The Shadow Mage Order

In theory, planar overlaps rarely lasted longer than an hour. Even a comet brushing past Earth took only a few short minutes, to say nothing of the overlap between two planes, two worlds. For one to last a full two hours was naturally highly abnormal. Although Li Lin had lost most of his spellcasting ability, he had not lost his knowledge. Clearly, someone was deliberately maintaining the overlap between the two planes to achieve their own ends.

Only an exceptionally powerful mage well versed in planar theory could accomplish something like this. Such figures had not been uncommon during the Magic Empire, but they were exceedingly rare in the world a thousand years later. What made Li Lin curious, though, was what this small town contained that made it worth attacking on such a grand scale. Could there be something inside that a mage was determined to obtain?

Just then, a wall of fire suddenly rose beneath the town wall, separating the Shadow Hounds, and the two sisters quickly retreated to escape the flames. The sight brought a curious look to Li Lin's eyes. This was clearly a spell, and Fina had not yet advanced enough to use Wall of Fire. He had never taught her the spell, either. So... could there be another mage in town?

As if in answer to Li Lin's question, a massive fireball shot from the town wall and struck the magical beasts, kicking up a tremendous blast. Amid the flash and explosion, the advancing ranks of beasts panicked for the first time. They slowed again and began to retreat. But before they could reach safety, lightning roared out, dancing and leaping across the fearsome beasts before vanishing, leaving dozens of corpses behind.

"Instant casting and enhancement?"

Li Lin was somewhat startled. This was plainly something only a high-level mage could do. Could there really be a high-level mage in this small town?

After that successful strike, the magical beasts finally withdrew to a safe distance, but they did not leave. To them, what lay ahead was merely a temporary obstacle. They had to cross it and keep moving until they reached their destination. The minor setback before them was only temporary. Sooner or later, they would cross the obstacle and continue onward, or be wiped out to the last beast, but they would never retreat—this was a beast tide.

Thus, after a brief pause, the black tide swept forward once more.

The blazing wall of fire had successfully stopped the first wave, but by the second and third waves, its power had begun to fade. The Shadow Hounds used their corpses to weaken the flames while continuing forward. The sisters, meanwhile, had a far easier time than before. They only needed to kill the magical beasts that charged through the wall of fire, while paying no heed to the old captain of the guard calling to them from the town wall. In any case, they could not escape the battlefield.

Of course, when the Shadow Hounds attacked again, the soldiers in charge of the defense also resumed their counterattack. But the mage, contrary to expectations, did not strike again.

Clearly, the mage had noticed the problem as well.

Just then, Angela, who had been sitting beside Li Lin, suddenly twitched her little nose and turned toward the depths of the Shadow Hound pack.

"Master, why do I smell humans over there?"

"Humans?"

Li Lin looked in the direction Angela was pointing and saw several shadows drifting indistinctly behind the Shadow Hounds. Without a careful look, it would have been easy to mistake them for more of the pack. But after Li Lin cast True Seeing on himself, he immediately saw through the shadows' disguises. The intense magical auras around them were far beyond anything ordinary magical beasts could possess. A little thought was enough for Li Lin to arrive at an answer.

"It's the Shadow Mage Order."

Shadow mages were a type of mage, and also a sign of mages' pursuit of longevity. Generally speaking, living over a hundred and fifty years was considered the limit for an ordinary high-level mage. To live longer, one had to become an Arcane Mage and master the true Arcane Mage Longevity Art, or become a lich to extend one's life. But both had their drawbacks. Few could pass the trials of an Arcane Mage, while liches, having given up life, gradually lost their emotions and will.

How wonderful it would be if there were a simple, convenient way for a mage to gain longevity without becoming a walking skeleton.

With that thought, shadow mages came into being. Their creator was an outstanding mage named Nilanka. His flaw, however, was that he was utterly lecherous. In his lifetime, he had bedded countless women. Seeing that the end of his life was near, he could not bear to die. He lacked the strength to become an Arcane Mage, but if he became a lich, he would no longer be able to pursue women. He would be better off dead.

But people always came up with solutions, and mages were people too. So, drawing on the principles behind the creation of liches, Nilanka created a spell that could permanently assimilate a person with shadow. As he saw it, shadows were eternal and undying, just like light: wherever there was light, there was shadow. As long as he became a shadow, he could go on living and still bed women in style, with no change in how it felt.

Unfortunately, the mage was far too specialized. Back in the day, he had not even managed a passing grade in planar studies, so he had forgotten the most fundamental principle of planar theory—the Theory of Planar Creature Rules. Just as gods could only live above and devils could only live below, elemental creatures could only live in the elemental worlds. By the same principle, shadow creatures could only live in the Plane of Shadow.

And so tragedy struck. The moment he transformed himself into a shadow creature, the planar rules took effect. Before the poor mage even had time to get excited, he was expelled from the Prime Material Plane and sent off to the Plane of Shadow on his own.

Had he known, he might as well have turned himself into a lich...

Though the spell was far from perfect, it had quite a few admirers. Among them were people who chose this path because they hated liches. Others had offended powerful enemies on the Prime Material Plane and simply fled to the Plane of Shadow to hide. Although that place had only black and white and was almost entirely deserted, once they grew accustomed to it, they gradually made do.

If the Shadow Mage Order was behind this attack, that would make sense. Whatever else these mages might lack, they had spent so long in the Shadow World that they had indeed developed remarkable skill in manipulating shadow creatures. Li Lin even suspected they had deliberately lured the pack of Shadow Hounds in the wrong direction. Otherwise, the odds of a migrating pack encountering a planar overlap with a town just ahead of them were simply too low.

Li Lin still had not decided whether to help. He preferred to stay on the sidelines and watch rather than take part himself. But the Shadow Mage Order was no benevolent group. Though its members could hardly be called especially evil, they had caused no shortage of trouble for others. What was more, their true bodies were in the Plane of Shadow. Unless he seized the chance to destroy those bodies, there would be nothing he could do once they returned.

Another bolt of lightning struck. Clearly, faced with the Shadow Hounds' attack, the mage defending the town had begun using more powerful spells in an attempt to wipe them out in one blow. But just then, accompanied by a low chant, the lightning that should have fallen among the Shadow Hounds and inflicted enormous damage seemed to turn into a gentle breeze and vanished completely. Immediately afterward, three shadowy figures floated up from behind the Shadow Hounds. They all seemed to look alike, and a dim, frigid light flickered across their indistinct faces.

Without any unnecessary talk, the three mages began chanting incantations and casting spells as soon as they had helped the magical beasts withstand the lightning attack. Although Li Lin was fairly far from them, he could still sense the fierce clash of magical forces between the mages. Clearly, the three intended to exhaust their opponent and weaken the enemy's defenses step by step. From a mage's perspective, it was a thoroughly orthodox tactic.

"Master, should we go help?"

Noticing the change in Li Lin's mood, Angela asked the question. But Li Lin thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Let's see how things develop first. I'm afraid it won't be that simple."

Li Lin shook his head. After discovering the shadow mages, he felt that things probably were not so simple. He therefore intended to watch and wait before making any other plans.

Without the mage's support, the wall of fire outside the town gradually began to die out. Many Shadow Hounds had already charged through the line of fire and were climbing the wall, trying to leap over the obstacle. Mina and Fina stopped some of them, but the sisters were too few and too weak; the number of Shadow Hounds they stopped was almost negligible. Once the beasts reached the foot of the wall, shooting straight down at them had little effect. The town's situation grew increasingly dire. If the mage had not been able to spare attention for the defense while fighting three shadow mages, the fearsome beasts would probably have already stormed into town.

"Block the gaps! Don't let those damned things climb up!!"

The old captain of the guard, waving a torch, was also utterly exhausted. But he looked greatly surprised when he saw the young mayor hurrying over with the militia.

"Mayor, what are you doing here?"

"You're all fighting, so how can I stand by and do nothing?"

Though his words sounded grand, the mayor's eyes remained fixed on the slender figure standing atop the town wall, making his motive self-evident. Fortunately, his gaze did not linger for long, and he immediately gave orders to the militia under his command.

"Quick, get up on the wall and hold those beasts back!"

"Please wait, Mayor, not now..."

Hearing the mayor's order, the old captain hurriedly tried to stop him, but it was too late. The militia immediately swarmed onto the wall, leaving the soldiers already defending it unable to move. There had been little room on the wall to begin with, and now the militiamen rushed up in a mass, quickly packing it so tightly that no one could get through. The soldiers, who had previously had enough room to dodge and fight, lost all space to evade and had to face the magical beasts charging up from below with their shields. Before long, a soldier who had already run out of strength failed to withstand a Shadow Hound's charge and fell backward with a cry. The militiamen who had been about to help him were so frightened at the sight of the terrifying beast that they could not even move their legs. Soon, the first Shadow Hound leaped over the wall and charged into town.

The scream also distracted the woman fighting the shadow mages. As she looked back in surprise, one of their spells struck her squarely, dimming all the protective radiance surrounding her. The woman staggered back half a step, immediately raised the staff in her hand, and shouted. Five enormous fireballs suddenly appeared around the shadow mages, faintly sealing off their paths. Then the five fireballs exploded violently in sequence, forming a vast cloud of fire.

"Chain Fireball Explosion?"

Li Lin's expression was no longer calm, but filled with uncertainty.

"Could it be that the one here is..."

A dark cloud drifted past.

As three burning corpses fell from the sky, a dense dark cloud dispersed the flames, and a bone-piercing chill left everyone feeling utterly cold.

"Angela."

"What is your command, Master?"

"Would you like to make another bet?"

The sisters before them were not going to die, so the original bet was void.

Li Lin gazed at the town wall and spoke quietly.

"Someone very powerful is about to appear. Want to see whether my spell kills him first or yours does?"

"That's a wonderful idea."

Angela stood up, a delighted smile on her face.

"Just watching those two struggle to survive has grown terribly tiresome. Since you're in the mood, Master, I'll naturally oblige. Of course, the stakes remain the same."

"Just as they should."