Night Patrol in the City

To the citizens, nightfall meant the start of their nightlife. To Xilian, it meant something else entirely.

In White Cliff Town, every night had been an ordeal. The Soflova Brothers fought Demons atop the high walls, while the townspeople locked their doors and windows and did not step outside until dawn.

So even after a month in Her City, Xilian still could not get used to the peace of its nights.

"..."

Xilian stood at a street corner, watching people come and go.

Beneath the bright lights, men and women held one another close. Alcohol turned their laughter raucous, while faint songs drifted from streets and alleys.

The city's clamor lasted until midnight before it finally began to fade.

The streets emptied, and most shops closed. Only litter in the corners and drunken stragglers remained.

Xilian rested a hand on the sword at his waist. Every muscle in his body was tense, his senses alert.

"Night patrol in the city is safe. You just wander the streets."

Not long ago, when Xilian learned he would be rotating onto patrol duty, Dailin had offered him some advice.

"But that's only true for the first half of the night."

"Later, once the citizens have gone home and the city has grown quiet, the rats hiding in its dark corners come scurrying out to enjoy a little freedom."

Dailin had thought for a moment, then spoken quietly to Xilian.

"Xilian, you're new. You don't have to work so hard. Just do what you can."

Xilian hadn't understood what Dailin meant. "What are you getting at?"

Dailin had hesitated before finally explaining.

"On the walls, when Demons attack, we have no choice but to fight back. The city is different. If you don't go looking for danger, it won't come looking for you... They'd rather stay hidden."

Xilian knew Dailin was looking out for him, but Dailin clearly had no idea how much Xilian hated Chaos.

Torchlight Lighthouse illuminated the whole city, yet buildings still left many streets and alleys in darkness.

Xilian strode into a shadowy alley. He came out the other end without the Ouroboros Mark reacting at all.

He took out his map, marked the alley, and moved on to the next area.

One major obstacle to rooting out the Chaos Followers in Her City was the inability to screen its citizens effectively. Xilian, however, was practically a walking Chaos detector.

With the Ouroboros Mark's help, Xilian was acutely sensitive to any fluctuation in Chaos power. Finding traces of Chaos Followers in the city's hidden corners could hardly have been easier.

As he reached the corner of another alley, a sting came from the Ouroboros Mark.

Xilian adjusted his course according to how sharply it hurt.

Following the sensation took him beyond his assigned patrol area and brought him to a riverbank.

Three rivers ran through Her City before joining together. The one before Xilian was Flower River.

He had learned that the river took its name from a grove of flowering trees upstream. When they bloomed, vast numbers of blossoms fell into the water and drifted downstream until they covered the river.

It was not that season yet. Only a few small boats were moored along the bank. Xilian looked around but saw no one.

After wandering farther, he heard voices from a narrow alley and saw the faint glow of firelight.

"Haha, honestly, you."

"Want another drink?"

"Ah... ah..."

At the end of the alley lay an old drainage channel, long abandoned and dry. Now candles burned throughout it.

In the flickering light, vendors sold contraband from the corners, while a mysterious fortune-teller laid out cards to divine the future.

Xilian felt as though he had crossed a boundary into Her City's underbelly.

Everyone seemed lost in some kind of haze. No one reacted to his arrival. Some were even wrapped around each other in plain sight, their wanton moans carrying through the channel.

Amid that hedonistic haze, the Ouroboros Mark began to burn.

"What's a City Guard Bureau dog doing in Dark Alley? Looking for a good time?"

A man blocked Xilian's path. He was bare-chested and covered in intricate tattoos, with silver studs all over his face.

Xilian said nothing. He fixed the man with a cold stare and laid a hand on his sword hilt in warning.

"Going to cut me down?"

The man laughed, drew a dagger from his waist, and pressed its cold edge against Xilian's throat.

They stood at an impasse for a moment. Then Xilian took his hand off the sword and spoke.

"I want to look over there."

Xilian pointed to a corner of Dark Alley. A cloying scent of incense drifted from beyond it.

The man shook his head without moving the dagger. "If you weren't wearing that uniform, I might let you through."

The City Guard Bureau uniform let Xilian move freely through Her City, but here it had become a serious obstacle.

"You're new, aren't you?" the man said. "Only a rookie who doesn't know a thing would stroll in here like that."

"Tonight is my first solo night patrol."

"Thought so. I haven't seen your face before."

The man slowly raised the dagger, lightly slicing Xilian's skin. A few drops of blood trickled out.

"I... Never mind."

Xilian considered several things he might say, then swallowed them all with a sigh.

Confusion entered the man's eyes.

Xilian spoke slowly. "I meant to tell a few lies to get out of this, but unfortunately, I'm no good at lying. And I don't know how to bend the rules."

Before he finished speaking, the Boiling Sword flashed from its sheath. The man felt a slight sting in his wrist. Then his whole hand came off in a spray of blood.

Before the man could scream, Xilian caught the dagger in midair and drove it into his throat.

"Mm..."

Blood filled the man's throat, reducing his cries to muffled gurgles.

Xilian raised the Boiling Sword high, his voice cold.

"Under the City Guard Bureau's Public Security Regulations, I believe you just posed a threat to my life. I am therefore responding with reasonable force."

With that, the cold blade took the man's head clean off.

His headless body collapsed, blood pouring out to form a broad pool.

Only seconds had passed between Xilian drawing his sword and killing the man. He looked as calm as if he had swatted a fly. The people around him stood stunned for a moment before fleeing with startled cries.

Quite a few remained where they were. Xilian could not tell whether they were drunk or had taken some kind of hallucinogen.

He followed the steps down into a broad underground passage. River water flowed beside it, its rushing mingled with a woman's low chant, as though she were reciting an ancient spell.

At the far end of the passage, Xilian made out a faint candlelight and several swaying figures.

He slowed his steps and crept forward.

Suddenly, pain shot through his ankle.

Xilian looked down. Blue-green fungi covered the damp ground. They grew before his eyes, climbing his body and eating into his flesh.

The mycelium turned crimson. A rustling rose around him, like great swathes of leaves scraping together.

The strange fungi grew not just on the ground but on every side, so densely that they covered almost the entire passage.

For an instant, Xilian felt as though he had wandered inside a monster. Its bowels churned, and fleshy tendrils writhed and swayed with them.

The sight would have shattered most people's nerve. Xilian looked at it and burst into a strange laugh.

It was not nerves or fear, but an almost sickening... elation.

On the Lightless Night, Tania had used this same rampant mycelium to stitch her ruined body together and cling to life.

"I... finally found you."

After all these days, Xilian had finally come face-to-face with the enemies who haunted his thoughts.

His enemies sensed his intrusion, too. Chaos power spread rapidly, like darkness closing in.