Chapter 256: Light Is My Enemy

Among the rolling mountains, towering peaks pierced the sky, and against the mist they appeared truly majestic and spectacular.

The summits were blanketed in pristine white snow, and even at the foothills the temperature stayed below 5 °C year‑round.

Chui Lier's party hurried through the mountains, and Kaide almost never stopped to complain.

"The place we're heading to is so dangerous, why bring a dead weight?"

Kaide rode his horse, face full of complaints. The target of his grumbling, Naimi Xisi, seemed not to hear and admired the surrounding icy scenery.

The north wind howled through the mountains, hooves clattered on the pristine snow, leaving a trail of prints. Naimi Xisi stared at the peaks, sniffed, and a playful smile curled his lips.

"Ah, this scent—looks like there are quite a few of those fellows." Naimi Xisi murmured low, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes.

Kaide heard the voice, looked puzzled and asked, "What did you say?"

Naimi Xisi smiled, shook his head and said, "I'm praising nature's wonder; even in this ice and snow, many lowly creatures are stubbornly surviving."

Kaide glanced at the barren surroundings, his face scornful as he gave him a look.

What a lunatic. The misty mountain region, as Anmu's northern border, is notorious as a life‑prohibited zone.

The extreme cold on the mountain makes it a place where almost no life can survive; locals near the foothills say they only occasionally glimpse a White Dragon.

Of course Kaide didn't believe it; after all, the last time they came here they saw no White Dragon.

And even if a White Dragon existed, he doubted that this clueless noble could know anything about it.

Kaide thought that way because he projected his own past. He once was a young master from a noble family, and that gave him a chance to encounter Arcane Power.

Unfortunately his family later fell into trouble and his title was stripped. Kaide became a lone wanderer, forced to survive by drifting among adventuring parties.

That's why he considered the suddenly appearing stranger who wanted to walk with them a dead weight.

As a powerful level‑8 Mage wielding four Spell Circle spells, Kaide sensed no trace of magical power from him, and his pale, innocent face didn't look like a Melee Combatant.

Undoubtedly, just an ordinary person.

The four soon reached their destination and stopped before a wall thickly covered in white snow.

"This is it," Chui Lier said, his tone complicated.

Their party had years of adventure, slaying Minotaurs in the Underdark, expelling Necromancers hidden in villages, and even all surviving an encounter with a Devil.

Yet in this nameless tomb before them, they lost their strongest member.

Molei Nuo, and his sister.

Chui Lier stepped forward, drew a hammer with a nail head, and struck the wall hard. The tremendous force shook the snow off the wall in piles, revealing its true surface.

Two massive stones half‑covered a slit only one person could pass, surrounded by withered vines frozen into ice.

Kaide, nervous, produced a short‑handled copper wand, while Ebi Si gripped his dagger tightly, watching the surroundings warily. Chui Lier inhaled deeply and was the first to step into the tomb.

Upon entering the tomb, a rotting odor hit them, and the walls flickered with eerie ghostly light, as if the souls of the dead whispered. They walked cautiously, the stone floor beneath them creaking "creak creak," as if protesting their intrusion.

Naimi Xisi walked at the rear, scanning the surroundings, a spark of brilliance flashing in his eyes.

"The shadow energy here is so dense!"

Ebi Si, who seemed to be a Wanderer, felt his spirit invigorated by the shadow energy. At the end of the passage lay utter darkness; Chui Lier lit a candle in his hand and reached a spot blocked by a black energy gate.

The energy gate was entirely black, its surface rippling like flowing water, like a black hole, concealing everything behind it from any known sight.

Chui Lier said gravely, "Extinguish every light source on you, then you can enter the Shadow Seal."

Obviously, having been here before, they knew the way. Naimi Xisi joined them in extinguishing all lights, and everything around instantly fell into absolute darkness.

Fortunately, as a Juan Ce Long, Naimi Xisi naturally possessed Dark Vision, allowing him to barely discern object outlines even in such total darkness.

Chui Lier was the first to step toward the Shadow Seal; the moment his body touched the black energy gate, he vanished as if swallowed by a water surface.

One by one the four entered, and when it was Naimi Xisi's turn, he stopped.

He glanced at the top of the Shadow Seal, where the wall bore a tiny inscription.

"Light is my enemy. The sun's eye is detestable, leaving no secrecy. This shall not endure; I will eliminate it."

Naimi Xisi pondered; the phrase read like a creed of some secret organization, yet he searched his memory inheritance and found no related information.

Having stood there for a long while, Naimi Xisi abandoned the idea of deciphering and stepped into the energy gate.

!

Inside the gate, several people who had been waiting long looked at him with displeasure.

Once the group was together, Chui Lier led again, carefully guiding everyone through room after room.

Each room here contained extremely lethal traps. Some rooms spewed toxins that made flesh rot, others released music that drove listeners into pain, depression, and suicidal urges, and some housed Monsters that craved flesh.

"In this room there are three stone gargoyle statues. Last time we were here we destroyed the gargoyles inside, but on our way back we found them intact, still standing in the room."

"So when we go in, we'll run straight out; the gargoyles won't chase us," Chui Lier instructed Naimi Xisi.

Naimi Xisi smiled and nodded. Gargoyles? This dwarf will probably be disappointed.

That powerful shadow energy is not something a gargoyle can possess.

Chui Lier was about to open the door when Ebi Si beside him suddenly interrupted, looking anxious, "Something's off."

Chui Lier became alert and asked hurriedly, "What is it?"

Ebi Si clutched his chest, seeming short of breath, "This room is radiating a strong shadow energy; I feel it—it's as massive as a night that hides the stars."

Chui Lier furrowed his brow, a sudden thud echoing in his mind.

But

Remembering the desperate Molei Nuo awaiting death in the shadow prison, Chui Lier steeled himself, gritted his teeth, and opened the door.

"Run immediately!"

Having opened the door, Chui Lier didn't even glance inside before shouting muffled and trying to run.

But his shouted words echoed loudly, causing Chui Lier to pause; he recalled the room being small.

Chui Lier looked up and was shocked by the sight before him.

The room they occupied was vast and boundless. In the distant darkness, a massive silhouette loomed beneath the shadows, gently undulating.

(End of chapter)