Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 525 Gray Fog Town

The black cloaks completely covered their bodies, even Fafner's.

Iris's soft, delicate voice rang in Li Xia's ear:

“We are now disguised as monks of the ‘Ascetic Order,’ who have always presented themselves in this image. Their characteristic is to torture themselves and leave all kinds of scars on their bodies.”

We can easily impersonate him. Just don't say a word, and leave it to us.

The group walked silently on the road into town. Unlike the 'Kingdom Avenue' they had passed before, these roads were also full of potholes and looked unrepaired.

But at least it remained unobstructed and wasn't cluttered like the 'clean area'.

The closer you get to Graymist Town, the more bizarre the scenery becomes on both sides of the road. The crops that were originally planted have withered in the fields, and in their place are purple flowers that shimmer with an eerie light.

Several translucent cysts, swollen like abscesses, grew on the underside of this flower.

Seeing this scene, everyone's attention was drawn to it, and they walked towards the town with increasing caution.

The town of Gray Fog isn't actually shrouded in gray fog; rather, during a period of rapid development, gray steam generated by magical machinery enveloped this once-barren swamp, lingering year-round.

Thus it was named Graymist Town. Most of the residents here are descendants of the pioneers of that time. They are strong and capable, and besides farming, they are also skilled at mining or fighting monsters in the wilderness.

When darkness fell, this place, as the border region of the empire, was among the most fiercely rebellious.

Therefore, Fafner suggested coming to Graymist Town to see the current situation, at least to infer the situation in other places from the living conditions of the people in Graymist Town.

"Ok?"

Li Xia, who was in the middle of the group, suddenly paused slightly. Victor was also taken aback, while Iris and Fafner, who were weaker, looked at the two people in the group who had suddenly stopped with some confusion.

"what happened?"

"It's nothing, I just noticed Graymist Town was quite lively, I thought—"

Li Xia had thought the city was almost deserted and should be quiet, but then he suddenly remembered why all of humanity would perish when darkness fell.

The humans of this world have simply succumbed and submitted to the Church of the Night, worshipping the Old Gods alongside them, becoming beings similar to Cthulhu believers.

"Go in first."

Victor paused for a moment without answering directly, and instead headed towards Graymist Town. The further he went in, the stronger the bustling noise became.

Even Iris sensed it; she had only ever experienced this kind of excitement in 'Ogan in my dreams,' but this wasn't Ogan.

As they crossed the marker, a combination of a gear and a scepter symbolizing the Great Pioneer era, the entire town of Graymist came into view.

"It seems more lively than before."

Victor's eyes were filled with complex emotions. He touched his severed arm, and Zhuo Xin firmly believed that his resistance was for the sake of the whole world.

But what if those who succumb to darkness don't end up worse off than before, but instead seem to be doing even better?
Is that heart-wrenching act still righteous?
Li Xia looked at the unusually bustling town. People came and went on the street, and everyone had a smile on their face, even though most of their clothes were tattered and even had holes in them.

The goods on the stall were just some odd-looking items, but they were very happy, even radiating a sense of bliss.

But this very scene made Li Xia feel a sense of unreality, unlike the 'false reality' that O'Gan manifested through everyone's memories.

What Li Xia felt about the entire town of Gray Fog was hypocrisy, and the four of them were like out-of-place objects in a painting, unable to blend in no matter what they did.

"Meow!"

Kurotan let out a low cry, and the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan in his eyes slowly rotated, its color as red as blood.

Could it be an illusion?
But what is the point of such an illusion?
"Something's wrong!"

Victor suddenly whispered a command, which everyone else also sensed, as the entire town of Graymist gradually fell silent.

The people who had been walking around on the street had stopped at some point, their faces bearing that eerie fake smile, and they slowly and stiffly turned their heads to look at them.

"Blasphemer."

Dark red light emanated from their eyes, their mouths stretched wider and wider until they reached the base of their ears, and cracks appeared on the surface of their skin.

Extremely fine roots emerged from it, like individual hairs.

"How to do?"

Iris suddenly tensed up, stretched out her arms, and looked around.

"They have already—"

Li Xia reached out and grasped the hilt of the Congyun Sword behind him, slowly drawing the sword from its sheath.

"He has become a complete monster."

He knew what Victor was hesitating about—whether he could save these people. But only Li Xia, who had dealt with this kind of corruption many times, understood that this corruption was fundamentally irreversible.

The idea that defeating the source can restore everything to its original state is simply a pipe dream.

Li Xia's words instantly jolted Victor awake. The one-armed old priest looked sadly at the townspeople lying on the ground, frantically shouting "blasphemers," and slowly reached for a thick book hanging at his waist with his left hand.

Wow!
The pages of the book turned rapidly, and a blazing flame exploded in front of him, spreading in all directions like a tsunami of fire.

The raging flames, like his anger and sorrow that wanted to burn away all the darkness, engulfed everything.

As the towering flames gradually subsided, the entire town looked as if it had been bombed by a powerful bomb.

Flames were still burning on the collapsed building ruins, and thick black smoke was swept into the sky by the heat wave.

The charred corpses remained lying face down on the ground, black liquid oozing from their bodies.

The pungent stench mixed with the burnt smell of burning food was enough to make one want to vomit.

"Wow! The power of that attack is definitely top-tier third-order."

Awoo clicked his tongue in amazement. Victor's sea of ​​fire attack had almost completely flattened the entire town.

As expected, the higher the rank, the stronger the destructive power of these powerful individuals.

Li Xia sheathed the sword again. This was the advantage of having strong teammates; often, they would solve the problem on their own without him having to lift a finger.

Iris let out a sigh of relief. She lowered her hand, walked forward a bit, and squatted down to examine the charred corpse closely.

"Yes, it's very consistent with what I've learned; it's a typical case of irreversible pollution transformation."

When the Burning Heart Church was at its peak, they had considered ways to purify the corrupted people, which would reduce the enemy's strength while increasing their own. However, after investing a great deal of manpower and resources in this evolution, the Burning Heart Church ultimately admitted defeat.

Those with mild corruption can be restored through a series of complex and costly methods, but once the corruption is too severe, it becomes an irreversible transformation.

It was as if corruption had altered not only his thoughts but also his life form, and thoughts were born from life forms.

"Wang!"

Suddenly, Xiaotian shouted at a house, and the group walked over to it without prior arrangement.

Inside the house, a monster lay barely alive, its lower body smashed apart by burning bricks.

But he was still clutching something tightly in his arms—the translucent, follicle-like objects growing beneath the purple flowers outside.

The follicle-like thing was clearly shriveled, and a long, straw-like strange object protruded from the monster's mouth and pierced into it.

"So this disgusting thing is—"

Iris suddenly understood.

"Yes, it should be their food."

Victor also came over. He squatted down and used a silver skewer to pierce the follicle. Immediately, viscous liquid overflowed from the hole.

Under the horrified gazes of the three little ones, Victor actually dipped his finger in a little bit, first carefully examined it in front of his eyes, then smelled it, and finally simply put it in his mouth and licked it.

"Holy crap, Warrior!"

Although Li Xia knew that this thing could be eaten by low-level monsters, and even if it was harmful, the harm would be very low, he would definitely not try it unless absolutely necessary.

All I can say is that Victor is indeed a warrior, tasting the saltiness without hesitation or even flinching.

He watched with respect as Victor savored the taste in his mouth.

"Hmm, the ingredients seem to be quite complex."

His voice trailed off, and Victor's face grew increasingly grim. He suddenly stood up, his face ashen, and said:
"Let's go take a look at the places with flowers."

He casually cut off the outstretched tentacles; these eerie purple flowers were ultimately a frail plant, and were dug up along with the soil.

The underground object with the purple flowers was finally revealed, and the result was not surprising; in fact, everyone had already guessed the answer before the excavation even began.

But seeing those people whose chests were still rising and falling being parasitized by these tentacles, and whose bodies were even beginning to rot, still sent a chill down Victor's spine.

".Closantis Old Dahl."

Fafner's voice suddenly rang in their ears. He jumped down into the dug pit and scanned their faces with his gray eyes.

"Yes. That's Vulcan, a burly blacksmith who secretly helped Zhuoxin forge quite a few pieces of equipment. And next to him is Mina."
She was Vulcan's daughter, and she secretly brought us food when she was not even ten years old.

Let me see. Isn't that Ronnie? His nickname is Timid Ronnie. He always said that if he were ever exposed, he would definitely run away, but he never expected to be buried here too.

"Oh, and there's that old beggar Ryder too. He's found out a lot about the Church of the Night for us."

With each word Fafner spoke, Victor and Iris's expressions grew more pained.

Towards the end, they even closed their eyes, as if trying to avoid those ashen faces.

Even Li Xia and the others seemed to feel a heavy weight on their shoulders, and stood silently in place, listening attentively.

Every time an old god descends, it is an unavoidable disaster for the world. Even the Star God, when faced with such a disaster, can only lead a small group of people to flee aimlessly and wander in the universe.

"That's right."

Fafner finally straightened up, his ashen eyes filled with an overwhelming, unyielding sorrow and bitterness.
"They were all former rebels, and ordinary people who gave us a lot of help."

For Fafner, his extraordinary memory was even a curse. At 110 years old, he had witnessed the prosperous world before the darkness, and he had seen clear rivers and blue skies.

Having witnessed people's laughter, he remembered all the beautiful memories in his mind, but every death and loss was equally clear.

Just like these people, he could clearly remember every little detail of his time with them, and he could even remember the little girl named Mina who stood in front of him happily, holding a tattered rag doll, drooling as she handed him the precious food he wanted to eat.

"Grandpa, you must defeat the bad guys!"

Victor let out a long breath and turned around without saying a word:
"Perhaps we should hurry up and head to Emmonds to kill that son of a bitch!"

Iris followed in silence as well. Fafner stood still, looked at Li Xia, and suddenly smiled:
"Even knowing you can't win, dying on the offensive might be a kind of relief, right?"

The old man lowered his head, hiding his pained expression, and walked towards Victor with his body hunched over.

Can't win?
Li Xia's gaze was fixed on the grayish-white 'corpses' and on the tattered doll that Xiao Mi Na was still clutching tightly in her arms, though it was already rotten beyond recognition.

In fact, these people were complete strangers to him, and he had never felt anxious about them. Their presence was not as impactful as the Stone Clan's overwhelming force that had shaken him.

But Li Xia had an increasingly urgent thought at this moment.

That's what Victor meant: Go kill that son of a bitch.

"Ouch!"

"Understand!"

Li Xia turned and left. Awoo snapped his fingers behind him, and the surrounding soil and bricks seemed to lose their weight and floated towards him.

After countless hours of training and increasingly refined control, Aowu created a massive grave on top of the original pit in just a short moment.

Black Charcoal wrote a line of words on a stone wall that served as a tombstone, and the three little ones also chased after Li Xia, who was getting further and further away.

Only that enormous tomb remained silently in place, waiting in the wind.

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

Exhausted, the little carp was also hospitalized with pneumonia.

I went to my dad's place in the morning and then to Xiaoliyu's ward in the afternoon. They weren't even in the same hospital; the two hospitals were more than ten kilometers apart.

This October has been incredible.

I'm so tired, words can't describe it. I have to go on a business trip on Tuesday.
I never take afternoon naps, but today I fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

She didn't even cry when she got injections, oh, it breaks my heart.
(End of this chapter)