Dark Astel

Fingel lied yesterday.

Actually, their Hasawi Squad didn't need to go to the Gourmet Area today.

But yesterday, in order to strike up a conversation with Elsa, he casually mentioned going to the Gourmet Area, never expecting that Elsa would team up with him. Unexpectedly, the girl agreed immediately.

Now we have no choice but to head to the Gourmet Area.

But what could he do here? To be honest, he couldn't think of anything, so he did some research overnight.

In the current adventure activities surrounding the Gourmet Area, in addition to the organized and planned daily collection of ingredients, people also search for legendary cooking utensils like the Eternal Spirit Blade, collect ingredients and recipes with special effects, and explore even more delicious ingredients, and so on.

These activities all seem to require a lot of luck to participate in, which isn't really suitable for someone who's only here for one day.

So Fingel casually accepted some quests related to the area, and during that time he met Sid, the Branch Guild Master of the Adventurers' Guild in Bede City. After chatting with him for a while, he unwittingly accepted a high-risk quest such as "Gathering Rainbow Fruit".

The Rainbow Fruit, standing at the deepest Gourmet Area, is the ultimate treasure of this area under normal circumstances. It is guarded by powerful monsters, so ordinary people can't get close at all. Occasionally, ingredients that are even more powerful than the Rainbow Fruit will fall from the sky in the Gourmet Area, but no one dares to gamble on luck every day.

"I don't know what happened with the Meteor Shower in the underground city yesterday. Everyone on the streets was talking about it after I came back."

Fingel looked up at the sky. It should have been morning, but Lake Liurnia was still dark, as was the case. Countless meteors streaked across the sky, just like the scene he had seen in Irithyll yesterday. The Meteor Shower had continued until now.

Meteor Shower appeared outside. Why is Sien joining in? This strange sight sparked endless discussion among the residents, who speculated that Sien was about to pull off something big.

The Meteor Shower reminded people of the Glintstone Magic at the Raya Lucaria Magic Academy. Glintstone Magic is currently the most popular spell among adventurers, followed by Soul Magic, since most people's magic mentors are either Orbeck or Sellen.

What happened to the White Wolf and Ranni in Topus's Painting World afterward? I'm really curious.

"Hey everyone, something's happened! We need to get to Firelink Shrine right now!"

Just then, several adventurers teleported back from the campfire. As soon as they appeared, they started shouting, their excitement overflowing.

"What's wrong? Why are you all flustered, like you've seen a ghost?" someone teased. But the adventurers glared at them and shouted, "Go see for yourself! Don't end up crying from fright!"

This was an absolutely effective provocation for adventurers, and people's emotions were immediately stirred up, even Fingel was no exception, he rolled up his sleeves and looked at the crowd.

"Let's go see what kind of demons and monsters have appeared!"

Between rounds around the campfire, people feel their bodies being torn apart and reassembled painlessly. At first, it feels very uncomfortable, but after a few times, they gradually get used to it.

When the strange, short melody rang in their ears and the words "Firelink Shrine" appeared before their eyes, they knew the teleportation had been successful.

They sensed something unusual through their ears even before they opened their eyes.

As is widely known, the Zane Dungeon is a music anime.

Although easily overlooked, music actually plays in certain special scenarios in the Zane Dungeon. Each area, each boss, and even each elite has its own exclusive background music. Of course, background music is generally not played in areas like Farron Keep, which are full of difficult challenges, because it would interfere with the adventurer's judgment.

But the boss fight absolutely needs background music, it absolutely has to be!

Meanwhile, in relatively peaceful areas, such as the Gourmet Area, music can be heard at any time, making people feel enchanted. There are already bards who are dedicated to transcribing various music from the Zane Dungeon, and if they could be performed outside, they would definitely make a lot of money.

As the most peaceful area, Firelink Shrine naturally has its own music. It's a relaxing melody with a touch of sadness. It's not particularly catchy, but it's very easy to listen to. If you ask Fingel which piece he likes the most, it's definitely the background music from Firelink Shrine. Every time he hears it, he feels a sense of security.

But now the piece has changed, becoming more tranquil, like a vast and boundless starry sky, occasionally flashing a few peculiar and cold notes, making one feel as if being targeted by a demon.

Fingel hesitated for a moment, then opened his eyes.

Without a doubt, the Firelink Shrine, which is usually always in daylight, has now fallen into night, and shooting stars streak across the darkness. The scene here is exactly the same as that of Lake Liurnia.

But that alone wouldn't be enough to justify the description of "so scared I cried." What's truly awe-inspiring is what's hidden in the night—

Black Hole.

Amidst the beautiful, star-studded landscape, a sudden, pure Black Hole appears, like a giant eye from outer space gazing down upon the world. Its immense gravity is relentlessly tearing apart the surrounding stars, pulling them into eternal darkness.

"Ghrū."

Fingel heard himself involuntarily swallow, his mind momentarily lapsed, his reason being tested.

Just then, a tranquil lake flashed through his mind, and the Carlisle rune [Lake] etched in his mind helped him resist mental interference.

I never expected it to have this effect.

[Journey to the other side of the starry sky and challenge an alien meteor?]

A line of text appeared before me, giving me the same feeling as the question in Farron Keep: "Awaken the Farron Undead Legion for a challenge?" Could it be that there are monsters inside the Black Hole?!

"This feels really bad. I absolutely won't go in until my friend Leon goes in to find out what's going on."

In the blink of an eye, Fingel suddenly realized that the weather had changed.

The Firelink Shrine disappeared, and he seemed to be standing in an endless black universe, surrounded by floating dim nebulae!

Fingel's brain froze for a second, and when all his companions appeared, he finally came to his senses and, in a second, figured out what had happened:

They've entered the Black Hole!

The reason was that he stared at the Black Hole for too long, so he was sucked in!

"No," Fingel's cheeks twitched, "You could have just sucked us in, so why did you pretend to ask if we wanted to take on the challenge?"

What does this feeling resemble?

It's like the main god space asking you if you want to become a reincarnator to find the meaning of life. While you're thinking about whether to nod yes or shake your head no, you automatically become a reincarnator because you stared at the message for more than five seconds!

Is your God Space run by the recruitment office of Super Earth?

Having just entered the Firelink Shrine, Fingel quickly grasped one of the rules:

Staring at Black Hole in the sky for more than five seconds will inevitably lead to being sucked in.

No wonder the adventurers who ran back to the lake area were so terrified; they were probably sucked in and saw something too.

"So, what are we going to fight now?" the members of the Guzha Squad asked tremblingly. Although they were protected by the Carlisle runes, their spirits were weaker. When they saw the Black Hole, it was as if they had been subjected to a mass intimidation spell. Now they were as timid as rabbits.

"Be careful, it's not something easy to get along with."

Matilda was itching for a fight, Aleya was mixing seeds, and Elsa impatiently drew her greatsword, ready to take down the mysterious monster in the Black Hole and then go find her adorable Pokémon to relax.

Fingel took a step forward, and the change occurred.

The dark universe before them surged, and dark purple starlight suddenly flickered. Then, a colossal object emerged from the water.

It was a huge, grotesque skull with stiff, insect-like tentacles on either side of the jawbone. This combination of human and insect was full of bizarre energy. But what was most noteworthy was what was revealed on the skull's broken forehead—an eyeball that glowed with an eerie light!

Its eyes gleamed with an eerie light, bizarre and mysterious, staring intently at the crowd.

Even with only its head emerging from the darkness, and its entire body yet to appear, this unknown monster already instilled a tremendous sense of oppression in the people.

["Dark Meteor" Astel]

The title was made up by Gong Qiying.

An ordinary person would definitely be stunned for a few seconds at this moment, but the Hasawi Squad and Elsa were already seasoned veterans. As for being shocked, after being exposed to a series of leaders by Saen, everyone's threshold for shock had been raised. So the moment Astel appeared, everyone had already devised a battle plan.

"The first thing to do is run!"

The group quickly rushed toward Astel's giant skull. They were too far away from Astel now, and all their attacks were ineffective. They had to close the distance.

"Fighting such a behemoth is easy as long as we can get onto its body, so we'll do it this way."

As Fingel ran, he explained his plans, but he seemed to have forgotten one thing: just because they couldn't hit Astel didn't mean Astel couldn't hit them.

Suddenly, starlight gathered before Astel's skull, and the stars mixed with magic formed a giant magic sphere that no one had ever seen before. It was several times larger than the pseudo-legendary magic Ball of Life that Iliphis had painstakingly created, and its power far surpassed that of the original.

"No way."

Fingel suddenly stopped in his tracks. The moment the magic ball appeared, he had a premonition of something.

"Boom--"

The magic ball transformed into an endless torrent of destruction, engulfing everyone in front of it. A flash of light appeared in the dark space for a moment, but then dimmed again.

After Astel finished her greeting, she looked back at the arena. All the adventurers were dead.

Such an outrageous first-encounter kill is unprecedented in the history of the Zane Dungeon.

After a while, Fingel and the others reappeared by the campfire, their eyes filled with confusion, as if their minds were repeating the same sentence:

"What happened?"

They just started running, discussing tactics, casting buff spells, and then... they were instantly killed?

Even Overlord Wolnir knew to activate Wrath of the Gods only when he was at half health, but Astel just used an instant-kill skill right away.

He stared blankly up, then suddenly pressed his head down, forcing himself not to look at the Black Hole in the sky. Anyone who looked at that thing was doomed.

The group exchanged bewildered glances, and a member of the Guzha Squad asked, "Is that thing going to stay suspended in the sky forever?"

These words sent a chill down people's spines. The thought of such a terrifying thing hanging in the sky at any moment was simply too unsettling.

It's practically the carrot of Damocles.

"Why does the Zane Dungeon feel less and less comfortable?"

Fingel trembled at the memory of Astel's appearance. What exactly was that thing? Was it an extraterrestrial evil god?

He dared not look up again and forced himself to distract himself. Just then, Elsa suddenly noticed something.

An altar suddenly appeared on the steps of the Firelink Shrine?

"What is this thing?"

The group walked over and examined it closely. They saw a shooting star engraved on the altar, and a piece of advice appeared in front of the altar.

Let's offer up shooting stars!

"Offer shooting stars?" Fingel frowned, not quite understanding, but Elsa seemed to have figured something out, pointing to the Meteor Shower in the sky and saying:

"It might be Small Falling Star."

"Huh? How did you make that connection? Wait, maybe it actually makes sense." Fingel followed Elsa's train of thought and said, "Could it be that we're going to bring the Small Falling Star that fell from the sky to the altar?"

There's no point in speculating now; what matters is practice. The group plans to randomly find an area and try catching Small Falling Star.

But after taking only a few steps, he heard the sound of something breaking through the ground behind him, and turned around to look.

A stone tablet emerged from the ground, and surprisingly, it was inscribed with characters arranged from low to high, seemingly with some meaning.

[Luo Jieer - 4]

Te Mude the Flame Sword - 4

[Te Pi Bask - Part 2]

Mei Gen Basque - 1

Before anyone could understand what was going on, the stone tablet suddenly grew taller, and a new name appeared below it.

Leon Basque - 1

A few seconds later, a new name appeared, and the stone tablet grew taller again.

"Wait a minute, I feel like I've seen this style of stone tablet somewhere before."

Fingel suddenly frowned. He had seen this kind of stone tablet that grew taller with the appearance of a new name before, but he couldn't remember where it came from.

"Right, it's the Glory Dungeon!"

Matilda's voice held a hint of surprise, "The [Glory Stone Tablet] from the Glory Dungeon? Why would it be here?"

Glory Dungeon, a long-established dungeon, is characterized by its Glory Stone Tablet, which ranks adventurers based on the number of monsters they kill and rewards them according to their ranking. The Glory Stone Tablet is periodically cleared, starting from zero, which makes some adventurers obsessed with getting a high ranking.

With the appearance of the stone tablet, new magical runes began to unfold.

Before chasing the shooting star, choose your starting supplies from this list.

The names of more than forty dungeons were lined up before everyone's eyes.

"What, what is this!?"