The warning from his intuition came so swiftly that cold sweat instantly soaked Lin Gui's back.
This was Avalon.
This was his post office, his room.
How could there possibly be danger?
He hadn't provoked anyone recently!
Or were Morpheus and the others planning to use force? To snatch a Divine Artifact that didn't even exist on him?
As thoughts raced through his mind, his body reacted instinctively.
His right foot slammed against the windowsill, intending to use the leverage to flip backward out of the room.
Crack!
An ominous splintering sound came from beneath his foot.
The seemingly intact windowsill had already been sabotaged; the wooden plank caved inward.
Lin Gui's balance shifted, and he instantly pushed his Levitation spell to its limit, barely managing to hang in the air.
He looked down at the collapse.
It was an extremely simple physical trap with no magic fluctuations whatsoever.
Crude, yet it had precisely calculated his habitual landing spot.
It was exactly this kind of simple mechanism, devoid of any energy traces, that left Lin Gui—who relied on sensory warnings—defenseless.
Against a true expert, it might have been useless. But for a "rookie mage" like Lin Gui, whose physical strength was limited and who depended on spells, it was fatal.
If Levitation hadn't become instinctual, he would have fallen right into it.
In the split second he stalled to adjust, his Shroud of the Gloomy Night once again enveloped his entire body.
But just as his form was about to fade away...
In the darkness, a gray cloth bag shot out from a corner, silent and swift.
Lin Gui's reflexes were fast; he tilted his body to dodge.
However, the moment the cloth bag brushed past him, it exploded in mid-air!
Poof!
A large cloud of choking white powder burst out, instantly filling the entire room.
It also clearly outlined his silhouette, which had not yet fully vanished.
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
Choked by the powder, Lin Gui's vision blurred, and he didn't have time to use a Wind Guiding spell to disperse it.
Decisively, he lunged toward the window with all his might!
Bang!
His forehead slammed hard against an invisible barrier.
Supple yet solid, it radiated a familiar, gentle, yet irresistible fluctuation.
This was... a Holy Light barrier?
And this strength... it was at the Legendary rank?!
Lin Gui's heart sank heavily.
He suddenly looked up, following the source of the barrier's fluctuations.
Under the cold moonlight, a figure hung quietly in the air not far outside the window.
Short pale-gold hair moved slightly in the night wind, and a holy, soft glow flowed around her.
Behind her, a pair of wings condensed purely from light slowly spread open.
When he saw that tranquil and holy face, Lin Gui froze in mid-air, his mind going completely blank.
Eve?!
How could it be her?!
Eve looked at Lin Gui with an embarrassed expression on her face. Then, she whispered,
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lin Gui."
In that moment of shock and distraction, before he could even utter a word, a precise and heavy blunt impact struck the back of his neck.
"Urgh...!"
Lin Gui's eyes rolled back, and he fell completely unconscious.
The sensation of weightlessness lasted only a moment before he was caught firmly in a warm and soft embrace.
The familiar, elegant fragrance of sunlight mixed with grass and wood lingered at the tip of his nose.
Before his consciousness sank into darkness, one final thought was incredibly clear:
You can guard against ten thousand threats, but never against a traitor in the house.
Who else could it be?
Who else could have pinpointed the window he flipped through every night and even known his foothold habits perfectly?
Who could have known the weakness of the Shroud of the Gloomy Night and prepared a countermeasure in advance?
And who could have persuaded Eve to temporarily advance to the Legendary rank to use magic to block his retreat?
It could only be that one person.
That white-haired elf who had been seemingly unintentionally glancing at the back of his neck for the past few days, secretly "pre-aiming" her strike...
Theia.
Holding the unconscious Lin Gui, Theia landed lightly back on the ground.
She looked down at the mage's defenseless profile in her arms.
The corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl into a triumphant, playful curve.
She leaned close to Lin Gui's ear.
Her warm breath brushed against his earlobe, and her voice was kept very low, carrying a hint of a mischievous smile:
"Sorry, I backstabbed you."
"However..."
She paused, a trace of tender light flickering in her eyes.
"I will make it up to you properly, Lin Gui."
In the sky, Eve withdrew the light surrounding her, and the phantom of the wings slowly dissipated.
She glanced at the two on the ground and gave a gentle wave of her hand.
The temporary barrier enveloping the entire post office instantly vanished, and her radiance faded as well.
As her strength continuously dropped back down to the Low-tier Transcendent rank, Eve, looking somewhat pale, landed beside Theia.
The two looked at each other and nodded in unspoken agreement.
Positioned on either side, they supported the unconscious Lin Gui between them and headed toward the post office basement.
***
On the other side of Avalon.
Inside the City Lord's manor, at the base of the Demon King Pillar.
Morpheus stood silently before the colossal pillar that reached the sky.
His blood-red eyes stared intently at the surface of the pillar.
There, the dark glimmer that had been flowing steadily was now rippling irregularly.
Like stones being tossed into a calm lake, one wave after another of chaotic disturbances spread across it.
"It has started again," the foxkin Sage Kilian said softly from behind, his tail drooping uneasily.
"The fluctuations in the Veil... are more obvious than yesterday."
Several of Avalon's strongest warriors were also standing nearby.
A beastkin shield guard, an avian warrior, and two human swordsmen.
Their strength had all reached the Legendary rank.
At this moment, a shadow hung over everyone's faces.
"The pillar is unstable, which means that on Lord Gusion's side..." The shield guard's voice was hoarse as he trailed off.
But everyone understood.
The Demon King Pillar was directly linked to Gusion's life and power.
An anomaly in the pillar meant only one thing.
Gusion's condition was likely deteriorating rapidly.
He was in mortal danger.
"We can't delay any longer," Morpheus finally spoke, his voice cold and hard as iron.
"We must depart immediately to support Lord Gusion."
"But..." one of the human swordsmen hesitated.
"Without Lord Gusion's help, we cannot leave Avalon."
"And as for Lady Blood-Thorn, no one can communicate with her except for Lord Gusion."
"She won't just let us pass through her territory."
"Even if she does let us leave, there are other demons outside who are far stronger than Lady Blood-Thorn."
"If they were physical demons, my concealment arts might still be somewhat effective."
"But those are spectral demons. To them, any concealment magic or secret arts are useless."
"No one can cross that corridor except for Lord Gusion or Shadow Blade Lynn."
"Not even a Tower Master from the City of a Thousand Towers or an assassin master from the Assassin's Court."
The atmosphere was silent for a moment.
The beastkin shield guard scratched his head and added somewhat awkwardly:
"There's also those three who opened the post office..."
"Didn't they just cross it?"
The human swordsman who had spoken earlier immediately looked quite embarrassed.
"Cough, cough!"
He cleared his throat.
"That was all... due to the power of a Divine Artifact."
"If I had that Umbral Robe as well..."
"I could cross the corridor too."
He looked at Morpheus, his tone becoming more serious:
"Therefore, I think we should move our plan forward."
"Morpheus, have you confirmed who holds that Divine Artifact?"
Morpheus nodded slowly, his blood-red eyes calm.
"I know."
"After contacting them these past few days, it wasn't hard to judge who the master of the Divine Artifact is."
"First thing tomorrow morning, I will go talk to him."
He had originally planned to wait a few more days to let them integrate more.
Even though the trio of Lin Gui had performed excellently in their attempts to fit into Avalon, it hadn't been long enough.
And a "Divine Artifact"... was ultimately a far too sensitive subject.
In the long history of Akara, countless tragedies had been caused by the struggle for a single Divine Artifact.
City-states had fallen, bloodlines had been extinguished, and mountains of corpses had been left behind.
The most famous case was the struggle for the Divine Artifact: Omniscient Astrolabe, which resulted in the total destruction of a kingdom.
In the face of the temptation of ultimate power, trust was often as fragile as paper.
Especially when the other party's strength was so incredibly weak.
Rate on N.U.
