Eleven kilometers east of Muxi City, in the eastern depth of the defense line, one hour before the beacon tower was raised.

With his right hand wielding a battle axe taller than a man, the orc Carol cleaved a necromancer in two from head to toe. Then, with his left-hand tower shield, he delivered a shield bash, smashing the opponent into pieces.

The filthy blood and bits of flesh mixed with necromancy stained Carol's armor and weapons.

Those black parasites, like maggots that can get into anything, burrowed into the orc's skin through the gaps in the armor.

However, soon, those originally twisted and active parasites, upon contact with the orc's blood, acted as if they had encountered poison, struggling to crawl out of the armor and dying completely within seconds.

Setting the battle axe to his side, Carol brushed away the scattered parasitic corpses from his body and shouted to the Crusaders beside him, "Maintain the front line! Don't let the undead surround you! Don't let those bugs crawl into your helmets!"

Wielding his claws, he twisted the head off a necromancer. The werewolf Aldnan, like a drowned dog, shook his body, scattering large swaths of parasite corpses from his fur.

Aldenan leaned closer to Carol: "Have you noticed that there are more and more undead approaching Twilight City?"

Carol took a javelin from her back, aimed it at a spherical undead struggling on the ground, and before it could gather too many corpses, she pierced the core of the undead sphere with the javelin.

Aldenan first whistled, then nodded and clapped his hands, saying, "Good aim."

Carol moved her arm: "The more times you fight these things, the more experience you gain. Besides, we now have the necromancer vaccine. As long as you're not attacked in a vital spot, you won't turn into a necromancer no matter what."

Aldenan stroked the hair on his head, slowly pulling out the corpses of the parasites that had burrowed into his skin, and said, "I heard that the scholar who developed the necromancy vaccine has passed away, and no one can understand the manuscripts and data he left behind."

Carroll said in a deep voice, "Wayne Dunlop."

Aldenan: "Yes, it was him. I heard he died from overwork... It's so unfortunate. If he were still alive, he might be able to research and improve the vaccine, which would give us a greater chance of defeating the undead. But now, without Wayne Dunlop, the scholars in the universities and the Royal Laboratory are facing great difficulties even in producing the vaccine."

Carol: "May the Dragon God protect his soul."

Aldenan glanced at the Crusader soldiers who were clearing the battlefield, pulled Carol a little further away, and lowered his voice: "Speaking of the Dragon God, have you heard a rumor?"

Carol: "Rumors?"

Aldenan: "Some people in the city say that the Dragon God has left."

Carol: "Leave?"

Aldenan: "The Dragon God abandoned everything here and returned to his homeland—the Kingdom of Gods..."

Carroll's eyes widened, and he roared, "Nonsense! Who's spreading these rumors?! I'll hang these guys on the city walls!"

Aldenan quickly put his finger to his lips, making a shushing gesture.

"Keep your voice down! This rumor came from the city hall. They say the Dragon God hasn't appeared for almost a month, and the Dragon God's Soul Temple has been closed. No believer who wants to pay homage to the Dragon God can get the slightest response from him."

Carol retorted, "But Heaven still exists. You can touch any of the Soul Towers in the city, and anyone's soul can visit Heaven. This is evidence of the existence of the Dragon God."

Aldenan: "I once heard a shaman say that there is a connection between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Dragon God, but they are not exactly the same. The Kingdom of Heaven was established by the Dragon God, but that does not mean that it is a part of the Dragon God."

Carol: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Aldenan swallowed hard. "I'm just hypothesizing, is it possible... that the Dragon God's goal is to create a perfect world for all believers, and Heaven is the cornerstone of that faith he created? After the Dragon God completes the creation of Heaven, he will hand over all believers to Heaven for judgment and governance, and then he himself will depart..."

Carol clenched her fists, her voice low and menacing: "Are you saying that the Dragon God abandoned us?!"

Aldenan quickly raised his hands and shook them frantically, saying, "I didn't mean that! It was just a guess..."

The bugle call to retreat sounded from the city wall tower of Muxi City.

Faced with the furious Carol, Aldenan quickly pointed into the city and said, "The undead on the plains have been cleared out; we should go back now."

Carol glanced in the direction of the city, glared at Aldenan, and left without looking back.

Following behind Carol, Aldnan carefully kept his distance, fearing that the big, clumsy orc might turn around and cause trouble.

The two walked slowly to the edge of the eastern city wall of Muxi City, one after the other.

After walking a few more steps, Aldenan suddenly stopped, his two wolf ears standing straight up.

"Carol, come back!"

Hearing Aldenan's call, Carol turned to look at the man and asked irritably, "What is it now?"

Aldenan lay face down on the grass, pressed his right ear tightly to the ground, and whispered, "Did you hear anything?"

Carol approached Aldenan, her face full of confusion: "What did you hear? What are you saying..."

Before the words were even finished, a buzzing vibration came from beneath the ground, and the previously still weeds and bushes began to sway.

Carroll felt the vibration beneath his feet and asked, "What's going on?"

Aldenan: "This sound came from very deep underground, very, very deep..."

Suddenly, the earth began to shake violently, and the rubble jumped up and down like boiling oil in a hot pan.

Carroll lost his balance and fell to the ground, yelling, "Earthquake!"

Aldenan gripped the ground tightly, looking at the panicked Crusaders around him, and shouted to Carol, "Stay where you are!"

Once the tremors subsided slightly, Aldenan used both hands and feet to dash up the tower of the city wall.

Before the werewolf could even get a foothold, a second, even stronger tremor came from the depths of the earth.

Aldenan gripped the bricks on the city wall tightly, using his eagle eye to look towards the coastline.

In the distance, the original blue sky and white clouds have disappeared, and thick dark clouds have blocked out the sunlight.

Lightning flashed continuously in the clouds, illuminating the gloomy sky with intermittent light and shadow.

The churning seawater, whipping up giant waves several meters high, fiercely surged towards the city.

In the far north, a colossal object could be vaguely seen piercing through the ground, appearing straight up on the earth.