The gray-white stone tower rises from the ground, like a sharp sword pointing straight into the sky. The tower is wrapped with vine-like patterns, and colorful streams of light flash in it. It spirals upward like water, gathering at the top of the tower to form a fountain-like light pillar, and then towards the top of the tower.

It spread downwards and enveloped the entire city.

It is protection and confinement.

In the hall on the highest floor of the tower, thirteen mages were sitting around a huge round table, wearing identical gray and white robes. Just like the tower, the robes had strange decorations embroidered with colorful silk threads.

Outside this city - outside this planet, the battle between them and the other force has entered a stalemate. No one can gain the upper hand, and no one is willing to give up. They are constantly being consumed in this stalemate.

And they cannot afford such seemingly endless consumption.

"They can't stand it either." A younger mage said unconvinced, "Whoever gives up first will lose."

"If we have already lost too much before the winner is determined," someone retorted, "not only will the gain outweigh the losses, but it will also be easy for others to take advantage of us."

Everyone knows these issues, and they have argued here countless times, but every time they can't come to an outcome.

"Perhaps we can temporarily form an alliance with the Nanmu people." Someone suggested, "Their enmity with Goodall is no less than ours."

"And then wait for them to come back and bite you?"

"still……"

Amidst the increasingly loud quarrels, the old mage, who was sitting at the front and had been silent, suddenly opened his eyes.

"Who's there?" He asked, his voice low and hoarse, but he could easily overwhelm everyone.

There was silence in the hall. Some people looked at the old mage with doubts, while others followed his gaze and looked to a deserted place.

There was no movement there.

Moreover, it is impossible for anyone to appear here silently amid the protection of numerous magic circles.

After a while, the old mage coughed slightly, as if to cover up his embarrassment.

"Go on." he said.

However, as soon as he finished speaking, a dazzling light burst out from his staff, striking straight in the direction he was looking at just like lightning.

A faint sigh fell like snowflakes.

The old mage's attack did not fail. The arrow of light exploded silently, blasting out a black shadow from the air.

A thin, dim shadow, like a piece cut from broken black leather, exuding an old and decaying atmosphere.

But he was unscathed.

The damage on his black robe was obvious wear and tear rather than magic damage, and the hand holding the staff exposed outside his robe was as pale as a withered bone.

The old mage did not show his surprise - he could not see through this uninvited guest.

Instinct told him that they probably shouldn't be enemies with them, but his majesty did not allow him to bow his head.

"You..." He uttered one word and then lost his voice.

Low exclamations sounded involuntarily. The old mage, who still stood at the top of the world even though he was aging, turned into a gray stone sculpture in the blink of an eye. His slightly opened mouth did not even have time to show a horrified expression.

Whether it was the visible magic circle or the invisible defense on his body, they were completely useless without any movement.

The black cloak covered the visitor's eyes, but when they felt his sight, the mages who had always been aloof lost their cool in front of the unpredictable opponent.

Some people tried to fight back, some tried to escape, some shouted angrily, some asked for support... In the midst of the chaos, the mysterious intruder waved his hand casually as if he was bored, and everything around him began to center on him, completely still.

Whether it's people, objects, or magic hitting him.

However, among all the "stillness", there were several ice blades that seemed to be burning with fire. Although they slowed down slightly, they were still approaching him.

Under the cloak, the pupil of the only bright eye shrank suddenly.

Invisible power exploded in all directions, turning all dead and living things around into powder. Only those ice blades were held in the intruder's raised left hand.

There were only three fingers left on his left hand. The ring finger and little finger seemed to have been burned, and were just two twisted and ugly balls of flesh.

As if he didn't want his disability to be exposed in front of others, he quickly put his left hand back into his cloak.

And the person who sent out those ice blades has also broken in through the window.

The blond young man spread out his snow-white wings in mid-air, and rushed forward even faster than the weapon he fired.

Probably not expecting his appearance, the guy who had just destroyed all the leaders of a force was obviously stunned for a moment, and stayed there as if he had also been hit by his own petrification spell. But the metal in Is's hand

The moment the ring almost touched his skin, his figure seemed to be floating in the wind, swinging backwards like a weightless ghost, and suddenly, he appeared on the other side of the hall.

Yis followed him like a shadow, and in an instant he was right in front of him.

When he realized that the magic circle on the tower had been destroyed, he thought he would be one step too late this time, but he didn't expect that he could still catch up!

...but "catching up" does not mean being able to catch it.

He soon felt that infuriating powerlessness. The fugitive in front of him was like a shadow...or, more like a black film, clearly existing in front of you, but floating in the air, unable to catch him no matter what.

Can't help it. Of course his most powerful thing is spells, but as a watcher

The mage looks so thin that he can't help but feel frail. His body's reaction speed is also extremely fast - it is likely that he has been trained in the process of being chased countless times. Even though his movements are not very elegant, he looks like a piece of broken black dancing in the strong wind.

Bu, but he always managed to avoid Yisi's attacks.

The name "Heiyi" is really quite vivid - now Is wants to tear him apart with one claw.

He didn't try his best. After all, his mission was to "capture" rather than "kill"... although he was probably better at the latter.

But it seems that the other party is also not trying its best.

Iss felt annoyed as if he was being played. The guy would come up to him deliberately from time to time, but then run away like a ghost when he attacked. And if he stopped and didn't move, he wouldn't move.

The strange thing is that he can also feel the strong murderous intention of the other party, but the guy seems to be trying hard to restrain himself and never kills.

Moreover, as he slapped it, he felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.

It seemed like... they had fought like this before.

But he quickly remembered that Anklan had mentioned this so-called "illusion of time" - you feel as if you have experienced something, and in fact you have experienced it, but not now, but in the future.

...So, does this mean he will fight this guy many times?!

He threw aside the strange feeling of familiarity and attacked even more fiercely.

Anyway, Ankelan didn't ask him to take the person back intact!

When he let go of his hands and feet, his fierce offensive finally forced the other party to become serious.

Heiyi's staff is like a charred wood...or in fact, it is a charred wood. It exudes the power of death, which seems to make everything lose its vitality as if the water has been drained out in an instant.

Yisi was accidentally hit, and the white scales on his skin lost their luster and turned into lifeless gray, peeling off piece by piece.

The giant dragon that was forced to shed its skin grinned in pain, but the guy who could obviously take advantage of the victory suddenly froze and retreated far away for some reason.

Yis's speed did not slow down because of the pain. He rushed forward as fast as the wind, lifted the ice blade in his left hand, blocked the damn cane, and took the opportunity to put a half-open metal ring around the opponent's neck with his right hand.

Hei Yi's movement slowed down a beat, and he leaned back hastily. The cloak that was almost pulled up to his chin was split in half by the tip of the knife, revealing his distorted face under the cloak.

Yisi paused unconsciously.

He has seen many strange-looking guys...but he has never seen one burned like this and still alive.

If Anklan hadn't been sure that this was a living person, he would have suspected that this guy was an undead crawling out of a fire. Most of his head and face were scorched, and even his left eye was burned out, so it was just that scorched.

The dark red flesh was curled up under the black scorch marks, which made people look intimidating. The other half that was not burned was so pale that it turned gray.

But his intact eye was an extremely deep blue, like the sky on a clear summer night...like the boundless sea under the twilight sky.

Even if it loses its waves and solidifies into a dead sea, it is still vast and boundless.

The moment he was stared at by that eye, Is completely froze.

He was very familiar with such a pair of eyes.

"...Ed?"

Before he could react rationally, his instinct had already blurted out the name.

The fugitive in black robes suddenly pulled his cloak and disappeared in the blink of an eye, so fast that Is couldn't even see his expression clearly.

...The face that was distorted by the heat seemed to be unable to express any expression.

Yis stayed there, and after a moment of stasis, his heart started beating violently, with a dull pain and endless panic, almost knocking it out of his chest.

"...Anklan!"
Chapter completed!