Warlock of the Magus World

by Stayrr

What happens when a scientist from a futuristic world reincarnates in a World of Magic and Knights? An awesome MC is what happens! A scientist’s goal is to explore the secrets of the universe, and this is exactly what Leylin sets out to do when he is reincarnated. Dark, cold and calculating, he makes use of all his resources as he sets off on his adventures to meet his goal. Face?

35. 1075

Read Warlock of the Magus World - Chapter 1075 – Rapid Shadow online free - Light Novel Full

Rapid Shadow

Xavier remained confounded over the next few days.

His family inheritance, the Snakebite Fist that was extremely difficult to train in, had been mastered just like that? It was too good to be true, leaving the teenager so distracted he didn't even notice the change to the manual. In the end, he broke seven to eight more items in the house, being nagged by his little sister until he finally learned to control his own strength and stop crushing things.

However, Xavier soon put these issues to the back of his mind. There were more important things to consider.

"Greater Skill Proficiency Test…" Xavier clenched his fists as he looked at a date circled in red on the calendar, "I need to pass no matter what. The access to the Shadow Weave will give me stronger and more powerful spells, letting me find a good job and take care of my family…"

"Martial techniques only enable one to serve as a fighter or security guard even if you master them. Talents who can use high-level techniques are instead sought by many organisations…"

Hence, Xavier did not care much about the strange phenomenon that occurred to him, and immediately delved into a questionnaire and database to study for the test.

Leylin too did not idle around. He casually browsed through the books that Xavier had bought, and saw a small advertisement on one of them.

"Advance sale of answers, a 100% pass rate?" Leylin smiled as he called the number that was left on the note, and got an address.

"Lad, it's you who wants that copy of answers for the high level skills test?" Leylin met two muscled hoodlums at a certain corner of Thousand Bears City. Their bodies were littered with piercings and tattoos, the kind of people one would avoid on the street. They were the type to get into trouble with the police often.

"Yes! Is it true, the 100% pass rate?" Leylin left his concealed state, looking like a youth who wore a jacket and jeans. He was also carrying the ad pamphlet.

"Hehe… Of course it's true!" A hoodlum exchanged gazes with his partner. "We sell everything here, do you know Rapid Shadow 5.0? We can even get one of those, so the answer sheet is definitely not a problem!"

This expression on the hoodlum, as if he was looking at a fat juicy sheep, caused Leylin to sigh inwardly. However, he still put on an expression of unease, "Okay. But I want to see the item before we trade, and it has to be simultaneous!"

"Of course, what do you take me, Azure Dragon, as?" The hoodlum grinned and turned around, "Follow me…"

A group of thugs were littered across a messy underground basement. *Bash! Bam!* Many items fell to the ground, and a few pitiful wails resounded as well.

The two hoodlums which had led Leylin here were now lying on the floor, with blood splattered around them. The group's leader was here as well, one with the tattoo of a black rose on his face. Leylin proceeded to step on his head.

"You have guts, huh? Not only did you use fake answers to try and fool me, you even wanted to rob me? Hmm?" Leylin threw a crumpled piece of paper on his face, "How many fingers do you think I should chop off?"

It was a rare chance for Leylin to be this rampant. He didn't need to fear security cameras, since the underground wanted nothing to do with the country. Even their accounts book was by manual entry and not digitised.

As for any authorities colluding with them? Leylin looked at the boss in disdain and gave him another kick to his stomach, causing the boss to curl up like a prawn. It was not that Leylin did not think highly of them, but collusion occurred at a far greater level than that of this unorganised rabble.

"Do you want to live, or die?" Leylin looked at the boss toyingly, and the answer was immediate.

"So then, take out all the money you have on you! I only want cash! Also… Tell me which underworld organisation is the strongest here? And who is their head?" No matter how good a society was it always had its dark side. Several rounds of questioning gave Leylin the information he needed, and he left unworried that this group would seek revenge. They wouldn't be able to find someone with the same looks Leylin had displayed here, and even if somehow they managed it that would be their bad luck, not his.

This encounter gave Leylin an understanding of how organised falsifying documents was here. Special providers had established good reputations in manufacturing identities, able to give him true blue documents that could withstand scrutiny. As for the source? It was the extra income of a government official working in the safety bureau.

'Exploitation by selling real yet falsified identities? Why does it give me a feeling like I'm being tracked?' Although Leylin complained in his heart, he still paid the money. After a round of genetic inspection, an identity card was now attached to his body. From this day forth he became a third-class citizen of the empire, not afraid of investigations.

The identity card allowed Leylin to rent a house, and buy a low-grade Rapid Shadow and even surf the net. Of course Leylin could've just stolen someone else's identity by transforming into them, but he wanted to witness the authentication process himself.

'As expected. All this genetic inspection mumbo jumbo is a lie to trick the people. The true goal is to let the Shadow Weave scan a person's spiritual sea, huh?' The surprise had caused Leylin's eyes to turn darker, and even harder to read.

His experiences with the Weave in the World of Gods was why he had revealed no traces just now. Even if he'd forcefully assumed someone else's identity it wouldn't have ended up well.

However, through the help of that corrupt official, he was now an ordinary citizen living amongst ten billion others. Even Shar would not be able to find him.

"Hello, Mister Ley! This is your communication device, and the first generation Rapid Shadow. Since you don't have any degrees or a greater skill certificate, you can't use Rapid Shadow 3.0 or above…"

The service staff smiled apologetically to Leylin and took the cash that he handed over. This cash and the money used to buy his identity was funded by those unlucky hoodlums from earlier.

"Hmm… They are all portable retina displays, just a little worse off from my previous world…" Leylin looked at the internet that was similar to his past life, and the various tools and advertisements within. Nostalgia filled him, but it was quickly suppressed again.

"I also need to rent a place… Do you know anywhere that would suit me? I want a house that is close to the outer circle…" Leylin mentioned the area that Xavier and Jill were living in.

"This place?" The staffer was a woman in her twenties, with some slight makeup on. This question exceeded her authority, so she was rather stunned as she looked up at Leylin.

"I'm offering adequate compensation," Leylin added immediately.

"No problem!" The lady very quickly replied, but it was unclear whether it was the promised money that coaxed her or Leylin's looks. "My house is near that area, so it's quite convenient for me as well. However, you have to wait for me to end work…"

……

After busying himself for a while, Leylin immediately moved into a house close to Xavier's. Not knowing of their new neighbour, the siblings carried on with their own tasks.

"A first generation Rapid Shadow… Everyone in the empire has one now…" Leylin looked at the watch that had a black crown labelled on it, and activated the thing.

"Ding! ZESKNG988273221 activated, beginning automatic identity scan… Identity confirmed and locked. This Rapid Shadow is for your personal use, if it is damaged please call…"

Once the startup screen faded, Leylin immediately moved to the most important feature of the watch.

"Ding! Identity locked, account confirmed! Current Balance: 3000 Seres." A notification appeared on the Rapid Shadow, followed by a list of spells and their prices.

"Rank 0 spell— Illumination. 200 Seres per use."

"Rank 0 spell— Increase Resistance. 300 Seres per use."

……

"Rank 1 spell— Shield. 1000 Seres per use."

"Rank 2 spell— Shadow Ball. 3000 Seres per use."

"Ding! Authorisation currently limited to rank 2 shadow spells. Please obtain increased authorisation and buy a newer Rapid Shadow to upgrade…"

"The wizards from the World of Gods would definitely cry at this sight. They take painstaking effort to learn spells, but here people can just buy and download the same things…"

Leylin shook his head. All his money had been used to buy his identity and pay for his rent, so he didn't have much left. However, he had enough to buy a couple of rank 0 or 1 spells for fun. 3000 Seres was not even the salary for a normal office job. If the wizards came over here, they would definitely be devastated and cry.

'However, is it really that easy? Would the Mistress of the Night be so nice?' Leylin rubbed his chin, "Purchase Illumination."

"Ding! 200 Seres deducted. Current Balance: 2800 Seres," the Rapid Shadow notified. Leylin felt like this device connected to the Weave, leaving him with a ball of light in his hands.

'It's the same as wizards' spells, but cannot be stored. If one can't control these they'll land in trouble easily…' Leylin very soon discovered the disadvantage of this system. 'Furthermore… Although it is in minuscule amount, the Weave steals spiritual energy from every person who makes a transaction…'

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Examination

The Weave and its spells cost a lot of energy to maintain. Even with the World Origin Force to support her she wouldn't use it recklessly. This was why she'd adopted a system similar to the World of Gods. Every cast of a spell extracted a small part of the caster's spiritual force.

"But this plays takes much less from the caster…" Leylin smirked in disdain. "A.I. Chip, begin analysis!"

[Beep! Mission established, analysing 3d structure of the Shadow Weave…]

A stream of data ran past Leylin's eyes. Compared to the World of Gods, the analysis of the Weave here was much faster and more accurate.

[Beep! ETA: 68 hours 23 minutes and 19 seconds.] [Beep! Level 3 spells and above sealed. 78.55% chance to breakthrough without alerting anyone. Proceed?] The A.I. Chip voice intoned.

"Not necessary. I can just go and take a greater skill test…" Leylin shook his head and denied the A.I. Chip's prompt.

After toying with the Rapid Shadow, Leylin immediately opened his computer and browsed the sea of information that was available on it. The entertainment and leisure section was skipped as he moved onto the empire's map, governance, military news, and various related issues. With Leylin's processing abilities now, he managed to quickly browse through the information on the internet. Slowly, everything in the empire was revealed to him.

"Hmm? What's this?" Leylin witnessed something strange amidst the sea of information. He opened a new page, entering a forum.

"Explosive news! Extreme beauty found in City A! I'm flabbergasted after looking!" This thread attracted many fans, and even many had applied to follow it closely. However, many of the replies were 'seeing is believing' and the like…

"I wanted to take a picture too, but I did not bring my communicator device!"

"I brought mine, but the communicator device was spoilt. I couldn't take any photos, but she was really gorgeous, even causing a few car accidents on the streets…"

"Yea! That woman mysteriously left soon after that. Many rich people in City A have been offering sky high prices to catch a glimpse of her…"

"Could it be a ghost?"

Leylin gave that post a downvote. Many of the posts on the thread were similar to comments like 'OP is trolling' or 'Absolute bait', until a cocky guy posted a new image.

"Haha… Those above me are retards! I happened to have the latest Rapid Shadow there, and I managed to take a photo!"

A rank 8 existence wouldn't leave behind an electronic image even if she suppressed her own aura and radiation. The forcefield around their body could contort the space around them, and even if a photo was actually captured or their true name discovered it would come with unimaginable power or even curses!

The person posted a blurry image on this thread, faintly revealing an extremely seductive figure. Even the corner of her dress left people wanting more.

"A photo from the front! I beg you…" Many online 'wolves' were asking for more on the thread, but there was no more response from the person who posted the image.

'Hmm. City A. huh? But the Snake Dowager should have moved quickly, not wanting to meet Shar…' Leylin could only silently pray for the Snake Dowager. After all, Thousand Bears City was extremely far from City A, and required him to travel across half the empire.

Furthermore, with the Snake Dowager drawing all the attention to herself, he would be less likely to be found by the Mistress of the Night. He only had a partnership with that woman, so only after his own safety was assured along with an equal exchange did he even consider helping her.

As for now? The Snake Dowager used to live here in the Shadow World. No matter how much it had changed, she could surely adapt to it quickly. Were she to fail at even that, Leylin would choose to walk away from the place right away. After all, lousy teammates were extremely scary creatures who could cause the party to be wiped.

"The Snake Dowager is a rank 8 existence after all… I should believe in her…" Leylin shrugged his shoulders and began pulling the window curtains apart. From his position, he could clearly see Xavier's two-storeyed home. The study room's light was still on, which meant that Xavier was studying hard.

"Hmm! The skill test begins in three days huh?" Leylin took out his communicator and also signed up for the test. He'd wanted to obtain greater authority with the Shadow Weave, as well as higher status.

'Once I get a mid-grade Rapid Shadow even some extraordinary abilities won't attract attention from the central neural net. It'll let me do quite a bit…'

……

The three days passed very quickly, and the day for the greater skill test had arrived.

Xavier exhaled loudly and looked at the mirror after packing his things. Ever since that mysterious change in him, he'd matured greatly in his looks. His skin had grown smooth and glossy as well, causing even his sister Jill to be jealous.

"Okay, I need to succeed this time!" Xavier cheered himself on as he looked at his reflection, before walking out of the house.

"All the best, Brother!"Jill saw him out of the house, and prayed as Xavier's figure left. Her voice reverberated through the alley.

"Woah… There's so many people in here…" Even if he'd prepared himself mentally, Xavier was still taken aback at the sheer number of people at the examination venue.

"The greater skill test is one of the most difficult tests in the empire. Once one qualifies they can use middle-rank spells, equivalent to holding gun rights. Apart from that, many organisations will clamour to hire you… It's pretty normal to have so many people apply…"

A familiar voice sounded from behind Xavier, and he turned around. He saw a young man standing there, his long sideburns causing him to look middle-aged.

"Why? You don't recognise me anymore?" The young uncle patted Xavier's shoulders and laughed.

"What? Un…Uncle Crowley!" Xavier immediately recognised the man from the aircraft.

"I told you not to call me uncle…." Crowley touched his own face. "My beard and sideburns are a little thick, but in fact I'm still very young… I'm only twenty five! Twenty five!"

'But isn't twenty five already considered an uncle?' Xavier disagreed inwardly, but he still changed his form of address.

"Mm. I remember Big Brother Crowley already has his license? Don't you already have the latest version of the Rapid Shadow?" Xavier asked.

"Indeed. I'm not a candidate today, I'm exam staff." Crowley placed an exquisitely made license in front of his chest, "Even if we know each other well, don't think that I'll go easy on you… Each and every test is invigilated by a computer system as well as the authentication of the Shadow Weave. There's no use in cheating…"

After speaking, Crowley swept his gaze at the surrounding candidates. Some of them held gazes of unease, restlessness and jealousy.

"The authorisation of middle rank spells requires technical skills, and extremely strong concentration. People who don't meet these two criteria can go home now… If you turn into an idiot in any case, we don't need to take any actions because you have signed the indemnity form…"

However, this advice did not bring about any effects. Crowley could only sigh as he bid Xavier farewell before entering the hall.

"Drats…" After Crowley left, Xavier felt the fervent gazes concentrate around him, as if able to melt his body. His senses had been magnified by the Snakebite Fist, causing him to feel uneasy.

"So…Sorry!" he muttered, before running to the side where less people were gathered.

'There aren't as many candidates here, surely they didn't overhear my conversation with Crowley?'

Bang!* As he was looking down on the ground, Xavier knocked into someone, and the supple rebound force sent him falling backwards as his bottom hit the ice cold floor.

"Are you alright?" This was a black-haired youth with black pupils, more handsome than even superstars. That apologetic look on his face was so warm it seemed like spring had bloomed. He reached his hand out and pulled Xavier up.

"I'm fine, thank you!" Xavier couldn't deny this man's looks, and they even aroused his ire. He refrained from punching that face.

"Hmm, you have great strength…" Xavier responded quickly and saw the physical appearance of the youth before he praised him.

Xavier had already mastered the Snakebite Fist. Even if he suppressed his own strength, and the technique itself didn't excel in raw power, he had a good idea of his current physical prowess. He'd be fine even if a car crashed into him, but now he'd been knocked down easily.

"Yup, I like to train my body regularly!" The youth smiled and revealed a tidy row of white teeth.

This person was naturally Leylin. His appearance had not changed much from before, and was the exact same one on his identification card. He'd now worn jeans, and had a jacket on. After seeing Xavier, he had decided to greet him 'by accident'.

"I'm called Ley, and what's your name?" Leylin asked rhetorically.

"Xavier! I'm Xavier!" Xavier answered only after he patted the dirt off his body and inspected his belongings.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Written Examination

The two quickly began to strike up conversation. With Leylin's experience and knowledge, duping a youth was an extremely simple matter. Xavier had soon lost all traces of jealousy in his heart, feeling like this Ley was a talkative and humorous person.

"Mm, so you have a little sister. Thousand Bears City's little bear biscuits are favoured by many girls. I should bring some with me when I come to visit," Leylin said with a smile.

"You coming over to visit is already enough. You don't have to be so courteous," Xavier replied. But just as he was about to continue, a sharp bell sounded out.

Drawn in by the urgent sound of the bell, the crowd streamed towards the main gate in waves, like a limitless sea of people.

"Mister Ley, the examination is about to begin! Let us continue our chat later…" With Xavier's physique, he was involuntarily swept away by the surging sea of people, leaving Leylin behind.

"Of course!" Leylin smiled. This sort of scene seemed to bring back a rather nostalgic feeling, and he also entered the examination hall.

"The examination has been split into 2 sections— a written examination and an on-site test. Candidates AS1 to SD100 please proceed to examination hall 3," a mechanical voice echoed in the hall. Leylin followed its prompts, arriving at an exam hall.

At the destination were several silver-grey nutrition cabins. The metallic surface shone brilliantly, looking like something out of science fiction.

"Your written examination will be conducted in the nutrition cabins, so please find your seats." A staff member with a blue exam badge entered the hall, scanning the crowd with a piercing eagle-like gaze.

"The exam will take a long time, but don't worry about your constitution. We will prepare enough nutrient liquids for you." The blue-badged staff member monitored them all and Leylin found his own nutrition cabin.

"Beep! Scan has been completed. Welcome, candidate GF87." Ice-cold and solid… This was Leylin's first impression of the nutrition cabin. Even he felt nauseous with the influx of nutrient liquid, so it would definitely be a form of torture for normal people.

A light flashed before his eyes suddenly, and a virtual exam room appeared. The room itself was limitlessly vast, but it only had a single hardwood desk with paper and pen on it.

"A virtual environment? Mm, this can eliminate cheating, and allows the examinees to be given different questions each. Unless one can break through their cabin's lock, they can't possibly cheat." Leylin sat down, sweeping his eyes across the questions on the table.

His ability to gather information was shockingly quick. He's crammed hard last night, so none of these questions could trouble him one bit.

"It's a written examination, but many things can be tested in a virtual environment. It absolutely won't be limited to just these unlimited questions…" Leylin smiled to himself before answering the questions at rapid speed.

In this environment, ordinary candidates were completely unable to perceive the passing of time. Leylin was of course the exception. After completing over ten examination papers, the surrounding environment began to change. He was taken to an operating workshop.

'Question 35— Use the given materials to repair this Rapid Shadow wristwatch.'

Leylin looked at the lathe here, and saw a broken wristwatch upon it, with several electric pens and other items scattered around it. Its screen had been smashed to pieces.

'This must be the on-site test,' Leylin stroked his chin, 'Unless the on-site tests directly open the limits of authority, and evaluate the use of mid-ranked spells?'

The current empire did not have sufficiently advanced virtual reality technology to simulate magic. Only Leylin's A.I. Chip was able to do something on that level. After all, the flesh and soul were the same as spiritual force and matter. It was an extremely difficult matter to fuse the two together and analyse all their mysteries.

It was only with the space-time travel that his A.I. Chip had abandoned physical form. It had fused with his soul, and even then it took multiple advancements to reach its current level.

Crowley had changed into a well-ironed uniform, walking into the control theatre of the examination hall. His eyes sparkled as he saw a fair-haired beauty and greeted her, "Oh, Miss Bobbi! Did you discover any useful seedlings?"

"Your job is to patrol the examination hall, Proctor Crowley," the beauty rejected him without hesitation. It caused all the other proctors to smile.

"Alright, alright! I'm impatient too. If we discover an outstanding mechanic, we'll get a reward as well," Crowley looked at Bobbi with a pitiful look in his eyes, "I think we need to discuss it."

Bobbi looked at the monitor screen and then at her wrist before she finally agreed. "Five minutes, then…"

The other exam proctors kept their calm in the face of something so unexpected. An amorous glint immediately appeared in Crowley's eyes, and he followed Bobbi outside.

Although on the surface it seemed as if there was melodrama here, with one person pursuing the other, their conversation was transmitted to the rest through secret means.

"Let's have dinner tonight? A new restaurant opened up recently in the Champs Elysees," Crowley spoke non-stop, his performance making the other proctors knit their brows and turn away.

In secret he'd sent a short message to the woman, 'I see that TY13 and the others are quite good. They're worth recruiting and nurturing…'

"I don't have any time tonight." Bobbi said with a cold expression on her face, replying using their secret code, 'Pay attention to them and protect them. The best thing is to fail them in their written exams, or chase them out of the examination hall. Don't give them access to the on-site tests. Other than that, you seem to have missed one of them…'

'I'll take responsibility for Xavier, don't interfere.' Crowley's expression changed..

'I know, I know, but the thing is…'

'As long as you understand. Let's not say too much, the surveillance from central intelligence and the Weave is quite serious.' Crowley finished his final message and then fell to the ground to release a heart-piercing cry, "Oh, Bobbi, my Bobbi…"

The fair-haired beauty smiled coldly and returned to the control room under the surveillance of many guards and onlookers.

'What happened?' She'd originally expected a lot of busybodies to circle her, but she was rather stunned to see all the proctors surrounding the screen. The melodrama from earlier did not attract any attention whatsoever.

'Did my acting skills fail? Or am I under suspicion?' Bobbi's heart twisted. She saw a proctor come over to her with an extremely solemn expression on his face, as well as a look of ecstasy. "Bobbi! Come and take a look."

"Mm?" Bobbi leaned against the wall with a curious look on her face. In her heart, she secretly sighed in relief, 'I wasn't discovered!'

Afterwards, she saw an examination paper with a perfect score broadcasted on the screen.

"Ah, so such an exceptionally intelligent seedling appeared," Bobbi sucked in a breath of cold air. She looked at the candidate's information column. "So his name is Ley? It seems like he answered everything correctly, this is really…"

"Everything must be compared. Look at this," the proctor produced another record. That was Leylin's progress in repairing the Rapid Shadow wristwatch. Every movement flowed like the movement of clouds, filled with a unique sense of beauty.

"He does not hesitate in the slightest before committing to every action. This youth has already grasped the techniques of 2-dimensional objects. His intuitive use of materials and his confidence are monstrous…" Bobbi bluntly put it, her words full of praise.

"Mm. Xavier and Rambo aren't much compared to him…"

"Are you ready to directly recommend him to the empire?" Bobbi asked.

"No, the written examination is the most basic part. What we need is a talented person with keen spiritual force, sufficient willpower, and tenacity to manipulate high-ranked spells…" The proctor's words were very reasonable. After all, there were many good examples of those with a good foundation but terrible spell execution.

"Then let's wait and see," Bobbi said with a smile. There was some hesitation in her heart, however. 'This Ley… Nothing was strange about him before, and even Crowley didn't discover anything. He has this sort of intelligence, how abnormal…"

……

With a desperate round of eliminations, less than a hundred candidates remained for the second. Xavier was amongst them, his face filled with curiosity and excitement as he looked all around him.

"Oh, Xavier!" Leylin arrived by his side and clapped him on the shoulders.

"Mm, Mister Ley has also passed?" Xavier said with a smile.

"I just got lucky, haha…" Leylin scratched the back of his head and replied courteously.

"You're too modest. Just got lucky? You topped the entire examination!" Crowley arrived, dressed in the official uniform of a proctor. The candidates made way for him.

"Brother Crowley! Let me introduce you. This is Ley… Wait, what did you just say?" Xavier suddenly seemed to feel a little dizzy.

"I said that your friend isn't as simple as you thought. He placed first in the written examination!" Crowley smiled as he shook hands with Leylin. His eyes, however, were filled with unconcealed warning.

'He feels rather nervous, and he has a similar bloodline aura…' Leylin looked at Crowley then at Xavier, his smile deepening.

"Oh, this really is amazing," Xavier made a big fuss. Crowley had to quiet him down forcefully, "Take note of the exam hall's rules!"

'You're the one who disrespects the rules the most…' Xavier protested in his mind, but he lowered his voice a little in the end.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Mastermind

'This extraordinary strength, it's similar to a bloodline aura but also contains vicissitudes of the spirit…' Leylin looked at Crowley and then back at Xavier, finding them both similar. Of course, without knowledge nobody would notice these similarities.

'Bloodline carrier, huh? Finally found one, and an organisation suppressed by the empire at that… ' Leylin felt somewhat delighted, and at the same time he observed Xavier's conversation with Crowley as the latter left something with the teen.

'Interesting… Is he trying to protect Xavier or set him up?' Leylin looked at Crowley, but Crowley walked away instead.

"Alright everyone, the examinations will begin!" Under the vigilant gazes of the officers, Leylin and the other candidates walked into a large field with a white jade floor. In the centre of the field was a spell formation in the shape of a hexagon.

"The examinations requires you to connect with the Weave, and also to accurately cast a middle ranked spell…" A well trained military officer stood at the forefront, and his voice echoed throughout the entire field.

"I'll repeat myself… There is a certain level of danger in this examination. You may choose to give up now and walk away, we will not look down on you…" Evidently, with success just one step away, none of the candidates chose to give up.

"Very well. If I call your name please step forward for your examination. Firstly, WE23, Deery…" A girl with freckles walked forward, her face filled with unease.

"Stand inside the formation, the Weave will grant you temporary authority…" The officer ordered with a voice that could not be disobeyed. After the candidate stood at the spot, he nodded his head and looked at his watch before saying, "Authorise middle-rank spells from the Shadow Weave."

Buzz! Buzz!* The white light in the spell formation began to shake, and the pressure from within caused the freckled girl to cry.

"Central neural net, pick a topic," the officer shouted from outside the formation. Many spells names begin to rotate quickly on a large overhead screen, and it finally rested on one.

"Rank 3 spell— Shadow Wings!" the officer said as he looked at the girl. "Connect to the Shadow Weave through the spell formation, and cast the spell to the best of your ability. Our judges and the central neural network will perform the scoring…"

"Damn! Shadow Wings is a difficult spell to cast even amongst the rank 3 spells, she really is unlucky…" Xavier sighed in pity, not noticing that Leylin was looking at him with an even more pitiable expression.

Xavier concentrated on the spell formation, watching as the girl attempted to summon a pair of black wings. However, all that formed was two balls of black mist, not materialising into wings. The two were even uneven.

Bang!* A loud explosion sounded out at the end, and the balls exploded behind the girl's back. She was sent flying, with flesh and blood oozing out of her body.

"Final score: 0.2. Fail!" The officer had an indifferent expression on his face as he waved his hands, indicating for the medical team to carry the girl away and treat her.

"How is it? Does anyone want to quit now?" The officer surveyed his surroundings, and the candidates all bowed their heads. However, even now nobody chose to quit, each thinking that Lady Luck would stand by their side.

"Very well… Next!" The officer resumed the examination, smiling icily.

"Final score: 0.4. Fail!"

"Final score: 0.3. Fail!"

"Final score: 0.6. Barely passed!"

……

Candidate after candidate was disqualified quickly. It took fifty candidates for a single plump candidate to pass. The unlucky ones had been carried out of the venue, causing the atmosphere to darken.

If not for that candidate scoring a pass, most people would have given up by now.

"Next, Dinar!" The officer called a name.

"Sir!" The candidate called Dinar was a tall lanky man, looking to be in his thirties. However, his sideburns were white and his eyes spoke of a long past.

"Yes, you look promising. Enter!" After seeing him, the officer's eyes brightened.

"Thanks!" Dinar walked into the spell formation and took a deep breath.

"Begin! Your chosen spell is Phantom Fireball!" The officer announced.

"Whaa… It's one of the easiest spell to control! He's so lucky…" The candidates below clamoured.

The man seemed extremely pleased with his own luck too. He closed his eyes as a formless spiritual force spread and connected to the Weave. Very soon, a dark red fireball appeared before him, as gentle as a tamed beast.

"Very well. Finally, another candidate passed!" Xavier clenched his fist, and his confidence was rebuilt.

However, just as he thought Dinar would pass, a strange even occurred. The dark red fireball began to shudder, and seemed to cracked at its sides, causing Dinar's expression to turn bad.

Boom!* The dark red fireball exploded, charring Dinar into ashes.

"…" Absolute silence reigned, death permeating the field. The silence was finally broken by a scream, and immediately a cacophony was stirred up.

"SIlence, or you'll be disqualified!" The threat was extremely effective, and the field became quiet once again.

"Sad. This Dinar's spiritual force was cracked, causing a backlash with the spell. This is one of the three primary ways of suicide in the books, you should all be wary of it." The officer lectured them and waved his hands as he inspected the spell formation. Several members from the medical team came forth and carried the burnt corpse away.

'Oh, so that's what happened.' Leylin looked at Xavier, who seemed to be scared silly. Crowley smirked in secret as well, nodding his head.

'Although the Shadow Weave's requirements are lower than Mystra's, regular humans can only control low-ranked spells. Middle-ranked spells and above need thorough examination. This is not something peculiar, just… The death, it's abnormal! These officers can all use the Shadow Weave, but they didn't manage to save an amateur? It has to be deliberate!

'So then, the only difference with Dinar was… He had mild traces of extraordinary abilities!' Leylin's eyes brightened.

'So there's a secondary purpose to this screening. Apart from choosing those qualified to cast middle-ranked spells, it serves to differentiate true humans from mutants of bloodline carriers!

'Since they have better talent in the first place, it's quite likely that they'll take these examinations. By tweaking some things in the dark and under the disguise of accidents, the empire can purge and massacre these impure humans…

'No wonder I found it strange that even with psi energy and the Weave the number of extraordinary humans has been dwindling too quickly… There was this screening…' Leylin nodded his head, not disagreeing with what they had done.

Any centralised government would abhor those people who could form their own forces and become a threat. Those like Magi that could not be controlled by the Shadow Weave were better off purged in order to maintain peace and public security.

Moreover, if one could even stamp on the seal in the name of justice, it would be even better. Had Leylin been the ruler, he would most likely have made the same decision.

'So regular humans who apply for the exams will only pass or fail, suffering some injury at most. However, extraordinary humans…' Leylin looked at the headless corpse, which was a good example.

After constant repeats of this scenario, with the development of science, extraordinary humans would then become a myth and legend of the distant past. So, Crowley was in fact protecting Xavier earlier?

"Hmm? Are there any now who want to leave?" Evidently, the death earlier scared several candidates, and some chose to withdraw. The officer did not stop them, and allowed their departure by waving his hands. After all, if they had to force every candidate to go up and attempt the test, then it would be too obvious.

This plan was set for the long term. As long as there were a huge numbers of bloodline carriers dying each year, the seeds would eventually be eliminated.

"Next, Xavier!"

"It's my turn!" Xavier felt pumped.

"Go up! All the best!" Leylin encouraged him at the side, and saw the worry in Crowley's eyes.

'After all this time, the rebels should have thought up a way to counter this by now, huh?' However, Xavier did not know anything regarding these issues, and he walked to the spell formation in trepidation.

'Okay! The spirit scan is not a problem, he's not a bloodline carrier!' The officer looked at a secret report before he announced the choice loudly, "Chosen spell— Phantom Fireball!"

'I've already casted this countless times in my head. I'll surely succeed!' Although Dinar had died earlier, Xavier did not allow his death to affect his spiritual force from reaching into the spell formation.

"Hmm?" However, he suddenly realised something. The spiritual force which he could use to cast low rank spells was now like a dead puddle, not moving one bit.

"Damn it! Move! Come on!" Xavier turned beet red, only feeling that his spiritual force would not budge no matter what.

Puff!*… Finally, a small wisp of flame was formed before him. But it very soon turned into a black pillar of smoke.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Pass

"That flame, don't tell me it's actually a Shadow Fireball?" The candidates below were completely stunned. The whole room erupted into laughter.

Xavier wanted to dig a hole and throw himself into it. The embarrassed blush on his face extended all the way to his neck.

"Such a shame… You scored so well in the written examination, but it turns out you're a squib." The proctor regretfully shook his head.

A squib was a normal person who was innately weak in terms of spiritual force. Although it wasn't difficult for them to cast low-ranked spells, they were idiots at the practice of higher ranked spells. With their spiritual force unable to support them, they were like machine guns with no bullets.

"Pity… Final score: 0.1 Fail!" The military instructor announced loudly. Everyone around Xavier sighed.

Just as Xavier began to walk away despondently, he saw Crowley walking towards him. "Don't be upset, everything will get better soon," he said, and Leylin keenly noticed a look of relief in the man's eyes. He shook his head involuntarily.

'Normally, the juniors take advantage of their elders. Seeing a senior do that to a younger man is quite rare… ' Leylin watched rather speechlessly as Crowley used his acting skills to score points with Xavier.

"Next, Ley!" The proctor raised his voice as Leylin calmly stepped forward and walked into the pentagram spell formation.

'It seems like my performance in the written exam scared them. Did I arouse some suspicion?' Leylin saw the bewilderment in the proctor's eyes, and laughed coldly to himself.

'This Ley…' Crowley fixed his eyes on Leylin's back, 'It's very strange that our organisation never discovered someone like him. It's very suspicious… I hope he's a natural genius, otherwise…'

Very quickly, Leylin felt a gentle scan from the pentagram's spell formation. [Beep! Soul aura sweep detected, creating a fake profile…]

His truesoul of laws suddenly shrank back a little, hiding itself in a crack between the spiritual and material planes. All his power left with it, making him seem like an ordinary person. With the A.I. Chip as well as his own self-concealment methods, nothing was discovered.

'Everything is normal? It looks like he really is a genius. I hope he can pass and contribute to humankind in the future.'

The proctor glanced at the screen out of the corner of his eye and announced it in a loud voice, "The central neural net has selected the spell— Shadow Servant!"

"What? Isn't that the hardest exam question? Shadow servants need a fixed amount of intelligence!"

"He's finished! People say even high-ranked engineers with mechanic permits can't cast it properly…"

The candidates who were watching below rejoiced in Leylin's misfortune.

"Shadow servant? Ley's luck is really too bad…" Xavier seemed to recover a little from his knockback, and began to worry for Leylin who stood at the centre of the pentagram.

"Begin authorisation of the Shadow Weave," the proctor nodded. The pentagram suddenly let out a faint white light, and the Shadow Weave rumbled as the restriction on the middle level was lifted.

[Beep! Authority to use mid-ranked Shadow Weave acquired. Injecting background virus, beginning analysis…]

'The middle layer of the Weave has been opened to its limits. There should be a small crack for me to exploit to get to the higher ranks. A.I. Chip, attempt analysis of the high-ranked Weave!'

[Beep! Mission established! Initiating task…] the A.I. Chip loyally answered.

"Mm, what's the matter?" At this moment, the main proctor was suddenly enveloped in fear. But when he came back to consciousness, nothing seemed to have happened. The A.I. Chip had used that moment of unconsciousness to use a backdoor into the upper levels of the Shadow Weave, completely concealed from the man himself.

'As expected, the Shadow Weave is quite imperfect. Although it's like Mystra's Weave on the surface, it's severely lacking.' Leylin's eyes glowed, 'After all, this is something Shar built alone, and not even as a god. If it's like this…'

A sudden unbidden thought revealed itself within Leylin's heart, 'If I use the rank 12 arcane spell here, Karsus' Avatar, what would happen?"

The World of Gods was far too powerful, with quite a few gods at the peak of rank 8. He couldn't imagine their response if he broke the Weave apart. Here, though, it was different. The Shadow Weave was incomparable to the real Weave, and Shar herself was only an intermediate god when she left.

Leylin had quite looked forward to using the exam to test the Shadow Weave's response to arcane spells and the like. A conscient that had already died but could still pass the crystal wall structure and make it to the Shadow World was rather curious.

'Well, they're both the Weave in the end. Karsus' Avatar has quite a high chance of succeeding, and I only need to overwrite the Shadow Weave's research program. It's best to act only after I've analysed the tenth level of the Weave…'

Leylin's mood vastly improved after he thought about this point. Shar wasn't a full incarnation of the Shadow Weave, but their existences were tied inseparably. If the Shadow Weave was destroyed, the damage done to her would be terrifying.

It seemed like Leylin had a trump card in his hands, one which he could use to threaten Shar at any time. It said, 'Don't come over here, or I'll let you have it!'

'However, how do I let Shar know about this deterrent? That is the true problem.' Even nuclear weapons were at their strongest before they were fired. Leylin naturally wouldn't just act without a prior warning.

"Can you begin, Ley?' the proctor seemed to have misunderstood, "If you aren't sure about it, you can choose to give up. After all, your safety is of utmost importance.'

It had to be said that the proctor loved to protect ordinary human geniuses.

"Oh, thank you. It won't be necessary," Leylin politely waved him off and directly connected to the Shadow Weave.

Zzzz!* A layer of concentrated black smoke formed beneath his feet, slowly sketching the outline of a person. The proportions of the four limbs were perfect and in harmony, only its facial feature left fuzzy and indistinct.

"Master…" A hoarse voice was emitted from the shadow servant's body as he knelt down in front of Leylin.

"This intelligence… It's the highest grade of shadow servant!" The proctor smiled fervently, "Ley! Your complete assessment score is 1, you gave an exceptional performance!"

"Woah…" The people below were stunned into silence. A long moment seemed to pass, and the cheers that erupted afterward were incomparable to the cacophony caused by someone passing before. After all, those before him had very barely passed, whereas Leylin had scored full points.

"Ley really is a brilliant person…" Xavier looked at Leylin who stood up on the stage. Everyone's attention was focused on the black-haired youth, and in his heart he felt slightly inferior when compared to him.

"What's the matter?" Crowley casually patted him on the shoulder, "Although you don't have talent when it comes to controlling the Weave and using spells, your personal strengths lie in other areas. The one who invented the Rapid Shadows was also a squib! However, who can deny his contributions?"

'That's true! Even if I don't have a diploma, I still have the Snakebite Fist!' Xavier inwardly thought to himself and clenched his fist. Seeing this scene, a trace of gratification flashed across Crowley's eyes.

……

His high-ranked permit was hot off the press, and the government had strongly urged Leylin to stay. He said he needed some time to consider his options, using that as an excuse to leave.

After that, he went directly to the shop for Rapid Shadows. He didn't actually need one to cast shadow spells, but he had to conceal that fact so he ended up buying one.

"You want to buy Rapid Shadow 5.0? Please show me your permit." This was the same shop assistant from before, and there was a trace of astonishment in her eyes, 'He only had authority for the most basic model just a while ago. Now…'

"Mm," Leylin calmly handed his new permit to the assistant. Once the computer attested to its veracity, her eyes were filled with fervent passion. It wasn't just this assistant, the others nearby were completely starstruck as well!

Leylin didn't suspect in the slightest that as long as he took care, it was very possible for him to get his hands on everything. However, now was not the time. He ignored the bitter gazes directed at him from hiding, settling the payment for the device and leaving the shopping centre. The gazes had never been a problem for him.

"Ding! Welcome to Rapid Shadow 5.0, customer. Your account balance is currently 23000 Seres." His communication device flashed immediately after he equipped the wristwatch, receiving several messages in succession.

"Hello, Mister Ley! Thousand Bears Market is honoured to have served you your title. ID data and authorisation refreshed, citizen class changed to first rank. You can enjoy public facilities for free, overdraft on the Shadow Weave, and receive beneficial treatment when it comes to immigration visas. Please send an enquiry for further details…"

The messages of several private firms followed, offering sky-high salaries of hundreds of thousands of Seres a month.

'No wonder those attendants all became like this. So high-ranked mechanics are equivalent to nobles here?' After seeing this, Leylin involuntarily sighed. No matter how science and technology progressed, humans in the end were still divided into different ranks.

Sadly, he himself didn't have the slightest of interest in these things. He was too lazy to even send a reply.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Shar

On his way back to his villa, Leylin went to Xavier's house to greet the siblings, especially making an appearance in front of Jill. Agreeing to visit them again, he returned to his room and closed the doors and windows.

'Woman of the shadows… Mistress of the Night, it's time I greet you.' Leylin closed his eyes slightly, his conscient traversing boundless space in an instant as it arrived at the seas. An eerie smile emerged on the oily face of the voodoo doll as it emerged from the blue depths.

"Target discovered. Attack!" Many warships and aircraft carriers equipped with psi energy generators surrounded it, numerous powered submarines gathering around it like sharks. Spells gathered at the malicious mouths of the cannons, causing a great sense of danger.

"Hehe…" The smile on the voodoo doll widened, and the glint in its two black eyes dimmed before beginning to flicker even more vigorously than before.

This slight change resulted in an extreme transformation of the aura of the doll. From a brutal, robotic puppet hunter, it had now turned into a bundle of unfathomable darkness.

Crack! Crack!* The voodoo doll turned its neck and scanned the huge warships with terrifying artillery, as well as the dense crowd of powerful spellcasters atop.

"You've done the best you possibly can in terms of technology. Unfortunately, your personal evolution has been stagnant…" Leylin shook his head, and then made a sound.

Chii!* Piercing sound waves swept the area, and large batches of the navy collapsed with blood spurting out of their orifices.

"Infrasonic attack! Quick, activate shadow protection!" The surrounding warships entered a frenzy. Guided by powerful mutants and the empire's special forces, they formed multicolour shields one by one.

Unfortunately, these shields had no effect at all. The normal people were mowed down like grass, and only the mutants with exceptional mental power were spared alongside a few powerful spellcasters.

"Your weak mental force makes it difficult to counter attacks on the soul…" Leylin believed this to be deliberate on the part Shar. In this scenario, no matter how far human civilisation advanced it would always remain in her grasp.

Things were harder with mutants and those with ancient bloodlines. While the chances were low, some beings of laws could still appear among their ranks. This was why they had to be exterminated.

'Take rank 1 and 2 Magi, for example. They wouldn't be able to fight my old world's military head on, only turning to dust under their laser cannons. However, if they were to keep a low profile they could bewitch and hypnotise people in a bid to set up terrifying organisations, and to devastating effect…'

Rumble! Rumble!* Having lost most of their crews, the warships and aircraft carriers sank into the sea. Those workers had been normal humans, and there was little they could do to withstand the might of Leylin's soul when he intentionally attacked them.

Some aircrafts even began to smoke and spark, exploding violently. This was the disadvantage of using external tools; all sorts of accidents could occur without a controller.

"What do we do, Captain?" The survivors gathered on the few warships left, staring at the figure that was like a devil in the sky.

"We attack!" The captain, who looked wise and had a scar on his face, gritted his teeth, "This person's attacks are only effective against normal humans. There's little effect on us extraordinary beings so we can take him on. Do what you can, and have the rest retreat. Get the empire to draw up other methods to annihilate them!

"We should prepare an elite team formed entirely of extraordinary beings, which will definitely be enough to dispose of the enemy…"

Light flickered on the wristwatches of those present, and shadow wings formed on their backs as large numbers rose to encircle Leylin in the air.

'I see…' Leylin took a look around and smiled slightly, 'Besides high-levelled spellcasters, the special operatives of the empire also have a batch of extraordinary beings and bloodline carriers? This policy of having some pulling the rest forward really seems to be instinct for large countries…'

"Quick! Notify the naval headquarters! Apostle 3 has special offensive abilities and no ordinary being can get close to him. Only the Special Forces can do anything to him, call them in!"

The surviving ships were started at this moment, and some jumped on to lifeboats as they all left the area quickly. It was like there was a great ferocious beast watching them from behind.

Leylin paid no mind to them leaving. It was like a normal being stepping on a group of ants in their way, and then continuing on while paying no heed to the ants lucky enough to survive.

'A rank 6 blood carrier, and other ability users…' On the contrary, Leylin was slightly interested in this wave of elites surrounding him. The burly man at the lead was almost equivalent to rank 6 in the Magus World, and he also had the inheritance of an ancient bloodline.

'The empire even managed to buy over someone like him? It looks like Shar's plans aren't so simple…'

"What the hell are you?" The captain eyed the voodoo doll in front of him, astutely sensing the wisdom and intelligence in it. A single look from the doll had made him feel transparent, causing a chill up his spine.

"Heehee…" Unfortunately, Leylin had no intentions of communicating with beings like this. Under his control, the voodoo doll's smile widened and became more eerie. Light glinted in its eyes.

Rumble! Rumble!* The survivors who had managed to escape now found that the ocean behind them began to roar, the waves surging to over a hundred metres tall and swallowing them.

Drip! Drip!* Crimson blood fell from the voodoo doll's straw arm as it held onto the head of the scarred captain. His wide, terrified eyes had lost all signs of life.

The voodoo doll stood silently in the sky, and only after a long while did it turn back, looking towards a certain area.

"I imagined you would do something, Mistress of the Night…" A layer of light appeared from the voodoo doll, revealing Leylin's figure.

"Heehee… those are just some pawns. If you like it, what does it matter if you killed a few more?"

The Shadow Weave flashed, and a young girl dressed in black walked over leisurely. She had a pair of beautiful and long eyes, and a face that was just exquisite. There was a hint of a mischievous smile on the corner of her lips, and she seemed like a little sister you'd find living next door who loved playing tricks.

If the Snake Dowager's beauty was that of maturity and charm, Shar was like an orchid that was very approachable. The Mistress of the Night sized Leylin up and down, eyes full of unconcealed curiosity.

"I thought the Dowager would be the only one coming, I didn't expect she would invite you as well. The smell of this bloodline… Hehe…" Shar's voice was like a clear spring, graceful and beautiful.

The smile on her face grew bigger, and she held on to her belly as she started chuckling, "Haha… I never thought that woman would actually face such a disadvantage as to have a portion of her bloodline ripped out. There's nothing more delightful in the world!"

The grace of shadow force evidently allowed Shar to see through Leylin's bloodline with a glance. The fact that Leylin was not feeling the pressure from the world was enough proof of his identity.

"While I may have separated from her bloodline, we are currently allies," Leylin said with a steely expression.

"That's true… you are her ally now…" The smile on Shar's face froze, and turned austere.

In the World of Gods, she wasn't exactly one who was benevolent or loved peace. Gods lost their immortality and part of their personality in the astral plane, but some things would still remain the same.

"So… You came here just to see me?" Shar asked, and Leylin suddenly felt a huge pressure applied on him. Part of it came from the world itself. Large amounts of origin force surged forth, seemingly able to destroy his puppet in an instant as it tried to search for his main body.

"It isn't quite convenient here… shall we go somewhere else?" Leylin looked exceptionally calm in the face of this threat, motioning for Shar to go first. Then, with his five fingers stroking lightly, the space seemed to open like a curtain, revealing spatial cracks and turbulence.

With a challenge like this, Shar naturally felt no fear. She was all smiles as she took the first step, and the surrounding space immediately changed as they reached the boundary of the world.

The great origin force of the Shadow World gushed and tumbled, glimmering with a hint of civility. The huge Shadow Weave revealed itself, acting like a backbone that controlled everything.

Leylin watched this magnificent scene and looked back at the black-veiled girl, "Is this your goal? Using the Weave to control everything, and then becoming the world itself…"

"If you invited me here to say that, then you can die now…"Powerful shadow force twined around the former goddess, the power of multiple laws signifying her power as a rank 8.

Leylin merely laughed in answer, asking, "Should I call you the Mistress of the Night, or Shar?"

With this sentence, the earth seemed to shatter! Her secret having been seen through, Shar's expression changed!

"You've been to the World of Gods?" she asked, a silent acknowledgement of her identity. Beings like her would not be so easily startled by quibbles, and since Leylin was already so sure she wouldn't be able to change his thoughts anyway.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Seen Through

"Mm, I've been there. The world makes one wish for a leisurely life, and it's filled with all sorts of interesting laws…" Leylin chuckled, and then looked at the weird girl, "I'd never have thought that the shadow girl didn't actually fall, instead coming to the astral plane…"

"Faith is powerful, but it's also a cage for us gods…" Shar grew dazed, seemingly recalling past memories, "When we were on the verge of falling in the dusk of the gods, I actually managed to see through some things. No matter how great it is, restricted power is worth nothing. In comparison, the Magi's approach to the truth…"

"Even so, you were the only one able to make a real change…" Leylin's eyes glinted as he inquired subtly.

"Hehe… you don't need to try sounding me out. I was the only one who crossed the crystal sphere to come to the astral plane. Devoid of faith, we gods are like fish out of water, and things become dangerous for us. Passing through the crystal sphere in the face of imminent death requires a great amount of courage and luck. I was the only one fortunate enough to succeed…"

Shar's lips quirked up in a smile, "I've answered your questions. Now, you can fall at ease …" In the next moment, she suddenly attacked!

Rumble!* The entire Shadow World seemed to come to life. Great origin force descended through the Shadow Weave, somehow boosting her strength past its limits as she seemed to reach the peak of rank 8.

[Beep! Target has locked on to host's aura, is tracking. Countdown…] The A.I. Chip warned in blood red. Leylin understood that she'd be able to find his main body sooner or later if he didn't do anything, such was the terror of a peak rank 8 Magus!

With his clone here, Shar could connect to his main body, injuring it grievously or even killing him along with it.

"The Shadow Weave allows you to completely wield extraordinary strength. It can even amplify World Origin Force… As expected of the Mistress of the Night, your wisdom is as dazzling as the stars…"

Leylin was also one of those beings of laws that did not have to worry about the World Origin Force. This method was like a breath of fresh air for him. Shar's usage of it wasn't something simple, instead optimised, boosted, and altered slightly.

If World Origin Force was crude oil, then the Shadow Weave allowed her to process it, separating it into diesel, gasoline, and asphalt at different times, making it more usable. Leylin's own origin force weapon was similar, though it held a few more advantages. Although the Shadow Weave gave Shar power, it restricted her movements. On the other hand, the origin force weapon could adapt to various worlds.

Pilala!* The raging Shadow Weave emerged from different areas, like a powerful electric grid that trapped Leylin within.

"If these are your last words, then I humbly accept your praise…" Shar's sweet voice sounded, with no bloodlust whatsoever. However, at this moment, she had already issued a death penalty to this being of law under her.

Before she reached the peak of rank 8 and completely fused with the Shadow World, Shar still had a weak point. She wouldn't be able to break out of a siege of peak rank 8s, which was why she couldn't let the Magus who knew her secret leave!

With her foresight, she naturally knew that Leylin's main body was at most a rank 7 Magus, and could likely be heavily injured or killed by her. Her killing intent multiplied, and under her control the Shadow Weave swept towards him.

WIth the support of a large world's origin force, even one with the power of a rank 8 Magus would definitely be in trouble under this one move!

"It's been a pity, Miss Shar… We could have discussed more possibilities…" The A.I. Chip's rays glinted in Leylin's eyes, and he suddenly sighed.

Rumble!* All of a sudden, a streak of green flames blazed on the voodoo doll's body, and quickly spread all over its body.

"Are you trying to break all connections? Dream on!" Shar snorted, and with a wave of her hands, powerful restrictive force descended.

"You overestimate yourself."

Sou!* Amidst the green waves, Leylin's figure suddenly turned into a meteor. As if he was committing suicide, he crashed into the Weave that was closing in on him.

Boom!* All of a sudden, a feeling of extreme danger struck Shar's soul. It was a warning of failure, instantly reminding her of the danger she felt during the dusk of the gods. In fact, this sensation was even worse than what she'd felt back then!

'What's going on?' Shar suddenly retreated, numerous spell rays flickering on her body. Circles of origin force formed an armour that began to envelop her. In what had been a sea of origin force, within the palace, the girl in the crystal slowly opened her eyes, a trace of fear appearing on her expression!

Buzz!* Turbulent! Immense! A conscient that had initially been in a deep slumber suddenly awakened as it descended.

Whoosh!* The Shadow Weave extended, causing the little green meteor to jump out of the siege and leave behind a bright curve in the sky before disappearing.

Shar knew that the Magus had already completely destroyed all traces of the puppet, and it would be impossible to pursue him further. Now, however, her focus was on something else.

"What's going on? What's with this huge sense of danger that could harm my life? And the World Will?" Shar closed her eyes, as if interacting with the great shadow will. Only after a long time did she open her eyes.

'It sensed an aura dangerous enough to kill me?' Shar bit her lips, looking serious.

The more powerful a being was, the more afraid it was of death. This applied even more to her, who had been lucky enough to survive the dusk of the World of Gods.

'What is it? A Netherese flying city? An extraordinary divine weapon? Or is it the Earthern Plate of Destiny?' All sorts of thoughts streaked through her mind, one after the other. Following that, she turned towards a region of the empire. Although she had not been able to pinpoint his location, she's still found the general vicinity.

"Allsnake… you've truly found a great helper this time…" Shar sighed, her body merging into the shadows. A terrifying web of darkness encircled the region Leylin was in under her command, surging in the shadows.

……

Thousand Bears City, within the bedroom of a villa. Leylin opened his eyes slightly as a trace of black lightning flickered in the room.

Some of the threads that had tried to pursue him were disconnected and swallowed, dissolved by darkness. Only once the process was complete did he stand up, recalling his meeting with Shar.

'Most of her divine immortality has been converted…' Leylin sighed with a hint of pity.

The divinity was the most important part. Godly power of laws could be devoured completely and used in an instant, allowing a Magus to multiply their strength. However, the reverse was not true. Having changed, Shar was no longer a god. Even if Leylin devoured her, it would be great if he got even a fifth of the law of shadows.

That small fight using his avatar had allowed him to determine Shar's strength. She was near the peak of rank 8, only a few steps away from the boundary of rank 9! This strength exceeded that of the Snake Dowager.

If Shar had beings of laws helping her, even Leylin would have to consider retreat. Just like the wars between large countries in his previous world, these battles in the astral plane were all for profit. If there was little profit out of it along with the danger of injury or curses, nobody would want to fight.

'But it's too clean… the whole Shadow World doesn't seem to have any other rank 7s aside from Shar…' Leylin felt a deep chill inside.

There were still a few beings of law under the Snake Dowager's rule. They'd made deals with her, allowing her to watch over them without worry. However, there were no auras of law in the current Shadow World anymore!

'Shar is from the World of Gods, after all. She wouldn't want her secrets discovered by other Magi before she reaches the peak of rank 8…' Leylin sighed. He had a feeling the rest of those existences had probably met their ends.

"The Snake Dowager should have discovered this by now, right?" He pushed side the curtains, his eyes seeming to pierce into the boundless starry skies and into another part of the empire.

……

There was an ancient castle sitting atop a hill at the outskirts of a bright city. Such medieval structures had grown rare in recent times, becoming tourist sites more than anything else.

A lady with a long black umbrella was leisurely walking across a shady pathway. She'd worn a coat of mink fur, and her tall black heels created piercing noises as they hit the ground. With her black silk gloves, she seemed elegant and posh.

Under the headscarf was the face of a middle-aged woman. Her long eyes and lips were smeared with bright red makeup, giving her an enchanting look.

The Snake Dowager had evidently learnt from the previous lessons, and restrained much of her charm. While her current figure was beautiful, it was not enough to create trouble and suffering for the country.

Raindrops dripped onto the roads and created a lively rhythm. The soil was all muddy, yet nothing seemed to stick onto her high heels. However, as there weren't many people nearby, nobody discovered this startling scene.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Kidnapping

"Alilux, Jar Spectre, as well as a guardian of the mermaid clan, the prophet Kalle…" The Snake Dowager's eyes held a trace of sadness, "You should have chosen me from the beginning…"

She walked directly into the ancient castle, but the dozing security guard did not notice her at all. Intensely familiar with everything in the castle, she continued on her way and walked into the basement. She finally arrived in front of a wall.

The dirt yellow manson stones were covered with the mottled marks of history. The likeness of a two-handle vase had been carved in there with simple skill.

"In Allsnake's name…" the Snake Dowager bit her lip, a trace of blood appearing and piercing into the body of the wall. The entire wall seemed to collapse, revealing a pitch-black passageway.

In the end, she arrived in front of a simple altar. There she saw fragments of ceramic, radiating an atmosphere of chilling horror with concentrated resentment. The grudge had materialised even after thousands of years.

"Jar Spectre, so this is what became of your body?" The Snake Dowager picked up a dirt-yellow fragment of the vase, traces of black patterns wandering on the surface as they let out hissing sounds. It seemed like a thousand snakes were flowing over each other.

Having gotten what she wanted, the Snake Dowager quickly left. The passageway was discovered by a cleaner later, becoming a popular tourist destination.

……

Another bright and beautiful day dawned in Thousand Bears City.

"Ah…" Xavier stretched lazily and sat up in bed.

"Oh dear, I didn't manage to get my license again. I still have to ask for money from my parents at this age… Shouldn't I hurry up and find some odd jobs to do?" He kneaded his temples in worry as he put his clothes on.

The imperial university was expensive to go to, and normal families could not afford it. Xavier had grown a bit of pride over his life, and he didn't want to use up his parents' money after he grew to adulthood.

'Tiring jobs like waiting tables don't have high salaries. I should become a bodyguard instead! My physique was crafted well by the Snakebite Fist, giving me great attack power. I can earn in excess of ten Thousand Seres a month…' His self-confidence was greatly bolstered by his sturdy physique and willpower from training in martial arts.

Several minutes later, he walked into the living room with toothbrush in mouth. He saw fried eggs, bread, and milk on the table, with a note stuffed under the plate.

"Jill's already gone to school?" The scene of a little girl cooking breakfast from atop a stool appeared in his mind, and a smile blossomed on Xavier's face. Washing his face and rinsing his mouth, he sat down to eat breakfast and turned on the television.

The television screen appeared in midair, broadcasting the clear and simple voice of a female anchor, "Welcome to the morning news. Let's begin with economy. A few days ago the Imperial Corporation declared that…"

Suddenly, the expression of the female anchor changed.

"Breaking news! Thousand Bears City's Golden Flower Primary School was attacked by an unknown party this morning. The casualties are currently unknown, and the police department and firefighters have hurried to the scene. Five different organisations have presently taken responsibility for this attack…"

A sudden scene of dense fireworks appeared behind the anchor, showing a primary school. The police had erected a perimeter of warning tape, and faint weeping sounds could be heard from within.

Bang!* Xavier's expression turned blank, the cup of milk in his hand shattering on the floor.

'That's Jill's school!' He immediately rushed out, pulling out the door with so much force that a hole the size of a fist was formed where the handle used to be.

"Mm, has it begun?" Next door to Xavier, Leylin also walked out from his residence. He saw Xavier rushing hot-bloodedly to Golden Flower Primary School, strolling behind him calmly with his own breakfast in hand.

'Jill! Jill! You must be alright!' Xavier looked into the distant horizon. He could already see the dense black smoke over the school building, an ominous sign. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

The closer he got, the worse the traffic jam became. There seemed to be a long queue of maglev trains on the tracks, with numerous traffic policemen maintaining order.

"Damn!" Xavier ferociously slammed his taxi's door open and fled. In a few moments, he had disappeared to the end of the street, with money left carelessly on the seat. The driver's mouth gaped as if he had seen a ghost.

With his agility and the fact that he was not all that far from the primary school in the first place, Xavier very quickly reached the location.

"Stop! What are you doing?" An armoured policeman blocked him from going ahead, examining him closely.

"I… I'm the brother of a student here, her name's Jill. How is she?!" Xavier asked in a panicked voice.

"The robbers have taken hostages, we are currently working hard to rescue them," the policeman's gaze turned into a pity, "I promise you that we will do our absolute best to rescue them. Now please, go over there to register and wait…"

He pointed at an empty space where a group of parents had gathered. Many mothers were weeping openly.

"Damn… I want to go in!" Xavier's face flushed with rage.

"I'm sorry, that is impossible!" The policeman's expression changed, "Don't make things difficult for us…"

Seeing a gun's black muzzle, Xavier rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll leave. I'm leaving…" As he slowly left and walked around the school, he arrived outside an enclosed wall. There were policemen here as well, but it wasn't as densely protected as the last area.

"Okay, now!" Xavier deeply breathed in and emitted a serpent's hiss, suddenly becoming a shadow which rushed forward.

"Stand still!" "Shoot!"

A cacophony of voices could be heard, as well as dangerous gunshots. However, Xavier had displayed his extraordinary power here, bending into an S as if he was a snake to dodge all the gunshots. He barely flipped over the wall into the campus, and exasperated howls sounded behind him.

"Jill! Jill!" Xavier was extremely panicked in his heart, but his thoughts were eerily calm. He began to stealthily make his way towards Jill's classroom.

The once happy campus had now become hell. The corpses of several students and teachers littered the hallway, the fresh red blood unpleasant to the eyes.

'It's impossible, Jill would not have fallen here…' Xavier encouraged himself to move onwards, silently drawing closer to Jill's class.

The robbers had evidently based themselves here, congregating together. However, their attire was extremely strange. They were wearing black wind jackets with sunglasses.

'They don't look like robbers…' A faint thought arose in Xavier's heart. However, at this point he already had no choice. After seeing the crowded figures and their firepower, he began to feel a little anxious.

'Right, the ventilation ducts… If I can restrain my life undulations, I can hide.' Xavier's eyes brightened. He used Snakebite Fist to control his entire body's muscles and blood flow. Under the mysterious force, his blood slowly grew cold. His life undulations also became increasingly weak, until he resembled a rock on the ground.

Bang!* A ventilation duct was kicked open, and Xavier slowly climbed towards the school building.

"Why do we have to act like robbers, boss? Can't we just act directly?" Nobody was alerted to Xavier's presence, exchanging words which made his heart beat faster.

"It's the mayor's fault, he said it would be bad influence. Well, someone else will take his position after this, that's the price for provoking the Special Forces…"

'The empire's Special Forces Division?' Xavier's heart turned cold. He felt like he had interfered with some disastrous affair.

"Ah…" Just at this moment, the sound of a girl crying out in alarm could be heard. Xavier's eyes widened in response, 'It's Jill's voice!'

He crawled across at lightning speed. Looking through the opening in the ventilation shaft, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the scene he witnessed. Within the classroom, a teacher's body had slumped over the desk. Many little girls were crouched on the ground crying, with a huge man dragging Jill up.

"So annoying!" He pinched a nerve behind Jill's head, which made her immediately faint.

"Let go of my sister!" Seeing this scene, Xavier couldn't hold back anymore. He jumped down from the ventilation shaft directly.

"Oh, so there was one left?" The man in the wind jacket looked at Xavier and at the black apparatus in his hand, "It's a shame he's too old. There's no value in nurturing and brainwashing him…"

"Let go of my sister!" Xavier roared as he charged ahead. However, he was blocked by a slanted-eyed youth with a pallid face.

Heavy makeup was smeared on his face in thick layers, and he swiped his tongue across his brightly coloured lips, "Give this one to me, he seems rather amusing," he said with an evil expression.

A Rapid Shadow wristwatch flashed with light, and a wall of shadows stopped Xavier in his tracks.

"Alright, but pay attention to the time," the middle-aged man nodded. He threw Jill and two other girls over his shoulder and left.

"Damn it, DAMN IT!" Xavier's expression flushed a deep red. His arm suddenly softened, and like a snake with sharp fangs he shattered the shadow wall into pieces.

"Oh, a martial artist? I like it!" Slant Eyes seemed to brighten, "I know from experience that trash like you can last a little longer, so don't disappoint me…

"Don't even think about stubbornly resisting. I've already surpassed high-ranked mechanics and can directly connect to the highest layer of the Shadow Weave. Your martial skills are just a joke compared to high-ranked spells."

"Sss…" A black shadow flashed past. Xavier reappeared in front of Slant Eyes, his fingers stabbing directly into his throat.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Jar

"How… Is this possible?" Slanted Eyes fell to the ground in disbelief.

"Even if you have powerful spells, your neurons are still too weak. Your processing ability cannot keep up at all… Before you even cast a spell I could kill you over ten times!" Xavier rushed in.

"Jill! Jill!" The deadly and vicious Snakebite Fist was now used by Xavier to a terrifying degree, and very soon the remaining kidnappers had their throats torn apart, dying in a gory fashion.

He went up to the roof, but Xavier could only see an aircraft flying off in the distance.

"No…" Xavier fell helplessly to the ground.

"I never thought that I'd be late!" A sigh sounded beside him, and Xavier unconsciously retaliated.

However, the powerful Snakebite Fist was stopped, and the other person spoke out, "I'm not your enemy. I'm here to help."

"You… Crowley?" Xavier recognised him and suspicion filled his face, "Why are you here?"

"I'll explain later, right now we need to leave this place. Follow me!" Crowley's expression was extremely solemn as he dragged Xavier and left the place. Still, Xavier shrugged off the man's hands once they reached a corner of the school.

"What exactly is happening?"

"I said it before, I'm here to help!" Crowley put on an extremely serious face, "Do you know the identity of those people who abducted your sister earlier?"

"The empire's Special Forces!" Xavier spat out the name. Learning of this fact, all his hopes of police help had been dashed.

"Nn, they're lackeys of the Special Forces!" There was a tinge of hatred in Crowley's voice, "Not only do rampantly kill adult bloodline carriers, they capture our children and brainwash them into becoming their own recruits!"

"Bloodline carriers? Could it be…" Xavier suddenly recalled the contents of his family's inherited book.

"I implicated all of you this time. You'd best give your parents a call, and let them avoid all risks…" Crowley said apologetically.

"Wait…" Xavier shrugged his hands. He'd learnt too much today, causing him to feel dizzy.

"Who exactly are you? Why did you say 'you all'?" Wariness crept in Xavier eyes, and every muscle of his bulged like that of a leopard about to leap on its prey.

"I belong to the Bloodline Alliance, an organisation formed to resist the empire. Our activities in Thousand Bears City attracted the attention of the Special Forces…" Crowley said slowly.

"You criminal ringleader!" Before Crowley could finish speaking, Xavier sent out a punch that carried the phantom of a black snake.

Hiss!* The same giant snake serpent appeared behind Crowley. He punched out the same way, accompanied by the hiss of an ancient snake.

Xavier's fist was caught in Crowley's palm, no damage done to either part.

"Snakebite Fist?!" Shock filled Xavier's face.

"Only a weakling will resent others, and disregard the true target!" Crowley let go of Xavier's hands, "Your gift in practising the Snakebite Fist has far exceeded my expectations. Even those so-called 'geniuses' would not hold a candle to you…"

"Who exactly are you?" Xavier stressed each syllable.

"Me? I'm known as Crowley, but my name is Xanier! Deruze Xanier! Can you see the connection now?" There was warmth in Crowley's eyes.

"Xanier! The ancestor that left us the Snakebite Fist! How? Doesn't that mean you're over five hundred years old?" Xavier's first instinct was disbelief.

"There are many things you don't know about the world. Don't be easily convinced of truth and lies… I don't hope for you to believe me anyway. What? Don't you want to save your sister anymore?" Crowley smiled.

"How do we save her? Crow… Xan…" Xavier stammered. If what Crowley said was true, then wasn't this man his great great great grandfather?

"Crowley would be fine!" Crowley smiled, and then his expression turned solemn. "There is a Special Forces base outside Thousand Bears City. The young bloodline carriers they abducted will be detained in that place, undergoing a rigorous selection process before the best are sent over to the empire. So? Do you have the guts to go with me?"

"Of course!" Xavier clenched his fists and nodded his head with resolution.

……

'Bloodline Alliance?' Leylin stood on the side of the street. He'd seen everything, including Xavier's conversation with Crowley.

'According to Xanier's words, this organization is the one that most bloodline carriers are gathered in… These are the descendants of existences who had wielded laws, but they are now reduced to this state… It's rather sad…' Leylin shook his head.

"Hey handsome, do you wanna chat?" A melodious voice sounded by the side of the street. Leylin turned around, only to see a young lady whose earrings reflected the sunlight.

It took him a while to think, but then he smiled mysteriously, "Sure!"

Some time later, the two of them were sitting in the partitioned room of a cafe.

This place was rather exquisite in its design and service, and the couple's room was also good at isolating sound. The waiter served coffee along with snacks shaped like little animals before quietly closing the door.

Leylin waved his hands, and a layer of blood red light enclosed the room. Only then did he turn back to look at the beautiful lady. "Snake Dowager! You actually dare look for me now? Aren't you afraid of being caught by the Mistress of the Night?"

Leylin already felt that this girl had been possessed when he saw her. The Shadow Weave could have easily discovered this connection of spacetime.

"It's alright… I'm using the chipped body of the Jar Spectre to contact you…" The young lady smiled, flashing the phantom of a shattered piece of clay and revealing the power of laws within it.

"The Jar Spectre was an existence on the same level as me back in ancient times. It possessed the law of stealth, and its pristine waters could immediately travel to any part of the Shadow World…

"However, it's now been reduced to this broken piece…" Complex emotions whirled across the Snake Dowager's face, "It seems like you've discovered it as well? The Mistress of the Night is the only being of law remaining alive in this world…"

Leylin spoke solemnly, "So then. Why take the risk to contact me?"

"An exchange of information, and a plan moving forward." This girl before him was rather beautiful originally. However, the Snake Dowager's possession had elevated her aura, and her wry smile seemed to hold a hint of coquettishness to it.

"She's already gotten rid of all beings of law in the Shadow World, and has it under tight surveillance using the Shadow Weave. This psi energy of hers has replaced all sorts of fuel in the world as well… I have no doubt that she could will the civilisation of the entire world destroyed as long as she wants it…"

The Snake Dowager was a native of the Shadow World, after all. Since she wanted to seize control of the place, she'd ideally want it intact. Even then, in a crucial moment she most probably wouldn't care about the destruction of an entire civilisation. This was a common trait amongst beings of law.

Leylin thought over it for a while. She was his ally right now after all, so he decided to chip in with some information, "Here's some more. My voodoo doll already met the Mistress of the Night…"

"What?" A nervous expression appeared on the Snake Dowager's face.

"Relax, she didn't manage to lure me over. I didn't suffer any serious injury either." Leylin's retort had been immediate, he'd known what she was thinking of.

"My apologies… The Mistress of the Night is someone who excels at convincing people. The Jar Spectre had been lured by her…" the Snake Dowager said apologetically.

"That's alright," Leylin nodded his head and continued. "From what I can see, I didn't meet her true body. It was just an avatar."

"An avatar! Then where is her true body at?" This information was rather important, and could determine the victory and ownership of a world. Hence the Snake Dowager pressed on.

"I don't know…" Leylin shook his head and saw the Snake Dowager turning silent. He then asked, "Your Excellency, what plans do you have now?"

"I'll first rope in the strength of the bloodline carriers… and there are several other things for me to do as well…" The Snake Dowager bit her lips and pointed her finger out, forming a strange rune in the air.

"This is the imprint of the Jar Spectre. You can contact me through it anytime, it can't be seen by the Weave."

"Alright!" Leylin reached out his right hand, allowing this rune that looked like a jar with two ear-shaped handles to enter him through his skin.

[Beep! Host obtained 'Jar Imprint'! Effects: Able to converse with another imprint holder unlimitedly in the Shadow World. The connection applies before all others in the world. Explanation: The ancient Jar Spectre's original body is a giant jar with two ear handles. Legends have it that the entire water source of the Shadow World comes from it, and its two ears can listen to any information in the Shadow World!]

"I'll need your help in roping in the bloodline carriers!" The beautiful eyes of the Snake Dowager looked at Leylin.

"I won't refuse!" Leylin did not decline the request. He'd already set his eyes on the Bloodline Alliance anyway.

The Snake Dowager left after smiling contentedly, only leaving behind a girl who'd fainted on the spot.

"Sigh… I still need to clean up this mess, how troublesome…" Leylin shook his head and snapped his fingers. The young girl sat up immediately and looked at his eyes which contained no annoyance, "After you wake up, you will forget…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Attack

Outskirts of Thousand Bears City.

Crowley had brought Xavier to a simple and crude building that was still under construction.

Past a board that covered up the basement was a huge place. Flickering neon lights illuminated a place with a cold, hard, metallic lustre, causing Xavier's palms to sweat slightly.

"This is the Bloodline Alliance's stronghold in Thousand Bears City. It's impossible for the two of us alone to attack a branch of the empire's Special Forces ourselves, so we'll need some helpers. Come, let's introduce you."

Crowley brought Xavier to a place that seemed like a little meeting room, pulling the door open. Instantly, many judging and distrustful or threatening gazes fixed onto him, causing him to stiffen up.

"Alright, alright. Don't get too overboard with your greetings!" Amidst this perilous situation, Crowley was like a huge reef. His words caused a large amount of the pressure to dissipate. Only then did Xavier get the strength to raise his head and size up the people in the meeting room.

Everybody here had a grim aura about them, causing the teen to feel extremely uncomfortable. However, there was one person amongst them he recognised.

"Is that… Invigilator Bobbi?" He focused on one of the many females.

"Haha… You should've seen her at your greater skill test. Let me introduce you once more. This is Bobbi. She has the bloodline of the ancient enchanting witch, and she's also an official of Thousand Bears City."

Crowley rubbed his nose, "Be careful. This old woman likes to prey on young things…"

"Who are you calling old, you smelly snake?" Bobbi twisted her slender waist as she approached Xavier. She was one head taller than him, and it gave him much pressure.

"Can you do it, kid? This isn't playing house, you really might lose your life in this operation…"

Xavier looked up at the roaring sea and gulped, before turning resolute, "I… I must go!"

"Haha… Don't underestimate Xavier. He's genius enough to have mastered the Snakebite Fist at his age! With an additional set of armour, he'll definitely be powerful!" Crowley patted Xavier on the back.

"Mastery over the Snakebite Fist?" The crowd began to get restless, and what followed next was Bobbi's fearless laughter, "Haha… how interesting. This is too interesting…

"He's not even twenty now. Considering his age, it can't have been all that long…" She turned her waist and sized Xavier up and down as if watching a rare animal. She then shot a glance at Crowley with her slender eyes, the challenge and disdain within them obvious, "Didn't you take two hundred years to do the same thing? In comparison to him, what are you?"

"Can we not discuss this now?" Crowley could only surrender to this taunt that struck at his weak spot. Xavier, on the other hand, was shocked, 'Is the Snakebite Fist that difficult? Then why could I succeed in a matter of days…'

He now understood that what had happened to him was something unusual. He decided to keep it a secret, it was something that could not be made known.

"Alright! Since he's gained mastery of the Snakebite Fist, he meets the requirements to join us," Bobbi nodded and sat down, "Let's continue what we were discussing…"

"That's the kind of person she is. Try not to provoke her…" Crowley awkwardly pulled Xavier to sit at a corner, no longer bringing up meeting anyone else.

"Based on our intel, the empire's special forces have destroyed four or five strongholds of the resistance in Thousand Bears City. They've become more ruthless and brutal, and the number of young bloodline carriers they took away has increased…" A screen flashed with many images as a young man in a wheelchair spoke. A picture of Golden Flower Primary School caused Xavier to clench his fists.

"We can surmise that they must've faced a huge loss of sorts recently, so they're eager to get new blood…"The young man on the wheelchair lifted his glasses, full of confidence, "Thanks to them, numerous organisations are now willing to pledge their loyalty to us. Of course, it's on the condition that we destroy their base in Thousand Bears City and save their relatives… What's most important is that the other side is unscrupulous, to the point that even the mayor is disgusted. We can make use of this and break off their most powerful support from authorities…"

"Do you understand the general situation now? Prepare to move out!" Bobbi clapped her hands, and people left the meeting room one after another. Only Xavier, Crowley, and a few others were left behind.

"You don't have a weapon yet, right kid? Come with me!" Bobbi placed her hands on her hips and brought Xavier to the young man seated in the wheelchair.

Crowley spoke up from beside Xavier, "This guy's called Genius, he's our organisation's weapons and intelligence officer."

"Haha… did you just say I'm smart?" The young man called Genius burst into laughter, seemingly full of love for himself. However, Crowley and Bobbi did not say anything, obviously used to his narcissism.

Xavier noticed that this man was stuck with prosthetics from the waist down. He'd evidently suffered from some critical injury before, to the point that even the empire's current technology could not allow him to recover.

Genius maneuvered his wheelchair and arrived in front of Xavier, "Speak! Tell me what you want. Even if it's the newest version of Rapid Shadow, I can get it for you!"

"Mm, I haven't tried the high-grade Rapid Shadow yet, and I haven't even passed the licensing exam. The same goes for laser weapons…" Xavier scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Then…" Crowley and Bobbi exchanged an awkward glance, but they did not speak.

"Just give me armour!" Xavier had made his choice after some thought. After all, his greatest advantage was the mastery of the Snakebite Fist. Sturdy armour would greatly raise his battle might.

"Just armour? Don't you need anything else? How about tracking cannons? Or an external Weave connection?"Genius trained a piercing gaze on Xavier, as if measuring his body size.

"That's not necessary. All I want is something that can protect me well. The metal for my arms must be durable enough, and should not affect my movements… And for my legs, It's best that…"

Xavier gave a broad outline of what he wanted and then looked at Genius, "I've said a lot. Do you remember it all?"

"Haha… it's no big deal. I'm Genius, remember?" A projection appeared in mid-air as Genius patted his wheelchair, showing an outline of armour that was exactly like what Xavier had described.

"The only thing that matches your requirements right now is the empire's Venomsnake Armour. Thankfully there's one stored in the base. It can be used after some modification…" Genius' hands moved extremely quickly. In but tens of minutes, Xavier was able to don his armour.

He waved his arm and tested the flexibility of the arms for the armour, and then entered a stance of the Snakebite Fist. "Amazing…"

"But of course! Genius really is a genius. He used to be from the Imperial Research Institute, anything he alters can be sold at astronomical prices on the black market…" Crowley had changed into a black windbreaker, "Are you ready? Let's leave!"

"Of course," Xavier's fists punched out, creating dazzling sparks in the air, "Jill, I'm coming to save you!"

……

The members of the Bloodline Alliance moved very quickly. In just half an hour all its fighters were surrounding a military base.

"That's the base of the Special Forces branch. Once the fight begins Genius will move to break off all communication with the outer world. We'll have fifteen minutes." Crowley sounded grim, "Remember to be on time. Any later than that, and we'll have no other way. Once they move out from their garrison to encircle us, all of us will probably be completely decimated."

"Fifteen minutes!" Xavier gazed at the base like it was a malicious beast and gritted his teeth, "That's enough!"

"Good! Well then, move out!" Crowley raised an arm, and numerous black figures pounced out. In the next moment, a bright red alarm resounded in the base.

"Communications down. Haha… I really am a genius!" Genius was in the basement of the Bloodline Alliance base, sat inside a huge machine with a silver helmet on his head. His eyes were full of an abnormal fervour.

He hadn't just cut off communications. The military base's power had been taken down as well, causing the Special Forces' base to quiet down.

Hss!* Xavier struck out with a right hand that was like a venomous snake tooth. Protected by his armour, he was like a humanoid gundam as his fingers instantly severed the throat of an enemy. The Venomsnake Armour weighed nearly fifty kilos, but to him it was almost weightless.

Boom! Boom! Boom!* Black figures were flung away one after the other. Xavier quickly charged out, his armoured hands grabbing onto a fat bald man.

"Where's Jill? No, where are those primary school students you took today?" Although his was covered by armour, Xavier understood the he was looking quite sinister.

His fierce murderous spirit immediately caused the man to stammer. His body trembled, and a patch of wetness appeared on his pants. He'd actually lost control of his bladder!

Just at this moment, a few black-clothed men charged over towards him, firing their laser weapons. The shots only left shallow marks on Xavier's armour, and in retaliation he struck them ruthlessly, causing them to crash into the wall leaving huge depressions behind. Their bones shattered loudly, and it was obvious that they would not live.

"Speak quickly, or you're next!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Rescue

"I'll say it, I'll say it! They're in basement 2!" The immense threat of death cured the fatty's stutter, and he spilled the beans in a hurry.

Crash!* Xavier tossed him to the side and charged down to the basement.

"Trash! You're all trash!" An icy voice sounded, causing Xavier's heart to skip a beat. He soon saw a black-robed figure that made his eyes bulge in rage— it was the middle-aged man who had abducted his sister, and he was still wearing the same jacket!

"The guards here are too weak…" The man didn't carry any weapons on him, and the unzipped jacket flapped in the wind to reveal the perfect abdominal muscles of his body. It gave Xavier an extreme sense of danger.

At the man's feet were many dead members of the Bloodline Alliance, and on his body were scars from the aftermath of an explosion.

"Give me back my sister!" Xavier howled.

"Oh, you're that kid from before… Heh, looks like that idiot Base is dead…" The middle-aged man inhaled deeply, "Make sure to remember my name. I'm Wolf Fang, the one who'll kill you tonight."

Awoo—* A strong forcefield emanated from the man's body, making Xavier feel like he was standing helplessly before a canine on the grassy plains.

Hiss!* He quickly activated the Snakebite Fist in response, and the phantom of a black serpent appeared behind him.

"Huh, interesting. I'll be able to toy with you a little while longer!" Wolf Fang's eyes brightened.

Boom!* However, the ceiling broke apart just as Wolf Fang was about to make his move, and Crowley descended to stand in front of Xavier.

"Go! I'll stop him!"

"Thank you!" Xavier rapidly disappeared into the passage, but Crowley and Wolf Fang no longer minded him.

"Keke… Crowley, one of the top five experts of the Bloodline Alliance. You're wanted for fifteen charges of treason, a rank SSS criminal." Wolf Fang's gaze at Crowley was like nothing else existed in the world.

"Javis' lackey, eh. Your hands are stained with the blood of my people…" A pea sized ball of explosion radiated out from Crowley, and a fine black mist appeared to fight back against Wolf Fang's forcefield. A black python seemed to emerge from within the mist, its vertical eyes glaring at Wolf Fang.

"Hahaha… Interesting, quite interesting! So that kid just now was your student? Or is he a descendant?" Wolf Fang guffawed as he charged forward like a tank. The battle had begun!

"What is this?" Having entered the room in the basement, Xavier was scared out of his wits at the sight he'd witnessed. Multiple giant nutrition pods littered the area, containing creatures of different species and even human beings. The humans themselves seemed to be from all age groups.

However, even if these people looked normal there was definitely something odd about them. Xavier peered through one cylinder of glass, seeing a little boy with purple skin and a pair of wings protruding from his back. It seemed to be some form of deformity.

The little boy suddenly opened his eyes, his yellow pupils staring icily at Xavier. It was a look of utter despair and death.

"It's… Alive!" Darkness seemed to enveloped Xavier at this instant. He'd lived his life as an ordinary citizen so far, so this was the first time the vile, dark, reality was put in front of him.

Seeing that there were live specimens here, Xavier suddenly got worried. "Jill, Jill!"

Boom!* He destroyed a black mechanical lock, revealing an underground basement. A putrid stench emanated from within.

"Jill! Jill, are you there?"Xavier opened one of the cages underground, but he only saw a few girls with unfamiliar faces.

"Five minutes left. Make sure to withdraw in time!" Genius sounded rather nervous through the earpiece. Several other members who'd followed Xavier exchanged looks, and immediately began scouring for Jill.

Xavier did not mind the actions of the members. He had only wanted to find Jill right now.

"Get lost!" Several Special Forces members were sent flying back and died miserably as a loud serpent hissed.

This place was only a branch base, and it wasn't prepared for such a relentless ambush. It probably held more administrators than soldiers, so Xavier with his armour on was like a ferocious beast that swept away everything in his path.

"Underground room #2!" He kicked opened a metal door, and saw several girls crouching in the corner. All of them wore the uniform of Golden Flower Primary School.

"Jill! Jill!" Xavier howled, but there was no response.

"Not here! Not here too! What's happening?" He forcefully picked up a researcher in a white lab coat, the strength in his wrist causing the man's face to turn red.

"Cough… Cough… The kids from Golden Flower Primary School that were captured today are here…" The researcher's face turned purple, as he uttered several more words. "However… Some special specimens were just taken away, en route to headquarters… Cough, I told you everything I know, please spare me…"

"Damn it!" Xavier's eyes turned red, and he crushed the man's throat without much effort.

Bang!* The corpse fell lifelessly to the ground. Xavier then waved his hands and sent the little children running out of the room. Right now, he could only walk around aimlessly in the underground base.

"Enemy troops will arrive in one minute! Evacuate immediately!" Genius' voice sounded once again. He was extremely exasperated now, but Xavier seemed not to hear anything he was saying.

"What are you doing? You idiot!"

Bang!* A fist struck Xavier's face, causing him to be embedded into the wall that had crumbled partially, but it had turned him clear-headed. "Here… Jill… Not here…"

"So what? You haven't found your sister?" Bobbi wore a tight uniform, as he punched Xavier again, sending him flying out from the wall. He then stepped on Xavier, "She's not dead, so as long as she's alive, there will always be a chance. But right now, you are very likely to die here before her!"

"Yes! The headquarters of the Special Forces! I have to go there!" Xavier's pupils suddenly blazed with flames. "Thank you, Miss Bobbi, also… How is Crowley right now?"

"He's in trouble! Wolf Fang is Javis' right hand man, so he is very powerful. Only Crowley here can resist him, and their support troops came in faster than expected. The only comfort is that the other members in this base aren't strong fighters, so we already rescued a large number of people."

"I'll help him!" Without further hesitation, Xavier jumped on his feet quickly, and ran at a speed that Bobbi could not chase after.

"Sigh… Young people nowadays…" Without knowing why, Bobbi smiled lightly. But very soon, she surveyed her surroundings, "What are all of you waiting for? Hurry and evacuate! Take everything that can be brought away, and destroy the rest! I want the sins of this place to be burned away by fire!"

Pit Pat! Pit Pat!* Droplets of fresh blood fell of the ground, accompanied by heavy panting.

Crowley looked at the three deep gashes on his chest, and at the blood pouring profusely out of the wounds. Wolf Fang had managed to expose his bone.

"Haha… How is it? A top expert of the Bloodline Alliance only has this much ability?" Wolf Fang laughed maniacally. His shirt had been ripped open, and his aura began to converge, forming the phantom of a wolf behind him.

Experts like them were far faster than normal human beings. Unless one could cast spells instantly, a Rapid Shadow wristwatch was of no use at this level.

"You're a bloodline carrier as well. Why betray your kin?" Crowley asked, panting.

"You haven't seen the might of the empire," Wolf Fang squinted, "You'll never be able to imagine the kind of existence that backs it up. Compared to them, I am but an ant…"

"Ah… You already lost the heart to improve yourself as a practitioner!" Crowley swayed, as if he was going to collapse at any moment.

"It doesn't matter what you say now, because you are going to die here today!" Wolf Fang struck out, and a powerful gale accompanied his strike which looked like the jaws of a wolf, "Wolf Fang Punch!"

Hiss!* A black figure stood before Crowley and a snake hissed loudly, but the black figure was sent flying back.

"Kid, you actually dare to return?" Wolf Fang looked at Xavier.

"Hurry and leave! You aren't his match!" Crowley looked extremely worried now.

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Xavier picked himself up from the ground and patted off the dirt on his body.

Kacha! Kacha!* However, his expression soon changed. A spiderweb of a crack appeared on his fist, soon extending to his arms and even his shoulders. His armour quickly shattered into pieces, revealing the teenage boy within.

"Hehe…My Wolf Fang Punch has the power to shatter and shock anything it touches, so it is the best for destroying things…" Wolf Fang stood before Xavier, like a giant wolf which had found his prey.

"Not good, Wolf Fang is stronger than I'd expected, even the other members that Bobbi brought as support are not going to be of much use…" Cold sweat began to form at the tip of Xavier's brows.

"No! I still have to find Jill, how can I die here?" The youth clenched his fist…

This intense desire to live made its way to Leylin, who was watching on as a spectator.

"Forget it! He is after all a descendant of the Snake Dowager. I just agreed to look after her bloodline, how could I betray that so quickly?" Leylin smiled and gently tapped in the air with his finger.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Transfer

"Hmm?" Xavier lost his focus for a moment, but he soon felt something burning up in his chest. A pain reverberated from the very depths of his soul, immediately breaking the defences of his spirit to render him unconscious.

However, his body stood still in the real world. Were his clothes to be taken off, one would be able to see dark yet beautiful runes form a mandara flower that spread out from his heart. Many powerful glyphs formed its exquisite petals.

"What are you trying to do, kid?" Wolf Fang felt shivers run down his spine, and he sensed a great danger to his life.

"Damn it!" He struck out under the pressure, forming the sharpest of wind blades, "Secret technique— Feral Wind Wolf Crunch!"

Awoo—* A distant howl sounded, and the gale turned into a giant wolf jaw that engulfed the teen. However, Wolf Fang actually felt the threat to his life increase, amplifying over tenfold in an instant. The fear almost stopped his heart.

A figure walked out of the wolf jaw, completely unharmed. Wolf Fang let out a cry of astonishment, but it was too late. A black datura flower bloomed faintly in the void.

……

"Hmm, not bad." Leylin nodded his head as he saw Crowley taking the unconscious Xavier away. The other members of the Bloodline Alliance had also retreated, but that was after they had set the base on fire, turning everything into ashes.

"However, what are these impure descendants of the Snake Dowager doing here? She has so many descendants of her bloodline in the Purgatory World, these few here do not even matter… Unless…"

Leylin's eyes brightened, "She wants the other beings of laws to revive using their bloodline? That'll consume a lot…

"So then… A bloodline corruption will occur, allowing her to resist Shar's Weave?" Many possibilities flashed before Leylin's eyes, all simulated by the A.I. Chip.

……

"Hurry and leave!" Crowley hopped onto an aircraft with Xavier in tow.

"Hmm? You actually made it out alive? Disasters do have long lives!" Bobbi exclaimed. Still, she could not hide the joy in her eyes.

"Don't make fun of me at a time like this…" Crowley smiled wryly, and placed Xavier down. Right now, Xavier's eyes were shut and he seemed to be unconscious.

"What happened to him? And what about Wolf Fang?" Bobbi looked at Crowley, "I know you have a lot of trump cards…"

"It isn't my accomplishment this time…" The bitterness in Crowley's eyes were more apparent than ever before as he pointed at Xavier, "He was the one who killed Wolf Fang. If not for me, I'd have wound up dead…"

"Impossible!" Many members of the Bloodline Alliance exclaimed in astonishment. Even Bobbi was stunned for a moment before she began to look at the youth lying on the cold hard floor, "You mean… He killed a powerful figure of the Special Forces, Javis' right hand man? He eliminated Wolf Fang? There's a limit to how much you can joke…"

"I hope I was joking as well, but the fact is undeniable," Crowley's face turned stern. "I sensed the power of our ancestor awakening within Xavier's blood… Have any of you felt it? The power of our bloodline has increased, especially in this short period of time…"

A bloodline carrier could only obtain strength from their bloodline, and their position and status depended on the purity and concentration of their blood. Bloodline carriers would thus weaken from generation to generation, and it was rare for a descendant to surpass their ancestor. However, they had all felt their powers from the bloodline increasing. This was extremely abnormal!

"What are you trying to say?" Bobbi looked at Crowley as she retracted her smile.

"It's just a feeling… A huge revolution is soon approaching, so special occurrences are to be expected. And there's also a genius like this kid…" Crowley exhaled deeply.

"Hey bros! If you're talking about a revolution, I have something here that might interest you guys. Wanna have a look at it?" Genius' figure was projected from the ceiling.

"What is it?" Bobbi frowned, "It had better be something useful, if not I'll put your eyeballs up your ass when we get back to the base! I swear!"

Genius covered his right mechanical eye with his hand as if he was afraid, but then his expression turned serious.

"Hehe, I'm not joking. Look at this… While you guys were invading the base, I discovered several things that would send the entire world into chaos if they're revealed…" Genius hurriedly transmitted some information after seeing the distrust in their eyes. A top secret document carrying the imperial seal quelled their disbelief.

"This is…" The light on the screen reflected off Bobbi's face, revealing her shock.

"It seems like we need to make a trip to the eastern seas before heading for Kerallen and the headquarters of the Special Forces…" Crowley said slowly, extremely solemn.

……

A giant propeller along with the chatter of multiple people combined with the noises of shifting items shocked Xavier out of his sleep. Only then did the feeling of a devil possessing his body disappear.

"Where… Is this?" Xavier asked blankly. He could barely recall a fight against Wolf Fang with Crowley, but he had no memory of what happened next.

"Don't move and don't try to get up. The skin on your back will be torn apart…" Genius turned around his wheelchair, patting the healing pod Xavier was in, "How is it? This is the latest version of the healing pods from the empire, able to cure even rank 7 to rank 10 diseases. I even added the beautifying feature, no need for thanks…"

"Oh okay…It seems like Crowley is safe…" Xavier sighed, finally sensing a large sticky substance on his burning back. "What's happening outside? Are we shifting?"

"Shift— Oh God! You can actually hear that from inside the pod? What frightening senses…" Genius gasped before he closed his eyes, causing Xavier to feel like he would be dissected at any moment.

"You didn't answer my question…" Xavier returned in his wariness.

"Oh. Yes, we're shifting bases. We've given up on this one. After all, nobody can launch an open attack on the empire without suffering repercussions…" Genius shrugged his shoulders, "Still, it's not really a problem. The Bloodline Alliance has many bases, from the icy north to the extreme south and the eastern seas. Our men cover the entire continent, so losing one or two bases is no big deal…"

Xavier felt the rich and overbearing outlook of the Bloodline Alliance from Genius' words. However, this was perfectly normal. Bloodline carriers possessed extraordinary power, able to achieve great things no matter where they went. Generations of existence had allowed some bloodline families to amass a huge fortune.

Even with the establishment of the empire causing the power and outreach of bloodline families to dwindle, they still possessed astounding might. Although it was extremely difficult to openly resist them, creating a dark organisation and growing in strength was no problem.

"Oh right, I need to go to Kerallen. Jill's been taken there!" Xavier's expression suddenly changed, and he struggled to get up. Just that movement caused excruciating pain to travel down his back, having him wince from the pain. Cold sweat dripped down his body.

"Relax, calm down! You know how much effort it took to rescue you?" Genius' long fingers hurriedly moved on the keyboard, but he still had the time to chat with Xavier, "However, you are also rather good huh! You killed Wolf Fang but only suffered 40% damage to his body. It's not a big deal…"

"What? I killed Wolf Fang?" Xavier's eyes went wide open, before he looked at his own chest. The white skin there was filled with the energy of life, and there were no longer any signs of runes on it. The datura flower had disappeared.

"Did I really do it?" Xavier muttered, feeling a new force of energy inside his body, abyssal, cold, and fearsome with an imposing aura.

The energy allowed Xavier to recover very quickly. It made him confident that he could recover in a few days even without this healing pod.

"No matter what, I still have to go to Kerallen!" the youth said resolutely. With his strength growing, his confidence in saving his sister grew as well.

"Alright, alright! I didn't say we weren't going. We plan to visit a few bases nearby before heading for the capital…" Genius said immediately, fearing that Xavier would worry unnecessarily.

"Mm, you can go have a look in the capital first, but it'll have to be in disguise. Don't act on impulse…" Crowley walked in, dressed in a black coat, "It's nice that I managed to see you awake before I leave…"

"Huh? You're leaving?" Xavier was shocked, staring at this person who claimed to be an ancestor of his. He had to admit that unknowingly, Crowley had became a fatherly figure that he had grown to rely on.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Stone Tablet

Put bluntly, Crowley was Xavier's only connection in the Bloodline Alliance. In fact, Xavier himself didn't feel like a proper member yet, still unclear on the motives and principles guiding this organisation.

His only hope had been to borrow Crowley's strength to help rescue his sister, but Crowley was now leaving? How would he be able to ask for assistance from the Bloodline Alliance and gather intelligence for his mission, even deploy troops to rescue Jill?

"But why? Jill is also your…" Xavier gritted his teeth.

"Because there's something even more important for me to do." There was a look of determination on Crowley's face, "Don't worry, I entrusted Jill's rescue to Bobbi. Follow her advice in the future…"

……

"You're leaving just like that?" On the aircraft runway, Bobbi looked at Crowley who was geared in full body armour. A finger was twirling her hair behind her ears, and she seemed lonely and uneasy.

"I have no other choice… This concerns the life and death of all humans on this world! You know… What the world is getting swept into… We cannot run away or hide from it…" Crowley looked at Bobbi as his lips moved, finally only being able to utter a single word, "Sorry…"

"I knew… I knew it… You are just like the other fellows…" Bobbi rubbed glistening tears out of the corner of her eyes.

"Haha… Don't worry! I'm a superb bloodline carrier who has lived for over 500 years! How can something like this daunt me?" Crowley patted himself on the chest. It was a strange, humorous action, as if depicting his reluctance to leave. "Will you accept me after I return from the eastern seas?"

"Scram, you old geezer. You're several hundred years older than me, don't try to be an old bull eating young grass…" Browley turned to Bobbi one last time before the aircraft left. She was stood still, her lonely figure like an extremely beautiful sculpture.

"Sigh… I thought Bobbi would immediately agree to wed you, and become a widow immediately…" a muscular brute with a skull-patterned bandana said in a nonchalant manner.

"Scram! Are you cursing me now?" Crowley scolded the elite soldier inside the aircraft. He then looked at the man before he started laughing.

He soon turned solemn. "Comrades! This incident does not concern just the lives of the Bloodline Alliance. Instead, it involves the life and death of the entire world. Thank you! Even if the people do not realise our contributions today, our spirit will stand forever proud for eons to come…"

"Who cares about that much… Yawn…" A doll-like girl yawned, revealing a cute pair of canine teeth. There seemed to be even some blood on her crowns. "No matter what, we must destroy the empire's wishes at all cost. Isn't that what we've been doing all along?"

Many people agreed with the girl's words.

"If that's the case…" Crowley cleared his throat, "Let me introduce you to one of the empire's secret plans in the eastern seas, codenamed Project X.

"Keep in mind that this matter is of utmost importance, not something the Bloodline Alliance can handle alone. We've already sought help from the Coven of Witches, the Knights of the Round Table, and the Martial Arts Association.

Crowley's words caused the rest of them to sink into silence. Just like the Bloodline Alliance represented the remaining power of bloodlines, the Coven contained the remaining magicians of the Shadow World. The other two groups also represented the inheritances of different fighting styles.

Put plainly, they were the remaining underground forces in the empire. What was the empire planning that these four forces had to come together to fight it?

The people in the aircraft soon turned silent as they listened to Crowley speak. The more he said, the more serious they became, and the worse the shadows on their faces turned.

……

Tens of thousands of metres under sea level, at the bottom of the eastern seas.

A monster was swimming past this place, its ability to survive the sea pressure that could kill most others a testament to its might. It could transmit infrasound from near its eyes, causing many marine creatures to die immediately and become its food.

Puff!* Just a whistle produced a whirlpool in its jaws, powerful enough to destroy an entire island. The suction caused the surrounding fish and mosses to be sucked into its huge maw, expelling a large amount of water and only leaving behind fresh food.

The creature did not seem to be satisfied with this meal, as it moved even deeper. A casual swipe of its tail was powerful enough to cause a tsunami on the sea surface.

This was a Metalback Whale. These creatures were the kings of the eastern seas, ruling over it since ancient times. If not for the massive burden of their huge bodies, they could have advanced to become beings of laws as powerful as rank 7 Magi. It was extremely lucky to avoid the scans of the Mistress of the Night back then.

However, things were different now. The various cities near the eastern seas had passed down legends of a 'Sea Devil King' through the generations, and the advancement of science had managed to reveal the Metalback Whale's weakness.

Rumble!* A psi energy submarine appeared here, larger than even the whale. Two psi energy webs appeared on its sides, launching a snare with powerful high-voltage currents that paralysed the beast. Shadow spells, cannonfire, and poisoned javelins soon followed, exploding on the whale's back like fireworks.

Woooo!* The Metalback Whale howled with anger as its massive body writhed in pain. Its thick skin withstood most of the attacks and it tried to swim away, pulling the net that was attached to the submarine.

The greatest technology of the empire was now pitting its might against this ancient beast. The waves from the tussle caused the seas to rage wildly, putting many coastal cities on alert.

It was even messier in the trench. A little girl that was as beautiful as an orchid stood alone on the submarine's command deck that seemed like a battleship, loneliness apparent in her eyes.

Several white-haired old man in the uniform of the imperial navy looked at the whale on the large screen before reporting respectfully, "Princess, the forcefield reports on the beast are here. The submarine's psi energy reserves are at 82%; if we have another five minutes we'll be able to completely analyse it and activate a counter forcefield."

If the outside world knew of this girl's identity, they would definitely be shocked. She was a member of the royal family here in secret, commanding the navy in an attempt to capture an ancient beast.

"Do what you must!" the princess waved her hands, her voice as melodious as a skylark.

Moments later, the Metalback Whale's forcefield was broken, and blood spurted from its body. A dozen members of the Special Forces managed to deal fatal damage to the whale using their Rapid Shadows, employing legendary spells.

"Dawn Is ready!" a general reported in a shaky voice.

"Fire!" the princess waved her hand.

Bzzt!* The Shadow Weave within the eastern seas whistled loudly, its energy surging into the psi energy submarine. Everyone in the region felt their Rapid Shadows fail for a few minutes, jamming up the company's customer service hotline afterwards.

All of this energy from the Shadow Weave combined with the psi energy of the submarine to devastating effect. A beam of light that seemed to be able to split the earth in half pierced through the whale's massive figure with a speed faster than light, before piercing through the surface of the sea and through the skies.

Everyone in the empire was able to see this beam of light, and it even attracted the interest of astrologers.

"Long live the empire!"

"O' Great Empire!"

The Screen showed the Metalback Whale devoid of all life, its aura weakening. The troops and officers all cheered in victory as the corpse began to sink deeper into the ocean.

"This… Is the strongest power of the Empire? I wonder if it can…" The princess muttered before sending another command, "Begin preparations to dive and salvage the loot. All mutants are to be dispatched!"

This order was carried out meticulously. Evidently, the imperial family had a stronger hold over its citizens than most people thought. They were extremely concealed in the shadows, and their reach was extremely expansive…

The innards of the Metalback Whale were like a small world with its own ecosystem. Many marine creatures lived inside its body. However, after this sweep of the Empire's troops, none of the marine creatures met a good end. To put it in other words, after the Metalback Whale died, their fate was already decided.

"I've found it!" As the information was passed down, a scene appeared on the screen.

Inside that whale's body was a large island, floating amidst the creature's gastric juices. On the island was a black stone tablet, and the mottled words written on it depicted traces of history long forgotten.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Project

"Eons ago, the Snake Dowager who came from the Rivers of Sanar governed the world. All beings and various kingdoms of bloodlines thrived and flourished under her rule…"

The words on the stone tablet were extremely old and archaic, but the princess could understand their meaning. The information wasn't conveyed by sight or conversation, but through another medium entirely.

Still, this wasn't the most important bit of information. The center of the tablet recorded a monumental change in history, "Until one day, when the Mistress of the Night arrived. She ousted the Snake Dowager, destroying the rule of bloodlines. She established an empire atop corpses, shifting behind the scenes to control the empire into fulfilling an unknown desire…"

Anyone from the imperial family would fly into a rage at the blasphemy and untruths in this tablet. This princess, however, had a strange expression on her face. It was a mix of joy and anticipation, perplexment and fear; a mish-mash of various complicated feelings.

"… The newly built empire had obtained glory, and the light of civilisation shone brighter than the stars. However, the Mistress of the Night was not satisfied with all of this, she needed more… more…

"I foresee that she will mercilessly purge the world of bloodline carriers, replacing the humans with another being before finally turning the souls of these people to the same colour. The only way for salvation is…"

The princess forced herself to look away after reading this part. She'd felt a pressure from the Shadow Weave surround her, an imposing dignity representative of the Mistress of the Night.

However, she still sighed deeply in her heart, 'This relic of the eastern seas, the Dead Sea Scroll— A powerful prophecy foretold by the blind prophet Ari, left behind to save the world. This Book of Salvation is the only ray of hope, and it is no longer in the hands of those insurgents…"

"Seal this stone tablet under a restriction of class 5S. Anyone who acquires this information will be put to the death," the princess ordered after smiling bitterly in her heart.

"Class 5S!" This attracted surprise from the people around her. Even the Commander-in-Chief of the Empire did not have the authority to access such information!

"Do what I say!" the princess stated icily. The Shadow Weave rippled, the imperial token in the princess' hands showing that her word was law.

The several old marine generals looked at each other in the eye, but could only carry out the orders helplessly, "We obey!"

What was more perplexing was that they, together with the mutants of the Special Forces, did not see anything special about the stone tablet. To them, the stone tablet was filled with strange drawings, just like the doodles of a child. They simply could not make anything of it.

However, something that had the princess come personally with a submarine that could even destroy an ancient creature was no ordinary matter.

"Not knowing is also for your own good…" The princess smiled wryly as she watched the figures of those old generals as they left.

The more she knew, the more she sunk into despair. The entirety of the empire was controlled by someone working behind the scenes? And that too for tens of thousands of years, creating the imperial family and issuing the state policies? Even the most stupid of beggars would not believe a joke like this. However, the princess knew that it was the truth!

Furthermore, she could not resist the powers of the Mistress of the Night. That was an overweeningly strong existence, her might incomprehensible.

Beep!* A connection request from the empire streamed in at this moment, and a soldier appeared on screen.

"Your Highness," he bowed with utmost respect before taking out a token, "I have new orders."

"Speak!" The princess retracted her helplessness and weakness in front of outsiders, stuffing it behind a mask of cold might.

"Urgent command: The submarine has been recalled, along with the loot from the mission. The rest of you need to head towards the Demonic Islands, killing the insurgents gathered there."

"What happened? Tell me clearly!" The princess knew that even without the prowess of this battleship, her subordinates would hold the upper hand against those rebels. However, she'd never think that the Emperor would pass such a pressing decree.

"It's… We have just received news that our research facility in the eastern seas has been breached!"

"What? Are you kidding? There are garrison troops protecting that area!" The princess's brows furrowed.

"Positive! The troops around the area have perished… As of now, the ones most able to resist them are you and the first admiral's fleet…" The officer in the screen seemed uncomfortable.

"Who is it? The Coven, the Bloodline Alliance? Or is it the Martial Arts Association?" The princess frowned, and immediately stated the names of the largest rebel groups.

"Everyone, even the Knights of the Round Table! They've even ignored civilian casualties, using powerful weapons of mass destruction. They seem to be determined!"

"They've discovered it, huh?" The princess bit on her lip. She knew the kind of research undertaken in the eastern sea facility, and the content within could never be made public!

"I'll go right away!" The princess did not back down, agreeing immediately. No matter how unwilling she was, she was a member of the imperial family. This was the tragedy and reality that she had to face from her birth.

……

Eastern seas, the Demonic Islands!

Boom!* An alloy wall was blasted through, revealing a room with many long, cylindrical incubation pods. They held human specimens, including children and adults.

"Tsk… They're only clones? Nothing else seems to be in here?" A person dressed like a knight from the medieval times looked at Crowley. It was him who'd struck open the door made of alloy, that act alone showing that his strength could not be underestimated. It was the top expert from Knights of the Round Table.

However, his gaze carried a questioning look.

"Although the research here might have had concerned us, it seems like a bigger base than the others. There's not enough reason for you to invite us over," an old person who wore robes walked up slowly. As his muddy eyes surveyed the surroundings, he was seemingly shocked by the sheer size of the facility.

"Of course not… Cough…" Crowley had his ribs wrapped in gauze. The journey here hadn't been easy.

"What I intended for all of you is to see this!" He brought the two deeper into the facility, to a large safe that was marked with a huge 'X' on the outside.

"Fortunately we have witches with us. We wouldn't have been able to get the password otherwise…" Crowley punched in a string of numbers and took out an eyeball covered in blood, allowing the iris scanner on the safe to scan it.

After seeing this heavily guarded safe, the knight and the old man looked solemnly at each other.

Pat!* The safe was opened, revealing the contents within. There wasn't much, just a few spiral test tubes and a computer disk.

"Look at this…" Crowley handed the disk over.

"Plan X — Introduction: This is a plan suggested by an imperial professor, codenamed 'X', using the clones of the embryo to get rid of the garbage lying within the Empire. Current progress: 571 years. Completion: 67%!"

Crowley rasped.

"This… This… This… It's so hard to believe that all this is true…" The knight and the old man muttered, but the information on the disk had stated everything.

"What have they got to gain from doing this?" The knight muttered.

"Control! This is the strongest benefit… Through controlling these clones and the 'reproduction' of these embryos, they can ensure that our descendants will no longer have any extraordinary powers. Even training in martial techniques would prove to be extremely difficult… The most important thing is they have stored a program in the depths of these mutants, and will be able to control them at any point in time.

Crowley's tone was extremely heavy, "Think about it, the entire world would be your enemy in the future. All of your neighbours, your friends… "

Cold sweat dripped down the foreheads of the knight and the old man.

"So… How much progress has the Empire made?" The old man's voice was extremely hoarse, and it carried a foreboding sense of despair.

"They have these facilities throughout the Empire. However this is the headquarters where everything began. Our investigation results weren't positive…"

Crowley's watch projected a screen, showing two strings of DNA sequences.

"This is a regular human, and this is the 'X' body of the empire. The differences lie here." As Crowley enlarged the image, a rune labelled as 'X' appeared in the charts.

"This is a failsafe plan the empire put in secretly. It can be used to verify identities, and anyone with this X factor in their genetics is a clone that can be controlled by the empire…"

Crowley's voice grew soft, "The control and contamination of this gene is extremely powerful. If an ordinary human mates with a cloned X body, it'll only need two generations for their descendants to possess the X gene in their bodies as well.

"Haha… So you're saying that there are people like that who exist even amongst us now?" The knight laughed so hard he teared up, "You're saying my family, and even myself, might be the production and spawn of these clones. One day we will turn crazy and turn into machines that can be controlled by the Empire, even slaying our own family and friends?"

"My apologies, but what I speak of is the truth. We have already discovered several members of the Bloodline Alliance, with these genes…"

Crowley bowed, "However, this control on their subconscious is not strong enough. The right amount of resolution or a powerful bloodline can still help suppress it…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Confrontation

"I'm sorry, Mr. Crowley. Your beautiful dreams are about to be ruined…" A witch in crimson red robes strolled over, an ancient tome clutched in her hands.

"Witch Maya!" Crowley bowed reverently. This charming lady was an existence who was even older than him, the head of the Coven of Witches. In truth, without her support and her assistance, their breach of Demonic Islands would not have gone so smoothly.

"This truly is a demon island. Our opponent is an existence who is infinitely more evil…" Witch Maya muttered under her breath.

"What does Your Excellency mean?" Crowley scratched his head in thought.

"Project X involves controlling the body. Have you ever heard of the 'Tree of Life' project?"

"Tree of Life? What's that?" The knight and the old fellow felt that they would have a mental breakdown.

"This is the empire's most top secret plan, on the same level as the X research…" The witch's first sentence made the others breathe in sharply. Project X was already this terrifying, how much more evil would this Tree of Life project be?

"This project is a medium to connect the Shadow Weave to regular human beings directly…" Witch Maya looked at everyone present. "The final goal of the Empire is to implant the Shadow Weave directly into all humans, making their consciousness one with the Weave and eliminating the unnecessary steps. This will form an extraordinary human…"

"Control everyone's mind through the Weave…" Crowley was stumped for a moment, because he knew that the Rapid Shadow of today was such a universal object. Cold sweat formed again on his body.

"Yes. Project X is to remodel the human body, and the Tree of Life Project is to remodel the mind. Once their plan succeeds, the entire Empire will become one being! Furthermore… As long as they wish, any civilian would immediately become a powerful assassin! The citizens will turn into the most elite, indomitable army!"

Maya's voice was still as calm as ever. No one knew how much she had sacrificed to obtain this piece of information.

"This… How much… What have…" Crowley and the others present all possessed extraordinary ability. Nothing was more unbearable to them than having their bodies and minds taken away.

"Insanity! Madness! This world is going berserk!" The old man from the Martial Arts Association mumbled. Crowley was genuinely concerned that he would face a mental breakdown soon as well.

"We have to defeat them and overthrow the Empire's rule!" The knight swung his sword downwards, forming a huge trench on the alloy floor.

"We need more members, and to form a larger alliance. I believe that many will wish to join us once these projects are leaked!" Crowley hurriedly suggested.

Suddenly, Maya spoke. "I see the omen of death on your faces!"

"Would you please clear up our doubts, Your Excellency?" Crowley asked in earnest.

Maya's eyes turned white as she screamed in an ear-piercing tone, "Everything that you are doing will surmount to nothing! You will never be able to overthrow the Empire, much less the existence that stands behind unless you can find the Book of Salvation left behind by Ari!"

"It's a prophecy!" Crowley's eyes lighted. "We still have a chance!"

"No!" Suddenly, Maya let out a cry of anguish, and collapsed to the ground.

"Your Excellency! Your Excellency!" Crowley hurriedly went forward, but he discovered that her life force was declining rapidly.

"The Book of Salvation is already gone… I see blood and flames of destruction in the future…" Maya grasped onto Crowley's robes as white bubbles frothed from her mouth, before she started to spurt blood.

"Wait… Let me heal you…" Crowley fumbled.

"No! It's too late, listen carefully…" Crowley could only stop his movements due to the powerful strength from the witch's clutch.

"I see it… That shadow, and the return of the primordial ruler… Great Serpent…" Suddenly, Maya's body jerked, and there was no life left in her.

"Witch Maya! Maya…" Crowley was flabbergasted. He would not believe that the leader of the witches, the pillar of the rebellion who had lived much longer than him, had just perished like this.

However, although he was in denial, the cold, lifeless body that suddenly seemed extremely old confirmed the fact.

"Rumour has it that a prophecy exceeding one's strength will sap away a witch's life force… Maya's drunk from the River of Life before, and her bloodline would give her at least a thousand more years of life…" The old man from the Martial Arts Association mumbled.

"How powerful is that existence that someone as long-lived as Maya would die just like that?" The knight shivered in his armour. He stood in front of the corpse, giving the witch a knight's salute. "Witch Maya… Although you have come to pass, the flames of resistance will never be quelled… Let us inherit your dying wishes, and stop this evil empire!"

Crowley clenched his fast, "Right! Project X and the Tree of Life Project! The Empire must never succeed. If they manage to rule this world completely, we'll all be eradicated immediately!"

"There's no need to wait until then…" an icy voice sounded out. A sharp blade appeared from the shadows and pierced the Martial Arts Association head immediately in the chest. Blood splattered as the voice's owner revealed himself, a man dressed in military uniform.

"The chief of Special Forces, the largest lackey of the Empire— Javis!" Crowley gritted his teeth and looked at this person who came. He wanted so much to tear Javis' body to shreds with just his gaze.

"Officer! Enemy ambush! The navy and the Special Forces… They're extremely powerful… Beep! Beep!" A flustered voice sounded on the transmitter on Crowley's collar, but it disconnected very soon. The sender had most likely been killed.

"You're extremely lucky, we are killing you under the orders of the princess of the Empire. So much glory, isn't it?" A sick, maniacal laughter came from Javis.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Javis darted backwards and avoided a powerful fist.

"Tian Can, you damned geezer of the Martial Arts Association! Not bad, you were able to dodge my Shadow Pierce…" Javis snorted, looking at the old man with a blade in his chest seeming fine.

"I've mastered the source of qi, my body holds no weaknesses…" Tian Can patted his chest, a small glow appearing from within to mend the hole.

"I knew you wouldn't die this easily, old man!" The knight called out excitedly.

"Yea! Steel Man of Knights of the Round Table, Tian Can of the Martial Artists Association, and also Crowley of the Bloodline Alliance… You guys are all criminals with a large bounty on your heads…"

Explosions rang out continuously, and it seemed like the Empire's forces were slowly approaching the area. What was more terrifying was that at least a dozen members of the Special Forces had already entered this area stealthily. Intense fights broke out everywhere.

"Javis… Don't be delusional. Do you know of the Empire's projects? X and the Tree of Life? Even you yourself will be sacrificed in the future…" Crowley tried to persuade him again.

"These matters… I knew of them long ago…" Suddenly, Javis' eyes turned bloodshot, "Massacre Domain!"

A blood red forcefield with a suppressive aura was emanated, engulfing Crowley and the other two leaders.

"I am different from you guys! I will be able to obtain eternal life once my consciousness is merged into the clone… Right now, it's time to rid of useless trash…"

Javis wrapped himself inside a black shadow. A mountainous beast charged out towards them from behind him, breaking the limits of speed and strength.

'Crazy! This person has gone crazy!' These were the thoughts Steel Man conveyed to Crowley when their gazes met.

"Leave him to this old man… The two of you should hurry to support out elites on the outside…"

Bang! Boom!* Tian Can walked forward with both arms behind him. He blocked the path of the beast quickly but calmly.

"I have never fully unleashed source of qi, I can finally do it today…" Tian Can muttered, as a violent gale of an aura burst forth from within his body. It was almost as powerful as Javis' skill earlier.

Kacha! Kacha!* The clothes on his body were ripped into shreds as his muscles bulged. The veins on his body seemed like fat, squirming earthworms.

In just the blink of an eye, this old man had turned from a skinny figure into a three-metre-tall giant with murky green skin.

Roar!* The giant stretched both of his hands, deflecting the claws of the black beast. The two entered a deadlock, causing the area to tremble violently.

"Hurry and leave, young men. I'll leave saving the world to you…" Crowley and Steel Man were enveloped in a warm gust of qi, sent outside the massacre domain. The words of the old man still rang in their ears.

"Don't…" Crowley had detected an ominous feeling from the words of the old man.

Those of Tian Can's sect could release their qi in a burst and gain tremendous powers, but the price they had to pay was extremely high as well. This was especially so when it was performed by someone so old.

Crowley immediately thought of Maya. Didn't she too expend all of her lifeforce before she died?

"What's more… I may look young on the outside but I've lived for over 300 years already! I should be the one to sacrifice myself… Damn it!" Crowley clenched his fist as blood dripped down from his palms.

"Hey… Don't let Tian Can's sacrifice go to vain. The situation outside is even worse!" Steel Man pointed ahead.

Those outside were still stuck fighting. Crowley could see many of the Empire's elite troops covering the surroundings, carrying the imperial banner.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Meeting

'The members of the imperial family are here indeed. They even brought the personal bodyguards of the imperial family.' Crowley thought of the information gathered by the Bloodline Alliance. The imperial family of the Shadow Empire usually kept a low profile, but the strength that they had hidden was extremely powerful. Their personal bodyguards could cast shadow spells instantly, and amongst them were many mutants and bloodline carriers.

"We're in danger today. The two of us could even die here. Are you afraid now?" Crowley looked at Steel Man.

"Haha… Cowardice does not exist in the commandments of a knight!" Steel Man's answer was extremely heroic. A layer of white light glowed on his armour, forming a second layer of defence. Flames began to burn on the knight's sword. Faced with such a perilous situation, Steel Man had evidently used a secret technique.

"Then… Let's begin to break through the encirclement…" Crowley ripped opened his coat, revealing a scar-ridden upper body. The tattoo of a serpent came alive on his back.

"Unseal!" Crowley shouted, and the giant serpent was awakened. It opened its scarlet eyes and spat its forked tongue out, hissing loudly.

"Kill!" The both of them were like raging dragons as they roared, charging into the incoming troops.

……

Days later, on an island.

"Cough…" Crowley opened his eyes, spitting out the fine sand in his mouth.

Listlessness soon turned to concentration, "How did I end up here… Right, we were in the research facility! The Empire's backup troops and imperial bodyguards… Steel Man, what a pity…"

Even Crowley would not be able to survive such an onslaught. Hence, after discovering that he had not died nor been taken prisoner, he was extremely perplexed.

"Are you awake?" An extremely enchanting voice sounded out beside him. Crowley turned towards it, and his throat immediately turned dry. His heart began to beat faster as well.

It was a lady in a black gown. Her appearance was only average, but it carried a powerful, intoxicating attraction. What surprised Crowley even more was the feeling of closeness he had, a reverence that almost had him kneeling and kissing the soil her feet had trod on.

……

"May we speak for a moment, sir?"A lady dressed in uniform stood before Leylin in Thousand Bears City, waving her pass in front of him. The badge was representative of the Empire's dignity and power as it shone in the crowd.

Passersby avoided the both of them, and some of them even looked at Leylin from a distance with schadenfreude. Anyone who had angered the department this young lady was from would meet with a miserable end in the Empire!

"I didn't know… I'm rather popular now, huh? Follow me!" Leylin smiled and rubbed his nose, before moving into a cafe. He had no intention of being aware that he was treated like a suspect.

What made the onlookers flabbergasted was that this policewoman did not hesitate and followed him, even carrying a warm and gentle smile on her face.

"Tsk! Were they roleplaying? What audacity!" A short and fat man rubbed his glasses and chided in jealousy.

"Retard!" His friend beside him immediately covered his mouth. "This is a public area, under the surveillance of the central network and the Weave! Would anyone dare to use a fake identity on the streets?"

"What a pity… She was such a beautiful flower, and also my favourite type!" The fatty fought to retort.

"I actually think that they're rather compatible, that boy is also cute!" A girl beside them spoke with stars in her eyes.

"Welcome!" The cafe waiter opened the door and welcomed them politely, but was momentarily stumped.

Evidently, he had recognised Leylin. Because this was the very same couple cafe that Leylin had entered together with the Snake Dowager.

And not only did Leylin bring the other girl into the private room, but he even left the bewildered girl lying there. This had left a deep impression on the waiter. In fact, if not for Leylin leaving some words for him to say to the girl before he left, the waiter would already have alerted the nearby authorities.

Although his facial expression did not change much after seeing Leylin bring in another girl, his eyes betrayed his thoughts. Leylin was apparently a skirt-chaser.

"I want to have a couple's room, the same as before." After listening to Leylin's request, the waiter was left speechless. However, his professionalism had allowed him to grant Leylin's request quickly. What was more remarkable was that it was the exact same room that Leylin had used previously.

"Do not disturb us no matter what happens!" The policewoman instructed him after he served the coffee, affectionately pulling Leylin into the room. The waiter was left speechless again after seeing this scene. Before he shut the door, he even gave Leylin the thumbs up…

The room was suddenly enveloped by shadows, and the policewoman stretched her body with a relaxed expression. Just that movement alone caused her aura to change drastically. Her face grew even more exquisite than before, and a pair of watery eyes seemed to speak a language of their own.

"We meet again, Shar…" Leylin sighed, looking at the young lady that had changed from head to toe.

This was the ruler of the Shadow World, the Mistress of the Night who was once an intermediate goddess from the World of Gods— Shar!

He did not ask how she managed to look for him. After all, she had the entire world under her. After failing to search for Leylin's aura, she would have definitely guessed that Leylin had used a fake identity to become a citizen. Through meticulous investigation, it was not a difficult task to track Leylin down. How would a group of corrupt officials peddling fake identities be a match for the ruler of this world?

"This brought you to me, didn't it?" Leylin waved his identity pass.

"I never thought that the empire I raised single handedly has reached to such a level of corruption…" Shar admitted implicitly. Her eyes shone like stars as she looked at Leylin, "This is not your true body, but only a body formed by energy…"

"I came with grace, why wouldn't you accept it?" Shar frowned, as if she had gotten upset. But Leylin's expression did not change at all.

She had to be joking! Had he believed Shar, then he was really courting death. Her level of deceit was absolute perfection. Even rank 7 and above beings would be deceived by her if they weren't careful.

Hence, after Xavier and the Bloodline Alliance left, Leylin's true body had already left Thousand Bears City, only leaving behind this projection here carrying all items that could identify him.

"Let's not talk about that… Why are you here today, Miss Shar. What do you want to discuss?" Leylin sat on the soft satin couch, gesturing for her to sit down too.

"The spell that you used the other day… I saw the shadow of the World of Gods and of the arcanists…"

There wasn't much room for discussion for beings like them. Seeing that her deceit was exposed, Shar immediately delved into the main topic.

"You're right, this is my harvest from the World of Gods." Leylin admitted. Shar sat beside him in a reserved manner like a virtuous lady. Just the white skin on her hand was extremely alluring.

After hearing Leylin's reply, Shar's face changed for the worse, seemingly affected by his words. It was apparent that the fatal strike had left fear in her heart, and she felt extremely uncomfortable.

However, Leylin did not mind it at all. He actually used a more unbridled stare and observed this female goddess in front of him. He had to admit that Shar's body was extremely gorgeous, especially that strange temper of hers that added a layer of wildness. Many males would want to subdue her.

Moreover, he'd showed this trump card to Shar on purpose, using it as a deterrence that would allow him to gain the upper hand in the discussion.

It was like a country which possessed nuclear weapons speaking to one without. This confidence and dignity, caused Shar's expression to change.

"I caught a whiff of the Snake Dowager's aura… You have met her before, in this place!" Shar digressed, looking at the place where the Snake Dowager once sat.

"Yes. We're allies, it's necessary to convey information and news…" Leylin did not avoid the question, and even stressed on the word 'allies'.

"So then, what kind of price do I have to pay for you to break away from your alliance with the Snake Dowager? I believe that I am a better ally than her! How about we share the origin force of the Shadow World? You have the bloodline of the Shadow World, the origin force will definitely be extremely beneficial to you!"

Shar immediately stated her price.

……

Even more shadows had now enveloped the room, sealing the room tightly. Leylin had even sensed a seal from the world's origin force. Shar was being extremely careful.

After having a great chat of over two hours, Leylin left the cafe under the envious gaze of the waiter.

"Break the alliance I have with the Snake Dowager?" Leylin shook his head. He had signed a bloodline pact with her, and Dreamscape itself bore witness to it.

Although his Nightmare Absorbing Physique was perfected, his powers would definitely reduce if he went back on his words. It was something that Leylin did not wish to see right now.

"So, the best way is for Snake Dowager to relinquish her rule as well… After all, I am a peace lover…" Leylin shameless gave himself a righteous tag to his name.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Scheme

High in the skies, a semiplane had been opened up temporarily. Leylin's main body opened his eyes within, seeing the mark of a two-eared jar in front. A trace of laws burst forth, activating the imprint.

The Jar Spectre was a being of laws who'd existed since the era of the Snake Dowager. Rumour had it that it could hear sounds from all over the Shadow World, regardless of who it was. The Snake Dowager had made use of this fact, collecting its body's fragments and turning them into imprints that could be used for secure communication.

The pitiful end of this being of laws allowed Leylin to learn of Shar's methods.

"Allsnake! The Mistress of the Night has already found Thousand Bears City, and my main body has already left…" He gave a summary of what had transpired and quickly received an answer. "Imperial Capital Kerallen, this is the place where everything ends…"

"By the way, I've obtained two very interesting things. Want to take a look?" Without waiting for an answer from Leylin, the Snake Dowager impatiently sent two documents to him.

"Oh! Project X… and the Tree of Life project, huh?" Leylin stroked his chin, reading through all the contents in an instant.

"Shar's playing with fire!" The Snake Dowager's voice held a rare hint of excitement, "The World Will is the conscient of all life forms in Shadow World, including the mountains, rivers, and forests. It will only consciously make a thought every few hundred thousand years… what she's doing will definitely result in anger from the World Will… this is an opportunity for us!"

"You're too naive…" Leylin ruthlessly poured cold water on the Snake Dowager, "Did you think I didn't notice the issues with the genes of the surrounding humans? This isn't quite it… look…"

He then sent the information he had recorded to the Snake Dowager. There was a period of silence from the other end, though the jar imprint began to show tremendous vibrations. Evidently, she was extremely shaken, "How– how dare she…"

"The X project wasn't only applied to humans. Bugs, animals, even microorganisms. About 60% of all biological creatures in the world have already been affected…" Leylin's tone was icy, "Also, the plan doesn't just end there. Extradimensional spectres, pure energy being, and even the conscient of the land itself… The radiation of the Shadow Weave has trapped everything, and they can't escape…"

With the A.I. Chip collecting data for him, Leylin's abilities in this area obviously surpassed all other beings. With his great persuasive power and analytical graphs, the Snake Dowager on the other end did not have any chance to speak.

"If Shar's target was just the humans, then that would really be an opportunity for us, since they only have at most 20% of access to the World Will. Doing this will definitely result in them being abandoned by the World Will…"

"But she instead holds such extreme control, nibbling away at the world from the Shadows. She controls over half of the World Will already; no matter how much you try to resist you won't be able to match the favour she receives." Leylin concluded.

In actuality, he thought well of Shar's methods. If they were not around to interfere, she would most definitely succeed. Besides, fusing with the World Will would definitely cause one to lose a part of themselves. This was an assimilation in thought of all intelligent life forms of the Shadow World, and even Shar could not avoid this.

However, once these two plans were complete, there would no longer be any obstructions. In other words, Shar was currently in the process of fusing with the World Will, becoming a conscient that has devoured a whole world.

Indeed, only a god could have such guts. The rationality of the Magi would never let them do something so insane. Truth be told, Leylin would most likely do something similar given the situation as well.

Warlocks were slightly more crazy than Magi, after all, and he did believe there was a great probability of success here. Shar was an example.

The Snake Dowager remained quiet for a long while at the other side, before she finally sent a soul transmission full of unwillingness, "So… we can only give up?"

"No. We still have a chance, or I'd long since have left the Shadow World…." Leylin's thoughts were the complete opposite of the Snake Dowager's.

"This plan is actually flawless, but there's not enough time to proceed with it. This could be the price that the Mistress of the Night had to pay for exterminating other existences of laws, as well as to recover. That could be why she still isn't done corroding the World Will yet…"

"Our only chance at destroying her plans is the very moment that the Tree of Life moves…" After placating the Snake Dowager and arranging to meet at the imperial capital Kerallen, Leylin closed off the jar imprint while looking deep in thought.

Shar had given Leylin a great lesson in understanding the World Will.

'By the same logic, nibbling away the control to take over the World Will seems plausible in the World of Gods, though it would be more difficult…

'Now, while Shar has control over more than half of the World Will and can use the World Origin Force at any time, this also means a complete break away from the original relationship of having fused with the World Will. The part of the World Will that had not been controlled will definitely fight against this corrosion and perhaps clash against Shar violently. Who knows, her main body could be busy with this… The fact that the Snake Dowager and I can still lie low in the Shadow World and not be found by the Mistress of the Night is the best proof!'

Space shimmered, and Leylin's main body soared into the skies. The stars and moon flickered in the dark skies, as cold gusts of wind blew fresh air into his face.

"It's already night…" Leylin looked in a direction, "Imperial capital Kerallen! Let's settle everything there!"

……

The imperial capital was the hub of researchers and mechanics in the Shadow Empire, the birthplace of the legendary Rapid Shadow series. Many things not yet available to the greater world, or things that were only rumoured to exist, were all present here.

The imperial guards stationed at the centre of the city had the best of equipment, protecting the imperial palace day and night.

The imperial city had an area of about 10% of the capital, but it wasn't any extravagant structure. Rather, it was a robotic city full of technological character. The imperial research centre, imperial university, and all sorts of high-tech research institutions surrounded the area, forming a circle around the city.

There was an extremely secret darkroom within this hi-fi city, located thousands of metres underground with mendur alloy walls almost a hundred metres thick. This metal was the most solid known to the Empire, with the best isolation properties. It would normally be sold by the gram for astronomical prices.

The princess silently headed to the entrance of the darkroom, removing her wristwatch, bracelet, and all other technology from her body. Only after multiple strict, humiliating tests could she finally enter the darkroom.

The room had very simple decorations, with an oil lamp emanating faint rays of light within. One could somewhat see the many volumes that were falling apart on a few broken bookshelves.

Behind a black hardwood table was seated a middle-aged man with grey hair, seeming extremely poised. A faint lustre emitted from the ancient spell formation behind the man, twining around the princess.

If one looked closer, two items could be seen at the heart of the spell formation, one being a power-recharging source, and the core a few crimson fish scales and a pair of shrivelled eyeballs.

"Father…" The princess slowly knelt.

"The blind prophet Ari's Book of Salvation has been fished out and stowed away, sealed completely. The rebel armies at the Demonic Islands were mostly exterminated, but Crowley of the Bloodline Alliance managed to escape… Please punish me, father!"

The princess reported primly.

"You've done well enough, Ling!" The emperor who had control over the entire Shadow Empire spoke, "As long as the master is happy and shifts attention away from us, then we've succeeded! Even while at the cost of the Book of Salvation…" The emperor seemed rather excited, a rare flush rising on his cheeks.

"Do you know who the blind prophet is?" The emperor seemed rather eager to talk today, and even if she was the princess, Ling had no choice but to listen obediently.

"It was a master of ancient times, holding the same amount of power as the Snake Dowager. Ari was a reincarnation of a portion of prophet Kalle's conscient. This is the reason for the Book of Salvation containing such terrifyingly powerful predictions!"

"The prophet Kalle!" The princess looked up, focusing on the shrivelled eyeballs in the spell formation behind the emperor.

"That's right, these are Kalle's eyes, the reason Kalle could only be called the blind prophet after reincarnated. There's also the reverse scales of the mermaid protector of the unknown master!"

The emperor suddenly began to cough vigorously, the flush on his face more pronounced, "The Empire has laboured over hundreds of generations, and made use of countless favours to obtain these two items. Only with their protection can we communicate so freely without fear of being found out by that person…"

At the mention of that being, the emperor still lowered his voice, evidently from a habitual fear.

"Now is our chance! The Book of Salvation has predicted that the Snake Dowager shall return. She has the ability to fight that person, so when the time comes our plan can succeed. The royal family will truly be revived, no longer slaves to a master!"

Somehow, Princess Ling sensed a crazed look on her father's face as if he were a madman, taking a huge gamble for this. Ling went silent for a moment before she persuaded hoarsely, "Even so… suddenly changing the Tree of Life plan and project X could…"

"I've planned everything. There won't be any problems!" The emperor waved his arms decisively, "When the time comes, my master's thoughts after having assimilated will allow them to become a god in an instant, freeing the royal family from control!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Traitor

Ling sighed once more as she looked at her father behind the table. She felt like the person was a stranger.

And yet, she deeply understood his insanity. After all, the degree to which that person behind the scenes had oppressed their imperial family was ingrained into their very bones! She still remembered the shock she'd felt when she heard of the incident at a young age, being aghast at the kind of sacrifices the imperial family had to make to break away from control.

More crucially, her background and bloodline only allowed her to stand in the same faction as her father.

'That master intends to control everything, turning the whole world into something that belongs to her alone without caring for the ants seeking refuge in it.' In her heart, Ling could only smile with helplessness. The only thing she could do now was to dedicate her all to bringing this project to fruition, to helping her father. It was a horrible feeling, like she was piloting a broken canoe in the largest of seas. No, it was much more terrifying than that!

She understood that if the other party were to strike first, the whole imperial family would be destroyed in a moment's time. Perhaps they knew about it long ago but didn't pay much attention. Humans didn't care much about ants fighting either.

Ling tried to console herself internally.

……

Xavier's body was wrapped up in a black cloak. He was staring at the dim lights in the vast advanced city, clenching his fists as he spoke, "Kerallen! I'm coming!"

"Heh… we have good news!" Genius came over, seated in his wheelchair. "Our branch members managed to pull your parents out safely, they're currently en route here as we speak."

"Oh? That's great, thank you Genius!" Xavier sincerely gave his thanks.

"Ha Ha …. You don't have to be grateful to me, this were all Sister Bobbi's orders," Genius glanced around him like a thief, moving closer to Xavier and whispering, "I didn't expect that she cared so much about Crowley despite how she acts aloof on the surface…"

Bang!* A ray of heat brushed past Genius' ears, caught by Xavier with his bare hands. It was an extremely hot piece of stones, the edges of which were about to melt.

"The next one will be aimed directly at your smelly mouth," Bobbi said in a cold voice.

"I got it!" Genius made a gesture of sealing his mouth. He then pointed at Xavier's palm, trying to shift attention towards him again. "Look! Xavier's improved again!" he said with an exaggerated expression.

"Indeed…" Xavier looked at his palm, the surface of which was covered in a layer of fine black scales that were emitting a dark light. He'd earlier relied on this protection to be unscathed as he blocked Bobbi's attack.

"This terrifying improvement… It's growing faster and faster…" Xavier muttered. He could feel his bloodline roiling every day as his body strength leaped up.

"Yes, it is good. You're about 70 to 80 percent as strong as that smelly snake now, enough to be dispatched as a trump card." Bobbi was dressed in military uniform, and she arrived to stand between Genius and Xavier.

"Is there any news from Crowley?" Xavier asked Genius.

"Our communication with the eastern seas has been severed completely. The last we heard, they met with an attack by the imperial guards in the vicinity. Their luck is terrible— to meet a core member of the imperial family nearby……"

Genius shook his head, "The latest news from the three-eyed crow says that the empire's troops released a public list of rebels who were eliminated in the encounter. Witch Maya, Steel Man, and Tian Can from the Martial Arts Association… The good news is that there's no information about Crowley right now…"

However, the deaths of three leaders was enough to intimidate the other forces. After all, only after thoroughly understanding how strong these people were would they be able to know how terrifying the Shadow Empire was.

"We can't say anything about Steel Man and Tian Can, but Maya wasn't killed by the enemy. I've been in contact with the Witch Association, she should've been killed by a dangerous prophecy. She already arranged everything and selected her successor before she left."

Bobbi shook her head. Witch Maya could be considered a person of repute.

"So it seems that she already had a premonition while heading towards the Eastern Seas. Why did she head there after knowing what would happen…" Genius touched his jaw.

Beep Beep!* Suddenly, one of the handles on his wheelchair opened and revealed a screen with a blinking warning light.

"Blood Nest, Blood Nest! We're Transport Fleet 3. We're facing an attack from the Special Forces near the Black Onyx Lake. Requesting assistance. I repeat, requesting assistance!"

"Blood Nest! Blood Nest…"

The current situation of the other party was extremely precarious, and red light flashed intensely on the screen.

"Aren't my parents on that fleet?" Xavier clenched his fists, causing a trace of powdered stone to fall from the gaps between his fingers.

"Hateful… I'd originally thought that saving Jill could allow us to have a family reunion in the capital…" His pupil slightly turned red. He rushed out immediately, "I'm leaving!"

"Such a troublesome little brat, I hate being a babysitter the most!" Bobbi cursed, "Genius, prepare a rescue team according to Transport Fleet 3's situation." Soon after, her silhouette suddenly changed into a hurricane and she followed behind Xavier.

"Sigh… all of you are the same, why is the one staying behind always me…" Genius sighed, and following that a layer of the earth beneath him suddenly split apart to reveal an elevator. Following Genius sighing, the layer of soil beneath suddenly split opened and revealed an elevator. A few kilometres of travel later, a large base surfaced in his eyes.

"Everyone, attention! An urgent rescue mission is in operation!" Seated in the central control room, Genius spoke with a serious tone. The whole base turned orderly in a moment's time.

Most members of the Bloodline Alliance owned an untainted citizenship record, thus receiving an advantage when in the face of the Imperial's inspection. This time around, the transport fleet had been disguised as a tourist bus, littered with young children and elders. Outsiders wouldn't link them with the enemy, so their guard would be reduced.

Unfortunately, a problem arose this time around. When Xavier rushed to Black Onyx Lake, what he saw was three overturned tourist buses, and the flames on the body of the tourist bus sign seemed to be laughing at his incompetence

"Looks like they were all taken away. They should've met the capture team of the Special Forces, not the extermination team. There's still hope for their survival." Bobbi rushed to Xavier's side and grabbed his shoulders, apparently warning him not to be rash With a large number of policement sealing the scene, they couldn't be sure that there weren't any Special Forces members lingering in secret.

Biting his teeth, Xavier managed to squeeze out one word, "Alright!"

As the two of them slowly left, a middle-aged man blocked Xavier's path, "Young man! It seems like you need help?"

"Javis!" Bobbi suddenly cried out in puzzlement, and Xavier's own subconscious reaction was to attack. Snakebite Fist activated suddenly, and a sharp cry sounded out as he shot forth. After all, with all the current propaganda Javis was synonymous with the devil to the Bloodline Alliance!

Shadow Arm!

The middle-aged man's arms flashed rapidly, as two black metal arms extended from behind him to form a cross that managed to block Xavier's attacks.

"I'm not Javis. You have to believe in me right now!" The man's way of speaking could convince people. He pointed at their surroundings, where Xavier's actions had attracted the attention of the neighboring police and a few observers.

"Let me handle this." The man walked to the policemen with a smile, showing them an ID and speaking a few words. They turned to leave, and he saluted them.

"Hmm? Is that sufficient to show my sincerity? If I had any bad intentions, all I had to do was shout," the man laughed bitterly.

"Indeed, you're not Javis. However, such high level Rapid Shadows are only used by the army, and they have unique ways of masking their identities. I'm afraid you're nothing better." Bobbi snorted coldly, but she didn't immediately leave.

"Follow me!" The middle-aged guy laughed bitterly, leading the way and bringing the two of them to a secluded place.

Bang!* An electronic ball was suddenly suspended from his hands, emitting a layer of translucent energy that isolated the area.

"With that taken care of, we can speak at ease…" The middle-aged guy took the initiative to explain.

Right now, Xavier has also discovered a slight difference in this man. Although he looked quite similar to Javis, the greying hair at his sideburns showed that he was obviously older.

"That's the shadow pulse jammer developed by the army! You're a military official!" Bobbi said with certainty.

"Add former to that. I was once the head of the anti-air team at headquarters, but now I'm just a glorified retiree, an unemployed uncle…" He laughed bitterly once more, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Clive, I'm Javis' older brother."

"Hmm… We do have intel about a Clive. However, why would you abandon the empire and your little brother to help us?" Although Bobbi obviously wanted to rope in the other party, she knew how terrifying it was to have a someone with ulterior motives hidden beside you. Her eyes were thus filled with vigilance.

"I naturally intended to be loyal to the country at first. But then I retired, and I used my previous connections to get the Project X plans from Javis. I have to prevent that from happening!" Clive's face was filled with sincerity.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

To Meet Again

"They plan to eliminate ordinary human beings with genetic manipulation, using the Tree of Life to control their minds and turn the whole world into a puppet. This wickedness… It far exceeds even the worst cruelties the ancient empire ever inflicted on its people."

There was a look of righteousness on Clive's face, "Some of the military who had access to project details couldn't accept it. We formed a secret organisation, uniting our forces to resist the decadence that has taken over the imperial family!"

Clive turned redder and redder as he spoke, his voice growing higher in pitch. Without the protection of the pulse jammer, they probably would have attracted attention.

Although she more or less believed the other party, Bobbi still sneered as she crossed her arms, "It's a pity that your brother doesn't know about this."

Hearing that mentioned, Clive turned helpless as his expression filled with sentiment and grief, "Javis… He's another one of the reasons I established this rebellion. Take a look at this."

He pulled a golden necklace off his neck, the locket attached to it in the shape of an oval shell. A family photo was within.

There were three boys in the photo, two of them looking like Clive and Javis.

"This is our third brother," Clive said, pointing to a red-haired boy standing at a side. He was the shortest of the lot, wearing a checkered black-and-white shirt. He seemed to have a shy personality.

"The three of us originally got along greatly. However, once we joined the army a mistake I made in compassion caused our third brother to become a vegetable. Currently, he doesn't have the ability to think anymore." Clive revealed his secret.

"His situation is very tricky, with aspects of the soul involved. Even the most advanced technology of the Empire couldn't remedy the situation, and ever since then Javis has hated me. His personality turned more extreme and brutal, and he used that to his advantage to rise quickly as he joined the Special Forces…"

Not knowing why, Xavier suddenly felt like both Clive and Javis were quite pitiful.

"What does the death of your brother have to do with your loyalty towards the empire?" Bobbi asked acutely, and then she covered her mouth, "Could it be… because of the X project?

"No. It's the Tree of Life orchestrated by the empire…" Clive seemed determined in his betrayal as he casually spoke of classified information, "The project aims to use magic via Rapid Shadows as a medium, using immense pressure to directly implant the Shadow Weave into humans. This will give the royal family control over the thoughts, and even the soul! Ultimately, all humans in the Shadow World will be integrated into a hive mind, forming an extraordinary existence…

"This is why Javis is royal to the empire. The Tree of Life is the only hope for our brother to recover, the resonance of extraordinary power that comes with the implantation of the Shadow Weave able to bring him back. On top of that, the empire promised to hand over some autonomy to the souls of the higher-ups, which is why some of them are still loyal. An empire they control, with no public opinion or resistance to worry about, letting them do whatever they want. To some of them, this is heaven!"

Clive revealed a mocking smile.

"You should be entitled to this as well, right? Wouldn't it be great? Once it happens you brothers can live happily together once more…" Xavier couldn't help but ask.

Clive suddenly hesitated for a moment, then he caressed the pendant in his hand. "My only wish is to see my little brother recover. For that, I'm willing to sacrifice everything. However, he certainly wouldn't want to wake up to such a dark world…"

He breathed out a long sigh, "I erred once, but I do not wish to do so again. Are you willing to join hands with us in our fight?"

"Your reasoning is flawed," Bobbi said with disdain. However, just as Xavier thought negotiations were about to break down she continued, "However, an undercover agent from the empire could forge a more flawless background. I believe you— for now.

"Of course, our people have clashed so often before that they currently hate each other. It's impossible for us to act in tandem, at most exchanging information for now." Bobbi's analysis was very reasonable. After all, the resentment between the Bloodline Alliance and the empire wasn't just a matter of a day or two.

"I agree," Clive nodded after a while.

"So… This is what I need to know. The bloodline carriers on the Starry Tourist bus, including the old and young, where were they sent?"

"Silver Mountain Research Institute, close to Kerallen. These are the coordinates…"Clive sold out the Special Forces without hesitation. Perhaps he wanted to use this to win Bobbi's trust in the first place.

"It's a training and logistics centre for the Special Forces. They were hit pretty badly recently, so they're most likely collecting fresh blood to train. The chances of survival are very high. A few on our side also have passwords to a few crucial entrances.

Xavier's eyes lit up as this was mentioned, and he grabbed Clive's arm, "What about my sister? Is Jill inside there?"

"Jill? I'm sorry, I've never heard of this name…." Clive politely retreated, "However, If your sister is young and was sent to the imperial capital, it means that her innate talent is extremely high. There's a great chance that she was sent there."

"That's great!" After receiving the news, Xavier resolutely clenched his first. 'Jill, Mom, Dad… Soon, I'll be there soon!' he said in his heart.

"If you need any more information, just head over to the capital's Golden-Purple Flower Road, building 377 there to look for me. The boss is a disabled man, all you have to do is say 'Open Tulips' and he'll naturally understand what you mean.

Once everything was explained, Clive quickly stowed away his pulse jammer and gradually vanished into the darkness.

Bobbi and Xavier waited in place for a moment before the communication device on Bobbi's collar rang out, "The target's left, sister. There's no traces of an ambush in the vicinity."

"Very well, let that old man leave… He does indeed have some sincerity. Send the rescue team over!" Silhouettes that formed a sparse encirclement slowly emerged from the surroundings and made Xavier jump.

Earlier on, if Bobbi had felt that the other party was lying, would Clive most likely have received a shot in his head?

"Contact Genius!"

One of the members immediately half-squatted, revealing a transmitter. Bobbi inserted a disk Clive had given her into the device and sent it to Genius, "Genius! This is the map of the Silver Mountain Research Institute, along with a few passcodes. Eliminate their firewall, and paralyze their base within half an hour."

"No problem! I AM a genius after all…" The youth on the screen looked like a ruffian, and pity and grief surfaced on his face, "Damn it, why did you give me all these passwords? I can hack them myself! I thought I had a good opponent, but now it's like I'm using cheats…"

"Scram!" Bobbi hung up the transmission and turned to look at Xavier. "So, what now? This is the imperial capital, with the most powerful guards in the country. Do you dare to do something big?"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Xavier suddenly shouted. In fact, he had indeed felt afraid. However, with his family members trapped inside, he had no choice but to go.

……

When Bobbi brought the elites of the Bloodline Alliance to attack the Silver Mountain Research Institute, what she saw was completely unexpected. There was no heavy guard here, instead a base that had been ruined.

"What happened? Has someone gotten ahead of us?" Bobbi's face filled with surprise and uncertainty. Other than the Bloodline Alliance, she could not think of another force that had the guts to be so rampant.

"The Coven? But there are no traces of magic attacks. The Knights of the Round Table or Martial Arts Association? Right now, with the deaths of the majority of their elites and important figures, they can't even care for themselves much less others… Clive? There is no beneficial reason for them to do so."

Possibility after possibility was crossed out of her mind.

"The fighting traces are quite recent, and the enemy seems to be a small force or even a single person!" A scout came back to report. "The empire will respond soon. We must evacuate as soon as possible……"

"I agree!" Bobbi had yet to reply when a black silhouette walked out of Silver Mountain Research Institute. Numerous alerted gazes suddenly disappeared after looking at the familiar appearance of the other party, and Bobbi released a pleasant cry.

"Crowley!"

"Mm. I swept away the Special Forces, and arranged for the bloodline carriers and captives to be sent to safety. I stayed behind to wait for all of you…" Crowley foolishly laughed.

However, Xavier felt that the air around him had changed drastically. The pressure from his bloodline, especially, made cold sweat emerge on his forehead. His body was expressing a continuous desire to just surrender.

"You were away so long, where exactly did you go die?" Bobbi stared at Crowley. He seemed to have changed a lot, but at the same time seemed no different from usual.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Villa

"Let's discuss this after we leave. The story is quite bizarre, almost like a fairy tale…" Crowley touched his head and laughed bitterly, "Also, I'm working under a mighty lady right now. If you meet her, remember to… Nevermind, I doubt you'll need me to tell you."

"Crowley!" Xavier rushed towards Crowley, "I… I…"

Without his knowledge, the words had gotten stuck in his throat, He couldn't spit it out, and his face turned red in embarrassment.

"I rescued your parents. However…" A trace of regret surfaced on Crowley's face, "I couldn't find Jill… I'm sorry…"

"Alright… These are all minor details. Let's leave this place immediately." Contacting Genius, Bobbi slapped the head of the depressed Xavier and shouted, "The imperial guards will surround us in five minutes. Get a move on, let's break out!"

……

Imperial capital Kerallen, inside the palace.

"This is the recording from the attack on the Silver Mountain Research Institute," Ling reported to her father, pulling out a projection of Crowley surrounded by shadows.

This man named Aragon, the graceful master of the Shadow Empire who had greying hair, was filled with serenity. The imperial army's lack of a result or the significant losses encountered by the Special Forces weren't of much importance to him.

"Hand these issues over to the garrison and military to handle. Your only goal right now should be the project. Understood?" A faint trace of reprimand could be detected from Emperor Aragon's tone.

"I understand," Ling complied, and she went on to another report, "I found another suitable body that resonates with the project."

"Oh? Let me look at it now!" Emperor Aragon emperor's fervent attitude was so frightful that even Ling felt fear.

"I ordered the Special Forces to bring her here, and a series of tests revealed that the purity of her soul is extremely high. She can completely withstand the effects of the eye array and the converter."

Ling presented an image of a curled-up young girl in an incubator, traces of tears still on her face with closed eyes. This was Xavier's sister— Jill!

"Very well… Haha… You've done well…" Emperor Aragon did not care about the other party's origins nor her suffering, looking at the data and research results. The joy was evident on his face.

"She's the twelfth, and with that the foundation for the Tree of Life project is complete. You've done well, Ling, no wonder you're the daughter I dote on the most."

Emperor Aragon aimed to dominate the conscience of the extraordinary being formed by the Tree of Life, obtaining the power to fight the control of the Mistress of the Night. However, such a thing was very difficult to do, especially with the complex emotions arising from so many humans. He wouldn't be able to digest all that power himself.

Thus, he had to establish a few transfer nodes to absorb a significant amount of insanity and evil, making the process much easier. Research showed the empire that the soul refining array required twelve females with extremely pure souls, the kind only present in young children. It would allow them to call upon their strength to purify the evil.

As for what happened next, and whether those souls could withstand the tremendous pressure or dissipate under the load, Aragon had no need to consider it. After all, these young ladies should actually be excited to sacrifice their lives for such a significant cause.

It took a while for the Emperor to subdue his excitement. However, the first sentence he spoke afterwards shocked everyone, "Find a chance to make a report to that fellow. The empire's preparations are complete."

'We're finally about to begin?' Ling looked at the emperor's face. Although he seemed tranquil on the surface, the flames in his eyes could not be concealed.

The prophet's eyes and the mermaid's scales ensured that Aragon had no need to hide anything anyway. He managed to hide his emotions from the outside world, and not even the empress or his other daughters could realise that anything was unusual. This was a fundamental requirement for one to become an emperor.

……

"Why bring me here?" Xavier asked Crowley, looking in puzzlement at the man. Ever since he came back, this man in front of him had been acting quite strangely. The atmosphere around him had become more daunting, yes, but it also seemed like he'd acquired another master. Bobbi had ended up bringing him out of the base to confront him directly.

"Sigh…" Crowley scratched his head, smiling bitterly. "Some things you only believe if you can see them. Rest assured that I won't harm you. In fact, if we manage to get that person's assistance the chances that we'll be able to save Jill will grow tremendously…"

"Are you serious?" Xavier's face filled up with disbelief.

"I'm your bloodline ancestor, and have lived for longer than five hundred years. I will not harm you!" With this issue being brought up, Xavier could do naught but roll his eyes in secret.

Crowley soon brought Xavier to the entrance of a red villa at the outskirts of the imperial capital.

"This is an estate I purchased during my travels. It's written to the accounts of a housekeeper and my progeny, so it's very safe…" Crowley's voice contained a prideful tone. "My master, the great lady I serve with all my heart, is currently within…"

"I feel something abnormal…" Xavier felt like his legs had gone soft, and he tried to leave. The blood in his body suddenly ran rampant, causing his eyes to turn scarlet. A few fine scales emerged on his face and the back of his hands.

"Bloodline Ressonance!" he spat out with an expression of stone, his speech like the hissing of a snake. The red villa in his line of sight had turned into a blood red whirlpool, attracting him to no end.

His free will fought back without break, but his resistance was growing weaker. He almost entirely gave up.

"Alright… Allsnake, stop oppressing your juniors the first time you meet them. You did the same thing when I first met you…" Just as Xavier couldn't hold on any longer, a voice broke the pressure on him. The villa returned to normal in his eyes, as if what he'd just experienced was but an illusion.

'Wait, I know this voice!' Xavier turned his head, only to see a cloaked Leylin wielding a black staff.

"Ley? Why are you here?" He'd had a deep impression of this man who'd displayed astonishing ability during the greater proficiency test.

"Hello! Long time no see, gentlemen." Leylin laughed as he avoided Xavier's question.

"Wait… He is very suspicious!" Unlike Xavier, Crowley was deeply vigilant against Leylin. However, this attitude flipped completely as he heard something, and he turned humble as he continued, "Welcome, mighty existence. Mistress Snake Dowager is waiting for you inside…"

"Alright!" Leylin did not exhibit any courtesy, immediately treating Crowley like a servant as he passed his hat and staff to the man. Following Crowley's lead, he arrived at where the Snake Dowager was.

"Your Majesty!" the Snake Dowager nodded her head, and Crowley automatically moved to her side like a proper servant. Everything about her was so alluring, allowing her to become the centre of attention regardless of where she was.

"This… This… This…" Xavier's eyes were wide open and bloodshot. His heart was beating so rapidly blood was leaking from his pores. "This feeling… Why?"

"That is the Snake Dowager. She's the origin of your bloodline, so you'll enter such a state whenever you meet her. The only way out is to become a being of laws, breaking away from her control completely…" Leylin explained with a smile.

"Are you trying to play tricks on me right now?" The Snake Dowager threw Leylin a glance. Still, even when she flared up she contained amazing charm. Crowley turned away immediately, as if he knew that he'd make a fool of himself if he continued looking.

"Alright. Crowley, take my descendant downstairs, I'm aware of why you're here. I have something more important to discuss with Lord Leylin right now…" the Snake Dowager ordered.

To Crowley and Xavier, the instructions from their origin of bloodline held the utmost importance. They would follow through even if it cost them their lives.

Crowley saluted to the Snake Dowager and Leylin, supporting Xavier as they moved out. Leylin and the Snake Dowager were left alone in the place.

"This is the first time out real bodies met in the Shadow World, no? If the Mistress of the Night discovers us this is probably a great chance for her to solve everything in one go…" Leylin had a joking smile on his face. However, just after he spoke those words he showed a startled look, and seemed to fall into thought.

Every action performed by a being of law had a far-reaching impact on the world. Even the words they spoke would be prophetic. Of course, the possibility that these prophecies came true hinged on many other factors as well, especially considering similarly powerful beings.

"Her hold over the Shadow World is quite weak right now. It allowed me to do quite some things…" The Snake Dowager blinked her watery pupils, and her gaze seemed to ripple with endless flirtation.

"I followed the plan as well. The Coven of Witches, Martial Arts Association, and the Knights of the Round Table have been suppressed, and at the same time I leaked some inside news to them. They should be rushing towards the capital right now, although I don't know how much use they'll be…"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Taking the Initiative

The Snake Dowager was exceedingly protective of her descendants in the Shadow World. She'd even especially asked Leylin to suppress any possible chaos in the organisations with extraordinary strength, guiding them to the capital. Leylin could sense something strange from this.

"I and a few others are the source of all the extraordinary power in the Shadow World, so these descendants will be quite useful…" That was how the Dowager explained it, but before she could finish speaking Leylin's expression changed.

The entirety of the Shadow World began to howl out, and a huge net of purple and gold materialised all over it, full of an enchanting beauty.

"The origin force of the world is boiling… What is the Mistress of the Night up to?" The Snake Dowager muttered.

"I'm afraid she wants to deal with our allies, and also pull us into her trap. Remember my prediction just now?" Leylin now looked grim.

"Have Trial's Eye and the others been discovered already?" The Snake Dowager wrinkled her beautiful brows, and then straightened them out, "That doesn't matter. Even if the Mistress of the Night is just one step away from the peak of rank 8, Massa and the rest are also beings of laws. If she truly has the guts to walk out of the Shadow World, that'll be a great opportunity for us!"

Leylin shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I still stand by it. If she chose to act, then she should be rather certain that it'll work. It's better we stay hidden."

At this point he'd grown some respect for the Mistress of the Night. The courage to leave the Shadow World whose origin force protected her was really something, even if it was only an avatar.

After all, this avatar of hers would hold most of her power. The moment it fell, Shar would fall into a condition similar to or even worse than Beelzebub!

Currently, outside the Shadow World. Under the illumination of the boiling sea of origin force, Shar appeared in her black gown. She took one step forward, and the astral plane formed the most resplendent of pathways under her feet. It allowed her to reach the astral plane in an instant.

Rank 8 strength erupted out, merging the auras of several laws together as it suddenly swept past a gigantic black mountain in the astral plane.

Crack! Crack!* A solid mountain the size of a small plane was shattered instantly by this strength, and the black dust generated from it devoured by the shadows. From the outside it looked like Shar had a massive black hole in her hand, sucking in everything without even a speck of dust left behind.

"I've got you!" Shar smiled like a flower all of a sudden, her jade-like fingers pointing at a grain of dust that hadn't been absorbed.

Space trembled violently, and a hidden plane opened up slowly amidst golden radiance.

"Trial!" "Justice!" "Judgement!" The golden light seemed to form a song of praise, forming a rune in the shape of a large, vertical pupil. The mysterious rune flashed as it exited the semi-plane, the power of light and electricity surrounding it.

"Trial's Eye, the final judge? Why are you going against me?" Shar's own body seemed to grow in the face of this giant eye that seemed to span the entire astral plane. She was eventually a head taller than the eye, bringing with her the pressure of an entire world.

"I guard contracts and enforce rules!" Trial's Eye used its own actions to answer, boundless golden light forming a holy lance that flickered with the laws of trial and justice.

"What a pity… I would have wanted someone like you to work with me!" Shar's expression showed the pity she felt as a large green web appeared in her hands to meet the lance.

This was a weave she'd constructed personally. It could not compare to Mystra's Weave or the Shadow Weave, but it was already enough to restrain Trial's Eye. Threads of shadow twined around the golden runes, corroding into them.

Evidently, Shar was more powerful than the Trial's Eye in terms of sheer might. While both of them were rank 8s, Shar was close to the peak.

Crack! Crack!* The golden lance was melted away by the web, but the eye betrayed no emotions.

"Light of Judgement!" A thin white streak flew out of the centre of the eye, pushing space apart in the astral plane as it imperiled the planes and small worlds around them.

This was the power of judgement, the Trial's Eye's core law. In the face of such an attack, Shar had no choice but to get serious. Terrifying energy storms were formed in her surroundings, sweeping through the skies. A tremendous vortex absorbed the light..

From a distance this golden lustre was like a huge dragon, surging forward in the horrifying sea of shadow force.

"Hehe… stupid woman, you've actually left the Shadow World…" A voice suddenly sounded deep in Shar's mind, and an image of an old man wearing luxurious clothing appeared before her eyes.

"A spiritual attack? No, it's one on my truesoul itself!" Shar bit at her lips, and a layer of shadows quickly enveloped her.

"It's no use… I am a spirit grandmaster! No material power can hinder my soul energy!" Yuri began to chuckle madly.

"So this is the soul energy of a spirit-sucking monster, a brain-seizing devil?" Shar bit at her lips. All of a sudden, a smile full of confidence emerged on her face, "I got another one!"

"Stop trying to conceal it. I can see the terror and weakness hidden in the shadows of your mind." Yuri continued to attack her with all his might. The soul energy dispersed in her body, and Shar found that her control of her own body gradually weakened, as if there were two wills trying to gain control of her body.

"How foolish! Did you think you can truly see my mind? Get out here!" Shar yelled out, and terrifying soul force spread through the area like a giant invisible web going taut.

Whoosh!* A streak of black lightning appeared in the sky, striking down to reveal an old man in imperial robes.

"Show your true face!" Exceedingly powerful shadow force was transformed by Shar's hand, the effects of divinity and magic combined within. It undulated power, at least as strong as a rank 7 spell.

The boundless shadow force turned into a black sickled that slashed at the back of Yuri's neck.

Schlick!* The blade cut through silently, and the black lines it caused immediately moved out into the sliced through the world.

Yuri's body melted away, and the luxurious imperial robes immediately fell and turned into a pile of ashes. The body that was like molten wax regathered to form a new figure, that of a terrifying spirit-sucking master with tens of thousands of heads. Numerous tendrils hung down from these heads, making it like a willow that was even larger than a plane.

However, at this point, a hundred of its heads had all exploded at the same time, causing smelly yellow pus to flow out. Evidently, Shar's attack had injured its main body badly.

"I judge you!" The light of judgement broke out of the vortex during Shar's exchange with Yuri, arriving before the former goddess. A lustre that could melt worlds away was blocked by the black clothing, but Shar's right glove turned to powder as a look of pain emerged on her face.

One could not help but pity her. She was outside the Shadow World, no longer supported by its origin force. She was strong enough to have the upper hand against a single rank 8 existence, but fighting two would be difficult. As for three? As for three? Unless she was a peak rank 8 or had a specific advantage that targeted the enemies' weak points, that would be impossible!

A bundle of darkness slowly squirmed until it was underneath Shar, abruptly opening its mouth wide open. "Keke.. I like the shadow force on you very much!" Massa's voice sounded out, making her move upon Shar once she noticed the former goddess was injured.

However, there was a tone of greed and violence to her voice this time, completely different from the bashful lady that Leylin had met. It was like Snow White becoming an old witch.

Massa came from the Dark World, and she was enamoured by the law of shadows. Her understanding of the law of darkness gave her a natural advantage over Shar.

Three rank 8 existences were surrounding Shar in a triangle. The situation seemed to be a complete deadlock.

"Whatever it is, this isn't the Shadow World anymore. You're alone, and there's no way you can contend with the three of us…" Yuri's nine thousand or so heads emitted powerful spirit undulations, "Let us all attack… I want this woman's main body's brain!"

"Inform Allsnake, have her rush over with Leylin. That's the most dependable method!" Trial's Eye shook, separating a tiny golden eye from itself that suddenly dropped into the Shadow World.

Within a red villa, the Snake Dowager and Leylin were standing on the balcony. Their expressions changed as they saw a golden meteor fall to the ground.

"The aura of the jar imprint? So it can be used this way too…" Leylin nodded, finding that he had learnt something new. The golden light split in two, entering the eyes of the Snake Dowager and Leylin, allowing them to know the events of the astral plane as if they'd experienced it themselves.

"Seems like there's a great chance of them winning, now that Shar has given up the reinforcements from the Shadow World.. What do you think?" Leylin glanced at the Snake Dowager with a half smile.

"I actually have the same thoughts as you do. Shar isn't someone so easy to deal with, so she must have some plot. I'll send down the order to have them all retreat immediately!" The Snake Dowager's beautiful eyes moved, the words that she said stunning Leylin slightly.

"There's no use. Massa needs the shadow laws to make up for her own darkness. Yuri is also very envious. In a situation like this where things seem to be going so well, your suggestions will still…" Leylin shook his head.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Advance

"No matter what, we should at least try. If not our future plans will be more difficult to enact." The Snake Dowager smiled wryly as she whispered a few words into the Jar Spectre imprint. Two beings of law looked towards the sky from a balcony in a red villa, their gaze piercing across the horizon as they peered into a cosmic battle.

The Snake Dowager turned her head suddenly and asked Leylin, "Say… What is Shar scheming?"

"Hmm…" Leylin rubbed his chin. "It's very hard to kill a rank 8 even if they're not strong at battles. They're very tenacious, and even heavily injuring an opponent at that level is a great accomplishment…

"However, Shar's different. She has extremely wild ambitions, so her goal won't be so simple. Her greatest power is the support of the Shadow World and Shadow Weave…" Leylin's eyes brightened, "Could she pull all her enemies at once into the Shadow World? If that's the case, Trial's Eye and the other two would be in danger of dying…"

Snake Dowager pondered further but she shook her head eventually. "That's impossible. Don't you know how hard it is to set up a teleportation formation for rank 8s? Moreover, once Trial's Eye and the other two discover that they're being teleported, they'd be able to interfere in a moment and cause the teleportation to fail…"

"The more you think it's impossible, the more I think it isn't! They'd believe the same thing, and let down their guard." Leylin rubbed his chin, his eyes filled with wisdom. "There's more than one way to do this… If you want to get to a mountain, you could also have the mountain move to you…"

"You mean…" The Snake Dowager's expression changed, "We have to let them know immediately!"

"I'm afraid that it'll be too late," Leylin shook his head helplessly, yet his eyes portrayed a very strong interest, "Such craziness and bravery, counting it all in one bet, this is indeed the Mistress of the Night!"

Rumble!* The sun in the sky began to roar under their gazes, radiating even more light and heat than before as it seemed to expand continuously. At the same time, earthquakes and tsunamis burst out everywhere in the Empire. The earth split apart, revealing deep gorges in the ground as every single harbour was flooded. Destruction rained in but a few seconds.

And this was only on the surface. Someone gazing upon the Shadow World from the astral plane would see it come alive, as if breathing with life.

"Allsnake asked us to leave immediately. She says there's danger!" The Trial's Eye's enormous body floated in midair, and its eye that was as large as a world continuously flickered with lightning. There was a faint image of Shar's reflection within.

Shar was like a black lotus now, beginning to wilt under the attack of the other three.

"What? We just have to endure it for a little longer!" Yuri and Massa disagreed. These two would reap enormous benefits from Shar, hence they did not want to give up this easily.

"I'll take our alliance into account. Three helping hands, and I shall leave." The Trial's Eye made its decision after considering the request of the other two.

"Okay!" Yuri and Marsha looked each other in the eye as they gritted their teeth and agreed.

"This damned Snake Dowager, we could have made the Mistress of the Night perish if she were to join us at the start…"

Massa's spirit was extremely vengeful in the darkness, harbouring a grudge against the Snake Dowager. Suddenly, she stopped talking. "No! Something's wrong! My soul! Why is there a shadow overcast on my truesoul?"

"What?" Yuri was shocked as well, even if he was a specialist in souls. He racked his brains as he peered deep into his abyssal truesoul, using all his might to see the same shadow on his. It was extremely eerie.

"I'm a soul specialist, but a shadow was cast on my truesoul and the barriers broken down without my knowledge?" Yuri screamed in anger. A foreboding sense of danger crept over his truesoul once he discovered this shadow. It was something that could kill him!

"Not good, let's leave!" Only now did they agree to the Snake Dowager's suggestion to leave.

"Lacking! Very lacking! As beings of laws, your ability at detection and usage of laws is extremely inferior to that Magus and Allsnake. They would never be confused by my Soul Shadow…

"Also… Don't you think it's too late to leave?" Shar waved her hands from the middle of the three, "It has begun!"

Boom!* The Shadow World surfaced up into the vast astral plane, its borders writhing continuously as they seemed to breathe with origin force.

The borders of the Shadow World suddenly expanded, its boundaries a terrifying monster that devoured everything. The parts of the astral plane around it— the spatial storms, rifts, meteors, and even small planes— were all devoured.

How powerful was the Shadow World? It was the strongest world in the astral plane apart from the Magus World and the World of Gods. As the monstrous borders began to expand, the dimensions beside it were annihilated. It had already grown half a fold, and these existences of laws had undoubtedly come within its bounds already.

Without the strength to fight against the entire sea of origin force, or the ability to cover half the size of the world in an instant, there was no way these people could escape their fates. A tide of world origin force formed, tens of thousands times more destructive than a tsunami.

The Shadow World had consumed four beings of law in an instant! The expressions of Yuri and the rest changed instantly, because this swallowing came with suppression.

Even if the Shadow World used up a large amount of its origin force, it was still a powerhouse. It had great reserves that allowed it to suppress rank 8 existences at will. Under the powerful intent of the world, all origin force, vitality, elements, energy particles and everything that contained energy in the Shadow World separated from the three beings. They could only rely on their own reserves, but the laws they wielded were suppressed as well. They grew many times weaker than before.

"Advancement of a world! You actually forced the Shadow World to advance! This is crazy, wouldn't the Shadow World be afraid of its origin force being depleted? Why would it allow you to do this?" The Trial's Eye sent a message.

The Shadow World was a large world. An attempt to expand once more would put it on par with Dreamscape. Nothing good would come of doing such a thing without sufficient energy; most of the world would turn desolate and barren.

And now the Shadow World had forced an advancement. Without enough origin force to advance, the World Will would only suffer! The Trial's Eye could not figure out why the Mistress of the Night was allowed to do this.

"Haha… Because I represent the Shadow World's Will!" Shar took a step forward. Everything before her had been consumed by the Shadow World, and she was considered its core. A large amount of origin force converged at this point.

Even if it was weakened, the origin force allowed Shar to reach the peak of her power. A black crack appeared on the crystal inside that palace within the sea of origin force, the one that contained Shar's true body. Now that she'd activated the origin force of the world on behalf of its will, her strength grew close to the peak of rank 8.

On the other hand, Trial's Eye and the rest were weakened, almost dropping below rank 8 in power. The tables had turned!

"Let's go!" Trial's Eye, Yuri, and Massa tried frantically to leave through the edges of the world.

"You've come to my home. How could I let you leave without attending to you well?" Glee spread on Shar's face, and she moved her hands like a master of the zither.

Chi! Chi!* The true form of the Shadow Weave revealed itself, different from the one she'd conjured before. This Weave permeated the entire Shadow World, using the support of origin force to allow even the commoners of the Empire to cast spells.

The three beings of laws were like fish in a net. Repelled by the origin force, they were like caged beasts.

"I've caught you guys…" Shar walked up leisurely, and smiled with a wide grin. "So what if the origin force would be depleted? As long as the three of you are sacrificed, most of the origin force would be replenished, wouldn't it?"

……

"It is indeed a world advancement!" Protected by an invisible barrier in the red villa, Leylin sighed. "Those three are in danger…"

"We warned them of the trap early enough. At least one of them should be able to escape…" The Snake Dowager said with indifference, only able to predict the future.

"Massa has the least chance. After all, her element is suppressed the most. Outside of this world she can control shadows with darkness, but within the sides switch. Even if Shar doesn't manage to catch the other two, Massa will not escape…" Leylin added as he stroked his chin.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chess Piece

"The contract requires us to rescue them. You're not getting ready to move?" The Snake Dowager stared at Leylin with her beautiful eyes. The power of law surrounding them was weakening, their powers being chipped away.

This was the penalty for violating the agreement. Still, it didn't contain any malice or deliberate harm, only causing a slight drop in power which Leylin could handle.

"Not now. Shar has control of the situation, and within the Shadow World itself she's currently invincible," Leylin heavily shook his head.

Shar was a shrewd goddess, with a plan to solve all her problems in one fell swoop. She would surely have her ways to handle Leylin and the Snake Dowager, so if they rushed forward now they would effectively be falling into her trap. Even the Snake Dowager had no choice but to be prudent when facing this crazy and savage goddess.

"I feel the same way…" the Snake Dowager sighed.

But then, she was startled by a layer of large black clouds that covered the skies. Crimson lightning flashed as a precursor to a rain of blood, and a bloody storm fell upon the Shadow World.

Leylin could feel the entire world cheering with In the rainstorm, the depleted World Origin Force recovering before it fell below dangerous levels.

The Snake Dowager suddenly sighed, "Massa has fallen… I felt the annihilation of her truesoul…"

Shar's cunning and power had obviously exceeded her imagination, causing her to lose confidence in her plan. A second rainstorm struck not long after.

The intellectual creatures of this world could feel grief and pain in a terrifying roar that resounded from the rainstorm, "AHHHH! MISTRESS OF THE NIGHT! ALLSNAKE! YOU…"

"Yuri couldn't manage to escape either…"

"Trial! Trial! Trial!" A golden light shone through the western skies after Yuri's death, and phantom vertical eye appeared in mid-air.

Violent lightning tore through the Shadow Weave, and the huge eye instantly split into two. One was surrounded by the Shadow Weave, while the other took the chance to escape the bounds of the world into the astral plane.

"The Trial's Eye managed to escape, but with serious injury," Leylin sighed, "Two fell, and one escaped with heavy injuries. Three existences of law lost their power in a split second. Such effort and scheming is truly worthy of the Mistress of the Night."

Crack!* The imprint of a jar shattered in the Snake Dowager's hands. She furrowed her brows as she told Leylin, "I just received news from the Trial's Eye. It plans to return to the Purgatory World, and won't be coming back."

"Seems like it suffered heavy injuries," Leylin nodded, fear lingering within him. The Trial's Eye had been quite unlucky this time round. Of course, compared to the other two who fell, it could be considered lucky.

"However, with a lack of preparation to advance the world itself, this would be suicidal behaviour on the part of the World Will. We can conclude that Shar has more than 50% control over the world."

The Snake Dowager nodded imposingly at Leylin's conclusion.

The advancement of a world was no joking matter. Even if it expanded in size, the current Shadow World would face great danger if it tried to advance without accumulating enough origin force or making progress in its civilisation.

The cities that had originally been brimming with elemental power were affected by the advancement, dropping in energy concentration. A chain reaction was triggered, but its effects were yet to show themselves.

Leylin believed this move would render half of the original Shadow World barren, and the soil would lose its fertility. Without sufficient food, the humans would suffer heavy casualties.

With the reducing number of intelligent creatures and the death of the flora, the World Will would weaken. It would have to suffer the consequences of all this damage, so it was effectively committing suicide. An independent World Will would never do such a thing. This made it clear that the majority of the World Will was now under Shar's control.

Leylin faintly felt like this was only a half-advancement, merely an expansion of size. The energy it required for this was much smaller, so the situation could be stabilised, albeit barely, with a few existences of law as sacrifices.

……

Within the imperial palace, Princess Ling rushed to Emperor Aragon's side, "Father!"

"Yes. What happened? Rest assured, I can handle the news!" Emperor Aragon ordered impatiently.

"Yes…" Ling glanced secretly at the emperor, taking a deep breath before reporting the bad news, "The data says this is a level 9 earthquake. Half the capital has already fallen into ruin. We don't have data about the other cities yet, but the situation there isn't looking good either. We've lost contact with several coastal cities that have experienced both earthquakes and tsunamis…

"Estimates say more than ten billion citizens were affected, and the damage extends throughout the empire. It poses a fatal blow to our economy, and experts are saying that the famine and plagues that will follow are going to exhaust our food reserves. In the worst case scenario… in the worst case scenario…"

Ling couldn't continue speaking, but her trembling voice already made everything clear— this disaster was enough to destroy the whole empire.

"Haha…" Emperor Aragon instead calmed down after hearing the news, his laughter like that of an injured wolf.

"Great Master, are you prepared to abandon us?" Aragon's bleak expression ultimately turned into madness. "Ling! Don't you think it's best chance now? No matter how hard we try to remedy the situation, the whole empire won't be able to avoid the fate of destruction. We might as well do it ourselves!"

Ling silently pondered over the matter. Indeed, what her father said made sense. This terrifying disaster would be the root cause of the empire's destruction anyway, but if the Tree of Life Project was initiated the entire empire could grow immortal and wipe out the rebel existences.

"Moreover… that voice at the end, you heard it as well, didn't you?" Emperor Aragon's eyes sparkled. "The Allsnake has returned alongside an unknown existence. This follows the prophecy left behind in the Book of Salvation by Ari!"

"That indeed is an astonishing power… If it weren't because of the disaster, I'm afraid that it we would have questioned its existence…" Ling couldn't help but think back to the voice that rang out in the hearts of all intelligent creatures, as well as that unresigned roar. Especially the name of Allsnake, it was exactly the same as in Ari's prophecy.

"With the arrival of our mistress of ancient times, the flames of rebellion will rise," Emperor Aragon mumbled. He then waved suddenly, "Ling, go out and reveal the second half of the Book of Salvation to the rebel soldiers."

"What do you intend to do?" Ling hesitated. The existence of a rebel organisation was no secret in the army.

"Release the news to the rebel organisation. We need them to attract the attention of the ancient master and restrict her. We might earn enough time to complete the alternate Tree of Life…" Aragon's eyes flashed with cunning. To scheme against multiple existences of law at the same time was like dancing on sharp knives.

"I shall obey!" Ling left after a moment's hesitation. Outside the secret chamber, she moved to a high platform where she could see the entire capital in a mess. Even with the protection of advanced technology and the Shadow Weave, half the city had been destroyed.

More than ten million people were wandering the streets aimlessly and crying. It had a serious impact on social security. Even though the empire's special disaster relief team backed by its wealth could appease millions, the scale of the disaster greatly exceeded even their limits.

"Alas… Is such a beautiful and glorious empire in its twilight? What awaits us at the end of this path, total darkness or the light of dawn?" A single tear dripped down her face.

……

Night time. Leylin and Allsnake were seated in a hall, enjoying a candlelight dinner as Crowley waited on them from the side with humility and respect.

"Mistress!" Crowley had received some news from the Bloodline Alliance, "People from the Bloodline Alliance have contacted me hoping to receive your guidance."

"Do they know of our existence?" Leylin wiped his lips with a white napkin. He felt like the technological advancement of the Shadow World had spilled over into their culinary skills.

"Yes. Bobbi's saying a member of the rebel soldiers gave her a part of the Book of Salvation that details Mistress's existence. The prophecy says you are the one true saviour!" Crowley said with excitement.

"Blind Ari?" The Snake Dowager gently closed her eyes, seemingly trying to sense something. "Familiar yet strange… This prophetic power, is she a reincarnation of the prophet Kalle?"

"So, what do you plan to do?" Leylin laughed. Their dinner done, Xavier tidied up the table and placed a chessboard on it. He was dressed like a waiter.

"What do you think?" The Snake Dowager gazed at Leylin

"We're currently the king and queen," Leylin pointed to the core of the board, "the most important cards. We shouldn't throw that away so easily, instead sending some pawns first to test the waters."

Having said that, he picked up a pawn and moved it one step forward.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Motion

"Indeed!" The Snake Dowager looked at the board and nodded before she turned towards Crowley.

"You are henceforth my representative, able to command all rebel forces." Dark red bloodline force formed a serpentine black eye that surrounded Crowley, causing his strength to rise several degrees once more.

"Yes, Mistress. Your will is my command!" Crowley knelt down.

"You go follow him," Leylin told the slightly fervent Xavier.

"Re– Really? Thank you, Master!" Xavier hurriedly responded. The unbearable pressure had made him subservient somewhere along the line, especially now that he was in the presence of two of these terrifying existences.

"You served us well, so here's a tidbit of information. Your sister is currently inside the palace as well. Try harder, kid!" Xavier hadn't left yet, and this news caused his body to tremble as he picked up his pace.

Once the two of them left, a strange atmosphere enveloped the surroundings of the villa.

"What do you think of their chances of success?" the Snake Dowager broke the silence. She stretched her body, causing Leylin to smell a unique scent that caused his heart to skip a beat.

Leylin opened his mouth after a moment of silence, "Project X has been in progress for so many years, and a big portion of the natural world has been taken over. The Shadow Weave's influence has also permeated the whole world… Our opponent can choose to act at any time.

"Instead of leaving the button in the hands of the Mistress of the Night, why not have the subordinates detonate the bomb in advance? Isn't now the best opportunity?"

It was impossible for the Mistress of the Night to have taken care of three existences of laws without paying a certain price. The opponent would definitely be weakened, so the chances of their success were much higher. Things would grow more unclear once she made a complete recovery.

"The Mistress of the Night squandered away a great amount of the world's accumulated origin force, it'll be difficult for it to recover soon." Leylin grasped a wisp of air while revealing a bizarre smile.

The advancement of the Shadow World this time had failed. Its reserves of origin force were insufficient, and the civilisation itself wasn't prepared either. Shar naturally understood this, so instead of causing it to advance she'd had the place expand. The World Origin Force had yet to condense, and there were numerous other missing factors as well.

Because of all this, the Shadow World had been weakened by nothing. The sacrifices of Massa and Yuri only allowed it to recover slightly.

However, if Shar had enough time on hand she could lead the Shadow World to recovery, causing it to burgeon with origin force. At that time, the Mistress of the Night would not be so easy to handle.

……

The Blood Nest had changed greatly by the time Crowley and Xavier arrived at the capital. Although the earthquakes hadn't caused much damage to their core base, a large number of strangers had gathered in the basement's inner conference hall.

Among these strangers were people dressed in black Chinese gowns, witches with sharp hats, knights clad in armour, and expert martial artists. The ones that attracted Xavier's attention were the group of people clad in army uniform that occupied the area. Everyone there had an aura of blood and iron that was unique to the armed forces.

'This should be the rebels Clive mentioned before…' Xavier noticed that several members of the Bloodline Alliance interacted with the rest of the groups, whereas the soldiers waited silently without any communication whatsoever.

The situation in the hall was chaotic, with many people arguing over the changes that occurred a few days ago. Everyone had been frightened by that disaster that seemed able to destroy the world. Project X and the Tree of Life were brought up frequently as well.

"Everyone, quiet down!" The arrival of Crowley and Xavier immediately attracted a great deal of attention. The thousands of eyes in the hall caused every pore in the younger one's body to tense up.

After all, none of those gathered here were exactly 'ordinary.' Any other citizen of the empire, even your average soldier, would've collapsed under the immense pressure.

Bobbi pushed the other members of the Bloodline Alliance aside, her face filled with expectation, "How is it? Did that person agree?"

"No, but she didn't reject us either…" Crowley shook his head. "The ancestor appointed me to act on behalf of her will to overthrow the decadent empire."

"Without their assistance we won't be able to resist the mastermind behind the empire." Clive shook his head from within the group of levels. Only the higher-ups of the empire truly understood how terrifying the Mistress of the Night was.

With her support, the imperial family held absolute power. If not for the threat of Project X and the Tree of Life, these soldiers would never have done something so arduous and thankless as rebelling unless their brains had gone haywire.

"What age are we in right now? To believe the existence of ancient myths based on some prophecies? Isn't that ridiculous?" A questioning voice sounded out from the crowd, attracting numerous opinions in favour of the ridicule. Although they all held extraordinary powers themselves, they still had their reservations about ancient myths.

"This is a treasure the empire retrieved at the cost of their largest submarine. The Book of Salvation was left behind by the blind prophet Ari, and we managed to decipher the prophecy. As all souls become one, the day of doom approaches. That's already happened. We need the help of the Snake Dowager!"

Clive tossed a stone tablet out, translating the words and images upon it.

"These mysterious ancient relics have no credibility!" The same voice spoke out.

"What about this?"

Hssssss!* A terrifying hiss resounded in the massive hall, and turbulent bloodline energy formed a gigantic chimera made up of over a hundred different snakes, seemingly covered by various grotesque scales.

"This bloodline?" Many of the bloodline carriers in the Bloodline Alliance descended from the Snake Dowager. Looking at this scene, they'd immediately knelt down.

They felt the will of their ancestors surround Crowley, his bloodline causing them to swear allegiance by instinct. As the origin of their bloodline, the Snake Dowager could subdue Crowley and the rest with but a wisp of her aura.

Such was the absolute control of a higher bloodline. It afforded more power than any spells of the soul, and it was impossible for the weaker bloodline to break out of their superiors' grasp unless they managed to extract the source of their bloodline from them. However, Leylin was the only one in history who'd managed to do such a thing.

"He's surpassed the energy limit!

"He broke through the rumoured energy limit just like that?" someone else muttered, and everyone changed in complexion. Crowley looked down upon the kneeling bloodline carriers like he was an emperor.

The so called energy limit was propaganda created by the empire. Technology and the Shadow Weave could only do so much, and they hadn't been able to pass a certain threshold. Because of that, they'd called this threshold the energy limit.

The empire's strongest energy weapons were only equivalent to a peak rank 6 Magus in power. Nobody had broken through that barrier.

And yet, Crowley managed to break through that rank with mere borrowed power. His body and spirit had been transformed by the Snake Dowager, increasing his capabilities to the peak of rank 6. With the help of the temporary authority from the Snake Dowager he could use some bloodline power to pass the bottleneck and become a half-step rank 7.

Although near rank 7 strength still left him having to kneel down in front of other beings of law like Leylin, Crowley was now undoubtedly the strongest person in the empire. He opened a path up with ferocity and violent imposition, instantly finding the fellow who'd been speaking all along.

"Do you have any opinions?" Strong winds blew to accompany his kingly demeanor.

"No! Not at all!" The person who spoke was a youngster with dyed hair and pierced ears. In the face of the terrifying pressure, he couldn't even speak properly.

Boom!* The floor shattered, and Crowley's silhouette instantly appeared in mid-air. The hall overflowed with the arrogant and overbearing aura of the hundred snakes, and the other bloodline carriers felt it difficult to even breath.

"I'm the best proof of her existence. Her help allowed me to break through that so-called energy limit, entering a new realm…" Crowley gazed upon everyone from above, "Furthermore, that existence agreed to stop the Mistress of the Night mentioned in the prophecy. Can all of us not even handle the imperial family?"

He roared in a loud voice, "Everyone here is aware of the existence of the two projects. Thus, now it is time for us to make a choice. Die loyal to that empire, or join me… In rebellion!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Initiation

Crowley's oratory wasn't particularly outstanding. It neither caused their blood to boil nor attracted their attention. By all rights the speech was a failure that couldn't even fool little kids.

Fortunately, he had great assistance. The Shadow Empire's recent actions had enraged the heavens and the peoples. Project X and the Tree of Life Project were too wide-spread, affecting everyone be they nobles, peasants, or prisoners. The upper class couldn't be blamed for instigating a rebellion.

If someone was disturbed in the comfort of their home by a stranger who told them they were but clones who would be assimilated to a whole, and that they'd become complete idiots, it was only to be expected that they'd grow mad. This was just a disaster occurring in broad daylight.

Although this wasn't really the fault of the imperial family, the others would still lump them together. The Empire had already disparaged the Bloodline Alliance and other organisation, causing great distrust from the public. Now it seemed like they were psychopaths plotting to bring about the end of the world.

This situation endangered ordinary citizens and government officials alike. Rebel funding grew greatly, developing further. If they'd planned such a huge counterattack on the outskirts of the Empire before, they would've been killed by the imperial guards who came knocking on the door. Now, however, things were different. The refugees who's jumped ship felt bitter as well.

They had to support the rebel groups with all they had. What would assisting the Empire achieve? Good politicians would never believe that the empire would leave their souls free after assimilating them into the whole.

As a result, it could be said that the Empire had given birth to the rebel army.

"Down with the Empire!" "Overthrow the Empire!" Under the pressure of death, the heads of several major organisations had quickly reached a consensus.

"Excellent!" Seeing the many faces flushed with righteous indignation, a smile bloomed on Crowley's face. He pressed a button, and a map was projected behind him.

"This is the imperial capital!" Unlike before, the city was now devastated. The surrounding regions had been thrown into disarray as well, "We only have one target this time, the Imperial Palace! We have to thoroughly destroy the core of all evil!" Crowley vehemently clenched his fist.

"There are at least 300,000 troops surrounding the capital on normal occasions, not to mention the police and the Special Forces. We'd never be afforded such an opportunity in that case. However… General Clive!"

"I will only say two things!" The grey-haired Clive was filled with bloodlust, and like a true military man he didn't mince his words. "Firstly, the horrific disaster hurt the army greatly. Many soldiers are still participating in the relief efforts, and their information network has been broken up. While us old fellows who are held in some prestige cannot incite the troops to march with us, temporarily stalling them won't be an issue…

"Second. As a result of a lack of support for the royal family, our people have already maneuvered themselves into key positions, including several major transport hubs and the Ministry of Defence."

Hearing Clive speak, the eyes of the audience came alive. With so many favourable conditions stacking up, they finally saw a glimmer of hope for success.

"We can't delay. Let's plan this operation out immediately!" Bobbi said. She then glanced at Crowley, "We should also designate a chief for us."

……

Kerallen, within the Imperial Palace.

Emperor Aragon was sat on his throne, glancing down at a rare scene of numerous royals enjoying a sumptuous dinner in one place.

The Empress was here, alongside his several sons and daughters, the Secretary of State, the Minister of Maritime Affairs, and the Minister of Defence.

'Which of these people is truly loyal to me?' Emperor Aragorn suddenly felt a sense of melancholy. He completely lost interest in the wine within the crystal flask.

"Father!" Ling walked in just then, dressed in military uniform. Javis was following behind her like a loyal dog. She performed a salute before making her report, "The Special Forces learned that the Bloodline Alliance is conspiring to attack the palace."

"Hmm?" Empire Aragon's brows twitched, and Javis immediately knelt down, "I can vouch for the credibility of the news with my life!"

"Sigh… These are truly troubled times!" Aragon put down the crystal flask, massaging his brows with his right hand in helplessness. The entire hall was silent, as if they could only hear the heavy breathing of their monarch.

Just when everyone assumed that the Emperor would order the capture of the rebels, he instead made a shocking decision, "Alright then. Initiate Project X and the Tree of Life Project immediately!

"Sigh… Everyone please follow me. All the entrances of the palace are to be shut. Without my orders, no one is allowed to enter or leave!" A long sigh escaped from Emperor Aragon. Upon bringing a wave of important ministers out of the palace, numerous high-ranking guards followed after.

All the forces of the Empire, be it the Special Forces, the intelligence team, or other elites fell into order under Ling's command. The whole place wound up, as if a machine.

"It's ready!" The other royal family looked at each other, and a strange silence soon followed. The older princes' gazes were fixed on Princess Ling, their thoughts unknown.

The princess herself told Javis to leave, moving alone to another meeting room. A few miserable cries sounded out, and complete silence followed them.

"I didn't think that the Minister of Defence would have betrayed me. Ha, and to think he was my best friend…" Emperor Aragon walked out a few minutes later, sighing as he used a white handkerchief to wipe the bloodstains off his body.

"My path is destined not to be understood by others, but I have no choice!" Emperor Aragon couldn't help by sigh as he looked at the only child to whom he could entrust this task.

"All preparations have been completed, father. Please follow me." Ling didn't betray any emotion on her face, the calm in her eyes making it impossible to guess her thoughts. The two arrived at the imperial garden, all the vegetation within flattened to form a huge plaza.

"Let's begin!" Emperor Aragon commanded, holding back the excitement in his heart.

The entire plaza began to tremble, the earth gradually splitting open as it formed a box. A fantastic white tower appeared from the ground, its interior completely solid while its exterior was filled with light. It dazzled with a gorgeous lustre.

Twelve bright pearls could be seen atop the tower, forming a circle connected by thick black metal chains to the centre. A girl was sleeping in each pearl, and Jill was amongst them. They were curled up like babies in their mothers' wombs, and their eyebrows furrowed from time to time. And just like a womb, there was a large amount of translucent liquid around them, a crystal clear thread from within connecting to their bodies.

"The console of the Tree of Life!" Emperor Aragon looked at the metal console in front of him with a crazy and fervent expression. "Look at it, Ling, such a beautiful crown…"

"Yes," Ling's eyes were filled with a radiance as well. She had to admit, the brilliant tower with its twelve pearls looked like a massive crown.

However, she was very clear that this was a test for her father. If the Mistress of the Night appeared here at this point, she and her father would be fated for death.

'No… Perhaps father might survive, but I'll definitely die.' Ling looked at her father's hands. Only she knew that the array from the strongroom had been transferred to his body, Kalle's eyes and the mermaid scales on his person.

Before he continued, Emperor Aragon called out to his daughter, "Go activate the final X mutation before the Tree of Life Project begins. No matter who our opponents are, they're likely to face great trouble."

Ling's body trembled as she received this command, one that was equal to setting the devils loose. Still, she managed to retreat respectfully from the place.

"Sword Saint, Night Devil, follow closely!" Emperor Aragon commanded immediately after. Two silhouettes appeared behind his back, his final line of defence. Right now, he'd sent the two of them out.

The two old men saluted to Emperor Aragon, slowly blending into the breeze. Emperor Aragon looked at his surroundings and revealed a trace of smile as he walked into the plaza.

Ding!* A layer of pure white energy instantly separated the plaza from the outside world.

"All the unstable factors have been removed." Emperor Aragon looked around, seeing that he was alone at the console tower. He couldn't help but reveal a smile of satisfaction, "I will definitely be able to devour the assimilated soul body, becoming a God!"

He walked towards the centre of the metal tower with unswerving determination.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Break Through

By this time, the rebel army had successfully infiltrated the capital under Clive's lead. They were heading towards the palace as Clive's communication device rang out. Several words were transmitted over, causing Clive's facial expression to change immediately.

"It's a code from the palace, we've been found out! The palace has been closed down, and the imperial forces were mobilised…" Clive's expression grew unsightly, "Without those insiders it'll be much more difficult for us to break into the palace…"

"We didn't expect to avoid much trouble in the first place. In fact, just being able to infiltrate the capital is worth being excited over, isn't it?" Crowley looked behind him.

They were currently in the capital's streets, those behind them all bloodline carriers and warriors armed with firearms, along with a portion of the military. This motley crowd radiated grandeur as they walked forward.

Even more surprising was that the capital's citizens were all hiding behind closed doors, glancing occasionally at them but not standing out. It was like the guards of the capital had all perished. The group felt strange, as if the imperial army and the entire capital accepted their presence.

"Looks like revealing the existence of Project X and the Tree of Life to the public has indeed been effective…" Bobbi looked at her surroundings, "At least those lower-ranked soldiers will not fight against us."

"More important is that outing the royal family destroyed their trust in their government. We now have to work separately. Cut the palace's power; even if they have a spare we can still take advantage of the confusion."

An unswerving determination appeared on Clive's face. "The interior of the Special Forces headquarters contains a detailed map of the palace. It can help us with our plan, I'll take care of it!"

"Do you want to settle your grudge with your brother?" Bobbi rolled her eyes. "It's up to you. Although I've had problems with them for a while, our target right now is the palace."

"Thanks!" Clive straightened his back, an unyielding and determined look on his face. "I promise I'll succeed!"

A portion of the retired and serving officers separated from the rebel army, rushing towards the headquarters of the Special Forces.

"Eh? What's going on?" After arriving at the Special Forces headquarters, Clive was stunned to discover that it has become a slaughterhouse. Numerous black cloaked bodies fell on the ground with an unbelieving expression.

"This was all done by one person, and…" Clive stood up and walked past a dead body while entering the headquarters.

"You're finally here, my benevolent brother!" Javis had long been waiting here, his eyes containing an evil sneer.

Preventing the others from indiscriminately rushing into action, Clive spoke with a heavy tone. "You killed those people outside? Why?"

"They were a group of fools. They started to panic and think of rebelling after hearing the rumours, so I had to send the useless trash off personally." Javis blew his fingernails while speaking, as if he had only killed a few ants.

"Even now you still can't let it go? I'm sorry for what happened, but our brother should not be the reason for you to turn to evil. It's time to stop!" Tears brimmed in Clive's eyes as he spoke.

"Stop? Are you kidding me? The project is going to succeed, and third brother's soul is about to come back. At this point in time, you are telling me to stop?" Clothes ripped apart, and a cloud of black energy emerged from Javis' body. "I'll turn you into a corpse!"

"Sigh… I didn't expect that it would come to this between brothers…" Clive sighed, "You were a genius from birth. However, you lacked the most important quality of the strong as you advanced on your road for power… Love, and forgiveness…"

One of the soldiers raised his laser gun, firing a warning shot towards Javis.

"It's not too late for you to change your mind," Clive tried to persuade him for the last time.

"You should be the one changing their mind, not me!" Even surrounded by the rebels there was not a trace of fear in Javis' eyes. Instead, he seemed like he was watching a good show.

"Not good!" Clive understood his brother well, and he'd noticed the abnormality. Still, he couldn't make out what it was.

Thud!* One of the rebels suddenly fell to the floor, twitching unconsciously.

"What's wrong?" Clive's astonishing eyesight allowed him to instantly notice a layer of dark green spreading on the surface of the soldier's neck.

Thud! Thud!* The condition seemed to spread, numerous rebels starting to fall one by one. The rest were left staring at each other.

"The X gene mutated! Have they begun to act?"

Javis seized this moment's opportunity to attack. "Shadow Wind!"

Whoosh!* A violent tornado suddenly blew everyone away. A cluster of shadows suddenly turned those who remained standing into a fog of blood.

"Guards!" Javis' rampant laughter was oddly obvious in the wind.

Creak! Creak!* The metal floor opened up, rows of armed robots moving out to surround Clive and the rest.

"How now? Who's surrounding who?" Javis looked at at his brother. "To be absent minded with the fall of a few soldiers, you haven't changed indeed. Still so hypocritical!"

"Even if I'm being hypocritical, it's still my duty. Just like I rushed here, not to save the country but to prevent you from falling further. Come back, brother!" Clive suddenly stood up.

"Annoying preaching…" Javis dug his ears and turned back. "However, I can give you a chance.

"A showdown between the two of us, where both our people are not to interfere. If you can defeat me, I can give you anything you want. Be it the palace plans or the most important of intelligence…"

"Just what I had in mind!" Clive clenched his fists, and a terrifying aura exploded in the air.

"Well, then come with me!" Javis walked in and brought Clive to an ancient colosseum. "So how's this for an arena? It'll serve well as your burial place, won't it?"

"If death can save you, I will not hesitate." Clive finally understood that his brother had changed long ago. He'd become a moment he joined the Special Forces.

Boom!" Two silhouettes rammed ferociously into each other in the dusty sky, a terrifying battle aura flooding the whole colosseum.

……

During this time, a majority of the people in the capital had quietly fallen to the ground. Be they merchants, officials, or even royals, nobody was spared. Everyone who fell foamed at the mouth, a layer of dark green spreading around their bodies. The change was especially pronounced in their eyes. Blood vessels thickened as their pupils lost colour, the eyes turning a complete white.

It wasn't just the humans facing such a situation. The entirety of nature and the ecosphere had suffered from disaster. A majority of insects and other small animals broke out with the symptoms immediately, while those with larger bodies soon followed. The dark green spots spread continuously around their bodies, finally forming a huge mark— the letter X!

"X Gene! This damned Empire, they really did dare to act!" Crowley looked in fury as his men fell to the floor without end.

Still, it was the soldiers, martial artists, and knights that suffered the heaviest casualties. The protection of extraordinary power allowed the Bloodline Alliance and the Coven of Witches to escape the calamity with minimal losses.

"With Project X activated, the Tree of Life won't be far behind. We need to break through the palace as soon as possible and get rid of the evil!" Crowley gazed at the huge capital. The masses that were crying due to the previous disaster had received another blow, half of the city dead silent while the other half screamed.

The X gene had spread through more than 60% of the population. About sixty amongst every hundred people had fallen under the Empire's control the moment it activated the program.

"It seems like they've only lost their mobility and consciousness? They might still be saved!" Bobbi released a sigh of relief.

"No. Don't you feel like this is suspicious?" Crowley's facial expression was instead imposing. "Look at the current situation. Doesn't it look as if the Empire is purging their original consciousness to pave the road for the Tree of Life's activation?"

"Report!" Just then, a liaison officer ran over. "Our front lines have reached the palace, but the enemy robots are holding us back. We're currently in a stalemate!"

"Sure enough, the Empire has prepared for this situation!" Crowley waved his hands. "Let's rush there… We can only hope Clive deals with Javis more quickly…"

……

The entrance of the Imperial Palace.

Xavier, who was in the midst of battle, suddenly noticed the defensive forcefield of the palace weaken, the robots losing the radiance in their eyes. A pleasant smile surfaced on his eyes.

"Clive's succeeded! Everyone, rush in with me!"

The morale of the rebels rose instantly. Although the Empire had a reserve energy source for moments like this, they didn't have the time to switch. Their defence was suddenly broken.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Tower

Three groups merged inside the palace. Xavier looked at a wounded Clive and revealed a smile, "Well done, Mister Clive! We have one last target remaining!"

"Mm. Javis told me about the Emperor's arrangement, and a backdoor to manipulate the robots before he… died…" Clive wasn't smiling. His expression had a trace of loneliness. "He could've killed me, I didn't expect him to back off so suddenly at the end… He's so pitiful…"

"Everything was caused by the Empire. We're here to correct that mistake!" Crowley and Bobbi came over, looking resolute.

"We don't have much time! The Tree of Life is over there!" They could already see a white beam rising from within the palace, connecting with the skies to release a shocking glow of light.

"Snakebite Fist— Ultimate Snakebite!" Black energy roared forth from Xavier's fist, the terrifying destructive energy it contained even surpassing laser weapons. The robots blocking their road were sent flying and broke apart in midair.

"Mister Leylin… Made me this strong with a few pointers…" Xavier ran inside the palace, the occasional robot blocking him turned into scrap metal. He'd finally understood just how terrifying Leylin was. Just the fact that he could be beside the Snake Dowager was sufficient to show his status.

"Hiss… Scram!" Although Xavier's strength was already shocking, he was quite lacking in comparison to Crowley. That one low roar of his caused a gigantic beast made of a few hundred phantom snakes to surface, black air condensing to turn it real.

Rumble!* *Rumble!* The chimera crushed a wave of robots into pieces, the corrosive liquid coming from the snakes causing the entire palace to collapse…

"Hmm?" Breaking open a brilliant and beautiful door, Xavier retreated a few steps in clear intimidation.

What welcomed him was a dazzling sight in the palace, exquisite dishes filling an entire long table. However, a few youths in royal clothing were lying on the ground, a dark green X visible on their skin.

A poised lady was clutching at her chest, sitting upright with a pained smile and an exquisite dagger stabbed into her body. A rose of blood had bloomed upon her clothes.

"This is… What's going on?" Xavier murmured in disbelief.

"Just a simple change in the palace…" Bobbi walked in and glanced around, her eyes filled with disdain. However when she saw the few young princes and princesses on the ground, her facial expression finally changed.

"The X gene! Even the royal family wasn't spared? Our old thoughts might be wrong; that existence doesn't support the royal family, instead just using it as a puppet or plaything!"

"Why are you still staring blankly? The whole world is filled with such tragedy right now. We have to find the anti-teleportation array and anti-gravity room quickly. I don't want to waste time breaking through each room one by one!" Crowley's roar transmitted from the outside. The entire building was demolished with his ferocious strength as he continued rushing towards the incoming robots.

Bang!* The huge building collapsed under the weight of marble, its pillars bending into an arc before it crashed into the ground. Numerous robots collapsed, but an even denser horde took their place, walking out from all directions like a terrifying flood. The scene numbed the scalps of those present.

"Damn it! It looks like the other party has long been prepared…" Xavier bit his teeth, and his body started to shake. A trace of black mist was emitted from his pores, and Bobbi was shocked to discover that her ability to sense him weakened, as if he was disappearing into thin air.

"These robots' scanners are inflexible, I'll sneak past them." A resolute expression surfaced on Xavier's face. Under the control of Snakebite Fist, his blood slowly cooled and he began to restrain his energy fluctuations.

"Wait for me, Jill!" Xavier broke through the robots, rushing directly towards that pillar of light.

……

"Such a troublesome little demon," Crowley said from atop the giant beast, "Don't tell me I'll have to use that move…"

The beast started hissing even louder as if sensing his intentions, terrifying energy converging on its body.

"The target is the Tree of Life. Great Mistress, please give me strength!" Frightening balls of energy formed with Crowley's prayers, merging together rapidly and rippling with terrifying power.

"Ha! Scram!" The surging balls of energy formed a massive black hole. Be it the robots, the forcefield, or the building itself, everything was devoured by the black hole to reveal a wide, spacious passageway.

"Dawn, activate!" A slender mechanical figure descended just then. A terrifying furnace roared as the Shadow Weave stilled around the area. The beam of light that had killed the Metalback Whale appeared once more!

Extremely dazzling white light instantly collided with the black hole, their collision distorting the surroundings. A storm of annihilation ensued, instantly destroying most of the palace and inflicting great casualties amongst both the robots and the rebels.

A mushroom cloud rushed into the sky, and the Tree of Life held firm and steady. A strange mechanical armour stood in front of Crowley, forming its last line of defence.

The armour was smooth yet slender, its back attached to a skeletal wing and a hooked tail. It looked like an angel revealing its dark side.

"Scram, or you'll end up dead!" An increasingly murderous look appeared in Crowley's eyes. Regardless of who it was, being interrupted in the moment before success in life would cause one to fly into a rage.

"I'm sorry, I can't that." A female voice was transmitted from the glowing armour.

Ling was staring at the screen from within the control room, the man standing on the gigantic beast drawing all her attention.

"An attack surpassing the Empire's energy limit… If I hadn't taken Dawn from the submarine I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to block that attack…" Ling's face revealed a bitter smile.

"Dawn is the pinnacle of the Empire's technology, built to the limit of our energy. It's our last trump card, our final defence…" Ling turned and looked at the direction of the Imperial Garden. "Father… This is all I can do for you…"

"Attack, kill them all and get rid of the Empire!" Crowley did not stop just because the other party was a girl. Such a thing would be extravagant for the rebel army. In a critical moment of life and death, any who blocked him would only be torn apart!

"For the Empire!" Ling shouted, and the radiant armour activated as a light sword with the power to cut through space appeared in its hands. The robot collided with the giant snake.

"Old man! The final moment is here…" The shadows flashed, and two old men on the verge of collapse appeared.

"Yeah… It's been a long time since we fought alongside each other, Night Devil…" Sword Saint wiped the handle of his broken iron sword, sighing suddenly.

"The last glory of the Empire… shall be protected by us!" Night Devil suddenly roared, he and Sword Saint forming streams of light that rushed towards the rebels with the robot army.

"Kill!" Bobbi made eye-contact with the other higher-ups, deciding to fight. Both sides were fighting for their goals and beliefs; there was no possibility of turning back.

Outside the Imperial Garden, the rebel army and last resistance of the Empire collided. The overflowing energy scattered and caused a terrifying fluctuation.

……

"Emperor!"

"To govern everything!"

"God!"

Emperor Aragon's eyes were filled with eagerness as he stepped onto the central metal platform. A flash of light verified him as he moved towards the top of the Tree of Life, towards its crown. The surroundings of the platform were absolutely empty, with but an isolated metal seat present.

"The resistance of hundreds of generations, thousands of years of unwillingness… Dear ancestors, please bless and protect me!" A trace of resoluteness appeared on Emperor Aragon's face, and he took a box out of his bosom. Inside was a pair of shrivelled eyes and some mermaid scales.

"Bring it on!" Madness flashed in Aragon's eyes as he directly swallowed these items, "I am the world!"

Immediately after, a horrifying change emerged on his body. Tumours spread out along his body, with scales and humanoid faces on them. Aragon struggled to sit on the metal throne.

Kacha! Kacha!* Many channels opened up around the tower, revealing needles attached to tubes. The tubes seemed to possess their own lives, encircling the Emperor.

Pu! Pu! Pu!* "AAAAHHH!" Soon after, hundreds of thousands of these tiny needles pierced into Aragon's body, stimulating all his nerves. The pain he felt exceeded the limits of human ability, able to cause a normal person to perish instantly. Even he couldn't help but release a bestial roar.

Numerous tubes wriggled amidst this terrifying roar, seemingly trying to draw something in as Aragon's body shrunk rapidly. He turned into a near-corpse.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Growth

The hundreds of thousands of tubes sucked Emperor Aragon dry in just a moment, devouring all his nutrients until he seemed less than a corpse. His body suddenly trembled, the fire in his eyes dying out.

However, a heated soul broke through the boundary of illusory and real before the moment of his death, moving through the tubes to reach the bottom of the tower instantly. Subsequently, a mind-blowing light beam suddenly soared into the sky!

"This is…" Xavier involuntarily exited stealth, a frightening expression on his face. Just a glance had sent terror into his heart, as if an inescapable crisis was approaching him.

"Project Tree of Life… I must stop it… Eh? Jill?!" Xavier shouted as he suddenly saw Jill's silhouette within one of the twelve pearls. His little sister was sadly unconscious, not able to respond.

"I'm coming right away, I'll save you! You have to persist!" Black scales instantly covered Xavier's hands, and he released a strong power.

"Open for me!" Xavier attacked the defensive forcefield repeatedly with his fists, but his Snakebite Fist could not cause it to even tremble.

"How can it be? Why is this so?" Xavier was about to fall apart, the black shadows converging on his hands repeatedly smashing the light. However, this was the core of the Empire's defence, using the most advanced technology and resources. It stood unmoving as a mountain, firmly rooted to the ground.

Buzz!* A soul emerged from within the pillar of light at this moment, near the crown of the metal tower. It seemed to bellow out as it emitted a light that stirred the hearts of the people.

The Shadow Weave materialised on top of the tower, covering the entire world. The light beam crackled as it separated from the metal tower, connecting instead to the Shadow Weave.

Branches continued to spread out, and within a few moments a primordial tree made of light was formed in mid air, its many branches tightly linked to the Shadow Weave.

"The Tree of Life… It's begun…" All the survivors in the Empire looked up at this moment, seeing the massive tree.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Xavier brandished his fists constantly. Even his scales shattered to the force of his blows, blood spilling onto the membrane of light.

"Snake Dowager, or Leylin… Either one of you… please give me strength!" Falling into despair, Xavier couldn't bear it anymore as he prayed…

Within the palace, Leylin and Allsnake were in the middle of their chess match.

"It looks like those bloodline carriers are experiencing difficulties… What do you think?" Allsnake twirled a piece in her hand, a smile on her face. It was as if everything had happened in front of her.

"Regardless of what they do, the Empire… No, the royal family is destined to fail…" A trace of disdain could be seen in Leylin's smile, "Even we can sense this easily, how could it escape Shar? I'm afraid she's letting them continue these small tricks, waiting for the right time to harvest the rewards."

"But what should be do about it?" The Snake Dowager stared at Leylin with her beautiful eyes, a trace of coquettishness in her expression. "I've noticed you have other plans in your mind."

"That's a secret, and the source of my confidence. Forgive me, I cannot reveal it to you right now." Leylin shot the Snake Dowager a sincere look, "When the time is right, I'll fulfill my end of the contract. Please trust in me until then."

"What about now? Are we not doing anything?" The Snake Dowager leaned back lazily, whether she really believed in Leylin's words unknown.

"Right now? We can add in a variable or two, waiting for Shar's reaction." Leylin smiled softly, placing a finger on a datura flower rune.

……

Outside the Imperial Garden, Xavier suddenly felt his body heat up.

"This feeling…" He tore his shirt apart, seeing a beautiful black flower slowly blooming on his chest above his heart. The pain seemed to tear his body apart, constantly eroding his nerves.

The last time this happened he'd been unable to endure the pain, losing consciousness. However, things were different this time; several upgrades in strength allowed Xavier to persevere, gnashing his teeth in an effort to remain conscious.

"Hee… AAAH…" The extreme force caused his gums to bleed. At the same time, he felt a terrifying power moving within his body.

"Snakebite Fist!" A black phantom snake with scarlet eyes suddenly emerged in front of Xavier, a few stories tall. An earth-shattering roar resounded as he punched out, the surrounding earth trembling as the defensive forcefield shattered.

"Jill!" Xavier instantly rushed towards Jill's location.

"Scram!" The pillar of light radiated anger, and numerous needle tubes suddenly charged towards Xavier.

"These insignificant things…" Xavier used his hands to catch them, but the moment he made contact his face changed. 'So hard, even harder than alloys. It's also so powerful, and this current…'

Bang!* The boy was sent flying.

"There cannot be any damage to the Tree of Life!" The tree completed its preparations amidst the fluctuations of the soul, suddenly spreading out.

"Eh?" Xavier suddenly felt light-headed, as if his spirit had been extracted. Fortunately, the datura flower's protection had allowed him to remain conscious.

However, he would rather have fainted than watch the scene in front of him. Particles of light emerged from everywhere in the capital like rain, converging on the pillar of light. The twelve pearls lit up, the faces of the girls within revealing painful expressions.

Once the powerful soul energy was transformed, it gathered at the centre of the tower that housed the Tree of Life. The tree grew in size, slowly increasing its pull on Xavier's soul.

"It has started!" Ling, in control of Dawn, released a sigh of relief as she separated from Crowley.

"Hateful! This is all your fault!" Crowley looked at his surroundings as an invisible net of energy began to materialise, looking like a bunch of branches that grabbed onto the fallen whose bodies had been infected with the X gene.

A particle of light was then drawn out of these people, moving towards the tree as if this web was a bunch of roots. Looking at the scene, Crowley could not help but feel extremely terrified.

"It's useless even if you knock me down now…" Ling forced a bitter smile while looking at Crowley, "It'll start with the bodies affected by the X gene, their souls providing the Tree of Life its initial nourishment. Then will be the ordinary people who weren't infected, followed by ability wielders and bloodline carriers… With the Tree of Life's rapid growth, the force with which it will absorb these souls will grow… No one can escape, and abandoning the Rapid Shadows just ridiculous. The Shadow Weave is everywhere, such a thing would only help delay the inevitable by a few minutes, nothing more…"

"Since you knew all this, why not do anything to stop it?" Crowley was thoroughly enraged. The chimera of snakes roared and rushed forward.

"Because… This is my fate…" Ling laughed bitterly, her eyes showing reminiscence.

"Cough…" She suddenly coughed and spat out fresh blood.

"It looks like I won't be able to continue from now? After all, I only have an ordinary physique…" There was a trace of a smile on the princess' face as the armour collided with the beast, roots from the Shadow Weave appearing to bore into her body. The feeling of one's soul being grabbed caused her face to stiffen.

"Self-destruct!" Before losing her consciousness, Ling issued the last order.

Boom!* The armour grabbed the chimeral beast, before disintegrating in a terrifying explosion.

"How I wish to go back to my childhood, looking at my father push my swing…" Ling smiled before she fell into total darkness, her body swallowed by the fire.

"Crowley! Crowley!" Bobbi rushed over, only to see a bottomless black hole. The range of the destruction had been surprisingly small, but this wasn't Ling's goodwill. She'd instead focused all the destructive might on her opponent.

The area surrounding them had been annihilated, the earth itself completely gone to reveal a bottomless underground tunnel. Crowley had borne the full brunt of this attack, would he be able to survive?

Bobbi's face was filled with tears as she constantly called for Crowley.

"Cough… Rest assured! Before the destruction of the Empire, I will not die…" A few long back snakes similar to vines grabbed the edges of the pit before Crowley climbed out. However, he was not in a good state— Half of his body had been destroyed, both of his legs and his right arm gone.

"She was a respectable opponent, but also a pitiful person…" Crowley looked at the pit and sighed.

Whoosh!* His body muscles suddenly squirmed, and he finally even grew out a new arm and legs. His newborn limbs had delicate white skin, seeming no different from the rest of him.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Sacrifice

Perhaps it was because of the bizarreness of the recent events, Bobbi just accepted Crowley's regeneration with some elation. He managed to help the others upon his return, killing Night Devil and Sword Saint before moving to the final battleground.

It was there that he saw the elegant and imposing metal tower, with the needle-topped tubes surrounding it seemingly alive.

"Crowley! Hurry!" The large metal pipes moved once more, stopping Xavier outside the tree. There were numerous wounds on his body, but the youth continued to sprint forward as he headed for the tower with pearls.

"The Tree of Life!" The tree's huge roots had spread throughout the top of the tower, its huge branches covering the skies and making for a vantage point over the entire empire.

There was a crimson glow on the tree's bark, forming a vague image of a face filled with madness.

"Ling is so useless!" Rage appeared on the face once it saw and the rest come over. A powerful gust of energy shot forth as many of the roots of the branches of the Tree of Life shot forward to attack them. Many of the rebel troops were caught by these vines, their souls immediately extracted as corpses fell to the ground.

"At such a time… There's nothing to be afraid of even if I die…" Crowley pushed Bobbi away, revealing a black serpent imprint on his back.

"The final seal… Unseal now!"

Hiss!* A powerful surge of darkness spread out, and the chimeral serpent appeared once more. Only now, it looked even more illusory than before.

"I give you all my life force… Annihilate it!" Black blood oozed out of Crowley's pores, continuously entering the body of the giant serpent. It hissed as it received the nourishment, a powerful ball of energy converging in its mouth as it materialised again.

"I'll bury you!" Several hundred balls of energy converged, forming a terrifying black hole once more. The branches were destroyed in front of its might, saving many lives.

Facing this attack, even Aragon who'd turned into the Tree of Life had to be cautious. The massive tree shrank down a little as powerful soul force formed a thick wall before the black hole.

Boom!* An explosion rocked the place the moment the black hole came into contact, shattering the wall.

However, the Tree of Life still stood tall after the dust settled, and even worse there was no damage to it at all!

"I've already become one with the Tree of Life. With the first stage of soul collection complete, nobody in the world can annihilate me anymore…" Aragon bellowed as his face appeared on the now-crimson tree.

"Just the soul energy of the empire could bring me to such a realm… I will plant firmly into the earth, becoming the core of the realm as I spread my roots throughout the world!" Aragon's spirit projection seemed extremely zealous, his insanity overwhelming.

"Are you afraid now? Do you feel that fear? Run for your lives! If you're lucky enough… you might be able to last through the end and watch the world perish with me… No, you'll watch the beginning of a new world!" Aragon issued his decree.

The Tree of Life immediately swelled as he spoke, terrifying roots piercing into the ground and covering the entire palace in an instant. The twelve pearls were operating at full force. A few of the girls were already unable to withstand the damage, blood spurting out of their orifices.

"Jill! Jill!" Xavier roared in rage. There had never been a day when he'd felt as cowardly and helpless before.

Kacha! Kacha!* Cracks appeared on the ground as the Tree of Life's roots continuously expanded through the planet. Very soon it spanned the entire empire. The crown of pearls grew at the same time, expanding until it reached the skies to connect to the Shadow Weave. Even after that it continued to expand.

It wasn't just the cities, and it wasn't only humans. Anything in the Empire with the ability to think had its truesoul absorbed by the Weave.

"Javis told me the Tree of Life expands in three stages. The first time it will cover the entire region. The second time it will move to cover the entire planet. The third and final stage is when it will fuse with the world itself, becoming a god!"

Clive stepped forward, "It will be impossible to defeat in its second and third stages of growth. We need to take this opportunity now to eliminate it!"

Bobbi nodded her head. "Even as it continues to expand it's protecting those twelve pearls. They should be its core!"

"Young people, the world needs you! The old will create an opportunity for the future!" Clive stood forward with other survivors.

"That's right…"Crowley had stood up as well, even if he was close to collapsing. "Even with the bloodline phantom we won't be able to escape the final purge of the Weave… We can only gamble on this once chance!"

"Listen up, Xavier! We'll concentrate our power to make a chance for you. Your mission is to charge in and destroy the twelve pearls. Remember, don't attack the tree. That's on a completely different level from you!" Crowley looked at Xavier and smiled, "Don't you wish to save your sister? Then do it. Do it and, at the same time, save the world!"

"Let's go!" Clive charged ahead, activating a platinum card against the numerous branches and pipes. "The newest technology in the Empire, a Space Reversal Pulse. I hope it'll be of some use!" One last smile escaped Clive's face as his body turned to dust amidst a large explosion.

"Wait for me, old man!" Another steel-faced soldier dashed forward, choosing to destroy himself without any hesitation. The sacrifice caused Xavier to clench his fists tightly.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!* Explosions rang out one after the other, and a path was built upon human lives.

"This is great… That soul fortress from before can't restore itself so easily after this much damage. We have a better chance…" Crowley pulled at Xavier, a hundred-headed giant snake charging into the vicinity of the metallic tower.

Whoosh!* Numerous terrifying needles shot towards them like enraged beasts, the Tree of Life up above howling in anger.

On the other hand, the powerful bloodline carriers dashed out in silence, using their lives to open up the path to victory.

Chi! Chi!* Great numbers of thin needles pricked into the hundred-headed beast, the terrifying incisions causing the huge beast's torso to shrivel up. It soon turned into a bag of skin and bones, and Crowley seemed to have lost all blood in his face.

"No! Why is this happening?" Hot tears blurred Xavier's sight.

"Kid, did you think we're doing this for you? No, this is for the world!" The continuous sacrifices brought them ever closer to the platform. 20 metres… 10 metres… 5 metres…

Aragon was infuriated by the time they reached the place, the terrifying soul attacks of those branches surging violently in their direction.

"I'll marry you, Crowley…" Bobbi stood up from the snake at this moment, her back turned to Crowley. She then jumped off the giant beast, a pair of dark green butterfly wings extending from her back in mid air. It looked dazzling and beautiful.

A dark green lustre appeared around the wings, and although it seemed weak it managed to withstand the onslaught of attacks.

The Tree of Life's attack was like the palm of the devil king. However, a frail butterfly still managed to dance under the might of this devil, shining brilliantly with the last bit of life it had.

Bobbi's sacrifice finally brought Xavier and Crowley to the twelve pearls. The former could see Jill within one of them, able to tell apart every pore on her body.

"Xavier! You can only count on yourself in life. The Mistress is far too superior to us; hoping for her to pity us is only something the inferior trash does…" Crowley had his back to Xavier as he spoke quickly, "This is my final realisation! Hence… The only ones able to save humankind are ourselves. Do it!

"Aragorn! Die!" Crowley's body turned into a ray of light amidst his roars, merging into the hundred-headed beasts as he formed Xavier's last line of defence.

"Guys… guys…" Xavier's tears flowed uncontrollably, but he did not hesitate further.

He knew full well that he could not give up this chance that everyone had fought about with their lives. Snakebite Fist leapt into action as the black datura flower bloomed on his back. All his other issues solved, he stood properly in front of Jill.

"Stop!" Terrifying soul fluctuations reverberated from behind him, but Xavier did not turn back. Someone reliable was protecting him.

"This bullshit empire!" Terrifying black energy appeared on Xavier's hands.

"This bullshit project!" A beam of light from the datura flower engulfed Xavier's body, allowing his strength to reach its peak.

"You bullshit Aragon! Die!" he bellowed, unleashing his strongest punch ever.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Revival

As he threw this punch, Xavier was exceptionally certain that he'd reached the peak of his power. All his power, his hot-bloodedness, his emotions, everything had been gathered into this one punch, containing the hopes, of Crowley, Bobbi, Clive, and all the rest.

Crowley would've had a better chance at breaking these pearls. However, Xavier knew very well that he himself wasn't powerful enough to stop the Tree of Life. If they switched places, he wouldn't even have a chance to raise his fist. The Tree of Life would eliminate him instantly, and Crowley would lose his chance to attack.

This was why Crowley and the rest had placed their hopes for the world on him, and Xavier understood this enough to throw his everything into the punch. He was confident that even a fort made entirely of steel would be destroyed by this one blow.

Clang!* His fist collided with the outer wall of the pearl, but there was no damage at all.

"NOOO!" Xavier bellowed, and raised his fist once more. Unfortunately, he was not given a second chance. A terrifying energy attacked his back, causing him to go limp.

'No… Everyone's sacrifice and hard work… Is the world done for just like this?' He felt complete despair. He looked at his little sister within the pearl, seemingly in a deep sleep, as he prayed in his heart, 'Ley, Snake Dowager! I know you can hear me, so please make a move! I'm willing to pay any price…'

Unfortunately, he soon felt himself being enveloped by a terrifying web, his soul taken captive. His thoughts grew stagnant.

Before entering complete darkness, he raised his head and looked at Jill within the pearl, "I– I'm sorry…"

The girl in the pearl had been asleep, but all of a sudden her eyebrows twitched as she awoke, her black eyes meeting Xavier's own.

"You… this is great…" Xavier's lips curved into a slight smile before he sank into complete darkness.

Unfortunately, he hadn't noticed that the girl's eyes lacked all emotion, as if she was just looking at a stranger.

"Keke… those meddling ants are now finally dead…" The Tree of Life continued to mature, and the blood-red tumour on it continued to grow in size as Emperor Aragon chuckled in a carefree manner.

"How could my blood and sweat be destroyed so easily? He seems to be related to you, little lady, he worked really hard in his effort to save your life…

"Now… it's time to make use of you all. Wake up and help me purge the evil…" The terrifying Tree of Light had now extended its roots through half the empire, the soul energy gathered from the act quite frightening.

Numerous frenzied black spots were absorbed by the tree's roots and branches, gathered into the twelve pearls with the girls in them. Many of the tubes couldn't even take the pressure, causing swollen tumours to bead into the pearls.

The pearls emitted dazzling rays as they purified all the evil and insanity. The clean power was then supplied to the Tree of Life, being directed to the blood-red tumour.

"Haha… very good. That's the way, that's the way! I will soon become god!" Aragon said from within.

"You're no god. You're just a mere mortal!" A distinct voice sounded from within the pearl. Jill watched the tree tumour coldly, a look of scorn in her eyes.

"How is this possible? How can a purifier like you speak?" The huge tree tumour made a sound, and Emperor Aragorn's face appeared. However, his expression was now distorted, transforming even as it turned into a fog.

"How can a small bit of evil intent stop me?" 'Jill's lips curved up in a snicker, "Only mortals like you would lose their sense of self after assimilating too many souls… How sad!"

"Mortal? Who in the world are you?" Emperor Aragorn's voice now became extremely sharp.

"Me? Haven't you been trying to go against me all this time?" Jill's aura changed all of a sudden. Her eyes turned into stars of wisdom.

"Mistress of the Night! You're the Night Mistress!" Emperor Aragon howled like a mouse seeing a cat.

"Didn't you find it strange? I discovered your little plot long ago, but pretended not to notice and allowed you to do as you wished…" Shar smiled as the soul tree continued to work, large amounts of soul energy being purified and entering the tumour.

"You want to become a god? You want to go against me? That's all a part of my plans. If not, would you still be working so hard at completing this task?" The smile on Jill's face grew, "Also… You've even been so kind as to give me a chance to make use of you… How… foolish!"

A powerful will descended at this moment. The twelve purifiers continued to work, but now things were different. A pure white soul energy travelled across these channels to enter the blood red tumour, even beginning to form a huge web that unceasingly corroded Emperor Aragon's strength.

The girls within the eleven other pearls opened their eyes as well, smiles of ridicule on their faces.

"I will be the one controlling the final body, not me." The girls' bodies blurred out as this proclamation resounded, as if they'd transformed from the material to become a flow of energy. The network gave them great power as they abruptly passed through the metal tower into the tree and its tumour.

"No… I'm still protected by Kalle and the mermaid… I haven't lost yet…" Emperor Aragon appeared crazed and twisted, his face now a complete blur. The twelve young girls held hands around him, chanting a strange song with him at the centre.

Aragon didn't even have a millionth of a chance of winning against the will and power of a rank 8 existence. The calming melody of the folksong seemed to appease the Tree of Life, causing the dark red tumour to gradually turn pure white as it faded away.

The crown of pearls stopped moving the moment the tumour disappeared, traces of cracks appearing on it. Aragon's withered body suddenly flaked apart atop his throne, turning to a pile of ashes.

Two streaks of light suddenly appeared within the ashes, causing terrifying whirlwinds in the sky.

"Kalle, Kou… Do you still wish to go against me?" The Shadow Weave flickered, and Shar appeared on a branch of the Tree of Life, dressed in black. The two spirals grew in response to her question, slivers of bloodline force pulled out from all parts of the palace.

"This is… the bloodline of your descendants, and the power of malicious intent? I see. Is it Allsnake?" Shar bit at her lips as two illusory figures walked out of the spirals. The tyrannical power of laws from the past quickly returned.

"We already made a mistake once, Shar. We won't make it again." Prophet Kalle was an elderly man filled with wisdom, while Kou, who belonged to the sea tribe, looked like a mermaid. The great waves of the sea surged underneath them…

Nothing seemed to have changed within that red villa on the outskirts of Kerallen. Leylin had just finished his last move, ending the chess game.

'I see… She used that hatred and the death of descendants to awaken the last remaining conscients, huh? It seems to be some ancient ceremonial spell…

"Sadly, even if you've called them out they don't have the same absolute power as they did in the past. You're making your move?"

The Snake Dowager nodded. "I've been waiting too long… Today, everything will end!" She took a step forward, and the air before her shattered.

Whoosh!* Terrifying spatial turbulence formed. The Snake Dowager's hair rustled, its many strands in disarray as they transformed into giant snakes. A ball of snakes that looked like a star formed underneath her, carrying the great power of her bloodline.

The Snake Dowager had taken on her ultimate form. The numerous malicious snake heads somehow didn't diminish her charm, instead making her seem more mysterious and wild…

From the astral plane it seemed like a huge tree emanating white light had formed within the Shadow World, growing as it attempted to fuse with the world itself.

A ball of snakes the size of a world suddenly appeared, the serpents snarling and hissing at the tree of light…

"Allsnake…" Shar was not at all surprised at the Snake Dowager's appearance, "This ten thousand year war ends here…"

"Indeed, but victory shall be mine. Your terrifying control will destroy the world!" The Snake Dowager retorted without hesitation. In the meanwhile, two streaks of purple-red light were launched from the ball of snakes, entering Kalle and Kou.

The great amount of bloodline force immediately consolidated the two's powers, strengthening their auras.

"What a pity… If the Trial's Eye was here to make for three, you would definitely fall here…" The Snake Dowager and the two other ancient existences in the Shadow World now stood shoulder to shoulder, creating a huge amount of pressure.

Most important was that they were natives of the world. They were the ones who'd fought over the World Will in ancient times, the ones with the authority to control the world's outcome!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Terror

"You've always been like this, Allsnake… Hoping for help and allies, remaining unaware that the most reliable support is yourself…" Shar revealed a bizarre smile as her eyes scanned the Snake Dowager's surroundings. "What about that Magus ally of yours?"

The Snake Dowager's expression changed immediately upon Leylin's mention. "Have you reached an agreement with him?"

Leylin was the ally she placed the most importance on, someone she valued more than the other three rank 8 existences. It might've been because she'd previously suffered at his hands.

"Nope! But since he decided not to show up, I can feel at ease when dealing with you…" A sincere smile appeared on Shar's face, the terrifying killing intent causing the skies to darken as snow fell to the earth.

"That's exactly what I was thinking…" The Snake Dowager had resolved herself to kill.

Whoosh!* A layer of obscure black wind instantly engulfed the entire Shadow World. The Snake Dowager spat out a frightening black storm from her mouth that seemed to sweep everything away.

This was an attack covering the entire Shadow World. Since the Mistress of the Night had chosen to take control of everything, she would instead destroy the planet.

The destruction would lead everything back to primal chaos, akin to resetting the world. The Snake Dowager had thought this through, working up the determination and courage to do so. Even more terrifyingly, her peak rank 8 strength made it possible to succeed.

How terrifying would a peak rank 8 existence be? A tenth of the Shadow World's surface had been decimated by her strike within a few minutes, and the corrosion continued to dig deeper. Even the Tree of Life that was fusing with the world suffered great damage, a few branches scattering apart into motes of light.

"You're trying to provoke me, Allsnake. I never imagined you'd be so foolish." Shar looked at the Snake Dowager with pity in her eyes.

A raging will emerged in the skies, its core surging with oppressive origin force. The act of returning everything to primal chaos would naturally erase the World Will, pushing it to wait for its rebirth. However, the Dowager currently intended to completely destroy this will!

Shar wished to control it, while the Snake Dowager wished to eliminate it entirely. The latter obviously engendered more hate. Disregarding her nativity, the World Will raged with fury.

However, Shar already had control of more than half of the World Will, allowing her to gain the power of the World Origin Force. Thus, it made no difference to the Snake Dowager how the rest of the World Will behaved.

"Allsnake… To have accumulated several tens of thousands of years of power, you are indeed worthy of being called the Shadow World's favourite daughter…" Shar's voice was calm as a huge Weave emerged in her hands. Although the terrifying black storm had destroyed a great amount of the Shadow Weave, it recuperated quickly.

On the other hand, energy consumption became a problem. The black winds were slowly pushed back after being devoured, wrapped up by the huge Shadow Weave.

"It's a pity… With control over the entire Shadow World, I am invincible…" Shar currently seemed like a frightening spider queen as she relied on the Shadow Weave to suppress the Snake Dowager completely.

With the great consumption of energy, the Snake Dowager was like a fly trapped in a web. Although her initial struggles could break a few strands, she still couldn't avoid the fate of being captured and poisoned to death.

The mermaid guardian Kou stood out at this moment. She had brilliant golden hair and beautiful green pupils, her lower body the tail of a fish. Her green scales shone with splendor.

"Ocean," she said softly.

The entirety of the Shadow World's ocean suddenly roared, a territory that was more than twice as large as the entire Shadow Empire. With control over the law of the ocean, Kou could bring forth great disaster once she mobilised the seas.

Almost instantly a violent tsunami engulfed the lands, bringing destruction to the Empire once more. Unlike the previous incident which only affected the coast, the waves this time were hundreds of metres high as they made their way inland. The rivers of the Empire changed direction as the sea level strangely increased.

The azure ocean, the cradle of life, revealed its ferocity for the first time. With the sea level rising a few metres, a great portion of the mainland would likely be submerged. On top of that, Kou was controlling this. What if she decided to let the disaster continue?

The waves instantly swept away the flora and fauna of the land, the terrifying pressure erasing all traces of life on the ground. The life forms of the land had been annihilated before the Tree of Life could even spread its roots completely, leaving no value to them.

Such was the level of a battle between existences like Shar and the Snake Dowager. The Dowager and her allies were racing against time to destroy everything, while Shar had to ensure the completion of the Tree of Life at all costs.

Shar's opponent this time around was far more troublesome than the Trial's Eye. Being at the peak of rank 8, the Snake Dowager had strengthened herself for tens of thousands of years as she plotted her vengeance. Her power was unpredictable, while Kalle and Kou weren't opponents Shar could ignore either.

More importantly, these three existences were native to the Shadow World, born with power to rule it. They naturally had great resistance to the World Origin Force.

With the bloodline energy from the Snake Dowager reinforcing them, even if Kalle and Kou weren't in top condition they still posed a terrifying threat. They already hated Shar greatly for their fall, and with their souls being mere residues now they had nothing to fear.

"I see origin force converging… Be careful, she's trying to buy some time for the Tree of Life to mature and engulf us." Kalle had been watching Shar attentively all this while.

"There's no need for such trouble! I can settle all of you now!" Perhaps due to the humiliation of her plans being exposed, the current Shar no longer had any reservations. The force of the sea whizzed up as the scattered origin force of the world was recalled instantly.

The Shadow Weave suddenly retreated without the protection of the origin force, and the speed of the world's destruction grew tenfold.

However, neither the Snake Dowager nor Kalle betrayed any joy. They were currently facing an existence at the peak of rank 8 who'd drawn in all her power to strike.

With the control over the World Will and the great amount of origin force she'd recalled, Shar had stepped into the absolute limits of rank 8 for a while. Had the Tree of Life project gone more smoothly, she would've stepped into that stage permanently just now.

"I was born into shadows, and grew up within them. I am the daughter of shadow itself, I should be the original master!" Shar stepped forward with that declaration, and the entire world roared out with oppression. Powerful origin force chopped through a few snake heads like a knife through butter, blood spilling from the Snake Dowager's hair.

"The dead should no longer exist in this world!" Shar's sentence was echoed by the Shadow World, causing Kalle's face to change continuously.

"I see that… She'll complete the Tree of Life… AAAH…" Kalle's eyes changed colours, but before he could finish his prophecy a hand filled with origin force pressed down on his head.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The eternal astral abyss shall be your final destination…"

Kalle's body sizzled as it melted under dazzling light. Shar's power of laws managed to reduce the prophet to ashes even if he had the Snake Dowager's help. After all, only a part of his soul had managed to revive, and he was far from his prime. He was weak compared to Shar who was at her peak.

Once Kalle's body dissolved completely, a bunch of lights similar to star fragments dissipated from Shar's hands. These fragments were the remnants of his will, representing the failure of his resurrection.

Kalle's truesoul had been sent to the astral plane, where he would have to wait a really long time before he could move into rebirth. It would take tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of years. Shar's actions had revealed her terrifying strength.

"Allsnake… Do you really think I didn't realise those two soul residues were acting?" Shar abruptly raised her head, coldness hiding in her clever smile. "A complete World Will doesn't just include thoughts of creatures, the earth, the seas, and the sky. Beings of laws are included as well. Only when everything is conquered would the World Will form a true body." She spoke softly.

"Kou, you'll be next!" The Snake Dowager's face changed suddenly.

The World Will certainly comprised the thoughts of all life forms. This obviously included beings of law, and what's more they took up a disproportionate portion of the World Will.

An ordinary person wouldn't comprise a millionth of a millionth of a percentage point of the World Will, but any being of laws would take up at least a hundredth of the world. This was what had allowed the Snake Dowager to escape after her prior fight. A being of laws was the darling of the world, and they also held a portion of its essence.

"You're wrong…" Every step Shar took spanned a thousand miles as she came face to face with the huge star-like ball of snakes. "I've stripped away all of the World Will's laws in the Shadow World, except the bit you possess."

The Snake Dowager turned frantic upon hearing this.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Appearance

The Snake Dowager saw Shar's path to be one of control, where she'd devour the World Will after gaining the Shadow World to reach the peak of rank 8. Her plan had been detailed and thorough, going all the way to using the Shadow Empire to hasten progress on the Tree of Life that could rob all thought and take control of the World Will.

Unfortunately, there was one issue with this plan, and that was the existence of the Snake Dowager. She'd taken part of her authority over the World Will with her when she fled, the few percentage points of the will she possessed as a being of law native to the world. Without that portion of authority, Shar would never have complete control over the World Will, which was really annoying.

After all, it wasn't as if she could rush over to Purgatory World and pull the Snake Dowager out. She lacked a portion of power, so the World Will would never be complete. The peak of rank 8 would forever remain an unattainable dream.

The Snake Dowager's return was an opportunity for both parties. The former had her vengeance, while Shar had a chance to take over her authority to complete her hold over the World Will of the Shadow World. After devouring it, Shar would instantly reach the peak of rank 8!

In order to go through with this plan, Shar did not mind letting the empire get wind of project X and the Tree of Life plan ahead of schedule. She had even taken the initiative to attack first, eliminating unstable factors like Trial's Eye and the two others.

And now… it was time to do the harvesting!

"Your target… is me?" A rare look of confusion appeared on the Snake Dowager's face.

"Foolish being… As a native of the Shadow World, you're an important part of the World Will!" Shar came before the Snake Dowager, meeting her gaze fearlessly, "And now… all of the World Will shall gather to form a whole new body!"

A huge, terrifying web that covered the skies suddenly appeared from all parts of the world, a purplish gold lustre about it as origin force roared. This was the true form of the Shadow Weave, and its original state. Shar showing this to the Dowager meant she had no plans of letting her leave.

"All grudges and victory should be settled by now…" The Snake Dowager bit at her lips, the calm expression on her face able to cause all male hearts to break.

"Allsnake Devour!" A tremendous amount of purplish-red bloodline force extended from the star of snakes. This was what she'd accumulated over all these years.

In the meanwhile, scenes of large snakes living their lives out appeared behind her, including their fights and reproduction. It was like an epic detailing the culture and history of giant snakes. Terrifying snake souls hissed and roared from within this glorious scroll of civilisation, launching a surprise attack on the maiden in the shadows.

This was a gathering of generations of bloodline power, able to cause the entire Shadow World to tremble under its prowess. The ground cracked to reveal numerous large snakes with phosphorescent fires in their eyes. Their huge bodies began to move, like the world had returned to their rule.

"Are you deluding yourself into thinking a civilisation that has already been lost can be revived?" Facing this epic attack, Shar merely snickered. "Your time has passed, Allsnake. Now I'm the source of everything!"

"Shadow Weave: Implantation!" Almost at the very moment Shar gave the command, all the mutated bodies of the Shadow World that were still alive began to twitch. Threads of mysterious power entered their bodies, and their blood vessels popped out as they shook violently.

A foreign being had taken over their bodies. With its control over their souls, the Tree of Life had turned these people into walking bags of flesh. However, their eyes lit up with intelligence once more as a darkness spread across their bodies. They'd gained powerful abilities similar to magic.

"Mistress of the Night… You are our master, the one who rules all!" Numerous intelligent life forms knelt down on the ground. Then, they began to massacre the revived snakes.

"Psi energy conducive to attacks, preparing launch of shadow spells!" Everyone had turned into a cold blooded war machine. Under the control of an efficient mind, they'd become an ordered army that flinged shadow spell after shadow spell at the snakes. The serpents had no way to retaliate.

If the cheetahs, hawks, beetles, and even sharks knew how to cast shadow spells, what would be the outcome? The soldiers of shadow outnumbered and outpowered the Snake Dowager's army, beating down her attempt to return things to savagery quickly.

"I am the current master of the Shadow World." With the Tree of Life complete, its holy light already covered the skies to become the core of the world. It was filled with sanctity as it gave off a vague sense of maturity.

"There's more," Shar stood atop the Tree of Light and arrived before the Snake Dowager.

"That… That's the aura of the World Will…" The Snake Dowager's expression changed. The light of the Tree of Life had already gathered over 90% of the Shadow World's beings' thoughts and souls. This included the skies, the seas, and the earth, representing the will of the world itself. Even she felt the urge to succumb.

"Leave… Leave the Shadow World and never return…" Kou blocked the way to the Snake Dowager with terrifying waves.

"How could a mere law of the ocean contend against the entire world? Return!"Shar didn't even have to act personally. A large number of the Tree of Light's branches spread through the ocean in an instant, stunning Kou for a moment as a tendril abruptly pierced through her body. A few grains of lights flickered with intelligence as they were sucked away to enter the tree.

"Now, my tree of light represents the World Will… You can cannot defy it!" Shar made a proclamation of victory.

Under her control, the Shadow Weave left no means for the Snake Dowager to escape. In the meanwhile, the Tree of Light spread its terrifying roots through the ball of snakes to drag her out.

"Give me everything that you possess, everything!" Shar arrived behind the Snake Dowager, two hands grabbing onto her arms tightly as her intricate face displayed a smile of satisfaction. The Tree of Life in the skies grew even larger.

Bits of obscure thoughts, mixed with the power of bloodlines, were unceasingly absorbed by the roots of the Tree of Life. Numerous snakes shrivelled up powerlessly, representing the continuous weakening of the Mother of all Snakes.

At this critical moment, a fierce look appeared on the Snake Dowager's face.

Boom!* Her body that was like a star suddenly exploded, and the surging bloodline force lost the control of a master, beginning to destroy everything in the vicinity.

Layers of the Shadow Weave shrouded Shar. She looked at the lifeless body in her hands and frowned, using some shadow flames to burn them to ashes.

Boom!* The head of a snake exploded elsewhere, revealing the figure of the Snake Dowager. Without the ball of snakes and its accumulated bloodline force, the beautiful lady seemed extremely weak.

"You've taken what's mine from me…" She hissed, like a gambler who had lost everything.

"A portion of your thoughts, as well as the authority over a portion of the World Will belongs to me!" Shar did not pursue and attack the Dowager further, and instead looked at the tremendous Tree of Life behind her.

Now, the roots had turned a blood red. The original torso of Allsnake that still possessed bloodline force, mixed with a bit of something more abstruse, was all absorbed by the tree. After obtaining this, the Tree of Life seemed to obtain the last thing it needed, and the body instantly became more solid. The rays of light vanished and allowed it to gain a hint of life.

"It's the rumoured World Tree that will only appear when a world is established from primal chaos!" The Snake Dowager was immediately stunned by the scene in front of her.

"Yes… the source of all life is the source of the World Will!" Shar approached the Snake Dowager, "Your failure is set in stone, I'm the only victor!"

"Failed?" the Snake Dowager muttered hatefully, but confidence appeared in her eyes once more, "True, but I don't admit my loss yet… My descendant shall defeat you!"

"Is that so? But he doesn't seem to have made a move, and he's been watching you suffer a crushing defeat all this time…" Shar chuckled.

"That's because you don't know him…. Out of all my experiences across the worlds, his patience is the greatest…"

The Allsnake looked at the giant World Tree, her eyes dazed, "I had no idea what he wanted, but now it's extremely obvious!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!* A gust of origin wind blew past the area, and the World Tree's branches and leaves broke up to show a mysterious fruit on the main branch.

"The main body of the World Will! A real, solidified World Will, able to fuse the scattered thoughts of the world and return to the origin! Shar, your plan is truly admirable!" Leylin's figure appeared under the World Tree. He sighed as he gazed at the beautiful fruit glimmering with light.

"Lord Leylin… so you still chose to come and be my enemy!" Shar now looked helpless as she sighed, the sight enough to cause heartbreak for onlookers.

Despite her fear of Leylin, she tried to bargain with him, "My previous promises still hold. Once I become the ruler of the Shadow World, everything here is yours!"

Unfortunately, Leylin was unmoved by this sort of temptation. It was far too dangerous to make deals with someone at the peak of rank 8, and besides, he much preferred getting what he wanted with his own abilities.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter