Chapter 171 Intensifying Chaos and Seeking Assistance

Just as the people in the tavern were at a loss, having no countermeasure against the hazy phantom, terrified screams echoed from outside.

Dashing out of the tavern, they saw that the small town had suddenly been populated by numerous "wraiths." They were staring eerily at the nearby residents, and the shrieks originated from this terrifying sight.

Many people, paralyzed with fear, began hurling whatever objects they held at these shadows, while some even slashed at them with blades. Without exception, all physical attacks passed right through them, failing to cause the slightest impact.

Although these shadows seemed harmless for the time being, panic inevitably began to spread throughout the small town.

Many terrified townsfolk fled the town immediately, but quite a few could not bear to leave their wealth behind and rushed back inside to pack up their valuables.

Seeing this unfold, several wandering mercenaries and adventurers’ eyes lit up with greed. Given how prosperous and wealthy this town was, virtually every household was at millionaire level to them.

Without hesitation, numerous individuals charged into unoccupied houses to plunder valuables. Upon breaking into homes and finding them inhabited, many didn't say a word before beating the owners to the ground and resorting to outright robbery.

As time passed, the chaos escalated further. When the first resisting townsman was murdered, it was as if a switch had been flipped: the black aura radiating from the shadows surged abruptly. This seemed to drive the already bloodshot mercenaries and adventurers into an even greater frenzy.

From this moment on, the shadows, which had previously remained completely motionless and incapable of either affecting or being affected by others, suddenly sprang into action. They stiffly approached the injured or dying townsfolk, dispatched them, and crouched over the corpses to absorb their essence. Within moments, the bodies were reduced to withered mummies.

In the end, the plundering mercenaries and adventurers seemed to forget their original intentions. Amidst frenzied mutual slaughter, they were wiped out down to the last person, their drained husks absorbed by the shadows until they too became desiccated corpses.

This scene was not confined to just this small town. In the span of a short while, dozens of similar incidents occurred across the entire expanse of the empire.

The Imperial Court was momentarily baffled by this sudden and bizarre development.

***

Lando and Claire were discussing their next course of action within the eerie town.

A sudden communication transmission interrupted their conversation.

Lando opened Luo Xiaohu’s emergency transmission, intuitively guessing that what the other party had to say was likely related to the eerie town.

"Lando, something has happened in the south!"

It felt like I had just heard this exact line!

Lando glanced sideways at Claire next to him, thinking to himself: *Do the two of you only ever show up to report bad news to me?!*

"A very bizarre incident has occurred over here. Quite a few small towns and even cities have suddenly spawned eerie wraiths, and then everyone starts plunging into madness, slaughtering each other..."

Luo Xiaohu recounted the series of events that had transpired in the south, hoping to get Lando's perspective.

After listening quietly and asking numerous detailed questions, Lando and Claire finally abandoned any lingering shred of wishful thinking.

"The weakness of this kind of eerie domain is the hazy phantom at its center. As long as you hit it with a powerful impact of death energy, it can be dispersed. Inform the Imperial Court of this intelligence. Also, do your best on your end to destroy these eerie domains. Let's keep in touch at all times from now on..."

Lando paused for a moment, then lowered his voice. "We might need to run for our lives!"

Luo Xiaohu’s body gave a slight start. He blinked and silently nodded.

After ending the communication, Claire said with a hint of reluctance, "Are we just going to leave like this? We've finally made it this far! If we merely report it up, we won't reap many benefits!"

Lando shook his head. "If it were a slumbering deity, we could still figure out a way to scheme a little. But under the current circumstances, forget about it. Saving our own skins comes first."

Every arcanist should have their "prudence" skill maxed out.

"I suppose that's the only option left."

Claire sighed. How could he not understand that this was the optimal choice?

Simultaneously, the two of them reached out and pulled out... a ring and a void-flying airship?!

Lando and Claire stared at each other with wide eyes, completely baffled by the other's confounding move.

"There's still quite a bit of time before that deity awakens. Surely we don't need a life-saving ring, do we? Wouldn't it be fine if we just took the void-flying airship and left?"

"What are you thinking? Since there is an injured deity in this world, of course we should notify our mentor directly. To avoid complications, using the ring for a direct summon is the fastest method."

Is being wealthy supposed to be impressive? Having money makes you arrogant, huh?! Uh, well, actually, it really does! Never mind then.

"That's for you. Using the ring on my end costs a hefty price, but if you're going to use yours, I'll definitely use mine."

Compared to the minor cost he would incur after using the ring, letting the Silver Tower and Mentor Audo miss an opportunity to capture a deity would be a far greater loss. Surely, under these circumstances, even if Lando used the ring, his mentor would reimburse him!

"Don't worry, the empire has explicit regulations: any consumption incurred during the transmission of intelligence concerning a deity is borne entirely by the empire, which naturally includes the use of cross-domain teleportation rings!"

The empire actually has such humane regulations? Arcanist Empire forever the greatest!

From this aspect, one could truly see how desperately the empire craved deities.

With no psychological burden left, Lando and Claire activated their cross-domain teleportation rings together.

As the rings shattered, a peculiar aura began to condense nearby. It wasn't the instant portal opening Lando had imagined; was there actually a pre-casting channel?

"Although it's not an instant gateway, once a cross-domain teleportation ring is used, it's very difficult to interrupt. Moreover, the special aura diffusing during its activation will taint the souls of all intelligent life nearby, and it's quite hard to erase in the short term."

"I see. It's just that the diffusion of this aura is a bit slow." Mentioning this, Lando felt something was amiss and asked, "Did the person who designed the ring deliberately slow down the diffusion of the aura?"

"Clever. It is said that long ago, the special aura in cross-domain teleportation rings would burst forth the moment of activation, spreading quite widely. This would cause pursuers to realize they were dead meat and drag someone down with them before dying, launching even more frantic attacks at the ring's owner. Later, it was changed to the current design: as long as the pursuers still have a shred of the instinct to survive, most will choose to flee directly. Well, although the probability of actually escaping remains very low, at least it's not zero!"

Lando understood Claire's meaning. Anyone capable of possessing such a ring—and anyone stepping out from the other side of the portal—would at least be a legendary arcanist, and with high probability, a great arcanist. To be able to escape when facing such a powerhouse was probably something few could manage across the entire Black Domain.

"Then what if the ring's user is killed by a remote attack?" Lando asked with a puzzled expression.

"If they die, they die. The Black Domain isn't an amusement park for us; isn't it completely normal to be killed one day when facing danger?" Claire laughed.

*I see. It looks like I still need to adjust my mindset,* Lando thought thoughtfully.

During the course of their conversation, the two portals stabilized.

Two figures stepped out impatiently from the portals. Accompanied by their appearance, two layers of domains erupted outward and violently collided!

All sound was stripped away, leaving only two colors—ash grey and stark white—between heaven and earth!