City of Ruins

If anything in that history book filled with lies was true, it was only this final account: knowing they faced defeat and had nowhere left to turn, the arcane mages unleashed the most terrible magic. They destroyed the entire capital of the Magic Empire, sealing the city off with undead and curses and turning it into a land of evil, terror, and the dead.

And this was Li Lin's doing.

Whether it was the banshees lurking in the ground, trying to steal their lives by affecting their minds, the undead hiding in the shadows and waiting for prey, or the zombies wandering aimlessly through the ruins, they were all the result of Li Lin's use of Call of the Undead, the most powerful spell of the undead school. The power of the spell enveloped the entire city, transforming the souls and bodies of those unwilling to accept defeat into new forms. Banshees, undead, zombies—the inhabitants of the fallen Magic Empire still guarded their territory and homes in their own way, year after year, day after day.

In the end, this created a situation in which both sides suffered. The allied forces had no way to break through the city of death, and their casualties instead added to the city's strength because of that terrible spell. Thus, even now, after a thousand years, no nation had been able to occupy this once fertile land, filled with treasure. Even the divine power of the God of Justice could not completely purify it. As for the mages who had faced extinction ever since the fall of the Magic Empire, they were even less to be relied upon.

"We've arrived."

Standing at the edge of the road and looking at the vast city ruins not far away, the knights were all stunned, and even Duncan, who had been here several times, wore a solemn expression. Only Li Lin looked at the scene before him with conflicting expressions of comfort and loss. It comforted him that the spell had not been cast in vain: even after a thousand years, no one could conquer this land and city. What left him feeling a sense of loss was that the capital of the Magic Empire had now been reduced entirely to ruins.

The sky was dim, with almost no sunlight to be seen. Haze filled the city, obscuring its boundaries, and the whole city was shrouded in a faint, barely perceptible light. It could illuminate the road before you, but it would not let you see anything clearly. In fact, such light was sometimes even more dangerous than darkness.

"All right. From now on, remember your duties."

Duncan took a deep breath.

"Remember, this place is unlike anywhere you've ever been. There's no day or night here! The light before us won't grow brighter when the sun rises, nor will it grow dimmer when night falls. You must adapt to this change!"

With that, he turned to the two priests and gave his orders.

"Mina, Fina. Once we enter, I want you two to take turns using the God's Protection aura. Otherwise, that evil mist won't spare us!"

"Yes, Knight Duncan."

Fina answered reflexively, then looked uneasily at her older sister. After a brief exchange, the sisters seemed to reach some agreement. Fina soon gripped her holy emblem and began to pray. Rings of faint light radiated from her and enveloped everyone.

Li Lin made no reaction to this. He had considered when to kill these paladins, or convert them. But at least not now. At the very least, he had to wait until he learned their true purpose. It would not be too late to act then. After all, Li Lin had to know what they had come here to do. Then... it would be time to have some fun.

"Mr. Li Lin."

Duncan's voice made Li Lin raise his head and look at the knight before him.

"We'll need to rely on your knowledge to help us overcome our difficulties."

"Of course, respected knight!"

Li Lin bowed slightly. Clearly, it was time for him to take the stage.

After rearranging the group a little, they set off again. The horses the knights had been riding were tethered, and no one continued on horseback. All the supplies had also been moved onto one of the carriages. As a result, the paladins had to travel on foot and protect the people sitting in the carriages. Only Li Lin walked outside with the others; after all, now that they had entered this place, they were in his "field of expertise."

"This is the Gate of Radiance."

After carefully examining the stone pillars that were all that remained before the city ruins, Li Lin took out the paladins' map and compared it with them before speaking.

"If we want to reach that location, we have to turn right here and go up. Only by taking this alternate passage can we get there."

Duncan hesitated as he looked in the direction Li Lin pointed. The map showed that taking this route would take a long time. But by the original method, they really could not find an entrance. Although the God of Justice had told them the location, he had not given them a clear route. And now, it seemed they had no choice but to rely on this man's help. After all, this man had joined their group on the bishop's recommendation, and since the bishop trusted him, Duncan could only do the same.

So Duncan nodded and ordered the paladins to change direction and take the carriages onto the rather uneven road beside them.

The thin mist did not greatly obstruct their view, but it was not without danger. Under the influence of the aura, the mist involuntarily parted to either side, stirring the haze drifting around them. Like gauze brushed by the wind, it revealed everything hidden beneath it.

Ruins and bones.

The shifting of the thin mist plainly made everyone uneasy, especially when they had no idea whether a dark shadow drifting past had been hidden again by the dense fog or was no longer there at all.

Just as Duncan had said, the light here always stayed the same. They could not tell what the sky was like, much less what time it was. Thus, even though their legs were aching and weak from walking, they had no idea how much time had passed or whether they should stop and rest.

"How much farther, Mr. Li Lin?"

"We're halfway there."

Li Lin compared the map with the road ahead as he answered Duncan's question.

"Respected knight, please don't forget that the capital of the Magic Empire was larger than anyone could imagine. If you make assumptions based on this little map, the distance we have to travel may be even greater."

"Then everyone, rest."

Duncan sighed. From his previous visits, he did indeed have a rough understanding of such things. But this age had never seen another city as vast as the capital of the Magic Empire, so it was no wonder he was puzzled. In fact, no one could say for certain how large the ruins were. But judging by the scale described in legends passed down from a thousand years ago, the city was probably not much smaller than the territory of a small nation on the continent today.

After receiving the order, the paladins began resting where they stood. They watched their surroundings uneasily, worn out from being on alert for so long. In fact, if the sky had been growing dark, they could have decided to camp here for the night. But the same faint light still showed all around them, unchanged. It was as though time had lost its meaning here, and everything had come to a standstill.

Li Lin's fingers moved slightly. For some time now, he had been communicating with the undead creatures around them. The spirits of death he had summoned seemed to remember their master. They had restrained their former hostility and moved out of the way. Otherwise, there was no way these paladins could have made such smooth progress.

But he could not let them continue so smoothly, either.

Li Lin curled his fingers slightly and, with his back to the others, sent out a thread of mental communication. Then he retreated beside the carriage as if to rest and closed his eyes.

The ground began to tremble.

At first, everyone thought it was just their imagination. But soon the alert paladins rose to their feet, drew their swords, and stared intently into the thick fog before them.

A muffled echo sounded all around. A huge figure tore through the fog, and a rotting body like a mountain of flesh appeared before them, wreathed in a foul stench. He had two different heads, and his enormous body looked more like the product of several humans fused together. His cloudy eyes were dull and lifeless, and the foul, thick liquid flowing from his gaping mouth could corrode even everything in the world.

It was an Abomination.

"Prepare for battle!!"

No one noticed what Li Lin was doing as he quietly hid in the shadow of the carriage. Every paladin had tensed at the appearance of this terrifying monster. Undead creatures of this kind had died out in the outside world and still existed only in this region. If these paladins could defeat it, it would surely become a symbol of their valor-provided they could actually survive.

The aura formed of divine light kept the Abomination outside. The great ball of flesh waved its rusty weapon in dissatisfaction and let out an angry roar. Under its pressure, the aura began to weaken slowly. Clearly, if they did not destroy the monster soon, disaster would befall them all.

"Follow me!"

The light of sacred power flared around Duncan once more. He charged out of the aura and raced toward the Abomination. Before the sacred power of light, the fog swiftly retreated, clearly unwilling to confront it head-on. Duncan now fully displayed the bearing a paladin should have. He calmly dodged the Abomination's chaotic attacks, then loudly praised the holy name of the God of Justice and swung his longsword at the Abomination's legs. After all, the creature had a very "imposing" beer belly and was so fat that its neck could not even be seen. For an Abomination that could only locate targets by sight and smell, a target at its feet was clearly the hardest to deal with.

The longsword hacked into the Abomination's leg, and sacred power quickly seeped into the corpse that should have long since decayed, causing the Abomination extreme pain. Relying on its senses, it forcefully lifted its leg and stomped down, making the entire road tremble. But Duncan had already pulled back the instant his attack landed. His experience from his many visits here made him the warrior among them most familiar with the Abomination's attacks.

Following Duncan's example, the other paladins soon kindled the sacred power within them. After using it to disperse the thick fog, they charged the evil undead creature towering before them like a small mountain. Mina also stepped out of the carriage and began to pray with a solemn expression. As she prayed, sacred light enveloped the paladins, making them braver and more confident. Their strength grew greater, and their movements became more agile.

Faced with such attacks, the Abomination was clearly at something of a loss. Even so, its stamping back and forth, like an angry child, remained a considerable threat—if anyone took a solid stomp, even their bones would be crushed to fragments.

After using several divine spells in succession, Mina was somewhat tired, but she quickly pulled herself together and raised her hands again. She turned her attention to the knights before her, intending to heal their wounds and dispel the toxins around the Abomination.

But just as she finished praying and prepared to unleash her power, Mina glanced at Li Lin, deliberately or otherwise, without knowing why. He was quietly watching the battle before him. His expression was so silent and serious, just as it had been when he faced her before...

Remembering that obscene and absurd vision, Mina could not help feeling a surge of panic, and the divine spell she had prepared completely dissipated at that moment.