Chapter 74: Chapter 74: Light in the Darkness
Vielsia stood frozen in place.
She seemed to be in disbelief due to the immense shock.
Her self-transcending, powerful Forest Magic Arrow, comparable to a fifth-tier spell, was effortlessly destroyed with a single slap? The girl were completely in a dazed state.
She was at a loss.
But Shermen wouldn't wait for Vielsia.
The order she received from the king was to give this elf despair.
So, Like a tidal wave, the darkness began to rapidly spread from beneath Shermen's cloak, engulfing every trace of light with a viscous shadow.
In the blink of an eye, the entire underground chamber plunged into absolute darkness.
The shadow, in which one couldn't see their own fingers, seemed to weave a tight spider web in this place.
And at the very center of this "Shadow Net," a helpless prey Vielsia was trapped with no means of escape.
Shermen activated her domain skill.
'If I remembered correctly, it should be called Shadow World'
Significantly reducing the enemy's hit rate, all targeted single-skill effects in the Shadow World were practically invalid, greatly lowering the enemy's speed and action turns.
Reji recalled that during his battle with the Shadow Apostle's BOSS, after Shermen opened the "Shadow World," she could easily circle around his character in just one turn.
Various skill evasions also caused Reji endless headaches.
Later, Reji carefully analyzed and researched, relying on various "Entrench" skills to increase his own attribute values, engaging in a defensive counterattack battle, not actively attacking Shermen in the Shadow World, specifically waiting for her to attack him first, then triggering counterattack skills, and barely surviving with his sturdy defense, eventually managing to defeat Shermen.
Snapping back from the memories of his previous life.
In this darkness, Reji could see everything clearly, as if he had gained night vision. This was due to Shermen sharing her senses with him.
So, the current Reji could clearly see Vielsia, who had completely lost her formation in the center of the "Shadow World."
The darkness had blinded the elf princess, and the shadows had sealed off all of Vielsia's perceptions.
'Hhe, she seemed to lack real combat experience'
In her panic and confusion, Vielsia hastily cast spells, wildly throwing them into the surrounding darkness. However, Reji could clearly see that all of Vielsia's spells hit nothing but air, wasting her Mana.
Using an area-of-effect spell could have been an option.
But the prerequisite would be that the range of this area-of-effect spell must be large enough to cover the entire Shadow World domain.
However, it was evident that the current Vielsia did not possess this ability.
"Ugh...ha..." After casting several nature spells, Vielsia panted heavily, kneeling on one knee. Her mana was depleted, and she felt exhausted.
As the prey struggled, exhausted its strength, and grew weary, it was time to "close the net."
A shadowy hand condensed from the darkness beside Vielsia.
Her innate talent warned her, but her depleted mana left her unable to resist. The shadowy hand easily seized the elf girl, clenching her like a pair of pliers in its palm.
If this were a real battle, Vielsia's fate would already be sealed.
She would be directly crushed to death by the shadowy hand.
However, Reji ordered Shermen to give the elf princess despair, not to kill her. So, in this situation, Shermen controlled the shadowy hand, tossing the elf aside once more.
*Bang!*
Vielsia crashed to the ground, and pain immediately spread throughout her body. But compared to the pain, the elf princess felt even more fear.
Vielsia struck so hard, regained her senses.
She realized that this dark shadow surrounding her was likely the legendary domain skill.
What a concept.
Among all the elves, only the "Great Elder" could barely unleash a domain skill. Although it was a sixth-tier spell, its difficulty was no less than that of a seventh, or even an eighth or ninth-tier spell.
This was because domain skills were unique and required extremely high proficiency and insight in a specific domain to comprehend and master the exclusive secret technique.
Even a thousand years ago, when the elves were still prosperous, elves who could comprehend domain skills were extremely rare and were all considered the pride of the elf race.
But...
'The current range and strength of this domain skill...'
'This was not an ordinary shadow demon.'
'At least, it was a "Lord-level" shadow demon among the demon race.'
'Or even...'
'An Apostle of the Demon King!'
*Slap!*
A giant palm formed from the shadows attacked Vielsia once more. This time, the elf had learned her lesson and didn't randomly cast attack spells. Instead, she created a dark green defensive shield around herself.
However, the shield was as fragile as paper under the giant shadow palm, shattering upon impact. Vielsia was once again sent flying by the giant palm, following a parabolic trajectory before crashing into the wall and falling softly to the ground.
Gritting her silver teeth, Vielsia climbed up from the ground.
But her previous determination to fight the demon race and her desire for revenge had completely vanished after realizing she might be facing a legendary "Apostle Shadow Demon."
All that remained of the elf was her trembling body, beyond her control.
All that remained was the chilling cold.
All that remained...
Were her once bright amber eyes, now filled with the despair of dead ash.
Indeed.
The mere two word Demon Apostle had already come to symbolize despair for countless worlds conquered by the demon race.
'It is hopeless...'
'It is Impossible to defeat this monster...'
Even the Great Elder at the peak of his power would struggle to contend with an Apostle. What could Vielsia, a young elf of just over a hundred years, use to fight?
After being struck and sent flying like a toy by Shermen's shadow hand once more, Vielsia, lying on the ground, gave up completely. It was as if she were a drowning person, surrendering to the black tide that engulfed her.
'I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Great Elder'
'I'm sorry, everyone in the Elven race.'
'I'm sorry, Mother.'
'I'm sorry... Teacher Reji.'
'It's over'
'Is this how my life end?'
Vielsia had just closed her eyes, accepting her fate of being consumed by the Shadow World.
But unexpectedly, in the next moment, a ray of light shot out from the darkness. This was not a metaphor; there was genuinely a dazzling light blossoming within the Shadow World.
"Mana Combustion."
"Illumination."
The bewildered Vielsia opened her eyes and saw a figure approaching her, stepping through the darkness.
Reji's entire body was burning with magical power, which in turn produced a brilliant light that dispelled the shadows.
As Reji drew closer, the darkness retreated inch by inch, the light returned, and Vielsia's lost senses came back. The bone-chilling cold rapidly dissipated.
Vielsia watched as Reji continued forward without stopping.
This young teacher walked past her, confronting the darkness of the Shadow World and the shadow demon that had instilled both fear and despair in her.
The human young man was not strong, far weaker than hers.
But her teacher never showed an ounce of cowardice or hesitation. It was as if this determination also affected the spell, and the power of light was infinitely amplified, illuminating the entire underground chamber.
Bang!
The Shadow World shattered.
The underground chamber returned to its original state, with only the black hole near Professor Yeno's corpse serving as a reminder that everything that had just happened was not an illusion.
"Now! Hurry, Vielsia!"
Reji's urgent voice brought the stunned elf back to her senses.
Vielsia quickly understood Reji's meaning. She could feel that the terrifying shadow demon had retreated into the black hole to avoid the light.
And now, with Reji's Illumination spell ending, the horrifying presence in the black hole was about to emerge once more.
The elf made a swift decision, gathering every last bit of her mana and shooting another arrow towards the black hole with all her might.
Fortunately, this arrow did not disappoint her.
The green magical arrow successfully pierced the black hole, and the powerful shadow demon that had made her tremble with fear seemed to have lost its "portal" and could no longer appear. It had vanished completely.
'Did'
'Did we succeed?'
Feeling as if she had walked through the gates of hell and escaped death, the exhilarated Vielsia wanted to find Reji and run towards her savior, her most incredible teacher and mentor.
But Reji...
*Bam*
Reji collapsed.
"Oh no TEACHER"
Vielsia, whose face had turned pale, rushed over and successfully caught her "unconscious" professor in her arms.