Shadow

The ancient Netherese had established the splendour of the arcanists. In the period of darkness after the dusk of the gods, the arcanists had saved the commoners from savagery and foolishness, building a civilisation the gods themselves feared!

Combined with their flying cities, ancient great arcanists had the power to kill gods themselves! The gods would not stand such an affront to their existence, and the arcanists who coveted origin force and touched on several taboos were exterminated.

However, that very war that had destroyed the Netheril Empire had also gravely hurt the gods. Many had fallen, and the numbers of gods decreased without end.

Because of this painful lesson, the arcanists became taboo and were annihilated by numerous churches. All tomes related to the Netheril Empire were destroyed, creating another era of savagery.

One flying city of the arcanists had managed to survive that period, and at a specified time it had returned to the prime material plane. It was in the western desert the Thultanthar fell into Leylin’s hands.

Having obtained such an instrument of death, Leylin had left it alone. Even though he’d met some crises before he hadn’t allowed the City of Shadows to reveal itself.

Firstly, he’d been waiting to use this card at the best possible moment, and secondly he was working on understanding everything about it and remodelling it to his desires. If it had to do with Distorted Shadow, Leylin would not let his guard down.

Right now, the Adept Scepter of the Monarch of the Skies, the elemental radiation of the Magus World, Dreamscape, and the Shadow World, and all sorts of other high-energy sources had been piled into Thultanthar, giving it a great boost in power. It had grown to become the ultimate slaughter machine!

As well, Leylin was currently a rank 35 arcanist. The power that would result from him working in conjunction with the city was something even the A.I. Chip could not calculate.

“Master! Thultanthar heeds your call!” The city’s fairy Shaylin and the skeleton lich Ilyo knelt before Leylin, awaiting orders. Leylin had now become a true god, and his imposing aura far exceeded that in the past. These two beings were filled with reverence.

“Mm, I sense that.” Leylin had now been in possession of Thultanthar for a long time, and was naturally attuned to its changes. It was no exaggeration to say that the City of Shadows had experienced a complete transformation, the city’s primary material becoming silvery-grey metal. The primary cannons had been restored completely, and the diamond golems were fully armoured, awaiting orders.

What Leylin found most satisfying was the addition of the Shadow Weave. How could he have let the information he got from Shar go to waste? He’d obviously used it to immediately remodel Shadow City.

[Beep! Connected to Thultanthar’s core authority. Shadow Weave construction at 100%. Overall performance estimated to have been raised by 37%.] The A.I. Chip loyally sent information regarding the City of Shadows.

As long as the A.I. Chip was around, Leylin had no need to fear betrayal by Shaylin and Ilyo, even at the same time.

‘With the Shadow Weave built, not only can I obtain power from the outer Weave directly, I’m immune to all offensive magic from rank 0 to rank 9. Most importantly, I don’t need to care about Mystra’s interference.’

This was easy to comprehend. The Shadow Weave had been created specifically by Shar to steal Mystra’s power. How could she have any control over this?

‘With the A.I. Chip’s analyses of the true Weave extending the Shadow Weave, I can now steal Mystra’s divine force directly... Of course, that can only be used as a way to kill her...” Leylin’s figure instantly appeared in the control room of Shadow City, where he sat at the throne high up and above.

“How can the birth of a true god not be built on the ichor of the other gods?” Leylin snickered, while the A.I. Chip’s prompts continued to show. [Beep! Systems launch complete, beginning spatial jump!]

*Rumble!* Terrifying spacetime undulations erupted out, and the huge city disappeared in an instant. When it appeared once more, its surroundings had changed.

This was a deep blue sea that spanned as far as they eye could sea. Sharkmen could be seen on occasion, and numerous petitioners were resting on a beach. The lustre of valiant and holy spirits brightened the skies.

Shrines filled the scattered islands, and there was a huge feeling of pressure in the skies. A great amount of divine lustre seemed to be on the verge of seeping into Thultanthar, filled with the great suppression from laws.

There was no question about it. This was the divine kingdom of a true god!

*Bzzt bzzt!* The appearance of the floating city caused great distress to the surrounding petitioners. Numerous sharkmen roared, hissed, and had various other reactions. Some fled, while others gathered around.

“Who is it that dares encroach upon our Lord’s divine kingdom?” A few powerful holy spirits approached from the skies, yelling out loud.

Indeed, they were in the divine kingdom of the god of the Sahuagin, Sekolah. A long period of accumulation had turned this place into a sturdy nest, and Leylin could currently see a dozen holy spirits around him, all powerful beings comparable to rank 6 Magi!

However, in Leylin’s eyes, they were merely trying to do something impossible.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“Little worms shouldn’t try to speak here. You don’t even meet the requirements for me to use the main cannons on you.” Leylin waved his arms around casually, and Thultanthar’s auxilliary cannons shot out a malicious light. A powerful web of energy formed a black hole that melted away the surrounding holy spirits.

Just one move decimated the surrounding space, and Thultanthar had only revealed one part of itself.

Numerous petitioners cried and yelled as they fled. When had they, who dwelled in the divine kingdom, ever seen a battle at this level?

“Sekolah!” “Sekolah, my Lord!” The pious worshippers shouted out in prayer, the power of faith filling the skies above the ocean.

*Rumble!* Lightning appeared on the blue horizon, and a terrifying suppressive force lowered the flying city’s strength.

An avatar walked over, radiating golden light. He looked like a sharkman, his eyes filled with a cold ruthlessness, “God of Massacre, Kukulkan, why do you invade my divine kingdom?”

Although Sekolah was merely a lesser god, and this moreso was only an avatar, it held power akin to that of a true god with the help of his divine kingdom.

“Protector of the Sharkmen, God of the Ocean, Sekolah!” Leylin’s figure appeared outside Thultanthar. In front of a true god, he still needed to be polite. “I wish for you to move your divine kingdom away, so there won’t be any pointless conflict between us.”

Leylin had been serious with his conditions, but it left Sekolah feeling extremely enraged.

“Greedy god, you must pay for what you did today!” Asking a true god to move their divine kingdom was an absolute insult. It would have been strange if Sekolah agreed.

The ocean seethed with his rage, turbulent storms appearing in the skies. The weather within a divine kingdom indicated the god’s mood, and having stayed in Baator for a long time Sekolah obviously possessed the malevolence of the devils as he snarled.

“I knew this wouldn’t work...” Upon seeing this, Leylin sighed.

“You gave up your last chance, Sekolah...” His figure gradually dissipated.

“This isn’t a negotiation but an obvious challenge. I’ll satisfy you!” Sekolah waved his hand, and powerful sharkmen armies appeared from the depths of the ocean. They radiated with energy, power gathering at their hands to form mottled attacks.

“Ready. Shoot!” A holy spirit waved his arm, and numerous bows thundered as they shot a rain of arrows onto Thultanthar. On the other side, a barrage of magic attacks drowned out the flying city.

When fighting in the divine kingdom of a god, one had to face the frightening attacks of an unending sea of people.

“Face my fury!” Sekolah snarled as well, the terrifying pressure of his divine kingdom appearing once more as lightning crashed down on the City of Shadows.

Gods, in their divine kingdoms, possessed unimaginable might. Even greater gods had to pay a terrible price to slay one, requiring several centuries to recover.

[Beep! Launching Shadow Weave.] With the A.I. Chip’s prompt, a translucent layer of the Shadow Weave appeared and protected Shadow City. Any attack, be it physical or magical, lost all form in front of the Weave as long as it didn’t possess legendary might. In fact, the energy of such attacks was actually absorbed by the Shadow Weave.

[Beep! Divine kingdom laws analysed. Counter field prepared, launching...] A tremendous stream of data entered Thultanthar, and the city seemed to spread its wings. The invisible Shadow Weave spread out, emitting unfathomable spatial undulations.

The Netherese Core of the flying city began to roar violently, transmitting terrifying energy to all parts of Thultanthar. A power of law radiated out that was tailored to counter the laws of the divine kingdom, and a hazy fog melted the lightning in the sky away.

“This is... Flying city!” Sekolah exclaimed in shock. The flying cities of the arcanists could contend with divine kingdoms, and they naturally had techniques specifically to destroy them.

‘The construction of this divine kingdom... I can see how the Magi from then failed...’ Leylin sighed, appearing in front of the Netherese Core in an instant.

“Let me see the power of the arcanists to kill gods!” Heat radiated from Leylin’s eyes. The Shadow Weave allowed him to connect to the core, and his power as a rank 35 arcanist was emitted without reservation.

[Beep! Antigod network prepared. Primary cannon 2 charged.] the A.I. Chip prompted robotically.

Afterwards, incomparably terrifying energy arose from Thultanthar, attracting the attention of all beings high above.

*Rumble!*