Leaving

By the time Lincon arrived, the Reed Assassin had already had both its golden needle arms torn off. Only its two legs, rooted in the mud, kept it completely still.

However, the Weird Child had also suffered considerable damage. To tear off the Reed Assassin's limbs at close range, it had inevitably endured the burst of reed needles.

Its body was covered in holes pierced by golden needles, with black mist spilling from them.

Seeing this, Lincon swung the lantern in his hand slightly, pushed off the ground, and instantly rushed before the Weird Child.

Faced with Lincon's sudden appearance, the Weird Child showed no fear. It still wore that eerie, chilling smile.

Like a child with supermale syndrome, it stopped dismantling the Reed Assassin's body and reached for Lincon.

A D-Rank Weird Calamity was several times more dangerous than an Anomaly Calamity of the same rank.

After observing the Weird Child's methods through the Shrine's Eye, Lincon knew that he absolutely could not let it touch him.

Once it grabbed him, his arm would be removed as easily as the Reed Assassin's, like a building block.

The Reed Assassin could grow its hands back after losing them, but as a human, he could not regenerate severed limbs.

As he sidestepped the Weird Child's reaching hand, Lincon's large hand shot toward it as well. Without the slightest panic in his eyes, he gripped the Weird Child's head as though catching a chick.

With both of his classes nearing advancement, his strength and speed had almost reached C-Rank. An invisible layer of energy clung to his skin, allowing him to seize the Weird Child with ease.

"Ah!"

The Weird Child opened its mouth wide in dissatisfaction at the hand gripping its head, spraying out a cloud of black mist.

The black mist carried a dense stench of rot. If inhaled, it would instantly corrode a person's internal organs.

But Lincon had held his breath long ago. His five fingers clenched sharply, crushing the Weird Child's head before he flung it far away.

Yet the headless Weird Child did not die. It staggered back to its feet, its eerie laughter still audible.

It took a step toward Lincon. Just as it had done against the Reed Assassin, its figure vanished again and appeared behind Lincon in an instant.

This near-teleportation speed had already surpassed the limits of a D-Rank speed-type Ability User. An ordinary D-Rank Ability User would have no room to fight back against this Weird Calamity.

Unfortunately, it was facing Lincon. Before coming here, he had already spread his mental power throughout the area.

The Weird Child's teleportation-like speed was ultimately just another ability. The instant he sensed Dark Energy stirring behind him, Lincon was ready.

He swung a horizontal punch, predicting the Weird Child's movement in advance. Just as it reached out to touch him, he sent it flying again with a single blow.

The force wrapped around his fist burst forth like a truck slamming into the Weird Child, instantly tearing its body apart.

Lincon withdrew his hand, opened the lantern's shade, and pinched out a candle flame between his fingertips.

The flame swept through the darkness, and soon a Purification Rune formed in midair, merging with the candle flame.

"Purifying Fire!"

Stimulated by mental power, the tiny candle flame erupted in Lincon's hand with a boom.

He walked over to the Weird Child, which had been torn into several pieces on the ground. Its body was slowly wriggling back together.

"You're really hard to kill," Lincon muttered, tossing the Purifying Fire onto the Weird Child.

The moment the pure white Purifying Fire touched it, thick black smoke immediately rose from its body.

The black smoke seemed to possess a life of its own, twisting endlessly in the flames until it finally vanished into nothingness. Only then did the Weird Child's wriggling body gradually stop.

[You killed a D-Rank Weird Calamity. Sunlight +100.]

"Too bad I can't gain experience anymore."

Lincon came to the Reed Assassin's side. A gentle glow emanated from his right hand as he used Accelerated Growth to rapidly restore its body.

After all, only its head and hands had been severed. It had not been corroded by Dark Energy, so he merely needed to regrow them.

After finishing this, Lincon continued searching for Dark Creatures.

The Weird Corpses hanging upside down at the entrance to Great Cang Village, the malformed creatures writhing inside ruined houses...

Lincon was like a hunter walking through darkness specifically to slaughter Dark Creatures. Everywhere he passed, he left behind scorched traces.

Whenever he found searching on his own too slow, Lincon would light a Weird Candle.

As the dim green candlelight rose, creatures hidden in the darkness were immediately drawn over.

Without exception, all of them became additional Sunlight on Lincon's panel.

After the long night passed and the Dark Veil receded from the sky, Lincon leaned against a tree in exhaustion. The remaining Sunlight on his panel had risen to 570 points.

However, after the Seed of Life automatically deducted its daily repayment of 50, his remaining Sunlight fell back to 520.

A number that had carried alluring implications in the old era.

"Even lighting a Weird Candle couldn't lure over a C-Rank Dark Creature. Do I really have to try my luck with the Pale Wraith in the dense forest?"

Lincon sighed and began packing up to head back.

However, on his way back, he saw a familiar face.

Wang Bo, one of Shen Congzhi's two assistants.

Yesterday, Wang Bo had eagerly run up to inform him that the Rune Workshop had achieved research results. Yet today, Lincon happened to run into him again as he was leaving.

Wang Bo was equally startled when he saw Lincon. He stood frozen in place, at a loss. His expression was guilty, yet somehow also seemed justified.

He carried a large bundle on his back, though Lincon had no idea what it contained. When he noticed Lincon's gaze sweep over it, he hurriedly explained with a flushed face.

"Sir, I didn't steal any fortress food. I saved all of this up over this period."

"Mm."

Lincon nodded and said nothing more. He simply brushed past Wang Bo with indifference and left.

Everyone had their own choices. Lincon would not force these people to remain loyal to the fortress. Since Wang Bo wanted to leave, Lincon would not stop him.

In fact, Lincon had already anticipated this situation and made preparations long ago.

Watching Lincon's indifferent figure depart, Wang Bo opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. In the end, he swallowed his words, turned around resolutely, and left.

After experiencing Shangmai City's fall, he had no desire to experience a second C-Rank Black Tide. With Longwind Fortress's strength, it simply could not withstand one.

So he wanted to leave as early as possible, before the Dark Creatures around the fortress gathered into swarms.

On his way back to the fortress, Lincon encountered quite a few people who shared Wang Bo's thoughts.

Each of them carried bulging bundles utterly unlike the ones they had brought when they arrived. When they saw Lincon, they all lowered their heads in shame.

Some children who did not understand the world took the initiative to greet Lincon, only to be immediately pulled behind their parents as the adults kept their heads lowered.

The children did not understand why their parents had suddenly become like this. They had clearly respected the city lord before, yet now they would not even offer a greeting when they met him.

In the end, pulled along by their parents, they could only look at Lincon through tears, as though saying goodbye.

Lincon did not care in the slightest. He could see the guilt in their eyes.

Yes, this city lord had saved them and given them fresh food and warm shelter, allowing them to survive in the darkness.

By all rights, they should have stood firmly at his side.

Yet people's hearts could be complicated. They were grateful to the city lord, but they did not wish to endure hardship alongside Longwind Fortress. All kinds of emotions weighed on them, leaving them too ashamed to face him.

But by sheer coincidence, Lincon had returned from hunting outside today and run directly into them.

Their ugly, ungrateful side was laid bare beneath the sunlight.

Those eyes, as though they had already seen through everything, were sharper than needlepoints and cut even deeper into their hearts.