The animosity between the Garden of Beasts and the Order of Sages was well known to many in Asshai.
And after receiving a commission from Master Baron Bones that aligned with their interests in harming the Order of Sages, Master Serpent Daran and the Master of Beasts decided to accept, after some promising, tempting rewards.
Two items that were irresistible to them in exchange for assisting in Baron Bones' ambush against Raphael.
Daran, who was currently "dead," was free to accept Baron Bones' mission immediately and obtain a valuable primordial treasure. For him, this item would allow him to create his first venon innate spell.
But for the leader of the Garden of Beasts, breaking his peace agreement with Raphael would bring serious consequences due to the Blood Contracts he had signed.
But even under the punishment of breaking the contract, he still accepted the mission. This showed how valuable the reward offered to him was this time; the same could be said about the difficulty of the mission...
Standing in front of the southern gate of Stygai was a pale white man with short, greasy white-black hair. He wore a black mask with carvings of various beasts at the ends, simulating several horns, and only his bestial yellow eyes could be seen. He was mounted on the neck of a huge Shadow Dragon, something extremely uncommon in the Shadowlands. He was none other than the leader of the Garden of Beasts, the Shadowmaster, Master of Beasts.
The dragon he rode was tens of meters long, with a wingspan almost equal to its body from wing to wing, and was completely black, including its draconic pupils, scales, claws, and even fangs.
His mission this time was to prevent Rafael from receiving any kind of help from Zhang or his master, Immortal.
Aside from the rookie Zhang, the greatest danger of this mission was a potential conflict with Immortal. And to ensure success, the leader of the Beast Garden was ready to reveal many of his trump cards today.
Since becoming a Master Shadowmancer and gaining the ability to control and enhance 10 beasts with Shadow Affinity, surpassing all existing Wargs, he had never encountered an enemy who could force him to use all 10 of his beasts. But today, perhaps the powerful Master Necromancer could do just that…
However, contrary to his expectations, almost 20 minutes passed, and no one had emerged from within Stygai to provide Rafael with aid.
Just as he was about to retreat, a tide of monsters containing hundreds of Shadow Souls surged forth from within the Corpse City, completely violating the rules and natural order of the Soul Calamity.
With a single thought, the Shadow Dragon that the Master of Beasts was riding breathed out a massive burst of black flames that instantly vaporized everything in its path, leaving a black trail on the ground leading to the south gate.
But it was no use; more Shadow Souls continued to emerge from within the city as if they were infinite.
Less than a minute later, many corpses of armored warriors, mages, and civilians also emerged from within the city. They were slower than the Shadow Souls, but together formed a terrifying army.
Impatient with this, the Master of Beasts ordered his dragon to take flight and return to Asshai.
But as soon as the dragon leaped a few meters from the ground, its wings, which had initially risen to increase altitude, were torn apart, causing the dragon to cease its flight and fall from the sky along with its rider.
As an experienced Necromancer Master, the Master of Beasts quickly realized that the rules of Stygai were no longer confined within the city. Now, flying should be forbidden throughout the Shadowlands.
With a wave of his left hand, the wounded dragon, now barely retaining half its wings, vanished, swallowed by its master's shadows. Then, the shadows enveloped the Master of Beasts, preventing the Shadow Souls and undead from seeing him again.
At the same time, the master of the Beast Garden began to feel an extreme sense of danger emanating from something unknown, realizing that something within the city had set its sights on him. He quickly decided he needed to get out of there.
Still shrouded in shadows and hidden from the horde of monsters emerging from the city, he used his powers as a Master Shadowmancer and swiftly established a ritual. The shadows obeyed his will and channeled a black rune beneath him. Without even needing magical materials, the shadow energy of the Shadowlands enveloped the Master of Beasts, and he vanished, instantly returning to his tower in Asshai.
This immediate return, similar to teleportation, was actually a ritual he created, switching places with one of his beasts. And the chosen one, who appeared unexpectedly outside the gates of Stygai, was none other than the Senior Dark Lich* he controlled.
Being one of the 10 most valuable beasts he controlled, and also the one that controlled a vast network of undead espionage for the Garden of Beasts, the Master of Beasts truly felt pain sacrificing this valuable subordinate, who possessed a high level of intelligence.
But among the other 9 beasts, he was the only one who could easily be replaced over time…
The Dark Senior Lich, quite different from the other Liches, had a completely black skeletal skull for a face. Therefore, he couldn't show his terror upon realizing he was surrounded by an army of undead creatures over which he had no influence. He reacted quickly, casting powerful advanced spells on the horde and beginning his escape towards Asshai.
But suddenly, his skull, skeletal body, magic cloak, staff, and even his soul were completely sliced into pieces by an invisible enemy!
The enemy only revealed itself after the powerful Senior Lich fell completely dead to the ground. It was a very thin man, 2 meters tall, wearing a black mask and light black clothing made of human leather and old fabrics all over his body. He looked completely human, except for the six arms he possessed. In each arm was a sword firmly held. Each of the swords had different colors, auras, and sizes, with the longest being similar to a longsword and the shortest being so small that it was barely bigger than a dagger.
His clothes, made of human skin and fabrics, seemed soaked in a green liquid, as if he had emerged from the River Ash. But it wasn't water; the smell emanating from this liquid spread easily through the air and was extremely pungent and rotten, proving to be the remains of a cadaverous creature that had been embalmed.
But as soon as the six-armed "man" retreated into the shadows, everything related to him vanished into complete obscurity. Even his rotten smell disappeared from the air, almost making everyone think he had never existed…
"Boom"
Suddenly, a massive explosion occurred within Stygai. Entire towers were collapsing in the city, flames engulfed buildings, and lightning and other powerful advancing spell effects could be seen tearing through the skies from time to time in various locations within the Corpse City.
In the midst of this chaos, three figures flew through the sky towards Asshai as if the no-fly effect didn't apply to them. The three flew overhead where the Senior Lich had just died.
One of them flew much faster than the others and was easily leaving the other two behind. He looked like a true humanoid dragon; his eyes were draconic green, he had two short horns, a long tail, a pair of wide wings, and a face and body covered in emerald green scales over moss green pale.
He had a beautiful one-handed sword equipped at his waist, and wore an elegant green mage's robe that was now completely tattered and torn in the areas of his scaly wings, arms, and legs. He floated easily through the skies without needing to flap his wings and emitted a dangerous green aura that easily terrified the monsters on the ground, making them all tremble with fear.
Following the green dragon in human form was the creature that all the apprentices of Asshai knew from horror stories: The Reaper of Stygai.
Beside the Reaper, an ordinary middle-aged man in a black frock coat also pursued the dragon-man. But seeing that they couldn't catch him, he waved his hand and said,
"Let him go, let's go in that direction, I sense something there…"
The mighty Reaper of Stygai stopped flying and nodded to the man in a black frock before they changed direction and flew towards the many mines near Asshai.
The man had short black hair with white sides and sideburns, an ordinary face with pale white skin, and appeared to be a normal human; some might even call him a butler or servant of a wealthy household. But the fact that he flew through the skies during the Calamity and could give orders to the terrifying Reaper showed that he was anything but ordinary…
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Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Parsa, Scott Robertson, Pato Senalima, and Lily Monarch!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, 704Corleon, Rodrigo, WhoisMitch, Leery Falcon, Grave Walker, adam, Evil King, and Emotional!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley, Avacus, and TabbyRabbit!