The Villain Professor's Second Chance

Chapter 607: Through the Labyrinth of Wards

Chapter 607: Through the Labyrinth of Wards

The corridors of Aetherion twisted like a serpent, narrow passageways and layered wards forming a maze designed to trap and disorient. But they had never accounted for someone like me.

Asterion and I moved in tandem, slipping past security patrols, each step calculated. The fortress's elite guards were closing in, their presence like static in the air, an unseen current pressing against my senses. Constructs moved in silent precision, flickering blue light glinting off their polished frames. They were built to track the living, attuned to fluctuations in mana. Even the best illusions wouldn't last under prolonged scrutiny.

We had to keep moving.

The residual hum of the fortress's leyline-bound architecture pulsed beneath my feet as I weaved a complex illusion, bending light and shadow. Our figures wavered, barely perceptible to the naked eye. It wouldn't hold forever, but for now, it gave us an edge.

Asterion moved a fraction slower than usual. Not enough for an untrained eye to notice, but I caught it. A slight hesitation, a moment's pause before he directed me toward a side passage. A passage he shouldn't have known existed.

I filed it away, keeping my expression neutral. I had suspected, but now I was certain—Asterion wasn't just good at navigating Aetherion. He was too good.

We passed into the side corridor, shadows lengthening around us. The air here was colder, dense with the smell of old magic and stale stone. Wards glimmered faintly on the walls, etched intricately into the architecture, pulsing rhythmically like veins. Asterion moved ahead, leading with a confidence that only someone intimately familiar with the fortress could possess. My eyes narrowed slightly, but I held my tongue. It wasn't the right moment yet.