The soldiers, seemingly drowned by a black tide, flared with a dazzling glow—steel glints like sun through storm—blades flashing as they carved shadow after shadow.
Their silver-white armor looked unscathed, even unfolding curious mechanisms—winged gears and blooming seams—that fought alongside them, stalling the onrushing legion of shade.
Uroboros watched the shifting field as if she’d foreseen it. She snorted, black wings unfurled, her scepter struck down; darkness peeled from her body like night shedding skin.
Even the pillar of light shivered, ducking like a wary falcon. The shadow peeled from Uroboros ignored that radiance, slipped into the vast host of dark.
The silver-white woman moved to seize it, yet it blurred and vanished, like ink swallowed by deeper ink.
From high above, if you looked closely, you’d see a huge, twisted silhouette snaking through the shadow host—an earth-long serpent writ in night.
The first wave of shadows, cut down earlier, rose again, roaring from a pond of shade. They lunged at sword-bearing soldiers, fearless as wolves who’ve forgotten death.
War heated further. The silver soldiers grew savage; intricate mechanisms unfurled from their armor like flowers of steel. Endless war arrays ignited, bombarding front-line beasts.
The shadow legion answered with their one true edge—evolution.
Under Uroboros’ hand, that edge became a razor. Evolution collapsed to an instant; bone-plates sealed sinew; bone-spines punched through skin, turning bodies into weapons.
Every charge was a spear-thrust meant to pierce the foe ahead.
Even against blades of light, their assault didn’t falter. Once stabbed, their bodies clamped down—like giant hands locking steel—freezing the silver blades in place.
Humanoid shadows slipped past like killing knives, stabbing into the front ranks of silver.
The effect bit deep. The silver tide—once a river of iron—tore open. Shadow-beasts almost split the army in that heartbeat.
Then, the silver-white woman moved.
She only raised her silver lance. Wings of light unfurled behind her—feathers of daybreak—and she took the air.
The pillar of light answered at once. Scorching streamers fell from the sky, striking the melee with hawk-true aim.
A charred rift carved the battlefield; silver soldiers and shadow monsters alike could not outrun that heat. They turned to ash in a breath.
The stalemate snapped bright. Silver soldiers stepped over their comrades’ remains without hesitation, blades singing as they rushed the more-ruined shadow host.
“As obnoxious as ever. Since you insist…”
Uroboros’ face clouded. She faced the silver-white steel tide, red lips curved, her gaze a taunt, meeting those eyes devoid of any feeling.
The shadow swimming across the earth swelled. The whole field shuddered. Countless shadows halted, letting the silver soldiers crash forward like surf.
The warped black silhouette, anchored by the shadow army, surged skyward. Its near-world-covering bulk blotted out the radiance, a heaven-swallowing maw yawning wide for silver ranks.
The pillar of light, called once more, dropped molten brilliance. It slammed into the black serpent. The mindscape filled with blinding light and fathomless dark.
They braided together, no longer distinct—day and night knotted in a single sky.
Beyond the mindscape, Lilo, cradling Aphelia, stepped into a Mage Tower to seek its master. By the tower’s rules, Fen and Shi, uninvited, held the door and kept watch.
Inside, Lilo went wide-eyed. The tower wasn’t what she’d imagined—everywhere, intricate mechanisms glittering, and arrays carved like casual graffiti yet heavy with threat.
A spiral staircase climbed upward, set at the heart of those countless arrays.
She picked her way around them, careful as a cat on ice, climbing, afraid a stray touch would trigger a chain and leave not even her bones.
“Excuse me, is Lord Merlin here?”
The higher she went, the more the sight rattled her. She stopped and called out, voice ringing the coil of steps.
Above, a wall of crystal rose—woven by uncountable Demigod arrays. The wall had formed from Arcane Power those arrays leaked, layered long into pure Mana Crystal.
Lilo stepped back, keeping a respectful gap. Though the wall smothered the arrays, who knew if they still had teeth?
She’d heard the master was unconventional, but never this—lacing his own Mage Tower with Demigod arrays without number, the kind that prickle danger just by sight.
Judging by the stance of it, that crystal wall had stood long. Was the master intent on cutting ties with the Demon World?
Soon after her call, a side panel of the tower popped open. Gentle light flowed out and wrapped around her like warm rain.
Lilo reflexively reached for the Crimson Dragon Source, then the wall flickered. A chill slid down her spine. She drew the power back and let the light hold her.
Even with power brushing True God, she didn’t dare twitch. Stacked Demigod arrays—she wouldn’t face that barrage even with godhood at hand.
Her mindscape bent toward offense. Starting a fight in a famed, unfathomable mage’s tower was a death wish.
At equal rank, a mage with a tower wields firepower severalfold—tenfold—hardly fearing foes within two tiers. Cross one tier, kill. Cross two, hold.
And this master might be a Demigod—or beyond.
Even with her current strength, Lilo bowed to Merlin’s dread name in the Demon World. She was here to seek aid, not trouble.
The soft light faded. A gentle female voice sounded at her ear. “Welcome, guest of the Crimson Dragon Clan. The master awaits above. Please follow me.”
Lilo blinked. The crystal ceiling shook. Countless Demigod arrays stirred awake. Her heartbeat stumbled; her stance snapped tight.
The expected strike never came. A point of light sank into the wall. Every array fell still. The spiral stair broke, and a cascade of radiance poured down.
It shaped into a long stair, a waterfall made into steps.
In that hush, Lilo felt it—the taste of something extremely dangerous—power far beyond Demigod hiding within the wall. Cold sweat beaded at her neck.
She exhaled. Good thing she hadn’t overreacted, or that power beyond Demigod would’ve erased her on the spot.
If she died, that’d be her burden. But if Aphelia in her arms took that blow—
She remembered the terrible clash of True Gods. With that Valkyrie’s contempt for the living, even the proud capital of the Demon World would be ground to dust.
“Miss Lilo, please stand upon the Heavenly Stair. The light will carry you to the master.”
Hearing her hesitation, the gentle voice rose again. A mote of light drifted to her, nudging her forward like a firefly.
Jolted by the reminder, Lilo chided herself, murmured an apology in her heart, and stepped onto the stair of light, holding Aphelia close.
In a careless blink, the world blurred. In that single sway, she arrived at her goal—the upper levels of the Mage Tower, where the master dwelled.
Ahead, a white-robed figure worked an arcane device, hands steady, unbothered, as if her arrival were a leaf falling past a window.
“Mer—”
Lilo began to speak, to alert the famed master, when the world flipped. The tower’s mechanical spine vanished.
A vast starfield unfurled and wrapped her. The world swapped in an instant—heaven’s dome lowering to eye level. Her gaze went slack; her foot skidded.
The white robe moved. He caught her before she fell and sighed. “A mere sky of stars shocks you this much? At that level, how did you earn her favor?”
