7-Copper Post Office, Shield City Branch.
The sound of cannon fire drifted in from outside.
Boom—Boom—Boom—
Every shot made the walls tremble slightly and the window frames creak.
The sound was not intermittent but continuous, like a never-ending roll of thunder.
Further away were the roars of demons.
Sharp, low, and maddened cries blended into a wave of sound that made one's skin crawl.
Occasionally, the sound of boulders tumbling from the cliff face could be heard, crashing into the city walls, the streets, or the rooftops.
The entire Shield City was shuddering.
Inside the post office.
Lin Gui stood behind the counter, looking down as he organized the letters.
It had been about a month since he left Shield City.
The letters had remained there, untouched by anyone.
One by one, stack by stack, they were neatly arranged on the counter.
He counted them carefully; none were missing.
No one had touched them.
At the corner of the table, Shadow Blade Lynn's soul bead rolled gently.
She approached the edge of the table, her soul light condensing into a blurred, petite elven form.
Leaning against the table's edge, she watched Lin Gui organize those letters.
A soul transmission rang out in Lin Gui's mind.
"The recipients are all dead. Why are you still tidying this up?"
Her tone was filled with confusion.
She didn't know much about small places like New Covenant or Caran, but she certainly knew about the Carter Royal Capital.
The location where the Dark Tide had erupted was extremely close to the Carter Royal Capital.
It could be said that it was virtually impossible for anyone in that city-state to survive.
So she did not understand.
What was the point of Lin Gui organizing these letters that could never be delivered?
It was a pure waste of time.
Lin Gui's hands paused for a moment as he sorted.
Then, he continued his movements.
"It serves as a way to preserve the traces they left in this Dark Age,"
He spoke softly.
Shadow Blade Lynn fell silent for a second.
Then she coldly spat out two words:
"How sentimental."
A slight smile played at the corner of Lin Gui's mouth.
"Indeed, it is sentimental."
He placed the last stack of letters back on the counter, straightening the edges.
Then, he spoke up and asked:
"How long do you think this city-state can hold out?"
Before even reaching Shield City, he had been shocked by the number of demons surrounding the city.
This was the first time Lin Gui had truly faced a Dark Tide head-on.
He had truly seen what it meant for demons to be like a tide.
From the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, from the coast to the forest—every visible place was packed with demons.
Twisted figures climbed across the rocks.
They threaded through rocky crevices, treading over the corpses of their comrades to move forward.
Ordinary demons were too numerous to count, like ants on the ground.
Transcendent demons roamed in groups, lingering on the slopes.
Legendary demons wandered about, occasionally letting out earth-shaking roars.
And Epic demons.
Based on just a rough scan by Lin Gui, there were no fewer than ten.
They were perched in different positions at the foot of the mountain, their bodies as massive as mountains and their auras as deep as abysses.
Any one of them was enough to easily crush this city-state.
If Shield City weren't a defensive city-state by design.
If it didn't possess walls reinforced with the hardest materials and magic crystal cannon arrays.
If the major powers hadn't been continuously providing supplies over the years.
This city would have fallen long ago.
And what Shield City was experiencing was merely the scraps of this Dark Tide.
Before long, they would all gather toward the borderlands.
That would be the start of the true Dark Tide's descent.
How long Shield City could hold out was an important question for Lin Gui.
If the city was to be breached by the afternoon, then he didn't need to bother replacing the magic gathering crystal.
He would just run for it.
Shadow Blade Lynn's soul light drifted from the corner of the table, condensing into a semi-transparent elven form that landed by the window.
As a former top-tier expert.
Her judgment of strength was naturally beyond what someone like Lin Gui, who hadn't seen many grand scenes, could compare to.
At the very least, Shadow Blade Lynn had personally set foot in several Dark Tides.
She had seen with her own eyes city-states swallowed up under the rampages of the Dark Tide.
She remained silent for a few seconds before delivering her conclusion.
"At most three days."
Her voice was flat.
"Given this intensity of the siege, the energy consumption of the barrier stones will be extremely fast."
"Once they are exhausted, this city is gone."
"The Stellar Stone used to build the city walls will be breached in at most ten minutes under the assault of a demon horde of this volume."
Three days...
Lin Gui looked around this furnace city-state built into the heart of the mountain.
Those thick stone walls, those scalding forge furnaces, those streets he had walked through a month ago.
Those magic crystal cannons that Theia had played with alongside him.
He let out a long sigh.
Upon learning that the Dark Tide had erupted in the borderlands.
And that Caran, New Covenant, and the Carter Royal Capital would all be reduced to ashes.
He had once thought about making a home in Shield City and expanding his delivery business using this place as a core.
Now, it seemed there was no hope for that.
He actually quite liked this city-state.
It didn't have the numbing decadence and despair he had seen elsewhere.
There were only pure hearth fires and songs of praise.
Right then, Shadow Blade Lynn's alert voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"A powerful expert is coming."
As soon as she finished speaking, her soul shadow instantly retracted into the soul bead.
The bead rolled slightly and drifted into the inner pocket of Lin Gui's mage robe.
An expert?
Before Lin Gui could even look toward the door, he smelled a pungent scent of blood.
The smell was too strong, a mix of black demon blood and the dwarves' own blood, piercing into his nostrils.
He looked up.
A person was standing at the door.
The Fortress Lord, Balin.
He was covered in blood, which was still dripping from his plate armor and forming a small puddle on the threshold.
Behind him followed a group of powerful dwarves with strange expressions.
There was Grom, whom he knew, and others he didn't.
At this moment, every gaze was fixed on him.
When Balin saw Lin Gui, he was clearly stunned for a moment.
A look of disbelief appeared on his weary face.
"Kid?"
He stared at Lin Gui.
"When did you get back?"
Lin Gui looked at him with a calm expression.
"Just this morning."
He paused.
"I slipped in while you guys were tearing open an opening in the barrier's defense."
Balin nodded.
"Oh, so that's how it is."
He paused again.
"Then, you came back intending to pick up some things?"
Lin Gui nodded.
"Correct. After I get my things and replace the magic gathering crystal, I'll be leaving."
Balin nodded once more.
"Sigh, it's for the best that you're leaving."
There was a trace of sorrow in his voice.
"Staying here is just death. With the Dark Tide arriving, we won't be able to hold this place much longer."
Lin Gui fell silent.
He could sense the feeling of powerlessness in Balin's tone.
The sorrow of a city-state he had guarded for a lifetime about to be lost by his own hands.
He was also affected, and a trace of sadness welled up in his heart.
But what could he do?
He was merely a High Rank mage.
Among the demons outside, he was just a small fry.
He could change nothing.
Behind Balin, the group of Legendary dwarves were all watching this scene.
Barna leaned close to Grom's ear and asked in a hushed voice:
"Is he the one you were talking about, the black-haired human who can perform chantless Levitation?"
Grom nodded.
"Yes, this young guy is decent; I've even shared drinks with him."
Barna looked at him strangely.
"Then what is the Fortress Lord dawdling for?"
He knit his brows tightly.
"Just grab him and go! The barrier outside won't last much longer!"
Grom's expression became even stranger.
"Grab him??"
He lowered his voice.
"How are you supposed to bring it up? Don't forget, the Fortress Lord is an Epic expert, while the other party is only a High Rank mage."
He paused.
"Do you think the Fortress Lord can swallow his pride and ask a High Rank mage for help?"
"Especially when it's a task that is likely to be suicidal."
Rate on N.U.
