Levi instinctively raised his left arm in front of his face, but the wraith completely ignored him.
Instead, it flew straight past Levi and plunged into the horde of spirits rushing toward him and Lucian.
A tremendous force erupted from its mouth.
Every wraith touched by it was utterly consumed.
There was something strangely familiar about this spirit.
After staring at it for a moment, Levi finally remembered its name.
The Maiden of the Mist.
As the wraiths vanished, faint graves appeared across the ground.
Soon, hideous Mist Walkers clawed their way out of the disturbed earth.
The Mist Walkers threw themselves at the remaining wraiths and tore into them viciously.
Every spirit that fell gave rise to more creatures from the soil.
As one side diminished and the other multiplied, the enormous horde of wraiths was soon wiped out completely.
“After all these years, there are actually other living people on these islands besides me?”
A hooded monk emerged from the darkness, carrying an enormous shovel in his hands.
The powerful spirit obediently returned to his side.
The many Mist Walkers also lined up behind him.
These savage and chaotic undead creatures became strangely orderly in his presence.
“Yorick! I finally found you. Please, you have to save him.”
Levi was overjoyed when he saw the newcomer.
It was Yorick, the Shepherd of Souls, one of the very few beings on these cursed islands who still possessed a conscience.
“You know me?”
Yorick sounded puzzled.
His face was hidden beneath his hood, making his expression impossible to see.
Even so, he walked over to Lucian and examined the wounds on his arm.
Lucian had already fallen into a deep coma, and his breathing had become so faint it was almost imperceptible.
“I’ve just heard about you,” Levi replied with an awkward smile.
He certainly wasn’t about to casually tell people that he’d been transported here from another world.
“Vilemaw’s magical neurotoxin. Your friend is in serious danger.”
Yorick’s voice remained flat, almost completely devoid of emotion.
After spending so many years surrounded by spirits and corpses, much of his own emotional warmth seemed to have faded away.
“I know you’ll save him.”
Levi’s voice was urgent.
Yorick didn’t take offense.
He simply replied, “Of course. I have no desire to see these islands gain another wraith.”
With a wave of Yorick’s right hand, one of the Mist Walkers burrowed underground.
Before long, it returned carrying a small, unremarkable bottle.
Yorick took the bottle and poured a small amount of the liquid into Lucian’s mouth.
The body that had seemed moments away from death immediately began regaining vitality.
Lucian frowned tightly as wisps of black vapor slowly seeped from the wounds on his arm.
His terrible complexion gradually improved, and the pain on his face diminished considerably.
“What is that?”
“The Waters of Life. They were once the source of life for these islands.”
Yorick tossed the bottle to Levi.
“The Waters of Life will protect you from ordinary wraiths. Tomorrow, I’ll take you away from here.”
Levi caught the bottle.
He knew that the Blessed Isles had once been prosperous and beautiful, and that their transformation into this land of death was closely tied to these very Waters of Life.
They had once been the lifeblood of the entire archipelago.
Because of the Ruined King’s obsession with his queen, the Ruination had spread through those waters and corrupted the entire region.
Living creatures perished, wraiths multiplied, and the once-beautiful islands became a gathering place for spirits and corpses.
A magical catastrophe had caused the Black Mist to permanently engulf the islands.
Dark sorcery had corrupted everything.
Any soul that died within the Black Mist would be cursed, becoming part of it forever…
Holding the bottle Yorick had given him, Levi recalled everything he knew about the history of the Shadow Isles and couldn’t help feeling a little shaken.
Then the familiar voice sounded inside his mind once again.
“Congratulations. Ability acquired: Mourning Mist.”
Meeting Yorick had allowed Levi to acquire another of his abilities.
Levi had no idea where this mysterious power came from.
All he knew was that it would be his greatest means of surviving in this brutal world.
Before long, Lucian fell into a deep sleep.
Seeing that his condition had stabilized, Levi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you. You saved his life.”
Yorick gave a stiff nod and left without another word.
Only after walking away did he call back, “Stay here and get some rest.”
A short while later, the Maiden of the Mist floated over carrying several pieces of fruit.
Levi had no idea where she had found them.
He took them and immediately began devouring them.
He hadn’t eaten a single thing all day and was absolutely starving.
The fruit was sour and unpleasant, but at that point he couldn’t have cared less.
Perhaps he was simply too exhausted.
Levi found a dead tree, leaned against it, and fell asleep almost immediately.
The next morning, Levi was awakened by Lucian shouting.
When he opened his eyes, he found Lucian pointing his relic pistols at Yorick.
“What are you doing? He’s the one who saved us.”
Levi immediately understood what had happened and didn’t know whether to laugh or groan.
Lucian hated wraiths with a passion.
Seeing Yorick surrounded by undead creatures, he had naturally assumed the man was an enemy.
Lucian froze.
Seeing the certainty in Levi’s eyes, he lowered his pistols and turned toward Yorick.
“My apologies. I misunderstood.”
Yorick merely shook his head, clearly unconcerned.
“I’ll take you off these islands.”
“No. I’m staying. There’s still something I have to finish.”
Lucian shook his head and rejected Yorick’s offer.
“Come on. Look at yourself. There’s no way you can beat Thresh in your current condition. Let’s get off this island and let you recover first.”
Levi was exasperated.
He knew how deeply Lucian loved Senna, but going after Thresh in this condition would be nothing more than throwing his life away.
“You are no match for Thresh.”
Yorick was far more direct.
Lucian looked down at his arm, which was still trembling slightly.
He fell silent.
With Yorick accompanying them, their journey was relatively uneventful.
Eventually, they reached the edge of the Shadow Isles.
Judging by the time, it should have been daytime, but beneath the endless Black Mist there was almost no way to tell.
“I won’t forget what you’ve done for me. You have my gratitude.”
Lucian spoke sincerely to Yorick.
Without looking back, Yorick walked toward the depths of the Shadow Isles.
The Maiden of the Mist and a host of Mist Walkers followed behind him.
Countless wraiths were still waiting for him there.
“And thank you too, Levi. My friend, you saved me even when your own life was in danger.”
After boarding the small boat Lucian had originally used to reach the islands, Lucian spoke with complete sincerity.
“Don’t mention it.”
Levi rubbed his nose awkwardly and chuckled.
The boat finally sailed beyond the region covered by the Black Mist.
Brilliant sunlight appeared overhead once again.
Levi’s mood immediately improved as he enjoyed the sea breeze and breathed in the fresh air.
The oppressive gloom of the Shadow Isles had weighed on him so heavily that he’d barely been able to breathe.
Only now did he truly relax.
“Levi, where are you from? Ionia? Your name sounds like it might be from there.”
Lucian’s question caught Levi off guard.
In the end, he could only nod.
He couldn’t exactly tell Lucian that he came from Earth.
Perhaps because of the strange power inside him, Levi could naturally understand, speak, read, and write every language used across Valoran.
He still had no idea why he had been brought to this world.
But he had always sensed something inside his heart influencing him.
It was incredibly faint, almost impossible to notice.
Yet there was no doubt that it existed.