Chapter 1533: The Cecilans’ Secret to Passing the Trial

What thoughts were swirling inside Diana’s mind core no longer mattered. What mattered was that Maggie and Modril had clearly made up their minds. Within moments, several soldiers from the camp approached, following the old mage. They set down several portable magi-cannons nearby, while Maggie ran out into an open area and shifted into her dragon form.

Diana watched as the soldiers expertly began outfitting the black dragon lady with weapons. They removed two armor plates near Maggie’s shoulder blades and mounted launcher bases and rune panels—activated directly by magic—onto specially reserved universal bolts. Four rail systems were installed on either side of her shoulders. Two other soldiers busied themselves around her chest armor and wings, fastening various small magi-tech devices onto the steel wing mounts. Watching their smooth coordination, Diana suspected these Cecilans had done this many times before.

“Are you sure about this?” After holding back for a while, Diana felt her mind core settle enough to finally speak. She turned to the old mage Modril. “We still don’t understand what’s going on with this strange starry sky above us, nor do we know if the Lady of Night has some deeper plan. Isn’t launching an attack so recklessly… a bit rash?”

Modril pondered for a moment, then looked seriously at the iron maid captain before him. “Sometimes, adventure requires a bit of risk.”

Diana mulled over his words for half a minute, making sure he wasn’t just spouting nonsense. Her expression grew even stranger than before. “This goes far beyond ‘a bit of risk,’ Master Modril. I need a more convincing reason—though it’s your right to act as you see fit, we’re in the same region and cooperating. I find it hard to accept such a reckless plan.”

Modril glanced at the iron lady with some surprise. After a brief hesitation, he sighed resignedly. “Alright, since you’ve asked… yes, Maggie and I are taking a bit of a gamble, but we have some confidence. First, don’t forget—we came here by invitation, personally extended by the Lady of Night herself. That ancient god is eccentric, but at least she’s a lawful and benevolent deity. We’re standing right where the City of a Thousand Towers once stood, and we’ve found some kind of ‘puzzle.’ Testing it a little aggressively is just fulfilling our agreement, with minimal risk.”

“Second, and more importantly… we recently received direct orders from His Majesty King Gawain of Cecila.”

“Orders from King Gawain?” Diana frowned skeptically. “He told you to use anti-aircraft cannons against the barrier left by the Lady of Night?”

“Not exactly,” Modril said, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “He suggested that if we encounter any puzzles or trials left by the Lady, it’s best to act a little boldly. Apparently, she might appreciate that.”

Diana’s eyes widened in surprise. Modril’s answer only deepened the questions swirling in her mind core. She guessed that the legendary pioneer hero must have learned some truth through his incredible ‘connections’—both mortal and divine—but such questions would remain unanswered. Meanwhile, during their conversation, Maggie had finished preparing for takeoff. The black dragon’s low roar cut through the air, interrupting their talk.

Maggie flexed her neck, sensing the four newly mounted launchers on her shoulders. Honestly, these weren’t exactly the kind of gear an exploration team should carry. But thanks to supply support from transport aircraft and the usual Cecilan military’s chronic lack of firepower, the team had amassed far more than the standard ‘exploration’ equipment during their four-day stay in this wilderness. The portable anti-aircraft launchers were just a small part of it.

Diana’s gaze swept over the black dragon several times, then suddenly noticed some devices attached near the tips of her wings and around her chest armor. These had been added just moments ago, but they didn’t look like weapons. Curious, she asked, “What are those?”

Maggie looked down, pride faintly coloring her tone. “Out of caution, I had them install eight extra large lamps.”

Modril noticed the surprise on Diana’s face and eagerly explained, “Since we’ll be flying over Violet Isle at night, where shadow energies are somewhat dangerous, it’s better to be cautious—even though black dragons have high shadow resistance. These specially modified magic crystal lamps are a new tech department innovation. I don’t fully understand them, but I heard each lamp contains fourteen bursts of holy light, capable of incinerating a squad of wraiths within three hundred meters. The downside is their short lifespan—but we brought plenty, since we’re exploring such a place…”

Diana felt completely out of step with these Cecilans’ way of thinking, but their straightforward, no-nonsense approach to problem-solving left her deeply impressed. Amid this shock, she watched expressionlessly as Maggie scanned the camp’s edge for direction, took a few running steps, and then soared into the sky.

Seconds later, the black dragon lit up her eight giant lamps.

The two camps and the surrounding area instantly brightened as if it were broad daylight! Brighter than daylight, in fact. Diana was certain she saw wisps of pale blue smoke rising from certain shadow-dense spots in the nearby wilderness—signs of shadow energy instantly dissipating under the simultaneous release of 112 holy light bursts!

Then, she saw Maggie charging toward the false starry sky above like a rising sun. The massive black dragon’s imposing figure, powered by her mechanical wings, was awe-inspiring. Yet beneath such a vast, dazzling sky, even a dragon seemed small. Diana felt a strange illusion wash over her—as if everything around had quieted, as if she saw a little fish leaping from water into the sea of stars, as if a majestic, boundless gaze descended from the heavens, watching mortals’ reckless yet romantic leap—

Then Maggie fired.

At a spot she deemed suitable, she launched two incendiary fragmentation shells, then accelerated again, climbing higher and firing two more shells in another direction.

After four volleys, she didn’t return but climbed even higher, spewing a blazing flame toward the starry sky. Then, folding her wings sharply, she dived earthward like a falling star.

The four shells exploded in succession behind her, bursting like fireworks in the night sky. The bright blasts and the deep purple cracks radiating outward formed a magnificent backdrop for the falling dragon. Diana stared in astonishment—this audacious, almost reckless plan was actually working. She saw the sky tear apart; the once brilliantly shining stars scattered and trembled like ripples on a pond. Vast swaths of deep purple fissures spread from the forest canopy to the edge of the plains. And within the torn sky, she finally glimpsed the lost City of a Thousand Towers.

A city—immense, grand, ancient, yet stacked in ways defying all geometric logic—hung inverted above the earth like a magnificent reflection, dominating everyone’s view.

Deep, heavy darkness filled every corner, making it seem as if the city had been asleep for centuries. Yet near its center stood a massive, complex tower still faintly lit. Those lights shone like the last beacons in the dark, quietly watching over the city’s heart like countless eyes surveying the land below.

Diana stared in awe. In her centuries of memory, she had never seen anything like this. Not even the creeping disaster on the Talash Plains had shaken her as deeply. Her body hummed as her mind core worked furiously, capturing over two hundred images in three seconds and storing them in her crystal lattice.

Meanwhile, Maggie, still falling from the sky, noticed the commotion behind her. She executed a graceful midair turn, and the inverted city loomed before her—a far more breathtaking sight up close than from the ground. The black dragon gasped sharply as her steel wings automatically switched to emergency hover mode—she forgot to flap her wings.

“That thing…” Maggie’s deep voice finally reached Modril’s ears. “It really did appear. Though I imagined it before, seeing it in person is even more spectacular.”

“Spectacular or not, let’s not get distracted,” Modril said, still stunned but quickly regaining composure. “We need to figure out how to get up there.”

“How to get up there?” Maggie blinked, then understood. “Right… the city’s state looks off.”

“It’s inverted in the sky, possibly with gravity opposite to the ground. We can’t tell where the gravity boundary lies,” Modril nodded, looking up as he communicated with Maggie via transmission magic. “Even if we can fly up, approaching it risks losing control and crashing. Those spires aren’t safe landing spots. And… I seriously doubt the city can be ‘flown into’ at all.”

The old mage frowned, forcibly averting his gaze from the lit tower at the city’s center. He studied the city’s edges and indeed saw faint flickers in the dark haze—not city lights, but distorted starlight shining through. True starlight.

“That city looks like a ‘reflection,’” Modril said gravely. “Both its outward form and inner nature are probably like that. Its edges blend and intertwine with the real world. Maggie, you should be able to see it too.”

“Yes, I see it clearly,” Maggie hovered in the sky. Having confirmed no strong shadow energy nearby, she’d turned off some of her lamps to better observe the dark edges of the city. Those intense lights were too exaggerated and hastily placed, even obstructing her own vision. “Some starlight filters through the city’s edges, and the buildings there look like smoke.”

“Why don’t you come down first,” Modir said thoughtfully to Maggie. “I’ll cast a shield on you for half an hour, and set up a few Mage’s Eyes in the sky to scout the situation. If things get tricky, we can always fire a few rounds into that city and see how they react. But don’t rush upstairs just yet—until we’re sure about the city’s condition, it’s better to be cautious.”

Diana, standing nearby, listened quietly to the exchange between Modir and Maggie. She stiffly turned her neck to glance at the old mage, then subtly took a half step back. In her mind, a warning echoed repeatedly: when a Cecilite mentions the word “caution,” it’s best to keep your distance—otherwise, you’re likely to end up with blood all over you…

…

The dark earth hung inverted above the city. On the highest terrace of the dim palace, a cold wind howled. Prince Nash lay quietly on the ancient stone floor, feeling as if he had just awoken from a long, strange, and deeply unsettling dream.

In his dream, he was waiting for a group of special visitors, a mission personally assigned by his mistress.

He dreamed that Benadette had prepared a test of moderate difficulty for these visitors, designed to confirm whether they possessed the wisdom, luck, and resolve needed to enter the ancient sanctuary of the City of a Thousand Towers.

He dreamed that Benadette had cloaked the city beneath a celestial dome and wagered with him on how long it would take the visitors to unravel the mystery.

He dreamed that the visitors didn’t play by the rules at all—the situation spiraled far beyond any plan he or Benadette had made—

A black dragon, fully armored, suddenly charged forward, radiating golden light like the sun. She barreled straight into the city’s celestial dome, then without a word fired four cannonballs at the illusionary barrier…

It was like trying to fool an enemy’s cold arrows by raising a dummy from behind cover, only to have them pull out a burning fragmentation grenade instead.

A sudden chill from the real world snapped Prince Nash out of his bizarre dreamscape. He shot open his eyes and was startled to see Benadette’s phantom crouched beside him, head bowed and expressionless. On his other side, a hollow suit of armor squatted, holding a netted block of ice—the source of the cold sensation.

“You’re awake,” Benadette said, nodding as she noticed his eyes open. “They’ve broken through the barrier I set.”

“Broken through… but something about how they did it feels off,” Prince Nash said, struggling to sit up. He grabbed the ice block from the hollow armor and pressed it to his forehead. Though his current existence was almost like a projection, his body still retained the senses of a living person—a kindness from the Lord of Night. At this moment, though, he wished he were a true ghost, free from these annoying sensations, at least so his head would stop buzzing. “What’s the situation now?”

“The City of a Thousand Towers isn’t so easily damaged, and my condition hasn’t changed,” Benadette floated lightly before him. “As for those ‘visitors’… they’re quiet for now. I think the city’s imposing presence startled them. They’re probably discussing their next move.”

She shrugged.

“Your call—do you want to open the ‘gate’? The guests have already arrived at the doorstep.”

(End of chapter)