As she drew closer to the inner city of Amber City, Li Wen could feel an increasingly eerie stillness and cold silence hanging in the air.
She arrived at the end of a stone bridge, where a towering wall blocked her path.
Amber City had no real enemies to keep out; if anyone had to be kept at bay, it was the exiles living in the outer city.
So, the wall had been built to stop them instead.
Unfortunately, too much time had passed.
The wall was now unguarded, and the stone gate stood wide open, as if inviting anyone to step inside.
Li Wen entered, as though stepping into a massive graveyard.
Every building in Amber City was constructed in the same uniform black style.
It was difficult to even find traces of human habitation—everywhere was deserted and lifeless.
According to the strategy team’s intel, there were at least three areas one must absolutely avoid: the clock tower, the Ecclesiastical Assembly, and the Witches’ Penitentiary.
Fortunately, those three structures were quite distinctive and located far from the central Amber Temple, so it was unlikely she would encounter them.
Li Wen didn’t know her way around, and navigating here was difficult.
But the strategy guide claimed that as long as she kept following the path she entered on, she would eventually reach the temple while avoiding most of the danger.
Strange as it sounded, if the guide team said it, there was a ninety-percent chance it was reliable.
So, Li Wen followed the road straight ahead. As expected, she encountered nothing unusual along the way.
In the distance, she spotted a pyramid-like structure—the Ecclesiastical Assembly, where nobles and Dusk cultists once deliberated over politics.
The nobles of Amber City were said to be descendants of the immortals.
They were the ones who originally built the city and were among the earliest followers of the Dusk Witch.
Li Wen had no idea how long she had walked, but it felt like she should be nearing the temple.
Yet the road ahead revealed no building that matched its description—only a towering black spire.
It looked nearly identical to the one at the entrance, only much taller and completely dark in color. It certainly didn’t resemble any temple.
Li Wen immediately sensed something was wrong.
“Come here. Over here.”
A voice echoed directly in her mind.
She had no time to resist—her feet moved involuntarily toward the tower.
At the top of the spire sat a giant.
“Yes, little one. Right here.”
Suddenly, control returned to Li Wen’s body, and she felt her limbs relax again.
She looked up at the giant.
He wore a tattered cloak, his frame thin and dried out, nothing like the image of giants in her memory.
Giants were a species from the mythic era, nearly extinct in the current world.
More commonly seen were trolls and the Highland Clans, who were said to be their descendants.
Yet in a city forgotten by the river of time, encountering such an ancient being somehow didn’t feel out of place.
“I am the warden of this clock tower. You may call me ‘Evening Bell,’” the giant said in the common tongue of Terra, his voice a low, resonating hum that made Li Wen’s ears ache.
The clock tower?
Li Wen’s expression turned odd.
The clock tower was one of the three forbidden zones mentioned in the guide.
That meant either she had taken the wrong path—or the guide was wrong.
Or perhaps the giant had manipulated her, drawing her here without her realizing it.
But weren’t the immortals supposed to ignore all intruders?
Li Wen felt like she’d been scammed.
“I only wandered in by mistake. I didn’t mean anything by it,” she said carefully, choosing her words with caution.
Who knew what kind of state this immortal giant was in?
If she offended him and he decided to bar her from entering Amber City again, it’d be absurd.
The giant, Evening Bell, spoke, his voice like thunder.
“I care not for your intentions, nor will I stop you from walking through this city. But there is something I need you to do. That’s why I spared your life—and brought you here.”
Li Wen’s heart skipped a beat.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said. I am the reason you’re still alive.”
Was he talking about the time with the Scorching Fireball?
The realization struck Li Wen—she’d been wondering how she got lucky with those impossible odds.
So it was an immortal pulling strings behind the scenes.
Even though she hadn’t needed his help in the first place.
“As hard as it may be to accept, that’s the truth. Without me, you would’ve died back then,” the giant said.
He seemed unaware of Li Wen’s nature as a player, which was understandable—Amber City had been cut off from the outside world for a very long time.
“That fire mage… was that your doing too?”
Li Wen asked suddenly.
“I only needed one survivor,” Evening Bell replied without hesitation.
So, from the moment they entered Amber City, they’d been under surveillance by the immortals.
“You said you need me to do something. Does it involve the Amber Temple?” she asked cautiously.
“Relax, little one. It has nothing to do with the Amber Temple, nor the Apocalyptic Codex,” the giant chuckled, sounding almost like a kindly old man.
“I know why you came. Ah, the perfect Dusk bloodline—symbol of eternity and the end… Ever since our master ascended—or perished—the Dusk Pillar has remained vacant. Humans, elves, even demonic gods have all craved the Dusk bloodline. And you’re no different, are you?”
“You don’t crave it?”
Instead of answering, Li Wen threw the question back at him.
“During the Endtime Rite, all living immortals swore an oath to our master never to touch the Apocalyptic Codex.”
So that’s it.
It wasn’t that they didn’t desire it—they simply weren’t allowed to.
For transcendents, such oaths were binding.
And swearing before a Pillar deity like the Dusk Witch?
Even immortals couldn’t defy that.
“Then what do you want me to do?”
Li Wen asked calmly.
As a player, she accepted any quest as long as the rewards were worth it—whether or not she actually completed it was her decision.
“It’s a simple request,” Evening Bell said gently, his tone like a kindly elder’s.
“I’d like you to find someone in the outer city—through the other door beneath the spire.”
He spoke as though asking her to fetch someone from the street.
But people in the outer city were exiled criminals.
In the Golden Age, freeing an immortal banished to the outer city would’ve been a capital offense.
“When you find him, tell him it’s Evening Bell’s request. He’ll understand—and follow you without resistance.”
Li Wen still found this all hard to believe.
“And what’s the reward?”
“I saved your life,” the giant replied pleasantly, his tone eternally gentle.
“I want an actual reward.”
The Evening Bell fell silent for a moment, then said, “You won’t be able to enter the temple. The Maiden of Amber will tear you apart—just like she did to all intruders before you. But I can help you a little. That doesn’t break the oath.”
“So… others have entered Amber City before?”
Li Wen frowned.
That was news to her.
“Then why me? What makes me different? Were the others unwilling?”
As if refusal had ever been an option.
“No. They were not like you.”
Evening Bell slowly shook his massive, shriveled head.
“You are blessed by fate. This task… only you can accomplish it.”
Li Wen felt a chill creep down her spine.
Tftc!