I Am an Arcane Mage (Part 2)

"Let go of me, quickly. Don't let your subordinates see."

Sylvanas glanced around furtively. Seeing no one nearby, she quickly struggled free from Shane's embrace.

Back in the living room, Shane had just awakened from casting, his body still lying in the chair while half of Sylvanas's weight rested on his shoulder. After teleporting, Shane had wrapped his arms around her to keep her from landing on her backside.

"The Mage Hall? What are we doing here?"

"To retrieve my puppet." Shane took Sylvanas's hand with one hand and touched Taigo's lower leg with the other. The teleport activated, radiance flooding the entire hall as the spell locked onto a wilderness area three kilometers beyond the outpost.

The two of them and the machine leapt through space, Shane paying enough mana for five people for Taigo's sake. Upon landing in the wilderness, they only had to raise their heads slightly to see two full moons hanging on the horizon. All around them was the rustling of wind sweeping through the grasslands. Silver-white moonlight spilled down, a soft breeze brushed their faces, and Sylvanas's hair fluttered in the wind.

"You brought me here... Don't tell me you're planning something improper? Aren't you afraid I'll tell Vereesa and Alleria, and then you'll be waiting to be pierced by a thousand arrows?" The female elf grinned mischievously, deliberately moving close to him. She lifted her chin and chest as she stared directly at Shane. Moonlight veiled her face, but her eyes said, You can try. I don't really mind.

"Stop fooling around." Shane gently smoothed her disheveled hair. "The other side of the world will appear soon."

"Tch, coward. You won't get another chance next time." Sylvanas teased him, then stepped aside and waited quietly for him to act.

"Do you know? Our world is in danger at any moment." With that, Shane closed his eyes and called out to the demon drawing near through the void. The concepts of finding and killing spread outward in an unceasing scan. When they touched Shane's will, they snapped at him like venomous tongues. Shane did not evade them. Instead, he entangled himself with them and pulled them toward himself. The opposing will was only slightly stronger than his, but that powerful being was far too arrogant.

Calling, response, communication, guidance, opening the door—Planar Creature Summoning reached its final step.

The information released by that will also became increasingly detailed.

He was Acrurus, vanguard of the Legion. They had destroyed countless worlds and set foot in every corner of the universe. Enraged that Shane had dared ignore them, he was preparing to cross worlds and punish him.

Shane did not need to open the door. The demon opened a void on the other side and stepped onto Azeroth's soil. Horns rose from its head, wings spread from its back, and it looked exactly like the Doomguards from Shane's memories. Shadow energy radiated intensely from its body. The meadow withered beneath its feet, and the air grew foul with every breath it took.

"I finally found that mage who doesn't know his own limits. I'll wipe him out with a wave of my hand, establish a Legion base, earn recognition, rise in rank, become a commander..." The demon's joy was written all over its face, its huge mouth nearly grinning to the back of its head.

"Little mage... Gurgle!" The instant it opened its mouth, a large hand seized its head from behind and slammed it into the dirt, forcing it to chew mud. The weight pressing down on its head made it difficult even to turn. It sensed some creature standing on its back as its spine was violently battered. Its skin feared no blade, but blunt-force strikes scattered the strength from its struggles. Thunderous impacts rang out without end as Taigo stomped down again and again, every strike delivered with full force.

"I still have wings. I'll flap this creature away." Its wings beat as it prepared to attack, but Taigo's shoulder armor rippled like water. Two spikes suddenly shot into the sky, then immediately bent into U-shapes, turning one hundred and eighty degrees. They pierced through the demon's wings and nailed them deep into the earth.

"This isn't how it should be going. I need to escape." The demon tried to use void teleportation, only to hear the sound it least wanted to hear.

"Dimensional Anchor." Shane raised both hands above his head, Arcane energy striking the air. A circular formation spread outward, and Arcane colors descended across a radius of one li. A blue-white curtain of light drifted like thin mist, and the void portal closed.

Immediately afterward came Frost Ring, pinning the demon firmly to the ground.

"Taigo, make it open its mouth." Shane cast with both hands, and a Pyroblast rapidly formed between them. It was not large, but the incandescent fireball illuminated dozens of meters around them.

Taigo planted one foot on the demon's back, grabbed its horns, and yanked backward. The demon's mouth was finally freed from the mud.

"Gulp." The demon swallowed. "Wait, I surrender."

"No need."

The Pyroblast burrowed into the demon's mouth, and the surroundings immediately darkened. Shane grabbed Sylvanas and teleported several hundred meters away. A brilliant white flash erupted. It swelled. Then came the BOOM, and yellow flames burned at the site of the explosion.

Once the Eye of Truth indicated that the demon was dead—

Shane teleported back to the original spot. Taigo had been blasted several meters away by the shockwave and was sitting on the ground, flames still clinging to its body. Its single eye glittered as it looked at Shane, seeming terribly wronged.

"Come here," Shane ordered. Taigo took two steps and shook off the flames. Its shell had not deformed, but its armor glowed dark red amid the fire, occasionally dripping sparks.

"Continuous burning can cause damage." Shane gave it a glance, committed the observation to memory, and then began searching for the demon's corpse.

There was nothing left at the original location. He only found the lower half of the corpse more than a hundred meters away.

"Huh? What's that?" Green blood slowly seeped from the demon's charred wound, flowing like a living thing crawling across the ground. More and more of it gathered, forming a fluorescent sphere of blood. The sphere shifted again, taking the shape of a creature's face.

"That powerful being has followed us to Azeroth." Shane sensed what was about to happen, but he had no interest in it. With a snap of his fingers, he ignited the green blood and the demon's remains.

"Lowly creature." The will spoke directly into Shane's mind. "Have you never considered serving us, even after seeing this?"

Through the mental link, the Burning Legion's glorious achievements unfolded like a movie.

Crack— Shane had no interest in watching. With a thought, he severed the vision.

The Burning Legion had corrupted countless powerful beings who considered themselves rational. Their method was nothing more than displaying their mighty history and their will to destroy. Having witnessed countless planets destroyed and innumerable races perish, even the slightest wavering would allow the Legion to exploit the opening.

"Why won't you watch?" Only a tiny bit of green blood remained, still burning.

"Get lost," Shane replied.

A true Arcane Mage had to distinguish truth from falsehood, discard the false and preserve the true, and remain steadfast on his own path.

From pure balance to the creation of balance—this was the path he had planned for himself. In the clash between chaos and order, he chose order. Whether it was Azeroth's epic tales or the myths and legends of his previous life, the evolution of the world had always moved from chaos toward order. Chaos might gain the upper hand, but the overall direction could not be changed.

The demon's body was burned to ashes, and Shane took Sylvanas back with him. The female elf seemed lost in thought, rocking gently in her chair without speaking for a long while.

"What are you thinking about?" Shane asked.

"I'm thinking about how to help you." Sylvanas pinched her chin with one hand and folded the other across her chest. "I knew demons existed, but this is the first time I've seen one in person. As for you, do you want to be a hero? That wouldn't be so bad."

"Of course not. I just want to do some things I want to do in this world."

"Such as?"

"Become stronger."

"For Vereesa?"

"In part," Shane said.

"Even if it's only in part, I'm still jealous of my little sister. Damn it, can't you show a little restraint?" Sylvanas suddenly put on a fierce expression.

"What do we do next?"

"Next, I'll hunt trolls. Some of their knowledge will be useful to me. After that, I'll go elsewhere and take a look."

"I can help you, but how will you thank me?" Sylvanas smiled slyly. Shane had seen that expression before when they had joined forces to swindle supplies.

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