The further Leilin followed the direction indicated by the dagger, the more remote and desolate the surroundings became.
The clamor of Pirate's Port seemed to gradually recede and dissipate, replaced by a creeping sense of gloom and isolation that began to coil around him.
This feeling grew markedly stronger once he descended a flight of stone steps.
"Quite the stroll into the underworld!"
Leilin smiled. A wizard's extraordinary senses had already detected three waves of hidden watchers lurking in the shadows.
The sun overhead was swallowed by massive storm clouds, casting down an enormous shroud of darkness.
Leilin pressed his palm against a moss-covered grey rock, and a gap immediately appeared in the adjacent wall.
Without a moment's hesitation, he slipped inside, all the while feeling several piercing gazes stab into his body.
Behind the wall stretched a very short passage, ending at a wooden door fitted with iron rings.
Clang, clang! Leilin rapped the iron rings directly, sending a long echo reverberating through the space.
Creeeak! The door panel swung open a sliver, revealing the face of an old man holding an oil lamp.
The muscles on the old man's face had nearly all withered away. Under the unsteady flicker of the lamp, he looked almost like a dried corpse, his two eyeballs dull and barely moving.
"The night is always lonely!" the old man said slowly, his voice hoarse and dry, as though he hadn't spoken in ages.
"For those who seek to find the light!" Leilin smiled, a dagger dancing into his hand and spinning with the delicacy of a butterfly.
"Come in! Brother of the darkness!"
The old man gave Leilin a long, deep look, then opened the wooden door.
By the light of the old man's oil lamp, Leilin could make out a deep, pitch-black tunnel stretching ahead, as if plunging straight into the heart of the earth.
Yet as he kept walking, the faint sounds growing in the distance steadily increased in volume, until they eventually resembled the roar of a bustling marketplace.
Two massive doors were flung open, revealing a far grander underground world.
What greeted Leilin's eyes was a hall carved out of a subterranean cavern. It teemed with all manner of people, though most wore scarves over their faces, leaving only pairs of guarded, watchful eyes visible.
Nearby stood several rows of wooden structures, and a enormous bulletin board loomed at the front, with a crowd of masked figures pointing at it and murmuring amongst themselves.
Though the assembled people kept their voices deliberately low, the sheer number of conversations blended into a constant hum.
"Welcome to the Thieves' Guild! Kid, is this your first time?"
A lanky, beanpole-thin figure sidled up immediately, forcing a stiff smile onto his face. "Need a guide? I—"
"No." Leilin refused flatly.
This was the entire underworld of Pirate's Port. How could there possibly be decent people here? Even those you hired—once you showed the slightest weakness, they would pounce on you like wolves and tear you apart, dividing every last scrap of your belongings!
"Sir, I—" The beanpole-thin man clearly wanted to say more.
"Get lost!" Leilin spared him a single glance, and that killing aura—forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood—sent the man stumbling back several steps in succession.
Having killed someone didn't mean much in this place; at least everyone here had a life or two on their hands. But Leilin's killing intent was something else entirely—it belonged to someone who had walked through genuine battlefields, even survived multiple blood-soaked brawls to the death. That said everything about how dangerous he was.
As a thief, knowing your own limits was equally essential.
The beanpole-thin man let out an awkward laugh, then melted into the darkness. He had a hunch that if he lingered here any longer, what happened next would make him regret it.
"So this is the darkness…"
Sensing the bloodlust and brutality flowing through the air, along with that pure, undiluted malice—Leilin, himself a dark wizard by origin, wore an expression of nostalgia on his face.
He gave the surroundings a casual sweep, then began making his way toward the enormous bulletin board.
The closer he got, the larger the board seemed to grow, until it looked almost like a small hill.
The magical lettering upon it shifted and shimmered. Maintaining this effect alone must cost at least several dozen gold coins per day—a luxury that earned a quiet nod of approval from Leilin.
"Mission: Track down the whereabouts of a shipment of silk!"
"Mission: Investigate the cause and circumstances of the pirates' annihilation on Mermaid Island!"
"Mission: Assassinate Baroness Loling!"
"Intelligence for sale: Recent shipping routes of the Haiger Trading Company!" "Poison formula for sale: Tears of the Ink Forest! Inquire within!"
A flood of information and messages flickered across the board. The assassination and investigation quests, in particular, drew a surprised murmur from Leilin: "I didn't expect news of the affair on Mermaid Island to reach here so quickly. And to openly post assassination bounties against nobles…"
The only impression this place gave Leilin was one of madness. As long as you had money, these assassins would dare do anything!
Leilin's eyes locked onto the board without wavering, while the Chip rapidly scanned and consolidated the numerous missions into a coherent picture.
Even from the mission titles alone, Leilin gained a clearer understanding of the situation in the outer seas.
"Sin and chaos… I like it…" Even glimpsing this single corner of the underworld was enough for Leilin to know that the outer seas were far from the tranquil picture they appeared to be on the surface.
Countless forces of resistance lurked in the shadows, poised to deliver a lethal strike against Marquis Louis at any moment—to shatter the Bodhi Archipelago's monopoly once and for all and seize its wealth and resources!
Once the Chip signaled that all the information had been fully recorded, Leilin walked straight toward the wooden buildings at the rear.
Numerous passageways immediately materialized before him, branching out like a dense spider's web.
Figures radiating dangerous auras flickered in and out of Leilin's perception at intervals, though their outlines remained frustratingly vague.
"This feeling… a barrier of divine power? And it seems to be from a god I'm familiar with…"
Leilin smirked coldly and strode forward.
Tsss—the void split apart at that very instant. A slither of frigid gleam, like a viper's tongue, thrust directly at Leilin's throat.
The assassin's rank was evidently formidable—so much so that they had nearly slipped past Leilin's detection entirely.
Only in the instant the assassin struck, when killing intent surged like a torrent, did Leilin finally pin down their exact position.
"Arcane Shield!
Two layers of spell defense materialized around Leilin in the blink of an eye.
But at the same moment, he caught the cold glint in the assassin's eyes behind the dagger—and the unmistakable shimmer of a divine spell.
**Dispel Magic!** Under the radiant brilliance, the defensive spells on Leilin's body crumbled to nothing, exposing the flicker of surprise in his gaze.
The assassin's dagger slashed ruthlessly toward Leilin's neck, carrying an air of relentless determination.
An ordinary wizard struck by the divine spell of **Dispel Magic** would need at least several moments to reestablish a connection with the
After all, a wizard stripped of spellcasting was no different from an ordinary person against a physical combatant.
**[Ding! Host is affected by divine magic. Temporary loss of connection with the 2nd and 3rd layers of the Weave. Countdown: 5 seconds!]** The Chip's alert flashed across his vision simultaneously. But curiously, there was no mention of the 0th or 1st layer of the Weave—and Leilin could still feel that his ability to draw upon those layers remained intact.
"So that's how it is. A Weave that has been fully analyzed is immune to this kind of isolation attack?"
At this moment, Leilin could easily have instant-cast 0th and 1st level spells to overwhelm the ambusher. But he immediately dismissed the thought.
Abnormal abilities that far exceeded the norm would only invite suspicion, which was highly disadvantageous in his current situation.
"Since it specifically targets my body's native spellcasting… then in that case…"
A spell scroll materialized in Leilin's hand and burst into terrifying radiance almost instantly.
"A fourth-ring spell!!!" the assassin gasped in alarm. At the same time, they felt their dagger strike something as unyielding as the hardest granite—not advancing a single inch!
"Fourth-level spell—Stoneskin! You wretched maggot—you've forced me to burn a scroll this precious!"
Feigned fury twisted Leilin's features.
At this moment, his entire body was encased in a layer of stone-like skin, making him look as though he wore a suit of petrified armor.
This was Stoneskin, a fourth-level spell whose defensive power ranked among the very best in any spell repertoire.
The scroll itself had been given to Leilin by
A fourth-level spell scroll—even if not priceless, it was an extremely precious item. Leilin's anger was entirely understandable.
"This is no place for you!"
The assassin's voice was low and hoarse as they retreated rapidly.
"Now you want to run?"
Leilin's face was contorted with fury as he threw his fist forward.
Bang! The tip of the dagger snapped clean off against the stone-sheathed fist. Leilin's fist kept going, carrying devastating force directly into the assassin's body.
"Pff!"
A layer of defense shattered on impact, and the assassin's body was sent flying backward, a conspicuous fist-shaped imprint blooming across their chest.
"No one… no one has ever dared treat me like this. I'll kill you… I'll kill you…"
The assassin ripped away their mask, revealing a sinister, sallow face, blood oozing from the corner of their lips.
"We'll see who dies first!"
Leilin pressed forward with heavy strides, undisguised killing intent written across his face.
"Distinguished guest! Please forgive his rashness!" At some unknown point, a figure shrouded head to toe in a black robe had stepped into the middle of the arena. A beam of divine light shot from the figure straight into the assassin.
Beneath that radiance, the injuries on the assassin's body began to mend at an astonishing rate.
"**Cure Serious Wounds!** A third-level divine spell!"
Leilin's pupils contracted as he caught sight of the holy emblem on the figure's chest.