Levi sprinted across the barren ground without daring to look behind him.
An enraged Elise could tear him apart as easily as crushing an ant.
Right now, his only option was to run, following the direction from which he had originally come.
After forcing his way through the tangled undergrowth, his view gradually opened up.
But the moment he saw the empty shoreline, Levi’s heart sank.
The ship that had brought them here was already gone.
That meant he was trapped on this terrifying island.
The Shadow Isles were undoubtedly one of the most dangerous places on the continent of Valoran.
Countless wraiths and undead creatures haunted the islands, and ever since the Ruination, the entire region had been permanently shrouded in the Black Mist.
That was why the sunlight had seemingly vanished the instant Levi set foot there.
“I told you. You’re going to die horribly today.”
A cold voice sounded behind him.
Levi shuddered, beads of sweat slowly forming across his forehead.
“Lady Elise, we can talk this out. No need to do anything rash.”
Levi forced an awkward smile, though his expression looked more like he was about to cry.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll make sure to treat you very well.”
Elise slowly ran her tongue across her crimson lips before biting down on the lower one, a seductive smile curling across her face.
Even though she was breathtakingly alluring at that moment, Levi felt nothing but an icy chill crawling down his spine.
Elise slowly approached him.
Levi retreated step by step until his feet entered the seawater and there was nowhere left to go.
“Don’t tell me I just got to this world, and I’m going to die before I’ve even met all those beautiful female champions.”
He slowly closed his eyes, imagining his head being bitten off.
Elise smiled triumphantly.
The despair and terror of her prey intoxicated her.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
The sound of iron hooves suddenly rang out nearby.
Elise’s expression changed.
She cast one reluctant glance at Levi, whose eyes were still tightly shut, before transforming into a massive black spider and quickly disappearing.
“Huh?”
Levi cautiously cracked his eyes open.
Elise was already nowhere to be seen.
The tension immediately drained from his body.
He collapsed into the freezing seawater and released a long breath of relief.
“Run! Hurry!”
A hoarse voice suddenly called out.
Levi looked up and saw a lean, dark-skinned man running toward him.
Then he looked behind the man.
Dust churned through the air as the Black Mist roiled violently.
It was Lucian, the Purifier.
“Lucian?”
Levi instinctively blurted out the champion’s name.
Lucian grabbed Levi off the ground and hauled him to his feet.
“Run!”
Levi glanced behind Lucian and nearly felt his soul leave his body.
Ghostly blue figures had formed into a charging formation and were thundering toward them.
The spectral knights wielded long blades as armored hooves mercilessly pounded across the barren earth.
Levi immediately followed Lucian.
Those were the spectral riders of Hecarim’s Iron Order.
Levi knew that if their cavalry charge caught him, he’d be reduced to bloody paste in seconds.
Levi quickly matched Lucian’s pace.
Spotting a dense thicket nearby, the two plunged straight into it.
Trying to outrun cavalry across open ground would have been suicide.
The thick vegetation slowed the Iron Order, while Lucian continuously fired glowing shots from his twin relic pistols.
Eventually, they managed to shake their pursuers.
The two leaned against a twisted, dead tree and gasped for air.
Levi had barely arrived in this world, yet he had already survived one disaster after another.
His heart was still pounding wildly in his chest.
“Congratulations. Ability acquired: Piercing Light.”
The corner of Levi’s mouth rose slightly.
Just as he’d suspected, getting close to a champion allowed him to acquire one of their abilities.
Learning one of Lucian’s abilities on the Shadow Isles gave him a much-needed sense of security.
“Who are you? And why are you here? As far as I know, no living person willingly comes anywhere near the Shadow Isles.”
Lucian looked at the panting Levi and spoke in a calm voice.
“My name is Levi. Elise kidnapped me and brought me here.”
Levi brushed a few dead leaves out of his hair and lowered his voice.
He knew from Lucian’s story that the man was fundamentally good and would never harm an innocent civilian like him.
Still, with Lucian’s grim expression and cold eyes fixed directly on him, Levi couldn’t help feeling somewhat intimidated.
“Elise?”
Lucian frowned slightly.
Levi swallowed before continuing.
“She worships a gigantic spider. Every so often, she brings living people here as sacrifices for it. The others who came with me probably don’t even have bones left by now.”
Levi remembered the enormous spider monster inside the cave.
Those eight scarlet eyes still sent chills through him.
Lucian dusted himself off and rose to his feet.
“Take me there.”
“Well…”
Levi hesitated.
He had only just escaped from Elise.
The idea of voluntarily going straight back to her was extremely difficult to accept.
“My name is Lucian. I’m a Sentinel of Light. Protecting the living is my duty. I can’t simply stand by while a monster like that continues slaughtering innocent people.”
“You don’t need to worry. My guns are more than enough to keep you safe.”
Lucian understood what Levi was thinking.
He patted him on the shoulder and raised his two faintly glowing relic pistols.
His gaze was unwavering.
Ever since losing Senna, Lucian had spent every day consumed by the flames of vengeance.
If he had the chance to erase another murderous monster from the world, he was more than willing to do it.
Looking into Lucian’s determined eyes, Levi could only sigh helplessly and nod.
Before long, Levi once again found himself standing outside that pitch-black cave.
His emotions were complicated.
He had somehow inexplicably been transported into this world, and now he was about to go fight some supposed spider god.
Everything felt like a dream.
But the deathly aura permeating the Shadow Isles, seemingly capable of devouring a person’s very soul, reminded him that all of it was horrifyingly real.
Lucian stared at the dried bloodstains scattered across the ground, his brows drawing tightly together.
His face was already grim by nature, and now it looked even darker.
“Oh? You actually dared to come back?”
Elise’s sultry voice echoed through the cavern.
Levi immediately felt his skin crawl as goosebumps spread across his body.
He looked upward.
Elise was sitting atop a throne made from human bones, smiling sweetly down at Levi and Lucian.
The moment her words ended, a massive swarm of spiders poured out from behind her.
The sight was horrifying.
Levi already hated insects, and the scene made every hair on his body stand on end.
Lucian immediately raised both pistols and charged forward.
“Monster, death is a mercy, and I have enough mercy for all of you!”
Lucian shouted as brilliant light erupted from his relic pistols.
Every spider touched by the sacred light was instantly scorched to ash, filling the cavern with a foul stench.
Levi hid off to the side, covering his nose and mouth as he watched Lucian fight.
The swarming spiders died the instant they touched Lucian’s light, and Lucian rapidly closed the distance between himself and Elise.
Then a piercing shriek came from overhead.
A massive creature dropped from above, spraying a glob of green slime directly at Lucian.
“Watch out!”
Levi couldn’t stop himself from shouting.
Lucian reacted instantly.
His body became a streak of silver light as he dashed backward, narrowly avoiding the green slime.
The substance splattered against the ground, and even the solid stone began melting beneath its corrosive power.
There was no time to catch his breath.
Vilemaw’s enormous forelimb stabbed toward Lucian.
Lucian rolled across the ground, barely evading the attack.
He immediately spun around and leveled both pistols at Vilemaw.
With an angry roar, Lucian unleashed a relentless torrent of bullets at the monstrous spider.
It was Lucian’s ultimate ability.
The Culling.