In the underground shelter level of Shadow City's old node, the cold light of psionic torches cast mottled shadows across the shattered stone walls.
The chaotic blocking battle had erupted in full. At the outer entrance of Ash Prayer Corridor, the Well-Sealing Squad of the Dark Spirit Army remnants did not draw their blades. Instead, they flung out Shadow Chains engraved with corrupting runes from beneath their robes.
The chains had an obvious tracking mechanism. They bypassed the Tier Two players holding shields at the front and accurately coiled around the trembling ordinary Dark Spirit refugees in the rear. Luoxin, a low-ranking priest, was caught around the throat by one chain, his feet dragging along the ground as he was forcibly pulled deeper into the corridor.
Luoxin's eyes were filled with terror. He recognized those spellcasters. They were high-ranking priests and Warlords from the Dark Spirit Army. They had always taught the lower-class Darklings to believe in the [Omen of Eternal Night] and devote everything to the faction. Now, those lofty Warlords were treating them like livestock awaiting slaughter, intending to drag every survivor deep underground, grind them apart, and sacrifice them to that terrifying existence in exchange for the energy needed to bring down an avatar.
The despair of shattered faith engulfed every refugee in the shelter level. They screamed and struggled, their hands clawing bloody streaks across the rocky floor.
"Fuck! The elite mobs over there have a chain mechanic—they're packing up NPCs!" A freeloading player standing on high ground immediately grasped the situation and shouted hoarsely in the regional channel. "These survivors are definitely keys to unlocking a new map or intel packages. Don't let them bag them up and take them away! Interrupt the casting!"
The players' reactions were astonishingly uniform. No one tried to soothe