Chapter 1532: Facing the Trial with Courage

Deep within Violet Isle, near the barren outskirts where the City of a Thousand Towers was theoretically located, the two exploration teams—one from Cecil and the other from Typhon—had finally rendezvoused. After some discussion, they set up their camps on two clearings just a hundred meters apart. The disciplined Steel Rangers and the Wanderer Guards began patrolling the perimeter, inspecting traps and checking the status of protective runes nearby—they had to finish all this before the last glimmer of twilight vanished beyond the horizon.

It was dusk, the creeping darkness tightening nerves on both sides. Though the divine power had long since withdrawn from this plane, the island remained permanently altered by hundreds of thousands of years of dreamlike corruption. Shadows here were thick and restless, and where they intertwined, strange and unfathomable dangers lurked.

Perhaps these were rifts leading into the Shadow Realm, or eerie lights and shadows that could gnaw at the mind and induce brief madness. Maybe even gateways through which shadow-dwellers slipped into reality… Such phenomena, unheard of in ordinary life, were commonplace here. As sunlight faded and night fell, the chances of encountering these anomalies peaked. Those who dared enter this place after dark could clearly understand why the goddess who wielded shadow’s power was called the “Lady of the Night.”

Of course, the Cecil team had a legendary adventurer like Modir Wilde, powerful and seasoned, to lead them. Yet even so, the soldiers dared not blindly trust that the old mage alone could fend off all the island’s perils—because Modir himself didn’t believe that.

As the soldiers on both sides heightened their vigilance, preparing for another night on this island, the leaders of the two teams gathered to discuss how to proceed in this strange land and how best to cooperate.

Diana arrived at the Cecil camp. Since the two camps were only a hundred meters apart, she came without much escort. Standing by a makeshift northern barricade, she gazed out with Maggie and Modir at the dark, desolate wilderness beyond. Around them, powerful magic crystal lamps cast bright light, banishing the shadows and turning the entire camp into a scene as bright as day.

Between the Typhon and Cecil camps, the soldiers had even established a “corridor of light” illuminated by these lamps, allowing safe passage at night. This close proximity was deliberate: a hundred meters was enough to keep the teams independent yet close enough to move safely between camps, saving on lighting resources.

“To survive the night on Violet Isle, you have to maintain a seamless lighting environment,” Maggie said, glancing back at the lamps scattered throughout the camp, shaking her head with a hint of regret. “When night falls, shadow power blends with ordinary darkness, silently eroding body and mind. Early on, we lacked experience. Some soldiers slept in spots the lamps couldn’t reach. One was injured—parts of his flesh seemed to have been ‘erased’ by the darkness itself. Two others went temporarily mad and had to withdraw. The lingering divine aura here is far stranger and more dangerous than we imagined.”

“We had the same problem,” Diana replied gravely. “Our early scouts spent too long under tree shadows. Some nearly ‘stepped into’ the heart of the shadows. The few we managed to rescue are still receiving treatment. Thankfully, your generous intelligence sharing helped us avoid many dangers as we ventured deeper into the forest.”

Maggie nodded slightly. “No need to thank us. We share the same mission. Cooperation improves everyone’s chances.”

Diana acknowledged this with a hum, then turned her gaze back to the wilderness, now slowly swallowed by the deepening night. The tangled weeds and jagged stones blurred in the dimming light, while strange cries from unknown creatures echoed from the distant forest, making the night feel even more eerie. After a moment, she broke the silence.

“You’ve been lingering here for four days. Why not camp deeper in the wilderness? Why stay at the forest’s edge? Is there something out there?”

Maggie glanced toward the camp, lowering her voice slightly. “That’s Modir’s insistence. He’s worried the City of a Thousand Towers might suddenly ‘appear.’”

“Worried it might suddenly appear?” Diana blinked, checking the load on her cognitive core before asking, “What do you mean?”

“He believes this wilderness is where the city lies, but for some reason, it hasn’t manifested before our eyes,” Maggie explained patiently. “He fears that if we camp deep in the wilderness and the city suddenly emerges in reality, we’d be crushed beneath it in our sleep.”

Diana was silent for a moment. Maggie heard several mechanical whirs and grinding noises from within her, but the woman finally nodded. “…In a way, Modir’s concern isn’t impossible. It’s a bold guess, but he’s seen worlds far stranger and broader than most.”

Maggie considered this and nodded. “A tactful and sincere assessment.”

As they spoke, night finally fell. The last streak of sunset vanished rapidly, as if the sun were fleeing the sky. Soon after, a magnificent tapestry of stars emerged in the pitch-black heavens.

Perhaps because they were far from the neon-lit cities, or because no clouds obscured the view, the starry sky over Violet Isle’s wilderness was especially breathtaking. The stars here shone even brighter than those glimpsed from the forest, countless points of light like scattered diamonds embedded in the dome above. Diana tilted her head back, mesmerized by the celestial display. Maggie casually remarked, “The stars look brighter out here in the open, don’t they?”

Diana seemed not to hear, still lost in thought as she stared upward. Then footsteps approached. Modir, clad in a simple mage’s robe, walked over from the tents, shaking his head with a sigh. His attempts to locate the City of a Thousand Towers using observation and phase magic had been fruitless.

“No response at all,” Modir muttered as he reached Maggie. “I tried detecting shadow energy concentrations to see if there was any material projection in the wilderness, but the shadow energy there shows no signs of disturbance. I briefly shifted myself into shadow form to search the Shadow Realm for clues—just empty land. I ran tests for elemental interference, arcane signatures, spatial distortions—everything. The result? Nothing. There’s nothing in the wilderness… Wait, is she glitching again?”

Mid-mutter, Modir noticed Diana standing silently beside Maggie, staring at the stars without reacting to his arrival. He suspected the ancient iron woman might be malfunctioning. Just then, a faint humming came from Diana, and one of her eyes began to glow softly, as if switching to a special mode. She continued to gaze at the stars for a while longer before suddenly turning to them.

“There’s a slight anomaly in the stars’ trajectories. I’m comparing it with data recorded in other parts of Violet Isle.”

“An anomaly in the stars’ paths?” Modir blinked, then looked up sharply. With a wave of his hand, he quickly traced several runes in the air. Light flickered between them, and the starlight coalesced into an intricate star map. He studied the sky and manipulated the map for a long moment before shaking his head in puzzlement. “I don’t see anything.”

“Your power is great, but some things aren’t about strength,” Diana said calmly. “The human brain can only process a limited number of star trajectories at once, and the eye’s precision is limited by the nervous system. Even with magical enhancement, it can’t match a machine’s accuracy.” One of her eyes had been replaced by a pale blue crystal, its faint glow beautiful yet eerie in the night. “From my observations, about three ten-thousandths of the star trajectories are off, and several stars are unnaturally still.”

Maggie’s eyes narrowed as she pieced it together. “You mean…”

“This starry sky is fake,” Diana said, pointing at the dazzling night above. “A projection, or some kind of magical barrier with projection capabilities—we’ve been looking in the wrong direction all along.”

Modir’s eyes widened, then lit up with realization. He wasn’t discouraged by the revelation that their previous efforts had been misguided; instead, he clapped his hands with delight. “So that’s it! No wonder we couldn’t find anything.”

But then he glanced at Maggie, frowning. “Wait, that can’t be right. We have aerial reconnaissance. Maggie flew over the entire plain twice this afternoon. If there was something in the sky, she would have spotted it.”

Maggie frowned in turn. Diana, after a moment’s thought, casually asked, “Was your aerial reconnaissance done during the day?”

“Of course. Night vision is poor, and the sky is filled with shadows…” Maggie answered, then suddenly realized something. “Ah, I see what you mean!”

“I see it too—so that’s what’s going on,” Modir rubbed his forehead, looking a bit helpless. “I guess my old habits blinded me. No matter how many years I’ve adventured, this world never ceases to surprise. The City of a Thousand Towers hiding in the night, concealed behind a false starry sky—that’s very much in the style of the Shadow Goddess.”

“This is still just a hypothesis,” Diana said coolly. “The only confirmed clue is that the starry sky above us is off. We need to find a way to break through this false sky. If it’s an illusionary barrier high above, dealing with it won’t be easy. This might be the trial the Lady of the Night has set for us…”

Diana wore a serious expression as she analyzed the situation, but across from her, Maggie and Modir had clearly already let their minds run wild—they started whispering to each other right in front of Diana.

“That illusion barrier is so high up—judging by its coverage and focal point, it must be several thousand meters tall. A man-portable anti-aircraft gun wouldn’t reach it, right?”

“Hard to say. When I was flying earlier, I didn’t see any traces at all, so I can’t even be sure how high that barrier really is…”

“Maybe we should radio back and ask them to send over a couple more transport planes with some heavy anti-aircraft guns… Wait, or we could just send a dragonrider fighter directly? Those things can fly pretty high, if I remember correctly…”

“That would delay us by a whole day. Regular pilots wouldn’t dare fly over the Violet Territory’s forests at night,” Maggie shook her head. “I could take off again myself. I’m more agile than a normal fighter, and the Black Dragon’s defenses are pretty strong.”

“Isn’t that a bit risky?” Modir looked worried. “Besides, what can you really do up there? Black Dragons aren’t great with magic, and in dragon form, you only have your breath weapon—no real long-range attacks.”

“I think it’s fine. Black Dragons have high shadow resistance,” Maggie said seriously. “I can carry two anti-aircraft guns on me. That way, I’ll have some long-range firepower.”

“Sounds doable.”

“Doable.”

They spoke so openly, without any concern for who was listening, that Diana was dumbfounded. She felt her mental core’s processing load steadily rising. The moment she finally understood what these two were planning, she immediately opened the cooling vents near her neck, blowing out hot air from her collar as she glared at the two “Cecilians” in front of her.

“Wait—are you seriously planning to just shoot the barrier down with guns…?”

“We think your earlier assessment was quite reasonable,” Maggie cut her off before she could finish. “This might be a test from the Lady of Night herself. Actively meeting the challenge is exactly what that ancient god wants to see.”

Diana felt like her cooling tubes were about to melt. “No, no, no… I think you Cecilians have a very different understanding of what a ‘test’ is, and your approach to handling it…”

But she couldn’t finish her sentence. Because she realized these two Cecilians—Maggie, having spent so long in Cecily, was clearly assimilated—had no intention of considering any other options. Modir was already turning toward the depths of the camp to fetch the anti-aircraft guns (why was the exploration team even carrying those?), while Maggie was moving about, apparently preparing to transform and take to the skies.

Watching all this unfold, Diana’s mental core was filled with one thought: from the very start, she shouldn’t have expected these Cecilians to come up with any gentler or more rational solutions when faced with problems. It turned out that Cecilian soldiers, when confronted with issues, just want to ignite a ton of explosives. It doesn’t matter who’s leading them—it’s just a matter of whether the detonation happens sooner or later.

(End of chapter)