Angor expected such a decision from his professor.
The outer city might be dangerous, that much was true. But how dangerous compared to the real Nightmare Realm? The darkness was likely brought by something from the Nightmare Realm, and Sunders, as someone who explored Nightmare Realm multiple times, did not need to fear it at all.
Sunders came and listened to extra information so that he could hopefully learn as many clues about the condition as possible. It seemed there wasn’t much to find out here, so Sunders made up his mind to dive into the darkness himself.
Angor considered his options.
“I’m going with you, sir.”
“You can, but you will stay inside my gravity garden until I’m sure I can guarantee your safety outside.”
Sunders wished to get into the darkness because he was confident in escaping should anything forced him to.
Without further ado, Sunders went to Angor and prepared to depart while ignoring all the questioning looks he received from the others.
“Let’s go and see what surprises those monsters can present us this time.” Sunders looked through the same window Angor was using.
It was dusk, but the sky in the distance was still beautifully bright. When looking at the strange darkness in front of them, it was like observing an eclipse up close.
The barrier wasn’t completely smooth and empty. At the very center on top of the dome-shaped barrier, the black vortex was still releasing an unknown energy toward beneath it. This Mystery energy was what attracted so many wizards here.
Angor nodded. “Behind you, sir.”
Before they could go and find the “surprises”, something happened outside the hut surprised them first.
All the quarreling wizards stopped talking and reached their spirit feelers outside the room at the same time.
Doctor Anglo was still nearby as he waited for more information either from survivors or corpses. It did not matter where the information came from as long as it was something that could help him reach more conclusions.
Now that he saw something coming, he wasn’t sure whether he should face it.
What emerged from the darkness were shiny spots that were releasing more nightmare energy around them. There were so many of them that they almost covered up the sky above.
Out of instinct, all wizards triggered their various defensive skills when they saw the spots rampaging everywhere.
There were over ten thousand apprentices scattered around Sleepless City to “alert” visitors. But now, they became perfect targets for the invading spots.
Before anyone could react, the spots sank into their bodies.
In the next second, their expressions twisted and turned. First, it was shock and fear. Then all the apprentices gradually began to laugh in joy and danced in the sky like kids who were brought to amusement parks for the first time.
“What-what happened, dude?!” Several apprentices who managed to activate their defensive barriers looked at their companions in surprise.
What they received were maddened words full of praises.
“Fa la laaa, praise the Queen, praise our Shava, praise Yorkshire! Shoo and begone, sinner of dusk! Let the moon shine upon us!”
The song did not carry any magical power, yet those who heard it felt their hearts grow cold.
There were even more apprentices that got affected by the light spots, and all of them became clownish and maniacal singers.
Within two minutes, most apprentices patrolling the sky had “turned”.
The remaining people thought they were safe because of their timely action, which was soon proved to be wrong.
Without any unprotected targets to go after, the light spots turned to them next. They slammed into the magic barriers like bombs, using their raw energy as a means of attack.
Each light spot contained similar strength as a level-1 or level-2 cantrip, which was still manageable. However, there were endless spots coming from the darkness. The surviving apprentices tried to get as far as possible before their mana ran out.
They soon realized that the spots had blocked all possible escape routes.
Several apprentices managed to clear out a way toward the inner city by using large-scale attacking spells, hoping that the wizards could help them.
It wasn’t like the wizards wanted to see them die, but there were just too many spots to worry about, and more spots were still coming from the dark barrier. Even the wizards found it to be impossible to stop all spots from reaching them.
Someone tried to deploy a large protective barrier to shield everyone within, but it did not last very long against the suicidal attacks delivered by the spots, which showed deadly power from their sheer number alone.
As more people fell, the apprentices panicked and rushed toward the outside of the city chaotically.
The wizards, on the other hand, hoped that those important figures currently staying in that hut nearby could provide a solution as soon as possible.
However, those inside the hut were as helpless as the others when faced with such a catastrophe all of a sudden.
“What-what should we do, Mister Radiance?” Someone tried to reach Douglas using Distant Sound.
Earlier, Douglas was trying to decide whether he should request assistance from Starliege Temple. Now, he had no choice but to spread his spirit feelers out in order to find Anglo again.
Soon, he saw the temporary settlement of White Coral Floating Island Academy, which was a small house with a pointy roof. Inside, Anglo and Heroline were discussing something with grim looks. Behind them, several apprentices from the academy were trembling inside a barrier created by a magic array drawn on the floor.
“Do you know what’s going on, Doctor Anglo?” Without waiting, Douglas communicated with him directly.
Anglo sensed Douglas’ presence and quickly responded, “As I said, Mister Radiance... the disaster lingering around the outer city will only get worse. It is affecting the inner city already.”
“I want a solution! How do we deal with these flying spots?” Douglas failed to maintain his usual patience. “You need more information from the darkness, right? Now here it is! Something straight out of the outer city! Use your plucking again and give me an answer, NOW!”
“I’m on it.” Anglo adjusted his glasses and activated his power again.
Swiftly, he wrote down unknown characters on a piece of parchment while twiddling with the amazing strings of the world.
“Mister Radiance, whatever you do, do NOT touch the spots. The strings have told me that even wizards cannot resist their invasion!”
“What then? Do we just stand here and watch?!”
Anglo shook his head as he made a decision. “You can try asking Mister Qetesh, sir. I feel that he might be able to tell you something.” He considered and decided to add something, “I sincerely suggest that you evacuate everyone from the city right now.”
Douglas didn’t respond because Anglo basically told him to abandon Sleepless City, which was their home base.
...
As the entire city fell into dismay, Sunders and Angor were having a rather relaxed conversation.
“Heh. Such Déjà Vu, isn’t it?”
“Yeah...” Angor nodded slowly. “They can survive outside nightmare energy now? Did they evolve?”
Both Sunders and Angor recognized the “light spots” around the city. These parasites created by the rainbow dragonflies were the culprits that invaded Midnight Sovereign last time.
But as far as they knew, the parasites could only stay inside nightmare aura.
“... That’s not it.” Sunders considered and said, “Do you see it? They are carrying a tiny amount of nightmare energy with them. As long as they find a host before the energy runs out, they can stay outside. But how did such creatures bring nightmare energy with them in the first place? We’ll need to find out.”
“We’re not going to help the others, sir? I think I can solve most of the problems if I expand my Nightmare Domain.” Angor glanced at the “clowns” around them.
“This is not Midnight Sovereign. You only find supernaturals in this city. Do you want to waste strength just to earn a useless ‘thank you’ from them?” Sunders snickered. “Leave them be. Just like the last time, the parasites might not be a bad thing to them.”
They stepped out of the temporary hut together.