Chapter 246: Escape
Midnight cloaked the alley in shadow, save for the dim yellow glow of a lone streetlamp, casting its feeble light onto the wall—where an old, dried-up bloodstain lingered like a silent warning.
From deeper within the darkness came faint, skittering noises—mice gnawing at scraps, the soft flapping of bat wings. A thin veil of mist curled through the narrow passage.
Olivia, draped in her long robe, halted mid-step, her silver-gray eyes narrowing. She stood still, one hand gripping her staff tightly.
“Something… isn’t right here.”
A frown tugged at her brow. From the moment she’d entered the city, she’d sensed a creeping, unnatural weight pressing down on the fabric of magic—thick as mud, suffocating, making spellcasting sluggish and strained. Worse still, any attempt to invoke spatial teleportation spells was utterly blocked. The very air felt like solid steel, sealed and unyielding.
She recognized it instantly—this was a realm of anti-magic, a field designed to suppress magical energy. But the sheer scale of it left her stunned. Her caution sharpened to a razor’s edge.
For a mage, such a place was deadly. One misstep, one lapse in focus, and disaster could strike without warning.
Could those evil dragon’s minions have already found me?
Her thoughts snapped back to the human she’d just encountered—his strange behavior, the unnatural stillness in his eyes. A cold shiver ran down her spine.
No… that’s impossible.
How could he be a servant of the Evil Dragon?
She clenched her jaw, whispering under her breath.
Olivia had assumed the man was merely afraid of the tyrannical regime. But now, reexamining the moment, she saw the truth: beneath his fear was something else—frenzied excitement, a fanatical hunger.
Her mistake had been arrogance. The Silver Dragon had never cared about human reactions—only about the intelligence she sought. And that blind confidence had nearly cost her everything.
Whoosh—
A howling wind swept through the alley, like the lament of some unknown beast—or the tortured scream of a dying spirit.
Without hesitation, Olivia drew a pinch of silver dust from her sleeve and flung it before her eyes. Her lips moved in a low, incantation.
Though the weave of magic was choked here, low-level spells still came easily.
[See Invisible]
[Darkvision]
Her eyes flared with a soft, silvery glow.
Instantly, her vision cleared—she saw through the shadows, revealing every hidden shape lurking in the dark.
—Dozens of pale-faced vampires crouched in ambush, their lips curled into cruel grins. Some gripped daggers, others nocked short bows, a few dragged chains behind them. They crept forward in silence, climbing the walls like spiders, closing in on the lone figure in the long robe—preparing to devour her whole.
These Nocturne hunters were patient. They played with sound, weaving dread into the air, drawing their prey into psychological collapse. They relished the moment when fear overcame reason.
“Damn,” Olivia muttered, her expression hardening.
“This is the Nocturne? That stench… blood and decay. It’s repulsive.”
She recognized the evil undead instantly.
And the vampires, sensing they’d been exposed, bared their fangs and lunged from the shadows.
“Dare to intrude upon the Nocturne’s domain? You shall know eternal sleep!”
“Surrender now. You’ll never see tomorrow’s sun…”
“We may spare you, outsider. If you’re lucky.”
Their voices were raspy, hollow—like echoes from a tomb.
Thorns of trouble.
With a swift sweep of her staff, Olivia summoned a shimmering, glowing barrier—crystalline spheres forming around her, sealing her in a radiant dome.
[Wall of Goodness]
This spell anchored itself to one side of a surface, halting evil creatures from crossing it.
The charging vampires slammed into the barrier—frozen mid-lunge, trapped as if struck by a spell of stillness. They could only glare, helpless, at their prey just out of reach.
Olivia tapped her staff once.
A piercing gust of cold wind roared through the alley. From the ground, a wall of ice erupted, freezing the trapped vampires solid—each still frozen mid-attack, their grotesque faces twisted in eternal rage.
Zing!
From afar, a volley of poisoned arrows streaked through the air.
Olivia’s long robe flared—its disguise shattered—revealing a brilliant, star-like radiance beneath. The magic-laden light flared, intercepting every arrow mid-flight.
Boom!
One arrow detonated upon impact, blasting Olivia backward. She flew through the air, crashing hard into the wall.
But she was protected—Protection from Energy Damage, Mage Armor, and other wards held firm. No fatal wounds. Only bruising, pain, and a pounding heart.
Still, she pressed herself against the wall, breathing hard. The sounds around her grew louder—more terrifying.
—Goblin line infantry marched in perfect formation.
—Ogre tribesmen stomped forward with heavy, thunderous steps.
—Wyverns screeched, clawing at the sky, claiming the night.
This isn’t working.
If I don’t leave now, I’ll be surrounded.
She reached for the teleportation spell—her last hope. But the space around her remained locked, unyielding, as if forged from iron. No spell, no matter how powerful, could break it. Even her full might failed.
How…?
Her teeth clenched. Cold sweat trickled down her temple.
With enemies closing in from all sides, Olivia raised her staff high. The magic crystal at its tip blazed with a sudden, blinding light.
[Shining Net]
Ribbons of luminous energy shot across the ground, weaving through the air like threads of starlight—connecting, entangling the vampires in a pulsing, radiant web.
The undead shrieked as the light burned them—sunlight’s curse, even in shadow. Their bodies writhed, aflame.
Olivia staggered, breath ragged, her face pale.
In a realm where magic was suppressed, even a fourth-level spell drained her to the bone.
Then—a flicker of movement.
One vampire, using the power of Blood Mist, slipped through the barriers undetected. Silent as death, it appeared behind her—its dagger flashing through the air.
Shink!
The blade cut through the air, tearing through Olivia’s robe and piercing her back.
“Gah—!”
She cried out in pain.
But in that instant, her eyes flared—spines of light erupting from her pupils. A shockwave exploded outward, a sonic blast of raw force.
The vampire was torn apart, hurled backward like a ragdoll, splattering into fragments midair.
A thick cloud of mist bloomed where Olivia had stood—only to reveal empty space.
The vampires surged forward, but found nothing.
Pant… pant…
At the far end of the alley, Olivia staggered forward, her form cloaked in invisibility. Blood seeped from her wound, staining the long robe, dripping to the ground. To any ordinary eye, the bloodstains seemed to appear from nowhere—phantom traces left behind by a ghost.
She was fleeing.
She was alive.
But the night was far from over.
(End of Chapter)
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