Bronze City

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Bronze City (青铜城)
Type	Ancient metal city and large-scale sealing complex
Location	Western Auris Empire; its Inner City stands above an underground Abyss 137 199
Role	Major western trade hub, Night Watch stronghold, and containment system against Weird entities 137 237
Status	Active but critically compromised by collapsing seals, Ghoul outbreaks, Eerie Inscriptions, and the Flesh consuming the Inner City; imperial decrees forbid evacuation 438 439 460
First Appearance	Mentioned as Lu Yuan's prospective transfer destination 107; physically reached 137

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Bronze City Status: 9/50	211	Status is recorded following the deaths of officials connected to the Pipe Network investigation.
Bronze City Status: 12/50	218	Lu Yuan identifies an unknown organism eroding a core sealing structure.
Bronze City Status: 38.2/50	363	A damaged Bronze Sin node is found being consumed by blue-gray roots.
Bronze City Status: 39.2/50; Fragment count: 1/5	365	Lu Yuan's vision reveals the citywide Copper Pillar network and obtains the first documented Bronze City fragment.
Bronze City Status: 41.2/50; Fragment count: 2/5	369	A second fragment is linked; the original builder's message warns that removing all Key fragments at once would weaken the Bronze Pillars' passive defense.
Bronze City Status: 45.2/51	452	The growth-stage entity Hope restores Sanity nearby and raises the recorded city status ceiling.

Background / History

Church records describe the region as a forbidden zone before Bronze City existed. Around a thousand years earlier, an unidentified object fell into the area, spread a devastating Curse, drew the Eerie, and triggered a war involving western city and family coalitions as well as the Church. Most of the combatants, inscriptionists, and craftsmen involved reportedly died there. 345

Bronze City was later created through a massive sealing effort. Herman states that its construction employed tens of thousands of craftsmen for thirty years, while the wall inscriptions alone required ten years of work by the Empire's greatest engravers. The Dwarf race also participated in constructing sealing inscriptions within the Tower of Erudition. 137 285

A vision witnessed by Lu Yuan shows the city’s construction: Copper Pillars were raised around the Abyss, linked by a vast inscription web, then covered by molten copper to form the walls and unified city structure. The unnamed builder activated the entire system with a copper-lit object before scattering its fragments among the pillars as contingencies. 365 369

Appearance & Layout

Bronze City is a colossal metropolis cast from bronze, holy silver, and unidentified metals. Its high, thick walls bear mottled green rust and dense, precisely arranged Rune formations; Lu Yuan estimates the walls to be at least thirty meters tall. Its Rune-covered metal gates are opened by enormous mechanical winches. 137

• Outer City — A dense ring of shops, residences, inns, taverns, and merchant activity outside the main walls; home to ordinary residents and visiting merchants. 137
• Inner City — The district of nobles, officials, and the Church. It is built atop the subterranean Copper Pillar network and the Abyss below. 137 199
• Pipe Network Layer — A copper-lined underground utility system that intersects with, but deliberately avoids parts of, the deeper sealing complex. 251 323
• Tower of Erudition — A major Inner City structure whose foundation inscriptions connect to Bronze City’s underground sealing network. 389

Abilities & Systems

Defensive Rune Array

The wall formations repel and isolate Weird entities, creating a safety zone that allows Bronze City to serve as a major trade center despite the contaminated wilderness around it. 137

• The entire city can flare with bronze light and a holy aura, driving back manifestations such as the black-eyed clouds over the city. 190
• When fully activated, the city’s Runes react violently to disturbances associated with the entity sealed within its depths. 180
• The defense depends on both its irreplaceable metal composition and its inscriptions; neither component is sufficient alone. 137

Transcendent Suppression

Bronze City’s inscriptions impose a citywide oppressive force that weakens Transcendents within its coverage. 319 334

• The suppression can shorten Klaus’s Bone Blade, erase his Afterimages, and diminish his aura. 319 334
• A complete Copper Sheet is believed to function as a transit credential, allowing its bearer to move within the sealing system without suppression or repulsion. 249
• Bolen’s silver shards can temporarily bypass the city’s defensive inscriptions. 311
• Archbishop Adrian’s Golden Blessing can block the suppression entirely. 334

Copper Pillar Sealing Network

The underground Copper Pillars are conduction structures forming a complete seal beneath the city. Four cardinal pillars share matching conduction paths and inscription styles, while further nodes extend deeper around the Abyss. 237 365

• The pillars channel and distribute power through the citywide inscription network. 260 365
• Bolen concludes that the pillars are not the power source; he believes they extract power from the dangerous existence behind the hidden bronze wall. 260
• The Bronze Pillars’ passive defenses are tied to the scattered Key fragments and should not all be removed simultaneously. 369
• Rising pillars and spreading Eerie Inscriptions indicate that something beneath the city is becoming active. 323 345

Weird Inscription Barrier

A massive bronze wall beneath City Hall is covered with ancient Weird Inscriptions rather than ordinary large-scale inscriptions. The inscriptions appear to be designed to seal and extract an unidentified target. 251

• The barrier causes severe illusion effects, Sanity loss, and powerful suppression. 251
• The Pipe Network was deliberately built around this area, with its conduits ending at the inscription boundary. 251 323
• The entity behind the wall is implied to be integral to the city’s functioning, making its release a threat to both the seal and Bronze City itself. 260

Vulnerabilities

• Erosion of sealing nodes — Gray-green mycelium and blue-gray roots corrode Copper Pillar inscriptions faster than they can be repaired. 218 363
• Overloaded defenses — Bolen senses that the city’s inscriptions are carrying an abnormally heavy burden and may be overloaded. 311
• Collapse points — Ground collapses across both districts opened paths for Ghoul incursions; the Inner City collapses exposed enormous underground Voids. 234
• Bypass methods — The Gray Covenant, Ascension Society members, Copper Sheet holders, and those protected by Adrian’s blessing can evade or negate the city’s suppression. 288 334
• Internal contamination — The Flesh eventually covers the entire Inner City, filling streets and buildings while the city’s defensive systems fail to contain the crisis. 439 460

Relationships

• Night Watch — Maintains the Bronze City branch, investigates its underground systems, defends collapse points, and coordinates civilian shelters during the siege. 137 388 452
• The Church — Holds influence in the Inner City, constructs temporary churches near Old Council Square, and possesses records concerning the site’s ancient war and sealing history. 210 345 356
• Tower of Erudition — Connected to the Sea of Knowledge project and to the underground inscription network; its foundation inscriptions link to Bronze Sin pillars and the city’s sealing root. 345 389 438
• Auris Empire — Funds and directs projects connected to the city, values its harvested Sea of Knowledge data, and orders that Bronze City be held at all costs. 285 438
• Gray Covenant — Infiltrates the city, investigates the Copper Pillar system, and uses hidden Inner City sites for the Forest Seed’s growth. 244 249 295
• Person on the Wall — Influences events around the Copper Wall and Tower of Erudition; it foresees Bronze City’s destruction in one possible future. 438 463

Story Role / Major Arcs

Arrival and early unease

Lu Yuan reaches Bronze City after a three-day journey through the Weird Stone Forest and oasis belt. Although the walls remove the immediate sensation of contamination, the Outer City is already tense with increased Night Watch patrols and reports of disappearances connected to the Tower of Erudition. 137

Anomaly and Pipe Network investigation

Lu Yuan’s contact with the Sea of Knowledge reveals a chained, distorted existence within the city. Bronze City’s Runes activate in response, while the being offers him power in exchange for help. 179 180

Investigations below the city uncover Copper Pillars, the Abyss, a hidden bronze wall of Weird Inscriptions, and evidence that the Inner City’s defenses are part of a far deeper sealing network. 199 237 251

Gray Covenant infiltration

The Gray Covenant exploits weaknesses in the city’s systems, searches for access to the City Hall seal, and grows the Forest Seed beneath an Inner City warehouse using living humans as fertilizer. The city’s arrays fail to detect the seed. 244 249 294 295

Rising pillars and descent into the Abyss

As the Bronze Pillars begin emerging at an accelerating rate, the Night Watch, Church, and Ascension Society organize descents beneath Old Council Square. Lu Yuan’s visions reveal the original construction of Bronze City and the Key fragments embedded in its pillars. 345 356 365 369

Isolation and citywide collapse

Klaus evacuates selected East District craftsmen to Oak Forest City before communication with Bronze City fails. When Lu Yuan returns, the city is under martial law due to escalating underground casualties and a planned third descent. 391 400 413

Multiple collapse points subsequently release Ghouls and Great Ghouls into the city. The imperial government prohibits evacuation, forcing the remaining defenders and residents to hold Bronze City despite the worsening siege. 422 438 439

Flesh siege

The seal behind the Copper Wall fails, allowing the Crown with seven glass eyeballs to emerge. Dark red and dark-gold Flesh spreads from the Inner City walls until it fills the entire district, leaving only the tallest structures visible. 439 460

The Person on the Wall later reveals that it saw a future in which Bronze City was destroyed, but claims Lu Yuan’s presence altered that outcome. 463