"No matter what... we have to try. Otherwise, our future actions will only become more difficult..."
Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents smiled bitterly, murmuring a few words to the Mark of the Flask.
Two rule-level beings stood on the balcony, gazing at the sky, their gazes seemingly piercing through the dimensional membrane and arriving at the battlefield in the Astral Plane.
"Tell me... what scheme will
Suddenly, Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents turned her head and asked Leilin.
"Well..." Leilin stroked his chin. "As eighth-level beings, even if their combat power isn't on par with each other, their survival capabilities are both formidable. So a complete defeat is unlikely — serious injuries would already be an impressive victory. But Shar is different! She's a truly crazy person, and her goals can never be that simple. Her most powerful abilities are the Shadow World's primordial force support and the Shadow
Leilin's eyes lit up. "Could she possibly drag all of her enemies into the Shadow World in an instant?"
"If she did that, the Eye of Judgment and the other two would be in danger of falling..."
"That's impossible! A spatial magical array capable of teleporting eighth-level beings — do you have any idea how troublesome it would be to set one up?"
Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents thought it over carefully but ultimately shook her head. "Besides, the moment the Eye of Judgment and the others realize they're being transported, they could interrupt the process within an infinitesimal fraction of a second and cause the teleportation to fail..."
"If even you think it's impossible, then I'm even more certain it's possible! Because the Eye of Judgment and the others will think the same way, and let their guard down!"
Leilin stroked his chin, a glint of wisdom shining in his eyes.
"There's more than one way to teleport, you know. And do you know there's another approach — you don't walk toward the mountain, but the mountain walks toward you?"
"You mean..."
Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' expression changed dramatically. "We have to warn them immediately!"
"It's probably too late already!" Leilin shook his head with some helplessness, though a fierce interest burned in his eyes. "So insane, so bold, and gambling everything on a single throw — worthy indeed of the Lady of Night!"
BOOM!!!
Under the gaze of Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents and Leilin, the sun in the sky suddenly roared to life, radiating enormous amounts of light and heat, and seemed to be expanding rapidly!
Simultaneously! Across every region of the empire, earthquakes and devastating tsunamis were occurring ceaselessly. Vast stretches of land cracked apart, revealing deep chasms, while terrifying tsunamis swept across every port, causing incomprehensible losses in an instant!
But these were merely the surface effects. When observed from the Astral Plane, one could see that the entire Shadow World had seemingly come alive and begun to breathe!
"A message came from the Mark of the Flask! The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents is telling us to leave immediately — there's danger!"
The Eye of Judgment's enormous trunk floated in midair, its pupil resembling a planet, with the lightning of judgment ceaselessly forming and dissolving within it, faintly reflecting Shar's figure standing at its center.
She was like a black lotus flower, gradually beginning to wilt under the frenzied assault of the three rule-level beings, her original color fading away.
"Are you joking? Just hold on a little longer!"
"Based on our ally's contract! I will withdraw after three strikes!" Only the Eye of Judgment, weighing both the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' warning and Yuri's position, made its decision.
"Fine!"
Yuri and Marsha exchanged a glance, then gritted their teeth in agreement.
"Damn that Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents — if she'd been willing to join in, we could have brought down the Lady of Night in an instant..."
Marsha's soul fluctuations from within the black fog were equally hostile, filled with resentment toward the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents.
Suddenly, Marsha's voice cut off abruptly, filled with panic. "No! Something's wrong! My mind! Why is there a layer of shadow engulfing my true spirit?"
"What?"
As a psychic master, Yuri shuddered violently, his numerous brains squirming in unison as they probed toward a dark true spirit. Under full observation, he found that a ring of shadow also surrounded his own true spirit, giving off an eerie sensation.
"I'm a psychic master — and something managed to breach my mental defenses and plant a shadow without me even noticing?!"
Yuri shrieked in alarm and fury. After peeling away that layer of shadow, an overwhelming sense of danger hung around his true spirit — the crisis of potential annihilation!!!
"No good — run!!!"
By now, they wholeheartedly agreed with the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' earlier suggestion.
"So pathetic! So pathetic! As rule-level beings, your understanding of true spirits and application of laws is far behind the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents and another wizard. They wouldn't be deceived by my mental shadows at all..."
"And besides... trying to leave now — don't you think it's a little too late?"
Shar, standing at the center of their encirclement, suddenly waved her hand. "It begins!"
BOOM!!!
In the distant Astral River, the Shadow World suddenly materialized. The edges of the world began to warp irregularly, accompanied by the howling of the world's primordial force.
In an instant! The entire edge of the Shadow World suddenly expanded outward. The dimensional membrane transformed into a terrifying devouring behemoth, swallowing everything in its path — Astral space, storm currents, even floating meteorites and minor planes.
How vast was the Shadow World? It could be said that within the Astral Plane, apart from the wizards, gods, and other true titans, it was the most terrifying colossus!
When such a colossus suddenly began to expand, the surrounding minor planes and spaces immediately faced catastrophic annihilation. And when calculated in terms of world area as expansion speed, the Shadow World had expanded by roughly half its total size in a single instant — unquestionably engulfing Shar and the other three rule-level beings within it!
This kind of expansion — unless your strength was sufficient to resist the primordial force ocean's pull and you could instantly flee a distance of half the Shadow World — was completely inescapable!
A primordial force tidal wave more terrifying than the most spectacular tsunami by tens of thousands of times took shape.
The Shadow World's membrane snapped open and "swallowed" the region containing the four rule-level beings whole!
Instantly! The expressions of Yuri and the other two changed drastically as the Shadow World's suppression descended upon them without warning!
Even though the earlier expansion had dissipated a tremendous amount of primordial force, the Shadow World was still a large world! Its reserves were deep, and suppressing eighth-level beings posed no problem whatsoever.
Under the terrifying world will, all primordial force, spiritual energy, elements, particles — indeed every source of energy belonging to the Shadow World — refused to commune with the three rule-level beings, forcing them to rely solely on their own reserves. Even their ability to channel the power of law was subtly suppressed, their strength plummeting without limit.
"World promotion! You're forcibly promoting the Shadow World!?! You're insane, truly insane! Isn't the Shadow World's will afraid of its primordial force running dry? How could it allow you to do this?!"
The Eye of Judgment pulsed violently, transmitting a thought.
The Shadow World was already a great world. If it were promoted again, it could rival the Dream World itself.
Of course, insufficient primordial force and forcibly expanding the world's area was by no means a good thing! At least half of the Shadow World would likely become desert and wasteland!
The current Shadow World was already in a state of insufficient primordial force! Forced promotion would only harm the world will, with no benefit whatsoever!
That was why the Eye of Judgment couldn't understand — how could the Shadow's will allow the Lady of Night to act so recklessly?
"Hehe... Because right now, I represent the Shadow's will!"
Shar suddenly stepped forward. This area had already been swallowed by the Shadow World, placing it within the world's interior. Immediately, terrifying primordial force gathered around her.
Though it was considerably less than before, it was enough to boost Shar's power to its absolute peak!
Within the ocean of primordial force, inside the palace, the crystal enveloping the young girl trembled violently, a pitch-black crack appearing at its peak!
At this moment, Shar wielded the majority of the world's will, commanding the primordial force of the entire Shadow World — she was essentially half an eighth-level limit being!
In contrast, the Eye of Judgment and the others saw their strength continuously suppressed, nearly falling out of the eighth level entirely. The balance of power had reversed in an instant!
"Go!"
The Eye of Judgment, Yuri, and Marsha unleashed a desperate thought and charged frantically toward the outer edge of the world membrane.
"Since you've come to your host's home, how could I possibly let you leave without properly accepting my 'hospitality'?"
A faint smile played on Shar's lips. Her hands moved like the most masterful virtuoso, plucking at the air.
HISS-HISS!!!
Within the dimensional membrane, a genuine Shadow Weave materialized — different from the one Shar had condensed on her own! This was a terrifying network threaded through the entire Shadow World, backed by primordial force, powerful enough to serve an empire's worth of shadow spells!
Like a fisherman hauling in his net, the three rule-level beings crashed headlong into the Shadow Weave and were thrown back by a tremendous recoil force, like trapped beasts charging left and right but unable to escape the snare.
"Got you..."
Shar approached gracefully, satisfaction written on her face. "So what if primordial force runs dry? As long as I sacrifice the three of you, that should make up for most of it, shouldn't it?"
...
"It really is world promotion!"
Inside the red villa, protected by a layer of invisible light barrier, the entire building had survived the apocalyptic disaster completely unscathed. Leilin merely sighed. "The Eye of Judgment and the other two are in danger..."
"With our earlier warning, they discovered the scheme sooner, so there's still a sliver of hope. One of them should be able to escape..."
The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' face held neither joy nor sorrow — she was simply analyzing the situation.
"Marsha is the least likely to make it out. After all, the suppression works both ways. Outside, her law of darkness counters the Shadow, but within the Shadow World, Shar counters her. And because of their complementary nature, even if Shar lets the other two go, she won't release Marsha..."
Leilin stroked his chin and nodded in agreement.