OF course, She Ji Yun had also noticed that there was something wrong with the dark mage's reaction.  It's like he already knew that there was another person in this room besides the two of them, just waiting for a chance to apprehend him.  But the dark mage seemed to not care.

Shen Ji Yun could only think of two reasons for that.  One, he was confident with his strength and believed that he could take on the two of them if they ever attacked.  Or two, he simply didn't care about what was happening right now.  As if things were completely unrelated to him. 

He had a feeling that it was a mixture of the two. 

This could either be a disadvantage or an advantage to them.  A disadvantage because if this dark mage could really defend himself against him and Luo Yan, then, things would not really go according to plan.  The advantage would be if the dark mage indeed didn't care, then, maybe they could really come to an understanding.  Just like what the dark mage had said earlier.. 

Shen Ji Yun was sure that Luo Yan had also noticed this.  So, he shook his head in a not so obvious way.  Hoping that the other would see it and could understand the message he was trying to convey – that the other should wait a bit more before proceeding to the next step of the plan.  Which was to do a surprise attack and capture the dark mage.

He didn't have to worry about that because Luo Yan saw his little movement and also understood its meaning very clearly.  Not really something impossible considering their high tacit understanding.  And even if he didn't see that, he still wouldn't do the next step.  Because just like Shen Ji Yun, he also thought that there was something wrong with this dark mage.

Instead of being reckless, it's much more important to observe the dark mage and find out just what was so different about him.  So, instead of walking towards the back of the dark mage, Luo Yan walked a bit further away just to be safe.

There were still eight minutes before the effect of the Invisibility Cloak disappeared.  He just hoped that before that time limit, Shen Ji Yun could somehow get the dark mage to talk.  That way, they could get a clearer understanding of the other. 

Shen Ji Yun had the same thoughts.  If this was before, he might just solve everything by force.  But his experience during that Finnea's Curse task proved him that simply using brute force without using much of his brain wouldn't work.  He didn't want to appear stupid in front of Luo Yan again.

So, even though, he'd much prefer to just use his brute strength to finish this hidden task, there's no problem if he had to use his brain. 

He looked at the dark mage in front of him.  "Do you really think we could come to an understanding?" 

The dark mage shrugged.  "Why not?  Isn't that better than fighting senselessly?"   

"As you said, I'm that black dragon's friend.  Belonging to the group who caused most of his suffering, how exactly do you expect me to even trust your words?"

Luo Yan liked where Shen Ji Yun was going with this.  Acting indignant and showing distrust, all the while fishing for information.  It would make the other less suspicious.  Because he would think that Shen Ji Yun was only there to get justice for his friend.  Which in turn would make this dark mage talk easily.

It's a good thing that that really didn't need too much acting skills.  Shen Ji Yun frowning a bit and sounding all serious were enough to pull that off.

"Ah, so you know I'm a dark mage.  I didn't expect Rowan to actually talk.  Your torture method must have been really effective." 

Again, this guy said that in such an uncaring manner that it's obvious having his identity as a dark mage revealed didn't faze him at all.

Shen Ji Yun didn't speak and just stared at the dark mage.

"I don't know how much Rowan told you, but, you're right, I'm probably one of the people the black dragon wanted to kill," the dark mage said before turning his head to the side, as if looking at a distance.  They couldn't really tell because of the hood over his face.  "After all, I'm the one who froze him in time using the Eternal Lotus."

Both Shen Ji Yun and Luo Yan was surprised hearing that information.  When they found out about the dark mages being involved to the things that happened in Dusk's past, they had already suspected that they were the ones responsible for the other being trapped in Silent Marsh.  But they didn't expect that they would meet the direct culprit here.

Shen Ji Yun quickly got over the surprise and asked the most important question, "Why didn't you kill him?"

Luo Yan gave Shen Ji Yun a thumbs-up.  That's also one of the things that had been bothering him.  Why did the person who trapped Dusk in that cave not kill him?  When he found out the deal between the dragons and the dark mages, his first thought was because they still needed him for something.

And now the person responsible for that was here, they would finally know the answer. 

"Should I have killed him?" the dark mage asked back.

"That's not the answer to my question," Shen Ji Yun replied.

"And what would be the answer that you would like?"

"The truth."

"What if the 'truth' I gave you was actually a lie?"

"I will be the judge of that," Shen Ji Yun said.  "And if I judge it to be a lie, then, I'll just force it out of you."

The dark mage stopped and then chuckled after hearing that.  "There's no need for that.  I told you, I want us to come to an understanding," he said.  "You ask why I didn't kill the black dragon?  It's simple, really." 

The corner of the dark mage's lips turned up, but somehow, that small smile looked as if it contained a lot of sadness.  Then, he continued;

"Because I didn't want Alina to be sad."

Luo Yan's first thought when he heard that was – 'Who'?

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