Chapter 114: My Name

“Yours?”

The shadowy figure chuckled as if it had just heard the most ridiculous joke. It shifted casually in midair, then reached out and absentmindedly touched the exquisitely ornate staff that glittered like crystal. Turning toward Viel, it said, “You mean this?”

At the shadow’s gesture, the staff hidden within the swirling black mist finally revealed itself in full. It was over a meter long, translucent and dazzling, even more splendid and refined than the most luxurious imperial scepters. The top of the staff formed a perfect semicircle, like a crescent moon crafted from the finest jade. Embedded within this exquisite crescent were seven flawless magic crystals, each about the size of a baby’s fist, arranged with meticulous regularity.

Seven supreme magic crystals, seven different colors, seven distinct attributes!

This was precisely the lost divine staff of Los Eigigel, belonging to Viel!

Viel focused all his attention on the staff that had once been his. Though it was rightfully his, upon seeing it again, a strange sense of loss welled up inside him.

Perhaps it was the only thing left that felt familiar to him.

A flicker of loneliness and sorrow flashed through Viel’s eyes. He belonged to this world, yet he did not truly belong... To him, everything in this world was unfamiliar except for the Los Eigigel divine staff.

That was why he had to reclaim it! The thing that was his own, the only thing that could still stir a trace of familiarity within him!

The shadow keenly sensed the complex emotions flickering in Viel’s eyes and felt a sudden stirring within.

“He seems to be the same kind of person as me,” a thought flashed through her mind.

Had anyone else dared to say such a thing before her, she would have cut them in two without a second thought. But this time, she did not. Instead, she pointed a finger at Viel and, with an alluring tone, asked, “What proof do you have that this belongs to you? And just naming it won’t count.”

“Of course!”

Viel’s heart leapt with joy. He opened his mouth to prove it was his, but at that moment, a sudden memory flickered through his mind. The fragment startled him, causing him to freeze briefly. His eyes sharpened instantly as he fixed his gaze on the shadow. His magical power surged to its limit within the sea of his consciousness. Yet even so, he remained uneasy, shifting his body and stepping cautiously two paces backward.

“What are you that appeared behind me?”

Viel asked warily. He had always trusted his perception, but just now, when he extended his senses from the Los Eigigel staff to the shadow, he could detect no energy fluctuations at all—not even the faintest sign of life.

There were only two possibilities for this: either the shadow was an inanimate object, which would never emit any energy or life signals, or she was so powerful that his perception simply could not detect her.

Clearly, Viel leaned toward the latter.

It did not seem strange to him that such a powerful and mysterious figure appeared before him. Yet the memory fragment that had just flashed through his mind brought with it an inexplicable panic.

He had seen this shadow once before—just before he had lost consciousness, the moment he had resolved to plunge headlong into the heart of the storm.

Suddenly, Viel’s mind went blank. By this logic, this mysterious figure could have been by his side the entire three days since he passed out, and he had never sensed her presence!

It was like someone sleeping soundly in ignorance, only to awaken and realize that a ferocious beast had been lurking nearby all along.

A cold bead of sweat slid down Viel’s cheek as he silently reproached his own carelessness. His mind raced at full speed. Just then, the shadow chuckled softly, interrupting all of his thoughts.

“You ask when I appeared behind you? Didn’t you already guess? Then why ask me? Is it because you’re uncertain? Or is there a sliver of hope in your heart that maybe it’s not what you think?”

Faced with the shadow’s rapid-fire questions, Viel found no answer. After a long pause, he stammered, “Perhaps... both.”

“You’re afraid of me, aren’t you?”

The shadow asked abruptly, then waited silently for his response. At that moment, Viel finally detected the faintest ripple of energy from her.

Though barely perceptible, the wave of power shocked him so deeply that he gasped sharply. It felt as if a great stone had been pressed upon his chest, making it hard to breathe.

So strong! Even stronger than I used to be!

Viel marveled inwardly. The shadow clearly wanted him to realize her strength. But in an instant, his senses detected no further fluctuations from her. The desolate, bleak surroundings remained unchanged from moments before.

“Perhaps... I was mistaken... He is different from me...”

The shadow thought to herself. Beneath the black mist, her once hopeful, beautiful eyes gradually shifted—transforming from that initial flicker of anticipation back to their usual coldness and indifference.

“You’re afraid of death, aren’t you?”

Viel, of course, could not know what she was truly thinking beneath the veil. His body suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably. His mind clouded, blank spaces spreading rapidly, and even his limbs grew numb...

“Is that the most primal fear people feel when confronted with overwhelming power? How laughable. So I too have this reaction...”

Viel sneered coldly, clenched his teeth, and took several deep breaths. Gradually, the blankness in his mind and the numbness in his body faded, replaced by an unprecedented surge of excitement!

The shadow was powerful—stronger even than he had been before. But what did that mean?

Ordinary people, when faced with such force, would be gripped by instinctive fear—fear of death. For only in the presence of such overwhelming might would they realize how fragile their lives truly were. They feared death and longed to escape that fear, to cling desperately to life. But Viel would not think that way. In some respects, he was no ordinary person—he was a madman!

Many are called geniuses, but those who truly achieve greatness—are they not mad? Born with talents unimaginable to ordinary men, it is their fanatic, almost insane obsession with power that ultimately propels them to success.

Viel was no different. In the previous era, he had reached the rank of Divine Conjurer at just twenty-five. Beyond his astonishing magical talent, it was his mad hunger for power and unrelenting pursuit of strength that drove him. To stand at the heights he dreamed of, he had broken his own limits more than once, relentlessly ascending to new heights until he finally became a Divine Conjurer and stood atop the world!

Yet now, a figure stronger than himself stood before him. The power she radiated made him realize that what he had once considered the pinnacle was merely a starting point—a limit yet to be shattered!

“Looks like... I’ve found a worthy goal...”

Viel lifted his head suddenly. In his eyes blazed a fierce fire, growing from a flicker into a raging inferno. The long-dormant blood within him boiled fiercely at last!

“Fear is but a feeling, one of the most basic senses humans possess, akin to terror. It can be understood as an instinctive reaction of the weak before the strong, a natural response. But fear or terror of something does not necessarily mean fear of death! Fear reveals one’s weaknesses and shortcomings, stirring a voice deep within the soul that urges, drives, and spurs the fearful to overcome, to conquer, to surpass!”

Viel’s body had completely shed that terror. Through his eyes, one could see the unparalleled confidence of his former self shining once more.

“But not everyone thinks this way!”

The shadow seemed fond of arguing, yet upon hearing Viel’s words, the coldness in her heart unexpectedly softened with an indescribable feeling... as if she were waiting for something.

“It’s always a matter of whether one has the will to act!”

Viel said, pointing his finger at the shadow still suspended in midair. “That thing is indeed mine... my name is engraved at the end of the staff!”