Creeeak...
As the sound echoed through the air, the massive doors of the Mist Veil Palace began to swing open on their own. Marcus froze, then let out a sharp breath of surprise. He had not touched them. His hands were still a short distance away, suspended in midair.
’Sothing’s wrong.’
The realization hit instantly. Doors like these did not simply open themselves. His instincts scread at him to move. Without hesitation, Marcus urged his Nightmare Dragon Steed forward and slipped behind one of the towering stone doors just as it widened, pressing himself into the shadows and holding his breath.
CRACKLE!
The roar of the Cloud-Tusk Lion outside suddenly intensified, joined by the violent crackling of lightning tearing through the air. Marcus could not stop himself from peeking through the narrowing gap.
"Too close," he whispered, as his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
A colossal bolt of dark lightning, twisting and writhing like a living dragon, slamd toward the entrance with terrifying force. It surged straight through the space where he had been standing monts earlier, flooding the doorway with violent electrical energy. If he had hesitated even a second longer, he would have been struck head-on.
He had no idea whether such an attack would have killed him outright, but one thing was certain. His invisibility would not have survived it.
Had soone detected him? Was this attack ant for him?
The questions ca one after another, each more unsettling than the last. Who had cast that lightning? Had his stealth failed without him realizing it? A cold sense of dread crept up his spine.
CRACK!
Before he could retreat deeper into cover, a blinding flash erupted at the entrance, followed by the deafening roar of colliding power. The dark lightning bolt slamd into sothing unseen, its advance abruptly halted.
At the center of the doorway, a sphere of icy-blue light had ford, glowing softly like moonlight reflected on water. It t the lightning head-on, the two forces grinding against each other in a violent clash that sent sparks scattering in every direction.
Only then did Marcus realize the truth, the attack was not aid at him.
The doors had not opened by themselves. Soone else, hidden just as he was, had pushed them open. And a third party had noticed and struck imdiately.
’Why are there so many powerful people gathering here?’ Marcus wondered, his mind reeling.
As the collision continued, the blue light shifted and refined itself, gradually taking on the unmistakable shape of a crescent moon. From within that gentle glow, a slender figure stepped forward, her movents fluid and graceful, like flowing water. She wore a form-fitting black bodysuit that traced every curve of her body with ruthless precision, accentuating a figure so striking it seed almost unreal.
For a brief mont, Marcus forgot where he was.
"Perfect," he breathed under his breath, the discipline he had built over countless encounters with beautiful won failing him completely. He forced his eyes away from her subtly rising chest and tried to glimpse her face, but by then the doors had opened wide enough for her to slip through.
The woman, wrapped in moonlit blue radiance, was clearly struggling to hold back the dark lightning. Using that brief opening, she darted inside the palace’s main hall in a blur of motion. The sheer pressure of the lightning flooded the entrance behind her, making it impossible for her to close the doors.
’What a sha.’
She moved far too fast. All Marcus caught was a faint, sweet fragrance lingering in the air as her fiery yet delicate figure passed him and vanished deeper into the palace, her face was never once revealed.
CRACKLE!
The dark lightning surged forward imdiately, chasing after her with relentless fury. It tore through the hall, scorching deep grooves into the stone pillars as it passed. Marcus remained perfectly still behind the door, not daring to shift his weight or even breathe too loudly.
Monts later, a figure followed the lightning inside.
A sorcerer clad in a long coat of black feathers flew into the hall, a fan made from the sa dark plus clutched in its hand. With every wave of the fan, fresh arcs of dark lightning erupted and surged forward.
’That figure looks familiar... I’ve seen him before,’ Marcus thought, unease creeping into his chest.
Then recognition struck him like a hamr.
"The Dark Arch-Sorcerer, the Double-Headed Raven King!"
He nearly spoke the na aloud. As the figure drew closer, Marcus could clearly see its face, or rather, its two faces. It was an old enemy, one of the Demon Lord’s Eight Guardians, and one that harbored a deep and personal hatred for him. The black fan in its grasp was unmistakable, the very Divine Artifact that had once burned itself into Marcus’s mory: the Nine-Feather Dark Thunder Fan.
The Raven King’s infamous battle with the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon atop Dragon’s Peak Citadel had ended in retreat, but its display of power had been nothing short of terrifying. With only a few waves of that fan, it had unleashed three devastating bolts of dark lightning, wiping out entire cavalry and archer regints in seconds. After the battle, player analysis showed that nearly eighty percent had been stunned by its overwhelming strength. The encounter had made the Raven King infamous, and many were now eager to witness the might of the remaining seven guardians.
But this was no ti for nostalgia.
Marcus pressed himself harder against the door, every nerve screaming as he prayed the Raven King would not notice him.
Thankfully, its attention was fixed entirely on the woman ahead. It swept past Marcus in a storm of crackling energy, completely oblivious to the invisible player hiding just a few steps away.
The woman sprinted through the main hall, her expression tightening as she calculated her options. She had rushed here the mont she sensed the seal weakening, but she had still arrived too late. Two of the Demon Lord’s Eight Guardians had already reached the palace: the Six-Headed Twin-Winged Serpent and the Double-Headed Raven King. Both had been locked in battle with the Cloud-Tusk Lion at the entrance.
She knew her limits. Either of them alone was stronger than her. If they joined forces and slew the lion, the palace would fall completely under their control, and her chance would vanish.
That was why she had taken the risk.
While the two guardians were distracted, she had activated her unique stealth technique and slipped toward the entrance, intending to infiltrate the palace and recover the treasures Lyanna had left behind. More importantly, she needed to retrieve the Soul-Mist Water Demon Cat, an existence her Water Moon Cult had sealed within the Lunar Source long ago.
The mont the palace doors creaked open, the Serpent and the Raven King had realized soone was attempting to exploit the chaos. The Dragon-Horse Lyre could not be allowed to fall into another’s hands. In a hiss of panic and fury, the Six-Headed Twin-Winged Serpent ordered the Raven King to pursue the intruder while it continued battling the lion.
The woman dashed toward the far exit of the main hall. Sensing the Raven King closing the distance, she glanced back over her shoulder and flashed a single, devastating smile.
The effect was imdiate.
The Raven King’s movents faltered, its speed dropping noticeably as its montum stuttered mid-flight.
’What a terrifying charm skill.’
Marcus felt his scalp prickle in shock. That smile alone was enough to steal souls. Even a Divine-tier existence like the Raven King had been affected.
As a mortal man, Marcus felt it even more intensely. His blood surged, his heart hamring violently as the lingering influence of the charm washed over him, threatening to disrupt his invisibility. Fortunately, he had been too far away to see her face clearly and only suffered the weakened aftereffect. Even so, it took everything he had to shake it off. Had he been any closer, he knew he would have fallen completely under her control.
Hidden in the shadows, Marcus could only watch as titans clashed before him.
The frustration gnawed at him. One day, he swore silently, he would be powerful enough to act without fear, to take whatever he desired, to stand at the very peak of the Dreamland Continent.
Right now, though, his eyes were fixed on one thing.
The Nine-Feather Dark Thunder Fan.
If there was anything he wanted more than anything else in that mont, it was to pry that artifact from the Raven King’s grasp. That fan had left a very, very deep impression on him.
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