[Volume#7 Darkness Rising]

Chapter 201: People Change Over Three Nights

Sila exited the desert while feeling like he had become a totally different person. He opened his system window and found that only three days had passed since he entered Bistem Desert.

With Pumin’s warning, Sila didn’t want to waste time going back to Zhongsuyuan City. He took out the invitation card and teleported himself to Grea City.

“Dad said Montra would attack on the second day. Today is the third day already. I hope I won’t be too late.”

Sila, Sebastian, and Lookhin appeared in the Lost Android Kingdom. The place where Sila teleported to was the inner palace, so he quickly ran to a balcony to check the situation outside.

“Lost Grea City seems fine, sir. However, we don’t know about Grea City. If you don’t mind, I would like to go ahead and check the situation.”

Sebastian was as enthusiastic as Sila. That was because whether he would get his genuine form or not depended on the outcome of the mission assigned by the God of Death.

Protect Grea City with your life.

Sila nodded to grant the butler his permission. Sebastian promptly jumped off the balcony, landed on the ground, and ran to the exit.

Lost Grea City was a city that was hard to enter but easy to exit. One only needed to reach an exit gate and their body would be sent to Grea City above.

Sila sensed that his armor was working. That meant Mamon was nearby. Sila didn’t want to spend time searching for Mamon so he quickly sealed him.

“Seal Mamon.”

A magenta ball of light shot through walls and entered his armor. As it entered, Sila could hear Mamon complaining.

“Wha—t?! Immediately sealing me upon arri—?”

As Sila was about to release the devil prince, his armor vibrated and a sudden jolt of electricity ran through him. Then, his armor’s appearance began to change.

The thickness of the fabric increased and the outfit stretched downward. The original appearance of black wuxia clothing became a long black coat. The fabric’s edges were embroidered with a golden line like usual. The center slot on his back representing Mamon had also changed slightly; three cogwheels were added behind the crown.

[Mamon has achieved a certain condition. Mamon’s current level is Level 1,000 Lord Rank. Mamon’s increase in level results in the armor’s development.]

“What is this about? Mamon reached this level in just three days?” Sila exclaimed while examining his new armor that looked like what a villain would wear.

A familiar voice rang next to his ear. “I’m not a muscle-head who grinds their levels. For this kind of thing, just using my head is enough.”

Sila turned to look at where the sound came from. “Mamon? How did you get out?”

Upon witnessing what was in front of him, Sila frowned. Mamon was sitting on his shoulder in a small black soul form, like a haunting spirit.

“Mamon? Are you okay? Why are you in this state?” asked Sila.

“Nah, I’m fine. It’s just that my rank is high enough for me to go out in soul form even if my real body is in the armor.”

“How did you reach this level in such a short time?” Sila asked once more. It was simply abnormal for Mamon to breakthrough to Level 1,000 Lord Rank within three days.

“First things first, just release me. Isn’t your neck sore, talking to me this way?” Mamon replied, dodging the question again.

“Oh, right... Release, Mamon.”

A cluster of black smoke emerged out of thin air and materialized into Mamon. He still had a beanie on his head. However, his usual lab coat was replaced by a black long-sleeved turtleneck and jeans.

Mamon swept his eyes to Lookhin and grinned. “Kiekkiekkiek. So you finally transformed, sparrow girl.”

Lookhin felt disgusted by Mamon’s grin and his tone of voice, so she clad herself with energy reinforcement and glared at him.

Sila placed his hand on Lookhin’s head, patting her, and talked to Mamon.

“Don’t fight each other. Anyway, let’s talk later. We have to go to Grea City first. Mamon, do you know where my comrades are?”

“Everyone is in the hotel. I alone stayed in the palace and borrowed the Android King’s laboratory until recently.”

Sila nodded and opened his system window. He sent messages to Sangdao, Varee, and Shueria, as they should still be in Lost Grea City. He also sent messages to Burapha and Bluebird, but he was unsure of their locations.

‘Grea City is in danger. Please be careful. — Sila.’

Sila’s message was short and clear. Then, he turned his head to Mamon. “I am going to go up. Do you want to come as well?”

“Umm... It won’t hurt me to play once in a while. I want to test my new toys anyway, and make sure a certain bird knows who the real boss is,” Mamon said while staring at Lookhin, who stared back at him intently.

Sila was too hurried to mind the fight between two Lord Rank monsters. He was about to jump off the balcony, but he didn’t forget to ask Mamon.

“Mamon, will you be able to keep up with us? Or would you like to return to the armor? I will release you when—”

Zzzt—!

Mamon’s body vanished from Sila’s line of sight and floated in the sky. Sila couldn’t follow Mamon’s movement at all. It was as if Mamon just used instant teleportation.

Mamon sent a gaze of contempt at Lookhin. “If you are too slow, I won’t wait.”

He vanished again and reappeared on the roof of a building twenty meters away. Meanwhile, Lookhin circulated Great Sparrowhawk Qi and cut through the air, competing against Mamon.

In the end, Sila was left alone on the balcony.

“Ah, I’m left behind before I know it.”

Sila circulated Five-Attributed Cloud Qi while using Formless Soldier to make himself weightless. After his training in the desert, he could use Formless Soldier as easily as breathing.

Attribute of Metal — Wind God's Body.

Sila dashed forward at incredible speed like he was a streak of black shadow.

As his momentum died down and his body began to fall, he immediately used the technique Pumin had taught him last night.

The Great Flow — Sky Step.

Sila tapped his foot on the air. It was one of the Great Flow’s basic techniques. Instead of borrowing power of nature through his hand, he used his foot to collect power. Once he collected a sufficient amount of power, he would tap to change his direction in mid-air. Even though it was a subpar ability compared to Cloud Stepping—an item skill which Sila used to possess—since the latter could allow him to stand firmly in the air, it was sufficient for helping with mid-air movements.

Pumin’s art was sincerely amazing. Just his fundamental profound art, the Great Flow, possessed a variety of ways to be utilized.

The trio arrived at the exit gate at the same time, and that upset Mamon since he was the first to take off. He wondered how both Sila and Lookhin could grow so much stronger in just three days.

Lost Grea’s exit gate resembled an elevator. Sila walked inside, followed by Lookhin and Mamon. Once the door closed, the elevator quickly ascended.

Mamon seemed to be restless while Lookhin took out a bag of the most expensive pet food to eat. In the silent elevator, there were only sounds of Mamon grinding his teeth and Lookhin chewing on food.

Feeling doubtful, Sila asked Mamon, “Mamon, are you okay?”

Mamon gnashed his teeth. His face was pale. “I-I am fine.”

Sila frowned. “Are you sure? Your expression doesn’t look good...”

Mamon still shook his head while continuing to grit his teeth. In the meantime, Mamon’s voice rang inside Sila’s head, similar to system notifications.

—Don’t act suspicious. I don’t want the sparrow girl to realize my weakness. I am communicating to you by mental transmission. If you want to talk, just form a thought and send it to me.

Sila had never tried mental transmission, though Mamon made it sound easy, so he focused his mind on Mamon and formed a thought.

‘Hello, hello, can you hear me? Am I doing this right?’

—I hear you! Don’t shout! You’re going to give me a headache.

Sila wondered how the concept of shouting applied in mental transmission. How could he adjust the volume, then?

—Just form your thoughts normally. Don’t focus your mind on me too much.

Mamon replied to him as if he could guess what Sila was thinking.

‘Okay, I understand... Anyway, are you okay?’

—It’s just… I was sealed inside the card for so long, so I developed a loathing for enclosed spaces.

Sila began to understand. He also felt sorry that he had once forcefully sealed Mamon in the armor without Mamon’s consent. With this thought, Sila gently patted Mamon’s head.

Seeing this, Lookhin pouted and tightly held onto the hem of Sila’s clothing.

The elevator stopped and the door slid open. Mamon instantly teleported outside and floated in the air, looking around Grea City.

Sila and Lookhin also got out. Sila stood on a roof while Lookhin floated upside down next to Mamon. She yawned, seemingly bored.

There were no signs of battles taking place at all.

“Nothing is happening. The city seems peaceful,” said Mamon.

“That’s weird. My dad... I mean, Anubis said the city was supposed to be under attack since yesterday.”

“Want me to inspect? Maybe the enemy has already infiltrated.”

“That would be nice. However, how can we separate our enemies from ordinary people?” asked Sila.

“No need to separate them. I will just inspect every single one.”

Mamon summoned holographic screens, which confused Sila since monsters shouldn’t have system windows. However, he couldn’t deny that the holographic screens floating in front of Mamon greatly resembled player’s system windows.

“Hmm... Within this city, there are currently fifteen small battles taking place and 5,574 people who are potential threats.”

Sila was shocked. “That many?”

“Nah, this city is quite independent, so this level of conflict and battles is within the normal range.”

“Eh? Does that mean Anubis made a mistake?” Sila thought it was possible that his father’s guess might miss the target.

There was a new message in Sila’s inbox. He immediately opened his system window to check.

At that time, Sebastian jumped and joined Sila’s group.

“Sir, I wandered around but I didn’t see anyone raiding the city,” Sebastian reported.

Sila nodded. “It’s good that it’s peaceful. Let’s discuss with the others. Shueria just sent a message asking me to meet with others in front of the old Royal Armament Guild’s building.”

“Anyway, we better take precautions, sir. Better safe than sorry,” Sebastian proposed an idea.

Sila agreed with Sebastian. After discussing ideas, he asked Lookhin for her help.

“Lookhin, this city is much smaller than the Desert of Death, so it should be easier. Please use insects that are not eye-catching though.”

Lookhin nodded and swept her eyes at Mamon. She showed a triumphant grin before unleashing magic power through her hands, releasing numerous small dragonflies. She ordered them to scatter around the city.

Mamon watched Lookhin’s display of magic without batting an eyelid. As he saw the dragonflies, he secretly grinned.

‘I spotted it... Just as I expected. Entomomageia’s flaw. Kiekkiekkiek.’

Sila was worried over the fact that the enemy’s army might have already infiltrated the city but still had yet to make a move. He forwarded Shueria’s message to Varee and Sangdao before the four of them headed to the city’s center, the location that used to hold the Royal Armament Guild’s headquarters before completely being crushed by Montra in a single night.