Nightfall

A roar shook the night and tore through the earth! A sound like the collapse of a colossal tower echoed from Nightfall City. The ground rumbled, flames flickered, and even the surrounding night seemed shaken into a blur. "How..." Yaxiu and the others heard Invoker Nuorui mutter, looking dazed. "This isn't what was agreed..." Even without knowing the exact details of the Nature Cult's transaction with the Silver Lantern (from Nuorui's words, they naturally gleaned that they had nearly been double-crossed by her), Yaxiu and his companions could deduce a few clues. Whatever the Silver Lantern's objective was, what the Nature Cult wanted was nothing more than an inside-and-outside coordinated assault with her to breach Nightfall City's defenses. Yet it was night. Even if the Silver Lantern made a move, it would be difficult for the Nature Cult to respond. Not to mention a siege had just concluded: everyone was utterly exhausted, the sorcerers' sorcery power was mostly depleted, and even their god-hosters might not have recovered yet. If the daytime battle had been an open, honorable confrontation with battle lines clearly drawn, pressing an assault now would be dragging both sides into a chaotic brawl in the mire. Furthermore, without the Nature Cult coordinating a frontal assault, how could the Silver Lantern pierce the city walls on her own? It wasn't that Yaxiu and the others doubted the Silver Lantern's strategic-level might, but the Twin Cult was no helpless Lalafell. As the Twin Cult's stronghold, Nightfall City had withstood harassments and assaults from countless cults. Its walls rose a hundred meters high, guarded by layers upon layers of defenses. Just from what Yaxiu and the others could see, reinforcements came from sorcery factions such as Earth, Senluo, and Metal. It was not only sheltered by the miracle Kinetic Energy Transfer, which dispersed impacts into the earth, but also equipped with various repair measures. The breach in the wall blown open not long ago had been swiftly patched with vine-concrete in mere moments, giving the Nature Cult no opportunity to exploit their gains. Earlier, Igola had gathered plenty of intelligence on Nightfall; the most frequent keywords were "closed-off," "impregnable," and "mysterious." From time to time, the Twin Cult released high-value Grey Fox legacies. Neighboring cults had all eyed them covetously, but at most they had only occupied directly administered towns; no faction had ever managed to breach Nightfall City. As one of the oldest wasteland cults, Nightfall's foundation could not be overestimated. Even if the Silver Lantern managed to destroy the city gates, the Twin Cult could repair them with miracles within minutes. Besides, it wasn't as if the Twin Cult lacked god-hosters. Even if their god-hosters couldn't beat her in a duel, would the Twin Cult bother with chivalry or honor when dealing with someone like the Silver Lantern? Yes, the Silver Lantern had six health bars, but the Twin Cult numbered in the thousands, tens of thousands. The most glaring characteristic of Senluo's cults was that their believers truly did not fear death. If the Silver Lantern fought guerilla warfare out in the open, few Senluo cults could catch her; but if she were cornered, any cult could grind down her grand laws with human lives. Though god-hosters possessed combat prowess surpassing Legendaries, they were merely oversized super-minions, unlike Legendary Sorcerers who wielded miracles capable of warping the battlefield. Not to mention, apart from Yaxiu, other god-hosters faced time limits—they might have to hit the red light and flee in under three minutes. Therefore, an assault coordinated with the Nature Cult was essential for the Silver Lantern's chaos to produce results. Now, even if the Nature Cult mobilized immediately, by the time they reached the walls, the Silver Lantern might already be strung up and beaten by the Twin Cult. In contrast to Nuorui's grim expression, Yaxiu could not help feeling a bit amused. If the Silver Lantern's plan fell through and she was caught and beaten by the Twin Cult, he would be more than happy to watch, relishing the refreshing thought of *you finally got what was coming to you*. Yet Igola's expression darkened as well. Seeing that Nuorui wasn't paying attention to them, Igola stepped back behind the group and whispered, "We might even have to help the Silver Lantern escape." "Why?" "If the Silver Lantern dies, you become a complete feeler," the Swindler said. "I have no interest in dealing with an evil version of you." Tamaxi suddenly clapped a hand on Yaxiu's shoulder. "Although I thoroughly loathe Four Pillar Cultists, as long as you promise to slay the Mercury Trojan and disband the Four Pillar Cult, I won't hunt you down." The Slay All Crows swordsman said this in utter earnestness, as though he were the Sanctuary Sorcerer and Yaxiu were the mortal. Yet Yaxiu did not doubt the weight of that threat for a second—through their teamwork over these past days, Yaxiu had gained a full appreciation of just how lethal this mortal truly was. In truth, Tamaxi had once come within five paces of killing the Mercury Trojan. But within those five paces, every single step had been blocked by "traitors" of Slay All Crows. On that day, only two remnants of the Slay All Crows Cult survived. On that day, the Mercury Trojan never showed his face in public again. At times, Yaxiu even wondered whether the Mercury Trojan's skin-suit feeler trick of possessing others was a self-defense mechanism born from sheer terror of Tamaxi's assassination attempts. Tamaxi's reason for traveling with Yaxiu and the others was simple: so long as it involved killing villains, he was willing to cooperate, and the Silver Lantern was unquestionably near the very top of the Four Pillar Cult's list of evil figures. What was more, capturing the Silver Lantern could lead him closer to the Mercury Trojan. Even if Yaxiu refused to let Tamaxi follow, Tamaxi would simply shadow them from behind like a death-harbinger Black Crow. Yet to pursue the Silver Lantern, Tamaxi was practically indispensable. Before Yaxiu and the others mastered advanced reconnaissance miracles, the Black Crow was the only one who could see through the Silver Lantern's illusions. Even with the Mercury Trojan's prophecy miracles, without Tamaxi's eyes, Yaxiu and the others would have found it difficult to track the Silver Lantern's trail. Yet because of that unyielding faith, the moment Yaxiu and the others became wicked crows, Tamaxi would show zero mercy. Tamaxi had never demanded that they follow any rules or commandments; he merely sharpened his blade silently in the background, over and over again. Only now did Yaxiu realize why Igola remained so wary of Tamaxi. It wasn't just caution toward a stranger. "Alright," Yaxiu said with a smile. "If I really turn into a wicked feeler, the three of you will have to stop me together." "Can I just join you instead?" Harvey asked. *Boom!* The disturbance inside the city, far from abating with time, grew increasingly fierce. The tremors spread outward until even the ground beneath Yaxiu and the others began to shake! *Crack!* A startling crack split across the massive city wall in the distance, spreading outward like countless crawling insects. Seeing this, the Nature Cult could sit still no longer. Nuorui unfurled his gold and silver wings and took to the sky, roaring flames igniting across his body. In an instant, he transformed into an Undying Firebird, letting out a sharp, resonant cry! What the Nature Cult excelled at most was mimicry miracles—transforming into mythical beasts! Simultaneously, distinct cries rang out from several other Nature Cult camps. Every believer donned armor and gripped their guns, ready to plunge into Hell! Before Yaxiu and the others could deliberate on what to do, they saw the crack in the wall halt, spreading outward across the ground like a venomous stain instead. The shaking of the ground reached a point where standing upright became impossible. Yaxiu and the others watched fine fissures spiderweb around their feet, swallowing rushing sand. In the blink of an eye, Yaxiu whipped his hand around and grabbed Tamaxi! *Boom!* With an earth-shattering roar, the ground shattered like a mirror. The city, the camps, and even the ground further beyond... everything seemed to have been built upon a sheet of fragile glass. Now that the glass had shattered, all of it plunged downward. Countless pairs of gold and silver wings unfurled as flying sorcerers pulled upward, escaping the earth's devouring maw. Their gazes swept past falling clods of earth and rubble into an immense subterranean space, where they discovered a city that transcended their era hidden within. Towering skyscrapers, rivers of vehicles, lights shining like stars, mirroring a galaxy. It was no remnant ruin of the past, nor a post-apocalyptic settlement. It was a complete, aesthetically designed, fully operational God Era metropolis. The subterranean residents lifted their heads, gazing up at the collapsing ceiling. The dirt, stone, and even the crumbling city above did not harm them, for multiple layers of membranes stretched above the metropolis. These membranes were undoubtedly connected to the earth, able to disperse the force even under the crushing weight of the city's wreckage. Not only the Nature Cult, but even Yaxiu and his companions were dumbfounded. Indeed, everything was a matter of contrast. If they had seen such a city in Gospel, Yaxiu and the others would have at most nodded, not finding it particularly extraordinary. But after experiencing bathhouse camps, asylum camps, food processing factory towns, and all manner of ruin camps, suddenly laying eyes on a bona fide metropolis, how could they remain indifferent? No one had expected that the fortress on the surface was merely a front. The true Nightfall was an underground metropolis. Not like the Transcendent Cult's lone high-rise, but an entire city! At that moment, Yaxiu and the others saw a spark of fire flare up amidst the falling wreckage of the city. It was a flame they knew all too well. The fire burned brighter and fiercer until it turned nearly milky white, threatening to dye the night into day. Yet this fire did not represent light; it symbolized myriad calamities. *Pop.* When the Myriad Calamities Fire descended, the "membrane" shielding Nightfall burst like a bubble. City debris, mud, rock, and over a hundred thousand Nature Cult troops—like an uncovered avalanche of doom—plunged straight into the metropolis. *Boom!* Buildings toppled, kicking up billowing clouds of dust. Rubble rained down like a storm, scarring the face of Nightfall! Back in the Gospel Country, Yaxiu had imagined what a spectacle it would be if a two-layered city were to collapse. He never expected he would witness it here in Senluo. The Undying Firebird, the Golden Lion Ape, the Frost Peacock, and the Nature Cult's god-hoster—four high-tier powerhouses leading Two Wings sorcerers—charged straight into Nightfall. Fanatical roars tore across the night of Senluo like a tempest. "Born of Nature, achieved through Nature, perishing in Nature, transcending Nature!" "Perfect twins, spiral of destiny. The path to salvation lies within!" There were no threats or taunts. A war of faith was pure enough to brook no compromise. Nightfall was vast, but not large enough to hold two cults; it had become a colosseum with no way out. The Twin Cult would not flee, for Nightfall lay behind them; the Nature Cult would not flee either, for if this army of over a hundred thousand could not return, the Nature Cult would be erased from existence. In other words, from the moment the earth caved in, only one cult would climb out of this abyss. Yaxiu and the others instinctively wanted to get as far away from here as possible. Despite all they had been through, they were ultimately ordinary sorcerers who had never experienced war—greenhouse flowers nurtured in peacetime. Let alone Igola, even Harvey had little appetite for this spectacle. He merely enjoyed the corpses strewn across the field after a war, not the war itself. Yet they could not flee. When the earth gave way, the night crept forward silently, inch by inch, and had now pressed up to the rim of the crater. If Yaxiu and the others flew out, it would mean braving the trial of the Strangling Green. Still, even if it meant expending the energy of an Indulgence, Yaxiu was willing to escape the war. Yet there was another matter: they had come here in search of the Restructuring Elixir. "This is our chance," Igola said. "To resist the Nature Cult, the Twin Cult's guard over key resources will inevitably thin out. If a Restructuring Elixir truly exists, it must be inside this city." "But they won't treat us like folks just passing through for a late-night snack," Yaxiu said. "Doesn't matter. We have Sanctuaries; there's no need to clash with them." "Yaxiu and me," Harvey reminded him. "You haven't mastered a Sanctuary yet." A few days prior, once their souls had recovered, Harvey and Igola had undergone the Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon Synchronization Forbidden Rite for the second time. As a result, Harvey successfully constructed his Sanctuary, while Igola was still working on it. Beyond talent, their personalities had a huge influence on their Sanctuary progress: Harvey thoroughly enjoyed walking into death during the Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon Synchronization Forbidden Rite, while Igola... well, he was rather averse to pain. "I'll just hide inside your Sanctuaries," Igola said. "Risks must be taken." The three looked toward Yaxiu. Yaxiu nodded. "Alright, but how do we find where the elixir is kept?" "A hospital or a treasury is the most likely, or perhaps even near the grand law," Igola mused. "We can't search blindly. We need to find a key figure to point us in the right direction..." "The guiding Silver Lantern has appeared," Tamaxi, who had climbed onto Yaxiu's back, suddenly said, pointing into the distance. Following the Black Crow's pointing finger, they saw the Silver Lantern in the distance speeding along, her entire body wreathed in white flames. Trailing behind her were two streaks of purple-blue light—unmistakably the god-hosters of the Twin Cult! "A chance to get the Restructuring Elixir, and the Silver Lantern failing after courting disaster." Yaxiu was caught between laughter and tears. "Did all the good luck just pile up at once?"