An Encounter with Linley

The night was deep.

Akes raced through the forest, magic surging beneath his feet as each step carried him several yards. The energy fluctuations in the distance were growing more violent. The battle clearly hadn't ended yet. He could sense the stench of blood in the air and the aftershocks of magic rippling through it.

As he hurried along, he sensed at least three ninth-rank fighters. One had a violent, familiar aura, tinged with a faint dragon's might. It was the unmistakable presence of a Dragonblood Warrior—wild and domineering, utterly unlike ordinary Dou Qi.

Linley.

Akes picked up speed. A fierce gust swept the dead leaves beneath his feet into the air, leaving a brief trail behind him.

He crossed a low hill, and the scene before him opened up. The moonlit valley was a shambles, with more than a dozen bodies strewn across the ground. The battle was still raging in the clearing at its center.

Linley had transformed into a dragon, his body covered in blue-black scales that gleamed with a cold light beneath the moon. His hands had become claws, and a thick dragon tail lashed behind him. Every strike came with a shrill whistle as it tore through the air. He was locked in combat with a ninth-rank warrior. The burly man wielded a greatsword, his swordsmanship fierce, every swing accompanied by a howl of wind. He was clearly a veteran of many battles. Though Linley's strength had surged after transforming, his opponent was evidently experienced. He avoided Linley's attacks with perfect timing and focused on exploiting his weaknesses. For the moment, Linley couldn't gain the upper hand.

Nearby, an enormous Black-Striped Cloud Leopard was fighting two ninth-rank mages. It was Haeru, Linley's contracted magical beast. It moved like lightning, leaving a succession of afterimages beneath the moonlight. But the two mages worked together seamlessly. One used a wind wall to block its charges, while the other used ice arrows to restrict its movements. Even Haeru's ferocity couldn't break through for now.

Farther away, a small black mouse—Bebe—was locked in combat with several seventh- and eighth-rank guards. The little thing was astonishingly fast, darting through the crowd and precisely biting through someone's tendons with every attack. It was so small that it was almost impossible to see in the darkness. All one could hear were the guards' screams, rising and falling. More than a dozen already lay on the ground, but seven or eight men remained, waving their weapons in terror as they tried to drive off their invisible enemy.

Akes didn't hesitate.

He raised his right hand, and the Fallen Heart Flame gathered in his palm. Crimson flames danced, warping the air around them with their heat. This time, he didn't shape them into fire arrows. Instead, they became two long spears of flame, their surfaces flowing with a lava-like sheen as they blazed through the night.

The two ninth-rank mages attacking Haeru sensed the danger at the same time. One whipped around, terror flashing in his eyes, and raised a hand to conjure a wind wall. The other quickly formed ice armor around himself and threw himself to the side.

But they were too slow.

The flaming spears pierced their chests.

The wind wall was useless. The instant the flames touched it, it evaporated. The ice armor was even more fragile than paper and didn't stop the spears for even a moment. The Fallen Heart Flame's terrifying heat instantly burned through every defense. The two mages didn't even have time to scream before the flames swallowed them. Their bodies stiffened for an instant as they burned, then crashed to the ground. The edges of the wounds in their chests were charred black, but not a drop of blood escaped—all of it had evaporated in the heat.

Haeru froze for a moment, then turned toward Akes. Humanlike surprise flashed in its beastly eyes. It gave a low growl in thanks.

Linley sensed it too. He abruptly forced his opponent back with a sword strike and turned to look.

Their eyes met.

Linley's eyes were vertical pupils in his dragon form, glowing with a faint golden light. The moment he saw Akes, the killing intent in them visibly faltered, then gave way to surprise. He clearly hadn't expected to meet Akes here. The last time they had seen each other was at Ernst Magic Academy. Back then, they had been classmates, attending lessons and training together.

"What are you standing around for?" Akes called. "Finish the fight first."

Linley's lips twitched in something like a smile. Then he turned and charged at his opponent again, his movements noticeably fiercer, as if he had put aside some concern.

Akes didn't interfere in Linley's fight. Instead, he turned toward the seventh- and eighth-rank guards. He flicked both hands, sending out a volley of tiny fire arrows, each one striking a target with pinpoint accuracy. The arrows were small but incredibly fast, and there was no way to defend against them. Ordinary Dou Qi barriers were like paper before the Fallen Heart Flame. The guards were already in a sorry state from Bebe's harassment. They had no chance of stopping Akes's attacks, and soon a swath of them had fallen.

Bebe took a moment to wave a tiny paw at him, its round, dark eyes brimming with excitement. It chirped twice in greeting, then pounced on its next target.

The battle ended in less than half an hour.

As the last guard fell, Linley brought his sword down on the ninth-rank warrior's neck. The head rolled across the ground, its expression still frozen in disbelief. He probably never understood why the young man who had suddenly appeared wielded such terrifying flames.

Linley emerged from his dragon form, panting heavily. Several wounds marked his body, and blood flowed from them, but none was fatal. His scales had blocked most of the attacks, though the ninth-rank warrior's swordsmanship had indeed been formidable. A few strikes had still slipped past his defenses.

Haeru returned to its normal size and crouched nearby, licking the blood from its paws. It had suffered a few minor injuries, but nothing serious. Bebe came bouncing over and leapt onto Linley's shoulder. Pointing a tiny paw at Akes, it chirped incessantly, as if asking who he was.

"What are you doing here?" Linley asked. His voice was a little hoarse, probably from the strain of the fight.

"Just passing by." Akes walked over and handed him a bottle of healing medicine. He had gotten it from Doehring Cowart. The Saint-level Magus's medicine worked far better than anything sold on the market. "I sensed the fluctuations and came to take a look."

Linley accepted the medicine without hesitation and poured some over his wounds. The bleeding stopped as soon as the powder touched them. He raised an eyebrow. "Good stuff."

"An elder gave it to me," Akes said.

The last time they had met had been at Ernst Magic Academy.

"What about you?" Linley asked. "What are you doing around here?"

"Traveling," Akes said. "I'd been in Yulan too long, so I came out to see the world. I heard there were a lot of powerful people in the O'Brien Empire, so I came to take a look."

Linley nodded and didn't ask any more. He knew Akes's personality. There was no point asking about something he didn't want to discuss.

Just then, someone coughed.

They both turned toward the ground nearby. An old man lay there, bound in chains and covered in blood, but still alive. Throughout the fight, he had been left off to the side, where no one had bothered with him. Both sides must have thought he was unimportant, just a prisoner.

Linley walked over and crouched to examine him.

Akes followed.

The old man looked at least sixty or seventy. His hair was white, and his face was smeared with blood, but his eyes were bright, sharp, and wary. He was sizing them up too, lingering a moment longer on Akes. The flames from earlier had clearly made an impression. Their heat had been so terrifying that even from where he lay, the old man had felt the burning air. It hardly seemed like a magic anyone human could wield.

"Who are you?" Linley asked. "Why did they capture you?"

The old man didn't answer right away. He looked at the bodies around them, then at Linley and Akes, before speaking in a hoarse voice. "You're... not with the Radiant Church, are you?"

"No," Linley said.

The old man relaxed, a faint smile appearing on his face. "Good, good. I'm Sessler, a necromancer."

A necromancer.

Akes gave nothing away, but he understood at once. So this was the old fellow—the one who'd become one of Linley's important allies in the original story. Cunning and underhanded, but capable. In the original story, the old mage had helped Linley a great deal. His character was questionable, but he could be counted on when it mattered.

Linley frowned. "A necromancer?"

"What, young friend? Do you have a prejudice against necromancers?" Sessler smiled. "If I hadn't held those guards back from inside, you wouldn't have defeated them so easily."

That was true. Akes had noticed earlier that the guards had seemed off before the fight began, their movements sluggish, as if something were affecting them. At the time, he had assumed they were injured. Now it seemed Sessler had interfered behind the scenes. Necromancers did have ways of using death energy to cloud the minds of the living. It wasn't very powerful, but in a fight it could make all the difference.

Linley said nothing. He reached out and tore the chains from Sessler's body. Though he had left his dragon form, he still had plenty of strength. The chains, forged from fine steel, were as fragile as hemp rope in his hands.

Sessler rolled his shoulders and stood, then cupped his hands toward them. "Thank you both for saving my life. May I ask your names?"

"Linley."

"Akes."

Sessler nodded, then looked at Akes again. "In all my years, I've never seen such domineering flames. Those two ninth-rank mages were burned through before they could even react. Impressive, truly impressive. May I ask who your master is? I may not know much, but flames like that are incredibly rare. They're almost like the ones in the legends..."

"Get to the point," Linley interrupted. "Why did they capture you?"

Sessler's smile faded a little. He sighed. "Because I know too much. I happen to know some of the Radiant Church's dirty secrets."

Linley's eyes narrowed.

Sessler caught the reaction and understood. He glanced over the two of them, then lowered his voice. "This isn't the place to talk. I suggest we leave first. So many people from the Radiant Church have died. They'll send powerful fighters to investigate before long. We're not far from one of their strongholds. Someone will be here in half an hour at most."

Linley looked at Akes.

Akes nodded. "He's right. We should leave first. We can talk on the way."

Linley didn't hesitate. He called Bebe and Haeru over, then followed Sessler out of the valley. Though Sessler was old, he moved surprisingly quickly. He clearly had some strength left.

They vanished into the night.

Half an hour later, they took shelter in a hidden cave. Its entrance was concealed by vines, and they would never have found it without Sessler leading the way. He said it was one of his old hideouts, which he had used to evade pursuers.

Sessler was old and injured. By the time they had made the journey, he was panting heavily. He dropped onto the ground and leaned against a rock, gasping for breath. Blood was still seeping from the wound in his chest, and his face was frighteningly pale.

Linley sat at the mouth of the cave with his back to the outside. That way he could keep watch and be ready to strike at a moment's notice. It was a habit born of years of fighting. Bebe crouched on his shoulder, its beady eyes warily scanning their surroundings.

Akes sat a little farther inside and took a drink from his waterskin. He looked around the cave. It wasn't large, but it was dry. There was even some dried grass and food in a corner, so Sessler clearly came here often.

Bebe crouched on Linley's shoulder, its beady eyes fixed on Sessler, looking ready to attack at any moment. Haeru lay outside the cave entrance, its massive body blocking most of the opening. Its eyes glowed an eerie green in the dark.

After catching his breath, Sessler took in the scene and smiled wryly. "Are you two afraid I'll run away, or that I'll suddenly turn on you?"

"It doesn't hurt to be careful," Linley said.

Sessler nodded. "Fair enough, fair enough. If I were a few decades younger, I might do the same. It's always best to be cautious when you're away from home."

He paused, then grew serious. "Since you saved me, I should explain a few things. The Radiant Church captured me because I know their secret—the secret of the angels' descent."

Linley showed no outward reaction, but Akes noticed his fingers twitch slightly. It was a suppressed emotional response. Akes remembered that back at Ernst, Linley reacted that way whenever the Radiant Church came up.

"The angels' descent?" Akes said. "Explain."

Sessler glanced at him, then spoke slowly. "The Radiant Church has a secret technique that allows them to summon angels from the Plane of Light to the Yulan Continent. But an angel needs a vessel to descend into—someone with a pure soul, preferably a child. The younger, the better. The chosen children are taken to the Church's secret base and put through a special ritual. They become vessels for the angels' descent."

Linley's face darkened.

"What happens to the children used as vessels?"

Sessler fell silent for a moment. "Most of them die. An angel's soul is too powerful for the vessel's body to bear. If one or two out of ten survive, that's already fortunate. And those who do survive are no longer themselves. The angel takes over their soul and transforms their body, turning them into monsters, half human and half angel. They lose all their memories and emotions. All they know is obedience to the Church."

Silence settled over the cave.

Linley said nothing, but Akes could feel the suppressed anger radiating from him. It was almost tangible, weighing down the air around them.

Akes knew what Linley had remembered—his mother had also been murdered as a sacrifice by the Radiant Church. It was Linley's deepest wound, and the reason he hated the Church so fiercely.

"Why were you captured?" Akes asked, steering the conversation elsewhere.

Sessler smiled bitterly. "I've spent years investigating the Radiant Church and gathering evidence of its crimes. To be honest, I had a daughter when I was young. She was gifted, and the Church took an interest in her, saying they would take her away to train her. I was happy at the time, thinking she had a bright future ahead of her. But what happened? A few years later, I went looking for her and learned she had died long ago—she was used as a vessel for the angels' descent and died during the ritual."

His voice grew hoarse, and pain flashed in his eyes. "From that day on, I swore I would expose the Radiant Church for what it really was. I've spent years gathering evidence, infiltrating their bases, and investigating their secrets. Not long ago, I broke into one of their secret bases and saw things I shouldn't have. I managed to escape, but they pursued me relentlessly, and I was eventually captured. If I hadn't run into you two, my life would have ended here today."

He looked at them, his gaze probing. "Do you have a grudge against the Radiant Church?"

Linley didn't answer.

Neither did Akes.

Seeing their reaction, Sessler smiled. "You're right not to say. But I can tell you this: you saved my life, so if you ever need anything, just ask. I'm only a necromancer, but I can still be useful in some ways. Gathering information, sneaking into places, or... killing."

"You want to come with us?" Linley asked.

"I'm considering it," Sessler admitted frankly. "You're both powerful, and you've crossed the Radiant Church. I'm alone and outmatched. I'd have a better chance of surviving with you. Besides..." He paused. "I know many of the Radiant Church's strongholds in the O'Brien Empire. I know their prisoner transport routes and their secret bases. That should be useful to you."

Linley was silent for a while, then looked at Akes.

Akes considered it. "He's right. The Radiant Church is far too powerful for a few of us to take on. But if we can find their weaknesses and wear them down bit by bit, we might have a chance. And a necromancer's abilities could be useful, especially for gathering information."

Linley nodded and turned to Sessler. "Fine. But remember, if you try anything—"

"I understand, I understand." Sessler hurriedly raised his hands. "I still want to live a few more years. I won't go looking for trouble. Don't worry. I may not be a good person, but I know better than to forget a debt of gratitude."

And so it was settled.

After daybreak, they left the cave and continued on their way.

Sessler was injured, so he couldn't walk very fast. Linley had Haeru carry him, and the old man was so flattered that he thanked him repeatedly. Bebe leapt onto Haeru's back and stared Sessler down. The sight made the old man laugh.

"Is this little fellow your magical beast?" Sessler asked curiously, looking at Bebe. "What kind is it? I've lived a long time, but I've never seen a magical beast like this."

"Bebe," Linley said. "He's my brother."

Sessler was taken aback, then laughed. "Your brother? That's interesting."

Akes and Linley walked side by side at the front.

"Where to next?" Akes asked.

Linley thought for a moment. "Sessler said the provincial capital of Northwest Province, Basil, has an important Radiant Church stronghold. Let's take a look there first."

His voice was calm, but Akes could hear the resolve in it.

"Good," Akes said.