Death Notice

“Where is this?” Milleras stood up, rubbing his nearly-bruised bottom, and looked around dizzily.

“It seems to be a stone room!” Iristin shook her head and pulled up Lorlin and Elr beside her. “Hiss… what a creepy place. Where is Firal?”

After they cleared their heads a bit, they realized they were in a spacious stone room. The room was empty, with a thick layer of dust covering the floor. It was a bit like the Ironstar Fortress they had visited before, and seemed to be an ancient ruins that had been deserted for a long time. frёeωebɳovel.com

“I’m here!” Joey’s voice came from behind them, but his tone carried a strange note.

“Hey, are we still near the Cloud Peaks?” Iristin turned around and saw Joey standing by the window of the stone room, gazing into the distance.

Though they still didn’t know where this place was, looking out the window, they saw a layer of gray mist outside the stone room. Through the mist, the outline of a rugged mountain range was faintly visible—it had to be the Cloud Peaks.

“I know! This… couldn’t be the Twin Towers, could it?” Milleras walked to the window, and his pupils shrank as he looked outside.

“Twin Towers?” Iristin covered her mouth in surprise, hurried to the window, and after a glance outside, she gave a bitter laugh. “Firal, was that a random teleport? Our luck is really something!”

Through the stone window, everyone quickly got a clear view of their surroundings. The stone room they were in was on the second floor of a stone fortress. This stone fortress stood on a hillside, surrounded by irregular walls and towers below, along with a moat and a drawbridge. It really did look like the Twin Towers, which had once served as a military fortress.

The so-called moat had long dried up, leaving only a deep trench. The stone fortress at the center of the hillside had three levels, each about twenty meters high, making it a tower-like fortress nearly sixty meters tall.

Though this height was not low, because the fortress covered a large area, each level had a diameter of almost forty to fifty meters. As a result, when viewed from above, the entire fortress looked like a short, thick tree stump, very much in the architectural style of the Sannata Dwarves. No wonder Milleras and Iristin recognized it as the Twin Towers of the Sannata Dwarves after just a few glances.

“No, this is not the Twin Towers!” Joey’s expression was quite strange, and his lips twitched a few times before he gestured with his chin toward the distant, hazy mountain shadows. “The Twin Towers are on the southern side of the Cloud Peaks. Although the mist here is thick, sunlight can still penetrate. Check the direction…”

“The teleport didn’t seem to take much time; I still remember the hour…” Milleras looked up at the sky outside the window and slowly widened his eyes, staring at Joey with uncertainty. “No way, are we on the north side of the mountains?”

“Exactly, our teleport just now crossed over the Cloud Peaks. This is indeed the Forbidden Zone of Life, but it’s not the Twin Towers—it’s… the Tower of Durlag!” Joey curled his lip, and even with his temperament, he felt a bit speechless.

His original teleport destination was near the Mir Forest. The “Accompany Card” from the Hunter World could only take them to places they had already visited. Since they had left the Fortress and the Lost team behind, returning near the Mir Forest was the best option.

Without Kelly and Robin and the others, Milleras’s Ancient Path was basically over. Once they were safe, no matter what decision they made, the Sun Elf Prince would have to hire a new group to continue the journey.

Because they had traveled through the border regions of Tethyr and Amn, the Mir Elven Court was already the best choice.

Once they reached the Mir Forest, Joey guessed that the mission node that had changed before would revert. At that point, whether they continued the Ancient Path mission or chose to return to the Shattered Starry Sky, the initiative would be in his hands, and he wouldn’t waste the mission rewards.

As for the Fortress and Lost teams, Joey believed that neither would be completely wiped out; at least some of them would survive. He was quite certain that the low-level undead in the Valley of the Undead were controlled by the Necromancer. Since the Necromancer had teleported away with him, the Apostles would use some of their trump cards, and probably some lucky ones would survive. Qin Lun’s original goal wouldn’t be entirely in vain.

But now they had been teleported into the Tower of Durlag, a place they had never been to before, completely overturning his earlier judgment. Milleras and Iristin and the others didn’t know the teleport destination and thought it was just bad luck, but Joey knew there were only two possibilities.

First, the accompanying principle of the “Accompany Card” didn’t align with this world’s World Law, turning it into a random teleport. Second, when the “Accompany Card” was activated, it synchronized with the ancient teleportation array in some way, creating a strange connection. As a result, the destination of the “Accompany Card” was altered, teleporting them here.

Compared to the former, Joey believed the latter possibility was more likely. Space-Time Law was inherently mysterious, so such a thing wasn’t impossible. Thinking back now, the teleportation array in the Valley of the Undead was very close to the Twin Towers. Although the Dwarves had short legs, they wouldn’t build a teleportation array between two places so close together.

If it was built by the Elves of the Tower of Durlag, that would make sense. Using this teleportation array, the Elves could easily travel between the two sides of the mountains. Besides, the Necromancer had said this was a Uwelun Elf teleportation array, which also supported this idea.

“Firal, if this is the Tower of Durlag, then why are there no undead?” Iristin looked around fearfully and moved closer, grabbing Joey’s arm.

“It’s daytime, and there’s sunlight. I think those undead are probably hiding!” The short and sturdy Lorlin climbed onto the windowsill, held onto the window frame, and stuck his head out to look around at the surroundings of the Tower of Durlag.

“I think I know something about this place!” A young voice suddenly spoke up behind them. Elr, the apprentice of Mage Angelo, said softly.

“You know?” Joey looked at the boy curiously.

“I… can’t be sure!” Seeing everyone turn to look at him, Elr shyly lowered his head and fiddled with the hem of his clothes.

“Don’t be afraid, tell us!” Iristin glared at the two men beside her and patted the boy’s shoulder encouragingly.

“Well… I once heard my teacher talk about the Tower of Durlag.” Elr composed himself, pointed at the thin mist outside the window, and mustered his courage to say, “The situation here is different from what my teacher described. I heard that it used to be completely dark here, with the death clouds almost completely blocking out the light.

Both day and night, countless undead roamed here. But now it seems the death clouds have thinned a lot, and sunlight can even penetrate. This can’t really be called the Forbidden Zone of Life!”

“That makes sense!” Everyone nodded thoughtfully.

“So the spread of undead from the two Forbidden Zones of Life to the outside might not just be due to external factors. Besides conspiracy theories, it might also be related to changes in their living environment!” Milleras’s eyes lit up, and he murmured, “If that’s the case, our Sun Elves’ migration route will need some small adjustments. I’m afraid we can no longer pass through the Serpent Forest to reach the Green Plains.”

“Hey, guys! Can we discuss this later? The sun is about to set. Even if most of the undead here have dispersed, the remaining ones are still more than we can handle!” Lorlin pouted and nervously gripped the Double-Bladed Axe in his hands.

“Mm, Firal, let’s get out of here quickly!” Iristin nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice. She wasn’t afraid of skeletons, but the creepy environment of the Tower of Durlag made her nervous.

“We can’t leave right away. Although the Tower of Durlag has been abandoned for thousands of years, many High Rank undead used to dwell here, so there might be some traps set up. Besides, even after we leave the tower, we need to find a safe way out.”

Joey thought for a moment, then suddenly flicked his wrist. A black rope appeared around his arm and dragged an object out from the corner of the stone room.

“This is… that Necromancer! You brought him along too!” Milleras exclaimed in surprise.

“Hehe, wasn’t it to help Robin and the others?” Joey said with a meaningful smile. “Without this Lich, the undead in that valley lost their organization, so their chances of survival are much higher.”

“I’ll go chop him up, so he can’t cause any more trouble!” Lorlin excitedly raised his axe and walked toward the still-struggling Necromancer.

“No need. He’s no threat to us now. I know some interrogation techniques. You all go out and look for a path; I’ll make him talk.” Joey licked his lips and showed a bloodthirsty grin.

“Alright then, be careful. Necromancers have many tricks. If it doesn’t work, just purify him!” Iristin advised with concern.

“Mmhmm, I know!” Joey coaxed and pushed everyone out of the stone room.

“Hehe, such a fun toy shouldn’t be broken too quickly!” Joey turned to look at the barely-alive Necromancer, a hint of uncontrollable excitement in his eyes. “Too bad whenever I run into something fun, there’s never enough time. Should I get some information first and play with him slowly after we leave the tower?”

“Or maybe I should just have a little fun. Joey doesn’t have Qin Lun’s trickery; such a short time probably won’t get me any important intel.” Joey muttered to himself with a frown, tenderly stroking the Necromancer’s skin-and-bones skull. “Hand him over to that guy… no, no, no, I can’t give him up this time. It’s rare to come across such a fresh plaything!”

“Wait, I remember that guy got something in the Hunter World that might be really helpful in this situation!” Joey’s eyes suddenly lit up, a flash of delight in his blood-red gaze, and he hurriedly pulled that item out of his Storage Space.

It was a palm-sized figurine of a person. It had short golden hair reaching the ears, wore a women’s suit and a tight mini-skirt, and the indifferent expression on its face was vivid. Its charming face and sparkling eyes made it seem almost alive.