Lady Night!
In the
Converted to wizard ranks, that would make her an eighth-rank archwizard!
According to legend, this goddess took the form of a mischievous elven girl draped in black gossamer, and was secretly worshipped by many mages who walked in darkness.
If such a deity were to enter the Shadow World, it was entirely likely she would earn the favor of that world's will and its Primal Force.
"My previous thinking seems to have fallen into a blind spot..."
Leilin's mind raced. "During the Final War, we wizards could descend into the World of Gods, but those gods could come out just the same! As long as they were willing to abandon their divinity and their divine kingdoms..."
For a deity, relinquishing their divine seat and their divine kingdom meant destroying their very foundation—it was virtually no different from suicide.
Moreover, within the World of Gods, relying on the suppression of the entire world and the power of their divine kingdoms, those gods could hold their own against wizards. But once they entered the Stars, it was practically asking for punishment. The gods, who had nearly been annihilated—how could they do such a thing?
Even the ancient wizards hadn't believed such an eccentric god existed!
But unfortunately... they had forgotten one thing. Unlike wizards, who were forever rational, luck played an enormously important role—even a decisive one—in the birth of gods. So of course eccentric gods existed, and they were far from rare!
"And... if one suffered devastating damage during the Twilight of the
The more Leilin thought about it, the more convinced his analysis became.
"That's why, when she entered the Shadow World, she appeared extremely weak? But once she had the Shadow World's help, Shar quickly recovered her power—and drove away the Ten Thousand Serpents..."
A god without faith and a divine kingdom to support them was a god hastening their own demise. But before that, Shar had successfully "changed classes"—or rather, after an agonizing process, she had discarded the immortal essence of her godhood and converted herself into a wizard!
Thus, she had survived and "penetrated deep behind enemy lines," taking root and growing right under the wizards' noses.
"I can smell the aftershocks of the Final War..."
Leilin felt a chill run down his spine. How many beings like Shar were there in the Stars?
If they erupted at the right moment, how much damage would they cause to his plans?
Though they had never met, Leilin was already more than ninety percent certain—the being who had seized the Shadow World and driven away the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents, the Lady Night, was none other than Shar from the World of Gods!
"The remnants of the gods... they're better off dead."
In his heart, he sentenced her to death without hesitation.
Where one sits determines where one stands. Leilin was a wizard now, so he was firmly in the wizard faction. Faced with such a godly remnant, the attitude was naturally to wipe them out completely—unless, of course, she could offer him something even more valuable.
"What is it? Leilin, did you remember some record about the Lady Night?"
The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents had clearly noticed Leilin's momentary lapse, and her beautiful gaze turned directly toward him, drawing the attention of the other Law Beings as well.
"Oh! Nothing—I was just recalling the name 'Lady Night.' It seems vaguely familiar..."
Leilin thought for a moment but decided not to detonate this bombshell. After all, he wasn't yet sure what she could offer him.
Besides, records from the World of Gods had become extremely scarce and muddled after the Final War, and the title "Lady of the Night" was far too common—there was no way these beings would connect it to that.
"I'll go check things out first. Even if I can't deal with her, escaping won't be a problem at all. At the critical moment, I can always contact the Mother of Earth's Core and the others—when it comes to hunting down gods, we're all on the same side..."
Leilin thought with a rather irresponsible air.
"The title 'Lady of the Night' has indeed been used many times. I suggest we approach this from the angle of her identity as a Law Being. An existence above the seventh rank—how could they have left absolutely no trace in the Stars?"
The elderly sovereign
"You've found the right direction, but there's still one problem. She truly doesn't originate from our Stars—she comes from the sealed World of Gods. The Crystal Wall System blocks all communication!" Leilin sighed inwardly.
"It's no use. I once consulted the sage Antonio—he who can hear information from any point in the Stars—and there was no record of any Law Being called the Lady Night..."
The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents shook her head.
"Enough! Her origin doesn't matter. What matters most is this—Ten Thousand Serpents, what's your plan?"
Yuri waved his hand, looking at the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents before him, completely unaffected by her bewitching eyes and flowing hair.
"Leilin and I both carry bloodlines from the Shadow World, so we won't face rejection from it. This time, the two of us will infiltrate the Shadow World first to assess the current situation, while the rest of you provide support from outside!"
The Ten Thousand Serpents slowly revealed her plan.
She herself was a native of the Shadow World, and Leilin had once been her blood descendant—his Comorin bloodline naturally had no friction with the Shadow World whatsoever, allowing seamless entry without drawing the World
As for the other Law Beings, unfortunately, they would have to continue lying in wait here. For the World, the intrusion of an extraplanar Law Being would provoke far too strong a reaction—it was impossible for the Lady Night not to notice.
"How can you be so certain she hasn't yet advanced to the peak of the eighth rank and fused with the World Will? After all... by your own account, she's practically one with the Shadow World!"
Madam Martha spoke up from within the mist, raising her doubt.
"I've wondered about that too. But I once planted a hidden marker on the Shadow World's will—the moment she fully fuses with it, I would be immediately alerted. So far, I haven't received any such signal, which means she hasn't succeeded..."
The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents furrowed her brow, clearly puzzled by this as well.
Even as an outsider, given the Shadow World Will's degree of tolerance, she should have advanced to the peak of the eighth rank long ago. In that case, the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents could only resign herself to remaining in Hell. But the reality was that tens of thousands of years had passed, and the opponent's strength had seen no significant growth—only recently had things begun to change. This was enough to stir certain thoughts in the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents.
Leilin, however, had already guessed the reason: "It's the godhood imprint's influence, isn't it? Of course—an eighth-rank being casually switching factions, even changing their very nature? What a joke."
By Leilin's estimation, in the tens of thousands of years since driving away the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents, the opponent had been trapped in a grueling state of adjustment and adaptation.
Only once her nature was completely transformed could she, with the Shadow World Will's help, choose to fuse with it and advance to the true peak of the eighth rank!
Clearly, she was on the verge of success! And the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents could no longer sit still—she had begun her final, desperate struggle!
Yes, a desperate struggle! In Leilin's view, as a native who controlled every advantage—heaven, earth, and manpower—the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents had every favorable factor on her side. Yet she had still been overturned. If the first attempt had failed, what hope was there for a second?
The current Shar, after tens of thousands of years of recovery and adjustment—and especially with the Shadow World's help and the unlimited supply of Primal Force—should have already reached the pinnacle of eighth-rank wizards, just a single step away from the true peak of the eighth rank, like the Mother of Earth's Core!
"This time, Ten Thousand Serpents is probably just walking into a beating! After all, her opponent isn't just terrifyingly powerful—her cunning and scheming are equally formidable. In the World of Gods, Shar was a dreaded dark deity of the shadows who commanded the portfolio of [Shadow], a name that made all good-aligned gods tremble..."
"But with me in the picture, everything changes!"
Leilin's thick-skinned shamelessness had reached an utterly brazen level: "After this, the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents will have to pay a price that satisfies me! Otherwise..."
"What do you think, Sir Leilin? Do you have any objections to my arrangement?"
At that moment, the girl of Ten Thousand Serpents happened to look over, meeting Leilin's gaze with her beautiful, bewitching eyes.
"None at all! But for the sake of caution, we should split up and act separately..."
Leilin added.
...
Once everything had been decided, the Law Beings moved with swift efficiency.
The Eye of Judgment, Yuri, and Madam Martha each found other locations to lie low, awaiting the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' summons. Meanwhile, Leilin and the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents concealed their auras and headed directly for the Shadow World's boundary membrane.
"Such abundant Primal Force from the World, and this light..."
Leilin gazed at the vast Shadow World, a look of awe in his eyes. "I've seen the light of civilization upon the sea of Primal Force—resplendent and magnificent..."
"It seems the Lady Night has done well, after I left..."
The girl of Ten Thousand Serpents' gaze turned distant, tinged with a deep sense of loss and unwillingness. Clearly, in terms of helping the world evolve, the Lady Night had far surpassed her. Under the Lady Night's stewardship, the Shadow World now struck Leilin as nearly rivaling Hell, the Ice World, and other great realms—surpassed only by the worlds of the Wizards, the Gods, and the Dream.
"Do you still want to continue?"
Leilin looked at the dazed girl and asked politely.
"Of course! When I return, I'll do far better than her!"
The girl of Ten Thousand Serpents' expression shifted several times—every trace of resentment and jealousy transforming into the flames of vengeance.
"And this time... I won't be leaving again!"
Black datura petals bloomed beneath her feet, enveloping her to form a black bud that touched the boundary membrane.
The Shadow World allowed the black bud to meld into it without any resistance—clearly, this was the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' method of smuggling herself in.