prickly, awkward NPC Langlibaitiao knew. His body turned rigid, his gait unnatural and bizarre, and he began walking through the shadows toward the Duke's castle. A bloody hue seemed to stain the sky. To his astonishment, Langlibaitiao noticed his Rebel Emblem emitting a faint glimmer, as if struggling desperately against a formidable, invisible force. *Did the old bastard pop his ultimate?* *Wait... doesn't this mean it's the perfect opportunity?* After a moment's thought, he slipped the emblem into his pocket. "Uh... for the glorious Ascension?" Mimicking Yeno's awkward, puppet-like movements, Langlibaitiao pretended to be a mind-controlled vampire spawn and followed closely behind.