“Has the barrier been activated?”
“Yep. Even if Grand Mage William comes, it’ll take him a solid three days to disable it.”
Two figures cloaked in white robes from head to toe exchanged calm words. Unlike other buildings, the room they stood in was completely barren. Yet, as if sensing something invisible, they both stared intently at the same spot and nodded.
“Still no idea who infiltrated?”
“That’s right. I thought it was probably the church bastards, but it doesn’t seem to be them.”
“There’s no way the church could’ve found us.”
“d*mn! We were so close to completing the ritual.”
“It’s just a delay, that’s all.”
“Hmph.”
With that, the two simultaneously pushed back their hoods, revealing their faces: one was an elderly man with long white hair and a beard, while the other was a burly blonde man with a long scar on his cheek.
They stepped closer to the center of the room, gazing into the empty air as they moved.
Whoosh—
The white-haired man extended his hand into the empty space, and suddenly, an invisible box materialized in the air. Inside the transparent box floated a single hourglass, equally transparent but clearly made of some kind of magical crystal.
“Get ready.”
“Got it.”
Without wasting a moment, the two stretched out their hands toward the box, gathering mana to prepare a transfer spell. This spell would safely transport the hourglass to a more secure location.
Everyone in the village nestled in this mountain valley knew how significant the hourglass was. Every person on the Arkaria Continent had likely heard the legendary myths surrounding the founding emperor of the Crescent Empire, Emperor Crescent himself. Among all these myths, the most famous tale was his battle against the Great Demon who had invaded the human world. It’s said that Emperor Crescent fought for days upon days, ultimately defeating the Demon, setting its body ablaze.
Whether this story is true or not, legend has it that the founding Emperor Crescent created the hourglass as a trophy from his victory, using the powdered bones of the Great Demon himself.
This hourglass, containing the crushed remains of a Demon that, though now forgotten, was once considered the most dangerous threat to humanity, stood before them now.
Whirrr—
The white and blonde-haired men were certain this was the legendary artifact they sought, and they believed it would become the cornerstone of a revolution—not just for them, but for all humanity.
“Is this the 50 million gold hourglass?”
“…Wha—what?!”
“Psst. Looks too plain for something so expensive.”
The duo, previously focused and eyes closed, preparing the spell, jolted awake at the sudden interrupting voice.
The white-haired man, Shen, blinked several times, unsure if he was seeing things. But there, calmly examining the hourglass with the skeptical eyes of a gem appraiser, stood a black-haired man in a black outfit—very much real and very much in their space.
“Wh-who? No, how did you even get in here?!”
Shen was thrown into panic mode. The moment the black-haired man entered, the carefully constructed magic transfer circuit shattered, and Max, standing beside him, was equally flustered.
‘There’s no way he broke through the barrier. That means he must have infiltrated before we set it up…’
Shen tried to remain calm, recalling the exact nature of the barrier. It was one of the most complex barriers known in the continent—a setup personally overseen by the Elder himself. Even Grand Mage William would take at least three days to decipher and break it. This barrier not only blocked anything that carried even a speck of mana from passing but allowed free use of mana within.
Elder had installed it personally, confident that with this in place, no matter what happened, the hourglass would remain safe.
“Seeing that suspicious barrier, I decided to check it out.”
“What nonsense! Max!”
Swoosh—
Max had already drawn two swords from inside his cloak, pointing them at the black-clad stranger with surprising agility. However, the guy inspecting the hourglass didn’t seem remotely worried or even fazed by Max’s weapons.
“Did the church send you?”
“Huh? Nah. The church and I don’t exactly get along.”
“Stay away from it! Haaah!”
“Oh, tsk! Calling me out like that is pretty low…”
Whoosh—
Max leaped into the air, blades whistling through the wind toward the black-haired man. But in the blink of an eye, the intruder had vanished, leaving Max’s swords to cleave through empty air.
“Fast!”
Shen could feel danger instinctively. The man had not only easily dodged Max’s attack but had seemingly disappeared into thin air.
“Hey, where?”
“By the way, is this the real deal? You didn’t switch it out for a fake or something?”
“Wh-what?!”
Shen spun around, ready to cast a lightning spell he’d prepped. But when his gaze fell upon what the man held in his hand, he froze. He was holding the hourglass, having removed it from the supposedly secure box.
Shen’s mind reeled. First, breaking through their impregnable barrier, and now this? The box was sealed with magic that only the Elder could unlock. There was no way even Grand Mage William—or William’s grandfather, for that matter—could bypass the protection this quickly. This was impossible…
“Unbelievable…”
“Shen, what’s wrong?”
Shen stared at the intruder, eyes wide with recognition. Black shoes. A black scarf covering his mouth. Even his hair was black. And those moves—so fluid, so impossible to predict. He could practically hear the whispers of danger from across the room.
“Black…Shadow Guild?!”
At Shen’s utterance, the man finally reacted. The one who’d been preoccupied examining the hourglass now turned his gaze sharply toward Shen. Even through the partial cover of a hood, Shen could sense the narrowing of his eyes.
“Maybe…?”
Shen put it together. This wasn’t just any black-clad infiltrator. He wasn’t simply from the Black Shadow Guild. This was none other than the infamous leader of the Black Shadow Guild—a figure who never revealed themselves in public. That explained how he got through their barrier, bypassed Elder’s magic with ease, and now held the hourglass like it was nothing.
The Black Shadow Guild’s leader, or “Black Shadow,” was rumored to move like… well, a shadow. No barrier, no lock, no boundary could hold him.
“But wasn’t the guild leader supposed to be a woman?!”
“Ughhh!!”
While Shen was distracted by this revelation, Max charged once again, shaking his short blonde hair out of his face, ready to attack. In the blink of an eye, the black-haired man—no, the Black Shadow Guild leader—materialized right in front of Shen.
“You’ve figured it out, huh?”
Whooosh—
Max’s blade slashed the empty air, and in response, Shen instinctively hurled a lightning spell toward the figure before him. The Black Shadow leader’s reputation wasn’t well known for one simple reason: anyone who discovered his true identity usually didn’t live long enough to tell the tale.
Crackkk—
But Shen’s spell missed its target. The leader had vanished like a wisp of smoke, leaving Shen to frantically pull more mana into his system.
“Max! Be careful! This is the Black Shadow Gu—”
Whirrr—
“Arggh!”
“d*mn!”
Shen watched in growing horror as Max disappeared into nothingness. Not wasting any time, Shen surrounded himself with crackling lightning, carefully scanning his surroundings. It wasn’t important where Max had gone right now. What mattered was staying alive—and unseen.
Shen channeled both his lightning barrier and a mana-sensing spell. If the “Black Shadow” was human, he had to leave some trace of mana behind—and Shen could use this to locate and counter the threat.
“No trace…?”
“Ugh, really forcing me to reveal my ace, huh?”
“What?”
Shen felt a cold hand on his shoulder and turned slowly, his lightning magic barely contained. A pair of dark, unreadable eyes peered back at him with a slight smile.
“Did you not swap this out for a fake?”
Slowly, almost involuntarily, Shen nodded.
Whirrr—
And just like that, Shen vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind but the faint memory of a crackling lightning bolt and the sound of an ominous chuckle.
