At this moment, Mars finally had time to shout, "The Sword Coast looks coastal, but it's coastal because the elves created an avalanche ten thousand years ago that tore the continent apart! West Faerun is not an earthquake zone!"

This answer made Emiya feel like her brain was filled with blood.

At this moment, Yin Ye replied: "...This is not a natural earthquake, but an effect stimulated by the magic network."

In other words, it's earthquake magic.

It's an eight-ring high-level spell...

This is a prison break!

At the same time, another terrible fact emerged in Emilia's mind.

Although Candlekeep is located on a cliff, the ground beneath the castle is not made of solid rock.

On the contrary, beneath Candlekeep is a vast void of astonishing size.

"...Ah." Sig, who was swaying from side to side due to the earthquake, felt the trembling under his feet and whispered, "Are we going to fall from the sky?"

As the poet sighed, the entire basement became history.

The ending here is not being buried by raining rocks, but losing all support and falling into endless darkness.

Walls, gates, prisons—

All the nouns have become history at this moment and are about to become ruins in the crypts of Candlekeep.

And of course, there's the source of all this.

Emiya watched helplessly as the solid walls and prison doors between him and Haverfont collapsed and shattered. Haverfont, whose hands were originally shackled and unable to move, regained his freedom and fell into the endless darkness with them.

——But, it is easy to imagine that at the end of the darkness are the reinforcements arriving at Haverfontein.

The defenses of Candlekeep might be tight enough—the gatekeepers' first line of defense filters out low-level harassment and infiltration, while the monks supplement spellcasting and combat power.

However, regardless, the difficult-to-access crypts were a massive loophole. Furthermore, this loophole could not be repaired—Candlekeep was already covered in prohibitions both inside and outside. This prevented the invasion of various creatures, but at the cost of being unable to deploy manpower in the crypts.

They couldn't possibly throw their men into the dungeons, leaving them isolated with no reinforcements and few options for retreat. In fact, they couldn't even muster a small, combat-ready unit.

——The most dangerous ghost city must be approached from the sky. Therefore, the most important combat force must be placed on the surface.

As a result, they were able to place only a limited amount of surveillance on the crypt.

From the current perspective, the measures taken by the monks of Candlekeep are still not enough.

——It would be better to say that the leader of Candlekeep, the Book Keeper Lude, was deceived by the Church of Shar and had the key to the maze taken away, so it was helpless for his subordinates to be deceived again.

After all, even Emiya herself hadn't expected them to choose this method to rescue Haverfont. Emiya had thought they would choose to infiltrate by disguising themselves as monks from Candlekeep.

The method finally adopted was so simple and crude!

Almost at the same time, a sound of breaking air suddenly came from above.

Finally, the sound of breaking air was ended by a crisp sound of metal breaking, and the faint green light in the darkness quietly dissipated.

Along with this, Haffont's chuckle rang out. "Mr. Emia of Lunya, you remembered to save me in my time of need. I will remember this favor. Fortunately, now, I have a chance to repay you."

"—I must invite you all to my cell in the City of Ghosts!"

*********************

The violent earthquake shook the entire Candlekeep in an instant.

Apodel was the one who reacted the fastest, but even so, when he rushed to the ground of Candlekeep, he could only see a pitch-black hole.

“…Damn it!”

At first, they didn't think that this brief alternation would cause any big problems, so they didn't cast the mind link.

Because of this brief negligence, he now has no idea what is happening underground.

Just as he began to cast a spell and call upon his Pegasus, a burst of magical power that penetrated the heavens and the earth erupted in the sky.

A surging tide of magic swept across the entire Candle Castle, as if a meteorite had fallen into the sea, and the raging waves it set off engulfed everyone present.

It was still dusk, not yet pitch black, but the moment the magic erupted, it was as if the entire world was engulfed in shadow, and all illumination vanished.

"......!" Apodel stroked his mount's mane silently. He knew he had no choice but to trust those who had been trying to survive and turn danger into safety since they first met.

His battle has also arrived.

The paladin mounted his mount, rushed out of the castle, and flew into the sky.

At this moment, a priest had already cast a divine spell towards the sky. The brilliant light dispelled the newly born shadow and brought the full image of the uninvited guest into the sight of the entire Candle Castle.

It was a towering but withered mountain.

The dense, leafless forests resembled tombs, the dry shrubs resembled unburied bones, and at the very base of the mountain, thick, gray snow lay still, unmelted, like the ashes of the cremated dead.

This was a sight that could only be witnessed from thousands of meters in the air, yet the entire mountain now stood silently above Candlekeep, as if a seamless mirror had appeared in the sky, reflecting the vision of another world.

If such a mirror really exists, it is a shadow that is endlessly erupting into the entire material plane.

However, this vision, which should only exist in children's nightmares, is now hanging upside down in the dark sky, about to pour out its wrath on Candlekeep who dared to stop them.

The people of Candlekeep are not even qualified to see the superstructure of this city.

Countless young monks almost dropped their jaws to the ground, their bodies shaking uncontrollably as if they were sieved through chaff: "...This is..."

One of the survivors of the Nether civilization thousands of years ago, and the biggest trump card of the Church of Shar.

A true floating city, its name is Sulansa in Netherese and translated into Common Language as Shade.

***********************

"...It's been thousands of years." Larloch sighed sincerely, observing the terrified expressions of the people in Spell Watcher City. "I haven't seen such expressions of fear and trepidation in front of the floating city in thousands of years."

However, he wasn't paying attention to the ground. Instead, he said to his ally, the Lord of Shade City, Tantamut Tantur, "...these priests of Candlekeep aren't the key to victory. Have you discovered the location of that Seraph? I don't think it's worth taking action just for a mesmer."

Without waiting for the Ghost City Lord to answer, the alluring female voice that had been lingering in their ears from time to time said seriously, "—Don't worry about Meta's affairs."

The two mages immediately fell silent and lowered their heads and waists.

Shar said quietly, "She and I haven't seen each other for thousands of years."

Fifty-five Tides of the Dead (I)

The mountains hang upside down in the sky, as if the world is turned upside down.

This sense of dislocation almost instantly made most of the Candle Castle lose their fighting spirit.

Mortals can fight armies, fight trolls, fight dragons, fight nations—

But how do you fight an entire mountain, a mountain larger than all of Candlekeep!?

The scripture-keeper Ludd looked at the sky, almost speechless.

But now is not the time to wait.

"What are you waiting for?"

Storm Silverhand's voice rang out like thunder.

This renowned harpist had never been known for her good temper. She had been acting docile recently, partly because she was much older than most of the people present and didn't want to act like an elder. Partly because her abilities were only a fraction of what they were, and she was relying on others for support.

Now that her strength had returned, she was furious to see the Candlekeep people cowering as they retreated from the battle. "—It's just a mountain! What are you afraid of?

"If that mountain had already fallen towards Candlekeep, you could have just scattered and fled. Now it's just hanging in the sky, and you're so scared that your legs are paralyzed?" Storm Silverhand roared. "Listen, since Shade City doesn't intend to, and doesn't dare to, bring the entire Shade City down, it's just a camp hanging in the sky! The final attack on the city walls will be just those old-fashioned things, which is actually no different from the planned battle!"

She pointed to the sky, not giving the high priests in front of her any face. "If your enemy was anyone else, I wouldn't blame you for being cowardly. But now, your enemy is the Warlock King Larloch. For thousands of years, none of his subordinates have survived! Or, do you plan to surrender to the Evernight Goddess and let her prey on you?"

There is no retreat in this battle.

Then, without waiting for the priests' reply, she strode up the city wall.

Lude coughed, took a deep breath, and sent a message to the distance: [...Ring the bell, the battle begins! Follow Plan One!]

At the same time, facing the gazes cast toward him in the hall, he spoke loudly, "At present, we have not received any reports of large-scale infiltration of Candlekeep. Therefore, we shall proceed according to Plan One! Everyone, the order for us to accept Xinbu and Storm Silverhand is an oracle from our Lord Oghma himself, and it is the common mission of all Candlekeep. Life is short, but time in the Kingdom of God is endless!"

"Our enemies are the former Archmage of Netheril, now the Warlock King Larloch, and the mortal forces of the Night Goddess. Victory in today's battle will bring us immense prestige and the gods' reward. Even if we die, we can hold our heads high!"

"That's all I have to say. Everyone, please set off!"

*********************************

“…Storm Silver Hand!?”

When they saw the flowing silver hair appear in their sight, the two arcanists who had lived from the era of Netheril to this moment were shocked.

At this point, they still didn't know what secrets Candlekeep was keeping. Candlekeep's defenses were unexpectedly strong, and Shade City wasn't sure they could infiltrate it.

The shadow spirits led by Haverfont had some clues, but they kept silent about the method of infiltration.

Therefore, they actually don't have a very good understanding of the true situation in Candlekeep.

In fact, they didn't even know what they would get from Candlekeep. They were only certain that Candlekeep must be hiding someone or something extremely important to the Mystra family.

However, even so, when they saw the most famous of the Seven Sisters appear in Candlekeep in a grand manner, they could not help but fall silent.

The Lord of Ghost City said, "I originally thought this was just a simple display of force, announcing our Lord's arrival. Now it seems I underestimated the difficulty of this journey."

The fact that Storm Silverhand showed up here at this time meant that the secrets in Candlekeep were totally worth their special trip here.

Larroque did not answer.

If Candlekeep's defenses were truly so weak, Larloch would never have collaborated with Shar in the first place.

The Warlock King silently issued orders to his subordinates.

Afterwards, the magical aura of the spell system exploded around Baldur's Gate like a meteor shower.

Countless liches and their most proud subordinates appeared one after another within several kilometers around Candlekeep, intertwining with each other, and in an instant occupied the entire sky outside Candlekeep.

However, after confirming the location of Shade City, this group of liches did not continue to advance towards Shade City. Instead, they retreated in the opposite direction of Shade City and Candlekeep, leaving only their subordinates: vampires, ghosts and other high-level undead creatures to advance towards Candlekeep.

"...Lord Larok?" The Lord of the Ghost City, Tantamut Tantur, frowned.

"One person." Larloch raised his head, looked at the still dark sky, and replied, "Until I find that person's location and make sure she has no time to worry about me, my liches cannot attack."

The first attacking creatures were merely cannon fodder, bait to reveal the positions of Candlekeep's higher-ranking forces, traps from which they could not escape.

Most of the combat power of Ghost City is positioned in this way.

Tantur did not take immediate action.

Although shadow magic is prevalent in the City of Ghosts, they are all living beings after all. How can they be treated as expendable items like the subordinates of Larloch?

Tantur soon realized that the choice was not on his side.

In the darkness, a white arc rose rapidly from the courtyard of Candlekeep.

——It was a tall Pegasus.

Its broad wings were stretching in the air, and it was circling at high speed in the sky.

The rider on its back was also constantly observing the surroundings, as if looking for something.

Soon, the two arcanists' eyes met with the Pegasus rider's through the magic sensor.

Of course, the rider couldn't really see the two mages on the other end through the invisible sensor, but he knew what the sensor was used for.

In Candlekeep today, the only people who ride Pegasus are the paladin master and apprentice.

Apodile Adrian looked at the ground silently and shook his head.

The brilliant holy light gathered on the blade of the holy sword. Even though there was a space barrier between the two of them and only light and shadow were transmitted, Larok felt his whole body burning.

The next second, a white storm swept across the sensors below the Ghost City, and darkness returned to the scene before Larok and Tantur.

Their sensors were disabled and they became blind.

Larloch looked at the dark hall and shook his head.

Larloch stood up silently. "In this situation, the role of the paladins on defense is probably very limited. So, the next target of this renowned son of Bhaal in Faerûn will probably be..."

Then, the white light they had just seen in the sensor streaked across the sky and appeared at the end of the Ghost City.

Even though it was several miles away, the light of the Holy Avenger still illuminated the dark city with incredible clarity, piercing into the center of the city.

Tantur stood up in astonishment: "--Why, he wants to ride into the City of Ghosts alone?"

*********************************

“…No, it’s too dark.”

The Gond citizens at the city gate spun their telescopes, trying to determine the precise location of the distant bat swarm, but ultimately could only rub their eyes in pain. "It's simply too dark. It's more like observing the slight fluctuations of light and shadow than observing the location... This visibility is unacceptable."

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