Echoes of the Past

Chapter 44 Heading into the Black Mist

The knowledge sealing has little impact on craftsmen and other people who pass on their skills through hands-on practice. After assembling the external magic device according to his memory, Nan'an was relieved to find that it could function normally as he had known.

Nilar also witnessed the Renaissance.

The old craftsmanship of the Gray Star era, spanning hundreds of years, has reappeared in the world at this moment.

He was secretly curious: how does Nan'an's work compare to the external magic amplifiers that Nora is currently popular with?

Lianshui Canyon.

The presence of erosion has led to a significantly higher density of patrol personnel in the area compared to when Nan'an first visited.

The men sent by Pirion could only provide assistance on the periphery and in the quarantine zone; the core area was firmly controlled by the Owl.

After their identities were verified, a scaly owl took over from Kren as the guard and led the way.

Unlike when I first visited, the high walls seemed to have expanded slightly, and the quarantine area that had temporarily housed Nan'an and Suiyue had become considerably larger.

During the journey, Nan'an also saw some people dressed in uniforms, who looked like students, moving around in the quarantine area.

"Who are they?"

The guiding owl explained, "During the last round of black fog, they witnessed a strange chair and sat on it. To prevent any accidents, their quarantine period has been extended, but they will be free soon."

It took a full two months of Nora's time.

Suiyue lowered her voice and muttered to Nan'an.

"If it weren't for the Bewitching Crow, we'd be going crazy from all this boredom."

In a corner of the quarantine zone, next to a newly built tower, a man wearing a gray-blue cloak with an owl emblem embroidered on his chest was talking quietly with two of his subordinates, his back to Nan'an and his group.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around.

Nan'an guessed that he was around 40 years old, with strong facial features and some gray hair at his temples.

The other person's dark brown eyes quickly swept over him and Suiyue, finally landing on Nilar. They nodded to each other as a greeting.

They clearly have some connection.

The owl's totem is very distinctive; it is an owl with a gray body but a pair of gleaming wings.

Nan'an recently complained about the name "Elu," saying it sounded too unlucky.

In comparison, Angze's Yaoxiao was clearly much more proactive.

"Greev, the captain of the 7th Exploration Team of the Owl, who is supporting Sicklewater this time, Lord Raven has already informed you that you will be coming." As he spoke, he extended his hand to Nan'an and Suiyue, shaking hands with them in turn. "We have also heard about your deeds, and it is an honor to cooperate with you."

Without engaging in any further pleasantries, he whispered a few instructions to his subordinates, then made a simple gesture and led the group deeper into the Lianshui Canyon.

"I think the Bewitching Raven should have explained the unusual nature of the black mist in the Scythe Water Canyon to you, right?"

The group nodded.

Although Nanan only learned more specific details from Nilar last night.

To date, the black fog encountered by the Nora people can be roughly divided into two categories.

There are those that exhibit spatial distortion and misalignment, and those that do not.

There was no spatial distortion from the black fog; it was simply a thick fog that roughly covered the land familiar to the Nora.

Those who break through the fog can still follow the original map to find their way inside.

These areas are usually calm and peaceful, and even if spirit erosion or divine nightmares occur, their aggression is usually weak and they are relatively easy to deal with.

The spatially distorted black mist is just like what Nan'an experienced when he was first swallowed by the sickle-water mist.

The interior space constantly shifts, the scenes fragmented, as if the "materials" swallowed by the black fog are being brutally dismantled and chaotically pieced together to form a map devoid of any logic.

While exploring this map, you'll encounter a series of events that defy common sense.

The internal activities of the Spirit Erosion and Divine Nightmare mostly possess incomprehensible abnormal properties, have a strong desire to attack, and erode the Fog Breakers at a faster rate.

When the Nora people cross the boundary of the Black Fog, the first area they usually come into contact with is the "normal state".

Only by continuing to delve deeper will one unknowingly step into that chaotic and indistinguishable distorted boundary.

However, there is actually a third type of black fog entrance.

After Suiyue tore away that incomprehensible "darkness," the black mist that descended upon Kamami stopped expanding and instead collapsed and stabilized into a deep, dark rift that emitted a dim light.

It's like a portal to a specific coordinate.

After battling a series of spirit erosions and divine nightmares and traversing a spatial distortion zone, the Radiant Owl's advance team was astonished to find themselves at "Grantor Fortress," a thousand miles away from Kren.

Such a unique entrance has only two locations in the entire Nora.

One is the Sickle River, and the other is the "Kroro Mine," where the combined efforts of the Deer and the Owl, along with almost all of their elite forces, barely managed to stabilize the passage.

Unlike the usual practice of venturing deep into the black fog and unknowingly entering a chaotic area, these two entrances that appeared within Nora's "safe zone" did not expand outward or spill black fog again after stabilizing.

Moreover, any fog-breaker can directly reach the spatial displacement area by passing through the passage and discover a completely new and unexplored zone.

This completely omits the previous steps of the Fogbreaker exploration team, which had a 12-day deadline and might have spent half of that time searching for the Twisted Path.

Due to the instability of exploring the Black Mist, Divine Nightmare Fragments and Crystals are always scarce, but by using the Scythe Water and the Kroro Mine, the probability of encountering enemies can be significantly increased, thus indirectly broadening the acquisition channels.

The importance of acquiring a large amount of Nightmare materials for Nora scholars to study the Black Mist is self-evident.

After successfully stabilizing the Kroro Mine in Ellu, the Senate was already considering how to make good use of this resource point that could be called the "Nightmare Mine".

When Nan'an first heard Nilar's description, his head was spinning.

Why does this sound like... running a dungeon to kill monsters and loot materials?

Grave, who was walking ahead, did not stop.

The light grew dimmer deep in the canyon, and the rock walls on both sides gradually narrowed, leaving only a sliver of pale light overhead.

The wind whistled through the cracks in the rocks, making a low, hoarse sound, like the breath of some giant life form in its slumber.

The fissure formed after the black mist collapsed was located right next to the riverbank where Nan'an had taught Suiyue to practice her magic accuracy.

The members of the scouting team have set up a large number of temporary observation tents and towers in the vicinity.

Grave continued, "Our advance team approached Gransol Fortress twice, stopping at the edge of the fortress each time. Experienced fogbreakers sensed an unusual aura within the fortress area."

Those who deal with nightmares day and night, amidst the bizarre black fog that blankets the land, offer an assessment that it is "exceptionally unusual"...

What could be so entrenched deep within that fallen fortress?

Grave snapped his fingers, and the Owl members who were waiting nearby immediately brought over a folding table, spreading out a map and several bound documents.

He twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile that could hardly be called a smile.

"Guen reminded me that the old man from Nan'an was from five hundred years ago, and he might not be familiar with the current human geography after waking up, so... I prepared a comparison chart in advance."

That's really thoughtful; it's exactly what Nan'an needs right now.

Before the black fog descended, Gransol belonged to a powerful empire called "Zanti" and was a veritable border trading town.

Nanan had dealt extensively with the black market merchants there—the dark elves there had a great fondness for all kinds of skull artifacts.

After the Black Mist Era began, Gransol gradually evolved into one of the frontline fortress city-states resisting the Black Mist's erosion.

Until 237, the black mist underwent a large-scale mutation, with massive amounts of spiritual erosion and divine nightmares surging out like a tide.

After nearly 20 days of fierce resistance, Gransall finally fell.

As Grave finished speaking, he silently raised his hand and pulled down his hood.

The members of the owl beside them seemed to receive a silent command, and they followed suit, pulling down their hoods to reveal silent faces.

"The Battle of Gransor Fortress," Grave's voice deepened, "wiped out all the remaining Gray Star remnants after the Black Mist Era, those old veterans who survived from the old era... all of them went up against the tide."

“They desperately want to create a miracle,” Grave continued, his gaze fixed on the map on the table, as if piercing through the paper to see into the distant past. “They want to tell the Nora people who are still resisting… that hope has not been completely extinguished.”

Dragons, vampires, elves, giants, trolls, humans...

The races that were once at odds with each other and even fought each other stood behind the same crumbling city wall for those twenty days.

It's so frustrating. For 237 years, I've watched helplessly as my homeland was devoured inch by inch by invisible natural disasters.

The bloodline and offspring are gradually dwindling under the curse of the black mist.

The future is like fine sand in an hourglass, constantly slipping away.

Thus, the high-ranking mages who had chosen to live in seclusion since the arrival of the black mist, in order to preserve their knowledge and bloodline, stepped forward.

They formed an unprecedented inter-species united legion in the history of the Nora continent, and perhaps even in the entire history of the Gray Star civilization.

What they wanted to defend was not the city of Gransol itself, but the belief in "continuing to resist" in the hearts of future generations.

No one ridiculed the deserter.

Instead, they blessed those who chose to continue hiding with the fire, wishing them the continuation of their race's bloodline.

Those who remained, the silent victims, pressed forward one after another to meet the endless black tide pouring out of the black mist.

At that moment, it was as if they were at odds with the entire world.

They used magic to combat the spirit erosion and their flesh and blood to confront the anomalies of the divine nightmare.

When the black mist first spread to Gransol, more than half of the city's mages had already been killed or wounded, but the survivors managed to organize a second, third, and fourth wave of counterattacks.

The defensive line continued to shrink, and every inch of the retreated land was soaked with the echoes of blood and magic.

Upon hearing this, Suiyue couldn't help but ask softly, "But... how was it later learned that Gransol was ultimately swallowed by the black mist?"

Grave turned his head and stared intently at her.

"Your Lord Raven," he said slowly, "is a survivor of Gransor Keep, he was born there."

Nan'an and Suiyue both opened their eyes wide at the same time.

"He was still young that year, only qualified to assist high-ranking mages... and thus, he witnessed wave after wave of mages using 'explosion' to create chain reactions and hinder the enemy's advance."

Graves' voice was flat, yet every word was clear:

"Through self-annihilation, they artificially created a 'combustion explosion' phenomenon with a high concentration of magic power. The magical turbulence generated by the combustion explosion can temporarily slow down the attack of the Spirit Erosion, buying time for their companions who are responsible for dealing with the Divine Nightmare."

"In Gransol... mages below the seventh rank voluntarily become a continuous 'potion,' igniting the ground beneath their feet."

Nan'an suddenly understood.

We now understand the stark reality behind the number 168.

Almost all the Gray Star survivors who had courage, strength, and the right to stand up died in those 20 days.

It is a miracle that the Nora people have not been defeated and become despondent by the fall of Gransor Keep.

He could hardly imagine how resilient the survivors, who had watched the darkness engulf Gransor after the war, must have been to continue to stabilize and organize the Senate, which was still steadfastly fighting against the Nightmare and searching for hope.

Grave recounted all the details Gunn had given him, and finally, he patted Nan'an on the shoulder.

"Good luck to you."

Unless they enter together, each person will enter a different spatial distortion zone after traversing the rift passage.

There isn't much experience to share in fighting the Nightmare God; you mostly have to improvise.

Suiyue, on the other hand, showed no fear whatsoever—she was the kind of person who didn't care about dying even if she was full.

This time, Suiyue's backpack and pockets were stuffed full of nuts, giving off an attitude of "do whatever you want, I'll eat my fill first and then we'll talk."

Niral was quite experienced and had his own insights into fighting the Nightmare God, so he was not afraid at all.

Nan'an was someone who had already died.

The three of them, none of them afraid of death, stood in front of the crevice, eager to try.

"Seniors, let me distribute these to you." Nilar took out two thumb-sized bluish-purple pendants from his backpack. "Wear them. They offer some resistance to certain types of mental attacks, ensuring you won't be instantly deprived of your ability to resist... Ideally, they can withstand two fatal attacks."

Suiyue clicked her tongue in amazement: "Wow, this is amazing! Where did you get it?"

"My father's belongings... He exchanged them back then, but he didn't have time to take them with him before they disappeared."

Nilar sometimes thought that his father might not be dead, but rather trapped somewhere in the black mist by some kind of nightmare.

Even he himself thought the idea was ridiculous.

Nan'an and Suiyue didn't think much of the "relics" nature of the items, and even murmured "May Uncle bless us" as they put them on.

The algae stones in Nan'an had been buried long ago, so it was his turn to remind Nilar.

"Has your stone been buried for three days?"

"Don't worry, I've buried more than one in Rostarek. Once inside, I'll be able to navigate accurately." He took a deep breath. "Ready?"

The three of them held hands and gave the sacred artifact one last check—that playful Suiyue had accidentally activated the halo ring.

"Hey, do you really have to use such a blindingly bright light?"

"Nan'an, are you telling me that being a 'little sun' is also a tactic? What's it called... Flash Shield, right?"

"You are attacking friendly forces!"

Grove, watching from a distance, wondered, "Can these guys really do it?"