AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016-Chapter 1539 - 733: Continuing the Voyage of the Black Mist Era (2)
Although the Black Sea constantly churns up waves, it writhes as if alive. The contamination at the map level is blocked by Amon’s expanding domain, but the waves of the Black Sea are like black sludge emitting the scent of sulfur and rot, clinging to the outside hull of the Layer Boat, slowly and arduously peeling away. However, before one layer can be shed, a new wave crashes over, attaching even more sludge.
From within the layers, the Layer Boat appears to be entangled with countless fine spider threads...
The atmosphere on the boat is as heavy as a lead block filled with water. The Security Guards on the deck remain expressionless, like cold machines without any warmth. They form a sparse yet tenacious defensive line, using their old kerosene lamps to push open a circle of relative safety, less than ten meters in diameter.
One by one, the old kerosene lamps cast a ghostly cold amber light, but such radiance is hardly able to bring any warmth under these circumstances.
Beyond that light lies the Black Sea, thick as asphalt, continuously surging and devouring all light.
The Sports Students on deck can now see the Black Sea and this endless mist. The gray-white mist flows and entwines like a living entity amidst the dark waves, emitting a silent hiss of whispers that do not pass through the ears but directly infiltrate their minds, stirring a primal fear deep within them.
The seawater is visibly swallowed by the darkness, as if an invisible giant beast breathes in the deep sea, pushing the darkness inch by inch towards an unreachable shore.
The Layer Boat has no structure like a rudder; its course is entirely determined by the star map laid out by the Astrologer. Lin Yi and the Boss now stand on a flat platform below the ship’s Watchtower, not far from the mast, barely able to count as being alone together.
Lin Yi looks at the Boss.
The Boss watches the prow of the Layer Boat breaking through the waves.
Lin Yi presses his lips together, saying nothing, then joins in watching the front of the Layer Boat.
There lies the Nihility, but in his eyes, countless layers unfold and vanish.
As the Layer Boat departs reality, the fissures in the deep sky above the campus quietly begin to close. The "Angels" that permeate numerous dimensions and layers in the void finally sense the presence of the Layer Boat, and then waves of pressure begin to press down from within the layers.
The pressure from the "Angels" is much lighter compared to the fragments of "Angel" projections from the "Time Exile" area, but even such fluctuations are enough to drive the strange creatures in the Black Sea completely mad.
The Mist Chasing Light Seeker effect is always there, but once the Layer Boat is "marked" by the fluctuations of the "Angels," it becomes akin to lighting a lamp in the pitch-black long night. The strange creatures in the Black Sea, under the influence of "phototaxis," begin to stir from near to far, then rush recklessly towards the Layer Boat.
Such agitation reflects instantly on the star map spread out by the Astrologer. She immediately warns, "The nocturnal species are about to assault the formation!"
As the Astrologer issues the warning, Lin Yi’s perception also starts to reveal countless small black dots. These nocturnal species and strange creatures are attracted to the Layer Boat like iron filings to a magnet, absorbing them in motion. In just a moment, countless nocturnal species invade Amon’s Secret Pattern Domain, continuously crashing against the outer hull of the ship.
Amon anticipated this, showing no excess reaction, merely reallocating Extraordinary Material to slowly flow within the engraved lines of the Secret Pattern.
His domain is meant not to block the nocturnal species but to resist the contamination coming from deeper within the layers.
And the nocturnal species, there are others meant to deal with them.
The Security Guards slowly raise their old kerosene lamps, solemnly declaring, "Maintain light coverage; don’t let any shadow approach the hull!"
As he speaks, his lamp suddenly flickers; at the edge of the light, a twisted shadow flashes by. Yet, he remains unperturbed because under the lamp’s glow, the shadow swiftly reveals its form—an anthropomorphic night creature. Once this nocturnal species enters the light’s domain, it instantly evaporates in white smoke, quickly turning to dust and dispersing.
On deck, the Physical Education Teachers shout for the Sports Students to rush towards the Ark’s edge, imitating the Security Guards by using the old kerosene lamps to illuminate the nocturnal species.
The Sports Students cannot endure the brilliance of the old kerosene lamp alone, so they form teams to exorcise the creatures. Although this is their first time facing the nocturnal species of the Black Sea, each Sports Student feels a sense of familiarity with the task.
Xu Shunkang increasingly finds this fight against the nocturnal species effortless but cannot immediately comprehend the reason. Until, at one moment, after his team exterminates a Deceitful Angel Level strange creature, he becomes dazed, then suddenly realizes where this familiar feeling stems from.
Undoubtedly, this feeling comes from the "Sports Student Code," which states they must travel together along the Cobblestone path back to the Gymnasium. Any transcendent being traversing this path will attract nocturnal species or Rage Angels attacks, yet by walking together, they can combat these strange units as a team.
