Chapter 173: Tacit Cooperation

Chapter 173: Tacit Cooperation

Hearing the Chief’s words, Shepherd Lovia immediately raised her own question.

“Like the two Silver Knights at the main gate of the King’s Court, it won’t actively attack targets outside its range?”

Colin Iliad nodded lightly.

“At least, that is how it currently appears.”

They had already drawn close to the exit, yet the guard beyond the door had shown no reaction.

This meant the other party did not possess true intelligence or spirituality. It was very likely some kind of object that had been animated.

Without waiting for the other team members to speak, Demon Hunter Colin continued, “Large. Heavy…”

After obtaining the corresponding intelligence, the people of the City of Silver divided themselves into groups with practiced tacit understanding. One team drew back from the exit but remained directly facing the great door, protected by Shepherd Elder Lovia, to serve as bait and attract the guard. Another team received the appropriate holy oil from the Chief and smeared it across the floor around the exit. Haim, holding the Unshadowed Crucifix, and Demon Hunter Colin each took up position on one side of the doorway, using the stone pillars to conceal themselves.

Then Colin Iliad slid one straight sword back onto his back, took out a small metal vial, and gulped down the liquid inside.

His aura rapidly faded, becoming indistinct. Without looking carefully, one would not be able to discover his existence at all.

This was yet another layer of arrangement: Haim in the open, the Demon Hunter in the dark.

After waiting another dozen seconds or so, Shepherd Lovia extended her right hand forward and made a grabbing motion in the air.

At that instant, her silver-gray hair was dyed deep blue.

The sound of howling wind erupted. With a loud clang, the gray-blue door swung open backward.

Immediately afterward, heavy thud after heavy thud rang out, making the entire hall tremble.

A “giant” covered in iron-colored armor and carrying a halberd rushed into the hall.

None of its exposed parts contained the slightest feeling of flesh and blood. It seemed to have been forged from metal, while behind the black mask was a mass of deep-red light.

If it had not been moving, and had merely stood there, it would have been no different from a statue.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The trembling of the hall grew increasingly obvious. The giant statue suddenly hurled the halberd in its hand, letting it tear up a hurricane as it flew toward Derrick and the others standing directly opposite the door.

Bang!

The halberd struck an invisible barrier. Illusory ripples rapidly spread outward.

At some unknown point, before Shepherd Lovia, a phantom figure wearing silver full-body armor had appeared. It had driven the huge sword in its hand into the cracks between the floor tiles.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The giant statue did not pause. It charged into the hall.

Just then, a slippery hiss sounded beneath its feet, and its enormous body abruptly tilted backward.

It had stepped onto the area coated with holy oil.

As the giant statue began to fall, the deep-red light within its eye suddenly flared. An invisible force emerged and supported its body.

At that moment, a blazing white, scorching radiance burst from the Unshadowed Crucifix and accurately struck the position of the statue’s single eye.

The deep-red color dimmed at once.

Demon Hunter Colin leaped into the air. Holding the same straight sword in both hands in a reverse grip, he plunged downward with the force of an eagle diving upon its prey.

Sheets of dawn light appeared and converged upon that straight sword, causing it to grow enormously, even surpassing Colin Iliad’s own height.

With a soft squelch, that clean, bright sword stabbed through the gap in the giant statue’s faceplate and pierced its eye.

Surging dawn light flooded inward.

Colin Iliad pushed down with both hands on the hilt once more. As the giant statue crashed to the ground with a clanging impact, he drew out the straight sword and sprang to the side.

The giant statue lay at the doorway, cracking sounds continuously coming from within its body. Eventually, it lost all motion.

Demon Hunter Colin did not look at it again. Turning toward the space beyond the door, he waited several seconds before saying, “There are no other guards for the time being. You may deal with the statue.”

Derrick and the others quickly gathered around, skillfully searching the giant statue for materials.

Above the gray fog, Klein had watched the entire battle and felt deep admiration for the City of Silver’s tacit teamwork.

From his observations, that giant statue was made of some unknown metal, and its surface was covered in armor with astonishing defensive strength. In battle, it could disregard the vast majority of attacks, making it extremely difficult to handle.

Furthermore, the giant statue itself possessed no “spirit.” In other words, it could be immune to Beyonder powers of the corresponding domains, such as the Manipulation of Spirit Body Threads, hypnosis, frenzy, and Nightmare abilities. It was practically a walking fortress, making one suspect it had once been the work of the Goddess of Harvest.

Klein asked himself how he would fare if he were the one facing it. With the core abilities of a Bizarro Sorcerer unable to take effect, he would only be able to rely on the powers of his two marionettes. It was hard to say how the battle would develop.

A Fallen Earl’s Distortion and Chaos might produce unexpected results, but they might not be able to resolve it as quickly as the City of Silver’s exploration team did… A Beyonder team with excellent cooperation really can achieve an effect greater than one plus one. Mm, the Chief’s grasp of timing and the decisiveness of his attack were also key… Klein nodded slightly, praising them inwardly.

If this were truly a livestream, at that very moment he might have been unable to resist sending a tip.

Of course, in all likelihood, he would only think about it.

After taking the most valuable things from the giant statue, the City of Silver exploration team continued onward. They followed the corridor outside and entered another hall.

Like this, they moved back and forth between layers of palaces, towers, corridors, and staircases, trying to uncover more clues, as well as the entrance to the “sea” that little Jack, the outsider, had described.

Whether or not they believed the boy’s words, their hearts had unconsciously begun to look forward to the possibility that behind the Giant King’s Court lay a deep-blue sea, and on the other side of that sea were nations where humans lived and multiplied—places where no monsters hid in the depths of darkness, where the sun rose and set normally, where lightning appeared only before rain, and where people harvested all kinds of food.

During this process, the enemies the City of Silver exploration team encountered were not numerous. Most were animated statues like the one before, while a small number were evil spirits born from the fusion of lingering emotions and the power of twilight. Faced with the Unshadowed Crucifix, the latter had almost no ability to resist.

“That’s normal…” The Fool Klein, above the gray fog, nodded gently, accepting the current situation. “After the Giant King fell, this place already belonged to the ancient Sun God. It’s unlikely that a large number of powerful giants or mystical items would have remained… When the Kings of Angels plotted here, unnecessary trouble would definitely have been cleared out in advance… After the ancient Sun God was divided and eaten, who this place belonged to is uncertain. Perhaps it was abandoned…

“In short, not having too many demigods and items is predictable. Mm. If they didn’t have the Unshadowed Crucifix, those evil spirits would be extremely troublesome. The City of Silver exploration team could never have gone this smoothly, much less advanced this far—unless they were led by an angel or activated a Grade 0 sealed artifact…”

By the time the Unshadowed Crucifix returned to Derrick’s hands again, the City of Silver exploration team was already very, very close to the tallest building in the Giant King’s Court.

Here, the twilight glow was especially dense, as if it originated from that palace.

“Once we leave this hall, we should arrive at the side of the Giant King’s residence.” Demon Hunter Colin identified their position and direction, then pointed ahead.

Shepherd Elder Lovia nodded. At last, a trace of irrepressible hope appeared in her expression.

Derrick’s heart began beating faster. He could no longer control his excitement—then Antilna Placated him.

After adjusting their emotions, the people of the City of Silver entered the hall ahead and saw, hanging on both sides, painting-like objects resembling oil paintings.

These “oil paintings” depicted different giants. Some held bone flutes, some carried wind chimes, and others embraced seven-stringed harps large enough to match their own height.

As the City of Silver exploration team arrived, the giants within the paintings suddenly came alive. Some blew their bone flutes, some shook their wind chimes, and some plucked harp strings, together performing a beautiful movement.

The twilight radiance inside the hall brightened slightly. On the long tables around them, dish after dish of food appeared, each glistening with mouthwatering oil and emitting an irresistible aroma.

Roast chicken… roast goose… fish brushed with honey… Is this the banquet of the Giant King’s Court? But aren’t those chickens, geese, sheep, and fish far too large… A masterpiece of the Goddess of Harvest? Klein glanced at them and confirmed that the food was an illusory effect. After all, the Giant King’s Court had long since lost any ingredients, and there was no one left who could imagine or create things.

“Is—is that normal food?” Haim, carrying Thunder God’s Roar, stared at one of the long tables, his eyes fixed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“Maybe,” Derrick said, twitching his nose and swallowing despite himself.

Aside from black-faced grass, they had never seen normal food. The meat of monsters, when roasted, came in all sorts of colors yet tasted equally terrible—and could even cause poisoning.

Demon Hunter Colin stared for several seconds, then sighed.

“It is all false. Do not touch it, or unnecessary accidents may occur.”

Aside from Lovia, the people of the City of Silver tore their gazes away with great difficulty, followed the Chief, and made their way to the exit of this hall.

After examining it, Colin Iliad thrust both swords into the ground and pushed open the heavy door.

A crack appeared, and an even denser orange-red light shone through.

As the crack widened, a palace towering into the clouds gradually came into view.

Then the people of the City of Silver heard a rushing, splashing sound.

At that moment, Colin drew one straight sword and suppressed the agitation rising in the hearts of his team members.

He then pulled out the other sword and slowly walked out of the hall. Derrick and the others followed behind him cautiously and carefully.

Once they had fully bathed in twilight, they turned their gazes to the left at the same time. There stood a railing made of a row of stone pillars.

Beyond the railing were spreading orange-red clouds. In the far distance beyond the clouds lay a gently surging, endless expanse of deep blue—the deep blue that made the rushing sound.

No one needed to explain. The members of the City of Silver exploration team simultaneously recalled the records in books and little Jack’s description. A single term flashed through their minds:

“The sea.”