"This city was already dead."
After looking around, Gu Xi stated it plainly.
As a Necromancer, Gu Xi could clearly sense that the land before him was filled with Death Aura.
This was not the Death Aura produced by too many undead gathering together, with Negative Energy accumulating.
It was the hollow feeling of an entire city having died.
Standing on this land, Gu Xi felt as though a giant whale had fallen, and he was inside its body.
Just then, Luna floated over as well, pressing close behind Gu Xi and whispering into his ear.
"My lord, take this city."
Gu Xi froze. Take this city? Did she mean the abandoned castle before them, which was nearly collapsing, or...
As Gu Xi looked around, he suddenly realized that this place was rather interesting.
Although the castle before them had collapsed, its footprint and original materials remained. Gu Xi could tell at a glance that this place had once served military and residential purposes.
As a Necromancer, if he truly took this city, he would have a place to station troops in the future.
Just as Gu Xi was about to agree, Luna flew toward the castle gate.
As she flew, she kept looking back at Gu Xi.
"Come on, hurry!"
This only made Gu Xi more confused.
Hadn't she said they were taking the castle before them? Why was she running off like this?
Though he did not understand, Gu Xi trusted Luna and quickly followed after her.
At the same time, the one hundred and eighty Skeletons behind him began moving as well.
The Skeletons assigned to Battle Squads advanced in formation. Those who had not been assigned to Battle Squads swarmed after Gu Xi, bumping into one another and making clattering sounds.
But Gu Xi had no mind to worry about that now. Following Luna out through the castle gates, he discovered that the city she wanted was not the castle before them.
It was the enormous, empty city before them.
The Fake City of Victoria City from the legends.
The city before them was clearly built in a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century style. Its layout was somewhat chaotic, with stone houses that seemed to have been built at random, without any planning.
The ground, however, was remarkably clean, nothing like the streets of the fifteenth or sixteenth century.
Gu Xi noticed that, like the castle, the city before them was filled with a sense of deathly stillness.
As though the city had died long ago.
Though all the buildings in the city still stood, Gu Xi felt as if he had entered a Dead City.
As Gu Xi was marveling at the state of the city, he suddenly heard Luna speak.
"Aryadovi."
"What?"
Gu Xi's heart jolted, and he could not help blurting it out.
Only then did Luna come back to her senses. Turning her head, she asked, "What is it?"
"Nothing. What did you just say? Arya..."
"I didn't say anything." Luna shook her head firmly. She did not remember what she had just said at all.
Seeing Luna's expression, Gu Xi calmed down instead.
Looking at the not-too-large city before him, a thought suddenly flashed through Gu Xi's mind.
Could Luna be this city's City Spirit?
He had heard before that if a city was old enough, or sufficiently special, it would gradually give birth to a City Spirit that existed as the Guardian of the City.
If Luna was this city's City Spirit, then her reaction just now made sense.
A city that had only just died—even if its spirit had become a Contract Undead because of Gu Xi, she would still retain some attachment to the city.
If they had not come to this city, Gu Xi might have continued treating Luna as an ordinary Contract Undead.
After leaving this Game World, Gu Xi would have found a way to strengthen his Undead Army. If possible, he would contract a powerful undead when he reached Level 3.
But things were different now. Having come to this Mirror False City and learned the possibility of Luna's identity, Gu Xi naturally had more choices.
"Luna, lead the way. Don't be afraid. I'll always be standing behind you."
The thought only turned over in his mind briefly before Gu Xi made his decision.
"B-but I don't know where to go."
Luna hesitated before speaking.
"It's fine. Go wherever you want. Follow your heart."
Gu Xi soothed Luna.
Reassured by Gu Xi, Luna calmed down instead. Her hollow eyes looked toward a direction beyond the city.
Before Gu Xi had said anything, Luna had felt nothing.
Now, however, she had an urge to go there immediately.
As he spoke, Gu Xi had been watching Luna's emotional reactions.
The moment he saw her expression, Gu Xi knew there was hope.
"Don't overthink it. Let's go."
Hearing this, Luna truly did as Gu Xi said. Without caring whether there was even a path ahead, she headed straight toward the place drawing her in.
Gu Xi followed behind Luna, with four Battle Squads and a motley collection of Skeletons at his side.
After rushing out of the city, Gu Xi looked back and discovered that the castle behind them had vanished into the mist.
It seemed that the completely abandoned city was just as the legends of Victoria City said: merely the entrance to the city before them.
There might not have been much of a feeling while they were in the castle, but it was different now that they were outside.
The castle disappearing into the mist meant that the way back was gone.
As Gu Xi was worrying about this, he suddenly heard rustling sounds nearby.
He turned toward the source and saw shadowy figures moving deep within the mist.
Gu Xi glanced at Luna, who was continuing onward without a care, then pointed at a Skeleton.
The Skeleton did not react at all.
This made Gu Xi somewhat angry.
Summoned undead really were not as useful as Contract Undead.
Some things had to be explicitly ordered before they would do them. Without an order, or if the gesture was too subtle, they simply did not know what they were supposed to do.
Usually, they only followed Gu Xi around, then charged in to hack wildly whenever they saw an enemy.
Gu Xi had grown accustomed to Luna helping him communicate with these undead. He had not expected that with Luna having a bit of trouble now, even his command would nearly become a problem.
Fortunately, Gu Xi reacted quickly. Pointing at that Skeleton, he said, "You, go into the mist and see what those figures are. The rest of you Skeletons, gather around me."
Under Gu Xi's command, the Skeletons swiftly moved into action.
As the Skeletons moved, Gu Xi suddenly noticed something: at some point, enemies had slipped into his group.
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