In the fiercely embattled Unyielding Hall, Raine and his companions shot forward like loosed arrows. Breaking away from the protection of the Human Race Undead Legion in an instant, they charged straight toward the thick, churning black mist.
The black mist seemed alive. It writhed slowly in midair like thick, black grease, constantly twisting and contorting while emitting a nauseating stench of rot. Countless twisted faces seemed to drift in and out of the churning vapor, releasing silent wails. Merely looking at it was enough to unsettle the mind.
"Hah! Get out of Old Sodden’s way!"
With a low growl, the Dwarf forcefully plowed through several snarling Skeleton Goblins blocking their path, carving a clear trail for the team. Kaelin’s sword flashed, cleanly bisecting a Skeleton Wolf that lunged from the flank. At Winnie’s fingertips, Arcane Magic flared brightly as a Colorful Ball whistled through the air, blasting an incoming Skeleton Winged Dragon to smithereens.
Raine held his breath in deep concentration. Empowered by both Rival’s Perspective and Eagle Vision, he instantly locked onto the most threatening target ahead: a massive Skeleton Demon Bear. The Bowstring vibrated as an arrow shot forward. With a sharp whistle, it sank precisely into the beast’s eye socket. Its spectral blue flames extinguished instantly, and the massive skeletal frame collapsed with a resounding crash.
Operating in tight coordination, the four-man squad unleashed their respective abilities and swiftly wiped out the last few Skeleton Beasts blocking their way. Without a second of hesitation, they plunged headfirst into the impenetrable black mist.
The moment they breached the black mist, the outside world seemed entirely severed.
Raine felt as though he had stepped into a massive, damp, and freezing black sponge. An omnipresent viscosity squeezed him from all directions, making every step incredibly arduous. Each breath felt like inhaling steel needles into his lungs, burning with a fiery, piercing pain. The sounds of the Undead clashing vanished, replaced by countless fragmented, agonizing, and resentful whispers. The murmurs bored directly into their minds, brutally tearing at the fabric of their sanity.
An icy wave of lethargy washed through his limbs. Raine grew intensely dizzy, his footsteps turning dangerously unsteady—a clear sign that his Life Force was being sapped by the black mist. Glancing sideways, he saw Kaelin, Sodden, and Winnie were equally pale. Their breathing had become frantic, clearly enduring immense agony.
"Hold on, it’s just ahead!" Raine gritted his teeth, forcing the hoarse encouragement from his throat.
Relying on willpower far beyond that of ordinary mortals, the four trudged forward. They lost track of time in the darkness. They might have only advanced a dozen yards in the span of a few heartbeats, but to them, it felt like crossing an entire world.
Finally, in the deepest recesses of the black mist, they saw it.
It was a colossal, grotesque gray flower. It looked as if it had sprouted directly from the shattered stone floor. The size of a carriage, its entirety was the ashen white of something scorched by a raging inferno.
This Ash Flower heaved and writhed as if breathing. Its massive petals were as thin as cicada wings, revealing a spiderweb of pitch-black veins within, pulsing as though thick, black blood flowed through them. At its apex, from what appeared to be the Flower Bud, dense clouds of ash spewed continuously. The particles quickly melded into the surrounding black mist, rendering the churning vapor even more suffocating.
It simply stood there in silence. Yet, with every "breath" it took, a terrifying aura of death—far purer and deadlier than the black mist—swept out in tidal waves, threatening to completely freeze the souls of Raine and his companions. The tremor emanated from the very depths of their souls. Crushed under the oppressive weight, Raine and the team were drenched in cold sweat, gasping for air.
The Black Tide Embers—this was it!
Forcibly suppressing their physical and psychological distress, the group pushed themselves into a sprint. Struggling forward as if wading through a countercurrent of Frenzy, they braved the suffocating pressure and rapidly closed the distance to the Ash Flower.
They were painfully aware that the black mist was continuously draining their Life Force. They had to eradicate the root cause of this nightmare as quickly as possible! Not a single second could be wasted! Otherwise, once their Life Force was entirely devoured, their fate was sealed.
Mid-stride, Raine fired three shots in rapid succession. The razor-sharp Arrows instantly pierced the grotesque petals, punching several jagged holes through them. Fighting through the nausea, Winnie bit her lip and condensed her Magic Power. A Colorful Ball bombarded the monstrous plant, blasting away a small chunk of a petal.
However, a chilling sight unfolded.
Around the damaged areas, the writhing black veins rapidly converged. The wounds closed at a visible speed, regenerating fully in the blink of an eye without leaving a single trace behind.
Their hearts sank. Garson had once mentioned that these Black Tide Embers possessed an incredibly potent Regeneration Ability. Ordinary attacks could not destroy it; they had to strike its core weakness! But where exactly was that fatal weakness hidden within this grotesque, colossal flower?
Just as their minds raced to find a vulnerability, another sudden anomaly occurred.
Raine saw a bone-chilling flash of gray light sweep across his vision. Instantly, dead silence fell.
Moments later, what flooded his senses was a long-forgotten stuffiness and the low, droning hum of an air conditioning system. He groggily opened his eyes. Blinding sunlight reflected off the glass of an office building across the street, prompting him to subconsciously raise a hand to shield his face.