Book 8: Chapter 71: Ghost |
The stone steps leading to the lower levels of the Tower of Durlag were at the edge of the tower, spiraling down around the central floors like a giant serpent coiling around a pillar. The walls along the stone steps on the ground section had windows, allowing a view of the scenery outside the tower.
At this moment, the sun was setting, and the area outside the Tower of Durlag was already gray and murky, making it hard to see the landscape clearly. Because this area had not seen sunlight for a long time, not even wild birds or beasts, or any living creatures, could survive here. Even vegetation could not grow, making it a true Forbidden Zone of Life.
Since the Tower of Durlag was close to the Cloud Peaks, looking out from the windows, one could faintly see the rugged, jagged black shadows of distant rocks. This emphasized the silent and desolate environment, evoking a mournful feeling and a sudden sense of fear and unease.
Logically, the most reasonable course of action now was to leave this place as quickly as possible. After all, the Forbidden Zone of Life was not very large. Once they distanced themselves from the Cloud Peaks, they would leave the area controlled by the undead.
However, Joey was leading the eight-person team, including Pakunoda. Driven by the Serial Killer’s intense curiosity, the team had no choice but to advance along the most dangerous path.
Someone as clever as Milleras did have doubts in his heart. But given Qin Lun’s previous good performance and the many times he had saved the team, the Elf Prince felt it was not his place to say anything. Besides, he thought that since they had made it this far on the Ancient Path, every extra day alive was a bonus. Before facing death, experiencing the so-called Forbidden Zone of Life seemed not so bad.
Iristin, on the other hand, completely trusted Joey and hardly considered the possibility that he might lead them into a deadly situation. Even if Joey called a deer a horse, she would probably act as if it made perfect sense. As for Lorlin, Elr, and Lace, they had little say and could only follow the group step by step.
The only one in the team who could act independently was the female knight Idria. As a follower of the goddess Loviatar, she saw venturing deep into the undead forbidden land as a form of self-torture practice.
The group quickly descended from the second floor of the tower to the ground level. The ground floor of the Tower of Durlag was a circular hall, empty inside. Because the Tower of Durlag was perpetually shrouded in deathly clouds, groundwater evaporated, making the environment cold and damp. If not for the frequent reinforcement work done by high-rank undead, the Tower of Durlag would have long become a ruin.
Joey led everyone around the stone platform at the back of the hall. This platform was probably the reception area or registration desk of the Tower of Durlag, with some petrified railings still visible around it.
Behind the stone platform was a straight, downward staircase passage with a steep forty-five-degree slope. It was quite spacious, likely the necessary path to the underground library in the past.
“Hum!” Joey took out the eight-faceted prism sword of Serthel from his storage space and drew it from its scabbard. As soon as the prism sword was unsheathed, its blade emitted a soft, hazy glow, illuminating the dark passage.
“Haha, the craftsmanship of the Serthel Elves is indeed excellent. Firal, it seems you’ve found a good sword!” Milleras glanced enviously at Joey.
“Wow!” Exclamations of admiration came from Lorlin and Elr behind Joey, especially from Lorlin the Dwarf, who gazed at this Elven sword with great desire.
Both Dwarves and Elves had excellent crafting skills, but Dwarves were pragmatists. The weapons they forged were simple and practical, truly lethal tools suitable for mass equipment in armies.
Elven craftsmanship, however, was somewhat idealistic. The weapons and armor made by Elves were mostly exquisite and ornate, with magical runes engraved on them to give them various wonderful uses. Although these weapons and armor were of high quality, they were expensive and not suitable for large-scale use. Only the Elven Race, with their low reproduction rate and high emphasis on survival, could afford such luxury.
The eight-faceted prism sword that Qin Lun obtained at Ironstar Fortress had two sets of magical runes. According to Milleras, one set was called “Evil-Breaker,” which had a suppressive effect on dark and Chaos creatures. The other set was called “Night Light,” which could serve as a warning and provide illumination at night.
Joey held the prism sword high in his right hand, gripped the Dagger of Sin tightly in his left, and led the way into the dark staircase passage. “Tap, tap, tap!” Their footsteps echoed clearly on the stone steps, carrying far to the end of the passage.
Looking at the dimly lit gray stone steps and hearing the echo of their own footsteps, everyone felt a sense of traversing history, as if they had returned to the Tower of Durlag from thousands of years ago.
“Perhaps thousands of years ago, those Uwelun Elf scholars went down the stone steps just like us, sat at wide square desks, lit a candle, wrapped themselves in a blanket, and quietly read those heavy, precious books…” Milleras looked dazed, staring blankly at the stone steps under his feet.
“Hey, dummy, hurry up!” Just as Milleras was feeling sentimental, a cold voice came from behind. Seeing that he did not respond, the speaker simply pushed the Elf Prince.
Milleras suddenly snapped out of his inexplicable sadness and glared irritably at Idria behind him before wordlessly catching up with Joey ahead.
“What’s wrong with him?” Idria asked Lace beside her, puzzled.
“I don’t know!” Lace shrugged, spread her hands, and made a funny face with her lips pouted.
“He probably recalled the tower’s past appearance. This tower was also built by Elves; he might have been moved,” Lorlin behind Idria and Lace suddenly said in a muffled voice.
Idria turned back in surprise and looked at the young Dwarf. She had no idea this was Lorlin speaking from personal experience. Back at Ironstar Fortress, he too had been deeply moved by the great achievements of his ancestors.
“Firal, thank you!” Milleras moved closer to Joey and said sincerely.
“For what?” Joey was confused.
“If not for your insistence, we probably wouldn’t have come down to see this!” Milleras said emotionally. “If I missed visiting the underground library of the Tower of Durlag out of fear of danger, I would regret it for the rest of my life.”
Oh, this pretty Elven face actually has an artist’s sensibility! A glint shone in Joey’s eyes, and he gave a rare, kindly smile.
From the two above-ground floors of the Tower of Durlag down to the underground first floor, the group encountered no undead, which made them feel much more at ease. It seemed the Lich that Joey captured had not lied; most of the undead in the tower had already dispersed outside.
However, at that very moment, an unexpected incident occurred. Two transparent figures suddenly emerged from the walls of the passage, right in the middle of the team.
Upon seeing living people, the two transparent figures were momentarily stunned. However, they still reacted faster than the group. After just sniffing the air, they revealed ferocious expressions, opened their mouths in silent roars, and lunged at everyone with clawing gestures.
“Ghosts!” The group was thrown into confusion. They had considered encountering undead here, but the way these two Ghosts appeared was too unexpected.
The Ghosts appeared right in the middle of the team, with Idria and Lace in front and the two youths Lorlin and Elr behind. A bit further ahead were Milleras and Pakunoda, while the strongest fighters, Joey and Iristin, were at the very front of the team, blocked by their own companions.
“Die!” Compared to the terrified Elr, the Dwarf was braver. He raised his battleaxe and swung it at the Ghost.
Unfortunately, his opponent was an incorporeal Ghost. The Dwarf’s battleaxe passed straight through the Ghost’s body. Not only did he miss, but due to the excessive force, Lorlin stumbled and collided with Idria, who had just turned around.
The Ghost passed right through Lorlin. The axe did no harm, but being swept through by the Ghost left the Dwarf in a bad state. His face instantly turned pale, completely bloodless, and a layer of white frost quickly covered his eyebrows. His whole body began to shiver uncontrollably.
This was the nature of Ghosts. These undead creatures were much stronger than ordinary undead. Regardless of rank, they all had the ability to shift between corporeal and incorporeal forms. Moreover, due to their environment, most Ghosts carried additional damage attributes like frost, curse, corrosion, and plague. High-rank Ghosts also possessed various mental magics.
The Ghost that Lorlin encountered clearly had a frost attribute. With just one pass, it directly robbed the Dwarf of self-control; he probably couldn’t fight anymore in the short term.
The two Ghosts attacked from front and back. The one that disabled Lorlin turned to pounce on Idria, while the other continued to attack Elr, who was too frightened to move.
A glint shone in Idria’s eyes. She pushed Lorlin aside, and a silver light gleamed on her large double-bladed battleaxe. Focusing on the incoming Ghost, she deftly twisted the battleaxe and used the long handle to thrust at the Ghost.
The Ghost’s form rippled, clearly shifting to an incorporeal state again. However, this time, it failed to neutralize the female knight’s attack. As soon as the axe handle touched the Ghost, the silver light made it emit a pungent white smoke and lifted it high, throwing it toward Joey, who was rushing over from the front.
Compared to the reckless Lorlin, the female knight knew how to deal with Ghosts. The temple knights of Loviatar did not only possess close-combat skills; they also had divine powers granted by the goddess of torment. Although Lady Loviatar was a goddess of the Chaos faction, she was still a deity recognized by the main world of Toril. The divine powers bestowed upon her followers naturally countered undead, which were not accepted by the main world.
“Move aside!” Joey shouted angrily. A crystal-clear pentagram array flashed under his feet as he finally rushed over from the front of the team. Catching up to the Ghost that Idria had just tossed into the air in the passage, he swung the softly glowing eight-faceted prism sword in a sweeping motion, cutting the Ghost in two.
“Groan…” The Ghost howled. After landing, its two halves automatically converged and slowly merged back into one. However, its transparent body was much dimmer than before, clearly showing that the “Evil-Breaker” runes on the Elven prism sword had caused it significant damage.
“Die!” Joey swept forward like the wind and expressionlessly plunged the Dagger of Sin into the Ghost’s body.
“Whimper…” As soon as the Dagger of Sin entered the Ghost’s body, it couldn’t help but let out a mournful cry, as if encountering a natural predator. Its form quickly dimmed and was eventually absorbed by the dagger like through a straw.
After absorbing this Ghost, the black glow on the Dagger of Sin became even brighter, as if quenching a long thirst. Joey could even feel the Dagger of Sin’s joy and excitement, like a child getting its favorite ice cream.
“Groan…” The other Ghost, which was clinging to Elr, seemed to hear its companion’s lament. Its transparent face showed a trace of fear and hatred before it quickly floated away from Elr, flew straight into the wall of the passage, leaving everyone looking at each other in helpless dismay.
“Elr, Elr!” Lorlin shook the motionless body of the magic apprentice, his sorrowful cries making everyone’s hearts sink.