The Shelter Cannot Shelter

Without question, the Shelter was a Grey Fox legacy designed to save lives. After all, trapping people for thousands or tens of thousands of years to slowly kill them—not that sorcerers weren't depraved enough for such a thing, but creating a near-miraculous phantasm creation solely to indulge such twisted cruelty was something even a god wouldn't be bored enough to do, let alone the Grey Fox Sanctuary, where everyone had been a dreamer. Therefore, the Shelter's original purpose had to be extending a person's sensory perception of time when they encountered danger, giving them ample time to notice and evade the threat. Encountering gunfire at point-blank range, for example, would trigger the high tier of "1 second = 1 hour"; if one merely tripped over a passing Lalafell and ate dirt, it would only trigger the standard tier of "1 second = 1 minute." Thus, the fact that Yaxiu and the others had triggered the ultimate tier of "1 second = 1 month/1 year" could only mean one thing: in the Shelter's assessment, they were about to face an unimaginably horrific catastrophe. "But what danger could it be?" The Fire Sanctuary Sorcerer looked up at the night sky. "It can't possibly be the Strangling Green, can it?" "It can't be the Strangling Green," Igola said. "The Strangling Green has been a disaster in Senluo since ancient times. If it were that, the Shelter would have plunged everyone nearby into an eternal night the moment it was created, and it never would have survived to the present day." "Did rumors of the Dead City start two hundred years ago?" he asked. "Has this place been uninhabitable ever since the Wasteland Era began?" "No idea," the Wind Sanctuary Sorcerer replied. "People say decades or centuries, but sect chronicles only record the rise and fall of sects, not such rumors. Even if they had been recorded, they'd have been lost to destruction and relocation. So there's no telling if the Dead City was always a dead city—all we know for sure is that no one has survived here in recent decades." Igola's first instinct regarding the danger was the Cataclysm—the landmark event that had plunged the Divine Era into a wasteland. But Senluo's historical records over the past two centuries were like a student's summer vacation homework: not even half-hearted attempts, just pure blank space. He simply didn't have enough data to deduce anything... "So we don't know what danger we're facing, nor do we know how to resolve it, which is why the Shelter gave us all this time to find it and deal with it." The Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer gave a bitter, furious laugh. "How utterly thoughtful. If we can't solve it, we can just spend thousands or tens of thousands of peaceful years here until we can no longer go on living." "Let's each use our own means to probe for potential dangers," Igola said. "Don't stray too far, and please share whatever information you find." The crowd nodded silently. The Dead City was pitch-black and fraught with the unknown; even though they were enemies, they understood the necessity of sincere cooperation. To put it bluntly, if another lethal mechanism truly existed, sticking together would at least lower their individual odds of drawing the short straw. Yaxiu possessed no scouting miracles; in the Void Realm, scouting duties fell to Weise, while in reality, they were handled by Igola. Thus, he could only strain his senses as much as possible, hoping to detect something. *Hiss... hiss...* He heard it—a faint, bizarre rustling creeping through the darkness, like a viper flicking its tongue or a spider spinning its web. An indescribable monster lurked in the unknown, threatening their very lives... Yaxiu looked closely, only to discover Harvey filing Alice's fingernails. He walked over and saw that Harvey wasn't merely shaping Alice's nails; he was using a sponge buffer to buff the surface smooth, trimming the cuticles, then applying a base coat, two coats of pale green polish, and a top coat... Harvey, seated on a coffin lid, noticed him and shifted over slightly. "Want to sit?" "Can't Alice do her own nails?" Yaxiu asked. "I generally don't let undead maintain themselves," Harvey said. "Maintaining the undead is the professional ethics of a necromancer. Deodorizing, cleaning, muscle massage, dental checks... If a necromancer can't even be bothered to do this basic maintenance and loses reverence for the undead they create—" "Then what happens?" "Then he lacks professional ethics," Harvey said. "Nothing in particular happens." "I thought necromancers like you who maintain their undead personally would be much stronger than those without ethics," Yaxiu said with a laugh. "If it affected combat strength, it wouldn't be non-binding 'ethics,' but rather a 'law' that must be obeyed," Harvey said. "Obeying laws allows you to defeat enemies in reality; observing ethics allows you to crush opponents on a psychological level. True victory comes only when you triumph on both fronts. Otherwise, it either ends in the wails of losers, like those sects eradicated by the Four Pillar Cult, or curdles into the victor's unease, like the Mercury Trojan spending her days fleeing from Black Crow." Harvey's words were intriguing, but Yaxiu was more focused on another matter: "You don't seem very anxious." "I'm not." Harvey set Alice's hand down. "I don't care whether I can escape a thirty-thousand-year imprisonment. "To me, the dynamic world outside and the frozen world here aren't that different. Though there's no fresh supply of corpses, studying Alice is enough to occupy the rest of my days." Of everyone here, Harvey was likely the calmest. Rather than misanthropic, it was fairer to say that this dark-room-like environment suited an artist like him perfectly. No passage of time, no external distractions, not even a need to sleep or eat—wasn't this the ultimate creative environment? Every creator ought to be tossed into a "Shelter dark room" to churn out content. "So, if you have a way out, don't worry about me." Yaxiu's eyes widened. "You might not come to me for counseling," Harvey said, "but I do occasionally eavesdrop to see if you're badmouthing me behind my back." "You actually care about that?" "Started to recently." The necromancer said calmly, "You spend practically every waking moment attached to our hips, yet you somehow ended up with romantic troubles—a whole love polygon, freshly minted at that... None of us are idiots. "Though I'm not particularly surprised. You really are the type to get tangled up in emotional messes." The corner of Yaxiu's mouth twitched, and he mumbled, "I just have some psychological issues... If I hadn't happened to meet..." "It wasn't a coincidence," Harvey said. "Would an ordinary person devise a plan to put a mayor on trial? Would an ordinary person risk their life for a child they'd known for barely a month? Would an ordinary person hang around with me and Igola for this long? Would an ordinary person refuse to become a feeler of the Four Pillar Gods? "Compared to the secrets you hide, you yourself are far more fascinating," the necromancer chuckled. "Someone falling victim to your charms doesn't surprise me in the least." Yaxiu scratched his head. "Did you mix up your evaluations of me and Igola? That's clearly something you'd say about a male veela!" "In any case," Harvey said, "we're all prepared." *We?* Yaxiu turned his head and saw Black Crow standing behind him, though he had no idea when he'd arrived. "How long have you been standing there?" Black Crow didn't bother answering such a pointless question. He said solemnly, "Remember: stomp the Mercury Trojan's face into mush for me." Yaxiu shook his head. "You'd better do that yourself." Black Crow said no more, quietly stepping to the side. Harvey stroked his chin and said, "Come to think of it, if even I could eavesdrop, Tamashi—who can do anything except cast miracles—naturally wouldn't miss it either." A wave of unspeakable embarrassment washed over Yaxiu... He had thought he'd hidden it so well, but everyone knew he was embroiled in a tumultuous romantic mess? He hurriedly turned his head as though nothing had happened, just in time to spot Igola standing on the rooftop of a small building. Gwen was still faithfully tailing the swindler. As if sensing the gaze directed at him, the swindler looked down at Yaxiu. Their eyes met in midair. Igola gave a subtle nod before turning away to inspect another area. Though not a word had been spoken, Yaxiu knew Igola was certain he had a safe escape route. Perhaps it was his composure during their earlier discussion, or perhaps something else... Yaxiu wasn't particularly surprised; he could never hide his thoughts from the swindler. More importantly, Igola and the others had already mentally prepared themselves for the possibility that they might never leave. Countless sect sorcerers over two centuries had failed to break the Dead City's temporal cage; what made them think they could make it out alive? Although a way out theoretically existed, everyone knew how arduous that path was: Was there a crisis? What was it? How could it be resolved? They had no intelligence whatsoever. Besides, if they could think of this, wouldn't others trapped here for ten or fifteen days have thought of it too? They weren't Truth Sorcerers or Fate Sorcerers; would they really be cleverer than every sect sorcerer who had tried to unravel the Dead City over the past two hundred years? Everyone knew the subsequent story would merely be their hope wearing away piece by piece. Those trapped in the Dead City could not save themselves. So, the only thing that could save them was... Just then, the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer suddenly called out in a loud voice, "I found a way!" Everyone gathered at once. The Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer asked, "Did any of you find any clues?" Seeing them shake their heads, he continued, "Even if we can't find anything now, as long as we're willing to invest the time, we're bound to find clues in the Dead City—clues left behind by those imprisoned here for thousands or tens of thousands of years before us. "However, the fact that no one has ever left the Dead City alive only proves that every effort and attempt ended in failure. Even if we uncover clues and records, it'll likely only make us experience our hopes being crushed again and again. "Relying solely on ourselves, escaping the Dead City is impossible," the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer said. "We must rely on external power." *External power?* Igola caught on immediately. Harvey asked curiously, "What external power?" "The Four Pillar Gods." The Wind Sanctuary Sorcerer said, "The Mercury Trojan miscalculated one thing. The Dead City doesn't slaughter everyone through some unreasoning force, which is why both you, Yaxiu, and the Silver Lantern are still alive right now. "Because Mr. Bogin deliberately leaked information a few days ago, we all know that both you and the Silver Lantern are semi-feelers. That's why the Mercury Trojan wants to eliminate you—only when both of you are dead can she secure her position as a feeler." He continued, "We won't defect to your side just because you're a semi-feeler, but that identity of yours can serve as our breakthrough." "Let's go kill the Silver Lantern," the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer said, "and make you a feeler. "No matter how powerful the Shelter is, it cannot withstand the glory of the Four Pillar Gods! To save you, they will surely shatter this temporal cage!" Indeed. The moment they mentioned the Four Pillar Gods, Yaxiu realized it too—he could become a feeler and borrow the power of the Four Pillar Gods! Though becoming a feeler could have numerous catastrophic consequences, for one thing, Yaxiu had some confidence in his willpower to resist the Four Pillar Gods' corruption; for another, he was certain Igola and the others would save him afterward—by taking him away from Senluo to shed his feeler identity, or finding some other remedy after the fact. Compared to the potential fallout, if Yaxiu didn't take action now, everyone else's soul would be trapped in this temporal cage until soul extinction! Yet doing so meant they had to completely eradicate the Silver Lantern here... "Even if we don't do this, the Silver Lantern will surely think of borrowing the Four Pillar Gods' power to escape." The three Sanctuary Sorcerers drew closer, gazing intently at Yaxiu. "This is a zero-sum game. A fight to the death with the Silver Lantern is inevitable. We have no choice." *Would the Silver Lantern really kill me just to survive...?* Yaxiu immediately snuffed out this ill-timed thought. Taking a deep breath, he nodded and said, "Alright. We'll cooperate." The Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer exhaled in relief. "Then give us a brief rundown of the miracles you specialize in, and we'll share some intel as well, so we can coordinate during battle. Our opponent is the Silver Lantern, after all. Even with superior numbers, we can't afford to underestimate her." The request was perfectly reasonable. Yaxiu had no reason to refuse, so he nodded in agreement, contemplating how much information he should disclose. At that moment, Igola noticed that the hot-tempered Fire Sanctuary Sorcerer hadn't uttered a word, his gaze fixed unnaturally on Yaxiu, his taut face betraying his inner turmoil—an inherent flaw of fire sorcerers. Whether temperamental or calm, they were notoriously terrible at concealing their emotions. *Something's wrong!* The swindler's eyes darted across—the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer was already less than three paces from Yaxiu! The moment he noticed the swindler looking his way, the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer knew his cover was blown, and he unleashed his strongest miracle without a shred of hesitation! The target—Yaxiu Heath! Indeed, the only entities capable of shattering the temporal cage were the Four Pillar Gods. Yet the candidates who could become a feeler included not just Yaxiu, but also the Silver Lantern! Logically, hunting down the Silver Lantern alongside Yaxiu and his companions should have been easier than turning on Yaxiu. But they hadn't forgotten that the Silver Lantern was a sorcerer skilled in disguise and concealment; if she chose to hide, they might not even be able to find her! Furthermore, the Silver Lantern's cunning and battle prowess had left an indelible mark on them. Compared to her, Yaxiu and his party of four seemed far easier to deal with. Seizing this opening for an ambush could resolve everything in one fell swoop! They only needed a new feeler to be born in the Dead City. As for who that feeler was, they didn't care in the slightest! Thus, the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer intended to exploit this alliance to unleash his swiftest, most ferocious miracle, aiming to pierce Yaxiu's skull before he could even react! Yaxiu was still pondering how much intelligence to share; by the time he sensed the anomaly, the spearhead was practically touching his eyeball... Yet, while the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer had been seeking an opportunity to assassinate Yaxiu, someone else had also been waiting for an opportunity to hunt them. *Snap!* Yaxiu jerked his head back and immediately erected his sanctuary, effortlessly evading the dissipating afterimage of the spear. The Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer fell short at the final instant. Because he was dead. The Shelter had already taken effect once, pulling them into the highest tier of the temporal cage. But if they chose to slaughter one another inside that cage, the Shelter was powerless to intervene. Before Yaxiu's eyes, the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer suddenly burst into pieces, his body resembling a burst meatball or a swatted mosquito. The blood droplets, gory fragments, viscera, and bones that were about to scatter froze in midair, breaking free of the temporal cage's restraint the moment their owner died and resuming normal temporal flow. Amidst this bloody composition of shattered remains, Yaxiu saw a phantom figure appear not far away. A silver-glistening square cicada rested upon her arm clad in long gloves. Tonight, she wore a dark-red gown, a veil, and a miniature top hat, looking as though she were attending a banquet—noble, glamorous, and deadly. The Silver Lantern! The instant she appeared, she had insta-killed the Spear Sanctuary Sorcerer! Inside the Shelter, the first death had occurred.