"Excellent!"
Leilin clapped his hands and immediately released the restraints on Illyrio. "Since you've submitted to me, we're on the same side now. Contracts and such are completely unnecessary..."
Though he said this, Leilin still casually stowed the Phylactery into his dimensional bag under the lich's desperate gaze.
Compared to any oath, this was a far more powerful restraint! As long as he held the Phylactery, Leilin had no shortage of ways to make Illyrio wish he were dead—and the lich, well aware of this, wouldn't dare betray him.
On the other hand, if Leilin had simply returned the Phylactery to Illyrio, what might have happened was anyone's guess.
"I'll grant you partial second-level access to the
Leilin waved his hand.
Since he'd already subjugated the lich, he might as well put him to maximum use. After all, Illyrio was a scholar-type mage—some cultivation could surely yield great results.
Illyrio could only laugh bitterly to himself. Under normal circumstances, all these countless documents and the Floating City's access permissions laid out before him would have driven him wild with excitement. But if the price was his freedom... that was a bit too steep.
"Understood! Mas... Master!!!"
"Shalin!"
Once Illyrio had left, Leilin addressed the intelligent core.
"Though he's submitted, necessary surveillance is still required. Additionally, if he shows any signs of approaching the Arcane Core's power chamber or any other first-level restricted area, I authorize you to eliminate him immediately!"
"Command recorded in the primary task queue!"
Shalin might display something resembling human joy and sorrow, but at her core she was still a program-driven intelligence. Completing her master's orders was her highest priority, and Leilin's command met with not the slightest hesitation.
"Mm. I'd like some quiet time..."
With all that settled, the Floating City had fully escaped danger and now lay under Leilin's control.
Only now did Leilin finally have a moment to himself.
After Shalin the Flower Elf departed, the surroundings sank into complete silence. Only the arcane lamps still emitted their soft glow.
Leilin's right hand flickered with silver light as the beast-hide scroll recovered from the Netherese ruins materialized before him.
"The ancient Twisted Shadow... what exactly are you after?"
Chip's light flickered ceaselessly in Leilin's eyes. "Chip! How's the research progressing?"
When he'd obtained access to the Floating City, the beast-hide scroll had apparently been unlocked by the Arcane Core's immense energy as well, transmitting an arcane template of terrifying complexity to Leilin.
He'd been using the Chip to analyze it ever since, and only now had he begun to make headway.
[Ding! Arcane Template analysis: 100% complete! Initiating digitized display!]
A digitized stream of information from the arcane template materialized before Leilin's eyes.
[Arcane Name: Karsus's Avatar | Rank: Twelfth-level Arcane (???) | Effect: Allows the caster to replace the Goddess of the
"An arcane spell surpassing [Legendary Arcane]... instant ascension to Greater Divinity?"
Leilin's pupils contracted. Then he stroked his chin and let out a low chuckle. "Interesting. Truly... interesting."
This level of arcane magic clearly wasn't something those [Grand Arcanists] could have developed. It could only have been designed by a wizard at the Eighth-level limit like the Twisted Shadow!
"This arcane template has exceeded the bounds of arcane magic. It can only be explained through sorcery—at minimum, a powerful seventh-level spell..."
Leilin murmured to himself. Even his true body currently commanded only a single seventh-level spell—[Otherworldly Reincarnation]—though it had proven remarkably effective.
"If the caster's Weave research reached Layer 9 at 100%, it would essentially be an eighth-level, perhaps even a ninth-level spell..."
Leilin marveled.
Having the caster instantly replace the Goddess of the Weave and gain absolute authority over the Weave—what did that even mean?
Measured against wizard ranks, it would be like making a Dawnstar
"But... can a weak soul and fragile will truly command such power? The only likely outcome would be instant collapse from the overwhelming flood of information and energy the moment one gains Weave authority—like a child who touches a high-voltage wire out of curiosity..."
Leilin's expression grew solemn. "Even with my true body—a half-seventh-level warlock—and the Chip's assistance, I'd barely manage to grasp the Weave at all. And the mismatch between divine portfolio and divinity would thoroughly corrupt my path, potentially even exposing me to erosion by the collective will of the gods..."
"So the Twisted Shadow's goal is to destroy the Weave?"
An eighth-level wizard, even after death, retained their will. They could persist for tens of thousands—even hundreds of thousands—of years without perishing, and with a single opportunity, they could revive completely!
The Twisted Shadow had apparently been orchestrating some grand conspiracy, then had given Leilin enormous benefits on Nightmare Island, leaving Leilin with a nagging sense of unease.
Now, whatever the Twisted Shadow had been plotting all along was finally beginning to come into focus!
Their goal was nothing less than the outright destruction of the Weave across the entire world of gods!!!
"Heh... they sure think highly of me!"
Leilin understood full well that the Weave served not only as the arcane channel for mages' spell slots but also as the divine channel for clerics' prayers.
If he showed even a hint of this intention, not only would most mages turn hostile, but the Goddess of the Weave herself would instantly become his mortal enemy!
Even the gods themselves wouldn't want to abandon the convenient faith channel the Weave provided.
This was essentially making an enemy of the entire world of gods!
"No wonder the Twisted Shadow chose me! Apart from an outsider like me, I doubt even devils and demons would be willing to do this..."
Leilin gripped the beast-hide scroll, sharp light glinting in his eyes.
"Too bad... I won't be anyone's pawn. If I'm going to play, I'll only join as a player!!!"
"The ancient Twisted Shadow... did you think... your will could remain hidden within me indefinitely?"
Leilin spoke in the Ancient Byron Language of the wizard world, his tone carrying the weight of ages as it stirred a thread of peculiar rule-based power.
Then, a tremendous sealing force flooded the hall—Leilin had mobilized the full power of the Floating City.
"Hsss..."
With immense external support and absolute isolation, Leilin finally unleashed his full strength. A colossal phantom of the Targarian Winged Serpent, vast as a world serpent, materialized behind him.
BOOM... In the distant wizard world, far beyond reckoning, the hidden dwelling where Leilin's powerful half-seventh-level true body slumbered experienced an eighth-level earthquake. An ethereal passage opened between worlds, channeling waves of bloodline power to this location.
"Hsss..."
A terrifying phantom of a winged serpent—complete with a single horn, devilish membranous wings, and a pair of claws beneath its belly—appeared behind Leilin.
But this phantom of the Targarian Winged Serpent had undergone further changes. Wisps of dark crimson mist curled around its body, its scales were shifting toward a dark red hue, and between its planet-sized serpentine pupils ran a crimson line that appeared to be forming a third vertical eye.
"You thought... you could get away with planting those little tricks in the bloodline without me noticing?"
"GET... OUT!!!"
Leilin roared, hurling the beast-hide scroll away. His clothes exploded off his body as wisps of black blood mingled with filth, continuously oozing from his pores.
A twisted black phantom slowly materialized from the void, its edges sprouting countless tendrils that seemed to reach toward Leilin—only to be shoved back by the overwhelming surge of bloodline power and Leilin's furious command.
SHRIEK!
The void screamed as the black shadow of the Twisted Shadow collided with the scroll, igniting phosphorescent green flames.
The flames slowly turned black, coalescing in midair into a faint, distorted humanoid figure.
"We meet at last... Lord Twisted Shadow!"
Leilin panted lightly, but his body felt extraordinarily refreshed—as if his very soul had undergone a purification. His connection to his believers' prayers was clearer than ever, and he felt as though he could crystallize divinity at will.
"Zzzzz... Your body and soul have fused with the bloodline power flawlessly... Zzzzz... No wonder Nightmare chose you back then..."
Ancient and desolate spiritual information emanated from the distorted figure, also conveyed in the Ancient Byron Language.
"Isn't this better? No exploitation, no compromise—just an equal, face-to-face exchange..."
Leilin regarded the Twisted Shadow before him. Behind him, the Targarian Winged Serpent flicked its tongue, and a dense layer of bloodline power formed a fine suit of armor around Leilin's body.
"Zzzzz... Warlock! I need you to destroy the Weave, and in return... I can grant you all the legacies of the ancient wizards..."
Seeming to understand Leilin's intractability—or perhaps more likely intimidated by the Floating City's formidable isolation field—the Twisted Shadow abandoned its previous scheming approach and instead adopted a more equitable form of exchange.
"Fine! But I choose the timing!" Leilin replied, yielding not a single inch. "And what exactly lies within the Weave? I can make a rough guess, but I'll need your confirmation..."