Chapter 1168: Chapter 8: Land of Obsession (Part 8)
8. Conclusion
The exit of the Mysterious Dense Forest leads to the human camp outside Midnight City. As Lu Li stepped out through the listone arch fog gate, he t Orey Lorenzo, who arrived earlier and was pleased with the mory restoration of the Exorcist. Orey led Lu Li to introduce the camp below their feet and the fourth stage: Four camps stand at the four directions of the surface outside Midnight City, corresponding to four of the five Alchemical Towers. They need to advance from the outskirts, reclaim the Alchemical Towers, and eventually recover Midnight City. The busiest mission hall in the camp has a giant map representing the current progress: the Bloody Farm on the outskirts of Midnight City is still advancing—they first need to remove the scattered filthy barns in the wheat fields, then deal with one of the four lords occupying the farm estate, the Farr, enter Midnight City, gradually clear three lords guarding the Viscount, and after handling the Viscount, the Southern Alchemical Tower will return to humanity. Orey Lorenzo hopes to continue teaming up with Lu Li, but Lu Li, already having obtained the Cursed Title, politely declined him, renting a tent in the tent area.
Lu Li contacted Chris, the Vice Dean who had vanished from his mory, wondering why those restored mories felt so distant—for instance, the Vice Dean Chris, whom they had t only days ago, yet in mory seed to be a long ti ago. Shortly after, Vice Dean Chris responded to him: [Dear, do you know the longer the wine stands, the more llow its taste? Stories bring mories, ti nurtures them. Be patient, like awaiting dawn’s light piercing the sky before daybreak.]
In the following two days, Lu Li did not step out of the tent again, while more competitors erged from the fog gate, making the camp lively. Orey Lorenzo would initially visit Lu Li frequently, but after confirming that the Exorcist indeed did not wish to leave, he had to proceed under his family’s impetus. His last visit was on the afternoon of the second day, where Lu Li’s forr companion Margaret also followed. She was severely injured, losing half her face—worse was that Keanu Aite and others had died in the first three stages, more tragic was that Margaret didn’t even rember how they died. After her injuries stopped worsening, Margaret, with a half-beautiful, half-horrific face, bade farewell to Lu Li, and the weary Orey Lorenzo soon departed.
Not long after, the competitors sought out Lu Li, hoping he could bring rchants because they needed drugs and supplies. As the cheering crowd followed the rchants away, Lu Li heard the difficult-to-suppress painful groans from the neighboring tent, setting aside the half-read book to enter and treat the poor soul with decaying legs. Upon realizing more competitors in the camp were suffering from pain, the Exorcist gathered them in the square, releasing the healing powers of the Speaker of the Trees to cure everyone. Claire also arrived at this mont. Lu Li gazed at the slightly asleep wounded engulfed in twilight and asked her: “Do the deceased competitors truly revive?” Claire answered: “You’ll know the answer; I can only say… they’re just temporarily asleep.”
Chris ntioned needing rankings, Lu Li no longer refused, being led by Claire to a restored tranquil estate—she knew a direct path leading to the castle of Midnight City. At this ti, the Evil Parchnt surfaced again, instructing Lu Li to open the barrel storing foul-slling blood plasma, retrieve a bouquet of copper coin flowers, then guiding him to take the Emperor’s Coin from the safe behind a mural. After completing these tasks, Lu Li and Claire climbed into the cellar, heading straight for the Viscount’s estate.
The castle guarded by the lords rested darkly on the surface, surrounded by the estate and gardens of the lord. Claire brought a Mutant Potion, transforming the Exorcist into a black cat as she had transford before, while Claire beca an Iris Sparrow, leaving the woodshed where the tunnel is located to separately approach the castle. Lu Li encountered so trouble—the Head Maid, one of the lords, discovered him, but the grotesque figure wrapped in the sa bandages as Claire did not harm Lu Li, instead mistaking Lu Li for Raimy, its pet and family while still human. While Lu Li was kept at the estate, Claire returned, bringing news that sneaking into the castle was impossible, forcing them to seek alternative thods.
Following Claire’s plan, Lu Li provoked a fight between the lord Head Maid and the lord Gardener, resulting in the Gardener’s death, and the Head Maid being imprisoned in the castle’s dungeon. As Claire went to the castle to probe for information, the Evil Parchnt tempted Lu Li to open the Gardener’s chest using that coin, acquiring eyeballs that could glimpse truth. While waiting for Claire’s return, and after realizing other competitors were nearing the estate, Lu Li sneaked into the castle to find Claire, together resolving the Chef. But the last lord, the Farr, was defeated by arriving competitors.
Afterward, they should have hurried to the hall where the Viscount resided, but Claire led Lu Li through every corner of the castle, except the hall. She let the surrounding sounds of fighting rise and gradually drew away, whispering to Lu Li: “Rember everything here… we’ve unknowingly gone off the path… at that ti you can only rely on your wisdom.” Lu Li realizes sothing quietly happening, like dreams, like a shift in stories. Then, a wailing arises from deep within the castle, Claire reveals an almost familial grief, ceasing to lead Lu Li to detour.
When they reached the hall, the Viscount was already dead on the lofty throne. As the freed Head Maid rushed to the Viscount’s side, the Evil Parchnt quietly whispered, urging Lu Li to retrieve the eyeballs—the touching Exorcist glimpsed the truth—Claire nestled within the depth of the Head Maid’s soul. At this mont, the Claire beside raised Lu Li’s arm holding the Spirit-Calling Gun; the entity by the throne pulls the trigger for her. “You must be able to harden your heart…” she says, as gunpowder marks the story’s curtain call.
Lu Li retrieved the ancient stone seal from the throne, walked out of the castle, exited the estate, and ca upon the street. Everyone he had ever seen stood along the roadsides. Claire disappeared unknowingly from his side, standing among them, bidding farewell as Lu Li reaches the round plaza before the city gate, where the black The Spire awaits the ancient stone seal in Lu Li’s hand.
“You redeed us… Now it’s our turn. This is what you deserve, you should enjoy your own life. Not just like a puppeteer doing the right thing…”
“Too many gods exist, so I prefer humans a bit more.” Said Chris, the tall and beautiful Vice Dean, in a gentle whisper.
They allowed the Exorcist to leave, but at this mont the Parchnt reappears, revealing its ultimate evil intention: requesting Lu Li to place the stone seal into The Spire, restoring the Alchemical Tower. “Believe in Will,” it said, just as before every ti helping Lu Li. Yet this ti, Lu Li, who always trusted it, did not comply, instead walking toward the gate outside. As the Exorcist stepped over the shadow of the city gate, the Midnight City in the dark silently dissipates, taking along the roar of Will Ken into the distance. It shall never know the reasons for its failure—the very mories taken by Midnight City, wiped of dust, then returned.
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