Tower of Polar Night

"Holy crap, what an absolute monster!" "The so-called 'father' in this diary deserves to be sliced into a thousand pieces! The devs really threw their humanity out the window, putting sick, twisted plotlines like this into the game." Filled with righteous indignation, Mantou slammed his fist hard against the desk. A rare resolve shone in his eyes; he was determined to eradicate that monstrosity and bring peace to Valena, who was trapped in an agonizing state between life and death, her will entirely stripped from her. "I'll put you to rest, Valena." He gently closed the diary and carefully returned it to its place, touching it no more. It was the last trace left of Valena's humanity, as well as the treasure she held most dear. "Mantou, you're making this sound way too simple." Singo furrowed his brow and said quietly, "We need to be careful. The poor Miss Valena isn't the only one wandering this tower—there's also her 'father.' A guy who can turn people into horrific monsters is definitely no pushover." "Besides, Tiansheng Zhankuang is still missing, which takes a huge bite out of our squad's frontline combat power. With what we have right now, we'll be lucky just to escape this place, let alone play the hero." Mantou replied in annoyance, "Then what are we supposed to do? Sit here and wait to die?" "The servers are shutting down soon anyway, and our exp is already overflowing. Losing a bit doesn't matter. Worst comes to worst, you hand me a rune gunpowder bomb, and I'll trade one-for-one with the boss in this tower." Singo looked a bit surprised. "How do you know I have a rune gunpowder bomb?" Mantou gave a sly grin. "You've been mooching around that Machine Cult factory all day; everyone's seen it. Who would've thought a big-shot pro player like you would suck up to Brother Kuangchao?" Singo argued back, "Don't you get that gaming is all about results? Using legitimate means to get gear, you get me?" "Oh, I get it all too well." "Cut the crap. That's a high-level wizard boss we're talking about." Chatting as they went, the two left the secret chamber and continued exploring the hidden tower. As they stepped into a corridor, rustling sounds reached their ears, like the panting breath of jackals. *Sniff, sniff.* "I smell blood." "Where... where?" "More fresh prey... Master will be pleased." Low, raspy murmurs echoed ahead. Singo swiftly held Mantou back, silently nocked an arrow, and slowly drew his bowstring. Holding his breath, he aimed straight at the corner of the passage. Sure enough, an ugly jackal head covered in sparse white scales and dripping saliva from its jaws emerged. Singo locked onto it in an instant. A violet Hunter's Mark appeared between the gnoll's brows, followed by a whistling arrow that effortlessly pierced straight through its skull. *Awoo—!* The gnoll had time only for a strangled howl before collapsing backward. Behind it were several more gnolls. Showing no sign of fear, their murky eyes gleamed with savage light as they lunged forward, baring fangs and claws and exhaling gusts of foul, metallic stench. Mantou charged with his sword. Finding a gap in their fur, he drove his blade straight through the lead gnoll's vulnerable neck, kicked the corpse off, and swung through to cut down another. In just a few breaths, the patrol of seven gnolls was completely wiped out. "Huff... huff... these damn gnolls again." Mantou kicked one of the corpses on the ground, breathing heavily. Stroking his chin, Singo mused, "Just as I thought. This is the source of those gnolls—the Tower of Polar Night. Fortunately, their draconic transformation is very low-grade, nowhere near that modified monster, or we wouldn't have handled them so easily." Singo walked forward a few steps and noticed the piles of white bones lining the corridor. His tone grew urgent. "Not good, move! There are probably tons of monsters in this tower." However, the dying wails of the gnolls had already echoed through the halls, stirring the tower's inhabitants into a frenzy. Countless howls of varying pitches, shrill and mournful, rang out until the entire Tower of Polar Night seemed to tremble. Mantou glanced back over his shoulder. "Damn it." His voice trembled slightly. *Roar—!* A hideous tide of dragon-mutated beasts surged forward like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam. Gnolls, centaurs, goblins, lizardfolk, and even humans had all been twisted into grotesque half-human, half-dragon forms—yet they looked far less natural than the dragonblood creatures of the Kingdom of Cinder. Sparse white scales dotted their flesh, which was covered in excessive tumors and grafted patches. Some had even sprouted extra limbs or heads, their jaws dripping with corrosive saliva. The eyes of most were consumed by frenzied madness, their sanity long since erased. Singo concluded, "My guess was right. This place is literally an experimentation facility." "We were deliberately lured here." "The one pulling the strings behind the Tower of Polar Night is almost certainly that wizard!" While Mantou was listening, a half-dragon goblin scrambled forward on all fours, leaped onto his back, and snapped its fine, needle-like teeth toward his neck. Fortunately, Mantou's plate armor held, denying the goblin purchase long enough for him to whip his blade around and lop off its head. Yet even with its skull pierced and severed, the dragonblood goblin's headless, ruined torso continued attacking maniacally. One claw clamped onto the plate armor while the other scraped viciously at Mantou's arm, leaving bleeding gouges before its spasms finally ceased after several agonizing seconds. "What the hell! These things are this insane? It wouldn't let go even after it died?" "Don't get tangled up with them, run!" Singo and Mantou sprinted madly down the bone-strewn gallery until they reached the far end, which terminated at a heavy iron door. Mantou urged, "Pick the lock, Sing-dog, hurry!" "Shut up! You try it if you're so smart—" Singo was sweating bullets. The lock was far from simple, and since he wasn't a rogue, his Sleight of Hand proficiency wasn't quite up to the task. Behind them, a dragon-mutated centaur was already closing in. Unlike an ordinary centaur, this creature, twisted by the white dragon bloodline, had the lower body of a terrifying lizard rather than a horse. A long tail dragged behind it, its scales slick with viscous slime, while its upper torso resembled a desiccated corpse drained of all vitality. Suddenly, the iron door burst open with a crash. *Whoosh—!* A battleaxe swept out from the gap, cleanly cleaving the dragon-mutated centaur behind Mantou in two at the waist. The severed lizard body continued squirming and crawling blindly across the floor like a headless fly, taking ages before it finally went still. Taking advantage of the opening, Mantou and Singo slipped through the doorway and slammed the iron door shut with their combined weight. Looking up at the familiar face before them, they broke into broad grins. "Brother Zhankuang!" "I've been looking for you guys forever. These mobs are a pain in the ass to kill." Tiansheng Zhankuang gave a hearty chuckle, rubbing his smooth, bald head. The three companions, separated during the earlier pursuit by the dragon-mutated gnolls, were finally reunited.