Step to paradise

The darkness of the ancient tower seemed to thicken, obscuring all light and sense of direction.

The footsteps of the pursuers slowed down, confusion enveloped the formation as their eyes could no longer see more than a few meters away, and their sense of mana seemed to be suffocated by the tower's barrier.

But not Flauros.

On the contrary, this place felt like a familiar roof.

The darkness did not weaken him, but instead nurtured his presence in silence.

Each step Flauros took in the darkness seemed to dissolve into the air. Every line of his body seemed to be erased, and the magic power around him was terrifyingly stable.

His eyes opened slightly, shining with a cold red-black color, a characteristic light that only those who had signed a contract with forbidden magic could possess.

"The darkness is the enemy of witches?"

He muttered, his voice almost as low as a breath.

"Only if they haven't learned how to make it bow."

Immediately after the words, forbidden characters spread from the tip of Flauros's shoes to the floor, spreading across the stone walkway like a spider web. A kind of microscopic spatial layering immediately covered the entire floor of the tower he was standing on.

The pursuers didn't notice, but from that moment on, they were no longer in the same space as Flauros.

With a slow step, he approached the edge of the ancient stone railing. The crowd below moved in succession, and the sound of heavy breathing and the smell of fear began to permeate.

Flauros chuckled.

"Now then… let's begin."

A finger was raised.

The forbidden book opened in the air, and a series of dark blades suddenly shot out, silently, precisely, like threads cutting through the night.

No sound. No warning. Only a fall, a final gasp, and blood spreading and seeping into the cold stone.

Flauros, the bearer of the forbidden spell, was not only immune to the darkness.

He was the darkness.

The forbidden book opened page by page as if it had its own will, the crimson characters in the ancient language moved as if alive, sliding along the mysterious lines imprinted on the time-stained paper.

The rustling sound echoed, seemingly small, but in the silent tower where there was only the sound of wind and the rapid breathing of the pursuer, that sound resounded like the whisper of a demon.

Flauros moved lightly, as if he did not touch the ground. Each step he took touched the old stone surface and left without leaving a trace.

Under his feet, the forbidden spells automatically engraved themselves into the air and then dissipated like mist, leaving behind a heavy magical aftershock that made the entire tower seem to hold its breath.

The forbidden book hovered behind him, each page turned carrying the echoes of memories of those who had fallen because of the forbidden spells.

A few trembling characters glowed dark blue, a few faint lines of blood, like curses of resentment framed in the immortal pages.

Flauros's eyes were cold as glass, sweeping through a narrow corner of the corridor where mana fluctuated abnormally. One of the pursuers had hidden himself with a light reflection spell.

He didn't need to think.

The page paused. A short spell flashed in his mind.

"Shattered mirror."

Clang!

A sound like glass cracking, the space around the other person distorted and fell like broken glass.

He was dragged out of the spell, his eyes had not yet opened wide, when a chain-like spell tightened around his neck, dragging him away into the darkness.

No screaming. No struggling.

Only silence. And the book still turned pages.

Just like that, Flauros's figure and the forbidden book continued to weave through the dark tower.

Outside, the sky began to darken.

As he advanced deeper into the tower, the space around Flauros became more and more filled with suffocating mana.

The moss-covered and dusty walls could not hide the densely engraved runes beneath a system of ancient characters that had never been recorded in any library he had ever read. They were alive, as if they were sleeping, just waiting for someone qualified to wake them up.

An old magic lamp hung from the ceiling, still flickering with a faint blue light, as if someone had placed it not long ago. Someone had been here. Or… was still here.

In the corner of the third floor, Flauros came across a research room locked by three layers of barriers that intertwined seals, illusions, and feedback spells.

He stood silently in front of the door, the forbidden book opened a new page by itself, the lines of characters emitted a cold air, his hand drew a special magic circle in the air, like… a symbol to "talk" to the ancient mechanism.

Creak… creak…

The door screeched. But it didn't open. Instead, it dissipated into a particle of light, as if the door had never existed.

Inside was a space sealed in time. Potions, magic quills, mana ores, and potion-making tools.

An unfinished parchment was stuck on a shelf, on which was drawn… a large gate-like architectural structure, each pattern was very small but very detailed.

Flauros paused. It was the gate to heaven, the heaven he had always been aiming for.

The fragments of memories from the old gate and the carved wall in the shrine suddenly flashed.

On the fifth floor, he entered a ruined hall that still retained its spiral structure, supported by pillars carved with dragon heads and angels.

A giant hand made of bone and iron was stuck in the middle of a part of a failed summoning machine?

A stone tablet lay cracked, and Flauros bent down to brush off the dust. The faint inscription appeared:

"When the time comes, the gate opens again. The one who brings fire will choose the path again."

The moment the stone tablet touched, Flauros immediately felt a wave of pure but pressuring magic power transmitted straight into his hand, followed by an immediate reaction from the necklace and tattoo on his body.

The tattoo that was lying still immediately lit up, each line seemed to be heated red, burning and spreading slowly like living silk threads.

It spread from the wrist to the shoulder, turned along the spine, and circled the left chest where the demon's heart lay.

At the same time, the necklace containing water elemental magic power emitted a long, ringing sound, not loud but echoing like the sound of water flowing back in time.

The water, like the material it was made of, swirled slightly, but now there were red rays mixed with the blue, like blood dissolving in the ocean.

The moment the two objects vibrated the most, "whoosh!"

A transparent flame suddenly shot out from the stele, clinging to the space around Flauros as if it were "scanning an identification code". It was not painful, not burning, but carried an irresistible divine pressure.

And then, he heard a voice in his head.

"You… have arrived earlier than fate."

As soon as those words rang out, the flame was immediately sucked into the necklace, swirling like a tide towards the center, causing the necklace to suddenly glow brightly, at the same time…

Emitting two types of magical power at the same time, that is, Water and Fire.

A phenomenon… that was originally impossible.

Flauros's mage instinct immediately understood that this was breaking the elemental rules, as if the necklace had begun to evolve, reacting to his own body.

And the stele was no longer a stele.

Ancient characters gradually appeared, floating before his eyes, a story rewritten thousands of years ago, but Flauros could not read it.

Because… the middle of the stone tablet began to crack, gradually separating to reveal a spiral staircase that went deep into the ground.

A cold air blew on his face, hidden within it was the scent of memories, of the past that never died.

The necklace shook slightly as if it was… inviting.

"What the hell?!"

Flauros was startled and immediately retreated, even though he used forbidden magic, he could only harmonize two elements.

But this time, he felt the flow of water, something that was opposite to the fire element that was burning within him.

'Three elements...?'

It was the destruction of the rules that nature had set for this world.

The atmosphere suddenly became thick. While the air from the depths had not yet dissipated, around Flauros, crows flew back from nowhere.

One by one, pitch black, with glowing red eyes, and strangely, they made no sound.

No wings flapped, no sound rang out.

Only the cold wind blew like a thin knife, so light it was terrifying.

Then.

"Swoosh..."

Each crow seemed to dissolve into the air, transforming into black smoke, slowly circling an empty spot in the middle of the stone floor, then... gathering.

Forming the shape of a human.

A half-length cloak, embroidered with faint black feather patterns, touched the bare heels.

Short black hair hugged the nape of the neck, naturally messy.

A small mole right at the corner of the left lip seemed to accentuate the face that already had a somewhat evil aura, but was strangely charming.

Amethyst purple eyes, clear but extremely unpredictable, as if containing a sealed night sky.

He stood there, his gaze calm, his smile faint but not harmless.

The air around him was not pressure... but presence. A kind of presence that made time move back half a beat.

"Long time no see, Flauros."

"You're still the same, that gaze… You still haven't learned to doubt at the right time."

His voice was soft, slightly hoarse, but it was clear as a whisper in the ear.

It wasn't threatening, but it carried an implication that made it impossible for people to relax.

Flauros realized… he wasn't emitting Mana.

No magic. No energy fluctuations.

Just an existence so real it was absurd.

"Who are you?"

The person just smiled slightly, those purple eyes looking at Flauros slowly, full of understanding.

There was no haste, no impatience. There was only infinite patience as if he had waited a long time to hear that question.

"I am a part of what you are looking for."

He spoke, his voice soft but captivating, as if every word he spoke contained deep secrets that could not be easily understood.

"A part of the story you never knew. A part of your past and maybe your future."

Flauros couldn't take his eyes off him.

The darkness around him became even thicker, as if some door in space had just opened. The air seemed to freeze.

He took a step closer, there was no sound, no sign of Mana or magic, just his presence… and questions gradually arose in Flauros's heart.

"You ask who I am, but do you want to know?"

He continued, his eyes shining like quartz glass, cold and challenging.

"And…"

"Do you not remember who I am? The Fire Elemental Sorcerer?"

Flauros heard this nickname again, and his pupils immediately constricted. Looking at the person in front of him, he thought he knew who this person was, the legendary wandering wizard, Dante Redwood.

Flauros stood still, feeling as if time had suddenly stopped. Dante Redwood, that name was like a cold wind blowing through, carrying vague memories and untold stories.

The image of a legendary wizard wandering, lurking in the dark, carrying cruelty, mystery, and deep secrets that no one dared to touch.

"Dante Redwood…" Flauros whispered, his voice a bit cold but also mixed with a bit of surprise. "Are you him?"

Dante smiled slightly, and he seemed to be quite amused by Flauros's reaction. His purple eyes sparkled with amusement, as if he were examining whether Flauros understood what he was saying.

"Aren't you surprised?" Dante asked, his tone no longer smiling like before but turning slightly provocative, as if he was waiting for a reaction from Flauros.

"Someone who loves freedom and adventures while riding a broom like you won't forget me, right?"

Dante took a step closer, soundlessly, as if he were just a part of the darkness, a part of this space, merging into an inseparable existence.

"I have traveled through countless worlds, countless times, leaving my mark in every dark corner of the universe. And you… Are perhaps one of those I have left my mark on."

He said, his voice full of mischief and meaning. "You are not the first person I have met on this journey, but you will certainly be the last…"

Flauros frowned, a feeling of unease rising in his heart. Dante was not just a legend, he was a mysterious piece in a story that Flauros had never fully understood.

"So what do you want from me?" Flauros asked, his voice still cold, but also a bit suspicious.

Dante just smiled, and the light from the necklace around Flauros' neck flashed again, as if the necklace could sense the change in this space.

Flauros immediately felt the change in space. The familiar feeling of the real world disappeared, and in its place was a hazy, illusory space, as if time and space no longer followed the laws of nature.

Everything was blurry, the light seemed to be bent, and figures floated around them, forming a strange space that did not belong to the old world.