Ti reverses for a period.
"The ruins we just walked through are also part of Nox Lorn, right? It's quite big."
Maru said while drawing the map of their journey so far.
The bridge, littered with Secret Envoy corpses, connects the ruins with the city, but upon closer inspection, it's clear the two connected parts were originally one.
Combining the strong evidence of destruction on the ruins, it's easy to see that this place suffered significant damage, which is why it has now beco a desolate land with only Animated Corpses wandering.
"If only we could see Nox Lorn in its pri, wait, didn't I say this back in Yanor Londo?"
People didn't respond to Maru because she was now purely talking to herself. She likes to relieve stress by speaking while working, though she generally doesn't have much stress anyway.
Nox Lorn looks magnificent at first glance, but upon closer examination, it's full of scars.
Below the bridge is an abyss shrouded in mist where you can't see the bottom. The edges of both sides of the bridge, despite ti passing, show signs of violent destruction.
Perhaps, before, these places were connected not just by the bridge but had more grand buildings, all of which fell into the abyss due to unknown destruction, never to appear in the sights of people again.
Thinking about it would sadden anyone who loves scenery.
Crossing the bridge, finally discovering the long-sought bonfire, oh no, it's a blessing. The golden shine of the blessing heals people's physical fatigue and soothes their spirits.
And at the other end of the blessing is where another cluster of buildings of Nox Lorn is located.
Countless buildings gathered here, yet devoid of vitality, making the atmosphere compatible with the coldness of night.
On the bridge, it wasn't visible; only upon approaching Nox Lorn did Leon & the others realize sothing was amiss.
Because the buildings here… are collapsed in disarray. No, not collapsed. They are inverted because of altered gravity.
Most of the buildings are still normal, but so high towers stand abruptly sideways, forming a layout unsuitable for habitation, the details of these buildings indicating this place suffered major change, long void of any inhabitants.
Leon carefully walked up; the surface he was treading was a horizontal castle, with nurous windows clustered together; so sealed seamlessly, so hollows exposed to chilling drafts would send anyone tumbling into the abyss if they misstep.
"Boss, the atmosphere here is nasty."
Maru said, jumping over several windows to head to the real ground nearby, but just then.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The sealed windows suddenly shattered, silver tentacles rushing towards Maru.
Startled like a cat whose fur had been bristled, she swiftly reacted, drawing her sword ready for fight, yet an unpleasant mory surged upon seeing the slippery, amorphous tentacles.
"Uwa!"
Maru yelled, flipping backwards far from danger, narrowly avoiding falling.
"Maru!"
Leon horizontally swung out a Sword Qi, cutting all those tentacles in one sweep.
But the severed tentacles imdiately blurred in shape, transforming into indeterminate sli, and their master finally crawled out from the window.
Indeed, it's....
"Biomitic Tear Drop!"
Seeing those round "slis," Leon's eyelids twitched wildly. What's going on? Is this city a wholesale factory of Biomitic Tear Drop?
More "Biomitic Tear Drop" squeezed out from the windows than before!
This is getting a bit too thrilling!
Then those "Biomitic Tear Drop" bodies started shifting, forming nurous spear-like spikes, swiftly shooting at everyone.
A gust of wind swept past behind Leon, causing him to stagger, blowing all those spikes away.
"Look closely, Leon, these are not Biomitic Tear Drop," Gapar's voice ca from behind "They just look like but are a different variety."
"Look alike?"
Upon closer look, these "Biomitic Tear Drop" indeed differ slightly, all black in color and seemingly won't transform into other creatures' shapes.
"Scared to death..."
Finally understanding the truth behind the situation, Leon relaxed, his heart that had been racing now cald.
The strength of these black tear drops is vastly inferior to the silver Biomitic Tear Drop encountered before, after confirming they weren't that threat, everyone boldly surged ahead, surprisingly finishing them off swiftly, unexpectedly easy.
"Hoo..."
Slaying the last black tear drop, Leon sighed, self-muttering:
"No matter how strong I beco, I always get frightened inside the Sain Dungeon."
Others shared the sa sentint.
"Speaking of which, this place is awesoly vacant."
Strolling through the streets of Nox Lorn, only a icy wind rushing faced them, carrying a sense of utmost solitude; any disturbance from monsters breaking silence, swiftly reverting back to deathly hush once monsters perished.
It's very different from the feeling of walking in Yilushier or Yanor Londo.
"Awoo——"
The clear wolf howl sounded once again, and Leon and the others imdiately turned toward the direction of the sound. Along the way, the enemies encountered were rely black tear drops.
However, ultimately they ca up empty-handed, finding no trace of Blaze, as they had rushed into a dead end.
At the deepest point of the dead end, the corpse of a Secret Envoy lay quietly, also severed by a greatsword.
Beside him, there were fragnts of a broken stone tablet, and as Leon approached, magic words began to light up on the tablet.
[Before the king departed, his half-body had returned here to et at the place where the tear drops had audience with the king]
"What does this an?"
Leon frowned. If the king refers to the Elden King, then who is the half-body?
People often use the word half-body to describe a partner; could it be referring to Lanni? But the place of eting... was it in this city?
"It doesn't feel right, I might be mistaken."
"What are you looking at, boss?" Maru ca over and glanced at it, imdiately showing a thoughtful expression.
Just when Leon hoped she would provide a different conclusion, she spread her hands and said:
"I don't know."
"..."
The Eternal City is vast, so vast that at a glance, one's eyes are filled with its scenery.
The Eternal City is also very small, as many places are collapsed and ruined, with very few passable roads. So places require a bit of destruction to navigate, which goes against the instincts developed by people due to the unbreakable architecture of the Sain Dungeon.
Every ti people walk a new path for a while, the wolf howl would resound, attracting them to chase the source of the sound.
Each ti they chase the sound, they co up empty, sotis encountering many Monsters.
The black tear drops gradually disappeared, replaced by silver tear drops that can mimic various creatures. For a ti, the howls of Monsters echoed throughout Nox Lorn, with eight out of every ten silver tear drops turning into Lune Bears, while the remaining two transform into other ferocious beasts.
Fortunately, now everyone is considered battle-hardened, and with Gapar's help, they always manage to escape danger.
If it were the Strategy Group from a few months ago, surrounded by two or three Lune Bears, they would have happily declared GG.
And every ti they defeated Monsters, a stone tablet with inscriptions could be found nearby.
[Unable to mimic the mind, the tear drops birthed thought through repeated imitation]
[The Nox people have high hopes for the tear drops, yearning to birth a king of the night different from the Golden Tree]
[Having learned to think, the tear drops failed to mimic the king, turning to mimic the king's half-body]
...
These enigmatic sentences were recorded on the stone tablets, and Leon noted each one down using the Image Stone.
Though he was temporarily unclear of their anings, reading these sentences carried an inexplicable sense of awe, and anyone going through a phase of juvenile delusion might find them cool.
Moreover, Leon's guesses were gradually being confird.
"The faith of this city, is indeed different from the Golden Tree."
"Awoo——"
The wolf howl sounded once more, and people exchanged glances, imdiately rushing over.
Gapar gripped the sword hilt tightly; his intuition told him this was the ti to hold his weapon firmly.
Because, at so point, the wolf howl had changed.
Though hard to articulate, Gapar felt it— the wolf howl no longer clear like before, now grew increasingly manic, as if unable to suppress its ferocity, ready to explode like a beast.
This was different from Blaze; although that Half Wolf had a wild nature, even when defeated by Latan during the Battle Festival, he never emitted such a frenzied sound.
So sothing was wrong—either Blaze underwent so change, or what they had been chasing all along was not...
The wolf howl disappeared, and people were once again left empty-handed, facing a vast expanse of forested mountain, with Nox Lorn left behind.
Words like [Night Divine Domain] appeared before them, indicating that while connected to Nox Lorn, this place was distinctly different.
Quiet forests, bounding Spiritual Animals, the atmosphere here was unlike Nox Lorn, with a harmonious flavor.
People knew they would lose track, but were not disappointed, for a new blessing awaited them not far ahead.
Leon walked forward, extending his arm even before reaching the blessing.
"Awoo——"
At this mont, the manic wolf howl sounded.
[Invasion by "Calamity Shadow"!!!]
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