Within the Shadows

Inside the royal city.

Dim candlelight flickered beneath the domed ceiling, casting twisted and elongated shadows of the ministers across the hall.

The air was thick with the pungent scent of magic potions and a faint, lingering stench of blood, making it suffocatingly hard to breathe.

A general clad in bronze armor knelt on one knee. The plumes on his helmet were coated in dust, and his face was covered in a dense cluster of eyes. His voice was as hoarse as a cracked gong:

"Your Majesty, Prince Marcus, Prince Alex... have all fallen in battle. The Allied Forces have captured the Black Rock Territory. In three days at most, they will arrive at our city gates!"

As his words fell, the great hall plunged into a dead silence, followed by an eruption of suppressed commotion.

Unidentified tissues squirmed beneath the skin of several nobles as they began to whisper among themselves.

"How could this happen? His Highness the Prince and the Royal Prince led the main forces of our race, and they even had the support of the Super Magic Cannons..."

"What kind of monsters are in the Allied Forces?"

Upon the throne sat the King of the Hill Empire.

His complexion was unusually pale, and a bizarre purple gleam occasionally flashed deep within his eyes.

Hearing the news of the princes' deaths in battle, the corners of his mouth actually curled into a slightly surprised smile. His voice was deep and raspy:

"Oh? Marcus and Alex were actually defeated just like that? Even after devouring Tier Seven power."

This calmness, seen through the eyes of the human-skinned monsters, only added to their unease.

"Your Majesty, the Allied Forces are unstoppable. Although the royal city's defenses are strong, the enemy can even deal with the Super Magic Cannons... Why don't we temporarily abandon the city, take the remnants of our race into hiding, and wait for a future opportunity to make a comeback!"

These words instantly drew the agreement of many.

The hall was filled with voices of plea.

However, the King slowly raised his hand, silencing the commotion. He slowly stood up, the hem of his royal robe sweeping across the steps, and spoke with a cold tone:

"Abandon? This is the opportunity our race has spent so many years trying to find."

Every noble parasitized by the human-skinned monsters froze, looking at the King in bewilderment.

They watched as the King slowly turned his head, casting his gaze into the shadows behind him.

It was a corner of the great hall untouched by candlelight, pitch black, as if it could swallow all light.

"I said there was no need to worry, right?" The King's voice sounded as if he were chatting with an old friend.

A moment later, a faint response came from the shadows. The voice was ethereal and elusive, making it impossible to tell if it belonged to a man, woman, old, or young, yet it carried a terrifyingly oppressive aura:

"Mhm."

That single, simple word instantly froze the air.

The human-skinned monsters all looked toward the shadow. Their eyes were filled with curiosity and fear, but none dared to step forward.

They did not know who was hiding in the shadows; they only knew that the existence of that figure seemed to be the King's greatest source of confidence.

The King nodded in satisfaction, turned to look at his ministers, and said in an icy tone, "All of you, step down. If the Allied Forces dare to come, we will ensure they never return, turning them into blood food for our race!"

"No matter who they are!"

Although the human-skinned monsters harbored doubts, they had no choice but to leave.

Silence returned to the great hall, leaving only the figure of the King and that bizarre shadow. In the flickering candlelight, it exuded an unspeakable eeriness.

...

In the Black Rock Territory, the meeting tent was similarly brightly lit.

Ye Chuan sat in the seat of honor, listening to the discussions of the lords from various territories below.

Kaiaolen stood to the side, a defense map of the royal city spread out in his hands, his expression solemn.

After a night of rest and reorganization, order had been restored in the Black Rock Territory. The residents voluntarily delivered rations, and many young, able-bodied men even signed up to join the army, boosting the morale of the Allied Forces even further.

Right now, what everyone cared about the most was how to capture the royal city.

"The royal city is different from the Black Rock Territory. It is the capital of the Hill Empire, and its defense system is perfected to the extreme!"

A lord with a full beard slammed the table, his tone urgent.

"There are three layers of moats outside the city, and both banks are lined with magic arrow towers and fireball magic towers. There are also heavy infantry stationed inside the city. But the hardest thing to deal with is the royal city's defensive magic array!"

Another lord wearing a mage's robe added:

"Exactly. That defensive magic array, the Shield of Hill, was jointly cast by a hundred grand mages summoned by the empire three hundred years ago. It can resist any magic attack."

"What's even more terrifying is that the array's energy source isn't magic crystals, but an underground magic ley line. Beneath the royal city lies a massive magic ore vein. The array continuously extracts magic power from the vein. As long as the vein doesn't dry up, the array will never fail."

"Not even the Super Magic Cannons?" a general asked with a frown.

The Allied Forces had previously used the Super Magic Cannons to destroy the strongholds of the royal army; it was a sharp weapon for breaching cities.

Kaiaolen shook his head and pointed at the outline of the royal city on the map:

"No. Last year, the royal army reinforced the magic array specifically to counter the bombardment of Super Magic Cannons."

"According to the news brought back by the scouts, when Prince Alex took the Super Magic Cannons on his expedition last time, the royal city specifically reserved a portion of its magic power to strengthen the array's defenses."

"Even if we concentrate all our Super Magic Cannons to bombard the city gates, we would at most leave a few cracks on the magic array. We wouldn't be able to break through the gates at all, and it would only expose our combat strength."

The meeting hall fell silent, and the lords all showed thoughtful expressions.

The sturdiness of the royal city far exceeded their imaginations. With the support of the Shield of Hill magic array, a continuous supply of energy from the underground magic ore vein, and the garrison and magic defense facilities inside the city, it was simply an impregnable fortress.

Seeing everyone like this, Ye Chuan asked, "No matter how strong the magic array is, it must have a weakness, right? It can't truly be flawless."

Kaiaolen hummed in agreement. "It does have a weakness. The core hub of the magic array is beneath the royal palace. As long as the hub is destroyed, the magic array will fail."

"But the problem is, sneaking into the royal palace to destroy the hub is as difficult as ascending to the heavens."

Ye Chuan's gaze fell on the royal city's gates on the map.

Difficult?

He could just teleport in.

No magic array could stop Ye Chuan.

"Xi Xi, do you have a way?" Kaiaolen finally set his sights on the omnipotent Ye Chuan.

Turning all impossibilities into possibilities, Ye Chuan had already become a god-like human in the eyes of most of the Allied Forces.

A god-man!

"Yeah, there are actually quite a few ways," Ye Chuan said.

Quite a few ways?

"Right." Ye Chuan spread his hands. "As everyone knows, I am a spatial mage and a summoner. I can completely go in, destroy the core of the magic array, and fight my way out from the inside."

"We don't know the situation inside. Is it really okay to leave such a task to you?" Kaiaolen asked.

However, if they were to forcibly attack the royal city, the Allied Forces would have to pay an extremely tragic price.

"Even Soren was beaten into submission by me. Do you think there's anyone inside who can cause trouble for me?" Ye Chuan asked in return.

The lords shook their heads.