Free Web NovelChapter 39: The Eternal City of Night
"That’s the plan," Malakai said, briefing Yuki and Vee about the ruined city.
"So, is the city alive? Like, a living being, or alive like it can regenerate?" Yuki asked, horrified, intrigued and taken aback.
"Alive like it can regenerate," Malakai clarified.
"Oh, thank goodness," Yuki said, breathing out a relieved sigh.
"So that means the walls won’t swallow me when I am sleeping or bathing, right?"
"Yes, that is correct," Malakai said with a nod.
"Well, we’d better get moving," Vee said, starting to dismantle the camp’s furniture. "We need to find a place to set up our new base."
The others nodded in agreement and started to pack up. Whatever couldn’t fit into their inventories was given to Yuki to be sold for store points.
After they finished packing, they made their way through the winding, damp underground tunnels, past the beautiful glowing crystal caves, and finally reached the edge, looking over into the black stone metropolis.
"Wow, this place is huge," Yuki said, leaning over the edge like an idiot tourist.
Vee walked up behind him and picked him up by the collar. "Don’t lean over the edge. That’s very dangerous."
"Sorry."
"Ugh," Camilla sneered at them. "We don’t have time for your lovey-dovey antics. Yuki, use your system map and find us a safe place to set up camp."
"I can’t," he responded flatly.
"..., Why?"
"It’s all blank. I need to enter the city before it unlocks... I think, not really sure on that part."
"Why not just ask your talking system?" Camilla asked, irritated.
"It’s not here. It’s on maintenance again."
"Well, that’s just great."
"I’m finished," Malakai’s voice interrupted them. "It’s time to go down into the city."
The group slowly and cautiously made their way down Malakai’s shadow bridge, landing safely on the ground. Yuki activated his system map, but it was still completely blank.
"It’s a no-go," he said, shaking his head.
"Well, we will just have to rely on our senses then," Malakai said.
"Huh... would you look at that? These houses are fully furnished. They even have working light switches."
The others turned around to face Yuki. He had been standing right beside them a moment ago, but now he was inside one of the houses.
"How did you get over there so fast?" Camilla asked, shocked by his speed. "Wait, how did you even get inside?!"
"I used the front door," he said casually, pointing to the entrance.
"....."
"Yuki, stay here and do your thing," Camilla said. "We will go out and scout the patrol patterns of the monsters."
"Okay. Stay safe, and be home before dinner," he said, waving goodbye.
The others went around the area, tracking the monsters’ movements and patterns. Within the immediate vicinity, there were around three hundred rank-one knights, fifty rank-one sentinels, and five rank-two paladins . They would have to be avoided, since Malakai was the only one who could fight them.
The black steel knights patrolled the area in groups of four, while the obsidian sentinels remained by themselves, never patrolling outside their respective regions. The paladins, however, were stationed in every major district. Since there were five of them, it meant the metropolis was split into five major districts.
Unfortunately for Malakai, while moving around unseen as a shadow, his senses were restricted to only a hundred meters in every direction—the exact same distance as Camilla and Yuki. Even worse news, which they would find out later, was that the longer they were exposed to the life stones’ influence, the less they could detect the roaming guardians of the city.
"Huu," Yuki exhaled, wiping the sweat from his face. "All done. This place is looking magnificent and cozy. It’s been a while, and the others aren’t back yet. I wonder if they’re okay."
Wanting some fresh air—well, as fresh as you could get this far underground—he opened the thick, dark wood door and walked out onto the patio. He bought two soft, black wool armchairs to fit the aesthetics of the city, sat down, and relaxed.
Before he knew it, night had fallen. Down here underground, it was very hard to tell what time it was, so he figured the others were just a bit late starting their trip back.
Yuki looked up at the ceiling of the underground city and froze.
Why the hell is there a giant clock tower? Where the hell did that thing come from? Are there things in this place that only show up at night—
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yuki was startled by the loud ringing of the clock tower. Like clockwork—which it most likely was—the entire city went dark. All the low-luminance streetlights turned off at the exact same time, plunging the entire metropolis into pitch black. It didn’t affect Yuki at first, since he had night vision. But in the next second, a massive light in the center turned on, flashing directly at Yuki and blinding him temporarily.
"Ah, son of a bitch!"
Bling! Bling! Bling! Bling!
Four bright rings of light over each of the major districts turned on, lighting up the entire underground city as if it were daytime.
Yuki cursed under his breath, covering his eyes. His vision was blurry and white. He stumbled his way off his porch and into the road, taking his time as his eyes slowly recovered. He made his way down the street.
Corner after corner, Yuki found absolutely nothing. Frankly, it was weird; he didn’t sense any enemies either.
Something’s wrong, he thought to himself. It’s too quiet. Where is everything?
Yuki continued to walk, staying as silent as he could while tracking Vee’s location. Most times, he would end up walking into a dead end and have to spend time finding his way around it.
"Sigh. I miss my map, man. What the hell is going on? Why is this city built like a maze?"
Creeeek.
Yuki watched as the pathway he was following literally rose out of the ground, completely blocking him off. Standing in front of him was a black steel knight. It turned to face Yuki with a fluidity a monster in armor shouldn’t possess.
"Crap, not good."
Yuki spun around and started to dash away from the knight as fast as he could. But no matter how many times he turned down a new roadway, it led to a dead end. Eventually, Yuki could hear the clanging of steel boots slowly approaching his location.
"Nnnnnnmm, fuck, this is some bullshit. Fine. FINE! I’ll just kill it, and hopefully this stupid shit will stop."
Determined to get past the knight even if it meant killing it, Yuki readied his claws and dashed forward. He turned the corner to face the black steel knight standing right in front of him. Crouching low, Yuki slipped underneath its guard and sent a clawed uppercut striking toward its face.
The knight dodged, countering with a heavy fist toward Yuki’s chest. Yuki managed to evade, and the heavy steel gauntlet impacted the ground, smashing the floor into chunks of black stone. In the next moment, the stone began to ooze black goop before forming back into its original shape and hardening.
"What the hell is this place? Is this even a ruined city?"
Before Yuki could even comprehend what this place was, the knight swung another heavy blow, smashing a chunk out of the building Yuki was standing next to. Just like the floor, the wall oozed the same black goop and repaired itself.
Yuki grew furious and unleashed everything he had on the knight. Strike after strike, he used his superior mobility to slash chunks out of its armor, using his tail to stab between its joints. Slowly and painstakingly, he wore the black steel knight down. Finally reaching its core, he smashed it.
He dug through the ruined armor, picked up the rank-one essence core, and brought it to his chest. With a squeeze, he crushed and absorbed it.
[Ding! Rank-one essence core absorbed.]
[430/1000 collected.]
"Huu. Man, I have so much further to go."
Yuki finally got a moment to relax and think. "Why the hell can’t I sense anything? And why did it only fight using its hands instead of its sword?... Ah, hell, who cares. Free items to sell for points."
Croooommm—
The walls blocking Yuki sank back into the ground, opening up the pathway.
"Vee, hold on, I’m coming—or not," Yuki muttered, his voice trailing off as he spotted four more black steel knights fast approaching his position.
Yuki sighed and turned right around. Hurling himself into a full sprint, he bolted down the road to put as much distance between himself and the knights as possible. Even if they refused to draw their swords, his damage output was far too limited. Claws like his, which weren’t yet reinforced by the full strength of a rank-one core, could only do a decent chunk of damage at a time. Killing just one had taken way too long; against four of them, a direct confrontation would be a total failure.
