Chapter 202

Chapter 202

Dead?!

Unable to see Yuan Sen Sebo, Lin was momentarily unable to make a judgment.

The vines, invaded and attacked by mental magic, were destroyed in a brilliant silver glow. With the disappearance of the vines, Lin lost the clue to track Yuan Sen Sebo.

Even though this clue would have vanished when Yuan Sen Sebo decided to cut off the spell, Lin’s direct emotional explosion was already a last-ditch effort.

But what was the result of this last-ditch effort?

Was that guy dead? Or severely injured?

At the very least, it should have caused her a minor brain hemorrhage, right?

In the mirror fragments, the silver eyes reflecting Lin disappeared; they blinked and exchanged glances, hesitating for a moment.

In reality, Lin's main consciousness had not returned to the divine realm but was still answering others' questions. At the critical moment just now, he paused as if deliberating how to phrase his response.

Then he realized he couldn't get an immediate answer, so to avoid arousing suspicion, he resumed answering questions.

The roar of a lion sounded at that moment:

"Heng Ruaken!!!"

Shadows, shadows that should not have been there, appeared from beneath Lin's feet.

This was strange because the entire Communications Section office, and even the Tribunal Headquarters after the seal was broken, were illuminated by the light points emanating from Solomon.

These light points, in a sense, acted like operating room lights, illuminating everyone from all angles, leaving no shadow in the headquarters except for a few enclosed spaces.

But now, the shadow defied physical laws and appeared.

The deep darkness seemed like a portal to another world, and Lin indeed felt his feet give way, causing him to fall directly from his chair.

Lin, whose mind was still partly on Yuan Sen Sebo, only managed to stand up—

He had no time to react; half of his body had already fallen into the shadow!

"Lin!"

Several people shouted.

Hui Cui, who lunged forward, grabbed Lin's hand, but the time it took for him to reach Lin allowed the upper half of Lin's body to sink into the darkness. If Hui Cui hadn't caught Lin's hand in time, Lin would have been completely swallowed by the darkness.

Now, he was almost entirely engulfed. Hui Cui pulled him upward with such force that the veins on his back stood out. But Lin felt someone else below the darkness gripping his ankle, pulling him down with equal strength.

Solomon, who reacted first, was actually a step slower than Hui Cui.

Because in the broad perception of the apostle, when the shadow appeared under Lin's feet, the light outside also began to fade.

Outside the headquarters, amidst the citizens' cries of alarm, the same darkness spread layer by layer.

The third floor, fourth floor, fifth floor... the lights of Spire City went out one by one until the geothermal power plant and the Temple of the Dragon of Light, located five kilometers underground, seemingly sensed something and suddenly fired beams of light filled with the power of light magic up through the city's major elevator shafts, barely stopping the darkness from swallowing the entire city!

Immediately, church bells rang out, and emergency sirens sounded within the Tribunal.

Solomon, who was about to rush to Lin's side, could only raise the light sword in his hand.

Then he released it, and the light sword fell, its light expanding dramatically.

The sword, formed from condensed light, grew from over a meter to hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye! It pierced through the floors of the city enveloped in darkness, one by one!

The long sword, which had penetrated dozens of floors, emitted a blinding light, illuminating the darkness. The citizens below, who were stunned by the darkness, were momentarily blinded by the light sword.

Fortunately, the discomfort in their eyes was temporary. If Solomon didn't dispel the darkness, most of Spire City would likely be trapped in the Shadow Realm, unable to return to reality.

Indeed, ordinary shadow walkers only dared to traverse shadows, and even entering deeper parts of the Shadow Realm was risky due to the threat of fiends.

But Heng Ruaken, known as the "King of Shadows," as an apostle of the Black Sun, could not only move freely in the Shadow Realm but could also pull the Shadow Realm into the real world!

Or rather, Heng Ruaken himself was almost part of the Shadow Realm, a small Shadow Realm capable of existing in the real world. If he suffered a fatal injury, he would immediately return to the Shadow Realm.

After two or three decades of recuperation in the Shadow Realm, he could fully recover and reappear.

Previous apostles of the Black Sun could not do this, and Solomon analyzed that it might be because they often had multiple roles, unlike Heng Ruaken, who followed the pure path of shadows.

Not having multiple roles limited Heng Ruaken's power but also gave him advantages. Until a way was found to sever the connection between Heng Ruaken and the Shadow Realm—such as tricking Heng Ruaken into a seal—Solomon could only repeatedly inflict fatal injuries on Heng Ruaken, forcing him to retreat to the Shadow Realm to prevent him from causing more damage in the real world.

Heng Ruaken, of course, did not want this. Although he could still remotely command the Shadowblade while recovering in the Shadow Realm, it was not a comfortable place, and he yearned to enjoy the real world.

Over two hundred years, Solomon and Heng Ruaken developed a small understanding.

That is, as long as Heng Ruaken did not use the Shadow Realm to swallow the real world, Solomon would slow down the speed at which he killed him.

When Heng Ruaken fled earlier, Solomon anchored the meeting room with the light sword to prevent Heng Ruaken from pulling the Shadow Realm in out of anger.

Heng Ruaken knew Solomon's preemptive move was a precaution, so he fled without looking back.

But why did he come back now?!

With rage burning, Solomon's mane bristled. He anchored Spire City with the light sword that pierced through the floors, temporarily preventing the upper half of the city from being swallowed by the Shadow Realm. However, he could feel the Shadow Realm still trying to rise, constantly struggling against his light sword.

The Shadow Realm, of course, could not struggle.

It was Heng Ruaken! He was still desperately pulling the Shadow Realm, trying to cover the real world!

As for Heng Ruaken himself, he had transformed into a small Shadow Realm connected to the larger one, the very darkness in which Lin was now trapped!

Solomon came to Hui Cui's side.

He conjured a second light sword and pointed it at the darkness on the ground, but did not strike immediately.

If he inflicted a fatal wound on Heng Rukan now, the latter would take the shadow realm he had pulled up with him into the abyss.

But Lin was already ensnared in the darkness and would be dragged into the shadow realm as well!

This was why Hui Cui hadn't fired her gun, and Solomon couldn't make a move either.

On the contrary, Heng Rukan, with no reservations, continued to expand himself. Hui Cui, while pulling Lin to prevent him from being dragged down, used her telekinetic powers to fling the ritualists and communicators who were half-stepping into the edge of the darkness away.

She even broke through the walls to clear the crowd that had been congested at the Communications Section office front desk. But just this distraction to protect others left Lin, whose arm was still outside, now only with his wrist above the darkness.

Just as Hui Cui tried to pull Lin up a bit more, one of the ritualists moved too slowly and fell in.

There were too many ritualists here just now.

Heng Rukan expanded far too quickly.

If he wasn't killed soon, this guy would swallow the entire first district of the headquarters!

Caught in this dilemma, Solomon wouldn't ask how it had come to this; he understood what Heng Rukan wanted.

Even if he couldn't find the motive for Heng Rukan to engage in a mutually destructive battle, he had to make a decision now.

Was the suspected thought form of Mirror Pupil more important? Or was Spire City, which was under threat, more important?

Solomon took a deep breath, suppressing the shadow realm outside while preparing to speak.

At that moment, he saw Lin, whose body was invisible except for his hand, extend his other hand out of the darkness.

Solomon reached out to grab it, but the hand waved and then made a downward gesture.

Hui Cui's pupils constricted sharply.

Solomon fell silent for a moment, his eyes flashing with determination. "The shadow realm was once part of the Black Sun God's kingdom, merely separated by Him. It is very difficult for ritualists to survive inside. Do you understand, Judge Lin?"

Lin's hand continued to point downward.

"..." Solomon said solemnly, "Alright, but you must do your best to return to reality."

After speaking, he turned to look at Hui Cui. "Hui Cui, from now on, the Spire City Court will temporarily be under my direct command. Are you ready?"

Hui Cui, kneeling on the ground, did not answer, but a black and white interwoven magical glow emanated from her body.

Solomon understood her response, and the bright yellow glow around him also began to shine.

The numerous guns floating behind Hui Cui seemed to be held by an invisible hand, aiming at the darkness below, with contradictory scriptures appearing at their muzzles.

Solomon, gripping his longsword with both hands, suddenly found that what he held was not just a sword but a luminous dragon illuminating the entire Spire City!

The magic of the two apostles erupted simultaneously, attacking the nearby Heng Rukan, who had transformed into a small shadow realm.

The entire Spire City shook! The madman didn't even try to dodge! The darkness, along with Lin inside, dissolved directly under the attack!

But not only did he take Lin with him, he also took Hui Cui, who had jumped into the darkness during the attack.

Several minutes later, the blinding glow that filled Spire City finally faded, and the shadow realm that had threatened to engulf the city returned to its original position.

In the devastated Communications Section office, only Solomon stood.

The LionMan fell into deep thought.

At the moment he killed—though not truly killed—Heng Rukan, he finally saw Heng Rukan's human form.

Heng Rukan's brown eyes were chaotic, a sign of being forcibly manipulated by a Desire Spell.

That disciple of the Silver Moon Maiden, Yuan Sen Sebo?

What made her decide to antagonize the Shadowblade to do this?

No, no, it was more likely the Silver Moon Maiden herself behind her.

"The shadow realm was once the god kingdom of the Black Sun, and it still retains some characteristics of a god kingdom..." Solomon murmured. "It behaves differently towards humans and gods, even if this god is still bound by a thought form.

"He wasn't venting anger over his avatar dying at Lin's hands; He wanted to confirm Lin's true identity... He also suspects that Lin is a thought form of the Dream God!"