Chapter 17: Lantern Man Trial.
Noon finally arrived.
The summer sun blazed straight into the valley.
The restless black mist seemed to grow a bit lazy.
The Lantern Bearer trial officially began.
Directly in front of the black mist barrier, about thirty meters from the lead wall, another test participant—a boy—lay unconscious with eyes rolled back.
His cheeks and exposed hands were already crawling with spiderweb-like spreading black threads.
This unlucky child was not only physically frail but also cursed with bad fortune.
He had almost no resistance to black mist corruption.
In just two or three minutes, he showed signs of corruption disease.
Even in the Extreme Day Moon—the weakest period for black mist corruption—the cruel reality remained.
In less than two hours, over sixty hopeful boys and girls had fallen in the first round of black mist corruption resistance testing.
Simply enduring fifteen minutes at the black mist’s edge became the first chasm between ordinary people and Lantern Bearers.
Failing to cross meant they could scarcely qualify as Black Domain exploration laborers henceforth—unless struck by corruption disease.
The lucky few who survived that hellish fifteen minutes faced an even harsher second round.
They had to muster courage, cross alone the lead wall symbolizing the boundary between life and death, fully immerse their bodies in the black mist, and persist for five minutes.
“Give him some holy water and corruption treatment potion; carry him away… Next!”
Baron Gerhard representing Hildemark County, Monk Finn representing the Church, and a tall, expressionless clerk from the Lantern Bearer Guild—all three shook their heads in undisguised disappointment, heavily crossing off another name in their respective ledgers.
Another pale-faced girl, urged by soldiers, tremblingly stepped out from the crowd, her steps unsteady as she crossed the惨 white lime line marking the distance on the ground.
“Ah—! No! Don’t come near! Get away!”
Yet in less than thirty seconds standing there, the girl twisted and jumped wildly as if countless venomous insects crawled inside her clothes.
Her hands clamped her ears; she let out shrill, pitch-altered screams.
Then her body stiffened abruptly, eyes rolled up, and she toppled straight to the ground, limbs twitching unconsciously.
“Check for corruption black spots… Next!”
Baron Gerhard’s face darkened as if water might drip from it.
He waved impatiently without glancing at the girl on the ground.
Soldiers immediately dragged the delirious girl roughly to the rear.
When the last boy at the lead wall’s edge succumbed to dual pressure from fear and black mist erosion—falling into hysteria, flailing wildly—Monk Finn finally closed his ledger full of failures and sighed.
“May the Holy Lord be merciful… Only two died. Mm, not too bad… Nine children completed both rounds… Even if no new Lantern Bearers emerge, at least we have nine more who can explore deep into the Black Domain henceforth.”
Monk Finn’s voice held weary relief.
“Perhaps the Holy Lord concentrated all blessings on those two children.”
Baron Gerhard turned sideways, gaze toward the Black Star Mercenary Group camp, a genuine, expectant curve finally touching his lips.
“Monk Finn, I have a feeling Iceberry Village might bring us a miracle this year—two Lantern Bearers born simultaneously.”
“Anticipate the Holy Lord’s favor; until the end, one cannot grasp Sura’s great will.”
Monk Finn traced the triangular holy rite on his forehead, chuckling as he turned to the petite yet steadily imposing young village chief standing behind him.
“Renata, you really don’t want to witness Carey become a Lantern Bearer with your own eyes? That would be a mother’s supreme glory.”
“I am the village chief now, Monk Finn.”
Renata shook her head, face expressionless, calm as a deep pool.
“I have more important matters.”
Renata’s gaze swept behind her—ten sturdy adult villagers from Iceberry Village assembled, all tense-faced.
They were survivors of dreadful corruption disease, relatively sound of body, able to briefly enter the Black Domain—the precious yet无奈 human resource for annual ventures into that black realm of death.
Meanwhile, the Black Star Mercenary Group’s three Lantern Bearers—Rich, Linnea, and Einar—stood with Carey and Maren under the lead pillars outside the black mist barrier.
Everyone drew their weapons: Rich’s longsword, Linnea’s rapier, Einar’s peculiar curved long dagger…
Their expressions solemn, facing the restless, living-like black mist barrier, they knelt on one knee.
Behind them, Lis shouldered a bulging massive pack nearly her height, hands clasped at her chest, head bowed deeply.
‘Eternal Slumber’s Holy Lord Sura, conqueror of alien realms, dawn-breaker of darkness!
Guide us through chaos, parting every peril’s rift, paving unquenchable stars for every choice.
Grant the compass of truth, piercing all illusions’ lies, pointing fate’s direction in the black abyss.
May your holy light penetrate the fog, annihilate evil’s waves, bow the roaring black storm, bridge the rainbow to the sacred shore…’
The low, solemn prayer echoed before the lead wall, as if piercing the thick black mist.
Prayer ended, Rich rose first, sheathed his sword, twisted his Black Domain lantern’s valve at his waist, then strode over the lead pillar into the mist without hesitation.
Faint, pure golden light gradually brightened and expanded in the lamp globe, dispelling a small patch of heart-palpitating darkness around him.
The instant Rich’s body entered the black mist, the fog there roiled madly as if stimulated, emitting silent roars.
Linnea followed at a measured pace, her figure gradually swallowed by the mist, melting away.
Then Einar flashed forward, vanishing into the inky darkness.
Lis, pack on back, silently moved to Carey’s side, quiet as a soundless shadow.
Carey took a deep breath.
Summer air, laced with the black mist’s faint decay, filled his lungs.
He reached out, grasping Maren’s somewhat cold little hand.
“Follow me.”
Carey’s voice was not loud, yet it soothed the girl beside him.
Maren gripped back firmly, nodded—nervous yet shy.
Carey led Maren in a big step toward the mist that seemed to devour all.
His body enveloped in cold, viscous black fog, like countless tiny tendrils.
In that instant, Carey instinctively glanced back.
His gaze precisely caught the familiar figure afar—Renata stood there, eyes crossing space, quietly watching him.
Mother and son’s gazes thus briefly, silently met and connected—then snapped apart.