Chapter 55: Ashen Undercurrent, Strikes!

"In the end, is it still impossible to stop the Dark Sun's ritual?"

Gazing at the Dark Sun ritual that had already torn open the dimensional void.

Taku took a deep breath.

Then, Taku looked out toward the depths of the Ashen Lands beyond the tower city-state of Ramor.

Those city-states, towns, and villages long since swallowed by the Dark Sun.

At this moment, pillars of Dark Sun ritual light, large and small, were also pouring into the void.

Though those traces and channels were nearly imperceptible, Taku still caught them — the ritual's power had long been distributed all around the Ramor city-state.

Now, it had fully erupted.

As vast amounts of Dark Sun power were activated by the sacrificial ritual.

The Ashen Moon above the firmament began to gradually dim.

Within the original outline of the Ashen Moon, the power of the 【Dark Sun】 was being nurtured.

Taku also understood that the Dark Sun Church had been plotting this for a long time.

The altar located at the site of the Ramor city-state served more as the ritual's activation trigger.

Even if he destroyed all the altars, the other side could still continue building altars to complete the ritual's activation trigger.

What Taku had originally wanted to do was obstruct the ritual's activation at the proper time.

As long as they missed the appropriate ritual time, it would cause considerable disruption and impact.

Looking at it now, it seemed Taku had not succeeded.

"No…"

Taku looked toward the Dark Sun power being sacrificed at the Steam Tower.

"Of the three altars, I destroyed two. Though they were only two small ones, they were an important part of stabilizing the main sacrificial ritual."

"That sacrificial power is not stable."

"Besides… I already informed Lord Aubrey and the others about the ritual altars that might exist in the tower, and that tonight would be the time of activation."

"It's impossible they wouldn't have made preparations."

"An unstable ritual may not be impossible to interrupt."

"What's more…"

Taku glanced at that cold young man.

His gaze fell on the "Parchment Rune Scroll" behind the cold young man.

The scroll looked weightless, but carried on the back it seemed exceptionally heavy.

"I also successfully took out a steam genius of the Dark Sun Church who was about to be born."

The cold young wizard gazed at the already-blooming ritual for a moment.

Only then did he turn back to look at Taku.

His eyes were full of confusion.

That shadow wizard seemed to have sensed it the moment the ritual had just begun.

And he.

Only felt it when the ritual had fully bloomed.

In perception alone, the two were not even on the same level.

One should know that he was already at the peak of Tier Two, ready to advance to Tier Three at any time.

After hesitating for a moment, the cold young man finally spoke: "The sacrificial ritual has already begun."

"It will inevitably be accompanied by the Ashen Tide."

"While I was underground, I already noticed the kobold army gathering its strength."

"There were also Dark Sun Church personnel there."

"Furthermore, many of the creatures beneath all of Ramor and around the city-state have already been influenced by the Dark Sun."

"You… best take care of yourself!"

After saying that, the cold young man melted into the darkness and rapidly vanished from sight.

"Ashen Tide!"

Taku murmured to himself.

"So it really is coming after all?"

A great deal of information about the Ashen Tide surfaced in his mind.

Taku did not delay either, immediately sprinting at full speed toward the direction of the Necromancer Tower.

The Dark Sun Church's ritual activation.

Accompanied by the surging of the Ashen Tide.

The several main towers of Ramor would inevitably have to bear the Dark Sun Church's attacks.

Dark flying creatures in the sky would sweep across the entire territory of the Ramor tower city-state.

The lighthouse defense line at the front would bear the assault of the "Dark Sun Corrupted."

As well as the surface black rats, the kobold army, and so forth, which would also surge into Ramor from surface caves and burrows.

These creatures that were normally nothing more than food and "transcendent resources" for the Ramor tower city-state.

During the Ashen Tide period, they would all become exceptionally aggressive, bloodthirsty, and murderous.

And under the guidance of the Dark Sun ritual.

They would even more frantically wish to toll Ramor's death knell.

Not to mention the many transcendent beings who were themselves members of the Dark Sun Church — they would also seize the opportunity to flood into the Ramor tower city-state.

When the evil god's ritual bloomed atop the Lamor Steam Spire.

That also meant the feast of slaughter was about to begin!

It was not as though Lamor had never endured harassment and attacks from the Dark Sun Church.

Nor had it never weathered the surging of the Ashen Undertow.

But!

With the Ashen Undertow and the Dark Sun Ritual arriving simultaneously—

This was a first for the Lamor Spire city-state.

…………

A wall beacon stronghold.

The heavy sword swung by the old knight Kairun savagely lopped off the head of a fallen one that had climbed onto the wall.

He then kicked the fallen creature's head away like a rubber ball.

At this moment, more fallen creatures climbed up the wall from the darkness, their numbers greater than insects.

The many beacon strongholds on the wall had all now entered combat.

The sounds of battle were incessant.

"Come on! You sons of bitches."

The old knight Kairun roared loudly.

Relying on the "deterrence" accumulated from years of slaying fallen creatures, along with the light radiating from the beacon behind him, those fallen creatures dared not continue their reckless assault.

The old knight Kairun tightly bound the heavy sword's grip to his hand with coarse cloth strips.

He was getting on in years; this prevented the heavy sword from slipping loose.

Another brawny fallen one lunged forward.

The old knight Kairun kicked it down with one foot, then smashed its skull with a single sword strike.

"Eugene, you fool, stop hiding in the back playing your tricks. Take up your sword and come finish them off for me," the old knight Kairun then shouted at the wizard Eugene in the corner.

"I am a spellcaster."

The young Eugene responded, trembling.

"Then show your strength as a spellcaster. Don't be like some woman, too scared to cast your spells."

Another ranger in the squad, having just shot dead another Dark Sun fallen one, said jokingly.

A Night Watch squad garrisoning a beacon.

They were doing their utmost to guard the beacon on the wall. Though they talked and laughed, they all knew—

Facing that tide-like swarm of fallen ones, without timely reinforcements,

They would be swallowed by death when the beacon's light was extinguished.

Not only the wall and other defensive lines were like this.

The underground defensive line was the same, now facing large-scale assaults from creatures such as kobolds, goblins, dark rats, and more.

The entire steam ecosystem of the Lamor Spire city-state.

All relied on the steam source energy supplied by that Steam Spire to sustain everything.

And the darkness, like the Ashen Undertow, came howling in, threatening to submerge everything here.

…………

Floating and flying in shadow form, Taku was very fast.

"Caw… caw…"

Just then, an undead raven swiftly glided toward Taku.

"Taku."

The voice of the necromancer Aubrey rang out.

"I need to coordinate with Count Lamor to eliminate the altar ritual."

"And we also need to guard against their follow-up moves."

"I can't return to the Undead Spire anytime soon."

"Go underground and help Amandi hold the Undead Rift Passage. Hold it for as long as you possibly can."

"In the Undead Rift area, formidable foes will appear."

"Be careful."

"Understood!" Taku nodded gravely.

The undead raven departed once more.

Taku lifted his head slightly.

The Ashen Moon above the firmament grew ever dimmer.

As he observed quietly, strange eerie veins gradually appeared within the outline of Taku's field of vision.

"No matter how high your talent, you still fear corruption!"

Taku withdrew his gaze.

"Besides, my precision leans toward combat and control, not a talent for resisting corruption."

"If I had an SSS-rank Purification-type talent or something like that."

"That corruption source would probably be grilled medium-well on the spot!"

As he advanced.

Taku could now already hear the sound of surging waves.

The Ashen Undertow had already swept in.

"Ashen dark surge, it is also a kind of source-energy tide, except that for humans it contains too much negative force."

"But for the system, negative force? It doesn't exist!"

"The system's only concern is the indicator of 'source-energy concentration'."

"I don't know whether, at the height of the ashen dark surge, the source-energy concentration will allow me to undergo a rapid growth."

"While moving forward, Ta Ke secretly pondered."

"(End of chapter)"