Escape

In the dead of night, the alley was shrouded in gloom, save for the dim, yellow glow of a streetlamp that revealed dried bloodstains long crusted onto the walls. From the deeper shadows came faint rustling sounds—the gnawing of rats over scraps and the fluttering of bat wings. A thin mist crept through the passage. Clad in robes, Olivia halted and stood still. "Something here... doesn't feel right." Her brow furrowed slightly as she tightened her grip on her staff. From the moment she had entered the city, Olivia had felt a bizarre force thickening the Weave in this area into something like dense sludge, making it difficult to cast spells freely. Spatial teleportation spells were barred entirely; space here felt as rigid as forged steel. She knew this was a field akin to an antimagic aura, yet its staggering expanse filled her with shock and drove her vigilance to its peak, demanding extreme caution. For a wizard in such a domain, any slip of carelessness could invite horrific consequences. "Could that evil dragon's minions have discovered me already?" Recalling the human's peculiar behavior from earlier, Olivia's expression shifted drastically. "Impossible..." "How could he be an accomplice to an evil dragon?" She gritted her teeth, murmuring under her breath. Olivia had assumed the human was merely terrified of the wicked regime. But looking back now, she saw the telltale flaws. She finally understood what had felt so strange earlier without her being able to put a finger on it—beneath his demeanor lay not just nervousness, but an excitement and fanaticism he could hardly conceal. As a silver dragon, she had paid little heed to the human's reactions, focusing only on extracting the information she sought. It was that very arrogance that had brought this upon her! *Whoosh—* A howling wind swept past, like the wailing of an unknown beast or the mournful shrieks of specters. Without hesitation, Olivia pinched a dash of silver powder, scattered it before her eyes, and chanted an incantation under her breath. Though the Weave was suppressed here, casting low-tier spells remained relatively effortless for her. *See Invisibility.* *Darkvision.* A faint glimmer shone from her blue-gray eyes. In an instant, Olivia's vision turned razor-sharp, laying bare everything hidden within the darkness. Lurking in the shadows were more than a dozen pale-faced vampires, cruel smiles playing upon their lips. Some gripped daggers, some drew shortbows, and others dragged heavy chains. They closed in from all sides, crawling along the walls like spiders, eager to devour this robed intruder whole. These operatives of Nocturne possessed immense patience. They continually generated frightening sounds and advanced in eerie, contorted postures, practiced in breaking their prey's will and dragging them into captivity. "Not good. Vampires." "Is this the so-called 'Nocturne'? This stench of blood is sickening." Olivia's expression turned grave. She recognized these evil undead in an instant. Sensing that their target had spotted them, the vampires bared sharp fangs and lunged from the shadows. "Intruders who dare trespass upon the kingdom shall receive eternal sleep from Nocturne!" "Surrender, or you will never see tomorrow's sun..." "We might consider sparing your life, outsider." The vampires rasped in low whispers. "Troublesome creatures." Olivia swept her staff through the air, conjuring a shimmering spherical barrier that enveloped her entire body. *Wall of Good.* This spell took effect on one side of the barrier, halting the advance of evil creatures. The vampires lunging straight toward her froze instantly in place, as though bound by a hold spell, unable to advance even an inch. They could only glare helplessly at their prize, so close yet out of reach. With a light tap of Olivia's staff, a biting gale whipped up, and a frost-laden wall of ice thrust up from the ground, encasing the trapped vampires within. Frozen inside the ice wall, the vampires remained locked in their pouncing postures, their twisted expressions grotesque and menacing. *Swoosh—* Vampires in the distance unleashed volleys of poison-tipped arrows. The disguise upon Olivia's robes dropped away, flaring with starlike brilliance. Imbued with magical power, the starlight deflected every arrow. *Boom!* Yet one arrow detonated violently upon striking the ward, hurling her several meters back until she slammed hard against the wall. Fortunately, Olivia still had multiple abjurations active—including Protection from Energy and Mage Armor—which shielded her from harm. Leaning against the wall with a grim countenance, Olivia seemed to hear mounting clamor all around and glimpsed an even more terrifying scene: Hobgoblin line infantry regiments marching in locked, disciplined ranks, ogres thudding forward with earth-shaking treads, and wyverns roaring as they filled the sky. "This can't go on." "If I don't leave now, I'll only draw more enemies." Olivia instinctively reached to cast Teleport to escape this perilous trap, only to feel space holding firm like a wall of cast iron. Ordinary magic could not budge it in the slightest; even channeling all her strength yielded the same result. "How could this be...?" She gritted her teeth, cold sweat dripping from her forehead. Facing the converging host of foes, Olivia had no choice but to grip her staff tightly and thrust it high. The magic crystal at its tip flared with blinding light. *Glittering Web.* Ribbons of radiance surfaced along the ground, weaving between the vampires until they formed an intricate, luminous web. The vampires were snared and bound where they stood, their light-shunning flesh catching fire. Olivia panted for breath, her face slightly pale. In a domain that suppressed the Weave, casting even a fourth-tier spell had drained nearly all her energy. Yet at that exact instant, a vampire who had turned into blood mist slipped past her layered wards. He materialized silently behind Olivia, thrusting a dagger straight toward her unguarded back. With the hiss of a blade slicing through the air, the dagger—wreathed in necrotic mist—tore through her robe and pierced her flesh. "Ugh—!" Olivia cried out in pain. The moment she was struck, a blinding flash erupted from her eyes, and a powerful sonic pulse burst outward with her at its center, blasting the ambushing vampire several meters away. A dense shroud of mist billowed where Olivia had stood. The vampires surged forward once more, only to find the fog utterly empty. "Huff, huff..." At the far end of the alley, Olivia strained to maintain Invisibility, fleeing toward the outskirts of the city. Blood seeped continually from the wound on her back, staining her robe crimson and spattering onto the stones. Veiled by her invisibility spell, the falling droplets of blood seemed, to any ordinary bystander, to materialize out of thin air.