On the iPad spellbook’s map, eleven red dots representing Bilis, Thorne, and others began moving toward the castle. At one entrance, they encountered a line of vigilant magical guards. Just as Ye Chu’s group had passed the guards without issue, these eleven walked by effortlessly, unhindered.
They headed straight for the goddess’s bedchamber at the castle’s centre.
Standing at the bedchamber’s door, Ye Chu frowned at the map. The large red dot for the demon had vanished, but he didn’t believe it was dead. A being that survived five thousand years in a seal wouldn’t simply perish.
“It must be hiding within those eleven people… They’re coming here,” Ye Chu said, knowing the demon’s grudge against the Black Gold Flame Dragon. He was certain it would seek the dragon egg.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve noticed something,” Cass asked, puzzled.
“They’re coming,” Ye Chu said gravely, helping Cass into the bedchamber. Green rushed over, shocked to see Cass, and supported him. Ye Chu approached the bed, shaking Debbie, who was sleeping soundly with the dragon egg. “Wake up, they’re here.”
“Mmm…” Debbie mumbled, sitting up, still clutching the egg, a trail of drool at her mouth. Half-asleep, she blinked groggily. “Time to eat?”
Ye Chu: “…”
“Oh!” Debbie snapped awake, adopting a calm, serious expression as if nothing had happened. “They’re here? Good, my magic’s mostly restored.” She discreetly wiped her drool, then noticed Cass’s pale, weakened state. “Huh? What’s wrong with the mayor?”
“Summon Afu to heal him,” Ye Chu said, briefly explaining the portal’s disappearance. “I suspect the demon breaking its seal triggered some of the castle’s defensive magic, causing the portal to vanish.”
“Then we just need to kill the demon,” Debbie nodded.
The portal’s disappearance was serious. Green’s face paled with panic, but Debbie remained unfazed. She took out her summoning key, opened a portal, and called forth Afu, the all-purpose butler.
“Miss Debbie, would you like to try my forty-third bust-enhancing massage?” Afu, in a black butler’s tailcoat, bowed as she appeared.
“What are you talking about? I don’t understand!” Debbie said, flustered.
“Forty-third?” Ye Chu said, amused. “Last time it was the fortieth. You’ve secretly tried a few more, huh? Doesn’t seem to have worked…”
“Shut up!” Debbie glared at Ye Chu, then pointed at Cass. “Afu, please heal his wounds, quickly.”
“Of course.” Afu, sensing the urgency, nodded and approached Cass. Her healing didn’t require kissing the wound; a touch was enough.
Ye Chu kept watching the dots on the map.
He noticed the dot for Tumu, the shadow swordsman. Tumu’s dot had been white, but after Ye Chu saved Cass, it turned red. On the map, Tumu, after wandering aimlessly, met Bilis and Edel’s group. They paused briefly, likely striking a deal, and Tumu joined them, heading toward the bedchamber.
“They’re almost here, and Tumu’s with them,” Ye Chu said, looking at Cass.
Cass’s wounds on his left arm and abdomen, inflicted by Tumu, were visibly healing. Hearing Ye Chu, he glanced at the spellbook, then said, “Tumu’s mine.”
For years, Tumu had been his deputy, hiding his true strength. Only during the ambush did Cass realise Tumu’s formidable skill, equal to his own. Caught off guard and shaken by Lord Kevin’s deception, Cass had lost his fighting spirit and was injured. Now, he was regaining his old fire, the swordsman’s blood rekindling.
“If possible…” Green said hesitantly, “leave Edel to me.”
Edel, the shadow magic mentor, had restrained Green in the garden, causing Valkyrie Jiji’s distraction and injury. This left Green guilt-ridden and feeling useless. He hated that feeling and wanted to face his inner conflict.
“You sure?” Ye Chu asked.
“The guild leader said attack spells require combat experience to awaken. I don’t like fighting, but I’m talented. I want to taste real battle. I don’t want to be a burden,” Green said earnestly. “I’m a gambler, and I’m ready to bet I can beat Edel.”
“Alright, I trust you,” Ye Chu nodded, then looked at Debbie.
“If the demon’s hiding among them, Jiji can handle it,” Debbie said. “And that creepy summoner Bilis is mine too.”
“You sure you can handle it?” Ye Chu asked, concerned. Debbie was only a beginner magic mentor, limited to summoning one spirit. After summoning Jiji, she’d be an ordinary girl. How could she face Bilis? And Jiji’s magic consumption was immense.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Debbie smiled confidently. “I can only summon one spirit, but summoners don’t just fight with spirits. I have another way to deal with Bilis, and Jiji’s magic supply won’t be an issue, though…”
Debbie looked worried, as did Cass and Green, glancing at Ye Chu.
With Tumu, twelve skilled enemies were approaching. If they handled the demon, Edel, Bilis, and Tumu, that left eight for Ye Chu to face alone?
This fight was far from fair.
“No problem, I’ll take the rest,” Ye Chu said confidently.
On his map, they all appeared as red dots, full of hostility, eager to kill him. Ye Chu, or Wade, had no real connection to them, but their resentment stemmed from his defiance. It was infuriating.
But killing him required them to be capable enough.
Ye Chu, a magic mentor awakened for less than a month, couldn’t match these seasoned adventurers in open combat. But here, he had an unmatched advantage.
Looking at the moving dots on his iPad spellbook’s map, he smirked coldly. “Let them taste a shadow assassin with a full map!”
About five minutes later, in the grand hall outside the goddess’s bedchamber, Thorne, Bilis, Edel, Tumu, and the twelve others arrived. Ye Chu, Debbie, Cass, and Green stood on the platform before the goddess’s throne, awaiting them…
