Chapter 70: Lamore's Descent!

After circling once inside the house that resembled ruins.

Ta Ke arrived at the spot of the window glass near the bathroom.

Of course, there is no longer any window or glass; only the shattered remnants of a bombed window remain.

The trace pattern isn't very obvious, but it is undoubtedly a shadow trace.

He fell out through the window, crashing into the pile of bones below, then fled into the deep darkness.

"The second floor isn't high enough; if it were twenty stories, the fall could take a quarter of his life, maybe even kill him on the spot."

After staring at the darkness for a moment, Ta Ke narrowed his gaze.

The Shadow Walker fled; although Ta Ke revealed his true nature, it no longer mattered.

Ta Ni Lu being able to block a single ambush is enough.

"Aside from that fleeing guy, the material resources, extraordinary gear, etc., on the other three amount to roughly three thousand demon gold."

"Add the resources I have, and we have over four thousand demon gold."

"Although not yet liquidated, those resources are still plenty."

"It's time to exchange more of the resources and… sorcery I need from Lord Ao Bu Li," Ta Ke thought to himself.

Inside the house.

The crack of the whip and the rebukes rose and fell alternately.

Dreamer·Sheep was tightly bound by Ta Ni Lu next to a stone pillar.

A lash fell, accompanied by Ta Ni Lu's scolding: "You're not going to recruit, right?"

"Baa!"

"You still dare to talk back, huh!" Another lash.

"…"

"You don't even call out, you'd rather die than submit, huh!"

Whack! Whack! Whack!

The whip cracked with a sharp pop.

"Baa baa baa…"

"How dare you bleat so loudly? Looks like you've gotten used to life."

"Baa…"

"I'll tell you, every breath you take now is a crime, and you still dare to bleat at me?"

The desperate, mournful bleating of the sheep never ceased.

After nearly beating it to death, Ta Ni Lu cast a life‑activation spell on the victim.

The spell lets the wounded recover rapidly, but at the cost of shortening their lifespan.

It's the kind of sorcery that trades life for healing.

Originally it was an emergency healing technique.

But now in Ta Ni Lu's hands, it has become a whetstone for torture.

Since the victim is being brutally beaten yet not killed, Ta Ni Lu can siphon their life force and vent his own fury.

This round is at least a three‑way win.

The beating is nearly over.

Ta Ni Lu finally looks at the wizard Ge Lang nailed to the wall.

The hook that once restrained source energy is now fastened to the wizard's shoulder.

Wizard Ge Lang looks at the flayed flesh of the beaten sheep being healed and knows there's no way to escape today, no matter what.

"Answer whatever I ask, and I'll give you a proper satisfaction later."

"As for that guy… I'll use priest surgery to gradually dismantle his sequence, destroy him completely, then sell him to the cave dwellers."

"Hehe… Those cave dwellers know that some of the sheep we sell them were once humans, so they'll flip them to the dog‑headed folk for trade."

"And the dog‑headed folk are the least picky eaters."

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you, the dog‑headed folk love roasted whole sheep the most."

"If you don't cooperate honestly, I'll also dismantle your transformation‑to‑sheep sequence and turn you into a sheep."

Once, Ge Lang believed he was a devout channeler.

Now it seems he's fallen far short.

Ge Lang's legs have begun to tremble.

"I say!" Wizard Ge Lang forced out a grin uglier than crying.

He turned around and, after whipping Dreamer·Sheep a few more times,

Ta Ni Lu then turned back and nodded cautiously.

"Very good!"

Not far away, Ta Ke sat on a sofa whose four legs had three broken.

In Ta Ke's hand was a parchment book.

It was a fine item shipped by Sheng Lande from the prosperous steam city‑state on the Southern Continent.

As Ta Ni Lu's questions and Wizard Ge Lang's answers unfolded,

The spirit‑touch construction's thread drew a fine line of ink from a nearby ink bottle onto the parchment.

Lines of text appeared on the parchment book.

Ta Ke recorded the two's conversation in detail.

…………

Several hours later.

Ta Ke recorded the contents of the two people's conversation in detail.

The knowledge stream absorbed all this information.

"The situation outside is indeed troublesome; given the current circumstances, Lamorel..."

Ta Ke pondered silently.

"Perhaps I won't be able to hold out until the time I go down to the demon king's tomb to pry open the coffin lid."

With that thought, Ta Ke stored the parchment books away.

As Ta Ke rose, the sofa with only one leg left collapsed with a sound.

"I need to go see the Lamorel Mentor."

"You can deal with those two guys however you like; also, I've left a few sentient undead skeletons with Amandi downstairs—let them come up and clean this place up."

After giving the orders, Ta Ke walked up the high tower staircase.

As he proceeded, Ta Ke envisioned the current state of the Lamorel high tower in his mind.

Although it is now the ashen day.

But……Lamor's sky has also been polluted.

Ashen sun haze descended from another dimension's rift; the already abnormal sunlight of the ashen day cannot penetrate to shine upon Lamorel.

Lamorel now is probably even darker than the ashen night.

At least, the ashen month still has moonlight.

But now, there is no light, only darkness and death.

With the ashen day being blocked,

Lamorel's ecology is continually being squeezed and infiltrated.

Even if Ta Ke does not go out, he can still feel the outside pressure growing heavier through the last remaining protection context here.

The underground city's defense line, however, held firm.

But the surface lighthouse city wall defense line collapsed completely.

Many outpost lighthouse strongholds were also submerged by darkness.

Except for the high tower district.

The other districts can basically be said to have been completely wiped out.

Some people fled to the high tower.

Some fled underground.

Moreover, some of those with decent strength intend to cross the wilderness at night to reach Saint Rand.

However, news arrived.

Many people, as they walked, turned into ice statues.

Even those who were chatting and laughing just a moment before turned into ice sculptures in the blink of an eye.

Having left the protection of the Lamorel Steam High Tower,

The cold of the ashen month is especially freezing!

For now, the surface and underground areas of the high tower district, as well as the underground defense line, are temporarily safe.

Elsewhere, it's all personnel of the Ashen Sun Church, as well as those Ashen Sun Depraved, ferocious like hyenas.

In recent days, there has been no disturbance from the ashen month.

Some people have begun forming groups, intending to leave the Lamorel high tower.

Ta Ke learned this from that wizard.

What the Ashen Sun Church now wants is for those people to gradually leave Lamorel.

What seems like a way out is actually nothing more than a trap set up by the enemy.

On the road to Saint Rand, there are large numbers of the Ashen Sun Church's hunting knight squads, as well as Ashen Sun Depraved, to devour and enjoy those walking—food!

The ashen sun, like a giant beast, is slowly, coldly and mercilessly devouring Lamorel.

(End of chapter)