Ruins
"Where is this place?" Helen asked as she touched the solid metallic walls in the surroundings. They had a silver-white lustre, making them look like a product of science fiction.
"It seems like it is a pocket dimension made by an arcanist, though it's quite small…" Leylin closed his eyes, and his astounding senses spread out. They allowed him to feel the undulations connecting the dimension.
"This place is already on the verge of disappearing. It was always sealed, but now that we've activated the dimension we've started the countdown to its demise." Leylin had an interest in this spatial overlay technique that sprung from the depths of his heart.
These preparations showed that once the Magi who comprehended laws showed them the path, they'd combined those experiences with advanced technology to do amazing things.
"What a pity…" There was a trace of regret in Leylin's eyes. The pocket dimension was incredibly tiny and only as large as two football fields. It was on the verge of being destroyed now, so it held no value.
If not for that, were this pocket dimension to be revealed all wizarding Legends would try their utmost to obtain it. A wizard tower constructed atop this place would make for a covert and stable den,
Once they became a god, this pocket dimension could even be transformed into a divine realm! Of course, with the current state of the plane, it was impossible to remodel it.
"A pocket dimension? Destroyed by this sort of spatial storm?" Helen shivered. A dimensional storm caused by destruction of space was something even Legends weren't guaranteed to survive.
"Mm! But we should still have three hourglasses' worth of time…" Leylin snapped his fingers, and light flashed as an Endurance spell enveloped him. The environment in the pocked dimension would not be the same as in the prime material plane, possibly more extreme.
Of course, this place shouldn't have been that way given that it was prepared by an arcanist, but Leylin liked to be ready just in case. After seeing what Leylin had done, Helen suddenly came to a realisation and did the same, adding another layer of protection.
*Rumble!* The silvery metallic door was pushed open to reveal rooms that were arranged like in a honeycomb. The floor was spotless, and even one's image could be reflected in it.
"That's all the information I have. How about you?" Leylin looked at Helen behind him.
"I only managed to see some fragments left behind in my ancestor's notebook…" Helen's smiled wryly.
"Looks like we can only check them one by one…" Leylin glanced at the flickering chandelier, "The core energy is still working, so there might be some traps left behind by the arcanists. Be careful!"
While it was possible for arcanist inheritances to be here, Leylin wasn't sure if arcanists shared the eccentricities of wizards.
"Don't worry, my lord!" Helen nodded, her slender figure disappearing into the passageway.
'Looks like she's going to rely on luck to get her through…' Leylin nodded before shaking his head, and then he placed his hands behind his back and entered a random room. The two of them went their separate ways…
Inside one of the secret labs in the arcanist's pocket dimension, a light blue screen brightened to show images of Leylin and Helen. Lines of red text streaked across it.
"Beep! Invaders discovered. Activating rank 1 defensive measures."
"Arcane spell elemental reserves 1.09%! Unable to activate… Legendary Golem, Dimensional Banishing Spell Formation scarce. Implementing plan B…"
"Scanning of alchemic golem complete, is 34.17% intact. Beginning charging."
"Charging complete. Starting preparatory defensive mechanism number 0331."
After the lines of text appeared, a door that had been closed for a very long time opened up ftom one of the rooms, and an alchemic golem that was almost three metres tall walked out.
"Number 2133 awaits commands. Received mission, beginning task." Blood red light brightened in its eyes, and a screen appeared with a projection of Helen. Sounds like the cracking of knuckles rang out, and the golem charged in her direction.
*Rumble! Rumble!* Leylin was reading a book, and the slight vibrations caught his attention.
"Hm?" He put down the incomplete draft in his hand, and thought hard, 'Looks like the defensive mechanism of the laboratories aren't completely damaged. That makes things much easier…'
Besides deducing the existence of arcanists, Leylin knew nothing about the ruins. With the time limit till this place would break down, he would be unable to take too many things. However, as long as there was an intellectual core or tower genie, the laboratory would be the most valuable region.
Setting aside the items in his hands, Leylin headed in the direction of the vibrations.
...
"Leylin, save me!" Running for her life, Helen saw Leylin walking over and brightened up. She cut a sorry figure.
There was a beast skin scroll in her hands, with the energy undulations of high-grade magic on it. This wasn't an enchanted item, the energy was similar to those of magic artifacts from the Magus World!
With the way Helen refused to let go of it, this had to be something good. Still, Leylin as he was now thought nothing of it.
*Thud! Thud!* At this moment, the alchemic golem that had been pursuing her appeared before Leylin's eyes. It was like an armoured knight from the medieval ages, though there were two small barrels on its shoulders that looked to be a fusion of magic and science.
"Beep! Discovered primary target, annihilating…" After seeing Leylin, its eyes emanated a terrifying crimson luster.
"Beginning charging of miniature magic honing cannon!" A layer of terrifying energy undulations condensed within the barrel on its shoulders, causing Leylin to feel a slight sense of danger.
"This is completely different from the techniques used before." Leylin looked interested, and he moved abruptly.
A rumble sounded out as the miniature cannon fired, hot light causing even the metallic groudn to show signs of melting.
*Pu!* Leylin was struck by those bright rays of light, but then turned into dark shadows and exploded.
'It's a high-grade illusion!' Helen hid aside. A battle of this level was something she had no say in, 'But as long as we hold on for some time, Lord Tiff who's guarding us on top should be able to come down. With his legendary strength…'
Helen was still making calculations as she grasped the scroll tightly. However, she then gaped in shock.
"After tens of thousands of years, it's still preserved to this extent. Not bad!" Lights flashed, and Leylin appeared behind the alchemic golem, noting the damaged armour, adamantine runes and other lines.
"A pity though… The energy here is about to be completely consumed. Even legendary teams can't come in…" The passage of time was the most terrifying of attacks. With its tempering and developments, even the stup of arcanists would leave holes behind.
"A completely different tower genie from the World of Gods and the structure of this intellectual core… They're all like decorative items in front of me…" Leylin sighed. With some light at his finger, he pressed the puppet.
[Beep! Attack beginning. Target interface scanned, searching database… Cutting off information] The A.I. Chip's robotic voice soudned.
Arcanists were mostly born of Magi, so of course they would've used or improved upon the ideas of many Magi. They were like kids playing house to Leylin, especially with the help of the A.I. Chip. Connected with the puppet, Leylin's soul immediately reached the core control room through the network in the pocket dimension.
At this moment, a piercing giant red font filled the screen in the hidden room. "Warning! Warning!"
"External information attempting to rewrite core authorisations. Rejecting, activating defensive wall…"
"Activation of defensive wall failed. Beginning self-destruction. Countdown: 3, 2, … Beep! Core authorisations modified. Leylin Faulen is now the absolute master. Self-destruction halted."
"Wha- What's going on?" From Helen's perspective, what just happened was like a magical show. Once Leylin made contact with the alchemic golem, the entire pocket dimension had begun to tremble, and the lights had flickered unsteadily. Huge blue arcs of lightning had sparked out, making it seem like the end of the world had come.
A moment later, however, everything returned to normal.
"Come." With authority over the laboratory's core, Leylin now had a different aura on him that compelled Helen further. She was astonished as he brought her all the way to the core of the laboratory, as if this was a familiar route.
Be it the password-locked door or any other hindrance, all obstacles were easily taken care of in his hands. It was like he was the owner here.
"Identity verified. Welcome, master!" A door with a statue of an angel on the left and one of a devil on the right opened with a rumble. Helen followed Leylin inside, watching the door with fear.
'He passed through a legendary curse so easily?' This ease was unbelievable, and it made Helen realise that Leylin had an increasing number of secrets to him.
Arcanist
'Who on earth is he? He's just a minor noble of Silverymoon City on the surface, but secretly he possesses the power of a Legend. Besides, he seems to be very familiar with this place… So why did he lie to me earlier?' Helen was completely puzzled, but she carefully hid all her thoughts. After all, Leylin now held the right of life and death over her.
The core of the control room was unexpectedly small, and it only had an area of 5 or 6 square metres. At the centre was a strange hexagonal prism with all sorts of strange screens next to it. Some of them had already lost their glow or were filled with a grayscale static, while others were working.
"Open!" The outer shell of the hexagonal prism opened with Leylin's command, revealing a blue crystal structure within.
"This is…" Helen looked at the splendid and magnificent blue crystal which sparkled beautifully, it was like she had been bewitched.
"This core port controls half of the laboratory and is also a communication terminal. Many resources can be downloaded here," Leylin said lightly, unconcerned as to whether Helen understood him. He pressed his palm to the surface of the blue crystal.
[Beep! Spiritual force interface established.] In a split second, Leylin seemed to have become a demigod, and nothing in the pocket dimension could be hidden from him anymore.
'Weapons, live specimen libraries, database!' Various images and words appeared before him, and it was only at that moment that Leylin realised how fortunate he was to grasp it all.
'Its energy reserves haven't even reached 2%, and its powerful weapons cannot be activated at all. The magic and spell formations are also damaged, and half of the golems have been destroyed. It looks like I can only send out one or two defective items…' Leylin sighed. He believed that this pocket dimension would have been able to hinder even high-ranked Legends at its peak. Now however…
Of course, it would have been very difficult to seize control of the entire core back then. Whether it was a legendary wizard, thief, or even an elf, they would not be able to attack the lab's intelligence core through the communication terminal. After all, they were on completely different planes.
However, Leylin was different. He was very familiar with this type of structure in the ilk of those made by Magi, and the A.I. Chip supporting him had even more knowledge reserves. It was purely because of this reason that he managed to seize the entire core unharmed.
[Beep! Laboratory's power source reserve has reached its critical point, and is unable to absorb more energy from the abyss. Time before collapse: 1h 13min.]The A.I. Chip displayed yet another message in front of Leylin.
'As expected, the demiplane has deteriorated with age and is about to collapse. Is it too late to stop it? If it's like this, then the most valuable thing here is…' Leylin's eyes were filled with regret at first, but then his expression brightened considerably.
'A.I. Chip, record all the information from the terminal.'
[Beep! Mission established, initiating download program.] The A.I. Chip executed Leylin's task immediately. The magnificent light shining from the hexagonal prism was projected onto the walls all around him, as well as onto all the screens.
Leylin was bathed in its light, and a multitude of data and characters flashed across his eyes. The most important bits about the arcane arts and spell models, various alchemic experiments, research, improved meditation techniques, and anatomical records were presented to him. There were also diaries and other useless news from the terminal, and that too was fully copied by the A.I. Chip.
The extensive library of data was transferred in a split second. Compared to this, the tiny little bit of information Helen had almost given her life for to obtain was worth nothing.
[Beep! Information about the arcanist profession has been collated, and overlaps with the host's wizardry. Combine?]
"Yes," Leylin replied without the slightest hesitation. Afterwards, his aura began to change. An arcane flame began to burn, and powerful force poured into his sea of consciousness and began to remodel and process his profession. Leylin soon saw his status change from that of a wizard into that of an arcanist.
*Snap!* Leylin almost blacked out at the acute pain that came from his very soul. He felt his connection with the Weave instantly break off.
Fortunately, this severed state lasted only a moment before it reconnected once again. However, the connection was now somewhat different. In this split second, there seemed to be a pair of golden eyes focused on him. However, it was immediately deceived by Leylin's grasp of the first 4 layers of the Weave.
The A.I. Chip's reminders continued to ring out.
[Beep! Host has become an arcanist. Profession changed.] [Beep! The host has gained arcane specialties: Energy Detection, Amplification.]
There was a detailed description beneath each of the specialties.
[Arcane Energy Detection: Arcanists are able to supercede the Weave's restrictions and directly perceive the arcane energy in the environment, drawing it in to form arcane spells.] [Arcane Amplification: Arcane energy is amplified by 10-20% when an arcanist casts a spell.] [Beep! Host's spiritual force has broken through, Spirit +1. Host has advanced to become a rank 15 arcanist.] Leylin's mind suddenly jolted, and afterwards his spiritual force directly made contact with the 7th rank of the Weave.
Looking at the Weave from an arcanist's perspective gave him a completely different feeling. The feeling of jumping out and watching the Weave from afar increased the speed at which the A.I. Chip analysed the Weave.
Leylin's stats had also changed.
[Leylin Faulen, Age: 21, Race: Human, Rank 15 Arcanist. Strength: 13, Agility: 11, Vitality: 12, Spirit: 15, Arcane Energy: 150, Status: Healthy, Feats: Sturdy, Erudite, Elementary Perfect Body, Specialities: Arcane Energy Detection, Arcane Amplification.]
'As expected, the greatest benefit of becoming an arcanist is to break away from the Weave's method of performing magic. Additionally, arcane energy has replaced my spell slots,' Leylin nodded. Moreover, his separation from the weave affected only that aspect. This meant that Leylin could now also prepare rank 7 spell slots, and wait to use them the next day.
Naturally, due to the restrictions of rank, he only had 1 rank 7 spell slot.
'Using arcane energy to cast arcane spells would perhaps consume more energy than using the Weave to instantly cast low-ranked spells. However, it will use up fewer spell slots,' Leylin stroked his chin in thought. After fully analysing rank 0 to rank 3 of the Weave, he could instantly cast low-ranked spells. Overwhelming his opponent with a torrential number of spells had always been his killing move, but it was of course established within the authority of the Weave. It was equivalent to stealing Mystra's power for himself.
If he only used arcane spells, then he wouldn't have this benefit anymore. However, the greatest benefit of being an arcanist was that he could retain wizard spell models instead of forgetting them, and at the same time he could use the Weave!
'As a result, I'm now outside the system but I can still enjoy the system's benefits. Just using its power without any of the obligations, it's so straightforward…' Leylin sighed, 'It's a pity that if more people like me are born, then the Weave would fall apart.'
"You've broken through?" Although Leylin had only taken an instant to advance, Helen distinctly felt that something was different.
"Mm, I have," Leylin smiled. What he had gained today couldn't just be described as a breakthrough though.
'I'm now an arcanist, and I have a great number of arcane arts with me. My improvement from now will be rapid. As a rank 15 Professional wizard, I'm of the highest class…' Leylin was turning the idea over in his mind. He was a genius who had advanced to become a high-ranked wizard at the tender age of 21. Apart from the gods' chosen or demigods, he was near the peak of the prime material plane.
"This place is very dangerous, it's best that we leave as quickly as possible," Leylin furrowed his brows and took Helen away from the core database.
The trip had gone fairly smoothly, and he had obtained resources from the arcanists as well as many arcane arts. It all saved him a lot of effort, but he hadn't accomplished his most important goal yet; he didn't get the inheritance of those Magi who had comprehended laws!
The A.I. Chip hadn't found anything related to such Magi amongst all the resources it had scanned, and it filled Leylin's heart with disappointment. The direction and experiences of the ancients would have been of great help to him.
'It's a matter of course. Not every arcanist can receive the instruction of a being like the Distorted Shadow, and even if he left an inheritance it wouldn't be here…' Leylin comforted himself, 'The profits this time are sufficient. Just what the A.I. Chip has stored in its database would be enough to fetch an extremely high price.'
"Let's hurry up, there isn't much time before the pocket dimension collapses…" Leylin suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his head in astonishment. He discovered that Helen had disappeared into thin air without his notice.
'Impossible! I've always paid attention to my back, and I even have an arcane mark on her. How can the A.I. Chip's sweeps not discover her?'
'A.I. Chip! Sweep the entire laboratory and find Helen!' Leylin immediately ordered. He had seized the core authority in this place, and even if most of the equipment was depleted or damaged a basic search was still possible.
Very quickly, the results were sent back to him. However, Leylin's expression turned even more unsightly at the information.
'Nothing! There isn't a single trace left of her, and she didn't even leave a corpse. It looks like she just disappeared suddenly…' He had not felt such a powerful sense of déjà vu for a very long time.
Distortion
"Is this the effect of a high-ranked Magus' radiation?" Leylin murmured, "To achieve this even after thousands of years, only someone at rank 7 or above could do such a thing…"
Leylin stood by himself in the empty and desolate passage, slowly shutting his eyes. He slowly found traces of energy from a completely different world.
"The power of distortion! As expected, it's Distorted Shadow… Over there!" Leylin's eyes were filled with excitement as he suddenly advanced in another direction. He had sensed a clue to the inheritance of an ancient Magus who had comprehended laws!
Such an incredibly precious treasure was enough for him to brave the risks that surely lay ahead.
'The ancient Distorted Shadow's path of laws should deal with space or distortion, or something related to that. No wonder he could make so many dimensions overlap…' As he ran, Leylin instantly thought of the the fold in space he had encountered just before, 'Legend states that Distorted Shadow was at least a rank 8 Magus, and he was a peak rank 8 who had perfected his own path!'
*Bang!* He followed his instincts to a laboratory, and a strong gust hit his face when he opened the door.
Arcane Missile! Leylin's fingers shot out a more powerful version of Magic Missile. The thing was full of arcane energy, and it smashed the metal gears that were wrapped within the strong wind to the ground, leaving behind dents in it.
"This place…" he looked around him. The room was modelled like a giant workshop, with many metal lathes and machine arms tidying and moving things back and forth. Some of the machines had a layer of green rust on them.
'Is this some golem processing workshop?' Leylin followed his instincts and found a trace of distortion left behind.
"Mister Leylin, save me!" Just at this moment, Leylin suddenly turned his head and he heard Helen's voice came from his side.
"Helen?" He suddenly shouted, and several layers of protective light glowed on his body.
"Save me…" The only reply he received was her weeping.
Leylin gritted his teeth and walked towards the direction of her wails. He passed through a tall fireplace, and saw the back of a silhouette that seemed like Helen sitting in the darkness and crying. "I… I can't get up…"
"Mm?" It was only then that Leylin discovered that the originally smooth floor had become spongy. There were several black hands spouting out of it, holding firmly onto Helen's ankles.
A faint black shimmered in Leylin's pupils as they widened, and he called out in the ancient Byron language. "Malicious intent? Get lost!"
"Sss…" His soul essence had already transformed into a phantom Targaryen, and it suddenly began to roar.
*Puff! Puff!* The sound reverberated in the room, and those enormous black hands suddenly swelled as sarcomas boiled out from under their skin. These tumours grew larger and larger until one could see veins within before finally exploding.
"Ah!" Helen let out a blood-curdling shriek. The giant black hands had disappeared, but a layer of skin on her ankle had been torn off as well, leaving behind a horribly infected wound. The black pus seemed to have great corrosive ability, and it ate away half of Helen's clothes in an instant.
*Sss!* Great quantities of the black rain landed on the metal surfaces nearby, corroding everything it touched.
Cure Moderate Wounds! Leylin immediately cast a healing spell and raced to Helen's side, "Are you alright?"
"I'm… I'm alright…" Helen sluggishly turned her head, and Leylin's eyes narrowed. What appeared before Leylin was a strangely distorted face. Her facial features were screwed into incorrect positions, and it was full of distorted veins and scars. It was more disgusting than the most disgusting monstrosity!
"What on earth are you?" Leylin immediately moved away from it, watching this freakish monster who was undulating Helen's soul force.
"Sir Leylin, it's… It's me, Helen…" The monster let out a panicked voice, but its distorted face wore a malevolent expression. The huge mouth on its forehead opened, revealing sharp yellow teeth and a barbed green tongue.
'It looks like Distorted Shadow never had the intention of leaving an inheritance behind. Perhaps he had only come here and left an evil spiritual parasite. Now that the pocket dimension is about to collapse, the evil intent has awakened…' Leylin was startled as he thought of this possibility.
An evil intent left behind by an ancient rank 8 Magus would put him in grave danger, and could even kill him.
Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!
Scorching Ray! Scorching Ray! Scorching Ray!
Leylin launched his killing move in this life or death situation. Many rank 2 and 3 fire spells combined to form a meteor shower from the sky.
"Spell Torrent!" The violent surging blaze submerged the monster in its flames. The effect of many low-ranked spells piled up on top of each other to reach near-legendary power.
*Bang!* The blazing fire melted the surrounding lathes and mechanical arms considerably, forming white-hot molten iron that slowly pooled to form a stream on the ground.
After the torrent of spells, Leylin saw a bare passage appear before him. The monster had already disappeared without a trace, and seemed to have been burnt to ashes.
The molten iron was red through and through now, making the black material look even more unsightly. It hadn't been corroded, instead bobbing up and down unsteadily.
"That's the beast skin scroll Helen had before" Leylin was suddenly alarmed, and a stony grey hand emerged from the scroll. The black hide was stained with blood, but it did not dissolve in the molten iron. This made a strange expression appear on Leylin's face.
"Leylin! Save me…" As the voice sounded, the hand suddenly broke through Leylin's spell defences. A power of distortion struck Leylin's shoulder.
*Crash!* Whether it was his robe or armour, or even his body's own defences, everything was torn apart like paper by this hand.
"Damn it!" Leylin's expression grew fierce, "Fuck off!" The Targaryen phantom felt the danger as well, and its vertical eyes narrowed. A formidable devouring power spread into the surroundings.
Blink! Leylin's silhouette flickered and he arrived outside the workshop. He didn't even bother looking back at the monster within as he broke out into a run. Several Haste spells flashed on his body as he dashed out of the exit.
Although Leylin would take risks to obtain a rank 8 Magus' inheritance, he definitely wouldn't court death for it. The moment he discovered that the danger here far exceeded the benefits he could gain, he made the prompt decision to leave.
Chirps and honks sounded as a twisted laughter rang out from behind him. He felt a terrifying force pursuing him as the entire passage began to distort, like a rag being twisted to pieces.
Freeze! The torrent of spells appeared once more, and many Freeze and Create Water spells formed a mountain of ice behind him. The enormous ice mountain immediately blocked off the entire passage, and stopped the terrifying creature's pursuit. Still, crack after crack formed on it without end.
Leylin seized the chance to suddenly rush to the exit, throwing himself outside. Furry green claws distorted as they swiped at Leylin's back. Thankfully, he'd managed to make it out in that instant and they only managed to cut the corner of his clothes.
A loud rumble suddenly sounded. Leylin immediately jumped out of the secret entrance, and soon after it was submerged in a silver storm. The pocket dimension had already begun to collapse, and many disasters had arisen within.
"Young master!" Tiff walked over to him with a worried expression.
"I'm alright, I only ran into a storm in the plane. I was rather lucky." Leylin smiled, a healing glow already spreading across his shoulder.
"Lord Leylin?!" He heard a woman's voice and trembled at the sound of it.
He turned his head rather stiffly and was greeted by the sight of Helen! Helen stood there, hale and hearty, with a concerned expression on her face.
"What? Weren't you still in there?" Leylin's eyes narrowed.
"What?" Helen's astonished expression deepened, "You had me leave first after we exited the core control room, my Lord. You said you wanted to continue exploring alone…"
"I indeed saw Miss Helen arrive first!" Tiff testified for her.
'Then the Helen I saw earlier, who was it… It even distorted my senses…'
"Then this thing? Do you recognise it?" A black blood-stained scroll made of beast skin appeared in Leylin's palm.
He had used various methods to verify that Helen was really made of flesh and blood. The soul undulations were the same, and she was not disguised by some evil intent.
"My scroll…" Helen exclaimed, touching the bag of holding at her hip. Her face slowly paled, "Gone! It's gone! I had it in my bag of holding…"
'Ha… As expected of the Distorted Shadow!' Leylin sighed deeply, 'Having already grasped the concepts of distortion, space, and time, he even managed to distort my senses?'
"Young master, is there an enemy?" Tiff now realised that something was wrong. He stood on alert next to Leylin, his eyes fixed on Helen. If she made the slightest wrong move, he would kill her where she stood.
"It's nothing… Just a mishap," Leylin waved his hand. He had experienced far stranger things than this in the Magus World, and developed some immunity to this sort of thing.
Dying in the Line of Duty
This was a peak rank 8 Magus with the power to twist time and change the future! The thought of himself reaching that realm left Leylin with a sense of longing.
"Whatever it is… This operation ended well. Let's talk after leaving this place…" Leylin swept his eyes across the information in the A.I. Chip. The plethora of data about arcanists in there was real.
Leylin's complexion only improved after they left the dragon's cave, once he breathed in the chilly air that smelt of nature.
'While the pocket dimension crumbled completely, there's a possibility of something being left behind. I shouldn't get too involved with this sort of thing before this body rivals my main one in power…'
There was fear in Leylin's heart, 'If the Distorted Shadow truly had malicious intent towards me, that one streak of intent would be enough for me to die there. So why did he let me off at the end, and even give me this scroll?'
Leylin glanced at the black scroll in his hands and then at Helen, who clearly kept peeking in his direction with a terrified expression.
"Do you know more about this thing?"
"No, I don't! I found out from an ancestor that the Distorted Shadow had some manuscript in one of the rooms in the ruins that recorded some information about arcanists…" Under Leylin's gaze, she trembled as she spoke the truth.
"I'm afraid this isn't what you were looking for, and it's very dangerous. Just leave it with me for now…" Leylin did not seem to have any plans of returning the scroll. The Distorted Shadow had too many ways to mess with a little rank 11 wizard. He could have distorted her memories and implanted a fake, which were all easy tasks.
"Alright, my Lord!" Helen felt a little discontent with his decision, but still agreed. After all, what had happened had truly scared her.
Leylin looked towards this half-elf wizard and suddenly exclaimed, "Mm! I'll compensate you based on an agreement. Let's say the way for arcanists to rank up and a portion of an arcane spell model."
"Tell me what you want." Helen had developed a very good understanding of Leylin over this period of time. He would never do anything that would not benefit him. Of course, once an agreement was reached, he would treat all equally.
"Vow me your loyalty for a hundred years. Swear it upon your soul and with the Styx as the witness." Leylin spoke nonchalantly, watching the conflict in Helen's eyes.
She was undoubtedly clever, though. "Alright." After struggling over the decision for some time, she agreed and immediately swore to it.
'Mm, her soul is real, so she should be the real Helen…' Leylin nodded inwardly. The vow of a wizard's soul when resonating with the river Styx was something binding, and it could not be faked.
As he was now, a rank 11 wizard was dispensable to Leylin. The key point was the verification and authentication he obtained from the vow. This Helen truly seemed to be original, though her emotions were all over the place.
'Then… what did Distorted Shadow want to tell me? Did he manage to survive the dusk of the gods, or did he fall completely? No, with his strength he'd leave some soul fragments behind if he died. They would await resurrection for a long time…' At this thought, Leylin's expression grew sombre once again.
...
After killing the red dragon and exploring the ruins, there was no point in lingering on the Nether Mountains. Leylin hence ordered that they return. The group, which had dropped to around seven hundred in number, brought with them the immense glory and wealth of killing a dragon.
Rafiniya, however, looked sullen. It seemed that after like she would part ways after they left the Nether Mountains.
'"Slaying the dragon and exploring the ruins took less than ten days. The outside world must be in chaos now, no?' Leylin's thoughts were filled with delight at this disaster. He didn't care about the female knight's mood. Such was reality.
'What's going on? Why have they imposed this level of martial law?' After leaving the mountains, Rafiniya could obviously tell that something was off. Many of the surrounding villages had been completely abandoned, and there were sometimes some who were very guarded, extremely alert against strangers.
'Could the werecreatures have invaded again? Or have the orcs launched a huge attack?' Rafiniya quickly came up with two possibilities, beginning to get anxious, 'Leylin's explorations will definitely have him accused of being a deserter…'
The female knight suddenly begun to get worried, but then she shook her head, 'A sly person like him must have long since prepared an escape route. Even without that, why do I have to worry about him?'
At this moment, a scout ran over. "Report! A friendly force has launched a signal up ahead!"
"Mm, launch the signal. We'll go over!" Leylin nodded calmly, knowing who was coming.
In the dark forest, there were no other people besides him. As expected, after the scout sent the message, dust could be seen flying in the distance, and a human figure was like a black falcon swooping in from the sky.
"Leylin Faulen!" Cassley's neck bulged from his immense fury as he arrived in front of Leylin.
"Why did you leave your battle zone? Also… where's Malfoy?" After seeing the group of over 700 people behind Leylin, Cassley froze a little, but that was then drowned out by his anger.
"Did you know that because you neglected your job, I had to deal with the werecreature attacks and give up on helping Silverymoon?"
"Stop! Wait! I still don't know what's going on. Saving Silverymoon? Why?" Rafiniya felt a little dizzy.
"You don't know yet? What a terrible excuse. Have you all been hiding in the woods in the past few days?"
Cassley had a mocking look on his expression, "The orc armies have already surrounded Silverymoon! While I, high-ranked wizard Cassley, was engaged in a bloody battle, your wretched new recruits dared to give up on the area they were supposed to be defend! You should all be hung!"
"Orcs surrounding the city?" Rafiniya staggered backwards, eyes full of disbelief. She was now completely disheartened, "You must have known that this would happen… Right?"
"Then… Why, mighty high-ranked wizard Cassley, did you not bring your own troops, and the volunteer army belonging to nobility and help them?" Leylin did not bother himself with Rafiniya and instead looked towards Cassley, ridiculing him.
"That's because I need to guard against surprise attacks by the werecreatures!"
Cassley glanced at Leylin haughtily, "While you neglected your duties and thus committed a crime, I won't pursue this. Baron Leylin, in my capacity as the chief officer of the northern lands, I command you provide support to Silverymoon now. Immediately!"
Till this point, Cassley still had no plans to stop setting him up.
"Hehe…" Leylin looked straight at Cassley till he was almost exasperated, and then answered slowly, "Why…"
"Why? You mean you even have the gall to go against my orders? Are you forcing me to execute you right this instant?"
Cassley narrowed his eyes slightly. His strength as a high-ranked wizard was what he prided the most. His opponent was at most a rank 14, and even with his own troops and other men, he was nothing.
Furthermore, the documents that appointed him as the chief officer of the northern lands had been sent over through urgent channels. With his status now, it should be fine to kill a Baron, much less one that had committed the crime of neglecting his duties.
'Yes, killing a genius wizard myself seems to be a good idea! However, I have to wait first. When Andrew sends the troops, and I take over Leylin's army… Heh heh… They even have a great deal of rations, which is pretty good! In the northern lands right now, it's best to have both rations and men…'
A myriad of thoughts swirled in Cassley's mind, but before he could come up with another plan or decide if he should temporarily be nice to the other wizard, Leylin suddenly chuckled. "If you want to kill someone, do it. Why overthink it?"
"What… ugh…" Cassley suddenly felt an intense pain in his chest, and his body stiffened. He looked down and found that a black dagger had pierced through his chest.
"That's impossible… I have a high-ranked wizard armour and instantaneously casted Mishap! Enemies definitely won't be able to break through my defences in an instant, unless… Legend!" Cassley crumbled down, and what he saw last was Tiff's expressionless face.
"Trying to control me once the organisation collapses and using its might for that… Should I say you're stupid, or stupid?"
"You… killed him?" Rafiniya's voice was hoarse.
"No. Cassley died at the hands of werecreatures, on the line of duty!" Leylin laughed without the slightest of scruples.
"Pay attention! All on guard!" Leylin looked towards the friendly army that had finally arrived, and then shook his right hand with a sardonic smile.
...
The light of sunset looked like blood.
Andrew and a few nobles were respectfully speaking next to Leylin, "High-ranked wizard Cassley died at the hands of werecreatures. Our northern lands are really in a pinch…." After saying this, they could not help but wipe off the tears. What happened that afternoon had scared them stupid.
"Oh! Also, the clash this afternoon…" Leylin spoke a bit louder.
"That's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" Andrew immediately took the initiative to say this, astounded and fearful of Leylin's ruthlessness.
Scheme
"Since that's the case, could all of you please sign this report of battle merits? Don't forget to stamp it with your seal!" Leylin produced a document and waved it around, laughing sinisterly like a big bad wolf.
'We're already at this stage. Who would dare go against him?' Baron Andrew laughed wryly inside and signed it.
"Good!" After all the barons and officers present signed their names, Leylin was all smiles as he kept the document, changing his attitude entirely, "As the subordinate of officer Cassley, I do feel regretful and sad about what happened. Divide his team amongst yourselves as you see fit!"
After hearing this news, everyone's eyes brightened. The army that Cassley had brought with him was composed of a few nobles' personal troops along with those of Silverymoon. Just the regular soldiers, horses and rations were enough for them to go green with envy.
'After getting us to surrender, he's having us divide the ill-gotten gains amongst ourselves? How evil…' Baron Andrew sighed inside, but did not have the guts to voice his objection.
In reality, they were now prisoners of the sort. Leylin's personal troops had completely defeated their allies this afternoon. After all, his underlings were battle-forged high-grade Professionals. It would've been strange if they had't won.
Leylin didn't force them too much at that time, instead 'inviting' them to talk peace.
'After returning to the northern lands, we still will have to see how he decides to proceed…' Andrew tried to console himself.
...
"Have you finally gotten what you wanted?" Rafiniya glanced at Leylin, her gaze icy.
"You're talking about this?" Leylin lifted the joint declaration of the nobles and waved the document around, "No, this is just all in name. Essentially, with the chaos of war and there being even a question of whether the Silverymoon Alliance will still exist, who would care about the death of a wizard?"
Leylin wanted this in writing because it was better than nothing. Its presence would make a huge difference in any cases.
"Silverymoon Alliance not existing? Are you that pessimistic?" Rafiniya was rather astonished by Leylin's conclusion.
"That's how it is…" Leylin sighed, "The might of the Silverymoon Alliance already threatened the status of the human countries in the south. Mystra is facing all the orc gods practically alone.
Rafiniya paled at his simple analysis. There had been many who realised this in the past, but none had the courage to reveal it so clearly. Leylin was now breaking all pretense, revealing the naked truth to Rafiniya.
"You saw it in Silverymoon, didn't you? The queen only has control over the land of Silverymoon. The Silverymoon Alliance states might support her when things are going well, but now…" Rafiniya's heart dropped at Leylin's words. She'd long since known that this was how nobles acted.
"Since things have gotten this bad, let's go back to uphold the justice and peace I desire!" Rafiniya took a deep breath, eyes showing her emotional state.
"You… you'll help me, won't you?" The female knight had already guessed at the outcome, but still watched Leylin full of anticipation, hoping for a miracle.
"I'm sorry…" This girl was practically shining, the true model of a hero. It was a pity that Leylin would never do anything like like seeking his own death.
"Silverymoon has now been surrounded by the orc armies, and they even have several high-ranked Legends in charge. This level of strength…" Leylin presented his reasoning point by point, causing the light in rafiniya's eyes to dim. The Leylin in her memories and how he was right now were two completely different people.
"But… You are the hero of Silverymoon. At this point…" Rafiniya gave it one last try.
"Oh! Please don't call me that, 'Knight of Light'!" Leylin's obvious rejection caused Rafiniya to finally give up.
"Even knowing that this will take my life, I will not give up on my sense of justice. This is my path as a knight!" Rafiniya's voice resounded in the tent.
Watching her back as she left, Leylin stroked his chin and muttered to himself. "What conviction she has. It'll be difficult to make her fall…"
She planned on using her strength alone to turn the tide of the losing battle, to become a shining hero! When he was young before, in his previous life, Leylin had read many novels of that type. He'd thought them to be chock full of emotion and hot blood, but in the end only bitterly smiled at it.
Reality and imagination were two completely different things. Turning the tables under such terrible circumstances was something only possible in stories, and it was just an author trying to please the readers. In reality, such a thing had less than a hundred millionth of a chance of happening.
Such shining heroes who were full of fiery passion were indeed worthy of respect, but Leylin would never join their ranks!
"Besides… such an impulsive person like Rafiniya will probably die halfway to her goal. In the end, will her achievements allow her to be reputed as a hero?"
...
The next day, Leylin received word that Rafiniya's departed without informing him. Using her own charm, she had even persuaded some people and taken about twenty with her.
Leylin merely rolled his shoulders back in answer, "Since they're fools, let them go!"
After gathering Andrew and other nobles, Leylin discussed their next move.
"Silverymoon is now under siege. As part of the Silverymoon Alliance, I grieve and lament the situation. I've already dispatched my knights to bring people to provide support. If there's anyone here who wants to go, please announce yourselves!" Leylin exclaimed with a smile.
What came next was a difficult silence. The nobles who were seated all knew that the orcs were extremely determined. Their elite army of a hundred thousand had surrounded Silverymoon thoroughly, and going forth with the small numbers of people and horses they had was just suicide.
On top of that, Leylin's army had low morale, and it had recently dropped even further. Hence, all these nobles wanted to do was bury their heads in their chests like ostriches.
'The personal troops of the nobles will only be able to do as they please in their own territories…' Leylin shook his head at this and then clapped, "Good. Next, let's discuss the direction of my army…"
The nobles looked at each other when Leylin acted like the master here, but nobody dared oppose it. The term 'my army' obviously included them as well. Officially, Silverymoon had pulled back all of their forces. Leylin's army basically had the highest power.
Alustriel had personally invested him with the title of a Baron whose power extended over generations. He was a noble who had been granted territory near the Moonwood. Who else had more power than him?
Most importantly, when it came to strength, Leylin alone would be able to eliminate the rest! The reason he had gathered them was only to nominally receive their agreement, and the nobles had all sensibly chosen to consent to this silently.
This was what Leylin had prepared. The moment any of the nobles dared go against him, he'd just slaughter them. In the turmoil of war, what would the deaths of a few people amount to?
A large military map was hung up on the wall. At the center of it was the wizards' city, Silverymoon. The jewel of the north already had multiple red arrows around it, showing how it was surrounded.
The map also showed the surrounding terrain. Most of the lands in the north had fallen to enemy hands, coloured black. In the west were the Moonwood and Nether Mountains. As the orcs had expended most of their strength in surrounding Silverymoon, or perhaps because of the werecreatures' Blackblood tribe, the humans were still somewhat in charge there. However, the terrifying werecreatures were already a huge threat, and these nobles were fleeing with all their might.
There were now three routes for Leylin and the rest. One was to provide support to Silverymoon selflessly, clashing head on with the orc army. The second was to stay here and pray that Silverymoon could hold on. After the war had ended, they could then settle their accounts. The last was to move to the south and abandon the territory and people here.
Leylin was more inclined towards the third. "Silverymoon is the wizards' city after all. The queen is a Chosen, and even if the orcs can breach Silverymoon, they would have to pay a huge price, and that would make it difficult for them to go south…"
Such an explicit declaration put the nobles on the spot.
"Lord Leylin, SIlverymoon won't be able to hang on with its strength…" While many of the nobles were greedy, despicable and shameless, there were also many who were clear-headed and unwilling to part with their territories.
This was the only source of their power! In order to protect their interests, nobles could even make a deal with the orcs or devils, and disregard the threat to their lives.
"It's best to let the orcs and Silverymoon harm each other. This way, nobody would be able to bother with us." There were also many who thought the same.
Leylin made a quick scan of the surroundings and understood their thoughts.
'How childish… Do they think they're out of the woods if they bury their head in the sand?' Leylin snickered inside, though he knew that getting the nobles to abandon everything was not reasonable.
Thankfully, with the report just before and the joint declaration as well as the document, there was no change in whether they stayed or left. Besides, the negative effects of bringing these people along far outweighed the benefits.
"Alright! All of you can leave alone if you wish to. Any who are willing to head south with me can stay here…"
Yorkshire
With Leylin's current reputation and the nobles now seeing his true colours, they politely spouted a whole pile of meaningless words. They then sped off as if their rear ends had been set on fire.
Soon enough, the tent began to seem a little desolate. Only a few figures chose to remain, one of which was someone Leylin was on familiar terms with.
"Baron Andrew! I never thought you would make such a choice," Leylin said calmly as he looked at the middle-aged noble, who was constantly taking his silk handkerchief out and wiping his face.
"The orcs are attacking extremely ferociously. Even the werecreatures were not so easily dealt with. The ration stores in my territory aren't enough to get us past this winter famine…" Baron Andrew laughed wryly, "I only have a humble request… When we pass by my territory, may I bring a part of my family along?"
Leylin nodded, "As long as the numbers are within a hundred, and if you bring your own supplies."
"Thank you very much!" Andrew lowered his head.
While it was tough losing his position as the leader, Andrew could clearly see the situation in the north. Those fools and swines wanted to compromise with the orcs, or had the hope that the other side would let them off lightly. That was as impossible and laughable as the sun rising from the west!
"Great then. I'll give you a day to prepare. Once time is up, we will depart immediately!" Leylin decided.
...
A large army slowly marched across the scorched wilderness. A few knights dashed ahead on horseback, their bodies stained with blood and filled with a valiant aura.
The knights darted to a giant carriage, speaking respectfully, "My lord, we've taken care of the troubles in front. It was a wave of goblins and dwarf bandits, there are no casualties."
"Alright. Order the troops to quicken their footsteps!" Leylin said slowly from within the tent, his eyes closed. He stopped his deep contemplation, and the group's speed increased with his orders.
"This is really quite massive…" Leylin opened the windows of the carriage and watched the lively crowd, especially the disorderly refugees following next to his people, and sighed.
The orcs' main forces were focused in the direction of Silverymoon, while the werebeasts were occupied with the territories that Leylin and the rest had abandoned. They were more than glad to see all these people leaving.
Including the people of Andrew and the other nobles, Leylin had over a thousand in his entourage. That was enough to intimidate others.
Large military armies would not think much of them, and they were able to deal with the harassment of smaller groups. Hence, the trip to the south was very safe even though these refugees were rather unexpected.
The fierce attacks of the orcs and other large organisations completely broke Silverymoon and the regions to the north. It resulted in a tremendous wave of refugees. Many humans were fleeing south, and quite a few were bringing their families along. Things were very chaotic.
There was wave after wave of bandits, thieves on horseback, and goblins committing all sorts of crimes in the autumn wilderness, be it fighting, raiding, or plundering. It could be said that reaching the south safely without any military protection was just a pipe dream.
Along the way, it wasn't as if commoners or nobles did not come over and beg for his protection. However, Leylin himself had very few rations left. It didn't make sense to give them to people he did not know. Besides taking in a few nobles as external support, he did not accept anyone.
However, there were refugees who tagged behind Leylin's group and made use of their might. There was no way around that, and as long as they posed no threat Leylin could not be bothered to deal with them.
'The glory of the north is now consigned to history…' Leylin walked out of the horse carriage and got onto a handsome black horse, surveying the entire group. Everywhere he went, whether it was the family of the nobles or the original troops, everyone lowered their heads in respect.
They knew that Leylin was their leader, their shield as well as the one in control of their lives. If he grew hostile and chased them away, they would be like those pitiful refugees!
On top of that, this high-ranked military official was also a high-ranked wizard! In this chaotic world, those with strength gave one a sense of security.
Tiff was more aware of this. After leaving the Nether Mountains, Leylin intentionally had him hide himself. Even though there were rumours, most people expressed their disbelief in it. How powerful was a Legend? Why would he suddenly serve under Leylin?
On top of that, most of the Legends in the north had risen to fame a long time ago. Tiff was an unfamiliar face, and on top of that he was using an alias.
"Lord Leylin!" Andrew brought a handsome white horse to Leylin's side, seemingly wanting to curry favour with him. After seeing his mount, Leylin had the urge to laugh.
Commanders who rode white horses were normally very unlucky in his previous life, white was the easiest to spot after all. It was the same now. If there were assassins or archers here, their first target would definitely be Andrew. His mount and the ornaments indicating his status as a noble were far too obvious.
"Mm. There's about three more days left. We're about to reach Yorkshire already. What are your plans?" Leylin asked.
Yorkshire was the human territory to the south of Silverymoon. It was also the place where Leylin predicted the orc waves would stop. The expansive regions in the north were already more than enough for them to take, and there were other organisations unwilling to see the orcs and their gods expanding further.
"I have a few relatives there, so I'll seek shelter." Andrew now had a forced smile on his face, "Perhaps I'll be able to buy a villa in the city and a few manors outside. It would be impossible to live as luxuriously as I had in the north though…"
The extravagant lifestyle of nobles all came from their territories, with the taxes squeezing the people dry. Once they lost their territories and troops, they had basically lost all their power.
This was why many nobles had stubbornly stayed behind in the north. It wasn't that they could not see the obvious outcome, but they could not bear to leave! In comparison, Andrew's choice was more sensible and firm.
"Yorkshire…" Leylin had a ruminating look.
"Yes. That is Marquis Lancet's territory," Andrew said, but he did not continue.
That marquis was an important power in the Silverymoon Alliance. However, his stance was rather dubious in this calamity, and he had been stuck in a rut. He also had good relations with other human kingdoms in the centre.
Of course, Leylin's method of escape was not particularly impressive, so there was no use criticising Andrew for his decision.
'No matter what world we are in, as long as nobody is foolish is enough to threaten the central nobles, the chances of placating the regional nobles is still very high. Even in the World of Gods, this holds true.' Leylin deeply understood the thoughts of those who held power.
After those in the south struck the Silverymoon Alliance, they definitely would not want the orcs to grow stronger. Hence, after Silverymoon collapsed, they would regain control of the orcs again.
This was what Marquis Lancet wished for. He definitely did not want his territory to turn into a battlefield, instead making use of this time to gather more strength!
While it was impossible to pacify everyone by dividing up the territories in Yorkshire, it was very likely that he'd give away the area surrounding Yorkshire as a buffer for the escaping organisations.
'They'll give us the territories at the north of Yorkshire and let us become the frontlines and cannon fodder to fend off the orcs…' Leylin stroked his chin, a peculiar smile lingering on his lips, 'Who knows, after entering Yorkshire, someone might draw me into a marriage proposal…'
Stripping a noble of territory was just too ugly. Doing this through a joint marriage was a far more gentle and acceptable way. The large nobles would definitely not want to be accused of doing something so terrible, so this was basically inevitable.
Three days later, the large group entered Yorkshire. Order had been reestablished here, with well-equipped elites patrolling the entire area. There were even batches of cavalry on occasion.
Evidently, Marquis Lancet did not dare believe the orcs at the north. After all, they were simple-minded, and it was natural that they might suddenly have a change of heart. Compared to orcs, these refugees would pose a threat to security!
At the very least, after seeing Leylin's organised troops, the soldiers looked wary. Leylin nonchalantly showed his noble and military rank pass, and then let them do what they needed.
'I finally see it… the power of the churches…' Leylin could see many huge tents set up in an orderly manner outside the city. Numerous priests with differently coloured church emblems and symbols were hastily walking around and helping refugees.
With a calamity on the horizon, this was the time for a huge harvest for faith. Leylin saw many crying ugly tears and repenting after obtaining oatmeal for emergency relief, and then entering churches.
'It was rare to see them in the north when there was a calamity, but they're all gathered here. The thoughts of humans and gods are obvious…' Leylin thought inside.
Of course, it wasn't as if there weren't other types of priests in their midst. For instance, Leylin saw a small group of holy warriors and mercenaries rushing towards the north.
'These are the paladins and priests of the God of Justice, Tyr. They're rushing to the battlefield in their own name…' Leylin thought to himself, 'The gods with human factions are usually the most neutral. How could the God of Justice allow his own followers to participate in the battle in their own name? What a ridiculous internal power struggle…'
Leylin snickered. However, this was a chance for him.
Falling To The Enemy
'Table manners' were very important. Even Leylin needed something to cover up Cassley's murder, those large noble families often investigated these things thoroughly.
Due to the racial conflicts, the rulers of various human nations had sent their armies to help in the north. However, even the most ferocious armies could only push the frontlines of battle closer to Yorkshire. There was basically no difference even with them around.
There was a solemness and tragedy to the paladins who were heading north alone. Leylin didn't dwell on it long, though. Soon enough, the troops of Yorkshire brought the conditions of the city.
Leylin and the nobles could enter, but the army would have to stay outside. That was their bottom line. Leylin merely rolled his shoulders back and accepted this condition calmly.
The surge of nobles from the north had inflated Yorkshire's prices greatly, to the point that even nobles found it hard to stomach it. Of course, there were still benefits to holding power. A luxury villa was arranged for Leylin, with everything free of charge.
Leylin then met the Marquis Lancet he had heard about so often in rumours.
"Baron Leylin, I've long since wanted to see the rare wizarding genius of the north!" Lancet had a head of silver, curled hair, and a poised appearance. After seeing Leylin, even the wrinkles on his face smoothed out. He had evidently conducted a thorough investigation before meeting him.
"I am extremely grateful for the Marquis' generosity when the north has fallen into enemy hands!" Leylin's behaviour astounded the marquis. Most geniuses were arrogant, but Lancet saw none of that in Leylin's expression.
On top of that, he lacked the inflexible thinking and apathy so common to wizards, and instead seemed more like a scholar. His bearing even surpassed a few of the grandmasters he had paid a great deal of money to hire.
Lancet poured Leylin a glass of dark red wine, looking sorrowful. "Before we get to the formal discussions, I wish to tell the Baron something with regards to the north…"
"Has Silverymoon fallen?" Leylin's eyes glinted as he asked indifferently.
Lancet's hand halted pouring the wine for an instant, causing the stream of liquor to break off for a while. He then sat in front of Leylin as if nothing had happened, a profound look in his eyes. "It seems like you have your own intelligence channels, Baron… Indeed, Silverymoon fell just yesterday…"
...
One day ago, the north. Silverymoon City.
As the chief advisor to Silverymoon, Scholar Buren who was like the prime minister was watching Alustriel with worry in his eyes. She looked tired, her brows furrowed. The sight was heartbreaking.
Forgetting her real age for a moment, if one were to judge her based on her mental age and outer appearance, the life and death of the city had been put into the hands of a little girl. Scholar Buren thought this was just too cruel.
While Alustriel had great reputation and charm, she was not a qualified leader. The stress of war practically overwhelmed her.
"No, the Goddess has yet to give me an answer!" Alustriel now seemed to have ended her meditation, the wrinkles on her forehead deepening.
The Goddess of the Weave, being a greater god, was the cornerstone that maintained SIlverymoon's existence. Now, however, she was rejecting Alustriel's prayers and requests for help, which made things clear.
"It's not just any god. Has even the mighty Mystra abandoned us?" Seeing this, even a powerful legendary wizard like Buren felt his heart sink.
*Roar!* The cries of distant beasts travelled into the palace, causing Alustriel's expression to change.
"It's starting again," Scholar Buren sighed. A teleportation gate opened up, and Alustriel stood on the city walls next to Buren.
"Long Live Her Majesty! Long Live Her Majesty!" Seeing her appearance, the morale of the city guards soared. They were now full of hope.
Alustriel had displayed her might as the Goddess' Chosen these past few days. Only the orc emperor Saladin could contend with her.
'But the queen is the leader, her responsibilities do not lie here. Battling the opposing high-ranked Professionals should be the job of the military wizards!' Scholar Buren sighed inside. While Alustriel had immense charm and strength, this queen was still too inexperienced.
Buren watched the orcs' formation under the city. There were huge siege vehicles and terrifying behemoths with them, and the worry in his heart increased. Even with the aid of all sorts of smelted items, as well as high-ranked and legendary wizards in charge, they were now at a disadvantage.
'We have too few men… Few in the Silverymoon Alliance contributed much, and the troops that were sent out with orders didn't bring any others back. Less than half of the original city guards that could take on the most rigorous missions returned…'
Scholar Buren thought it over, and then proposed to Alustriel, "Your Majesty, things have gotten this bad already. Please consider my suggestion!"
"No need for that. I can't abandon my people, especially at a time like this!" Alustriel resolutely interrupted Scholar Buren's words.
"Look!" She pointed downwards, "There are still so many of my people, so many of those who believe in me here. How could I abandon them and leave?"
Alustriel's face flushed red, an even greater might exploding forth from her body. Rafiniya quietly looked in the queen's direction from a corner of the crowd. Powerful energy undulations were radiated outwards, and the golden light shining on her made her feel comfortably warm.
'Is this grace? No! This… It's a large-scale buff!' Rafiniya's face flushed, and she felt as if she could slay a dragon right at that moment.
Alustriel's little face was now pale. Even with support from the large-scale magic formations under the city walls, such a large boost was still difficult to cast. She had even used up some divine force for this. However, she wouldn't appear frail. The young, girlish voice resounded, "We will achieve victory!"
"Victory!" "Victory!" "Victory!" Countless troops roared.
Rafiniya was moved, her eyes glimmering with sparkling tears. As she watched the paladins around her whose faces were just as flushed as hers was, eyes showing their firm resolve, she felt as if she had truly chosen the perfect path for herself.
'This is the work of justice! Fighting for well-being and happiness!' Rafiniya clenched her fists tightly, 'Leylin… Someday, he'll definitely come to realise his mistakes and regret this!'
*Roar!* At this moment, the orc emperor Saladin had arrived at the frontlines.
"A large-scaled buff?" There was no emotion in Saladin's eyes right now. The maids and other orc leaders beside him all lowered their heads respectfully, not daring to move at all.
"All preparations are done. Our master's strength can descend at any time!" A few high-ranked priests headed over as they reported.
"Very good!" Saladin suddenly took a step forward. The earth's surface seemed to tremble as a terrifying might burst forth from his body.
*Ka-cha! Ka-cha!* Saladin's body abruptly increased in size, and in an instant he turned into a miniature giant, five metres tall and still growing. His clothes, armour and all items shattered with the violent movements.
This was the legendary spell— War God's Possession!
Finally, Saladin turned into a terrifying giant over fifty metres tall. Only one item scaled up with him, the Thunder God's Hammer!
"Lightning Strike!" Rafiniya heard Saladin's voice loud and clear. The loud, horrifying sound caused her eardrums to tremble, with a stinging pain.
Afterwards, berserk lightning filled the skies and tore the clouds apart as everything gathered at the battle hammer.
Lightning from the highest of heavens rumbled as it seemingly turned into a terrifying dragon, releasing the most powerful flames of its fury!
Violet! As if a new world was being born, violet light quickly spread around the area. Under this light, the city gates and everything else completely melted away…
...
"Just like that, the orc emperor Saladin brazenly went against the agreement in the continent and used a terrifying legendary spell. With the boost of a divine weapon, he defeated Silverymoon thoroughly in one shot."
Marquis Lancet narrated calmly. However, from how he suddenly gulped down a mouthful of wine, it seemed that this strength of legends still caused terror to well up within him. Leylin listened to everything he said. While he knew this would happen, he was still unclear on the exact process, "Then… Where is Her Majesty Alustriel now?"
Seeing Leylin getting the main point, the Marquis' eyes were full of praise, "It is said that her whereabouts are unknown, but there is a large possibility she survived. After all, the vitality of those with divine force is frightening…"
With Alustriel's strength, few would be able to find her if she truly wanted to conceal herself. However, based on her personality, she was unlikely get back on her feet quickly after this. She would probably require a long time to recoup.
At the end, Lancet intentionally brought up something, "Leylin, I have a wine reception here the day after tomorrow. I hope you can come!".
Feast of Power
'Has the feast for the division of power and party after the war already begun?' After walking out of the Marquis' mansion, Leylin sighed inside. After the fall of Silverymoon, the chaos in the north could be said to have ended.
With powerful defensive spells and numerous strong beings, Silverymoon did cause huge damage to the orc forces. Even the orc emperor Saladin had sustained grievous injuries and was now in a coma. It was said that that he had only been able to retain his life because of the god's possession.
After swallowing up Silverymoon and the surrounding regions, the orc armies now had no more strength to carry on south. With the trials and unions of war, an orc empire took shape and slowly established itself in the skeleton of Silverymoon. This was much more important than expansion.
Once they succeeded, this would also be a boost for the orc god Gruumsh. After all, he was the god of all orcs.
'The human gods wouldn't let the orcs head south anyway…' Leylin sat in the horse carriage, his eyes dark.
'Mystra is far too powerful, and that caused the reservations of the gods from her faction. The numerous conflicts that amassed in the north combined to give this result… All the scheduled plans have succeeded. Weakening the Goddess of the Weave is enough, and the human gods would probably not want the orc god to get stronger…'
Leylin was rather surprised by Mystra's tolerance. That she could even disregard her daughter in name and Silverymoon showed how immense the stress on her was.
'In general, the orcs have gotten a pretty good opportunity. It'll be hard to get them to spit up what they've already gained, but they also don't have more strength to stir up trouble…' Leylin had a keen grasp on this, something far too few in the World of Gods understood.
The gods here were held high and untouchable! With tens of thousands of years of praise from the churches, regular humans now treated gods like true saints, believing them to be emotionless. They forgot that these deities were merely stronger versions of regular people, and had it in them to feel happiness, anger, sorrow and joy.
On one level, the gods were even more emotional than regular humans!
'It's not that they can't recognise it. It's more that they're afraid to do so!' Leylin snickered. 'It's not as if I haven't seen people who blindly make excessive declarations and fool themselves into believing it while they're at it…'
This was an exaggeration caused by the environment, and a limitation from the era they were in. If not for Leylin coming from another world and having had experiences in the Magus World, he wasn't guaranteed to have seen through this either.
Not everyone dared tear off this pretense, looking down on the gods with contempt. The terror of burning at the stake for disrespect had long since shackled the original occupants of the World of Gods.
The few who were aware of the situation could not make any changes to it, and could only grieve and go insane over this…
"Master!" A dim light enveloped the cabin in an instant, creating a noise-isolating barrier. A small figure jumped out from within the cabin, bowing to Leylin respectfully.
Even with Leylin's strength, it was impossible to create a tremendous intelligence network out of nothing in a short period of time. However, with Beelzebub's generous aid, things were different.
Leylin had taken control of all the worshippers of the Sovereign King of Gluttony in the north. The methods he'd used were the same as always. The name of Kukulkan had long since been blacklisted by many churches, marking him a wanted man.
"Did you investigate properly?" Leylin flicked his nail, producing a crisp sound.
"Yes… the human nations in the south have already passed a secret motion regarding the division of land amongst the feudal vassals in Yorkshire and other places. Marquis Lancet seems to be backed by the church of wealth, though he is also colluding with devils…"
Working with devils did not mean believing in them. Who knew, it could even be someone under Beelzebub.
In reality, other archdevils were doing quite well in the prime material plane. While gathering his forces here, Leylin had met followers who believed in other devils as well. After all, the worshippers who had lost Beelzebub's protection were the best prey.
"While everything was done on the sly, our men managed to find out about it…" The tiny figure sounded smug, but Leylin was not really happy. After all, it was easy for devils to discover other devils.
"Do you know which devil it is?" Leylin asked dully.
"Archdevil Mammon, in charge of the third level of the nine hells of Baator. I've seen one of the devils under him, and he's appeared near the Marquis' manor…" The small figure answered surely.
"Greed? That does seem to suit Lancet." Leylin chuckled as he spoke.
The World of Gods had a huge dimensional universe. The outermost layer was the terrifying crystal sphere, tenaciously rejecting all communication with the outside.
Within it, the prime material plane was the foundation of the rest. There were tremendously vast dimensional spaces both above and below it, greatly surpassing it in scale.
If the World of Gods was compared to a meat pie, then the prime material plane was definitely the filling. The top was the land of the world of gods, while the bottom layer was the boundless abyss and hell. Around the pie were many semi-planes, littered around like sesame seeds.
While this description had some errors to it, it was pretty accurate.
The prime material plane wasn't just connected to numerous semi-planes and the dimension's core. It was also the world's main source of faith and souls. Thus, the gods, demons, and devils all coveted it, launching into wars for its control. This had already happened numerous times.
The hells of Baator had originally been one with the abyss, but they'd separated for some reason. The devils and demons had turned into mortal enemies, occasionally breaking out in huge bloody wars.
The hells now had a total of nine levels. However, as the devils were in charge of order, they usually had the upper hand in battles.
The archdevil unlucky enough to fall at Leylin's hands, the Sovereign King of Gluttony Beelzebub, was the master of the second layer of hell.
'The first layer of hell is a public area, where many huge, ambitious devils try to gain control There are even some humans and other races living there. The second level is Beelzebub's territory, though it now lacks a master. The third belongs to Mammon…' Leylin immediately recalled the intel he had on the hells. That was only possible thanks to Beelzebub's selfless contributions.
"Greed, huh." Leylin sighed. As devils could control human hearts, these archdevils' laws were usually inclined towards emotions.
"Forget it, don't do anything for now." Leylin shook his head, "Anything else?"
"Hehe… Master, I bewitched another follower on my way here. She wanted my help to protect her status as a noble, and I've already agreed…" The tiny figure's voice became tender, like a little girl acting coquettishly.
"Don't even think of doing that in front of me." Leylin warned her, a dark lustre shining in his eyes. That immediately caused the figure to start quivering.
"Your– Your subordinate wouldn't dare!"
"A noble? Who is it?" After disciplining her, Leylin asked with interest.
"Miss Mila of the Shump Family! Her father and brothers all died at the hands of horse-mounted, and their territory is coveted by her other relatives. Without support, she'll probably await death in a monastery…
"Based on what I know, she will appear at Marquis Lancet's wine reception!" The figure added.
"An arranged marriage? While this might be a terrible custom, it really is the best method." Leylin nodded. Thieves still had to observe table manners when sharing the loot. It was far too difficult to allow the poor to directly become nobles, and the resistance was far too powerful.
A marriage would make things easier, making the other nobles accept things more comfortably. In a situation like this where all the direct family members were dead, the daughter they left behind was a target that a whole group of wolves would drool over.
"She's rather smart. What does she want? What can she give?" Leylin asked calmly.
"The Shump Family has the hereditary title of viscount, and they have land north of Yorkshire. She can take in our people and allow them to hold office in the territory that will belong to her husband. However, only heirs of her bloodline will succeed the noble title…"
"That's not too harsh. I'll agree once I see her…" Leylin nodded.
'However, taking her as my bride at this point would seem like I'm showing off. Getting the title of viscount while my father is still a baron makes things awkward… More importantly, I can't stay in the north permanently…' Leylin sunk into deep thought.
'Seems like Miss Mila should look for a husband from among my underlings. Tiff's not that bad. It's not like we can't change things in terms of his appearance and age, and I can use this opportunity to give him a new identity…' Leylin promptly decided the fate of this noble lady.
This was how cruel the real world was. If not for Leylin taking over, she would be in a more pitiful state.
"I'll also need to help my men settle down and reward them…" Leylin knew fully well that the reason they were following him was because they believed he could bring them wealth and status. It was the basis of their loyalty.
Most of the time, what those at the bottom yearned for was to have his leftovers after he took the juiciest benefits. It was only because of their existence that Leylin could participate in this feast of bandits, getting his share of the profits with difficulty.
Return Trip
An enormous ship sailed across the ocean, its black bottom making it look like a floating castle of steel. Leylin sat in the most luxurious room of the ship, looking at a scroll made of beast skin.
'It's already been over 5 months…' Leylin sighed.
A lot of time had passed since the feast where they had divided Silverymoon's power. Tiff had followed Leylin's instructions and married the viscount mistress, forging an identity and becoming a glorious noble. As for their feelings? That merited a chuckle, many noble couples disregarded all that.
Afterwards, Leylin had cleansed and reorganised his own troops. He had hired trusted aides and the elites, leaving the rest for Tiff to settle in his territory. He would give them wealth and land. In the end, he had circled back to finished what he had started.
The northern territories had gradually grown more stable, and the orc empire had been established without incident. Saladin had become the first emperor, which caused a sensation in the World of Gods.
After seeing that there were no benefits left for him to pick up, Leylin happened to receive a letter from his family and chose to return home.
'If I hadn't been backed by a Legend, then I would have been completely unable to participate in the inner circle's feast…' Leylin sighed, his eyes filled with a thirst for power.
The changes in the northern territory had led to the orcs emerging as the fully deserving winner. The other human gods had also won what they wanted, and Leylin had also arrived in time to ruthlessly cash in on the opportunity. The only losers were Mystra and Silverymoon itself.
However, competition between gods were very slow. The Goddess of the Weave was very powerful, and this recent defeat couldn't harm her fundamentally. She would be able to lick her wounds in silence and could make her comeback in the future.
However, all of this no longer affected him. Leylin looked outside the translucent closed glass windows at the boundless azure sea. There were even a few white seagulls circling in the distance.
"I've gained enough from this trip to the northern lands…' Leylin silently counted up his profits. In terms of power, he'd received a great deal of material on the arcanists and even raised his power to rank 15!
He was now a rank 15 arcanist-cum-wizard! At his age, it was universally shocking for him to have attained so much in such little time. Even before the dusk of the gods, in the times of Netheril, no genius could be compared to him as he was now.
Moreover, he'd exchanged military merits for Silverymoon's collection of resources for legendary wizards. It was enough for him to grasp the path of wizards as well.
If his wizard tower on Faulen Island had been completed, Leylin was certain that he would be able to increase his wizard ranking further. It wouldn't be impossible to become a Legend, although it would need both innate talent and luck.
In actual fact, Leylin had also thought of going to Silverymoon City while he was in the northern territories. When the city walls had fallen he had considered wantonly making a killing, but he had given up on this idea in the end.
Although it was quite possible for him to make a profit, the dangers were similarly extremely high. Having obtained so much already, Leylin didn't intend to take more risks.
'As for organisations, the northern territories' Beelzebub worship network has already been subdued. With Tiff a viscount, the territory can be considered a gathering point for the organisations, and more can be done there in the future…' Leylin stroked his chin, 'And as for goods, I have legendary red dragon materials, as well as this!'
A bag of holding flashed, and a black scroll of beast skin appeared in Leylin's hands. It still had traces of dried blood on it. Leylin paid attention to the scroll, growing sombre.
'Why did Distorted Shadow leave this scroll behind?' Leylin felt a lingering fear as he thought of the dangerous experience he'd had. Distorted Shadow was an ancient rank 8 Magus who had found his own path, and if his true body had appeared it would have been bad.
As for that pocket dimension, even if it had fallen already the thing left behind would certainly be profoundly interesting.
"The remains of Netheril must still hold some secrets…" Leylin muttered to himself. As he had been tempted into opening it, that pocket dimension had already collapsed. However, Leylin believed the ruins weren't that simple in layout.
'And Helen…' After careful consideration, Leylin had decided not to bring the half-elf arcanist and mid-ranked wizard along. He had left her in Tiff's territory in the north.
'The power of the law of distortion…' The intent Distorted Shadow had left behind had been extremely terrifying. More so was the power of distortion that it wielded, which could affect even time and space. It completely exceeded Leylin's expectations, which fuelled his interest further. If not for that, he would long since have disposed of something like this beast skin scroll.
No matter what these ancient Magi had prepared for him, wouldn't it all be useless if he did not take the bait?
'The ancient Distorted Shadow… Even in the Magus World, there exist very few records of him. It is only known that he is not a native of the Magus World, but a formidable power from another world. No one has ever seen his true body,' Leylin thought of the research that his main body had seen, 'As for his path, clearly the law of distortion is his main one. It has the power to melt time and space, and even has illusory abilities.
'Is it inevitable that the path of a rank 9 Magi must touch upon laws dealing with space-time?' Leylin's eyes flashed as he rose to his feet, moving in front of the desk beside him.
The mahogany desk was mottled with black dots and marks, as well as numerous nicks. The debris on top of it had already been cleared and the desk was clean, leaving behind only a distorted pentagram array.
He put the beast skin scroll into the center of the array and his eyes seemed to glow blue.
"A.I. Chip! Pay attention to scanning and record all the information down," Leylin commanded.
[Beep! Mission established, initiating scan of experimental data.] The A.I. Chip loyally executed Leylin's commands.
'The World of Gods rejected the laws of the Magi. Because of this, Distorted Shadow couldn't use his full power. The risk of contamination should be low…'
"Seawater, salt, petals, dragonblood stones, feces of a nightmare bat…" Leylin threw everything into the corners of the pentagram, occasionally spitting out incantations.
'The power of the bat and the dragon's blood, adding in the blessings of the petals…' It had to be said that even though it was an improved version, his spell models were filled with the style of a Magus. If other wizards saw this, perhaps they would be scared to death by this strange ritual.
Leylin finally snatched up a pinch of green sand and sprinkled it down lightly.
*Bang!* The grains of sand spontaneously burst into green flames in mid-air and rained into the pentagram array. Little by little, the flames wrapped the beast hide scroll into itself.
"In the name of the devouring serpent, reveal the truth within the illusion…"
*Zzz! Zzz!* The scroll seemed to melt into the green flames, and the bloodstains on it grew even brighter and more real. Drops of beautiful blood began to drip down, bringing with them the power of distortion.
[Warning! Warning! The power of another world's laws has been detected, reaching the limit of the World of Gods' suppression.] At this moment, the A.I. Chip also issued a new red warning.
'Wait!' Leylin's face was flushed. He suddenly made up his mind and plunged his finger into the array.
A warm feeling spread into him the moment his finger touched the red bloodstain. Afterwards, Leylin saw his hand grow endlessly old and rot. The skin grew wrinkled, yellowed and even rotted black. The ageing process spread unceasingly, extending from his fingertips to his shoulder, his chest, then his entire body.
*Zzz!* The skin was followed by his flesh and bone, the red and white wasting away under the force of time. Time seemed to speed up in the region, and the world seemed to transform. In the blink of an eye, several thousand years had passed.
'I am the Distorted Shadow! Your devouring serpent shall feed my heart!' In the end, all that was left of Leylin was a pair of eyeballs. It was at this moment that he finally saw a formless mass spreading everywhere. This was Distorted Shadow who lacked a true body.
[Beep! Energy has been exhausted from law probe, process automatically terminated!]
'Mm?' Leylin looked at his hand. His white fingers were bright and clean and filled with the vitality of youth. There was not the slightest trace of age and decay. Nothing in the room had changed, as if everything that had transpired had only been an illusion.
The pentagram array's green flames had already burnt themselves up, and the bloodstained scroll rested nicely in the centre of the array. However, the dragonblood stone and other items had already disappeared without a trace.
"The belongings of ancient Magi are very dangerous. As expected, it's strange enough to be terrifying…" Leylin muttered, "Did I immediately get cursed after I opened it? Did Distorted Shadow use this method to resurrect himself? Or did he make other arrangements…"
After pondering the matter for a long time and meticulously examining the A.I. Chip's records, Leylin sealed the scroll and put it away. At the very least, it had the traces of a rank 8 Magus' craftsmanship and his power of laws, so it was a great inspiration to him now.
'No matter what, I'll still continue to walk down my own path. Growing stronger is always the right thing to do,' Leylin's goal had always been extremely steady, and did not change under any circumstances.
'There's still some time left before I reach the outer seas of the Dambrath Kingdom, which is just enough for me to completely read through the arcanist materials. I can record all the arcanist spell models as well…' Leylin tidied up the desk and sunk deeply into his thoughts once again.