My front door leads to a comic strip

"Rustling..."

In a dark corner, withered leaves were crushed by some invisible weight, making a faint, crisp sound.

Something was slowly wriggling against the damp base of the wall.

It was a creature that was completely black. Its slithering motion resembled that of a venomous snake, but it was much slower than a snake.

So much so that when they arrived at the bedroom door, none of the three people inside noticed them.

It remained there outside the door as darkness fell.

The village chief lay nervously on the bed, afraid to close his eyes or even breathe, lest he suddenly disappear and lose his life.

But all these precautions were in vain.

Suddenly, the dark shadow transformed into a liquid and merged into the ground... or more precisely, into the shadow within the crack of the door frame.

The faint breath that had been there before vanished, and the room suddenly became eerily quiet, so quiet that even the crackling of the burning candle wick could be clearly heard.

Hal held his breath nervously, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Where?"

The perception he had received from the goddess seemed to have lost its effectiveness at this moment.

The faint stinging sensation I could feel just moments ago has now vanished without a trace.

This unusual calm reminded him of the deathly stillness before a storm.

gone?

No, absolutely not! That monster clearly possessed intelligence, knew how to observe, and would deliberately provoke others.

They are no longer ordinary opponents.

It must be resolved before it evolves further.

Otherwise, there will be widespread suffering and death.

With this thought in mind, time slipped away second by second in agony.

Gu Yuan leaned against the corner of the wall, pretending to be asleep, seemingly unconcerned about the danger.

After all, he was just an ordinary person without any magic.

The monsters would eat him, but they wouldn't eat him, so he seemed quite at ease on the surface.

Around midnight, the village chief could no longer resist the urge to sleep and slowly closed his eyes.

At that moment, the shadow under the door frame moved.

It moved under the bed in an instant, at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Even though Hal was staring intently, he couldn't see it clearly.

at the same time.

"!" The village chief's eyes widened suddenly, his turbid pupils contracted abruptly, and the bloodshot whites of his eyes looked particularly terrifying in the darkness.

He tried to get up, his veins bulging, looking nothing like a dying old man. With all his might, he opened his mouth wide and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"save…"

"Divine light—!"

Almost at the same time, Hal stood up, opened the holy book, and the gold-embossed words burst forth with dazzling light.

A holy white light instantly illuminated the entire space, carrying a sacred power!

But it was too late.

Suddenly, the village chief's body sank under the bed, his hunched figure disappearing instantly as if dragged by an invisible hand.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye; Hal didn't even have time to finish his spell.

"..."

Silence fell again, and the light gradually dimmed.

Hal froze on the spot, his eyes glazed over.

"hateful!"

He lowered his head, his clenched fists so tight they looked like they were about to bleed.

Why... why isn't the Goddess Magic working?

What kind of monster is that? Could it be that I'm too weak?

"Hmm." Not far away, Gu Yuansu woke up and squinted at the scene.

Because his encounter with the village chief was purely by chance, he did not feel much sadness or remorse.

He just quickly recalled what had just happened.

"Don't be fooled by illusions; the curse of this world is ultimately just magic."

"It's true that goddess magic is the antidote to all demonic magic, but... what if that's not magic?"

Thinking of this, he softly asked Millie Alder:

"Have you figured anything out, with your centuries of experience?"

Millie Alde leaned against Gu Yuan, seemingly languidly taking a sip of the wine hanging at her waist.

The alcohol made her brain work at lightning speed, and a conclusion quickly came to mind.

She spoke slowly: "Shadows. That monster uses its shadow to move, including to move its prey."

Hal was startled by these words, then turned his head sharply and asked urgently:

"shadow?"

"Not bad." Milie Alde slowly got up from the ground.

She dusted herself off, her tone still indifferent and casual:

"Light produces shadows, and shadows are a product of nature, so the goddess's magic cannot affect them."

"You don't need to feel guilty about this. After all, you said before that it was an intelligent being."

"Therefore, it is not impossible to take advantage of your attack."

Millie Alder's statement was not without basis.

Over the course of hundreds of years, she encountered all sorts of monsters and witnessed many similar spells.

Learning by analogy is not difficult for her.

Hal was completely stunned, his pupils dilating slightly.

—The magic of shadows?

This realization sent a sharp pain through his stomach. If that were true, then the holy light he had just released...

"Gu Yuan, let's go. I can't stay here any longer."

Millie Alde suddenly reached out and grabbed Gu Yuan's wrist tightly.

"I can't deal with shadows."

She hung the wine bottle on her waist, tidied her messy hair with her other hand, and said seriously,

"Its next target will inevitably be me, or this monk."

"All of a monster's actions are driven by the desire to eat and evolve."

She thought of the tiger king, and a vague sense of unease crept into her heart.

Upon hearing this, Gu Yuan hesitated for a moment, but finally had no choice but to nod.

He is indeed strong, but how can he deal with an invisible shadow?

Miliadé's safety is of paramount importance, even more so than the Holy Scripture itself.

Hal raised his hand, his fingers pausing in mid-air for a moment, as if he wanted to speak to stop him.

He felt that Miliald, who knew so much about monsters, must be an experienced expert.

But he couldn't bring himself to say it, because it was a life-or-death situation, and he couldn't be so selfish.

Gu Yuan frowned, seemingly lost in thought, and said:

"Since it's a shadow, would creating a space without shadows destroy it?"

He said this not because he wanted to take action himself, but simply to give the monks some inspiration.

After all, of the three people present, he was the only one who was "well-informed".

Hal's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Eliminate the shadow? There's actually such a way?

This guy...

He looked up at Gu Yuan, and hope rekindled in his previously dim eyes.

Millie Aldey abruptly stopped, tilted her head, and stared at Gu Yuan with a slightly puzzled look:

"You really want to go to that town?"

"No, I just don't want to see the monsters continue to run rampant. I'm human."

He might stand by and watch monsters eat people, but he has decided not to support it.

This is the bottom line, and it's also related to wanting to explore the monsters' weaknesses so that we can try to defeat them in the future.

Millie Alde let out a heavy sigh.

Is it a person?

I can't understand it.

However, as a mage, she was also curious about whether shadow magic could be countered by light.

But... how do you create a space without shadows?

His gaze turned to Gu Yuan.

Gu Yuan was confident and already had the answer in his heart.