Bandera City, a metropolis where grandeur danced hand in hand with history, lay embraced by frozen earth and snow-capped peaks.
Whether in the morning or afternoon, only the thin light of the snowfields cast a faint silver-white sheen over the cold, unyielding dark gray stone. The jagged edges and scrapes were all marks left by time, as though tales of the Holy War, stretching into the present day, were being awakened to whisper in the wind.
"..."
Lanqi and Side heard the war chant of drums and strings grow increasingly clear, passing through the successive layers of Bandera City's barriers.
The gates were heavily guarded. After verifying Lanqi and Side's identities, the silent imperial officer still cleared them to enter Bandera City.
When the two stepped out from the suspended corridor of the gatehouse and onto the upper tier of the city-state, the guards and officer behind them seemed to fix them with an unblinking stare.
"Is there anything strange about those imperial soldiers?" Lanqi asked softly, looking toward the distant, towering spires of Bandera City.
The city-state's architecture showed a heavy Ancient Herrom influence, filled with soaring steeples, exquisite stained glass, and intricate stonework. Its massive stone walls were built thick and solid, punctuated at regular intervals by towers and bastions.
The streets were broad and winding, framed by tall buildings on either side that seemed to vie for the scarce sunlight.
"No," Side replied flatly.
Even so, she could clearly sense something amiss in the city-state's atmosphere.
The two walked along the road for a long time without spotting any residents.
However, they were currently situated on the upper tier of the multilevel city. A closer look over the side of the street revealed that the road was actually an expansive sky bridge, offering a view of the lower tier below.
Snowflakes drifted down with the wind, gliding past the edge of the sky bridge and falling for a long while before finally settling on the lower level of Bandera City.
Peering down from the upper tier toward the lower level—a sheer drop of sixty to seventy meters—felt like gazing upon the world from within the clouds. Small markets and shops finally came into view, with occasional residents strolling by, where everything from food to magic apparatuses could be found.
Lanqi donned a pendant. Rather than a gemstone, its centerpiece was a compact magic apparatus capable of recording what he saw.
Its function shared much in common with the Shadow World Recording Program from the Southern Continent, though this apparatus boasted far higher encryption, capturing not just visual imagery but also environmental details and fluctuations in mana.
"We might need to head down to the lower tier to take a look."
On the dark gray stone-paved streets above, Lanqi could see only heavily armored imperial soldiers on patrol and robed clergymen of the Extinction Branch. There appeared to be nothing wrong with them—or rather, nothing amiss could be detected from their outward appearance.
If catastrophe had befallen this city-state, the clearest evidence would likely be found among its inhabitants.
The path leading down would likely require walking further into the city before encountering stairs, whereas jumping down directly would demand exceptional physical conditioning or flight magic.
However...
Before Lanqi's senses could register the subtle shift in his surroundings, a slender yet powerful hand clamped firmly onto his upper arm. It possessed strength that could have effortlessly crushed his bones, yet Sigrid controlled her force with such exquisite precision that it caused him no harm.
Lanqi tried to speak, but his words were instantly swallowed by a fierce, frigid gale. The sheer pressure bearing down from the sky made it clear that Sigrid had once again borne him up into the heavens.
Only this time, their destination was not deeper into the city-state as Lanqi had suggested.
Instead, Side had taken the initiative to bolt straight toward the outskirts.
Surprised though he was, Lanqi did not question her judgment.
"In this city-state, there is no one left alive except the Extinction priests," Side's cold, guarded voice drifted into his ear.
Even the imperial soldiers stationed at the city gates earlier were likely elites of the Extinction Branch in disguise.
"...!"
High in the air, Lanqi's emerald-green eyes finally pierced the veil of cloud and mist to take in the full view of Bandera City.
Only the entrance area where they had stood retained an illusion of tranquility; the deeper reaches of the city-state were already swallowed by an ominous pitch-black shroud.
Everything in the heart of the city-state, locked behind an illusion, was murky and indistinct. Yet even without looking with one's eyes, one could sense that it was like a demonic realm of solar eclipse, formed by a gathering of corpses and wraiths across the land.
Beneath that black haze, amidst collapsed architecture, desiccated, severed limbs lay strewn about. Corpses of the elderly, women, and children alike were heaped together. The entire border city had been reduced to a banquet of death in the wake of a sacrificial rite. Under the pale sunlight, a suffocating sense of absurdity and delusion hung over all of Bandera City.
Time felt stretched thin, the howling wind turned ever sharper, and Lanqi's vision blurred from the biting cold. Only Side's hand remained firmly anchored to his arm, carrying him toward the borders of the city-state at breakneck speed.
Lanqi did not say a word. Without any need for conversation, he knew they had to get away fast.
Even though they had not ventured deep into the epicenter of the anomaly to secure decisive evidence, this northern border crisis had been confirmed in person by the Bishop of Domination. Once she reported it to the imperial high command, combined with the high probability of Major General Fanleiku's disappearance, the Imperial Capital would inevitably be thrown into severe turmoil.
And the heinous sin that had already transpired here in the north could never remain buried; it was bound to be unearthed.
Just as this thought crossed Lanqi's mind, a distorted, transparent barrier snapped into existence directly ahead, blocking their path!
Sigrid's momentum abruptly slowed, and she halted in midair.
She cast a vigilant sideways glance, catching sight of a figure that had appeared behind them without warning.
"Well now, you two, what are your thoughts on this fine view?"
A voice laced with a gentle smile echoed across the sky above the city-state.
Lanqi followed that dissonant cadence and looked back.
Lead-gray storm clouds churned across the heavens. Bandera City was submerged in dead silence, broken only by occasional winter lightning pulsing between the clouds, illuminating the gargantuan structures in the mist with a ghastly white pallor.
There, standing on the observation terrace at the very peak of a spire piercing the clouds of Bandera City, a tall man dressed in a dark gray coat watched them.
His skin was pale as snow, completely devoid of color.
Aside from the suffocating mana casually wafting from his person, the moment he sealed the space around the two of them, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to grind to a dead halt. A profound radiance emanated on all sides, turning into tens of thousands of dark stars dancing within it, like a living entity of magical energy that bypassed physical space to strike directly at the eyes and mind.
Had an ordinary person with inadequate mental fortitude gazed upon this soul-piercing halo for the first time, they might have felt an indescribable connection forge with the world, undergoing in an instant a long journey transcending both flesh and time.
In the end, they would be reduced to utter stupor, dropping to their knees or even weeping uncontrollably.
The swirling, coalescing glyphs belonged to no known era; only someone who had witnessed relics of the Age of the Gods would comprehend their meaning.
This was none other than the majestic radiance emitted only when an Original Slate bestowed its empowerment.
And a slate capable of conferring its blessing upon sealing magic had already laid bare the identity of its master.
As if sensing Lanqi's gaze, the man shifted his eyes toward him.
Those dark gray pupils were like an abyss capable of drawing one in, causing the soul to gradually lose itself.
Askesan looked upon the two of them with a smile.
Standing there, the invisible dread he radiated made all living things feel minuscule and helpless. And should he move, every semblance of security was bound to crumble in his wake.
Chapter 329