Chapter 1004: 312. Dark Death Cauldron_3

He only knew now that the City of Exiles was highly valued by the Shadow Death Magic Realm, and that there was much more higher-level combat power in the city than he had imagined.

The Shadow Deathers aspired to turn the City of Exiles into a public transit hub.

In the Upper City Area of the City of Exiles, the Shadow Deathers had established a stable Teleportation Gate.

This Teleportation Gate was connected to magical kingdoms outside the Ulnas Circle, allowing them to reach the Dark Zone on the Kashel Continent through it.

Because of this, in addition to the one Ten Rings city master, two Ninth Ring deputy mayors, and five Eighth Ring Chief City Guard Wizards, there might also be some high-level Grey Wizards from other magical kingdoms.

It wasn’t impossible that these unknown Grey Wizards were tasked with tracking down Noland Lee.

...

With this in mind, Noland decided to be careful, careful, and even more careful, lest he capsized his ship in the sewer due to negligence.

…

…

Rumor had it that the City of Exiles stood in the center of the “Shadow Wind Plain,” surrounded on all sides by flat stone grounds.

Viewing this three-dimensional city from a distance, it resembled a giant alchemy crucible emitting black fumes—narrow at the mouth, broad at the belly, with curved walls that sealed the entire town airtight.

This structure, which looked like an enormous cauldron, was the Lower Town of the City of Exiles.

Above the Lower Town, directly overhead, was the inverted pyramid structure dangling from the Ceiling—the Upper City Area.

The Shadow Deathers in the Lower Town only had to look up to see the magnificent Upper City Area suspended in the air.

The inverted triangle facade loomed over their heads like a sharp sword, perpetually aimed at the people of the Lower Town.

This unique layout of urban areas foreshadowed a strict and harshly stratified society both in the City of Exiles and the Shadow Death Magic Kingdom behind it.

The Shadow Deathers were Ethereal Beings, Shadow Dark Souls.

One of the differences between Ethereal Beings and Life Creatures lay in their reproductive abilities.

Life Creatures could proliferate through viviparous, oviparous, or budding methods.

However, Ethereal Beings could not reproduce.

This was the cost of forsaking their fleshly bodies to obtain immunity to physical damage.

To ensure a sufficient source of slave labor, the Shadow Death Magic Realm extensively raided realms of Life Creatures and brought back batch after batch of captives in the flesh.

The Shadow Deathers in the Upper City Area set up Magic Circles that transformed fleshly bodies into Shadow Dark Souls, mass-producing new Shadow Deathers.

These Shadow Death Laborers, abducted from other realms and now residing in the Lower Town, were hence named by the Upper City Area.

Approximately one-tenth of these Shadow Death Laborers displayed exceptional talents during the Shadow Soul transmutation Ceremony.

Such fortunate laborers were at once lifted from their lowly status and received extraordinary enlightenment, becoming Shadow Death Wanderers or even Shadow Death Wizards.

If no exceptional talent was found, those forced to transform into Shadow Dark Souls would toil day after day in the Lower Town.

In the perilous production of magic, they would die and be reborn time and again through the use of Shadow Fragments and Magic Circles.

After more than 10 rebirths, their souls would become too weak to support another renewal.

Unable to coalesce Shadow Fragments after death, they would enter a state of true demise.

Their ethereal remains would be gathered by the Magic Circle, transformed into shadow energy, and supplied to the ceremonies for transmuting Shadow Dark Souls.

All their life experiences, memories, and circumstances, their names, origins, and other identifiers would dissipate in the winds on the plain.

Who would pay any attention to these helpless souls plunging into the abyss of the Dark Zone?

Who would risk being obliterated by the powerful Shadow Deathers of the Upper City Area to save the unfortunate souls of the Lower Town?

In an era where magic power was rampant, the interests of the weak were always overridden, with only the force of magic itself compelling people to practice justice.

“Evelyn, there’s been an incident in the Upper City Area.”

A pale-faced Shadow Dark Soul crossed the crowded streets, stepping over stone bricks covered with mud and dirty water, and stopped next to a pile of garbage at the deepest part of the alley.

This place was for processing rotten flesh, animal fur, and stinky grease.

Thanks to the ethereal features of the Shadow Dark Soul, the Shadow Death Laborers couldn’t smell the terrible odors nor experience the greasy sensation of rotten flesh and grease slipping through their fingers.

The female Shadow Dark Soul named Evelyn Thatcher was squatting near a crucible by the garbage pile, continuously stirring the murky liquid inside to prevent it from sticking due to high temperatures.

“What happened, Xander?” Evelyn asked, tossing a few chunks of grease into the pot.

“The Shadow Death Watch Group suffered casualties, at least ten members are dead,” Xander said quickly, with some excitement in his voice:

“When I say ‘dead,’ I mean truly ‘dead.’ Those guys went out of town and seemed to have gotten into a fight, and they couldn’t even bring back their Shadow Fragments.”

Evelyn turned her head, revealing half of her charred face from the dirty hair.

——Because her face was already half burnt during the conversion ceremony, even after becoming a Shadow Dark Soul, she still retained the appearance of severe burns.

“Where did you hear this news? The disorderly Howling Tavern? Could this be a rumor made up by someone?” Evelyn asked.

Xander shook his head repeatedly:

“No, no, it’s not just the tavern that’s spreading the news. If you go outside the alley and ask anyone right now, everyone is discussing it. The news came from a small group of Wanderers breeding wild Dark Abyss Eels, so it should be true.”

Evelyn fell into contemplation.

Xander asked:

“Do you think the wizards from Baldur’s Gate organized an army to rescue us?”

“Don’t count on those who only care about enjoying themselves in the town. In their eyes, we suburbanites are just talking livestock…” noveldrama

Evelyn stirred the crucible, pondering as she spoke:

“But no matter what, casualties in the Vigilance Team mean that the people outside have some strength. Go find out more. If the people outside are strong enough to cause chaos in the Lower Town, we might have to prepare to run.”

“Okay, I’ll go find out and come back right away,” Xander dropped the words and hurried away.

About ten minutes later, he returned with a tired look on his face.

“What happened?” Evelyn asked.

Xander hemmed and hawed for a while, then sighed and said:

“I can be sure that people from outside won’t come to save us. Uh, they seem to be a group of Thunder Wizards. These Thunder Wizards stirred up a thunderstorm fifty kilometers outside the City of Exiles, swept through two Demon Beasts Nests, and claimed 16 Vigilance Team members and 6 Wanderers. By now, these Thunder Wizards should know they’ve troubled the City of Exiles. They probably left the Dark Zone already.”

Evelyn sighed softly:

“So, they’re not our saviors, right?”

Xander nodded gloomily:

“It seems so. Looks like we’ll have to wait longer. I can be resurrected three more times, how about you?”

Evelyn looked at her almost transparent palm:

“I should also have three chances of resurrection left. I wonder if I can hold out until help comes.”

The atmosphere became somewhat heavy.

“Ding ding ding ding…”

Loud bell sounds came from the mouth of the alley, signaling the Supervisor summoning the Shadow Death Laborers.

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