Has that strange Afternoon Town invaded the real Afternoon Town? Derrick vaguely understood what the "Chief" was saying and had a general idea of why this was happening.
He suspected that when Mr. The Fool pulled him out of that strange Afternoon Town, he had disrupted the balance there, allowing forces to seep out.
This also explains why Colin Iliad " Demon Hunter," didn't disappear on the spot after repeating his attempt.
Just as Derrick was pondering what changes this would bring, Colin, the "chief" of the Council of Six, pulled out a handful of shimmering dust from one of the hidden compartments in his belt and scattered it into the air.
The dust suddenly exploded, shooting out a burst of silvery-white light, which was exceptionally noticeable in the dark and gloomy environment.
Derrick, Joshua, and Heim all understood the meaning of the signal: do not wander around, stay where you are, be on guard against possible enemy attacks, and wait for rescue!
This was undoubtedly directed at the exploration teams scattered throughout the rest of Afternoon Town!
" The Demon Hunter " Colin released three signals in quick succession during the intervals between lightning strikes, then turned to Derrick and the others and said:
We met up with them one by one, from the nearest to the farthest.
Be careful on the road.
"Yes, Chief!" Derrick had forgotten his earlier grievances and only hoped to help his comrade as soon as possible.
As Colin instructed, he walked on the left side of the squad, with Joshua, wearing Red Gloves and carrying a straight iron-black sword, on the other side. The relatively stronger " Dawn Paladin " Heim lagged behind, about three steps behind the " Demon Hunter " directly in front.
High-altitude lightning flashed rapidly, alternating between bright and dark in the gloomy Afternoon Town. The candlelight reflected in the windows flickered, peaceful and tranquil.
Derrick was no longer the rookie he once was. Although he was nervous, his palms, gripping the " Hurricane Axe," remained dry. His gaze moved back and forth skillfully, keeping watch for Monster might suddenly leap out from the buildings on either side.
A flash of lightning struck, and the world returned to darkness. In the Afternoon Town's candlelight the Star, as if waiting for travelers who needed shelter.
The animal-hide lantern in Heim's hand emitted a dim, yellowish light that couldn't reach far and was less effective than Derrick's night vision.
Its only apparent function is to dispel the surrounding darkness.
Just then, Derrick felt a sudden chill on his neck, even though there was no cold wind blowing around him!
He didn't turn around directly, but took a step to the side, half-turned his body, and glanced behind him out of the corner of his eye.
He saw Heim, who was nearly 2.3 meters tall, staring at him with a gloomy expression, and slashing down the large, broad straight sword in his hand!
Bang!
Derrick rolled over, dodging the attack, the sound of fierce wind still seeming to echo in his ears.
Immediately afterwards, he heard the "Chief's" voice:
"What's wrong?"
" Heim attacked me!" Derrick rolled toward " Demon Hunter " Colin and stood up.
"Me?" Heim asked, his face full of doubt, as he held a leather lantern in one hand and a large straight sword in the other.
Colin glanced at Derrick:
I didn't notice anything unusual about his behavior.
As he spoke, two dark green symbols appeared in the eyes of this " Demon Hunter ".
He looked around and said:
"Can the attacker transform into Heim's appearance?"
Before he finished speaking, the silver straight sword he was gripping in his right hand suddenly thrust backward!
puff!
Amidst the silent clashes, a figure emerged from the dim and gloomy environment. He had disheveled, graying hair, deep nasolabial folds, and a weathered yet profound light blue eye. In his hand, he also carried a silver straight sword coated with light gray oil. He looked almost exactly like " Demon Hunter " Colin, the only difference being that his expression was gloomy and his skin was dull.
Puff puff puff!
The two silver straight swords collided repeatedly in mid-air, sparks flying.
At the same time, Colin Iliad shouted in a deep voice:
"Light!"
Light? Derrick instinctively raised his hands, clasped them together, and placed them in front of his mouth and nose.
In that instant, he saw three figures rush out of the surrounding darkness: one was the tall and strong Heim, one was Joshua wearing Red Gloves, and the other was Derrick himself, who was not short in stature but still had a childlike face!
Derrick remained calm and, following the "Chief's" instructions, released streams of relatively clear light from his body.
The three figures seemed terrified of this, raising their hands to shield their faces while attempting to flee to the side.
But how could their speed compare to that of light?
The bright light illuminated the surrounding area, completely engulfing the three figures.
They opened their mouths and let out a silent scream, but it quickly faded and disappeared.
A surge of light enveloped the two " Demon Hunter " locked in fierce combat, drawing them into the luminous field. One of them immediately became stiff and sluggish, then lost its color, turning completely black.
puff!
The silver straight sword, coated with light gray ointment, pierced through the Monster, but seemed to have struck invisible air, failing to cause any damage.
Just then, the dark Monster suddenly burst into flames, splitting into Distortion shadows that melted away inch by inch in the light and fire.
" The Demon Hunter " Colin sheathed his silver straight sword and turned to face Derrick and the others:
"This time, the Monster is our own shadow."
Their weakness is their bright light!
As he spoke, a clear and holy Dawn emanated from the "chief" of the Council of Six, illuminating the entire street as if it were dawn.
This is an extraordinary ability that can be obtained in the " Dawn Paladin " stage of the " Warrior " path. The reason why " Demon Hunter " Colin did not use it at first was because the effect was too obvious and he did not know what kind of accidents it would cause. Now, he has figured out the weaknesses of the Monster in Afternoon Town!
The Dawn created by the "Chief" was like a domain. Heim abandoned his plan to use similar extraordinary abilities, still carrying his animal-skin lantern, and followed Colin Iliad with Derrick and Joshua, turning into another street.
Before long, the group of four arrived at a church that had mostly collapsed.
The church originally had a tall tower, and the overall structure consisted of classical stone columns and brick arches, giving it a heavy and somber appearance.
Passing through the gates that even Giant found too wide, Derrick and his companions followed the "Chief" to the prayer hall, where they saw that the statues of the gods had been destroyed, but the candles on the altar had been lit by someone.
Before the altar, a figure dressed in a simple white robe prostrated himself, praying in a low voice that could not be heard.
"They're not one of ours." Heim, who also had night vision, was the tallest and noticed the anomaly immediately.
This means it wasn't Monster transformed from the shadow of one of our team members... Derrick silently conveyed the hidden meaning to Heim in his mind.
This means the unknown, and the unknown often represents great danger!
"There should have been an exploration team here." Colin reduced the range of his own Dawn to avoid disturbing the white-robed figure.
Heim, Joshua, and Derrick suddenly fell silent, not uttering a word. In such a situation, the fact that the exploration team didn't appear immediately basically meant that the outcome wasn't going to be good.
As their thoughts raced, two men dressed in tight-fitting black clothing emerged from the doorway on the right side of the hall. They were two members of the church exploration team.
"Chief, those shadows, those shadows are suspicious! Laroya has been swallowed by his own shadow!" One of the exploration team members glanced at " Demon Hunter " Colin and said with a mixture of excitement and fear.
Has someone already sacrificed themselves...? With a heavy heart, Derrick saw the Dawn spreading out all around, encompassing the two members of the exploration team.
The two team members' expressions suddenly turned ferocious, and their bodies rapidly dimmed. Just two seconds later, they disappeared completely, like shadows illuminated by light.
Clap clap clap!
Bones and clumps of flesh fell from their bodies and crashed to the floor.
Tiny specks of light are slowly seeping out from within these wreckages.
Colin withdrew his gaze and said expressionlessly:
"Go over to that clergyman and listen to what he's praying."
Derrick and the others nodded silently and proceeded step by step toward the collapsed statue.
After about ten steps, they could see the white-robed figure clearly from the side; it was a middle-aged man with deep features and tears streaming down his face.
The clergyman's face was almost pressed against the floor tiles as he muttered to himself:
"Almighty Lord, I repent... I tempted Sasrir, and the kings frequently conspired in the palace that belonged to Twilight."
"The people of this town have changed at some point; they've set up secret altars, held strange rituals, and done all sorts of things you don't allow."
"I discovered all of this, but it was too late. Depravity, bloodshed, darkness, decay, slaughter, filth, and shadows had already flowed and overwhelmed this land."
"A massive catastrophe will begin here!"
These words were repeated over and over, like a Prophet in a deep voice foretelling an inevitable tragic end.
Will a great catastrophe begin here? Is this where the abandonment of this land by the " Lord Who Created Everything " began? And who tempted the " Dark Angel " Sasrir? This clergyman should have said it aloud, because after the sentence "I repent," there's a blank space just enough to say a name... He did say it, but the name disappeared on its own? Who erased it? This clergyman should have appeared here after the balance was broken in that strange Afternoon Town, otherwise he would have been discovered during the last exploration... Many thoughts flashed through Derrick's mind in a short time.
At that moment, he saw the "chief" stride forward and walk to the clergyman in the simple white robe.
Klein woke up from his dream, his eyes momentarily blinded by the midday sunlight streaming through the window.
He got out of bed and strolled leisurely to the pirate restaurant.
Frank Lee saw him arrive and immediately waved to him:
" Gehrman, I've discovered something new!"
"Holy crap, what the hell is this now..." Klein's heart immediately jumped into his throat.
"Your new invention?"
"No, no," Frank shook his head excitedly. "I was trying to study the fish in this area; they must dream! I just tried fishing and caught something strange."
P. S.: First update delivered, please vote with monthly tickets!