Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Four: A Turning Point in History and Resolve.
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“Let’s continue exploring.”
Colin withdrew his gaze and led the group into the inner area of the High Court Ruins...
According to the information Colin had obtained, this place was safe as well.
Yet the closer they drew to the light, the darker it seemed to become...
Colin led everyone in carefully setting various explosives, advancing bit by bit. After passing through an open plaza, they saw a gigantic ancient castle in the distance.
Then Colin noticed the enormous footprints on the ground...
They were humanlike footprints, each a meter long and half a meter wide, leading from the inside toward the outside...
“These familiar footprints...”
Colin could not help sighing. After exhaling slowly, he led the group in the opposite direction from which the footprints came.
At last, he saw a hall lined with numerous stone pillars...
The hall was part of the ancient castle.
Its front half had completely collapsed, but the rear half remained largely intact. Inside, Colin saw layer upon layer of footprints...
“Is this the place it guarded in Twisted Soul?”
After looking around to make certain of their surroundings, Colin sent the light of his lantern inside. He saw large quantities of crushed bones.
Some belonged to humans, but most came from unknown creatures...
At the very back of the building stood a massive, double-leaf iron gate. It was covered in rust, and the reliefs carved upon it had long since crumbled into a heap of reddish corrosion.
Colin shook his head and sighed inwardly. Such reliefs usually contained a great deal of important information.
[You realize that once you push open this gate, you will be able to see the “light.”]
Colin narrowed his eyes and led the group inside, ordering Li Chou to collect all the shattered bones. Without incident, they soon arrived before the rust-covered gate...
“Opening this door will at least complete one mission...”
Colin remembered that he still had a mission called Watchman of the High Court. Among its important rewards were three Recovery Cards and one random blueprint...
Suppressing his mounting excitement, Colin spent a full ten minutes inspecting the gate. Once he was certain there was no problem...
They pushed it open.
In the next instant, blinding light shot out from beyond the doorway. When their eyes finally adjusted to its intensity, the scene before them left them utterly stunned.
A magnificent hall stretched out before them.
The hall’s domed roof had collapsed. Massive stone pillars stood on either side. Looking forward, beyond flight after flight of gray stone steps, they saw a cracked gray stone seat.
Upon the throne sat a blurred radiance that was neither wholly human nor wholly inhuman, as though it were looking down upon those who had entered the High Court...
Colin and the others’ pupils contracted. They instinctively assumed defensive positions, but...
Nothing unexpected seemed to happen.
Yet after their initial shock faded and they lowered their gazes, their eyelids twitched again.
In the hall beneath the High Court, they suddenly discovered countless figures: aberrations, olive trees, beasts, humans, and even ratlike creatures with human faces...
Judging from some of their clothing, they had come here in different eras. But they all shared one thing in common.
They were dead.
All that remained were hollow corpses veiled in gauzy shrouds woven from radiance.
In postures of incomprehensible “devotion,” the corpses knelt and prostrated themselves toward the light above the hall, revealing their fanaticism before it.
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Within that incandescent radiance, all the gloom and fear in everyone’s hearts had vanished...
[You realize that when you choose to sit upon the gray stone seat, the turning point of history will arrive...]
[Perhaps this will be your most important means of surviving the dreadful countdown.]
The turning point of history...
This was the first time Colin had ever heard the Prompt use such words.
It was also the first time he had seen the three words “dreadful countdown” appear in the cowardly, roundabout language of the Prompt.
Normally, it would certainly have put things more indirectly.
But just then, a new prompt appeared once more...
[However, you believe you should return after the first hour of daylight tomorrow. You know that you have only one chance.]
“Daylight tomorrow...”
Colin narrowed his eyes. He felt something he could not put into words.
Had the Prompt’s ultimate purpose been to guide him here?
The more he thought about it, the more terrifying everything seemed...
If he truly sat down upon it... what would happen?
At that moment, Colin hesitated. His fists clenched involuntarily...
“Let’s come back tomorrow.”
His voice was slightly hoarse as he spoke. He turned and led everyone away. A dozen minutes later, the group returned outside in silence...
He had barely used the Prompt at all.
Yet nothing happened along the way.
The Prompt had been correct...
But what would happen when he sat upon that gray stone seat?
That mass of radiance...
Colin felt a dull pressure in his chest.
“What happened?” Shana asked softly. “You seem to be under a great deal of pressure.”
The radiance around her spread over Colin, easing his discomfort considerably...
Colin hesitated, then finally shook his head.
“Nothing.”
He did not know what to say.
Should he sit upon that gray stone seat, or should he not?
Just then, after such a long absence, the system’s voice appeared in everyone’s minds.
[The Mist Explorer’s progress has reached ten percent. The first-stage rewards are about to be issued.]
“Congratulations. You have obtained Explorer’s Armband, nine pieces of hardened black bread, thirty Mist Points, and one All-Attribute Enhancement Potion, permanent.”
The sudden reward interrupted Colin’s heavy thoughts. He let out a breath, intending to distract himself for a while...
He would first see what the items were.
He opened his backpack.
[All-Attribute Enhancement Potion: After use, increases all personal base attributes by 0.5.]
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[Explorer’s Armband: When worn on the arm, grants everyone one immunity to instant death. It may be used three times in total. Each use requires one hundred Mist Points to repair it. It can only be used once within a twenty-four-hour period.]
“This is a substantial improvement...”
Colin’s eyes lit up.
Immunity to instant death meant that no matter what happened, they would not die from the first attack...
Combined with Recovery Cards, they could instantly return to full health and “revive.”
Looking at these items, Colin felt that perhaps there was a chance?
[You realize that this is not enough to change anything...]
Colin’s mood immediately darkened again.
What exactly would appear when the countdown arrived?
Suddenly, immense pressure descended upon them...
Night had come once more.
Under all kinds of indescribable pressure, several hours passed. After making preparations amid his chaotic thoughts, Colin exhaled slowly.
After communicating with the base for a while, he took out the parchment scroll and sent out a message.
“All survivors are forbidden from leaving their territories during the three hours before dawn tomorrow.”
“In addition, the upgrade requirements for all higher-level territories will be made public...”
“Materials required for a Level Four Territory...”
“Level Two Battle Chariot...”
The blood-red message immediately appeared in everyone’s field of vision.
During the first few hours after nightfall, the chat channel was usually at its liveliest. It could be said that nearly everyone would see Colin’s message if he posted it at that time.
“Don’t go out during the final three hours? Why? That would just be a waste of time, wouldn’t it?”
“If the boss says so, then that’s what goes. I’m staying in.”
“Same here...”
“Huh? It looks like I can upgrade to a Level Four Territory. Thanks, Boss Colin...”
A torrent of messages flooded the chat channel. Before long, the words “Congratulations... you have upgraded to a Level Four Territory” appeared in everyone’s minds.
But this time, aside from the material requirements, which had something to do with Colin, nothing else concerned him...
And in the future...
It might not concern him at all.
Colin knew very clearly that something would happen tomorrow—something that could truly be called a turning point in history...
The night passed in indescribable tension.
Early the next morning, Colin led everyone back into the High Court, arriving before the blinding radiance emerged.
Once they had made all the necessary preparations, they stepped into the light.
At that moment, a change occurred.
...