Chapter 82: The City of Mists and the Death Squad

All the stone statues are watching me...

Chenqi swallowed hard, forced to admit there was something unsettling about the scene.

[As you take the Phantom Pendant from the Lady of the Mists, you see a book.]

[In the petrified hands of the Lady of the Mists, the book erupts in flames, and through the images in the fire, the tale of Mist City unfolds before you.]

[Within the fire, you witness a city that once thrived, bustling with adventurers and merchants. Long ago, this land was not the Realm of Faint Light, but the outskirts of District 8 of New City. It is a universal truth among New City’s inhabitants that humanity can never conquer calamity; destruction is the inevitable fate of this land. Only by relying on the daylight above and the ringing of the bells can the order of New City be barely maintained. New City is a harsh place, where even the population can only be sustained with the help of the great Machine of Trees in District 1.

This world is destined to be extinguished, yet people hold onto the belief that redemption can still be found upon this earth. Countless ancient tomes record many places known as the “High Skies.” These are worlds apart, ideal lands, realms of bliss, domains of immortality; to reach the High Skies is to be free of calamity forever! According to an old book from District 8, the entrance to one of these High Skies lies just beyond New City. At the far end of the lightless realm, there is an entryway to the High Skies!]

The High Skies...

The ideal land.

Such places appear in many myths and legends. Chin resting in his hand, Chenqi found it hard to believe such realms existed. Yet, in the world of the New Sun, perhaps such places were real after all.

[The Lady of the Mists continued her story. Her father, the Lord of Mist City, was a skeptic of the legend. Drawn by the treasures and power rumored to exist in the lightless lands, her father gathered a band of like-minded individuals and repeatedly ventured beyond the edge of the light. They defied calamity, yearned for treasure and power, and pressed ever onward into the darkness. Almost no one believed her father or his companions would survive those forays into the pitch-black wilds. They were expected to die swiftly... Hence, they became known as the “Doomed Company.”]

The Doomed Company...

Chenqi let out a slow breath. It was not his first time hearing this name; that very Viger was a member of the Doomed Company! Was this affair also tied to them...?

He read on.

[Through countless expeditions, they gained power beyond mortal men, mastering the energies of calamity itself and becoming invincible. Not even the Heartless Hunters bred in Black River Prison could stand against them!]

[And so Mist City became the headquarters and sanctuary of the Doomed Company, a proving ground where many adventurers passed the tests to join their ranks. According to her father, during one journey with the Company, they reached the very edge of the High Skies, glimpsed a calamity of apocalyptic proportions, and lived to tell the tale—they returned triumphant!]

[The returned Company wielded formidable strength; none could oppose them, not even the Hunters from Black River Prison. Yet as the white sun’s fire waned, Mist City was gradually absorbed into the Realm of Faint Light. To counter this, her father and the remaining Doomed Company set out once more, delving into the unknown in search of a force that could protect Mist City. Their previous journey to the edge of the High Skies had defied all common sense, and many believed they would find the fuel to reignite the white sun. She, too, believed as much in her childhood innocence.]

[But this time...

They did not find the High Skies. Ninety percent of the Doomed Company perished to unknown calamities in the lightless land; only a scant few made it back. Among the rare survivors was her father, the Lord of Mist City.]

[They returned in utter defeat, broken, stripped of hope, and tainted by the miasma of calamity. Many gave up on their quest entirely.]

[Thus the Doomed Company disbanded, its members scattering... Her father, as Lord of Mist City, sank into despair, his will shattered by defeat. The disease he contracted fighting calamity grew ever worse. She could feel his weakness and sorrow. His former vigor was gone, and he no longer believed they could reach the far-off High Skies. In the end, before death claimed him, he pinned all hope on the future Bearer of the Flame, setting a trial of treasures in the city’s heart before passing away.]

[The moment her father died, calamity arrived. The fire of the white sun suddenly weakened. Darkness swallowed Mist City in an instant, and a monstrous calamity surged towards it. Many never had a chance to flee...]

[It was a vast mist, a black dot drifting in the sky, relentlessly devouring the city. Anyone caught in the fog—if even the slightest doubt clouded their mind—would be consumed by the calamity, dying and turning to stone, their remaining will serving as a conduit for the beast of mist to reach other powers.]

[Soon after this horror appeared, her father’s friend—a member of the Doomed Company—managed to slay the calamity, but was mortally wounded and left the city.]

[Thus was the once-flourishing Mist City destroyed...]

[She was among the few survivors. Though the city was lost, it remained her home. She could not bear to leave, choosing instead to dwell alone in the ruins, building tombstones for the victims of calamity, day after day, year after year...]

[She also inherited her father’s dying wish: as a guardian of the trial, she hoped someone could pass the test and spread word of it to the treasure hunters who came. Yet it seemed those hunters never shared the truth, instead spreading rumors that made all fear to enter Mist City. Many came, but all failed to win through.]

Chenqi pondered for a moment.

Everything in these texts matched the information he had so far. According to Puppetmaster Ra’s plan, the calamity in Mist City had indeed been vanquished.

[And so, she waited in solitude, hoping someone would overcome her father’s trial.]

[But during her lonely vigil, she made a startling discovery: the calamity that destroyed Mist City was not truly dead. Using the stone statues as conduits, it continued to absorb the power of the illusory realm!]

[The calamity had gathered enough of this energy to resurrect itself in terrible form!]

[By the time she realized the danger, her own body had begun to petrify under the curse of calamity, and many of the gravekeepers had been turned to stone as well.]

[The Lady of the Mists knew that, as the daughter of Mist City’s founder, the treasure at the end of her father’s trial held the power to ignite the beacon atop the tower—enough to drive away the illusory calamity. She attempted the trial herself, but failed at the final test, realizing at last that only the Bearer of the Flame could inherit that power.]

[If the stone statues were not destroyed, they would become bridges for the calamity, unleashing something even more dreadful!]

[She could sense that the statues were dead; their lifelike appearance was only a cruel trick of the calamity, designed to keep her from destroying them.]

[She lost all hope of seeing the inheritance of her father’s treasure...]

[Before her death, she inscribed this tale upon a tombstone using pages from the Book of Forms, entrusting it to a treasure hunter and asking him to spread the word. She hoped a Bearer of the Flame would someday come, ignite the tower’s beacon with its brightest flame, dispel the calamity, and bring an end to the story of Mist City.]

[Before her death, she gathered several items from the trial.]

Chenqi sighed inwardly as he read.

According to the texts, Mist City ultimately fell to calamity, and the presence of the statues might breed even greater monsters. Yet the Lord of Mist City, leader of the Doomed Company, had set a final trial—pass it, and one could claim a treasure of immense worth! The legacy of a lightless lands explorer—it would surely be beyond price.

Chenqi’s eyes returned to the text.

[The Lady of the Mists finishes her tale, her faint, lingering voice delivering her final words.]

[O traveler from distant lands, if you desire the treasure hidden within the trial, attempt to overcome it—seize the lingering embers, and light the beacon atop the tower...]

[If you are afraid, she asks only that you carry this tale to the Messengers of Calamity, the treasure hunters, and Black River Prison, that they may bring Mist City’s story to a close...]

[This calamity has awakened. It must not be allowed to grow stronger.]

[May you fulfill her last request.]

[As the Lady of the Mists ends her story, the flame in her hand gradually dies, her statue begins to crumble, and she vanishes to dust.]

[You have activated a special quest: The Treasure Trial of the Lord of Mist City.]

[You look upon the items left in the coffin.]

[Will you take them?]

Yes.

[You received: The Epitaph Page.

You received: a frozen fish wrapped in paper.

You received: a rusted dueling rapier.

You received: a lantern of protection.]

(End of this chapter)