Chapter 18: Endless Suffering

What the hell?

The answer was hidden inside the magic array?

Hearing those words from the Undead Archmage, Li Shen felt like his cerebellum had nearly shriveled up on the spot.

He had expected what came next to be a lengthy stretch of backstory, followed by the official start of a side quest — so what was this cryptic nonsense all of a sudden?

Could the Riddler please get out of Gotham?!

Suppressing the urge to complain, Li Shen fixed his gaze on the magic array and stared.

Ten seconds...

One minute...

Three minutes...

By the time his eyes were starting to ache, Li Shen still hadn't made out anything, and a search on the Oracle Forum turned up nothing either.

This was just a completely ordinary magic array!

After yet another round of scrutiny, Li Shen finally couldn't take it anymore. He lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, Lord Xia Er. I'm too dim-witted — I can't make anything out."

Xia Er neither confirmed nor denied it.

He had only drawn this magic array a short while ago. If Li Shen could actually read anything into it, that would be a miracle — it was completely meaningless!

He spoke up: "Drip a single drop of fresh blood into the very center of the array."

"Oh, so that's how it works."

Li Shen understood immediately. Following the instructions, he sliced open his finger, squeezed out a drop of blood, and let it fall into the magic array.

A faint red halo bloomed, bathing the entire basement in a crimson glow — yet the array stubbornly refused to turn.

Li Shen froze again. He looked toward Xia Er. "Lord Xia Er, what does this mean?"

Xia Er leaned forward, brow deeply furrowed. "This magic array has an extraordinarily long history — it can be traced all the way back to the previous age. Originally, a single drop of blood was enough to activate it, but now..."

"To fully awaken it, five soul fragments from level-30 monsters are also required."

Li Shen: ……

Oh, great. Just great.

So this is how you want to play it?

So this is where you were waiting for me all along!

After hearing those words, Li Shen nearly lost his composure and blew up at the man right then and there.

But thinking back on all the time and money he had already invested, he forced himself to swallow the rage burning inside him.

He had cleared the Succubus Dungeon. He had obtained Uriel's Grudge.

Five soul fragments from level-30 monsters — so what?

Fuck!

Let's do it!

Li Shen took a deep breath. "I'll go collect them."

This time, he did not add the words "as soon as possible."

The reason was simple.

He was broke.

Hiring a professional team to kill Uriel had already drained most of Li Shen's wallet. Soul fragments from level-30 monsters typically only dropped from bosses, making them rare and expensive — completely out of his budget.

If he wanted to get his hands on them, he would have to grind levels first. Everything would have to be done the slow way.

Watching Li Shen's retreating figure disappear up the basement stairs, a smile crept back onto Xia Er's lips.

Grind away.

As the saying goes: the more willing you are to suffer, the more suffering there is to go around.

"Uriel's Grudge..."

Now that the most critical crafting material for this piece of equipment had been secured, the next step was straightforward — he simply needed to find a blacksmith to forge it.

As a monster, visiting the human faction's starter village was obviously out of the question. Fortunately, there were similar towns within the monsters' sphere of influence.

"Looks like I'll need to head out."

The Soul Contract's key restriction was that [the domain must not fall] — going out was no problem in itself. The issue was that Xia Er had never actually left the domain before and had no idea how to get around.

After some thought, he decided to call on Avril to accompany him on the trip.

* * *

Quicksilver Town sat deep within the border region, built much like a human settlement.

A goblin blacksmith's shop, a plague doctor's clinic, a plague doctor's potion store...

Beyond those establishments, the town also housed a fair number of shadier venues — a Succubus inn, an elf auction house — and owing to their nature, many monsters came here to unwind, keeping the place perpetually packed.

But...

What Xia Er found was something rather different.

The town was shrouded in gloom and darkness. Filthy water ran through the streets. Not a single soul was in sight, and nearly every shop had its shutters down.

Xia Er turned to Avril beside him, questioning her: "Are you sure you didn't take a wrong turn? This looks nothing like what you described."

Avril said with full confidence, "I absolutely did not take a wrong turn. I've been buying supplies for the domain here myself."

"As for why it looks like this..."

"I think it must be because of those adventurers."

Unlike the calm and peaceful atmosphere back in the Undead Domain, the vast majority of Domain Lords stationed along the border had already fallen — their territories swallowed deeper into the Witch of Pride's jurisdiction. Hearing the news, the shopkeepers had naturally chosen to flee.

"I see... Let's check the blacksmith's shop first. Maybe he's still there."

Since they had come all this way, Xia Er had no intention of leaving empty-handed. Led by Avril, he pressed further into the heart of Quicksilver Town.

Although most of the shops had packed up and left, the remnants of their storefronts still gave Xia Er a faint sense of the exotic monster culture that had once filled the place.

"A Succubus inn..."

"Damn it, so there really were places like this around..."

Gazing at the wooden building on his left, which still faintly carried a lingering fragrance, Xia Er felt a surge of indignation.

He had been racking his brains ever since he arrived in this world — and he hadn't enjoyed a single day of it!

Oh well.

Perhaps this was simply the burden a Domain Lord had to bear.

He looked ahead, and a green creature came into view.

It was a goblin — short in stature, but with extraordinarily muscular arms. It was currently hauling a flatbed cart loaded with all manner of weapons and armor.

"Hm..."

"Is that the goblin blacksmith you mentioned?"

Avril followed his gaze and nodded quickly. "Yes, that's him!"

Xia Er dropped the argument and immediately strode forward, grabbing hold of the slowly moving cart and stopping it in its tracks. "Hold on — don't be in such a rush. I've got a business proposition for you."

The goblin turned around, visibly nervous. "Don't mess with me!"

"Those adventurers are about to show up — why aren't you running?!"

Xia Er asked, "Are you that scared?"

The goblin couldn't help but roll his eyes. "What do you think?"

"I just got word that even the chieftain was torn apart by those guys and turned into weapons. Absolutely brutal — honestly more savage than us monsters..."

"Let go of me. Let's get moving."

Xia Er still didn't release his grip. "Relax. I just came from the border — they haven't reached here yet. Help me forge something first, then you can leave. It won't take long."

At those words, the goblin paused. "You came from the border?"

He looked Xia Er over carefully, visibly shocked. "Wait a moment... you're the Domain Lord of the Undead Domain?"

"You're still alive?"

Xia Er: ……