Ashen Dragon

The Ancient Gold Dragon seized the opportunity, flapping its dragon wings and soaring into the sky. It raised the Fine Gold Staff in its claw, a dazzling pillar of fire shot out, bombarding Rose's foot blade.

"Boom!"

The golden flames slammed into the midpoint of the foot blade, instantly heating it red-hot, and the bristles on its surface were all reduced to ashes.

Rhea once again transformed into the Avenging Angel, leaping into the air with the Silver Sword held high, its blade etched with radiant patterns infused with immense Divine Power.

She wielded the Silver Sword with all her might, its shimmering blade descending from above in a sudden slash.

"Swish—"

Accompanied by the whistling sound of air being torn, a crescent white Light Blade, a hundred meters long, spanned the sky, slicing through space and striking the weakened section of the limb scorched by fire.

"Clang—"

The metallic clashing sound resonated through the sky as Rose's foot blade trembled with cracks appearing, eventually snapping. Filthy poisonous blood oozed from the break.

The hundred-meter-long limb plummeted from the sky, smashing to the ground with a deafening crash, crushing hundreds of abyssal creatures.

"You vile mortals, how dare you desecrate me so!"

Rose let out a furious roar, her face, belonging to Fariti, contorted with rage.

The scarlet cobwebs in the sky writhed and slithered like venomous snakes, carrying an unstoppable evil force, assaulting the Ancient Gold Dragon and the Half-Elf Paladins, trying to entangle and strangle these audacious mortals to death.

But Catherine once again swung the Magic Wand, and a silver beam imbued with Shanee's Divine Power swept across the sky, purifying those scarlet webs once more.

In the neighboring Sword Bay region, there are several well-known cities, such as Waterdeep, Elturel, and Neverwinter. Waterdeep was established on the ruins of Erin Vier, the capital of the Ilfaen Elf Empire, home to numerous Divine temples. The Miracle Temple is the most magnificent Magic Goddess Temple in the game, with splendid towers adorned with various paintings and magical decorations, full of Baroque splendor. In contrast, Neverwinter leans towards Gothic architecture, formed over a century after Aegostor, the earliest human settlement, developed. The main city of the story, Baldur's Gate, is the largest and most prosperous trade city in the Sword Bay region, a melange of nobles, commoners, and thieves, often called the "Cradle of Conspiracy" by adventurers. Baldur's Gate is named after a hero, Bodlan, a Grey Harbor adventurer who explored the continent beyond the Sword Sea, returned to Grey Harbor with wealth, and led a team to establish the city.

Based on residents' social status, Baldur's Gate divides into the noble Upper City and the commoner Lower City, with the Outer City clustered around Chensai Mountain. The gate distinguishing Upper and Lower Cities is called Baldur's Gate, after which the entire city is named, doubling as a monument to its founder, Bodlan.

Currently, Baldur's Gate is governed by a four-member council, all Great Dukes. One serves as council leader, with Elder Ravenclaw resolving tie votes. Upper City security is handled by an elite official police force known as the Watch, while a mercenary group called the Flaming Fist oversees other areas. Elder Ravenclaw, a Great Duke, is also the highest leader of the mercenary group, headquartered at the Bodlan Sea Tower, the city's strongest sea invasion fortress. The economy of Baldur's Gate thrives as a crescent-shaped Grey Harbor, with hundreds of merchant ships arriving daily, bringing gold coins along with greed and sin.

The higher terrain of Upper City comprises the Castle District, Temple District, Manoburn District, and Wide Alley District, hosting numerous religious buildings. Miracle Hall and the Supreme Miracle House are the centers of the God of Craft's church in Baldur's Gate. Miracle Hall displays Gond's great inventions, while the Supreme Miracle House serves as a workshop. Lower City features stone houses and consists of six districts, namely Sea Tower District, Blonrich District, Steep District, Crowded Side District, East Road District, and Branpton District. The middle class lives near Upper City's esteemed Blonrich District, while the East Road District, near the connection to Outer City Stone Lizard Gate, is more diverse, home to lively bars and affordable inns. Sea Tower District hosts the Flaming Fist Mercenary Group's base, with the mercenary group's headquarters, Bodlan Sea Tower, on the largest rocky offshore island. Branpton and the Steep Districts are relatively worn out, serving as residential communities for sailors and laborers. Outer City stretches along the Chongsar River, with temporary buildings and slums. Its landmark is a stone bridge spanning the Chongsar River—Flying Dragon Crossroad—housing many vendors. The bridge is widened with wooden planks, supporting additional structures. Here, law and order ceases to exist. Even the Flaming Fist's protection is limited, attracting displaced poor people or criminals.

The murky sewer vault covered in green moss reflects an eerie glow under dim phosphorescent lanterns. The turbid wastewater seeps over boot soles, each step echoing a sticky "gurgle." Purple-black mucus seeps from wall cracks, merging like veins towards a drainage opening—a signature neural corrosive compound unique to the Spirit Sucking Monster Nest. Inhaling it causes auditory hallucinations, like countless tiny tendrils wriggling in ear canals. Suddenly, a misplaced crackle from a broken cast iron pipe suggests something twisting through a narrow space. An enthralling creature bursts from the water, veiled in decayed matter, its octopus-like head's tendrils vibrating rapidly, releasing a visible purple Mind Shock Wave. Helmets of leading guards cave in, eyeballs exploding into blood mist under intense cranial pressure. A second falls silent before tendrils pierce the ear canal, nerve spines withdrawing like marionette strings. The sole surviving guard stumbles backward, the gun's errant boom all but drowned out by the enthralling creature's collective subfrequency shrieks.

These monsters are evidently skilled in tactics. Two decoy entities whip tendrils against the water, raising a corrosive liquid-laden mist veiling sight. A third descends from the ceiling, suction cups cementing to a guard's skull, tendril precision-piercing the foramen magnum—not a killing blow, but forcing the captive to turn like a puppet, trembling hands reloading a comrade's firearm. Meanwhile, a fourth enthralling creature uses bony knuckle blades to slice open a fallen guard's chest, extracting a warm liver to consume, yellow digestive fluid dripped from its jaw, corroding the ground to emit thin wisps of green smoke.

Just as three patrol guards raised their lanterns, the wastewater exploded! Four enthrallers

The parasites have not entirely perished. A guardsman's remains abruptly twitch and rise, a translucent tendril of an enthralling larvae emerges from the neck wound, while his pupils dilate to a clouded milky white. Through a non-human synthetic voice, he grasps a dagger, stabbing at what used to be his comrade, croaking, "Skull."

As the final gunshot echoes and fades, the sewer returns to dead silence. The only remains are the floating, torn uniforms and the nerve-corroding fungal mass, still pulsing. In the mental network of the master brain, these coordinates of new husks coalesce into a string of cold purple light, converging into the economic lifeline cradled by the crescent moon that is Bod Gate's underworld silhouetted in vast pulsing shadows.