Chapter 93: The Sorcerer's Secret Cache

A surge of force burst forth from Brent, sending Lin Wei staggering back several steps. Seizing the opportunity, Brent darted instantly toward the outer edge of the Bansaini estate.

“Trying to run?” Lin Wei fixed his gaze on Brent’s receding figure and gave chase at speed.

The Bansaini estate lay on the border of the capital of the Kingdom of Layton, surrounded by endless, sprawling forests. Brent’s figure soon vanished into the depths of the woods.

Lin Wei quickened his pace again, locking onto Brent’s fading silhouette. Dense branches, emerald leaves, and the cries of animals fused into the world around him. Suddenly, the figure fleeing ahead seemed to blur before his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Lin Wei halted. Brent’s shape had vanished, as if distorted by flickering light, dissolving into the air in a fleeting instant.

The sounds of beasts and the songs of birds had disappeared. Sensing something amiss, Lin Wei turned. His pupils contracted.

The thick, overlapping trees around him collapsed like sand sculptures, crumbling into piles of dust that slowly seeped into the earth. Lin Wei swept his gaze around: the same eerie transformation was consuming the surroundings on all sides. The sky and ground alike faded by degrees, until Lin Wei seemed to stand within a sealed, gray space.

There was no light, yet he could see everything clearly.

“A simulated space?” he murmured.

This wasn’t his first time encountering such a phenomenon; he recognized it at once.

Just then, Brent’s voice rolled in from all directions.

“Mr. Lin Wei! I must admit, as a patchwork apprentice of the arcane, I’m nothing like you true graduates of the wizard academies. I’m far inferior. If I fought you head-on, I could only meet defeat.

“But I possess the legacy of a sorcerer’s hidden trove! I have this simulated space! Mr. Lin Wei, savor these last moments of your life!”

Brent’s voice faded away.

Lin Wei remained on high alert, scanning his surroundings. Everything here was an independent, enclosed domain.

“It seems even more stable than last time,” he thought, quickly confirming his suspicion.

He began to walk, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the empty space.

A thunderous beast’s roar erupted from behind him. A colossal mouth appeared—existing on its own, unattached to any beast’s head—protruding from the gray wall behind him like a model cast from a mold.

Its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth; a slick tongue writhed inside. Everything was the color of ash.

“Stellar Dark Quicksand—Defense!” Lin Wei intoned softly.

Black grains formed a massive, resolute shield before him. The monstrous mouth collided with the shield, and both shattered in an instant.

“Hm?” Lin Wei hadn’t relaxed for a moment before he sensed danger below.

With a rapid, sickening sound, sharp spikes erupted from the gray ground like a forest of spears. Lin Wei launched himself into the air, and as he fell, he landed on the side of a spike, using the recoil of the impact to propel himself into a safe zone.

“Danger lurks everywhere…” Lin Wei instinctively clenched his fists. “A simulated space truly is a marvelous thing—if only I could finish off Brent here…”

A glimmer of anticipation flashed in his eyes.

Suddenly, gray branches surged out from the walls all around. They seemed almost sentient, extending toward Lin Wei with deliberate intent. Though plant-like, they hissed with an eerie sound.

“Booker beetles!” Lin Wei snapped his sleeve, sending a swarm of jet-black insects straight toward the monstrous branches.

The moment the beetles touched them, the gray limbs emitted a humanlike scream. Flames burst from the beetles, consuming the branches in fire.

“Brent!” Lin Wei laughed up at the void. “If this is all you can do, you’ll never kill me!”

No sooner had his words fallen than thick pillars, each as wide as an arm, dropped straight down from the sealed ceiling, connecting with the floor to form a cage around Lin Wei.

A prickle of tension spread across his skin.

“Danger!” he thought, spinning around swiftly.

Behind him, the space had torn open. Half of Brent’s body emerged from midair, wielding a white bone spike just like the masked woman had. He drove it viciously toward Lin Wei’s brow.

Brent’s eyes were wild with destruction, his expression betraying a madness far removed from sanity.

“Die!” Brent spat through gritted teeth.

But as the spike was about to pierce Lin Wei’s forehead, Lin Wei smiled.

Brent’s instincts screamed warning, but it was too late.

“Eyes of Shadow!” Lin Wei’s spell activated instantly.

Brent felt himself plunge into a world of endless darkness, his consciousness blurring. Lin Wei seized his chance, yanking Brent in and smashing his elbow into Brent’s jaw.

“Stellar Dark Quicksand—Shapeshift!”

A sharp blade materialized in Lin Wei’s hand.

With a swift slash, he sliced Brent cleanly in two at the waist.

Brent let out a shriek of agony.

The gray space began to dissolve, like lines of ink washed away by rain, slowly fading from existence.

The crisp song of birds and the freshness of the air returned to Lin Wei’s senses. Brent’s two halves collapsed onto the ground.

Though Brent was not yet dead, he was utterly incapacitated. The constitution of a third-rank apprentice allowed him to cling to life even as his intestines and organs spilled onto the earth.

“You’ve lost, Brent,” Lin Wei said softly, gazing down at him.

Brent’s eyes widened, his breath growing ragged.

“I’ve lost… There are still some regrets…”

He looked at Lin Wei, forcing a strained smile as blood bubbled from his lips. “Mr. Lin Wei, would you help me with something? I’m willing to exchange the legacy of the sorcerer’s hidden trove in return.”

“And why should I trust you?” Lin Wei stepped closer, looming over him.

Brent’s breath grew more erratic. “I…swear it…by my mother’s…name…”

“Oh?” Lin Wei’s interest was piqued. “Then first tell me: where is the sorcerer’s hidden trove?”

Seeing Lin Wei’s wavering, Brent’s eyes regained a faint gleam. “It’s five hundred kilometers southwest of the capital. There’s a stone mountain there—the trove is hidden inside.”

“The stone mountain southwest of the capital…” Lin Wei repeated softly.

He crouched by Brent’s upper half. “And what is it you want me to do?”