Chapter 13: Shadow Realm

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The odd, ethereal laughter came from the mist again as though a frivolous woman was laughing at the confused bunch of lost travelers who had stepped into the mist. The illusory image split into half by Gawain did vanish, but in an instant, it formed itself again in another part of the mist.

This cloud of Mist Wraith… was actually conscious!

Realizing this, Heidi felt cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.

That mist first acted like it was unconscious making everyone think that the situation was not too critical, letting them look for a chance to break out. However, as time passed while they looked for an opportunity, their strength was continually weakened by the mist. When Gawain and the party was ready to break out, they had already received damage to different extents. At this point, the wraith’s sudden move would only lead to unthinkable consequences.

But perhaps it was a flaw of the consciousness of this undead creature as its (or their) ethereal laughter from the mist had undermined its own trap.

But even so, the situation was still desperate.

Normal soldiers were not very helpful in dealing with such strange enemies. They had no choice but to rely on the willpower attained from the tough training they had gone through to resist the malice and fear that was constantly exuded by the mist. Betty, who had no combat ability at all, was brought to the center of the group to be guarded. Knight Byron’s longsword burned with intense heat. He continued to disperse the cold with his sword, and sliced up the numerous phantom arms reaching out from the mist. Under his guard, Heidi And Rebecca could then have a more conducive environment to cast their spells.

Heidi recited the incantation, continually using various low level support spells to weaken the power of the surrounding mist, but Rebecca’s attack was much simpler and more violent. Waving her staff, there was only one spell that she kept using the whole time—Fireball.

Fireballs of all sizes were sent flying from the tip of Rebecca’s staff to the mist, causing a series of explosions, but it was not very effective. The fire were certainly effective on suppressing undead creatures, but the Mist Wraith was something special. It was thin yet widespread. Without a solid body that could take on the explosive damage, as the ball of fire exploded in the mist, most of its lethality would be lost.

“Don’t use fireballs!” Gawain noticed Rebecca’s style of attack, and he quickly shouted to her, “Use wide-ranged spells. It doesn’t have to be too powerful, but it must have a large area of effect! Otherwise this mist will disperse the damage!”

Rebecca yelled, “But I can only use fireball!”

Gawain was startled. “What?!”

“Rebecca can only use fireball!” Heidi sounded quite exasperated. “After five years of learning, that’s all she can do!”

Rebecca flushed red in the face. Frustrated by her ineptitude in magic, she gathered the powerful magic energy, almost using up every effort in her to shape it into the spell mould. Then with a wave of her staff, a fireball… of the size of a washbasin flew toward the densest part in the mist.

The sudden enlightenment before the battle that would result in a shocking turn of the tide—those things never happened.

This extreme fireball caused an extreme explosion, and even the mist in front of everyone became slightly thinner. However, almost in an instant, the gaps in the mist was filled again. Worse still, Gawain suddenly heard a cry of fear and anger from behind.

One of the clan’s soldiers’ eyes were blood red. The Mist Wraith’s negative energy had finally utterly defeated the soldier’s spirit, and the damage to his spirit was immediately manifested on his body. Like parchment drying in the wind, his skin quickly became dry and pale. He was howling madly. He raised his longsword up high and began to swing his sword wildly as if there were enemies in all directions.

The other two soldiers nearby noticed and responded. After avoiding his random attacks, they swarmed up and pinned down the poor guy who had gone mad.

The soldier, who was being held down, was struggling wildly. His flesh seemed as though it was trying to leave his body as he squirmed and contorted. His eyes widened in rage, and he finally howled hoarsely, “Kill me! Kill me!”

However, blood, like dark clouds, gathered in the eyes of the two soldiers as they had no reactions to the request of their comrade.

They were also about to lose their minds.

Seeing this, Gawain immediately pierced the Sword of Pioneers into the ground, utilizing the power that came with his body according to the method found in the memory, “Mind Shock!”

This was one of the few Knight’s abilities that had an effect on the mind. A strong willpower would sweep across the battlefield, causing a suppressive effect on the minds of hostile targets, and it could also have a powerful boosting effect on people on their side.

When Mind Shock was in effect, the fear in the two soldiers quickly dissipated, but the poor guy, who was pressed to the ground, had been completely broken in spirit by the Mist Wraith. After some more struggling, the soldier stopped moving completely.

Gawain’s gaze quickly swept across the battlefield. He noticed that the surrounding mist did not show any signs of weakening but was instead becoming denser after Heidi and Rebecca’s attacks, and Betty, who was standing where the three soldiers were previously, had disappeared.

“Where’s Betty?!” Gawain became tense, and he shouted, “Betty!”

Amber jumped out of the shadows nearby. “I just saw that young lady run into the mist. She seemed like she was sleepwalking!”

“Damned… she lost control of her mind.” Gawain was surprised. “Why is this Mist Wraith situation so weird?!”

Amber looked horrified. “I don’t know what’s weird about this, but it’s already very bad!”

“The Mist Wraith is showing no signs of dissipating. Logically speaking, even if the mist is powerful, it should at least be weakened a little,” Gawain said rapidly, making a conclusion from the information according to his memories. Although those memories were not his, he found that as long as he put it to use, they would be as useful as his own knowledge and experience. “And we have also determined earlier that the magic focal point here isn’t very strong. With such a typical magic focal point, why is a Mist Wraith that even has intelligence spawning here?”

Amber was quick-witted and understood immediately. “You mean that this mist didn’t spawn naturally? Is there some artificial energy sources sustaining it?”

“It’s not necessarily an artificial energy source, but there must be something to sustain it—” Gawain’s brows furrowed as he stared at the mist as though he was trying to see through the mist and find out what it was made of. “And the thing that is sustaining it should be nearby. It’s just that it’s messing up our senses, and we can’t see it!”

“But Heidi has already used Detection…” Amber said in puzzlement. Then her eyes widened suddenly. “… Could it be that it isn’t on this ‘level’?!”

Before her words fell, Gawain saw the half-elf girl suddenly jump backward, and just like that, she disappeared into the air.

No, she did not disappear.

Gawain noticed that there was an abnormal shadow drifting across the ground nearby. It was a vague humanoid silhouette. He could vaguely make out that it was Amber’s silhouette. This silhouette with only a shadow and no body seemed as though it was teleporting in the vicinity. Jumping and shifting from surface to surface, it occasionally appeared on the ground or the nearby tree trunks. After jumping a few times, it really disappeared completely.

That was not a real shadow, but it was the “reflection” that was projected onto the physical realm as Amber traveled along the edge of the physical realm in her shadow state.

Such a simple, crude, but powerful “Shadow Walk” became an eye opener for Gawain.

Where exactly did this half-elf bandit come from?

Before Gawain could come out with even more questions, Amber’s figure suddenly appeared in the air again. She rushed forward. Just when Gawain was about to ask about the situation, she grabbed his arm and pulled him with a jerk.

Gawain staggered for a moment. Then he felt himself passing through a layer of cold, illusory barrier. When his vision regained focus, the surroundings had already changed.

The colors on everything were gone. It was only black and white everywhere. A thin layer of mist shrouded this world. The mist was cold, but it did not have the effect of draining his energy as did the Mist Wraith.

Gawain looked around and noticed that the forest had disappeared, but there were dry tree stumps, one after another, on the ground. and the positions of those stumps exactly matched the positions of the trees in the forest.

Everyone, including Heidi, was standing not far from him, but they were motionless as if they were under a petrification spell.

Rebecca’s position was closest to Gawain. She maintained a tight grip on her staff, her face was tense, but her eyes seemed lifeless. She looked forward blankly, turned into a gray ‘statue’. The texture of her skin was like crudely made ceramics.

Threads of black mist rose from the ground nearby, entering their bodies, and creating tiny cracks in their ceramic-like bodies.

This strange scene made Gawain subconsciously turn to look at his hands. After confirming that his hands were still human hands, he heaved a breath of relief. Then he grasped tightly the Sword of Pioneers, walked quickly toward Rebecca, ready to slice those obviously harmful black mists.

But just when he took half a step, Amber suddenly appeared beside him. The half-elf girl clutched his arm tightly. “Don’t go near. External force won’t be able to help them. It might even make the situation worse.”

Gawain looked at Amber in astonishment. In this black and white world, she actually had a different look.

Her hair grew long and floated behind her as if there was no gravity. And in that moment, those light brown eyes were filled with a mild golden radiance. A black ball that looked like flame gathered under her feet, continually dispersing and condensing back again.

There was nothing in Gawain Cecil’s memory that could explain this phenomena before him.

“Don’t ask me too many questions. It’d be awkward if you asked and I don’t answer, especially after I just dug your grave. It’d make me feel guilty,” Amber said rapidly, “We have limited time. This is the first time I’m entering such a ‘deep’ place. By bringing you here, God knows how long this can last.”

“Where is this place?” Gawain asked his most pressing concern.

“Shadow realm,” Amber said mildly, and she stuck out her lips toward where Heidi and the others were. “Watch.”

It was the position where Betty and the soldiers were at in the beginning. But one of the soldiers had fallen to the ground and turned into countless pale fragments. They really looked like broken ceramics. Meanwhile, the others, like Rebecca , still kept in the same movement and expression as when they had made contact with the Mist Wraith.

However, it was just that beneath Betty’s feet was a row of faintly glowing small footprints that continued forward…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep