Shadow Blade Lynn

After leaving Shadowmoon City, Lin Gui did not let his guard down.

The flying vessel continued to accelerate, hurtling deeper into the Wall of Sighs.

In just a few dozen minutes, it had crossed over a dozen kilometers of wasteland.

Ahead, the gray mist gradually thinned.

A shimmering forest came into view.

Gloomlight Forest.

Towering trees were draped with natural fluorescent moss between their branches and leaves.

It illuminated the entire forest in a hazy, pale green light.

Elven-style treehouses were built along the trunks, compact and exquisite.

Vine bridges connected them, and spiral staircases wound upward.

This was a typical elven border town.

Though small in scale, it exuded natural ingenuity at every turn.

Lin Gui steered the flying vessel and landed in a concealed spot on the edge of the forest.

Hanging vines surrounded the area, perfectly concealing the vessel's outline.

He activated his Eyes of the Netherworld, carefully scanning the surroundings.

Only after confirming that no spirits were lingering nearby did he breathe a sigh of relief.

He turned to check on Eve's condition.

She leaned against the back seat of the flying vessel, her eyes tightly shut and her breathing faint.

On the surface, there were no visible wounds.

But under the gaze of the Eyes of the Netherworld, the gap in her soul at her heart...

...was continuing to shrink at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Back in the Carter Royal Capital, half of it had still remained.

Now, only a third was left.

The price of the Hall of Heroic Spirits...

...was far more brutal than her nonchalant description suggested.

Lin Gui furrowed his brows.

What shocked him even more was the strength of that elven assassin.

No matter how weak Eve's defenses were, her mana was of the genuine Legendary Rank.

Yet in Lin Gui's estimation, the assassin's strength was at most at the Mid-tier Transcendent Rank.

Yet, relying on extremely tricky attack angles and a terrifying insight into the flow of mana...

...she had forcefully pierced through and torn apart all of her shields.

Such assassination skills had truly reached perfection.

Recalling the trajectory of that wooden stick weaving through light and shadow...

...Lin Gui felt a chill run down his spine.

If Eve hadn't bought him time...

...he probably would have truly died here this time.

Recalling Theia's gaze when they parted...

...Lin Gui quietly clenched his fists.

He...

...was still too weak, after all.

So weak that even for self-preservation, he had to gamble his companion's life.

He needed power.

A power that could truly fight back, rather than just blindly flee.

Currently, Lin Gui's strongest offensive method was only the High Rank spell, Shadow Pierce.

But this spell had too many limitations.

It required a full chant to activate, had a single attack trajectory, a very small range, and a slow casting speed.

Its destructive power was also mediocre among High Rank spells.

He had been short on money back then and couldn't afford high-quality High Rank magic scrolls.

He could only pick a few “bargain bin” items on sale.

Shadow Pierce was one of them.

If he wanted to change the status quo...

...his only hope was the Messenger's Advancement.

The power of Mid Rank magic might not be as strong as Shadow Pierce.

But if he could obtain a fast-casting type and combine it with chantless casting...

...a quantitative change might truly trigger a qualitative one.

After all, a High Rank spell like “Blade Storm” was essentially just the overlapping cast of countless Mid Rank “Wind Blade” spells.

Lin Gui composed himself and thought to the system:

A light blue panel quietly emerged:

【Messenger's Advancement】

【Required Delivered Letters: 10,000】

【Current Progress: 9,970】

【Required Special Commissions: 5】

【Current Progress: 4】

【Required Long-term Commissions: 1】

【Current Progress: 1 (Completed)】

He was still short thirty letters.

And one Special Commission.

Advancement... was close at hand.

As for the letters, if Alyia kept her promise...

...they would be gathered very soon.

As for the Special Commission...

...delivering Clotina back to Blackwater City wasn't difficult.

Flying at full speed, the flying vessel could reach it in just a few hours.

Lin Gui asked the system in his mind:

The system replied calmly:

【The Host may adjust the route and the order of nodes at your own discretion.】

【The route provided by the system is only the safest reference planned based on the Host's strength and capabilities.】

【As long as the delivery goal is completed within the Weekly Commission's time limit...】

【...there is no issue even if you return to New Covenant City first and then double back to the Wall of Sighs.】

Lin Gui nodded.

He glanced at the flying vessel.

Eve was carefully settled by him in the back seat, which was cushioned with a soft blanket, and her breathing was gradually stabilizing.

He then looked around at the quiet, elven-style treehouses.

“Alright,”

he muttered softly.

“We'll rest and reorganize here.”

“We'll wait for Alyia to deliver the letters and for Eve to recover a bit.”

“Once I finish delivering the letters destined for Gloomlight Forest...”

“...I'll head straight back to Blackwater City.”

To complete... the Messenger's Advancement.

Since he had decided to temporarily rest in Gloomlight Forest, Lin Gui set about finding a suitable place to stay.

Like the other city-states within the Wall of Sighs, Gloomlight Forest was a silent ruin.

A vast number of treehouses and elven homes were vacant, which could normally be used at will.

However, the encounter with the elven assassin had sounded an alarm for him.

Among the spirits, there were still powerful individuals.

Not all ghosts were as weak as the residents of Blackwater City.

While this forest appeared empty and dead on the surface, in the shadows...

...there were bound to be elven spirits who refused to show themselves.

Lin Gui did not want to draw attention to himself.

Steering the flying vessel, he arrived at the outer area of Gloomlight Forest.

In the end, he chose a hidden spot wrapped in massive tree roots.

The ground was covered with decaying leaves, and hanging vines above formed a natural screen.

He hopped off the flying vessel and lightly tapped the ground with his fingertip.

【Soil Loosening】.

The soil silently churned and parted to both sides, forming a pit about two meters deep and five or six square meters in size.

Next was 【Grass Growth】.

Fine, soft grass rapidly sprouted from the walls and floor of the pit, soft and dry, carrying a faint, fresh fragrance.

Lin Gui jumped into the pit with the flying vessel.

Then, the soft grass rapidly spread, eventually almost completely covering the entrance of the pit.

Having done all this, he began to retrieve daily necessities from his storage space.

Two simple mattresses covered with thick blankets.

A crystal lamp infused with Glimmer, suspended from the ceiling of the pit.

A small stone-built fire pit, piled with dry firewood.

Several water skins filled with fresh water, neatly stacked in a corner.

There was even a small bag of dried herbs and a few clean spare clothes.

In just a few minutes, the cold, crude pit had been transformed into a cozy underground cabin.

The soft light dispelled the darkness, and the grass-covered walls radiated warmth.

Lin Gui walked over to the flying vessel and gently lifted the unconscious Eve.

Her body was very light, yet she curled up slightly in pain.

Through her robes, he could clearly feel the graceful curves of her figure and her fragile trembling.

Lin Gui slowed his movements even further, carefully settling her on the inner mattress and tucking her in.

Seeing her brow still furrowed even in unconsciousness, Lin Gui fell silent for a moment.

“...I owe you a huge favor,”

he whispered.

As soon as the words left his mouth...

Eve's pained expression seemed to soften for an instant.

Then, her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she slowly opened her purple eyes.

Though lingering weakness still filled her eyes, a faint smile had already spread across them.

“Then...”

Her voice was very soft, carrying a hint of breathiness.

“...how does Mr. Lin Gui plan to repay me?”

Lin Gui looked at her clearly conscious eyes, temporarily at a loss for words.

“...You were faking it?”

“I just happened to wake up.”

Eve blinked, her smile deepening.

Lin Gui sighed and tucked her in a bit more.

“As long as it's within my ability, ask for whatever you want.”

“As long as I can do it.”

Under the soft light, the smile on Eve's face appeared exceptionally radiant.

It was as if even the pain of her missing soul had been temporarily diluted.

Having settled Eve, Lin Gui remembered a certain little fellow who had “fled at the last minute.”

He pulled the glass bead from his pocket and weighed it in his palm.

Recalling how Clotina had played dead and remained silent during the crisis earlier...

his expression turned a bit displeased.

“When I called you earlier, why didn't you come out?”

Lin Gui's voice was somewhat cold.

The glass bead lay quietly, showing no reaction.

Lin Gui let out a sigh.

Forget it, why bicker with a child?

“...I'm not a child anymore.”

Clotina's muffled voice suddenly drifted out from inside the glass bead.

“Before I died... I was already eighteen years old.”

Lin Gui stared at the bead, speechless.

“Then why did you play dumb just now?”

“If you had come out to vouch for me...”

“...Eve might not have had to suffer such a severe injury.”

Clotina fell silent for a moment.

When she spoke again, her voice carried obvious guilt:

“I'm sorry.”

“Because... I was afraid.”

Lin Gui raised an eyebrow.

“Afraid?”

“Isn't she an elf too?”

“And she looked like she was there to rescue those fellow elves.”

Clotina hesitated for a long time before whispering:

“She... wasn't there to save anyone.”

“At least, not to save those... 'delisted' elves.”

“She was probably there...”

Clotina paused, her voice dropping even lower.

“...to kill them.”

Lin Gui's brow furrowed tightly.

“You know her?”

Clotina remained silent for even longer.

Just as Lin Gui thought she had played dead again, she slowly spoke:

“As long as one is an elf... there is no one who doesn't know of her.”

“Her name is Lynn Celine Aethel Shadow.”

“The Night Elves'... first Title Rank powerhouse in a thousand years.”

Clotina's voice carried a tremor of near-reverence.

“Her talent was terrifying. She stepped into the Legendary Rank before she was even thirty.”

“Even the most renowned High Elf genius and the prince of the Moonlight Royalty at the time...”

“...were completely suppressed by her.”

“During the Golden Age, the Elven Forest had not yet been unified, and various clans were divided.”

“Her status among the Night Elves... was as lofty as a deity.”

“Everyone believed she would be the next clan leader.”

“But...”

Clotina's voice dropped.

“After the Demon God descended upon the world... she became a completely different person.”

“From an elegant, noble elven warrior...”

“...she became reclusive, stubborn, and even... insane.”

“Later, she suddenly went missing. By then, she was already a High-tier Legendary powerhouse.”

“The third strongest powerhouse within the Night Elf clan.”

“And during that period... the Night Elves were facing an existential disaster.”

“The Dark Tide swept through the Royal Capital. Not just us, but other elven clans also suffered heavy losses.”

“After the catastrophe, the surviving elven clans united to form the 'Elven Forest'.”

“But the leadership... fell into the hands of ancient, native clans like the Forest Elves and the Moonlight Royalty.”

“Clans like ours that had 'fled as refugees'... had absolutely no say.”

“That was precisely why the High Elves left in indignation.”

Clotina paused.

“It was right at this time... that Lynn Shadow returned.”

“Upon her return, she was already at the Mid-tier Epic Rank. This was a level of strength sufficient to shake the entire Elven Forest.”

“Only the Elven King of the Moonlight Royalty could best her by a margin.”

“All the Night Elves thought... that hope had arrived.”

“With her strength, she was fully capable of fighting for our status and rights.”

“But who could have imagined...”

Clotina's voice began to tremble.

“The very first thing she did was assassinate members of the Elven Forest's Elder Council.”

“Then, she set fire to and destroyed the World Tree Nursery.”

“After that... she was discovered to have colluded with humans to traffic her own kind.”

“Finally... she stole the elven race's sole divine artifact.”

“The Crown of the World Tree.”

A dead silence fell over the pit.

Only the light of the crystal lamp flickered slightly.

Huddled inside the glass bead, Clotina's voice was filled with deep sorrow and confusion.

“Everything she did... triggered a chain of disasters.”

“The Elven Forest was enraged, and the Night Elves were expelled for a time.”

“Unlike the High Elves, we had no heritage, no Royal Capital, and no protection from the World Tree.”

“Leaving the Elven Forest was tantamount to pushing the entire Night Elf race into destruction.”

“To make amends for the crimes she committed... our people paid an unimaginable price.”

“The three clans under the Night Elves, especially our Shadow Clan.”

Clotina's voice was almost inaudible.

“And right at that moment...”

“...she pointed her daggers... at us, at her own flesh and blood.”

“To sabotage her people's atonement, she slaughtered countless Night Elves.”

“She even went as far as to kill...”

“...the Night Elf clan leader, who had raised her with his own hands.”

The glass bead grew slightly warm.

The soul shadow inside curled into a tight ball.

It was as if she were trying to fend off a memory far too heavy to bear.

“Her hands are stained with too much of my people's blood...”

Clotina's voice trembled.

“There is no way she was there to save the Night Elves.”

“Especially... those who have been 'delisted'.”

She recalled the brief glimpse she had caught through the gaps of the iron cages.

The distinct brand on her fellow elves' foreheads.

A black mark of tangled thorns and broken branches.

It represented a “sinner.”

It represented being permanently banished from the Elven Forest.

Sixteen years had passed since the three city-states of the Night Elves were swallowed by the Wall of Sighs.

Yet the Elven Forest...

...had ultimately branded the entire Night Elf race as “traitors.”

Clotina had been eighteen before her death.

Though young, during those eighteen years of life...

she had witnessed the destruction of the Night Elves' Royal Capital, the migration of her people, and the awakening and madness of that assassin.

She had already seen too much of her people's grief.

She had seen the blood and tears they shed just to survive.

Her spiritual form trembled slightly, her mental fluctuations overflowing with deep sorrow:

“Elune above...”

“Is this why...”

“...why the sacrifices of the children of the night ultimately brought such a reward...”

There were no tears.

But the sorrow of her soul caused her spiritual light to flicker and waver continuously.

Like a candle in the wind, it threatened to go out at any moment.

Lin Gui sighed inwardly.

However, in the next second, he suddenly whipped his head around and stared at the glass bead:

“Wait.”

“Lynn Celine Aethel Shadow...”

“Lynn...?”

His pupils contracted slightly.

“You're saying that elven assassin... is 'Lynn'?”

“Shadow Blade Lynn??!”