Chapter 404
last update2026-02-27 05:41:53

Caster closed the heavy door behind him and let the click of the warding seal echo once in the silence.

The Subterranean Archive above had grown still, the distant hum of the Tower’s upper rings barely audible.

Here, in the neglected vault he had claimed for himself, the air smelled of scorched paper and the faint iron tang of old wards.

Candles guttered along the stone shelves, their flames trembling against the draft from unseen cracks in the vault’s ceiling.

He set the atlases on the broad
Continue to read this book for free
Scan the code to download the app

Latest Chapter

  • Chapter 501

    "Archmage Vane thinks his shields are perfect," Caster whispered to himself in the shadows. "But nothing is perfect. Every wall has a crack."Hundreds of years ago, Caster had actually helped invent the core theories that the Twin Moons used to build these very wards. He knew the math. He knew the geometry of the spells.When you build a round, sweeping magical shield and place it over a square, sharp building, the shapes do not match perfectly. A circle cannot perfectly cover a square.The places where the magic did not reach were called "dead zones." They were tiny, invisible blind spots in the armor. Incomplete wards left tiny gaps in the shadows.Caster watched the sweeping, invisible lights. He did not see them with his eyes; he felt them with the tiny, dying red embers at the bottom of his soul. He watched the rhythm. He counted the seconds in his head.One. Two. Three. Four. Turn.The invisible light swept past a sharp iron spike on the corner of the wall. For exactly three sec

  • Chapter 500

    "Because of the deep leylines," Lysane explained. Her voice sounded desperate and urgent. "He told me his plan. He has no blue magic left. He is empty. But he believes the old, dead trees in the East hold ancient dark magic. He is going there to gather the ash. He said he is going to build an army of ash monsters in the forest and march them back to destroy what is left of the capital."General Corin’s eyes narrowed. This sounded like a very real, very terrible threat. He had seen the giant ash golems in the city. If the Rogue Vector built a whole army of them in the woods, the Twin Moons would have a massive war on their hands."Why did he not kill you?" Vane asked suddenly. Vane’s eyes were sharp. He was always looking for a trick. "If he is a crazy demon, why are you still breathing?"Lysane looked right into Vane’s cold eyes. She did not blink."Because he wanted me to deliver a message," Lysane said softly. She let a fresh tear roll down her cheek. "He burned my hands to show me

  • Chapter 499

    Archmage Lysane stood alone in the ruins of the First Ring. The sun was high in the sky now. The gray ash that covered the capital city looked like dirty snow. Everywhere she looked, there were broken white marble stones and crushed wooden carts.She had sent little Finn, Elara, and the other children away with the older junior mages. She had told them to follow the hidden smuggling tunnels all the way out of the city. They were safe. They were heading toward the wild lands, far away from the angry soldiers of the Twin Moons Consortium.But Lysane did not run away with them.She stood in the middle of the broken street. Her beautiful white robes were gone. She wore a torn, dirty gray shirt. Her snow-white hair blew wildly in the cold wind. Her hands were wrapped in dirty, bloody cloth.She remembered Caster Spellbound. She remembered his tired, kind eyes. She remembered that he was walking straight toward the terrible black steel fortress of the enemy. He was walking into the lion’s

  • Chapter 498

    Lysane wiped a tear from her cheek. She knew he was making sense, but it felt like a betrayal to leave him."What about Finn and Elara?" Caster asked gently. "You hid them in the meat cellars. They are just children. They are trapped in a city full of angry soldiers. Who is going to get them out? Who is going to protect them?"Lysane looked down at her hands. The thought of the brave little boy and the scared little girl hiding in the dark made her heart ache. Caster was right. The children needed her."I... I can find them," Lysane whispered. "I can sneak them out through the old smuggling tunnels.""Then do it," Caster said. He gave her a small, sad smile. "Be their protector. Keep the truth alive. Let the world know that Caster Spellbound was just a man who tried to fix his mistakes."Lysane looked up at him. She wiped her nose with her dirty sleeve. "If I go to save the children... what are you going to do? Where will you hide?"Caster stood up.He brushed the mud off his torn, di

  • Chapter 497

    The lie was brilliant. It was perfectly evil. General Corin was making sure that no one in the world would ever help Caster. He was turning Caster into a walking plague. If Caster knocked on a door to ask for a cup of water, the people inside would scream in terror and try to kill him."Any citizen who helps the Rogue Vector will be executed," Corin promised. "Any citizen who hides him will be burned. Any citizen who speaks his old name will be arrested for treason."Through the iron grate, Caster watched the purple light of the giant face flicker in the smoke.Then, General Corin gave his final, most painful order."To ensure the infection does not spread," Corin boomed, "we must clean the city of his lies. Every book, every scroll, every paper ever written by the traitor must be destroyed. Bring his books to the Great Square. Throw his words into the fire. Burn the past, so we can save the future!"The giant purple face in the sky suddenly vanished. The magical broadcast ended.For

  • Chapter 496

    The heat was terrible. Above their heads, the capital city was on fire. Commander Thorne and his Twin Moons soldiers had received their new orders. They were no longer searching the ruined houses. They were burning them to the ground.Down in the dark, damp tunnel beneath the Old Canal, Caster Spellbound and Archmage Lysane huddled together. They sat in the mud. The air was thick with gray smoke.CRACK. SNAP.The loud sounds of breaking wood echoed from the street above. A house was collapsing into the fire. The ceiling of the dirt tunnel shook. Small pieces of rocks and dry earth fell onto Caster’s shoulders.He did not brush the dirt away. He just stared at the dark wall across from him.He was completely exhausted. His body felt like it was made of heavy lead. Inside his chest, his magical core was gone. There were only a few tiny, weak red embers left at the very bottom of his soul. He had given up the power of a god. Now, he was just a frail, tired old man sitting in the mud.N

More Chapter
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on MegaNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
Scan code to read on App