Sitting on the flying vessel, Lin Gui deliberately slowed down at Barna's insistent request.
The flying vessel glided slowly through the sky, passing over the Second Shield City.
Barna looked down at that fortress.
Like Shield City, it was already swarmed by demons.
Black figures densely covered the barrier's curtain of light.
They were frantically biting and crashing against it.
The fire of magic crystal cannons constantly lit up from inside the fortress.
With every flash, a group of demons was blown to pieces.
But more demons were surging out of the black seawater, filling those vacancies.
Barna's gaze was complicated.
He sighed.
“Now, it all depends on whether the gods are on our side.”
Lin Gui nodded slightly.
The establishment of the Second Shield City...
...did not mean that Shield City would definitely survive this demon riot.
It was built to delay the fall of Shield City.
It was meant to hold out until the moment the god at the center of the Dark Tide sent out a signal.
If they still hadn't received that signal by then...
...all their efforts would vanish like bubbles.
When Lin Gui brought Barna back to Shield City, Balin and the other dwarves all looked over at once.
As soon as Barna landed, he spoke directly:
“The light of the Second Shield City has been established.”
He paused.
“We no longer need to worry about the pressure from the deep sea.”
This should have been news worth celebrating.
But not a single dwarf present showed any joy.
Balin looked around.
The dwarves who had just withdrawn from the battlefield were covered in blood, their faces masks of exhaustion.
Some leaned against walls, some sat on the ground, and some were so unsteady they could barely stand, yet they still gripped their weapons tightly.
He was silent for a few seconds.
Then he spoke:
“Everyone, take a rest.”
He paused.
“Organize the dwarf civilians, as well as the humans and other races from the Blackwater Port evacuation point.”
“Retreat into the Root Tunnels.”
This time, the dwarven pillars did not object.
They had already given everything they had.
Now, it was up to whether time was on their side.
One by one, the dwarves sprang into action.
...
Inside Shield City.
A long line waited in silence, expectant of entry into that secret passage.
It was the entrance to the Root Tunnels, the city's final retreat.
There were dwarves, humans, old people holding children, and women supporting the wounded.
No one spoke; there were only the sounds of footsteps and suppressed breathing.
Barna stood not far away, watching the line.
He turned his head to look at Lin Gui beside him.
He had intended to remind him to follow along, as it could at least guarantee his safety.
But then he remembered the boy's absurd Levitation and concealment magic.
He immediately dismissed the thought.
Forget it.
If this person really wanted to run, he'd be faster than anyone.
Outside, the roar of the magic crystal cannons continued, though it was much more sporadic than before.
The demons' hideous roars were getting closer and clearer.
Boom.
A massive chunk of the mountain shattered and tumbled down from the heights.
The gap originally blocked by the mountain gradually let light through.
Then, that light was blocked by hideous demon figures.
Outside the barrier, the demons frantically clawed at that layer of pale blue light.
Piercing scraping sounds rang out continuously, like countless needles stabbing into the heart.
Scrape.
Scrape.
And scrape again.
Balin and the dwarven pillars gathered together.
Charging in and out ten times in a row had left them in terrible condition.
Balin's chest was wrapped in bandages, and blood was still seeping through.
The dwarf beside him was missing an ear, and another had an entire arm fixed in a splint.
They could no longer charge out again in the short term.
At the same time, Shield City's ammunition was nearly exhausted.
Balin directed the dwarves stationed at every window:
“Stop firing.”
“All warriors, enter the Root Tunnels along with the civilians.”
The dwarves withdrew from the defensive lines.
But they did not enter the Root Tunnels with the civilians.
Instead, they picked up their weapons and silently gathered around the Fortress Lord.
Clearly, they intended to fight to the bitter end.
Balin looked at them.
He sighed.
He didn't do much to stop them either.
Stationed here for over a decade, they had come to view this city-state as their home.
No one wanted to watch the outpost they had guarded for ten years be destroyed just like that.
The sound of the outer walls breaking was intensifying.
Taking advantage of this moment, Lin Gui asked Barna:
“How much longer do we expect to hold out before we reach the second phase of the Dark Tide?”
Barna analyzed calmly:
“The time from the confirmed eruption of past Dark Tides to the second phase isn't always the same.”
“The shortest was barely half a day.”
He paused.
“But the longest... lasted a full fourteen days.”
Lin Gui's brow furrowed slightly.
“How long have you held out already?”
Barna was silent for a second.
“...Four days.”
Lin Gui asked again:
“How long can the current barrier last?”
Now, the magic crystal cannon ammunition was gone.
Balin and the other elites who could charge outside to relieve the pressure were also riddled with injuries and unable to fight.
Shield City's defense relied entirely on the barrier.
Barna was silent for a while.
He looked up at the transparent, constantly fluctuating barrier.
“If we didn't have the Second Shield City, it would be two days at most.”
He sighed.
“Now, it can hold for three days.”
Lin Gui's heart sank.
In other words, the Second Shield City plan, which the dwarves had placed so much hope in...
...only increased the probability of survival from forty percent to fifty percent?
This probability...
...was no different from a gamble.
Looking at the civilians lining up below, Lin Gui asked curiously:
“Can the Root Tunnels protect them?”
Going underground was indeed a good way to dodge demons.
But few people did it.
First of all, the demons' sense of smell and perception were extremely strong.
How strong?
So strong that the perception of every single Epic demon could rival that of an Epic expert specializing in perception.
In fact, the Shroud of the Gloomy Night could hide him from some Epic experts who didn't specialize in perception.
But for Epic demons, Lin Gui had never even thought about being able to hide from them.
Why use Epic demons as an example?
Because under normal circumstances, powerful Epic demons wouldn't take any interest in weak civilians.
But under the influence of the Dark Tide, these bloodthirsty creatures, hungering for slaughter, wouldn't let any life within their perception escape.
So.
If Shield City fell.
If the Epic demons detected the traces of the civilians in the Root Tunnels...
...then for those civilians, the first demons they would have to face would be these Epic demons, who were like walking calamities.
And that almost pronounced a death sentence for all the civilians hiding in the tunnels.
Barna shook his head.
“As long as we dig deep enough—deep enough to exceed the perception limits of an Epic demon—it will be fine.”
Lin Gui was taken aback.
“How deep are the Root Tunnels?”
Barna gave a strange smile.
He held up four fingers.
Lin Gui's brow furrowed slightly.
“Four hundred meters?”
Barna shook his head.
“Four thousand meters.”
Lin Gui's eyelids jumped violently.
Four thousand meters?
He subconsciously did the math in his head.
That was equivalent...
...to digging down half the height of Mt. Everest.
Lin Gui went silent.
He looked at the civilians lining up below.
He looked at the dark, deep opening leading to the ground.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Four thousand meters?
Just how many years did it take to dig that?
Rate on N.U.
