Chapter 34

His identity had been exposed in an instant, and Ryan panicked.

He had never imagined that the giant and the young mage, who should have been locked inside the cave and had taken a Death Cloud Spell—an attack that should have left them half-dead at best—would not only be alive and well, but would even know who he really was.

At the thought that all his lies had been exposed, he felt as if he were standing naked in the freezing snow, so cold he could hardly stop himself from shivering.

What was the most frightening thing in the world?

For Ryan, who believed in "secrecy" and "deception," the most frightening thing was having someone see right through him.

All along, he had relied on every sort of secretive method and deception to keep others from seeing through him. It made him feel secure and at ease, as though he were wearing enchanted full plate armor.

But now, those methods had failed, and all his secrets were gone...

"No... it hasn't come to that. Maybe they've only guessed a little..."

Ryan tried to reassure himself, but then he heard Gerald sneer and berate him.

"Do you think you can please that evil god who glorifies conspiracy and deception by selling out your companions? Let me tell you, the one you worship has already been driven back!"

If the previous remark had only made Ryan uneasy, then hearing this one made his vision go black. He nearly fainted on the spot.

His Highness the God of Conspiracy hadn't abandoned him. He had been driven back?!

That damned giant really did have a deity backing him—and a powerful one at that!

Dear heavens...

In his daze, Ryan felt as if he had already died. His soul had left his body and was drifting down into the Bottomless Abyss, slowly sinking into the Underworld, on the point of no return to Purgatory.

Just then, a calm, cold voice snapped him out of his despair.

"Enlarge Spell!"

The mage, who had remained silent until then, raised his hand. A flash of light flared from the tip of his casting wand and struck Gerald.

Powerful magic surged through the giant. In an instant, Gerald, who was already immensely tall and broad, doubled in size once more. The back of his head slammed into the cave ceiling.

With a crash, his head burst through the solid rock wall, and even his entire upper body plunged inside. It turned out there was a hollow space above the wall. Now he was like a beast caught in a trap, wedged in the rock with no way up or down.

"You think... you can do anything to me like this?!" His roar rang through the cave like thunder. The furious giant brought his terrifying strength to bear. The sound of cracking rock filled the air as a vast stretch of the ceiling split with fissures, as if it would collapse at any moment.

But it didn't collapse, because the mage had already rushed forward after saying, "Watch my back," and cast another spell.

Black light shimmered on his wand. It wasn't dazzling; instead, it looked thin and slick, like a piece of black silk. As he swept his wand, the black "silk" rapidly spread, becoming a huge circle in the blink of an eye.

The mage pressed his hand against Gerald's leg. Before the enraged giant could react, the black circle had closed around him.

The next instant, the space inside the circle turned into a dizzying, profound darkness. Gerald barely had time to react before he let out a startled cry and fell straight down.

The darkness beneath his feet seemed to turn into a Bottomless Abyss. He plunged in over his head and vanished in an instant.

His roar echoed from far within the darkness, but before Gerald could react, the mage canceled the spell. The darkness disappeared abruptly. If not for the fragments still trickling down from the ceiling, it would have seemed as if Gerald had never been there.

Palin had sensed something was wrong as soon as the mage cast Enlarge Spell. He had tried to stop him, but Ryan had recovered and blocked his way. Against a seasoned high-level thief, the young, low-level mage had only just managed to avoid being killed outright. He was still badly outmatched, and could do little more than struggle to hold his ground.

So he couldn't stop the mage from casting Shadow Vanish, opening a portal to the Shadow Plane and sending Gerald falling straight through it.

The next instant, the portal closed. Gerald landed in the Shadow Plane and could never return.

Palin was furious and anxious, but could do nothing. Just then, he heard a voice speak from within his heart.

"I'll lend you my power. Don't hold back—hit him hard!"

As the voice spoke, an unimaginably powerful force erupted from within him.

The young mage swung his wooden staff. Though it was only made of wood, it tore through the air with a shrill, piercing whistle.

Ryan, who had been in control of the fight, managed only to shift instinctively to one side before the staff slammed into his shoulder. The sound of bones shattering rang out at the same time as the wood snapped. The old thief was sent flying by an irresistible force and crashed hard into the nearby stone wall.

The sound of bones breaking rang out again. Ryan didn't even have time to scream before the powerful impact knocked him unconscious.

Palin had landed a clean hit, but had no time to feel pleased or surprised. He hurried toward the mage who had just sent Gerald into the Shadow Plane.

He knew his own spellcasting ability was nothing compared to the other mage's, so he didn't even bother with an incantation. He simply swung the remaining half of his staff at the man with all his might.

The broken staff flew toward its target with a sharp whistle, triggering the protective magic fixed on the mage. Gray-white light spread over him in an instant, turning into something like stone. At the same time, his form blurred, as though the surrounding air had warped.

With a clatter, the staff struck the rock wall. It shattered the stone, then bounced away and landed in a corner.

Palin wasn't surprised. Any experienced mage would stack as many protective spells on himself as his abilities allowed. For instance, several high-level mages he knew even had teleportation spells bound to them, so they could escape the moment they came under a fierce attack.

"Safety first" was the guiding principle for most mages. If they could get away, they had a future. Whatever they wanted to do, they had to stay alive.

That was why people said the hardest creatures in the world to kill weren't dragons with immense power or sea demons with immortal bodies, but sane, high-level mages.

The staff he had thrown had tremendous force, but from the beginning, he hadn't expected it to truly injure his opponent.

All he hoped was to hinder him a little.

The staff had faithfully fulfilled its master's purpose, managing to obstruct the mage for a moment.

Although the triggered spell had deflected most of its force, even the small amount that slipped through made the mage feel as if he had been rammed by a bull. His head spun, and he staggered back two steps, unable to keep his footing.

By then, Palin had already charged toward him like a tiger pouncing down a mountain. Cold radiated from his right hand as he reached out to seize the mage.

His wavering, waterlike form was pierced by Palin's frost-wreathed hand. A faint sound like shattering glass rang out, and the mage's already blurry figure became clear again. Palin shifted his right hand slightly, shattered the mage's gray-white stone skin, and grabbed him by the throat.

The dense frost immediately spread from his hand across the mage's body. With his protective spells gone, the mage had no way to resist. In an instant, the cold froze him unconscious, and Palin held him as if he were a piece of luggage.

The brief, fierce battle came to an end. From the mage's sudden attack to the moment he and Ryan were both defeated, only a few seconds had passed.

Palin dropped the unconscious mage onto the ground and let the icy magic gathered around his hand dissipate. Then he looked at his right hand in puzzlement.

He hadn't recited an incantation or cast a spell just then. He had acted purely on instinct, yet had conjured a powerful spell that only a mage of at least intermediate skill could use. His right hand had gathered the power of ice, first breaking through the two spells protecting the mage, then retaining enough strength to freeze him unconscious. A spell that powerful was absolutely beyond what a novice mage like him, with not even two years of study, could cast.

He thought for a moment, then tried calling out in his heart. "Your Majesty, Void Mask, is that you? Did you grant me this power?"

A few seconds later, a faint voice came through in broken fragments, as if from a great distance. "Yes... Palin, did you win? Good... I'm looking for Gerald... I'll leave things here to you."

Palin respectfully bowed his head in homage to the great deity. He waited until the voice had completely faded before raising his head and surveying the battlefield.

His Majesty had gone to rescue Gerald, who was trapped in the Shadow Plane, and left him to handle things here. He had to do his best and take care of everything, so he wouldn't let His Majesty's trust go to waste!

"Well... I'll start with this fellow mage. I'm sure he'd rather talk to a young man walking the Path of Knowledge, like himself, than to a thief who worships the God of Conspiracy..."

About half a day later, the cave suddenly filled with a biting chill. A twisted blue light appeared in the air, accompanied by crackling sounds as countless tiny sparks of electricity darted about like little fish.

A few seconds later, the blue light abruptly widened into a ring. Gerald came charging out, covered in dust and brandishing an axe stained with black blood. He looked utterly battered. He coughed violently and took a while to catch his breath.

"Looks like you didn't enjoy your trip to the Shadow Plane," Palin said with a smile. He had been waiting nearby for some time.

"Cough, cough... No, it was awful!" Gerald replied with a wry smile. "I apologize for how I performed in the fight. The peaceful, comfortable life I've led these past few years has made me rusty. I shouldn't have made those mistakes."

"As long as you're all right," Sui Xiong's amused voice echoed through the air. "You can decide what to do with Ryan and his accomplices. I'm going to rest for a while."

With that, his voice fell silent.

Far away in the sky, the enormous floating jellyfish anchored itself to a mountain peak with its tentacles. The vigorous magic that had been coursing through its body gradually settled.

This time, Sui Xiong was truly tired.