Chapter 165: Chapter 163: Ghost Ship
A vast amount of magic flashed on the fourth floor of the lighthouse, destroying demon after demon.
Yet Hilia still failed to enter the fourth floor.
The demons on the fourth floor seemed endless, no matter how many were killed, more would appear, as if as long as they didn’t enter the fourth floor, the demons would reset and refresh automatically.
This situation left Hilia and the others with no option but to keep eliminating them wave after wave.
With stubborn determination, they even wanted to know just how many demons were on the fourth floor.
Meanwhile, Rose was already standing by the window on the fourth floor, gazing out at the sea.
The sea was shrouded in a white mist, obscuring the distant scenery, despite the bright sun overhead.
The periphery of the Lost Lighthouse, the Golden Coast, was divided into countless subspaces, but the lighthouse itself was unique.
Besides the lighthouse, there was one other thing that was unique—
Rose looked pensively at the distant ship, which was slowly approaching the coast.
"A ghost ship? It doesn’t look like it appeared randomly, seems like it rushed out upon seeing someone enter the lighthouse."
Indeed, the ghost ship that Rose saw was an event tied to the existence of the Lost Lighthouse—
The ghost ship.
Due to Hilia and the others progressing rather quickly, they stayed on the Golden Coast for only a day and a half, missing the appearance of the ghost ship.
Now, after they attacked the lighthouse itself, the ghost ship finally appeared, making up for their missed sight.
As the ghost ship appeared, everything around slowly dimmed.
The distant sound of a melodious ship’s horn reached them, and Rose saw the decayed sailors on the ancient ship raising rotten oars toward the lighthouse.
With each stroke of the oars, the sky grew a shade darker.
Even mercenaries and students exploring the periphery noticed the change in the sky.
Experienced individuals immediately knew what was happening.
"It’s the ghost ship!"
"The ghost ship is here!"
"Retreat!"
Many seasoned mercenaries, realizing the situation, promptly and decisively ran off.
Only the students from the Divine Magic Academy had no clue what was happening, continuing to attack the perimeter demons.
Inside the lighthouse, Hilia and the others also noticed the change in the sky.
They went to the third floor’s window to look outside and saw the ghost ship appearing faintly in the distance, their expressions shifting.
"For the ghost ship to appear now, it’s troublesome." Benovia frowned.
Encore asked, "What impact does the ghost ship have?"
Doris said, "There are only rumors about the lighthouse’s ghost ship, saying that after it appears, the entire sky darkens and demons are strengthened."
Benovia nodded, "Yes, but if not in the ghost ship’s area, the empowerment is not as intense as nighttime, whereas near the ship’s docking area, the demon empowerment surpasses that of night."
Hilia closely examined the ghost ship’s route and couldn’t help but say, "Feels like this ghost ship is headed straight for us."
"Indeed, it’s headed straight for you." Rose descended from the upper floor and said, "The ghost ship is about an hour away from docking; you need to hurry and at least push through the fourth floor. Only by dealing with the endless demons on the fourth floor can you have the energy to face the ghost ship; otherwise, the dense pollution brought by the ghost ship will drive the demons mad, making it impossible for you to break through the fourth floor."
Hilia was momentarily stunned and then conveyed Rose’s words.
Upon hearing what Hilia said, Benovia asked, "Is the demons on the fourth floor truly endless?"
"No, it only appears endless. The array is speeding up demon reconstruction... wait!"
While relaying Rose’s words, Hilia suddenly had a flash of insight, "I remember that pollution needs a medium to coalesce into demons; these are materials containing magic power, spiritual objects. If we bring down the materials dropped by the slain demons during the assault, wouldn’t that reduce the number of demons?"
Rose smiled slightly, "Not that stupid, the appearance of the ghost ship is aimed at bringing a large amount of demonic qi pollution, ensuring the fourth floor’s demon generation surpasses the number you kill, thereby draining your strength."
Having received Rose’s compliment, Hilia’s lips curved into a smile, "No time to waste, let’s attack again!"
The change in strategy made the number of demons on the fourth floor visibly decrease.
The lighthouse’s tower master noticed this and immediately responded—
Demons on the fourth floor were empowered, starting to go berserk. Whenever a magic puppet appeared, countless demons immediately attacked.
Fortunately, there were plenty of scrolls this time, and their extensive use forced the magic puppets to secure a foothold for everyone on the fourth floor, gradually pushing forward.
The lighthouse was large, but not large enough to compare to the Golden Coast; it had a limit to the number of demons it could hold.
When the ghost ship was about to dock, Hilia and her group successfully seized control of the fourth floor.
A resonating ship’s horn sounded beneath the lighthouse, Hilia looked down to see the decayed sailors.
Those sailors lifted their heads, their hollow eyes staring at them.
A strong pressure emanated from them.
"These sailors seem to have combat strength close to that of the Sea Siren, this is troublesome." Hilia frowned.
Phil said, "Hold off, I’ll first purify the fourth floor’s pollution before proceeding, the pollution here is still attempting to reconstruct demons."
Benovia looked at Phil, "Can you handle it? Purifying the fourth floor... will you still be able to continue?"
Phil didn’t answer this question, as she wasn’t sure herself, only saying, "I’ll give it a try."
Holy light emerged from her, and Benovia, Doris, and Encore guarded her, offering protection.
Hilia then approached the wall, inspecting runes faintly appearing within the stone.
Rose’s voice entered her mind: "Do as I say, use the lighthouse’s runes to alter the rules of the entire ruin."
Hilia grew more excited: "Alter the rules of the ruin? Are you lifting the Tier Four restrictions?"
"No, reinforcing the restrictions."
"?"
Hilia was confused.
"Why reinforce the restrictions?"
Rose smiled faintly: "To limit the ’friend’ at the top of the tower, it cannot be taken by anyone else."
Hilia realized.
So Master Rose intends to target the tower master, then it’s settled.
Under Rose’s guidance, Hilia began interacting with the lighthouse’s runes, following Rose’s instructions to slowly modify the runes.
The ghost ship docked beneath the lighthouse, but the sailors didn’t disembark, merely looked up, and the periodic sound of the ship’s horn added pressure to Hilia and the others.
Their magic puppets were arranged at the entrances to the fourth, third, and fifth floors to stand guard, preventing demons from upstairs or downstairs from interrupting their actions.
Until Phil opened her eyes.
But at that very moment, an unexpected event occurred.
Phil’s face suddenly turned red, and she violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.
