Lightless Area and Terror Screaming Demon

Lake Liurnia.

As the only area in the Zane Dungeon where people can reside permanently, it cannot be compared with other areas when discussing which area is the most popular.

Because if there were lake areas, people would probably choose the lake areas.

Aside from the convenience and the opportunity to learn magic, the map is large enough, and some resources are highly random, so even ordinary people have a chance to survive a near-death experience and bring back some good stuff after wandering around inside.

If you could open shops in each safe zone, you could make money even selling food, since adventurers always have all sorts of needs.

As the center of Lake Liurnia, the Raya Lucaria Magic Academy is naturally a popular map. People feel that this magic academy could exist as a separate area, which is enough to prove just how large the Lake District is and how rich its contents are.

Aside from the four mainstream types of magic—Radiant Stone, Soul, Crystal, and Carian— there's also a chance to learn some strange but useful unknown magic at the magic academy. This makes magic enthusiasts frequent this place, keeping its popularity ever-growing.

However, the Holy Light Church's goal was not these magic spells, but rather the Underground Labyrinth connected to the magic academy, or even a small, dark section of the Underground Labyrinth without any light.

The Underground Labyrinth is a labyrinth that fits the stereotype of a maze: constantly changing routes, different kinds of monsters, and safe zones for temporary rest. The only thing that is unique to Sion is the blessing of various gods.

Within the complex Underground Labyrinth lies a special area— the Lightless Area, which adventurers refer to as that dark map.

To some extent, the Lightless Area are famous and popular among some adventurers, but they are also notorious among other adventurers, with opinions being extremely polarized. Those who like them love them very much, while those who hate them don't want to encounter them at all, and if they have no choice but to leave, they just want to carry a torch and speed through.

The reason is simply due to the special mechanism used in it.

Whether it's magic, physiological factors, or the influence of other forces, people in Lightless Area experience psychological stress if there are no torches for illumination, and this stress increases the longer they stay in the dark.

Even if you can drink some stimulant potions to tough it out, as long as there's no torch, the psychological pressure will eventually increase, it's just a matter of how fast or slow.

When the pressure reaches a critical point, something interesting happens.

People's beliefs will be tested, and if they fail the test, they will be tormented by pressure, become overwhelmed by negative emotions, and randomly become violent, cruel, and greedy. These negative emotions can accumulate.

If one passes the test, one's character will improve, and some may even acquire saintly virtues and become a person of high moral character.

Whether it's torture or virtue, it can have a certain impact on the adventurer's strength. This randomness is interesting to some people and makes them unable to stop, but it is extremely disgusting to others, because no one knows whether they will reveal some social secrets that they cannot let others know when they become negative due to torture.

Someone once publicly revealed that he was juggling five relationships after being overwhelmed by despair, which resulted in a bloody incident within the group because all five relationships he was juggling belonged to his teammates.

Currently, whether one is tortured or gains virtue depends on the adventurer's own psychological qualities; those with strong psychological qualities may be able to accumulate a lot of virtue along the way.

Exploring dungeons could even change one's personality—something adventurers had never heard of before, and they were filled with curiosity about the Lightless Area.

One of the reasons that draws curious people to explore is that both virtue and torment only work within the Underground Labyrinth; once you leave the labyrinth, you will revert back to your original form.

After all, if things can't return to normal, few people would want to come in and gamble on whether they can become as noble as a saint.

Negative emotions disappear after leaving the Underground Labyrinth, but virtues can leave a faint influence. There are actually examples of adventurers who have returned from the Lightless Area becoming sunny, cheerful, and positive.

Therefore, the Lightless Area is very popular among adventurers who want to experience another side of themselves, test the strength of their beliefs, or make changes to their personality.

Earl Ka Rong once proposed using Lightless Area to rehabilitate criminals.

As it turns out, out of four criminals in jail, five will go insane, so the proposal was dropped.

Regardless of whether the Lightless Area is popular or not, as an area with special mechanics, it enjoys a decent reputation among adventurers. Recently, challenging the Lightless Area has become popular, and those who can withstand more pressure are more respected and welcomed.

This is also why Albuquerque recommended this place to the bishop, and why the bishop accepted it after consideration.

After all, the Church doesn't seem to have any other way to exploit dungeons and adventurers. They can't exactly send Holy Light Knight to clear new areas first or open the Resurrection Room to adventurers for free, can they? The former is time-consuming and laborious, and the latter would be a loss.

Bede City, Holy Light Church.

Albuquerque walked down the long corridor inside the church, passersby dared not meet his gaze, exchanging only a greeting before hurrying away.

He gave a perfunctory response, his mind preoccupied with other things.

Although the bishop had agreed to his suggestion, he hesitated on whether to bring Li Ka into the dungeon, especially since live streaming was so unpredictable. It would be safer to record it with Image Stone, as they couldn't afford to take responsibility if anything went wrong during the live stream.

The bishop's final decision was to give Li Ka three days of training, especially in mental resilience. In addition, during these three days, Albuquerque would increase the number of believers entering the Lightless Area to conduct more extensive experiments and ensure that Li Ka would be safe once inside.

"What a suspicious old man," he muttered to himself after leaving the church.

He could fabricate experimental data as much as he wanted, and recently the Lightless Area seemed to have become much more merciful. He just wanted Had and the church to lose face in this failure, preferably to be completely defeated!

As for the reason

A hooded man walked past him, and the two finished their conversation in an instant.

"The church will enter the dungeon in three days. If you want to make a big splash, choose that time."

"Received, thank you for your trouble."

"Where is my payment?"

"Don't worry, the Shadow Brotherhood definitely give you and your family more money than you can spend for the rest of your life. It's much more promising than staying in the church, and you won't have to put up with any mistreatment. The deposit has already been put in your email."

As he brushed past the hooded man, Albuquerque's expression relaxed for a moment.

Albuquerque was once a typical daydreamer. He only wanted to live a life of comfort and wealth for himself and his family. At the time, the Holy Light Church was a good choice. After joining, he rose to the rank of Captain of the Holy Light Knight thanks to his outstanding abilities and the charade of a fanatic. However, this was not enough to give him a sense of security, especially since he had quite a few family members.

His goal was to advance further; only by continuing to rise in rank could he feel a little more secure. But Had's arrival ruined everything, and it was then that he discovered something.

The harder he works, the more his superiors will try to give him more work and prevent him from getting promoted.

The harder you work, the less likely you are to get promoted.

Someone like him with no connections, his life is probably over.

So for a time he became obsessed with hacking, using it to relieve stress. But this decadent lifestyle did nothing to help his current predicament. Then one day, an organization calling itself the Shadow Brotherhood approached him, offering to pay for the church's scandals to create a big news story.

Albuquerque hesitated at first, because if it were exposed, his job might be affected. What really made him decide was a sentence that Had not long ago.

"Your daughters are so pretty and cute. How about you consider me? Haha, just kidding. I would never marry a commoner."

Whether Had was joking or not, it definitely infuriated Albuquerque.

His heart is now filled with a desire for revenge.

"Let's buy some toys for our daughters today."

With that, he walked away.

The mysterious hooded man turned to watch the other person's receding figure, took off his hood, rubbed his face, and restored his appearance, which had been altered by the magical gadgets produced in the dungeon, to its original state, revealing a familiar face.

"The name 'Shadow Brotherhood' is quite useful."

Gong Qiying curled the corners of his mouth.

Three days later, the team organized by the Holy Light Church was complete.

The experimental data presented by Albuquerque was very reassuring, and the church had made multiple preparations, so it felt like everything was in perfect order.

The team consists of Holy Light Knight, senior Priest and nuns, as well as Had and Albuquerque, who are tasked with protecting Li Ka.

After three days apart, Li Ka, the Blessed by the Gods, appeared somewhat dazed, reacting slowly to the outside world, sometimes even without any response. This was the result of his special training, which temporarily kept him from experiencing emotional fluctuations, thus reducing his sense of pressure. Probably.

"Make sure to take the perfect photos," the bishop instructed before his departure. "Promote the best aspects of the Church."

The Darkmoon Faith has actually recovered, something the Holy Light Church never expected and could not accept.

Now they have to come up with something that can attract adventurers to become believers.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. It's just a dungeon, nothing for me to worry about," Had patted his chest confidently. Looking around the group, he suddenly asked in confusion, "Wait, why are there only fourteen people? One is missing?"

No, it's not less.

The bishop said with a smile, "The one from the Leyndell will also be with you to ensure that everything goes smoothly this time."

Upon hearing this, Albuquerque shuddered, looked around at the air, and finally found a spot where there was a slight ripple.

The expert responsible for escorting the weapons is actually going to enter the dungeon with them!?

What are you doing getting involved?

"."

He immediately realized that he might not be able to accomplish anything today. If that expert were here, he would definitely not allow any accidents to happen during the exploration process.

Already harboring ulterior motives, he was under immense pressure, feeling as if Warrior Pot was pressing down on him.

Even though he was under a lot of pressure, he couldn't show it. Had was pleasantly surprised and felt a great increase in his sense of security.

The team set off and, after some time, soon arrived at the Underground Labyrinth.

They were lucky; the location of the Lightless Area in the Underground Labyrinth is randomized every day, and today they just happened to be relatively close to the entrance.

The Priest in charge of filming had set up the Image Stone device early in the morning. People took mental enhancement drugs at the entrance of the Lightless Area. The church even took the time to perform Kindling Secret Ritual for everyone. When everything was ready, the church group, without carrying any torches, stepped into the Lightless Area.

As people step into the boundary between light and shadow, their vision is immediately enveloped by boundless darkness, and they feel a sense of oppression in an instant.

Just then, a golden light rippled through the air, and the pressure in people's hearts vanished instantly.

Albuquerque thought to himself, "Damn it! It must be some kind of magic expert from the Leyndell who used to help people resist the pressure."

It would be great if he could be separated from the team.

"Hey, it's just a dark spot, it's not that scary. Hey, remember to take a good picture of me." Had walked ahead confidently.

Li Ka was in the middle of the group. He shivered slightly when they entered the darkness, but otherwise showed no reaction to the Lightless Area.

The group moved slowly forward, encountering monsters from time to time: rotting pigmen, wriggling slime, and moving skeletons. The monsters here were mostly of the horror type, and just looking at them could bring psychological pressure.

What's even more amazing is that these monsters like to howl and screech. People are already tense in the dark, and being suddenly startled by the monsters' howling can really terrify them.

However, the invisible master from the Leyndell always cast spells, relieving people's mental stress time and time again.

Albuquerque calculated the time; based on the previous dozens of experiments, people should now be facing their first test of stress.

But thanks to the obstruction of the invisible master, everyone is still alive and kicking.

How despicable! They ruined someone's good deed.

He couldn't help but think that he might fail today, and just then, a new monster appeared.

"Ah--"

A deafening scream, almost piercing one's eardrums, suddenly rang out in the maze, causing everyone who heard it to momentarily lose their senses. Even Li Ka, who had previously shown little reaction to the outside world, frowned!

Albuquerque glanced around and was surprised to find that the invisible master did not immediately release magic to relieve everyone's psychological pressure!

Oh, so you can get the short end of the stick too.

Suddenly, a bird-like monster swooped down from above, grabbed a Priest, and opened its sharp beak to let out a loud howl that was unbearable for humans!

Blood gushed from the holes in the Priest's body, a truly horrifying sight.

This is the classic monster from the Lightless Area —the [Terror Screaming Demon]!

It can attack adventurers with its screams and bodies. If an adventurer is lucky enough, their personality will change drastically the moment they hear its scream! It's like being tortured!

When the Terror Screaming Demon appeared, another classic monster from the Lightless Area, the Limping One, surrounded the church's party with a group of smaller Limping One.

In an instant, demons danced wildly, and howls filled the air.

"Be on high alert!" Had commanded. "Show us our most fearless side! We must annihilate all the monsters! Not a single one of you is allowed to die!"

The Terror Screaming Demon was suddenly hit by something and kept retreating. It was the invisible master, and she was angry!

With this expert around, Had was not afraid at all and directed everyone to charge toward the Limping One.

Just then, a strange sound rang out from the darkness again.

It sounded like an old man in a state of mental derangement was saying something.

"Hehehe, blond man and brown-haired woman, watch your head and feet, this is a prophecy of disaster!"

"What?"

The blond man was a Holy Light Knight. Just as he was reacting, a large number of rubble fell from above, and a boulder even hit his head, causing him to suffer a concussion instantly.

But who is the brown-haired woman?

Suddenly, the ground in front of the Terror Screaming Demon cracked open, and the screaming demon, which had been attacked by "air," suddenly broke free and pounced towards the group.

Albuquerque immediately realized that the brown-haired woman was referring to the invisible master!

She fell!

In the darkness, a mad old man wearing tattered wooden shackles and holding two eyeballs in his hands chuckled.

This is the monster, the Noisy Prophet.