"It was a great honor to see you again, Your Excellency Colin Iliad."
Although Ebner's current strength had already far surpassed that of the Chief of Silver City, because of the impression left by the original work, he still held deep respect for the man.
After all, this was a true warrior who had dedicated everything to the residents of Silver City!
If he had not fallen, he might have had a chance to advance to "Glory."
Seeing that Mr. "Tower" had no hostile intentions toward the Silver City squad, Colin Iliad remained vigilant, but on the surface he still responded courteously:
"Mr. 'Tower,' welcome once again to set foot upon this land abandoned by the gods."
Next, he took the initiative to introduce the situation of "Nightmare Town" to Ebner:
"…According to the records, this abandoned city-state was actually a prison. The giants imprisoned captured captives here, as well as certain dangerous items that were inconvenient to deal with…
"After the Lord reclaimed the giants' authority, this place's function was preserved.
"Until the Lord's radiance disappeared, this city was suddenly swallowed by 'Nightmares,' becoming what it is today.
"I once explored this city, but within its deeper nightmares, something terrifying seemed to be hidden…so I did not continue further."
In other words, the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" was likely only the surface-level "lord" of this abandoned city-state, while something even more troublesome was very likely being suppressed deep within the nightmare?
After stroking his chin and thinking for a moment, Ebner used the ability "Cognizer" to observe the ruins surrounded on three sides by a zigzag-shaped river, and then said thoughtfully:
"There really might be a troublesome fellow hidden inside…however, we actually only need to block the entrance to the deeper nightmare and capture the 'Skeleton Demon Wolf.' There's no need to disturb Him."
"Him?" Colin, Witte, and even Elder Lovia of the "Shepherds" were startled by that form of address and repeated it almost in unison.
Meanwhile, "Sun" Derrick, due to his habits from the Tarot Club, directly asked, "Mr. 'Tower,' who exactly is hidden inside 'Nightmare Town'?"
"For an existence that could be imprisoned here by the 'Giants,' its identity is naturally somewhat special…" Ebner smiled, did not keep them in suspense, and directly said, "It is the child of the ancient god Flegrea, the remnant soul left behind after the death of a 'Demon Wolf,' which has taken up residence here."
Ebner's "Messenger" was another child of Flegrea, so he was naturally not unfamiliar with the offspring of that Demon Wolf King.
Moreover, because Flegrea reproduced through instinctive mating and breeding, producing many children, the separated Beyonder characteristics could not be controlled, resulting in vast disparities in strength among His offspring.
The weaker ones were even only at the Low Sequence level and were often killed by Flegrea shortly after being born.
But the powerful ones, such as Antigonus, the "Mother of Heaven," or the one inside "Nightmare Town," were born as mythical creatures!
Unfortunately, after Flegrea and Lilith perished together, the domain of the Demon Wolf race was jointly carved up by other ancient gods. This one was captured by the Giant King at that time, imprisoned in the prison city, and ultimately died unwillingly.
However, as a naturally born mythical creature, He was naturally not so easy to completely perish. In the end, during the Cataclysm, His remnant soul transformed into a malevolent spirit, dragging the entire prison city into a nightmare, resulting in the current situation.
"Flegrea…the Demon Wolf King!" Colin recalled the relevant information and made a brief assessment before carefully asking, "Is there anything you need our help with?"
The reason he had personally led this squad—gathering the peak strength of Silver City—to the outskirts of "Nightmare Town" was naturally not just to protect Derrick's safety, but to, within their capabilities, show goodwill toward "Tower," in the hope that the other party, and the "Mr. Fool" behind him, would see the value of Silver City.
After all, only things with value were worth saving.
"I originally thought that relying on myself would be enough to capture the 'Skeleton Demon Wolf'…but now the situation has clearly exceeded my expectations…so I do indeed need you to provide a bit of help." Ebner could guess Colin's thoughts, so he did not refuse and directly laid out his plan.
"I need you to send one person into 'Nightmare Town' to deliberately alarm the 'Skeleton Demon Wolf,' forcing it to attempt to flee toward the deeper nightmare…and I will set a trap and wait for it."
Driving prey into a trap? A simple yet practical plan, a common hunting method…the only real difficulty lay in the setting of the "trap."
Of course, as the one driving the prey, I would also need to maintain strong pressure; otherwise, the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" would not think of fleeing.
After a brief consideration, Colin accepted Ebner's plan. However, relying on himself alone to drive away the "Skeleton Demon Wolf" was indeed somewhat strenuous. In the past, it had always required the cooperation of an entire squad to force that Demon Wolf to retreat into the deeper dream.
As for Lovia and Witte beside him, he still needed the two of them to balance Derrick and guard against accidents, so he did not plan to let them enter the nightmare together…
Otherwise, he would also have to guard against them, making the objective even harder to accomplish.
Ebner easily "Cognized" Colin's difficulty. After a brief thought, he simulated the ability of a "Scholar of Yore" and pulled out the projection of the Evernight Church's Sealed Artifact "1-42."
"1-42" was also known as the Mad Armor or the Bloodthirsty Armor. It was stained with the blood of a certain ancient god from before the Cataclysm and possessed part of the abilities of a "Silver Knight."
Ebner had previously come into close contact with it when he infiltrated behind the Chanis Gate of Saint Samuel Cathedral.
Even Leonard, who could only simply utilize an extremely small portion of this item's power, had been able to heavily injure Jason Beria, the "Desire Apostle." If it were in the hands of a top-tier "Demon Hunter" like Colin, it would naturally be able to exert even greater power.
After briefly introducing the functions and side effects of "1-42," Ebner smiled and said, "I'll lend this item to you for now…after we succeed later, I'll have another gift to thank you."
Colin was just about to say there was no need, when he heard Mr. "Tower" in front of him continue, "Don't refuse. You should have heard Derrick say that 'Equivalent Exchange' is a rule established by Mr. 'Fool.'
"Moreover, I believe that gift is something you will definitely need."
After hearing these words, Colin nodded thoughtfully.
He had originally planned to use the "merit" from this operation to pray to that Mr. "Fool" for the method of using "Worms of Time," to add another trump card for exploring the mausoleum.
But now, Mr. "Tower" seemed to have guessed his thoughts and had other arrangements, so he naturally no longer insisted on his own calculations.
"In fact, there's no need for any other reward. As long as Mr. 'Tower' lends me this item once more when I explore the mausoleum, that will be enough…"
After using his "Demon-Hunting Eye" to observe "1-42" for a moment, Colin thought silently.
And while Colin was holding "1-42" and observing the blood of the ancient god, the corner of Ebner's mouth curled up slightly.
Because in his eyes, the fate of the Chief of Silver City had deviated at this moment, gradually intersecting with "Ormir."
Although there would be all kinds of dangers in the process, this was the other party's only opportunity to advance to Angel.
(This chapter ends)