"This won''t change the plot, will it?" I muttered to myself as I left my sister and the others alone. Of course, I activated a barrier around them, so the wild beasts wouldn''t trouble them. "Well, I hope so..."


    Anyway, the thing I wanted to do was to catch up to those creatures, or rather, the entities called "Spectral Shades", which were merely pawns in arger game.


    Tracking them was rtively easy; a few of them still carried traces of Aurelius''s dark aether. They led me to a cave deep in the forest, a ce where darkness seemed to seep from every crevice.


    I knew I had arrived at my destination.


    There was a mid Ster Tier mage responsible for summoning them and making them attack the camp that was hiding there. From what I remember, it was written he was injured badly and was relying on these creatures to heal his wounds and recover.


    And leaving him alive meant risking another incident like today, no, even worse. He appeared at ater date in the novel and caused quite a big incident with the Main Cast barely winning. Not to mention many lives were taken.


    But I don''t want that to happen. Thus, I came to eradicate the problem before it escted further.


    Even though, it won''t certainly be easy. After all, even if he is injured, his current power should be equal to that of mid-stage Lunar Tier Awakener, enough to beat me in a head-on confrontation.


    But I had a n, one I''d been preparing for. I will try to finish him off in one move. If it doesn''t work, I will have to give it my all to both survive and win.


    So, with the n in mind, I entered the cave, with the indivisibility cloak donned on me, concealing my presence as I moved deeper into the darkness.


    The cave was eerily quiet, the only sound being the faint echoes of my footsteps against the rocky floor. I followed the trail of dark aether, navigating through the winding tunnels until I reached a cavern bathed in an ominous purple light.


    There, at the center of the cavern,y the injured mage, surrounded by a swarm of Spectral Shades. His aura was weak, but still formidable, indicating that he was far from powerless.


    Carefully, I observed his condition. He seemed to be in a deep meditative state, likely using the dark energy from the shades to heal his wounds.


    Should I attack now? Or is he pretending?


    But, right now is the best time...


    OK, let''s do-!


    However, as I was about to move, the mage''s eyes abruptly opened, emitting a faint purple glow.


    I froze on my spot, wondering whether I had found out.


    "Hm..." I heard him muttering as if he was listening.


    "So, there was someone like that, huh... Interesting..." An odd glint passed through his eyes and a disgusting smile formed on his face. "So, the prophecy was true after all. And to think the one who possessed true ''darkness'' would be hiding in a ce like this. It was worth the sacrifice, Keke..."


    Huh, what is he talking about?


    Several questions flooded my mind as I tried to make sense of the mage''s cryptic words. What prophecy? What was that about ''the one with true darkness''? And what sacrifice was he talking about?


    The mage''s sudden revtion threw me off guard. There was nothing in the novel about this prophecy or someone with true darkness. It was as if the story had taken an unexpected turn, one that I hadn''t anticipated.


    But then it clicked.


    The mage must have used some forbidden spell to track down the so-called one with true darkness, probably Aurelius. That''s why he was injured. It wasn''t written how he got injured in the novel, which makes my guess usible.


    My heart raced as I realized the gravity of the situation. If the mage had managed to track down Aurelius because of some prophecy, then he was in more grave danger than it was portrayed. After all, it was unknown whether the mage wanted to kill him or just to test him...


    And was he alone in this, or was there some organization or cult behind this?


    I stayed frozen in ce, hoping the mage would reveal more information, but to my disappointment, he closed his eyes and re-entered his meditative state, cutting off any chance of acquiring info.


    I sighed internally, relieved he didn''t notice me but disappointed he stopped talking.


    But, now I was more certain I had to act fast. I don''t know why but I feel like it is up to me to confront this threat alone. And I can''t afford to make any mistakes. One wrong move, and it could cost me everything. It was uncertain whether the mage was injured as written in the novel.


    No, this isn''t the time to hesitate.


    I took a deep breath and carefully approached the mage, not making any sound.


    Taking out my weapon, I prepared myself for what was toe. The mage''s eyes remained closed, oblivious to my presence as I crept closer. With a swift and silent movement, I positioned myself behind him, ready to strike.


    Gathering my resolve, I unleashed my attack, aiming for a vital spot that would ensure his defeat in one blow. The de sliced through the air with deadly precision, aimed directly at the mage''s neck.


    As my de descended towards the mage''s neck, he seemed to sense the danger at thest moment. With a swift movement, he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the fatal strike. However, my attack wasn''tpletely in vain; the de grazed his shoulder, leaving a deep gash.


    But damn, I wasted such a good opportunity.


    "Urgh!" The mage let out a grunt of pain as blood spurted from the wound, staining his dark robes. He scrambled to his feet, his eyes aze with anger and caution.


    "You dare attack me, you mere ant?!" he snarled, his voice echoing through the cavern. "You will pay dearly for your insolence!"


    "Attack him!"