Chương 37: After the Seventh Toll

The door of the Old Apothecary was half-collapsed. The moment Rayne and the others stepped inside, a moldy smell mixed with the sharp stench of rotting herbs hit them head-on, making them cough several times. The narrow shop was a complete mess. Wooden shelves lay toppled across the floor, and shattered clay jars were scattered everywhere. Torn packets of medicine and piles of dried herbs were strewn along the passage, almost blocking the way forward.

Several chaotic sword marks remained on the wall, and there were also clear drag marks across the floor. Most of that pungent stench came from herbs that had gone moldy and rotten after their wrappings were damaged.

"This smells awful." Tyren covered his mouth and almost retched reflexively. Serin's face had also gone somewhat pale, but she quickly took a bundle of ordinary bandages from her belt pouch, tore it into several strips, and handed them out to everyone. Then she picked up one strip herself and simply tied it around her mouth and nose.

"Cover your mouth and nose first. The smell here is too strong. Staying in it for too long won't be good for your body." After putting on their makeshift masks, everyone's expressions finally improved a little. Tyren let out a long breath and muttered quietly,"Thanks, Serin. I owe you another life." Serin shot him an exasperated look, but her tone was softer than before.

"Just be more careful yourself. Safety comes first." Rayne did not let them continue chatting. His gaze swept across the collapsed wooden shelves and the ruined medicine packets trampled on the floor, then landed on the chaotic sword marks along the wall. A fight must have broken out here not long ago. And it had not been a simple scramble. It looked as if someone had once tried to defend this apothecary, while something else had forced its way in from outside.

Rayne withdrew his gaze and clapped his hands, pulling everyone's attention back.

"Search for any usable medicine and herbs first." He quickly divided up the work.

"Serin, identify the herbs. Asar, help her move those shelves and debris. Barton, guard the entrance." At the end, Rayne's gaze fell on Tyren.

"Tyren, go keep watch outside. See if there are any traces nearby left by Basque and the others." Tyren had just opened his mouth when Rayne cut in,"Don't go far. Also…" He glanced at Tyren's injured right hand.

"No attacking on your own." Tyren immediately raised his uninjured hand.

"Got it, Captain." Not long after Tyren left, Rayne also joined the search. Almost all the herbs exposed inside the shop were already unusable. The group could only search deeper into the apothecary. Soon, they discovered a storage room in the back that had been pried open. Some of the supplies inside were missing. Clearly, someone had already come here before them.

However, perhaps because they had been pressed for time, or perhaps because they could only take what was most urgently needed, quite a few well-preserved dried herbs still remained on the shelves. Rayne stood before the pried-open storage room door, staring at the empty spaces for a while. He was just about to speak when his gaze suddenly fell to the bottom of the doorframe. A small piece of grey cloth was caught there. Rayne crouched down and pulled it out from the crack in the wood.

The edge of the cloth had already been scraped ragged, and dried blood clung to it, making it feel somewhat stiff to the touch. He turned the piece of cloth over and saw that a short strand of old dark-blue embroidery thread still remained on the inside. That color was very similar to the outer garments worn by the Graywood Town guards at the town entrance. Rayne pressed his lips together slightly. Someone had indeed come here not long ago. He put the piece of grey cloth away and turned to look at Serin.

"Can you infer their current condition from the kinds of herbs they took?"

"I'll try." The herbs in the storage room had originally been sorted by use. Although they had already been searched once, the general categories could still be made out. Serin crouched in front of the shelves and carefully checked the empty spaces. Very soon, she determined which kinds of herbs had been taken the most.

"Mostly herbs for treating fever and weakness, along with some external-use hemostatic grass and swelling medicine." She paused, then looked at the herbs that had been left behind.

"Not that many medicines for external injuries were taken. Judging from this, someone among them should be in poor condition, but the party itself probably hasn't suffered too severe an attack." Rayne nodded.

"So they may still have enough strength left to continue searching deeper in."

"Or rather, they have no choice but to keep searching deeper," Asar added from the side.

"If there are still other survivors in town, they couldn't possibly take the medicine and leave just like that." Rayne packed part of the medicine and herbs, tied them to his waist, and had Asar carry some as well. Asar lowered his head to make sure the medicine pack was secure, then looked at Rayne.

"Captain, do we keep searching deeper for traces of Basque's party, or do we leave first?" Rayne had just been about to speak. The next instant, a heavy bell tolled in the distance. DONG— The sound seemed to spread out from the depths of the entire town, passing through the mist, through the walls, and through everyone's chest. Rayne felt his vision sway slightly, as if something had clenched around his heart. It was not just him.

Serin instinctively braced herself against a nearby wooden shelf, and Asar's hand also pressed down on his sword hilt. Even Barton, who was guarding the entrance, suddenly turned his head toward the depths of the street. The lingering echo of the bell was still trembling in the air. The mist outside the apothecary seemed to fall quiet along with it. What followed was a string of hurried footsteps. Before long, Tyren rushed in from outside.

His face was even paler than before, and even his breathing was somewhat uneven.

"Greyhound!" He propped one hand against the doorframe and said urgently,"The shadows outside—they all stopped moving." Everyone's expressions changed at the same time. Tyren swallowed, his voice dropping slightly.

"After the bell rang… they all started looking at me." Rayne's expression changed instantly. Seeking the breath of the living. The words Bishop Lorian had spoken almost immediately surfaced in his mind. Those shadows had not simply stopped. They were confirming the position of the living.

"Run!" Rayne grabbed the medicine pack they had just finished sorting and was the first to rush toward the door.

"Run for the town entrance! Leave everything else!" The others behind him did not hesitate in the slightest. They immediately grabbed their equipment and medicine packs, then charged out of the apothecary after Rayne. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The mist outside was thicker than before. On both sides of the street, the dark shadows that had originally wandered without purpose had all stopped. They did not approach, nor did they make any sound.

They only stood motionless in the mist, staring in the direction of the apothecary. Tyren's face turned even paler.

"Greyhound…" He had only just opened his mouth when the second bell toll slammed through the town. DONG— On both sides of the street, points of scarlet light began to glow one after another within the mist. Those were not reflections in the fog. They were eyes.

"Don't look. Run!" Rayne let out a low roar, his steps not slowing in the slightest. Everyone sprinted all the way back along the street they had come from. In alley mouths, behind window frames, and inside the dark open doorways, those red eyes lit up one after another. When the third bell toll fell, the first sharp screech came from far away. The fourth followed close behind. Then came the fifth. One after another. The tolling no longer sounded like ordinary timekeeping.

Instead, it was more like something hiding deep within the mist, constantly urging those shadows to awaken. After turning a street corner, the row of broken wooden fences at the town entrance finally appeared before Rayne's eyes. But at that moment, the sixth bell toll slammed out from the depths of the town. The heavy vibration passed through the mist and pressed against everyone's chest, making them feel stifled. Tyren's steps wavered, and his injured right hand throbbed along with it.

The pain made him grit his teeth, almost cursing out loud. The scarlet points of light on the shadows grew deeper and darker. Sharp screeches also began to come from the depths of the town, as if something had finally been fully awakened. Rayne did not look back. He only clenched his teeth and continued charging forward. Just a little farther. Only a few dozen steps left. As long as they passed through that row of wooden fences, they would be able to leave Graywood Town.

However, just as they were only a final stretch away from the town entrance, the last bell toll fell. DONG— In that instant, all of Graywood Town fell silent. Rayne could even hear his own heavy breathing. The next moment, the scarlet lights on both sides of the street flickered at the same time, dragging streaks of afterimages through the mist. The shadows moved. They were no longer only watching. They charged toward Rayne and the others.

"Don't stop! Break through!" Rayne shouted loudly, the longsword in his hand already drawn. A shadow pounced at him from the side, only to be scattered by a backhanded slash. The thing was not strong. In fact, it was much weaker than the Desiccated Guards they had encountered earlier. The problem was that there were too many of them. From alley mouths, behind window frames, and even from the dark open doorways, shadows surged out one after another.

As if driven by the bell, they threw themselves at the party fleeing Graywood Town. Rayne could only swing his sword while gritting his teeth and charging forward. Tyren followed at the rear of the party, his face already terrifyingly pale. His right arm had only just been injured, and now he did not dare swing it hard. He could only keep it awkwardly pressed against his side. But because of that, his balance while running also became unstable. Another shadow pounced out from beside him.

Tyren instinctively turned sideways to dodge, but his foot suddenly twisted. He lost his balance at once and fell hard, rolling several times across the gravel-and-dust-covered street.

"Tyren!" Tyren gritted his teeth and tried to get up. But the moment his right hand pressed against the ground, the wound felt as if it had been torn open by force. Pain made his entire arm go weak. He let out a muffled groan and collapsed back into the dust. His vision shook violently. Gravel scraped across the side of his face, and his mouth was full of the earthy taste of dirt. When he raised his head, the nearest shadow had already pounced right in front of him. Tyren opened his mouth.

This time, he did not even have the strength to curse. Serin almost stopped immediately. But in the next instant, Asar grabbed her arm and forcibly dragged her forward.

"We can't stop!" His voice was more urgent than usual.

"If we stop, it's over for all of us!" Just as those shadows were about to pounce onto Tyren, a tall figure suddenly crashed into the tide of shadows. A greatshield swept across. Several shadows at the very front were sent flying. Their forms twisted in midair, then collapsed into large clouds of grey mist. It was Barton. He did not waste a single word. He simply grabbed Tyren by the collar and forcibly hauled him up from the ground.

That movement pulled on the wound in Tyren's right shoulder and arm, and his face went white from the pain. He almost cried out on the spot. But in the end, he still clenched his teeth and endured it. The next moment, Barton slung him directly onto his back, clamped one hand around Tyren's leg, raised his greatshield again with the other, and charged toward the town entrance.

"Hold on!" Tyren was sprawled across Barton's back, jostled so hard he almost threw up, but he still clung tightly to Barton's shoulder armor. At the same time, Rayne and Asar had already escorted Serin past the row of broken wooden fences. The moment Serin steadied herself, she immediately turned back.

"Tyren!" Rayne did not answer her. He merely exchanged a look with Asar. The next instant, both of them turned at the same time and charged back toward Barton's position. The shadows had already surrounded him again. Rayne lowered his stance and cut down the shadow at the very front with one slash. Asar followed closely beside him, his longsword knocking away another shadow that pounced in from the side.

Barton carried Tyren through the tide of shadows, his greatshield smashing aside the obstacles in front of him again and again. The wooden fence was only a few steps away. The Graywood Town guards who had originally been lying outside the town entrance to recover finally reacted as well.

"Quick! Cover them!" Someone raised a crossbow and fired past Barton, toward the shadows behind him. The bolt passed through the mist and struck a shadow that was just about to pounce, knocking it backward. There were also guards with lighter injuries who struggled to stand, grabbed their spears, rushed beside the wooden fence, and stabbed fiercely at the shadows that were about to catch up to Barton.

"This way! Hurry!" Rayne and Asar seized that instant to cut open a gap. Barton let out a low roar. His whole body practically rammed forward behind his greatshield. The next moment, he crossed the row of broken wooden fences and rushed out of Graywood Town with Tyren on his back. Several shadows immediately pounced after them. But the moment they touched the ground outside the wooden fence, their forms trembled violently, as if burned by invisible flames, and instantly collapsed into large clouds of grey mist.

"Don't go back in!" One Graywood Town guard immediately shouted.

"Those things can't come out!" Barton staggered, nearly falling to the ground with both his body and shield. Rayne and Asar supported him from the left and right, barely helping him steady himself. Tyren slid down from Barton's back and hit the ground hard.

"Tyren!" Serin immediately rushed over. Tyren lay on the ground, his chest heaving violently several times, his face so pale that there was almost no color left in it. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but only let out a dry gasp. Serin hurriedly pressed down on his right arm. The bandage they had wrapped earlier was already soaked red with blood. Most likely, during that frantic sprint and tumble, the wound that had barely stopped bleeding had been torn open again.

"Don't move." Serin's voice was somewhat tight.

"If you keep moving around, this arm really will be ruined." Tyren's lips moved. After quite a while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"I… I didn't run off on my own this time, right?" Rayne stood to the side, his grip on his longsword still not relaxing. He looked inside the wooden fence. The shadows had stopped within the mist. They did not take another step forward. They only watched them silently from behind the row of broken wooden fences. Points of scarlet light swayed quietly in the mist. Rayne was silent for a moment before lowering his head to look at Tyren.

"No." Tyren seemed to finally let out a breath of relief, and his whole body collapsed back onto the ground.

"That's good…" He closed his eyes, his voice so low it was almost inaudible.

"I thought… I was really done for this time." No one laughed. Serin lowered her head and continued treating his reopened wound. Barton stood beside them, one hand still pressed against his greatshield, his gaze never leaving the inside of the wooden fence. Only after quite some time did one of the Graywood Town guards nearby seem to finally recover from his shock. He looked at Rayne, then at Tyren, who was being held down by Serin as she treated him, his face still carrying a trace of undisguised astonishment.

"All seven bells rang, and you still managed to run out through the streets?" Rayne turned to look at him. The guard let out a breath, and the hand gripping his spear slowly tightened.

"Impressive." Then he looked again at the red eyes stopped in the mist on the inner side of the wooden fence.

"But don't go back in today." His voice lowered.

"Those shadows are only the first things to wake." ◆ ◆ ◆ Inside the Core Chamber, Owen's azure core was swaying uneasily from side to side.

"How did this happen… how did this happen…" On the management interface, the image at the entrance of Graywood Town was still displayed. Mist surged, and densely packed shadows crowded against the inner side of the wooden fence. Points of scarlet light swayed quietly within the fog. At first glance, it looked almost like a small corpse tide. Owen stared at the image for a long while, and even the glow of his core dimmed somewhat. This was not quite the same as what he had originally imagined. No.

It was completely different. Those shadows were originally only low-level units around White Porcelain rank. Cheap. Extremely cheap. Only five energy each. What could five energy buy? In Owen's eyes, at most, it could buy a little atmospheric set dressing that wandered around in the mist and startled adventurers a bit. So when Owen had first set up Graywood Town, his idea had actually been very simple. Put a few in the streets. Put a few at the alley mouths. Put a few behind the window frames.

Put a few more inside the doorways. Since it was already a misty town, he could not exactly let adventurers walk around for half a day and see nothing but empty streets, right? How boring would that be? So Owen casually placed a few more. Then a few more. And finally, it had become what it was now. Owen: "…" The Core Chamber fell quiet for a moment.

"I admit, there may have been a tiny little design mistake here." Under normal conditions, these shadows truly were not that dangerous. Individually, they were not strong, and their movements were not that fast either. Rayne had scattered one with a single backhanded slash just now. As long as adventurers were not frightened into running around blindly, in theory, nothing too serious should happen. The problem was that after the bells finished ringing, the situation was no longer the same.

Owen silently pulled the viewpoint toward the depths of Graywood Town. Within that thicker mist, the source of the bells was still asleep. That final boss, which had not yet officially appeared, normally would almost never interfere with the shadows in town. But once all seven bells had rung, its skill would briefly take control of the shadows throughout Graywood Town. The small monsters that had originally only wandered around aimlessly would begin seeking the breath of the living.

The pairs of red eyes that had originally only been there for atmosphere would all turn toward living people at the same time. The low-level units that could originally be scattered with one slash suddenly stopped being cute once they surged out in groups from alley mouths, window frames, and doorways. Owen stared at the skill description for a few seconds, and his entire core dimmed slightly.

"… Isn't this just a summoner-type boss plus full-map mob aggro?" He had originally only wanted to make a special event. Scare the adventurers a little, remind them that they could not wander around Graywood Town carelessly, and give this area a bit of a disaster countdown feeling while he was at it. But the very first time it triggered, it had nearly sent Rayne's entire party straight back to the church. Fortunately, they had not gone in too deep.

Or rather, fortunately Owen had not placed this quest objective too far inside. Otherwise, what lit up on the management interface right now probably would not have been [Challenger Status: Alive], but [Trial Return: Triggered]. Owen was quiet for a few seconds. Then he silently opened the final boss's skill panel. The ability that triggered the bell event opened in a separate panel. Several lines of values lit up on the interface, looking especially glaring. Owen stared at them for a while.

In the end, he silently lowered a few of the values. [Shadow pursuit bonus after the bells finish ringing: reduced.] [Shadow density near the town entrance: reduced.] After finishing the adjustments, he continued staring at those lines of text for quite some time.

"Hmm… fewer shadows near the town entrance, and the boss's boost lowered a little too." Owen muttered quietly.

"This should be a little safer next time, right?" Should be. Probably. He himself was not very confident either. The small azure core sank down onto the stone platform, as if the entire stone had collapsed in exhaustion.

"So annoying." Owen complained weakly.

"Why isn't there a test mode that lets me see what this actually looks like in practice first…?"